Naval/Maritime History 27th of August - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
29 April 1758 - Naval Battle of Cuddalore (1758)
Indecisive battle between a British squadron under Vice-Admiral George Pocock and French squadron under Comte d'Aché.



The naval Battle of Cuddalore took place on 29 April 1758 during the Seven Years' War near Cuddalore off the Carnatic coast of India and was an indecisive battle between a British squadron under Vice-Admiral George Pocock and French squadron under Comte d'Aché.
British casualties were 29 killed and 89 wounded, while France lost 99 killed and 321 wounded. Although the battle itself was indecisive, the French fleet was able to achieve its primary objective of delivering the reinforcements that the defenders of Pondicherry were awaiting.

The two squadrons met again on 3 August in the battle of Negapatam and again on 10 September in the battle of Pondicherry.

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Ships involved
Britain (George Pocock)
France (d'Aché)
  • Zodiaque (74 cannons, flag)
  • Vengeur (54 cannons)
  • Bien-Aimé (58)
  • Condé (44)
  • Saint-Louis (50)
  • Moras (44)
  • Sylphide (36)
  • Duc d'Orléans (50)
  • Duc de Bourgogne (60)



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cuddalore_(1758)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
29 April 1758 - The Action of 29 April 1758 was a naval engagement fought in the Bay of Biscay near Brest between a British Royal Navy squadron and a single French Navy ship of the line during the Seven Years' War.


The Action of 29 April 1758 was a naval engagement fought in the Bay of Biscay near Brest between a British Royal Navy squadron and a single French Navy ship of the line during the Seven Years' War. In an attempt to support the garrison of Louisbourg, who were facing an impending siege, the French Atlantic Fleet sent a number of squadrons and ships to sea during the spring of 1758. To intercept these ships, Royal Navy squadrons maintained a close blockade of their main port at Brest. In April a British squadron including HMS Intrepid, HMS Dorsetshire and HMS Achilles was cruising off the French Biscay Coast when a lone sail was sighted to the southwest. Dorsetshire, commanded by Captain Peter Denis was sent to investigate, discovering the ship to be the French ship of the line Raisonnable sailing to Louisbourg. In a fierce battle, Dorsetshire managed to inflict heavy casualties on the French ship and force her captain, Louis-Armand-Constantin de Rohan, to surrender.

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Action
In 1758 the British Royal Navy Channel Fleet and the French Navy Atlantic Fleet were contesting control of the Bay of Biscay and the Atlantic Ocean during the Seven Years' War, which had broken out between Britain and France in 1755 over colonial dominance in North America. For the French Navy the priority was maintaining their lines of supply to the major French Canadian fortress of Louisbourg, which was soon to fall under siege. To support the city, the French Atlantic Fleet sent squadrons and single ships into the Atlantic to bring supplies and reinforcements to the garrison and the Royal Navy in turn deployed forces to intercept these missions.

One squadron deployed in close blockade at Brest in April 1758 was commanded by Captain Edward Pratten in HMS Intrepid. On 19 April, a sail was sighted to the southwest and Pratten detached the 70-gun HMS Dorsetshire under Captain Peter Denis to investigate. The ship proved to be the 64-gun French ship of the line Raisonnable under Captain Louis-Armand-Constantin de Rohan, Chevalier de Rohan and Prince de Montbazon. Realising the strength of the French ship, Pratten subsequently detached the 60-gun HMS Achilles under Captain Samuel Barrington to support Dorsetshire.

Before Achilles could arrive, Denis succeeded in bringing Dorsetshire alongside the French ship and in a fierce broadside engagement successfully forcing Rohan to strike his colours. Barrington's ship only arrived in range in the final minutes, confirming the French surrender. French casualties were heavy, with 61 killed and 100 wounded, while losses on Dorsetshire numbered 15 killed and 21 wounded, one of whom subsequently died. Raisonnable was subsequently repaired and commissioned into the Royal Navy under the same name, serving until she was accidentally wrecked at Martinique in February 1762.[4] The Siege of Louisbourg went ahead in June 1758, and the city fell the following month, blockaded from reinforcement by the Royal Navy.



Raisonnable was a 64-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, launched in 1755.

On 29 May 1758, she was captured in the Bay of Biscay by HMS Dorsetshire and HMS Achilles at the Action of 29 April 1758, and commissioned in the Royal Navy as the third rate HMS Raisonnable. She was lost off Martinique on 3 February 1762.

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Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with stern board decoration and name, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehad, and longitudinal half-breadth for 'Raisonnable' (1758), a captured French Third Rate, prior to being fitted as a 64-gun Third Rate, two-decker


HMS Dorsetshire was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Chatham Dockyard to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment, amended in 1754, and launched on 13 December 1757.

At the Action of 29 April 1758, Dorestshire defeated and captured French ship of the line Raisonnable in the Bay of Biscay.

Dorsetshire served until 1775, when she was broken up.

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Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth for 'Dorsetshire' (1757), a modified 1745 Establishment, 64-gun Third Rate, two-decker, as originally designed to carry 70-guns


HMS Achilles was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Barnard and Turner at Harwich to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment as amended in 1750, and launched in 1757. She was ordered in November 1755. HMS Achilles was a Dunkirk-class fourth rate, along with HMS Dunkirk and HMS America.

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HMS Maria Anna, Earl of Chatham and Achilles (far right) off a coastal town

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Career

HMS Achilles was launched on 6 February 1757 at Harwich. At the Action of 29 April 1758, she was detached along with HMS Dorsetshire in pursuit of the 64-gun French ship Raisonnable. The Dorsetshire engaged the Raisonnable first, followed by the Achilles. After sustaining 35 casualties, Raisonnable was taken and later purchased for the navy as HMS Raisonnable.

On 4 April 1759 Achilles engaged and captured the 60-gun French coastguard vessel St Florentine in a two-hour battle. The Achilles sustained 25 casualties – 2 killed and 23 wounded. St Florentine was later brought into the Royal Navy as HMS St. Florentine.

Later that year, the Achilles was the flagship of Rear-Admiral George Rodney when he sailed to L'Havre on 3 July. The fleet of four 50-gun ships along with 5 frigates, a sloop and 6 bomb ketches destroyed landing barges assembled in the harbour for a possible invasion of England. The Achilles remained at L'Havre for the rest of the year.

On 28 March 1762 the Achilles, along with several other warships and transports carrying 10,000 troops, set sail from Saint Helens to attack the French at Belleisle. The fleet arrived on 7 April. The next day the army attempted a landing under the cover of the Achilles's guns. The attack was forced back and the army lost 500 soldiers killed, wounded or captured. The army finally landed successfully on 22 April, and besieged the French in Le Palais until 7 June – when the French surrendered.

Achilles became the guardship at Portsmouth in 1763. Achilles was hulked in 1782 and sold on 1 June 1784.

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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 for Achilles (1757), a 60-gun Fourth Rate, two-decker




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Raisonnable_(1755)
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-341844;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=R
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Dorsetshire_(1757)
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-307870;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=D
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Achilles_(1757)
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-289048;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=A
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
29 April 1763 – Launch of French Provence, a 64-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. She was funded by a don des vaisseaux donation from the Estates of Provence.


The Provence was a 64-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. She was funded by a don des vaisseaux donation from the Estates of Provence.

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Ordered as Union in February 1762, the ship was renamed Provence on 17 March, and begun in May on plans by engineer Gauthier.

After an uneventful career, she was decommissioned in February 1769, but reactivated in April of the next year and commissioned under Captain Moriès-Castellet. She was appointed to a three-ship squadron under Captain de Broves and departed Toulon on 16 May, bound for Tunisia, where she blockaded the harbours of Sousse and Bizerte, and took part in the bombardment of the cities in late June.

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Battle of Grenada, by Jean-François Hue

In 1778, she took part in the naval operations in the American Revolutionary War under Captain Desmichel-Champorcin. She took part in the Battle of Grenada, where Desmichel-Champorcin was killed. In December 1779, she had returned to brest, where she was decommissioned.

Between 1783 and 1785, she sailed as a merchantman for the Compagnie de Chine, before being struck in Rochefort and brocken up in 1786.



 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
29 April 1770 – James Cook arrives in Australia at Botany Bay, which he names.


Lieutenant James Cook first landed at Kurnell, on the southern banks of Botany Bay, in what is now Silver Beach, on Sunday 29 April 1770, when navigating his way up the east coast of Australia on his ship, HMS Endeavour. Cook's landing marked the beginning of Britain's interest in Australia and in the eventual colonisation of this new "southern continent". Initially the name Stingrays Harbour was used by Cook and other journal keepers on his expedition, for the stingrays they caught. That name was also recorded on an Admiralty chart. Cook's log for 6 May 1770 records "The great quantity of these sort of fish found in this place occasioned my giving it the name of Stingrays Harbour". However, in the journal prepared later from his log, Cook wrote instead: (sic) "The great quantity of plants Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander found in this place occasioned my giving it the name of Botanist Botany Bay"


First voyage (1768–1771)
Main article: First voyage of James Cook
On 25 May 1768, the Admiralty commissioned Cook to command a scientific voyage to the Pacific Ocean. The purpose of the voyage was to observe and record the 1769 transit of Venus across the Sun which, when combined with observations from other places, would help to determine the distance of the Sun. Cook, at age 39, was promoted to lieutenant to grant him sufficient status to take the command. For its part, the Royal Society agreed that Cook would receive a one hundred guinea gratuity in addition to his Naval pay.


Endeavour replica in Cooktown, Queensland harbour – anchored where the original Endeavour was beached for seven weeks in 1770

The expedition sailed aboard HMS Endeavour, departing England on 26 August 1768. Cook and his crew rounded Cape Horn and continued westward across the Pacific, arriving at Tahiti on 13 April 1769, where the observations of the Venus Transit were made. However, the result of the observations was not as conclusive or accurate as had been hoped. Once the observations were completed, Cook opened the sealed orders which were additional instructions from the Admiralty for the second part of his voyage: to search the south Pacific for signs of the postulated rich southern continent of Terra Australis.[30] Cook then sailed to New Zealand and mapped the complete coastline, making only some minor errors. He then voyaged west, reaching the southeastern coast of Australia on 19 April 1770, and in doing so his expedition became the first recorded Europeans to have encountered its eastern coastline.

On 23 April, he made his first recorded direct observation of indigenous Australians at Brush Island near Bawley Point, noting in his journal: "...and were so near the Shore as to distinguish several people upon the Sea beach they appear'd to be of a very dark or black Colour but whether this was the real colour of their skins or the C[l]othes they might have on I know not." On 29 April, Cook and crew made their first landfall on the mainland of the continent at a place now known as the Kurnell Peninsula. Cook originally christened the area as "Stingray Bay", but later he crossed this out and named it "Botany Bay" after the unique specimens retrieved by the botanists Joseph Banksand Daniel Solander. It is here that James Cook made first contact with an aboriginal tribe known as the Gweagal.

After his departure from Botany Bay, he continued northwards. He stopped at Bustard Bay (now known as Seventeen Seventy) on 23 May 1770. On 24 May, Cook and Banks and others went ashore. Continuing north, on 11 June a mishap occurred when Endeavour ran aground on a shoal of the Great Barrier Reef, and then "nursed into a river mouth on 18 June 1770". The ship was badly damaged, and his voyage was delayed almost seven weeks while repairs were carried out on the beach (near the docks of modern Cooktown, Queensland, at the mouth of the Endeavour River). The voyage then continued and at about midday on 22 August 1770, they reached the northernmost tip of the coast and, without leaving the ship, Cook named it Cape York. Leaving the east coast, Cook turned west and nursed his battered ship through the dangerously shallow waters of Torres Strait. Searching for a high vantage point, Cook saw a steep hill on a nearby island from the top of which he hoped to see 'a passage into the Indian Seas'. He climbed the hill with three others, including Joseph Banks. On seeing a navigable passage, he signalled the good news down to the men on the ship, who cheered loudly.

Cook later wrote that he had claimed possession of the east coast when up on that hill, and named the place 'Possession Island'. However, the Admiralty's instructions did not authorise Cook to annexe New Holland (Australia) and therefore it is unlikely that any possession ceremony occurred that August. Importantly, Joseph Banks, who was standing beside Cook, does not mention any such episode or announcement in his journal. Cook re-wrote his journal on his arrival in Batavia (Jakarta) when he was confronted with the news that the Frenchman, Louis Bougainville, had sailed across the Pacific the previous year.

In his revised journal entry, Cook wrote that he had claimed the entire coastline that he had just explored as British territory. He returned to England via Batavia (modern Jakarta, Indonesia), where many in his crew succumbed to malaria, and then the Cape of Good Hope, arriving at the island of Saint Helena on 12 July 1771.

Interlude
Cook's journals were published upon his return, and he became something of a hero among the scientific community. Among the general public, however, the aristocratic botanist Joseph Banks was a greater hero. Banks even attempted to take command of Cook's second voyage but removed himself from the voyage before it began, and Johann Reinhold Forster and his son Georg Forster were taken on as scientists for the voyage. Cook's son George was born five days before he left for his second voyage.


The routes of Captain James Cook's voyages. The first voyage is shown in red, second voyage in green, and third voyage in blue. The route of Cook's crew following his death is shown as a dashed blue line.



 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
29 April 1781- American Revolutionary War: British and French ships clash in the Battle of Fort Royal off the coast of Martinique.


The Battle of Fort Royal was a naval battle fought off Fort Royal, Martinique in the West Indies during the Anglo-French War on 29 April 1781, between fleets of the British Royal Navy and the French Navy. After an engagement lasting four hours, the British squadron under Sir Samuel Hood broke off and retreated. Admiral Comte de Grasse offered a desultory chase before seeing the French convoys safe to port.

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Background
In March 1781, a large French fleet under the command of Comte de Grasse left the port of Brest. Most of this fleet was headed for the West Indies. Of the 26 ships of the line, one was sent to North America, and five, under the command of the Bailli de Suffren, were destined for India. The remaining twenty arrived off to Martinique on April 28. Before sailing to the lee (western) side of the island, de Grasse anchored the fleet and sent someone ashore for news. He learned that a British fleet of 17 ships of the line under Samuel Hood was blockading Fort Royal, preventing the four French ships anchored there from leaving.

Hood was under orders from the fleet's station commander, Admiral George Brydges Rodney, to maintain the blockade of the port on the lee side, despite his protests that this would put him at a disadvantage should any other fleet arrive. Though disadvantaged by his position and his inferior firepower, the fact that all of his ships had copper bottoms, which required little maintenance compared to the alternative, and that he was not burdened with the responsibility of escorting a convoy both allowed him to focus his efforts on maintaining the blockade.

Bataille_de_Fort_Royal_de_la_Martinique_29_avril_1781.jpg
Carte montrant les positions de l'affrontement du 29 avril 1781 entre les flottes françaises et anglaises au large de la Martinique. Guerre d'Indépendance américaine. Carte en français

Battle
De Grasse ordered his fleet to prepare for action on the morning of April 29, and sailed for Fort Royal with the convoy ships hugging the coast and the armed ships in battle line. Hood's fleet was spotted bearing toward them around 8:00 AM, but de Grasse held the advantageous weather gauge. At about 9:20 AM, Hood was joined by the Prince William, a 64-gun ship that had been at St. Lucia. The two fleets continued to push for advantageous positions, however Hood's leeward position meant he was unable to prevent de Grasse from bringing the convoy to the harbor, and de Grasse's fleet and the four blockaded ships soon met. Around 11 AM, de Grasse's van began firing at long range, with no effect. By 12:30 PM the two fleets were aligned, but de Grasse refused to take advantage of the weather gauge to close with Hood, despite Hood's efforts to bring the French to him. The fleets then exchanged cannonades and broadsides for the next hour; though at long range, the damage incurred was modest. The four British ships on the southern end of the line suffered the most damage due to being targeted and outnumbered by eight French ships. Hood finally drew away toward St. Lucia.

Aftermath
Hood dispatched the Russell, which had been holed below the waterline to St. Eustatius for repairs, and to bring news of the action to Admiral Rodney. Hood spent the next day in fruitless attempts to gain the windward and eventually made sail to the north. He met Rodney on May 11 between St. Kitts and Antigua, the latter having left St. Eustatius on May 5. Reports of French casualties vary from as few as 74 killed and wounded to more than 250.

Order of battle
British fleet
British order of battle as provided by Clowes, p. 482.

from french wikipedia:

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Ville de Paris was a large three-decker French ship of the line that became famous as the flagship of the Comte de Grasse during the American Revolutionary War.

Originally laid down in 1757 as the 90-gun Impétueux, she was funded by the City of Paris and renamed Ville de Paris in 1762 as a result of the don des vaisseaux, Duc de Choiseul’s campaign to raise funds for the navy from the cities and provinces of France.
She was completed in 1764 as a 90-gun first rate, just too late to serve in the Seven Years' War. She was one of the first three-deckers to be completed for the French navy since the 1720s.

In 1778, on the French entry into the American Revolutionary War she was commissioned at Brest, joining the fleet as the flagship of the Comte de Guichen. In July she fought in the indecisive Battle of Ushant (1778).
At some point during the next two years, she had an additional 14 small guns mounted on her previously unarmed quarterdeck, making her a 104-gun ship.

In March 1781 she sailed for the West Indies as flagship of a fleet of 20 ships of the line under the Comte de Grasse. She then fought at the Battle of Fort Royal, and the Battle of the Chesapeake.

In 1782, she fought in the Battle of St. Kitts as De Grasse's flagship.

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The Battle of the Saintes, 12 April 1782: surrender of the Ville de Paris by Thomas Whitcombe, painted 1783, shows Hood's Barfleur, centre, attacking the French flagship Ville de Paris, right.

At the Battle of the Saintes on 12 April 1782, the British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney defeated the French fleet under the Comte de Grasse, and captured Ville de Paris.

The ship sank in September 1782 with other ships when the 1782 Central Atlantic hurricane hit the fleet off Newfoundland Admiral Graves was leading back to England. Ville de Paris sank with the loss of all hands but one.

A ship of the line of the Royal Navy was named after her: HMS Ville de Paris, launched in 1795.



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Ville de Paris in Rochefort, 1764


https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bataille_de_Fort-Royal
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
29 April 1794 – Launch of french Cocarde ("Cockade"), a 40-gun Cocarde class frigate of the French Navy


The Cocarde ("Cockade") was a 40-gun Cocarde class frigate of the French Navy.

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Ordered as Cocarde nationale, she was launched on 29 April 1794 in Saint Malo and commissioned in July under Lieutenant Allanic. Under Captain Quérangal, she took part in the Battle of Groix. She later took part in the Expédition d'Irlande. She was renamed Cocarde in June 1796.

In 1802, she served in the Caribbean. A series of beachings damaged her direction and hull to the point where she had to be abandoned and dismantled.

sistership
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Battle of Régénérée and Vertu against HMS Brilliant


Cocarde Nationale class, (40-gun design by Pierre Duhamel, with 28 x 12-pounder and 12 x 6-pounder guns).

Cocarde Nationale,
(launched 29 April 1794 at St Malo) – renamed Cocarde in June 1796; deleted 14 June 1803.
Régénérée, (launched 1 November 1794 at St Malo) – captured by British Navy 27 November 1801, renamed HMS Alexandria.
Bravoure, (launched November 1795 at Saint-Servan) – wrecked 1 September 1801 near Livorno to avoid capture by the British Navy.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Cocarde_(1794)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
29 April 1794 – Launch of french Lion, a Téméraire class 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the French Navy, which later served in the Royal Navy.


Lion was a Téméraire class 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the French Navy, which later served in the Royal Navy. She was named Lion on 23 April 1790 and built at Rochefort from August 1791 until June 1794. She was renamed Marat on 28 September 1793 (7 months before being launched) and then Formidable on 25 May 1795, with the changing fortunes of the French Revolution.

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She took part in the Action of 6 November 1794, managing to rake HMS Alexander.


Capture in the Battle of Groix
Fighting under captain Linois on 23 June 1795 at the Battle of Groix, she was captured by HMS Barfleur near the French port of Lorient. She was taken into service in the Royal Navy, but because the Navy already had a Formidable, she was renamed HMS Belleisle, apparently in the mistaken belief that she had been captured off Belle Île, rather than the Île de Groix.

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HMS Belleisle after the Battle of Trafalgar

Battle of Trafalgar 1805
Captained by William Hargood, she was the second ship in the British lee column at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, and as such was engaged by the Franco-Spanish ships Achille, Aigle, Neptune, Fougueux, Santa Ana, Monarca and San Juan Nepomuceno. She was soon completely dismasted (the only British ship which suffered that fate), unable to manœuvre and largely unable to fight, as her sails blinded her batteries, but kept flying her flag for 45 minutes until the British ships behind her in the column came to her rescue. With 33 dead and 93 wounded, she was then towed to Gibraltar after the battle by the frigate HMS Naiad.

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    Belleisle, fifteen minutes past noon at Trafalgar

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    The dismasted Belleisle later on in the battle
Danish West Indies 1807
Following the concern in Britain that neutral Denmark was entering an alliance with Napoleon, the Belleisle sailed as the flagship of Rear-Admiral Alexander Cochrane, who commanded the squadron of ships that was sent to occupy the Danish West Indies. The squadron, which included HMS Prince George, HMS Northumberland, HMS Canada, HMS Ramillies and HMS Cerberus, captured Telemaco, Carvalho, and Master on 17 April 1807. The actual occupation of the Danish West Indies did not occur until December, after receipt of news of the second battle of Copenhagen.

Channel Fleet
From 1811 she was in Portsmouth harbour, and in 1814 the decision was taken to have her broken up.

pw4730.jpg
Despite the calm sea and comparatively still scene, this hand-coloured etching depicts the post-battle chaos after Trafalgar on 21st October 1805. Central to the image, in port quarter stern view, is the British ship Belleisle, dis-masted, with her rigging and sails hanging over her port side. The British ensign is draped forlornly over her stern. A sailor has climbed the broken mizzen mast to remove the ensign; other sailors appear to be attempting to cut loose the tangled rigging of the main mast. On the right of the image, Naiad is depicted under full sail on a port tack preparing, according to the inscription, to take the Belleisle in tow. Many other vessels can be seen on the horizon, some dis-masted, others with ragged sails. One vessel on the far right of the image is suffering a massive explosion. PAF4731 is an uncoloured impression



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Téméraire-class_ship_of_the_line
https://troisponts.net/2013/11/12/jen-ris-encore/
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-295471;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=B
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
29 April 1798 – Launch of French Aréthuse, the name-ship of the eponymous Aréthuse-class corvettes. HMS Excellent captured her in 1799.


Aréthuse, launched in April 1798, was the name-ship of the eponymous Aréthuse-class corvettes of the French Navy. Excellent captured her in 1799. The Royal Navy took her into service under the name HMS Raven. She was wrecked in 1804.

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French service
Jean-François Gauthier designed her and she was the only vessel of her class. She carried only 18 cannon, though she was designed for 20.

Aréthuse served between France and the Caribbean.

On 9 October 1799 she was under the command of lieutenant de vaisseau Emmanuel Halgan on her way from Lorient for Cayenne with dispatches.

She was sailing towards Impregnable and her convoy when the 74-gun Excellent, which was to windward of Impregnable, spotted her. Excellent chased Aréthuse, catching her during the night. Captain Robert Stopford of Excellent described Aréthuse as having eighteen 9-pounder guns and a crew of 153 men, all under the command of a lieutenant de vaisseau. She was sailing from Lorient to Cayenne with dispatches that she succeeded in destroying before she struck. Excellent shared the capture with Impregnable.

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Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with stern board outline, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for Raven (captured 1799), a captured French Brig, as fitted as an 18 gun Brig Sloop at Plymouth Dockyard. Signed by John Marshall [Master Shipwright, Plymouth Dockyard, 1795-1801]

British service

Aréthuse arrived in Plymouth on 26 November 1799. Four hundred French prisoners from Aréthuse and Bourdelaise had landed there two days earlier. (Revolutionnaire had captured Bordelais on 11 October.) Aréthuse was fitted for service with the Royal Navy between September and December 1800. She was commissioned in September 1800 under Commander James Sanders for the Channel. She was recommissioned in June 1802 under Commander Spelman Swaine and in August sailed for the Mediterranean.

Fate
On 4 January 1804 Raven sailed from Malta as escort to the merchant ship Dolphin, bound for Naples. She was following a course along the south coast of Sicily that would take her between the islands of Favignana and Marettimo. In the evening of the next day master's mate Robert Incledon had the watch and saw a light shape in the moonless night. He thought it was a sail but it turned out to be a tower on the cliffs near Mazari, on the south west coast of Sicily. At 11pm she ran aground. Despite efforts to lighten and free her, efforts that extended into the afternoon of 6 January, the pumps were unable to clear the water that was coming in and she had to be abandoned. Dolphin rescued her crew. The court martial on 10 February 1805 admonished the master for having steered too near the land.

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https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-342173;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=R
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
29 April 1800 - USS Insurgent – On 29 April 1800 the frigate was ordered to cruise between the West Indies and the US coast to protect US shipping interests and to capture any enemy vessels encountered. Insurgent departed Baltimore 22 July and after a brief stop at Hampton Roads sailed for her station 8 August 1800. Never heard from again, the frigate and her crew were presumed lost as a result of the severe storm which struck the West Indies 20 September 1800.


Insurgente was a 40-gun Sémillante-class frigate of the French Navy, launched in 1793. USS Constellation, Captain Thomas Truxtun in command, captured her off the island of Nevis during the Quasi-War. After her capture she served in the US Navy, patrolling the waters in the West Indies. In September 1800 she was caught up in a severe storm and was presumed lost at sea.

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Naval encounter during the Quasi-War between USS Constellation and French ship Insurgente (right) on 9 February 1799.

French frigate Insurgente
Insurgente was built by Pierre-Joseph Pénétreau at Lorient and launched on 27 April 1793.

In January or February 1794, Insurgente captured Ann off Cape Clear Island as Ann was sailing from Newfoundland to Bristol. Insurgente put a prize crew aboard Ann, but left her mate and three other men on board. When Ann was in sight of the French coast, the British sailors succeeded in recapturing her from the prize crew; the British then took Ann into Vigo.

On 16 January 1794 Insurgente captured the American ship John and James and brought her into Brest. John and James had been built at Philadelphia for George Morrison of Petersburg, Virginia. She had left Petersburg with 450 hogsheads of tobacco and 12,000 staves. On 27 December 1794 the Tribunal of Commerce ordered John and James released to Captain James Johnson and the Committee of Public Safety awarded him a payment of 20,000 livres tournois.

On 25 April Insurgente captured Freundschaft Lourentz, Colandt, master, as Freundschaft Lourentz was sailing from Lisbon to London. However two "Scilly boats" (i.e., boats from the Isles of Scilly), recaptured her the next day and brought her into St Ives, Cornwall.

On 5 December 1797 Insurgente captured Prince Frederick as Prince Frederick was returning from Madras and Bengal. Prince Frederick was so badly damaged in the engagement that she sank soon afterwards. Her people, however, were saved. The EIC put a value of £59,981 on the cargo that it had lost.

Battle with Constellation
Main article: USS Constellation vs L'Insurgente
On 9 February 1799, after being at sea for three days, the USS Constellation spotted Insurgente approximately six leagues northeast off Nevis. Insurgente, a fully rigged frigate, was considered one of the fastest sailing vessels in the world at the time; three weeks earlier she had encountered Constellation but was able to outrun her and escape. Shortly after being spotted by Constellation this second time the ships encountered a squall during which a violent gust of wind snapped Insurgente's topmast, impairing her speed. As Constellation approached, Captain Michael-Pierre Barreaut first attempted to seek haven by making for St. Eustatius, but to no avail, where Insurgente hauled wind and assumed a starboard tack. After being overtaken she hoisted American colors, at which time the Constellation hoisted the private signals. Unable to respond appropriately, she gave up her attempt at disguise and Captain Barreaut ordered the French tri-colors hoisted and a gun fired to windward to signal the challenge where Insurgente boldly sat in wait to be engaged. This was the first time since the American Revolution that a shot had been fired from an enemy vessel at an American ship. Truxtun gave the order to clear the deck of Constellation for action and the boatswain sounded the whistle. Both ships bore up to take positions to engage. The Constellation fired the first broadside, double-shotted, inflicting much damage to the French vessel's hull and killing many in the first minute of the engagement. Insurgente responded and fired a broadside, inflicting much damage to Constellation's rigging and top foremast, which was almost cut off. At 3:30 pm after an hour and a half of running battle and several raking broadsides from the Constellation the Insurgente struck her colors. First Lieutenant John Rodgers, Midshipman David Porter along with eleven men were put on board the captured vessel to take possession and to secure the prisoners who were sent to the lower hold. She had lost 70 men from a crew of 409, while Constellation, badly damaged also, only lost three out of a complement of 309. This was the first post-Revolutionary War American victory against a foreign naval vessel.

There were no handcuffs to be found and the prisoners seem disposed to rebel. Accordingly, Rodgers placed sentries at the hatch, armed with blunderbusses and under orders to open fire should the prisoners attempt to breach the hatch way.

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Scene depicting the action of 9 February 1799, when the USS Constellation (left), commanded by Captain Thomas Truxtun, captured the French frigate Insurgente (right)

Service in US Navy
The US Navy considered Insurgent a prize in the Quasi-War with France. The frigate was taken to the West Indies and refitted for service in the young American navy. She cruised under Lt. John Rodgers in company with Constellation until May 1799. Ordered back to the United States, Insurgent was purchased by the Navy for $84,500. Commissioned with Captain Alexander Murray in command, Insurgent sailed from Hampton Roads for Europe on 14 August 1799. Cruising in European waters during the winter of 1799–1800, the frigate captured the French ship Vendémiaire and recaptured the American ships Margaret, Angora, Commerce, and William and Mary. Insurgent returned to the United States in March 1800 via the West Indies.

Loss
On 29 April 1800 Patrick Fletcher assumed command and was ordered to cruise between the West Indies and the American coast to protect American shipping interests and to capture any enemy vessels he encountered. Insurgent departed Baltimore 22 July and after a brief stop at Hampton Roads sailed for her station 8 August 1800. She was never heard from again, and the frigate and her crew were presumed lost during the severe storm that struck the West Indies on 20 September 1800. This storm is also thought to have sunk USS Pickering, which vanished without a trace.


The Sémillante class was a type of 12-pounder 32-gun frigate of the French Navy, designed by Pierre-Joseph Pénétreau.

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Builder: Lorient
Ordered: 23 April 1790 (named)
Laid down: December 1790
Launched: 25 November 1791
Completed: May 1792
Fate: Given to Robert Surcouf at Mauritius in September 1808 and armed by him as a privateer, renamed Charles. Captured by the Royal Navy in December 1809 and broken up.
Builder: Lorient
Ordered: 3 September 1790
Laid down: 5 November 1791
Launched: 27 April 1793
Completed: June 1793
Fate: Captured by the US Navy off Nevis on 8 February 1799, recommissioned as USS Insurgent, but lost at sea in a hurricane in September 1800.


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An incident from the beginning of the French Revolutionary Wars, 1793-1815. The British ship ‘Venus’ commanded by Captain Jonathan Faulkner, sighted a strange sail at 03:00 when 120 miles south-west of Cape Finisterre. About 07:00 the ship put out blue colours and the ‘Venus’ answered by signalling a private code to which the other ship made no reply. The first shots were fired about 07:30 and then a close action from 08:00 to about 10:00. By this time the French frigate ‘Semillante’ was almost silenced, her captain and first lieutenant were killed and she had five feet of water in her hold. The ‘Venus’ was trying to close her to take possession when she bore away towards another ship that had appeared and which proved to be another French frigate. The sails, rigging and spars of the British frigate had taken the brunt of the enemy fire and were extremely cut up so that a further engagement was inadvisable. Indeed she was lucky to escape an encounter with a fresh opponent. In the right centre foreground, both frigates are shown starboard quarter view, with the ‘Semillante’ on the right. Most of her port lids have fallen shut, her main topgallant mast seems about to fall, and her colours are being struck. The ‘Venus’ is shown still firing although she is shot through and there are gaping holes in her main topsail. A seaman on the gunwhale of the quarter-deck can be seen putting out a small fire. In the left background of the painting is another French frigate, highlighting the precarious plight of the ‘Venus’. The painting is signed ‘T Elliott Pinxt’


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Insurgent
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sémillante-class_frigate
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-347401;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=S
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
29 April 1809 - HMS Alcmene (32), Cptn. William Henry Brown Tremlett, while chasing an enemy, was wrecked on a reef of rocks near the Loire.


HMS
Alcmene
was a 32-gun Alcmene-class fifth rate of the Royal Navy. This frigate served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars under the command of several notable officers. Alcmene was active in several theatres of the war, spending most of her time cruising in search of enemy vessels or privateers, and escorting convoys. She fought at the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801 and served in the blockade of the French coasts during the later Napoleonic Wars until she was wrecked on the French coast in 1809.

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Construction and commissioning
Alcmene was ordered from the yards of Joseph Graham, of Harwich on 14 February 1793, shortly after the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars. She was laid down there in April that year and launched on 8 November 1794. The ship was completed at Chatham Dockyard by 12 April 1795 and had commissioned under her first commander, Captain William Brown, in January that year. Joining the Alcmene on 26 March was surgeon William Beatty, who later served aboard HMS Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar, and attended the dying Lord Nelson. Beatty would spend most of the next five years aboard Alcmene, his longest period on a single ship.

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Lines (ZAZ2926)

Career
Alcmene went out as a convoy escort to the West Indies in November 1795, returning in January the following year and serving on the Lisbon station from August. Alcmene's main tasks involved escorting convoys to and from Oporto and Lisbon, some numbering upwards of 200 merchants; and cruising off the coast in search of enemy warships and privateers.

On 5 November 1796, Alcmene was in company with St. Albans, Caroline and Druid when they captured the Spanish ship Adriana. Alcmene took the 14-gun privateer Rochelleuse off Cape Finisterre on 6 March 1797, while the privateers Bonaparte and Légère were taken on 8 January and 22 August 1798 respectively. Alcmene had been refitting at Spithead when the naval mutiny broke out there. Her crew did not join the mutineers, though there were rumblings of mutiny later in the year aboard her, and several seaman were tried and punished. Captain George Johnstone Hope took command in August 1798 and Alcmene went out to the Mediterranean. She took part in the Mediterranean campaign of 1798, carrying supplies to the British fleet, and raided enemy shipping.

On 22 August, Alcmene captured the French gunboat Légère, of two 6-pounder guns and some swivel guns, and 61 men, off Alexandria. Hope tried to board her before her captain could throw overboard any dispatches she was carrying for Napoleon Bonaparte, then in Egypt. Hope was unsuccessful, but two seamen from Alcmene's crew jumped overboard and were able to retrieve the dispatches before they sank. One of Alcemene's boats was able to rescue the intrepid seamen. The Royal Navy took the gunboat into service as HMS Legere.

In 1799, Alcmene helped Horatio Nelson to evacuate the Neapolitan Royal family from Naples ahead of the advancing French armies. She then returned to the Lisbon station.

Alcmene captured the privateer Courageaux on 26 June 1799. Courageaux had left Pasajes in company with Grand Decide and Bordelais to intercept a convoy from Brazil. Courageaux, though pierced for 32 guns, only had twenty-eight 12 and 9-pounders, some of which she had thrown overboard while Alcmene chased her. Courageaux had a crew of 253 men under the command Jean Bernard. After a chase of almost three days, and a one-hour running fight, Courageaux struck at 39°29′N 33°0′W, which lies slightly west of the Azores. No casualties were reported for either side. On 1 August, Alcmene captured Deux Amis.

Capture of Thetis and Santa Brigada
Main article: Action of 16 October 1799
On 15 October 1799, Naiad sighted two Spanish frigates. She gave chase and before dawn Ethalion joined the pursuit. At 7:00 am, the two Spaniards parted company so Naiad followed Santa-Brigida, together with Alcmene and Triton, which too had joined the chase, while directing Ethalion, to pursue the other frigate. By 11:30 am, Ethalion had caught up with her quarry and after a short engagement the Spanish vessel struck her colours.

Triton, the fastest of the three British frigates, led the chase. The next morning she struck some rocks as she tried to prevent her quarry from reaching port. Triton got off the rocks and resumed the chase despite taking on water. She and Alcmene then exchanged fire with the Spanish frigate, which surrendered before Naiad could catch up. Four large Spanish ships came out from Vigo but then retreated when the three British frigates made ready to receive them. Alcmene had one man killed and nine wounded, and Triton had one man wounded; Santa Brigida had two men killed and eight men wounded.

The vessel that Ethalion captured turned out to be the Thetis, under the command of Captain Don Juan de Mendoza. She was homeward-bound from Vera Cruz (Mexico) with a cargo of cocoa, cochineal, and sugar, and more importantly, specie worth 1,385,292 Spanish dollars (£312,000). The vessel that Triton, Alcmene and Naiad captured was the Santa Brigada, under the command of Captain Don Antonio Pillon. She was carrying drugs, annatto, cochineal, indigo, sugar, and some 1,500,000 dollars. Prize money was paid on 14 January 1800.

Alcmene then returned to Plymouth in November 1799.

Hope's successor, in 1799, was Captain Henry Digby, and Alcmene joined the squadron blockading the French coast. Captain Samuel Sutton took command in January 1801, and she went at first to Lisbon and then to the Baltic with Sir Hyde Parker's expeditionary force in March 1801. She was present at the Battle of Copenhagen on 2 April that year, as part of Edward Riou's frigate squadron, and suffered five men killed and 19 wounded in the battle. In 1847, The Admiralty authorized the issuance of the Naval General Service Medal with the clasp "Copenhagen 1801" to any remaining survivors of the battle.

Sutton was killed by a sniper's bullet during the battle. Alcmene then came under the command of Captain Edmund Carlise who was promoted in action from lieutenant, appointed substantively wef 17 July and remaining captain of the Alcmene in the Baltic and Newfoundland until 2 July 1802, according to a transcription of Admiralty Officers' Services, Captains, Vol 1 Folio 7 given to one of his descendants. (An earlier entry on this page suggested either Captain Charles Pater or Captain John Devonshire, noting however that Devonshire returned to Britain with dispatches on Lynx in June 1801).

Alcmene went out as a convoy escort to Newfoundland, before returning to British waters and joining the Channel Fleet. Captain John Stiles took command in August 1802, and Alcmene spent between 1804 and 1805 on the Channel Islands station. Captain James Brisbane succeeded Stiles in November 1805 and sailed Alcmene to the Irish station.

Here she took the privateer Courier on 4 January 1806. Courier was the former His Majesty's hired armed cutter Alert. Courier was pierced for 14 guns but mounted only seven brass 42 and 24-pounder carronades. She had a crew of 70 men, was four days out of Morlaix, and had not captured any prizes.

Alcmene came under her last commander, Captain William Tremlett, in January 1808. Tremlett commanded her in the English Channel.

Fate
Alcmene was wrecked at the mouth of the Loire on 29 April 1809. She was following the 44-gun frigate Amelia to reconnoiter the French forces when her pilot's ignorance resulted in her striking Blanche Rock, off Nantes. The ebbing tide made it impossible to get her off and at low tide she broke her back and bilged. Fortunately, Amelia was able to rescue both the entire crew of Alcmene and her stores. Her crew then set fire to Alcmene. She burnt to the water's edge, leaving little of use to the French.

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Cerberus (or Alcmene) class 32-gun fifth rates 1794, designed by John Henslow.

j5843.jpg

j6079.jpg
Scale 1:48. Plan showing the stern board construction profile for Pallas (1793), Stag (1793), and Unicorn (1734), all 32-gun, Fifth Rate Frigates It was later used in 1793 for Galatea (1794), Lively (1794), Alcemene (1794), Cerberus (1794), and in 1795 for Maidstone (1795), Shannon (1796) all 32-gun, Fifth Rate Frigates



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Alcmene_(1794)
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-290219;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=A
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
29 April 1813 - The sloop Essex Junior was French prize that the British whaling firm of Samuel Enderby and Sons purchased and used as a whaler under the name Atlantic.
In 1813, on her second whaling voyage, the frigate USS Essex captured her off the Galapagos Islands.



The sloop Essex Junior was French prize that the British whaling firm of Samuel Enderby and Sons purchased and used as a whaler under the name Atlantic. In 1813, on her second whaling voyage, the frigate USS Essex captured her off the Galapagos Islands. The Americans named her Essex Junior. The British recaptured her on 28 March 1814 when they captured Essex. They then sent Essex Junior to New York as a cartel. There the Americans seized her and sold her.

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Atlantic
Atlantic was a French prize that Samuel Enderby & Sons purchased for use as a whaler. She appears in the Register of Shipping in 1810 under the name Atalanta, with O. Gwyer, master, Enderby, owner, and trade London–South Seas.

Captain Obed Wyer (or Gwyer, or Weir, or Wier) sailed from London on 12 April 1810 bound for Peru. Atlantic was reported to have been off the coast of Peru in September 1811 with 1000 barrels of sperm oil. On 17 May 1812 she left St Helena for home. She returned on 21 July 1812.

Captain Wyer sailed again for the Galapagos on 6 October 1812. Essex, Captain David Porter, captured her off the Galapagos Islands on 29 April 1813. Porter took Atlantic to use as a tender, named her Essex Junior, and placed her under the command of Commander John Downes.

Atlantic was already pierced for 20 guns though only mounting six, so Porter augmented her existing armament with 6-pounder guns and additional 18-pounder carronades. He also put on board a crew of 60 officers and men.

See also: List of British whalers captured in the Pacific by the vessels of Captain David Porter, USN (1813)

Encounter with the Royal Navy
After cruising in the waters off the western coast of South America Essex Junior accompanied Essex to the island of Nuka Hiva in the Marquesas Group where repairs were made. Essex Junior returned with Porter in Essex, leaving on 12 December and reaching the coast of Chile on 12 January 1814.

On 8 February 1814 Phoebe and Cherub arrived at Valparaíso, a neutral port, where Essex and her prizes were anchored. Having trapped Essex in the harbour, the British waited six weeks for her to come out and thwarted all her efforts to escape. Eventually, on 28 March, Porter attempted to break out of the harbour. A squall took off his main topmast and he attempted to return to harbour but Phoebe and Cherub drove Essexinto a nearby bay and defeated her in a short engagement. Phoebe and Cherub also captured Essex Junior.

Main article: Battle of Valparaiso
In the engagement, Phoebe had four men killed, including her first lieutenant, and seven men wounded. Cherub had one killed and three wounded, including her captain. The British reported that Essex had 24 killed and 45 wounded, though the Americans reported higher casualties. Lieutenant Pearson of Phoebe commanded the prize crew that sailed Essex back to Britain, where he was promoted to Commander.

Her captors used Essex Junior as a cartel to transport their prisoners of war to New York. Just outside New York, a British warship detained them overnight. Porter took the view that the detention abrogated the cartel he had signed with Hillyer of Phoebe, and contrived to escape on shore. The British released Essex Junior, and she sailed into harbour, past various forts that mistook her for an enemy ship and fired on her, without effect.

When she arrived at New York in July 1814, the marshal of the district seized her. She was condemned, and sold for US$25,000 on 26 August


 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
29 April 1862 – Launch of French Thémis, a 46-gun Magicienne class frigate of the French Navy


The Thémis was a 46-gun Magicienne class frigate of the French Navy.

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The keel of Thémis was laid in 1847, but she took 15 years to complete: as her design would have been obsolete before completion, she was lengthened and fitted with a steam engine, and launched as a steam frigate. She took part in the French intervention in Mexico, and was one of the ships escorting the SMS Novara, carrying Emperor Maximilian to Mexico. From 29 July 1865 to the first of January 1866, she cruised the off Terre-Neuve under captain Amédée Ribourt.

In 1874, she was redesigned as a first class cruiser, and in 1878, she became the flagship of the Southern Atlantic division. She later cruised the South China Sea, until she was decommissioned in 1882, and struck in November of that year.

Until 1929, she was used as a mooring hulk in Toulon harbour. In 1930, she was sold for scrap, and eventually burnt off Lorient on 1 July 1931.

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Launch of Thémis on 29 April 1862


Magicienne class (50-gun type, 1845 design by Prix-Charles-Jean-Baptiste Sochet):

Magicienne, (launched 26 December 1861 at Toulon as a steam frigate) – deleted 19 April 1886.
Thémis, (launched 29 April 1862 at Toulon as a steam frigate) – deleted 7 November 1882.


 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
29 April 1881 - The passenger steamship SS Tararua struck the reef off Waipapa Point in The Catlins on 29 April 1881 in New Zealand's highest civilian shipping loss of life.
Of 151 passengers and crew aboard, 20 survived.


SS
Tararua
was a passenger steamer that struck the reef off Waipapa Point in the Catlins on 29 April 1881, and sank the next day, in the worst civilian shipping disaster in New Zealand's history. Of the 151 passengers and crew on board, only 20 survived the shipwreck

Wreck_of_the_Tararua.jpg
Contemporary portrayal of the wreck

Ship
The Tararua was a screw-driven steamer with two 155 horsepower (116 kW) engines, measuring 222.6 ft (67.8 m) long, 28 ft (8.5 m) wide and 16.2 ft (4.9 m) deep. Built in Dundee by Gourlay Brothers in 1864, her original capacity was 523 tons (net) but alterations later increased her net tonnage to 563 tons.


The reef on a fine day

Wreck
Sailing from Port Chalmers, Dunedin at 5 pm on 28 April 1881, the Tararua was en route to Melbourne via Bluff and Hobart. Steering by land on a dark night, with clear skies overhead but a haze over the land, the captain turned the ship west at 4 am believing they had cleared the southernmost point. After breakers were heard at 4:25 am, they steered away to the W by S-half-S for 20 minutes before heading west again. At around 5 am, the ship struck the Otara Reef, which runs 13 km (8 mi) out from Waipapa Point.

The first lifeboat was holed as it was launched, but the second lifeboat carried a volunteer close enough in to swim to shore and raise the alarm. A farmhand rode 35 miles (56 km) to Wyndham to telegraph the news. However, while a message reached Dunedin by 1 pm, it was not marked urgent, and it took until 5 pm for the Hawea to leave port with supplies. Meanwhile, the wind and waves had risen. Around noon, six passengers who were strong swimmers were taken close to shore; three managed to get through the surf, with the help of the earlier volunteer, but the others drowned. On a return trip, one man attempted to get ashore on the reef, but had to give up; another three drowned trying to swim to the beach. Another boat capsized trying to get a line through the surf. Eight of its nine crew survived, but the boat was damaged, and the locals who had gathered on the shore could not repair it. The remaining boat could no longer reach the ship, due to the waves, and stood out to sea in hope of flagging down a passing ship to help. The Tararua took over 20 hours to sink, with the stern going under around 2 pm and the rest disappearing overnight. The last cries of the victims were heard at 2:35 am. Only one man managed to swim safely from the ship to shore.

About 74 bodies were recovered, of which 55 were buried in a nearby plot that came to be known as the "Tararua Acre". Three gravestones and a memorial plinth remain there today.


Waipapa Point lighthouse, built after the wreck

Inquiry
A Court of Inquiry found that the disaster was primarily caused by the ship's captain failing to establish his correct position at 4am, before changing course to head west. An able-bodied seaman was also blamed for not keeping a proper lookout, from which breakers would have been heard in time to avoid the reef. The court recommended that steamers should carry enough lifebelts for all their passengers (there were only twelve on the Tararua) and that a lighthouse should be built at Waipapa Point. The lighthouse began operating in 1884.

Previous incident
The Tararua had a narrow escape on a previous voyage in 1865, suffering no damage after grounding on a beach at Cape Farewell



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Tararua
http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~nzbound/genealogy/tararua.htm
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
29 April 1893 – Launch of SMS Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia ("Empress and Queen Maria Theresa"), an armored cruiser used by the imperial Austro-Hungarian Navy from 1895 to 1917


SMS Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia
("Empress and Queen Maria Theresa") was an armored cruiser used by the imperial Austro-Hungarian Navy from 1895 to 1917; she was the first ship of that type built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy. The ship was a unique design, built by the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino shipyard in Trieste; she was laid down in July 1891, launched in April 1893, and completed in November 1894. Armed with a main battery of two 24-centimeter (9.4 in) guns and eight 15 cm (5.9 in) guns, the ship provided the basis for two subsequent armored cruiser designs for the Austro-Hungarian Navy.

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In 1898, Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia was deployed to the Caribbean to safeguard Austro-Hungarian interests during the Spanish–American War; she inadvertently arrived off Santiago de Cuba on the morning the Spanish squadron attempted to escape from the American blockade, and was nearly attacked herself. In 1900, she was sent to China to assist in the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion, and remained in East Asian waters until 1902. She was heavily modernized between 1906 and 1910, and served in the 1st Cruiser Division after returning to the fleet. She was used first as a harbor guard ship and then as a barracks ship during World War I. After the end of the war, she was surrendered to Britain as a war prize and broken up for scrap in 1920.


Design

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Line-drawing of Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia

In the 1890s, the Austro-Hungarian Navy began building large, modern cruisers, beginning with the protected cruisers of the Kaiser Franz Joseph I class. The Marinesektion, the executive committee of the Navy, decided to follow the Kaiser Franz Joseph I-class ships with a more powerful vessel, a larger, better armed armored cruiser, as the type had begun to gain prominence in foreign navies. The Austro-Hungarians requested design proposals from five British shipyards, though none of them were awarded the contract. The Navy gave the contract for "torpedo-ram cruiser C", as it was provisionally titled, to Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino, the Austrian dockyard in Trieste. The two subsequent armored cruisers, Kaiser Karl VI and Sankt Georg, were improved versions of this design.

Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia was 111.67 meters (366.4 ft) long at the waterline and 113.7 m (373 ft) long overall. She had a beam of 16.25 m (53.3 ft) and a draft of 6.81 m (22.3 ft). As designed, the ship displaced 5,330 long tons (5,420 t), and at full load she displaced 6,026 long tons (6,123 t). She had a crew of 475 officers and men. The ship was powered by two 3-cylinder, horizontal triple expansion engines rated at 9,755 indicated horsepower (7,274 kW). This gave the ship a top speed of 19.35 knots(35.84 km/h; 22.27 mph).

Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia was armed with a main battery of two 24 cm K L/35 guns, manufactured by Krupp, and mounted in two single turrets, one forward and one aft. These guns were the primary offensive armament. For defense against torpedo boats, she also carried eight Krupp 15 cm SK L/35 guns, twelve Skoda 47 mm (1.9 in) L/44 guns, six Hotchkiss 47 mm L/33 guns, and a pair of 7 cm L/18 landing guns; these guns were primarily mounted in casemates or sponsons. The landing guns could be taken ashore to provide support for a landing party. Her armament was rounded out by four 45 cm (18 in) torpedo tubes, one in the bow, one in the stern, and one on each side. Both the main battery turrets and the armored belt were protected by 100 mm (3.9 in) thick steel armor. The main deck was 38 to 57 mm (1.5 to 2.2 in) thick. The casemates were armored with 80 mm (3.1 in) of steel, and the conning tower had 50 mm (2.0 in) thick sides.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Kaiserin_und_Königin_Maria_Theresia
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
29 April 1897 – Launch of Ammiraglio di Saint Bon, a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Italian Navy (Italian: Regia Marina) built during the 1890s


Ammiraglio di Saint Bon was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Italian Navy (Italian: Regia Marina) built during the 1890s. She was laid down in July 1893, launched in April 1897, and completed in May 1901. She was the lead ship of her class, and had one sister ship, Emanuele Filiberto. The ship was armed with a main battery of four 10-inch (254 mm) guns and was capable of a top speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph).

Italian_battleship_Ammiraglio_di_Saint_Bon.jpg

Ammiraglio di Saint Bon served in the active squadron of the Italian navy for the first several years of her career. She was assigned to the 3rd Division during the Italo-Turkish War of 1911–1912. During the war, she was involved in the seizure of the island of Rhodes, where she provided gunfire support to Italian infantry. The ship was obsolescent by World War I and was slated to be broken up in 1914–15, but the need for warships granted Ammiraglio di Saint Bon a respite. She spent the war as a harbor defense ship in Venice and, after April 1916, was used primarily as a floating anti-aircraft battery. She was stricken from the naval register in June 1920 and subsequently broken up for scrap.


Design

Ammiraglio_di_Saint_Bon_line-drawing.png
Line-drawing of the Ammiraglio di Saint Bon class
Main article: Ammiraglio di Saint Bon-class battleship

Ammiraglio di Saint Bon was 111.8 meters (367 ft) long overall, and had a beam of 21.12 m (69.3 ft) and a maximum draft of 7.69 m (25.2 ft). She displaced 10,531 long tons (10,700 t) at full combat load. Her propulsion system consisted of two triple expansion engines rated at 14,296 indicated horsepower (10,661 kW). Steam for the engines was provided by twelve coal-fired cylindrical water-tube boilers. The ship's propulsion system provided a top speed of 18.3 knots (33.9 km/h; 21.1 mph) and a range of approximately 5,500 nautical miles (10,200 km; 6,300 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). Ammiraglio di Saint Bon had a crew of 557 officers and enlisted men.

As built, the ship was armed with four 10 in (254 mm) 40-caliber guns placed in two twin gun turrets, one forward and one aft. She was also equipped with eight 6 in (152 mm) 40-cal. guns in individual casemates amidships, and eight 4.7 in (119 mm) 40-cal. guns in shielded pivot mounts directly above the casemate battery. The ship's gun armament was rounded out by eight 57 mm (2.2 in) guns and two 37 mm (1.5 in) guns. Ammiraglio di Saint Bon also carried four 17.7 in (450 mm) torpedo tubes in deck-mounted launchers. The ship was protected by Harvey steel. The main belt was 9.8 in (249 mm) thick, and the deck was 2.75 in (70 mm) thick. The conning tower was protected by 9.8 in of armor plating. The main battery guns had 9.8 in thick plating, and the casemates were 5.9 in (150 mm) thick.

Ammiraglio_di_Saint_Bon_NH_48943.jpg

The Ammiraglio di Saint Bon class was a pair of pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Italian Navy (Italian: Regia Marina) during the 1890s. The class comprised two ships: Ammiraglio di Saint Bon, the lead ship, and Emanuele Filiberto. They were armed with a main battery of four 10-inch (254-millimetre) guns and were capable of a top speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph). Smaller and less powerfully-armed than most contemporary battleships, they marked a brief departure from Italian battleship design, which had previous emphasized large ships equipped with large guns.

Both ships served in the active duty squadron early in their careers, and participated in the Italo-Turkish War of 1911–12. They took part in the Italian offensives in North Africa and the island of Rhodes, but did not see combat with the Ottoman fleet. They were reduced to harbor defense ships by the outbreak of World War I, and they spent the war in Venice. The ships were discarded shortly after the end of the war, both having been stricken in 1920.




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammiraglio_di_Saint_Bon-class_battleship
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
29 April 1915 – Launch of HMS Royal Sovereign (pennant number 05), a Revenge-class (also known as Royal Sovereign and R-class) battleship of the Royal Navy displacing 29,970 long tons (30,450 t) and armed with eight 15-inch (381 mm) guns in four twin-gun turrets.


HMS Royal Sovereign
(pennant number 05) was a Revenge-class (also known as Royal Sovereign and R-class) battleship of the Royal Navy displacing 29,970 long tons (30,450 t) and armed with eight 15-inch (381 mm) guns in four twin-gun turrets. She was laid down in January 1914 and launched in April 1915; she was completed in May 1916, but was not ready for service in time to participate in the Battle of Jutland at the end of the month. She served with the Grand Fleet for the remainder of the First World War, but did not see action. In the early 1930s, she was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet and based in Malta.

HMS_Royal_Sovereign_FL18403.jpg

Unlike the Queen Elizabeth-class battleships, Royal Sovereign and her sisters were not modernised during the interwar period. Only minor alterations to her anti-aircraft battery were effected before the outbreak of World War II in September 1939. Assigned to the Home Fleet, the ship was tasked with convoy protection until May 1940, when she returned to the Mediterranean Fleet. Royal Sovereign was present during the Battle of Calabria in July 1940, but her slow speed prevented her from engaging the Italian battleships. By March 1942, she was assigned to the Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean, but after the Indian Ocean raid by Admiral Nagumo's Kido Butai, the ship was withdrawn to eastern Africa to escort convoys. In January 1944, she returned to Britain, and in May the Royal Navy transferred Royal Sovereign to the Soviet Navy, which renamed her Arkhangelsk. She then escorted Arctic convoys into Kola until the end of the war. The Soviets returned the ship in 1949, after which she was broken up for scrap.


Description
Main article: Revenge-class battleship

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Illustration of HMS Revenge as she appeared in 1916

Royal Sovereign had a length overall of 620 feet 7 inches (189.2 m), a beam of 88 feet 6 inches (27.0 m) and a deep draught of 33 feet 7 inches (10.2 m). She had a designed displacement of 27,790 long tons (28,240 t) and displaced 31,130 long tons (31,630 t) at deep load. She was powered by four Parsons steam turbines using steam from eighteen oil-fired Babcock & Wilcox boilers. The turbines were rated at 40,000 shaft horsepower (29,828 kW) and a top speed of 23 knots (42.6 km/h; 26.5 mph). She had a range of 7,000 nautical miles (12,964 km; 8,055 mi) at a cruising speed of 10 knots (18.5 km/h; 11.5 mph). Her crew numbered 1,240 officers and ratings in 1921. Royal Sovereign cost £2,570,504 upon completion.

Armament
The ship was equipped with eight breech-loading (BL) 15-inch (381 mm) Mk I guns in four twin gun turrets, in two superfiring pairs fore and aft of the superstructure, designated 'A', 'B', 'X', and 'Y' from front to rear. Twelve of the fourteen BL 6-inch (152 mm) Mk XII guns were mounted in casemates along the broadside of the vessel amidships; the remaining pair were mounted on the shelter deck and were protected by gun shields. Her anti-aircraft armament consisted of two quick-firing (QF) 3-inch (76 mm) 20 cwt Mk I AA guns.

In August–September 1924, the 3-inch guns were replaced by a pair of QF 4-inch (102 mm) Mk V guns, During the ship's 1927–28 refit, the shelter deck 6-inch guns were removed and another pair of 4-inch AA guns were added. These were replaced by eight QF 4-inch Mk XVI guns in twin turrets during Royal Sovereign's 1937–1938 refit. A pair of eight-barrel 2-pounder "pom-poms" were added in 1932 abreast the funnel, and two four-barrel "pom-poms" were added in early 1942 atop 'B' and 'X' turrets. Ten 20 mm Oerlikon guns were also added in 1941. Another six were added in 1943. Royal Sovereign was initially equipped with four submerged 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes on her broadside,[8] though the after pair were removed in 1932. The forward pair were also removed in 1937–1938, during the ship's last prewar refit.

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Fire control
Royal Sovereign was completed with two fire-control directors fitted with 15-foot (4.6 m) rangefinders. One was mounted above the conning tower, protected by an armoured hood, and the other was in the spotting topabove the tripod foremast. Each turret was also fitted with a 15-foot rangefinder. The main armament could be controlled by 'X' turret as well. The secondary armament was primarily controlled by directors mounted on each side of the compass platform on the foremast once they were fitted in March 1917. A 30-foot (9.1 m) rangefinder replaced the smaller one originally fitted in 'X' turret in 1919. Similarly, another large rangefinder was fitted in 'B' turret during the ship's 1921–1922 refit. A simple high-angle rangefinder was added above the bridge during that same refit.

About 1931, a High-Angle Control System (HACS) Mk I director replaced the high-angle rangefinder on the spotting top. During the 1932 refit two positions for 2-pounder "pom-pom" anti-aircraft directors were added on new platforms abreast and below the fire-control director in the spotting top. In the 1937–1938 refit a HACS Mark III director replaced the Mk I in the spotting top and another was added to the torpedo-control tower aft. By 1942, a Type 279 air warning radar, a Type 273 surface-search radar, a Type 284 gunnery radar and two Type 285 anti-aircraft gunnery radars were installed. By September 1943, the Type 284 radar had been replaced by an improved Type 284B and two Type 282 radars had been fitted for the "pom-poms".

Protection
Royal Sovereign's waterline belt consisted of face-hardened Krupp cemented armour (KC) that was 13 inches (330 mm) thick between 'A' and 'Y' barbettes and thinned to 4 to 6 inches (102 to 152 mm) towards the ship's ends, but did not reach either the bow or the stern. Above this was a strake of armour 6 inches thick that extended between 'A' and 'X' barbettes. Transverse bulkheads 4 to 6 inches thick ran at an angle from the ends of the thickest part of the waterline belt to 'A' and 'Y' barbettes.

The gun turrets were protected by 11 to 13 inches (279 to 330 mm) of KC armour, except for the turret roofs which were 4.75–5 inches (121–127 mm) thick. The barbettes ranged in thickness from 6–10 inches (152–254 mm) above the upper deck, but were only 4 to 6 inches thick below it. The Revenge-class ships had multiple armoured decks that ranged from 1 to 4 inches (25 to 102 mm) in thickness. The main conning tower had 13 inches of armour on the sides with a 3-inch (76 mm) roof. The torpedo control tower in the rear superstructure had 6 inches of armour protecting it. After the Battle of Jutland, 1 inch of high-tensile steel was added to the main deck over the magazines and additional anti-flash equipment was added in the magazines. In 1918 the gun shields for the upper deck 6-inch guns were replaced by armoured casemates.

To protect against underwater explosions, the ship was fitted with longitudinal torpedo bulkheads 1 to 1.5 inches (38 mm) inches thick that ran from the forward to the rear magazines. During her 1921 refit, Royal Sovereign was fitted with an anti-torpedo bulge that ran the length of the ship between the fore and aft barbettes. It was divided into a water-tight empty lower compartment and an upper compartment filled with water-tight "crushing tubes" intended to absorb and distribute the force of an explosion. The space between the tubes was filled with wood and cement.

Aircraft
The ship was fitted with flying-off platforms mounted on the roofs of 'B' and 'X' turrets in 1918, from which fighters and reconnaissance aircraft could launch. In 1932 the platforms were removed from the turrets and a trainable catapult was installed on her quarterdeck, along with a crane to recover a seaplane. The catapult and crane were removed by March 1937.


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HMS Royal Oak

The Revenge-class battleships (listed as Royal Sovereign class in several editions of Jane's Fighting Ships, such as the 1919[1] and 1931 editions, and sometimes also known as the "R" class) were five battleshipsof the Royal Navy, ordered as the First World War loomed, and launched in 1914–16. There were originally to have been eight of the class, but two were later redesigned, becoming the Renown-class battlecruisers, while the other, which was to have been named HMS Resistance, was cancelled.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revenge-class_battleship
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
29 April 1932 – Launch of Väinämöinen, a Finnish coastal defence ship, the sister ship of the Finnish Navy's flagship Ilmarinen and also the first ship of her class.


Väinämöinen was a Finnish coastal defence ship, the sister ship of the Finnish Navy's flagship Ilmarinen and also the first ship of her class. She was built at the Crichton-Vulcan shipyard in Turku and was launched in 1932. Following the end of the Continuation War, Väinämöinen was handed over to the Soviet Union as war reparations and renamed Vyborg. The ship remained in Soviet hands until her scrapping in 1966.

Väinämöinen.jpg

Design
Väinämöinen and Ilmarinen were planned to be mobile coastal fortresses for the defence of the Finnish demilitarized islands at Åland in particular. The two ships were not well suited for the open seas due to a design with emphasis on operations in the shallow waters of the archipelago: it has been said that they were volatile and rolled too much. The minimal depth keel, together with the high conning tower, made the ships' movements slow and wide. It was said that the ships were uncomfortable, but harmless to their crews.

The ship's heavy armament of 254-millimetre (10 in) Bofors guns could fire shells of 255 kilograms (562 lb) up to 31 kilometres (19 mi).

Fire control
In fire control, the two coastal ships were identical. The fire control centre and the gun turrets were connected electrically so that ranging and orders could be given without spoken contact. With the aid of mechanical calculators, the values were transferred directly to the gun turrets.

Väinämöinen_1938.jpg



 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
29 April 1943 - April 29 until May 6 - Convoy ONS 5 - 12 ships and 6 U-boats sunk in last major North Atlantic U-boat wolfpack attack


ONS 5
was the 5th of the numbered ONS series of Slow trade convoys Outbound from the British Isles to North America. The North Atlantic battle surrounding it in May 1943 is regarded as the turning point of the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II. The battle ebbed and flowed over a period of a week, and involved more than 50 Allied ships and their escorts, and over 30 U-boats. It saw heavy losses on both sides. However it was almost the last Allied convoy to do so, while losses inflicted on attacking U-boats and U-boat groups became a besetting feature of the campaign; As such it is seen as the point when the tactical and strategic advantage passed to the Allies, and ushered in the period known to Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine as Black May.

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Battle of 28–29 April
On the 28th ONS 5 arrived at the Star patrol area, and was sighted at 0900 by U-650. U-650 held contact despite being forced to dive three times to avoid approaching aircraft at 1014, 1150 and 1518. By nightfall U-650 had been joined by U-375, U-386, U-528 and U-537. The U-boats' contact reports alerted Commander Gretton to the presence of U-boats on the convoy's port bow, beam, and quarter and astern. Duncan and Tay made an unsuccessful depth charge attack after sighting a U-boat on the port bow at 1830.

Gretton mounted a vigorous defence as the U-boats attacked after dark. At 2000 Sunflower detected a radar contact at 3,800 yards (3.5 km); and upon closing lost the radar contact, gained a doubtful ASDIC contact, and dropped two depth charges. At 2245 Duncandetected a radar contact at 3,500 yards (3.2 km); and upon closing lost the radar contact, gained an ASDIC contact at 1,500 yards (1.4 km), lost contact at 1,100 yards (1.0 km), and dropped one depth charge. Upon returning to station Duncan detected a radar contact at 2,300 yards (2.1 km); and upon closing sighted a U-boat which dived at 1,100 yards (1.0 km), and appeared on ASDIC at 500 yards (460 m). Duncan dropped a pattern of ten depth charges; and, while turning for another attack, gained another radar contact. The radar contact disappeared at a range of 3,000 yards (2.7 km). Duncan made no ASDIC contact, but dropped a single depth charge at the estimated diving position before making another radar contact at 4,000 yards (3.7 km). As Duncan closed, the U-boat dived at a range of 1,500 yards (1.4 km). Duncan gained a good ASDIC contact and dropped a pattern of ten depth charges over a visible wake. Two more depth charges were dropped when a weak ASDIC contact was regained at 0045. At 0132 Snowflake approached a hydrophone contact, and U-532 was detected visually and on radar at a range of 1,300 yards (1.2 km). U-532 launched six torpedoes. The closest one missed Snowflake by about 20 yards (18 m). After U-532 dived, Snowflake dropped three depth charges on the initial ASDIC contact and ten depth charges when contact was regained at 2,000 yards (1.8 km). Snowflake regained ASDIC contact at 1,400 yards (1.3 km) and dropped another pattern of ten depth charges. A short time later Tay dropped depth charges on a good ASDIC contact astern of the convoy.[8] U-532 returned to base to repair depth charge damage. U-386 and U-528, were also damaged by these attacks and forced to return to base. U-386 arrived safely at St Nazaire on 11 May, but U-528 was attacked in the Bay of Biscay and sunk by aircraft on the same day.

U-258 and U-650 maintained contact through the night, and U-258 was submerged ahead on the convoy at dawn on the 29th. As the convoy passed overhead at 0530, U-258 rose to periscope depth and launched two torpedoes at McKeesport. After one torpedo hit McKeesport on the starboard bow, Northern Gem detected U-258 and dropped three depth charges. Snowflake dropped a single depth charge on a doubtful SONAR contact at 0605 and two more depth charges at 0615 after contact was regained at a range of 1,200 yards (1.1 km). McKeesport was abandoned and sunk by the escort to prevent discovery of classified documents by German boarders. Northern Gem rescued all but one of the crew.[10] U-258 had also been damaged, and was forced to return to base. The Admiralty arranged reinforcements for ONS 5 in response to this battle. HMS Oribi was detached from SC127, and destroyers Penn, Panther, Impulsive, and Offa, of the 3rd Support Group under Capt. J.M. McCoy, RN, sailed from Newfoundland. Weather rapidly deteriorated, and the convoy was sailing into a full gale by late afternoon of the 29th. About 1700 Sunflower was struck by a wave which filled the crow's nest with water. Oribi was slowed to 11 knots by the storm, but joined the convoy at 2300 as Tay was attacking a U-boat astern. At 2312 Duncan obtained an ASDIC contact at 1,100 yards (1.0 km); and both Duncan and Snowflake dropped depth charges to discourage the U-boats.

30 April
ONS 5 found itself making less than 3 knots headway into a Force 10 gale. The convoy started to be scattered, some ships ending up 30 miles from the convoy, and the escorts were kept busy rounding up stragglers. Oribi was able to refuel from the convoy oiler when the storm abated briefly on the 30th before the weather again made re-fuelling impossible, and a number of the destroyers became so low on fuel as to throw doubt on whether they could continue. At 2305 Snowflake made a radar contact at 3,300 yards (3.0 km) and dropped a single depth charge after the U-boat dived when illuminated by star shell. The escorts dropped some random depth charges until dawn, and Admiral Dönitz cancelled the chase on the evening of 1 May.

Regrouping 1–3 May
On 1 May Dönitz ordered boats from Star and Specht, with some newcomers to form a new patrol line to the west. This was group Finke (Finch) which was in place on 3 May numbering 27 boats, and tasked with intercepting westbound convoy SC128. The 3rd Support Group destroyers joined the convoy at 0100 2 May, but the fuel situation aboard destroyers became increasingly desperate as weather and frequent course adjustments to avoid icebergs prevented refueling. At 1400 on the 3rd Gretton was forced to take Duncan to St John's at economical speed (8 knots); and he arrived there with only 4 percent fuel remaining. In Gretton's absence, command was assumed by Lt-Cdr RE Sherwood, of HMS Tay. The SONAR set aboard Tay failed just as Sherwood assumed command of the escort group. Impulsive also detached to Iceland at 1900 3 May, with Northern Gem carrying the survivors from McKeesport, while Penn and Panther detached for Newfoundland at 0600 4 May.

4 May
By 4 May the weather had abated to Force 6, and ONS 5 was now making up to 6 knots, though reduced to 30 ships and 7 escorts. The rest were scattered and proceeding independently, including a group of four with Pink, trailing some 80 miles behind the main body. The 1st Support Group sailed from Newfoundland at midday with frigates Wear, Jed, Spey and sloops Pelican and Sennen to replace Oribi and Offa whose fuel state would become critical on the 5th. U-628 of group Finke, assembled to catch convoy SC 128, sighted convoy ONS 5 at 2018. Two of the gathering group Finke U-boats were attacked by RCAF Cansos in separate incidents. One thought to have been U-630 was sunk; but is now believed to have been U-209, which was damaged in an attack by Canso W, and foundered later while attempting to return to base. The other, U-438, was only slightly damaged in attacks by Canso E.

At 2220 Vidette detected U-514 on radar at 3,600 yards (3.3 km) and approached until U-514 dived when the range dropped to 900 yards (820 m). Vidette punished U-514 with a pattern of 14 depth charges causing damage putting U-514 out of the battle until 7 May. North Britain was straggling 6 miles (9.7 km) astern of the convoy, and sank within two minutes of being torpedoed by U-707 at 2237. Vidette detected U-662 on radar at 3,600 yards (3.3 km) and, upon closing, sighted U-732 at 1,000 yards (910 m). The conning tower was still visible at a range of 80 yards (73 m); and a pattern of 14 depth charges dropped by eye caused damage requiring U-732 to return to base.

5 May
U-264 and U-628 each launched five torpedoes shortly after midnight. Harbury was hit at 0046; Harperly was hit by two torpedoes at 0104; and West Maximus was hit by one torpedo at 0103, another at 0110, and a third at 0135. Both U-boats claimed three ships; but modern historians credit the first freighter to U-628 and the other two to U-264.[14] One of the torpedoes passed within 125 yards (114 m) of Snowflake. At 0122 Snowflake started closing a radar contact illuminated by star shells fired by Oribi; and both ships dropped depth charges. The gunfire encouraged U-264 to dive, and the depth charges forced U-270 to return to base.[15] U-358 torpedoed Bristol City at 0225, and Wentworth at 0230.[16] At dawn, Lorient was missing from the convoy. No witnesses to her destruction survived the battle. Before U-125 was sunk, she sent a radio report about sinking a steamship sailing independently; and modern historians assume Lorient straggled from the convoy and was torpedoed by U-125.

Northern Spray picked up 143 survivors from North Britain, Harbury, Harperly, and West Maximus by 0700 and was detached to take the rescued men to Newfoundland. Loosestrife assumed the role of rescue ship and picked up the survivors from Bristol City and Wentworth. At 1057 Oribi sighted a surfaced U-boat at 7 miles (11 km). U-223, U-231, U-621, and U-634 dived as Oribi approached.[18] Oribi dropped 14 depth charges after the U-boats dived. U-638 torpedoed Dolius at 1240. Sunflower gained an ASDIC contact at 1,200 yards (1.1 km) within minutes and destroyed U-638 with a pattern of ten depth charges before rescuing survivors from Dolius.[19] Tay, Oribi, and Offa refueled from convoy oilers that afternoon.[20] Selvistan, Gharinda, and Bonde were hit by a salvo of four torpedoes from U-266 within the space of a few minutes about 1950. Selvistan and Bonde sank within two minutes. Tay rescued survivors from the three ships while Offa made depth charge attacks damaging U-266, which was sunk by aircraft on 15 May while attempting to reach base for repairs.

At midday, Pink commanded by Lieutenant Atkinson[22] made a firm ASDIC contact 2,200 yards (2.0 km) ahead of her small convoy proceeding separately. Pink spent 90 minutes making five depth charge and hedgehog attacks. Pink received post-war credit for destruction of U-192; but later analysis concluded the victim, U-358, returned to base after being damaged. U-584 torpedoed West Makadet while Pink was attacking U-358. Pink rescued the survivors.

Night of 5–6 May
As May 5 faded into darkness, Tay counted seven U-boats surfaced in the convoy's path; but ONS 5 was entering the fog formed where the warm Gulf Stream meets the cold Labrador Current off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. Visibility dropped to 1 mile (1.6 km) by 2202 and to 100 yards (91 m) by 0100. British centimetric radar enabled the escorts to see while the U-boats could not. Many of the U-boats involved never returned to base to file their reports; so historians still struggle to correlate individual reports of the dozens of ships interacting briefly in no fewer than 24 attempted attacks on the night of 5/6 May.

At 2309 Vidette made a radar contact at 5,100 yards (4.7 km), and a second appeared while closing the first. Vidette dropped a pattern of ten depth charges on a submarine seen submerging 700 yards (640 m) ahead, and then moved on to drop a pattern of five depth charges on the second contact which became visible at 900 yards (820 m). Historians suggest the first attack destroyed U-531.

At 0030 Loosestrife made a radar contact at 5,200 yards (4.8 km). The U-boat turned away when the range reached 500 yards (460 m) and fired two torpedoes at Loosestrife from its stern tubes while diving. Loosestrife dropped a pattern of ten depth charges as it overran the diving U-boat. A reported slick of oil and debris is believed to have been produced by destruction of U-192.

At 0252 Oribi collided with U-125 first seen at a range of 200 yards (180 m) while investigating an ASDIC contact, but lost contact after the collision. While pursuing an ASDIC contact, Snowflake detected U-125 on radar at 0354, observed heavy conning tower damage by searchlight at a range of 100 yards (91 m), and watched the crew detonate scuttling charges and abandon ship. The escorts chose to continue protective patrolling around the convoy rather than attempting rescue of the U-boat crew assumed to have sunk the Lorient.

At 0406 Vidette made an ASDIC contact at 800 yards (730 m), and made a hedgehog attack causing two explosions. Historians suggest this attack destroyed U-630.

At 0443 Sunflower made an ASDIC contact at 1,200 yards (1.1 km) and subsequently sighted a surfacing U-boat. Sunflower rammed U-533 and dropped two depth charges as U-533 attempted to dive. Both Loosestrife and U-533 were able to repair damage and remain at sea.

At 0552 Pelican was leading the 1st Support Group to reinforce the convoy escort when it detected a radar contact at 5,300 yards (4.8 km). Pelican made visual contact at 300 yards (270 m), dropped a pattern of ten depth charges where the U-boat dived, and dropped a second pattern of nine depth charges after regaining contact. Historians suggest these attacks destroyed U-438.

Finke had already outlasted its usefulness, and faced mounting losses if the attack continued. Realizing his mistake, Dönitz called off the assault on 6 May and ordered Finke to retire.


Conclusion
In the course of a week, ONS 5 had been the subject of attacks by a force of over 40 U-boats. With the loss of 13 ships totalling 63,000 tons, the escorts had inflicted the loss of 6 U-boats, and serious damage on 7 more.

This battle demonstrated that the convoy escorts had mastered the art of convoy protection; the weapons and expertise at their disposal meant that henceforth they would be able not only to protect their charges and repel attack, but also to inflict significant losses on the attacker.

ONS 5 marked the turning point in the battle of the Atlantic. Following this action, the Allies inflicted a series of defeats and heavy losses on the U-boat Arm, a period known as Black May. This culminated in Dönitz withdrawing his forces from the North Atlantic arena.

The official historian, Stephen Roskill commented: "This seven day battle, fought against thirty U-boats, is marked only by latitude and longitude, and has no name by which it will be remembered; but it was, in its own way, as decisive as Quiberon Bay or the Nile.


Losses
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convoy_ONS_5

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convoy_ONS_5_order_of_battle
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 29 April


1616 - The Action of 29 April 1616 took place near Euboea when a Tuscan galley force defeated a similar Turkish force

The Action of 29 April 1616 took place near Euboea when a Tuscan galley force defeated a similar Turkish force.
Six Tuscan galleys, under Montauto, had left Livorno at the end of March 1616. On 29 April, they met 6 Turkish galleys near Euboea and captured the 2 flag-galleys. The remaining 4 fled. The galley San Francesco was damaged and took no part. Tuscan casualties were 32 killed and 312 wounded.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_29_April_1616


1670 – Launch of French Laurier, 28 guns, launched 29 April 1670 at Brest – deleted 1677.

Tourbillon class, designed by Laurent Hubac, with 20 x 8-pounder and 8 x 4-pounder guns:
Laurier, 28 guns, launched 29 April 1670 at Brest – deleted 1677.
Tourbillon, 28 guns, launched 28 May 1670 at Brest – renamed Petillant on 28 June 1678; fireship 1693; deleted 1696.


1670 – Launch of French Louvre 50 (launched 29 April 1670 at Brest) – renamed Bourbon in June 1671; wrecked in May 1678

Bourbon Class Designed and built by Laurent Hubac.
Louvre 50 (launched 29 April 1670 at Brest) – renamed Bourbon in June 1671; wrecked in May 1678
Oriflamme 50 (launched 1 November 1670 at Brest) – wrecked February 1691


1744 HMS Dreadnought (60), Cptn. Hon. Edward Boscawen, and HMS Grampus (14), Cptn. Gordon, captured French frigate Medea (26), Cptn. Hoquart, in the Channel

Médée was a French frégate du deuxième ordre, or 26-gun frigate, built in 1740. She is widely considered to be the inspiration for a long line of similar sailing frigates, and was the first ship captured by the British Royal Navy in the War of the Austrian Succession. She became a privateer and was wrecked at St Ives, Cornwall, following a succession of gales in November 1745.

HMS Dreadnought was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built according to the 1733 proposals of the 1719 Establishment at Deptford, and was launched on 23 June 1742.
Dreadnought served until 1784, when she was sold out of the service.

HMS Grampus (1743) was a 14-gun sloop launched in 1743 and was captured by the French in 1744.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Dreadnought_(1742)


1758 - HMS London (6) wrecked in Senegal river

HMS London
(1756 busse) was a 6-gun Herring buss (formerly the civilian fisheries vessel Holden), purchased in 1756 from the Society for the Free British Fishery and burnt to avoid capture in 1758

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Herring buss taking aboard its drift net (G. Groenewegen)

A herring buss (Dutch: Haringbuis) was a type of seagoing fishing vessel, mostly used by Dutch and Flemish herring fishermen in the 15th through early 19th centuries.
The buss ship type has a long history. It was already known around the time of the Crusades in the Mediterranean as a cargo vessel (called buzza, bucia or bucius), and we see it around 1000 AD as a more robust development of the Viking longship in Scandinavia, known as a bǘza. The Dutch Buis was probably developed from this Scandinavian ship type.
The Buis was first adapted for use as a fishing vessel in the Netherlands, after the invention of gibbing made it possible to preserve herring at sea.[1] This made longer voyages feasible, and hence enabled Dutch fishermen to follow the herring shoals far from the coasts. The first herring buss was probably built in Hoorn around 1415. The last one was built in Vlaardingen in 1841.

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1781 British Fleet under Samuel Hood engaged a French fleet under De Grasse off Martinique.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Hood,_1st_Viscount_Hood


1786 – Launch of HMS Severn, an Adventure-class ship was a class of eight 44-gun sailing two-decker warships of the Royal Navy, classed as a fifth rate like a frigate, but carrying two complete decks of guns, a lower battery of 18-pounders and an upper battery of 12-pounders. This enabled the vessel to deliver a broadside of 318 pounds.

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https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections.html#!csearch;searchTerm=Woolwich_(1785


1807 Boats of HMS Richmond (14), Lt. S. S. Heming, captured Spanish privateer lugger Gaillard.

HMS Richmond
(1806) was a 14-gun gun-brig launched in 1806 and sold in 1814.


1808 Boats of HMS Falcon (14), Lt. John Price (act. Cdr.), destroyed 14 Danish boats in the islands of Endelau and Thuno at the northern end of the Great Belt.

In late April, under orders from Captain Donald Campbell of the third rate Dictator, Lieutenant John Price, acting captain of Falcon, took her northward to the west of Samsø to search for enemy boats capable of carrying troops from mainland Jutland to Zealand or Skåne. Falcon destroyed eight "pretty large boats .. with troops nearby" on the island of Endelave, six boats on Tunø on 29 April, and 13 others in the waters between Samsø and Aarhus, all before 15 May.



1812 Boats of HMS Leviathan (74), Cptn. Patrick Campbell, and HMS Undaunted (38) captured 5 vessels.

On 29 April 1812 the boats of Undaunted, the frigate Volontaire, and the sloop Blossom attacked a convoy of 26 French vessels near the mouth of the river Rhone. Led by Lieutenant Eagar of Undaunted, they captured seven vessels, burned twelve, and left two grounded on the beach. A French Navy schooner armed with four 18-pounders and a crew of 74 was among the vessels burnt. The attack was carried out without loss, being protected by Captain Stewart in Blossom.[9] Captain Thomas was eventually invalided home, and command of Undaunted passed to Captain Thomas Ussher on 2 February 1813.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Leviathan_(1790)


1813 Start of 7 day deployment of boats of HMS Marlborough (74), Cptn. C. B. Ross, and consorts in Chesapeake Bay.

HMS Marlborough
was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 22 June 1807 at Deptford.[1] In 1808, she helped escort the Portuguese royal family in its flight from Portugal to Brazil.
Marlborough was broken up in 1835.

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https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-329534;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=M


1813 - HMS Elizabeth (74) and HMS Eagle (74) captured five and destroyed two of a convoy of seven armed merchant vessels laden with oil off Goro.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Elizabeth_(1807)


1814 Capture of HMS Ballahoo (also Balahou, Ballahou or Ballahon) was the first of the Royal Navy's Ballahoo-class schooners

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Ballahoo_(1804)


1834 – Charles Darwin during the second survey voyage of HMS Beagle, ascended the Bell mountain, Cerro La Campana on 17 August 1834, his visit being commemorated by a memorial plaque

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


1911 – Launch of HMS Princess Royal was the second of two Lion-class battlecruisers built for the Royal Navy before World War I.

HMS_Princess_Royal_LOC_18244u.jpg



1915 – Launch of HMS Raglan was a First World War Royal Navy Abercrombie-class monitor, which was sunk during the Battle of Imbros in January 1918.

HMS_Raglan_(1915).jpg HMS_Raglan.jpg

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


1944 - HMCS Athabaskan – On 29 April 1944 the Royal Canadian Navy destroyer HMCS Athabaskan was torpedoed and sunk in the English Channel. Of the crew aboard 128 men were killed, 83 taken prisoner and 44 rescued.



1944 - Task Force 58 begins a two-day attack on Japanese shipping, oil and ammunition dumps, aircraft facilities, and other installations at Truk following the support of the Hollandia landings in the Pacific.


1944 - USS Pogy (SS 266) sinks the Japanese submarine I 183, 30 miles south of Ashizuri Saki, Japan.


1945 – World War II: The Captain-class frigate HMS Goodall (K479) is torpedoed by U-286 outside the Kola Inlet becoming the last Royal Navy ship to be sunk in the European theatre of World War II.


HMS Goodall
- Torpedoed by U-286 outside the Kola Inlet 69°29′N 33°38′E. Goodall was the last ship of the Royal Navy sunk in the European theatre of World War II.[



1945 - USS Comfort (AH-6) is hit by a kamikaze plane off Okinawa, which kills 28 persons (including six nurses), wounds 48 others, and causes considerable damage.


1945 - USS Bream (SS 243) sinks the German minesweeper depot ship Quito off Tanjong Putting, Borneo, N.E.I.


1990 29. April 1990 - Italien: die italienische Autofähre "Trapani Express" geht auf der Fahrt vom toskanischen Hafen Livorno nach Sizilien unter. Sechs Menschen kommen ums Leben, 39 Passagiere werden gerettet



1994 - Likoni Ferry – On 29 April 1994 the overloaded passenger ferry Mtongwe One capsized and sank killing 272 of the more than 300 aboard.

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


2009 - A destroyer formerly known as USS Conolly (DD 979) is sunk during the UNITAS Gold sinking exercise in the Atlantic Ocean.
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
30 April 1751 – Launch of HMS Buckingham, a 70-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Deptford Dockyard to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment, and in active service during the Seven Years' War with France


HMS Buckingham
was a 70-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Deptford Dockyard to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment, and in active service during the Seven Years' War with France.

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Buckingham on the stocks at Deptford
A ship is ready for launching, on the stocks just upstream from the main storehouse of the Royal Dockyard, Deptford. The third-rate 'Buckingham' was launched from Deptford in 1751, the year before this painting was made, and so it is generally accepted that she is the vessel shown. The flags that she is flying indicate that she is about to be launched: the Lord High Admiral's flag, the Royal Standard, the Union flag and jack and the red ensign. The beginnings of the framing of another ship can be seen on the building slip beyond. The composition of the painting is strong, demonstrating the position of the ship on the stocks, the River Thames to the left and the buildings of Deptford yard, including the Master Shipwright's house on the far left. The last-named was built in 1708 and also visible to the right are the dockyard offices built around 1710. Deptford was significant as a centre of maritime and naval activity, and this painting has shown the dockyard with buildings and piles of timber in the foreground. The scene is one of calm. A couple in the foreground to the left are being rowed to take a closer look at the 'Buckingham', an elegant group of visitors has been placed on the quay in the foreground, and the main movement in the painting is provided by some horses pulling a cart, visible on the quay to the left. It has been suggested that the stocky figure sketching the scene with his back to the viewer, on the corner of the river wall in the centre foreground, may be Cleveley himself. His main career was that of a shipwright in the Deptford yard, painting being his secondary occupation


On 3 November 1758, Buckingham joined with HMS Weazel to engage three French warships off the coast of Montserrat, the 74-gun Florissant and two frigates, carrying 38 and 28 guns. The battle lasted for four hours with both Buckingham and Florissant taking considerable damage. Florissant was able to disentangle from Buckingham and sail off before the British could board her.

In 1771 Buckingham was converted to a storeship at Chatham Dockyard, and was renamed Grampus. Her armament was reduced to 30 guns and her crew to 320 men. Commissioned in this role under Captain George Byron, she sailed for Jamaica on 26 December 1778 to resupply the Royal Navy garrison. In April 1779 her command was transferred to Commander Thomas Bennett, who sailed her to Newfoundland to collect supplies of timber. She was leaking badly on her return voyage to England, and foundered on 11 November 1779 while crossing the North Atlantic Ocean.

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Scale: 1:48. A plan showing the body plan, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth proposed (and approved) for a 70-gun Second Rate, two-decker, as prepared by the Master Shipwrights of Chatham Dockyard, Deptford Dockyard, Portsmouth Dockyard, Woolwich Dockyard, and Sheerness Dockyard, and approved by Sir John Norris and other flag officers. Later used for 'Grafton' (1750), 'Somerset' (1748), 'Northumberland' (1750), 'Orford' (1749), 'Swiftsure' (1750), 'Vanguard' (1748), and 'Buckingham' (1751), all 70-gun (later 68-gun) Third Rate, two-deckers



https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-298497;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=B
 
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