Naval/Maritime History 25th of April - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

3rd of December

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Naval/Maritime History - 22nd of March - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 30 November 1853 – Crimean War: Battle of Sinop: The Imperial Russian Navy under Pavel Nakhimov destroys the Ottoman fleet under Osman Pasha at Sinop, a sea port in northern Turkey. The Battle of Sinop, or the Battle of...

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1670 - Launch of HMS Prince (also referred to as Royal Prince), a 100-gun first rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Phineas Pett the Younger - renamed into HMS Royal William and after several rebuilts broken up in 1813 - so 143 years of service
HMS Prince (also referred to as Royal Prince) was a 100-gun first rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Phineas Pett the Younger at Deptford Dockyard and launched in 1670.

1775 – The USS Alfred becomes the first vessel to fly the Grand Union Flag (the precursor to the Stars and Stripes); the flag is hoisted by John Paul Jones.
Alfred was the merchant vessel Black Prince, named for Edward, the Black Prince, and launched in 1774. The Continental Navy of what would become the United States acquired her in 1775, renamed her Alfred, and commissioned her as a warship. She participated in two major actions, the battle of Nassau, and the action of 6 April 1776. The Royal Navy captured her in 1778, took her into service as HMS Alfred, and sold her in 1782. She then became the merchantman Alfred, and sailed between London and Jamaica.

1798 - HMS Kingfisher (1782 - 18), Lt. Frederick Maitland, wrecked on the bar at the mouth of the Tagus.
HMS Kingfisher was an 18-gun sloop of the Royal Navy which saw service during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary Wars.

1807 - HMS Curieux (18), John Sheriff (Killed in Action), engaged privateer Revanche (25) off Barbados.
HMS Curieux was a French corvette named Curieux, launched in September 1800 at Saint-Malo to a design by François Pestel, and carrying sixteen 6-pounder guns. She was commissioned under Capitaine de frégate Joseph-Marie-Emmanuel Cordier. The British captured her in 1804 in a cutting-out action at Martinique. In her five-year British career Curieux captured several French privateers and engaged in two notable single-ship actions, also against privateers. In the first she captured Dame Ernouf; in the second, she took heavy casualties in an indecisive action with Revanche. In 1809 Curieux hit a rock; all her crew were saved but they had to set fire to her to prevent her recapture.

1810 - Capture of Ile de France (Mauritius) by the British – the ending of the Mauritius Campaign
The Mauritius campaign of 1809–1811 was a series of amphibious operations and naval actions fought to determine possession of the French Indian Ocean territories of Isle de France and Île Bonaparte during the Napoleonic Wars. The campaign lasted from the spring of 1809 until the spring of 1811, and saw both the Royal Navy and the French Navy deploy substantial frigate squadrons with the intention of disrupting or protecting trade from British India. In a war in which the Royal Navy was almost universally dominant at sea, the campaign is especially notable for the local superiority enjoyed by the French Navy in the autumn of 1810 following the British disaster at the Battle of Grand Port, the most significant defeat for the Royal Navy in the entire conflict. After their victory, the British used the original Dutch name of Mauritius for Isle de France. In 1814, Île Bonaparte was returned to France, who eventually renamed it La Réunion.

1899 – SS Ismore wrecked
Ismore was a steam cargo ship built in 1899 by the Barclay, Curle & Co. of Glasgow for Edward Bates & Sons of Liverpool and operated by the Johnston Line on their trade routes between North America and the United Kingdom.

1906 – HMS Dreadnought commissioned
HMS Dreadnought was a Royal Navy battleship that revolutionised naval power. Her name and the type of the entire class of warships that was named after her stems from archaic English in which "dreadnought" means "a fearless person". Dreadnought's entry into service in 1906 represented such an advance in naval technology that its name came to be associated with an entire generation of battleships, the "dreadnoughts", as well as the class of ships named after it. Likewise, the generation of ships she made obsolete became known as "pre-dreadnoughts". Admiral Sir John "Jacky" Fisher, First Sea Lord of the Board of Admiralty, is credited as the father of Dreadnought. Shortly after he assumed office, he ordered design studies for a battleship armed solely with 12-inch (305 mm) guns and a speed of 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph). He convened a "Committee on Designs" to evaluate the alternative designs and to assist in the detailed design work.

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

4th of December

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Naval/Maritime History - 22nd of March - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 3 December 1798 - HMS Kingfisher (1782 - 18), Lt. Frederick Maitland, wrecked on the bar at the mouth of the Tagus. HMS Kingfisher was an 18-gun sloop of the Royal Navy which saw service during the American War of Independence and the...

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1695 – Launch of Adventure Galley, also known as Adventure, an English sailing ship captained by William Kidd, the notorious privateer.
Adventure Galley, also known as Adventure, was an English sailing ship captained by William Kidd, the notorious privateer. She was a type of hybrid ship that combined square rigged sails with oars to give her manoeuvrability in both windy and calm conditions. The vessel was launched at the end of 1695 and was acquired by Kidd the following year to serve in his privateering venture. Between April 1696 and April 1698, she travelled thousands of miles across the Atlantic and Indian Oceans in search of pirates but failed to find any until nearly the end of her travels. Instead, Kidd himself turned pirate in desperation at not having obtained any prizes. Adventure Galley succeeded in capturing two vessels off India and brought them back to Madagascar, but by the spring of 1698 the ship's hull had become so rotten and leaky that she was no longer seaworthy. She was stripped of anything movable and sunk off the north-eastern coast of Madagascar. Her remains have not yet been located.

1770 – Launch of HMS Intrepid, a 64-gun Intrepid-class third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 4 December 1770 at Woolwich
HMS Intrepid was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 4 December 1770 at Woolwich. She was sold in 1828.

Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the framing profile (disposition) with alterations for Intrepid (1770)

1799 - HMS Racoon (1795 - 16) captured lugger Intrepide (16) in the Channel
HMS Racoon (or Raccoon) was a brig-sloop built and launched in 1795. She served during the French Revolutionary Wars and in the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars. She had an active career under several captains, working essentially independently while capturing or destroying some 20 enemy privateers and naval vessels. Several of the captures involved engagements that resulted in casualties on Racoon as well as on her opponents. She was broken up early in 1806.

1811 - HMS Saldanha (1809 - 36), Cptn. William Packenham, lost in Lough Swilly, Donegal . There were no survivors out of the estimated 253 aboard.
HMS Saldanha was a 36-gun Apollo-class frigate of the British Royal Navy, launched in 1809 and wrecked on the coast of Ireland in 1811. Before she was wrecked she participated in the capture of a noted French privateer.

1872 – The crewless American ship Mary Celeste is found by the Canadian brig Dei Gratia. The ship had been abandoned for nine days but was only slightly damaged.
Mary Celeste (/səˈlɛst/; often misreported as Marie Celeste) was an American merchant brigantine, discovered adrift and deserted in the Atlantic Ocean, off the Azores Islands, on December 5, 1872. The Canadian brigantine Dei Gratia found her in a dishevelled but seaworthy condition, under partial sail, and with her lifeboat missing. The last entry in her log was dated ten days earlier. She had left New York City for Genoa on November 7, and on discovery was still amply provisioned. Her cargo of denatured alcohol was intact, and the captain's and crew's personal belongings were undisturbed. None of those who had been on board were ever seen or heard from again.

1868 - The sailing ship Andrew Jackson, a 1,679-registered-ton medium clipper wrecked
The sailing ship Andrew Jackson, a 1,679-registered-ton medium clipper, was built by the firm of Irons & Grinnell in Mystic, Connecticut in 1855. The vessel was designed for the shipping firm of J.H. Brower & Co. to carry cargo intended for sale to participants in the California Gold Rush.

1908 - USS Yankee was originally El Norte, a steamer launched 14 June 1892, sunk
USS Yankee was originally El Norte, a steamer launched 14 June 1892 and delivered 15 Augugust 1892 at Newport , Virginia, by the Newport Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. for the Southern Pacific Railroad's Morgan Line.[1][2] The ship was acquired by the United States Navy from the Southern Pacific Company on 6 April 1898. The ship was renamed and commissioned at New York on 14 April 1898, Commander Willard H. Brownson in command.

1939 – World War II: HMS Nelson is struck by a mine (laid by U-31) off the Scottish coast and is laid up for repairs until August 1940.
HMS Nelson (pennant number 28) was one of two Nelson-class battleships built for the Royal Navy between the two World Wars. She was named in honour of Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson the victor at the Battle of Trafalgar. The Nelsons were unique in British battleship construction, being the only ships to carry a main armament of 16 inch (406mm) guns and the only ones to carry all the main armament forward of the superstructure. These were a result of the limitations of the Washington Naval Treaty. Commissioned in 1927, Nelson served extensively in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Indian oceans during the Second World War. She was decommissioned soon after the end of the war and scrapped in 1949. She was nicknamed "Nels-ol" from the resemblance in her outline to RN oilers, whose names ended in "-ol".

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

5th of December

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Naval/Maritime History - 22nd of March - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 3 December 1798 - HMS Kingfisher (1782 - 18), Lt. Frederick Maitland, wrecked on the bar at the mouth of the Tagus. HMS Kingfisher was an 18-gun sloop of the Royal Navy which saw service during the American War of Independence and the...

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1691 – Launch of French Ambitieux, a First Rank three-decker ship of the line of the French Royal Navy.
The Ambitieux (1691 - 92) was a First Rank three-decker ship of the line of the French Royal Navy. She was armed with 92 guns, comprising twenty-eight 36-pounder guns on the lower deck, twenty-eight 18-pounder guns on the middle deck, and twenty-six 8-pounder guns on the upper deck, with ten 6-pounder guns on the quarterdeck.

and in Rochefort we had a wonderful scratch built based on the drawings of Jean Boudriot - Denis Desormiere showed his L´AMBITIEUX in scale 1:48
based on the wonderful monographie from Jean Boudriot in scale 1:48 existing, which is describing these typical 3-decker ships of this time THE THREE-DECKER of the Chevalier DE TOURVILLE- 1680


1758 – Birth of Admiral Sir Eliab Harvey GCB (5 December 1758 – 20 February 1830)
Admiral Sir Eliab Harvey GCB (5 December 1758 – 20 February 1830) was an eccentric and hot-tempered officer of the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars who was as distinguished for his gambling and dueling as for his military record. Although Harvey was a significant naval figure for over twenty years, his martial reputation was largely based on his experiences at the Battle of Trafalgar, when he took his ship HMS Temeraire into the thick of the action. Harvey used Temeraire to force the surrender of two French ships of the line and later created his family motto from the names of his opponents in the engagement; "Redoutable et Fougueux".

1763 – Launch of HMS Guadeloupe, a 28-gun sixth-rate Coventry-class frigate of the Royal Navy.
HMS Guadeloupe was a 28-gun sixth-rate Coventry-class frigate of the Royal Navy. The ship was designed by Sir Thomas Slade, and was initially contracted to be built with the Pembrokeshire shipwright John Williams of Neyland; however he became bankrupt and the Admiralty transferred the order to the Plymouth Naval Dockyard.

1779 - HMS Roebuck (1774 - 44) took American privateer Lady Washington
HMS Roebuck was a 44-gun, fifth-rate ship of the Royal Navy which served in the American and French Revolutionary Wars. Designed by Sir Thomas Slade in 1769, to operate in the shallower waters of North America, she joined Lord Howe'ssquadron towards the end of 1775 and took part in operations against New York the following year, engaging the American gun batteries at Red Hook during the Battle of Long Island in August 1776, and forcing a passage up the Hudson River in October. On 25 August 1777, Roebuck escorted troopships to Turkey Point, Maryland, where an army was landed for an assault on Philadelphia. She was again called upon to accompany troopships in December 1779; this time for an attack on Charleston. When the ships-of-the-line, which were too large to enter the harbour, were sent back to New York, Admiral Marriot Arbuthnot made Roebuck his flagship. She was therefore at the front of the attack; leading the British squadron across the bar to engage Fort Moultrie and the American ships beyond.

1797 - Insurgente captured Prince Frederick
The Insurgente was a 40-gun Sémillante-class frigate of the French Navy, launched in 1793. USS Constellation, Captain Thomas Truxtun in command, captured her off the island of Nevis during the Quasi-War. After her capture she served in the US Navy, patrolling the waters in the West Indies. In September 1800 she was caught up in a severe storm and was presumed lost at sea
Prince Frederick was launched at Amsterdam in 1793 for the Dutch East India Company as Prinz Fredrik. Captain Daniel Correch stopped at Duins (The Downs), where the English detained her. In December 1795, the British Government confiscated the ship.

1797 - Launch of Hercule, a Téméraire class ship of the line of the French Navy
HMS Hercule was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was previously Hercule, a Téméraire class ship of the line of the French Navy, but was captured on her maiden voyage in 1798, and spent the rest of her career as a British ship. She was broken up in 1810

1807 - HMS Boreas (22), Cptn. Robert Scott, went down immediately after striking the Hannois Rocks, Guernsey.
HMS Boreas was a Laurel-class 22-gun post ship launched in 1806. She wrecked off the coast of Guernsey on 5 December 1807 with the loss of most of her crew of 154 men.

View of the lighthouse and Les Hanois reef

1807 - The Raid on Griessie was a British attack on the Dutch port of Griessie
The Raid on Griessie was a British attack on the Dutch port of Griessie (later renamed Gresik) on Java in the Dutch East Indies in December 1807 during the Napoleonic Wars. The raid was the final action in a series of engagements fought by the British squadron based in the Indian Ocean against the Dutch naval forces in Java, and it completed the destruction of the Dutch squadron with the scuttling of three ships of the line, the last Dutch warships in the region. The British squadron—under the command of Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Pellew—sought to eliminate the Dutch in an effort to safeguard the trade route with China, which ran through the Straits of Malacca and were in range of Dutch raiders operating from the principal Javan port of Batavia. In the summer of 1806, British frigates reconnoitred Javan waters and captured two Dutch frigates, encouraging Pellew to lead a major attack on Batavia that destroyed the last Dutch frigate and several smaller warships. Prior to the Batavia raid however, Dutch Rear-Admiral Hartsinck had ordered his ships of the line to sail eastwards, where they took shelter at Griessie, near Sourabaya.

HMS Culloden

1808 - HMS Crescent (1784 - 36), Cptn. John Temple, wrecked on the coast of Jutland, in a heavy gale.
HMS Crescent was a 36-gun Flora-Class frigate of the British Royal Navy. Launched in 1784, she spent the first years of her service on blockade duty in the English Channel where she single-handedly captured the French frigate, La Reunion. In 1795, Crescent was part of a squadron commanded by George Elphinstone, that forced the surrender of a Batavian Navy squadron at the capitulation of Saldanha Bay. After serving in the West Indies, Crescent returned to home waters and was wrecked off the coast of Jutland on 6 December 1808.

H.M.S. Crescent, under the command of Captain James Saumarez, capturing the French frigate Réunion off Cherbourg, 20 October 1793, att. John Christian Schetky

1808 - HMS Proselyte (1804) wrecked in ice
The Royal Navy purchased the Newcastle collier Ramillies in June 1804 and commissioned her as HMS Proselyte in September 1804, having converted her to a 28-gun sixth rate in July and August. Between 1806 and 1808 she was converted to a bomb vessel. She was crushed by ice and abandoned at the island of Anholt while acting as a lightvessel, in 1808.

1812 - HMS Plumper (1807 - 14), Lt. Josias Bray, lost on a ledge of rocks near Dipper Harbour, New Brunswick
HMS Plumper was launched in 1807. She captured three small American privateers early in the War of 1812 but was wrecked in December 1812.

1830 - HMS Thetis (46), Cptn. Samuel Burgess, wrecked on Cabo Frio, South America.
HMS Thetis was a 46-gun Leda-class fifth-rate frigate built for the Royal Navy during the 1810s. She was first commissioned in 1823 and was assigned to the South America Station three years later. The ship was wrecked in 1830 off Cape Frio, Brazil, with the loss of 22 crewmen; most of her cargo of bullion was successfully salvaged.

1843 - Launching of USS Michigan at Erie, Penn., America's first iron-hulled warship, as well as first prefabricated ship.
USS Michigan was the United States Navy's first iron-hulled warship and served during the American Civil War. She was renamed USS Wolverine in 1905.

1904 - During the Siege of Port Arthur - Entire russian fleet was lost
Russian battleship Poltava (1894) and Retvizan were hit and sunk at 5th December, the battleships Pobeda and Peresvet and the cruisers Pallada and Bayan four days later. Battleship Sevastopol was scuttled to prevent her capture
The Siege of Port Arthur (Japanese: 旅順攻囲戦, Ryojun Kōisen; Russian: Оборона Порт-Артура, Oborona Port-Artura, August 1, 1904 – January 2, 1905), the deep-water port and Russian naval base at the tip of the Liaodong Peninsula in Manchuria, was the longest and most violent land battle of the Russo-Japanese War.

1931 – Launch of Pola, a Zara-class heavy cruiser of the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy)
Pola was a Zara-class heavy cruiser of the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy). She was built in the Odero-Terni-Orlando shipyard in Livorno in the early 1930s and entered service in 1932. She was the third of four ships in the class, which also included Zara, Fiume, and Gorizia. Pola was built as a flagship with a larger conning tower to accommodate an admiral's staff. Like her sisters, she was armed with a battery of eight 203-millimeter (8.0 in) guns and was capable of a top speed of 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph).

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

6th of December

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Naval/Maritime History - 5th of April - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 5 December 1797 - Launch of Hercule, a Téméraire class ship of the line of the French Navy HMS Hercule was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was previously Hercule, a...

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1667 – Launch of HMS Resolution, a 70-gun Third rate ship of the line
HMS Resolution was a 70-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Harwich Dockyard on 6 December 1667. She was one of only three third rate vessels designed and built by the noted maritime architect Sir Anthony Deane.

1743 – Launch of French Alcide, a 64-gun ship of the line of the French Navy,
Alcide was a 64-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, launched in 1742. The captain of the vessel was Toussaint Hocquart, for the re-enforcement campaign that was sent to Canada in May 1755.

1782 – Launch of HMS Irresistible, a 74-gun third rate ship of the line
HMS Irresistible was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 6 December 1782 at Harwich.
Irresistible captured the French privateer Quatre frères in April 1797 in the Mediterranean. The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Transfer.
Irresistible fought at the Battle of Groix in 1795, and at the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1797 and captured two Spanish frigates at the Action of 26 April 1797.
Irresistible was broken up in 1806.

1782 - french Solitaire, 64-gun Solitaire-class, and french brig Speedy were captured by HMS Ruby and a british squadron
Solitaire was a 64-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, launched in 1774, lead ship of her class. She was captured by the Royal Navy on 6 December 1782, and commissioned as the third rate HMS Solitaire. She was sold out of the navy in 1790.

1812 – Launch of French Montebello, an Océan type 118-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.
Montebello was an Océan type, second modified group subclass "Later Dauphin Royal" class, 118-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. She was launched in 1812 and refitted in 1821.

1842 – Launch of Corse, initially named Napoléon before its second commission, a sail and steam experimental schooner
Corse, initially named Napoléon before its second commission, was a sail and steam experimental schooner, initially commissioned as a mail steamer. Largely overperforming her specifications and an excellent sailor, she was purchased by the Navy and commissioned to serve as an aviso, becoming the first propeller ship in service in the French Navy. She took part in the Crimean War and ferried Prince Napoléon to Iceland in 1856. She was eventually broken up in 1902.

1862 – Launch of USS Keokuk, an experimental ironclad screw steamer
USS Keokuk was an experimental ironclad screw steamer of the United States Navy named for the city of Keokuk, Iowa. She was laid down in New York City by designer Charles W. Whitney at J.S. Underhill Shipbuilders, at the head of 11th Street. She was originally named Moodna (sometimes incorrectly spelled "Woodna"), but was renamed while under construction, launched in December 1862 sponsored by Mrs. C. W. Whitney, wife of the builder, and commissioned in early March 1863 with Commander Alexander C. Rhind in command.

1875 - SS Deutschland, an iron passenger steamship of the Norddeutscher Lloyd line, wrecked
Deutschland was an iron passenger steamship of the Norddeutscher Lloyd line, built by Caird & Company of Greenock, Scotland in 1866.

1886 – Launch of Balclutha, also known as Star of Alaska, Pacific Queen, or Sailing Ship Balclutha, a steel-hulled full rigged ship
Balclutha, also known as Star of Alaska, Pacific Queen, or Sailing Ship Balclutha, is a steel-hulled full rigged ship that was built in 1886. She is the only square rigged ship left in the San Francisco Bay area and is representative of several different commercial ventures, including lumber, salmon, and grain. She is a U.S. National Historic Landmark and is currently preserved at the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park in San Francisco, California. She was added to the National Register of Historic Places on 7 November 1976.

1882 – Launch of The second USS Puritan, a Puritan-class monitor in the United States Navy,
The second USS Puritan was a Puritan-class monitor in the United States Navy, constructed in 1882. She was the only ship in her class.

1906 - SS Monarch, a passenger-package freighter built in 1890 that operated on the Great Lakes, wrecked
SS Monarch was a passenger-package freighter built in 1890 that operated on the Great Lakes. She was sunk off the shore of Isle Royale in Lake Superior in 1906 and the remains of her wreck and cargo are still on the lake bottom. The wreck was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

1917 - The Halifax was a maritime disaster in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The Norwegian vessel SS Imo collided with SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo ship laden with high explosives. A fire on board the French ship ignited her cargo, causing a large explosion that devastated the Richmond district of Halifax. Approximately 2,000 people were killed.
The Halifax was a maritime disaster in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, which happened on the morning of 6 December 1917. The Norwegian vessel SS Imo collided with SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo ship laden with high explosives, in the Narrows, a strait connecting the upper Halifax Harbour to Bedford Basin. A fire on board the French ship ignited her cargo, causing a large explosion that devastated the Richmond district of Halifax. Approximately 2,000 people were killed by the blast, debris, fires or collapsed buildings, and an estimated 9,000 others were injured. The blast was the largest man-made explosion at the time, releasing the equivalent energy of roughly 2.9 kilotons of TNT (12,000 GJ).

1917 – World War I: USS Jacob Jones is the first American destroyer to be sunk by enemy action when it is torpedoed by German submarine SM U-53.
USS Jacob Jones (Destroyer No. 61/DD-61) was a Tucker-class destroyer built for the United States Navy prior to the American entry into World War I. The ship was the first U.S. Navy vessel named in honor of Jacob Jones.

1939 - German passenger ship SS Ussukuma was scuttled to prevent capture off the coast of Argentina
The Ussukuma was a German passenger ship named after a location in the central highlands of German East Africa (now Tanzania). She had a crew of 107, could carry 264 passengers and was powered by steam turbine. Her building number was 389 and her home port was Hamburg. Her sister ships were the Usaramo of the Deutsche Ost-Afrika Linie and the Wangoni of the Woermann-Linie.

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

7th of December

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Naval/Maritime History - 5th of April - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 6 December 1875 - SS Deutschland, an iron passenger steamship of the Norddeutscher Lloyd line, wrecked Deutschland was an iron passenger steamship of the Norddeutscher Lloyd line, built by Caird & Company of Greenock, Scotland in...

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1748 – Launch of HMS Unicorn, a 28 gun Lyme-class frigate
HMS Unicorn was a 28-gun Lyme-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was originally ordered as a 24-gun ship to the draft of the French privateer Tyger. The third vessel of the Royal Navy to bear the name, Unicorn, as well as HMS Lymewhich was a near-sister, were the first true frigates built for the Royal Navy. They were actually completed with 28 guns including the four smaller weapons on the quarterdeck, but the latter were not included in the ship's official establishment until 22 September 1756. The two ships differed in detail, Unicorn having a beakhead bow, a unicorn figurehead , two-light quarter galleries and only five pairs of quarterdeck gunports, while Lyme had a round bow, a lion figurehead, three-light quarter galleries and six pairs of quarterdeck gunports.

1798 - HMS Perdrix (1784 - 22) captured Armee d'Italie (1798 - 18).
Perdrix was a corvette of the French Royal Navy, launched in 1784. The British captured her off Antigua in 1795 and she served briefly in the Royal Navy in the West Indies, where she captured a French privateer, before being broken up in 1798.

1798 - HMS Colossus (1787 - 74), Cptn George Murray, drifted onto a shelf of rocks known as Southern Wells near the island of Sampson, Scilly Isles, after her cables parted in a gale.
HMS Colossus was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was launched at Gravesend on 4 April 1787[1] and lost on 10 December 1798.

1804 - Action of 7 December 1804
The Action of 7 December 1804 was a minor naval action that took place at the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars. Royal Navy ship-of-the-line HMS Polyphemus (64) under the command of Captain John Lawford, and the frigate HMS Lively (38) under the command of Captain Graham Hamond captured the Spanish frigate Santa Gertrudis off Cape Santa Maria.

1817 - Death of William Bligh
Vice-Admiral William Bligh FRS (9 September 1754 – 7 December 1817) was an officer of the Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. The Mutiny on the Bounty occurred during his command of HMS Bounty in 1789; after being set adrift in Bounty's launch by the mutineers, Bligh and his loyal men reached Timor, a journey of 3,618 nautical miles (6,701 km; 4,164 mi).


1906 - Launch of SMS Schleswig-Holstein, the last of the five Deutschland-class battleships built by the German Kaiserliche Marine.
SMS Schleswig-Holstein (pronounced [ˈʃleːsvɪç ˈhɔlʃtaɪn]) was the last of the five Deutschland-class battleships built by the German Kaiserliche Marine. The ship, named for the province of Schleswig-Holstein, was laid down in the Germaniawerft dockyard in Kiel in August 1905 and commissioned into the fleet nearly three years later. The ships of her class were already outdated by the time they entered service, being inferior in size, armor, firepower and speed to the new generation of dreadnought battleships.

1941 – World War II: Attack on Pearl Harbor: The Imperial Japanese Navy carries out a surprise attack on the United States Pacific Fleet and its defending Army and Marine air forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The U.S. is brought into the World War II as a full combatant.
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory, on the morning of December 7, 1941. The attack, also known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor, led to the United States' entry into World War II. The Japanese military leadership referred to the attack as the Hawaii Operation and Operation AI, and as Operation Z during its planning.

The attack was an initial shock to all the Allies in the Pacific Theater. Further losses compounded the alarming setback. Japan attacked the Philippines hours later (because of the time difference, it was December 8 in the Philippines). Only three days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the battleships Prince of Wales and Repulse were sunk off the coast of Malaya, causing British Prime Minister Winston Churchill later to recollect "In all the war I never received a more direct shock. As I turned and twisted in bed the full horror of the news sank in upon me. There were no British or American capital ships in the Indian Ocean or the Pacific except the American survivors of Pearl Harbor who were hastening back to California. Over this vast expanse of waters Japan was supreme and we everywhere were weak and naked".

During the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, Arizona was bombed. After a bomb detonated in a powder magazine, the battleship exploded violently and sank, with the loss of 1,177 officers and crewmen. Unlike many of the other ships sunk or damaged that day, Arizona was irreparably damaged by the force of the magazine explosion, though the Navy removed parts of the ship for reuse. The wreck still lies at the bottom of Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial, dedicated on 30 May 1962 to all those who died during the attack, straddles but does not touch the ship's hull.

1942 - SS Ceramic, a British ocean liner, was sunk by a German submarine in 1942, leaving only one survivor from the 656 people aboard.
SS Ceramic was a British ocean liner built in Belfast for White Star Line in 1912–13 and operated on the Liverpool – Australia route. Ceramic was the largest ship serving the route until P&O introduced RMS Mooltan in 1923. In 1934 Shaw, Savill & Albion Line took over White Star's Australia route and acquired Ceramic. The liner served as a troopship in both World Wars. She was sunk by a German submarine in 1942, leaving only one survivor from the 656 people aboard.

1942 – battleship USS New Jersey launched
exactly one year later 7 December 1942 - battleship USS Wisconsin launched, Both Iowa-class battleships
USS New Jersey (BB-62) ("Big J" or "Black Dragon") is an Iowa-class battleship, and was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named after the US state of New Jersey. New Jersey earned more battle stars for combat actions than the other three completed Iowa-class battleships, and was the only US battleship providing gunfire support during the Vietnam War.

New Jersey fires all main guns, December 1986

 

[tommyg]

I love the history, the photos and the paintings.

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

8th of December

please use the following link and you will find the details and all events of this day ..... in the following you will find some of the events

Naval/Maritime History - 10th of April - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 8 December 1693 - HMS St. Albans (1687 - 50) wrecked off Kinsale. HMS St Albans was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the English Royal Navy, launched at Deptford Dockyard in 1687. The ship fought in the Battle of...

shipsofscale.com

1693 - HMS St. Albans (1687 - 50) wrecked off Kinsale.
HMS St Albans was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the English Royal Navy, launched at Deptford Dockyard in 1687. The ship fought in the Battle of Placentia (1692).

See also the Alexander´s alias @Foxtrott building log of his model

Saint Albans 1687 in Navy Board Style - 1 : 48 scale​

It took long time to decide which project I should undertake next. Inspired by plans, drawn by Herbert Read in 1926, I began modelling the St Albans of 1687. This was a 50-gun ship. Robert Spence was the owner of the original model and he built a copy of the model in the 1940s. I wanted to do...
shipsofscale.com

1809 – Launch of french La Golymin, a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy (of the Duquesne sub-class)
The Golymin was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy (of the Duquesne sub-class). Built in Lorient in 1804, she was launched in 1809. Wrecked on Mengam Rock in the roads of Brest on 23 March 1814, she is the source of the Obusier de vaisseau currently on display in the Musée national de la Marine in Paris and in Brest.

1846 - USS Somers (10), Lt. Raphael Semmes, capsized and sank in a sudden storm while chasing a blockade runner off Vera Cruz.
The second USS Somers was a brig in the United States Navy during the John Tyler administration which became infamous for being the only U.S. Navy ship to undergo a mutiny which led to executions. ("Somers Affair")

1896 - British Peer was a 1428-ton three-masted iron sailing ship built wrecked
The British Peer was a 1428-ton three-masted iron sailing ship built for the British Shipowners Company at the Harland and Wolff yards in Belfast, Ireland, in 1865. She was 247.5 feet (75.4 m) long, 36.4 feet (11.1 m) wide and 22.5 feet (6.9 m) deep. She was bought by the Nourse Line in 1883, and was the fastest vessel in their fleet until the British Ambassador was commissioned. In 1878, however, British Peer's sailing power was compromised, when alterations were made to increase her tonnage by lengthening her hull by 32 feet (9.8 m), and she was never as fast again. She carried a crew of 23, including her master.

1896 - SS Salier, a Cargo boat and passenger ship of Norddeutscher Lyoyd wrecked at Basoñas, Corrubedo. Porto do Son - No survivors of the 281 people on board
The Salier was a steam liner carrying cargo and passengers between Europe and South America, launched in 1874. It was the years of emigration to the New World. The ship, which was about 108 metres long, had an iron hull. It had been built in 1875 by Earle’s SB & E Co. in Hull (England). It had left the port of Bremen and, after a stop in La Coruña, it headed for Vigo before travelling to La Plata.

1914 - Battle of the Falkland Islands
The Battle of the Falkland Islands was a naval action between the British Royal Navy and Imperial German Navy on 8 December 1914, during the First World War in the South Atlantic. The British, after the defeat at the Battle of Coronel on 1 November, sent a large force to track down and destroy the victorious German cruiser squadron. The battle is commemorated every year on 8 December in the Falkland Islands as a public holiday.

1929 - SMS Ägir , the second and final member of the Odin class of coastal defense ships (Küstenpanzerschiffe), wrecked
SMS Ägir was the second and final member of the Odin class of coastal defense ships (Küstenpanzerschiffe) built for the Imperial German Navy. She had one sister ship, Odin. Ägir was named for the norse god, and was built by the Kaiserliche Werft Danzig shipyard between 1893 and 1896. She was armed with a main battery of three 24-centimeter (9.4 in) guns. She served in the German fleet throughout the 1890s and was rebuilt in 1901–1903. She served in the VI Battle Squadron after the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, but saw no action. Ägir was demobilized in 1915 and used as a tender thereafter. After the war, she was rebuilt as a merchant ship and served in this capacity until December 1929, when she was wrecked on the island of Gotland.

1936 - Battleship Gneisenau launched
Gneisenau was a German capital ship, alternatively described as a battleship and battlecruiser, of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine. She was the second vessel of her class, which included one other ship, Scharnhorst. The ship was built at the Deutsche Werke dockyard in Kiel; she was laid down on 6 May 1935 and launched on 8 December 1936. Completed in May 1938, the ship was armed with a main battery of nine 28 cm (11 in) C/34 guns in three triple turrets, though there were plans to replace these weapons with six 38 cm (15 in) SK C/34 guns in twin turrets.

1938 - german Aircraft carrier / Flugzeugträger Graf Zepellin launched
The German aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin was the lead ship in a class of two carriers of the same name ordered by the Kriegsmarine. She was the only aircraft carrier launched by Germany and represented part of the Kriegsmarine's attempt to create a well-balanced oceangoing fleet, capable of projecting German naval power far beyond the narrow confines of the Baltic and North Seas. The carrier would have had a complement of 42 fighters and dive bombers.

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

9th of December

please use the following link and you will find the details and all events of this day ..... in the following you will find some of the events

Naval/Maritime History - 10th of April - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 8 December 1693 - HMS St. Albans (1687 - 50) wrecked off Kinsale. HMS St Albans was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the English Royal Navy, launched at Deptford Dockyard in 1687. The ship fought in the Battle of...

shipsofscale.com

1694 – French The Téméraire, a 52-gun Anjou Class ship of the line of the French Navy. sunk by the English frigate HMS Montagu
Lyme was a 52-gun third rate Speaker-class frigate built for the navy of the Commonwealth of England at Portsmouth, and launched in 1654.
After the Restoration in 1660 she was renamed HMS Montagu. She was widened in 1675 and underwent her first rebuild in 1698 at Woolwich Dockyard as a 60-gun fourth rateship of the line. Her second rebuild took place at Portsmouth Dockyard, from where she was relaunched on 26 July 1716 as a 60-gun fourth rate to the 1706 Establishment.
The Montagu was broken up in 1749.

1768 – Launch of Spanish San Agustín, a 74-gun ship of the line built at the royal shipyard in Guarnizo
The San Agustín was a 74-gun ship of the line built at the royal shipyard in Guarnizo (Santander) and launched in 1768.

1779 – Launch of HMS Mercury, a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate
HMS Mercury was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was built during the American War of Independence and serving during the later years of that conflict. She continued to serve during the years of peace and had an active career during the French Revolutionary Wars and most of the Napoleonic Wars, until being broken up in 1814.

1791 – Launch of spanish Conquistador, a 74-gun San Ildefonso class ship of the line at Cartagena - transferred to France 23 April 1802, renamed Conquérant, stricken 1804

1798 - HMS Brazen, the ex-French privateer Invincible General Bonaparte (or Invincible Bonaparte or Invincible Buonaparte) captured frigate Boadicea
HMS Brazen was the French privateer Invincible General Bonaparte (or Invincible Bonaparte or Invincible Buonaparte), which the British captured in 1798. She is best known for her wrecking in January 1800 in which all but one of her crew drowned.

1815 - Spanish Reina Maria Luisa, a 112-gun Santa Ana-class wrecked
Reina María Luisa was a 112-gun three-decker ship of the line built at Ferrol for the Spanish Navy in 1791 to plans by Romero Landa. One of the eight very large ships of the line of the Santa Ana class, also known as los Meregildos. Reina María Luisa served in the Spanish Navy for three decades throughout the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, finally being wrecked off Béjaïa in 1815. Although she was a formidable part of the Spanish battlefleet throughout these conflicts, she did not participate in any major operations.

1905 – Launch of Greek Lemnos, sometimes spelled Limnos (Greek: Θ/Κ Λήμνος), a 13,000 ton Mississippi-class battleship
Lemnos, sometimes spelled Limnos (Greek: Θ/Κ Λήμνος), was a 13,000 ton Mississippi-class battleship originally built by the United States Navy in 1904–1908. As Idaho, she was purchased by the Greek Navy in 1914 and renamed Lemnos, along with her sister Mississippi, renamed Kilkis. Lemnos was named for the Battle of Lemnos, a crucial engagement of the First Balkan War. Armed with a main battery of four 12 in (305 mm) guns, Lemnos and her sister were the most powerful vessels in the Greek fleet.

1996 - Alexandria was a cargo-carrying three-masted schooner built in 1929 sunk
Alexandria was a cargo-carrying three-masted schooner built in 1929. Originally named Yngve, she was built at Björkenäs, Sweden, and fitted with a 58 H.P. auxiliary oil engine.

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

10th of December

please use the following link and you will find the details and all events of this day ..... in the following you will find some of the events

Naval/Maritime History - 10th of April - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 9 December 1905 – Launch of Greek Lemnos, sometimes spelled Limnos (Greek: Θ/Κ Λήμνος), a 13,000 ton Mississippi-class battleship Lemnos, sometimes spelled Limnos (Greek: Θ/Κ Λήμνος), was a 13,000 ton Mississippi-class battleship...

shipsofscale.com

1665 – The Royal Netherlands Marine Corps is founded by Johan de Witt and Michiel de Ruyter
The Korps Mariniers is the elite amphibious infantry component of the Royal Netherlands Navy. Their motto is Qua Patet Orbis ("As Far As The World Extends").

1748 – Launch of HMS Lyme, a 28-gun, sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy.
HMS Lyme was a 28-gun, sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. Originally ordered as a 24 gun ship to the draft of the French privateer Tyger. The sixth vessel of the Royal Navy to bear the name, Lyme, as well as Unicorn, which was a near-sister, were the first true frigates built for the Royal Navy. They were actually completed with 28 guns including the four smaller weapons on the quarterdeck, but the latter were not included in the ship's official establishment until 22 September 1756. The two ships differed in detail, Unicorn having a beakhead bow, a unicorn figurehead, two-light quarter galleries and only five pairs of quarterdeck gunports, while Lyme had a round bow, a lion figurehead, three-light quarter galleries and six pairs of quarterdeck gunports.

1768 – Launch of HMS Raisonnable (sometimes spelt Raisonable), a 64-gun third rate ship of the line
HMS Raisonnable (sometimes spelt Raisonable) was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, named after the ship of the same name captured from the French in 1758. She was built at Chatham Dockyard, launched on 10 December 1768 and commissioned on 17 November 1770 under the command of Captain Maurice Suckling, Horatio Nelson's uncle. Raisonnable was built to the same lines as HMS Ardent, and was one of the seven ships forming the Ardent-class of 1761. Raisonnable was the first ship in which Nelson served.

1772 – Launch of French Éveillé, a 64-gun Artésien class ship of the line, at Brest
The Artésien class was a type of 64-gun ships of the line of the French Navy. A highly detailed and accurate model of Artésien, lead ship of the class, was part of the Trianon model collection and is now on display at Paris naval museum.

A Model of the 64-gun Third Rate Ship of the lIne L´ARTESIEN built by Pierre Blanc in scale 1:48 based on a monographie from Gerard Delacroix about the Le Fleuron published at ancre
https://ancre.fr/en/monograph/55-monographie-du-fleuron-vaisseau-de-64-canons-1729.html


1800 - Action of 10 December 1800
The Action of 10 December 1800 was a minor engagement of the Napoleonic Wars in which the Spanish privateer gunboat San Francisco Javier, alias Poderoso, under Don Miguel Villalba, captured a hired brig of the Royal Navy commanded by Lieutenant Charles Niven (or Nevin).

Spanish Gun-boat circa 1800


1803 - HMS Shannon (1803 - 36), Cptn. Edward Leverson Gower, wrecked near La Hogue and burnt to avoid capture.
The third HMS Shannon was a 36-gun Perseverance class frigate of the British Royal Navy built at Frindsbury on the River Medway on the Thames Estuary. She was completed on 3 September 1803 during the Napoleonic Wars. Her name was changed from Pallas to Shannon shortly before construction, traditionally an omen of bad luck for a ship. In her case, she was wrecked within three months of her being launched.

No.3 Shannon on shore near Cape Barfleur Dec 17 1803 (PAD8897)

Frame (ZAZ2796)


1808 - HMS Jupiter (1778 - 50), Cptn. Henry Edward Reginald Baker, wrecked on reef of rocks in Vigo Bay.
HMS Jupiter was a 50-gun Portland-class fourth-rate ship of the Royal Navy. She served during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary Wars, and the Napoleonic Wars in a career that spanned thirty years. She was also one of the fastest ships in the Royal Navy as shown by her attempt to capture the cutter Eclipse under Nathaniel Fanning.

1843 - Launch of USS Princeton, the first steam ship with screw propeller
In 1844, its guns explode during a demonstration and kill Secretary of State Abel P. Upshur, Secretary of the Navy Thomas Gilmer and several others.
The first USS Princeton was a screw steam warship in the United States Navy. Commanded by Captain Robert F. Stockton, Princeton was launched on September 5, 1843. (some sources tells 10th December)

1888 - Seiki (清輝 Pure Brightness), a screw sloop in the early Imperial Japanese Navy, sank
Seiki (清輝 Pure Brightness) was a screw sloop in the early Imperial Japanese Navy, and was the first vessel built by the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal after its acquisition by the Meiji government. It was one of the first domestically-produced warships in Japan.

1917 - SMS Wien ("His Majesty's Ship Vienna"), one of three Monarch-class coastal defense ships, was struck by two torpedoes and sank in less than five minutes
SMS Wien ("His Majesty's Ship Vienna") was one of three Monarch-class coastal defense ships built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the 1890s. After her commissioning, the ship participated in an international blockade of Crete during the Greco-Turkish War of 1897. Wien and the two other Monarch-class ships made several training cruises in the Mediterranean Sea in the early 1900s. They formed the 1st Capital Ship Division of the Austro-Hungarian Navy until they were replaced by the newly commissioned Habsburg-class predreadnought battleships at the turn of the century. In 1906 the three Monarchs were placed in reserve and only recommissioned for annual summer training exercises. After the start of World War I, Wien was recommissioned and assigned to 5th Division together with her sisters.

1928 - RMS Celtic, an ocean liner owned by the White Star Line, ran aground
RMS Celtic was an ocean liner owned by the White Star Line. The first ship larger than the SS Great Eastern in gross tonnage (it was also 9 feet (2.7 m) longer), Celtic was the first of a quartet of ships over 20,000 tons, dubbed The Big Four.

1941 – World War II: The Royal Navy capital ships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse are sunk by Imperial Japanese Navy torpedo bombers near British Malaya.
The sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse was a naval engagement in the Second World War, part of the war in the Pacific, that took place north of Singapore, off the east coast of Malaya, near Kuantan, Pahang, where the Royal Navy battleship HMS Prince of Wales and battlecruiser HMS Repulse were sunk by land-based bombers and torpedo bombers of the Imperial Japanese Navy on 10 December 1941. In Japanese, the engagement was referred to as the Naval Battle of Malaya (マレー沖海戦 Marē-oki kaisen).

1941 – World War II: The Royal Navy capital ships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse are sunk by Imperial Japanese Navy torpedo bombers near British Malaya - Death of Admiral Sir Thomas Spencer Vaughan "Tom" Phillips
Admiral Sir Thomas Spencer Vaughan "Tom" Phillips GBE, KCB, DSO (19 February 1888 – 10 December 1941) was a Royal Navy officer during the First and Second World Wars. He was nicknamed "Tom Thumb", due to his short stature. He is best known for his command of Force Z during the Japanese invasion of Malaya, where he went down with his flagship, the battleship HMS Prince of Wales. Phillips was one of the highest ranking Allied officers killed in battle during World War II

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

11th of December

please use the following link and you will find the details and all events of this day ..... in the following you will find some of the events

Naval/Maritime History - 10th of April - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 9 December 1905 – Launch of Greek Lemnos, sometimes spelled Limnos (Greek: Θ/Κ Λήμνος), a 13,000 ton Mississippi-class battleship Lemnos, sometimes spelled Limnos (Greek: Θ/Κ Λήμνος), was a 13,000 ton Mississippi-class battleship...

shipsofscale.com

1785 - Launch of HMS Majestic, a 74-gun Canada-class third rate ship of the line launched on 11 December 1785 at Deptford.
HMS Majestic was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line launched on 11 December 1785 at Deptford. She fought at the Battle of the Nile, where she engaged the French ships Tonnant and Heureux, helping to force their surrenders. She was captained by George Blagdon Westcott, who was killed in the battle.

Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with sternboard decoration

1799 - Battle of Port Louis
HMS Tremendous and HMS Adamant (50), Cptn. William Hotham, drove ashore French frigate Preneuse (44), Cptn. L'Hermite, ashore about three miles from Port Louis, Mauritius. She struck and was boarded and set on fire by the ships boats. Shortly afterwards she blew up.
The Battle of Port Louis was a minor naval engagement of the French Revolutionary Wars, fought on 11 December 1799 at the mouth of the Tombeau River near Port Louis on the French Indian Ocean island of Île de France, later known as Mauritius. Preneuse had originally been part of a powerful squadron of six frigates sent to the Indian Ocean in 1796 under the command of Contre-amiral Pierre César Charles de Sercey, but the squadron dispersed in 1798 and by the summer of 1799 Preneuse was the only significant French warship remaining in the region. The battle was the culmination of a three-month raiding cruise by the 40-gun French Navy frigate Preneuse, commanded by Captain Jean-Matthieu-Adrien Lhermitte. Ordered to raid British commerce in the Mozambique Channel, Lhermitte's cruise had been eventful, with an inconclusive encounter with a squadron of small British warships in Algoa Bay on 20 September and an engagement with the 50-gun HMS Jupiter during heavy weather on 9–11 October.

1802 – Launch of HMS Sceptre, a 74-gun Repulse-class third rate of the Royal Navy,
HMS Sceptre was a 74-gun third rate of the Royal Navy, built by Dudman of Deptford after a design by Sir William Rule, and launched in December 1802 at Deptford. She served in the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812 before being broken up in 1821.

1807 - HMS Grasshopper (1806 - 18), Thomas Searle, captured Spanish brig San Josef (12), Don Antonio de Torres Teniento de Navaro, off Cape Palos.
HMS Grasshopper was a Cruizer-class brig-sloop of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1806, captured several vessels, and took part in two notable actions before the Dutch captured her in 1811. She then served The Netherlands navy until she was broken up in 1822.

Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the framing profile (disposition)

1810 – Launch of HMS Crescent, a 38-gun Lively-class frigate
The Lively class were a successful class of sixteen British Royal Navy 38-gun sailing frigates.

1941 – World War II: The Imperial Japanese Navy suffers its first loss of surface vessels during the Battle of Wake Island.
The Battle of Wake Island began simultaneously with the attack on Pearl Harbor naval/air bases in Hawaii and ended on 23 December 1941, with the surrender of the American forces to the Empire of Japan. It was fought on and around the atoll formed by Wake Island and its minor islets of Peale and Wilkes Islands by the air, land, and naval forces of the Japanese Empire against those of the United States, with Marines playing a prominent role on both sides.
The island was held by the Japanese for the duration of the Pacific War theater of World War II; the remaining Japanese garrison on the island surrendered to a detachment of United States Marines on 4 September 1945, after the earlier surrender on the battleship U.S.S. Missouri in Tokyo Bay to General Douglas MacArthur.

1941 - The United States declares war on Germany and Italy.
On December 11, 1941, the United States Congress declared war upon Germany (Pub.L. 77–331, Sess. 1, ch. 564, 55 Stat. 796), hours after Germany declared war on the United States after the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Empire of Japan.[1] The vote was 88–0 in the Senate and 393–0 in the House.

President Roosevelt signing the declaration of war against Germany. Senator Tom Connally stands by holding a watch to fix the exact time of the declaration.

1942 - Raid on Algiers
The Raid on Algiers took place on 11 December 1942, in the Algiers harbour. Italian manned torpedoes and commando frogmen from the Decima Flottiglia MAS were brought to Algiers aboard the Perla-class submarine Ambra. The participating commandos were captured after setting limpet mines which sank two Allied ships and damaged two more.

1954 - The first supercarrier USS Forrestal (CVA 59) is launched.
USS Forrestal (CV-59) (later CVA-59, then AVT-59), was a supercarrier named after the first Secretary of Defense James Forrestal. Commissioned in 1955, she was the first completed supercarrier, and was the lead ship of her class. Unlike the successor Nimitz class, Forrestal and her class were conventionally powered. The other carriers of her class were USS Saratoga, USS Ranger and USS Independence. She surpassed the World War II Japanese carrier Shinano as the largest carrier yet built, and was the first designed to support jet aircraft.

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

12th of December

please use the following link and you will find the details and all events of this day ..... in the following you will find some of the events

Naval/Maritime History - 10th of April - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 11 December 1802 – Launch of HMS Sceptre, a 74-gun Repulse-class third rate of the Royal Navy, HMS Sceptre was a 74-gun third rate of the Royal Navy, built by Dudman of Deptford after a design by Sir William Rule, and launched in...

shipsofscale.com

1710 – Launch of French Le Superb, a 64-gun third-rate ship of the line
HMS Superb was a 64-gun third-rate ship of the line of the British Royal Navy. She had previously been Le Superbe, a 56-gun warship of the French Navy, until her capture off Lizard Point by HMS Kent in July 1710. Commissioned into the Royal Navy in September 1710, HMS Superb served throughout Queen Anne's War and the War of the Quadruple Alliance, during which she participated in the destruction of the Spanish fleet at the Battle of Cape Passaro in 1718. She was broken up in 1732.

1724 – Birth of Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood, English admiral and politician (d. 1816)
Admiral Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood (12 December 1724 – 27 January 1816) was a Royal Navy officer. As a junior officer he saw action during the War of the Austrian Succession. While in temporary command of Antelope, he drove a French ship ashore in Audierne Bay, and captured two privateers in 1757 during the Seven Years' War. He held senior command as Commander-in-Chief, North American Station and then as Commander-in-Chief, Leeward Islands Station, leading the British fleet to victory at Battle of the Mona Passage in April 1782 during the American Revolutionary War. He went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, then First Naval Lord and, after briefly returning to the Portsmouth command, became Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet during the French Revolutionary Wars.


1779 - Action of 12 December 1779
HMS Salisbury (1769 - 50), Cptn. Charles Inglis, took Spanish private ship of war San Carlos (1779 - 20), Don Juan Antonio Zaveletta, off Porto del Sall, Bay of Honduras.
The Action of 12 December 1779 was a minor naval engagement that took place in the Bay of Honduras during the Anglo-Spanish War between a British Royal naval Fourth-rate fifty gun ship and a fifty gun Spanish privateer.

1781 – American Revolutionary War: Second Battle of Ushant: A British fleet led by HMS Victory defeats a French fleet.
The Second Battle of Ushant was a naval battle fought between French and British squadrons near the island of Ushant on 12 December 1781, as part of the American Revolutionary War.


1782 - Action of 12 December 1782
HMS Mediator (40) engaged enemy line of 3 French and 2 American ships, L'Eugene (1782 - 36), Menagere (1776 - 26), Dauphin Royal (1782 - 24/12), Alexander (1781 - 24) and a brig (14), in the Bay of Biscay. Alexander and Menagere were taken.
The Action of 12 December 1782 was a naval engagement fought off the coast of Spain near Ferrol, in which the British 40-gun fifth rate HMS Mediator successfully attacked a convoy of five armed ships. Mediator succeeded in capturing one American privateer, the Alexander, and then captured the French ex-ship of the line La Ménagère. The convoy was part of Pierre Beaumarchais's supply chain to the American colonists.

1810 - HMS Entreprenante' (10), Lt. Peter Williams, repulsed four French privateers off the coast of Spain.
HMS Entreprenante (also Entreprenant), was a 10-gun cutter that the Royal Navy captured from the French in 1798. The British commissioned her in 1799 and she served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, participating in the Battle of Trafalgar. She has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name. She took part in several small engagements, capturing Spanish and French ships before she was sold in 1812 for breaking up.

1862 – American Civil War: USS Cairo sinks on the Yazoo River, becoming the first armored ship to be sunk by a controlled mine.
USS Cairo was one of the first American ironclad warships built at the beginning of the U.S. Civil War.
Cairo was the lead ship of the City-class gunboats and named for Cairo, Illinois. In June 1862, she captured the Confederate garrison of Fort Pillow on the Mississippi, enabling Union forces to occupy Memphis. As part of the Yazoo Pass Expedition, she was sunk on 12 December 1862, while clearing mines for the attack on Haines Bluff. Cairo was the first ship ever to be sunk by a mine remotely detonated by hand.
The remains of Cairo can be viewed at Vicksburg National Military Park with a museum of its weapons and naval stores.

1878 – Launch of HMS Sealark
HMS Sealark was a Royal Navy vessel used primarily for hydrographic survey work. She was originally a luxurious private auxiliary steam yacht for a number of wealthy owners and in 1903 was acquired by the Royal Navy, serving until 1914. She was sold to James Patrick Steamships Ltd and converted to a merchant ship for the Australian coast and finally hulked in 1924.

1939 – HMS Duchess sinks after a collision with HMS Barham off the coast of Scotland with the loss of 124 men.
HMS Duchess was a D-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s. The ship was initially assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet before she was transferred to the China Station in early 1935. She was temporarily deployed in the Red Sea during late 1935 during the Abyssinia Crisis, before returning to her duty station where she remained until mid-1939. Duchess was transferred back to the Mediterranean Fleet just before the Second World War began in September 1939. Whilst escorting the battleship HMS Barham back to the British Isles, she was accidentally rammed by the battleship in thick fog and sank with heavy loss of life on 12 December 1939.

1999 - oiltanker Erika, built in 1975 and last chartered by Total-Fina-Elf, sank off the coast of France in 1999, causing a major environmental disaster.
Erika was the name of a tanker built in 1975 and last chartered by Total-Fina-Elf. It sank off the coast of France in 1999, causing a major environmental disaster.

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

13th of December

please use the following link and you will find the details and all events of this day ..... in the following you will find some of the events

Naval/Maritime History - 11th of April - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 11 December 1802 – Launch of HMS Sceptre, a 74-gun Repulse-class third rate of the Royal Navy, HMS Sceptre was a 74-gun third rate of the Royal Navy, built by Dudman of Deptford after a design by Sir William Rule, and launched in...

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1642 – Abel Tasman is the first recorded European to sight New Zealand.

1669 – Launch of French Soleil Royal, a French 104-gun ship of the line, flagship of Admiral Tourville.
Soleil Royal (Royal Sun) was a French 104-gun ship of the line, flagship of Admiral Tourville.
She was built in Brest between 1668 and 1670 by engineer Laurent Hubac, was launched in 1669, and stayed unused in Brest harbour for years. She was recommissioned with 112 guns and 1200 men when the Nine Years' War broke out in 1688 as the flagship of the escadre du Ponant (squadron of the West).

THE THREE-DECKER of the Chevalier DE TOURVILLE- 1680 by Jean Boudriot
https://ancre.fr/en/monograph/68-monographie-de-l-ambitieux-vaisseau-3-ponts-1680.html



1693 - Death of Willem van de Velde the Elder
Because of painters like him, we know now, how these ships were looking like
Willem van de Velde the Elder (c. 1611 – 13 December 1693) was a Dutch Golden Age seascape painter.

1758 – The English transport ship Duke William sinks in the North Atlantic, killing over 360 Acadian civilians, also ships Ruby and Violet with Acadians on board were lost in these days
The Duke William was a ship which served as a troop transport at the Siege of Louisbourg and as a deportation ship in the Île Saint-Jean Campaign of the Expulsion of the Acadians during the Seven Years' War. While the Duke William was transporting Acadians from Île St Jean (Prince Edward Island) to France, the ship sank in the North Atlantic on December 13, 1758, with the loss of over 360 lives. The sinking was one of the greatest marine disasters in Canadian history.


1763 – two-masted brigantine packet ship Hanover wrecked
The Hanover was a two-masted brigantine packet ship owned and operated by the Falmouth Packet Company, which operated between 1688 and 1852. Hanover was 100-foot (30 m) long and was built in 1757.
On 13 December 1763, while en route from Lisbon to Falmouth, she was driven ashore by a gale. There were only three survivors out of 27 crew and 40 passengers. The location, near Perranporth has become known as Hanover Cove as a result. At the time she was carrying a large amount of gold and valuables; historical evidence suggests that this was mostly recovered around the time of the wrecking.
The wreck made legal history, when in 1765 an iron trunk containing bullion was recovered. The insurers had already paid out on the loss and the case established that where insurers paid out on cargo and the owners subsequently recovered their property, the insurers were entitled to a refund.


1796 - HMS Terpsichore (32), Cptn. Bowen, captured French frigate Vestale (36) Cptn. Foucaud (Killed in Action), off Cadiz - and retaken by the crew the day after
HMS Terpsichore was a 32-gun Amazon-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was built during the last years of the American War of Independence, but did not see action until the French Revolutionary Wars. She served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, in a career that spanned forty-five years.

1809 - HMS Junon (36), Cptn. John Shortland, captured and destroyed by the French frigates Renommee (40), Clorinde (40), Loire (20) and Seine (20).
The Junon was a Gloire class 40-gun frigate of the French Navy. Launched in 1806, she saw service during the Napoleonic Wars, escorting merchant convoys to France's besieged Caribbean colonies. In February 1809 she was captured at sea after a fierce engagement with four Royal Navy vessels.
Recommissioned as HMS Junon, she served as part of the British blockade of French ports in the Caribbean. French frigates recaptured her in December 1809 off the French colony of Guadeloupe. The engagement so damaged Junon that her captors scuttled her.

1809 - Boats of HMS Kent (74), HMS Ajax (74), HMS Cambrian (40), HMS Sparrowhawk (18) and HMS Minstrel (18) took and destroyed a convoy inside the mole of Palamos of a national ketch (14), two xebecs (3) and eight merchant vessels.
HMS Kent was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 17 January 1798 at Blackwall Yard.

1814 - Capture of USS President
The capture of USS President was one of many naval actions fought at the end of the War of 1812. The frigate USS President tried to break out of New York Harbor but was intercepted by a British squadron of four warships and forced to surrender. The battle took place several weeks after the Treaty of Ghent, but there is no evidence that the combatants were aware that the war had officially ended.

1911 – SS Delhi sunk
SS Delhi was a steamship of the Peninsular & Orient Line (P&O) that was lost off Cape Spartel, northern Morocco, at the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, on 12 December 1911. Among the passengers was Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife, whose subsequent death in Egypt was ascribed to ill-health caused during the wreck, and his family, the Princess Royal and daughters Princesses Alexandra and Maud.

1939 - Battle of the River Plate
Captain Hans Langsdorff of the German Deutschland-class cruiser (pocket battleship) Admiral Graf Spee engages with Royal Navy cruisers HMS Exeter, HMS Ajax and HMNZS Achilles.
The Battle of the River Plate was the first naval battle in the Second World War and the first one of the Battle of the Atlantic in South American waters. The German panzerschiff Admiral Graf Spee had cruised into the South Atlantic a fortnight before the war began, and had been commerce raiding after receiving appropriate authorisation on 26 September 1939. One of the hunting groups sent by the British Admiralty to search for Graf Spee, comprising three Royal Navy cruisers, HMS Exeter, Ajax and Achilles (the last from the New Zealand Division), found and engaged their quarry off the estuary of the River Plate close to the coast of Uruguay in South America.

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

14th of December

please use the following link and you will find the details and all events of this day ..... in the following you will find some of the events

Naval/Maritime History - 11th of April - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 13 December 1693 - Death of Willem van de Velde the Elder Because of painters like him, we know now, how these ships were looking like Willem van de Velde the Elder (c. 1611 – 13 December...

shipsofscale.com

1600 - The galleon San Diego, built as the trading ship San Antonio, sunk
The galleon San Diego was built as the trading ship San Antonio before hastily being converted into a warship. On December 14, 1600, the fully laden San Diego was engaged by the Dutch warship Mauritius under the command of Admiral Olivier van Noort a short distance away from Fortune Island, Nasugbu, Philippines. Since San Diego couldn't handle the extra weight of her cannons, which led to a permanent list and put the cannon portholes below sea level, she was sunk without firing a single shot in response. The Dutch were later reported firing upon and hurling lances at the survivors attempting to climb aboard the Mauritius.

1758 - Launch of HMS Resolution, a 74 gun Dublin class ship of the line
HMS Resolution was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 14 December 1758 at Northam.

The French Soleil Royal and Héros are in flames on the right, in the foreground HMS Resolution lies wrecked on her starboard side. In front of her is HMS Essex, with other members of the British fleet at anchor in the background. The captured French Formidableis attended by a British frigate on the left of the picture.

Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, inboard profile (no waterlines), and basic longitudinal half-breadth for building 'Resolution' (1758), a 74-gun Third Rate, two-decker. Signed by Thomas Slade [Surveyor of the Navy, 1755-1771].


1775 – Birth of Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, Scottish admiral and politician (d. 1860)
Admiral Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, Marquess of Maranhão, GCB, ODM, OSC (14 December 1775 – 31 October 1860), styled Lord Cochrane between 1778 and 1831, was a British naval flag officer of the Royal Navy, mercenary and radical politician. He was a daring and successful captain of the Napoleonic Wars, leading Napoleon to nickname him Le Loup des Mers ('The Sea Wolf'). He was successful in virtually all his naval actions.


1798 - Action of 14 December 1798
French 24 gun Bayonnaise captured 32-gun HMS Ambuscade
The Action of 14 December 1798 was a naval skirmish between the 32-gun British frigate HMS Ambuscade and the French 24-gun corvette Bayonnaise. Bayonnaise was vastly outgunned and outmanoeuvred, but was able to board and capture Ambuscade.

1809 - HMS Melampus (36), Cptn. Edward Hawker, captured Palinure Class brig corvette Bearnaise (1808 - 16), Lt. Montbazen.
HMS Melampus was a Royal Navy fifth-rate frigate that served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. She captured numerous prizes before the British sold her to the Dutch navy in 1815. With the Dutch she participated in a major action at Algiers, and then in a number of colonial punitive expeditions in the Dutch East Indies.

1814 - British squadron, under Admiral Cochrane, captures U.S. gunboats, under Lt. Jones, in Battle of Lake Borgne, LA.
The Battle of Lake Borgne was a battle between the Royal Navy and Royal Marines on one side and the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marines on the other in the American South theatre of the War of 1812. It occurred on December 14, 1814 on Lake Borgne, and allowed the British to assault New Orleans ten days later.

1822 - HMS Racehorse (18), William Suckling, wrecked on Langness, the S. E. point of the Isle of Man.
HMS Racehorse was a Royal Navy 18-gun Cruizer-class brig-sloop built by Hamilton & Breeds and launched in 1806 at Hastings. She served in the Channel, where she captured a small privateer, and in the East Indies, where she participated in the capture of Isle de France (now Mauritius) and the operations around it. She was wrecked in 1822.


1907 – The Thomas W. Lawson, the largest ever ship without a heat engine, runs aground and founders near the Hellweather's Reef within the Isles of Scilly in a gale. The pilot and 15 seamen die.
Thomas W. Lawson was a seven-masted, steel-hulled schooner built for the Pacific trade, but used primarily to haul coal and oil along the East Coast of the United States. Named for copper baron Thomas W. Lawson, a Boston millionaire, stock-broker, book author, and President of the Boston Bay State Gas Co., she was launched in 1902 as the largest schooner and largest sailing vessel without an auxiliary engine ever built.
Thomas W. Lawson was destroyed off the uninhabited island of Annet, in the Isles of Scilly, in a storm on December 14, 1907, killing all but two of her eighteen crew and a harbor pilot already aboard. Her cargo of 58,000 barrels of light paraffin oil caused perhaps the first large marine oil spill.

1913 – Haruna, the fourth and last Kongō-class ship, launches, eventually becoming one of the Japanese workhorses during World War I and World War II.
Haruna (榛名) was a warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War I and World War II. Designed by the British naval engineer George Thurston and named after Mount Haruna, she was the fourth and last battlecruiser of the Kongō class, amongst the most heavily armed ships in any navy when built. Laid down in 1912 at the Kawasaki Shipyards in Kobe, Haruna was formally commissioned in 1915 on the same day as her sister ship, Kirishima. Haruna patrolled off the Chinese coast during World War I. During gunnery drills in 1920, an explosion destroyed one of her guns, damaged the gun turret, and killed seven men. During her career, Haruna underwent two major reconstructions. Beginning in 1926, the Imperial Japanese Navy rebuilt her as a battleship, strengthening her armor and improving her speed and power capabilities. In 1933, her superstructure was completely rebuilt, her speed was increased, and she was equipped with launch catapults for floatplanes. Now fast enough to accompany Japan's growing carrier fleet, Haruna was reclassified as a fast battleship. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Haruna transported Imperial Japanese Army troops to mainland China before being redeployed to the Third Battleship Division in 1941. On the eve of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, she sailed as part of the Southern Force in preparation for the Battle of Singapore.

1944 - Mary B Mitchell was a British and later an Irish schooner, affectionately known as Mary B. wrecked
The Mary B Mitchell was a British and later an Irish schooner, affectionately known as Mary B.. She was a pleasure craft, a war hero, a working schooner, a film star and a transporter of essential cargoes in dangerous waters.

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

15th of December

please use the following link and you will find the details and all events of this day ..... in the following you will find some of the events

Naval/Maritime History - 11th of April - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 14 December 1907 – The Thomas W. Lawson, the largest ever ship without a heat engine, runs aground and founders near the Hellweather's Reef within the Isles of Scilly in a gale. The pilot and 15 seamen die. Thomas W. Lawson was a...

shipsofscale.com

1778 - Battle of St. Lucia.
British squadron of 7 ships, under Samuel Barrington, engaged French Squadron of 12 ships, under Comte d'Estaing.
The Battle of St. Lucia or the Battle of the Cul de Sac was a naval battle fought off the island of St. Lucia in the West Indies during the American Revolutionary War on 15 December 1778, between the British Royal Navy and the French Navy.

1785 – Launch of HMS Woolwich, an Adventure-class frigate
HMS Woolwich was an Adventure-class frigate launched in 1784. She essentially spent her career as a storeship before being wrecked in 1813.


1796 - French expedition to Ireland started at Brest,
known in French as the Expédition d'Irlande ("Expedition to Ireland"), which was finally an unsuccessful attempt
The French expedition to Ireland, known in French as the Expédition d'Irlande ("Expedition to Ireland"), was an unsuccessful attempt by the First French Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars to assist the outlawed Society of United Irishmen, a popular rebel Irish republican group, in their planned rebellion against British rule. The French intended to land a large expeditionary force in Ireland during the winter of 1796–1797 which would join with the United Irishmen and drive the British out of Ireland. The French anticipated that this would be a major blow to British morale, prestige and military effectiveness, and was also intended to possibly be the first stage of an eventual invasion of Britain itself. To this end, the French Directory gathered a force of approximately 15,000 soldiers at Brest under General Lazare Hoche during late 1796, in readiness for a major landing at Bantry Bay in December.

1808 - HMS Flying Fish Schooner (12), Lt. J. G. Goodwin, wrecked on reef to eastward of Point Salines, St. Domingo
HMS Flying Fish was the schooner Revenge, purchased in the West Indies in 1806 for the Royal Navy. She participated in a notable cutting out expedition and in 1807 in the second of the British invasions of the Río de la Plata; she was wrecked in 1808.


1833 – French 74 gun ship Superbe wrecked in storm
Superbe was a Téméraire-class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.

1845 – USS Yorktown captures the slaver Panther off Kabenda, Africa. Previously that September, Yorktown also captured the slavers Pons and Patuxent.
The first USS Yorktown was a 16-gun sloop-of-war of the United States Navy. Used mostly for patrolling in the Pacific and anti-slave trade duties in African waters, the vessel was wrecked off Maio, Cape Verde in 1850.

The sloop of war USS Dale, similar in design to the Yorktown.


1944 - USS Hawkbill (SS 366) sinks the Japanese destroyer Momo west of Luzon.
USS Hawkbill (SS-366), a Balao-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the hawksbill, a large sea turtle (the "-s-" was inadvertently dropped at commissioning.).

Hawkbill (SS-366), launches sideways into the Manitowoc River, 9 January 1944.


1944 - Ōryoku Maru (鴨緑丸, named after Yalu River) was a Japanese passenger cargo ship bombed by American aircraft, killing 200 Allied POWs. Hundreds more died in the months that followed.
Ōryoku Maru (鴨緑丸, named after Yalu River) was a Japanese passenger cargo ship which was commissioned by the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II as a troop transport and prisoner of war (POW) transport ship. Japanese POW transport ships are often referred to as hell ships, due to their notoriously unpleasant conditions and the many deaths that occurred on board. In December 1944, the ship was bombed by American aircraft, killing 200 Allied POWs. Hundreds more died in the months that followed.

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

16th of December

please use the following link and you will find the details and all events of this day ..... in the following you will find some of the events

Naval/Maritime History - 17th of April - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 14 December 1907 – The Thomas W. Lawson, the largest ever ship without a heat engine, runs aground and founders near the Hellweather's Reef within the Isles of Scilly in a gale. The pilot and 15 seamen die. Thomas W. Lawson was a...

shipsofscale.com

1598 - Battle of Noryang
The Battle of Noryang, the last major battle of the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598), was fought between the Japanese navy and the combined fleets of the Joseon Kingdom and the Ming dynasty. It took place in the early morning of 16 December (19 November in the Lunar calendar) 1598 and ended past dawn.
The allied force of about 150 Joseon and Ming Chinese ships, led by admirals Yi Sun-sin and Chen Lin, attacked and either destroyed or captured more than half of the 500 Japanese ships commanded by Shimazu Yoshihiro, who was attempting to link-up with Konishi Yukinaga. The battered survivors of Shimazu's fleet limped back to Pusan and a few days later, left for Japan. At the height of the battle, Yi was hit by a bullet from an arquebus and died shortly thereafter.

Picture of part of a Naval Battle Scroll from the Imjin War


1693 - Launch of HMS Torbay, an 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, at Deptford Dockyard
HMS Torbay was an 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Deptford Dockyard on 16 December 1693.

1773 – American Revolution: Boston Tea Party: Members of the Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawk Indians dump hundreds of crates of tea into Boston harbor as a protest against the Tea Act.
The Boston Tea Party was a political and mercantile protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 16, 1773. The target was the Tea Act of May 10, 1773, which allowed the British East India company to sell tea from China in American colonies without paying taxes apart from those imposed by the Townshend Acts. American Patriots strongly opposed the taxes in the Townshend Act as a violation of their rights. Demonstrators, some disguised as Native Americans, destroyed an entire shipment of tea sent by the East India Company.

1796 - french Séduisant, a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, lead ship of her class, wrecked
Séduisant was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, lead ship of her class.

1805 - HMS Kingfisher (18), Nathaniel Day Cochrane, captured French privateer schooner Elisabeth (14) in the West Indies.
HMS Kingfisher (or King's Fisher or Kingsfisher) was a Royal Navy 18-gun ship sloop, built by John King and launched in 1804 at Dover. She served during the Napoleonic Wars, first in the Caribbean and then in the Mediterranean before being broken up in 1816.

1850 – The Charlotte Jane and the Randolph bring the first of the Canterbury Pilgrims to Lyttelton, New Zealand.
The Canterbury Association was formed in order to establish a colony in what is now the Canterbury Region in the South Island of New Zealand

1900 - The german training ship SMS Gneisenau sinks in storm near harbour of Malaga in Spain. 40 of the crew died.
SMS Gneisenau was a Bismarck-class corvette built for the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) in the late 1870s. The ship was named after the Prussian Field MarshalAugust von Gneisenau. She was the fifth member of the class, which included five other vessels. The Bismarck-class corvettes were ordered as part of a major naval construction program in the early 1870s, and she was designed to serve as a fleet scout and on extended tours in Germany's colonial empire. Gneisenau was laid down in June 1877, launchedin September 1879, and was commissioned into the fleet in October 1880. She was armed with a battery of fourteen 15 cm (5.9 in) guns and had a full ship rig to supplement her steam engine on long cruises abroad.

1907 – The American Great White Fleet begins its circumnavigation of the world.
The Great White Fleet was the popular nickname for the powerful United States Navy battle fleet that completed a journey around the globe from 16 December 1907, to 22 February 1909, by order of United States President Theodore Roosevelt. Its mission was to make friendly courtesy visits to numerous countries, while displaying new U.S. naval power to the world.

1912 – First Balkan War: The Royal Hellenic Navy defeats the Ottoman Navy at the Battle of Elli.
The Battle of Elli (Greek: Ναυμαχία της Έλλης, Turkish: İmroz Deniz Muharebesi) or the Battle of the Dardanelles took place near the mouth of the Dardanelles on 16 December [O.S. 3 December] 1912 as part of the First Balkan War between the fleets of the Kingdom of Greece and the Ottoman Empire. It was the largest sea battle of the Balkan Wars

Elli naval battle, painting by Vasiileios Chatzis


1914 – World War I: Admiral Franz von Hipper commands a raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby.
The Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby on 16 December 1914, was an attack by the Imperial German Navy on the British ports of Scarborough, Hartlepool, West Hartlepool and Whitby. The attack resulted in 592 casualties, many of them civilians, of whom 137 died. The attack caused public outrage towards the German Navy for the attack, and against the Royal Navy for its failure to prevent the raid.

1941 – World War II: The Japanese super-battleship IJN Yamato is commissioned into the Imperial Japanese Navy and transfers the title of Flagship from IJN Nagato.
Yamato (大和) was the lead ship of her class of battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) shortly before World War II. She and her sister ship, Musashi, were the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleships ever constructed, displacing 72,800 tonnes at full load and armed with nine 46 cm (18.1 in) Type 94 main guns, which were the largest guns ever mounted on a warship.

The very large model at the Yamato Museum


1991 - The Salem Express was a passenger ship that sank in the Red Sea
The Salem Express was a passenger ship that sank in the Red Sea. It is controversial due to the loss of life which occurred when she sank shortly after midnight on December 17, 1991.

Salem Express 18 years after the tragedy

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

17th of December

please use the following link and you will find the details and all events of this day ..... in the following you will find some of the events

Naval/Maritime History - 17th of April - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 16 December 1941 – World War II: The Japanese super-battleship IJN Yamato is commissioned into the Imperial Japanese Navy and transfers the title of Flagship from IJN Nagato. Yamato (大和) was the lead ship of her class of battleships...

shipsofscale.com

1691 – Launch of french La Lys, a First Rate ship of the line of the French Royal Navy
The Lys was a First Rank ship of the line of the French Royal Navy, the second vessel in the two-ship Sceptre Class (her sister being the Sceptre).


1717 - HMS Sorlings (1706 - 42) wrecked in a storm on the East Freisland coast, 142 were drowned

1774 – Launch of HMS Nonsuch, a 64-gun Intrepid-class third rate ship of the line
HMS Nonsuch was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 17 December 1774 at Plymouth. She was broken up in 1802

1782 - Launch of French Temeraire, the lead ship of the 74-gun Téméraire class
Téméraire was the lead ship of the Téméraire-class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.

1799 - HMS Glenmore (1796 - 36) and HMS Aimable (1776 - 32) engaged Sirene (1795 - 36) and Bergere (1794 - 18).
On December 17th, the British Glenmore, 36, Captain George Duff, and Aimable, 32, Captain Henry Eaper, with a large convoy, fell in with the French Sirene, 36, Captain J. M. Kenaud, Bergere, 18, Captain Bourdichon, and the Calcutta, East Indiaman, which the French had just captured, off Madeira. The Glenmore mistook the Calcutta for a cut-down ship of the line and stood in chase of her and captured her. Meantime the Aimable pursued the two French warships, and at 1.30 P.M. was out of sight of her consort. She attacked the Bergere, hoping that the Glenmore would come up to her aid; but, when this did not happen and the Sirene wore and stood towards her, she had to draw off. She remained watching the French ships till nightfall, when she rejoined the convoy.


1809 - HMS Sceptre (74), Cptn. Samuel James Ballard, and consorts took Loire (20) and Seine (20) at Anse la Barque, Guadaloupe.
HMS Sceptre was a 74-gun third rate of the Royal Navy, built by Dudman of Deptford after a design by Sir William Rule, and launched in December 1802 at Deptford. She served in the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812 before being broken up in 1821.

1810 - HMS Rinaldo (1808 - 10), James Anderson, engaged four French privateers near the Owers. One, La Vieux Josephine (1810 - 16) was sunk and a second which had struck escaped after Rinaldo ran foul of the Owers light vessel.
HMS Rinaldo (1808) was a 10-gun Cherokee-class brig-sloop launched in 1808. She was converted to a packet brig in 1824 and was sold in 1835.
On the 17th Dec. 1810, the Rinaldo, while on her way from Dover to Spithead, induced four lugger privateers to chase her. It was nearly dark when the two foremost overtook her, and, with a volley from their small-arms, hailed her to strike. One being upon each of her quarters, she tacked, and poured a broadside into each; then, wearing, delivered a second broadside into the larger, which thereupon became unmanageable, and shouted that she was sinking. The second lugger, after endeavouring to run the Rinaldo down, was also reduced to call for quarter. While wearing round, and manning her boats, the brig fouled the Owers lightship, and could not for some time clear herself. This gave opportunity for three of the luggers to make off. The one which sank, unhappily with 77 out of a crew of 80, was the Vieille Josephine, 16. No one in the Rinaldo was hurt.


1812 - The brig USS Argus, commanded by Arthur Sinclair, recaptures the American schooner Vancise during the War of 1812. The ship had been abandoned and found derelict by another ship.
The first USS Argus, originally named USS Merrimack, was a brig in the United States Navy commissioned in 1803. She enforced the Embargo Act of 1807 and fought in the First Barbary War – taking part in the blockade of Tripoli and the capture of Derna – and the War of 1812. During the latter inflict, she had been audaciously raiding British merchant shipping in British home waters for a month, when the heavier British Cruizer-class brig-sloop HMS Pelican intercepted her. After a sharp fight during which Argus's captain, Master Commandant William Henry Allen, was mortally wounded, Argus surrendered when the crew of Pelican were about to board.

Argus during the War of 1812


1851 - The Battle of the Tonelero Pass, also known as Passage of the Tonelero, was a battle fought near the cliff of Acevedo, Argentina, between the Argentine Confederation Army and warships of the Brazilian Imperial Navy
The Battle of the Tonelero Pass, also known as Passage of the Tonelero, was a battle fought near the cliff of Acevedo, in the west bank of the Paraná River, Argentina, on 17 December 1851, between the Argentine Confederation Army commanded by Lucio Norberto Mansilla and warships of the Brazilian Imperial Navy led by John Pascoe Grenfell.

1903 – Launch of French République, a pre-dreadnought battleships of the French Navy;
République was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the French Navy built in the early 1900s. The lead ship of her class, she had only one sister ship: Patrie. The ship was built by the Arsenal de Brest, laid down in December 1901, launched in September 1902, and commissioned into the fleet in December 1906, the same time as the revolutionary British battleship HMS Dreadnought. Armed with a main battery of four 305 mm (12.0 in) guns, she was outclassed by Dreadnought by the time she entered service.

1915 – SMS Bremen, the lead ship of the seven-vessel Bremen class light cruisers, struck two Russian naval mines and sank with the loss of 250 of her crew.
SMS Bremen ("His Majesty's Ship Bremen")[a] was the lead ship of the seven-vessel Bremen class, built by the Imperial German Navy. She was built by the AG Weser shipyard in Bremen, her namesake city. She was laid down in 1902, launched in July 1903, and commissioned into the High Seas Fleet in May 1904. Armed with a main battery of ten 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns and two 45 cm (18 in) torpedo tubes, Bremen was capable of a top speed of 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph).

1917 - While underway off Point Loma, Calif., USS F 1 collides with her sister submarine, USS F 3. With her hull torn open amidships, she rapidly sinks and loses 19 crewmen.
USS F-1 (SS-20) was an F-class submarine. She was named Carp when her keel was laid down by Union Iron Works of San Francisco, California, making her the first ship of the United States Navy named for the carp. She was launched on 6 September 1911 sponsored by Ms. J. Tynan, renamed F-1 on 17 November 1911, and commissioned on 19 June 1912, Lieutenant, Junior Grade J.B. Howell in command.

1939 – World War II: Battle of the River Plate: The Admiral Graf Spee is scuttled by Captain Hans Langsdorff outside Montevideo.
Admiral Graf Spee was a Deutschland-class "Panzerschiff" (armored ship), nicknamed a "pocket battleship" by the British, which served with the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany during World War II. The two sister-ships of her class, Deutschland and Admiral Scheer, were reclassified as heavy cruisers in 1940. The vessel was named after Admiral Maximilian von Spee, commander of the East Asia Squadron that fought the battles of Coronel and the Falkland Islands, where he was killed in action, in World War I. She was laid down at the Reichsmarinewerft shipyard in Wilhelmshaven in October 1932 and completed by January 1936. The ship was nominally under the 10,000 long tons (10,000 t) limitation on warship size imposed by the Treaty of Versailles, though with a full load displacement of 16,020 long tons (16,280 t), she significantly exceeded it. Armed with six 28 cm (11 in) guns in two triple gun turrets, Admiral Graf Spee and her sisters were designed to outgun any cruiser fast enough to catch them. Their top speed of 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph) left only the few battlecruisers in the Anglo-French navies fast enough and powerful enough to sink them.

1941 - First Battle of Sirte
The First Battle of Sirte was fought between the British Royal Navy and the Regia Marina (Italian Royal Navy) during the Mediterranean campaign of the Second World War. The engagement, largely uneventful, took place on 17 December 1941, south-east of Malta, in the Gulf of Sirte.
In the following days, two Royal Navy forces based at Malta ran into an Italian minefield off Tripoli and two British battleships were disabled by Italian manned torpedoes at Alexandria. By the end of December, the balance of naval power in the Mediterranean had shifted in favour of the Italian Fleet.

2009 – MV Danny F II sinks off the coast of Lebanon, resulting in the deaths of 44 people and over 28,000 animals.
Danny F II (originally Don Carlos) was a cargo ship built in 1975 as a car carrier. It was renamed Danny F II when rebuilt as a livestock transporter in 1994. The ship capsized and sank off Lebanon on 17 December 2009, carrying 83 people, 10,224 sheep, and 17,932 cattle. Thirty-nine people were rescued and nine human bodies recovered. The other passengers and animals are presumed to have died.

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

18th of December

please use the following link and you will find the details and all events of this day ..... in the following you will find some of the events

1633 - Birth of Willem van de Velde the Younger (bapt. 18 December 1633; died 6 April 1707), a Dutch marine painter.
A son of Willem van de Velde the Elder, also a painter of sea-pieces, Willem van de Velde, the younger, was instructed by his father, and afterwards by Simon de Vlieger, a marine painter of repute at the time, and had achieved great celebrity by his art before he came to London. By 1673 he had moved to England, where he was engaged by Charles II, at a salary of £100, to aid his father in "taking and making draughts of sea-fights", his part of the work being to reproduce in color the drawings of the elder Van de Velde. He was also patronized by the Duke of York and by various members of the nobility.
He died on 6 April 1707 in London, England, and was buried at St. James's Church.

1669 - Battle of Cádiz (1669)
The Battle of Cádiz, on 18–19 December 1669, took place in the waters near Cádiz between the English fourth-rate frigate Mary Rose under the command of Rear-Admiral John Kempthorne, escorting several merchantmen, and a group of seven pirate ships operating out of Algiers. The incident was recorded and drawn by the engraver Wenceslaus Hollar, with an engraving appearing in John Ogilby's Africa.

1750 – Launch of French Foudroyant, a 80-gun ship of the line at Toulon,
designed by François Coulomb the Younger) – Captured by the British near Cartagena in February 1758 and added to the RN under the same name,

1762 - HMS Temple (70) foundered in the West Indies.
HMS Temple was a 68-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 3 November 1758 at Hull.

Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth for 'Conqueror' (1758) and 'Temple' (1758), both 68-gun Third Rate, two-deckers, based on the design for 'Vanguard' (1748), a 1745 Establishment 68-gun Third Rate, two-decker.


1779 - Combat de la Martinique
French squadron of 3 ships of the line, escorting a 26 ship convoy engaged English squadron of 13 ships of the line and a frigate, blockading Fort Royal, Martinique.10 of the merchant ships were taken and 4 others ran aground and were burnt.
The Combat de la Martinique, or Battle of Martinique, was a naval encounter on 18 December 1779 between a British squadron under Admiral Hyde Parker and a French squadron under Admiral Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte near the island of Martinique in the West Indies.

1793 - the Siege of Toulon (29 August – 19 December 1793) is ending with the Destruction of the french fleet and Evacuation - Part I
The Siege of Toulon (29 August – 19 December 1793) was a military operation by Republican forces against a Royalist rebellion in the southern French city of Toulon.

1810 - HMS Nymphe (36), Cptn. Clay, and HMS Pallas (32), Cptn. G. P. Monke, wrecked near Dunbar in the Firth of Forth after the pilots mistook the light from a lime kiln on the coast for the light on the Isle of May and the light on the island for that on the Bell Rock.

1812 - HMS Alban (1806 - 10), Lt. William Sturges Key, wrecked off Aldeborough, Suffolk
HMS Alban was one of twelve Adonis-class schooners of the Royal Navy and was launched in 1805. She served during the Napoleonic Wars. During the Gunboat War she took part in two engagements with Danish gunboats, during the second of which the Danes captured her. The British recaptured her seven months later, but she was wrecked in 1812.

1867 – Transport Sir George Seymour burnt and abandoned during her voyage to Bombay
Sir George Seymour was built in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear in 1844 by Somes Brothers. She made one voyage transporting convicts to Australia and at least one carrying emigrants to Australia and one to New Zealand. A fire at sea in her cargo in December 1867 forced her crew to abandon her.

1891 – SS Abyssinia (1870) was a British mail liner, Caught fire and sank, in the North Atlantic off Nova Scotia.
Abyssinia (1870) was a British mail liner originally operated by the Cunard Line on the Liverpool–New York route. She later served the Guion Line on the same route and the Canadian Pacific Line in the Pacific. In December 1891, Abyssinia was destroyed mid-Atlantic without loss of life by a fire that started in her cargo of cotton, further highlighting the danger in carrying both cotton and passengers on the same ship.

1944 - Typhoon Cobra, also known as the Halsey's Typhoon struck the United States Pacific Fleet
Adm. Halsey's 3rd Fleet encounters a typhoon northeast of Samar. Destroyers USS Hull (DD 350), USS Spence (DD 512), and USS Monaghan (DD 354) capsized and went down with practically all hands, while a cruiser, five aircraft carriers, and three destroyers suffered serious damage.
Approximately 790 officers and men were lost or killed, with another 80 injured.
Typhoon Cobra, also known as the Typhoon of 1944 or Halsey's Typhoon (named after Admiral William 'Bull' Halsey), was the United States Navy designation for a powerful tropical cyclone that struck the United States Pacific Fleet in December 1944, during World War II.

USS Langley (CVL-27) rolling heavily during Typhoon Cobra, 18 December 1944.

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

19th of December

please use the following link and you will find the details and all events of this day ..... in the following you will find some of the events

Naval/Maritime History - 18th of April - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 18 December 1779 - Combat de la Martinique French squadron of 3 ships of the line, escorting a 26 ship convoy engaged English squadron of 13 ships of the line and a frigate, blockading Fort Royal, Martinique.10 of the merchant ships...

shipsofscale.com

1606 – The ships Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery depart England carrying settlers who founded, at Jamestown, Virginia, the first of the thirteen colonies that became the United States.
Late in 1606, English colonizers set sail with a charter from the London Company to establish a colony in the New World. The fleet consisted of the ships Susan Constant, Discovery, and Godspeed, all under the leadership of Captain Christopher Newport. They made a particularly long voyage of four months, including a stop in the Canary Islands and subsequently Puerto Rico, and finally departed for the American mainland on April 10, 1607. The expedition made landfall on April 26, 1607 at a place which they named Cape Henry. Under orders to select a more secure location, they set about exploring what is now Hampton Roads and an outlet to the Chesapeake Bay which they named the James River in honor of King James I of England. Captain Edward Maria Wingfield was elected president of the governing council on April 25, 1607. On May 14, he selected a piece of land on a large peninsula some 40 miles (64 km) inland from the Atlantic Ocean as a prime location for a fortified settlement. The river channel was a defensible strategic point due to a curve in the river, and it was close to the land, making it navigable and offering enough land for piers or wharves to be built in the future. Perhaps the most favorable fact about the location was that it was not inhabited by nearby Virginia Indian tribes, who regarded the site as too poor and remote for agriculture. The island was swampy and isolated, and it offered limited space, was plagued by mosquitoes, and afforded only brackish tidal river water unsuitable for drinking.

1739 – Launch of French Terrible, a 74 gun ship of the line, at Toulon,
Terrible was originally a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy launched in 1739. Captured on 14 October 1747, she was taken into Royal Navy service as the third rate HMS Terrible.

1744 – Launch of french Renommée, a 30-gun Sirène class frigate at Brest
La Renommée was one of the first 8-pounder armed frigates (frégates du deuxième ordre)
– captured by British Navy 27 September 1747 by HMS Dover , becoming HMS Renown and broken up in 1771.

There is a wonderfull planset of the Renommee by Jean Boudriot from ancre available. See our Planset Review:
https://www.shipsofscale.com/sosforums/index.php?threads/planset-review-la-renommÉe-frégate-de-viii-1744-1-48-jean-boudriot.2696/
A wonderful model in scale 1:48, I was able to see in Rochefort, was the model built by Dominique MAGNEN, a friend of Patrick

MONOGRAPHIE DE LA RENOMMEE - Frégate de 8 - 1744 - Ancre​

8-pdr Frigate LA RENOMMÉE 1744 A monograph with all the timbers construction. New: In addition the 31 Plans at 1 / 36th without Sails - AVAILABLE canopy.

ancre.fr

1778 - French frigate Iphigénie (32) captured sloop HMS Ceres (18), Cdr. James Richard Dacres, off St. Lucia
named Cérès by french but in 1782 recaptured and renamed HMS Raven, in 1783 once more captured by french and named Cérès
HMS Ceres was an 18-gun sloop launched in 1777 for the British Royal Navy that the French captured in December 1778 off Saint Lucia. The French Navy took her into service as Cérès. The British recaptured her in 1782 and renamed her HMS Raven, only to have the French recapture her again early in 1783. The French returned her name to Cérès, and she then served in the French Navy until sold at Brest in 1791.

1782 – Launch of HMS Diadem, a 64-gun Intrepid-class third rate ship of the line
HMS Diadem was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 19 December 1782 at Chatham. She participated in the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1797 under Captain George Henry Towry.

1793 – Launch of french Seine, lead ship of the 42-gun Seine-class frigates
Seine was a 38-gun French Seine-class frigate that the Royal Navy captured in 1798 and commissioned as the fifth rate HMS Seine. On 20 August 1800, Seine captured the French ship Vengeance in a single ship action that would win for her crew the Naval General Service Medal. Seine's career ended in 1803 when she hit a sandbank near the Texel.

1793 – Launch of HMS Pallas, lead ship of the Pallas class frigates
The second HMS Pallas (1793) was a 32-gun fifth rate launched at Woolwich Dockyard in 1793 and wrecked in 1798 on Mount Batten Point, near Plymouth.

1796 – French Revolutionary Wars: Two British frigates under Commodore Horatio Nelson and two Spanish frigates under Commodore Don Jacobo Stuart engage in battle off the coast of Murcia.
Action of 19 December 1796 - HMS Minerve (38), Cptn. George Cockburn, Commodore Horatio Nelson, captured Spanish frigate Santa Sabina (40), Cptn. Don Jacob Steuart, and HMS Blanche (32) engaged Ceres which struck but could not be secured. An approaching Spanish squadron drove them off and the prize was retaken.

1912 – William Van Schaick, captain of the steamship General Slocum which caught fire and killed over one thousand people, is pardoned by U.S. President William Howard Taft after three-and-a-half-years in Sing Sing prison.
The PS General Slocum was a sidewheel passenger steamboat built in Brooklyn, New York, in 1891. During her service history, she was involved in a number of mishaps, including multiple groundings and collisions.




1941 – HMS Neptune sunk by mines off Tripoli, 736 of the crew perished, only one survived
HMS Neptune was a Leander-class light cruiser which served with the Royal Navy during World War II.
Neptune was the fourth ship of its class and was the ninth Royal Navy vessel to carry the name. Built by Portsmouth Dockyard, the vessel was laid down on 24 September 1931, launched on 31 January 1933, and commissioned into the Royal Navy on 12 February 1934 with the pennant number "20".

1944 - USS Redfish (SS 395) sinks the Japanese carrier Unryu - 200 nautical miles southeast of Shanghai, China. In the course of this engagement, Redfish is damaged and terminates her patrol early - Casualties were very heavy with 1,238 officers, crewmen and passengers losing their lives. Only 145 men survived.
The Japanese aircraft carrier Unryū (雲龍 Cloud Dragon) was the lead ship of her class of fleet aircraft carriers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II. She was commissioned in mid-1944, but fuel and aircrew shortages limited her use to Japanese waters. The impending American invasion of Luzon caused the IJN to order her to transport aircraft and supplies to the Philippines in December. The ship was torpedoed and sunk by the American submarine USS Redfish in the East China Sea during the voyage.

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

20th of December

please use the following link and you will find the details and all events of this day ..... in the following you will find some of the events

Naval/Maritime History - 19th of April - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 19 December 1796 - HMS Courageux (1753/1761 - 74), Lt. John Burrows (Act.), struck on rocks under Apes' Hill, coast of Barbary. Courageux was a heavy 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, launched in 1753. She was captured by...

shipsofscale.com

1776 - British frigate HMS Pearl (1762 - 32) captured the Continental Navy brig USS Lexington (14), Cptn William Hallock, off the Delaware capes.
HMS Pearl was a 32-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Niger-class in the Royal Navy. Launched at Chatham Dockyard in 1762, she served in British North America until January 1773, when she sailed to England for repairs. Returning to North America in March 1776, to fight in the American Revolutionary War, Pearl escorted the transports which landed troops in Kip's Bay that September. Towards the end of 1777, she joined Richard Howe's fleet in Narragansett Bay and was still there when the French fleet arrived and began an attack on British positions. Both fleets were forced to retire due to bad weather and the action was inconclusive. Pearl was then dispatched to keep an eye on the French fleet, which had been driven into Boston.

1782 - Battle of the Delaware Capes
HMS Diomede (1781 - 44) took South Carolina (1778 - 30)
The Battle of the Delaware Capes or the 3rd Battle of Delaware Bay was a naval engagement that was fought off the Delaware River towards the end of the American Revolutionary War. The battle took place on 20 and 21 December 1782, some three weeks after the signing of the preliminary articles of peace between Great Britain and the former American colonies, and was an engagement between three British Royal navy frigates HMS Diomede, Quebec and Astraea on the one side, and the South Carolina Navy's 40-gun frigate South Carolina, the brigs Hope and Constance, and the schooner Seagrove on the other. The British were victorious with only Seagrove escaping capture.

1788 – Launch of Spanish San Francisco de Paula, 74 gun ship of the line, at Cartagena
Design
San Ildefonso class has been described as a technical milestone in 18th-century Spanish shipbuilding. Having fought the Royal Navy in various wars the Spanish admirals were concerned that their ships could not match equivalent British vessels for speed. The San Ildefonso incorporated many amendments from traditional Spanish designs in order to improve her speed. Instead of traditional iron bolts holding the hull together the vessel utilised much lighter wooden treenails, the upper parts of the ship were made from pine and cedar instead of oak to reduce weight and lower the centre of gravity and the vessel was constructed shorter in length than a traditional Spanish seventy-four would be.

The Occre - kit

1790 – Launch of French Indomptable ("Indomitable"), a Tonnant-class 80-gun ship of the line
Indomptable ("Indomitable") was a Tonnant-class 80-gun ship of the line in the French Navy, laid down in 1788 and in active service from 1791. Engaged against the Royal Navy after 1794, she was damaged in the Battle of Trafalgar and wrecked near the Spanish city of Cadiz on 24 October 1805.

1797 - Launch of HMS Cruizer (often Cruiser), a Royal Navy Cruizer-class brig-sloop built by Stephen Teague of Ipswich
HMS Cruizer (often Cruiser) was a Royal Navy Cruizer-class brig-sloop built by Stephen Teague of Ipswich and launched in 1797. She was the first ship of the class, but there was a gap of 5 years between her launch and the ordering of the next batch in October 1803; by 1815 a total of 105 other vessels had been ordered to her design. She had an eventful wartime career, mostly in the North Sea, English Channel and the Baltic, and captured some 15 privateers and warships, and many merchant vessels. She also participated in several actions. She was laid up in 1813 and the Commissioners of the Navy sold her for breaking in 1819.

1847 - HMS Avenger Steam-frigate (10), Cptn. C. E. Napier, wrecked on the Sorelli Rocks, off the Island of Galita, Mediterranean. The captain and Lt. Marryat, son of Capt. Frederick Marryat, were among those who went down with the ship.
HMS Avenger was a wooden paddle wheel frigate of the Royal Navy launched in 1845 and wrecked with heavy loss of life in 1847.

1987 – In the worst peacetime sea disaster, the passenger ferry Doña Paz sinks after colliding with the oil tanker Vector in the Tablas Strait in the Philippines, killing an estimated 4,000 people (1,749 official).
MV Doña Paz was a Philippine-registered passenger ferry that sank after colliding with the oil tanker MT Vector on December 20, 1987. Traveling from Leyte island to the Philippine capital of Manila, the vessel was seriously overcrowded, with at least 2,000 passengers not listed on the manifest. In addition, it was claimed that the ship carried no radio and that the life-jackets were locked away. However, official blame was directed at Vector, which was found to be unseaworthy, and operating without a license, lookout or qualified master. With an estimated death toll of 4,386 people and only 24 survivors, it remains the deadliest peacetime maritime disaster in history.

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

21st of December

please use the following link and you will find the details and all events of this day ..... in the following you will find some of the events

Naval/Maritime History - 19th of April - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 19 December 1796 - HMS Courageux (1753/1761 - 74), Lt. John Burrows (Act.), struck on rocks under Apes' Hill, coast of Barbary. Courageux was a heavy 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, launched in 1753. She was captured by...

shipsofscale.com

1522 – Launch of Santa Anna, an early 16th-century carrack of the navy of the Knights Hospitaller.
Santa Anna was an early 16th-century carrack of the navy of the Knights Hospitaller. The war ship was celebrated for her many modern features. While some authors view her lead sheathed hull as an early form of ironclad, others regard it primarily as a means to improve her watertightness.

1779 - Battle of Guadeloupe or the Action of 21–22 December 1779
The Battle of Guadeloupe or the Action of 21–22 December 1779 was a naval engagement that took place off the French island of Guadeloupe in the Caribbean during the American Revolutionary War between three Royal Navy ships and three French Navy frigates. The Royal Navy under Joshua Rowley sighted and promptly chased the French frigates, all of which were captured after a brief fight.

1782 - Launch of HMS Ardent, a Royal Navy 64-gun third rate.
HMS Ardent was a Royal Navy 64-gun third rate. This ship of the line was launched on 21 December 1782 at Bursledon, Hampshire. She disappeared in 1794, believed lost to a fire and explosion.

1796 - HMS Bombay Castle (74) wrecked in the Tagus.
HMS Bombay Castle was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 14 June 1782 at Blackwall Yard. She grounded on 21 December 1796 in the shoals of the Tagus River's mouth.

1807 - Invasion of the Danish West Indies by the British
St. Thomas taken from the Danes by British squadron under Rear Ad. Sir Alexander Cochrane.
The second British Invasion of the Danish West Indies took place in December 1807 when a British fleet captured the Danish islands of St Thomas on 22 December and Santa Cruz on 25 December. The Danes did not resist and the invasion was bloodless. This British occupation of the Danish West Indies lasted until 20 November 1815, when Britain returned the islands to Denmark.

1872 – Challenger expedition: HMS Challenger, commanded by Captain George Nares, sails from Portsmouth, England.
The Challenger expedition of 1872–76 was a scientific exercise that made many discoveries to lay the foundation of oceanography. The expedition was named after the mother vessel, HMS Challenger.
Prompted by Charles Wyville Thomson—of the University of Edinburgh and Merchiston Castle School—the Royal Society of London obtained the use of Challenger from the Royal Navy and in 1872 modified the ship for scientific tasks, equipping her with separate laboratories for natural history and chemistry. The expedition, led by Captain George Nares, sailed from Portsmouth, England, on 21 December 1872. Other naval officers included Commander John Maclear. Under the scientific supervision of Thomson himself, she traveled nearly 70,000 nautical miles (130,000 km) surveying and exploring. The result was the Report Of The Scientific Results of the Exploring Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger during the years 1873-76 which, among many other discoveries, cataloged over 4,000 previously unknown species. John Murray, who supervised the publication, described the report as "the greatest advance in the knowledge of our planet since the celebrated discoveries of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries". Challenger sailed close to Antarctica, but not within sight of it.

1901 - The Discovery Expedition was leaving Lyttelton to the cheers of large crowds, a young able seaman, Charles Bonner, fell to his death from the top of the mainmast, which he had climbed so as to return the crowd's applause. (drawings at the end)
The Discovery Expedition of 1901–04, known officially as the British National Antarctic Expedition, was the first official British exploration of the Antarctic regions since James Clark Ross's voyage sixty years earlier. Organized on a large scale under a joint committee of the Royal Society and the Royal Geographical Society (RGS), the new expedition carried out scientific research and geographical exploration in what was then largely an untouched continent. It launched the Antarctic careers of many who would become leading figures in the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, including Robert Falcon Scott who led the expedition, Ernest Shackleton, Edward Wilson, Frank Wild, Tom Crean and William Lashly.