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
29 March 1897 – Launch of SMS Victoria Louise, the lead ship of her class of protected cruisers, built for the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) in the late 1890s


SMS Victoria Louise was the lead ship of her class of protected cruisers, built for the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) in the late 1890s. She was laid down at the AG Weser shipyard in 1895, launched in March 1897, and commissioned into the German fleet in February 1899. She was named after Princess Victoria Louise, the daughter of Kaiser Wilhelm II. The ship was armed with a battery of two 21 cm guns and eight 15 cm guns and had a top speed of 19.2 knots (35.6 km/h; 22.1 mph).


Victoria Louise and the battleships Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm and Weissenburg

Victoria Louise served with the fleet for the first seven years of her career. During this time, she represented Germany during the funeral of Queen Victoria in 1901. In 1906, she was modernized and after 1908, used as a training ship for naval cadets. In 1909, she visited the United States, and at the outbreak of World War I, was mobilized into the 5th Scouting Group. She was attacked unsuccessfully by the British submarine HMS E1 in October 1914, and at the end of the year she was withdrawn from service. She was used as a minelayer and barracks ship based in Danzig for the rest of the war. Victoria Louise was sold in 1919 and converted into a freighter the following year, though she served in this capacity until 1923, when she was broken up for scrap.


Design
Main article: Victoria Louise class cruiser


Line-drawing of the Victoria Louise class

Victoria Louise was 110.60 meters (362 ft 10 in) long overall and had a beam of 17.40 m (57 ft 1 in) and a draft of 6.58 m (21 ft 7 in) forward. She displaced 6,491 t (6,388 long tons) at full combat load. Her propulsion system consisted of three vertical 4-cylinder triple expansion engines powered by twelve coal-fired Dürr boilers. Her engines provided a top speed of 19.2 knots (35.6 km/h; 22.1 mph) and a range of approximately 3,412 nautical miles (6,319 km; 3,926 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph). She had a crew of 31 officers and 446 enlisted men.

The ship was armed with two 21 cm SK L/40 guns in single turrets, one forward and one aft. The guns were supplied with 58 rounds of ammunition each. They had a range of 16,300 m (53,500 ft). Victoria Louise also carried eight 15 cm SK L/40 guns. Four were mounted in turrets amidships and the other four were placed in casemates. These guns had a range of 13,700 m (44,900 ft). She also carried ten 8.8 cm SK L/35 naval guns. The gun armament was rounded out by machine guns.[3] She was also equipped with three 45 cm (18 in) torpedo tubes with eight torpedoes, two launchers were mounted on the broadside and the third was in the bow, all below the waterline.

Service history


Victoria Louise during visit to US in 1909


Postcard of Victoria Louise

Victoria Louise was ordered under the contract name "L" and was laid down at the AG Weser shipyard in Bremen in 1895. She was launched on 29 March 1897, after which fitting-out work commenced. She was commissioned into the German navy on 20 February 1899.

Victoria Louise joined the squadron, commanded by Prince Heinrich, that went to Britain to participate in the funeral of Queen Victoria in 1901. Along with Victoria Louise, Baden, Hagen, and Nymphe represented Germany at Spithead. In 1902, Victoria Louise was assigned to the Cruiser Division of the I Squadron of the German home fleet. The Division consisted of the armored cruiser Prinz Heinrich, the flagship, Freya, and the light cruisers Hela, Amazone, and Niobe. The Division participated in the summer fleet maneuvers of August–September 1902.

In 1906, the ship went into dock for modernization in the Imperial Dockyard in Kiel. After emerging from the drydock in 1908, Victoria Louiseserved as a training ship for naval cadets and cabin boys. In September–October 1909, Victoria Louise, Hertha , Dresden, and Bremen traveled to the United States to represent Germany during the Hudson-Fulton Celebration. In 1912, Theodor Krancke served aboard the ship as a cadet; he would go on to command the heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer in World War II.

She served as a school ship until the outbreak of World War I in August 1914. She was briefly mobilized into the 5th Scouting Group, which was tasked with training cadets in the Baltic Sea. Shortly after 0900 on 17 October, the British submarine HMS E1, commanded by Noel Laurence, attempted to torpedo Victoria Louise at a range of 460 m (1,510 ft). The torpedo ran too deep, however, and missed.

By the end of 1914, however, the ships were again removed from service. She was put into service as a coastal defense ship. After 1915, she was withdrawn from front-line duty again and employed as a minelayer and barracks ship in Danzig. In 1916, Victoria Louise was disarmed. She remained in service in Danzig until 1 October 1919, when she was stricken from the naval register. She was sold to the Norddeutscher Tiefbau company and rebuilt in 1920 into a freighter. She was renamed Flora Sommerfeld and operated by Danziger Hoch- und Tiefbau GmbH. She served in this capacity only briefly; she was broken up for scrap in 1923 in Danzig.


Hansa in drydock at AG Vulcan

The Victoria Louise class of protected cruisers was the last class of ships of that type built for the German Imperial Navy. The class design introduced the combined clipper and ram bow and the blocky sides that typified later German armoured cruisers. The class comprised five vessels, Victoria Louise, the lead ship, Hertha, Freya, Vineta, and Hansa. The ships were laid down in 1895–1896, and were launched in 1897–1898 and commissioned into the fleet over the following year.

The first three ships were 110.60 meters (362 ft 10 in) long and displaced 6,491 metric tons (6,388 long tons) at combat load; Vinetaand Hansa were a slightly modified design. They were 110.50 m (362 ft 6 in) long and displaced 6,705 t (6,599 long tons) at full load. All five ships were armed with a main battery of two 21-centimeter (8.3 in) guns and eight 15 cm (5.9 in) guns. The first three ships had a top speed of 19.5 knots (36.1 km/h; 22.4 mph); the last two were slightly slower, at 18.5 knots (34.3 km/h; 21.3 mph). Problems with the Niclausse boilers installed on Freya prompted the Navy to standardize boiler types in future warships.

The ships of the class served in various units in the German fleet, including on the America Station, in the East Asia Squadron, and with the home fleet. Hertha and Hansa participated in the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion in China in 1900, and Vineta was involved in the Venezuela Crisis of 1902–1903. All five ships were modernized between 1905 and 1911, after which they served as training ships for naval cadets. They were mobilized into the 5th Scouting Group at the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, but were quickly withdrawn from front-line service. They served in various secondary roles for the rest of the war. After the end of the conflict, Victoria Louise was converted into a merchant ship, but was broken up in 1923. The other four ships were scrapped in 1920–1921.


Hertha in Dar es Salaam

SMS Victoria Louise - Wikipedia

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Victoria Louise-class cruiser - Wikipedia

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
29 March 1941 – World War II: British Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy forces defeat those of the Italian Regia Marina off the Peloponnesian coast of Greece in the Battle of Cape Matapan.
Fiume – On 29 March 1941, in the Battle of Cape Matapan, the Italian cruiser was sunk by the Royal Navy. Of the 1,083 aboard 814 were killed.
Zara – On 29 March 1941, in the Battle of Cape Matapan, the Italian cruiser Zara was torpedoed, shelled and sunk by British naval forces. Of 1,086 crew, 799 were killed.
Pola – On 29 March 1941, in the Battle of Matapan, the Italian cruiser Pola was disabled by an aerial torpedo and then sunk by British naval forces. Of the 1,024 crew aboard 336 were killed.


The Battle of Cape Matapan (Greek: Ναυμαχία του Ταινάρου) was a Second World War naval engagement between British Imperial and Axis forces, fought from 27–29 March 1941. The cape is on the south-west coast of the Peloponnesian peninsula of Greece. Following the interception of Italian signals by the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park,[1]ships of the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy, under the command of the Royal Navy's Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham, intercepted and sank or severely damaged several ships of the Italian Regia Marina under Squadron-Vice-Admiral Angelo Iachino. The opening actions of the battle are also known in Italy as the Battle of Gaudo.


Fiume was a Zara-class heavy cruiser of the Italian Regia Marina. She was the second of four ships in the class, and was built between April 1929 and November 1931. Armed with a main battery of eight 8-inch (200 mm) guns, she was nominally within the 10,000-long-ton (10,000 t) limit imposed by the Washington Naval Treaty, though in reality she significantly exceeded this figure.


Fiume in Taranto in 1933

Fiume saw extensive service during World War II, having participated in several sorties to catch British convoys in the Mediterranean. She was present during the Battle of Calabria in July 1940, Battle of Cape Spartivento in November, and ultimately the Battle of Cape Matapan in March 1941. In the last engagement, Fiume and her sister ships Zara and Pola were sunk in a close-range night engagement with three British battleships.

Battle of Cape Matapan

Map of the movements of the Italian and British fleets during the Battle of Cape Matapan
Main article: Battle of Cape Matapan

The Italian fleet, now commanded by Admiral Angelo Iachino, made another attempt to intercept a British convoy in late March 1941. The fleet was supported by the Regia Aeronautica and the German 10th Air Corps. This operation resulted in the Battle of Cape Matapan; early in the battle, Fiume and the rest of the 1st Division were to the northeast of the rest of the Italian fleet, which had encountered the British to the southwest. The battleship Vittorio Veneto was torpedoed by British aircraft and forced to withdraw during this phase of the battle. The 1st Division remained on the port side of the Italian fleet as it began its return to port to screen against another possible British attack. A second British airstrike later in the day failed to locate the retiring Vittorio Veneto and instead torpedoed Pola, which left the cruiser immobilized. Fiume, Zara, and four destroyers were detached to protect Pola. The British fleet, centered on the battleships Valiant, Warspite, and Barham, was at this point only 50 nmi (93 km; 58 mi) away.


Fiume (right) along with Zara and Pola in Naples

Guided by radar, the British fleet closed in on the crippled Pola in the darkness while Fiume, Zara, and the destroyers approached from the opposite direction. At 10:27, the searchlights aboard Warspite, the leading British battleship, illuminated Fiume at a range of 2,900 yards (2,700 m), followed immediately by a salvo of six 15-inch (380 mm) shells from her main battery; five struck Fiume and caused serious damage. Her superfiring rear turret was blown overboard before a second salvo from Warspite struck the ship. Shortly thereafter, Valiant fired four 15-inch shells into Fiume, causing further devastation. Fiume, now a burning wreck, was spared further destruction as the British battleships turned their attention to Zara. Fiume fell out of line, listing badly to starboard, as Zara was similarly hammered by 15-inch broadsides. Fiume remained afloat for about 45 minutes before she capsized and sank stern first at 23:15. Two of the destroyers, Alfieri and Carducci, were also sunk, as were Zara and Pola. The action had lasted a mere three minutes.[17][18] 812 men were lost with Fiume, among them her commanding officer Capt. Giorgio Giorgis; the survivors were picked up by British destroyers on the following morning, Greek destroyers in the evening of 29 March and the Italian hospital ship Gradisca between 31 March and 3 April.


Zara was a heavy cruiser built for the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy), the lead ship of the Zara class. Named after the Italian city of Zara (now Zadar, Croatia), the ship was built at the Odero-Terni-Orlando shipyard beginning with her keel laying in July 1928, launching in April 1930, and commissioning in October 1931. Armed with a main battery of eight 8-inch (200 mm) guns, she was nominally within the 10,000-long-ton (10,000 t) limit imposed by the Washington Naval Treaty, though in reality she significantly exceeded this figure.



Zara saw extensive service during the first two years of Italy's participation in World War II, having taken part in several sorties to catch British convoys in the Mediterranean as the flagship of the 1st Division. She was present during the Battle of Calabria in July 1940, the Battle of Taranto in November 1940, and the Battle of Cape Matapan in March 1941. In the last engagement, Zara and her sister ships Fiume and Pola were sunk in a close-range night engagement with three British battleships. Most of her crew, 783 officers and sailors, including the divisional commander Admiral Carlo Cattaneo, were killed in the sinking.


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



Pola initially served as the flagship of the 2nd Squadron, and in 1940 she led the squadron during the battles of Calabria and Cape Spartivento, in July and November, respectively. During the latter engagement she briefly battled the British cruiser HMS Berwick. Pola was thereafter reassigned to the 3rd Division, along with her three sister ships. The ship took part in the Battle of Cape Matapan in late March 1941. During the battle, she was disabled by a British airstrike. Later, in a fierce night engagement in the early hours of 29 March, Pola, Zara, Fiume, and two destroyers were sunk by the British Mediterranean Fleet with heavy loss of life.

Italian cruiser Pola - Wikipedia

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Italian cruiser Zara - Wikipedia

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_cruiser_Fiume
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cape_Matapan

Zara-class cruiser - Wikipedia

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 29 March


1708 – Launch of french Amarante (1708), 14 guns, design by Philippe Cochois, launched 29 March 1708 at Le Havre - deleted 1724.


1782 – Launch of Spanish San Fermín 74 (launched 29 March 1782 at Pasajes) - BU 1808


1797 – Launch of HMS Endymion was a 40-gun fifth rate that served in the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars, the War of 1812 and during the First Opium War. She was built to the lines of the French prize Pomone captured in 1794.

HMS Endymion was a 40-gun fifth rate that served in the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars, the War of 1812 and during the First Opium War. She was built to the lines of the French prize Pomone captured in 1794. Due to her exceptional handling and sailing properties, the Severn class frigates were built to her lines, although the gunports were rearranged to mount an extra pair of guns per side, the ships were made of softwood and were not built until nearly the end of the Napoleonic Wars.

She was famous for her battle with USS President on 15 January 1815, in which she caught the American frigate and crippled her, which led to President's final capture some hours later. Apart from this, Endymion was known as the fastest sailing-ship in the Royal Navy during the Age of Sail, logging 14.4 knots (26.7 km/h) sailing large, and nearly 11.0 knots (20.4 km/h) close-hauled.

Endymion's last active duty came during the First Opium War and included operations on the Yangtze river. She became a receiving ship in 1859 and was broken up in June 1868.

Throughout her career, Endymion was praised for her remarkable sailing qualities. She therefore was a highly desirable command for frigate captains. Even in the 1830s, long after her war service, she was regarded as the benchmark for Royal Navy frigates. She was still capable of outsailing much newer ships with which she sailed in company.


HMS Endymion (right) exchanges broadsides with the USS President (left).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Endymion_(1797)

Endymion-class frigate - Wikipedia

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1798 – launch of French Scipion was a 74-gun French ship of the line, built at Lorient to a design by Jacques Noel Sane. She was launched as Orient in late 1798, and renamed Scipion in 1801.

Scipion was a 74-gun French ship of the line, built at Lorient to a design by Jacques Noel Sane. She was launched as Orient in late 1798, and renamed Scipion in 1801. She was first commissioned in 1802 and joined the French Mediterranean fleet based at Toulon, in the squadron of Admiral Leissègues. Consequently she was one of the ships afloat in that port when war with England reopened in May 1803.[1] She participated in the Battle of Cape Finisterre and the Battle of Trafalgar. The British captured her in the subsequent Battle of Cape Ortegal. In 1810 she participated in the Java campaign, which in 1847 earned her surviving crew the Naval General Service Medal. She participated in the blockade of Toulon in 1813 and was paid off in 1814. She was broken up in 1819.


Scale model of Achille, sister ship of French ship Scipion (1798), on display at the Musée de la Marine in Paris.


Blockade of Toulon, 1810-1814: Pellew's action, 5 November 1813, by Thomas Luny

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Scipion_(1798)

Téméraire-class ship of the line - Wikipedia

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1807 – Recapture by French of HMS Saint Lucia was a brig-sloop, the former French Navy schooner Enfant Prodigue, which the British captured in 1803 and took into service with the Royal Navy.

HMS Saint Lucia was a brig-sloop, the former French Navy schooner Enfant Prodigue, which the British captured in 1803 and took into service with the Royal Navy. Under the British flag she captured three small French privateers and several prizes in the Leeward Islands before two French privateers recaptured her in 1807.

HMS Saint Lucia (1803) - Wikipedia

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1812 – Launch of HMS Scarborough was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 29 March 1812 at Harwich.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Scarborough_(1812)

Vengeur-class ship of the line - Wikipedia

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1856 – Launch of HMS Grappler was an Albacore-class gunboat of the Royal Navy

HMS Grappler was an Albacore-class gunboat of the Royal Navy. She served on what is now the British Columbia Coast from 1859 until sold into commercial service in 1868. She sank with significant loss of life as result of a fire in 1883.

sistership


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Grappler_(1856)

Albacore-class gunboat (1855) - Wikipedia

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1863 - Union troops brought ashore by USS Norwich to Jacksonville, Fla., ransack and loot the residents before evacuating the city. Also on this date, USS South Carolina, captures the schooner Nellie off Port Royal, S.C.


1900 – Launch of Iwate (磐手) was the second and last Izumo-class armored cruiser built for the Imperial Japanese Navy

Iwate (磐手) was the second and last Izumo-class armored cruiser built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in the late 1890s. As Japan lacked the industrial capacity to build such warships herself, the ship was built in Britain. She participated in most of the naval battles of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05. The ship was moderately damaged during the Battle of Port Arthur, the Battle off Ulsan, and the Battle of Tsushima. Iwate played a minor role in World War I and began the first of her many training cruises for naval cadets in 1916, a task that would last until the end of 1939. The ship continued to conduct training in home waters throughout the Pacific War. Iwate was sunk by American carrier aircraft during the attack on Kure in July 1945. Her wreck was refloated and scrapped in 1946–47.



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


1912 – Death of Captain Robert Falcon Scott, CVO, RN (6 June 1868 – 29 March 1912) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition of 1901–1904 and the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition of 1910–1913

Robert Falcon Scott - Wikipedia

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1938 – Launch of The Robert Ley was a cruise ship of the Nazi Party leisure organization Kraft durch Freude (Strength Through Joy). It was considered the flagship of the KdF fleet.

The Robert Ley was a cruise ship of the Nazi Party leisure organization Kraft durch Freude (Strength Through Joy). It was considered the flagship of the KdF fleet.

MV Robert Ley - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1944 - USS Haddo (SS 255) torpedoes and sinks Japanese army cargo ship Nichian Maru in South China Sea. Also on this date, USS Tunny (SS 282) torpedoes the Japanese battleship Musashi off Palau, necessitating for her to be repaired in Japan.


1944 - USS Ericsson (DD 440) and USS Kearny (DD 432), along with three submarine chasers, sink German U 223, which had sunk five Allied merchant vessels, including U.S. Army transport ship SS Dorchester of Four Chaplains fame on Feb. 3, 1943.

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
30 March 1693 – Launch of HMS Humber, an 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Hull


HMS Humber was an 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Hull on 30 March 1693.





She was rebuilt according to the 1706 Establishment at Deptford in 1708. Her guns, previously being mounted on two gundecks, were now mounted on three, though she remained classified as a third rate. On 30 October 1723 Humber was ordered to be taken to pieces and rebuilt to the 1719 Establishment at Portsmouth.
She was renamed HMS Princess Amelia, and relaunched on 4 October 1726.

Princess Amelia was broken up in 1752.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with some inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth for Boyne (1708), Russell (1709), and Humber (1708), as originally designed as two-deckers under the 1691 programme. They were all later rebuilt as 1706 Establishment Third Rate, three-deckers.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sternboard outline, sheer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth for Humber (1726), an 80-gun Third Rate, three-decker. She was renamed Princess Amelia on 26 July 1727. Signed by John Naish [Master Shipwright, Portsmouth Dockyard, 1715-1726 (died)].



Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with sternboard outline, inboard profile, and an incomplete longitudinal half-breadth for Humber (1736), an 80-gun Third Rate, three-decker. She was renamed Princess Amelia on 26 July 1727. The plan also illustrates the Princess Amelia when she was cut down (razeed) to a 66-gun Third Rate, two-decker in 1747-8 per Admiralty Order dated 19 May 1747. Reverse: Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth for an unnamed 66-gun Third Rate, two-decker. The plan is annotated 'Finished Christmas Eve 1741', but it does not state where or who drew it. The circular mouldings on the quarterdeck gunports suggests the influence of an earlier period.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Humber_(1693)
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-319828;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=H
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections.html#!csearch;searchTerm=Humber_1726

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
30 March 1782 – Launch of HMS Mediator, a Roebuck-class 44-gun fifth rate of the Royal Navy.


MS Mediator was a Roebuck-class 44-gun fifth rate of the Royal Navy. She was built and served during the American War of Independence, but was reduced to a storeship and renamed HMS Camel in 1788. She spent the French Revolutionary and part of the Napoleonic Wars in this capacity before being broken up in 1810.



Built as the revival of a design that had fallen out of favour as naval architecture developed, Mediator was intended to operate in the shallow waters of the North American coastline. Her first significant action was fought off the European coastline however, when her captain, James Luttrell attacked and defeated an American and French convoy off Ferrol, taking two ships as prizes. Resisting an attempt by his prisoners to seize his ship, Luttrell returned home to public applause and praise from King George III. Mediator's next commander, Cuthbert Collingwood, was a close friend of Horatio Nelson, and served with him in the West Indies. There he helped Nelson to enforce the Navigation Acts, causing controversy with the local civil and naval authorities. In 1788 she left front-line service for good, and was converted into a storeship, being renamed Camel.

Camel saw important service in the French Revolutionary Wars, making several voyages to the fleets in the Mediterranean and serving under several officers who would becoming prominent in the navy. She also made trips further afield, returning to the West Indies on occasion, as well as making voyages to the Cape of Good Hope to deliver supplies to the armies there. While making one such trip, she was attacked at anchor by a powerful French frigate. Her crew, together with that of a sloop also anchored in the bay, mounted a strong defence, and despite being damaged, forced the French ship to withdraw. She spent her last days making voyages to the various hotspots around the globe, before being finally withdrawn from service and broken up in 1810.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with stern board outline, sheer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth for Mediator (1782), a 44-gun Fifth Rate, two-decker, as built at Northam by Mr Raymond.

Design and construction
Small two-decked warships, usually classed as fourth rates had largely fallen out of favour by the second half of the eighteenth century, and by the end of the century even the smaller third rates of 64 guns were being phased out. The American War of Independence led to a revival in the concept of the smaller two decked designs, as their shallow draught but comparably heavy armament compared to frigates, made them suitable for coastal warfare in the shallow waters of the North American coastline. The Roebuck class was a revival of a 1769 design by Sir Thomas Slade, with nineteen ships ordered to the design during the war, and classed as fifth rates, but not as frigates, as they carried their main armament on two decks, rather than one. Mediator was ordered from the commercial shipbuilder Thomas Raymond, of Northam, on 3 December 1779. She was laid down there in July 1780 and was launched on 30 March 1782.

Mediator was then taken into Portsmouth Dockyard on 7 April that year for fitting out and having her bottom copper sheathed. The work was completed by 15 June, Mediator having cost £12,133.4.5d to build, with a further £137.15.1d spent on extra works, which together with the costs for fitting her for service came to a total of £22,412.12.0d. She was commissioned in April under the command of Captain James Luttrell.



On the night of 11–12 December 1782, the British ship ‘Mediator’, commanded by Captain the Honourable James Luttrell, was waiting off Ferrol to intercept an American frigate lying there. He found a squadron of five of the enemy's vessels, store ships and privateers, heavily armed and with an aggregate of over six hundred men heading for Port au Prince. These formed a line of battle and presented a formidable appearance as the ‘Mediator’ faced them. Undaunted, Luttrell bore down on them, and in a close action cut off one of the largest, the ‘Alexander’, compelling her to surrender. She was an American privateer, laden with stores. The ‘Mediator’ subsequently captured the French ‘Eugène’ and ‘Ménagère’. The following day a desperate but unsuccessful attempt was made by his prisoner to set fire to the ‘Mediator’. The prizes were brought safely to England. To the left of the centre of the painting, the ‘Mediator’ is firing from both sides. Left of this, the privateer ‘Alexander’ is capitulating. To the right the ‘Mediator’ is also engaging the French ship ‘Eugène’, flying a commodore’s pendant and visible amidst the swirl of gunsmoke. To her right is another Frenchman the ‘Ménagère ’ which is running before the wind in an attempt to escape. The two ships trying to escape in the distance on the right are the French ship ‘Dauphin Royal’ and an American brig. It is signed and dated ‘T Luny 1783’.


HMS Mediator in action, 12 December 1782 (BHC0702)


Algoa Bay, 20–21 September 1799. French frigate Preneuse against HMS Camel and the privateer Surprise


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Mediator_(1782)

Roebuck-class ship - Wikipedia

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Collections - National Maritime Museum

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
30 March 1782 - Launch of HMS Ganges, a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, at Rotherhithe.

HMS Ganges was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched in 1782 at Rotherhithe. She was the first ship of the Navy to bear the name, and was the name ship of her class. She saw active service from 1782 to 1811, in Europe and the West Indies.



Origins
The British East India Company had Randall build a 74-gun ship under the name Bengal. They then presented (donated) her to the Royal Navy, which renamed her HMS Ganges.

The Royal Navy commissioned Ganges in February 1782 under the command of Captain Charles Fielding. She was paid-off in March, but immediately recommissioned under Captain J. Lutterell as a guardship at Portsmouth. Between 1784 and 1787, she was under the command of Captain Sir Roger Curtis. In October 1787 she became the flagship of Rear-Admiral Sir Francis Drake. She was recommissioned in December 1790 under Captain Anthony Molloy.



Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with stern board outline, sheer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth for Ganges (1782), a 74-gun Third Rate, two-decker as built at Rotherhithe by Messrs Randall & Co. The ship, after launch on 30 March 1782, was completed at Deptford Dockyard, before being coppered at Woolwich Dockyard in June 1782.

French Revolutionary Wars
In 1794, whilst under the command of Captain William Truscott, she and Montagu captured the French corvette Jacobine. Jacobinwas armed with twenty-four 12-pounder guns, and had a crew of 220 men; she was nine days out of Brest and taken nothing. The Royal Navy took Jacobin into service as HMS Matilda.

Ganges was part of the squadron commanded by Admiral John Gell, which escorted a Spanish ship they had captured from the French back to Portsmouth. The ownership of the ship was a matter of some debate and was not settled until 4 February 1795, when the value of the cargo was put at £935,000. At this time all the crew, captains, officers and admirals received a share of the prize money, Admiral Hood taking away £50,000. Besides Ganges, the ships that conveyed the Spanish prize to Portsmouth were St George, Egmont, Edgarand Phaeton.

Ganges shared in the prize money from the capture of the French supply ship Marsouin by Beaulieu on 11 March 1796.

Ganges was under the command of Captain Thomas Fremantle at the Battle of Copenhagen. She had on board a contingent of soldiers from the 49th Foot, commanded by Isaac Brock. Their mission was to storm the forts at Copenhagen, but the outcome of the naval battle made the assault unnecessary.

Napoleonic Wars
Ganges was one of six British warships that shared in the capture on 23 August 1807 of the Danish vessel Speculation.

Ganges was also present at the Second Battle of Copenhagen. She bore the flag of Commodore Richard Goodwin Keats, and was commanded by Captain Peter Halkett. During the battle Keats placed a portrait of Admiral Nelson on the mizzen mast where it was said to have encouraged officers and men alike despite being covered in the blood and brains of an unfortunate seaman.

In September 1810, two row-boat luggers, one from Ruby, under the command of Lieutenant Robert Streatfield, and one from Ganges, under the command Lieutenants Stackpole, captured two Danish armed vessels off Lessoe. There were no British casualties.

Fate
She was commissioned as a prison ship on 12 December 1811 for holding prisoners of war. Then in 1814 she was transferred to the Transport Board. Ganges was broken up at Plymouth in 1816.



HMS Culloden (1783)

The Ganges-class ships of the line were a class of six 74-gun third rates, designed for the Royal Navy by Sir Edward Hunt.

Ships

• HMS Ganges

Builder: Randall, Rotherhithe
Ordered: 14 July 1779
Launched: 30 March 1782
Fate: Broken up, 1816

• HMS Culloden

Builder: Randall, Rotherhithe
Ordered: 12 July 1779
Launched: 16 June 1783
Fate: Broken up, 1813

• HMS Tremendous

Builder: Barnard, Deptford
Ordered: 1 January 1782
Launched: 30 October 1784
Fate: Sold out of the service, 1897

• HMS Invincible

Builder: Woolwich Dockyard
Ordered: 25 June 1801
Launched: 15 March 1808
Fate: Broken up, 1861

• HMS Minden

Builder: Lovji Nusserwanjee Wadia, Duncan Docks, Bombay
Ordered: 9 July 1801
Launched: 19 June 1810
Fate: Sold out of the service, 1861

• HMS Minotaur

Builder: Chatham Dockyard
Ordered: 3 December 1811
Laid Down: December 1812
Launched: 15 April 1816
Fate: Hulked, 1842, BU 1869



Fight of HMS Tremendous (in the foreground) and HMS Hindostan against the French frigate La Cannonière, 21 April 1806, by Pierre-Julien Gilbert


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Ganges_(1782)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganges-class_ship_of_the_line

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
30 March 1816 – Launch of HMS Black Prince, a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Black Prince class of the Royal Navy,


HMS Black Prince was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Black Prince class of the Royal Navy, launched on 30 March 1816 at Woolwich Dockyard.

In 1848 Black Prince became a prison ship at Chatham, and she was broken up in 1855.





Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth for 'Black Prince' (1816), 'Melville' (1817), 'Hawke' (1820) and 'Wellesley' (1815), all 74-gun Third Rate, two-deckers, based on the design of the captured Danish 74-gun 'Christian VII'. Note that the 'Wellesley' was originally of this design, but was changed to follow the lines of the 'Cornwallis' (1813) of the Armada/Conquestadore/Vengeur class. Signed by William Rule [Surveyor of the Navy, 1793-1813] and Henry Peake [Surveyor of the Navy, 1806-1822].

The Black Prince-class ships of the line were a class of four 74-gun third rates built for the Royal Navy in the closing years of the Napoleonic War. The draught for this class of ship was essentially a reduced version of the captured Danish ship Christian VII.

Wellesley, while ordered to be built to this design and always officially so classified, was actually built to the design of and used the moulds of Cornwallis, a Vengeur/Armada class ship previously built at Bombay; this was because the set of plans sent from the Navy Board and intended for the construction of Wellesley were lost en route to India when the ship carrying them was captured and burnt by the Americans.

Hawke was converted to screw propulsion in the 1850s when adapted as a 60-gun "blockship".


Wellesley sailing along a rocky coastline


HMS Melville off the volcanic Graham Island, 1831.

Ships

• HMS Wellesley

Builder: Bombay Dockyard
Ordered: 6 January 1812
Begun: May 1813
Launched: 24 February 1815
Fate: Sunk in air attack by the Luftwaffe, 1940

• HMS Black Prince

Builder: Woolwich Dockyard
Ordered: 14 August 1810
Begun: July 1814
Launched: 30 March 1816
Fate: Broken up, 1855

• HMS Melville

Builder: Bombay Dockyard
Ordered: 6 September 1813
Begun: July 1815
Launched: 17 February 1817
Fate: Sold, 1873

• HMS Hawke

Builder: Woolwich Dockyard
Ordered: 6 January 1812
Begun: April 1815
Launched: 16 March 1820
Fate: Broken up, 1865


Wellesley (second from left) in the second capture of Chusan on 1 October 1841

Scale: 1:24. Plan showing the midship section with profiles of the chocks and knees illustrating the method of attaching the beams to the sides for Wellesley (1815), with copies sent for Melville (1817), Black Prince (1816), and Redoubtable (1815), all 74-gun Third Rate, two-deckers. On 20 October 1812 a copy of this plan was forwarded to Portsmouth Dockyard for dispatch to Bombay onboard the ex-French frigate Java (captured 1811). However, as the Java was captured by the USS Constitution in December 1812, a second copy was dispatched on 26 March 1813 onboard the 74-gun Third Rate Stirling Castle (1811). A duplicate plan was also sent to Portsmouth on 25 May 1814 to be forwarded in the custody of Mr Joseph Seaton, passenger, onboard the East India Company Extra Ship Tigris.

Scale: 1:24. Plan showing the section illustrating the cross bolting for the floors on the keel, and the midship section illustrating the method of fixing the deck beams to the sides for 'Black Prince' (1816), a 74-gun Third Rate, two-decker, building at Woolwich Dockyard. The plan conforms to the proposal by Robert Seppings.


Scale: 1:12. Plan showing three part sections and a part plan illustrating the method of attaching the lower deck and upper deck beams to the sides for 'Black Prince' (1816), a 74-gun Third Rate, two-decker, building at Woolwich Dockyard. The plan includes a Key Reference.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the framing profile (disposition) for building 'Black Prince' (1816), a 74-gun Third Rate, two-decker, at Woolwich Dockyard. Signed by Henry Peake [Surveyor of the Navy, 1806-1822], Jospeh Tucker [Surveyor of the Navy, 1813-1831], and Robert Seppings [Surveyor of the Navy, 1813-1832].


Scale: 1:48 and 1:24. Plan showing the inboard profile for 'Black Prince' (1816), a 74-gun Third Rate, two-decker, building at Woolwich Dockyard. The plan illustrates the method of making the hooks and crutches, as well as showing the abutments and diagonal riders between the gun ports, and the details for the transom. Signed by Robert Seppings [Surveyor of the Navy, 1813-1832]



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Black_Prince_(1816)

Black Prince-class ship of the line - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
30 March 1824 – Launch of HMS Unicorn, a surviving sailing frigate of the successful Leda class,


HMS Unicorn is a surviving sailing frigate of the successful Leda class, although the original design had been modified by the time that the Unicorn was built, to incorporate a circular stern and "small-timber" system of construction. Listed as part of the National Historic Fleet,
Unicorn is now a museum ship in Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom.





History
HMS Unicorn was built in peacetime at Chatham Dockyard, Kent and launched in 1824. A superstructure was built over her main deck and she was laid up "in ordinary", serving as a hulk and a depot ship for most of the next 140 years. Her lack of active duty left her timbers well preserved, and in the 1960s steps were initiated to convert her to a museum ship.

Though steps were taken to restore Unicorn to a similar condition as her sister ship HMS Trincomalee, this plan has been changed. The ship was found to be the only example of a wooden frigate of her type existing in ordinary, and as a result, the intention is now to preserve her in her current condition.

Unicorn was never rigged, and only went to sea for the voyage from Chatham to Dundee, during which she was under tow. The roof that covers her upper deck is thought to have never been replaced.

Princess Anne is patron of the Unicorn Preservation Society.

• 
  Unicorn at the bowsprit
• 
  
• 
  Side view
• 
  
• 
  Stern view

Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth for Hebe (1826), Clyde (1828), Medusa (cancelled 1831), Nereus (1821), Hamadryad (1823), Diana (1822), Latona (1821), Fisgard (1819), Lively (1813), Melampus (1820), Thetis (1817), Aeolus (1825), Amazon (1821), Daedalus (1826), Fox (1829), Blanche (1819), Thalia (1830), Mercury (1826), Cerberus (1827), and Arethusa (1817), all 38-gun (later 46-gun) Fifth Rate, Frigates.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the framing profile (disposition) proposed (and used) for Venus (1820), Melampus (1820), Amazon (1821), Minerva (1820), Latona (1821), Nereus (1821), Hamadryad (1823), Aeolus (1828) [alternative spelling: Eolus], Thisbe (1824), Hebe (1826), Cerberus (1827), Circe (1827), Clyde (1828), Fox (1829), Proserpine (1830), Mercury (1826), Penelope (1829), Thalia (1830), Daedalus (1826), Diana (1822), Mermaid (1825), Thames (1823), and Unicorn (1824), all 46-gun Fifth Rate Frigates ordered or building by 1817 with the Seppings 'circular stern'. The plan illustrates alternative ways of constructing the frames where conditions allowed.

The Leda-class frigates, were a successful class of forty-seven British Royal Navy 38-gun sailing frigates constructed from 1805-1832. Based on a French design, the class came in five major groups, all with minor differences in their design. During their careers, they fought in the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. Forty-five of the 47 were eventually scrapped; two still exist.

Origins
The design of the name ship, Leda of 1800, was based on Sané's design for the French Hébé-class frigate. The British 44-gun fifth rate HMS Rainbow captured Hébé in 1782. (The British took Hébé into service as HMS Hebe but in 1805 renamed her HMS Blonde). The class of frigates built to the lines of Leda were in contemporary parlance called the 'Repeat Leda class'.

Pomone and Shannon, the second and third ship of the class respectively, was built using Josiah Brindley's patent method of construction which dispensed with 'lodging' and 'hanging knees', oak elements which had to be grown to shape. Oak suitable for shipbuilding had become increasingly difficult to obtain through the long period of warfare. Bindleys fastenings proved to be weak. Captain Philip Broke of the Shannon claimed her topsides were weak and "worked like a basket." Shannon was actually is such poor condition by 1813 that she almost missed her engagement with the USSChesapeake.

Characteristics and performance
The vessels of the class were fast, most recording 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) large and 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) close-hauled. However, their French-style proportions made them unweatherly compared to frigates designed to British proportions (such as the Lively class). Many captains requested additions to the frigates' false keels to remedy this. The Leda class stood to their canvas well and liked a stiff gale, but were prone to excessive pitching in very heavy seas. All captains complained of the class's poor stowage capacity, the result of their fine French underwater lines, but stowage improved after the introduction of iron fresh-water tanks. Lastly, captains considered the class to be "wet", a result of lively rolling and pitching causing seams to loosen.

Ships of the class


HMS Pomone

The name Leda was taken from Greek mythology, as was common at the time; the Greek Leda was a woman whom Zeus seduced while he was masquerading as a swan. After Leda, the Admiralty had no more ships to this design for several years. Then with the resumption of war with France either looming or under way, the Admiralty ordered eight further ships to this design in 1802-09:

• HMS Pomone, wrecked on The Needles in 1811.
• HMS Shannon, the victor over USS Chesapeake, off Boston, on 1 June 1813.
• HMS Leonidas
• HMS Briton
• HMS Tenedos
• HMS Lacedemonian
• HMS Lively ex-Scamander
• HMS Surprise

In 1812 the Admiralty ordered eight ships to be built of "fir" (actually, of red pine) instead of oak; these were sometimes called the Cydnus class:

• HMS Cydnus
• HMS Eurotas
• HMS Niger
• HMS Meander
• HMS Pactolus
• HMS Tiber
• HMS Araxes
• HMS Tanais

The Admiralty ordered seven more vessels to this design in 1812-15, with those constructed in Britain reverting to oak and those constructed in Bombay using teak:

• HMS Diamond
• HMS Amphitrite
• HMS Trincomalee, has survived to the present day.
• HMS Thetis
• HMS Arethusa
• HMS Blanche
• HMS Fisgard

The Admiralty ordered another six vessels in 1816, but of a modified design that incorporated Sir Robert Seppings's circular stern and "small-timber" form of construction:

• HMS Venus
• HMS Melampus
• HMS Minerva
• HMS Latona
• HMS Diana
• HMS Hebe

A further twenty-three ships were ordered to this modified design in 1817, although the last six were never completed, or not completed to this design:

• HMS Nereus
• HMS Hamadryad, in 1866 became a hospital ship moored in Cardiff, which in 1905 was replaced by the Royal Hamadryad Hospital.
• HMS Amazon
• HMS Aeolus
• HMS Thisbe, used as a floating church in Cardiff from 1863 to 1891.
• HMS Cerberus
• HMS Circe
• HMS Clyde
• HMS Thames
• HMS Fox, completed 1856 as a screw frigate
• HMS Unicorn, another sailing frigate that has survived to the present day.
• HMS Daedalus, completed 1844 as a 19-gun sixth-rate corvette
• HMS Proserpine
• HMS Mermaid
• HMS Mercury
• HMS Penelope
• HMS Thalia

The last six ships of the 1817 orders were never completed to this design:

• HMS Pegasus - canceled 1831
• HMS Nemesis - re-ordered to Seringapatam-class design.
• HMS Statira - re-ordered to Seringapatam-class design.
• HMS Jason - re-ordered to Seringapatam-class design.
• HMS Druid - re-ordered to Seringapatam-class design.
• HMS Medusa - canceled 1831

HMS Trincomalee in the historic dockyard, Hartlepool.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Unicorn_(1824)

Home - HMS Unicorn

www.frigateunicorn.org

HMS Unicorn | National Historic Ships

www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leda-class_frigate

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
30 March 1854 – Launch of French Tilsitt, a 90-gun Ship of the line of the French Navy.


The Tilsitt was a 90-gun Ship of the line of the French Navy. She was the second ship in French service named in honour of the Treaties of Tilsit.




1/20th scale model of Suffren, lead ship of Tilsitt's class, on display at the Musée national de la Marine

Career
Started as Diadème, Tilsitt was transformed into a steam and sail ship of the line while still on keel. She took part in the Crimean War and in the French intervention in Mexico before becoming a prison hulk for prisoners of the Paris Commune.

From 1873, she replaced Fleurus as the hulk serving as headquarters to the French naval division of Indochina in Saigon.


The Suffren class was a late type of 90-gun ships of the line of the French Navy.

The design was selected on 30 January 1824 by the Commission de Paris, an appointed Commission comprising Jean-Marguerite Tupinier, Jacques-Noël Sané, Pierre Rolland, Pierre Lair and Jean Lamorinière. Intended as successors of the 80-gun Bucentaure class and as the third of four ranks of ships of the line,[1] they introduced the innovation of having straight walls, instead of the tumblehome design that had prevailed until then; this tended to heighten the ships' centre of gravity, but provided much more room for equipment in the upper decks. Stability issues were fixed with underwater stabilisers.

Only the first two, Suffren and Inflexible, retain the original design all through their career; the others were converted to steam and sail during their construction.


Straight walls of an arsenal model of Suffren, with the lower long 30-pounder battery, the upper short 30-pounder battery, and the 30-pounder carronades on the deck


Inflexible as a boys' school







https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Tilsitt_(1854)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suffren-class_ship_of_the_line

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
30 March 1892 – Launch of HMS Crescent was a first class cruiser of the Edgar class.
Crescent, and her sister ship Royal Arthur, were built to a slightly modified design and are sometimes considered a separate class


HMS Crescent was a first class cruiser of the Edgar class. Crescent, and her sister ship Royal Arthur, were built to a slightly modified design and are sometimes considered a separate class. She was launched in 1892, saw early service at the Australia Station and the North America and West Indies Station, served in the First World War, and was sold for breaking up in 1921.



Construction
Crescent had a length of 387 feet 6 inches (118.11 m) long overall and 360 feet (109.73 m) between perpendiculars, with a beam of 60 feet (18.29 m) and a draught of 23 feet 9 inches (7.24 m). She displaced 7,350 long tons (7,470 t). Armament consisted of two 9.2-inch guns, on the ships centreline, backed up by ten six-inch guns, of which four were in casemates on the main deck and the remainder behind open shields. Twelve 6-pounder and four 3-pounder guns provided anti-torpedo-boat defences, while four 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes were fitted.

The Edgars were protected cruisers, with an arched, armoured deck 5–3 inches (127–76 mm) thick at about waterline level. The casemate armour was 6 inches (152 mm) thick, with 3 inches (76 mm) thick shields for the 9.2-inch guns and 10 inches (254 mm) armour on the ship's conning tower. It contained four double-ended cylindrical Fairfields boilers feeding steam at 150 pounds per square inch (1,000 kPa) to 2 three-cylinder triple expansion engines, which drove two shafts. This gave 12,000 indicated horsepower (8,900 kW) under forced draught, giving a speed of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph).

She was built at Portsmouth and launched on 30 March 1892.


HMS Crescent at Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1901


The Edgar class was a nine-ship class of protected cruiser built around 1891 for the Royal Navy. Nine ships were completed, all of which participated in the First World War. One, HMS Hawke, was lost during the war, with the other eight being scrapped in the 1920s.




HMS Gibraltar


HMS Royal Arthur


HMS Royal Arthur



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Crescent_(1892)

Edgar-class cruiser - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
30 March 1896 – Launch of HMS Mars, a Royal Navy pre-dreadnought battleship of the Majestic class, the seventh member of a class of nine ships.


HMS Mars was a Royal Navy pre-dreadnought battleship of the Majestic class, the seventh member of a class of nine ships. The ship was laid down in the Laird Brothers shipyard in June 1894, she was launched in March 1896, and she was commissioned into the fleet in June 1897. She was armed with a main battery of four 12-inch (305 mm) guns and a secondary battery of twelve 6-inch (150 mm) guns. The ship had a top speed of 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph).



Mars served in the Channel Fleet after her commissioning, and in 1902 an accident with her forward main battery killed eleven men and badly damaged the turret. She was present at the Coronation Fleet Review for Edward VII later that year. She was reduced temporarily to the Reserve in March 1906 before returning to service with the Channel Fleet in October. The following March she was reassigned to the Home Fleet. As tensions in Europe rose dramatically in late July 1914, Mars was mobilized with her sister ships into the 9th Battle Squadron, based as a guard ship in the Humber. In December, she was transferred to the Dover Patrol, though in February 1915, she was decommissioned in Belfast and disarmed. Mars served as a troop ship during the Dardanelles Campaign before being converted into a depot ship. She remained in service until July 1920; the old ship was sold for scrap in May 1921 and broken up in November.


Design
Main article: Majestic-class battleship


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

Mars was 421 feet (128 m) long overall and had a beam of 75 ft (23 m) and a draft of 27 ft (8.2 m). She displaced up to 16,060 t (15,810 long tons; 17,700 short tons) at full combat load. Her propulsion system consisted of two 3-cylinder vertical triple-expansion steam engines powered by eight coal-fired cylindrical boilers. By 1907–1908, she was re-boilered with oil-fired models. Her engines provided a top speed of 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) at 10,000 indicated horsepower (7,500 kW). The Majestics were considered good seaboats with an easy roll and good steamers, although they suffered from high fuel consumption. She had a crew of 672 officers and ratings.

The ship was armed with four BL 12-inch Mk VIII guns in twin-gun turrets, one forward and one aft. The turrets were placed on pear-shaped barbettes; six of her sisters had the same arrangement, but her sisters Caesar and Illustrious and all future British battleship classes had circular barbettes. Mars also carried twelve QF 6-inch /40 guns. They were mounted in casemates in two gun decks amidships. She also carried sixteen QF 12-pounder guns and twelve QF 2-pounder guns. She was also equipped with five 18-inch (450-mm) torpedo tubes, four of which were submerged in the ship's hull, with the last in a deck-mounted launcher.

Mars and the other ships of her class had 9 inches (229 mm) of Harvey armour, which allowed equal protection with less cost in weight compared to previous types of armour. This allowed Mars and her sisters to have a deeper and lighter belt than previous battleships without any loss in protection. The barbettes for the main battery were protected with 14 in (360 mm) of armour, and the conning tower had the same thickness of steel on the sides. The ship's armoured deck was 2.5 to 4.5 in (64 to 114 mm) thick.




The Majestic class of nine pre-dreadnought battleships were built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1890s under the Spencer Programme, named after the First Lord of the Admiralty, John Poyntz Spencer. With nine units commissioned, they were the most numerous class of battleships in history. The nine ships, HMS Majestic, Caesar, Hannibal, Illustrious, Jupiter, Magnificent, Mars, Prince George, and Victorious, were built between 1894 and 1898 as part of a programme to strengthen the Royal Navy versus its two traditional rivals, France and Russia. This continued the naval re-armament initiatives begun by the Naval Defence Act 1889.

The Majestics introduced a number of significant improvements to British battleship design, including armoured gun shields for the barbette-mounted main battery guns. The ships were armed with a main battery of four BL 12-inch Mark VIII guns, the first large-calibre weapon in the Royal Navy to use smokeless propellant, which made it superior in almost all respects to earlier, larger guns. They were also the first British ships to incorporate Harvey armour, which allowed them to carry a much more comprehensive level of protection. The ships proved to be among the most successful designs of their day, and they were widely copied in foreign navies, including the Japanese Shikishima class and the battleship Mikasa, which were both modified versions of the Majesticdesign.

The nine ships served in a variety of roles throughout their careers. They primarily served in the Channel Fleet, though several took rotations in the Mediterranean Fleet, and Victorious served on the China Station in 1900–02. No longer frontline ships by the outbreak of World War I in July 1914, the vessels were used to protect the crossing of the British Expeditionary Force and various points on the British coast. In 1915, several of the ships were disarmed, their guns going to equip the Lord Clive-class monitors. The disarmed battleships were used as troop ships during the Dardanelles Campaign, and Prince George and Majestic were used to bombard enemy positions before Majestic was torpedoed by a German U-boat. The surviving ships were employed in secondary roles from 1915 onwards, and after the war, all were sold for scrapping in 1920–22. Only one, Prince George, avoided the breakers'yards by wrecking off Camperduin.


Majestic's forward 12 in gun turret; note the 12-pounder mounted atop the turret




Scale: 1:48. A half block model of the starboard side of the first class battleship HMS Majestic (1895), made entirely in wood and painted pink-brown below the waterline and black above. Hull details include a ram bow; two rows of portholes; and rudder (currently missing). The deck, superstructures and most of the fittings are painted a uniform grey. Features and fittings include a pair of turrets fore and aft, the guns painted black; bridge abaft the forward turret and smaller superstructure forward of the aft turret; single funnel mounting with a stump funnel, painted ochre; and stump mast. The model is displayed on a backboard painted off-white with a mahogany-stained frame. Both the mast and funnel extend vertically just beyond the frame of the backboard. On plaque attached to top right-hand side of backboard ‘Majestic’.


Inboard profile plan (NPB6363)


Upper deck plan (NPB6364)


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Mars_(1896)

Majestic-class battleship - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
30 March 1899 - Great Britain, Channel Islands, The Casquets:
the 1,000 ton steamer "SS Stella", owned by London and South Western Railway company crashed into the rocks in heavy fog; 112 people (24 crew, 88 passengers) died


SS Stella was a passenger ferry in service with the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) that was wrecked on 30 March 1899 off the Casquets during a crossing from Southampton, to Guernsey.



Construction
Stella was built by J & G Thompson Ltd, Clydebank as yard number 252. She was launched on 15 September 1890 by Miss Chisholm. The builders completed the ship in 1890. She was 1,059 GRT and was powered by two triple expansion steam engines which could propel her at 19½ knots (36 km/h).

Stella was 253 feet (77.11 m) long, with a beam of 35 feet (10.67 m). She could carry 712 passengers and carried 754 lifejackets, 12 lifebuoys and her lifeboats could carry 148 people. Her sister ships were Frederica and Lydia.

Shipwreck
Stella was built for the LSWRs Southampton - Channel Island services. On Maundy Thursday, 30 March 1899, Stella departed Southampton for St Peter Port, Guernsey carrying 147 passengers and 43 crew. Many of the passengers were travelling to the Channel Islands for an Easter holiday or returning home there during the Easter break. Stella departed Southampton at 11:25 and after passing The Needles proceeded at full speed across the Channel. Some fog banks were encountered and speed was reduced twice while passing through these. Approaching the Channel Islands, another fog bank was encountered, but speed was not reduced. Shortly before 16:00, the fog signal from the Casquets Lighthouse was heard and the Casquets came into view directly ahead. Captain Reeks ordered the engines full astern and attempted to turn away from the rocks. Stella scraped along two rocks, and then her bottom was ripped open by a submerged granite reef.

Stella sank in eight minutes. Four lifeboats were successfully launched, while a fifth capsized. The women and children first protocol was observed, although one stewardess, Mary Ann Rogers, gave up her lifejacket and refused a place in a lifeboat. The capsized lifeboat was later righted by a freak wave and 12 people managed to climb into it. Four of these died of exposure during the night. The eight remaining survivors were rescued by the French Naval tug Marsouin.

One lifeboat, with 38 survivors on board, had a cutter in tow with 29 survivors on board. These two boats were sighted at 07:00 on 31 March by the LSWR steamship Vera. They were picked up and landed at St Helier, Jersey. The other cutter, with 24 survivors on board, had a dinghy in tow with 13 survivors on board. They were picked up by the Great Western Railway (GWR) steamship Lynx, sailing from Weymouth to St Peter Port. The LSWR steamship Honfleur assisted in the search for survivors.

In all, 86 passengers and 19 crew died in the sinking.


The Mary Ann Rogers memorial in Southampton

Famed English opera soprano Greta Williams, who was a passenger on the Stella, was hailed as a heroine for comforting the ship's frightened survivors as they awaited their rescuers. A poem by William McGonagall, published just after the shipwreck, contained the lines:

But the sufferings of the survivors are pitiful to hear, And I think all Christian people for them will drop a tear, Because the rowers of the boats were exhausted with damp and cold; And the heroine of the wreck was Miss Greta Williams, be it told.
She remained in as open boat with her fellow-passengers and crew, And sang "O rest in the Lord, and He will come to our rescue"; And for fourteen hours they were rowing on the mighty deep, And when each man was done with his turn he fell asleep.

The wreck of Stella was discovered in June 1973 by two Channel Islands divers. It lies in 49 metres (161 ft) of water south of the Casquets.

Inquiry
The Board of Trade's inquiry into the wreck opened at the Guildhall, Westminster on 27 April 1900 and lasted six days. It was alleged that Stella had been racing against the GWR ship. This allegation was rejected by the LSWR. Although the inquiry could not come to a definite conclusion about whether there had been racing or not, blame was placed entirely upon Captain William Reeks for continuing at full speed in the fog.

This finding gave forty bereaved families cause to sue the LSWR for compensation. The company and their insurers went to great lengths to avoid paying out, but an eventual finding by the Court of Appeal resulted in a series of awards being made to individuals, at considerable cost to the LSWR.

Memorials
Channel Islands
A metal plaque at St Peter Port Harbour commemorates the wreck of Stella. A set of two commemorative postage stamps was issued by Alderney in 1999.

Liverpool

Mary Ann Rogers detail from Liverpool Anglican Cathedral

In Liverpool Cathedral, Mary Ann Rogers is one of eight women commemorated in a stained glass window in the Staircase Window of the Lady Slipper Chapel. The other seven women are Anne Cecile, Grace Darling, Agnes Jones, Anna Hinderer, Alice Marvel, Louisa Stewart and Kitty Wilkinson.

London
Mary Ann Rogers is commemorated on the "Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice" in Postman's Park, London.

Southampton
The Stella Memorial in Southampton commemorates the shipwreck, and particularly the actions of Mary Ann Rogers. The memorial was paid for by public subscription. Amongst the subscribers were Lady Montagu of Beaulieu, Earl Grey and the Duke of Westminster. A total of £570 was raised, of which £250 went to Mary Ann Rogers' family and the rest was spent on the memorial.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Stella_(1890)

Supertogel - Situs Togel Deposit Pulsa 10rb Tanpa Potongan, Togel Online

Rasakan sensasi togel deposit pulsa 10rb tanpa potongan dari situs togel terpercaya supertogel. Raih hadiah togel 4d terbesar melalui bo togel pulsa terpercaya.

www.jakesimpkin.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
30 March 1901 – Launch of SS Kronprinz Wilhelm, a German passenger liner built for the Norddeutscher Lloyd, a former shipping company now part of Hapag-Lloyd, by the AG Vulcan shipyard in Stettin, Germany (now Szczecin, Poland), in 1901.


SS Kronprinz Wilhelm was a German passenger liner built for the Norddeutscher Lloyd, a former shipping company now part of Hapag-Lloyd, by the AG Vulcan shipyard in Stettin, Germany (now Szczecin, Poland), in 1901. She took her name from Crown Prince Wilhelm, son of the German Emperor Wilhelm II, and was a sister ship of SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse.







She had a varied career, starting off as a world-record-holding passenger liner, then becoming an auxiliary warship from 1914–1915 for the Imperial German Navy, sailing as a commerce raider for a year, and then interned in the United States when she ran out of supplies. When the U.S. entered World War I, she was seized and served as a United States Navy troop transport until she was decommissioned and turned over to the United States Shipping Board, where she remained in service until she was scrapped in 1923.


Von Steuben arriving at New York on 1 September 1919, bringing home from France soldiers of the First Division Headquarters

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

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
30 March 1912 – Launch of SMS Seydlitz, a battlecruiser of the Imperial German Navy, built in Hamburg.


SMS Seydlitz was a battlecruiser of the Imperial German Navy, built in Hamburg. She was ordered in 1910 and commissioned in May 1913, the fourth battlecruiser built for the High Seas Fleet. She was named after Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz, a Prussian general during the reign of King Frederick the Great and the Seven Years' War. Seydlitz represented the culmination of the first generation of German battlecruisers, which had started with the Von der Tann in 1906 and continued with the pair of Moltke-class battlecruisers ordered in 1907 and 1908. Seydlitz featured several incremental improvements over the preceding designs, including a redesigned propulsion system and an improved armor layout. The ship was also significantly larger than her predecessors—at 24,988 metric tons (24,593 long tons; 27,545 short tons), she was approximately 3,000 metric tons heavier than the Moltke-class ships.



Seydlitz participated in many of the large fleet actions during the First World War, including the battles of Dogger Bank and Jutlandin the North Sea. The ship suffered severe damage during both engagements; during the Battle of Dogger Bank, a 13.5 in (34.3 cm) shell from the British battlecruiser Lion struck Seydlitz's rearmost turret and nearly caused a magazine explosion that could have destroyed the ship. At the Battle of Jutland she was hit 21 times by heavy caliber shells, one of which penetrated the working chamber of the aft superfiring turret. Although the resulting fire destroyed the turret, the safety measures imposed after the battle of Dogger Bank prevented a catastrophe. The ship was also hit by a torpedo during the battle, causing her to take in over 5,300 metric tons of water and her freeboard was reduced to 2.5 m. She had to be lightened significantly to permit her crossing of the Jade Bar. The ship inflicted severe damage on her British opponents as well; early in the battle, salvos from both Seydlitz and Derfflinger destroyed the battlecruiser Queen Mary in seconds.

Seydlitz saw limited action in the Baltic Sea, when she provided screening for the German flotilla that at Battle of the Gulf of Rigaattempted to clear the gulf in 1915. As with the rest of the German battlecruisers that survived the war, the ship was interned in Scapa Flow in 1918. The ship, along with the rest of the High Seas Fleet, was scuttled in June 1919, to prevent her seizure by the British Royal Navy. She was raised on 2 November 1928 and scrapped by 1930 in Rosyth.

Development


Seydlitz in the floating dry dock at Kiel, before the war

Despite the success of the previous German battlecruisers designs—those of Von der Tann and the Moltke class—there was still significant debate as to how new ships of the type were to be designed. In 1909, the Reichsmarineamt (Navy Department) requested Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, the State Secretary for the navy, to provide them with the improvements that would be necessary for the next battlecruiser design. Tirpitz continued to push for the use of battlecruisers solely as fleet scouts and to destroy enemy cruisers, along the lines of the battlecruisers employed by the British Royal Navy. The Kaiser, Wilhelm II, and the majority of the Navy Department argued that due to Germany's numerical inferiority compared to the Royal Navy, the ships would also have to fight in the line of battle. This necessitated much heavier armor protection than that afforded to the Royal Navy's battlecruiser designs. Ultimately, the Kaiser and the Navy Department won the debate, and the battlecruiser for the 1909–1910 building year would continue in the pattern of the previous Von der Tann and Moltke-class designs.

Financial constraints meant that there would have to be a trade-off between speed, battle capabilities, and displacement. The initial design specifications mandated that speed was to have been at least as high as with the Moltke class, and that the ship was to have been armed with either eight 305 mm (12.0 in) guns or ten 280 mm (11.0 in) guns. The design staff considered triple turrets, but these were discarded when it was decided that the standard 280 mm twin turret was sufficient.

In August 1909, the Reichstag stated that it would tolerate no increases in cost over the Moltke-class battlecruisers, and so for a time, the Navy Department considered shelving the new design and instead to build a third Moltke-class ship. Admiral Tirpitz was able to negotiate a discount on armor plate from both Krupp and Dillingen; Tirpitz also pressured the ship's builder, Blohm & Voss, for a discount. These cost reductions freed up sufficient funds to make some material improvements to the design. On 27 January 1910, the Kaiser approved the design for the new ship, ordered under the provisional name "Cruiser J".

Design


Seydlitz, drawn in her 1916 configuration

General characteristics
Seydlitz was 200 meters (656 ft 2 in) long at the waterline, and 200.6 m (658 ft 2 in) overall. The ship had a beam of 28.5 m (93 ft 6 in), which was increased to 28.8 m (94 ft 6 in) with anti-torpedo nets equipped. She had a draft of 9.29 m (30 ft 6 in) forward and 9.09 m (29 ft 10 in) aft. Seydlitz displaced 24,988 tonnes (24,593 long tons) as designed, and carrying a full load, the ship displaced 28,550 tonnes (28,100 long tons). Seydlitz had a double bottom for 76 percent of the length of the hull.[4] The ship carried a number of smaller boats, including one picket boat, three barges, two launches, two yawls, and two dinghies. Seydlitzwas described as having been a good sea boat with gentle motion. The ship lost up to 60 percent of her speed at a hard rudder, and would heel over to 9 degrees. The ship had a standard complement of 43 officers and 1025 men, and when serving as the flagship of I Scouting Group , she was manned by an additional 13 officers and 62 men

SMS Seydlitz - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
30 March 1913 – Launch of Andrea Doria, the lead ship of her class of battleships built by the Regia Marina (Royal Navy). The class included only one sister ship, Caio Duilio.


Andrea Doria was the lead ship of her class of battleships built by the Regia Marina (Royal Navy). The class included only one sister ship, Caio Duilio. Andrea Doria was named after the 16th century Genoese admiral of the same name. Laid down in March 1912, the battleship was launched a year later in March 1913, and completed in March 1916. She was armed with a main battery of thirteen 305 mm (12.0 in) guns and had a top speed of 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph).



Andrea Doria saw no major action in World War I, and served extensively in Mediterranean in the 1920s and 1930s. She was involved in the suppression of rebels in Fiume and the Corfu incident in the 1920s. Starting in 1937, Andrea Doria underwent an extensive modernization, which lasted until 1940. She saw relatively little action during World War II; she was tasked with escorting convoys to Libya throughout 1941 and into 1942, during which she engaged in the inconclusive First Battle of Sirte. After the Armistice in September 1943 the ship was sailed to Malta and interned by the Allies. She remained there until 1944, when she was permitted to return to Italian ports. Andrea Doria survived the war and soldiered on in the post-war navy as a training ship until 1956. Paid off in September, she was formally stricken from the naval register on 1 November and sold for scrapping later that year.


Design


Right elevation and deck plan of the Andrea Doria class.
Main article: Andrea Doria-class battleship

Andrea Doria was 176 meters (577 ft) long overall; she had a beam of 28 m (92 ft) and a draft of 9.4 m (31 ft). At full combat load, she displaced up to 24,729 metric tons (24,338 long tons). She had a crew of 35 officers and 1,198 enlisted men. She was powered by four Parsons steam turbines, with steam provided by eight oil-fired and twelve coal and oil-burning Yarrow boilers. The boilers were trunked into two large funnels. The engines were rated at 30,000 shaft horsepower (22,000 kW), which provided a top speed of 21 knots(39 km/h; 24 mph). She had a cruising radius of 4,800 nautical miles (8,900 km; 5,500 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph).

The ship was armed with a main battery of thirteen 305 mm (12.0 in) 46-caliber guns in three triple turrets and two twin turrets. The secondary battery comprised sixteen 152 mm (6.0 in) 45-caliber guns, all mounted in casemates clustered around the forward and aft main battery turrets. Andrea Doria was also armed with thirteen 76 mm (3.0 in) 50-caliber guns and six 76-mm anti-aircraft guns. As was customary for capital ships of the period, she was equipped with three submerged 450 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes. She was protected with Krupp cemented steel manufactured by Terni. The belt armor was 254 mm (10.0 in) thick and the main deck was 98 mm (3.9 in) thick. The conning tower and main battery turrets were protected with 280 mm (11 in) worth of armor plating.

Modifications
Andrea Doria was heavily rebuilt in 1937–1940 at Trieste. Her forecastle deck was extended further aft, until it reached the mainmast. The stern and bow were rebuilt, increasing the length of the ship to 186.9 m (613 ft), and the displacement grew to 28,882 t (28,426 long tons). Her old machinery was replaced with more efficient equipment and her twenty boilers were replaced with eight oil-fired models; the new power plant was rated at 75,000 shp (56,000 kW) and speed increased to 26 kn (48 km/h; 30 mph). The ship's amidships turret was removed and the remaining guns were bored out to 320 mm (12.6 in). Her secondary battery was completely overhauled; the 152 mm guns were replaced with twelve 135 mm (5.3 in) guns in triple turrets amidships. The anti-aircraft battery was significantly improved, to include ten 90 mm (3.5 in) guns, fifteen 37 mm (1.5 in) 54-cal. guns, and sixteen 20 mm (0.79 in) guns. Later, during World War II, four more 37 mm guns were installed and two of the 20 mm guns were removed. After emerging from the modernization, Andrea Doria's crew numbered 35 officers and 1,450 enlisted men.


Andrea Doria during World War I


Andrea Doria sailing to Malta for internment, September 9, 1943.


The Andrea Doria class (usually called Caio Duilio class in Italian sources) was a pair of dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Italian Navy (Regia Marina) between 1912 and 1916. The two ships—Andrea Doria and Caio Duilio—were completed during World War I. The class was an incremental improvement over the preceding Conte di Cavour class. Like the earlier ships, Andrea Doria and Caio Duilio were armed with a main battery of thirteen 305-millimeter (12.0 in) guns.

The two ships were based in southern Italy during World War I to help ensure that the Austro-Hungarian Navy's surface fleet would be contained in the Adriatic. Neither vessel saw any combat during the conflict. After the war, they cruised the Mediterranean and were involved in several international incidents, including at Corfu in 1923. In 1933, both ships were placed in reserve. In 1937 the ships began a lengthy reconstruction. The modifications included removing their center main battery turret and boring out the rest of the guns to 320 mm (12.6 in), strengthening their armor protection, installing new boilers and steam turbines, and lengthening their hulls. The reconstruction work lasted until 1940, by which time Italy was already engaged in World War II.

The two ships were moored in Taranto on the night of 11/12 November 1940 when the British launched a carrier strike on the Italian fleet. In the resulting Battle of Taranto, Caio Duilio was hit by a torpedo and forced to beach to avoid sinking. Andrea Doria was undamaged in the raid; repairs for Caio Duilio lasted until May 1941. Both ships escorted convoys to North Africa in late 1941, including Operation M42, where Andrea Doria saw action at the inconclusive First Battle of Sirte on 17 December. Fuel shortages curtailed further activities in 1942 and 1943, and both ships were interned at Malta following Italy's surrender in September 1943. Italy was permitted to retain both battleships after the war, and they alternated as fleet flagship until the early 1950s, when they were removed from active service. Both ships were scrapped after 1956.




Caio Duilio in 1948




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_battleship_Andrea_Doria
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Doria-class_battleship
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_battleship_Caio_Duilio

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
30 March 1916 - the Russian hospital ship HS Portugal was towing a string of small flat-bottomed boats to ferry wounded from the shore.
Off Rizeh, on the Turkish Black Sea coast she had stopped as one of the small boats was sinking and being repaired. U-33 fired a torpedo that missed, and then a torpedo at a depth of 30 feet, that hit near Portugal's engine room, breaking her in two. 90 of those aboard were lost.


The SS Portugal (Russian: госпитальное судно "Португаль") was a steam ship originally built by a French shipping company, but requisitioned for use as a Russian hospital ship during the First World War. On March 30 [O.S. March 17] 1916 she was sunk by a torpedo from the German U-boat U-33.



History
She was originally built in 1886 for the Brazil and River Plate Line of the Messageries Maritimes Company. She was chartered or purchased by the Russians for use as a hospital ship in the Black Sea. The ship, serviced to take up wounded soldiers along the sea shore Ardeshen, Rize Port, Fakhtia, Tiribon and Of, the ship could have the chance to make only 5 voyages, beginning on 27 February, 1916.

Sinking


The sinking of the HS Portugal



Georgian princess Aneta Andronnikova, one of the Red Cross nurses who died in the Portugal incident.

March 30 [O.S. March 17] 1916, 1916, Portugal was towing a string of small flat-bottomed boats to ferry wounded from the shore to the ship. Off Rizeh, on the Turkish coast of the Black Sea, she had stopped as one of the small boats was sinking and repairs were being made. The ship was not carrying wounded at the time, but had a staff of Red Crossphysicians and nurses on board, as well as her usual crew.

The ship's crew saw a periscope approaching the vessel but as the ship was a hospital ship and protected by the Hague conventions no evasive actions were taken. Without warning the submarine fired a torpedo which missed. The U-boat, U-33, came around again fired a torpedo from a distance of 30 feet, which hit near the engine room, breaking the ship into two pieces.

Vperiod
On July 8 [O.S. June 25] 1916, another Russian hospital ship, named Vperiod (Вперёд; also transcribed, French-style, asVperiode) was sunk between Rizeh and Batum, allegedly by German U-boat U-38. The boat was not carrying wounded, as she was on iher trip to the frontline. Seven people died, the rest were saved.

The Russian government claimed that Turkish forces sank Portugal, and Vperiod. The Turkish government replied that both ships were sunk by mines.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Portugal_(1886)

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
30 March 1993 – Launch of Italia, a brigantine, active as a sail training vessel for the Italian Navy


Italia is a brigantine, active as a sail training vessel for the Italian Navy.

It is owned by Fondazione tender to nave Italia, a non-profit foundation for maritime contest development,[clarification needed] with property shared by Italian Navy and Yacht Club Italiano.



History
Built at the shipyard Wiswa, Gdańsk (Poland) as Swan fan Makkum it is a Brigantine.

Named for Willem Sligting, Makkum, christened by Hinke de Vries, co-owner and wife, in a multilingual fashion: English, Polish and Frysian and after the ceremony launched in the river Wisla.

She is the largest brigantine in the world, as well as the largest two masted sailing vessel, with an overall length of 61 metres (200 ft).

She carries a maximum of 1,300 square metres (14,000 square feet) of sail, and with an air draft of 44.6 metres (144 ft) is one of the tallest of the tall ships.

Swan fan Makkum was sold February 6, 2007 to Fondazione tender to nave Italia and renamed Nave Italia, commissioned to Italian Navy on 19 March 2007.

She will continue to appear as a competitor in the Tall Ships Race, her first appearance as Nave Italia was in the 2007 Mediterranean series.

Italian training ship Italia - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Fondazione Tender To Nave Italia Onlus

Fondazione Tender To Nave ITALIA è una Onlus costituita il 10 gennaio 2007 dalla Marina Militare e dallo Yacht Club Italiano.

www.naveitalia.org

Category:Italia (ship, 1993) - Wikimedia Commons

commons.wikimedia.org

 

[Uwek]

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


1659 - Minor battle between Dutch and Danes against Swedes


1776 – Launch of Spanish San Dámaso 74 (launched 30 March 1776 at Cartagena) - Scuttled 16 February 1797, captured by Britain and refloated, sold 1814

San Joaquín class
San Joaquín (originally begun as San Pedro de Alcántara) 74 (launched 14 June 1771 at Cartagena) - BU 1817
San Juan Bautista 74 (launched 1 August 1772 at Cartagena) - Stricken 5 April 1809
Ángel de la Guarda 74 (launched 18 September 1773 at Cartagena) - BU 1810
San Dámaso 74 (launched 30 March 1776 at Cartagena) - Scuttled 16 February 1797, captured by Britain and refloated, sold 1814


1794 – Launch of French corvette Jacobine (or Jacobin), and which the British captured in the West Indies seven months later comissioned as HMS Matilda

HMS Matilda was the French corvette Jacobine (or Jacobin), which was launched in March 1794 and which the British captured in the West Indies seven months later. She served in the West Indies until 1799, capturing six small privateers. In 1799 she sailed to Woolwich where she became a hospital ship. Between 1805 and 1807 she was the flagship of Rear-Admiral Henry Stanhope. She was broken up in 1810.

HMS Matilda (1794) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1799 - HMS Sparrow (12) and HMS Trent (36), Cptn. R. W. Ottway, at Porto Rico.

HMS Sparrow (1796) was a 12-gun cutter purchased from civilian service in 1796 when she had been named Rattler. She was broken up in 1805.

HMS Trent (1796) was a 36-gun fifth-rate frigate launched in 1796. She became a hospital ship in 1803, a receiving ship in 1818 and was broken up in 1823. She was used by David Buchan in the Arctic.


1800 - At 23:00 on 30 March, with a strong wind from the south, Guillaume Tell sailed from Valletta, Decrés hoping to use the cover of darkness to escape the British blockade. Dixon had deployed his ships around the island, with Valletta watched by the frigate HMS Penelope under Captain Henry Blackwood. At 23:55, Blackwood's lookouts spotted Guillaume Tell and the captain gave chase, ordering the brig HMS Minorca under Commander George Miller to convey the message to Dixon, whose ships were just visible in the distance. Blackwood also attempted to signal his discovery to his commanding officer as Penelope gave chase.

to be continued tomorrow ......

1801 - British Fleet under Hyde Parker and Nelson forced the Sound.

Hyde Parker (Royal Navy officer, born 1739) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1808 - HMS Cerberus (32), Cptn. W. Selby, and consorts captured the Island of Deseada.

In early 1808 Captain Selby was the commander of the blockading squadron covering Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe. He realized that the French privateers were using the batteries on Marie-Galante to shelter themselves and their prizes and decided to remedy the situation. He sent Pigot with 200 seamen and marines from Cerberus, Circe, and Camilla to capture the island. Pigot landed his force early on 2 March some two miles from Grand Bourg and the garrison duly capitulated. The British also captured a number of cannons and some small arms.[51] In 1825 Ulysses shared in the prize money with the other three vessels.[Note 11]

Cerberus remained in the area, and on 29 March and in company with Lilly, Pelican, Express, Swinger, and Mosambique, sailed from Marie-Galante to attack the island of La Désirade. They arrived on 30 March and sent in a landing party of seamen and marines from the vessels of the squadron, all under the overall command of Captain Sherriff of Lily. As the boats approached they exchanged fire with a battery of 9-pounder guns covering the entrance to the harbour. The ships' guns silenced the battery and the French surrendered.

HMS Cerberus (1794) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1808 – Launch of HMS Racoon, sometimes spelled HMS Raccoon, was an 18-gun ship sloop of the Cormorant Class of the Royal Navy.

HMS Racoon, sometimes spelled HMS Raccoon, was an 18-gun ship sloop of the Cormorant Class of the Royal Navy. She was built by John Preston, of Great Yarmouth, and launched on 30 March 1808. She sailed as far as Fort Astoria on the Columbia River. She became a hospital ship in 1819 and finally was sold in 1838.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Racoon_(1808)

Cormorant-class ship-sloop - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Collections - National Maritime Museum

1839 – Launch of HMS Hecate was a 4-gun Hydra-class paddle sloop launched on 30 March 1839 from the Chatham Dockyard.


Hecate aground in Neah Bay east of Cape Flatterybetween 15 and 21 August 1861

HMS Hecate (1839) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1850 - RMS Royal Adelaide – a paddle steamer that ran between London and Cork. On 30 March 1850 the ship was lost on the Tongue Sands north of Margate with the loss of all aboard.

RMS Royal Adelaide was a paddle steamship owned and operated by the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company. Its principal route ran between London and Cork.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Royal_Adelaide_(1838)


1858 – Launch of French Amazone, (launched 30 March 1858 at Brest as a steam transport) – deleted 15 February 1872.

Amazone class (50-gun type, 1845 design by Alexandre-Louis Chedeville):
Bellone, (launched 26 March 1853 at Cherbourg) – fitted as steam frigate 1856–58; deleted 22 February 1877.
Amazone, (launched 30 March 1858 at Brest as a steam transport) – deleted 15 February 1872.


1886 – Launch of Musashi (武蔵) was the third and final vessel in the Katsuragi class of composite hulled, sail-and-steam corvettes of the early Imperial Japanese Navy.

Musashi (武蔵) was the third and final vessel in the Katsuragi class of composite hulled, sail-and-steam corvettes of the early Imperial Japanese Navy. It was named for Musashi province, a former province of Japan located in the Kantō region. The name was used again for the more famous World War II battleship Musashi.


Japanese sloop-of-war Musashi at Kobe

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

Katsuragi-class corvette - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1911 – Launch of HMS Monarch was the second of four Orion-class dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy in the early 1910s.

HMS Monarch was the second of four Orion-class dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy in the early 1910s. She spent the bulk of her career assigned to the Home and Grand Fleets. Aside from participating in the failed attempt to intercept the German ships that had bombarded Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby in late 1914, the Battle of Jutland in May 1916 and the inconclusive Action of 19 August, her service during World War I generally consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea.

After the Grand Fleet was dissolved in early 1919, Monarch was transferred to back to the Home Fleet for a few months before she was assigned to the Reserve Fleet. The ship was listed for disposal in mid-1922, but was hulked for use as a stationary training ship. In late 1923 Monarch was converted into a target ship and was sunk in early 1925.

HMS Monarch (1911) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1911 – Launch of Settsu (摂津) was the second and last of the Kawachi-class dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in the first decade of the 20th century.

Settsu (摂津) was the second and last of the Kawachi-class dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in the first decade of the 20th century. Following the Japanese ship-naming conventions, Settsu was named after Settsu Province,[1]now a part of Osaka prefecture. During World War I she bombarded German fortifications at Tsingtao during the Battle of Tsingtaoin 1914, but saw no other combat. She was placed in reserve in 1919 and was disarmed in 1922 in accordance with the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty.

Two years later, Settsu was converted into a target ship and she played a minor role at the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937. At the beginning of the Pacific War in 1941, the ship was used in an attempt to deceive the Allies as to the locations and activities of the Japanese aircraft carriers. Settsu reverted to her normal role as a target ship for the rest of the war; she was badly damaged when Allied aircraft carriers struck the naval base at Kure Naval District in July 1945. The ship was refloated after the war and scrapped in 1946–47.

Japanese battleship Settsu - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1926 – Launch of HMS Berwick, pennant number 65, was a County-class heavy cruiser of the British Royal Navy, part of the Kent subclass.

HMS Berwick, pennant number 65, was a County-class heavy cruiser of the British Royal Navy, part of the Kent subclass. She was built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company (Govan, Scotland), with the keel being laid down on 15 September 1924. She was launched on 30 March 1926 and commissioned 12 July 1927.

HMS Berwick (65) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1941 - Umona – while sailing unescorted off Sierra Leone, the passenger and cargo liner was hit by two torpedoes fired by U-124, sinking her 90 nautical miles (170 km) southwest of Freetown. Her master, 87 crew and 14 passengers were killed. Three survivors were rescued a week later; two more were rescued on 12 April

SS Umona - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1944 - HMS Laforey – While on anti-submarine patrol on 30 March 1944 the destroyer was sunk by three torpedoes fired from the German submarine U-223 in a surface battle. She sank quickly resulting with the loss of most of her company including her captain. Of the 247 aboard, 65 survived.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Laforey_(G99)


1944 - USS Darter (SS 227) sinks a Japanese army cargo ship near New Guinea, despite the presence of an escort vessel. Also on this date, USS Picuda (SS 382) attacks a Japanese convoy and sinks a transport ship near Guam while USS Stingray (SS 186) sinks a transport ship near Saipan.

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
31 March 1671 - HMS Sapphire (36), Cptn. John Pearce, run ashore at the Isles of Scilly by Cptn. and 1st Lt. to avoid capture when 4 sail sighted and was wrecked.
They proved to be friendly and the officers were subsequently sentenced to be shot for cowardice.


HMS Sapphire was a 38-gun fourth-rate frigate of the English Royal Navy, originally built for the navy of the Commonwealth of England by Peter Pett I at Ratcliffe, and launched in 1651.



Unlike many of her half-sisters, Sapphire seems to have never had additional guns added to her after completion; indeed by 1666 she carried just 36 in wartime (and 30 in peacetime), with 12 culverins and 10 demi-culverins on the lower deck, and 14 sakers on the upper deck. Sapphire was wrecked on 31 March 1670 when she was deliberately run aground at Sicily to escape from what her captain, John Pearce, thought were four Algerian corsairs. They weren't, and Pearce and his lieutenant, Andrew Logan, were shot for cowardice at Deptford on 26 August 1670.


The ‘Dartmouth’ viewed from the port quarter and carries, on the broadside, nine guns on the gun deck, two forward and four aft on the upper deck and two on the quarterdeck. She has square decorated ports. Robinson identifies this as a 32-gun ship (rather than a 30) based on the number of upper deck guns, making it either the ‘Sapphire’, ‘Success’, ‘Swan’, ‘Mermaid’ or ‘Dartmouth’: of two others the ‘Eagle’ was made a fireship in 1667 and the ‘Sorlings’ was lost in 1667. The quarter galleries are early (so it is unlikely to be the later ‘Sapphire’ or ‘Swan’) and since they and the stern galleries are very similar to the ‘Portsmouth’ (PAH1841) it may be the Portsmouth-built ‘Dartmouth’.

HMS Sapphire (1651) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
31 March 1671 - Launch of HMS Royal James, a 102-gun first rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Anthony Deane at Portsmouth Dockyard


HMS Royal James was a 102-gun first rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Anthony Deane at Portsmouth Dockyard at a cost of £24,000, and launched on 31 March 1671.




The Burning of the Royal James at the Battle of Solebay, 7 June 1672 by Willem van de Velde the younger. De Ruyter's flagship De Zeven Provinciën is shown in the left background in close combat with the Vice-Admiral of the Blue, Sir Joseph Jordan on Royal Sovereign. The ship to the right of the burning Royal James is that of Vice-Admiral Johan de Liefde.


The Battle of Solebay was a popular theme in the genre of the historic seascape in the 17th and early 18th centuries. In his composition Peter Monamy (1681-1749) plays out the entire scope of the drama and action of the first battle of the Third Anglo-Dutch War, 1672-74. On 28 May 1672 ninety-eight ships of the Anglo-French fleet under James, Duke of York, and 75 ships under Admiral de Ruyter engaged in a fight both parties later claimed to have won. One Dutch success was the destruction of the 100-gun ‘Royal James’ by fireships, but their fleet finally had to withdraw. Monamy divides the picture space into a dark foreground zone, where sailors on two small rowing boats are locked in close combat shooting each other with pistols amidst floating wreckage, and a more theatrically lit background. Here, the tall three-masters are firing their guns at one another, wrapping the scene in clouds of smoke that blur the horizon and mingle with the sky thereby locking the vessels together in the fight. The burning wreck of the ‘Royal James’ itself is depicted in dark silhouette and shifted to the right of the composition. The painting is signed. Peter Monamy was one of the first English artists to continue the tradition of Willem van de Velde the Younger’s marine painting into the 18th century and his work is representative of the early British school of maritime art, which still shows the overwhelming influence of the Dutch style. Monamy was self-taught, but may have worked in van de Velde’s studio in Greenwich.


She was the first Royal Navy vessel to be assembled using iron as a part of her frame, rather than merely in bolts and nails. Her shipwright, Sir Anthony Deane modified the vessel's plans to include U-shaped iron bars to secure the planking of the hull, despite stern disapproval from Admiralty's representative, the Clerk of the Acts Samuel Pepys. Deane defended his actions by claiming there was a shortage of usable wood. His defence was personally reviewed by the King, Charles II, who upheld the use of iron. However, the innovation was not repeated in other Royal Navy vessels until adoption of the 1719 Establishment nearly fifty years later.

Royal James was also one of only three Royal Navy ships to be equipped with the Rupertinoe naval gun. She fought at the Battle of Solebay on 7 June 1672 (28 May 1672 O.S.) as Admiral Edward Montagu's flagship. She was attacked by first Dolfijn, and then Groot Hollandia, before finally coming under attack by Dutch fireships. Royal James was destroyed by the fire and sank. Montagu died, although the ship's Captain, Richard Haddock, survived and went on to hold a distinguished career in the Navy. She had seen barely four months service.








Scale 1:54. A contemporary full hull model of a 90 to 94-gun three-decker (circa 1670), built partially plank on frame in the Navy Board style. It is rather unusual in that very little of the hull is planked, the deck beams are left unplanked and the stern and quarter galleries are in frame only. The bulwark screens, above the upper wales, have been decorated and are complete with wreathed gunports. At this rather unusual scale, it represents a ship measuring 163 feet along the gun deck by 44 feet in the beam and an approximate tonnage of 1230 burden. Although probably a design for a three-decker of 1670, the model agrees in many respects with a ship whose plans appear in Sir Anthony Deane’s ‘Doctrine of Naval Architecture’ of 1670. The very unusual feature of the three lower wales instead of the normal two appears in Deane’s drawing. His first three-decker was the Royal James of 1671, although this model probably represents a slightly smaller ship and it has been associated with the St Andrew of 1670.



Progress of Ship Building. 1. The wicker boat of the ancient Britons 2. The Great Harry 3. The Royal James 4. The Royal George (PAF7926)


Sole-Bay Fight 1672... engagement... between the British and Dutch Fleets in Southwold Bay, May 28th 1672. This view represents the Royal James encountered by a fireship and the entire squadron under van Ghent which occasioned her being blown up with... Earl of Sandwich and 600 of her crew (PAF4525)

HMS Royal James (1671) - Wikipedia

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Warship; 90-94 guns - National Maritime Museum