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

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 May 1652 - The naval Battle of Goodwin Sands (also known as the Battle of Dover), fought on 19 May 1652 (29 May 1652 Gregorian calendar), was the first engagement of the First Anglo-Dutch War between the navies of the Commonwealth of England and the United Provinces of the Netherlands.
English fleet under Robert Blake fire on Maarten Tromp's Dutch fleet off Dover starting the First Anglo-Dutch War


The naval Battle of Goodwin Sands (also known as the Battle of Dover), fought on 19 May 1652 (29 May 1652 Gregorian calendar), was the first engagement of the First Anglo-Dutch War between the navies of the Commonwealth of England and the United Provinces of the Netherlands.



Background
The English Parliament had passed the first of the Navigation Acts in October 1651, aimed at hampering the shipping of the highly trade-dependent Dutch. Agitation among the Dutch merchants had been further increased by George Ayscue's capture in early 1652 of 27 Dutch ships trading with the royalist colony of Barbados in contravention of an embargo. Both sides had begun to prepare for war, but conflict might have been delayed if not for an unfortunate encounter on 29 May 1652 (19 May in the Julian calendar then in use in England) near the Straits of Dover between a Dutch convoy escorted by 40 ships under Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp and an English fleet of 25 ships under General-at-Sea Robert Blake.



Battle
An ordinance of Cromwell required all foreign fleets in the North Sea or the Channel to dip their flag in salute, but when Tromp did not comply because he saw no reason to lower his flag for the English, Blake fired three warning shots. When the third hit his ship, wounding some sailors, Tromp replied with a warning broadside from his flagship Brederode. Blake then fired a broadside in anger and a five-hour battle ensued.

Aftermath
Both fleets were damaged, but as darkness fell the Dutch fleet withdrew in a defensive line to protect the convoy, and the English captured two Dutch stragglers: Sint Laurens, which was taken back by them but not used, and Sint Maria, which was abandoned in a sinking condition and later made its way to the Netherlands. Tromp then offered his excuses to Blake and asked for the return of the prize, but this was refused by Blake.

War was declared by the Commonwealth on 10 July 1652.


The Speaker an English second rate of 54 Guns built about the year 1640. NB This was the Flag Ship of Vice Admiral Penn in the engagement with the Dutch Fleet Feby the 18, 19 and 20 1652 (PAD0262)

Ships involved
England (Robert Blake)
Totals: Ships: 24
Cannon: 908

Anthony Young's squadron

• President 36 (Anthony Young)
• Nightingale 24 (Jacob Reynolds)
• Recovery 24 (Edmund Chapman)

Robert Blake's squadron in Rye Bay

• James 60 (flag, Robert Blake, captain John Gilson)
• Victory 52 (Lionel Lane)
• Garland 44 (John Gibbs)
• Speaker 52 (John Coppin)
• Ruby 42 (Anthony Houlding)
• Sapphire 38 (Robert Moulton, Jr)
• Worcester 42 (Charles Thorowgood)
• Star 24 (Robert Saunders)
• Portsmouth 36 (William Brandley)
• Martin 12
• Mermaid 24 (Richard Stayner)
• Ruben 26 (merchantman)
• 3 small

Nehemiah Bourne's squadron in the Downs

• Andrew 56 (Nehemiah Bourne)
• Triumph 62 (William Penn) - Ashore during the battle
• Fairfax 52 (John Lawson)
• Entrance 44
• Centurion 36
• Adventuree 36 (Andrew Ball)
• Assurance 40 (Benjamin Blake)
• Greyhound 20 (Henry Southwood)
• Seven Brothers 26 (hired merchantman, Robert Land)

The Netherlands (Maarten Tromp)
Totals: Ships: 44
Cannon: 1274

Convoyers

• Groningen 38 (Joris van der Zaan)
• Zeelandia 34 (Jacob Huyrluyt)

The fleet in The DownsVan

• Brederode 54 (Maarten Tromp, Admiral, RD)
• Alexander 28 (Jan Maijkers, AD)
• Blauwen Arend 28 (Dirck Pater, AD)
• Sint Salvador 34 (Matheeus Corneliszoon, AD)
• Vliegende Faam 28 (Jacob Corneliszoon Swart, AD)
• Arche Troijane 28 (Abraham van Kampen, AD)
• Kroon Imperiaal 34 (Cornelis Janszoon Poort, AD)
• Valck 28 (Cornelis Janszoon Brouwer, AD)
• Prinses Roijaal 28 (Maarten de Graeff, AD)
• Neptunis 34 (Gerrit van Lummen, AD)
• Sint Matheeus 34 (Cornelis Naeuoogh, AD)
• Prins Maurits 34 (Nicolaes de With, AD)
• Rozeboom 28 (Gerrit Schuyt, AD)
• Engel Gabriel 28 (Bastiaan Bardoel, AD)
• Witte Lam 28 (Cornelis van Houten, AD)
• Gideon van Sardam 34 (Hector Bardesius, AD)
• Sint Francisco 28 (Stoffel Juriaenszoon, AD)
• David en Goliad 34 (Claes Bastiaenszoon Jaarsveld, AD)
• Elias 34 (Jacob Sijvertsen Spanheijm, AD)
• Zwarte Leeuw 28 (Hendrik de Raedt, AD)
• Sint Maria 28 (Sipke Fockes, AD) - Captured but abandoned and recaptured
• Groote Liefde 38 (Bruyn van Seelst, AD)
• Nassouw van den Burgh 34 (Lambert Pieterszoon, AD)
• Groote Vergulde Fortuijn 35 (Frederick de Coninck, AD)
• Engel Michiel 28 (Fredrick Bogaart, AD)
• Vergulde Haan 30 (Jan le Sage, MD)
• Goude Leeuw 30 (Jacob Penssen, MD)
• Leeuwinne 30 (Joannes van Regermorter, MD)
• Sint Laurens 30 (Bastiaan Tuynemans, MD) - Captured
• Witte Lam 32 (Jan Tijssen Matheeus, VD)

Rear

• Monnikendam 32 (Pieter Florissen, Rear Admiral, NKA)
• Wapen van Hoorn 24 (Pieter Aldertszoon, NKA)
• Prins Maurits 28 (Cornelis Pieterszoon Taenman, NKA)
• Monnikendam 24 (Arent Dirckszoon, NKA)
• Wapen van Enkhuizen 30 (Gerrit Femssen, NKA)
• Wapen van Alkmaar 28 (Gerrit Nobel, NKA)
• Roode Leeuw 24 (Reynst Corneliszoon Sevenhuysen, NKA)
• Peereboom 24 (Tijs Sijmonszoon Peereboom, NKA)
• Huis van Nassau 28 (Gerrit Munth, NKA)
• Alkmaar 28 (Jan Warnaertszoon Capelman, NKA)
• Sampson 26 (Willem Ham, NKA)
• Stad van Medemblik 26 (Pieter Schellinger, NKA)

• AD - Amsterdam Admiralty and Directors' ships
• MD - Middelburg Admiralty and Directors
• NKA - Noorder-Kwartier Admiralty
• RD - Rotterdam Admiralty
• VD - Vlissingen Directors

Brederode was a ship of the line of the Maas Admiralty, part of the navy of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, and the flagship of the Dutch fleet in the First Anglo-Dutch War. Throughout her career, she carried from 49 to 59 guns. She was named after Johan Wolfert van Brederode, the brother-in-law of stadtholder Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange.




Brederode off Hellevoetsluis by Simon de Vlieger

Construction
Brederode was, in Maas feet, about 132 ft (40 m) long by about 32 ft (9.8 m) wide by approximately 13.5 ft (4.1 m) deep. The English dimensions were very close to those figures. The published dimensions are in Maas feet of 308 mm, divided into 12 inches (300 mm).

Brederode was initially armed with 49 guns, increasing to 54 from 1652. These comprised four 36-pounders, twelve 24-pounders, and eight 18-pounders on the lower deck, twenty 12-pounders on the upper deck, and ten to twelve 6-pounders on the forecastle, quarterdeck, and poop deck. All of her guns were bronze-cast except four of the 12-pounders which were Swedish-made and cast in iron.

Crew numbers varied considerably over Bredereode's sailing career. In September 1652 her complement was 175 sailors, rising to 260 in June 1653 before falling back to 113 in 1656. Between 40 and 75 soldiers were also accommodated aboard.

Ship history
Launched at Rotterdam in 1644, and a design of shipwright Jan Salomonszoon van den Tempel, she was the flagship of Vice-Admiral Witte Corneliszoon de With from May 1645 until 1647 when she was assigned to Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp. The same year however, she again became De With's flagship for his expedition to Dutch Brazil. De With delegated actual command of the vessel to Lieutenant Jan Janszoon Quack, who remained in that role after the expedition returned to Holland in 1647. Only in 1652 would Tromp sail for the first time with his flag on Brederode, during an attack against royalist privateers operating from the Scilly Islands.

In the First Anglo-Dutch War Brederode was present under Tromp's command at the Battle of Goodwin Sands on 29 May 1652. After Tromp's failure to bring the English to battle off the Shetland Islands in July, Tromp was relieved and Michiel de Ruyter took over command. When De Ruyter was subordinated to De With in September, Brederode's crew refused to let the latter come on board to take command, so he had to content himself with Prins Willem. Without Tromp, Brederode fought at the Battle of the Kentish Knock on 8 October 1652.


The Battle of the Gabbard, 12 June 1653 by Heerman Witmont, shows the Dutch flagship Brederode (foreground left) in action.

With Tromp back in command, Brederode fought at the Battle of Dungeness on 10 December 1652 where she came close to being captured, but was instrumental in that victory over the English. She fought again on 18 February 1653 at the Battle of Portland and on 12 June 1653 at the Battle of the Gabbard, where she fought an exhausting but inconclusive duel with William Penn's flagship James. On that day, the first day of the battle, Tromp's men boarded the English ship but were beaten back; boarded in turn by the English, Tromp was only able to dislodge the boarders by blowing up Brederode's deck. On 13 June the English were joined by a squadron under Admiral Robert Blake and the Dutch were scattered in defeat.

Brederode fought in the last major engagement of the war, the Battle of Scheveningen on 26 July 1653, when Tromp was killed. The acting flag captain (later Admiral) Egbert Bartholomeusz Kortenaer kept Tromp's standard raised after his death to keep up morale.

In the Northern Wars the United Provinces sent an expeditionary force to support Denmark in the war against Charles X of Sweden. In the Battle of the Sound on 8 November 1658 the Dutch fleet, commanded by Lieutenant-Admiral Jacob van Wassenaer Obdam, defeated a Swedish fleet and relieved the siege of Copenhagen. Van Wassenaer's flagship was Eendracht; De With commanded the van in Brederode; attacking the enemy without proper knowledge of the shoals he grounded his ship (after damaging Leoparden so much that this enemy vessel subsequently was lost by fire) and was surrounded; after many hours of fighting, Brederode was boarded by Wismar and De With mortally wounded. The partially burnt wreck was deemed unsalvagable.

Battle of Goodwin Sands - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Dutch ship Brederode (1644) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Battle of Dover, 19th May 1652

Description and participants : Battle of Dover, 19th May 1652 (1652/05/29 NS)

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 May 1692 - Start of Battle of Barfleur, and destruction of ships at La Hogue.
A French fleet of 44 ships of the line, under Comte Anne Hilarion de Tourville, engaged an Anglo-Dutch fleet of 82 ships of the line, under Edward Russell.


The action at Barfleur was part of the battle of Barfleur-La Hougue during the War of the Grand Alliance. A French fleet under Anne Hilarion de Tourvillewas seeking to cover an invasion of England by a French army to restore James II to the throne, but was intercepted by an Anglo-Dutch fleet under Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford on 19 May Old Style (29 May New Style) 1692.




Battle of Barfleur 1692, French flagship Soleil Royal is shown in the center (by Ludolf Bakhuizen)

Background
The fleets sighted each other at first light on the morning of 19 May 1692 off Cap Barfleur on the Cotentin peninsula.

On sighting the allied fleet, at about 6am, Tourville held a council of war with his captains; the advice, and his own opinion, was against action; however, Tourville felt compelled by strict orders from the king to engage. He also may have expected defections from the English fleet by captains with Jacobite sympathies, though in this he was to be disappointed.

In the light south-westerly breeze the fleets slowly closed, Russell from the north east, Tourville, with the weather gage, from the south west, on a starboard tack to bring his line of battle into contact with Russell’s. Because of the calm conditions it was not until 11am, 5 hours after first sighting each other, that the two fleets were within range of each other.

Dispositions
The French line was led by the Blue-and-White squadron, 14 ships of the line in three divisions under the flag officers Nesmond, d,Amfreville and Relingue. They were matched by the Dutch White squadron of 26 ships under Almonde, again in three divisions under van der Putte, Gilles Schey and Callenburgh.

In the centre, the French White squadron (16 ships under Villette Mursay, Tourville and Langeron) opposed the English Red squadron (27 ships under Delaval, Russell and Shovell).

Bringing up the rear, the French Blue squadron (14 ships under Coetlogon, Gabaret and Pannetier) would face the English Blue squadron (29 ships under Carter, Ashby and Rooke).

Tourville re-inforced his centre, the White squadron under his own command, by bringing Coetlogon's division forward in order to engage Russell’s Red squadron with something approaching equal numbers, while he refused and extended the line of his White squadron to avoid them being turned and overwhelmed by superior numbers; the rest of his Blue squadron he held back also to keep the advantage of the weather gage.

Russell countered by holding fire as long as possible, to allow the French fleet to close; Almonde tried to extend his line to overlap the French van, while Ashby was still some way off and trying to close. The two fleets were within range at 11am, but both with-held firing for a further 15 minutes, until the Saint Louis (number 4 in the French Blue-and-White squadron) fired on her opposite number; at that the firing became general up and down the line.


Two fleets about to engage. A high horizon drawing showing on the right a fleet of ships apparently with plain flags and ensigns running down towards a fleet in the left distance close-hauled on the port tack. The leading ships of each fleet have opened fire. In the right foreground is a port quarter view of a ship with a flag at the main. Among the leading ships are two flagships, one with flags at the fore and main and the other with a flag at the fore and pendant at the main. This may be the same action as is shown in PAF6674. These two drawings may show the opening phase of the battle of Barfleur, 1692; but they are identified with even less certainty than PAG6274 drawing showing two fleets closely engaged

Battle
Morning
11 am to 1 pm
For the next few hours Tourville's White and Russell's Red squadrons were closely engaged, and causing each other considerable damage. Centurion 50 (Red 7) was engaged by Ambiteux 96 (White 7, Villettes flagship) and severely damaged; Chester 50 (Red 12) was outgunned by Glorieux 64 (White 8) and had to withdraw; Eagle 70 (Red 11) was forced to pull out of the line, with 70 dead, to repair damage, but was able to re-join after emergency repairs; while Grafton 70 (Red 18) suffered 80 casualties, but was able to continue.

On the French side, Soleil Royal 104 (White 10, Tourville's flagship) was engaged by three English ships, Britannia 100, (White 14, Russell's flagship) supported by London 96 (Red 15) and St Andrew 56 (White 13); she was severely damaged, and forced at one point out of the line; Perle 52 (White 7) was shot through and through, and suffered one-third of her crew as casualties. Henri 64 (White 2) and Fort 60 (White 1) were both severely damaged trying to hold the line between the White and the Blue-and-White squadrons, to prevent a gap opening; Henri was battered until she could no longer fight, and only escaped capture when Villette sent boats to tow her to safety; Fort’s crew were forced to use sweeps to pull her out of the line for respite.



Afternoon
1pm
At about 1pm the wind, which up to then had been south-westerly, if it blew at all, strengthened and shifted to the east. This gave the benefit of the weather gage to the allies, who immediately took advantage of it. Shovell saw a gap in the French line ahead of him, and steered towards it; his Royal William 100 (23rd in the Red) broke through to engage the French White from both sides. He was followed by the rest of his division, while Kent 70 (Red 22), and St Albans 50 (Red 21), who were ahead of him in the line, pulled round to follow the William through the breach.

Hampton Court 70 and Swiftsure 70 (the Red 19 and 20), which were ahead of them again, remained to the windward of the French, and joined themselves to Russells division. Carter, with the leading Blue division, saw Shovell's action and followed also, giving about a dozen ships doubling the French line.

In the van, the wind enabled Almonde to extend and cross the head of the French line; Nesmond responded by turning his division into the wind also, so that over the next few hours the French Blue-and-White became at right angles to the centre (White).

Shovell's action brought Tourville's ships under fire from both sides; Soleil Royal particularly was hard pressed until Coetlogon, with Magnifique 86 (Blue 3) and Prince 56 (blue 2) interposed.

3pm
By 3 o’clock the French line was curved leeward like a fish-hook; the Blue-and-White was turned back to the centre, with the Dutch extended around them. When Prince 56 (the French Blue 2, in Coetlogon’s division) was hotly engaged on both sides, with a third across her stern, she was saved by Monarque 90, Nesmondes flagship.

In the centre, Coetlogon and Tourville were engaged on either side by Shovell and Russell, while Carter was matched by the French rear divisions. To the east, Ashby and Rooke were endeavouring to get into action.

4pm
By 4 o’clock the wind had died, the sea becoming flat calm, and visibility dropping due to battle smoke. The continuous firing also tended to push the embattled ships apart, offering some respite, as both sides were becoming exhausted.

In the van, Nesmonde continued to turn as Almonde continued to extend and turn the line, both sides using boats to tow the ships into position, while in the rear Ashby was also using boats to bring his Blue squadron into the fray. In the poor visibility however he was unable to see Carter, his vice-admiral, who was in the position of advantage with Shovell beyond the French line, and sorely pressed: He continued to head towards the French Blue squadron, which was north of the main action.

5pm
By 5pm the centres were re-engaged; Russell had used his boats to tow his ships back into action. The fog had lifted, cleared by a light breeze. As the wind strengthened, Tourville headed north west towards Carter, in order to fight his way out of the encirclement. Russell pursued, until the wind, unpredictable all day, died away and the mist closed in once more.


The Battle of Barfleur, 19 May 1692 (BHC0333)

Evening
6pm
At around 6pm the tide began to turn; seeking to take advantage of this, and remembering how the English had escaped after the battle of Beachy Head two years before, Tourville had his ships anchor at the end of slack water, with their sails still set. Deceived by this, Russell's squadron was carried away by the flood tide, until they could themselves anchor, now out of range giving the French a respite. Shovell's ships, uptide of the French, had also anchored, either foreseeing the French manoeuvre, or seeking respite themselves; only Sandwich 90 (Red 24) was unprepared, and was swept by the flood into and through the French line, being severely damaged, and suffering many casualties, including her captain.

7pm
At around 7pm the wind arose again, from the southeast, allowing the English Blue squadron to join the action. Because of Ashby’s previous manoeuvres, Rooke's division was now closer to the embattled Red squadron, and joined the fray.

Neptune 96 (Blue 24, Rooke's flagship), Windsor Castle 90 (Blue 25) and Expedition 70 (Blue 26), were able to engage the French ships, particularly Soleil Royal and Ambiteux, increasing the damage they had already sustained. Ashby, in Victory 100 (Blue 14) and the rest of his division joined the fray shortly after, engaging the main body for the next two hours.

8pm
Shovell's ships were still in range of the French, but found themselves sternwards to the French bows, so only a few guns on either side could be engaged. From his position uptide, Shovell attempted to break up the French formation by sending fireships onto them with the tide; his intent was to oblige Tourville to cut his anchor cables to escape them, leaving him to drift with the tide onto Russells guns. Four fireships were released, but the French were able to fend them off . One fireship became entangled with Perle, but her crew were able to cut it loose; another, released by Cambridge,70, and aimed at Soleil Royal, came so close as to persuade the French flagship to cut, but she was able to re-anchor before coming within range of Russells ships.

9pm
At around 9pm Shovell and Rooke decided their position was too exposed to be tenable. As the only ships between the French fleet and the open sea, and being out of contact with the rest of the allied fleet, they decided to use the last of the flood tide to sail through the French fleet and re-join the English line. French contemporary accounts present this as a mistake, as their position placed Tourville in some difficulty, but it is conceivable that if the whole French fleet swept down on them on the ebb, they would be overwhelmed. As it was, the manoeuvre was fraught with difficulty; all their ships were exposed to close raking fire, and were cut up severely.



Aftermath
10pm
By 10pm the battle was almost over. Both sides were exhausted, and the majority of the ships on both sides were damaged, many severely. Amazingly, none of the ships from either line were lost; none were sunk or captured. Shovell had expended four of his fireships without result, and another had burned earlier after being hit by gunfire; these could be seen burning in the night, and were noted by the captain of the Monmouth in his log. Both sides reported a large explosion around this time, but both thought it was a ship from the opposing fleet. Whichever ship it involved, it was not fatal, as all the ships from both lines were accounted for after the action. On the turn of the tide, and in the moonlight, Tourville ordered the French fleet to cut their anchor cables and slip away; the allies followed on as they could.

Action at Barfleur - Wikipedia

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https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_battle&id=74

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 May 1724 – Birth of Augustus Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol, English admiral and politician, Chief Secretary for Ireland (d. 1779)


Admiral Augustus John Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol, PC (19 May 1724 – 23 December 1779[1]) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. He commanded the sixth-rate HMS Phoenix at the Battle of Minorca in May 1756 as well as the third-rate HMS Dragon at the Capture of Belle Île in June 1761, the Invasion of Martinique in January 1762 and the Battle of Havana in June 1762 during the Seven Years' War. He went on to be Chief Secretary for Irelandand then First Naval Lord. He was known as the English Casanova, due to his colourful personal life.






Early life
Hervey was born the second son of John, Lord Hervey and educated at Westminster School from 1733. He entered the Royal Navy in 1735[2] and was promoted to lieutenant in 1740.

Naval career
Further information: Great Britain in the Seven Years War
Promoted to post-captain on 15 January 1747, Hervey was given command of the third-rate HMS Princess at that time and of the sixth-rate HMS Phoenixin January 1752 and saw action in her at the Battle of Minorca in May 1756. He went on to command the fourth-rate HMS Defiance later that month, the third-rate HMS Hampton Court in May 1757 and the third-rate HMS Monmouth in March 1758.

Hervey distinguished himself in several encounters with the French, and was of great assistance to Admiral Hawke in 1759, although he had returned to England before the Battle of Quiberon Bay in November 1759. He took command of the third-rate HMS Dragon in March 1760 and saw action during the Capture of Belle Île in June 1761, the Invasion of Martinique in January 1762 and the Battle of Havana in June 1762 before transferring to the fourth-rate HMS Centurion in May 1763.

Having served with distinction in the West Indies under Rodney, his active life at sea ceased when the Peace of Paris was concluded in February 1763. He was, however, nominally Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet in this year. He was promoted to rear-admiral on 31 March 1775 and to vice-admiral on 23 January 1778. He was known as the English Casanova, due to his colourful personal life.

Political career
Hervey was Member of Parliament for Bury St Edmunds from 1757 to 1763, and, after being for a short time Member for Saltash, again represented Bury St Edmunds from 1768 until he succeeded his brother in the earldom of Bristol in 1775; as a member of the House of Lords he automatically became ineligible to sit in the Commons. He often took part in debates in Parliament, and was a frequent contributor to periodical literature. He was an opponent of the Rockingham ministry and strong defender of Admiral Keppel with whom he had worked closely. He was a Groom of the Bedchamber to King George III from 1763 to 1775 and Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1766 to 1767. He joined the Board of Admiralty as First Naval Lord in the North ministry in February 1771 and stood down from the Admiralty Board in April 1775.

Personal life

18th century portrait of Elizabeth Chudleigh

In August 1744 Hervey had been secretly married to Elizabeth Chudleigh (1720–1788), afterwards Duchess of Kingston, but this union was dissolved in 1769. Lord Bristol died leaving no legitimate issue, and having, as far as possible, alienated his property from the title.

In about 1765 Hervey paid to take Ann Elliot off the stage to become his mistress. She would go on to take the King's brother as her lover. From 1775 Hervey had taken as his mistress Mary Nesbitt, a former artists' model of some notoriety. They lived together, apparently faithfully, at his Surrey home of Norwood House and she received property in his will. He made changes to Norwood House including an ornamental lake and a stable. He died due to a gout in the stomach at St James's Square, London on 23 December 1779, aged 55, and was buried at Ickworth in Suffolk; he was succeeded by his brother Frederick.

Many of his letters are in the Record Office, and his journals in the British Museum. Other letters are printed in the Grenville Papers, vols. iii. and iv. (London, 1852–1853), and the Life of Admiral Keppel, by the Rev. Thomas Keppel (London, 1852). Hervey Bay, Queensland, a bay and city in Australia, was named after him by Captain James Cook while carrying out the survey of the east coast of Australia on 22 May 1770. Bristol Bay, the rich salmon fishing ground in southwest Alaska, was so named in honor of Hervey by Captain James Cook, who first charted the region in July 1778. Bristol Island, a five mile long ice-covered quake-prone chain of volcanos in the South Sandwich Islands and the coral atoll comprising the islands of Manuae and Te-O-Au-Tu in the Cook Islands were also named in honour of Hervey by Captain James Cook.

Augustus Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol - Wikipedia

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 May 1745 - french Le Vigilant (1744 - 58) is captured by HMS Superb (1736 - 60), Commodore Warren, and HMS Mermaid (1708 - 54) and HMS Eltham (1736 - 40) in Bight of' Louisbourg


HMS Superb was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built to the 1733 proposals of the 1719 Establishment of dimensions at Woolwich Dockyard, and launched on 27 August 1736.



A collection of letters from Captain Thomas Sanders at the Navy Historical Center in Washington D. C. shows Superb took part in the Siege of Louisbourg (1745) as the flagship of Commodore Peter Warren "Commanding His Majesty's Ships in the North Atlantic" under command of Captain Tiddeman.

Superb was broken up in 1757


Sale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines and longitudinal half-breadth for Rippon (1735), a modified 1719 Eastablishment 60-gun Fourth Rate. Alterations, dated 22 May 17323, included the masts, quarterdeck ports and roundhouse bulkhead. The plan also illustrates the lines (in red) for the Superb (1736), a 1733 Establishment 60-gun Fourth Rate, as sent from Plymouth Dockyard. NMM, Progress Book, volume 2, folio 164 states that 'Superb' (1736) arrived at Plymouth Dockyard on 12 October 1741 and was docked on 25 March 1742. She sailed on 27 May 1743.


Vigilant 58 (1745) – ex-French Le Vigilant captured 19 May 1745, sold 1759

Saint Michel class. Designed by Jean-Marie Hélie.
Saint Michel 64 (launched January 1741 at Brest) - condemned 1786.
Vigilant 64 (launched 11 May 1744 at Brest) - captured by the British near Louisbourg on 19 May 1745, added to the RN as HMS Vigilant, sold 1759


HMS Ruby was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Sir Joseph Allin at Deptford Dockyard to the 1706 Establishment, and launched on 25 March 1708.



She achieved an unwelcome notoriety in March 1741 when her captain, Samuel Goodere, was convicted of murder at Bristol and subsequently hanged; he had enticed his elder brother, Sir John Dineley Goodere, 2nd Baronet, on board, and had caused him to be strangled in the purser's cabin.

Ruby was renamed HMS Mermaid in 1744, and was sold out of the service in 1748.


Scale: 1:48. A block design model of the ‘Ruby’ (1725), a 50-gun, small two-decker. The model was believed to be of the ‘Ruby’, which was launched as a 50-gunner in 1708, but reclassified as a fifth-rate 44-gunner, the ‘Mermaid’ in 1744. There are, however, serious difficulties in attributing the name ‘Ruby’ to this model. That ship was smaller than that represented by the model. The dimensions are roughly those of 50-gun ships on the Establishment of 1719 (see SLR0415) and the wales suggest much the same date. It is possible there was a proposal to rebuild the ‘Ruby’ about 1725 that was not carried out. The ‘Ruby’ served mainly in home waters, in the Bristol Channel and the Irish Sea, with one tour off the African coast in winter 1742–43

HMS Superb (1736) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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British Fourth Rate ship of the line 'Superb' (1736)

British Fourth Rate ship of the line 'Superb' (1736). Dates of service, name changes, previous and next incarnations, dimensions, armament, commanders, officers and crewmen, actions, battles, sources

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Venetian hired armed ship 'San Luca' (1656)

Venetian hired armed ship 'San Luca' (1656). Dates of service, name changes, previous and next incarnations, dimensions, armament, commanders, officers and crewmen, actions, battles, sources

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HMS Ruby (1708) - Wikipedia

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British Fourth Rate ship of the line 'Ruby' (1708)

British Fourth Rate ship of the line 'Ruby' (1708). Dates of service, name changes, previous and next incarnations, dimensions, armament, commanders, officers and crewmen, actions, battles, sources

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 May 1760 - HMS Lowestoffe, a 28-gun Lowestoffe-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy, wrecked off Pointe-aux-Trembles


HMS Lowestoffe was a 28-gun Lowestoffe-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. Named after the UK's most easterly port of Lowestoft in Suffolk the ship was designed by Sir Thomas Slade based on the earlier Lyme of 1748, "with such alterations as may tend to the better stowing of men and carrying for guns." The design provided for a 24-gun ship (from 22 September 1756 this was raised to 28 guns by including the 3 pounders on the quarterdeck in the count) of 583 tons, but on completion the ship measured some 11 tons more.

The ship served in the British operations to relieve Quebec during the Seven Years' War before being wrecked off Pointe-aux-Trembles on 19 May 1760.





Scale 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with inboard detail and longitudinal half breadth for building Lowestoff (1756) and Tartar (1756), both 28-gun, Sixth Rate Frigates. Note the French influence on the designs bow shape, single bitts, and wheel abaft mizzen. Top right: "A Copy of this Draught was given to Mr Graves of Lime house for Building a 28-guns, p. 13th June 1755. Do to Mr Randell....of Rotherhithe."


The Lowestoffe class were a class of two 28-gun sixth-rate frigates of the Royal Navy. They served during the Seven Years' War, with HMS Tartarsurviving to see action in the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary Wars.



They were designed by Sir Thomas Slade, based on the prototype 28-gun frigate Lyme (launched in 1748), "with such alterations as may tend to the better stowing of men and carrying for guns". These alterations involved raising the headroom between decks. They were originally ordered as 24-gun ships with 160 men, but re-rated while under construction to 28 guns with the addition of 3-pounder guns on the quarterdeck and with their complement being raised to 180 men.

Ships in class

• HMS Lowestoffe
  • Ordered: 20 May 1755
  • Builder: John Greaves, Limehouse.
  • Laid Down: June 1755
  • Launched: 17 May 1756
  • Completed: 8 June 1756 at Deptford Dockyard.
  • Fate: Wrecked at Pointe-aux-Trembles, Canada on 19 May 1760.
• HMS Tartar
  • Ordered: 12 June 1755
  • Builder: John Randall, Rotherhithe.
  • Laid Down: 4 July 1755
  • Launched: 3 April 1756
  • Completed: 2 May 1756 at Deptford Dockyard.
  • Fate: Wrecked at Puerto Plata, then burnt there 1 April 1797.

HMS Lowestoffe (1756) - Wikipedia

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Lowestoffe-class frigate - Wikipedia

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Collections - National Maritime Museum

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 May 1761 - Launch of HMS Cornwall, a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, at Deptford.


HMS Cornwall was a 74-gun Arrogant-class third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 19 May 1761 at Deptford.



The ship was named in honour of James Cornewall, who had been killed at the battle of Toulon in 1744, and was initially commanded by his cousin Frederick Cornewall who lost an arm in the same engagement.

She served in the English Channel until the end of the Seven Years' War in 1763. After service as a guard-ship at Plymouth, she was sent to North America to serve in the American Revolutionary War. She arrived in New York on 30 July 1779 and just ten days later was in a confrontation with the French Navy. Later that year she was deployed to the West Indies where she was badly damaged in action off Grenada and again off Martinique in 1780. She was sent to St Lucia for urgent repairs, but her damage was too extensive and impossible to repair.

Cornwall was deemed unserviceable and burned on 30 June 1780.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with quarter gallery decorations, and longitudinal half-breadth proposed for 'Defence (1763), Kent' (1762), 'Cornwall' (1761), and 'Arrogant' (1761), all 74-gun Third Rate, two deckers. Signed by Thomas Slade [Surveyor of the Navy, 1755-1771]


The Arrogant-class ships of the line were a class of twelve 74-gun third rate ships designed by Sir Thomas Slade for the Royal Navy.



Design
The Arrogant-class ships were designed as a development of Slade's previous Bellona class, sharing the same basic dimensions. During this period, the original armament was the same across all the ships of the common class, of which the Arrogant-class ships were members. Two ships were ordered on 13 December 1758 to this design (as the same time as the fourth and fifth units of the Bellona class), and a further ten ships were built to a slightly modified version of the Arrogant design from 1773 onwards.


Scene in Plymouth Sound in August 1815, oil on canvas: HMS Bellerophon anchored in Plymouth Sound, with Napoleon Bonaparte aboard

Ships

• HMS Arrogant

Builder: John Barnard, Harwich
Ordered: 13 December 1758
Laid down: March 1759
Launched: 22 January 1761
Completed: 28 April 1761
Fate: Sold at Bombayto be broken up, 1810

• HMS Cornwall

Builder: William Wells, Deptford
Ordered: 13 December 1758
Laid down: 19 February 1759
Launched: 19 May 1761
Completed: 16 September 1761
Fate: Burnt or scuttled as unserviceable at St Lucia, 30 June 1780

• HMS Edgar

Builder: Woolwich Dockyard
Ordered: 25 August 1774
Launched: 30 June 1779
Fate: Broken up, 1835

• HMS Goliath

Builder: Deptford Dockyard
Ordered: 21 February 1778
Launched: 19 October 1781
Fate: Broken up, 1815

• HMS Zealous

Builder: Barnard, Deptford
Ordered: 19 June 1782
Launched: 25 June 1785
Fate: Broken up, 1816

• HMS Audacious

Builder: Randall, Rotherhithe
Launched: 23 July 1785
Fate: Broken up, 1815

• HMS Elephant

Builder: Parsons, Bursledon
Ordered: 27 December 1781
Launched: 24 August 1786
Fate: Broken up, 1830

• HMS Bellerophon

Builder: Graves, Frindsbury
Ordered: 11 January 1782
Launched: 6 October 1786
Fate: Sold out of the service, 1836

• HMS Saturn

Builder: Raymond, Northam
Ordered: 22 December 1781
Launched: 22 November 1786
Fate: Broken up, 1868

• HMS Vanguard

Builder: Deptford Dockyard
Ordered: 9 December 1779
Launched: 6 March 1787
Fate: Broken up, 1821

• HMS Excellent

Builder: Graham, Harwich
Ordered: 9 August 1781
Launched: 27 November 1787
Fate: Broken up, 1835

• HMS Illustrious

Builder: Henry Adams, Bucklers Hard
Ordered: 31 December 1781
Launched: 7 July 1789
Fate: Grounded in gale near Livorno (Leghorn) and burnt, 28 March 1795.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Cornwall_(1761)

Arrogant-class ship of the line - Wikipedia

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[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 May 1763 - Birth of Thomas Whitcombe (british painter)


Thomas Whitcombe (possibly 19 May 1763 – c. 1824) was a prominent British maritime painter of the Napoleonic Wars. Among his work are over 150 actions of the Royal Navy, and he exhibited at the Royal Academy, the British Institution and the Royal Society of British Artists. His pictures are highly sought after today.

Life

The Battle of Camperdown, 11 October 1797 by Thomas Whitcombe, painted 1798


The Battle of the Saintes, 12 April 1782: surrender of the Ville de Paris by Thomas Whitcombe, painted 1783


A becalmed man o'war firing a salute, 1797


The Battle of Cape Ortegal, by Thomas Whitcombe


Capture of La Proserpine - 13 June 1795, painted by Thomas Whitcombe, engraved by J Jeakes, 1 May 1816, in the collection of the National Maritime Museum

Thomas Whitcombe was born in London between 1752 and 19 May 1763, with the latter date frequently cited. Little is known of his background or training, although speculation based on the locations depicted in his paintings may provide some clues.

It is known that he was in Bristol in 1787 and later travelled to the South Coast; there are few ports or harbours from this region that do not feature in his work. In 1789 he toured Wales and in 1813 he travelled to Devon, painting scenes around Plymouth harbour. During his career he also painted scenes showing the Cape of Good Hope, Madeira, Cuba and Cape Horn. Between 1783 and 1824 he lived in London, including addresses in Covent Garden and Somers Town during the course of his exhibiting career.

His date of death, like that of his birth is uncertain; it was not before 1824, and possibly as late as 1834.

Style
His range of work embraced naval engagements, ship portraits, coastal scenes with shipping and ships at sea in fresh breezes and storms. The topography of the background is interesting and well observed and the depiction of the ships themselves detailed and technically very correct, a legacy of time spent in dockyards studying the subject matter. The backgrounds are delightfully atmospheric and, like many British marine artists of the 18th and 19th century, Whitcombe favoured a dark foreground.

Artistic Achievement
Whitcombe was, with Nicholas Pocock, Thomas Luny, Francis Holman and Robert Dodd, a leading maritime painter of the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. He painted over 150 actions of the Royal Navy including fifty plates for The Naval Achievements of Great Britain, a splendid volume issued after the cessation of hostilities.

He exhibited at the Royal Academy fifty-six times between 1783 and 1824 and once each at the British Institution and the Royal Society of British Artists.[2] Many of his paintings are today in the collection of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, and in other important naval collections around the world.



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

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[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 May 1777 - American privateer Oliver Cromwell (1777 - 24) was captured by brig sloop HMS Beaver (1761 - 14)


Description of the action
The American was to windward, northwest of the island. When Beaver fired a shot to bring her to, Courter turned Oliver Cromwell and bore directly down toward Beaver. When within range Courter hoisted American colors and fired a broadside into the British. The two vessels then ranged side by side, running down toward St. Lucia, and waged a hot but short fight, using great guns and musketry. Jones had a narrow escape, taking a musket ball through his coat which grazed the skin. After forty-five minutes the Oliver Cromwell struck, only two miles off St. Lucia. Her marksmanship had been terrible, and that of the British had been superb: Beaver had three men wounded; Oliver Cromwell had thirteen or fifteen killed and twenty wounded, out of a crew of 125. Courter later stated he lost thirty-one killed and more than twenty wounded. By noon the British had sent over a prize crew, put a lieutenant and a mate aboard, received the American officers aboard the Beaver, repaired the damage to Oliver Cromwell’s rigging, and made sail. Courter’s sickly crew and the action of the men from the prizes was blamed for the loss. The men from the prizes had reportedly urged Courter to fight, then ran below when the Beaver got alongside.


HMS Beaver (1761), 14, a sloop launched in 1761 and sold in 1783.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with inboard detail and longitudinal half-breadth for building Martin (1761) and Beaver (1761), both 14-gun Ship Sloops. Signed by William Bately [Surveyor of the Navy, 1755-1765]

Oliver Cromwell vs Beaver, 19th May 1777

Description and participants : Oliver Cromwell vs Beaver, 19th May 1777

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[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 May 1787 – Launch of French Gracieuse, a 32-gun Charmante-class frigate of the French Navy. Renamed to Unité in 1793,


Gracieuse was a 32-gun Charmante-class frigate of the French Navy. Renamed to Unité in 1793, she took part in the French Revolutionary Wars. The Royal Navy captured her in 1796 off Île d'Yeu and brought her into British service as HMS Unite. She was sold in 1802







Scale 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with sternboard decoration and name in a cartouche or stern counter, sheer lines with inboard figurehead detail and longitudinal half breadth for for Unite (1796) a captured French Frigate fitted at Plymouth Dockyard prior to fitting as a 32-gun, Fifth Rate Frigate. Signed J. Marshall. (Master Shipwright)

French service
Gracieuse was re-commissioned in Rochefort in April 1793 under captaine de vaisseau Chevillard. She transported troops between the Basque Roadsand Sables-d'Olonne, and then returned to Rochefort. She transferred to the naval division on the coasts of the Vendée. There she escorted convoys between Brest and Bordeaux. Gracieuse took part in the War in the Vendée, capturing the British privateer Ellis on 11 July.

In September 1793 Gracieuse was renamed Unité. She was to be named Variante in April 1796, but the Royal Navy captured her before the name change took effect.

On 14 May 1794, Unité captured the ship-sloop HMS Alert after a short fight that left Alert with three men killed and nine wounded before Alert struck. The French Navy took Alert into service as Alerte.

Unité then undertook a crossing from Port Louis to Rochefort under commander Durand. On 13 April 1796 Indefatigable, under the command of Captain Sir Edward Pellew was in pursuit of a French frigate. Pellew signaled to his squadron mate HMS Révolutionnaire to sail to cut the frigate off from the shore. Revolutionnaire then captured Unite after having fired two broadsides into her. Unite had nine men killed and 11 wounded; Revolutionnaire had no casualties. The Royal Navy took the frigate into service as HMS Unite.


Scale 1:48. Plan showing the Inboard profile plan for Unite (1796) a captured French Frigate fitted at Plymouth Dockyard for a 32-gun, Fifth Rate Frigate. Signed J. Marshall. (Master Shipwright)

British service
She was then captained by Ralph Willett Miller and Sir Charles Rowley.

On 9 October 1797 Unite captured the French Navy brig Decouverte, of 14 guns and 91 men. She was three days out of Nantes, on her way to Guadaloupe with secret dispatches that she managed to throw overboard before the British took possession of her. During the chase her crew threw 10 of her guns overboard in an attempt to lighten her. Decouverte arrived at Plymouth on 15 October.

On 4 March 1799 Unite and the sloop Gaiete left Portsmouth as escorts to a convoy for the West Indies.

Fate
Unite was paid off at Sheerness in April 1802. She was sold there in May 1802.


Scale 1:96. Plan showing the quater deck and forecastle, upper deck, lower deck, midship platform with fore and aft platforms for for Unite (1796) a captured French Frigate fitted at Plymouth Dockyard for a 32-gun, Fifth Rate Frigate. Signed J. Marshall. (Master Shipwright)


Charmante class, (32-gun design by Jean-Denis Chevillard, with 26 x 12-pounder and 6 x 6-pounder guns).

Charmante, (launched 30 August 1777 at Rochefort) – wrecked 1780.
Junon, (launched March 1778 at Rochefort) – wrecked 1780.
Gracieuse, (launched 19 May 1787 at Rochefort) – captured by British Navy 1796.
Inconstante, (launched 8 September 1790 at Rochefort) – captured by British Navy 1793.
Hélène, (launched 18 May 1791 at Rochefort) – captured by Spanish Navy 1793.

French frigate Gracieuse (1787) - Wikipedia

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[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 May 1804 - British Attack on Charles Hendrik Ver Huell's squadron, 16th May 1804 - 19th May 1804


Description
Of the various light flying squadrons stationed off the enemy's coast, one, which especially watched Flushing, Hellevoetsluis, and Ostend, was under the orders of Commodore Sir William Sidney Smith, in the Antelope, 50. On May 15th, the inshore part of this squadron consisted of the Cruiser, 18, Commander John Hancock, and Rattler, 16, Commander Francis Mason. Another British force, which was cruising off Calais, could be communicated with by means of a line of four gun-brigs, which, under Lieutenant Patrick Manderston, of the Minx, was stationed between the two bodies. On the evening of the day in question, twenty-three gun-vessels were seen to haul out of Ostend harbour, and to anchor to the westward of the lighthouse. This induced Commander Hancock to make a signal to recall the four gun-brigs, which, he felt, would be of great help to him in case he should succeed in bringing the enemy to action, and to dispatch the hired armed cutter Stag, Lieutenant William Patfull, to Sir William Sidney Smith, who then lay in Schoneveld, with news of what was going forward. As darkness came on, Hancock got under way with his two sloops, and re-anchored within long range of the pier batteries, in order, if possible, to prevent the escape of the enemy. On the morning of the 16th, it was perceived that the four gun-brigs had either not seen or not understood the signal of recall, and the signal was again made. At 9.30 A.M. the Rattler, which lay somewhat to the eastward of the Cruiser, signalled, first five sail, and then a fleet, to the E.S.E. As subsequently appeared, the strangers were a Franco-Batavian flotilla which, under Rear-Admiral Carel Hendrik Ver Huell, had quitted the Inner Wieling early that morning in order to enter Ostend; and they consisted of the two ship-rigged 12-gun prames, Ville d'Anvers and Ville d'Aix, nineteen schooners, and thirty-eight schuyts, mounting together upwards of one hundred long guns, besides carronades and mortars, and having on board about four thousand troops of the army of invasion. At 10 A.M., the Cruiser and Rattler, taking the earliest possible advantage of the tide, weighed and began to work towards the enemy. An hour later, the wind shifted to S.W., and, becoming favourable to the sloops, induced Ver Huell to bear up and put back towards Flushing. Sir William Sidney Smith, apprised of the movements of the foe, weighed from Schoneveld between 10 and 11 A.M. in the Antelope, 50, with the Penelope, 36, Captain William Robert Broughton, and the Aimable, 32, Captain William Bolton; and at about noon he sighted the two sloops. But Hancock and Mason, instead of waiting for him, pressed on; and at 1.30 P.M. the Cruiser overhauled, fired at, and obliged to strike one of the rearmost schuyts. Ordering the Rattler to take possession, she stood on after one of the prames. In the meantime the wind had slightly shifted; and Ver Huell, perhaps a little ashamed of the part which he had been playing, took advantage of it to stand back towards Ostend with the whole of his force, except eight schuyts, which continued to make for the Inner Wieling. At 1.45 P.M. the Ville d'Anvers was able to fire a shot which passed over the Cruiser. A little later, a considerable shift of wind caused both sloops to fall off their course, and to find themselves nearly abreast of the leading prame, and upon the lee beam of the flotilla. Thereupon the Ville d'Anvers and several schooners and schuyts opened a heavy fire upon the sloops, which presently fought their way into the midst of the enemy, in spite of a storm of projectiles from the Blankenberghe batteries. In a short time Hancock and Mason had driven ashore the Ville d'Anvers, bearing Ver Huell's flag, and four of the schooners.

It was not until afterwards that any part of Sir William Sidney Smith's force was able to take part. At 3.45 P.M. the Aimable opened upon some schuyts which were close under Blankenberghe; and at about 4.30 P.M. the Antelope and Penelope also got inta action, and began to drive other schooners and schuyts ashore. So the action went on until about 7.45 P.M., when Smith signalled to cease firing, his ships having hardly any water under them. The remnants of Ver Huell's flotilla, covered by the gun-vessels which had hauled out of harbour on the previous evening, and which were under Rear-Admiral Charles Magon, got into Ostend. In this gallant action the Cruiser lost 1 killed and 4 wounded; the Rattler, 2 killed and 5 wounded; and the Aimable, 7 killed (including a Master's Mate, and a Midshipman), and 14 wounded (including Lieutenant William Mather). The enemy admitted a loss of 18 killed and 60 wounded. In the early morning of May 17th the four gun-brigs, having joined, were sent in to endeavour to destroy or bring off the grounded Ville d'Anvers; but she was so well covered by guns drawn up on the beach, and by guns and mortars on the sandhills behind it, that, although they fortunately suffered no loss, they were obliged to haul off. On the 19th, assisted by the Galgo, 16, Commander Michael Dod, and the Inspector, 16, Commander Edward James Mitchell, the gun-brigs made another ineffectual effort. Ultimately the Ville d'Anvers and five out of eight grounded schooners and schuyts were re-floated and taken into the basin. Ver Huell was considered by the emperor to have behaved very well, and was made an officer of the Legion of Honour; but neither Hancock nor Mason received any immediate recognition, although they both had certainly behaved with far greater distinction.

Attack on Ver Huell\'s squadron, 16th May 1804 - 19th May 1804

Description and participants : Attack on Ver Huell\'s squadron, 16th May 1804 - 19th May 1804

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Carel Hendrik Ver Huell - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 May 1808 - Capture of the dutch Gelderland
HMS Virginie (1796 - 38), Cptn. Edward Brace, captured Dutch frigate Guelderland (1803 - 36), Colonel de mer Pool.


Description
On the evening of May 19th the Gelderland was sighted to the south-west of Ireland by the Virginie, 38, Captain Edward Brace, and brought to action late in the night. A heavy sea was running, and the night was very dark; but this did not apparently affect the accuracy of the British fire. Three times the Dutchman wore, probably with the object of raking the Virginie. Attempting that manoeuvre a fourth time, the Gelderland ran on board the British ship, but soon got free again. At last, after ninety minutes' hard fighting, with their ship on fire, all masts and the bowsprit shot away, and one-fourth of the crew killed Or wounded, the Dutch struck. Pool [the Dutch captain] deserted his quarters during the action, having received two slight wounds. For this he was afterwards cashiered. The Dutch shooting appears to have been most indifferent, seeing that the loss and damage to the British ship was insignificant, whereas the gunnery of the British crew must have been surprisingly good.


Hand-coloured aquatint shows two naval vessels engaged in battle in a fairly calm sea. Cannon smoke swirls between them. On the left, the French La Virginie, in port broadside view, has tattered sails and her main mast has broken. On the right, in port bow quarter view, the British Indefatigable, with her lower courses looped for action, seems to have sustained little damage other than some holes in her flag and sails


This coloured engraving shows the naval action between the British Indefatigable and the French La Virginie which took place in April 1791. Indefatigable, shown from the starboard stern quarter, on the right of the picture, is on a starboard tack, passing Virginie which is on a port tack. Cannon smoke swirls between the two ships. Both have multiple holes in their sails. Eventually, the captain of Virginie surrenders to Captain SIr Edward Pellew of the Indefatigable

Virginie was a 40-gun frigate of the French Navy, lead ship of her class





Career
French service
She took part in the First Battle of Groix and in the Battle of Groix.

On 22 April 1796, Virginie was cruising off Ireland under captain Jacques Bergeret when she encountered a British squadron under Commodore Edward Pellew, comprising the 44-gun HMS Indefatigable and the frigates Argo, Concord, Révolutionnaire, HMS Amazon and their prize Unité, captured on 13 April.

Virginie retreated and the British squadron gave chase, joining with the French frigate around 23:00. Indefatigable closed in and exchanged broadsides, without succeeding in her attempts at raking Virginie. The gunnery exchange lasted for 4 hours, until the British frigates caught up. Bergeret then struck his colours in the face of an overwhelming opponent.

She was subsequently recommissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Virginie.

British service
In January 1799, Virginie was with British squadron at the defence of Macau during the Macau Incident.

On 20 May 1808, she captured the Dutch frigate Guelderland.

In Royal Navy service the armament consisted of 46 guns:-

• 8 Carronades 32 Pounders on the Quarterdeck and Forecastle,
• 28 Long Ordnances 18 pounders on the Main Deck,
• 10 Long Ordnances 9 pounders on the Quarterdeck and Forecastle.

The Virginie class was a class of ten 40-gun frigates of the French Navy, designed in 1793 by Jacques-Noël Sané. An eleventh vessel (Zephyr) begun in 1794 was never completed.

• Virginie

Builder: Brest
Begun: November 1793
Launched: 26 July 1794
Completed: December 1794
Fate: Captured by the British Navy on 22 April 1796, becoming HMS Virginie.

• Courageuse

Builder: Brest
Begun: December 1793
Launched: early August 1794
Completed: December 1794
Fate: Renamed Justice April 1795. Captured by the British Navy in September 1801, but not added to Royal Navy; instead, handed over to the Turkish Navy.

• Harmonie

Builder: Bordeaux
Begun: May 1794
Launched: early 1796
Completed: May 1796
Fate: Beached and burnt to avoid capture by the British Navy in April 1797.

• Volontaire

Builder: Bordeaux
Begun: September 1794
Launched: 7 June 1796
Completed: 1796
Fate: Captured by the British Navy on 4 March 1806, becoming HMS Volontaire.

• Cornélie

Builder: Brest
Begun: March 1794
Launched: 19 September 1796
Completed: April 1798
Fate: Captured by the Spanish Navy in June 1808, becoming Spanish Cornelia.

• Zéphyr

Builder: BrestBegun: March 1794Fate: Construction abandoned in April 1804 (never launched).

• Didon

Builder: Saint Malo
Begun: September 1796
Launched: 1 August 1799
Completed: September 1800
Fate: Captured by the British Navy on 10 August 1805, becoming HMS Didon.

• Atalante

Builder: Saint Malo
Begun: September 1799
Launched: 29 June 1802
Completed: July 1802
Fate: Wrecked in November 1805.

• Rhin

Builder: Toulon
Begun: June 1801
Launched: 15 April 1802
Completed: October 1802
Fate: Captured by the British Navy on 27 July 1806, becoming HMS Rhin.

• Belle Poule

Builder: Basse-Indre
Begun: June 1801
Launched: 17 April 1802
Completed: September 1802
Fate: Captured by the British Navy on 13 March 1806, becoming HMS Belle Poule.

• Surveillante

Builder: Basse-Indre
Begun: July 1801
Launched: 29 May 1802
Completed: December 1802
Fate: Captured by the British Navy on 30 November 1803, becoming HMS Surveillante.

Capture of the Gelderland, 19th May 1808

Description and participants : Capture of the Gelderland, 19th May 1808

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French frigate Virginie (1794) - Wikipedia

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[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 May 1814 - HMS Halcyon Sloop (18), John Marshall, wrecked on reef of rocks in Annatto Bay, Jamaica.


HMS Halcyon (1813) was a Royal Navy Cruizer-class brig-sloop that Edward Larking & William Spong built at King's Lynn and launched in 1813. She had one of the shortest lives of any vessel of her class. She was commissioned on 13 July under Commander John Houlton Marshall for the West Indies. During her short period of active duty Halcyon escorted convoys and cruised. Less than a year after her commissioning she was wrecked.




Commander John Houlton Marshall, Province House (Nova Scotia)

On her last cruise she left Britain on 6 April 1814. Because of the number of sick men aboard Halcyon, Marshall decided to sail to Annotto Bay, Jamaica, to get fresh provisions. On 19 May 1814, while reentering the bay to retrieve her boat, Halcyon hit a reef off Free Point. Despite efforts to free her, by the early hours of the next morning she had filled with water and capsized to port. All her crew were saved by boats that were by then standing by.

The reef was marked on the charts but was found ex post to extend much farther than had been charted. Apparently, unknown to anyone but the locals, the reef extended four miles from the shore as a result of an earthquake in 1812.

HMS Halcyon (1813) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 May 1825 – Launch of HMS Mutine at Plymouth, England as a 6-gun Cherokee-class brig-sloop.


HMS Mutine was launched on 19 May 1825 at Plymouth, England as a 6-gun Cherokee-class brig-sloop. She became a Falmouth packet until the navy sold her in 1841. She then became a whaler, first out of England and then out of Hobart. The government in Tasmania purchased her in 1885 to use as a powder hulk. It sold her in 1902 for breaking up.






Offshore whaling with the Aladdin (left) and Jane(right); William Duke, 1849, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery

Career
Falmouth packet: In September 1826 Mutine was at Devonport being fitted out for the packet trade out of Falmouth. Thereafter she served for many years under the command of Lieutenant Richard Pawle.

In addition to sailing between Falmouth and North America, Mutine made voyages to the Mediterranean and to the West Indies. On 8 March 1827 Lloyd's List reported that Mutine had arrived at Falmouth from the Mediterranean having observed a fleet of Turkish warships off Cephalonia.

In August 1832 Mutine brought back to England 17,000 dollars salvaged from Thetis. Thetis had wrecked on 5 December 1830 off Cape Frio, Brazil. She had been carrying a cargo of bullion, two-thirds of which had subsequently been salvaged.

Disposal: The "Commissioners for executing the office of Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland" offered Mutine, of 10 guns and 231 tons (bm), for sale on 13 May 1841. She did not sell and they offered her again on 27 May. She was sold on that day, without stores, for £740.

Whaler: Messrs. Bennett of London purchased her and converted her into a whaler they named Aladdin. She first appeared in Lloyd's Register in 1841 with Bull, master, Bennett, owner, and trade London–South Seas.

Aladdin made one voyage for the Bennetts. Aladdin, J. Boon, master, sailed from England on 23 February 1842. The vessel was reported at anchor in a bay near Kupang, Timor in October 1842, with 16 barrels of whale oil aboard, where she had come to obtain provisions, which were "abundant and cheap." She returned to England on 15 June 1846 with 278 casks of sperm oil and two casks of train oil, representing some 116 tons of oil.

In 1846 the Hobart entrepreneur, Charles Seal, sent one of his employees, Captain George McArthur, to London to purchase a replacement for one of his whalers recently lost at sea. McArthur purchased Aladdin and departed London on 5 September 1846. Aladdin reached Hobart on 15 January 1847 with 50 barrels of oil, having done a little fishing along the way.

On 18 December 1848. Aladdin became the stage for an unusual entertainment for the people of Hobart.

Mr Quinn, the celebrated rope-walker, assayed to walk up the fore-top and main topmast stays of the Aladdin yesterday afternoon, but after accomplishing half the distance, he was obliged to defer the feat until another day, the weather being very boisterous, and the ship rocking the whole time.

Aladdin made 31 whaling voyages out of Hobart. In 1860 Captain McArthur purchased her for £500. She was recoppered in 1867, when a cannonball was discovered embedded in the wood beneath her old copper skins.

Also in 1867 McArthur had forcibly to suppress a mutiny. He died in 1875 but the ship’s new owners continued sailing Aladdin as a whaler. Her owners sold her to the Tasmanian government in 1885 or 1892 (sources differ).

Powder hulk: The Tasmanian Government purchased Aladdin to use as a powder hulk and anchored her in the River Derwent in Hobart. During the 1898 celebration of the centenary of the Battle of the Nile she was decorated with flags, as it was mistakenly believed that she was the French brig La Mutine, renamed HMS Mutine, which had had served during that engagement.

Fate
Aladdin was sold for breaking in 1902.

HMS Mutine (1825) - Wikipedia

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Cherokee-class brig-sloop - Wikipedia

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 May 1825 – Launch of HMS Formidable, an 84-gun second rate of the Royal Navy, at Chatham Dockyard.


HMS Formidable was an 84-gun second rate of the Royal Navy, launched on 19 May 1825 at Chatham Dockyard.

In 1869 Formidable became a training ship, at the National Nautical School in Portishead, and she was sold out of the navy in 1906.







Formidable at Sheerness in December 1850


Formidable careened in Malta Dockyard, 31 January 1843


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth as altered for Formidable (1825), an 84-gun Second Rate, two-decker, based on the lines of the captured French Second Rate Canopus (ex Le Franklin). The plan was further altered in November 1816 for Ganges (1821), an 84-gun Second Rate, two-decker, and a copy dispatched to Bombay


The Canopus-class ships of the line were a class of nine 84-gun two-deck second rates of the Royal Navy. Their design was based on an enlarged version of the lines of the captured French ship Franklin, since commissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Canopus, although this ship herself was not included as a member of the class. The earlier ships were initially ordered as 80-gun third rates, but this classification was altered by changes in the rating system in February 1817. This class of ships is sometimes referred to as the Formidable class.



Ships

• HMS Formidable

Builder: Chatham Dockyard
Ordered: 8 May 1815
Launched: 19 May 1825
Fate: Sold, 1906

• HMS Ganges

Builder: Bombay Dockyard
Ordered: 4 June 1816
Launched: 10 November 1821
Fate: Sold, 1929

• HMS Asia

Builder: Bombay Dockyard
Ordered: 22 April 1819
Launched: 19 January 1824
Fate: Sold, 1908

• HMS Vengeance

Builder: Pembroke Dockyard
Ordered: 23 January 1817
Launched: 27 July 1824
Fate: Sold, 1897

• HMS Powerful

Builder: Chatham Dockyard
Ordered: 23 January 1817
Launched: 21 June 1826
Fate: Broken up, 1864

• HMS Clarence

Builder: Pembroke Dockyard
Ordered: 27 May 1819
Launched: 25 July 1827
Fate: Burnt, 1884

• HMS Bombay

Builder: Bombay Dockyard
Ordered: 26 January 1825
Launched: 17 February 1828
Fate: Burnt, 1864

• HMS Thunderer

Builder: Woolwich Dockyard
Ordered: 23 January 1817
Launched: 22 September 1831
Fate: Sold, 1901

• HMS Monarch

Builder: Chatham Dockyard
Ordered: 23 July 1817
Launched: 18 December 1832
Fate: Broken up, 1866


HMS Vengeance, a Canopus-class ship of the line


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the framing profile (disposition) for Formidable (1825), an 84-gun Second Rate, two-decker

Scale: 1:48. Plan showing part sections at Stations 28 and X illustrating how the timbers were to be joined for Formidable (1825), and with alterations dated 1818 for Ganges (1821), both 84-gun Second Rate, two-deckers. This plan was to be used if the floor timbers and first futtocks could not be done as shown on the framing disposition plan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Formidable_(1825)

Records of Bristol Training Ship Formidable, the National Nautical School, and Clifton Industrial School

The collection contains records relating to the Training Ship Formidable (operating 1869-1906), the National Nautical School (operating 1906-1982) and the Clifton Industrial School (operating 1849-19…

archives.bristol.gov.uk

Canopus-class ship of the line - Wikipedia

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Collections - National Maritime Museum

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 May 1835 - HMS Challenger (28) wrecked on coast of Moquilla, Conception, Chile.


HMS Challenger was a 28-gun sixth rate of the Royal Navy launched at Portsmouth, England on 14 November 1826.



Freemantle
Under the command of Charles Fremantle, she was in part responsible for the creation of the colony of Swan River in 1829. Captain Freemantle was under orders to take possession of the western side of New Holland on behalf of the British government. Challenger arrived on 25 April 1829 off Garden Island. She attempted to sail into Cockburn Sound the next day, but due to the incompetence of the sailing master, struck a rock midway between Garden and Carnac Islands. Challenger was not seriously damaged.


Coloured etching and engraving of The Challenger (1826), other versions of same image (uncoloured): PAD8017 and PAI3111. Also Plate 16 in the volume of marine pictures by Moses "Visit of William the Fourth when Duke of Clarence as Lord High Admiral to Portsmouth in the year 1827 with views of the Russian squadron" published in 1840 by Ackermann & Co. Inscribed: "The Challenger, commanded by Captain Fitzclarence sailing from Portsmouth with Dispatches for Lisbon, Oct 31. 1827". When William IV was still Duke of Clarence in 1827, he became Lord High Admiral and, in July, to mark his authority, inspected the fleet at Spithead. The following month the Duchess of Clarence viewed the Russian squadron. Captain Fitzclarence was one of the illegitimate children of the Duke of Clarence by his mistress, the actress Dorothea Jordan

Fate
Challenger was wrecked off Mocha Island, Chile on 19 May 1835, with the loss of two lives. HMS Blonde rescued the survivors on 15 June.

Challenger was under the command of Captain Michael Seymour. She sailed from Rio de Janeiro on 1 April, bound for Talcahuano. She was sailing off the coast of Chile when she struck on rocks in the late evening of 19 May. Overcast skies had prevented her from taking sightings since 17 May. The crew cut away her mizzen mast and the waves carried her over the rocks into calmer water. Pumping kept the water coming in from sinking her, but it was clear that she was lost. The morning revealed that she was a low, flat beach nearby. Over the next few days the crew used boats and rafts to evacuate Challenger, though some crew members died when their boats overturned in the surf. The crew were also able to salvage a considerable amount of her stores and to establish a camp. Local ranchers arrived and rendered assistance. The survivors abandoned their camp on 8 June and established a new camp at the mouth of the Lebu River, about 10 miles north. from there parties went overland to Concepción, Chile, about 40 miles away (as the crow flies). HMS Blonde arrived on 5 July. Investigation revealed that a powerful current had pushed Challenger onshore at Molfguilla.


The wreck of HMS Challenger, with a encampment built by the crew

HMS Challenger (1826) - Wikipedia

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 May 1845 – Captain Sir John Franklin and his ill-fated Arctic expedition depart from Greenhithe, England.


Franklin's lost expedition was a British voyage of Arctic exploration led by Captain Sir John Franklin that departed England in 1845 aboard two ships, HMS Erebusand HMS Terror. A Royal Navy officer and experienced explorer, Franklin had served on three previous Arctic expeditions, the latter two as commanding officer. His fourth and last, undertaken when he was 59, was meant to traverse the last unnavigated section of the Northwest Passage. After a few early fatalities, the two ships became icebound in Victoria Strait near King William Island in the Canadian Arctic, in what is today the territory of Nunavut. The entire expedition, comprising 129 men, including Franklin, was lost.


The Arctic Council planning a search for Sir John Franklin by Stephen Pearce, 1851. Left to right are: George Back, William Edward Parry, Edward Bird, James Clark Ross, Francis Beaufort (seated), John Barrow Jnr, Edward Sabine, William Alexander Baillie Hamilton, John Richardson and Frederick William Beechey.

Pressed by Franklin's wife, Jane, Lady Franklin, and others, the Admiralty launched a search for the missing expedition in 1848. Prompted in part by Franklin's fame and the Admiralty's offer of a finder's reward, many subsequent expeditions joined the hunt, which at one point in 1850 involved eleven British and two American ships. Several of these ships converged off the east coast of Beechey Island, where the first relics of the expedition were found, including the graves of three crewmen. In 1854, explorer John Rae, while surveying near the Canadian Arctic coast southeast of King William Island, acquired relics of and stories about the Franklin party from local Inuit. A search led by Francis McClintock in 1859 discovered a note left on King William Island with details about the expedition's fate. Searches continued through much of the 19th century. In 2014, a Canadian search team led by Parks Canada located the wreck of Erebus west of O'Reilly Island, in the eastern portion of Queen Maud Gulf, in the waters of the Arctic archipelago. Two years later, the Arctic Research Foundation found the wreck of Terror south of King William Island. Research and dive expeditions at the wreck sites are currently ongoing.

In 1981, a team of scientists led by Owen Beattie, a professor of anthropology at the University of Alberta, began a series of scientific studies of the graves, bodies, and other physical evidence left by Franklin's men on Beechey Island and King William Island. They concluded that the men buried on Beechey Island most likely died of pneumonia and perhaps tuberculosis, and that lead poisoning may have worsened their health, owing to badly soldered cans held in the ships' food stores. It was later suggested that the source of this lead may not have been tinned food, but the distilled water systems fitted to the ships. However, studies in 2013 and 2016 suggested that lead poisoning was likely not a factor, and that the crew's ill health may, in fact, have been due to malnutrition – specifically zinc deficiency – possibly due to a lack of meat in their diet.

Cut marks on human bones found on King William Island were seen as signs of cannibalism. The combined evidence of all the studies suggested that the crewmen did not all die quickly. Hypothermia, starvation, lead poisoning or zinc deficiency, and diseases including scurvy, along with general exposure to a hostile environment whilst lacking adequate clothing and nutrition, killed everyone on the expedition in the years following its last sighting by Europeans in 1845.

The Victorian media portrayed Franklin as a hero despite the expedition's failure and the reports of cannibalism. Songs were written about him, and statues of him in his home town of Spilsby, in London, and in Tasmania credit him with discovery of the Northwest Passage, although in reality it was not traversed until Roald Amundsen's 1903–1906 expedition. Franklin's lost expedition has been the subject of many artistic works, including songs, verse, short stories, and novels, as well as television documentaries.


Supposed route of HMS Erebusand HMS Terror during Franklin's expedition 1845-48

Loss
The expedition set sail from Greenhithe, England, on the morning of 19 May 1845, with a crew of 24 officers and 110 men. The ships stopped briefly in Stromness harbour in the Orkney Islands in northern Scotland, and from there they sailed to Greenland with HMS Rattler and a transport ship, Baretto Junior; the passage to Greenland took 30 days.

At the Whalefish Islands in Disko Bay, on the west coast of Greenland, ten oxen carried by the transport ship were slaughtered for fresh meat; supplies were transferred to Erebus and Terror, and crew members wrote their last letters home. Letters written on board told how Franklin banned swearing and drunkenness. Before the expedition's final departure, five men were discharged and sent home on Rattler and Barretto Junior, reducing the ships' final crew size to 129. The expedition was last seen by Europeans in late July 1845, when Captain Dannett of the whaler Prince of Wales and Captain Robert Martin of the whaler Enterprise encountered Terror and Erebus in Baffin Bay, waiting for good conditions to cross to Lancaster Sound.

Over the next 150 years, other expeditions, explorers, scientists and interviews from native Inuit peoples would piece together what happened next. Franklin's men wintered in 1845–46 on Beechey Island, where three crew members died and were buried. After traveling down Peel Sound through the summer of 1846, Terror and Erebus became trapped in ice off King William Island in September 1846 and are believed to have never sailed again. According to a note dated 25 April 1848, and left on the island by Fitzjames and Crozier, Franklin had died on 11 June 1847; the crew had wintered off King William Island in 1846–47 and 1847–48, and the remaining crew had planned to begin walking on 26 April 1848 toward the Back River on the Canadian mainland. Nine officers and fifteen men had already died; the rest would die along the way, most on the island and another 30 or 40 on the northern coast of the mainland, hundreds of miles from the nearest outpost of Western civilization.

Franklin's lost expedition - Wikipedia

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 May 1898 – Launch of Peresvet (Russian: Пересвет), the lead ship of the three Peresvet-class pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Russian Navy at the end of the nineteenth century.


Peresvet (Russian: Пересвет) was the lead ship of the three Peresvet-class pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Russian Navy at the end of the nineteenth century. The ship was transferred to the Pacific Squadron upon completion and based at Port Arthur from 1903. During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05, she participated in the Battle of Port Arthur and was seriously damaged during the Battle of the Yellow Sea and again in the Siege of Port Arthur. The ship was scuttled before the Russians surrendered, then salvaged by the Japanese and placed into service with the name Sagami (相模).

Partially rearmed, Sagami was reclassified by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) as a coastal defense ship in 1912. In 1916, the Japanese sold her to the Russians, their allies since the beginning of World War I. En route to the White Sea in early 1917, she sank off Port Said, Egypt, after striking mines laid by a German submarine.


Peresvet at anchor, 1901

Design and description
The design of the Peresvet class was inspired by the British second-class battleships of the Centurion class. The British ships were intended to defeat commerce-raiding armored cruisers like the Russian ships Rossia and Rurik, and the Peresvet class was designed to support their armored cruisers. This role placed a premium on high speed and long range at the expense of heavy armament and armor.

Peresvet was 434 feet 5 inches (132.4 m) long overall, and had a beam of 71 feet 6 inches (21.8 m) and a draft of 26 feet 3 inches (8.0 m). Designed to displace 12,674 long tons (12,877 t), she was almost 1,200 long tons (1,219 t) overweight and displaced 13,810 long tons (14,030 t). Her crew consisted of 27 officers and 744 enlisted men. The ship was powered by three vertical triple-expansion steam engines using steam generated by 30 Belleville boilers. The engines were rated at 14,500 indicated horsepower (10,800 kW) and designed to reach a top speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph). Peresvet, however, reached a top speed of 18.44 knots (34.15 km/h; 21.22 mph) from 14,532 indicated horsepower (10,837 kW) during her sea trials in November 1899. She carried a maximum of 2,060 long tons (2,090 t) of coal, which allowed her to steam for 6,200 nautical miles (11,500 km; 7,100 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

The ship's main battery consisted of four 10-inch (254 mm) guns mounted in two twin-gun turrets, one forward and one aft of the superstructure. The secondary armament consisted of eleven Canet 6-inch (152 mm)quick-firing (QF) guns, mounted in casemates on the sides of the hull and in the bow, underneath the forecastle. Several smaller guns were carried for defense against torpedo boats. These included twenty 75-millimeter (3.0 in) QF guns, twenty 47-millimeter (1.9 in) Hotchkiss guns and eight 37-millimeter (1.5 in) guns. She was also armed with five 15-inch (381 mm) torpedo tubes, three above water and two submerged. The ship carried 45 mines to be used to protect her anchorage. Peresvet's waterline armor belt consisted of Harvey armor and was 4–9 inches (102–229 mm) thick. The Krupp cemented armor of her gun turrets had a maximum thickness of 9 inches (229 mm) and her deck ranged from 2 to 3 inches (51 to 76 mm) in thickness.

Construction and service
Peresvet was named after Alexander Peresvet, a Russian Orthodox monk who fought and died at the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380, against a Mongolian army. Her keel was laid down on 21 November 1895 by the Baltic Works in Saint Petersburg and she launched on 19 May 1898. She was not completed, however, until July 1901, at the cost of 10,540,000 rubles. Peresvet entered service in August, and was sent to Port Arthur in October 1901. En route, she ran aground on the tip of Langeland Island while passing through the Danish Great Belt on 1 November, but was apparently not seriously damaged. Upon arrival she was assigned to the Pacific Squadron and became the flagship of the squadron's second-in-command, Rear Admiral Prince Pavel Ukhtomsky.

Battle of Port Arthur
Main article: Battle of Port Arthur
After the Japanese victory in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–95, tensions had arisen between Russia and Japan over their ambitions to control both Manchuria and Korea. A further issue was the Russian failure to withdraw its troops from Manchuria in October 1903 as promised. Japan had begun negotiations to ease the situation in 1901, but the Russian government was slow and uncertain in its replies because it had not yet decided exactly how to resolve the problems. Japan interpreted these as deliberate prevarications designed to buy time to complete the Russian armament programs. The final straws were news of Russian timber concessions in northern Korea and the Russian refusal to acknowledge Japanese interests in Manchuria while continuing to place conditions on Japanese activities in Korea. These led the Japanese government to decide in December 1903 that war was now inevitable. The Pacific Squadron began mooring in the outer harbor at night as tensions with Japan increased, in order to react more quickly to any Japanese attempt to land troops in Korea.

On the night of 8/9 February 1904, the IJN launched a surprise attack on the Russian fleet at Port Arthur. Peresvet was not hit by the initial torpedo-boat incursion and sortied the following morning when the Combined Fleet, commanded by Vice Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō, attacked. Tōgō had expected the surprise night attack by his ships to be much more successful than it was, anticipating that the Russians would be badly disorganized and weakened, but they had recovered from their surprise and were ready for his assault. The Japanese vessels had been spotted by the protected cruiser Boyarin, which was patrolling offshore, and alerted the Russian defenses. Tōgō chose to attack the Russian coastal defenses with his main armament and engage the ships with his secondary guns. Splitting his fire proved to be a poor decision as the Japanese eight-inch (203 mm) and six-inch guns inflicted inconsequential damage on the Russian ships, which concentrated all their fire on their opponents with some effect. Peresvet was hit three times with little effect during the battle.

On 22 March, Peresvet joined several other battleships firing indirectly at Japanese ships bombarding Port Arthur's harbor. While training outside Port Arthur on 26 March, she accidentally collided with the battleship Sevastopol and sustained minor damage. Peresvet participated in the action of 13 April, when Tōgō successfully lured out a portion of the Pacific Squadron, including Vice Admiral Stepan Makarov's flagship, the battleship Petropavlovsk. When Makarov spotted the five Japanese battleships, he turned back for Port Arthur and Petropavlovsk struck a minefield laid by the Japanese the previous night. The ship sank in less than two minutes following the explosion of one of her magazines, and Makarov was one of the 677 killed. Emboldened by his success, Tōgō resumed long-range bombardment missions. Two days later, Peresvet hit the armored cruiser Nisshin once as the latter ship was bombarding Port Arthur.

Peresvet sailed with the rest of the Pacific Squadron on 23 June in an abortive attempt to reach Vladivostok. The new squadron commander, Rear Admiral Wilgelm Vitgeft, ordered the squadron to return to Port Arthur when it encountered the Japanese fleet shortly before sunset, as he did not wish to engage his numerically superior opponents in a night battle. Peresvet bombarded Japanese positions besieging the port on 28 July. Some of the ship's guns were removed during the summer to reinforce the defenses of the port. Peresvet lost a total of three 6-inch, two 75-millimeter, two 47-millimeter and four 37-millimeter guns. She was hit on 9 August by two 4.7-inch (120 mm) shells fired by a battery with a narrow view of the harbor, but they caused only slight damage.

Battle of the Yellow Sea
Main article: Battle of the Yellow Sea

Peresvet after having been scuttled

The Japanese bombardment, coupled with a direct order from Tsar Nicholas II, forced Vitgeft to make an attempt to reach Vladivostok. The squadron sortied in an attempt to escape to Vladivostok in the morning of 10 August. At 12:25, it was spotted by Japanese cruisers and intercepted by the Combined Fleet in what became the Battle of the Yellow Sea. Peresvet was fourth in line during the battle, and was not seriously damaged during the early long-range stage of the action. Around 18:00 her topmasts were destroyed and two 12-inch shells from the battleship Asahi penetrated the conning tower of the Russian flagship Tsesarevich, killing Vitgeft and the helmsman, severely wounding the captain, and causing the ship to come to a dead stop after executing a sharp turn. Thinking that this was a maneuver planned by Vitgeft, the Russian battleline started to execute the same turn, causing all of the ships directly behind Tsesarevich, including Peresvet, to maneuver wildly to avoid hitting the stationary flagship.

As the Japanese ships continued to pound the Tsesarevich, the battleship Retvizan, followed shortly afterward by Peresvet, boldly charged Tōgō's battleline in an attempt to divert the Japanese shellfire. The Japanese battleline immediately shifted fire to the oncoming ships, badly damaging both and forcing them to turn away. Ukhtomsky signaled the other Russian ships to follow him back to Port Arthur, but the signal was hard to discern because the flags had to be hung from the bridge railings without the topmasts and were only gradually recognized. Peresvet received a total of 39 hits of all sizes that killed 13 men and wounded 69. Her forward 12-inch turret was knocked out and several hits near the waterline caused flooding; compartments of the double bottom had to be counterflooded to restore some of her stability. Repairs took until late September.

Siege of Port Arthur
Main article: Siege of Port Arthur
Returning to Port Arthur on 11 August, the Russian squadron found the city still under siege by the Japanese Third Army led by Baron Nogi Maresuke. The new commander, Rear Admiral Robert N. Viren, decided to use the men and guns of the Pacific Squadron to reinforce the defenses of Port Arthur and even more guns were stripped from the squadron's ships. On 20–22 September Japanese troops attacked 203 Hill, which overlooked the harbor; Peresvet, Retvizan, the battleship Poltava and the gunboat Bobr bombarded the Japanese positions to support the successful defense of the hill. The Japanese began firing blindly into the harbor on 30 September and hit Peresvet with at least six 5.9-inch (150 mm) and 4.7-inch shells. She was struck once more the following day. On 2 October she was hit by nine 11-inch (280 mm) shells that failed to penetrate her deck armor, but did considerable damage to the unprotected portions of the ship. The Japanese troops were able to seize Hill 203 on 5 December. This allowed the Imperial Japanese Army's siege guns to fire directly at the Russian ships and they hit Peresvet many times. The Russians scuttled her in shallow water on 7 December 1904 without, however, seriously damaging her, possibly in the hope of fooling the Japanese into switching targets.

Japanese career

Sagami (center, rear) at anchor in Yokohama harbor during the Great White Fleet's visit, September 1908

Peresvet was refloated by Japanese engineers on 29 June 1905 and steamed under her own power to Sasebo Naval Arsenal, where she arrived on 25 August. She was renamed Sagami, after the eponymous ancient province. She was classified as a first-class battleship on 25 August and arrived at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal on 16 September. Her repairs began on 30 September and continued until 20 July 1908, although she participated in the review of captured ships on 23 October 1905.

To improve her stability, Sagami's forward fighting top was removed. Sagami was rearmed with four 10-inch 45 caliber guns, ten 6-inch (152 mm) guns and sixteen QF 12-pounder 12 cwt guns. Two above-water 18-inch torpedo tubes replaced her original torpedo armament and her crew now numbered 791 officers and enlisted men. She was one of the reception ships when the American Great White Fleet visited Japan in late 1908 and was often used as an "enemy" ship during the annual fleet maneuvers. Sagami was reclassified as a first-class coastal defense ship on 28 August 1912.

Return to Russia
In 1916 the Russian government decided to reinforce its naval strength outside the Baltic and Black Seas. As Japan and Russia were allies during World War I, the Japanese government sold Sagami and some other ex-Russian warships back to Russia in March. She arrived in Vladivostok on 3 April, where she re-assumed her former name of Peresvet, and was classified as an armored cruiser two days later. The ship ran aground on 23 May while conducting trials and was refloated by the IJN on 9 July. Peresvet arrived at Maizuru Naval Arsenal for repairs on 30 July and sailed for European Russia on 18 October. She was intended to serve with the White Sea Fleet and paused en route in Port Said for machinery repairs at the beginning of 1917. On 4 January 1917, about 10 nautical miles (19 km; 12 mi) north of the harbor, the ship struck two mines that had been laid by the submarine SM U-73. Holed forward and abreast one of her boiler rooms, Peresvet sank after catching fire. Losses were reported as either 167 or 116 men.



Suwo at anchor, Yokosuka, 10 October 1908

The Peresvet class was a group of three pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Russian Navy around the end of the 19th century. Peresvet and Pobeda were transferred to the Pacific Squadron upon completion and based at Port Arthur from 1901 and 1903, respectively. All three ships were lost by the Russians in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05; Peresvet and Pobeda participated in the Battles of Port Arthur and the Yellow Sea and were sunk during the Siege of Port Arthur. Oslyabya, the third ship, sailed to the Far East with the Second Pacific Squadron to relieve the Russian forces blockaded in Port Arthur and was sunk at the Battle of Tsushima with the loss of over half her crew.


Right elevation and deck plan as depicted in Brassey's Naval Annual 1902

Peresvet and Pobeda were salvaged after the Japanese captured Port Arthur and incorporated into the Imperial Japanese Navy. Peresvet was sold back to the Russians during World War I, as the two countries were by now allies, and sank after hitting German mines in the Mediterranean in early 1917 while Pobeda, renamed Suwo, remained instead in Japanese service and participated in the Battle of Tsingtao in late 1914. She became a gunnery training ship in 1917. The ship was disarmed in 1922 to comply with the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty and probably scrapped around that time.




Oslyabya leaving Revel, October 1904


Oslyabya leaving Bizerte, Tunisia, 1903


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_battleship_Peresvet
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peresvet-class_battleship

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 May 1931 – Launch of Deutschland, the lead ship of her class of heavy cruisers (often termed a pocket battleship) which served with the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany during World War II.


Deutschland was the lead ship of her class of heavy cruisers (often termed a pocket battleship) which served with the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany during World War II. Ordered by the Weimar government for the Reichsmarine, she was laid down at the Deutsche Werke shipyard in Kiel in February 1929 and completed by April 1933. Originally classified as an armored ship (Panzerschiff) by the Reichsmarine, in February 1940 the Germans reclassified the remaining two ships of this class as heavy cruisers. In 1940, she was renamed Lützow, after the Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruiser Lützow was handed over to the Soviet Union.


Deutschland in 1935.

The ship saw significant action with the Kriegsmarine, including several non-intervention patrols in the Spanish Civil War, during which she was attacked by Republican bombers. At the outbreak of World War II, she was cruising the North Atlantic, prepared to attack Allied merchant traffic. Bad weather hampered her efforts, and she sank or captured only a handful of vessels before returning to Germany. She then participated in Operation Weserübung, the invasion of Norway. Damaged at the Battle of Drøbak Sound, she was recalled to Germany for repairs. While en route, she was torpedoed and seriously damaged by a British submarine.

Repairs were completed by March 1941, Lützow returned to Norway to join the forces arrayed against Allied shipping to the Soviet Union. She ran aground during a planned attack on convoy PQ 17, which necessitated another return to Germany for repairs. She next saw action at the Battle of the Barents Sea with the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper, which ended with a failure to destroy the convoy JW 51B. Engine problems forced a series of repairs culminating in a complete overhaul at the end of 1943, after which the ship remained in the Baltic. Sunk in shallow waters in the Kaiserfahrt in April 1945 by Royal Air Force (RAF) bombers, Lützow was used as a gun battery to support German troops fighting the Soviet Army until 4 May 1945, when she was disabled by her crew. Raised by the Soviet Navy in 1947, she was subsequently sunk as a target in the Baltic.


Design
Main article: Deutschland-class cruiser

US Navy recognition drawing of Deutschland

Deutschland was 186 meters (610 ft) long overall and had a beam of 20.69 m (67.9 ft) and a maximum draft of 7.25 m (23.8 ft). The ship had a design displacement of 12,630 t (12,430 long tons; 13,920 short tons) and a full load displacement of 14,290 long tons (14,520 t),[1] though the ship was officially stated to be within the 10,000 long tons (10,000 t) limit of the Treaty of Versailles. Deutschland was powered by four sets of MAN 9-cylinder double-acting two-stroke diesel engines. The ship's top speed was 28 knots(52 km/h; 32 mph), at 54,000 shaft horsepower (40,000 kW). At a cruising speed of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph), the ship could steam for 10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km; 12,000 mi). As designed, her standard complement consisted of 33 officers and 586 enlisted men, though after 1935 this was significantly increased to 30 officers and 921–1,040 sailors.

Deutschland's primary armament was six 28 cm (11.0 in) SK C/28 guns mounted in two triple gun turrets, one forward and one aft of the superstructure. The ship carried a secondary battery of eight 15 cm (5.9 in) SK C/28 guns in single turrets grouped amidships. Her anti-aircraft battery originally consisted of three 8.8 cm (3.5 in) L/45 guns, though in 1935 these were replaced with six 8.8 cm L/78 guns. In 1940, the 8.8 cm guns were removed, and six 10.5 cm (4.1 in) L/65 guns, four 3.7 cm (1.5 in) guns, and ten 2 cm (0.79 in) guns were installed in their place. By the end of the war, her anti-aircraft battery had again been reorganized, consisting of six 4 cm (1.6 in) guns, ten 3.7 cm guns, and twenty-eight 2 cm guns.

The ship also carried a pair of quadruple 53.3 cm (21.0 in) deck-mounted torpedo launchers placed on her stern. The ship was equipped with two Arado Ar 196 seaplanes and one catapult. Deutschland's armored beltwas 60 to 80 mm (2.4 to 3.1 in) thick; her upper deck was 17 mm (0.67 in) thick while the main armored deck was 17 to 45 mm (0.67 to 1.77 in) thick. The main battery turrets had 140 mm (5.5 in) thick faces and 80 mm thick sides. Radar initially consisted of a FMG G(gO) "Seetakt" set; in 1942, a FuMO 26 set was also installed.

History

Deutschland at her launch

Deutschland was ordered by the Reichsmarine from the Deutsche Werke shipyard in Kiel as Ersatz Preussen, a replacement for the old battleship Preussen. Her keel was laid on 5 February 1929, under construction number 219. The ship was launched on 19 May 1931; at her launching, she was christened by German Chancellor Heinrich Brüning. The ship accidentally started sliding down the slipway while Brüning was giving his christening speech. After the completion of fitting out work, initial sea trials began in November 1932. The ship was commissioned into the Reichsmarine on 1 April 1933.

Deutschland spent the majority of 1933 and 1934 conducting training maneuvers; early speed trials in May 1933 indicated that a top speed of 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph) was preferable, but the ship comfortably reached 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph) on speed trials in June. Trials were completed by December 1933, and the ship was ready for active service with the fleet. The ship also made a series of goodwill visits to foreign ports, including visits to Gothenburg, Sweden, and in October 1934, a formal state visit to Edinburgh, Scotland. In April 1934, Adolf Hitler visited the ship; he reportedly toured the ship alone, speaking informally with crewmen.


Deutschland, before the outbreak of war

The ship conducted a series of long-distance training voyages into the Atlantic in 1935. In March 1935, she sailed as far as the Caribbean and South American waters. After returning to Germany, she went into dock for routine maintenance work, as well as installation of additional equipment. She had her aircraft catapult installed in this period, and was provided with two Heinkel He 60 floatplanes. Deutschland participated in fleet maneuvers in German waters in early 1936. She was joined by her newly commissioned sister ship Admiral Scheer for a cruise into the mid-Atlantic, which included a stop in Madeira.


Deutschland saw significant action with the Kriegsmarine, including several non-intervention patrols, during which she was attacked by Republican bombers. At the outbreak of World War II, she was cruising the North Atlantic, prepared to attack Allied merchant traffic. Bad weather hampered her efforts, and she sank or captured only three vessels before returning to Germany, after which she was renamed Lützow. She then participated in Operation Weserübung, the invasion of Norway. Damaged at the Battle of Drøbak Sound, she was recalled to Germany for repairs. While en route, she was torpedoed by a British submarine and seriously damaged.

Repairs were completed by March 1941, and in June Lützow steamed to Norway. While en route, she was torpedoed by a British bomber, necessitating significant repairs that lasted until May 1942. She returned to Norway to join the forces arrayed against Allied shipping to the Soviet Union. She ran aground during a planned attack on convoy PQ 17, which necessitated another return to Germany for repairs. She next saw action at the Battle of the Barents Sea with the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper, which ended with a failure to destroy the convoy JW 51B. Engine problems forced a series of repairs culminating in a complete overhaul at the end of 1943, after which the ship remained in the Baltic. Sunk in the Kaiserfahrt in April 1945 by Royal Air Force (RAF) bombers, Lützow was used as a gun battery to support German troops fighting the Soviet Army until 4 May 1945, when she was disabled by her crew. Raised by the Soviet Navy in 1947, she was reportedly broken up for scrap over the next two years, according to Western works that did not have access to Soviet documents at the time. The historian Hans Georg Prager examined the former Soviet archives in the early 2000s, and discovered that Lützow actually had been sunk in weapons tests in July 1947.



...... read about her career in wikipedia ......



Lützow in Kiel after being torpedoed on her way back from Norway.


The Deutschland class was a series of three Panzerschiffe ("armored ships"), a form of heavily armed cruiser, built by the Reichsmarine officially in accordance with restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. The ships of the class, Deutschland, Admiral Scheer and Admiral Graf Spee, were all stated to displace 10,000 long tons (10,000 t) in accordance with the Treaty, though they actually displaced 10,600 to 12,340 long tons (10,770 to 12,540 t) at standard displacement. Despite violating the weight limitation, the design for the ships incorporated several radical innovations to save weight. They were the first major warships to use welding and all-diesel propulsion. Due to their heavy armament of six 28 cm (11 in) guns and lighter weight, the British began referring to the vessels as "pocket battleships". The Deutschland-class ships were initially classified as Panzerschiffe or "armored ships", but the Kriegsmarine reclassified them as heavy cruisers in February 1940.

The three ships were built between 1929 and 1936 by the Deutsche Werke in Kiel and the Reichsmarinewerft in Wilhelmshaven. They saw heavy service with the German Navy. All three vessels served on non-intervention patrols during the Spanish Civil War. While on patrol, Deutschland was attacked by Republican bombers, and in response, Admiral Scheer bombarded the port of Almería. In 1937, Admiral Graf Spee represented Germany at the Coronation Review for Britain's King George VI. For the rest of their peacetime careers, the ships conducted a series of fleet maneuvers in the Atlantic and visited numerous foreign ports in goodwill tours.

Before the outbreak of World War II, Deutschland and Admiral Graf Spee were deployed to the Atlantic to put them in position to attack Allied merchant traffic once war was declared. Admiral Scheer remained in port for periodic maintenance. Deutschland was not particularly successful on her raiding sortie, during which she sank or captured three ships. She then returned to Germany where she was renamed Lützow. Admiral Graf Spee sank nine vessels in the South Atlantic before she was confronted by three British cruisers at the Battle of the River Plate. Although she damaged the British ships severely, she was herself damaged and her engines were in poor condition. Coupled with false reports of British reinforcements, the state of the ship convinced Hans Langsdorff, her commander, to scuttle the ship outside Montevideo.

Lützow and Admiral Scheer were deployed to Norway in 1942 to join the attacks on Allied convoys to the Soviet Union. Admiral Scheer conducted Operation Wunderland in August 1942, a sortie into the Kara Sea to attack Soviet merchant shipping, though it ended without significant success. Lützow took part in the Battle of the Barents Sea in December 1942, a failed attempt to destroy a convoy. Both ships were damaged in the course of their deployment to Norway, and eventually returned to Germany for repairs. They ended their careers bombarding advancing Soviet forces on the Eastern Front; both ships were destroyed by British bombers in the final weeks of the war. Lützow was raised and sunk as a target by the Soviet Navy, and Admiral Scheer was partially broken up in situ, with the remainder of the hulk buried beneath rubble.


Admiral Scheer at Gibraltar in 1936


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

Deutschland-class cruiser - Wikipedia

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 19 May


1535 – French explorer Jacques Cartier sets sail on his second voyage to North America with three ships, 110 men, and Chief Donnacona's two sons (whom Cartier had kidnapped during his first voyage).

Jacques Cartier (French pronunciation: [ʒak kaʁtje]; Breton: Jakez Karter; December 31, 1491 – September 1, 1557) was a Breton explorer who claimed what is now Canada for France. Jacques Cartier was the first European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, which he named "The Country of Canadas", after the Iroquois names for the two big settlements he saw at Stadacona (Quebec City)and at Hochelaga (Montreal Island).



Second voyage, 1535–1536

Route of Cartier's second voyage.


This Spanish chart of the Saint Lawrence River, from ca. 1541, contains a legend in front of the "isla de Orliens" that says: "Here many French died of hunger"; possibly alluding to Cartier's second settlement in 1535–1536.

Jacques Cartier set sail for a second voyage on May 19 of the following year with three ships, 110 men, and his two Iroquoian captives. Reaching the St. Lawrence, he sailed up-river for the first time, and reached the Iroquoian capital of Stadacona, where Chief Donnacona ruled.

Cartier left his main ships in a harbour close to Stadacona, and used his smallest ship to continue on to Hochelaga (now Montreal), arriving on October 2, 1535. Hochelaga was far more impressive than the small and squalid village of Stadacona, and a crowd of over a thousand came to the river edge to greet the Frenchmen. The site of their arrival has been confidently identified as the beginning of the Sainte-Marie Sault – where the bridge named after him now stands. The expedition could proceed no further, as the river was blocked by rapids. So certain was Cartier that the river was the Northwest Passage and that the rapids were all that was preventing him from sailing to China, that the rapids and the town that eventually grew up near them came to be named after the French word for China, La Chine: the Lachine Rapids and the town of Lachine, Quebec.

After spending two days among the people of Hochelaga, Cartier returned to Stadacona on October 11. It is not known exactly when he decided to spend the winter of 1535–1536 in Stadacona, and it was by then too late to return to France. Cartier and his men prepared for the winter by strengthening their fort, stacking firewood, and salting down game and fish.

From mid-November 1535 to mid-April 1536, the French fleet lay frozen solid at the mouth of the St. Charles River, under the Rock of Quebec. Ice was over a fathom (1.8 m) thick on the river, with snow four feet (1.2 m) deep ashore. To add to the misery, scurvy broke out – first among the Iroquoians, and then among the French. Cartier estimated the number of dead Iroquoians at 50. On a visit by Domagaya to the French fort, Cartier inquired and learned from him that a concoction made from a tree known as annedda, probably Spruce beer, or arbor vitae, would cure scurvy. This remedy likely saved the expedition from destruction, allowing 85 Frenchmen to survive the winter. In his journal, Cartier states that by mid-February, "out of 110 that we were, not ten were well enough to help the others, a pitiful thing to see". The Frenchmen used up the bark of an entire tree in a week on the cure, and the dramatic results prompted Cartier to proclaim it a Godsend, and a miracle.

Ready to return to France in early May 1536, Cartier decided to kidnap Chief Donnacona and take him to France, so that he might personally tell the tale of a country further north, called the "Kingdom of Saguenay", said to be full of gold, rubies and other treasures. After an arduous trip down the St. Lawrence and a three-week Atlantic crossing, Cartier and his men arrived in Saint-Malo on July 15, 1536, concluding the second, 14-month voyage, which was to be Cartier's most profitable

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Donnacona - Wikipedia

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1658 - Venetians under Contarini defeat Turks between Imbros and the Dardanelles

Contarini - Wikipedia

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1658 - Battle of Imbros


1759 - George Rodney promoted Rear-Admiral.

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1780 - British fleet under George Rodney engaged French fleet under Comte de Guichen in the West Indies.


1806 – Launch of HMS Jackdaw was a Royal Navy Cuckoo-class schooner that William Rowe built at Newcastle

HMS Jackdaw was a Royal Navy Cuckoo-class schooner that William Rowe built at Newcastle and launched in 1806. She had a relatively undistinguished career, with the low point being her capture by what some described as a Spanish "rowboat". British frigates recaptured Jackdaw the next day. She went on to serve as a tender at Plymouth before being sold in 1816.


Scale: 1:48. A plan showing body plan with stern board outline, sheer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth of 'Haddock' (1805), a four to six gun schooner, as taken off in October 1805 and modified on her refit. This plan was used for the subsequent Cuckoo class of gun schooners (1805) consisting of 'Magpie' (1806), 'Jackdaw' (1806), 'Cuckoo' (1806), 'Wagtail' (1806), 'Woodcock' (1806), 'Wigeon' (1806), 'Sealark' (1806), 'Rook' (1806), 'Landrail' (1806), 'Pigeon' (1806), 'Crane' (1806), 'Quail' (1806)

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Collections - National Maritime Museum

1813 - During the War of 1812, the frigate USS Congress, commanded by John Smith, captures and burns the British merchant brig, Jean, in the Atlantic.




Building plan of Congress and Constellation

USS Congress (1799) - Wikipedia

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1814 – Launch of HMS Eden, a Conway class sailing sixth rates were a series of ten Royal Navy post ships built to an 1812 design by Sir William Rule.

The Conway class sailing sixth rates were a series of ten Royal Navy post ships built to an 1812 design by Sir William Rule. All ten were ordered on 18 January 1812, and nine of these were launched during 1814, at the end of the Napoleonic War; the last (Tees) was delayed and was launched in 1817.

These ships were originally designated as "sloops", but were nominally rated as sixth rates of 20 guns when built, as their 12-pounder carronades were not included in the official rating. When this changed in February 1817, they were rated at 28 guns.


Scale 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines and longitudinal half breadth proposed and approved, for Fowey / Towey (1814), Mersey (1814), Conway (1814), Eden (1814), Tyne (1814), Tanmar (1814), Tees (1817), Menai (1814), Wye (1814), Dee (1814), all 26/28-gun Sloops to be built by contract in private yards. Note alterations to back stay, main channel, fore channel and hawse pipes for Tamar in 1817. Annotation at top: "Chatham Officers were directed to fit the fore backstay stool further aft and Mizzien backstay stool 3ft further aft, on board the Tamar, and to fit her with Trysail Mast Pr Warrant dated 26 February 17."

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1855 - The screw ship USS Powhatan lands her Marine guard at Shanghai, China, to protect the lives and property of Americans during a period of unrest.

The first USS Powhatan was a sidewheel steam frigate in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was named for Powhatan, a Native American chief of eastern Virginia. She was one of the last, and largest, of the United States Navy's paddle frigates.

Powhatan's keel was laid on 6 August 1847 at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, then Gosport Shipyard, at Portsmouth, Virginia. Her engines were constructed by Mehaffy & Company. She cost $785,000. She was launched on 14 February 1850 by the Norfolk Navy Yard and commissioned on 2 September 1852, Captain William Mervine in command.

USS Powhatan (1850) - Wikipedia

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1942 – World War II: In the aftermath of the Battle of the Coral Sea, Task Force 16 heads to Pearl Harbor.

Battle of the Coral Sea - Wikipedia

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1944 - USS England (DE 635) sinks Japanese submarine I 16, the first of five submarines the destroyer sinks in a weeks time.


1944 - USS Niblack (DD 424), USS Ludlow (DD 438), and British aircraft sink German submarine U 960 off Oran, Algeria.


1950 – A barge containing munitions destined for Pakistan explodes in the harbor at South Amboy, New Jersey, devastating the city.

South Amboy, New Jersey - Wikipedia

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
20 May 1506 – Death of Christopher Columbus (before 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italian explorer, navigator, and colonist who completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain.


Christopher Columbus (/kəˈlʌmbəs/; before 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italian explorer, navigator, and colonist who completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain. He led the first European expeditions to the Caribbean, Central America, and South America, initiating the permanent European colonization of the Americas. Columbus discovered the viable sailing route to the Americas, a continent that was then unknown to the Old World. While what he thought he had discovered was a route to the Far East, he is credited with the opening of the Americas for conquest and settlement by Europeans.



Columbus's early life is somewhat obscure, but scholars generally agree that he was born in the Republic of Genoa and spoke a dialect of Ligurian as his first language. He went to sea at a young age and travelled widely, as far north as the British Isles (and possibly Iceland) and as far south as what is now Ghana. He married Portuguese noblewoman Filipa Moniz Perestrelo and was based in Lisbon for several years, but later took a Spanish mistress; he had one son with each woman. Though largely self-educated, Columbus was widely read in geography, astronomy, and history. He formulated a plan to seek a western sea passage to the East Indies, hoping to profit from the lucrative spice trade.


The voyages of Christopher Columbus

After years of lobbying, the Catholic Monarchs of Spain agreed to sponsor a journey west, in the name of the Crown of Castile. Columbus left Spain in August 1492 with three ships, and after a stopover in the Canary Islandsmade landfall in the Americas on 12 October (now celebrated as Columbus Day). His landing place was an island in the Bahamas, known by its native inhabitants as Guanahani; its exact location is uncertain. Columbus subsequently visited Cuba and Hispaniola, establishing a colony in what is now Haiti—the first European settlement in the Americas since the Norse colonies almost 500 years earlier. He arrived back in Spain in early 1493, bringing a number of captive natives with him. Word of his discoveries soon spread throughout Europe.

Columbus made three further voyages to the New World, exploring the Lesser Antilles in 1493, Trinidad and the northern coast of South America in 1498, and the eastern coast of Central America in 1502. Many of the names he gave to geographical features—particularly islands—are still in use. He continued to seek a passage to the East Indies, and the extent to which he was aware that the Americas were a wholly separate landmass is uncertain; he gave the name indios ("Indians") to the indigenous peoples he encountered. Columbus's strained relationship with the Spanish crown and its appointed colonial administrators in America led to his arrest and removal from Hispaniola in 1500, and later to protracted litigation over the benefits that he and his heirs claimed were owed to them by the crown.

Columbus's expeditions inaugurated a period of exploration, conquest, and colonization that lasted for centuries, helping create the modern Western world. The transfers between the Old World and New World that followed his first voyage are known as the Columbian exchange, and the period of human habitation in the Americas prior to his arrival is known as the Pre-Columbian era. Columbus's legacy continues to be debated. He was widely venerated in the centuries after his death, but public perceptions have changed as recent scholars have given attention to negative aspects of his life, such as his role in the extinction of the Taíno people, his promotion of slavery, and allegations of tyranny towards Spanish colonists. Many landmarks and institutions in the Western Hemisphere bear his name, including the country of Colombia.

Illness and death

The death of Columbus, lithograph by L. Prang & Co., 1893

During a violent storm on his first return voyage, Columbus, then 41, suffered an attack of what was believed at the time to be gout. In subsequent years, he was plagued with what was thought to be influenza and other fevers, bleeding from the eyes, and prolonged attacks of gout. The suspected attacks increased in duration and severity, sometimes leaving Columbus bedridden for months at a time, and culminated in his death 14 years later.


Tomb in Seville Cathedral. The remains are borne by kings of Castile, Leon, Aragon and Navarre.

Based on Columbus's lifestyle and the described symptoms, modern doctors suspect that he suffered from reactive arthritis, rather than gout. Reactive arthritis, previously known as Reiter's syndrome, is a joint inflammation caused by intestinal bacterial infections or after acquiring certain sexually transmitted diseases (primarily chlamydia or gonorrhea). "It seems likely that [Columbus] acquired reactive arthritis from food poisoning on one of his ocean voyages because of poor sanitation and improper food preparation," writes Dr. Frank C. Arnett, a rheumatologist and professor of internal medicine, pathology and laboratory medicine the University of Texas Medical School at Houston.

On 20 May 1506, aged probably 54, Columbus died in Valladolid, Spain. His remains were first interred at Valladolid, then at the monastery of La Cartuja in Seville (southern Spain) by the will of his son Diego Colón, who had been governor of Hispaniola. In 1542, the remains were transferred to Colonial Santo Domingo, in the present-day Dominican Republic. In 1795, when France took over the entire island of Hispaniola, Columbus's remains were moved to Havana, Cuba. After Cuba became independent following the Spanish–American War in 1898, the remains were moved back to Spain, to the Cathedral of Seville, where they were placed on an elaborate catafalque.


Silver Caravel containing a small portion of Christopher Columbus's remains

However, a lead box bearing an inscription identifying "Don Christopher Columbus" and containing bone fragments and a bullet was discovered at Santo Domingo in 1877. To lay to rest claims that the wrong relics had been moved to Havana and that Columbus's remains had been left buried in the cathedral at Santo Domingo, DNA samples of the corpse resting in Seville were taken in June 2003 (History Today August 2003) as well as other DNA samples from the remains of his brother Diego and younger son Fernando Colón. Initial observations suggested that the bones did not appear to belong to somebody with the physique or age at death associated with Columbus. DNA extraction proved difficult; only short fragments of mitochondrial DNA could be isolated. The mitochondrial DNA fragments matched corresponding DNA from Columbus's brother, giving support that both individuals had shared the same mother.


Tomb in Columbus Lighthouse, Santo Domingo Este, Dominican Republic.

Such evidence, together with anthropologic and historic analyses, led the researchers to conclude that the remains found in Seville belonged to Christopher Columbus. The authorities in Santo Domingo have never allowed the remains there to be exhumed, so it is unknown if any of those remains could be from Columbus's body as well. The Dominican remains are located in "The Columbus Lighthouse" (Faro a Colón), in Santo Domingo.

Christopher Columbus - Wikipedia

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