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

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
30 April 1790 – Launch of HMS Brunswick, a 74-gun third rate ship-of-the-line of the Royal Navy, at Deptford.


HMS Brunswick was a 74-gun third rate ship-of-the-line of the Royal Navy, launched on 30 April 1790 at Deptford. She was first commissioned in the following month under Sir Hyde Parker for the Spanish Armament but was not called into action. When the Russian Armament was resolved without conflict in August 1791, Brunswick took up service as a guardship in Portsmouth Harbour. She joined Richard Howe's Channel Fleet at the outbreak of the French Revolutionary War and was present at the battle on Glorious First of June where she a fought a hard action against the French 74-gun Vengeur du Peuple. Brunswick was in a small squadron under William Cornwallis that encountered a large French fleet in June 1798. The British ships were forced to run into the Atlantic and narrowly avoided capture through a combination of good fortune and some fake signals.



After a five-year spell in the West Indies, Brunswick returned home and was refitted at Portsmouth. In 1807, when Denmark was under threat from a French invasion, Brunswick was part of a task force, under overall command of James Gambier, sent to demand the surrender of the Danish fleet. When the Danes refused to comply, Brunswick joined in with an attack on the capital, Copenhagen. She returned to the Baltic some months later, following the Treaty of Tilsit and, while attached to Richard Goodwin Keats' squadron, she helped with the evacuation of 10,000 Spanish troops from the region. From 1812 Brunswick was on harbour service, and in 1826 she was broken up


HMS Brunswick fighting the Achille and Vengeur du Peuple simultaneously

Construction and armament
Brunswick was a 74-gun, third-rate ship-of-the-line ordered on 7 January 1785. She was the first of her type built following the American Revolutionary war and was significantly larger than previous 74s. The Admiralty approved the design on 10 January 1785 and work began in May 1786 when her keel, of 145 feet 2 inches (44.2 m) was laid down at Deptford. When finished, she was 176 feet 0 inches (53.6 m) along the gun deck, had a beam of 48 feet 8 inches (14.8 m) and a depth in the hold of 19 feet 6 inches (5.9 m). She was 1,82872⁄94 tons burthen and drew between 13 ft 0 in (3.96 m) and 16 ft 7 in (5.05 m).

The ship was initially designed to carry a main battery of twenty-eight 32-pounder (15 kg) guns on the lower deck and thirty 18-pounder (8.2 kg) on the upper deck, with a secondary armament of twelve 9-pounder (4.1 kg) guns on the quarter deck and four on the forecastle. She was launched on 30 April 1790 and taken down the Thames to Woolwich where she was fitted-out between 17 May and 18 June. Her build and first fitting cost the Admiralty£47,781.0.0d.

In December 1806, Brunswick's armament was changed so that all her guns fired a 24-pounder (11 kg) shot. This meant that the guns on the lower deck were downgraded while those on the upperdeck were upgraded. The guns on the forecastle were replaced with two 24-pounder long guns and four 24-pounder carronades, and on the quarter deck, the twelve 9-pounders were removed to make way for two long guns and ten carronades, all 24-pounders. The great guns on the upper decks were mounted on Gover carriages which enabled them to be handled by fewer men.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with stern board outline, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth for building Brunswick (1790), a 74-gun Third Rate, two-decker


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the inboard profile for Brunswick (1790), a 74-gun Third Rate, two-decker, built at Deptford Dockyard


Brunswick (centre), following her engagement with Vengeur du Peuple (left) and Achille (right), on 1 June 1794

HMS Brunswick (1790) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...3;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=B;start=0

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
30 April 1815 - HMS Rivoli (74) captured Melpomene (1812 - 44) off Ischia


Melpomène was a 44-gun frigate of the French Navy, designed by Sané. She was launched in 1812. In 1815 HMS Rivoli captured her. The Royal Navy never commissioned Melpomène and in 1821 sold her for breaking up.






Clorinde, sister-ship of French frigate Melpomène (1812)

Career
Melpomène was commissioned on 1 June 1812 in Toulon under Commander Charles Béville.[2] She took part in the Action of 5 November 1813, where she sustained light damage and had one wounded.

She was decommissioned on 21 February 1814, but reactivated in January 1815 under Captain Joseph Collet, at Toulon.

On 24 April, during the Hundred Days, she was sent to Napoli to transport Letizia Ramolino. Six days later, at 6a.m. on the 30th, she encountered the 74-gun HMS Rivoli off Ischia, commanded by Captain Edward Stirling Dickson. After a 35-minute fight, Melpomène struck to the ship of the line.

Although a key French source states that Melpomène was scuttled, she was not. The Royal Navy sailed her to Portsmouth, where she arrived on 28 December 1815. There she was laid up. She was not commissioned and was not fitted for sea. She was sold on 7 June 1821 at Portsmouth to a Mr. Freake for £2,460.

In May, the frigate Dryade brought Ramolino to France, along with Prince Jérôme Bonaparte.


Rivoli was a Téméraire-class ship of the line of the French Navy.




1/40th scale model of Rivoli fitted with seacamels.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showng the body plan, stern board outline, sheer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth for 'Rivoli' (1812), a captured French Third Rate, as taken off at Portsmouth Dockyard after fitting as 74-gun Third Rate, two-decker. Signed by Nicholas Diddams [Master Shipwright, Portsmouth Dockyard, 1803-1823]

Rivoli was built in Venice, whose harbour was too shallow for a 74-gun to exit. To allow her to depart, she was fitted with seacamels.

On her maiden journey, under Jean-Baptiste Barré, the British 74-gun third rate HMS Victorious intercepted her on 22 February 1812. Her crew was inexperienced, and in the ensuing Battle of Pirano, the British captured Rivoli after some 400 men of her crew of over 800 were killed or wounded.

The Royal Navy subsequently recommissioned her as HMS Rivoli. On 30 April 1815, under Captain Edward Stirling Dickson, she captured the frigate Melpomène off Naples.


Capture of the Rivoli, 22 Feb 1812


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Melpomène_(1812)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Rivoli_(1810)
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-343464;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=R

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
30 April 1857 - The Novara Expedition (1857–1859) under command of Bernhard von Wüllerstorf-Urbair, the first large-scale scientific, around-the-world mission of the Austrian Imperial navy, begins in Triste


SMS Novara was a sail frigate of the Austro-Hungarian Navy most noted for sailing the globe for the Novara Expedition of 1857–1859 and, later for carrying Archduke Maximilian and wife Carlota to Veracruz in May 1864 to become Emperor and Empress of Mexico.





History
Service
SMS Novara was a frigate that circumnavigated the earth in the course of the Austrian Imperial expedition of 1857–1859, during the reign of (Kaiser) Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria. It was a sailing ship with three masts of sails and six decks, outfitted with 42 cannons, and had a water displacement of nearly 2,107 tons.

Between 1843 and 1899 SMS Novara had several different names and configurations: originally named Minerva when the lengthy construction started in Venice during 1843, the partially completed frigate was renamed Italia by Venetian revolutionaries in 1848, finally launched with the name Novara in 1850, and converted to a steam cruiser during 1861–1865.

The name Novara originated with the Battle of Novara in March 1849: following the Austrians' retaking of Venice in August 1849, Field Marshal Radetzkyvisited the shipyard there, and the officers petitioned him to have the nearly-completed Italia renamed in honour of his victory over King Charles Albert at the Italian town of Novara.[4] The ship was subsequently christened "Novara" in 1849, and construction restarted in earnest under Austrian supervision. The hull left the slipway the following year, in November 1850.

The circumnavigation of the earth from April 1857 through August 1859 by Novara was one of the most important journeys for what became the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna. A number of eminent natural scientists joined the voyage, including Georg Ritter von Frauenfeld, curator in the invertebrate department of the Imperial museums. The material collected during the expedition was voluminous and prominent scientists continue to examine and write it to the present day;

Novara Expedition
The Novara Expedition (1857–1859) was the first large-scale scientific, around-the-world mission of the Austrian Imperial navy.

Authorized by Archduke Maximillian, the journey lasted 2 years 3 months, from 30 April 1857 until 30 August 1859.

The expedition was accomplished by the frigate Novara, under the command of Kommodore Bernhard von Wüllerstorf-Urbair, with 345 officers and crew, plus seven (7) scientists aboard. Preparation for the research journey was made by the "Imperial Academy of Sciences in Vienna" and by specialized scholars under direction of the geologist Ferdinand von Hochstetter and the zoologist Georg von Frauenfeld. The first coca plant (cocaine) investigations, in particular on St. Paul Island, the Nicobar Islands, and on New Zealand (first geological mapping by Hochstetter), created the bases for future geological research. The oceanographic research, in particular in the South Pacific, revolutionized oceanography and hydrography.

The collections of botanical, zoological (26,000 preparations), and cultural material brought back enriched the Austrian museums (especially the natural-history museum). They were also studied by Johann Natterer, a scientist who collected Vienna museum specimens during 18 years in South America. The geomagnetic observations made throughout the whole expedition significantly increased the scientific knowledge in this field. Finally, the expedition's introduction of coca plant leaves made it possible to isolate cocaine in its pure form for the first time in 1860.

The results of the research journey were compiled into a 21-binder report of the Viennese Academy of Sciences, titled "Reise der österreichischen Fregatte Novara um die Erde (1861–1876)" ("journey of the Austrian frigate Novara around the earth"). Also published were many woodcuts under the same title (in 3 volumes, by K. Scherzer 1864–1866).

The Novara-Expedition report included a drawing of the frigate SMS Novara surrounded by an oval border with the names of locations visited: Gibraltar, Madeira, Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town, St. Paul island, Ceylon, Madras, Nicobar Islands, Singapore, Batavia, Manila, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Puynipet Island, Stewart Island or Stuart Island (16-17 October 1858), Sydney (5 November 1858), Auckland, Tahiti, Valparaíso, Gravosa, and Triest (returning on 26 August 1859).

Gallery showing the differences before and after the 1862 rebuild

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  Novara, the original hull in cross-section
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  1861 vs 1862 hulls compared
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  Novara in 1864 at Martinique
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  New and different figurehead

Voyages with Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian
In April 1864, SMS Novara had the important task of carrying Archduke Maximilian and his wife Charlotte to Veracruz, in the Americas, for their establishment as the new Emperor and Empress of Mexico during the Second Mexican Empire. Novara arrived at Veracruz, Mexico on 28 May 1864.


From Novara Expedition: Coca-plant

Over 3 years later, upon the capture and execution of Maximilian I of Mexico, by the revolutionary Mexican government (of Benito Juárez), Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff was sent with Novara to bring Maximilian's body home to Austria, arriving in the port of Trieste on 16 January 1868.

Battle of Lissa
SMS Novara saw active service during the Battle of Lissa which took place on 20 July 1866 in the Adriatic Sea near the island of Vis (Italian: Lissa). SMS Novara belonged to Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff's 2nd Division, commanded by Baron Anton von Petz, which consisted mainly of wooden steam warships. 'Novara's commander, Erik af Klint, was killed in the engagement. The battle was a decisive victory for an outnumbered Austrian Empire force over a superior Italian force. It was the first major sea battle between ironclads and one of the last to involve deliberate ramming.

Legacy

S.M.S. Novara coin

SMS Novara has left such a legacy behind that a depiction of her was selected for a commemorative coin: the 20 euro S.M.S. Novara coin minted on 16 June 2004. The obverse shows the frigate SMS Novara under sail during her circumnavigation of the globe in 1857-1859. Novara was the first Austrian ship in the Austro-Hungarian Navy to circumnavigate the world. In the background, there is a representation of the Chinese coast. Seagulls, showing the nearness to land, circle the ship.

Approximately 30,000 copies of Karl von Scherzer's book on the circumnavigation of the world of the frigate Novara were sold, a huge number in that era. It is considered the second most successful popular scientific work in the German language in the 19th century; second only to Alexander von Humboldt's 5-volume Cosmography. An English edition was published shortly after, printed by Saunders, Otley and Co. in London in three volumes 1861-1863, containing more than 1200 pages. The complete title of the book is: Karl von Scherzer: "Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the Globe by the Austrian Frigate "Novara" (B. von Wullersdorf-Urbair,) Undertaken by Order of the Imperial Government, Under the Immediate Auspices of His I. and R. Highness the Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, Commander in-Chief of the Austrian Navy."



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Novara_(1850)#Eumaeini
https://web.archive.org/web/20050615111055/http://www.michaelorgan.org.au/novara1.htm

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
30 April 1904 - german Christian Huelsmeyer applied for a patent for his 'telemobiloscope' , the first Radar


On the 30th April 1904, Christian Huelsmeyer in Duesseldorf, Germany, applied for a patent for his 'telemobiloscope' which was a transmitter-receiver system for detecting distant metallic objects by means of electrical waves. The telemobiloscope was designed as an anti-collision device for ships and it worked well. His interest in collision prevention arose after observing the grief of a mother whose son was killed when two ships collided. After a period teaching in Bremen, where he had the opportunity of repeating Hertz's experiments, he joined Siemens.



In 1902 he moved to Duesseldorf to concentrate on his invention. He became acquainted with a merchant from Cologne, was given 5,000 marks and founded the company 'Telemobiloscop-Gesellschaft Huelsmeyer und Mannheim'. The first public demonstration of his 'telemobiloscope' took place on the 18th May 1904 at the Hohenzollern Bridge, Cologne. As a ship on the river approached, one could hear a bell ringing. The ringing ceased only when the ship changed direction and left the beam of his 'telemobiloscope'. All tests carried out gave positive results. The press and public opinion were very favorable. However, neither the naval authorities nor industry showed interest. In June 1904 he was given the opportunity by the director of a Dutch shipping company to display his equipment at various shipping congresses at Rotterdam. His was detecting ships at ranges up to 3,000 m, and he was planning a new 'telemobiloscope' which would function up to 10,000 m. He received a fourth patent on the 11th November 1904 in England. In 1955, he was honored at a congress in Munich on Weather and Astro-Navigation (Flug-Wetter-und Astro Funkortungs-Tagung). His 'telemobiloscope' operated on a wavelength of 40-50 cm. The transmitter used a Righi-type spark gap (part of which was immersed in oil) from an induction coil. The radiated pulses were beamed by a funnel-shaped reflector and tube which could be pointed in any desired direction. The receiver used a coherer detector and a separate vertical antenna, which, because of a semi-cylindrical movable screen, was also directional. Basically, the apparatus was designed to detect the presence of an object in a particular direction. The question of determining distance was later solved, by a modification which aimed at beaming the radiation at any desired angle of elevation. Knowledge of the height of one's own transmitting antenna above the surface of the water and of the angle of vertical elevation at which an object was detected would, by simple calculation, give the range of the object. Perhaps the most ingenious aspect of the inventor's later apparatus was his awareness that the equipment might respond to other than its own transmissions and his safeguarding against it by a time limiting electromechanical mechanism. The receiver responded to a first transmission's signal only if, after a predetermined interval, it received the signal from a second transmission.
Some claims are made that Heulsmeyer had built a second set, a much larger demonstration unit which he is supposed to have build in two month and is claimed did not work! There is no support for this claim. His unit worked and it was in competion with the Marconi spark transmitters. The Marconi Wireless Company had the control of the Navel communication industry in those days and would not tolerate any competition.


Above, Huelsmeyer's "telemobiloscope" on display at the Deutsches Museum in Munich. At left is the antenna, in the middle the receiver, and at right the transmitter. After 90 years (1904) the unit was connected to a battery and it still worked flawlessly. Range is 3000 m. A description in English on how his radar system worked is detailed in his US patent 810,150 dated Jan. 16, 1906.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Hülsmeyer
http://www.radarworld.org/huelsmeyer.html

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
30 April 1904 – Launch of French Démocratie, a pre-dreadnought battleship built for the French Navy in the mid-1900s.


Démocratie was a pre-dreadnought battleship built for the French Navy in the mid-1900s. She was the fourth member of the Liberté class, which included three other vessels and was a derivative of the preceding République class, with the primary difference being the inclusion of a heavier secondary battery. Démocratie carried a main battery of four 305 mm (12.0 in) guns, like the République, but mounted ten 194 mm (7.6 in) guns for her secondary armament in place of the 164 mm (6.5 in) guns of the earlier vessels. Like many late pre-dreadnought designs, Démocratie was completed after the revolutionary British battleship HMS Dreadnought had entered service, rendering her obsolescent.



On entering service, Démocratie joined the Mediterranean Squadron, based in Toulon. She immediately began the normal peacetime training routine of squadron and fleet maneuvers and cruises to various ports in the Mediterranean. She also participated in several naval reviews for a number of French and foreign dignitaries. Following the outbreak of war in July 1914, Démocratie was used to escort troopship convoys carrying elements of the French Army from French North Africa to face the Germans invading northern France. She thereafter steamed to contain the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the Adriatic Sea, taking part in the minor Battle of Antivari in August. The increasing threat of Austro-Hungarian U-boats and the unwillingness of the Austro-Hungarian fleet to engage in battle led to a period of monotonous patrols that ended with Italy's entry into the war on the side of France, which allowed the French fleet to be withdrawn.

In mid-1916, she became involved in events in Greece, being stationed in Salonika to put pressure on the Greek government to enter the war on the side of the Allies, but she saw little action for the final two years of the war. Immediately after the end of the war, she was sent to the Black Sea, first to oversee the surrender of German-occupied Russian warships there, and then as part of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. In May 1919, she carried the Ottoman delegation to France to sign the Treaty of Sèvres. The ship was placed in reserve in 1920, stricken from the naval register in 1921, and broken up later that year.


Design
Main article: Liberté-class battleship

Line-drawing of the Liberté class

The Liberté-class battleships were originally intended to be part of the République-class battleship, but the construction of the British King Edward VII-class battleships, with their heavy secondary battery of 9.2-inch (230 mm) guns, prompted the French Naval General Staff to request that the last four Républiques be redesigned to include a heavier secondary battery in response. Ironically, the designer, Louis-Émile Bertin, had proposed such an armament for the République class, but the General Staff had rejected it since the larger guns had a lower rate of fire than the smaller 164 mm (6.5 in) guns that had been selected for the République design. Because the ships were broadly similar apart from their armament, the Libertés are sometimes considered to be a sub-class of the République type.

Démocratie was 135.25 meters (443 ft 9 in) long overall and had a beam of 24.25 m (79 ft 7 in) and an average draft of 8.2 m (26 ft 11 in). She displaced up to 14,900 metric tons (14,700 long tons) at full load. The battleship was powered by three vertical triple-expansion steam engines with twenty-two Belleville boilers. They were rated at 17,500 metric horsepower (17,300 ihp) and provided a top speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph). Coal storage amounted to 1,800 t (1,800 long tons; 2,000 short tons), which provided a maximum range of 8,400 nautical miles (15,600 km; 9,700 mi) at a cruising speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). She had a crew of 32 officers and 710 enlisted men.

Démocratie's main battery consisted of four 305 mm (12.0 in) Modèle 1893/96 guns mounted in two twin-gun turrets, one forward and one aft. The secondary battery consisted of ten 194 mm (7.6 in) Modèle 1902 guns; six were mounted in single turrets, and four in casemates in the hull. She also carried thirteen 65 mm (2.6 in) Modèle 1902 guns and ten 47 mm (1.9 in) Modèle 1902 guns. The ship was also armed with two 450 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes, which were submerged in the hull on the broadside.

The ship's main belt was 280 mm (11.0 in) thick in the central citadel, and was connected to two armored decks; the upper deck was 54 mm (2.1 in) thick while the lower deck was 51 mm (2.0 in) thick, with 70 mm (2.8 in) sloped sides. The main battery guns were protected by up to 360 mm (14.2 in) of armor on the fronts of the turrets, while the secondary turrets had 156 mm (6.1 in) of armor on the faces. The casemates were protected with 174 mm (6.9 in) of steel plate. The conning tower had 266 mm (10.5 in) thick sides.

Modifications
Over the course of 1912 through 1914, the navy tried to modify Démocratie and her sister Vérité to allow the 305 mm guns to be aimed continuously Tests to determine whether the main battery turrets could be modified to increase the elevation of the guns (and hence their range) proved to be impossible, but the Navy determined that tanks on either side of the vessel could be flooded to induce a heel of 2 degrees. This increased the maximum range of the guns from 12,500 to 13,500 m (41,000 to 44,300 ft). New motors were installed in the secondary turrets in 1915–1916 to improve their training and elevation rates. Also in 1915, the 47 mm guns located on either side of the bridge were removed and the two on the aft superstructure were moved to the roof of the rear turret. On 8 December 1915, the naval command issued orders that the light battery was to be revised to eight of the 47 mm guns and ten 65 mm (2.6 in) guns. The light battery was revised again in 1916, with the four 47 mm guns being converted with high-angle anti-aircraft mounts. They were placed atop the rear main battery turret and the number 7 and 8 secondary turret roofs. In 1912–1913, the ship received two 2 m (6 ft 7 in) Barr & Stroud rangefinders.



Liberté in New York City in September 1909

The Liberté class was a group of four pre-dreadnought battleships of the French Navy. The class comprised Liberté, the lead ship, Justice, Vérité, and Démocratie. The ships were in most respects repeats of the previous République class, and the major difference was the adoption of 194-millimeter (7.6 in) guns for the secondary battery, rather than the 164 mm (6.5 in) guns of the République class. Due to their similarity, the two classes are sometimes treated as one basic design. The four Liberté-class ships were built between 1903 and 1908; they were completed over a year after the revolutionary British HMS Dreadnought, which rendered the French ships obsolete before they entered service.

In September 1909, three of the ships, Liberté, Justice, and Vérité visited the United States for the Hudson-Fulton Celebration. Two years later, Liberté's forward magazines exploded in Toulon harbor, destroying the ship and killing approximately 250 of her crew. The three surviving ships saw action early in World War I at the Battle of Antivari, and spent the remainder blockading the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the Adriatic and were later stationed at Mudros in the Aegean. They were stricken from the naval register in 1921–1922 and broken up for scrap. Liberté was left on the bottom of Toulon harbor until 1925, when she was raised and broken up for scrap.


Justice at the Hudson-Fulton Celebration in September 1909

French battleship Démocratie - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberté-class_battleship

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
30 April 1904 – Launch of SMS Erzherzog Friedrich (German: "His Majesty's ship Archduke Friedrich"), a pre-dreadnought battleship built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy in 1902


SMS Erzherzog Friedrich (German: "His Majesty's ship Archduke Friedrich") was a pre-dreadnought battleship built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy in 1902. The second ship of the Erzherzog Karl class, she was launched on 30 April 1904. She was assigned to the III Battleship Division.



For most of World War I, Erzherzog Friedrich remained in her home port of Pula, in present-day Croatia, except for four engagements. In 1914, she formed part of the Austro-Hungarian flotilla sent to protect the escape of the German ships SMS Goeben and SMS Breslau from the British-held Mediterranean; she advanced as far as Brindisi before being recalled to her home port. Her sole combat engagement occurred in late May 1915, when she participated in the bombardment of the Italian port city of Ancona. She also took part in suppressing a major mutiny among the crew members of several armored cruisers stationed in Cattaro between 1–3 February 1918. She also attempted to break through the Otranto Barrage in June of that year, but had to retreat when the dreadnought SMS Szent István was sunk. After the war, Erzherzog Friedrich was awarded to the French as a war prize in 1920.


Design


Right elevation and plan of the Erzherzog Karl class

Erzherzog Friedrich displaced 10,472 long tons (10,640 t). She was 414 feet 2 inches (126.2 m) long, had a beamof 71 feet 5 inches (21.8 m) and a draft of 24 feet 7 inches (7.5 m). She was manned by 700 men. She and her sisters were the last and largest pre-dreadnought class built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy, surpassing the Habsburg class by approximately 2,000 tonnes (1,968 long tons). She was propelled by two two-shaft, four cylinder vertical triple expansion steam engines. On trials, they developed 18,000 ihp (13,423 kW), which propelled the ship at a speed of 20.5 knots (38.0 km/h; 23.6 mph).

Erzherzog Friedrich carried a primary armament of four 24-centimeter (9.4 in)/40 caliber guns in two twin turrets on the centerline. These guns were an Austro-Hungarian replica of the British 24 cm/40 (9.4") Krupp C/94, which was used on the Habsburgs. Her secondary armament consisted of twelve 19 cm (7.5 in)/42 caliber guns, also made by Škoda, mounted in eight single casemates on either wing of the ship and two twin turrets on the centerline.[3] shell 20,000 metres (22,000 yd) at maximum elevation with a muzzle velocity of 800 metres per second (2,600 ft/s). The gun weighed 12.1 tons and could fire three rounds per minute. The ships had a tertiary armament for protection against torpedo boats in the form of the 7 cm (2.8 in)/45 caliber gun, also manufactured by Škoda. Anti-aircraft and airship protection was covered by the four 37-millimeter (1.5 in) Vickers anti-aircraft guns on the ship bought from Britain in 1910 and mounted onto Erzherzog Karl. After 1916-17 refits four Škoda 7 cm L/45 BAG anti-aircraft guns were installed. Erzherzog Karl was also fitted with two above water 45-centimeter (17.7 in) torpedo tubes, although rarely used.

Service history


SMS Erzherzog Friedrich underway.

At the outbreak of World War I, Erzherzog Friedrich was in the III division of the Austrian-Hungarian battle-fleet. She was mobilized on the eve of the war along with the remainder of the fleet to support the flight of SMS Goeben and SMS Breslau. The two German ships were attempting to break out of Messina, which was surrounded by British troops, and make their way to Turkey. The breakout succeeded. When the flotilla had advanced as far south as Brindisi in south eastern Italy, the Austro-Hungarian ships were recalled. In company with other units of the Austro-Hungarian navy, Erzherzog Friedrich took part in the bombardment of Ancona on 24 May 1915. There she and her sisters expended 24 rounds of 240 mm armor-piercing shells at signal and semaphore stations as well as 74 rounds of 190 mm shells aimed at Italian gun-batteries and other port installations.

A major mutiny among crews of the armored cruisers stationed in Cattaro, including Sankt Georg and Kaiser Karl VI, began on 1 February 1918. Two days later, Erzherzog Friedrich and her two sister ships arrived in the port and assisted with the suppression of the mutiny. Following the restoration of order in the naval base, the armored cruisers Sankt Georgand Kaiser Karl VI were decommissioned and Erzherzog Friedrich and her sisters were stationed in Cattaro in their place. For the morning of 11 June, Admiral Miklós Horthy planned a major assault on the Otranto Barrage; the three Erzherzog Karls and the four Tegetthoff-classbattleships were to provide support for the Novara-class cruisers. The plan was intended to replicate the success of the raid conducted one year earlier. Horthy's plan was to destroy the blockading fleet by luring Allied ships to the cruisers and lighter ships, which were protected from the heavier guns of the battleships, including the guns of the Erzherzog Karl class. However, on the morning of 10 June, the dreadnought Szent István was torpedoed and sunk by an Italian torpedo boat. Horthy felt that the element of surprise had been compromised, and therefore called off the operation. This was to be the last military action Erzherzog Friedrich took part in and she spent the rest of their career at port in Pula. Following the end of World War I in November 1918 and the surrender of Austria-Hungary, Erzherzog Friedrich was ceded as a war reparation to France in 1920. She was later scrapped in 1921.



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

Erzherzog Karl-class battleship - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
30 April 1908 - the Japanese cruiser Matsushima, while returning from a training cruise and anchored at Mako in the Pescadores islands off of Taiwan, had an accidental explosion occur in her ammunition magazine. Matsushima rolled over onto her starboard side and then sank stern-first. 206 of her 350 crew were lost.


Matsushima (松島) was a Matsushima-class protected cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Like her sister ships, (the Itsukushima and Hashidate) her name comes from one of the traditional Three Views of Japan, in this case, the Matsushima archipelago near Sendai in Miyagi prefecture.



Background
Forming the backbone of the Imperial Japanese Navy during the First Sino-Japanese War, the Matsushima-class cruisers were based on the principles of Jeune École, as promoted by French military advisor and naval architect Louis-Émile Bertin. The Japanese government did not have the resources or budget to build a battleship navy to counter the various foreign powers active in Asia; instead, Japan adopted the radical theory of using smaller, faster warships, with light armor and small caliber long-range guns, coupled with a massive single 320 mm (12.6 in) Canet gun. The design eventually proved impractical, as the recoil from the huge cannon was too much for a vessel of such small displacement, and its reloading time was impractically long; however, the Matsushima-class cruisers served their purpose well against the poorly equipped and poorly led Imperial Chinese Beiyang Fleet.

Matsushima was built by the Société Nouvelle des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée naval shipyards at La Seyne-sur-Mer in France.

Design
Matsushima differed from her sister ships primarily in the location of her main gun, which was situated behind the superstructure instead of in the bow.

Matsushima had a steel hull with 94 frames constructed of mild steel, and a double bottom, divided into waterproof compartments, with the area between the bulkheads and armor filled with copra. The bow was reinforced with a naval ram. The vital equipment, including boilers and ammunition magazines, were protected by hardened steel armor, as were the gun shields. The main armament consisted of one breech-loading 320-mm Canet gun mounted in behind the superstructure of the ship, which could fire 450-kg armor-piercing or 350-kg explosive shells at an effective range of 8,000 metres (8,700 yd). The maximum rate of fire was two rounds per hour, and the ship carried 60 rounds. Secondary armament consisted of twelve QF 4.7 inch Gun Mk I–IVArmstrong guns, with a maximum range of 9,000 metres (9,800 yd) and maximum rate of fire of 12 rounds/minute. Ten were mounted on the gun deck, five to each side, with the remaining two guns located in upper deck embrasures on either side of the bow. Each gun was equipped with 120 rounds. Tertiary protection was by six QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss mounted in sponsons on the upper deck, with a maximum range of 6,000 metres (6,600 yd) and rate of fire of 20 rounds/minute. Each gun had 300 rounds. In addition, eleven QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss were mounted at various locations, with range of 2,200 metres (2,400 yd) rate of fire of 32 rounds/minute and 800 rounds per gun. Each ship in the class also had four 356-mm torpedo tubes, three in the bow and one in the stern, with a total of 20 torpedoes carried on board. The weight of this weaponry made the design dangerously top-heavy, and armor was sacrificed in an attempt to lower the weight.

The ship was driven by two horizontal triple expansion steam engines. The seaworthiness of the design was poor, and the designed speed of 16.5 knots(30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph) was seldom possible.

Service record
Matsushima arrived in Sasebo Naval District on 19 October 1892. As part of her shakedown cruise, from June to November 1893, Matsushima, Takachihoand Chiyoda made a 160-day, 7,000 nautical miles (13,000 km; 8,100 mi) navigational training cruise off the shores of China, Korea and Russia.

First Sino-Japanese War
After the start of the First Sino-Japanese War, Matsushima was the flagship of Admiral Itō Sukeyuki. She played a central role in the Battle of the Yalu River, as a part of the Japanese main body with Hashidate, Chiyoda and Itsukushima. During the battle, the shortcomings of her design soon became evident - she was able to fire her Canet gun only four times, knocking out one of the guns on the Chinese gunboat Pingyuan. During the battle, one of the 259-mm shells from Pingyuan struck Matsushima in her unarmored starboard side, destroying her torpedo tubes, and killing four crewmen, but the shell failed to explode. However, two of the 305-mm shells from the ironclad Zhenyuan also struck Matsushima. One failed to detonate, and passed through both sides of the hull. The other exploded, destroying the No.4 120-mm gun on the gun deck as it was being loaded, killing 28 crewmen and wounding 68 others. The fire from this explosion knocked three other guns out of commission, and only the quick action by a non-commissioned officer who stuffed his uniform into cracks in a bulkhead prevented the fire from spreading to an ammunition magazine. Matsushima also took numerous hits from smaller caliber artillery, damaging her smokestack, masts, and deck equipment, forcing her withdrawal from combat. In all, Matsushima lost 57 men (including three officers) and 54 wounded (including four officers) in the battle – more than half of the Japanese casualties during the entire battle. Admiral Itō was forced to transfer his flag to Hashidate as Matsushima returned to Kure Naval Arsenal for repairs.

With crews working around the clock, Matsushima was able to return to active duty after 26 days, participating in the Battle of Lushunkou and the Battle of Weihaiwei. While engaged in shore bombardment of the land fortifications of Weihaiwei harbor, Matsushima was hit by two shells from the defenders. One shell destroyed her chart house and damaged her smokestack, and the other exploded on her deck armor, wounding two crewmen. At the end of the battle, representatives from the Beiyang Fleet arrived on the deck of Matsushima to sign documents of surrender.

Matsushima was among the Japanese fleet units that took part in the invasion of Taiwan in 1895, and saw action on 3 June 1895 at the bombardment of the Chinese coastal forts at Keelung.


Matsushima in action, with her Canet gun. Kobayashi Kiyochika, 1894

Interwar years
Matsushima was among warships anchored in the Seto Inland Sea off Nagahama, Shikoku, Japan, when a strong gale struck on 29 October 1897. The central battery ironclad Fusō′s anchor chain broke, and Fusō drifted across the harbor, collided with Matsushima′s ram, then struck her sister ship Itsukushima before sinking in shallow water on a reef. Fusō later was refloated, repaired, and returned to service.

Matsushima was reclassified as a second-class cruiser on 21 March 1898. Prince Arisugawa Takehito was later appointed captain, followed by future admiral Uryū Sotokichi.

From 3 May 1898 to 15 September 1898, Matsushima was assigned to patrolling the sea lanes between Taiwan and Manila, during the period of heightened tension between Japan and the United States during the Spanish–American War.

In April 1900, Matsushima participated in large-scale naval maneuvers, and later that year escorted Japanese transports to China during the Boxer Rebellion. She underwent renovation at the Sasebo Naval Arsenal from February 1901, during which time her six boilers were replaced by eight more reliable Belleville boilers. Her smaller guns were also upgraded by replacement with additional 76-mm guns and 18 QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss 47-mm guns.

In 1902, Matsushima was dispatched to Minami Torishima, in an armed response to American claims that the island was American territory.

In 1903, Matsushima made the first of its long distance navigational training voyages, visiting Southeast Asia and Australia.


Officers of Matsushima.

Russo-Japanese War
During the Russo-Japanese War, the hopelessly obsolete Matsushima and her sister ships were assigned to the 5th squadron of the reserve IJN 3rd Fleet, together with the equally outdated ironclad battleship Chin'en under the command of Admiral Shichiro Kataoka. She was based out of the Takeshiki Guard District on Tsushima island for patrols of the Korea Strait in early February 1904. In May 1904, she assisted in the escort of transports carrying the Imperial Japanese Army 2nd Army, and at the end of the month was present at the blockade of Port Arthur.

During the Battle of the Yellow Sea of 10 August, Matsushima shadowed the Russian fleet, but was unable to close to combat distance. After the end of the Battle of Port Arthur, Matsushima was reassigned to Hakodate for patrols of the Tsugaru Strait. During this time, she captured the British-flagged steamship Istria with a cargo of contraband coal attempting to run the Japanese blockade into Port Arthur, but her capture was overturned in a Japanese prize court. On 28 February, she was briefly trapped in sea ice off of the island of Kunashir, but managed to break free, losing her right propeller and damaging some of her armor plating. She was repaired from March–April 1905 at the Sasebo Naval Arsenal.

At the final Battle of Tsushima, Matsushima was assigned to the 5th Division of the Japanese fleet. At the end of the first day of the battle, she was able to attack the cruisers Oleg and Aurora, but took a hit in return which damaged her steering and put her out of action until repairs could be completed. The following day, she covered the surrender of the remnants of the Russian fleet by Admiral Nebogatov. After the battle, she continued in patrols of the Korea Strait.

Later Matsushima was assigned as flagship of Admiral Dewa Shigeto in the IJN 4th Fleet, which was formed for the Japanese invasion of Sakhalin in July and August 1905. She was overhauled at Sasebo Naval Arsenal in September and October.

Final years

Original 1908 memorial to the cruiser Matsushima pictured. Modern park memorial in Magong City, Penghu County, Taiwan.

After the end of the war, Matsushima reverted to her former role as a training vessel, making long distance navigational training cruises with Imperial Japanese Naval Academy cadets to Southeast Asia and Australia in 1906, 1907 and 1908.

On 30 April 1908, while anchored at Mako in the Pescadores islands off of Taiwan while returning from a training cruise, an accidental explosion occurred in her ammunition magazine. Matsushima rolled over onto her starboard side and then sank stern-first at 23°32′N 119°34′ECoordinates:

23°32′N 119°34′E. The accident killed 206 of her 350-member crew, including 33 Midshipmen of the newly graduated 35th Class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy.[9] She was struck from the navy list on 31 July 1908. Later, her wreckage was raised and scrapped.

A memorial to the Matsushima-class ships in general, and Matsushima in particular is located at the temple of Omido-ji in Mihama, Aichi prefecture. The memorial contains one of Matsushima's 320 mm shells, weighing 450 kg, and standing 97.5 cm tall. There is also a modern park memorial to replace the 1908 memorial (pictured) in a Magong City park on the bay in Penghu County, Taiwan; near the spot where the ship went down.

Gallery

• 
  A 1905 post card
  
• 
  Off the Pescadores islands, 1895
• 
  With parade pennants, 1896

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

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
30 April 1937 - Alfonso XIII was a Spanish dreadnought battleship, the second member of the España class, struck a mine and sank; most of her crew was taken off by the destroyer Velasco.


Alfonso XIII was a Spanish dreadnought battleship, the second member of the España class. She had two sister ships, España and Jaime I. Alfonso XIIIwas built by the SECN shipyard; she was laid down in February 1910, launched in May 1913, and completed in August 1915. Named after King Alfonso XIII of Spain, she was renamed España in 1931 after the king was exiled following the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic. The new name was the namesake of her earlier sister ship, the España that served in the Spanish fleet from 1913 to 1923.



Alfonso XIII served in the Spanish fleet from 1915 to 1937. Spain remained neutral during World War I, and so Alfonso XIII and her sisters were the only European dreadnoughts to avoid the war. She and her sisters participated in the Rif War, where they provided gunfire support to Spanish Army forces. The ship was seized by General Francisco Franco at the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. While steaming off Santander on 30 April 1937, she struck a mine and sank; most of her crew was taken off by the destroyer Velasco.


Technical characteristics
Main article: España-class battleship
Alfonso XIII was 132.6 m (435 ft) long at the waterline and 140 m (460 ft) long overall. She had a beam of 24 m (79 ft) and a draft of 7.8 m (26 ft); her freeboard was 15 ft (4.6 m) amidships. Her propulsion system consisted of four-shaft Parsons steam turbines and twelve Yarrow boilers. The engines were rated at 15,500 shaft horsepower (11,600 kW) and produced a top speed of 19.5 knots (36.1 km/h; 22.4 mph). Alfonso XIII had a cruising radius of 5,000 nautical miles (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). Her crew consisted of 854 officers and enlisted men.


Line-drawing showing the disposition of the main battery

Alfonso XIII was armed with a main battery of eight 305 mm (12.0 in) /50 guns, mounted in four twin gun turrets. One turret was placed forward, two were positioned en echelon amidships, and the fourth was aft of the superstructure. This mounting scheme was chosen in preference to superfiring turrets, as was done in the South Carolinas, to save weight and cost. Her secondary battery consisted of twenty 102 mm (4.0 in) guns mounted in casemates along the length of the hull. They were too close to the waterline, however, which made them unusable in heavy seas. She was also armed with four 3-pounder guns and two machine guns. Her armored belt was 203 mm (8.0 in) thick amidships; the main battery turrets were protected with the same amount of armor plate. The conning tower had 254 mm (10.0 in) thick sides. Her armored deck was 38 mm (1.5 in) thick.

Operational history
Alfonso XIII was laid down at the Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval shipyard in Ferrol on 23 February 1910. She was launched on 7 May 1913, and completed on 16 August 1915. After their completion, Alfonso XIII and her sisters, España and Jaime I, the three battleships formed the 1st Squadron of the Spanish fleet. Spain remained neutral after the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, so Alfonso XIII and her sisters were the only European dreadnoughts to avoid the war. In August 1917, Alfonso XIII assisted in the suppression of general strikes in Vizcaya and Bilbao. After the end of the war, Alfonso XIII conducted cruises to show the flag, including a visit to Annapolis, Maryland, in 1920, during which USS Reina Mercedes, a former Spanish Navy cruiser captured by the United States during the Spanish–American War in 1898, flew the Spanish flag to honor her visit.

Throughout the early 1920s, she provided fire support to the Spanish Army in its campaigns in Morocco during the Rif War. On 17 September 1921, she and España bombarded Rif positions south of Melilla while Spanish Foreign Legion troops assaulted the positions. In August 1923, she participated in the first aerial, naval, and land combined arms operation in Spanish military history.[8] In September 1925, she provided fire support for the Al Hoceima landings, a decisive Franco-Spanish operation; there, she served as the flagship of the Spanish naval contingent.


Illustration of España (formerly Alfonso XIII) in 1937

In April 1931, after the advent of the Second Spanish Republic, Alfonso XIII became part of the Spanish Republican Navy and was renamed España, the name previously held by her sister ship España, which had been wrecked in 1923 while engaged in combat operations at Cape Tres Forcas. By 1934, the renamed España was laid up at Ferrol awaiting disposal. That year, the Spanish Navy considered rebuilding the ship and Jaime I into analogues to the German Deutschland-class cruisers, with new oil-fired boilers. The ships' hulls would have been lengthened, and the main battery turrets rearranged so they would all be on the centerline. The ships' secondary batteries would have been replaced with dual-purpose 120 mm (4.7 in) guns. The plan was nevertheless abandoned. In 1936, the Navy again proposed a modernization for the two ships. It was a less radical plan, and called for additional anti-aircraft guns, modern fire control equipment, oil-fired boilers, and an increase to the elevation of the main guns.

At the time of General Francisco Franco's coup in July 1936 the battleship was still laid up in Ferrol. As detachments of the army, including some coastal artillery units around the harbor, sided with Franco's Nationalists, sailors who supported the Republican government took control of the ship with the intent of resisting the coup. Along with the crew of the cruiser Almirante Cervera, España engaged in an artillery duel with the shore batteries and the Nationalist-controlled destroyer Velasco. The engagement lasted several days and resulted in considerable destruction in the harbor, while Velasco was also heavily damaged before the crews of España and Almirante Cervera were convinced to surrender. España was then refitted and fought on the Nationalist side in the Spanish Civil War, operating as part of a naval task force along with Almirante Cervera and Velasco, which captured or drove back a number of Republican and foreign merchant ships. España seized the Republican freighter Mar Báltico with a cargo of iron ore on 13 February 1937, and on 30 April she prevented the entry of the British steamer Consett to Santander by firing her main guns across the freighter's bows. According to Nationalist sources the Consett and other blockade-runners were escorted at the time by the destroyer HMS Forester. Later that day the España accidentally struck a mine laid by her own side and sank three hours later off the coast near Santander, while assisting the destroyer Velasco in turning away the British merchantman Knistley. While the ship was sinking, Republican aircraft attacked her. All her crew, with the exception of five seamen, were rescued by the Velasco.

Spanish battleship Alfonso XIII - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/España-class_battleship

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
30 April 1940 - SS Nerissa – The passenger and cargo steamship was torpedoed and sunk on 30 April 1940 by the German submarine U-552. She was the only transport carrying Canadian troops to be lost in World War II. 207 people, soldiers and civilians, were killed.


The SS Nerissa was a passenger and cargo steamer which was torpedoed and sunk on 30 April 1941 during World War II by the German submarine U-552 following 39 wartime voyages between Canada and Britain. She was the only transport carrying Canadian troops to be lost during World War II.



History
Nerissa was the final ship built for the Bowring Brothers' "Red Cross Line" service between New York City, Halifax, Nova Scotia, and St. John's, Newfoundland. Due to the arduous winter conditions to be expected on her routes, Nerissa was designed with a strengthened hull to cope with ice floes and an icebreaker style sloping stern.

She was built in Port Glasgow by the shipbuilding company William Hamilton & Company Ltd in a remarkably short time; her owners only signed the contract for her construction on 3 November 1925, yet she was launched on 31 March 1926 in time for the 1926 sailing season. After preliminary trials she departed on her maiden voyage to New York on 5 June 1926.

The Red Cross Line relied mainly on American tourist traffic and this was much affected by the Depression,[clarification needed] until by 1927 it was decided to abandon the service, and at the end of 1928 the Line along with its three ships Nerissa, Rosalind, and Silvia was sold to Furness Withy.

The ships then became part of the Bermuda & West Indies Steamship Co. Ltd., and the Nerissa continued on the New York, Halifax and St. Johns route until 1931 when she was switched to the New York to Bermuda run and also made voyages to Trinidad and Demerara.

Wartime service
In late 1939 Nerissa was modified as an auxiliary transport with accommodation for 250 men and was fitted with a 4-inch gun and a Bofors gun, with gun crews drawn from the Maritime Regiment of the Royal Artillery. Due to her capability to steam at a higher speed than the usual 9 kn (17 km/h; 10 mph) of escorted convoys, Nerissa sailed alone, since she was considered capable of outrunning enemy submarines.
On 7 September 1940, she left Liverpool bound for Halifax, with 34 evacuated children under the Children's Overseas Reception Board, their final destination was British Columbia.

By April 1941 Nerissa had made 39 wartime crossings of the North Atlantic. Her 40th crossing began on 21 April 1941 at Halifax, Nova Scotia. Carrying 145 Canadian servicemen along with RAF and Norwegian Army Air Service personnel, Northern Electric technicians, members of the press, and a number of civilians she sailed as part of a Britain bound convoy. At 10:15 she separated from the convoy to make her crossing alone, and arrived at St. John's, Newfoundland on 23 April, where her captain received his Admiralty orders and she sailed for Britain in the evening.

Sinking
On 30 April she entered the area patrolled by the aircraft of the Royal Navy's Coastal Command. A Lockheed Hudson aircraft flew over her at nightfall and signalled that the area was clear of enemy submarines; at 11:30 she was struck amidships by a torpedo fired from U-552, 200 mi (320 km) from her destination of Liverpool. The lifeboats were manned and in the process of being lowered when an explosion split the ship in two, destroying the unlowered boats. U-552 had fired an additional two torpedoes to ensure the ship's sinking which had struck together three minutes after the first.

In the short time between the two impacts the ship's radio operator was able to send a Mayday signal along with the ship's position and at first light a Bristol Blenheim of Coastal Command circled the scene. The British destroyer HMS Veteran arrived an hour later at 07:50 and picked up the 84 survivors, who were transferred to the Flower-class corvette HMS Kingcup and landed at Derry.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Nerissa
http://www.forposterityssake.ca/Navy/NERISSA-SS.htm

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
30 April 1943 – World War II: Operation Mincemeat
The British submarine HMS Seraph surfaces near Huelva to cast adrift a dead man dressed as a courier and carrying false invasion plans.


Operation Mincemeat was a successful British deception operation of the Second World War to disguise the 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily. Two members of British intelligence obtained the body of Glyndwr Michael, a tramp who died from eating rat poison, dressed him as an officer of the Royal Marines and placed personal items on him identifying him as the fictitious Captain (Acting Major) William Martin. Correspondence between two British generals which suggested that the Allies planned to invade Greece and Sardinia, with Sicily as merely the target of a feint, was also placed on the body.

Part of the wider Operation Barclay, Mincemeat was based on the 1939 Trout memo, written by Rear Admiral John Godfrey, the Director of the Naval Intelligence Division and his personal assistant, Lieutenant Commander Ian Fleming. With the approval of the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill and the military commander in the Mediterranean, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the plan began by transporting the body to the southern coast of Spain by submarine and releasing it close to shore, where it was picked up the following morning by a Spanish fisherman. The neutral Spanish government shared copies of the documents with the Abwehr, the German military intelligence organisation, before returning the originals to the British. Forensic examination showed they had been read and Ultra decrypts of German messages showed that the Germans fell for the ruse. Reinforcements were shifted to Greece and Sardinia before and during the invasion of Sicily; Sicily received none.

The effect of Operation Mincemeat is unknown, although Sicily was liberated more quickly than anticipated and losses were lower than predicted. The events were depicted in Operation Heartbreak, a 1950 novel by the former cabinet minister Duff Cooper, before one of the agents who planned and carried out Mincemeat, Ewen Montagu, wrote a history in 1953. Montagu's work formed the basis for the 1956 British film The Man Who Never Was.

...... read the whole interesting story in detail at wikipedia .......

Operation Mincemeat WWII deception prior to invading Italy by Ian Fleming



HMS Seraph (Pennant number: P219) was an S-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Completed in 1942, she carried out multiple intelligence and special operations activities during World War II, the most notable of which was Operation Mincemeat.



She was afterwards assigned to the 8th Submarine Flotilla in the Mediterranean on 25 August; she found herself selected to carry out special operations duties. Of the missions she carried out, three stand out among the rest.

Design and description


Schematic drawing of a S-class submarine

The S-class submarines were designed to patrol the restricted waters of the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. The third batch was slightly enlarged and improved over the preceding second batch of the S-class. The submarines had a length of 217 feet (66.1 m) overall, a beam of 23 feet 9 inches (7.2 m) and a draught of 14 feet 8 inches (4.5 m). They displaced 865 long tons (879 t) on the surface and 990 long tons (1,010 t) submerged. The S-class submarines had a crew of 48 officers and ratings. They had a diving depth of 300 feet (91.4 m).

For surface running, the boats were powered by two 950-brake-horsepower (708 kW) diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a 650-horsepower (485 kW) electric motor. They could reach 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) on the surface and 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) underwater. On the surface, the third batch boats had a range of 6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) and 120 nmi (220 km; 140 mi) at 3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph) submerged.

The boats were armed with seven 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes. A half-dozen of these were in the bow and there was one external tube in the stern. They carried six reload torpedoes for the bow tubes for a grand total of thirteen torpedoes. Twelve mines could be carried in lieu of the internally stowed torpedoes. They were also armed with a 3-inch (76 mm) deck gun. It is uncertain if Seraph was completed with a 20-millimetre (0.8 in) Oerlikon light AA gun or had one added later. The third-batch S-class boats were fitted with either a Type 129AR or 138 ASDIC system and a Type 291 or 291W early-warning radar.

Operation Flagpole
Seraph first saw action in support of Operation Torch, the Allied landings in North Africa; her first combat mission, under the command of Lieutenant Norman "Bill" Jewell, was carrying out a periscope reconnaissance of the Algerian coast during the last two weeks of September 1942.

Upon her return to Gibraltar, Seraph was assigned to Operation Flagpole, the carrying of General Dwight Eisenhower's deputy, Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark, to North Africa for secret negotiations with Vichy French officers. Loaded with collapsible canoes, submachine guns, walkie-talkies, and other supplies, the submarine carried Clark, two other United States Army generals, United States Navy Captain Jerauld Wright, several other officers, and three British Commandos.

Seraph then sailed to the Algerian coast on 19 October 1942. On the night of 20 October her passengers disembarked ashore. The operation was very important as it helped to reduce French opposition to the Torch landings (although the French were not informed that the troop ships were already on their way and the landings were due in just a few days).

General Clark and his party were then picked up on 25 October by the submarine after some inadvertent delays. After an uneventful return journey, Seraph landed her party in Gibraltar on 25 October.

Operation Kingpin: "the ship with two captains"
On 27 October, Lt Commander David Jewell was ordered to set sail again to the coast of southern France for a secret rendezvous. Seraph was ordered to patrol up and down the coast until she received a signal giving her the name of the port from which she was to pick up her passengers. On the night of 5 November she finally arrived at a location some 20 miles (32 km) east of Toulon, as arranged to secretly take aboard French General Henri Giraud, his son, and three staff officers for a meeting with Eisenhower in Gibraltar, with the intention to enlist the support of the pro-Vichy forces at Oran and Casablanca to the Allied cause.

In picking up the general's party, a bit of legerdemain was needed: because Giraud flatly refused to deal with the British, and there was no US boat within 3,000 miles (4,800 km), HMS Seraph briefly became the "USS Seraph", flying the US Navy ensign. Nominally the sub came under the command of Captain Jerauld Wright, who was earlier involved in the Flagpole operation, although Jewell took care of actual operations. In the spirit of things the British crew affected American accents that they imitated from the movies. However, it fooled nobody — including Giraud, who had been told of the deception by Wright.

After the pick-up, on 7 November Seraph transferred her charges to a PBY Catalina flying boat that was sent from Gibraltar to search for her after they lost contact with the sub due to a problem with her main radio.

On 24 November, Seraph sailed on her first war patrol in the Mediterranean. She was soon called upon to join other submarines in carrying U.S. and British Commandos for reconnaissance operations in the area. On 2 December 1942 she torpedoed and damaged the Italian merchant ship Puccini. Later that month, on 23 December she rammed and damaged a U-boat, sustaining sufficient damage herself to necessitate repairs and refit back in Britain.

In 1944 Lt Commander Trevor Russell-Walling was in command.


The officers of HMS Seraph, the submarine selected for the operation, on board in December 1943

Operation Mincemeat
Main article: Operation Mincemeat
Seraph returned to Blyth, northern England, for a much needed overhaul and leave on 28 January 1943. A few weeks later, Jewell was briefed at the Admiralty on Operation Mincemeat, to be carried out during Seraph's return to the Mediterranean. This mission was part of Operation Barclay, a plan to convince the Germans that the Allies intended to land in Greece and Sardinia, and not Sicily.

She set sail again on 19 April, carrying a special passenger. This was a corpse in a metal canister, packed in dry ice, and dressed in a Royal Marines uniform. Attached to the corpse was a briefcase containing faked "secret documents" designed to mislead the Axis.

In the early hours of 30 April Seraph surfaced off the coast of Spain, near the port of Huelva. Jewell and his officers launched the body and briefcase in the water, disposing of the canister in deeper waters. Jewell then radioed the signal "MINCEMEAT completed" while the submarine continued to Gibraltar. The body was picked up by the Spanish, who decided it was a courier killed in an aircraft accident. The false documents were passed to the Germans and led them to divert forces from the defence of Sicily.


The corpse of Glyndwr Michael, dressed as Martin, just prior to placement in the canister

Other missions
By late April 1943 Seraph was back in the Mediterranean operating east of Sardinia and on 27 April she fired a salvo of three torpedoes at a merchant ship off the Strait of Bonifacio but was not successful. Again on the last two days of that month she made similar attacks but none of these was successful, and Seraph ended up being depth-charged each time. She was not damaged during these engagements, with no lives lost.

In July, during the Allied invasion of Sicily, she acted as a guide ship for the invasion force.

For the remainder of 1943 the Seraph operated against German and Italian forces in the Mediterranean theater and attacked several convoys, but her performance in that area was lacklustre, sinking only a few small ships.


The head of HMS Seraph's search (navigation) periscope

In December 1943, she sailed to Chatham for a much needed refit, after which she operated in the eastern Atlantic and Norwegian Sea, until she carried out her final patrol in the English Channel, serving as a guide ship to the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, before her conversion as a training boat for anti-submarine warfare operations.

The Admiralty had received intelligence in early 1944 about new U-boats which were reported to be able to achieve a top speed of around 16 knots (30 km/h) underwater, compared to the 9 knots (17 km/h) of the fastest existing U-boats. As these new XXI-class U-boats were considered to pose a major threat, Seraph was modified at Devonport as a matter of urgency to have a high underwater speed so that trials and exercises could be carried out against a submarine having a similar underwater speed; for example in developing new tactics.

The submarine was streamlined by careful attention to the attachments on the outside of the hull, the size of the bridge reduced, the gun was removed along with one of the periscopes and the radar mast, and torpedo tubes blanked over. The motors were upgraded and higher-capacity batteries fitted along with replacement of the propellors with the coarser pitched type used on the larger T class submarines.[6]

After the war
Seraph remained in active service after the war. In 1955 she was fitted with armour plating and used as a torpedo target boat. She was attached to a squadron commanded by her first skipper, now Captain David Jewell. Also during this time, Seraph appeared as herself in the British film The Man Who Never Was (1956), which details her exploits during Operation Mincemeat. Her identifying marks are visible in a number of scenes during the film.

She remained in commission until 25 October 1962, 21 years to the day after her launching.

When she arrived at Briton Ferry for scrapping on 20 December 1962, parts from her conning tower and a torpedo loading hatch were preserved as a memorial at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, where General Clark served as president from 1954–1965. This monument is the only shore installation in the United States where the Royal Navy ensign is authorised to be permanently flown by the British Admiralty. It flies alongside the US flag to commemorate Anglo-American cooperation during World War II.

Operation Mincemeat WWII deception prior to invading Italy by Ian Fleming

The Man Who Never Was (1956) - Trailer

Operation Mincemeat - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

HMS Seraph (P219) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 30 April


1659 - Small running battle between Dutch and Danes against Swedes


1697 - Medway Prize 50 (1697) – ex-French privateer, captured 30 April 1697 and then purchased for the Navy 20 August 1697, hulk 1699, scuttled as a foundation 1712.


1724 – Launch of HMS Sunderland , a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built to the 1719 Establishment at Chatham Dockyard,

HMS Sunderland was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built to the 1719 Establishment at Chatham Dockyard, and launched on 30 April 1724.
On 25 December 1742 Sunderland was ordered to be taken to pieces for rebuilding as a 58-gun fourth rate to the 1741 proposals of the 1719 Establishment at Portsmouth Dockyard, from where she was relaunched on 4 April 1744.
Sunderland sailed from Portsmouth on 6 May 1758, bound for Madras. She sailed in convoy with the 74-gun HMS Grafton and the East Indiaman Pitt.
On 1 January 1761, Sunderland was caught in a cyclone off Pondicherry, India, and foundered. She had been anchored and attempted to go out to sea, but was unable to and so reanchored. The storm overwhelmed her and she foundered six miles north of the anchorage; 376 of her crew died and 17 survived. The same storm claimed four other warships as well. HMS Duc D'Aquitaine foundered in much the same manner as Sunderland, and with a similar outcome. HMS Newcastle, HMS Queenborough, and HMS Protector were all driven onshore and wrecked.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Sunderland_(1724)


1765 – Launch of Spanish San Carlos 80 (launched 30 April 1765) - Converted to 112-gun 3-decker in 1801, BU 1819

San Carlos class. Built (all at Havana) as 80-gun (Third Rate) ships, with a length of 197 Burgos feet (180 British feet), these ships were later reconstructed as 94-gun Second Rates, and in the case of the San Carlos, as a First Rate (three-decker) of 112 guns.
San Carlos 80 (launched 30 April 1765) - Converted to 112-gun 3-decker in 1801, BU 1819
San Fernando 80 (launched 29 July 1765) - Stricken 8 October 1813 and sold 1815
San Luis 80 (launched 30 September 1767) - Stricken 4 August 1789 and BU


1767 – Launch of Spanish Santa Isabel 70 (launched 30 April 1767 at Cartagena) - BU 1803

Velasco class all ordered 1762-64 at Cartagena, 68/70 guns
Velasco 68 (launched 18 August 1764 at Cartagena) - stricken 4 September 1796
San Genaro 68 (launched 23 December 1765 at Cartagena) - transferred to France on 24 July 1801, renamed Ulysse, later renamed Tourville, stricken 1822
Santa Isabel 70 (launched 30 April 1767 at Cartagena) - BU 1803


1796 HMS Agamemnon (64), Cptn. Horatio Nelson, and squadron captured six vessels at Oneglia.

HMS Agamemnon was a 64-gun third-rate ship of the line of the British Royal Navy. She saw service in the Anglo-French War, French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and fought in many of the major naval battles of those conflicts. She is remembered as being Nelson's favourite ship, and was named after the mythical ancient Greek king Agamemnon, being the first ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth for Raisonnable (1768), and later for Agamemnon (1781) and Belliqueux (1780), all 64-gun Third Rate, two-deckers. Signed by Thomas Slade [Surveyor of the Navy, 1755-1771], and John Williams [Surveyor of the Navy, 1765-1784]

HMS Agamemnon (1781) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-289643;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=A


1797 HMS Indefatigable (44), Sir Edward Pellew, & others captured French privateer brig La Basque (8) in the Channel

HMS Indefatigable was one of the Ardent class 64-gun third-rate ships-of-the-line designed by Sir Thomas Slade in 1761 for the Royal Navy. She was built as a ship-of-the-line, but most of her active service took place after her conversion to a 44-gun razee frigate. She had a long career under several distinguished commanders, serving throughout the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. She took some 27 prizes, alone or in company, and the Admiralty authorised the issue of four clasps to the Naval General Service Medal in 1847 to any surviving members of her crews from the respective actions. She was broken up in 1816.




Fight of the Indefatigable (left) and Droits de l'Homme, as depicted by Léopold le Guen (1853)

HMS Indefatigable (1784) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-320570;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=I


1798 - Congress establishes the Department of the Navy as a separate cabinet department. Previously, naval matters were under the cognizance of the War Department. Benjamin Stoddert is named as the first Secretary of the Navy.
.

1822 - USS Alligator, commanded by Lt. W.W. McKean, captures the Colombian pirate schooner Ciehqua near the Windward Islands.

The third USS Alligator was a schooner in the United States Navy.
Alligator was laid down on 26 June 1820 by the Boston Navy Yard; launched on 2 November 1820; and commissioned in March 1821 — probably on the 26th — with Lieutenant Robert F. Stockton in command. On 6 June 1996, the site of its wreck was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

USS Alligator (1820) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1843 April 30 - Texans under Commodore Edwin Ward Moore draws with Mexicans under Thomas Marin near Campeche

Texans under Moore destroy Mexican fleet. This marks the only time in history a Sail Navy defeated a Steam Navy in battle.

Edwin Ward Moore (July 15, 1810 – October 5, 1865), was an American naval officer who also served as Commander-in-chief of the Navy of the Republic of Texas.



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


1851 -Launch of HMS Valorous was a 16-gun, steam-powered paddle frigate of the Royal Navy built at Pembroke Dockyard and launched on 30 April 1851.

HMS Valorous (1851) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1904 – Launch of HMS Devonshire was the lead ship of her class of six armoured cruiser built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century.

HMS Devonshire was the lead ship of her class of six armoured cruiser built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. She was assigned to the 1st Cruiser Squadron of the Channel Fleet upon completion in 1905 and was transferred to the 2nd Cruiser Squadron of the Atlantic Fleet in 1907. She was assigned to the reserve Third Fleet in 1909 and then to the 3rd Cruiser Squadron of the reserve Second Fleet in 1913.



Upon mobilisation in mid-1914 her squadron was assigned to the Grand Fleet; Devonshire did not see combat before she was transferred to the Nore in 1916. At the end of that year she was assigned to the North America and West Indies Station and spent the rest of the war escorting convoys. She was sold for scrap in 1921.


Box of folded ships plans pertaining to Devonshire class First Class Armoured Cruisers. Name sequence: Argyll (1904) - Roxburgh (1904)

HMS Devonshire (1904) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/368104.html


1941 - Lampo – On 16 April 1941 the Italian destroyer Lampo was disabled and grounded during the Battle of the Tarigo Convoy. 141 of her 205 crew were killed. The ship was later refloated and repaired, only to be sunk by aircraft on 30 April 1943.


1943 - Leone Pancaldo – An Italian destroyer sunk by Allied air strikes on 30 April 1943, while carrying German troops to Tunis. 124 of her 280 crew and 75 of the 247 German troops aboard were killed.


1945 - USS Thomas (DE 102), USS Bostwick (DE 103), USS Coffman (DE 191) and frigate Natchez (PF 2) sink German submarine U 548 off the Virginia Capes.


1945 - Navy patrol bombers PB4Y (VPB 103) and a PBY-5A Catalina aircraft flown by Lt. Fredrick G. Lake from VP 63 sink two German submarines off the coast of Brest, France.


2012 – An overloaded ferry capsizes on the Brahmaputra River in India killing at least 103 people.

On 30 April 2012, a ferry carrying about 350 passengers capsized in the Brahmaputra River in the Dhubri district of Assam in Northeast India.[3] The disaster killed at least 103 people.

Incident
According to officials, the incident occurred when a packed steamer carrying over 300 passengers was caught in a storm and subsequently capsized. The incident occurred near the Fakiragram village in the Dhubri district, about 350 km (220 mi) west of Guwahati. The Superintendent of Police, Pradip Saloi, told The Hindu: "The ferry, originating from Dhubri and going towards Hatsingimari, capsized near Fakirganj. We are not sure about the actual number of passengers. We have been told that there were 250–300 passengers. However, there were reports of many swimming to safety." Reuters reported that a police officer had said that the ferry had neither lifeboats nor life jackets and was overloaded with people and goods. Most of the passengers were farmers and farm families from the local area.

A survivor said passengers had begged the skipper to beach the ferry on a sandbar when the storm hit midstream, but he refused. "Then the storm became more intense and the boat split into two parts before sinking," Ali was quoted as saying by Channel 4 .

Death toll
According to India's National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the bodies of 103 victims were recovered by the NDRF personnel and the Border Security Forcenear Jaleswar. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said that the death toll was likely to rise. The dead bodies have been kept at the Dhubri Civil Hospital.

Assam ferry sinking - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
1 May 1730 – Birth of Joshua Rowley, English admiral (d. 1790)


Vice-Admiral Sir Joshua Rowley, 1st Baronet (1734–1790) was the fourth son of Admiral Sir William Rowley. Sir Joshua was from an ancient English family, originating in Staffordshire (England) and was born on 1 May 1734 in Dublin Rowley served with distinction in a number of battles throughout his career and was highly praised by his contemporaries. Unfortunately whilst his career was often active he did not have the opportunity to command any significant engagements and always followed rather than led. His achievements have therefore been eclipsed by his contemporaries such as Keppel, Hawke, Howe and Rodney. Rowley however remains one of the stalwart commanders of the wooden walls that kept Britain safe for so long.






The Battle of Quiberon Bay, Nicholas Pocock, 1812. National Maritime Museum


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

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
1 May 1735 – Birth of Jan Hendrik van Kinsbergen, Dutch admiral and philanthropist (d. 1819)


Jan Hendrik van Kinsbergen (1 May 1735 – 24 May 1819), or Count of Doggersbank, was a Dutch naval officer. Having had a good scientific education, Van Kinsbergen was a proponent of fleet modernization and wrote many books about naval organization, discipline and tactics.



In 1773, he twice defeated an Ottoman fleet while in Russian service. Returning to the Dutch Republic in 1775, he became a Dutch naval hero in 1781, fighting the Royal Navy, and gradually attained the position of commander-in-chief as a lieutenant-admiral. When France conquered the Republic in 1795 he was fired by the new revolutionary regime and prevented from becoming Danish commander-in-chief, but the Kingdom of Holland reinstated him in 1806, in the rank of fleet marshal, and made him a count. He was again degraded by the French Empire in 1810; after the liberation the United Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1814 honoured him with his old rank of lieutenant-admiral.

Van Kinsbergen, in his later life a very wealthy man, was also noted for his philanthropy, supporting poor relief, naval education, the arts and the sciences.



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

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
1 May 1751 – Launch of HMS Dolphin, a 24-gun sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy.


HMS Dolphin was a 24-gun sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. Launched in 1751, she was used as a survey ship from 1764 and made two circumnavigations of the world under the successive commands of John Byron and Samuel Wallis. She was the first ship to circumnavigate the world twice. She remained in service until she was paid off in September 1776, and she was broken up in early 1777.


HMS Dolphin at Tahiti 1767



Construction
Built to the 1745 Establishment, Dolphin was originally ordered from the private yard of Earlsman Sparrow in Rotherhithe (under contract dated 7 October 1747). Following Sparrow's bankruptcy in 1748, the order was moved to Woolwich Dockyard. In order to reduce the likely incidence of shipworm, Dolphin's hull was copper-sheathed ahead of her first voyage of circumnavigation in 1764.

Early service
Not long after her commissioning, the hostilities of the Seven Years' War had escalated and spread to Europe, and in May 1756 Britain declared war on France of the Ancien Régime. Dolphin was pressed into service throughout the conflict, and was present at the Battle of Minorca in 1756 when a fleet under Admiral John Byng failed to relieve Port Mahon, Britain's main base in the Western Mediterranean (as a result of which Byng was later court-martialled and shot).

First circumnavigation
With Britain's successful conclusion of the Seven Years' War in 1763, her attentions turned towards consolidating her gains and continuing to expand her trade and influence at the expense of the other competing European powers. The Pacific Ocean was beginning to be opened up by exploratory European vessels, and interest had developed in this route as an alternate to reach the East Indies. This interest was compounded by theories put forward which suggested that a large, hitherto-unknown continental landmass (Terra Australis Incognita) must exist at southern latitudes to "counterbalance" the northern hemisphere's landmasses.

No longer in a state of war, the Admiralty had more funds, ships and men at her disposal to devote to exploratory ventures. Accordingly, an expedition was soon formed with instructions to investigate and establish a South Atlantic base from which Britain could keep an eye on voyages bound for the Pacific. Another purpose was to generally explore for unknown lands which could then be claimed and exploited by the Crown, and to reach the Far East if necessary. The Dolphin was selected as lead vessel for this voyage, and she was to be accompanied by the sloop HMS Tamar.

Her captain was Commodore John Byron, a 42-year-old veteran of the sea, and younger brother to the profligate William Byron, 5th Baron Byron. Between June 1764 and May 1766 HMS Dolphin completed the circumnavigation of the globe. This was the first such circumnavigation of less than 2 years. During this voyage, in 1765, Byron took possession of the Falkland Islands on behalf of Britain on the grounds of prior discovery, and in so doing was nearly the cause of a war between Great Britain and Spain, both countries having armed fleets ready to contest the sovereignty of the barren islands. Later Byron visited islands of Tuamotus, Tokelau and Nikunau in the Gilbert Islands, putting them on European maps for the first time (in European circles, Nikunau went by the name "Byron Island" for over 100 years); and visited Tinian in the Northern Marianas Islands.

Second circumnavigation

Memorial to Samuel Wallis and the crew in Truro Cathedral

Dolphin circumnavigated the world for a second time, under the command of Samuel Wallis. Her master's mate, John Gore, was among a number of the crew from Byron's circumnavigation who crewed with Wallis. The master on this voyage, George Robertson, subsequently wrote a book The discovery of Tahiti; a journal of the second voyage of H.M.S. Dolphin round the world under the command of Captain Wallis, R.N., in the years 1766, 1767, and 1768, written by her master. Dolphin sailed in 1766 in the company of HMS Swallow, under the command of Philip Carteret, who had served on Byron's circumnavigation.

Dolphin dropped anchor at the peninsula of Tahiti Iti ("small Tahiti", aka Taiarapu) on 17 June 1767 but quickly left to find a better anchorage. Wallis chose Matavai Bayon 23 June. Although the Spanish had visited the Marquesas Islands in 1595, some 170 years earlier, Wallis officially took possession of Otaheiti, which he named "King George III Island". (About a year later, French navigator Louis-Antoine de Bougainville landed at Hitiaa on the opposite side of Tahiti and unaware of Wallis's earlier visit, claimed it for the King of France.)

Early on a large canoe approached Dolphin and at a signal its occupants launched a storm of stones at the British, who replied with grapeshot. Dolphin's gunnery cut the canoe in two, killing most of its occupants. Wallis then sent his carpenters ashore to cut the eighty-some canoes there in half. Eventually, friendly relations were established between the British sailors and the locals. The relationships became particularly friendly when the sailors discovered that the women were eager to exchange sex for iron. This trade became so extensive that the loss of nails started to threaten Dolphin's physical integrity.


Scale 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with inboard detail and longitudinal half breadth for Dolphin (1751), a 1745 Est 24-gun ship, as approved by the Flag Officers in 1745. Later amendments may relate to the refit in 1770 for the circumnavigation of the globe


Scale 1:96. Plan showing the Awning (poop deck), quater deck, forecastle, upper deck, lower deck and fore and aft platforms for Dolphin (1751), a 1745 Establishment 24-gun ship, repairing and fitted at Deptford Dockyard for Captain Byron and Captain Wallis/Wallace's voyage to 'the South Seas'


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Dolphin_(1751)
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-307626;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=D

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
1 May 1781 - Action of 1 May 1781
HMS Canada captures the Spanish frigate Santa Leocadia


The Action of 1 May 1781 was a minor naval engagement nearly 210 miles off the Port of Brest in which HMS Canada, a 74-gun third rate of the Royal Navy under Captain George Collier chased, intercepted and captured the 40-gun Spanish frigate Santa Leocadia, captained by Don Francisco de Wenthuisen.



Battle
On 30 April, the 74-gun ship HMS Canada, Captain Sir George Collier, having been detached by Vice-Admiral George Darby, commander-in-chief of the Channel Fleet, to watch the port of Brest, discovered a squadron of small ships. The squadron dispersed on her approach, upon which Canada chased the largest, the Santa Leocadia. After a pursuit of 210 miles (340 km), the Canada overtook the Santa Leocadia on the morning of 1 May.

After a running fight, which lasted up to an hour and a half, and in heavy seas which prevented the Canada from opening her lower deck ports, the frigate surrendered. She had suffered heavy casualties, with 80 men killed and 106 wounded (nearly half her complement), including her captain, Don Francisco de Wenthuisen, who lost an arm. The Canada had one of the trunnions of a lower deck gun shot off and suffered ten casualties.

What was remarkable about Santa Leocadia is that she was noted before the battle as being a remarkably fast-sailing ship. The discovery that she was coppered when she was captured came in some ways as a surprise. It was now known to the British Admiralty that other navies had decided to copper their ships as well as the Royal Navy. The Santa Leocadia was the first in the Spanish service that was coppered, and she was added to the British navy under the same name.


HMS Canada was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 17 September 1765 at Woolwich Dockyard.



On 2 May 1781, Canada engaged and captured the Spanish ship Santa Leocadia, of 34 guns.
In 1782, Canada was under the command of William Cornwallis, when she took part in the Battle of St. Kitts. Later that year she participated in the Battle of the Saintes.
She took part in the Action of 6 November 1794 under Charles Powell Hamilton and managed to avoid capture.


HMS Captain, pictured, was from the same Canadaclass as HMS Canada


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with sternboard outline, sheer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth for building 'Canada' (1765), a 74-gun Third Rate, two-decker, at Woolwich Dockyard. Signed by William Bately [Surveyor of the Navy, 1755-1765]

Napoleonic Wars
In 1807, Canada was in the Caribbean in a squadron under the command of Rear-Admiral Alexander Cochrane. The squadron, which included HMS Prince George, HMS Northumberland, HMS Ramillies and HMS Cerberus, captured Telemaco, Carvalho and Master on 17 April 1807.

Following the concern in Britain that neutral Denmark was entering an alliance with Napoleon, in December 1807 Canada sailed in Cochrane's squadron in the expedition to occupy the Danish West Indies. The expedition captured the Danish islands of St Thomas on 22 December and Santa Cruz on 25 December. The Danes did not resist and the invasion was bloodless.

Fate
Canada became a prison ship from 1810, and was broken up in 1834.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with stern board decoration for Canada (1765), a 74-gun Third Rate, two-decker



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_1_May_1781
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Canada_(1765)
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-299803;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=C

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
1 May 1795 - HMS Boyne (98), bearing the flag of Vice-Admiral Peyton, Cptn. George Grey, caught fire at Spithead burned and exploded.


HMS Boyne was a 98-gun Royal Navy second-rate ship of the line launched on 27 June 1790 at Woolwich. She was the flagship of Vice Admiral John Jervis in 1794.


В ночь с 30 апреля на 1 мая 1795 года в Спитхеде на борту HMS Boyne возник пожар. Его не удалось потушить и корабль взорвался.



Invasion of Guadeloupe
In 1793, Boyne set sail on 24 November for the West Indies, carrying Lieutenant-general Sir Charles Grey and Vice-admiral Sir John Jervis for an invasion of Guadeloupe. On the way, Yellow fever ravaged the crew. Still, the British managed to get the French to surrender at Fort St. Charles in Guadeloupe on 21 April of the following year. The capture of Fort St. Charles, the batteries, and the town of Basse-Terre cost the British army two men killed, four wounded, and five missing; the navy had no casualties.

Fate
Boyne caught fire and blew up on 1 May 1795 at Spithead. She was lying at anchor while the Royal Marines of the vessel were practicing firing exercises. It is supposed that the funnel of the wardroom stove, which passed through the decks, set fire to papers in the Admiral's cabin. The fire was only discovered when flames burst through the poop, by which time it was too late to do anything. The fire spread rapidly and she was aflame from one end to the other within half an hour.

As soon as the fleet noticed the fire, other vessels sent boats to render assistance. As a result, the death toll on Boyne was only eleven men. At the same time, the signal was made for the vessels most at danger from the fire to get under way. Although the tide and wind were not favourable, all the vessels in any danger were able to escape to St Helens.

Because the guns were always left loaded, the cannons began to 'cook off', firing shots at potential rescuers making their way to the ship, resulting in the deaths of two seamen and the injury of another aboard Queen Charlotte, anchored nearby. Later in the day, the fire burnt the cables and Boyne drifted eastward till she grounded on the east end of the Spit, opposite Southsea Castle. There she blew up soon after.

Post-script
The wreck presented something of a hazard to a navigation and as a result it was blown up on 30 August 1838 in a clearance attempt. Today the Boyne buoy marks the site of the explosion. A few metal artifacts from the ship remain atop a mound of shingle.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth for 'Boyne' (1790), and later for 'Prince of Wales' (1794), both 98-gun Second Rate, three-deckers. Signed by Edward Hunt [Surveyor of the Navy, 1778-1784]



HMS Prince of Wales

The Boyne-class ships of the line were a class of two 98-gun second rates, ordered in 1783 and designed for the Royal Navy by Sir Edward Hunt.



Ships

• HMS Boyne

Builder: Woolwich Dockyard
Ordered: 21 January 1783
Laid down: 4 November 1783
Launched: 27 June 1790
Completed: 21 November 1790
Fate: Burnt, 1 May 1795

• HMS Prince of Wales

Builder: Portsmouth Dockyard
Ordered: 29 November 1783
Laid down: May 1784
Launched: 28 June 1794
Completed: 27 December 1794
Fate: Broken up, December 1822

Image of the Boyne engulfed in flames, as the crew jump into the sea, some of them being helped onto boats or hanging onto floating ship fragments.The Boyne was in action in the West Indies in 1894 and after her return was accidently set on fire Hand-coloured. Poem in English below image (see Inscriptions)

Scale: 1:96. Plan showing sections through the roof, the profile above the waterline illustrating the roof frames, and the longitudinal half-breadth of the roof outline for Prince of Wales (1794), a 98-gun Second Rate, three-decker while building at Portsmouth Dockyard. The roof was to cover the ship from the weather and was so fitted to be moved when the ship was docked or being repaired


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the profile of the starboard bow and beakhead for Prince of Wales (1794), a 98-gun Second Rate, three-decker building at Portsmouth Dockyard

HMS Boyne (1790) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boyne-class_ship_of_the_line_(1790)
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-297418;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=B
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-340576;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=P

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
1 May 1804 – Launch of HMS Royal Sovereign, the Royal Yacht of British King George III.


HMS Royal Sovereign was the Royal Yacht of British King George III.



From 31 August 1812 to 2 April 1814, she was under the command of William Hotham.


The embarkation of his most Gracious Majesty George the Fourth at Greenwich, August 10th, 1822 for Scotland


This is a model of HMS Royal Sovereign that was launched in 1804 under the reign of King George III. The model was built ca. 1804 and is made of boxwood and fruitwood. The deck comes off and the interior is very lavish with carpet, fabric wall coverings, paintings, embellished furniture and little figurines in period dress. The model is currently in the collection at The Mariners' Museum.


The yacht Royal Sovereign with the Duchess of Clarence on board, leaving Portsmouth to view the visiting Russian squadron anchored in Spithead, 8 August 1827
This painting was formerly (to July 2014) titled 'HMY "Royal Sovereign" and the experimental squadron leaving to inspect the Russian squadron'. However, it is either the original for, or more probably an oil replication of, a plate (see PAD8010) in Moses' series entitled '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'. In that set it is simply captioned 'The Yacht ['Royal Sovereign'] sailing from Portsmouth with Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Clarence on board to view the Russian Squadron, Augt. 8th 1827'. The print itself is dated 1830 and the series bears dates up to 1837, although the subjects are all during the Duke's visit to Portsmouth in late July and early August 1827: it was also only apparently published as a set later, since its engraved title plate is dated 1840. One of the other plates shows HMS 'Columbine' of the Experimental Squadron returning to Portsmouth, but it is the only example which expressly mentions this. The Duke visited a number of ships at Portsmouth (as shown in other plates) apart from the Russian Squadron, which arrived while he was there, and the present image relates solely to that aspect of the occasion. The yacht is heading out of Portsmouth Harbour with the Royal Standard at the main, signifying the presence of the Duchess on board.The painting was acquired in 1940 with BHC3611, which shows another episode also replicated in the Moses prints, though they are not strictly a pair since this one is slightly shorter, but of the same width. Henry Moses (1782 - 1870) was born in London and died in Cowley, Middlesex. He was a fine engraver of paintings and images of Classical antiquities, especially but not solely from a long connection with the British Museum, in which line his most important work was a 'Selection of Ornamental Sculptures' from the Louvre. How he became interested in marine work is unknown, but in that area he did views at Ramsgate (1817), 'Sketches of Shipping' (1824), the views of Clarence's visit to Portsmouth (as above), and six of the 'Columbine' and the Experimental Squadron (1830). The sheer difference of these from his other engraved work, suggests they may have been a more personal (albeit also commercial) interest. This painting and its pair (BHC3611) are the only two attributed to Moses in British public collections and very few others have ever been seen at auction, especially anything signed. This scarcity poses the question as to whether he really was an oil painter: these two, which replicate two of his prints, might be copies by another hand (and a skilled one, though who remains to be clarified) and others might be similarly misattributed


A royal yacht is shown in starboard-broadside view, hove-to off a harbour believed to be Weymouth, with King George III and members of his family on board. It is flying the Royal Standard and the Union flag together with the fouled anchor, thus signifying the presence of the sovereign on board. It also flies the red ensign from the stern. There are several men-of-war to the left, and other shipping can be seen in the bay beyond. In the foreground the artist has shown the edge of a harbour, with several groups of people either waving to the departing yacht or occupied with various tasks. An anchor lies on the jetty. In the distance on the left, the chalk cliffs of Dorset are clearly recognizable. It is not clear which royal visit the painting marks but Weymouth was a favourite watering place for George III. He first visited Weymouth in July 1789 hoping that sea bathing would improve his health. He visited again in July 1801, and his last visit was believed to be in 1805. The King can be seen on board the yacht raising his hat towards Weymouth, and other members of his family have also been shown standing on the deck. If the painting records the 1801 visit, the yacht is probably the 'Royal Charlotte' rather than the 'Royal Sovereign'. A related watercolour in private hands appears to show a similar scene in September 1804, but with the Aeolus where Serres here has the royal yacht. John Thomas was the son of Dominic Serres, and although he began his career as a landscape painter, he followed the pattern of that of his father and had a similar though distinctive style. He travelled to Paris, Rome and Naples before succeeding his father as Marine Painter to George III in 1793. After becoming Marine Draughtsman to the Admiralty in 1800, he made drawings and elevations of the west coasts of France and Spain in the Mediteranean, publishing many (and British coastal views) in his book 'The Little Sea Torch' (1801). In 1805, he also published 'Liber Nauticus', a treatise on marine draughtsmanship containing engravings of his father's drawings. At the end of his life he was imprisoned for debt caused by the extravagance of his life, the self-styled Prince of Cumberland', where he created a set of large watercolours recording the event. This painting may have been a commission from the King and is signed and dated 1809


This painting by an unknown artist is an illustration of George IV's visit to Greenwich. The royal yacht can be seen in the centre with another sailing ship to the left, surrounded by smaller rowing boats carrying passengers. The image has also been described as a visit of George III, on 30th October 1797, and William IV, in August 1830. The picture’s stylistic rendering exemplifies the lasting influence Dutch 17th-century painting had on British maritime art until the early 19th century


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Royal_Sovereign_(1804)
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[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
1 May 1806 - The French brig Pandour, a brig of the French Navy launched in 1804, that the Royal Navy 32-gun HMS Druid captured


The French brig Pandour was a Curieux-class brig of the French Navy launched in 1804 that the Royal Navy captured in 1806. In 1807 she became a whaler in the South Seas Fisheries, but was lost in late 1809.






French career and capture
Capitaine de frégate Chaumont-Quitry was appointed on 15 July to command Pandour while she was still under construction at Nantes. Capitaine de frégate Hulot-Gury was appointed on 19 December to replace him. However, shortly after her commissioning, Pandour sailed from Mindin to Lorient. On 23 December Pandour had to leave Mindin roads to escape a wind breaking her cables and driving her ashore. The only people on board at the time were her captain, another officer, and 19 of her crew; the rest were on shore gathering supplies as her fitting out was not yet complete. Pandour sailed to Lorient where the rest of her crew joined her after having come from Paimbœuf by road with some of the supplies that they had gathered. Hulot-Gury took command on 2 January 1805. On 30 January though, Pandour was stripped of most of her crew to provide fill out the crew of Palinure. To replace her losses, the government sent some soldiers and police to Nantes where there were 80 recruits incarcerated in prisons, officially designated caserns. The guards were to escort the recruits to Lorient and prevent any from deserting. Then on 31 January orders came that both Palinure and Pandour were to be prepared to carry duplicate dispatches to Martinique. To fill out the crews men were drafted from other naval vessels and sixteen 6-pounder guns were placed on each of the two brigs. The next day they both set sail.

Hulot-Gury remained Pandour's captain until 12 June. Then between 9 July and 14 August lieutenant de vaisseau auxiliaire Bourdé-Villeaubert was in command. Pandour was stationed at Lorient, but in the first half of 1805 sailed to Guadeloupe, returning first to Santander, and then Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, via Bayonne.

French records indicate that between 20 October 1805 and 24 May 1806, Pandour was under the command of capitaine de frégate Michel Philippe Malingre, and that she transported a prisoner from Guadeloupe to Ténériffe. On her outward voyage she captured a British merchant vessel that she took into Guadelope.

British records report that on 1 May HMS Druid, Captain Philip Broke, chased Pandour, bound for France from Senegal, 160 miles into Rear Admiral Charles Stirling's squadron where she was brought to; Druid had to share the prize money with Stirling's entire squadron and so earned relatively little for the long chase. Pandour was under the command of M. Malingre and had a crew of 114 men. She had been armed with eighteen 6-pounder guns, but her crew had thrown two of the guns overboard during the chase. Stirling instructed Broke to bring her into Plymouth, where they arrived on 9 May.

Whaler
The whaling company of Mather & Co. purchased Pandour, and initially her master was S. Chance. Lloyd's Register for 1807, in the supplemental pages, gives her owner as Jacobs & Co., and her master as Anderson. Her trade was registered as London-South Seas.

Captain Thomas Anderson received a letter of marque on 12 June 1807. Pandour then sailed to the South Seas Fisheries.

On 12 October 1808 Pandour and the brig Antelope, John LePelley, master, captured the Spanish ship Nueva Castor, Ramón Goycochea, master. Nueva Castor had left Valparaiso the day before. Goycochea did not resist, and showed his British captors documents attesting to the signing of an armistice between Spain and Britain. Anderson and LePelley ignored the documents and proceeded to loot Nueva Castor of her cargo. They also threw overboard those of her guns they could not transfer to their vessels. The British then allowed Goycochea and Nueva Castor to sail on to Callao.

In August 1809 Lloyd's List reported that Anderson, the supercargo, and 16 men on Pandour were killed when Pandour and Neptunus, of Greenock, Smith, master, were taken at Cape Horn. However, a few days later, Lloyd's List reported that Anderson and Pandourhad arrived at Rio de Janeiro on 10 August. The Register of Shipping for 1809 annotated her name with the word "captured".

Still, in February 1810, Lloyd's List reported that Pandour, Anderson, master, and Ferdinand VIII, from London, had been lost in the River Plate.




HMS Druid was a 32-gun Hermione-class fifth-rate frigate of the British Royal Navy, launched in 1783 at Bristol. She served in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, capturing numerous small prizes. One of her commanders, Captain Philip Broke, described Druid as a "point of honour ship", i.e., a ship too large to run but too small to fight. He and his biographer's view was that it was a disgrace to use a ship like her as a warship. She was broken up in 1813, after a thirty-year career.








Andromeda or Hermione class 32-gun fifth rates 1782-86; designed by Edward Hunt.

• HMS Andromeda 1784 - broken up 1811.
• HMS Hermione 1782 - seized by mutineers on 22 September 1797, given to the Spanish garrison at La Guaira, cut out of the harbour and retaken on 25 October 1799, renamed Retaliation shortly after, renamed Retribution in 1800, presented to Trinity House in 1803.
• HMS Druid 1783 - fitted as troopship from 1798 to 1805, broken up in 1813.
• HMS Penelope 1783 - broken up 1797.
• HMS Aquilon 1786 - broken up 1816.
• HMS Blanche 1786 - wrecked in the entrance to the Texel.

A scene involving the ex British frigate ‘Hermione’ which, two years earlier, was the scene of a terrible mutiny. This took place on the night of 22 Sept 1799 off Puerto Rico, when part of the crew rose and murdered their captain, Hugh Pigot - a rare example of a naval officer who was psychopathically brutal rather than just a disciplinarian. They then murdered two lieutenants, the purser, surgeon, captain’s clerk, a midshipman, a lieutenant of marines and the boatswain: a few warrant officers were spared including the master who was needed to navigate the ship and a master's mate or midshipman, the Irish Catholic, David Brian O'Casey, whom Pigot had also attempted to humiliate and then disrated and flogged when he resisted. (Casey was later commissioned and ended his days as one of the Lieutenants of Greenwich Hospital.) After this they surrendered the ship to the Spaniards at La Guayra, Venezuela. She was then commissioned into Spanish service and became the most sought after prize for the British in the West Indies. By October she was at Puerto Cabello in Venezuela when British Captain Edward Hamilton in the ‘Surprise’ found her. She was not an easy target because she was anchored under a battery of 200 guns. Hamilton did not achieve surprise either, because as he led his boats for the attack he was spotted by two Spanish gun-vessels. They gave the alarm so the crew of the ‘Hermione’ were ready for the British boats as they got along side her. Nevertheless she was boarded and after a desperate fight her cable was cut, her sails loosed, and in spite of the fire from the batteries she was carried out. Astonishingly this almost reckless initiative resulted in not one Briton killed, though twelve including the captain were wounded. Captain Hamilton was knighted for this fearless exploit and demonstration of intense patriotism. The ‘Hermione’ is shown on the left of the picture and under her bows are the four British boats. On deck and silhouetted against the smoke and flash of battle a number of figures are shown fighting. Sailors are loosing her fore topsail and jib. Two figures can be seen falling from her stern and there are others already in the water. The hulk of the ‘Hermione’ is silhouetted against the fire of the shore batteries of Puerto Cabello and the hills beyond are visible against the moonlit sky. In the right background is the ‘Surprise’. The painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1800 with the title ‘The capture of the ‘Hermione’ Spanish frigate of 44 guns, 392 men by Captain E. Hamilton of His Majesty’s ship ‘Surprise’ of 24 guns’

French brig Pandour (1804) - Wikipedia

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Druid_(1783)
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[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
1 May 1809 – Launch of French Astrée, a 44-gun Pallas-class frigate of the French Navy, at Cherbourg


Astrée was a 44-gun Pallas-class frigate of the French Navy, launched at Cherbourg in 1809. In December of the next year she captured HMS Africaine. The Royal Navy captured Astrée in 1810 and took her into service under her French name, rating her as a 38-gun frigate, but then in 1811 recommissioned her as HMS Pomone. She served during the War of 1812 and was broken up in 1816.





French service
Astrée took part in the campaign in the Indian Ocean under Commander René Lemarant de Kerdaniel, serving with Hamelin's squadron. She also was present in the final stages of the Battle of Grand Port.

A few days later, on 30 August, Astrée recaptured the 1-gun schooner-aviso Mouche No.23, which HMS Nereide had captured 2 June.

Astrée came to be part of a squadron under Pierre Bouvet, who had assumed command of the French squadron at Grand Port after Duperré was wounded, and had been promoted to capitaine de frégate. The squadron also comprised Iphigenia as a flagship, and the sloop Entreprenant.


Africaine.

Capture of HMS Africaine
Main article: Action of 13 September 1810
On 12 September 1810, Bouvet's squadron intercepted HMS Africaine (commanded by Commodore Corbett) off Saint-Denis, as the frigate Boadicea, the sloop Otter and the brig Staunch were sailing from the bay of Saint-Paul. Bouvet lured the British into pursuit.

At midnight Bouvet sent Astrée forwards, creating the impression that Iphigénie was to slow Africaine down to allow the rest of the squadron to flee. At 3 am, Astrée regained her place at the rear of the squadron. The weather, which had been rough, improved somewhat, and in the moonlight Astrée suddenly found herself at gun range of Africaine.

A gunnery duel followed immediately, which damaged Astrée's rigging. She closed in to Iphigénie with Africaine in close pursuit. Africaine, her guns still trained at Astrée, soon found herself under fire from Iphigénie. After half an hour of exchanging fire at point-black range, an exchange in which the French had the upper hand, the British attempted a boarding, which Iphigénie easily eluded. The boarding attempt gave Astrée an opportunity to rake Africaine's bow. At 4:30, Africaine struck her colours.

All officers of Africaine had been killed or wounded in the action, save for Colonel Barry, and only 69 men were uninjured. Bouvet was given Corbett's dagger, which he kept ever since. The French abandoned Africaine and the next day HMS Boadicea recaptured her.

On 3 December 1810, the Île de France fell to the British. The ships moored at the island were surrendered, including Iphigénie, Bellone and Astrée. The British took Astrée into service as a 38-gun fifth rate and renamed her HMS Pomone on 26 October 1811, the previous HMS Pomone having been wrecked earlier in the month.


Hortense, sister-ship of Astree

British service
Pomone underwent repairs at Portsmouth from November 1811 to April 1812. She was commissioned under Captain Robert Lambert in February 1812. At some point Captain Francis William Fane took command, and on 23 May 1812 sailed her for Newfoundland. On 4 August Pomone recaptured Kitty, which the American privateer Rossie had captured five days earlier. Pomone then sent Kitty into Newfoundland.

Captain Philip Cartaret took command of Pomone in December 1812.

On 26 May 1813, Pomone recaptured two Spanish vessels El Correv Diligente de Carraccas and Nostra Senora de los Desemperados. She apparently shared the salvage with Tuscan and some three other vessels.

Early on the morning of 21 October 1813, Pomone was in the Bay of Biscay repairing damage following a gale in which she had lost her fore-yard. By chance she fell in with a ship under jury masts that proved to be a French frigate.

Carteret was about to attack when another vessel, which also appeared to be a frigate, and a brig flying French colours, emerged from the haze, followed by three more indistinct vessels. To avoid hazarding Pomone, Carteret got well to windward of them. However, when the wind cleared in the afternoon it was discovered that they were all merchantmen except for the frigate under jury masts and the second frigate.

Carteret moved to attack the second frigate but she turned out to be a large Portuguese East Indiaman, which the French had taken and the British retaken. Carteret then sailed for four days in a fruitless search for the frigate under jury masts before he was able to find out that Andromache had captured her on 23 October. She was Trave, and the Royal Navy took her into service as the troop transport HMS Trave.

An anonymous letter from "The Pomone's Ship's Company" was passed to the admiral at Lisbon asserting with respect to Carteret that "he had run from a French frigate". Carteret asked for a court martial to clear his name. The court martial took place at Plymouth on Salvador del Mundo on 31 December. When no one could be found to offer testimony against him, Carteret summoned those he suspected, plus one quarter of the ship's company chosen by lot. After the board had examined the witnesses it acquitted Carteret of all blame.

After service in the North Sea and the waters around France, Pomone sailed to the east coast of the United States to serve during the War of 1812.

On 6 December 1813 as John and James, Crosby, master, was returning from Chili with 1000 barrels of oil, Pomone captured her and sent her into Bermuda. Around that time Pomone also captured several more American vessels, including the sloop Grampus, and the schooners Anne, Primrose, Sally, and Enterprise.

With Cydnus, Pomone captured the American privateer Bunker's Hill on 4 March 1814. Bunker's Hill carried 14 guns and had a crew of 86 men. Previously very successful, she had been cruising for eight days out of Morlaix without making a single capture. Bunker's Hill was the former Royal Navy cutter Linnet, which the French ship Gloire had taken about a year earlier on 25 February 1813 near Madeira.

On the night of 1-2 October 1814 Pomone and HMS Dispatch (or Despatch) used their boats to raid Drown Meadow (now Port Jefferson, New York). The boats arrived safely back at Pomone and Dispatch's anchorage around 2:30-3:00 AM on Sunday, 2 October. In the space of about three hours they had captured the American merchant sloops Two Friends, Hope, Herald, Mercantile, and Fair American, and set fire to the sloop Oneida, all without firing a shot. The captured sloops were later ransomed back to their owners with the proceeds being used to support the blockade.

Pomone was also part of the squadron that captured USS President on 15 January 1815. In April 1815 Carteret moved to Desiree and Captain John Lumley took over command.

Fate
In the summer of 1815 Pomone was paid off at Chatham. She was broken up at Deptford in June 1816

HMS Pomone (1811) - Wikipedia

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[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
1 May 1811 - HMS Pomone (38), HMS Unite (40) and HMS Scout (18) destroyed Giraffe (26) and Nourrise (14) and an armed merchantman in the Bay of Sagone, Corsica.
The two French warships blew up and their burning timbers destroyed a Martello tower and caused a shore battery to blow up.


HMS Pomone in 1811
On 18 January 1811, Pomone captured the French privateer brig Dubourdieu, out of Toulon with a crew of 93 men and an armament with fourteen 12-pounder guns.

At daybreak on 13 March, Pomone was about 7 leagues (34 km) west of the Maddalena Archipelago between Corsica and Sardinia, when she sighted a brig to the east. Barrie gave chase but the winds were weak and by the following morning saw that during the night the enemy vessel had pulled much farther away. He continued the chase until about midday when the vessel entered a small cove on the north side of Montecristo, which is about 30 miles (48 km) south of Elba. When Pomone finally approached at about 4 o'clock, the brig's crew set her on fire; she blew up about an hour later. She turned out to have been the French man-of war Etourdie, under the command of Monfieur de Champagne. Etourdie had been launched at La Ciotat about three years earlier and carried sixteen carronades and two long guns forward. Barrie conjectured that she had sailed from Toulon, bound for Tunis or Corfu.


A Genoese tower in Corsica

On 30 April, Pomone reached the Bay of Sagone in Corsica, in company with the 40-gun frigate Unite, Captain Chamberlayne. The next morning the 18-gun Cruizer-class brig-sloop Scout, joined them. There were three vessels in the bay: the 26-gun Giraffe of about 1,100 tons, the 24-gun Nourrice of about 900 tons, and an armed merchant vessel of about 500 tons. A battery of four guns and a mortar covered the vessels, there were regular troops with field pieces on site, and what Barrie described as a Martello tower above the battery had a cannon too. Barrie would later discover from a prisoner that Nourrice had a crew of 160 men and Giraffe a crew of 140 men.

There being no wind, the three British captains had their boats tow their ships into range of the French vessels. After an hour and a half of bombardment by the British ships, the guns on shore were silent and all three French vessels were on fire. The British withdrew to avoid being damaged when the two French warships blew up.

The French vessels had been laden with timber and their destruction retarded ship building in Toulon until the next year. Also, the fires resulted in the destruction of the Genoese coastal tower (perhaps the Torra di Sagone), and the battery's ammunition store. Pomone lost two men killed and 19 wounded; Unite and Scout had six wounded between them.

While still in the Mediterranean, Pomone captured a vessel carrying Lucien Bonaparte, his family, retainers and plunder. Barrie took the party, some forty persons in all, to Malta, arriving on 23 August 1810. Barrie held that Bonaparte's ill-gotten gains were private property and relinquished all claims.




HMS Pomone was a 38-gun Leda-class fifth rate of the Royal Navy launched in 1805. She saw action during the Napoleonic Wars, primarily in the Mediterranean while under the command of Captain Robert Barrie. She was wrecked off The Needles, part of the Isle of Wight, in 1811.


HMS Pomone, from a colour lithograph by T. G. Dutton, after a painting by G.F. St.John





Scale 1:60. A contemporary full hull model of ‘Pomone’ (1805) a 38-gun frigate fifth-rate ship of the line.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth for 'Leda' (1800), and later with alterations for 'Pomone' (1805)


The Impérieuse was a 40-gun Minerve-class frigate of the French Navy. The Royal Navy captured her in 1793 and she served first as HMS Imperieuse and then from 1803 as HMS Unite. She became a hospital hulk in 1836 and was broken up in 1858.




Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with sternboard outline and some decoration detail, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for Imperieuse (captured 1793),


HMS Scout was a Cruizer-class brig-sloop built by Peter Atkinson & Co. at Hull and launched in 1804.[2] She participated in a number of actions and captured several privateers in the Mediterranean during the Napoleonic Wars. She was broken up in 1827.




Scale: 1:48. A contemporary copy of a plan dated 3 January 1803 showing the body plan with stern board outline, sheer lines with scroll figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for Scout (1804),


Nourrice (1792) was the first of two flûtes (supply ships) built to a design by Raymond-Antoine Haran. She was launched on 3 August 1792 at Bayonne and coppered in 1795. She served at Brest and Toulon,[3][Note 2]until a British squadron cornered her in the Bay of Sagone on Corsica's east coast in 1811 and destroyed her.



French service
Nourrice served as a transport and there exist some reports of particular voyages or periods of service.

• Between August and November 1792 she was under the command of lieutenant de vaisseau Minbielle. She carried timber for naval construction from Bayonne to Rochefort and then returned to Bayonne.
• Between January and July 1793 she was under the command of capitaine de vaisseau Gauthier. He sailed her from Rochefort to Pauillac.
• In Prairial Year 10 (approx. May 1802), enseigne de vaisseau Pallois sailed her from Rochefort to Port-au-Prince, carrying troops and supplies.
• From Pluviôse to Floréal Year 11 (approx. January to May 1803), Nourrice transported troops from Genoa to Elba, while under the command of lieutenant de vaisseau Vatel.
• From Nivôse Year 12 to Brumaire Year 13 (approx. December 1804 to October 1805), she was still under Vatel's command. She made several voyages, carrying troops from Toulon to Corsica via Golfe-Juan. Next she was at Villefranche, and then she carried passengers, artillery, and funds from Toulon to Genoa and San Fiorenzo, Corsica.

Fate (British Account)
On 30 April 1811, Nourrice, the 26-gun Girafe, and an armed merchant vessel, were anchored in the Bay of Sagone on Corsica's east coast. They were laden with wood for the naval arsenal at Toulon and had taken refuge under the protection of a shore battery of four guns and a mortar, a Martello tower armed with a gun overlooking the battery, and some 200 troops with field pieces, assisted by armed local inhabitants, all on a heights overlooking the vessels. Here the British ships Pomone, Unite, and Scout found them. The next day Captain Robert Barrie of Pomone had boats from Pomone and Scout tow their ships close to the French vessels. After a 90-minute exchange of fire, Giraffe and Nourrice caught fire. Brands from Nourrice set fire to the merchant vessel.

Barrie had the British withdraw, awaiting the explosion of the French vessels. The battery and the tower fell silent. Shortly thereafter the Giraffe exploded, and then so did Nourrice. Some of the timbers from Nourrice fell on the tower, demolishing it, with further sparks setting fire to the shore battery, which also blew up. With nothing left to accomplish, the British withdrew. The action cost the British two men killed and 25 wounded.

Fate (French account) & subsequent developments
French accounts report that their crews set Girafe and Nourrice on fire, and then abandoned their vessels. The armed merchant vessel was the Henriette, and her crew ran her ashore. A police report states that French casualties were four gunners and two sailors killed, and 30 men wounded. The subsequent court martial acquitted their two captains, lieutenants de vaisseau Renault and Figanière.

Postscript
The wreck of the Giraffe was found in 1983. That of Nourrice was found in 2007 in front of the port as a result of a project to build a new port.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Pomone_(1805)
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HMS Imperieuse (1793) - Wikipedia

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Scout_(1804)
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Nourrice (1792 ship) - Wikipedia

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