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

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
15 March 1708 - french Salisbury, ex HMS Salisbury, a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line, was recaptured by HMS Leopard


HMS Salisbury was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Richard and James Herring at Baileys Hard (near Bucklers Hard) on the Beaulieu River in Hampshire, England and launched on 18 April 1698.





Salisbury was commissioned in 1699 under her first commander, Captain Richard Lestock. The following year she joined Admiral George Rooke's fleet in the Baltic, and remained with Rooke off Dunkirk in 1701. Lestock was succeeded by Captain Richard Cotton, but while off Orford Ness on 10 April 1703 she encountered and was attacked by a squadron consisting of four French warships, including the Adroit, and three privateers. After an engagement which left 17 killed and 34 wounded, Salisbury was taken by the French. She served with the French under the name Salisbury, and for a time was part of Claude de Forbin's squadron.

On 1 May 1707, Salisbury very nearly fell back into English hands. Salisbury was part of the Dunkirk Squadron that attacked the English convoy commanded by Baron Wylde, during the Action of 2 May 1707. Captain George Clements lost his life in defence of HMS Hampton Court, but not before his crew so disabled Salisbury that she was left for a wreck, later recovered by the French who could not fit her out in time for their next warring exploit.

She was finally recaptured off Scotland on 15 March 1708 by HMS Leopard and other ships of Sir George Byng's squadron. She was renamed HMS Salisbury Prize, as a new HMS Salisbury had already been built. She was renamed HMS Preston on 2 January 1716.

On 8 May 1739 Preston was ordered to be taken to pieces and rebuilt at Plymouth according to the 1733 proposals of the 1719 Establishment, and was relaunched on 18 September 1742. From 1745 she was assigned to the Royal Navy's East Indies squadron which was based in the Dutch-held port of Trincomalee, Ceylon. In September 1748 she was declared unseaworthy and converted into a hulk. Over the following year she served as a storehouse for naval supplies and a support for the careening of other vessels, and was broken up in November 1749.


HMS Leopard was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Rotherhithe and launched on 15 March 1703.

Leopard underwent a rebuild according to the 1719 Establishment at Woolwich, and was relaunched on 18 April 1721. Leopard served until 1739, when she was broken up.

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

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 13 March 1811 - Battle of Lissa (1811) - Part III - captured and destroyed ships Corona was a 40-gun Pallas-class frigate of the Italian Navy. The French built her in Venice in 1807 for the Venetian Navy. The British captured Corona...

shipsofscale.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Salisbury_(1698)

HMS Leopard (1703) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
15 March 1708 - french Le Blakoual, ex HMS Blackwall, a 50-gun fourth-rate ship of the line of the English Royal Navy, recaptured by british


Blackwall was a 50-gun fourth-rate ship of the line of the English Royal Navy, launched at Blackwall Yard in 1696.





In September 1705, whilst under the command of Captain Samuel Martin Blackwall, along with two smaller vessels, had been ordered to convoy some merchantmen to the Baltic. On 20 October, as Blackwall and her two consorts HMS Sorlings and HMS Pendennis were convoying the return voyage, they encountered a superior French force. All the English ships were captured, Blackwall herself being taken by the French ship Protée. Both Captain Martin and the French commander were killed in the action.

Blackwall was commissioned into the French Navy under the name Blekoualle; she was recaptured on 15 March 1708 but was not taken back into service in the Royal Navy, the decision being taken to have her broken up instead. However, she was captured again by the French in 1709, this time being named Blakoual, remaining in French service until disposed of in 1719.

HMS Blackwall - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

British Fourth Rate ship of the line 'Blackwall' (1696)

British Fourth Rate ship of the line 'Blackwall' (1696). Dates of service, name changes, previous and next incarnations, dimensions, armament, commanders, officers and crewmen, actions, battles, sources

threedecks.org

French Fourth Rate ship of the line 'Le Blakoual' (1705)

French Fourth Rate ship of the line 'Le Blakoual' (1705). Dates of service, name changes, previous and next incarnations, dimensions, armament, commanders, officers and crewmen, actions, battles, sources

threedecks.org

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

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

threedecks.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
15 March 1759 – Launch of HMS Mars, a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, at Woolwich Dockyard.


HMS Mars was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 15 March 1759 at Woolwich Dockyard.

Mars took part in the Battle of Quiberon Bay on 20 November 1759, flying the broad pennant of Commodore James Young.
From 1778, Mars was on harbour service, and was broken up in 1784.




Scale: 1:48. Plans showing the body plan, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth for 'Dublin' (1757), 'Norfolk' (1757), 'Shrewsbury' (1758), 'Warspite' (1758), 'Resolution' (1758), 'Lenox' (1758), and 'Mars' (1759) all 74-gun Third Rate, two-deckers.


The Dublin-class ships of the line were a class of seven 74-gun third rates, designed for the Royal Navy by Sir Thomas Slade.

Design
The Dublin-class ships were the first 74-gun ships to be designed for the Royal Navy, and marked the beginning of a more dynamic era of naval design than that in the ultra-conservative Establishment era preceding it.

Slade's draught was approved on 26 August 1755 when the first two orders were transmitted to Deptford Dockyard. The design was some 4½ feet longer than the preceding 70-gun ships of the 1745 Establishment, with the extra length making provision for an additional (14th) pair of 32-pounder guns on the lower deck compared with the 13 pairs of the 70-gun ships. They were nominally ordered as 70-gun ships (although always designed to carry 74), but redesignated as 74-gun during construction.

Ships

• HMS Dublin

Builder: Deptford Dockyard
Ordered: 26 August 1755
Laid down: 18 November 1755
Launched: 6 May 1757
Completed: 1 July 1757
Fate: Broken up, May 1784

• HMS Norfolk

Builder: Deptford Dockyard
Ordered: 26 August 1755
Laid down: 18 November 1755
Launched: 28 December 1757
Completed: 23 February 1758
Fate: Broken up, December 1774

• HMS Shrewsbury

Builder: Wells & Company, Deptford
Ordered: 28 October 1755
Laid down: 14 January 1756
Launched: 23 February 1758
Completed: 2 May 1758 at Deptford Dockyard
Fate: Condemned and scuttled at Jamaica 12 June 1783

• HMS Lenox

Builder: Chatham Dockyard
Ordered: 28 October 1755
Laid down: 8 April 1756
Launched: 25 February 1758
Completed: 26 May 1758
Fate: Sunk as breakwater, 1784; later raised and broken up May 1789

• HMS Mars

Builder: Woolwich Dockyard
Ordered: 28 October 1755
Laid down: 1 May 1756
Launched: 15 March 1759
Completed: 12 April 1759
Fate: Sold to be broken up, August 1784

• HMS Warspite

Builder: Thomas West, Deptford
Ordered: 14 November 1755
Laid down: November 1755
Launched: 8 April 1758
Completed: 27 July 1758 at Deptford Dockyard
Fate: Broken up, November 1801

• HMS Resolution

Builder: Henry Bird, Northam, Southampton
Ordered: 24 November 1755
Laid down: December 1755
Launched: 14 December 1758
Completed: 23 March 1759 at Portsmouth Dockyard
Fate: Wrecked, 20 November 1759 during Battle of Quiberon



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Mars_(1759)

Dublin-class ship of the line - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
15 March 1759 – Launch of HMS Hercules, a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, at Deptford Dockyard.


HMS Hercules was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 15 March 1759 at Deptford Dockyard.



The ship took part in the Battle of the Saintes on 12 April 1782 against a French fleet, where she suffered six killed and 18 wounded. She was the third ship in the part of the British line of battle which broke the enemy's line astern of the French flagship Ville de Paris.

She was sold out of the service in 1784.


Model of a 74-gun ship, third rate, circa 1760. Thought to be either HMS Hercules or HMS Thunderer from 1760.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with alterations, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth with alterations, for 'Hero' (1759), a 74-gun Third Rate, two-decker, and with the alterations for 'Hercules' (1759), and 'Thunderer' (1760), both 74-gun Third Rate, two-deckers. The reverse of the plan records that the sets of plans for 'Hercules' and 'Thunderer' were recalled in 1757 as their design had been modified.


The Hercules class ships of the line were a class of two 74-gun third rates, designed for the Royal Navy by Sir Thomas Slade.

Design
The Hercules class ships were a development on Slade's previous two designs: the Dublin-class, and the subsequent one-off HMS Hero.

Ships

• HMS Hercules

Builder: Deptford Dockyard
Ordered: 15 July 1756
Launched: 15 March 1759
Fate: Sold out of the service, 1784

• HMS Thunderer

Builder: Woolwich Dockyard
Ordered: 15 July 1756
Launched: 19 March 1760
Fate: Wrecked, 1780










Scale: 1:48. A contemporary full hull model of a 74-gun two-decker ship of the line (circa 1760), built with a 'bread and butter' core, planked and finished in the Georgian style. Model is partially decked, fully equipped, rigged and mounted on its original baseboard. At this scale the model depicts a ship with a gun deck length of 166 feet by 47 feet in the beam and a tonnage of 1600 burden. A noticeable feature is the raised position of the channels that support the shrouds above the upper gun deck. The rigging is modern and was fitted in 1976. There is a possibility that the model may depict 'Thunderer', or a similar ship, 'Hercules'. During the 18th century, attempts were made to find the optimum size for a ship of the time to carry the maximum armament on two decks. By 1757, the 74-gun ship of about 1600 tons burden was evolved and this, with minor modifications, was to become the standard medium sized fighting ship for the next 50 years.




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Hercules_(1759)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hercules-class_ship_of_the_line

Collections - National Maritime Museum

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[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
15 March 1767 – Launch of Spanish San Francisco de Asis, a Spanish 74-gun ship of the line launched from the royal shipyard in Guarnizo (Cantabria)


San Francisco de Asis was a Spanish 74-gun ship of the line launched in 1767 from the royal shipyard in Guarnizo (Cantabria). She was wrecked after the Battle of Trafalgar in 23rd October 805 near Puerto de Santa Maria.




Battle between the Spanish ship of line San Francisco de Asís and three British frigates and a sloop (25 January 1797)


San Juan Nepomuceno class all ordered 1763-67 at Guarnizo, 70 guns

San Juan Nepomuceno 70 (launched 18 October 1766 at Guarnizo) - captured by Britain at the Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805, renamed HMS San Juan, sold 1818
San Pascual Bailon 70 (launched 16 December 1766 at Guarnizo) - BU 1797
San Francisco de Asis 70 (launched 15 March 1767 at Guarnizo) - Wrecked after the Battle of Trafalgar, 23 October 1805
San Lorenzo 70 (launched 10 October 1768 at Guarnizo) - BU 1815
San Agustín 70 (launched 9 December 1768 at Guarnizo) - Captured by Portugal 1776, returned 1777, captured and scuttled by Britain at the Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805
Santo Domingo 70 (1769) - Blew up at the Battle of Cape Santa Maria, 1780

Spanish ship San Francisco de Asis (1767) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
15 March 1782 – Launch of HMS Crown, a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, at Blackwall Yard.


HMS Crown was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 15 March 1782 at Blackwall Yard.

She was converted to serve as a prison ship in 1798, and was broken up in 1816.





Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth for building Ardent (1782), and later for Crown (1782) and Scipio (1782), all 64-gun Third Rate, two-deckers. Signed by Edward Hunt [Surveyor of the Navy, 1778-1784].


The Crown-class ships of the line were a class of three 64-gun third rates, designed for the Royal Navy by Sir Edward Hunt.

Ships

• HMS Crown

Builder: Perry, Blackwall Yard
Ordered: Unknown
Launched: 15 March 1782
Fate: Broken up, 1816

• HMS Ardent

Builder: Staves & Parsons, Bursledon
Ordered: 9 September 1779
Launched: 21 December 1782
Fate: Blown up, 1794

• HMS Scipio

Builder: Barnard, Deptford
Ordered: 11 November 1779
Launched: 22 October 1782
Fate: Broken up, 1798


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the framing profile (disposition) for 'Ardent' (1782), a 64-gun Third Rate, two-decker, building at Bursledon by Messrs Stares and Parsons. Signed by Edward Hunt [Surveyor of the Navy, 1778-1784].



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

Crown-class ship of the line - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Collections - National Maritime Museum

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[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
15 March 1807- Boats of HMS Comus cut out six merchantmen.


HMS Comus was a 22-gun Laurel-class sixth-rate post ship of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1806.[3] In 1807 she took part in one notable single-ship action and was at the capture of Copenhagen. In 1815 she spent six months with the West Africa Squadron suppressing the slave trade during which time she captured ten slavers and freed 500-1000 slaves. She was wrecked in 1816, though with no loss of life.



Canaries
She was commissioned in October 1806 under her first captain, Conway Shipley. The following year her boats executed cutting-out operations in the Canaries. On 15 March 1807 her boats, under the command of Lieutenant George Edward Watts, entered "Puerto de Haz" [sic], Grand Canaria, which was defended by the crossfire of three shore batteries. The British succeeded in bringing out six Spanish brigs (one armed with five guns), three with cargoes of salt pork, salt fish, or wine and fruit, and three in ballast. The only British casualty was a lieutenant, who was wounded. That month Comus also captured two brigs, the St Philip, with salt fish, and Nostra Senora de los Remedies, with a mixed cargo of merchandise.

On 8 May Comus sent her boats into the harbour of Gran Canaria, which was defended by a strong fort and two shore batteries. There they cut out a large armed felucca, which was flying His Catholic Majesty's colours. The boarding party, under the command of Lieutenant Watts, cleared her deck of her crew and the boats started to pull her out (the Spaniards had taken the precaution of removing her rudder and sails and taking them on shore), when a tug-of-war developed as men on the quay pulled on a hawser. Eventually the boarding party cut the hawser and the boats succeeded in pulling the felucca out, an operation they conducted under fire. The felucca was the packet ship San Pedro de Apostol, which had been carrying bale goods from Cadiz to Buenos Ayres. On her way, San Pedro de Apostol had captured the Lord Keith, which had been sailing from London to Mogador.

The British lost one man killed and five men wounded, one of whom was Watts, who had been severely wounded. The Spanish casualties included her captain and some crew killed, and 21 men taken prisoner, of whom 19 were wounded. The Lloyd's Patriotic Fund awarded Watts a sword worth £50. The prize money was substantial too.

In May, Comus captured the Spanish lugger St Francisco, with her cargo of wheat and salt. The other capture was the schooner Louisa, a completely new vessel sailing in ballast.

Comus vs. HDMS Fridericksværn
Comus was under Captain Edward Heywood from July 1807, and in August she was with the expedition to Copenhagen. During this service she took part in a notable, illegal and ultimately one-sided single-ship action, and accumulated substantial prize money.

On 12 August the 32-gun Danish frigate HDMS Fridericksværn (Fredrickscoarn in British usage), sailed for Norway from Elsinor and Admiral Lord Gambier sent the 74-gun third rateDefence and Comus after her, even though war had not yet been declared.[8] Comus was faster than Defence in the light winds and so outdistanced her.

On 14 August 1807 Comus sighted Frederiksværn and chased her, catching up off Marstrand a little before midnight on the 15th. Heywood ordered the Frederiksværn to halt and allow herself to be detained.[9] War not having been declared, and Frederiksværn being a naval vessel, she ignored Heywood's instructions. Heywood ordered a musket fired, to which Frederiksværn replied with a shot from her stern guns. Comus followed with a broadside.

After an action of 45 minutes, Frederiksværn's rigging was disabled. Comus and Frederiksværn then came together, which enabled a boarding party from Comus to climb over Frederiksværn's bow and capture her.

The two vessels had been relatively evenly matched in firepower. Comus's broadside weighed 204 pounds, while Frederiksværn's broadside weighed 200 pounds. However, Frederiksværn had a crew of 226 men to Comus's 145 men. Still, the British had suffered only one man wounded. The Danes lost 12 men killed and 20 wounded, some mortally. The Royal Navy took her into service as Frederickscoarn. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Comus 15 Augt. 1807", to all surviving claimants from the action.

Defence and Comus then sailed in search of a Danish 74-gun reported to be returning to Copenhagen, but did not find her. On 18 August Comus captured the Danish merchant vessel Haabet.

Comus went on to participate in the capitulation of Copenhagen on 7 September and to share in the prize money for that. Comus also shared with Christian VII in the recapture on the same day of the Britannia. Three days later Comus shared with Spencer and Pelican in the capture of the Danish merchant vessel Fredeus Forsward. Later that month, on 9 September, Comus and Pelican captured the Danish merchant vessel Elizabeth vonder Pahlen, but had to share with Defence, which was in sight. Three days after that, on 2 October, Comus and Pelican captured the Danish merchant vessel Anna Catherina.

Subsequent service
Captain Josceline Percy took command in November 1807, and sailed to Portugal later that month. There Comus participated in the occupation of Madeira by Sir Samuel Hood. Here her primary task was to reconnoiter the island. She returned to Hood's fleet on 23 December and the British took unopposed possession the next day.

Captain Matthew Smith took command in 1808, and Comus continued off the Portuguese coast and in the Mediterranean. On 5 February she captured sundry Danish vessels at St. Ubes (Setubal, Portugal). The vessels Comus captured were the Ovenum, Martha Beata, Aufgehende Sonne, Finegheden, Johannes, Soe Blomstedt, Speculation, Haabet, Fortuna, Bragernes and Magdalena. The initial distribution of prize money amounted to ₤12,000. Given the small size of her crew, this resulted in a notable amount even for an ordinary seaman.

On 27 February 1808 she captured the American brig Fame.

On 20 February 1811 Comus was part of a flotilla of English warships and Spanish transports under the command of Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Godwin Keats. The flotilla was waiting to land some British troops and 7,000 Spanish troops at Tariffa. The weather did not permit the landing so instead the British troops landed at Algeciras and marched to Tariffa, later being joined by the Spanish troops when the transports could sail.

On 10 May 1812, Smith, on behalf of the British government, signed a treaty of commerce with His Highness Sidi Jusef Caramanli, Bashaw, Bey, Governor and Captain General of the City and Kingdom of Tripoli in the West.

On 14 May 1813 Comus captured the American brig Jane Barnes.

In late March Comus was at Hellevoetsluis to transport French coins that Nathan Rothschild had collected. Rothschild had a contract to deliver £600,000 to the south of France by 14 March. By the time Comus and Thais were able to deliver to Bordeaux the £450,000 that Rothschild had gathered Napoleon had abdicated.

Comus was under Captain John Tailour from November 1814, during which time she served in the [{West Africa Squadron]]. During her service with the Squadron, Comus captured eleven vessels, all of which the Vice admiralty court at Freetown condemned, though the London Commission later reversed four condemnations.

On 16 March 1815 Comus captured the Portuguese slave schooner Dos Amigos off Old Calabar River; she landed one slave.

Next, on 25 March, Comus was at Duke Town where she captured the Spanish schooners Nuestra Senora del Carmen (120 slaves) and Intrepida (or Intrepide; 245 slaves), and the brig Catalina (no slaves).[29] Among the slaves Comus did free there were 54 boys and 47 girls. Catalina arrived at Portsmouth, in ballast, on 20 October.

Comus also captured two Portuguese vessels, Bon Sorte (61 slaves), and the schooner Estrella (41 slaves). The London Commission reversed the condemnation of Bon Sorte.

Next, Comus captured two Portuguese vessels. On 3 April she captured the brig Santa Anna (three slaves) at Old Calabar River. On 23 April Comus captured the schooner Maria Madelena (no slaves), off "Princes Island". The London Commission reversed the condemnation of Santa Anna.

Comus appears to have been the first warship to have sailed up the Calabar River as far as Duke Town. By one account her boats captured seven Portuguese and Spanish slavers carrying some 550 slaves. First though, they had to overcome the slavers' determined resistance, which resulted in some bloodshed.

In June Comus captured the Portuguese schooner Novo Fragantina (no slaves) at Anomabu|Anamabo]]. Then on 15 July at Cape Palmas Comus captured both the Portuguese brigantine Abismo and the Spanish schooner Palafox, neither of which was carrying slaves. The London Commission reversed the condemnation of both Portuguese vessels.

Captain Thomas Tucker had succeeded Tailour by 1816, and Captain James Gordon Bremer succeeded Tucker.

Fate
Comus was wrecked at St Mary's Bay, off Cape Pine, Newfoundland on 24 October 1816. At around midnight she grounded and developed leaks. The crew abandoned her around 3am when she threatened to roll over on her side as the tide receded. Subsequent efforts to refloat her were unsuccessful. The wreck was abandoned on 4 November 1816. The subsequent court martial blamed the wrecking on a strong current that had driven her closer to shore than Bremer had realized. However, the court also warned Bremer and the master, Bateman Ainsworth, to be more careful in the future, finding that they had been overconfident in their navigation and had failed to take frequent depth soundings. The court added that Bremer, his officers and his crew were due the greatest praise "for their arduous exertions in their endeavours to save her, and also for their good and steady conduct throughout the business, both in the boats and on shore."


The Laurel-class sailing sixth rates were a series of six post ships built to an 1805 design by Sir John Henslow. The first three were launched in 1806, two more in 1807, and the last in 1812. The vessels of the class served in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic War.

Ships in class

• HMS Boreas
• HMS Laurel
  • Builder: Nicholas Bools & William Good, Bridport, Dorset
  • Ordered: 30 January 1805
  • Laid down: June 1805
  • Launched: 2 June 1806
  • Completed: 16 November 1806 at Plymouth Dockyard
  • Fate: Captured by the French on 12 September 1808. The French named her Esperance. Unicorn recaptured her on 12 April 1810 off the Île de Ré. She was armed en flute and was carrying a cargo of colonial produce from Île de France while under the command of a lieutenant de vaisseau.[1] The Royal Navy took her back into service as HMS Laurestinus. She wrecked in the Bahamas in August 1813.
• HMS Comus
• HMS Garland
• HMS Perseus
• HMS Volage

HMS Comus (1806) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Laurel-class post ship - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
15 March 1843 - schooner USS Grampus have foundered in a gale off Charleston, South Carolina with all hands.


USS Grampus was a schooner in the United States Navy. She was the first U.S. Navy ship to be named for the Grampus griseus, also known as Risso's Dolphin.



Grampus was built at the Washington Navy Yard under the supervision of naval constructor William Doughty, based on a design by Henry Eckford. Her 73 ft (22 m) keel was laid down in 1820. She was launched in early August 1821. The need to suppress piracy and to maintain ships to catch slavers led to the building of five such schooners, the largest of which was Grampus. This was the first building program undertaken by the Navy since the War of 1812.


Grampus depicted flying her National Ensigns upside down, a sign of distress

Service history
Lieutenant Francis Gregory commanded Grampus on her first cruise as part of the West Indies Squadron, which took her to the Antilles in pursuit of pirates. In the company of Hornet, Enterprise, Spark, Porpoise, and Shark, Grampus engaged in convoying merchant vessels throughout 1821, the presence of the squadron having a marked effect on piratical activity among the islands.

On 16 August 1822, Grampus fought a brig flying Spanish colors, but which Lt. Gregory suspected was a pirate. When he called upon her commander to surrender, he was met with cannon and small arms fire. Grampus answered in turn, and reduced the bogus Spaniard to a floating wreck in 3½ minutes. The brig struck her colors and Lt. Gregory discovered that she was Palmyra, a Puerto Rico-based pirate carrying the papers of a privateer as a subterfuge.

In 1825, Captain John D. Sloat — commander of Grampus — engaged another Puerto Rican pirate, Roberto Cofresí, in battle. Cofresí was captured along with eleven members of his crew, and they were turned over to the Spanish government. Cofresí was jailed in El Castillo del Morro in San Juan.

Grampus had a small part in the Amistad trials: in November-December 1839, the U.S. government had Grampus standing by in New Haven Harbor, so that if the court ruled in favor of the slaves' Spanish "owners," they could deport the Africans to Cuba before they could file an appeal. However, the district judge ruled that the Africans had been illegally enslaved and must be returned to Africa. It was the government that appealed on behalf of the slaveholders, and Grampus was not needed.

Grampus continued her duties in the protection of shipping in the Caribbean Sea and in the South Atlantic Ocean until August 1841, when she was detached from the Africa Squadron while lying at Boston Navy Yard and attached to the Home Squadron at Norfolk, Virginia on 23 January 1843.

Grampus was last spoken to by Madison off St. Augustine, Florida on 15 March 1843. She is presumed to have foundered in a gale off Charleston, South Carolina with all hands.

USS Grampus (1821) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
15 March 1860 – Launch of french Masséna, a 90-gun Suffren-class Ship of the line of the French Navy


The Masséna was a 90-gun Suffren-class Ship of the line of the French Navy



Laid down already in 1835 as Spectre, the ship was renamed Masséna in 1840. Her launch was 20 years later in 1860.
She took part in the French intervention in Mexico from 1861. She was used as a transport from 1867, and struck off on 9 May 1879. From 1880, she was used as barracks in Toulon, and she was eventually broken up in 1906.


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


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






https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Masséna_(1860)

Suffren-class ship of the line - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
15 March 1888 – Launch of SS City of New York, a British built passenger liner of the Inman Line, that was designed to be the largest and fastest liner on the Atlantic.


City of New York was a British built passenger liner of the Inman Line that was designed to be the largest and fastest liner on the Atlantic. When she entered service in August 1888, she was the first twin screw express liner and while she did not achieve the westbound Blue Riband, she ultimately held the eastbound record from August 1892 to May 1893 at a speed of 20.11 knots. City of New York and her sister City of Paris are considered especially beautiful ships and throughout their careers were rivals to the White Star Teutonic and Majestic. In February 1893, the Inman Line was merged into the American Line and by act of Congress, the renamed New York was transferred to the US flag. Beginning in the mid-1890s, New York and Pariswere paired with St Louis and St Paul to form one of the premier Atlantic services. New York continued with the American Line until 1920 and was broken for scrap in 1923. She served the US Navy as Harvard during the Spanish–American War and Plattsburg in World War I. She is also remembered for nearly colliding with the RMS Titanic as the latter ship began her doomed maiden voyage in 1912.



Development and design
When International Navigation Company purchased the Inman Line in 1886, the fleet needed new units to revive the line's fortunes against the Cunard Line and White Star. International Navigation's Vice President, Clement Griscom immediately sailed to Liverpool with a commitment from the Pennsylvania Railroad to provide $2 million in capital towards the building of a new ship. Shipbuilders in Scotland were experiencing a recession at the time and offered to deliver two ships at $1,850,000 per unit. The Pennsylvania Railroad agreed to underwrite the additional capital and the contracts were signed for City of New York and her sister, City of Paris.


Detail of twin screws

When designing the new liners, the lessons of the City of Rome fiasco were recalled. The original design called two ships of 8,500 GRT that were only slightly bigger than City of Rome, but with steel hulls and twin screws. Because powerful single screw liners were prone to shaft failure, they carried extensive rigging for sails. Twin screws rendered this extra rigging unnecessary. Starting in 1866, a few twin screw ships sailed the Atlantic, but the new Inman ships were the first twin screw express liners.

While size was increased by almost 25% to 10,500 GRT in the final design, the plan retained City of Rome's classic clipper bow and three raked funnels. City of New York even had a figurehead of a female figure carved by sculptor James Allan. To address the vibration problems of most liners of the period, the new Inman liners were given a ratio of length to beam of 8.3 to 1 as compared to the then common ratio of 10 to 1. The hull was more extensively subdivided than previously attempted. The ships were equipped with a full double bottom and 15 transverse bulkheads that reached the saloon deck. They also received a fore-aft bulkhead over their entire length. Each ship had two triple expansion engines, of 9,000 indicated horsepower each that were placed in separate compartments. While the engines for the sisters were identical, City of Paris produced 1,500 more horsepower than City of New York.

City of New York was designed for 540 first, 200 second and 1,000 steerage passengers. Her quarters were fitted with running hot and cold water, electric ventilation, and electric lighting. Her first class public rooms, such as library and smoking room, were fitted with walnut panels and her dining salon came with a massive dome that provided a natural light to the passengers.

Service history
On March 15, 1888, City of New York was christened by Lady Randolph Churchill. That August, she entered service but while achieving respectable crossings, she was unable to produce records. Her sister, City of Paris entered service in April 1889 and took the westbound Blue Riband a month later. That August, White Star commissioned the twin screw Teutonic followed the next year by Majestic and the Inman and White Star pairs took turns bettering each other's times. While City of Paris proved to be the fastest of the four, in 1892 City of New York was finally able to outrun her sister for the eastbound record.

It had been International Navigation's plan to maintain Inman's status as a British flag carrier. However, even before City of New York was completed, the British Government responded to Inman's ownership change by revoking the line's mail contract. International Navigation lobbied the US Congress to replace the subsidy and allow the Inman speedsters to register in the US despite the law that only permitted US-built ships to be registered there. After considerable controversy, Congress enacted the subsidy provided that International Navigation build two similar ships in the US and all four twin-screw liners being available to the government in the event of a crisis. In one of his last acts in office, on February 22, 1893, President Benjamin Harrison boarded the now renamed New York during a snowstorm and raised the American Flag. The Inman Line was merged into International Navigation's American Line. As a part of the change, the former Inman liners now used Southampton as their UK destination rather than Liverpool, ending their direct rivalry with the White Star pair until 1907 when Teutonic and Majestic were also transferred to Southampton.

Spanish–American War
Main article: USS Harvard (1888)
At the outbreak of the Spanish–American War, City of New York was chartered as an auxiliary cruiser with a civilian crew, commissioning on 26 April 1898 at New York, Captain C. S. Cotton in command and renamed Harvard. Assigned as a scout, Harvard departed New York on 30 April to cruise West Indian waters in search of the Spanish fleet. After sending back several reports on the location of Spanish units in the Caribbean, Harvard was blockaded by a larger force at Saint-Pierre, Martinique from 11–17 May, after which she proceeded to Santiago de Cuba and St. Nicholas Mole, Haiti, with dispatches from Commodore Winfield Scott Schley. Interrupting her scouting duties, Harvard returned to Newport , Virginia, 7–26 June during which time her crew was officially taken into the Naval Service.

Harvard returned to the Caribbean with troops and supplies, arriving at Altares, Cuba, about 1 July. After Rear Admiral William T. Sampson's victory at the victory off Santiago, she rescued survivors. Despite the high surf and ammunition explosions from the stricken Spanish ships, Harvard succeeded in recovering over 600 officers and men.

On 4 July 1898, the 9th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry were guarding the prisoners of war inside Harvard. A guard ordered a prisoner, who was attempting to cross the line, to return. The prisoner did not understand English and the guard fired a shot causing other prisoners to stand up. Fearing the prisoners were about to attack, the guards opened fire, killing six prisoners and wounding thirteen more. After the investigation, it was concluded that it was a mistake. The tragedy was known as "Harvard Incident".

No longer needed as a scout in the Caribbean, Harvard was sent back to the United States 10 July 1898. She was temporarily turned over to the War Department, and returned to Santiago de Cuba to transport troops back to the United States.Harvard arrived at New York on 27 August and decommissioned 2 September 1898 at New York Navy Yard.

Post-war


SS New York in her near collision with Titanic


SS New York arriving in New York Aug 9, 1914 with passengers fleeing the outbreak of the Great War

New York resumed her civilian service on the New York–Southampton run in January 1899. During her first post-war crossing, one of her engines broke down and she had to return to Southampton for repairs lasting three months. Three years later, New York was taken out of service for an extensive refit that included replacing her machinery with quadruple expansion engines. Her good looks were partly spoiled when her three raked funnels were replaced with two taller ones. She resumed service on 14 April 1903.

On 10 April 1912, New York was berthed in Southampton beside Oceanic. The three-inch steel hawsers that secured her were torn from their moorings when the much larger Titanic (leaving port to begin her ill-fated maiden voyage to New York City) passed by, creating a suction effect. A collision was narrowly avoided when Titanic's captain, Edward Smith, ordered the port propeller to reverse, turning the larger liner while a nearby tugboat towed New York in the opposite direction.


New York as the troopship Plattsburg.

In 1913, New York was re-configured as a second and third-class only liner. At the beginning of the first world war, the American Line reverted to Liverpool for their UK terminal. As a neutral flagged liner, New York was very profitable until the United States entered the war. The US Navy commissioned her as a troop transport renamed the Plattsburg. During her service, she was damaged by a mine in the Mersey.

After the war, New York's reconditioning included removal of a mast. She resumed her passenger service in 1920 and remained with the American Line for nine months until she was sold to the Polish Navigation Company. After one voyage, her new owner went bankrupt and New York was seized by the creditors who sold her to the Irish American Line in 1922. She was then sold to the United Transatlantic Line and again to the American Black Sea Line. Her last Atlantic crossing was on 10 June 1922 from New York to Naples and Constantinople. Later that year, she was sold for scrap.


Gallery

• 
  General view of the frames of City of New York. June 25, 1887
• 
  Frames of City of New York, looking aft. July 19, 1887
• 
  Frames of City of New York looking forward. July 19, 1887.
• 
  Bow view of City of New York before launching.
• 
  Stern view of City of New York

SS City of New York (1888) - Wikipedia

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
15 March 1889 - A typhoon strikes Apia, Samoa, where American, German and British ships are protecting their national interests.
The typhoon drives USS Trenton, USS Vandalia, and USS Nipsic ashore, killing 51 crew members,
and sinks all three German ships, the SMS Olga, SMS Eber and SMS Adler with the loss of 150 crew.


The 1889 Apia cyclone was a tropical cyclone in the South Pacific Ocean, which swept across Apia, Samoa on March 15, 1889, during the Samoan crisis. The effect on shipping in the harbour was devastating, largely because of what has been described as 'an error of judgement that will forever remain a paradox in human psychology' .





The growing storm
See also: Samoan crisis and Samoan Civil War
Events ashore had led to upheaval in the Pacific nations and colonies. Both the United States and Imperial Germany saw this as a potential opportunity to expand their holdings in the Pacific through gunboat diplomacy. In order to be ready should such an opportunity arise, both nations had dispatched squadrons to the town to investigate the situation and act accordingly. A British ship was also present, ostensibly to observe the actions of the other nations during the Samoan upheavals.

During the days preceding the cyclone of March 15, increasing signs were visible of the impending disaster. March was cyclone season in this area, and Apia had been hit by a cyclone just three years previously, which the captains of the ships heard about from local people, especially as the weather began to change and the atmospheric pressure began to fall. The captains were experienced Pacific seamen, as were many members of their crews, and they all saw the approaching signs of impending disaster, just as they knew that the only chance they had of riding out the 100 mph (160 km/h) winds was to take to the open sea.

Apia is an exposed harbour, unprotected by high ground or an enclosing reef. The northern part of the harbour is open to the Pacific, and thus wind and waves can sweep through the area and drive any shipping which remained in the bay onto the reefs at the Southern end, or toss them right up the beach. However, even though the officers of the various navies were well aware of the necessary procedures in the face of such a threat, none made a move. This has been attributed to jingoism or national pride; none of the men in the harbour were willing to admit in front of the other nations' navies, that they were afraid of the elements, and so refused to take precautions, and refused to allow the merchant ships which accompanied them to move either, leaving thirteen ships, some larger vessels, at anchor close to one another in Apia harbour.

The cyclone


Illustrated London for 27 April 1889; artist's conception of HMS Calliope being cheered on by the crew of USS Trenton as Calliope escapes from Apia Harbour (Calliope actually passed to Trenton's port).


Wrecked ships in Apia Harbor, Upolu, Samoa soon after the storm. The view looks northwestward, with the shattered bow of the German gunboat Eber on the beach in the foreground. The stern of USS Trenton is at right, with the sunken USS Vandalia alongside. The German gunboat SMS Adler is on her side in the center distance. Trenton 's starboard quarter gallery has been largely ripped away.



German gunboat Adler. Overturned on the reef, on the western side of Apia Harbor, Upolu, Samoa, soon after the storm. Note her battered hull, the well for her hoisting propeller, a rescue buoy mounted on her stern, and decorative windows painted on her quarters.


Training ship SMS Olga, photo taken 1902

When the cyclone struck the result was catastrophic. The local people had taken themselves to safety well before the storm struck, but the ships in the bay only began to evacuate at the very last minute, and thus were crowding towards the entrance to the bay when the hurricane hit. Only HMS Calliope escaped, making less than one knot against the oncoming wind and sea; she dragged herself to the open sea, despite being less than six feet from a reef at one point. Once out at sea she was easily able to ride out the ensuing winds. Her survival is attributed to her size (2,227 tons) and her more powerful and modern engines, built only five years before, as compared to the ten or twenty years for many of the other ships.

As for the other ships, chaos reigned in the harbour. USS Trenton was tossed against the beach in the afternoon, dragged back into the sea and wrecked on a reef at 10 p.m. that evening, although the majority of her crew survived unhurt and were able to participate in the ensuing rescue operation. USS Vandalia was smashed into the same reef in the early afternoon, and her surviving crew spent a miserable day and night clinging to her rigging before being rescued, by which time 43 of her complement had drowned. USS Nipsic was thrown high on the beach with eight of her crew missing or dead and her internal systems totally wrecked. She would however later be refloated and eventually reconstructed in Hawaii.



The German ships fared much worse: SMS Olga came off best, thrown high onto the beach where she was wrecked but many of her crew survived, escaping onto higher ground. SMS Adler and SMS Eber were less fortunate, because they were caught at the harbour mouth by the initial blow and were bodily picked up and smashed together. Eber sank in deep water, while Adler came to rest on her side, on the reef. In total, 96 men from their crews drowned in the storm, and both ships were totally destroyed. All six of the merchant ships remaining in the harbour were wrecked, and the death toll was well over 200 sailors from several nationalities.

The incident is often cited as a clear example of the dangers of putting national pride before necessity, especially in the face of natural disaster. The incident did not blunt the Pacific ambitions of any of the imperial powers involved in the disaster. However, the Germans and British continued to make territorial gains amongst the Samoan islands and New Guinea, whilst the United States focused on the Philippines and Micronesia, although more care was taken to respect the weather phenomena of the Pacific from this point on.


Ships



SMS Adler was a gunboat of the Imperial German Navy. She was launched 3 November 1883 in the Imperial shipyard in Kiel. On 5 September 1888, she shelled Manono Island and Apolima, Samoa, which were strongholds of Malietoa’s forces. She was wrecked together with the German gunboat SMS Eber, the German corvette SMS Olga, the United States Navygunboat USS Nipsic, the U.S. Navy screw steamer USS Trenton, and the U.S. Navy sloop-of-war USS Vandalia on 16 March 1889 in a hurricane at Apia, Samoa, during the Samoan crisis. Twenty crew members lost their lives.


Drawing of SMS Adler by Rear Admiral L.A. Kimberly, U.S. Navy


SMS Olga was the second member of the Carola class of steam corvettes built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) in the 1880s. Intended for service in the German colonial empire, the ship was designed with a combination of steam and sail power for extended range, and was equipped with a battery of ten 15-centimeter (5.9 in) guns. Olga was laid down at the AG Vulcan in Stettin in 1879, she was launched in December 1880, and she was completed in January 1882.


Olga in Kiel, sometime before 1890

In the course of her career, Olga was sent abroad on three major deployments. The first, uneventful voyage came in 1882, and took the vessel to South American waters for a year and a half. During the cruise, Prince Heinrich of Prussia served aboard the ship. The second cruise came shortly thereafter, when the German Admiralty sent her to the German colony of Kamerun as part of the West African Squadron to suppress a rebellion against German rule. Her third cruise took place between 1885 and 1889, and saw the ship alternate between German East Africaand German New Guinea in the central Pacific Ocean. While in Samoa in 1889, Olga was badly damaged by a powerful cyclone and was forced to leave the station for repairs.

From 1890, Olga saw limited service, in a variety of subsidiary roles. She was used as a training ship from 1893 to 1897, when she was transferred to the Fishery School. She conducted an extensive survey in Spitzbergen in 1898 before being decommissioned late in the year, to be converted into a gunnery training ship. She served in that capacity until 1905, when she was stricken from the naval register. Olga was sold for scrap the following year and was broken up in 1908.


SMS Eber, a 735-ton iron-hulled gunboat, was built at Kiel, Germany for gunboat diplomacy in the Pacific. It was a barque-rigged auxiliary steamer. After commissioning in September 1887 she was sent to the Pacific to serve in the German colonial empire. She disarmed the inhabitants of Nauru in 1888,[2] ending their civil war and annexing the island to the German Empire.Eber was anchored in Apia Harbor, Samoa, during the 1889 Apia cyclone of 15–16 March 1889. Though she was the most modern of the seven warships present, damage to her propeller made it impossible for her to survive the violent wind and seas.[3] After a long struggle, Eber was forced against the edge of the harbor reef and sank quickly, with the loss of 73 of her crewmen.



The second USS Vandalia was a screw sloop-of-war in the United States Navy. She was laid down at the Massachusetts Boston Navy Yard in 1872 and was commissioned there on 10 January 1876.

1889 Apia cyclone - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

SMS Adler - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

SMS Olga - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

SMS Eber (1887) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

USS Vandalia (1876) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

USS Trenton (1876) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

USS Nipsic - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

HMS Calliope (1884) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
15 March 1909 – Launch of HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën, a Royal Netherlands Navy coastal defence ship in service from 1910 until 1942.
It was a small cruiser-sized warship that sacrificed speed and range for armor and armament.


HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën was a Royal Netherlands Navy coastal defence ship in service from 1910 until 1942. It was a small cruiser-sized warship that sacrificed speed and range for armor and armament. She was armed with two 283 mm, four 150 mm, ten 75 mm, four 37 mm guns, in addition to a 75 mm mortar. She was 101.5 metres (333 ft) long, had a beam of 17.1 metres (56 ft) and a draft of 6.15 metres (20.2 ft), and displaced 6,530 tons. She had a crew of 448 and was able to reach 16 knots.



She served part of her career in the Dutch East Indies, from 1911 to 1918 and from 1921 onwards. During the 1920s, her crew included the future Rear Admiral Karel Doorman. She suffered a high-profile mutiny on 5 February 1933, which had far-reaching implications for politics in the Netherlands. She was renamed Soerabaja in 1936.

On 18 February 1942, Soerabaja was sunk by Japanese bombers. The Japanese raised her and used her as a battery ship; one report is that she was sunk again by Allied aircraft in 1943; a second report is that she was raised two years after being sunk by the Japanese but was wrecked five miles north of Djamoenjan Reef, Indonesia.


De Zeven Provinciën leaving the port of Den Helder


De Zeven Provinciën with a Van Berkel W-A floatplane above


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HNLMS_De_Zeven_Provinciën_(1909)

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
15 March 1918 - RMS Amazon, a British ocean liner, was torpedoed and sunk by U-110 in the Atlantic Ocean 30 miles North by West off Malin Head, Ireland


RMS Amazon was a British ocean liner that was torpedoed and sunk by U-110 in the Atlantic Ocean 30 miles North by West off Malin Head, Ireland , while she was travelling from Liverpool, United Kingdom to Brazil.



Construction
Amazon was constructed in 1906 at the Harland & Wolff Ltd. shipyard in Belfast, United Kingdom. She was completed in 1906. She was named Amazon and served from 1906 until her demise in 1918.

The ship was 156 metres (511 ft 10 in) long, with a beam of 18 metres (59 ft 1 in). The ship was assessed at 10,037 GRT. She had a 1 x 4 cyl quadruple expansion engine driving a single screw propeller. The engine was rated at 875 nhp.

Sinking
On 15 March 1918, Amazon was on a voyage from Liverpool, United Kingdom to Brazil with 24 passengers and without escorts. She had left Liverpool on 14 March and was forced to sail at slow speed due to a thick fog. On the morning of 15 March 1918 at 9.30AM, when she was traveling in a zigzag manoeuvre at about 51 miles off the coast of Northern Ireland. She was hit by a torpedo at hold number four, where the coal bunker was located.

In just fifteen minutes the Amazon sank stern first beneath the waves. All passengers and crew were rescued by the destroyer HMS Moresby.

The destroyer still managed to sink the U-110 with depth-charges and rescued 9 of the 48 crew members from the German submarine.

Wreck
The wreck sits 116 metres (381 ft) deep. The ship is not considered a war grave.

RMS Amazon (1906) - Wikipedia

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[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
15 March 1931 – SS Viking explodes off Newfoundland, killing 27 of the 147 on board.


SS Viking was a wooden-hulled sealing ship made famous by its role in the 1931 film The Viking. During her use in the seal hunt in Newfoundland, the ship was commissioned by the film crew. During production, an explosion destroyed the ship, resulting in the largest loss of life of a film production crew in film history.


History


Fridtjof Nansen (left) and Captain Axel Krefting, sitting on just shot polar bear with the Viking in the background (One of the pictures from a journey with sealers to Vestisen during the period March to July 1882).

In 1881, Viking was built by the Nylands Shipyard at Christiania, Norway, the same location where another famous Newfoundland vessel, Southern Cross, was constructed. Viking was a vessel of 310 gross tons and equipped with a 90 horsepower (67 kW) auxiliary engine. She was launched in 1882 from the Nylands Shipyard.

In 1904, Viking was purchased by Bowring Brothers[not in citation given] of St. John's for the sealing industry. She was placed under the command of Captain William Bartlett, who remained her master until 1923. Viking was the smallest of the Bowring Brothers' fleet, but was capable of carrying 276 men.

Viking sailed for a number of years hunting the saddleback seal off the coast of Greenland. In 1882, Norwegian explorer, scientist and diplomat Fridtjof Nansen used her for his first Arctic expedition.



The Viking
In 1930 and 1931, Viking was chartered by film producer Varick Frissell and Alexander Gustavus Penrod (the cinematographer of the film Down to the Sea in Ships) to make a film of the annual seal hunt off the coast of Newfoundland. She was commanded by Captain Bob Bartlett, son of William Bartlett, and was featured in the final production. The film was premiered on March 5, 1931, at the Nickel Theatre in St. John's. Its producers felt, however, that it required more sensational footage, so both Frissell and Penrod returned to the ice fields soon after aboard Viking, this time with Captain Abram Kean.

On March 15, 1931, about eight miles (13 km) off Horse Islands, while stuck in the ice, Viking was rocked by an explosion that blew the stern off the vessel. Dynamite loaded on the vessel to add to the sensationalism of giant explosions of icebergs had somehow been set off, killing 28 of the 141 on board. The deaths included Frissell and Penrod.

Viking caught fire and sank. The ship's loss was the first for Bowring Brothers in 52 years. Some of the survivors made the over-ice trek to the Horse Islands, while others were rescued by vessels dispatched to the area.

Despite the fatal accident, the film was completed and released in June 1931. The title was changed from White Thunder to The Viking. A French-language version, Ceux du Viking, was released in 1932.


The Viking, also known as White Thunder and Vikings of the Ice Field, is a 1931 Newfoundland/American adventure film about sealing directed by George Melford. This was "the first film to record sound and dialogue on location".
It is best known for the explosion aboard the ship SS Viking (an actual sealing ship) during filming, in which many members of the crew, including producer Varick Frissell, were killed. It remains the incident with the largest loss of life in film history.

This film is a heritage item from Library and Archives Canada and is only available in English.
Luke Oarum collapses in a blizzard while trying to deliver the mail to a small Newfoundland outpost

SS Viking - Wikipedia

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The Viking (1931 film) - Wikipedia

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 15 March


1493 – Christopher Columbus returns to Spain after his first trip to the Americas.

After spending more than a week in Portugal, and paying his respects to Eleanor of Viseu, Columbus again set sail for Spain. Ferdinand Magellan was a young boy and a ward of Eleanor's court; it is likely he saw Columbus during this visit. After departing, and after reportedly being saved from assassins by King John, Columbus crossed the bar of Saltes and entered the harbor of Palos de la Frontera on 15 March 1493. Word of his finding new lands rapidly spread throughout Europe.


The voyages of Christopher Columbus

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


1705 – Launch of HMS Resolution was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Woolwich Dockyard

HMS Resolution was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Woolwich Dockyard and launched on 15 March 1705.
Resolution was lost when she ran ashore in 1707.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Resolution_(1705)


1759 HMS Aeolus (32), Cptn. John Elliot, took Mignone (20)

HMS Aeolus (1758) was a 32-gun fifth-rate frigate launched in 1758. She was placed on harbour service in 1796, renamed HMS Guernsey in 1800, and was broken up in 1801.


1767 – Launch of French Sensible, (launched 15 March 1767 at Indret) – deleted 1789.

Boudeuse class (34-gun design by Jean-Hyacinthe Raffeau, with 28 x 12-pounder and 6 x 6-pounder guns).
Boudeuse, (launched 25 March 1766 at Indret) – deleted 1800.
Indiscrète, (launched 13 March 1767 at Indret) – deleted 1785.
Sensible, (launched 15 March 1767 at Indret) – deleted 1789.



Sistership

French frigate Boudeuse (1766) - Wikipedia

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1771 – Launch of Spanish San Pablo 74 (launched 15 March 1771 at Ferrol) - Renamed Soberano 1814, BU January 1856

San Pedro Apóstol class
San Pedro Apóstol 74 (launched 31 December 1770 at Ferrol) - Stricken 1801
San Pablo 74 (launched 15 March 1771 at Ferrol) - Renamed Soberano 1814, BU January 1856
San Gabriel 74 (launched 5 March 1772 at Ferrol) - Stricken 10 August 1909


1793 HMS Syren (32) engaged batteries at Moordyke.

HMS Syren was a 32-gun Amazon-class fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She served during the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Among her more famous midshipmen were the future Rear-Admiral Peter Puget, and John Pasco, Nelson's signal officer at the Battle of Trafalgar.


Scale: 1:48. A plan showing the lower deck for 'Siren' (1782), a 32-gun, Fifth Rate Frigate. Signed by John Williams [Surveyor of the Navy, 1765-1784].

HMS Syren (1782) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Collections - National Maritime Museum

1798 – HMS Speedy captured privateer San Jose (alias Garalin)

HMS Speedy was a 14-gun Speedy-class brig of the British Royal Navy. Built during the last years of the American War of Independence, she served with distinction during the French Revolutionary Wars.

Built at Dover, Kent, Speedy spent most of the interwar years serving off the British coast. Transferred to the Mediterranean after the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars, she spent the rest of her career there under a number of notable commanders, winning fame for herself in various engagements and often against heavy odds. Her first commander in the Mediterranean, Charles Cunningham, served with distinction with several squadrons, assisting in the capture of several war prizes, such as the French frigates Modeste and Impérieuse. His successor, George Cockburn, impressed his superiors with his dogged devotion to duty. Speedy's next commander, George Eyre, had the misfortune to lose her to a superior French force on 9 June 1794.

She was soon retaken, and re-entered service under Hugh Downman, who captured a number of privateers between 1795 and 1799 and fought off an attack by the large French privateer Papillon on 3 February 1798. His successor, Jahleel Brenton, fought a number of actions against Spanish forces off Gibraltar. Her last captain, Lord Cochrane, forced the surrender of a much larger Spanish warship, the Gamo. Speedy was finally captured by a powerful French squadron in 1801 and donated to the Papal Navy by Napoleon the following year. She spent five years with them under the name San Paolo, but was struck around 1806.


HMS Speedy falling in with the wreck of HMS Queen Charlotte, 21 March 1800

HMS Speedy (1782) - Wikipedia

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1808 Start of 6 day engagement between HMS Terpsichore (28), Cptn. William Augustus Montague, and French frigate Semillante (40), Cptn. Motard, off Ceylon

Between 15 March and 18 March 1808, Sémillante fought a running battle with HMS Terpsichore, and escaped to Île de France. Terpsichore suffered 21 men killed and 20 wounded. Sémillante was so seriously damaged that the French removed her armament and decommissioned her on 10 July. However, the principal damage to Sémillante apparently was due to an explosion in a room near the magazine during the action. To reduce risk, the crew flooded the magazine, leaving her without usable powder, Sémillante had no choice but to break off the action with Terpsichore and return to port. Sémillante reportedly had five men killed and six wounded, including Motard, who may have had to have his arm amputated. It is not clear from the report how many casualties were due to the action and how many to the explosion.

The Sémillante (French: "Shiny" or "Sparkling") was a 32-gun frigate of the French Navy, lead ship of her class. She was involved in a number of multi-vessel actions against the Royal Navy, particularly in the Indian Ocean. She captured a number of East Indiamen before she became so damaged that the French disarmed her and turned her into a merchant vessel. The British captured her and broke her up in 1809.

HMS Terpsichore was a 32-gun Amazon-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was built during the last years of the American War of Independence, but did not see action until the French Revolutionary Wars. She served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, in a career that spanned forty-five years.


Print by Thomas Whitcombe depicting HMS Terpsichore capturing the Mahonesa on 13 October 1796

Terpsichore was launched in 1785, but was not prepared for active service until the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in 1793. She was initially sent to serve in the West Indieswhere in 1794 Captain Richard Bowen took command. Bowen commanded Terpsichore until his death in 1797, and several of her most memorable exploits occurred during his captaincy. Terpsichore served mostly in the Mediterranean, capturing three frigates, and in 1797 went as far as to attack the damaged Spanish first rate Santísima Trinidad, as she limped away from the Battle of Cape St Vincent. The Santísima Trinidad mounted 136 guns to Terpsichore's 32, and was the largest warship in the world at time. Terpsichore inflicted several casualties, before abandoning the attack. Terpsichore passed through several commanders after Bowen's death at Tenerife, and went out to the East Indies, where her last commander was Captain William Augustus Montagu. Montagu fought an action with a large French frigate in 1808, and though he was able to outfight her, he was not able to capture her. Terpsichore returned to Britain the following year, and spent the last years of the war laid up in ordinary. She survived in this state until 1830, when she was broken up.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Terpsichore_(1785)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Sémillante_(1792)


1808 – Launch of HMS Invincible was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 15 March 1808 at Woolwich.

HMS Invincible was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 15 March 1808 at Woolwich.
She was employed as a coal hulk from 1857, and was broken up in 1861.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth proposed (and approved) for building 'Invincible' (1808), a 74-gun Third Rate, two-decker, 'in the room of the 'Culloden'' [i.e. to the design of the 'Culloden' of 1783]. This plan was also copied for building the 'Minden' (1810) in Bombay by the East India Company. Signed by John Henslow [Surveyor of the Navy, 1784-1806] and William Rule [Surveyor of the Navy, 1793-1813].



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

Ganges-class ship of the line - Wikipedia

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1815 – American privateer Roger captures the British packet ship Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle encountered the American privateer Roger, Roger Quarles, master, on 15 March at 36°20′N 20°10′W. Roger was a schooner of 10 guns and 120 men.
Quarles put a prize crew on board Windsor Castle and she and Roger sailed together until 21 March, when they parted. Still, both reached Norfolk about 25 April. Although the capture occurred after the war had ended, a prize court declared Windsor Castle a lawful prize. A Mr. William Taylor purchased her for $7000 at auction on 1 June.

Windsor Castle was launched at Yarmouth in 1804. She spent her entire 11-year career as a Falmouth packet, primarily on the Falmouth–Halifax–New York–Halifax–Falmouth route and the Falmouth–Leeward Islands–Falmouth route. She also sailed on some other voyages. She was involved in two notable single-ship actions. In the first, in 1807, she captured her attacker, a French privateer schooner in a sanguinary encounter. In the second, in 1815, an American privateer captured her. A prize crew took her into Norfolk, Virginia, where she was sold at auction.


Captain William Rogers Capturing the 'Jeune Richard', 1 October 1807, by Samuel Drummond

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windsor_Castle_(1804_packet_ship)


1817 – Launch of Almorah was a 416-ton sailing ship built at Selby, England in 1817.

Almorah was a 416-ton sailing ship built at Selby, England in 1817. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC), and three transporting convicts to Australia. She foundered in 1832 in the North Atlantic.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almorah_(1817)


1864 – American Civil War: The Red River Campaign: U.S. Navy fleet arrives at Alexandria, Louisiana.

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

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
16 March 1778 – Launch of French Résolue, an Iphigénie-class 32-gun frigate of the French Navy.


Résolue was an Iphigénie-class 32-gun frigate of the French Navy. The British captured her twice, once in November 1791 during peacetime, and again in 1798. The Royal Navy hulked her in 1799 and she was broken up in 1811.






French service
In January 1779, Résolue was part of a squadron under Admiral Vaudreuil that captured Fort St Louis in Senegal from the British in February. The troops were under the command of the Duc de Lauzun. In September she was at Martinique undergoing repairs and refitting.

In April 1781 Résolue was at Brest, being coppered.

On 15 July, after having cruised for 50 days, the French 32-gun frigates Friponne, Lieutenant le Chevalier de Blachon, and Résolue captured Speedy, Swift, the four merchant vessels Spy, Adventure, Peggy, and Success, and the 10-gun privateerQueen. The British ships were on their way to the Windward Islands.

Speedy, Captain Spargo, and Swift, both of 16 guns and 80 men, were both Post Office packet boats. They were carrying despatches for Barbadoes, St Lucia, Antigua and Jamaica. Speedy, which had left Falmouth on 18 June, was the packet that the government was expecting to arrive in Britain with the news of the departure of the homeward-bound fleet from Jamaica. The French took Speedy and Swift into Martinique, and the rest of the prizes into Guadeloupe.[4] At Martinique the French Navy took Speedy into service. On 6 December, however, the British recaptured Speedy off Barbados.

In 1783 Résolue was again at Brest for repairs.

In November 1791, Résolue was escorting merchant ships, when HMS Phoenix and HMS Perseverance captured her at the Battle of Tellicherry. Résolue suffered 25 men killed and 40 wounded. As this occurred during peacetime, the British restored her to France at Mahé. In 1793 she was at Brest being repaired.

She took part in the Action of 23 April 1794, when a squadron comprising Résolue, Engageante, Pomone and the 22-gun corvette Babet met a squadron of five British heavy frigates. Résolue managed to escape but the British took the other three ships.


Engageante (left) and Résolue (right) battling HMS Concorde at the Action of 23 April 1794

Résolue, under captain Montalan, next participated in the Expédition d'Irlande. On 22 December 1796, she collided with Redoutablein Bantry Bay, losing her own mast in the accident. She sent a boat to seek help from Immortalité, but it was washed up on the shore on Clough Beach and its crew taken prisoner. The boat is now a local attraction. Résolue managed to return to Brest under emergency rigging and in tow from Pégase.

Capture
HMS Melampus captured Résolue on 14 October 1798 at the Battle of Tory Island. Résolue was fitted with hanging ports to her main deck. To meet a coming storm, her crew had run in and double-breeched her 12-pounders, and shut and barred the ports. She was, therefore, in a comparatively defenseless state with only her quarterdeck guns able to respond to Melampus's broadsides. Before she struck her colours, Résolue lost ten men killed and had some wounded, out of about 500 men on board.

British career
She was purchased for the Royal Navy as HMS Resolue but never saw active service, instead being hulked in 1799 at Plymouth. Resolue was commissioned under Lieutenant D. Wynter in November 1801. His replacement was Lieutenant T. Richards. She was in ordinary in 1802. She was again commissioned, in April 1803, under Lieutenant J.H. Nicols, as a slop ship. In 1807 she served as flagship for Admiral J. Sutton. In 1809 she was a receiving ship. As late as 1810 she did have men aboard, including some African-Americans impressed into service, who wrote letters attempting to secure their release.

Fate
Resolue was broken up on 10 August 1811.


The Iphigénie class was a group of nine 32-gun/12-pounder frigates of the French Navy, built during the late 1770s at Lorient (2 ships) and Saint Malo (7 ships). They were designed by Léon Guignace. The seven built at Saint Malo were initially numbered Nos. 1 – 7 respectively, and not given names until October 1777 (for Nos 1 – 4) and the start of 1778 (Nos. 5 – 7); all seven were captured by the British Navy between 1779 and the end of 1800. Of the two built at Lorient, the Spanish captured one, and a storm wrecked the other.

Iphigénie class, (32-gun design by Léon-Michel Guignace, with 26 x 12-pounder and 6 x 6-pounder guns; Up to 6 x 36-pounder obusiers were later added).

Iphigénie, (launched 16 October 1777 at Lorient) – captured by Spanish Navy 1795.
Surveillante, (launched 26 March 1778 at Lorient) – wrecked 1797.
Résolue, (launched 16 March 1778 at St Malo) – captured by British Navy 1798.
Gentille, (launched 18 June 1778 at St Malo) – captured by British Navy 1795.
Amazone, (launched 11 May 1778 at St Malo) – captured by British Navy 1782 but retaken next day; wrecked 1797.
Prudente, (launched late March 1778 at St Malo) – captured by British Navy 1779.
Gloire, (launched 9 July 1778 at St Malo) – captured by British Navy 1795.
Bellone, (launched 2 August 1778 at St Malo) – captured by British Navy 1798.
Médée, (launched 23 September 1778 at St Malo) – captured by British East Indiamen 1800.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Résolue_(1778)

Iphigénie-class frigate - Wikipedia

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[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
16 March 1781 - Battle of Cape Henry.
A British squadron of 8 ships, under Vice Admiral Mariot Arbuthnot, engaged a French squadron of 7 ships, under Cptn. Des Touches.


The Battle of Cape Henry was a naval battle in the American War of Independence which took place near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay on 16 March 1781 between a British squadron led by Vice Admiral Mariot Arbuthnot and a French fleet under Admiral Charles René Dominique Sochet, Chevalier Destouches. Destouches, based in Newport, Rhode Island, had sailed for the Chesapeake as part of a joint operation with the Continental Army to oppose the British army of Brigadier General Benedict Arnoldthat was active in Virginia.

Admiral Destouches was asked by General George Washington to take his fleet to the Chesapeake to support military operations against Arnold by the Marquis de Lafayette. Sailing on 8 March, he was followed two days later by Admiral Arbuthnot, who sailed from eastern Long Island. Arbuthnot's fleet outsailed that of Destouches, reaching the Virginia Capes just ahead of Destouches on 16 March. After manoeuvring for several hours, the battle was joined, and both fleets suffered some damage and casualties without losing any ships. However, Arbuthnot was positioned to enter the Chesapeake as the fleets disengaged, frustrating Destouches' objective. Destouches returned to Newport, while Arbuthnot protected the bay for the arrival of additional land troops to reinforce General Arnold.



Background
Main article: Yorktown campaign
In December 1780, British General Sir Henry Clinton sent Brigadier General Benedict Arnold (who had changed sides to the British the previous September) with about 1,700 troops to Virginia to do some raiding and to fortify Portsmouth. General George Washington responded by sending the Marquis de Lafayette south with a small army to oppose Arnold. Seeking to trap Arnold between Lafayette's army and a French naval detachment, Washington asked the French admiral Destouches, the commander of the fleet at Newport, Rhode Island for help. Destouches was wary of the threat posed by the slightly larger British North American fleet anchored at Gardiner's Bay off the eastern end of Long Island, and was reluctant to help.


Tactical diagram of the battle by Alfred Thayer Mahan. The British ships are in black, the French ships in white.
The positions of the fleets at various points in the battle are labelled as follows: * A: fleets sight each other * B: first tack * C: second tack * D: disengagement

A storm in early February damaged some of Arbuthnot's fleet, which prompted Destouches to send a squadron of three ships south shortly after. When they reached the Chesapeake, the British ships supporting Arnold moved up the shallow Elizabeth River, where the French ships were unable to follow. The French fleet returned to Newport, having as their only success the capture of HMS Romulus, a heavy frigate that was one of several ships sent by the British to investigate the French movements. This modest success, and the encouragement of General Washington, prompted Destouches to embark on a full-scale operation. On 8 March, Washington was in Newport when Destouches sailed with his entire fleet, carrying 1,200 troops for use in land operations when they arrived in the Chesapeake.

Vice Admiral of the White Mariot Arbuthnot, the British fleet commander in North America, was aware that Destouches was planning something, but did not learn of Destouches' sailing until 10 March, and immediately led his fleet out of Gardiner Bay in pursuit. He had the speed advantage of copper-clad vessels and a favourable wind, and reached Cape Henry on 16 March, slightly ahead of Destouches.

Battle
Although the two fleets both had eight ships in their lines, the British had an advantage in firepower: the 90-gun HMS London was the largest ship of either fleet (compared to the 84-gun Duc de Bourgogne), while the French fleet also included the recently captured 44-gun Romulus, the smallest vessel on either line. When Arbuthnot spotted the French fleet to his northeast at 6 am on March 16, they were about 40 nmi (74 km) east-northeast of Cape Henry. Arbuthnot came about, and Destouches ordered his ships to form a line of battle heading west, with the wind. Between 8 and 9 am the winds began shifting, but visibility remained poor, and the two fleets manoeuvred for several hours, each seeking the advantage of the weather gage. By 1 pm the wind had stabilised from the northeast, and Arbuthnot, with superior seamanship, was coming up on the rear of the French line as both headed east-southeast, tacking against the wind. Destouches, in order to escape this position, gave orders to wear ship in sequence, and brought his line around in front of the advancing British line. With this manoeuvre he surrendered the weather gage (giving Arbuthnot the advantage in determining the attack), but it also positioned his ships relative to the wind such that he could open his lower gundecks in the heavy seas, which the British could not do without the risk of water washing onto the lower decks.


Admiral Mariot Arbuthnot

Arbuthnot responded to the French manoeuvre by ordering his fleet to wear. When the ships in the van of his line made the maneuver, they were fully exposed to the French line's fire, and consequently suffered significant damage. Robust, Europe, and Prudent were virtually unmanageable due to damage to their sails and rigging. Arbuthnot kept the signal for maintaining the line flying, and the British fleet thus lined up behind the damaged vessels. Destouches at this point again ordered his fleet to wear in succession, and his ships raked the damaged British ships once more, taking off London'stopsail yard before pulling away to the east.

Aftermath
French casualties were 72 killed and 112 wounded, while the British suffered 30 killed and 73 wounded.[2] Arbuthnot pulled into Chesapeake Bay, thus frustrating the original intent of Destouches' mission, while the French fleet returned to Newport. After transports delivered 2,000 men to reinforce Arnold, Arbuthnot returned to New York. He resigned his post as station chief due to age and infirmity in July and left for England, ending a stormy, difficult, and unproductive relationship with General Clinton.

General Washington, unhappy that the operation had failed, wrote a letter that was mildly critical of Destouches. This letter was intercepted and published in an English newspaper, prompting a critical response to Washington by the Comte de Rochambeau, the French army commander at Newport. The Comte de Barras, who arrived in May to take command of the Newport station, justified Destouches' failure to pursue the attack: "It is a principle in war that one should risk much to defend one's positions, and very little to attack those of the enemy." Naval historian Alfred Thayer Mahan points out that "this aversion from risks [...] goes far to explain the French want of success in the war."

Lafayette, when he learned of the French failure, turned back north to rejoin Washington. Washington then ordered Lafayette to stay in Virginia, having learned of the reinforcements sent to Arnold. Although the French operation to support Lafayette was unsuccessful, the later naval operations by the Comte de Grasse that culminated in the French naval victory in the September 1781 Battle of the Chesapeake paved the way for a successful naval blockade and land siege of Lord Cornwallis' army at Yorktown, Virginia.

The battle has been memorialized by American singer-songwriter Todd Snider in "The Ballad of Cape Henry". Although there is a marker commemorating the Battle of the Chesapeake at the Cape Henry Memorial in Virginia, there is no recognition of this battle at the site.

Order of battle
Basic information (ship names and gun counts) are provided by Morrissey unless otherwise cited. The names of ship captains are provided by Mahan unless otherwise cited, and casualty figured are provided by Lapeyrouse. Mahan and Lapeyrouse disagree on the casualty count; Mahan reports that the British had 30 killed and 73 wounded, and that the French had 72 killed and 112 wounded.

Sources also disagree on which ship carried Destouches and his flag. The English-language sources (Mahan, p. 492, and Morrissey, p. 51) list his flag on board the Neptune, while Lapeyrouse (p. 170) lists the Duc de Bourgogne. The Duc de Bourgogne was the flagship of Destouches' predecessor, the Chevalier de Ternay, during which time Destouches was captain of the Neptune; Destouches may have moved to the Duc de Bourgogne upon Ternay's death.

In popular culture
Americana singer-songwriter Todd Snider recorded The Ballad Of Cape Henry on his 2008 album Peace Queer based upon the naval engagement and included the following lyrics:

Cape Henry, Cape Henry, the battlefield's on fire
White water, white water, with those flames climbing higher
We fired our cannon at least two hours or more
Cape Henry, Cape Henry off of that old Virginia shore

Battle of Cape Henry - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
16 March 1782 – Anglo-Spanish War (1779): Action of 16 March 1782
HMS Success (32), Cptn. Charles Maurice Pole, took Spanish frigate Santa Catalina (34), Don Jacen, off Cape Spartel.
She was set her on fire when other enemy ships closed.


The Action of 16 March 1782 was a minor naval engagement between a British Royal Naval frigate HMS Success and a Spanish frigate Santa Catalina in the Strait of Gibraltar during the American War of Independence.




Engagement between His Majesty's Ship Success... and the Santa Catalina a Large Spanish frigate... off Cape Spartel, on the 16th March 1782. Plate 3rd. Captn Pole... being becalmed... setting her (Santa Catalina) on Fire, & making sail with...; aquatint & etching, coloured
Wilson, J (artist & engraver), Mercier, P (engraver), Harraden, Richard (engraver), Carver & Gilder (publishers)

On 16 March the 32-gun frigate Success, Captain Charles Pole, and the armed store-ship HMS Vernon (mounting twenty-two long 6-pounders), which was commanded by John Falconer, being off Cape Spartel, on their voyage to Gibraltar, sighted the Spanish 12-pounder 34-gun frigate Santa Catalina commanded by Don Miguel Tacon. This ship was part of a squadron keeping an eye out for any relief convoys heading into Gibraltar which was then under siege. The Spanish frigate having approached within random shot the Success suddenly hauled up and poured a destructive broadside. The Success then wore round, and took up her position which was also mimicked by the Vernon. The Spanish frigate having lost her mizzenmast at around 8pm hauled down her colours, and then was taken possession of by the Success.

Out of 300 men, the Santa Catalina had 25 killed and eight wounded, and the Success one killed and four wounded. The Santa Catalina was however severely damaged and had been holed below the waterline, and six Spanish sail were sighted the next day. Pole, fearing the Spaniards had formed a plan to take possession of the Success and the Santa Catalina, decided that once all the valuables and prisoners removed that it was necessary to destroy her, and she was accordingly set on fire and blown up. Pole then headed back to Gibraltar which he made successfully a few days later.



HMS Success was a 32-gun Amazon-class fifth-rate frigate of the British Royal Navy launched in 1781, which served during the American Revolutionary, French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. The French captured her in the Mediterranean on 13 February 1801, but she was recaptured by the British on 2 September. She continued to serve in the Mediterranean until 1811, and in North America until hulked in 1814, then serving as a prison ship and powder hulk, before being broken up in 1820.






There is a very good cardboard kit of the Success from SHIPYARD available





https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_16_March_1782

HMS Success (1781) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
16 March 1801 - HMS Invincible – the third-rate was damaged in a storm and driven onto a sandbar off the coast of Norfolk. The following day Invincible drifted off the sandbar and sank in deep water. Over 400 crew were lost; 196 saved.


HMS Invincible was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 9 March 1765 at Deptford. Invincible was built during a period of peace to replace ships worn out in the recently concluded Seven Years' War. The ship went on to serve in the American War of Independence, fighting at the battles of Cape St Vincent in 1780, and under the command of Captain Charles Saxton, the Battles of the Chesapeake in 1781 and St Kitts in 1782.



She survived the cull of the Navy during the next period of peace, and was present, under the command of Thomas Pakenham, at the Glorious First of June in 1794, where she was badly damaged and lost fourteen men, and, under the command of William Cayley, the Invasion of Trinidad (1797), which resulted in the transfer of Trinidad from the Spanish

Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plans, sheer lines with stern quarter decoration, and longitudinal half-breadth proposed (and approved) for 'Monarch' (1765), and later applying to 'Ramilies' (1763), 'Invincible' (1765), 'Robust' (1764), 'Magnificent' (1766), and 'Marlborough' (1767), all 74-gun Third Rate, two-deckers. Signed by Thomas Slade [Surveyor of the Navy, 1755-1771].

Shipwreck


HMS Invincible (1765)

On 16 March 1801, she was lost in a shipwreck off the coast of Norfolk, England. She had been sailing from Yarmouth under the flag of Rear-Admiral Thomas Totty in an effort to reach the fleet of Admiral Sir Hyde Parker in the Sound preparing for the upcoming attack on the Danish fleet, with approximately 650 people on board. As the ship passed the Norfolk coast, she was caught in heavy wind and stuck on the Hammond Knoll Rock off Happisburgh, where she was pinned for some hours in the afternoon before breaking free but immediately being grounded on a sandbank, where the effect of wind and waves tore down the masts and began to break up the ship. She remained in that position for all of the following day, but late in the evening drifted off the sandbank and sank in deep water.

The admiral and 195 sailors escaped the wreck, either in one of the ship's boats or were picked up by a passing collier and fishing boat, but over 400 of their shipmates drowned in the disaster, most of them once the ship began to sink in deeper water.

The compulsory court martial investigating the incident, held on Ruby in Sheerness, absolved the admiral and the captain (posthumously) of culpability in the disaster, posthumously blaming the harbour pilot and the ship's master, both of whom had been engaged to steer the ship through the reefs and shoals of the dangerous region, and should have known the location of Hammond Knoll, especially since it was daytime and in sight of land.

The remains of many of her crew were located by chance in a mass grave in Happisburgh churchyard during the digging of a new drainage channel. A memorial stone was erected in 1998 to their memory by the Ship's Company of the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Invincible, and by the Happisburgh parochial church council.

sistership

Loss of HMS Ramillies by Robert Dodd


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Invincible_(1765)

Ramillies-class ship of the line - Wikipedia

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[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
16 March 1820 - Launch of HMS Hawke, a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Black Prince class, at Woolwich Dockyard


HMS Hawke was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Black Prince class of the Royal Navy, launched on 16 March 1820 at Woolwich Dockyard.

She was converted to a screw-propelled 'blockship', fitted with screw propulsion and re-armed with just 60 guns in 1855, and was broken up in 1865.





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".


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


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Hawke_(1820)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Prince-class_ship_of_the_line

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