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

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
7 October 1800 – French corsair Robert Surcouf, commander of the 18-gun ship La Confiance, captures the British 38-gun East Indiaman Kent.


On 7 October 1800, off Sand Heads, near Calcutta, Confiance met the 40-gun East Indiaman Kent, of 824 tons burthen, under Captain Robert Rivington. Kent had rescued the crew of another ship, the Queen, destroyed by fire, and therefore had an exceptionally large complement of 437 men, including her passengers; 300 of them were soldiers and sailors; Surcouf managed to board his larger opponent and, after over an hour and a half of battle across the decks of the ship, seize control of the Kent.

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Capture of Kent by Confiance. Painting by Ambroise Louis Garneray.

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Capture of Kent by Confiance. Painting by Ambroise Louis Garneray

The British had fourteen killed, including the captain, and 44 wounded, while the French suffered five killed and ten wounded. The privateers were then granted one hour of free pillaging on Kent before Surcouf restored order; however, the female passengers were strictly protected and sentries were placed in front of their apartments. Amongst the prisoners were General Frederick St. John and his wife, Arabella Craven.

The first officer of Confiance, Joachim Drieux, was sent on Kent with a 60-man prize crew, while her passengers were released on a merchantman that Surcouf stopped a few days later. Confiance and Kent arrived at the Rade des Pavillons in Port-Louis in November. The capture of Kent became a sensation, and the British Admiralty promised a reward for the capture of Surcouf.

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Surcouf returning to Port-Louis with his prizes (probably on Clarisse).

After her return to Ile de France, Confiance was armed as a merchantman en aventurier with an 89-man crew and loaded with colonial goods for her return to France. On the journey, Surcouf still managed to capture a number of ships, notably the Portuguese Ebre, with eighteen 12-pounder carronades and a 60-man crew; he released her against a ransom of 10,000 piastres and after exchanging her greatmast with that of Confiance.

Upon her return, Confiance ran into the British blockade and was chased by a frigate; Surcouf managed to evade her by throwing overboard all but one of her guns, his boats, anchors, chains and even components of his masts. He eventually arrived at La Rochelle on 13 April 1801.

In France, Navy Minister Truguet attempted to enrol Surcouf in the Navy as an auxiliary officer, which he declined. Hennequin states that Bonaparte himself offered him the rank of Captain and the command of two frigates, which Surcouf declined for fear of losing his freedom of action, and awarded him a Sabre of honour. Surcouf was awarded the Legion of Honour at the founding of the Order, on 19 May 1802.

The Ships
Kent, launched in 1799, was an East Indiaman of the British East India Company. On her first voyage in 1800 she was on her way to Bengal and Bencoolen when the French privateer Robert Surcouf captured her near the mouth of the Ganges.

Capture
Kent left Torbay on 3 May 1800. She was under the command of Robert Rivington, who sailed under a letter of marque dated 28 March 1800. At St. Salvador, she took on 300 persons, including troops and passengers, the survivors of the East Indiaman Queen, which had caught fire there and been destroyed, with in excess of 100 fatalities. Queen and Kent had left Torbay on the same day.

On 7 October Kent encountered the French privateer brig Confiance, of 18 guns and 150 men, under the command of Robert Surcouf.

French account
At some point Kent had rescued the crew and passengers of another ship, destroyed by fire, and therefore had an exceptionally large complement.[8]Including passengers, among whom there were some 100 soldiers, she had 437 persons aboard. Surcouf managed to board his larger opponent and seize control of Kent. The British had 14 men killed, including Rivington, and 44 wounded, while the French suffered five men killed and ten wounded.

British account

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Account of the capture of Kent in The Gentleman's Magazine, October 1800

James reports that Kent fought for almost two hours and that Rivington was killed by a shot to the head as the French boarded. He states that Kent's armament consisted of twenty 12-pounders, and six 6-pounders on her castles, and that Confiance's armament consisted of 20-22 long 8-pounder guns. He speculates that if Kent had carried 18 or 24-pounder carronades instead of the long 6-pounders, she might have been able to use grapeshot to deter boarding. He further reports that in addition to her crew of 100 or so, she had some 38 male and three female passengers, including seven or eight passengers that she had picked up at St. Salvador, after a fire there had destroyed the Indiaman Queen on 9 July. Apparently some four or five passengers were among the British dead, and there were also passengers among the wounded. James attributes the crew being overwhelmed by the boarders to a shortage of swords, pikes and pistols.

Another account estimates the number of persons on Kent as under 200, and gives the casualties as 11 killed and 44 wounded on the British side, and 16 wounded (of whom three later died), on the French side. The passengers included General St. John, his wife, three daughters, two other women, and St. John's aide, Captain Pilkington, who had been wounded. Surcouf put them into a passing Arab merchantman and they arrived shortly thereafter in Calcutta.

Aftermath
Surcouf put his first officer, Joachim Drieux, aboard Kent, together with a 60-man prize crew. Surcouf released the passengers on a merchantman that he stopped a few days later. Confiance and Kent arrived at the Rade des Pavillons in Port Louis, Mauritius, in November. The capture of Kent became a sensation, and the British Admiralty promised a reward for the capture of Surcouf.

Her captors sold Kent for 30,900 piastres to a Danish shipping company, which renamed her Cronberg. She left on 21 March, but as she approached Denmark passing vessels informed her that a British fleet had attacked Copenhagen; she therefore waited some weeks in Fleckeroë before it was safe to proceed to arrive in Kristiansand in June 1801, and at Copenhagen on 16 July.

The EIC put the value of its cargo lost on Kent at £28,676.


Confiance, launched in 1797, was a privateer corvette from Bordeaux, famous for being Robert Surcouf's ship during the capture of the British East India Company's East Indiaman Kent. The British Royal Navy captured Confiance in 1805, took her into service under her existing name, and sold her in 1810. Before she was sold, Confiance took part in two notable actions.

French service
Completed in Bordeaux in November 1797, Confiance capsized at her launch and had to be refloated. On 3 February 1799 Confiance captured Echo as Echo was sailing from the Cape of Good Hope for London. Confiance sent Echo into France. 1799 Confiance was commissioned under Aurnaud Taudin in May 1799.

On 24 December 1799, Confiance encountered the American ship Atlantic and the British East India Company "extra ship" (chartered ship) Eliza Ann near the Sandheads in the Bay of Bengal. The engagement was inconclusive both that day and the next morning. Confiance broke off the action and sailed away early on Christmas morning.

In May 1800, Confiance was recommissioned in Île de France and her command was awarded to Robert Surcouf, with a complement of 23 officers and 190 men, and an armament of six 8-pounder long guns, sixteen 6-pounders and two 36-pounder obusiers de vaisseau. On 7 October, she encountered the East Indiaman Kent and captured her after a fierce battle; an 81-man prize crew under Joachim Drieux brought Kent to Île de France (Mauritius), where she was sold for 30,900 piastres.

In 1801, Confiance had her crew reduced to 89 men and sailed en aventurier to La Rochelle, loaded with colonial goods for her return to France. On the journey, Surcouf still managed to capture a number of ships, notably the Portuguese Ebre, with eighteen 12-pounder carronades and a 60-man crew; he released her against a ransom of 10,000 piastres and after exchanging her great mast for that of Confiance. After her arrival in France, Confiance was commissioned as a merchantman under Paul Castanet from May 1802.

Capture
By late 1803, she served in Muros, Spain, under Captain Roque and later under Papin. On 4 June 1805, HMS Loire attacked the town of Muros, in Spain, and captured Confiance, as well as her consort Bélier. Loire had six men wounded in the landing party that captured a fort, a battery, and the two vessels, and nine men wounded on Loire by fire from the batteries before the British could capture them. The Spaniards lost 12 men killed, including the commander of the fort and Confiance's 2nd captain, and 30 men wounded, including most of Confiance's officers. Captain Frederick Maitland, of Loire, reported that Confiance was a "very fit Ship for His Majesty's Service; is reckoned to sail excessively fast; was to have gone to Sea in a few Days, bound to India, with a Complement of 300 men". Maitland burnt Bélier, which he described as also fitting for sea, "supposed to be destined to cruise to Westward of Cape Clear."

The action led to promotion to Commander for Lieutenant James Lucas Yeo, who commanded the cutting out party. Lloyd's Patriotic Fund awarded a sword worth 150 guineas to Maitland, and two swords, each worth 50 guineas, to lieutenants Yeo and Mallock.

HMS Confiance
The British commissioned Confiance into the Royal Navy in June as an 18-gun sloop under the newly promoted Commander James Yeo, and for the Channel. (Confiance kept her status as a sloop until 1807, when the Admiralty re-rated her as a sixth rate. She remained at Plymouth from 19 June to 14 March 1806 undergoing fitting out.)

Confiance shared with Hero, Iris, and Révolutionnaire in the proceeds from the recapture on 11 January 1807 of the schooner Monarch.

On 18 August, as Confiance was sailing to Oporto, Yeo received information that the Reitrada, a small Spanish privateer lugger that had been active along the coast of Portugal, was anchored at La Guardia. Yeo sent in a cutting out party in Confiance's boats. They captured the lugger, which was armed with one 12 and two 4-pounder guns, and had a crew of 30 men. The Spaniards had one man killed, several wounded, and the rest of the crew jumped overboard. The privateer had sheltered under the guns of two forts, which fired on the boats as they came in. One fort was armed with four 24-pounder guns and the other with six 18-pounder guns; there were also 150 troops. Despite the Spaniards' fire, the British sustained no casualties.

Confiance sailed to Portugal on 16 January 1808. The French had captured Lisbon and the Royal Navy was maintaining a blockade in the Tagus where the onset of the Anglo-Russian War had trapped a squadron of Russian ships under the command of Vice-Admiral Dmitry Senyavin. Confiance was off the Tagus when on 13 February she sent her cutter and jolly boat, with 15 men under the command of Master's Mate R. Trist, to row picket because of rumours that Senyavin was about to leave. Trist observed a French gun-vessel anchored under the guns of Fort San Pedro, between Fort Belem and Fort Julian. He immediately attacked, capturing Gunboat #1, which was armed with one 24-pounder gun and two 6-pounder carronades. She had 100 stands of arms aboard, and a crew of 50 men under the command of ensign de vaisseau Gandolphe. The British suffered no casualties; the French had three men killed and nine wounded. Trist, who had passed his exams for Lieutenant a year earlier, received promotion to that rank for his feat. In 1847 the Admiralty issued the Naval General Service Medal (NGSM) with clasp "13 Feb. Boat Service 1808" to all surviving claimants from the action.

Confiance next sailed to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. On 14 January 1809 Confiance captured Cayenne.

Main article: Portuguese conquest of French Guiana
Yeo received permission from the commander-in-chief of the Royal Navy's Brazil station, Admiral Sir Sidney Smith to mount an operation against the French. Yeo took Confiance, two armed Portuguese brigs, an unarmed Portuguese brig, a Portuguese cutter, and 4-500 Portuguese soldiers, and sailed to Oyapoc, in French Guiana, which they captured on 8 December 1808.[Note 3] A week later they captured Appruagoc (or Appruague).

Emboldened by the ease of their victories, Yeo and the Portuguese commander then decided to attack Cayenne. They captured three forts and defeated the French forces under the command of Victor Hugues, the French governor. British casualties were only one man killed and 23 men wounded.

On 13 January 1809, while Yeo was on shore with three-quarters of Confiance's crew, seamen and marines, the French frigate Topaze approached Cayenne. She was carrying flour and was under orders to avoid combat, but the British did not know that. Midshipman G. Yeo, Yeo's younger brother, another midshipman, the remaining 25 men of the crew, and 20 local Negroes that the two midshipmen induced to join them, set sail towards Topaze. Topaze, judging from the sloop's boldness that she had company that would be forthcoming, turned away. A few days later HMS Cleopatra captured Topaze.

King George knighted James Yeo in 1810 for his victory. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Confiance 14 Jany. 1809" to all surviving claimants from the operation.

Fate
The Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy offered the "Confiance Sloop, 560 [Tons Burthen]", lying at Deptford, for sale on 22 December 1810. She sold on that day. She appears to have sailed as a merchantman at least until 1816.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Surcouf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_(1799_ship)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
7 October 1807 - Boats of (the brand new) HMS Porcupine (1807 - 22), Cptn. Hon. Henry Duncan, cut out Italian gunboat Safo, Ensign Antonio Ghega, from tthe harbour of Zupaino, Adriatic.


HMS Porcupine was a Royal Navy Banterer-class post ship of 24 guns, launched in 1807. She served extensively and relatively independently in the Adriatic and the Western Mediterranean during the Napoleonic Wars, with her boats performing many cutting out expeditions, one of which earned for her crew the Naval General Service Medal. She was sold for breaking up in 1816 but instead became the mercantile Windsor Castle. She was finally sold for breaking up in 1826 at Mauritius.

Design
Porcupine was rated a 24-gun ship and the original plan was that she would mount that number of long 9-pounders on her main deck plus two 6-pounder guns on her forecastle. She also carried ten 24-pounder carronades on her quarter-deck and forecastle. By the time that Captain the Honorable Henry Duncan commissioned her in March 1807, the Admiralty had added two brass howitzers to her armament, while exchanging her 9-pounders for 32-pounder carronades. Her complement was increased by twenty to 175 officers, men and boys.

Service
Porcupine entered service in March 1807, operating in the Mediterranean Fleet during the Napoleonic Wars under the command of Captain Henry Duncan. Detached to serve on independent command in the Adriatic Campaign, Porcupine fought numerous minor actions with shore batteries and coastal merchant ships.

Adriatic
On 23 September 1807, she captured the Fortuna. Then on 7 October Porcupine chased a trabaccolo into the harbour of Zupaino on Šipan (Giuppana), the largest of the Elaphiti Islands. That evening Duncan sent his boats, under the command of Lieutenant George Price, with Lieutenant Francis Smith, into the harbour where they captured and brought out the trabaccolo, which was the Venetian gunboat Safo. She was armed with a 24-pounder gun and some swivel guns, and had a crew of some 50 men, all under the command of enseigne de vaisseau Anthonio Ghega. She was well moored to the shore and was expecting an attack. Even so, once the British arrived, most of the crew jumped overboard. Safo belonged to a division of gunboats deployed to protect the coast and had been sent out from Ragusa (Dubrovnik) three days earlier. Also, before entering the harbour, the British captured a guard boat with one 4-pounder swivel gun. Despite the resistance, the Porcupine had only two men wounded.

Between 23 September and 23 November, Porcupine captured some 40 enemy vessels, most of which were carrying grain and wine between Ragusa and Catero (Kotor). Duncan received intelligence that the French were going to fortify the island of Curzola. He therefore kept Porcupine between the island and Ragusa. On 27 November Lieutenant Price in the cutter captured two small vessels sailing from Ragusa; small arms fire from the shore wounded one man. Two days later Price went into the harbour of Zuliano where he destroyed several small vessels and wine in warehouses that was intended for French troops. He brought out the only vessel afloat, a trabaccolo carrying a cargo of wool. As he was leaving the port another trabaccolo approached and before Porcupine could intercept it, Price had captured it too. She was sailing from Ragusa to Curzola with military stores, including two 6½" brass mortars, two 5½" brass howitzers, four new carriages for 18-pounder guns, together with material for constructing a shore battery as well as shot and shell. Duncan was able to get the guns and most of the stores on to Porcupine before a gale came up, which forced him to destroy the two trabaccolos.

Porcupine's next exploit occurred on 7 January 1808. After a chase of eight hours, Porcupine captured the French transport Saint Nicolo. She was armed with two guns, had a crew of 16 sailors, and also had on board 31 soldiers from the 6th Regiment of the Line. She was 36 hours out of Tarento. Finding out from the prize that another vessel had left four hour earlier, Duncan set out to find her in the channel between Paxos and Corfu. He was successful in intercepting his quarry, which turned out to be Madonna del Carmine. She was armed with six guns, had a crew of 20 men, and was carrying 33 soldiers, also from the 6th Regiment. Both vessels were on their first voyage and were carrying cargoes of grain and gunpowder for the garrison at Corfu.

Western Mediterranean
Next, Duncan was ordered to cruise in the Western Mediterranean off Naples and continued his successful operations against coastal shipping. Following the outbreak of the Peninsular War, Duncan was ordered to take the Duke of Orléans to Cadiz. Duncan refused and was subject to disparaging comments about his age, although he was later proven correct in his assessment. In June 1808, Robert Elliott was appointed to replace Duncan; however, some months elapsed before he was able to do so.

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Civitavecchia in 1795, etching by William Marlow.

On 23 June a French vessel exited Civitavechia and tried to elude Porcupine. However, Porcupine succeeded in running her ashore between two towers, each armed with two cannons. Lieutenant Price took in the boats and succeeded in destroying her, without suffering any casualties and despite heavy fire from the towers. The vessel was from Ischia and was sailing with a cargo of wine.

Two days later, Porcupine was off the island of Monte Christo when a daylight she encountered a French schooner. After an 11-hour chase, Porcupine succeeded in capturing her about four leagues south of Bastia. The French crew abandoned their vessel and escaped before Porcupine could take possession of her. She was the Nouvelle Enterprise, three weeks old, pierced for 14 guns but only mounting six. She was 24 hours out of Leghorn and was carrying bale goods for Scala Nova in Turkey.

However, on 9 July Duncan spotted an enemy merchant vessel, and her escorts, two gunboats, each armed with a 24-pounder gun, all sailing along the coast.[9]Porcupine was becalmed off Monte Circello, Romania so Duncan sent in her boats. After rowing eight hours in the heat, the boats succeeded in driving the merchant vessel on shore and the gunboats to take shelter under the guns of two shore batteries at Port d'Anzo (Anzio). Three more French vessels arrived and succeeded in getting into the harbour. One of the vessels was a large polacca of six guns, and she anchored a little further out than the other vessels. That evening Duncan sent in the boats again to cut her out. The polacca, which had a crew of some 20-30 men, was expecting an attack and had tied her to the beach. French soldiers were on the beach, and the polacca was within close range of the batteries, a tower, and the gunboats. Still, the British succeeded in capturing her and getting her out to sea, though it took them about an hour and twenty minutes to do so. The polacca had been sailing from Hieres Bay to Naples with a cargo of salt. In the attack, the British suffered eight men wounded, including Lieutenant Price, who was severely injured in his head and leg. He received a promotion to commander for this and earlier achievements in some 30 boat actions. In 1847 the Admiralty issued the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "10 July Boat Service 1808" to all surviving claimants from the action.

On 10 July, Porcupine captured Madonna de Rosario. Eleven days later, Porcupine ran a French polacca ashore near Monte Circello. Lieutenant Smith took in the boats and destroyed the polacca, which was of about 200 tons burthen (bm) and which had been carrying a cargo of iron hoops and staves. The cutting out expedition suffered no casualties though it came under fire from a tower with two guns located no more than a pistol-shot away.

After dark on 8 August, Porcupine, still under the command of Duncan, had her cutter and jolly boat under Lieutenant Francis Smith cut out a vessel she had run ashore on the island of Pianosa. The cutting out party was successful, bringing out Concepcion, which was armed with four guns. She had been lying within 30 yards of a tower and a shore battery of six guns. She was also defended by soldiers on the beach and one of her guns which she had landed. She had been carrying bale goods from Genoa to Cyprus. The action cost Porcupine one man killed, and a lieutenant and eight men severely wounded, with three men later dying of their wounds.[6] Smith might have received a promotion for this and prior actions but Duncan's letter to Admiral Collingwood was lost and the duplicate arrived only after Collingwood had died in March 1810.

Channel
By 14 July 1810, Elliot had assumed command of Porcupine. On that day the sailing master for Porcupine impressed an American sailor, Isaac Clark, from Jane out of Norfolk, Virginia. Elliott tore up the seaman's protection (a document attesting to his being an American citizen and so exempt from British impressment), declaring the man an Englishman. Over the next few weeks Elliott had Clark whipped three times (each whipping consisting of 24 lashes) when Clark refused to go on duty, and held in irons on bread and water. After nine weeks Clark surrendered. He served on Porcupine for two and a half years, being wounded in an engagement with a French frigate. Eventually he was transferred to Impregnable and then to a hospital due to ongoing problems with his wound. There the American consul was able to get him released and discharged, a copy of the protection having been forwarded from Salem, Massachusetts. Clark further testified that there were seven Americans aboard Porcupine, three of whom had agreed to serve.

In 1811, Porcupine was ordered to sail to Brazil and returned to Portsmouth. She was at Portsmouth on 31 July 1812 when the British authorities seized the American ships there and at Spithead on the outbreak of the War of 1812. She therefore shared, with numerous other vessels, in the subsequent prize money for these vessels: Belleville, Aeos, Janus, Ganges, and Leonidas.

Porcupine later joined the squadron off Bordeaux, assisting the British advance during the Peninsular War. Porcupine, while under command of Captain John Goode and carrying the flag of Rear-Admiral Charles Penrose, through early 1814 operated against French coastal positions and squadrons.

On the morning of 23 February 1814, she and the other vessels of Penrose's flotilla assisted the British Army in its crossing of the Ardour river, near Bayonne. In this service two of Porcupine's seamen drowned, as did some others from the flotilla when boats overturned crossing the bar on the coast.

On 2 April Captain Goode, who had ascended the Gironde above Pouillac, sent Porcupine's boats, under the orders of Lieutenant Robert Graham Dunlop, to pursue a French flotilla that was proceeding down from Blaye to Tallemont. As the British boats approached them, the French flotilla ran on shore under the cover of about 200 troops from Blaye who lined the beach. Dunlop landed with a party of seamen and marines and drove the French off. The landing party remained until the tide allowed them to take away most of the French vessels. The British captured a gun-brig, six gun-boats, one armed schooner, three chasse-marées, and an imperial barge, and burned a gun-brig, two gun-boats, and a chasse-marée. Total British casualties were two seamen missing and 14 seamen and marines wounded.

Porcupine returned to Plymouth from Bordeaux on 6 September 1814. On 4 November she sailed to the Coast of Africa and thence to the Cape of Good Hope before coming back to Sierra Leone on 29 April 1815.

Dis-osal: On 16 October 1815 Porcupine arrived at Deal and sailed for the river to be paid off. She arrived at Woolwich on 6 November and was paid off and laid up in ordinary. Although there were some plans for her to serve on the South America station, she never sailed again for the Royal Navy. Porcupine was sold at Woolwich Dockyard in April 1816 for breaking up.

Merchantman and loss
However, rather than breaking her up, J. Short & Co., purchased her, converted her to a merchantman and renamed her Windsor Castle. Her owners traded with India under a license from the British East India Company The supplemental pages for Lloyd's Register for 1816 show her master as "Hornblower", and her trade as London-India. In 1818 her master was T. Hoggart and her trade was London-Bengal.

On 1 June 1826, she put into Mauritius leaking badly. There she was surveyed, condemned as a constructive total loss, and sold for breaking up.

Post script
In January 1819, the London Gazette reported that Parliament had voted a grant to all those who had served under the command of Lord Viscount Keith in 1812, between 1812 and 1814, and in the Gironde. Porcupine was listed among the vessels that had served under Keith in 1813 and 1814. She had also served under Kieth in the Gironde.


Timeline of the Adriatic campaign of 1807–14
The Adriatic campaign of 1807–1814 was a struggle for supremacy in the Adriatic Sea between the French Navy and the British Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. The early stages of the campaign saw extensive activity between rival frigate squadrons, climaxing at the Battle of Lissa in 1811 at which the last major French force was destroyed and its commander killed. The subsequent campaign was characterised by sustained raids by British warships on French and Italian convoys, warships and coastal positions across the Adriatic, culminating in the capture of several key French port cities in 1813, during the War of the Sixth Coalition.

The campaign developed following the Treaty of Tilsit in 1807, in which the Russian Navy agreed to withdraw from the Adriatic. For the next seven years, the Royal Navy sought to disrupt French and Italian military and commercial sea traffic, as well as the movement of troops and supplies to the Illyrian Provinces. Command of the Adriatic partially rested on control of the Ionian Islands, which lie outside the Straits of Otranto but could be used to blockade the passage if properly garrisoned. To this end, the French heavily fortified the island of Corfu, but were unable to consistently maintain an effective naval squadron to dispute British operations in the Adriatic. Exploiting French weakness at sea, British cruisers were able to defeat successive French squadrons sent to reinforce the region and exerted total dominance in the Adriatic and Ionian seas.

The campaign in the Adriatic has been credited with having a significant effect on the wider war through the disruption of French forces in the Balkans. It has been suggested that Napoleon intended to invade the Ottoman Empire following the War of the Fifth Coalition, but was dissuaded in part due to the difficulty of supplying a force in the region without control of the Adriatic, his attention eventually turning to Russia.[5] The campaign also had effects on the morale and effectiveness of the French fleet, which lost some of its best commanders and frigates in the campaign, and on the Austrian advance on Italy in 1813, when French defence lines were repeatedly out-flanked by British attacks from the sea.

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The Battle of Lissa. Engraving by Henri Merke after a painting by George Webster, 1812

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Porcupine_(1807)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Adriatic_campaign_of_1807–14
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
7 October 1807 – Launch of HMS Zenobia, a 18-gun Cruizer-class brig-sloop by Brindley at King’s Lynn.


Although she served during the Napoleonic Wars she is known for her role in two events, the claiming of Ascension Island for Great Britain in 1815, and the naming of the Saumarez Reefs in 1823. She was broken up in 1835.

large.jpg
Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the framing profile (disposition) for Ferret (1806), Swallow (1805), Musquito (1804), Scorpion (1803), Scout (1804), Dispatch (1804), Minorca (1805), Racehorse (1806), Rover (1808), Avon (1805), Surinam (1805), Amaranthe (1804), Calyspo (1805), Wolverine (1805), Weazle (1805), Espoir (1804), Moselle (1804), Leveret (1806), Bellette (1806), Mutine (1806), Emulous (1806), Alacrity (1806), Philomel (1806), Frolick (1806), Recruit (1806), Royalist (1807), Grasshopper (1806), Columbine (1806), Pandora (1806), Forester (1806), Foxhound (1806), Primrose (1807), Cephalus (1807), Procris (1806), Raleigh (1806), Carnation (1807), Redwing (1806), Ringdove (1806), Philomel (1806), Sappho (1806), Peacock (1806), Clio (1807), Pilot (1807), Magnet (1807), Derwent (1807), Eclypse (1807), Sparrowhawke (1807), Eclaire (1807), Nautilus (1807), Barracouta (1807), Zenobia (1807), Peruvian (1808), Pelorus (1808), Doterel/Dotterel (1808), Charybidis (1809), Hecate (1809), Rifleman (1809), Sophie (1809), Echo (1809), Arachne (1809), Castillian (1809), Persian (1809), Trinculo (1809), Crane (1809), Thracian (1809), Scylla (1809), and those built of fir, including Raven (1804), Saracen (1804), Beagle (1804), Harrier (1804), Elk (1804), and Reindeer (1804), all 18-gun Brig Sloops built in private yards. The plan includes alterations for when the ships were repaired dated September 1817.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/83931.html#GrTymwRQKomve1zR.99


Napoleonic Wars and War of 1812
Commander Alexander K. Mackenzie commissioned her and remained her captain until July 1812. During that time she was in the North Sea and visited Portugal at least twice.

Zenobia was one of the Royal Navy vessels involved in the ill-fated Walcheren Campaign, which started on 30 July 1809. In August she was part of the light squadron under Sir Edward Owen and participated in the bombardment of Flushing. British forces withdrew in December. On 26 November Zenobia captured the Danish Ship Twee Gebroeders.

In early January 1810 Zenobia sent Emanuel, Findrup, master, of Christiana, into Yarmouth.

On 18 September 1810 she joined Venerable in the chase and capture of Alexander, a French ketch privateer of 16 guns (but only four mounted). Alexander was on her first cruise out of Saint-Malo and had captured the schooner Peggy. On 24 October Zenobia sailed for Portugal.

Zenobia sailed for Portugal on 24 January 1812, and in July Commander Richard Foley assumed command. The next month Zenobia captured the American ships Cordelia, Salter, master (14 August), Catherine, Allen, master, (17 August) and America, Hilbert, master (24 August). Cordelia, of St. Ubes, arrived in Lisbon on 19 August. Catherine, of St Michaels, arrived there on 23 August. America had been sailing from Baltimore to Lisbon and arrived at Plymouth on 8 September. Cordelia reached Plymouth on 19 September. Catherine arrived at Plymouth on 2 October. The London Gazette report of a grant of two-thirds of the value of the detained vessels states that the detainment took place prior to hostilities.

In December, Zenobia detained and sent into Gibraltar George and Albert, Dashiel, master. George and Albert had been sailing from Baltimore to Gibraltar.

In late January or early February 1813, Zenobia captured Little James, which was sailing from Lisbon to America. However, the American privateer Paul Jones, of 16 guns and 120 men, recaptured Little James. She was only one of a number of vessels that Paul Jones captured at around this time. However, the gun-brig Rebuff recaptured James (aka Little James), May, master, and sent her into Gibraltar in February.

On 25 June 1813 Zenobia captured the American ship Hindostan. The initial payment of prize money amounted to ₤5000. Two days later Zenobia captured Isabella. Isabella, Shepheard, master, had been sailing from New Orleans to Cadiz.

At about the same time Zenobia detained Hepsa, Bailey, master, which had been sailing from New York to Lisbon.

On 3 January 1814 Zenobia captured Wellington.

On 7 June Foley received promotion to post-captain and Commander Nicholas Charles Dobree assumed command.

Under Dobree, Zenobia recaptured William & Alfred on 5 January 1815 and Diana on 3 March. The American privateer Harpy had captured William & Alfred off Cape Finisterre three days before as she was sailing from London to Antigua. Zenobia sent her into Lisbon on 10 January, minus part of the cargo, which Harpy had taken. The privateer James Munro had captured Diana, of Greenock, Ferguson, master. Diana had been sailing from Alicante to Londonderry when James Munro captured her. After Zenobia had recaptured Diana, Zenobia took Diana into Lisbon.

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Ascension Island
Zenobia, under Commander Nicholas Charles Dobree, together with her sister ship Peruvian, under Captain James Kearney White, had been part of the flotilla under Rear Admiral George Cockburn that had taken Napoleon into his final exile at St Helena. Cockburn was concerned that the French might use Ascension Island, uninhabited at the time, to stage a rescue mission. He therefore decided to claim and garrison the island. On 22 October 1815, at 5pm, Zenobia and Peruvian anchored in Clarence Bay. The ships' logs record that at 5.30pm, Dobree and White came ashore, raised the Jack, and took possession of the island in the name of His Britannic Majesty, King George III. Zenobia left shortly thereafter, while Peruvian stayed until Spring. On 8 April 1816 Zenobia arrived in Plymouth and was laid up.

Napoleon died on St Helena in 1821 and the Admiralty wanted to withdraw the garrison. However, Sir George Collier, Commodore of the West Africa Squadron, persuaded the Admiralty to retain it as it had become a victualing station for the vessels of the squadron, which was engaged in anti-slavery patrols. It also provided a sanatorium for the squadron's ships and crew. The Admiralty later designated Ascension Island "HMS Ascension", a "Stone sloop of War of the smaller class".

Saumarez Reefs

Satellite view of Saumarez Reefs

Lieutenant John Lihou, then Master of Zenobia, was on passage from Manila to South America and had chosen a route through Torres Strait. This was the first occasion a ship had navigated the Torres Strait from west to east. It was also the first occasion a ship traversed the Coral Sea from Torres Strait, south-eastward to the southward of New Caledonia. Lihou saw Sir James Saumarez' Shoal (now Saumarez Reefs) on 27 February 1823, and named the reef system after Vice-Admiral James Saumarez. On this same trip, Lihou discovered the Lihou Reef and Cays and Port Lihou. Zenobia left Sydney, New South Wales, in April.

Please note that this information appears to be incorrect and confuses two ships of the same name. The Zenobia captained by John Lihou was a 550-ton merchant vessel built at Calcutta. Port Lihou, on the southern shore of Prince of Wales Island, was originally named by Lihou as Port Yarborough. A description of Lihou's discovery of Port Yarborough is given in James Horsburgh's India Directory, vol. 1, 1841, and a brief account of Lihou's voyage through the Torres Strait, during which he lost four anchors and a rudder, is found in the Sydney Gazette of April 1823.

Fate
On 6 August 1835 the Navy Office offered Zenobia for sale by Dutch auction for £1600 but had to take her in at £890. Later that month a Mr. Tibbett bought her for £650 for breaking up.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Zenobia_(1807)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruizer-class_brig-sloop
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
7 October 1864 - The Bahia incident / USS Washusett captures Confederate raider CSS Florida in harbor of Bahia, Brazil.


The Bahia incident was a naval skirmish fought in late 1864 during the American Civil War. A Confederate States Navy warship was captured by a Unionwarship in Bahia Harbor, Brazil. The engagement resulted in a United States victory, but also sparked an incident with the Brazilian government, which claimed the Americans had violated Brazil's neutrality by illegally attacking a vessel in their harbor.

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"Cutting out the Florida from Bahia, Brazil by the U.S.S. Wachusett." 19th Century phototype print by F. Gutekunst, Philadelphia. It depicts the capture of CSS Florida by USS Wachusett at Bahia, Brazil, on 7 October 1864.

Background
In late 1864, the nine gun sloop-of-war CSS Florida with 146 officers and crew headed south along the South American coast for the Pacific. She was in need of repairs and coal so her commander Lieutenant Charles Manigault Morris pulled into Bahia, Brazil at night on October 4, 1864 after a sixty-one day cruise. Unknown to the Confederates, the Union sloop-of-war USS Wachusett was nearby, under Commander Napoleon Collins. Wachusett launched a boat and sent her towards the Florida; once nearby, the Union sailors called out to the rebel crew, asking the name of their ship. Unaware who was making the inquiry, the rebels called out that the ship was the Florida and then asked what ship the sailors in the boat were from. The Union sailors responded that they were from HMS Curlew and returned to the Wachusett, then still out of sight of the Florida.

The next morning, the Confederates spotted Wachusett as she sailed into Bahia harbor and anchored at the entrance of the bay. Later that day Morris met with the Provincial President of Bahia Antônio Joaquim da Silva Gomes, who gave him two days to repair and coal his vessel but said that he felt Floridawas the cause of the standoff and if a battle occurred in Bahia harbor, the Imperial Brazilian Navy would be forced to retaliate against whoever fired the first shot. An admiral at the meeting suggested that Florida move closer to his sloop so that the Union ship would have a harder time of attacking the rebel vessel. The citadels of Bahia, Fort Santa Maria and Fort Barra, were put on high alert. Morris did as the admiral suggested and moved his ship closer to shore. Another boat from the Wachusett approached and delivered a letter to the Florida addressed "Captain Morris sloop Florida". The rebels rejected the letter because, as one of the Confederates told the Union sailors, the ship was not sloop Florida but CSS Florida.

Commander Collins would not address the letter CSS Florida as it would be recognizing the government in rebellion. Collins then sent an American consulnamed De'Videcky to the Confederates with another message but before delivering it he first read aloud a letter addressed to him. In it Collins requested that Mr. De'Videcky challenge the rebels to fight. Hearing this, Lieutenant Morris told De'Videcky that he would not attack the Union sloop and would leave harbor once he had completed his mission. However, Morris stated that if attacked he would make every effort to defend his ship and destroy the Wachusett.

Incident

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CSS Florida

The remainder of October 6 went on without incident until 3:00 am on October 7. At this time the Wachusett weighed anchor and headed for an attack on the Florida. The vessel opened fire with her 6-inch guns at a distance of five-eighths of a mile but rough weather prevented these shells from hitting so she ceased fire. Lieutenant Morris along with half of the Florida's crew were ashore sleeping and did not participate in the battle, in charge of the Florida was Acting Master Thomas T. Hunter. Due to the darkness the Confederates could not spot the incoming Wachusett until she was within musket's range. Master Hunter ordered his men to raise the naval ensign and open fire, they did so not with cannon but with pistols and muskets. Several lead balls struck the Wachusett and wounded three men so the Union sailors were ordered to return fire with their small arms while the ship maneuvered to line up for a full broadside.

When she came into position, Wachusett fired again with her main guns. Several shots from the 6-inchers and pivot guns hit the Florida starboard which raked her bulwarks and removed her mizzenmast. Wachusett backed off and called out demanding the rebels surrender. When this call was unanswered the Wachusett fired again and approached the Florida for her capture. Collins ordered his men to ram the Wachusett right into the Florida so federals crashed into the rebel ship but neither vessel was seriously damaged in the collision. Next a Union boarding party quickly jumped on deck of the Confederate sloop and forced a surrender. Nine rebels jumped over the side of the Florida, all of whom were wounded when the Union sailors fired on them with muskets as they attempted to escape. The rebels did make it to shore though. A tow line was attached to the Florida and Wachusett began to tow the prize out of the harbor. Just then the Brazilians in Fort Barra opened fire with their cannon.

Shots whizzed past the Wachusett but none of them struck. Collins then spotted the Brazilian sloop and an armed paddle steamer heading towards his ship and firing inaccurately. Collins did not engage, he instead ordered his men to make sail as fast as they could. The Brazilians gave chase but the faster Wachusett got away. Confederate forces lost at least five men killed, nine wounded, and twelve officers and fifty-eight crewmen were captured. Left in Brazil was Lieutenant Morris, four officers and seventy-one men. Union Navy forces lost three men wounded, but only one of them seriously.

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USS Wachusett

Aftermath
As result of USS Wachusett's attack on the Florida in Bahia harbor, Commander Collins was court martialed due to pressure from the Brazilian government and was threatened with removal from duty. However, the United States Navy and many Northerners felt that Collins' attack was effective in defeating the Confederates so his sentence was never carried out. Collins eventually became a captain in 1866 largely for his victory over Florida. The Brazilian government demanded that the Union Navy return their prize to the rebels at Bahia but the Florida was sunk in a collision with USAT Alliance on November 28 off Virginia. Some have speculated that the sinking was not an accident but was encouraged by Admiral David Dixon Porter who did not want the vessel returned to the Confederate Navy.


USS Wachusett (1861) – the first U.S. Navy ship to be so named – was a large (1,032-ton) steam sloop-of-war that served the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was outfitted as a gunboat and used by the Navy as part of the Union blockade of the Confederate States of America.

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The capture as illustrated in Harper's Weekly.

When the war was over, Wachusett continued to serve the Navy, protecting American interests in both the Atlantic Ocean as well as the Pacific Ocean until she was finally decommissioned.

CSS Florida was a sloop-of-war in the service of the Confederate States Navy. She served as a commerce raider during the American Civil War before being sunk in 1864.

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Illustration from Harper's Weekly in 1863 of CSS Florida (left) burning the clipper Jacob Bell (right) off the West Indies on 13 February 1863. She had captured Jacob Bell the previous day.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahia_incident
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Wachusett_(1861)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSS_Florida_(cruiser)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
7 October 1865 - The Duncan Dunbar was a clipper constructed for Duncan Dunbar & Company in 1857. It was shipwrecked at the Rocas Atoll off the coast of Brazil on 7 October 1865 on the way to Sydney, Australia.


The Duncan Dunbar was a clipper constructed for Duncan Dunbar & Company in 1857. It was shipwrecked at the Rocas Atoll off the coast of Brazil on 7 October 1865 on the way to Sydney, Australia.

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The Clipper ship Duncan Dunbar 1400 Tons (PAH0653)
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/140600.html#okCEGaVW2WGEJwUl.99


Ship history
The ship was launched on 18 May 1857 from the yard of James Laing, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear. She was the twelfth ship built by Laing for Dunbar, and at the time the largest vessel ever launched on the Wear. She was constructed entirely of wood, with English oak frames and East India teak planking and masts. She was held together with copper bolts, with iron trusses and knees. Overall the ship was 260 feet (79 m) long, and 229 ft 2 in (69.85 m) at the keel. She had a beam of 36 ft 3 in (11.05 m) and a depth of hold of 23 ft (7.0 m). Her tonnage was given as 1,447 tons, with a burthen of 2,500 tons. A large crowd gathered to witness the launch, and the ship was christened by Mrs. W.R. Robinson of Silksworth. The ship was named either after Duncan Dunbar, the then owner of Duncan Dunbar & Co., or his father of the same name.

Under Dunbar's ownership the ship was engaged in the passenger and cargo trade between England and Australia. After Duncan Dunbar's death in 1862, the ship was sold to Gellatly, Hankey, Sewell & Co.

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Sinking
A contemporary report states:

The ship left London, under Captain Swanson, on 28 August 1865 and Plymouth on 2 September 1865, with passengers and cargo for Sydney. On 7 October 1865 she was wrecked on the reef Las Roccas, on the coast of Brazil. She struck about 20:30. The Captain went in one of the boats to take soundings around her but she had gone aground at high tide. There were not enough boats to accommodate all the passengers and crew so he determined to wait until daylight to see if there was any dry land to which survivors could be taken by boat and raft. The passengers were in fear because the vessel was rolling heavily and striking violently with each roll. At daybreak on 8 October, the Captain succeeded in getting through the breakers to a landing place on one of the two sand islets which rose about 7 feet (2.1 m) above ordinary high-water mark. Preparations were at once made to transfer the passengers and crew to the spot, the passengers being lowered in a chair over the stern because it was impossible to keep a boat alongside due to the heavy rolling. By 07:00, all were landed. The islet was covered with pig-weed but there was no water so this was ferried from the wreck. Four of the five water-puncheons were lost, being stove-in by debris or having drifted away. There were 117 persons on the reef. For the first two days they had a pint of water each in temperatures of 112 °F (44 °C) degrees. A tent was constructed for shelter. The islet was infested with land-crabs and various vermin. They stayed on the islet for 10 days and during that period had recovered from the wreck sufficient water and stores to serve a hundred people for a hundred days. Captain Swanson had left, in the lifeboat, on 11 October 1865, to sail towards Pernambuco. After making 120 miles he was picked up by the American ship Hayara and dropped 15 miles from his destination. There, he procured the assistance of the Oneida, Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, which came to the island and took all hands safely to Southampton. The Captain remained in Pernambuco.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duncan_Dunbar
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
7 October 1973 - The Battle of Latakia (Arabic: معركة اللاذقية‎; Hebrew: קרב לטקיה‎)


was a small but revolutionary naval action of the Yom Kippur War, fought on 7 October 1973 between Israel and Syria. It was the first naval battle in history to see combat between surface-to-surface missile-equipped missile boats and the use of electronic deception.

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Map of the Battle of Latakia. A small but revolutionary naval battle of the Yom Kippur War, fought on 7 October 1973, between Israel and Syria.

At the outset of hostilities, the Israeli Navy set out to destroy the naval capabilities of the Syrians, who were equipped with Soviet Komar-class and Osa-class missile boats. The Syrian missile boats were equipped with Soviet manufactured P-15 Termit (NATO reporting name: SS-N-2 Styx) anti-ship missileswith twice the range of the Israeli Gabriel anti-ship missiles.

The four Israeli Navy Sa'ar 3-class and one Sa'ar 4-class missile boats headed towards the Syrian port of Latakia in two parallel columns. In the western column were the missile boats Miznak (Blast), Ga'ash (Storm), and Hanit (Lance); the eastern column was composed of the missile boats Mivtach(Reliance) and Reshef (Spark)).

At 22:28 hours the Israelis encountered the Syrian K-123 torpedo boat which was sunk with 76mm cannon fire from Mivtach and Hanit. As they headed toward the shore, the Israeli ships engaged a 560-ton Syrian T43-class minesweeper and also sank it, this time using four Gabriel anti-ship missiles. At 23:30 the Israelis made contact with two Syrian Komar-class and one Osa-class missile boats. The Syrian missile boats fired their Styx missiles at long range, but as the missiles approached, the Israelis employed electronic countermeasures and launched chaff rockets to successfully decoy the missiles. When the Israeli ships closed the range, they fired five Gabriel missiles, sinking one Komar and the Osa immediately and damaging the second Komar. The surviving Syrian Komar tried to escape, but it ran aground in shallow water and was destroyed by 76mm cannon fire at 00:26 hours.

During this naval clash other Syrian missile boats launched missiles from within the port limits of Latakia (actually launched while the missile boats were moored between merchant ships in port). However, these missiles malfunctioned or lost guidance and two foreign (one Greek and one Japanese) merchant vessels anchored along the piers were hit. Both vessels were struck in the engine rooms.

The Syrian Navy remained bottled up in its home ports for the rest of the war.

While the Battle of Latakia was the first naval battle in history between missile boats, it was not the first incident in which a missile boat sank another ship using missiles. That had happened when two Egyptian Navy Komar-class missile boats sank the British-built Israeli destroyer Eilat on 21 October 1967, shortly after the Six-Day War, using four P-15 Termit surface-to-surface missiles.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Latakia
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
7 October 1985 – Four men from the Palestine Liberation Front hijack the MS Achille Lauro off the coast of Egypt.

Summary
On 7 October 1985, four members of the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) took control of the liner off Egypt as she was sailing from Alexandria to Port Said. Holding the passengers and crew hostage, they directed the vessel to sail to Tartus, Syria, and demanded the release of 50 Palestinians then in Israeli prisons. After being refused permission to dock at Tartus, the hijackers killed disabled Jewish-American passenger Leon Klinghoffer and then threw his body overboard.

Achille39.jpg

The ship then headed back towards Port Said, and after two days of negotiations, the hijackers agreed to abandon the liner in exchange for safe conduct and were flown towards Tunisia aboard an Egyptian commercial airliner. This plane, however, was intercepted by US fighter aircraft and directed to land in Sicily, where the hijackers were to be tried for murder, but could not be extradited. The hijackers were later given passage to Yugoslavia after being paroled by the Italians and escaped.

What happened
The Achille Lauro left Genoa, Italy, on October 3 for a 12-day cruise of the Mediterranean Sea. Aboard were 748 passengers and several hundred crew. On October 7 the ship docked at Alexandria, Egypt, and 651 passengers disembarked to tour the pyramids, intending to rendezvous with the ship at Port Said that night. After the sightseers had gone ashore, four men brandishing AK-47 machine guns corralled the crew and the remaining 97 passengers and forced the captain to leave port. They allowed crew members to continue with their duties.

The men—who had been posing as passengers—were members of a PLF faction headed by Mohammed Zaidan (who used the pseudonym Mohammed, or Abu, ʿAbbās) and aligned with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). After commandeering the vessel, they demanded that Israelrelease 50 Palestinian prisoners. Israel did not respond, and the vessel headed to Tartus, Syria. Syrian authorities, at the request of the U.S. and Italian governments, refused to allow the vessel to dock when it arrived the next day.

At approximately 3:00 PM on October 8, the militants shot Leon Klinghoffer, an elderly American Jewish man confined to a wheelchair, and threw his body overboard. He was thought to have been singled out because of his religion. The hijackers then steered the ship to Cyprus, where they were also denied port. By this time, Yāsir ʿArafāt, chairman of the PLO, had been contacted; he sent Zaidan to Cairo to mediate the situation. Both men denied any involvement in the hijacking.

Stymied, the hijackers directed the Achille Lauro back to Port Said. They established radio contact with Egyptian authorities and began negotiations as they neared the coast on the morning of October 9. In exchange for releasing the hostages, the hijackers demanded safe passage through Egypt and immunity from prosecution. Egypt acceded and at 5 PM the men disappeared into Port Said.

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Freed hostages from Achille Lauroreturning to the US by military aircraft

Though Egypt maintained that the hijackers had left the country, U.S. intelligence reports indicated that they remained there in hiding. The plane on which they had planned to escape—accompanied by Zaidan—was located, and U.S. Pres. Ronald Reagan gave the order to intercept it. On the evening of October 10, U.S. fighter jets blockaded the larger passenger craft and forced it to land at a NATO air base in Sigonella, Sicily. Italy had been informed of the maneuver only minutes before, because the United States hoped to gain custody of the hijackers. A tense standoff ensued between U.S. and Italian forces. Eventually Italy arrested the hijackers, though it allowed Zaidan to leave for Yugoslavia despite suspicion of his involvement. It was later confirmed by Israeli intelligence that he had been directing the hijacking via radio.

In 1986 the four hijackers—Youssef Magied al-Molqui, age 23; Ahmad Marrouf al-Assadi, 23; Ibrahim Fatayer Abdelatif, 20; and Bassam al-Askar, 17—were tried in Italy along with 11 accomplices. Nine, including mastermind Zaidan, were tried in absentia. The three eldest hijackers received sentences ranging from 30 to 15 years in prison; al-Askar was convicted in a separate trial. Zaidan, who after his escape had admitted his role in the hijacking, was located in Iraq during the 2003 invasion of the country; he died in custody the next year.

A very detailed report of this event you find on wikipedia ......


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Achille_Lauro
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achille_Lauro_hijacking
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 7 October


1692 – Launch of French Phénix 60 guns (designed and built by François Coulomb) at Toulon – broken up 1714


1711 - HMS Feversham (1696 - 32), Cptn. Robert Paston, wrecked off Cape Breton

HMS Feversham was a 32-gun fifth rate warship. She was built at Shoreham, England, in 1696 and between 1706 and 1707 was commanded by Galfridus Walpole. She was shipwrecked with the loss of 102 lives on 7 October 1711 during a voyage from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to New York City, after participating in Admiral Hovenden Walker's disastrous expedition to Quebec.

The wreck is at Scatterie Island, 20 miles from Louisbourg. The British made several unsuccessful attempts to salvage the ship immediately after her sinking. The wreck was finally located and identified in 1996. Treasure hunters recovered significant numbers of coins and silverware, with the coins providing a rare and important example of what archaeologists call a merchant's hoard, a selection of everyday coins used to buy supplies. An exhibit about the wreck is on display at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Feversham_(1696)


1769 - HMS Endeavour, Lt. James Cook, arrived at New Zealand.

In October 1769, Endeavour reached the coastline of New Zealand, becoming the first European vessel to do so since Abel Tasman's Heemskerck in 1642. Unfamiliar with such ships, the Māori people at Cook's first landing point in Poverty Bay thought the ship was a floating island, or a gigantic bird from their mythical homeland of Hawaiki. Endeavour spent the next six months sailing close to shore, while Cook mapped the coastline and concluded that New Zealand comprised two large islands and was not the hoped-for Terra Australis. In March 1770, the longboat from Endeavour carried Cook ashore to allow him to formally proclaim British sovereignty over New Zealand. On his return, Endeavour resumed her voyage westward, her crew sighting the east coast of Australia on 19 April. On 29 April, she became the first European vessel to make landfall on the east coast of Australia, when Cook landed one of the ship's boats on the southern shore of what is now known as Botany Bay, New South Wales.

HMS_Endeavour_off_the_coast_of_New_Holland,_by_Samuel_Atkins_c.1794.jpg
Painting by Samuel Atkins (1787-1808) of Endeavour off the coast of New Holland during Cook's voyage of discovery 1768-1771. Inscription on reverse of painting indicates it relates to the grounding of the Endeavour on the Great Barrier Reef in June 1770.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Endeavour


1819 - Elizabeth, originally a West Indiaman, wrecked at Table Bay while sailing from Bombay to London.


Elizabeth was launched at Bristol in 1809. She was originally a West Indiaman, but she wrecked in October 1819 at Table Bay while sailing from Bombay to London.

William James, Brice and Co. built Elizabeth at Wapping, but on 3 June 1809 there appeared an advertisement for the sale, at auction, of their stock and trade, including the "hull of a new ship, copper fastened, about 500 tons," etc. Robert Claxton and Sons completed the vessel at Bristol, and she became Elizabeth.

James Drew, jnr. acquired a letter of marque on 28 August. Elizabeth appears in the 1810 volume of Lloyd's Register wit J. Drew, master, Claxton, owner, and trade Bristol—St Vincent. She then continued to trade with the West Indies.
On 2 February 1812 Elizabeth, Drew, master, was on her way from London to St Vincent when she was driven ashore near Dungeness. A boat's crew from the shore came to her assistance and got her off. They left her safe about five miles off the coast. She had lost an anchor and cable, and was proceeding to Portsmouth. She subsequently underwent repairs for damages. From 1813 to 1814 her master was Power.
In September 1814, Claxton & Co. sold Elizabeth at auction to Aston and Company. From 1814 her master was Drew; in 1815 it was Richard Drew.
The Register of Shipping for 1816 shows her master as J. Drew, changing to Cooksley, and her trade as Bristol—St Vincent, changing to London—Ne(illegible). William Cooksley assumed command on 26 June 1815 at Basseterre.
On 12 September 1818 Thomas Harrison took command of Elizabeth in London. On 25 September 1818 her owners sold Elizabeth to the London merchant Edmund Reed. She was then registered in London on 13 October. Harrison sailed Elizabeth to Bombay.
The Register of Shipping for 1820 gives the name of Elizabeth's master as Harrison, that of her owner as E. Reed, and her trade as London—Bombay.

Loss
On 7 October 1819 Elizabeth, Harrison, master, was on a voyage from Bombay to London and arrived at Table Bay. As she was turning she ran aground and was subsequently wrecked.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_(1809_Bristol_ship)


1973 - Battle of Marsa Talamat

The Battle of Marsa Talamat (Hebrew: קרב מרסה-תלמאת‎) was fought between the Israeli Navy and the Egyptian Navy commando forces on October 7, 1973, during the early stages of the Yom Kippur War. It took place in the small Egyptian naval anchorage of Marsa Talamat, in the central sector of the Gulf of Suez.

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Israeli Dabur class patrol boat (number 860) in bay of Eilat.

Two Israeli Dabur class patrol boats were on a routine patrol mission when the Egyptian Army launched a surprise attack into Israeli occupied Sinai. When it became evident that a war had started, the Israeli boats were reassigned to the mission of destroying Egyptian commando boats in order to interrupt Egyptian commando operations in the Gulf of Suez. The Israeli boats located two Egyptian commando boats which were about to depart Marsa Talamat. The Israeli boats attacked, and continued their attack even when both Daburs accidentally ran aground. The Israeli boats managed to retreat after inflicting considerable damage on the Egyptian commandos. For their actions in the battle, three Israeli crewmen were later awarded the Medal of Distinguished Service.[1][2] The battle was amongst several significant naval battles which dictated the course of the naval war.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Marsa_Talamat
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Personal remark

Dear readers and "followers" of this topic:

In the last 48 hours this tread was opened by more than 1.100 people ("views") - members and also guests
-> more than 500 people every day are looking in this Topic - and it is getting more every day

Many Many Thanks for this big interest in the history of ships and off course also in particular in this Topic

-> this is for me a big motivation for the next months to finalize and complete this topic with completing the 365 days of Naval History
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
8 October 1746 - HMS Weazel (1745 - 16), Cdr. Hugh Palliser, off Beachy Head, in a short time captured four French privateers including Jeantie (6). Antoine Colloit, and Fortune (10), John Gilliere.


HMS Weazel or Weazle was a 16-gun ship-sloop of the Royal Navy, in active service during the War of the Austrian Succession, the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War. Launched in 1745, she remained in British service until 1779 and captured a total of 11 enemy vessels. She was also present, but not actively engaged, at the Second Battle of Cape Finisterre in 1747.

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Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with stern board outline, sheer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth with deck detail for Weazle (1745), a 16-gun Ship Sloop. The plan shows her as a two-masted sloop, to which she was possibly altered by 1762. She underwent two surveys in 1764 and 1768 before a Great Repair in April-May 1769 at Portsmouth.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/83913.html#UAWm718l7coZ0A24.99

Weazel was captured by the French in 1779, and was later sold into private hands.

Construction
The vessel that would become Weazel was built by shipwrights James Taylor and John Randall of Rotherhithe, and was initially intended to be a private merchant craft. The Royal Navy purchased the half-built vessel on 22 April 1745 and hired Taylor and Randall to complete her for naval service. The fee for the vessel and her completion was £2,387, or the equivalent of £361,000 in 2015 terms.

Once ownership of the vessel had passed into Navy hands, Randall and Taylor were directed to complete her in accordance with an experimental design, as the Royal Navy's first three-masted ship rigged sloop. The quarterdeck was lengthened from the original plans in order to incorporate a mizzen mast, with the intention that the additional sails would enhance speed and maneuverability compared to the traditional two-masted snow rig sloop. This proved sufficiently successful that from 1756 ship rigging became the standard for all subsequent 14-gun and 16-gun sloops in Royal Navy hands.

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As built, Weazel was 94 ft 6.75 in (28.8 m) long with a 76 ft 4.5 in (23.3 m) keel, a beam of 27 ft 6.25 in (8.3884 m), and a hold depth of 12 ft 0 in (3.7 m).[2]She was constructed with eighteen broadside gunports and two bow chasers, although in practice she carried only sixteen cannons with the remaining ports left unused. Despite this, at the time of her launch she was the most heavily armed sloop in the Navy.[3] Her designated complement was 110 officers and ratings from 1745 to 1749, rising to 125 thereafter

Navy service
European waters


Deptford_Dockyard_1775.jpg
Waterfront at Deptford, where Weazel was commissioned for service in 1745.

Weazel was launched on 22 May 1745 and sailed to Deptford Dockyard for fitout and to take on armament and crew. She was formally commissioned on 24 June under Commander Thomas Craven, entering Royal Navy service at the height of the War of Austrian Succession which pitted coalitions broadly comprising France, Prussia and Spain, against Britain, the Hapsburg Monarchy and the Dutch Republic. Craven's orders were to take Weazel into the English Channel and the Downs to patrol for enemy privateers. The new-built sloop was swiftly in action, capturing the privateer Le Renard in the Channel on 23 November. In February 1746 Craven was replaced by Lieutenant Hugh Palliser, who immediately pressed Weazel back into active service. The 8-gun French privateer La Revanche was captured on 27 March, followed by La Charmante on 1 April. One further privateer narrowly avoided capture off Spithead in early April when Weazel's approach was slowed by light winds. The French vessel escaped only after throwing its cannons overboard to increase its speed.

Further victories followed that year with Weazel capturing the privateers L'Epervier on 29 July, Le Delangle on 3 August and both La Fortune and La Jeantie on 8 October. In November she encountered a large 30-gun French privateer in the Bay of Biscay, and opened fire despite being considerably outgunned. A contemporaneous newspaper report describes Weazel's crew as fighting "very bravely for a considerable time," before the advantage swung to the British with the arrival of the 58-gun fourth rate HMS Princess Louisa. The privateer turned to flee but was driven ashore and wrecked near Port-Louis, Morbihan.

At the end of the year Commander Palliser was to post-captain and assigned to the 70-gun ship of the line HMS Captain; his place on Weazel was taken by Commander Samuel Barrington. On 24 April 1747 Weazel was off the Dutch coastline and in company with HMS Lys, when she encountered and defeated the privateers La Gorgonne and La Charlotte.

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In June 1747 Weazel returned to port at Plymouth, where Barrington was replaced by Commander John Midwinter. There she remained until 30 August when she was joined to a squadron under Admiral Peter Warren, with orders to reinforce a British fleet in position off the French island of Ushant. Poor weather delayed the voyage, and Weazel did not reach her destination until 26 September. The fleet commander, Admiral Edward Hawke immediately allocated her the role of carrying messages between his ships of the line. On the morning of 14 October the fleet was offshore from Cape Finisterre when it encountered a French force of eight ships of the line, escorting a convoy of 252 merchant vessels. Hawke approached from the leeward while the French sailed close-hauled in a line ahead, expecting that he would engage in a long-range artillery duel. Instead, Hawke made the signal for a general chase, freeing his captains from the constraints of a formal battle; the British then overhauled the French line and enveloped it from rear to van, capturing six ships. Around 4,000 French sailors were captured or killed, against 757 British casualties.

During the battle the merchant convoy, and the remaining two French naval vessels, had escaped to the west with the intention of reaching the French Caribbean. Weazel had been too small to join the line of battle the previous day, but Admiral Hawke now deputised her to sail in haste for the Royal Navy's Jamaica Station with a message advising the likely course of the French convoy. Weazel reached the Caribbean before most of the French convoy; the Royal Navy squadron based in the Leeward Islands put immediately to sea and was successful in intercepting 40 French ships and taking 900 prisoners.

During the Seven Years' War, Commodore John Moore dispatched the Weazel to the neutral Dutch island of Sint Eustatius in December 1757. The ship warned the island's governor that nearby French islands were being blockaded and any ships attempting to defy the blockade would be attacked. The Weazel's appearance caused a panic on the island as the governor quickly halted all outgoing trade.

Final voyage
In 1779 Weazel was off the Caribbean island of St Eustatius when she was captured by the 32-gun French frigate Bodeuse. The French took their prize to the Antilles where she was disarmed and her guns transferred to Admiral d'Estaing's squadron. They then sold her at Guadeloupe in 1781.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Weazel_(1745)
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-363500;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=W
https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_ship&id=7391
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
8 October 1778 – Launch of HMS Alexander, a 74-gun Alfred-class third-rate


HMS Alexander was a 74-gun third-rate of the Royal Navy. She was launched at Deptford Dockyard on 8 October 1778. During her career she was captured by the French, and later recaptured by the British. She fought at the Nile in 1798, and was broken up in 1819. She was named after Alexander the Great.

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The launch of the 74-gun warship HMS 'Alexander' at Deptford Dockyard. The 'Alexander' can be seen on the stocks in the background. There are a number of barges and smaller vessels, full of spectators, watching her launch. In the foreground, several Royal Navy vessels are moored off the dockyard, including the 'Royal Caroline' on the far left. The 'Alexander' later served at the Battle of the Nile in 1798. In the painting the festive celebrations are emphasized through the inclusion of flags and pennants and the representation of crowds of spectators on the quayside and in boats the water. With its low horizon the work recalls Dutch 17th-century marine painting. Like his father, John Cleveley the Younger depicted the Royal Dockyards at Deptford, Woolwich and Chatham and in many works the son followed his father’s example in producing paintings commemorating launches. However, the artist abandoned his father’s stiff, documentary style in favour of a more open, atmospheric view. John Cleveley the Younger and his brother Robert, who also worked as an artist, treated a much wider range of subjects and addressed a wider audience through making pictures for reproduction in prints.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/13354.html#vucbOwofJ9gIdQwv.99


British service and capture
On 13 March 1780, Alexander and HMS Courageaux captured the 40-gun French privateer Monsieur after a long chase and some exchange of fire. The Royal Navy took the privateer into service as HMS Monsieur.

In 1794, whilst returning to England in the company of HMS Canada after escorting a convoy to Spain, Alexander, under the command of Rear-Admiral Richard Rodney Bligh, fell in with a French squadron of five 74-gun ships, and three frigates, led by Joseph-Marie Nielly. In the Action of 6 November 1794 Alexander was overrun by the Droits de l'Homme, but escaped when she damaged the Droits de l'Homme's rigging. Alexander was then caught by Marat, which came behind her stern and raked her. Then, the 74 gun third-rate Jean Bart closed in and fired broadsides at close range, forcing Bligh to surrender Alexander. In the meantime, Canada escaped. The subsequent court martial honourably acquitted Bligh of any blame for the loss of his ship.

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The fourth, but fifth in order of events, in a series of ten drawings (PAF5871–PAF5874, PAF5876, PAF5880-PAF5881 and PAF5883–PAF5885) of mainly lesser-known incidents in Nelson's career, apparently intended for a set of engravings. Pocock's own numbered description of the subject in a letter of 2 June 1810 (see below) is: '4. Storm the "Agamemnon" [sic, in error: it is 'Vanguard'] having lost her Main and Mizen topmasts is saved from being lost on a lee shore – by the exertions of Capt Ball of the "Alexander" who towed her Clear at the Imminent peril of both floundering [sic].' This incident occurred at the start of the chase of the French that ended with the Battle of the Nile, when Nelson's 'Vanguard' (Capt Edward Berry) was dismasted by carrying too much canvas in a gale in the Gulf of Lions and only saved from loss by being taken in tow by Alexander Ball's 'Alexander'. 'Vanguard' subsequently reached Oristano Bay in southern Sardinia where she was successfully re-rigged in difficult conditions. For the rather complex circumstances of the commissioning of these ten drawings, and Pocock's related letters, see ' View of St Eustatius with the "Boreas"' (PAF5871). Signed by artist and dated in the lower right. Exhibited: NMM Pocock exhib. (1975) no. 48. It was shown with PAF5877 (as no.49) which is probably an unfinished copy, rather than a preliminary version, by Pocock's son William Innes Pocock.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/100703.html#sFCdsgrI2zjRyAui.99


The French took her to Brest and then into their French Navy under the name Alexandre. On 22 June 1795, she was with a French fleet off Belle Île when the Channel Fleet under Lord Bridport discovered them. The British ships chased the French fleet, and brought them to action in the Battle of Groix. During the battle HMS Sans Pareil and HMS Colossus recaptured Alexander. After the battle, HMS Révolutionnaire towed her back to Plymouth.

Return to British service
The Alexander took part in the Battle of the Nile in 1798, under the command of Captain Alexander Ball. She was the second ship to fire upon the French fleet, engaging the flagship, L'Orient. The Alexander sank three French ships before she had to withdraw due to a small fire on board. The Alexander was one of the few ships not carrying a detachment of soldiers.

Northumberland, Alexander, Penelope, Bonne Citoyenne, and the brig Vincejo shared in the proceeds of the French polacca Vengeance, captured entering Valletta, Malta on 6 April.

Alexander served in the navy's Egyptian campaign between 8 March 1801 and 2 September, which qualified her officers and crew for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal that the Admiralty issued in 1847 to all surviving claimants.

Fate
From 1803 she was out of commission in Plymouth, and was finally broken up in 1819.

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Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with stern quarter decorations, longitudinal half-breadth for Alexander (1778) and Warrior (1781), and later for Montague (1779), all 74-gun Third Rate, two-deckers. The plans sent to Woolwich Dockyard were returned as no ship was built there. Signed by John Williams [Surveyor of the Navy, 1765-1784].
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/80477.html#fiKWCjHAaRXH7BCB.99


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Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the section and profile for the main yard made of two Riga timbers for Alexander (1778), a 74-gun Third Rate two-decker. A copy was sent to the Surveyor of the Navy, Sir John Williams.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/382707.html#2AdSHJElU5yJRCQH.99


The Alfred-class ships of the line were a class of four 74-gun third rates for the Royal Navy by Sir John Williams. They were an enlarged version of the Royal Oak class.

Ships
Builder: Deptford Dockyard
Ordered: 21 July 1773
Launched: 8 October 1778
Fate: Broken up, 1819
Builder: Chatham Dockyard
Ordered: 13 August 1772
Launched: 22 October 1778
Fate: Broken up, 1814
Builder: Portsmouth Dockyard
Ordered: 13 July 1773
Launched: 18 October 1781
Fate: Broken up, 1857

The_Warrior_prison_ship.JPG
HMS Warrior as a prison ship. The image caption is, "The 'Warrior' hulk with the 'Sulphur' washing-ship in the distance."
Builder: Chatham Dockyard
Ordered: 16 July 1774
Laid Down: 30 January 1775
Launched: 28 August 1779
Completed for Sea: 23 September 1779
Fate: Broken up, 1818
  • A fifth ship Edgar was also ordered (16 July 1774) to this design, but on 25 August 1774 was altered to the modified Arrogant design.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Alexander_(1778)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred-class_ship_of_the_line
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
8 October 1778 – Launch of HMS Charon, a 44-gun Two-decker Roebuck-class Fifth-Rate

Builder: John Barnard, Harwich
Ordered: 9 October 1776
Laid down: January 1777
Launched: 8 October 1778
Completed: 23 January 1779 at Sheerness Dockyard
Fate: She was trapped at the Yorktown so her stores, men and guns were taken ashore; on 10 October 1781 heated shot from a French battery set her on fire.

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Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with stern board decoration, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for Charon (1778), as built at Harwich in 1778, and later used for Experiment (1784), Gladiator (1783), and Serapis (1782), all 44-gun Fifth Rate, two-deckers. Note that Charon was built with a single row of windows, unlike other ships in the class. Signed by John Williams [Surveyor of the Navy, 176-1784] and Edward Hunt [Surveyor of the Navy, 1778-1784].
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/81905.html#tbOKSZcFdeKxz1g3.99


Service History

Date - Event
8.10.1778 - building at Harwich at a cost of £11370.11.11d
8.10.1778 - Began fitting at Sheerness Dockyard
23.1.1779 - Completed fitting at Sheerness Dockyard at a cost of £6162.7.11d
17.3.1779 - Sailed for Jamaica
9.1779 - Honduras operations
15.9.1779 - Capture of Omoa
4.1780 - Began coppering at Chatham Dockyard
7.1780 - Completed coppering at Chatham Dockyard at a cost of £5515.17.2d
5.8.1780 - Sailed for North America
10.4.1781 - Took the Hired Vessel Cutter Peggy (8)
10.10.1781 - Set on fire by red hot shot and burnt at Yorktown

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The Roebuck-class ship was a class of twenty 44-gun sailing two-decker warships of the Royal Navy. The class carried two complete decks of guns, a lower battery of 18-pounders and an upper battery of 9-pounders. This battery enabled the vessel to deliver a broadside of 285 pounds. Most were constructed for service during the American Revolutionary War but continued to serve thereafter. By 1793 five were still on the active list. Ten were hospital ships, troopships or storeships. As troopships or storeships they had the guns on their lower deck removed. Many of the vessels in the class survived to take part in the Napoleonic Wars. In all, maritime incidents claimed five ships in the class and war claimed three.

Classification
The Royal Navy classed the Roebuck class as fifth rates like frigates but did not classify them as frigates. Although sea officers sometimes casually described them and other small two-deckers as frigates, the Admiralty officially never referred to them as frigates. By 1750, the Admiralty strictly defined frigates as ships of 28 guns or more, carrying all their main battery (24, 26 or even 28 guns) on the upper deck, with no guns or openings on the lower deck (which could thus be at sea level or even lower). A frigate might carry a few smaller guns - 3-pounders or 6-pounders, later 9-pounders - on their quarterdeck and (perhaps) on the forecastle. The Roebuck-class ships were two-deckers with complete batteries on both decks, and hence not frigates.

Ship_Argo_with_russian_ship_1799,_Gibraltar.jpg
The 44-gun ship Argo with russian ship 1799 at Gribraltar

Design and construction
The Admiralty assigned the contract for Roebuck to Chatham Dockyard on 30 November 1769. Some seven years after the design was first produced, the Admiralty re-used it for a second batch of nineteen ships. The Admiralty ordered them to meet the particular requirements of the American War of Independence for vessels suitable for coastal warfare in the shallow seas off North America (where deeper two-deckers could not sail). The first five vessels of the class, and the later Guardian, had two rows of stern lights (windows), like larger two-deckers though actually there was just the single level of cabin behind. Most, if not all, of the other ships of the class - from Dolphin onwards - had a 'single level' frigate-type stern.

Ships in class
PROTOTYPE
  • Roebuck
    • Builder: Chatham Dockyard
    • Ordered: 30 November 1769
    • Laid down: October 1770
    • Launched: 24 April 1774
    • Completed: 4 August 1775
    • Fate: Broken up at Sheerness in July 1811.
WARTIME BATCH
  • Romulus
    • Builder: Henry Adams, Bucklers Hard
    • Ordered: 14 May 1776
    • Laid down: July 1776
    • Launched: 17 December 1777
    • Completed: 7 April 1778 at Portsmouth Dockyard
    • Fate: Captured by a French squadron consisting of a ship of the line, two frigates and a cutter, off the Chesapeake 19 February 1781.[2]
  • Actaeon
    • Builder: Randall & Co, Rotherhithe
    • Ordered: 3 July 1776
    • Laid down: July 1776
    • Launched: 29 January 1778
    • Completed: 17 April 1778 at Deptford Dockyard
    • Fate: Sold to be broken up 30 April 1802
  • Janus
    • Builder: Robert Batson, Limehouse
    • Ordered: 24 July 1776
    • Laid down: 9 August 1776
    • Launched: 14 May 1778
    • Completed: 11 August 1778 at Deptford Dockyard
    • Fate: Renamed Dromedary 1788 as storeship. Wrecked near Trinidad in August 1800 but with no loss of life.[3]
  • Charon (i)
    • Builder: John Barnard, Harwich
    • Ordered: 9 October 1776
    • Laid down: January 1777
    • Launched: 8 October 1778
    • Completed: 23 January 1779 at Sheerness Dockyard
    • Fate: She was trapped at the Yorktown so her stores, men and guns were taken ashore; on 10 October 1781 heated shot from a French battery set her on fire.[4]
  • Dolphin
    • Builder: Chatham Dockyard
    • Ordered: 8 January 1777
    • Laid down: 1 May 1777
    • Launched: 10 March 1781
    • Completed: 11 May 1781
    • Fate: Broken up in July 1817
  • Ulysses
    • Builder: John Fisher, Liverpool
    • Ordered: 16 April 1777
    • Laid down: 28 June 1777
    • Launched: 14 July 1779
    • Completed: 2 January 1780 at Plymouth Dockyard
    • Fate: Sold to be broken up 11 January 1816
  • Endymion
    • Builder: Edward Greaves, Limehouse
    • Ordered: 2 February 1778
    • Laid down: 18 March 1778
    • Launched: 28 August 1779
    • Completed: 5 November 1779 at Woolwich Dockyard
    • Fate: Wrecked on an uncharted rock off Turks Island on 20 August 1790 with the loss of one man.[5]

Battle between Continental Ship Bonhomme Richard and HMS Serapis, 23 September 1779, by Thomas Mitchell, 1780, US Naval Academy Museum
  • Serapis (i)
    • Builder: Randall & Co, Rotherhithe
    • Ordered: 11 February 1778
    • Laid down: 3 March 1778
    • Launched: 4 March 1779
    • Completed: 6 May 1779 at Deptford Dockyard
    • Fate: Taken by American Bonhomme Richard, assisted by other vessels, and transferred to the French who employed her as a privateer; wrecked 1781 off Madagascar.
  • Assurance
    • Builder: Randall & Co, Rotherhithe
    • Ordered: 20 May 1778
    • Laid down: 11 June 1778
    • Launched: 20 April 1780
    • Completed: 15 July 1780 at Deptford Dockyard
    • Fate: Broken up in March 1815
  • Argo
    • Builder: John Baker & Co, Howden Pans, Newcastle
    • Ordered: 26 February 1779
    • Laid down: 18 August 1779
    • Launched: 8 June 1781
    • Completed: 15 October 1781 at Chatham Dockyard
    • Fate: Sold to be broken up 11 January 1816

Cybèle and Prudente fighting Centurion and Diomede
  • Diomede
    • Builder: James Martin Hilhouse, Bristol
    • Ordered: 14 August 1779
    • Laid down: March 1780
    • Launched: 18 October 1781
    • Completed: 14 March 1782 at Bristol
    • Fate: Wrecked off Trincomalee, 2 August 1795.[6]
  • Mediator
    • Builder: Thomas Raymond, Northam, Southampton
    • Ordered: 3 December 1779
    • Laid down: July 1780.
    • Launched: 30 March 1782
    • Completed: 15 June 1782 at Portsmouth Dockyard
    • Fate: Renamed Camel 1788 as storeship. Broken up in December 1810.
  • Resistance
    • Builder: Edward Greaves, Limehouse
    • Ordered: 29 March 1780
    • Laid down: April 1781
    • Launched: 11 July 1782
    • Completed: 17 September 1782 at Deptford Dockyard
    • Fate: Blew up (believed struck by lightning) off Sumatra 24 July 1798; four survivors.[7]
  • Gladiator
    • Builder: Henry Adams, Bucklers Hard
    • Ordered: 13 July 1780
    • Laid down: April 1781
    • Launched: 20 January 1783
    • Completed: February 1783 at Portsmouth Dockyard
    • Fate: Broken up in August 1817
  • Serapis (ii)
    • Builder: James Martin Hillhouse, Bristol
    • Ordered: 13 July 1780
    • Laid down: May 1781
    • Launched: 7 November 1782
    • Completed: December 1782 at Bristol
    • Fate: Sold to be broken up at Jamaica on 17 July 1826
  • Experiment
    • Builder: Robert Fabian, East Cowes, Isle of Wight
    • Ordered: 13 July 1780
    • Laid down: June 1781
    • Launched: 27 November 1784
    • Completed: 11 January 1785 at Portsmouth Dockyard
    • Fate: Sold to be broken up 8 September 1836

Guardian hitting an iceberg in 1789
  • Guardian
    • Builder: Robert Batson, Limehouse
    • Ordered: 11 August 1780
    • Laid down: December 1780
    • Launched: 23 March 1784
    • Completed: 20 May 1784 at Deptford Dockyard
    • Fate: Collided with iceberg 24 December 1789 and of the 40 men and passengers who set out in boats, 10 survived; Guardian, with the remaining 61 crew, convicts and passengers, arrived at Cape Town in sinking condition 21 February 1790 and beached on 12 April during a gale; remains sold to be broken up 8 February 1791.
  • Regulus
    • Builder: Thomas Raymond, Northam, Southampton
    • Ordered: 20 October 1780
    • Laid down: June 1781
    • Launched: 10 February 1785
    • Completed: 10 March 1785 at Portsmouth Dockyard
    • Fate: Broken up in March 1816
  • Charon (ii)
    • Builder: James Martin Hillhouse, Bristol
    • Ordered: 19 September 1781
    • Laid down: May 1782
    • Launched: 17 May 1783
    • Completed: 5 February 1784 at Plymouth Dockyard
    • Fate: Broken up in December 1805

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roebuck-class_ship
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...1;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=C;start=0
https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_ship&id=3570
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
8 October 1782 – Launch of HMS Standard, a 64-gun Intrepid-class third-rate ship of the line,


HMS Standard was a 64-gun Royal Navy third-rate ship of the line, launched on 8 October 1782 at Deptford. She was the last of the 15 Intrepid class vessels, which were built to a design by John Williams.

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Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with stern board detail, sheer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth for 'Standard' (1782), a 64-gun Third Rate, two-decker, as built at Deptford Dockyard. Signed by Adam Hayes [Master Shipwright, Deptford Dockyard, 1755-1785 (died)].
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/81248.html#wYsVhuB7oyBTF8Oi.99


Early career
She was commissioned in September 1782 under Captain William Dickson, and recommissioned in March 1783 as a guardship at Plymouth. She was recommissioned in September 1786 under Charles Chamberlyane, still as a guardship, and paid off in February 1788.

In April 1795 she was recommissioned under Captain Joseph Ellison, for Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren's squadron for the Quiberon operation. Standardsailed for the East Indies on 28 February 1796, temporarily under the command of Captain Lukin. By October she was in the North Sea. In February 1797 she was under Captain Thomas Parr, and then in September under Captain Thomas Shivers.

From mid-April to mid-May, Standard was one of the many vessels caught up in the Nore Mutiny. On 5 May the crew had taken over the ship and trained cannon on officer’s country over the issue of pay in arrears. After the mutiny collapsed, one of the leaders on Standard, William Wallis, shot himself to avoid trial and hanging. William Redfern, her surgeon's mate, was sentenced to death for his role in the mutiny, later commuted to transportation for life to the colony of New South Wales.

She was recommissioned in February 1799 as a prison ship at Sheerness under lieutenant Thomas Pamp. In November she was fitted as a convalescent ship at Chatham. One month later she was recommissioned under Lieutenant Jacques Dalby as a hospital ship at Sheerness.

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Mediterranean
Between March and May 1801 Standard was re-fitted at Chatham as a 64-gun ship, being commissioned in April under Captain Charles Stewart, for the North Sea. She was paid off, repaired, fitted at various times, and recommissioned in August 1805, Standard was recommissioned under Captain Thomas Harvey. She then sailed to the Mediterranean to join Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Louis's squadron.

Duckworth's_Squadron_forcing_the_Dardanelles.jpg
Duckworth's squadron forcing the Dardanelles

While in the Mediterranean she served during Vice Admiral Sir John Duckworth's unsuccessful 1807 Dardanelles Operation. On 19 February, Standard suffered three wounded while forcing the Dardanelles. Near a redoubt on Point Pesquies the British encountered a Turkish squadron of one ship of 64 guns, four frigates and eight other vessels, most of which they ran aground. Marines from Pompee spiked the 31 guns on the redoubt. Standard and Thunderer destroyed three Turkish frigates that had run ashore. On 27 February Standard had two men wounded assisting a Royal Marine landing party on the island of Prota.

On the way out, the Turkish castle at Abydos fired on the British squadron. Granite cannonballs weighing 7-800 pounds and measuring 6'6" in circumference hit Windsor Castle, Standard and Active. The shot itself killed four men on Standard. It also started a fire and explosion that led four seamen to jump overboard, where they drowned. In all, Standard lost four dead, 47 wounded, and four missing (believed drowned). In all, the British lost 29 killed and 138 wounded. No ship was lost.

On 26 March 1808, she and the 38-gun frigate Active captured the Franco-Italian brig Friedland, which they took to Malta as a prize. Captain Richard Mowbray of Active took possession of Friedland after a chase of several hours. The brig might have escaped had she not lost her topmast. She was one year old and was armed with 16 French 12-pounder guns. Active took her prize to Malta, together with the prisoners, who included Commodore Don Amilcar Paolucci, commander in chief of the Italian Marine, and Knight of the Iron Crown.

On 16 June, Standard was sailing off Corfu when she encountered the Italian gunboat Volpe, which was armed with one iron 4-pounder, and the French dispatch boat Legera. When the wind fell, Harvey sent his pinnace, his cutter and his yawl in pursuit. The British caught up with their quarry after having rowed for two hours. They captured Volpe despite facing stiff resistance and ran Legera aground about four miles north of Cape St. Mary. The French crew took to the rocks above their vessel and kept up a continuous small arms fire on the British seamen who took possession of the vessel and towed her off. They then burned both vessels. Despite the resistance and small arms fire the British had suffered no casualties.

Last years
In 1809 she was in the Baltic under Captain Aiskew Hollis as part of the Gunboat War. On 18 May a squadron consisting of Standard, the frigate Owen Glendower, and the vessels Avenger, Ranger, Rose, and Snipe captured the island of Anholt. A landing party of seamen and marines under the command of Captain William Selby of Owen Glendower, with the assistance of Captain Edward Nicolls of the Standard's marines, landed. The Danish garrison of 170 men put up a sharp but ineffectual resistance that killed one British marine and wounded two; the garrison then surrendered. The British took immediate possession of the island.

Hollis, in his report, stated that Anholt was important in that it could furnish supplies of water to His Majesty's fleet, and afford a good anchorage to merchant vessels sailing to and from the Baltic. However, the principal objective of the mission was to restore the lighthouse on the island to its pre-war state to facilitate the movement of British men of war and merchantmen navigating the dangerous seas there.

On 19 December 1810 Standard sailed for the Mediterranean again. In February 1811 she was on the Portugal station, temporarily under Captain Joshua Horton. In May she was under the temporary command of Captain Charles Fleming.

Fate
She was paid off into ordinary in 1813. Standard was broken up in 1816.


The Intrepid-class ships of the line were a class of fifteen 64-gun third rates, designed for the Royal Navy by Sir John Williams. His design, approved on 18 December 1765, was slightly smaller than Sir Thomas Slade's contemporary Worcester class design of the same year, against which it was evaluated competitively. Following the prototype, four more ships were ordered in 1767–69, and a further ten between 1771 and 1779.

1280px-HMS_Diadem_at_capture_of_Good_Hope-Thomas_Whitcombe.jpg
HMS Diadem at the capture of the cape Good Hope

Ships
Builder: Woolwich Dockyard
Ordered: 16 November 1765
Laid down: January 1767
Launched: 4 December 1770
Completed: 31 January 1771
Fate: Sold to be broken up at Plymouth, 26 March 1828
Builder: Plymouth Dockyard
Ordered: 10 September 1767
Laid down: May 1768
Launched: 18 April 1772
Completed: 9 May 1778
Fate: Broken up at Portsmouth, January 1818
Builder: Woolwich Dockyard
Ordered: 9 June 1768
Laid down: October 1768
Launched: 31 August 1772
Completed: July 1778 at Portsmouth Dockyard
Fate: Wrecked in the Savannah River, 15 February 1780
Builder: Plymouth Dockyard
Ordered: 30 November 1769
Laid down: January 1770
Launched: 17 December 1774
Completed: 25 April 1776
Fate: Broken up at Sheerness, June 1802
Builder: Woolwich Dockyard
Ordered: 30 November 1769
Laid down: 9 September 1772
Launched: 26 November 1776
Completed: 27 February 1778
Fate: Broken up at Bermuda, April 1821
Builder: Henry & Anthony Adams, Bucklers Hard
Ordered: 14 January 1771
Laid down: February 1771
Launched: 6 October 1774
Completed: 11 July 1778 at Portsmouth Dockyard
Fate: Broken up at Portsmouth , April 1816
Builder: John & William Wells, Rotherhithe
Ordered: 14 January 1771
Laid down: April 1771
Launched: 12 May 1774
Completed: 30 July 1776 at Woolwich Dockyard
Fate: Broken up at Chatham, October 1812
Builder: Deptford Dockyard
Ordered: 18 June 1771
Laid down: October 1771
Launched: 5 August 1777
Completed: 29 March 1778
Fate: Broken up, 1807
Builder: Plymouth Dockyard
Ordered: 24 April 1773
Laid down: January 1774
Launched: 4 September 1781
Completed: 15 October 1781
Fate: Wrecked in Mounts Bay, 29 December 1807
Builder: Sheerness Dockyard
Ordered: 1 December 1773
Laid down: January 1776
Launched: 27 April 1782
Completed: 24 July 1782
Fate: Broken up at Chatham, September 1827
Builder: Deptford Dockyard
Ordered: 16 October 1775
Laid down: 23 August 1777
Launched: 14 October 1780
Completed: 29 December 1780 at Woolwich Dockyard.
Fate: Broken up at Sheerness, July 1813
Builder: Woolwich Dockyard
Ordered: 25 July 1776
Laid down: 20 October 1777
Launched: 8 May 1781
Completed: 29 June 1781
Fate: Sold to be broken up, 30 May 1832
Builder: Robert Fabian, East Cowes
Ordered: 5 February 1777
Laid down: 12 January 1778
Launched: 28 November 1780
Completed: 15 February 1781 at Portsmouth Dockyard.
Fate: Wrecked off Ushant, 10 March 1800
Builder: Chatham Dockyard
Ordered: 5 December 1777
Laid down: 2 November 1778
Launched: 19 December 1782
Completed: 19 July 1783
Fate: Broken up at Plymouth, September 1832
Builder: Deptford Dockyard
Ordered: 5 August 1779
Laid down: May 1780
Launched: 8 October 1782
Completed: 19 December 1782 at Woolwich Dockyard
Fate: Broken up at Sheerness, October 1816


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Standard_(1782)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intrepid-class_ship_of_the_line
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-350447;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=S
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
8 October 1800 - HMS Diligence (16), Charles Hodgson Ross, wrecked on the Honda Bank near Havana


HMS Diligence was the name ship of her class of brig-sloops of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1795 and lost in 1800. She spent her career on the Jamaica station where she captured four armed vessels, one of them after a short engagement, and many small Spanish and French merchant vessels in the Caribbean inter-island and coastal trade.

1920px-Diligence_(1795)_RMG_J4525.png
Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with stern board outline, sheer lines with scroll figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for building Diligence (1795), a 16-gun Brig Sloop at Bursledon by Mr George Parsons. The plan includes alterations to the upper works of the sheer draught.
Signed by John Henslow [Surveyor of the Navy, 1784-1806] and William Rule [Surveyor of the Navy, 1793-1813].


Career
Originally her name was Spencer but she was renamed Diligence within 1795. She was commissioned in November 1795 under Commander John West, who sailed her for Jamaica on 16 April 1796. She remained on the Jamaica station and in January 1797 Commander Robert Mends replaced West.

In early 1797 Diligence captured the Fogouse, a privateer of six guns and 57 men.

Diligence cleared the Bahama Straits on 3 March and the next day she was ten leagues SW of the Pan of Motonzas when she encountered and captured Nativetas (or Natividad) after an action that lasted three-quarters of an hour. Nativetas was about 500 tons (bm), was armed with 16 guns, and carried a crew of 50 men. She was carrying a cargo of logwood and had that day left Havana for Cadiz.

In September Diligence was in company with Hermione and Renommee when Diligence captured a Spanish packet ship of six guns that was also carrying troops.

On 27 September, Diligence captured the French privateer Epervier (or Espervier). Head money for 57 men was paid in July 1830.

In late 1797 or early 1798, the frigate Magicienne, troopship Regulus, and Diligence captured the French privateer Brutus, of nine guns.

By late 1798, Diligence had captured 13 merchant vessels. She took seven more in early 1799.[8] Then she took a Dutch schooner, laden with provisions.[9] Next, she captured another Dutch schooner, the Governor Lauffer, of 90 tons (bm), two guns and 19 men. Governor Lauffer was carrying coffee from Jackamel to Curacoa. Diligence also captured the Dutch schooner Kleine, which was taking dry goods and provisions from Curacoa to Acquain, and the French schooner Helene, which was carrying coffee from Jackamel to Curacoa. Diligence's boats cut out a French schooner in ballast from Maregot. In mid-1799 she captured more merchant vessels, mostly schooners. Polly was sailing under Danish colours but under "irregular" passes and had a crew of Dutchmen and Spaniards. She was carrying coffee from Curacoa to Saint Thomas. Foregat too was sailing under Danish colours, with a Spanish crew. She was sailing from Jacquemel to Saint Thomas with 30,000 pounds of coffee. A Spanish schooner that was coppered and designed like a Virginia pilot boat was carrying 45,000 pounds of coffee from Saint Martha to Curacoa. Lastly, Diligence's boats destroyed a Dutch schooner, a French schooner, and a sloop-rigged boat in the Gulf of Venezuela.

From November 1799 the frigate Trent and Diligence captured or destroyed even more merchant vessels. One was the French schooner Constance, of 17 men, which was carrying coffee from Lans de Naud to St. Jago. There were two French schooners of unknown names carrying coffee from Tuenice to St Jago. Trent and Diligence detained the ship Washington, which was sailing in ballast from Curacoa to Baltimore. Diligence took several vessels by herself. One was the Danish schooner Margarette, of 60 tons (bm) and ten men, which was carrying coffee from Jacquemel to St Thomas. Another was the Spanish schooner Del Carmen, of 35 tons (bm) and 11 men, was carrying mahogany from St Domingo to Curacoa. Diligence's boats cut out of Corro a Spanish sloop of 70 tons (bm) and eight men and two unnamed schooners of 30 tons, all laden with mahogany. Diligence captured the Danish schooner Mahomet, of 140 tons (bm) and 14 men, which was carrying coffee from Aux Cayes to Curacoa. Then Diligence's boats cut out the French brig Bon Adventure, of 140 tons (bm) and her cargo of coffee from Lans de Naud Bay. The American schooner Harriott, of 90 tons and 11 men, was carrying mahogany, coffee, and sugar from St Domingo to Boston. The Spanish brig Esperanso, of 100 tons, was laden with mahogany when Diligence's boats cut her out of the Macoris River, east of St Domingo. A Spanish felucca of 60 tons (bm) with a cargo of mahogany was cut out of the Romain River, near St Catherines. Lastly, Diligence captured the Hamburg brig Gluk Luke Peter, of 160 tons (bm) and nine men, which was carrying coffee, cocoa, and indigo from La Guira to Hamburg.[12] The Danish Schooner Margaretta, which had been sailing from Jacquemel to St. Thomas's with coffee and cotton had fallen prey to a Spanish privateer; Diligencedetained Margaretta, and Echo captured the privateer. The French schooner Artibonelte was sailing from Mole St. Nicholas to St. Marcs with provisions. The French sloop Gorade too was sailing from the Mole with provisions, but to Tiberoon. Diligence burnt the French schooner Christine, which had been sailing from the Mole in ballast. When Diligence intercepted a French schooner sailing from Cap François to Port Dauphin with dry goods, the British took the cargo but let the vessel alone as she was of no value. However, Diligence detained the Danish schooner Betsey Loyed, which was sailing from Baltimore to St Thomas, and the American ship Aurora, sailing from Norfolk to Carthagena, with provisions, wine, raisins, and the like. Lastly, Diligence captured the Spanish schooner N.S. Montfretta, which was carrying rice and tobacco from St. Domingo to San Juan.

From March 1800 captured more merchant vessels. She captured the Spanish vessel Diana, which was carrying logwood, the Spanish sloop Ovier, laden with dry goods, the French schooner Eagle, which was carrying coffee, and the Spanish schooner Consualidad, which was carrying mules from Porto Cavallo. Diligence's boats cut the Dutch brig Minerva and her cargo of mahogany out of the Higuay (Higüey) River, and the Spanish brig Del Carpner and her cargo of mahogany. Diligence also captured the French schooner Rosario, which was carrying coffee from Jeremie to Curacoa, and the Danish sloop Aurora sailing from St Croix to Aux Cayes. Diligence's boats cut out a Danish brig and ship from the River Triest, both of which were carrying mahogany. Diligence and Volage detained the American brig Resolution, carrying coffee, hides, and cocoa, and Diligence and Surprise detained the Danish schooner Foresight, carrying coffee from Acquin to St Thomas.

In May 1800 Mends was promoted to post captain, and Commander Charles B.H. Ross replaced him as captain of Diligence in June.

Loss
On 8 October 1800 Diligence was cruising the north coast of Cuba in search of a Spanish polacre privateer reported to be in the area. At 7:30 in the evening Diligence hit a reef. despite efforts to lighten her, she remained stuck on the reef and filling with water. Daylight revealed that she was five miles from shore so she used her boats to transfer provisions and some of her crew there. The next day, Thunderer came on the scene and rescued the entire crew. The British set fire to Diligence as they left. It turned out that she had hit an uncharted shoal near Rio Puercos.

HMS Thunderer was a ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built in 1783. It carried 74-guns, being classified as a third rate. During its service it took part in several prominent naval battles of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars; including the Glorious First of June, the Battle of Cape Finisterre and the Battle of Trafalgar.


1280px-thumbnail.png
Diligence (1795); Seagull (1795); Curlew (1795); Harpy (1796); Hound (1796); Chamelion (1795) [alternative spelling: Cameleon]; Racoon (1795); Kangaroo (1795)
Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the inboard profile, upper deck, lower deck with hold and platform for the oak-built Diligence (1795), Harpy (1796) and Hound (1796) and for the fir-built Seagull (1795), Curlew (1795), Chameleon[Cameleon] (1795), Racoon (1795) and Kangaroo (1795), all 16 (later 18) gun Brig Sloops.

The plan includes alterations in green ink to the position of the masts on board Harpy (1796) as a result of a request to the Board from Captain John Bazeley (captain seniority: 11 November 1794) in January 1799. His report stated that she sailed much better.



The Diligence class were built as a class of eight 18-gun brig-sloops for the Royal Navy. They were originally to have carried sixteen 6-pounder carriage guns, but on 22 April 1795 it was instructed that they should be armed with sixteen 32-pounder carronades, although two of the 6-pounders were retained as chase guns in the bows. Consequently they were classed as 18-gun sloops. However, in service it was found that this armament proved too heavy for these vessels, and so in most vessels the 32-pounder carronades were replaced by 24-pounder ones.

Of the eight vessels in the class, three foundered at sea with the loss of their crews, and one was wrecked. The others continued in service until withdrawn.

One of the Surveyors of the Navy - John Henslow - designed the class. The Admiralty approved the design on 22 April 1795, and ordered five vessels on 4 March 1795; their names were assigned and registered on 20 June. The Admiralty ordered three more in July 1795; these were named and registered on 28 August.

Construction
In early 1795 the Admiralty identified the need for additional brig-sloops to meet the urgent need for convoy duties, and - as per their usual practice - commissioned two different designs, one from each Surveyor. Five vessels to each design were ordered in March 1795, with a further three to each design following in July.

Two of the first orders (Curlew and Seagull) were constructed of "fir" (actually, pine), while the other three were of the normal oak construction. The three ordered in July were all also of fir construction. Fir-built vessels could be constructed more rapidly; hence all five of these were launched by the end of October 1795, when the three built of the conventional oak were still all on the stocks. However, it was recognised that fir hulls deteriorated faster; the use of fir was seen as a stop-gap measure to get them faster into service, but with the knowledge that they would not last as long.

screenCapture_204879921_978785463_0.jpg
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
8 October 1804 - gunboat HMS Speedy (1798 - 4) sank


The schooner-rigged gunboat HMS Speedy sank in a snowstorm in Lake Ontario south of Brighton, Ontario and west of Prince Edward County, on 8 October 1804, with the loss of all hands. The sinking changed the course of Canadian history because of the prominence of the citizens of the tiny colony of Upper Canada lost in the disastrous event.

The ship was built for the Provincial Marine in 1798 at the Point Frederick Navy Depot and was used to transport government officials and supplies.


History
HMS Speedy was one of five warships rushed into service, quickly built from green timber at Cataraqui in 1798, to help defend British Upper Canada from the perceived threat from the newly formed United States. That threat was later realised as the War of 1812, but Speedy would not survive to see service in that conflict. Speedy carried four-pound guns and had a 55-foot (17 m), two-masted hull plus an over 20-foot (6 m) bowsprit, bringing her close to 80 ft (24 m) in total length. In spite of her name, Speedy was considered slow for her era. Because she was constructed from improperly seasoned green timber, she almost immediately began to suffer problems with leaks and dry rot after her commissioning.

Circumstances
The schooner was set to sail from York, present day Queen's Quay, Toronto (York) - the young capital of Upper Canada, to the district town of Newcastle on Presqu'ile Point (now Presqu'ile Provincial Park) for a prominent murder trial ostensibly to 'legitimize' a newly built district courthouse.

Speedy was carrying the first provincial law-enforcement officer to lose his life in the execution of office. High Constable Fisk was transporting a prisoner to court in Newcastle. The prisoner was Ogetonicut, a member of the Ojibway tribe, who was accused of murdering trading post operator John Sharpe near Lake Scugog. Ogetonicut was suspected of exacting revenge for the killing of his brother, Whistling Duck. Although Ogetonicut was arrested near York, the crime had allegedly been committed in Newcastle District, and under British law of the time one had to be tried in the jurisdiction in which the crime was purported to have been committed. Also on board were Justice Thomas Cochrane, the judge for Ogetonicut's trial, and the accused's lawyer.

Because of the location and geography of the area, as well as its location closer to the key community of Kingston, Ontario, there was speculation that Newcastle would eventually be designated the new capital of Upper Canada. York was deemed unsavory and unsuitable for such office, as it was populated as many fledgling British outposts were, by "convicts and prostitutes." The execution of Ogetonicut, in the new town square following his trial, would bring attention and renown to the area and define it as a centre for strong governmental jurisprudence.

The ship was also carrying six handwritten copies of the new Constitution of Upper Canada, supplies, and a Royal surveyor, John Stegman, a former Hessian soldier, to help in the planning, construction and expansion of the fledgling district town, which consisted of nothing more than the three-story courthouse/jail, a handful of residences and a survey plan. Sir Robert Isaac Dey Grey (of Bruce-Grey County fame), first Solicitor-General of Upper Canada was also on board.

The boat never arrived at Presqu'ile, having sunk in a storm.

Story2-Speedy.jpg

Final journey
The schooner left York on 7 October 1804 at the insistence of autocratic Lieutenant-Governor Peter Hunter, despite the reluctance of the ship's captain, Lieutenant Thomas Paxton. Paxton, an experienced British naval officer, was concerned about an incoming storm and the condition of the ship.

Although only six years old, Speedy suffered from extensive weakening of the hull from dry rot due to the timber used in her rushed construction. Two of Speedy's crew were required to constantly operate manual bilge pumps to keep her afloat for the journey. Under threat of court martial, Paxton departed. Almost immediately upon her launch, she ran aground in the harbour due to the heavy load, resulting in a six-hour delay.

After freeing herself, she sailed due east. Speedy stopped briefly at Port Oshawa to pick up the Farewell brothers who were business partners of the murder victim and key witnesses for the prosecution, and a handful of Natives who were also to provide testimony. The Farewell brothers refused to board the ship, expressing concern that it was already overloaded, crowded, and unsafe. They elected to accompany Speedy in a canoe.

Speedy and the canoe were separated as the storm deteriorated into blizzard conditions during the afternoon and evening of 8 October. The wind had turned and was blowing out of the northeast. By the morning of 9 October, the brothers managed to reach Newcastle's harbour. Not so for Speedy. The schooner was sighted passing Presqu'ile Point at dusk on 8 October. The crew fired one of her cannon to signal her situation and position. In response; shoreline bonfires were lit, ostensibly to guide her to safety.

The schooner vanished on approach to the mouth of the bay (Presqu'ile Bay). All that was found of the ship, her passengers, cargo, and six-man crew were a chicken coop and compass box. These washed up on the beach opposite the bay.

Theories of her fate ranged from sabotage by parties wishing to prevent the establishment of new fledgling provincial capital of Newcastle, to those promoting a supernatural hypothesis - the ship having effectively been scooped off the face of the earth by parties unknown.

Disaster
Unable to navigate using celestial markers or spot the signal fires due to the storm-induced white outs, the captain was completely reliant on the ship's compass to navigate. Evidence suggests that Speedy was unaware of being in the area now known as the Sophiasburgh Triangle, where magnetic anomalies purportedly exist and prevent proper compass operation. And, being unable to sail directly into the northeasterly wind because she was a square-rigger, she had trouble steering. Speedy struck the mysterious Devil's Horseblock (or Hitching Post), a stone pinnacle that extended up to within 20 cm of the surface.

The area was dragged with hooks in a government-sponsored effort to establish what had actually transpired. It was established that the mysterious monolithic Horseblock shoal had also vanished. Some suggested the 200-ton Speedy was capable of up-ending - of toppling over this unusual formation.

Speedy became the latest of nearly 100 ships The Sophiasburgh Triangle had claimed since the beginning of the 18th century, adding to fears that the area was too dangerous for a major port.

Aftermath
In part due to this disaster, Presqu'ile was deemed an inappropriate and "inconvenient" location for a district town. The incident was called "a disaster felt by the Bench, the Bar Society, the Legislature and the Country." Newcastle was abandoned and the district centre was moved to Amherst (now known as Cobourg, Ontario) in 1805.

In addition to the accused, many of the souls lost with disappearance of Speedy were prominent United Empire Loyalists, government officials and important members of the small colony.

The disaster likely changed the course of Canadian history, as it was believed that the new capital of the colony would be moved to Newcastle once the town was established. Those plans were abandoned due to the sudden loss of so many significant members of Upper Canada society.

Casualties
Records are not clear, listing somewhere between 20 and 39 passengers aboard Speedy, along with her crew of 6. It may never be known exactly how many were killed in the sinking. Those lost included:
  • Lieutenant Thomas Paxton, Captain of HMS Speedy
  • John Cameron, Speedy crew member
  • Francis Labard, Speedy crew member
  • Ogetonicut, accused murderer
  • Angus Macdonell, defence lawyer and member of the Upper Canada House of Assembly
  • George Cowan, Coldwater-based fur trader and interpreter employed by the government's Indian Department
  • Justice Thomas Cochran, the trial judge, Judge of the Court of King's Bench of Upper Canada
  • Robert Isaac Dey Grey, prosecutor and the first Solicitor-General of Upper Canada
  • Simon Baker, slave of Dey Grey
  • John Anderson, law student
  • John Stegman, land surveyor of the Surveyor-General's Office, possible trial witness
  • James Ruggles, Justice of the Peace, possible trial witness
  • Two or three unnamed First Nations men and women, trial witnesses
  • John Fisk, High Constable of York, first police officer killed in the line of duty in the Ontario and Canada
  • Jacob Herchmer, prominent Loyalist merchant and fur trader, Lieutenant in York Militia
  • Two young children, sent on the "safer" Speedy by overland-travelling parents who could not afford passage for themselves
Memoriam
Each summer the story of Speedy is told through a history play as part of Presqu'ile Provincial Park's Natural Heritage Education program. The story is also told by an interactive video display at the point in the Lighthouse Interpretive Centre. The point is also home to a commemorative plaque, erected by the Ontario Historical Society.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Speedy_(1798)
https://www.friendsofpresquile.on.ca/speedy/speedy.html
http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/communi..._port-de-cobourg/gallery/hms-speedy-in-storm/
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
8 October 1805 – Launch of HMS Fame, a 74-gun Fame-class third rate ship of the line


HMS Fame was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Deptford Dockyard. She was constructed on the same building slip as was HMS Courageux, her keel having been ordered to be laid down on it immediately after the other ship's launch on 26 March 1800. The first elements of her keel were finally laid down on 22 January 1802, and Fame was launched on 8 October 1805.

large.jpg
Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plans, sheer lines, and logitudinal half-breadth for 'Fame' (1805), a 74-gun Third Rate, two-decker, to be built at Deptford Dockyard. Signed by John Henlsow [Surveyor of the Navy, 1784-1806] and William Rule [Surveyor of the Navy, 1793-1813].
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/81103.html#cpaOTeXiTucv0r8j.99


Service
In November 1808, whilst under the command of Captain Bennet, Fame joined a squadron lying off Rosas, where Captain Lord Cochrane was assisting the Spanish in the defence of Castell de la Trinitat against the invading French army. Boats from Fame helped evacuate Cochrane's garrison forces after the fort's surrender on 5 December.

Fame was laid up in ordinary at Chatham in 1815. She was broken up in 1817

large (1).jpg

The Fame-class ships of the line were a class of four 74-gun third rates, designed for the Royal Navy by Sir John Henslow. After the name-ship of the class was ordered in October 1799, the design was slightly altered before the next three ships were ordered in February 1800. A second batch of five ships was ordered in 1805 to a slightly further modified version of the original draught.

Ships
First batch

Builder: Deptford Dockyard
Ordered: 15 October 1799
Laid down: 22 January 1802
Launched: 8 October 1805
Fate: Broken up, 1817
Builder: Perry, Blackwall Yard
Ordered: 4 February 1800
Laid down: June 1800
Launched: 17 June 1802
Fate: Broken up, 1836
Builder: Perry, Blackwall Yard
Ordered: 4 February 1800
Laid down: August 1800
Launched: 18 August 1803
Fate: Wrecked, 1811

The_wreck_of_HMS_Hero_in_the_Texel,_25_December_1811.jpg
The wreck of HMS Hero in the Texel, 25 December 1811
Builder: Randall & Brent, Rotherhithe
Ordered: 4 February 1800
Laiddown: February 1801
Launched: 3 September 1803
Fate: Broken up, 1868

1280px-HMS_Illustrious_heading_out_of_Table_Bay_in_choppy_conditions_and_a_stiff_breeze,_by_Th...jpg
HMS Illustrious heading out of Table Bay (Thomas Whitcombe, cira 1811)

Second batch
Builder: Mrs Barnard, Deptford Wharf
Ordered: 31 January 1805
Laid down: August 1805
Launched: 22 June 1807
Fate: Broken up, 1835
Builder: Brent, Rotherhithe
Ordered: 31 January 1805
Laid down: August 1805
Launched: 7 July 1807
Fate: Broken up, 1854

HMS_York_(1807)_as_a_prison_ship.jpg
HMS York in Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour with the convicts going on board, by Edward William Cooke
Builder: Dudman, Deptford Wharf
Ordered: 31 January 1805
Laid down: December 1805
Launched: 19 September 1807
Fate: Broken up, 1864
Builder: Adams, Bucklers Hard
Ordered: 31 January 1805
Laid down: December 1805
Launched: May 1810
Fate: Broken up, 1833
Builder: Dudman, Deptford Wharf
Ordered: 31 January 1805
Laid down: June 1806
Launched: 4 March 1809
Fate: Broken up, 1850

large (2).jpg
Royal Oak (1809)


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Fame_(1805)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fame-class_ship_of_the_line
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-311799;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=F
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
8 October 1812 - During the War of 1812, a boat party under Lt. Jesse D. Elliott captures HMS Detroit and HMS Caledonia at Fort Erie in a night attack. Detroit is burned and Caledonia is purchased by the U.S. Navy in 1813 and placed in commission as USS Caledonia. The brig played an important role with the American squadron on Lake Erie, and was sold at the end of the war.
(some sources saying it happend at the 8th, some on the 9th October)



HMS Caledonia was a British brig which saw service on the Great Lakes during the War of 1812. Caledonia was built in Malden in Upper Canada for the North West Company, and launched in 1807.

In 1812, the brig was taken into military service with the Provincial Marine, a naval transport and protection service in Canada. It played a major part in the Battle of Mackinac Island, transporting artillery which was used to force the American garrison of the island to surrender.

After the American garrison of Detroit surrendered after the Siege of Detroit, HMS Caledonia and the brig HMS Detroit, which had been captured at Detroit, were engaged in transporting troops and stores from Detroit and Amherstburg to the Niagara River, where an American attack was anticipated.

On 8 October 1812, the two brigs were anchored near Fort Erie at the head of the Niagara River. Caledonia carried two 4-pounder guns on pivots, and had a crew of twelve. There were also ten American prisoners aboard, and a cargo of furs worth approximately $200,000, a considerable sum of money at the time.

A boarding party consisting of American sailors under Lieutenant Jesse D. Elliott and soldiers under Captain Nathan Towson boarded and captured both brigs. Adams ran aground under artillery fire on an island in the river and was eventually set on fire to prevent it being recaptured. Caledonia was taken successfully to the navy yard at Black Rock, New York. During the boarding one American sailor was killed and four seriously wounded by a volley of musketry. The twelve Canadian crew members were made captive.

Service in the War of 1812
The U.S. Navy formally purchased Caledonia on 6 February 1813 and placed in commission as USS Caledonia, and armed the vessel with two long 24-pounder guns and one 32-pounder carronade. This gave Caledonia a broadside of 80 pounds of shot.

For several months, British batteries on the other side of the Niagara prevented Caledonia and several other schooners which had been purchased by the Navy and were converted into gunboats from leaving Black Rock. On 26 May, the British were defeated at the Battle of Fort George at the foot of the river and were compelled to abandon Fort Erie and the nearby batteries. Lieutenant Oliver Hazard Perry had Caledonia and the other vessels towed by oxen up the fast-flowing river, an operation that took several days. He then sailed with them along the southern shore of Lake Erie to Presque Isle, where the other vessels of his squadron were being constructed.

On 10 September, Caledonia played a key role in the decisive Battle of Lake Erie. Caledonia was commanded in this battle by Lieutenant Daniel Turner, who was praised by Perry for his conduct. For much of the early part of the battle, the other major American vessels were outranged, and only Caledonia's long guns could engage the British flagship and the other British vessels at the center of the battle.

Following the American victory, Caledonia transported American troops to Detroit and Amherstburg, which had been abandoned by the British Army.

In 1814, Caledonia was part of the expedition to Lake Huron, which attempted to recover Mackinac Island.

Post-war disposition
The brig was sold at Presque Isle in May, 1815. Refitted as a commercial ship, she was named General Wayne, and reportedly sank in the 1830s in Lake Erie. However, a 1934 article in the Canadian history magazine "The Beaver" claimed the ship did not sink, but was dismantled in Erie, Pennsylvania.

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On 24 July 2009, a story appearing in the Buffalo News mentioned the discovery of an 85-foot schooner on the bottom of Lake Erie, which may be Caledonia. The American company Northeast Research Ltd proposed raising the well preserved wreck and putting it on display near Buffalo, New York. In May 2010 a New York magistrate ruled that this would violate New York's "in situ preservation" policy of leaving shipwrecks intact, and where they are found. The decision has been appealed, and in September 2010 the case is being heard by U.S. District Judge Richard Arcara


Detroit was a 6-gun brig launched in 1798 as Adams in the United States. During the War of 1812 the British captured her, renamed her, and took her into the Provincial Marine. She served on Lake Erie during the War of 1812, giving the British control of the lake. The Americans briefly recaptured her, but she grounded and came under heavy fire. The Americans had to abandon her. The vessel was set afire and burnt.

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Adams shortly after she was captured by British forces at Detroit.

Description and construction
Shortly after General Anthony Wayne took control of Detroit in 1796, a ship was ordered for construction by the United States Army. Construction of the 125-tons burthen vessel at the United States Shipyard on the River Rouge began in 1797. Some accounts of the vessel indicate that the process of salting for preservation of the wood used in the construction was utilized aboard Adams. However, the process was done incorrectly and in a refit performed ten years after the brig's construction, it was found that the salt had been packed too tightly and had not dissolved into the wood, and remained hard and dry between the frames. The United States Army intended to use Adams as a transport vessel carrying supplies between American outposts on the upper Great Lakes including Fort Mackinac on Lake Huron. The vessel was also used to carry private cargo.

Service history
By the beginning of the War of 1812, Adams was the only American government vessel of any kind on the upper Great Lakes. Adams was armed with six 6-pounder (3 kg) cannon and operated out of Detroit.[a] On 16 August 1812, General William Hull surrendered Detroit after a siege by British forces. Adams, which had been at Detroit, was surrendered too, and was taken into Provincial Marine service and renamed Detroit. The brig was added to the Provincial Marine's Lake Erie squadron. However, Detroit's British service was short lived.

On 8 October, Detroit, with the North West Company's brig Caledonia, was anchored off Fort Erie. Lieutenant Jesse Elliott, commander of the United States Navy forces on Lake Erie, spotted the vessels and commanded a cutting out operation to capture both brigs. The American force of 100 departed Buffalo Creek and approached the British vessels in darkness. Elliott's force successfully captured both vessels and the Americans made for safe harbour at Black Rock. Caldeonia arrived safely, but Detroit ran aground on the southern tip of Squaw Island after the wind had died and the vessel became unmanageable, while under fire from British artillery. The British sent a force to retake the ship, but Elliott's crew beat off the attack. In order to prevent the brig's recapture, Elliott ordered the ship burned


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Caledonia_(1807)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Caledonia_(1812)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Detroit_(1812)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
8 October 1856 – The Second Opium War between several western powers and China begins with the Arrow Incident on the Pearl River.


Origins of the war
The war followed on from the First Opium War. In 1842, the Treaty of Nanking—the first of what the Chinese later called the unequal treaties—granted an indemnity and extraterritoriality to Britain, the opening of five treaty ports, and the cession of Hong Kong Island. The failure of the treaty to satisfy British goals of improved trade and diplomatic relations led to the Second Opium War (1856–60). In China, the First Opium War is considered to be the beginning of modern Chinese history.

Between the two wars, repeated acts of aggression against British subjects led in 1847 to the Expedition to Canton which assaulted and took, by a coup de main, the forts of the Bocca Tigris resulting in the spiking of 879 guns.

Outbreak

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The Illustrated London News print of the clipper steamship Ly-ee-moon, built for the opium trade, c. 1859

The 1850s saw the rapid growth of Western imperialism. Some of the shared goals of the western powers were the expansion of their overseas markets and the establishment of new ports of call. The French Treaty of Huangpu and the American Wangxia Treaty both contained clauses allowing renegotiation of the treaties after 12 years of being in effect. In an effort to expand their privileges in China, Britain demanded the Qing authorities renegotiate the Treaty of Nanking (signed in 1842), citing their most favoured nation status. The British demands included opening all of China to British merchant companies, legalising the opium trade, exempting foreign imports from internal transit duties, suppression of piracy, regulation of the coolie trade, permission for a British ambassador to reside in Beijing and for the English-language version of all treaties to take precedence over the Chinese language.

To give Chinese merchant vessels operating around treaty ports the same privileges accorded British ships by the Treaty of Nanking, British authorities granted these vessels British registration in Hong Kong. In October 1856, Chinese marines in Canton seized a cargo ship called the Arrow on suspicion of piracy, arresting twelve of its fourteen Chinese crew members. The Arrow had previously been used by pirates, captured by the Chinese government, and subsequently resold. It was then registered as a British ship and still flew the British flag at the time of its detainment, though its registration had expired. Its captain, Thomas Kennedy, who was aboard a nearby vessel at the time, reported seeing Chinese marines pull the British flag down from the ship. The British consul in Canton, Harry Parkes, contacted Ye Mingchen, imperial commissioner and Viceroy of Liangguang, to demand the immediate release of the crew, and an apology for the alleged insult to the flag. Ye released nine of the crew members, but refused to release the last three.

On 23 October the British destroyed four barrier forts. On 25 October a demand was made for the British to be allowed to enter the city. Next day the British started to bombard the city, firing one shot every 10 minutes. Ye Mingchen issued a bounty on every British head taken. On 29 October a hole was blasted in the city walls and troops entered, with a flag of the United States being planted by James Keenan (U.S. Consul) on the walls and residence of Ye Mingchen. Losses were 3 killed and 12 wounded. Negotiations failed and the city was bombarded. On 6 November 23 war junks attacked and were destroyed. There were pauses for talks, with the British bombarding at intervals, fires were caused, then on 5 January 1857, the British returned to Hong Kong.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Opium_War
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
8 October 1879 – War of the Pacific: The Chilean Navy defeats the Peruvian Navy in the Battle of Angamos.


The Combat of Angamos (Spanish: Combate de Angamos) was a naval encounter of the War of the Pacific fought between the navies of Chile and Perú at Punta Angamos, on 8 October 1879. The battle was the culminating point of a naval campaign that lasted about five months in which the Chilean Navy had with the sole mission of eliminating its Peruvian counterpart. In the struggle, two armored frigates, led by Commodore Galvarino Riveros and Navy Captain Juan José Latorre battered and later captured the Peruvian monitor Huáscar, under Rear Admiral Miguel Grau Seminario.

After the loss of the frigate Independencia at Punta Gruesa, Grau sought to challenge the outnumbering Chilean fleet adopting a harassing strategy, focused in inflicting as much damage as possible while avoiding a full scale engagement. As Grau evolved along the Pacific coast, he was chased by Admiral John Williams Rebolledo, who had been ordered to catch Grau no matter what. His failure cost him his commission, and was replaced by Riveros.

With a different strategy, Riveros managed to encircle Grau at Punta Angamos, about 80 kilometers north of Antofagasta. Falling in a trap set by Riveros and Latorre, Grau was forced to present battle after ordering the corvette Unión to escape to Perú.


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The Battle of Angamos (Spanish: Combate de Angamos) was a naval encounter of the War of the Pacific fought between the navies of Chile and Perú at Punta Angamos, on 8 October, 1879. The battle was the culminant point of a naval campaign that lasted about five months, as the Chilean Navy steamed with the sole mission of eliminating its Peruvian counterpart. In the struggle, two armored frigates, led by Commodore Galvarino Riveros and Navy Captain Juan José Latorre battered and later captured the Peruvian monitor Huáscar, under Rear Admiral Miguel Grau Seminario.

Latorre, aboard Almirante Cochrane, engaged first. Taking advantage of the powerful Armstrong-type batteries, Latorre shelled Huáscar for almost two hours, and Grau was killed in action. However, his flagship continued the fight while Riveros engaged her with the Blanco Encalada as well. After being battered for almost three hours, the Huáscar, unable to sustain combat, was boarded and captured and the battle ended.

The result was a complete success for the Chilean Navy, and secured its dominant position for the rest of the war. It allowed to prepare the invasion of the Tarapacá department, carried out on early November.

Chilean Navy dominance off the Pacific coast contributed significantly to success in the following land campaigns across the Atacama Desert that ended with Lima's fall on January 1881.

The Huáscar was repaired and served under the Chilean flag until its decommission, and now sits as a floating museum in the port of Talcahuano.

Background
Main article: Naval Campaign of the War of the Pacific
After the naval battle of Iquique of 21 May, the Peruvian fleet lost the armored frigate Independencia to a wooden schooner, Covadonga. This obliged Rear Admiral Miguel Grau to renounce to attack and to adopt a harassing strategy, avoiding by all means a direct encounter with the bulk of the Chilean navy.

Aboard the monitor Huáscar, Grau made several incursions into Chilean waters, successfully challenging the enemy's domination along the coast. Under his command, Huáscar sank or captured 14 transports, one of them carrying an entire cavalry regiment.

This last setback was considered a humiliation by the Chilean public opinion, and sparked several protests against the government. Besides, the Commander of the Chilean fleet Juan Williams Rebolledo resigned on 5 August. His poor command left his ships incapable of sailing without important repairs. The Chileans lost almost a month restoring the vessels to combat condition again. Therefore, the newly appointed Commander of the Navy, Commodore Galvarino Riveros, couldn't sail until September.

By 30 September, Riveros was notified that the corvette Unión was sailing to Panamá to escort five small ships with torpedoes bought from the United States. The Chilean fleet sailed again on 1 October, now carrying War Minister Rafael Sotomayor. The preceding week, the government had ordered the fleet to hunt down the Huáscar at all cost. In a council held aboard Riveros' flagship, the armored frigate Blanco Encalada, it was decided to set course to Arica, hoping to find Huáscar there.

But, on 7 October, Riveros was informed that Grau had been sighted sailing north at Coquimbo, half way between Arica and Valparaíso. Therefore, a new strategy was set up to capture the Peruvian monitor.

Divided in two divisions, Riveros with the slower ships would move close to shore, while Latorre would sail about 35 km from shore with the faster ships. So, the fleet was divided as it follows:

  • 1st Division—Commodore Galvarino Riveros.
    • Armored frigate Blanco Encalada: Commodore Galvarino Riveros
    • Wooden schooner Virgen de Covadonga: Lt. Captain Manuel Orella
    • Transport Matias Cousiño : Lt. Captain Augusto Castleton.
  • 2nd Division—Commander Juan Jose Latorre
    • Armored frigate Almirante Cochrane : Commander Juan Jose Latorre
    • Corvette O'Higgins : Lt. Captain Jorge Montt Alvarez
    • Transport Loa : Lt. Captain Javier Molinas Gacitua.
Chilean strategy

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Naval Combat of Angamos by Thomas Somerscales

On 1 October, Riveros gathered his officers and communicated the order of hunting down the Peruvian vessel at Arica. The same day, Grau in his flagship Huáscar ordered to sail along the coast as far south as Coquimbo, accompanied by the corvette Unión. Since the Chilean fleet sailed close to the shore and the Peruvians were farther out in the open sea, both formations didn't spot each other.

At Mejillones, on 7 October, a plan was approved to deceive the Peruvian ships. Riveros' division would wait for Grau at Antofagasta while Latorre would set up an east-west barrier-like formation about twenty miles (36 km) from shore. If Riveros could spot Huáscar, he would follow and keep her from retreating to south until Latorre could engage.

During the night the Peruvian warships were sailing off the Chilean coast to Arica, when they saw the lights of Antofagasta. Admiral Grau decided to engage any Chilean vessel at the port, intending to inflict some damage.

At 01:10 h. on 8 October, Huáscar searched the bay without encountering any targets. She came up with Unión at 03:00 hrs, and both resumed their northward heading. At the same hour, lookouts on Blanco Encalada saw two smoke columns on the horizon. Simultaneously, Grau was informed that there were three smoke columns to north.

Both enemies spotted each other and the Peruvian ships turned back south. Riveros ordered a speed reduction of his to make Grau think it was possible to turn back north and sail for Perú. At 05:40 h., both Peruvian ships began to slowly turn once again north. Then, Riveros increased the speed of Blanco Encalada to get closer to the Peruvians and to discourage Grau from turning back south.

At 07:15 hrs, steaming northward, the two Peruvian vessels spotted smoke columns ahead; it was the incoming Latorre's division. Since the Peruvian Unión could manage 13 knots, she was able to sail northeastward and escape, but the Huáscar had to maintain course and fight.

The Struggle

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Drawing of the Battle of Angamos

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Battle of Angamos

Around 8:30 h, the gap between Huáscar and Blanco Encalada reduced to 3,000 meters, and after Latorre modified his route, Cochrane was closing in too.

Off Punta Angamos at 09:25 h. Grau opened fire over Cochrane, beginning the engagement. Latorre didn't answer, focused on approaching to Huáscar from its stern. About 15 minutes later, Cochrane retaliated from about 2,200 meters. Her three starboard cannons caused serious damage to the monitor right from the start. The very first shot pierced Huáscar's turret, wounding the twelve crew members manning the 300-pound cannons. Another shot perforated the armor just above the waterline, cutting the left rudder chain and leaving Huáscar temporarily adrift. Meanwhile, Cochrane sustained little damage.[5] Grau's flagship listed hard to starboard and was hampered also by a deformation in the hull acquired when she rammed Prat's Esmeralda at Iquique five months ago. However, barely ten minutes later an emergency rudder was set up by Huáscar's crew.

At 10:00 h, a shot from Cochrane struck the bridge cabin, killing Admiral Grau and his ajundant, Diego Ferre. Command fell to Captain Elías Aguirre. By this time Huáscar's stern was on fire since at least two more shells penetrated from the rear and shattered the rudder wheel (Cluny, pg. 230), and the forecastle was devastated too. Lt. Captain Gaona's gunners caused heavy casualties among the Peruvian crew: the Chileans were using Palliser type armor-piercing rounds, which exploded right after penetrating the hull.

At 10:10, the Huáscar's flag was brought down from its hoist by the intense gunfire. Latorre ordered a cease fire, thinking that the ship had surrendered. However, the monitor kept up its pace and within minutes an unidentified officer hoisted the flag again, resuming combat. Meanwhile, the crew of the Huascar had again repaired the rudder wheel.

At 10:22 hrs, Blanco Encalada arrived to the fray. A shot from 200 meters perforated the Huascar's turret, killing almost all of the sailors within and damaging the rightmost cannon. Another shot from Cochrane passed through the officers' quarters and wrecked the emergency rudder station, which had been disabled already twice before. The Huáscar now could sail only in a wide semicircle to starboard. Once rudder control was regained, Aguirre tried to ram the Cochrane. Latorre was also maneuvering to ram the Huáscar, but the Peruvian ironclad suddenly veered to port and both ships passed by each other. Another projectile pierced Huáscar's turret 12 minutes later, killing everyone inside, including Captain Aguirre. Command of the ship went to Lt. Pedro Garezon, who in conference with the remaining officers decided to scuttle the ship rather than allow it to be captured. At 10:54 hrs the order was given to evacuate the wounded from the engine room and open the main condensator to scuttle the ship and to prevent its capture.

At 10:55 hrs Huáscar's flag chain was caught (a second time) by the intense gunfire. The Chilean warships, noticing that the Huáscar was decreasing speed, mustered their boarding parties. At 11:08 hrs, 14 to 20 sailors boarded the Huáscar, without resistance. They closed the main condensator water leaks (with 1.2 meters of water in the engine room) and extinguished several fires while the prisoners were transported to the Chilean vessels. Acting commander Pedro Garezon pointed out to the Chilean officers that the flag was on deck together with the chain because they had all been cut off by the enemy shots, thus the flag was never brought down, nor had the ship been surrendered by the Peruvians. One of the Chilean officers observed that something similar happened to the Chilean ship Magallanes.

Consequences
In less than three hours, the Chilean navy eliminated the menace of the Peruvian fleet. With Huáscar's capture, plus the previous loss of Independencia at Punta Gruesa, the firepower of the Peruvian Navy was drastically reduced, and Chile incorporated the monitor in its fleet. The loss of both vessels, plus the death of Admiral Grau, Peruvians' best naval officer, gave the Chilean navy uncontested control of the Pacific coast of Peru bringing the naval campaign of the War of the Pacific to its end. The decisive victory at Angamos allowed the Chilean Army to freely pursue the plan to attack the Allies, and the land invasion of Peru and Bolivia began.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Angamos
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
8 October 1879 – Death of Miguel Grau Seminario, Peruvian admiral (b. 1834) - killed in action during the Battle of Angamos


Miguel María Grau Seminario (Paita, Peru, 27 July 1834 – Punta Angamos, Bolivia, 8 October 1879) is the most renowned Peruvian naval officer and hero of the Naval Battle of Angamos during the War of the Pacific (1879–1884). He was known as el Caballero de los Mares (Spanish for "Gentleman of the Seas") for his kind and chivalrous treatment of defeated enemies and is esteemed by both Peruvians and Chileans. He is an iconic figure for the Peruvian Navy, and one of the most famous merchant marine and naval military leaders of the Americas.

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Early life
Miguel Grau was born in Paita on 27 July 1834 in the house of Dr. Alexander Diamont Newel with the assistance of the midwife Tadea Castillo, also known as "The Morito," both prominent figures in Paita. His father was Juan Manuel Grau y Berrío, a Colombian who came to Peru with Bolivar in the fight for independence from Spain. Later, Juan bought property in Paita and worked at the Customs Office. His mother, Luisa Seminario y del Castillo, motivated Grau to love the sea from his youth. He entered the Paita Nautical School. He first went to sea when he was nine years old, going to Fortune, Colombia, aboard a merchant schooner. The schooner sank and he returned to Paita. Grau later went on various merchant ships to ports in Oceania, Asia, America and Europe. These voyages gave Grau the seagoing experience that was the foundation for his brilliant career as a nautical officer and the beginning of a love story with Carla Ortiz, (unidentified French women).

Early career
In 1853, at the age of 19, he left the merchant marine and became an officer candidate of the Peruvian Navy, where he developed an outstanding professional reputation. In 1854, he was Military officer of the steamer Rimac. His career was rapid and brilliant. In 1863, he was promoted a year later. In 1864, he was sent to Europe to oversee the construction of ships for the Peruvian fleet. He would be put in prison a year later, with a group of fellow officers for rejecting the idea of hiring a foreigner as supreme commander of the Peruvian navy, but was later released after a trial in which they were declared not guilty as their cause was proven worthy. Among these ships was the ironclad Huáscar, launched in 1865 by Laird at Birkenhead. Upon his return, Chile and Peru joined together in a bi-national fleet against Spanish attempts to reclaim their American colonies. In 1868, he was recalled to the Navy and was named commander of the Huáscar with the rank of Lieutenant Commander and was later promoted to Commander. By June 1, 1874, he became the commanding officer of the Peruvian Navy's fleet as Captain, and later became a member of the Congress of the Republic of Peru as an elected congressman in 1876 representing Paita. To this day his seat is preserved in congress and his name is called at the beginning of each session, being responded "present" to by all congressmen.

War of the Pacific

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The Peruvian warship Huascar.

When the War of the Pacific between Chile against Bolivia and Peru began on 5 April 1879, Miguel Grau was aboard the Huáscar, as its captain and the Commander of the Navy. In an impressive display of naval mastery, Capitán Grau played an important role by interdicting Chilean lines of communication and supply, damaging, capturing or destroying several enemy vessels, and bombarding port installations. Grau's Huáscar became famed for moving stealthily, striking by surprise and then disappearing. These actions put off a Chilean invasion by sea for six months, and as a result he was promoted to Rear Admiral by the government in Lima - the first Peruvian to be promoted to flag officer rank in many years.

The Gentleman of the Seas

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Battle of Iquique

At the Battle of Iquique, after Huáscar sank the Chilean corvette Esmeralda by ramming her, Grau ordered the rescue of the surviving crew from the waters. Grau also wrote condolences to the widow of his opponent Arturo Prat, returning his sword and personal effects.

Letter to Carmela Carvajal de Prat (Prat's widow)

Dear Madam:I have a sacred duty that authorizes me to write you, despite knowing that this letter will deepen your profound pain, by reminding you of recent battles. During the naval combat that took place in the waters of Iquique, between the Chilean and Peruvian ships, on the 21st day of the last month, your worthy and valiant husband Captain Mr. Arturo Prat, Commander of the Esmeralda, was, like you would not ignore any longer, victim of his reckless valor in defense and glory of his country’s flag.While sincerely deploring this unfortunate event and sharing your sorrow, I comply with the sad duty of sending you some of his belongings, invaluable for you, which I list at the end of this letter. Undoubtedly, they will serve of small consolation in the middle of your misfortune, and I have hurried in remitting them to you.Reiterating my feelings of condolence, I take the opportunity of offering you my services, considerations and respects and I render myself at your disposal.(Signed) Cpt. Miguel Grau

At the port of Antofagasta, after sneaking up on an enemy ship the Matias Cousiño, he courteously asked the crew to abandon ship before opening fire. As her captain Castleton was abandoning the ship, the Chileans' capital ships Blanco Encalada and Almirante Cochrane showed up, forcing Grau to abandon his prey and, after seriously disabling the Matias Cousiño, to escape by passing in between the Chilean ironclads rendering them in an unfavourable position to pursue. These and other gestures earned him the nickname of El Caballero de los Mares ("Gentleman of the Seas") from his Chilean opponents, acknowledging an extraordinary sense of chivalry and his gentlemanly behaviour, combined with his highly efficient and brave combat career.

Grau was also a determining factor in capturing the steamer Rimac. Rimac was being chased by the wooden corvette Union under command of Garcia y Garcia. When Huascar appeared and fired her twin cannons, Rimac quickly lowered her flag. The cavalry regiment Carabineros de Yungay, including its commander, was captured with the ship. This was a major blow for the Chilean Government, and the Commander of the Chilean Navy resigned his position.

Death at Battle of Angamos
Almirante Grau was killed by an armor-piercing shell fired by the ironclad Almirante Cochrane in a four against one duel during the Naval Battle of Angamos on 8 October 1879. Huáscar was captured by the Chileans after incurring severe casualties in the close-range artillery duel. Although most of Grau's body was not recovered, his remains, which were buried with military honours in Chile, were returned to Peru in 1958. For many years after his death, his name was called in a ceremonial roll-call of the Peruvian Navy and the Peruvian congress continues to do so.

His final resting place lies at the Escuela Militar Naval del Peru, in El Callao in an underground mausoleum. He posthumously received the rank of Gran Almirante del Perú (Grand Admiral of Peru) in 1967 by order of the Peruvian Congress. A portrait of Almirante Grau is on display in the museum ship Huáscar.

Legacy

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Bust of Almirante Grau Seminario in Lake Forest Park, Washington, USA

In the year 2000, Miguel Grau was recognized as the "Peruvian of the Millennium" by popular vote.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_Grau_Seminario
 
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