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

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 April 1873 – Launch of HMS Amethyst, the lead ship of the Amethyst-class corvettes built for the Royal Navy in the early 1870s.


HMS Amethyst was the lead ship of the Amethyst-class corvettes built for the Royal Navy in the early 1870s. She participated in the Third Anglo-Ashanti War in 1873 before serving as the senior officer's ship for the South American side of the South Atlantic. The ship was transferred to the Pacific Station in 1875 and fought in the Battle of Pacocha against the rebellious Peruvian ironclad warship Huáscar two years later. This made her the only British wooden sailing ship ever to fight an armoured opponent. After a lengthy refit, Amethystagain served as the senior officer's ship on the South American station from 1882–85. She was sold for scrap two years later.


Amethyst at anchor

Design and description
Amethyst was 220 feet (67.1 m) long between perpendiculars, had a beam of 37 feet (11.3 m) and had a draught of 18 feet (5.5 m). The ship displaced 1,934 long tons (1,965 t) and had a burthen of 1,405 tons. Her crew consisted of 225 officers and enlisted men. Unlike her iron-hulled contemporaries, the ship's wooden hull prevented any use of watertight transverse bulkheads.

The ship had one two-cylinder horizontal compound expansion steam engine made by J. & G. Rennie, driving a single 15-foot (4.6 m) propeller. Six cylindrical boilers provided steam to the engine at a working pressure of 60 psi (414 kPa; 4 kgf/cm2). The engine produced a total of 2,144 indicated horsepower (1,599 kW) which gave Amethyst a maximum speed of 13.244 knots (24.528 km/h; 15.241 mph) during her sea trials. The ship carried 270 long tons (270 t) of coal, enough to steam between 2,060–2,500 nautical miles (3,820–4,630 km; 2,370–2,880 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). Amethyst was ship rigged and had a sail area of 18,000 square feet (1,672 m2). The lower masts were made of iron, but the other masts were wood. The ship, and her sisters, were excellent sailors and their best speed under sail alone was approximately that while under steam. Ballard says that all the ships of this class demonstrated "excellent qualities of handiness, steadiness and seaworthiness". Her propeller could be hoisted up into the stern of the ship to reduce drag while under sail. During her refit in 1878, Amethyst was re-rigged as a barque.

The ship was initially armed with a mix of 64-pounder 71-cwt[Note 1] and 64-cwt rifled muzzle-loading guns. The twelve 71-cwt guns were mounted on the broadside while the two lighter 64-cwt guns were mounted underneath the forecastle and poop deck as chase guns. In 1878, the ship's 71-cwt guns were replaced by 64-cwt guns.

Service
Amethyst was laid down at Devonport Dockyard on 28 July 1871. She was launched on 19 April 1873 and completed in July 1873. Her sisters cost approximately £77,000 each. The ship was first assigned as the senior officer's ship for the South American side of the South Atlantic, but she was diverted en route to Ghana to support British forces during the Third Anglo-Ashanti War.

Amethyst remained on the South American station until she was transferred to the Pacific Station in 1875 after she was relieved by Volage. In May 1877, the crew of the Peruvian ironclad Huáscar rebelled against the government and began harassing British shipping. Amethyst and the unarmored frigate Shah were ordered to capture the rebel ship and finally found her in the late afternoon of 29 May off the port of Ilo. After Huáscar refused an offer to surrender, the British ships fired upon her in what came to be known as the Battle of Pacocha. Shah's deep draught forced her to keep to seaward, therefore Amethyst was ordered into shallower inshore waters south of the Peruvian ironclad to deter her from escaping into neutral Chilean waters. The corvette's 64-pounder guns were unable to significantly damage the ironclad in any way, but her opponent's gunnery was atrocious and neither British ship suffered more than some damage to their rigging. Huáscar escaped with little damage after nightfall and surrendered to the Peruvian government the following day.

Amethyst returned home in July 1878 for a lengthy refit and was recommissioned in 1882 to return as the senior officer's ship for southeastern South America until she returned in late 1885 and was paid off. The ship was sold for scrap in November 1887.



H.M.S. Diamond Print

The Amethyst-class corvettes were the last wooden warships built at a royal dockyard. Built in the early 1870s, they mostly served overseas and were retired early as they were regarded as hopelessly obsolete by the late 1880s.






HMS Diamond in Farm Cove, Sydney c. 1887



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Amethyst_(1873)

Amethyst-class corvette - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 April 1890 – Launch of The French ironclad Magenta, an Marceau class ironclad battleship of the French Navy.


The French ironclad Magenta was an ironclad battleship of the French Navy.


Photograph of Magenta by Marius Bar

The ship underwent significant changes during her construction phase including three different sets of main guns and increases in length and width. Like her sister ships she suffered from an over-large unarmoured superstructure that in Magenta's case stretched for 40 feet (12 m) about the top of her armoured belt. In defence of the superstructure one of the ship's captains reported that it did make the ship notably more habitable than it otherwise would have been







The Marceau class was class of ironclad battleships of the French Navy. They were the last barbette ships built in France.



Design


Line-drawing of Marceau in 1908

Marceau had an overall length of 101.6 meters (333 ft 4 in) and was 98.6 meters (323 ft 6 in) long between perpendiculars. She had a beam of 20.23 m (66 ft 4 in) and a draft up to 8.3 m (27 ft 3 in). She displaced 10,850 tonnes (10,680 long tons). The ship was powered by a pair of vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft, using steam provided by eight coal-fired cylindrical boilers that were trunked into a single large funnel. The engines were designed to reach 12,000 metric horsepower (8,800 kW) and propel the ship at a top speed of 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph), but they only managed 11,169 metric horsepower (8,215 kW) and 16.194 knots (29.991 km/h; 18.636 mph) on the ship's sea trials. Marceau had a range of 4,000 nautical miles (7,400 km; 4,600 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). She had a crew of 643–651 officers and enlisted men.

The ship was armed with a main battery of two 340-millimeter (13.4 in) M1881 28-caliber guns and two slightly newer M1884 guns of the same caliber. These weapons were mounted in individual barbettes in a "lozenge" arrangement, with one gun forward, one aft, and two amidships. The secondary battery consisted of sixteen 138.6 mm (5.46 in) M1884 quick-firing (QF) guns, all firing through unarmored embrasures in the hull. Marceau's light armament varies widely between sources: Chesneau & Kolesnik give a range of three to six 65 mm (2.6 in) 65 mm (2.6 in) guns, nine to eighteen 47 mm (1.9 in) 3-pounder guns, eight to twelve 37 mm (1.5 in) 1-pounder five-barrel Hotchkiss revolving cannon, and three to five 450 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes in deck-mounted launchers; naval historian Eric Gille gives four to seven 65 mm (2.6 in) guns, nine to twelve 47 mm guns, eight 37 mm guns and five to six torpedo tubes, all above water; naval historian Paul Silverstone says six 65 mm guns, twelve 47 mm guns and five torpedo tubes. The ship's compound armor belt was 450 mm (17.7 in) thick amidships and reduced to 300 mm (11.8 in) at the stern and 230 mm (9.1 in). The barbettes were also 450 mm thick. The conning tower was protected by 120 mm (4.7 in) of armor plating and the deck was 80 mm (3.1 in) thick.

Ships in class

• Marceau

Builder: La Seyne-sur-Mer
Ordered: 27 December 1880
Launched: 24 May 1887
Fate: Broken up in 1922

• Magenta

Builder: Toulon
Ordered: 7 October 1880
Launched:19 April 1890
Fate: Broken up in 1911

• Neptune

Builder: Brest
Ordered: 7 October 1880
Launched: 7 May 1887
Fate: Sunk as target ship in 1913


Marceau as originally built


Marceau after her 1900–02 refit


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ironclad_Magenta_(1890)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marceau-class_ironclad

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 April 1905 – Launch of Liberté, a pre-dreadnought battleship built for the French Navy in the mid-1900s.
She was the lead ship of the Liberté class, which included three other vessels and was a derivative of the preceding République class, with the primary difference being the inclusion of a heavier secondary battery.


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


Liberté in New York during the visit to the United States

On entering service, Liberté was assigned to the 2nd Division of the Mediterranean Squadron, based in Toulon. She immediately began the normal peacetime training routine of squadron and fleet maneuvers and cruises to various ports in the Mediterranean. She also participated in several naval reviews for a number of French and foreign dignitaries. In September 1909, the ships of the 2nd Division crossed the Atlantic to the United States to represent France at the Hudson-Fulton Celebration.

Liberté's active career was cut short on 25 September 1911 when a fire broke out in one of the ship's propellant magazines and led to a detonation of the charges stored there, destroying the ship in a tremendous explosion that killed 286 of her crew. The blast also damaged several other vessels and killed crewmen on six neighboring ships. An investigation revealed that the standard French propellant, Poudre B, was prone to decomposition that rendered it very unstable; it had likely been the culprit in several other ammunition fires in other ships. The wreck remained in Toulon until 1925, when her destroyed hull was refloated, towed into a drydock, and broken up.


Design
Main article: Liberté-class battleship


Line-drawing of the Liberté class

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

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

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

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

Service history

Postcard depicting Liberté

Liberté was laid down at the Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire shipyard in November 1902, launched on 19 April 1905. On 5 September 1907, Liberté steamed to the Arsenal de Brest in Brest, France, where her armament was installed. She departed Brest on 18 March, bound for the Mediterranean Sea, and after arriving in Toulon, was pronounced complete on 13 April 1908. This was over a year after the revolutionary British battleship HMS Dreadnought, which rendered the pre-dreadnoughts like Liberté outdated before they were completed.

After commissioning, Liberté was assigned to the 2nd Division of the Mediterranean Squadron, along with her sisters Justice (the divisional flagship) and Vérité. In June and July, the Mediterranean and Northern Squadrons conducted their annual maneuvers off Bizerte. The 2nd Division ships visited Bizerte in October. The entire squadron was moored in Villefranche in February 1909 and thereafter conducted training exercises off Corsica, followed by a naval review in Villefranche for President Armand Fallières on 26 April. During this period of training, on 17 March, Liberté and the battleships Justice, Patrie, and République conducted shooting training, using the old ironclad Tempête as a target.

Liberté, Démocratie, Patrie, and the armored cruiser Ernest Renan steamed into the Atlantic for training exercises on 2 June; while at sea ten days later, they rendezvoused with République, Justice, and the protected cruiser Galilée at Cádiz, Spain. Training included serving as targets for the fleet's submarines in the Pertuis d'Antioche strait. The ships then steamed north to La Pallice, where they conducted tests with their wireless telegraphy sets and shooting training in Quiberon Bay. From 8 to 15 July, the ships lay at Brest and the next day, they steamed to Le Havre. There, they met the Northern Squadron for another fleet review for Fallières on 17 July. Ten days later, the combined fleet steamed to Cherbourg, where they held another fleet review, this time during the visit of Czar Nicholas II of Russia. On 12 September, Liberté and the other 2nd Division battleships departed Brest, bound for the United States. There they represented France during the Hudson-Fulton Celebration, which marked the 300th anniversary of the European discovery of the Hudson River. The ships arrived back in Toulon on 27 October.


Liberté underway

The year 1910 passed uneventfully for Liberté, apart from the typical routine of training exercises. Maneuvers were held for the six Liberté and République-class battleships off Sardinia and Algeria from 21 May to 4 June, followed by exercises with the rest of the Mediterranean Squadron from 7 to 18 June. An outbreak of typhoid among the crews of the battleships in early December forced the navy to confine them to Golfe-Juan to contain the fever. By 15 December, the outbreak had subsided. On 16 April 1911, Liberté and the rest of the fleet escorted Vérité, which had aboard Fallières, the Naval Minister Théophile Delcassé, and Charles Dumont, the Minister of Public Works, Posts and Telegraphs, to Bizerte. They arrived two days later and held a fleet review that included two British battleships, two Italian battleships, and a Spanish cruiser on 19 April. The fleet returned to Toulon on 29 April, where Fallières doubled the crews' rations and suspended any punishments to thank the men for their performance.

Liberté and the rest of 1st Squadron and the armored cruisers Ernest Renan and Léon Gambetta went on a cruise in the western Mediterranean in May and June, visiting a number of ports including Cagliari, Bizerte, Bône, Philippeville, Algiers, and Bougie. By 1 August, the battleships of the Danton class had begun to enter service, and they were assigned to the 1st Squadron, displacing the Liberté and République-class ships to the 2nd Squadron. On 4 September, both squadrons held a major fleet review for Fallières off Toulon. The fleet then departed on 11 September for maneuvers off Golfe-Juan and Marseille, returning to Toulon on 16 September. The ships remained there for the next nine days.

Loss

An illustration showing the extent of the damage to Liberté

At 05:31 on the morning of 25 September, crewmen in other battleships began reporting seeing smoke coming from Liberté, originating from her forward starboard casemate. Shortly thereafter, the forward superstructure erupted in flames, but it quickly appeared to observers that the ship's crew was getting the fire under control. But at 05:53 a tremendous explosion rocked the harbor. Liberté was badly damaged by the blast, with both central 194 mm turrets thrown overboard, the deck amidships collapsed, and the forward 55 m (180 ft) of the ship was completely destroyed. The forward turret was blasted apart, and only one of the guns was recovered, having been hurled into the muddy bottom of the harbor.

The explosion hurled a 37-metric-ton (36-long-ton; 41-short-ton) chunk of armor plate from the ship into the battleship République moored some 210 m (690 ft) away, which caused significant damage. Splinters from the exploding ship sank a steam pinnace and killed fifteen men aboard the armored cruiser Marseillaise, nine aboard the battleship Saint Louis, six aboard the armored cruiser Leon Gambetta, four aboard the battleship Suffren, and three aboard Démocratie. Liberté's surviving crew immediately fled the ship; 286 were killed in the explosion and 188 were wounded. Fortunately, 143 of the crew, including the ship's commander, had been on leave in Toulon at the time and thus avoided the accident.

The navy convened a commission to investigate the accident on 25 September, which was held aboard Justice; the commission was led by Contre-amiral (Rear Admiral) Gaschard and included officers from Justice. They considered the possibility of sabotage, but ruled it out. The investigation determined that the accident was likely caused by excessive heat in the magazines and deemed that the standard procedures for ammunition monitoring were not sufficient. The French Navy had earlier suffered a series of fatal accidents in Toulon, beginning with an explosion aboard a torpedo boat in February 1907, in which nine men were killed. The following month, the battleship Iéna blew up, killing 107 men. An explosion aboard a gunnery training ship killed six in August 1908, and an explosion on a cruiser killed 13. Six more men were killed aboard the cruiser Gloire just two weeks before Liberté exploded, on 10 September 1911. The culprit was unstable Poudre B, a nitrocellulose-based propellant that was also responsible for the destruction of Iéna, and possibly the other explosions as well.

Following the disaster, the navy established new rules, requiring that propellant charges older than four years would be discarded. The order was initially limited to the battleship squadrons, but was later extended to the entire fleet. The Navy Minister also rescinded an order instructing gun crews to return propellant charges that had misfired to the magazines; going forward, charges that had been placed in the guns would either have to be fired or discarded. The commission had determined that magazine flooding arrangements were insufficient, but the navy only made modest improvements to the equipment. The wreck of the ship remained in Toulon until 1925, though work on clearing or marking navigational hazards began immediately. On 21 February, Liberté was refloated and towed into a drydock in Toulon, where she was broken up



Justice at the Hudson-Fulton Celebration in September 1909

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

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



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

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 April 1909 – Launch of São Paulo, a dreadnought battleship designed and built by the British companies Armstrong Whitworth and Vickers, respectively, for the Brazilian Navy


São Paulo was a dreadnought battleship designed and built by the British companies Armstrong Whitworth and Vickers, respectively, for the Brazilian Navy. It was the second of two ships in the Minas Geraes class, and was named after the state and city of São Paulo.

São Paulo was launched on 19 April 1909 and commissioned on 12 July 1910. Soon after, it was involved in the Revolt of the Lash (Revolta de Chibata), in which crews on four Brazilian warships mutinied over poor pay and harsh punishments for even minor offenses. After entering the First World War, Brazil offered to send São Paulo and its sister Minas Geraes to Britain for service with the Grand Fleet, but Britain declined since both vessels were in poor condition and lacked the latest fire control technology. In June 1918, Brazil sent São Paulo to the United States for a full refit that was not completed until 7 January 1920, well after the war had ended. On 6 July 1922, São Paulo fired its guns in anger for the first time when it attacked a fort that had been taken during the Tenente revolts. Two years later, mutineers took control of the ship and sailed it to Montevideo in Uruguay, where they obtained asylum.

In the 1930s, São Paulo was passed over for modernization due to its poor condition—it could only reach a top speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph), less than half its design speed. For the rest of its career, the ship was reduced to a reserve coastal defense role. When Brazil entered the Second World War, São Paulo sailed to Recife and remained there as the port's main defense for the duration of the war. Stricken in 1947, the dreadnought remained as a training vessel until 1951, when it was taken under tow to be scrapped in the United Kingdom. The tow lines broke during a strong gale on 6 November, when the ships were 150 nmi (280 km; 170 mi) north of the Azores, and São Paulo was lost.


São Paulo on its sea trials, 1910

Background
Main articles: South American dreadnought race and Minas Geraes-class battleship
Beginning in the late 1880s, Brazil's navy fell into obsolescence, a situation exacerbated by an 1889 revolution, which deposed Emperor Dom Pedro II, and an 1893 civil war. Despite having nearly three times the population of Argentina and almost five times the population of Chile, by the end of the 19th century Brazil was lagging behind the Chilean and Argentine navies in quality and total tonnage.


The launch of Minas Geraes on 10 September 1908. As the ship has not gone through its fitting-out period, it weighed only around 9,000 long tons (9,100 metric tons) at this time

At the turn of the 20th century, soaring demand for coffee and rubber brought prosperity to the Brazilian economy. The government of Brazil used some of the extra money from this economic growth to finance a naval building program in 1904, which authorized the construction of a large number of warships, including three battleships. The minister of the navy, Admiral Júlio César de Noronha, signed a contract with Armstrong Whitworth for three battleships on 23 July 1906. The new dreadnought battleship design, which debuted in December 1906 with the completion of the namesake ship, rendered the Brazilian ships, and all other existing capital ships, obsolete. The money authorized for naval expansion was redirected by the new Minister of the Navy, Rear Admiral Alexandrino Fario de Alencar, to building two dreadnoughts, with plans for a third dreadnought after the first was completed, two scout cruisers (which became the Bahia class), ten destroyers (the Pará class), and three submarines. The three battleships on which construction had just begun were scrapped beginning on 7 January 1907, and the design of the new dreadnoughts was approved by the Brazilians on 20 February 1907. In South America, the ships came as a shock and kindled a naval arms race among Brazil, Argentina, and Chile. The 1902 treaty between the latter two was canceled upon the Brazilian dreadnought order so both could be free to build their own dreadnoughts.


Line drawing of a Minas Geraes-class battleship



Minas Geraes, the lead ship, was laid down by Armstrong on 17 April 1907, while São Paulo followed thirteen days later at Vickers. The news shocked Brazil's neighbors, especially Argentina, whose Minister of Foreign Affairs remarked that either Minas Geraes or São Paulo could destroy the entire Argentine and Chilean fleets. In addition, Brazil's order meant that they had laid down a dreadnought before many of the other major maritime powers, such as Germany, France or Russia, and the two ships made Brazil the third country to have dreadnoughts under construction, behind the United Kingdom and the United States. papers and journals around the world, particularly in Britain and Germany, speculated that Brazil was acting as a proxy for a naval power which would take possession of the two dreadnoughts soon after completion, as they did not believe that a previously insignificant geopolitical power would contract for such powerful warships. Despite this, the United States actively attempted to court Brazil as an ally; caught up in the spirit, U.S. naval journals began using terms like "Pan Americanism" and "Hemispheric Cooperation".


São Paulo seen at an unknown point in its career

Early career
São Paulo was christened by Régis de Oliveira, the wife of Brazil's minister to Great Britain, and launched at Barrow-in-Furness on 19 April 1909 with many South American diplomats and naval officers in attendance. The ship was commissioned on 12 July, and after fitting-out and sea trials, it left Greenock on 16 September 1910. Shortly thereafter, it stopped in Cherbourg, France, to embark the Brazilian President Hermes Rodrigues da Fonseca. Departing on the 27th, São Paulo sailed to Lisbon, Portugal, where Fonseca was a guest of Portugal's King Manuel II. Soon after they arrived the 5 October 1910 revolution began, which caused the fall of the Portuguese monarchy. Although the president offered political asylum to the king and his family, the offer was refused. A rumor that the king was on board, circulated by newspapers and reported to the Brazilian legation in Paris, led revolutionaries to attempt to search the ship, but they were denied permission. They also asked for Brazil to land marines "to help in the maintenance of order", but this request was also denied. São Paulo left Lisbon on 7 October for Rio de Janeiro, and docked there on 25 October

to learn more about her career please take a look at the wikipedia......



Minas Geraes at speed during its sea trials. This photo is commonly misidentified as São Paulo, but it was taken before that ship entered service

The Minas Geraes class, spelled Minas Gerais in some sources, consisted of two battleships built for the Brazilian Navy in the early twentieth century. Named Minas Geraes and São Paulo, the ships were intended to be Brazil's first step towards becoming an international power, and they consequently initiated a South American naval arms race.

In 1904, Brazil began a major naval building program that included three small battleships. Designing and ordering the ships took two years, but these plans were scrapped after the revolutionary "dreadnought" concept rendered the Brazilian design obsolete—two dreadnoughts were instead ordered from the United Kingdom, making Brazil the third country to have ships of this type under construction—before traditional powers like Germany, France, or Russia. As such, the ships created much uncertainty among the major countries in the world, many of whom incorrectly speculated the ships were actually destined for a rival nation. Similarly, they also caused much consternation in Argentina and consequently Chile.

Soon after their delivery in 1910, both Minas Geraes and São Paulo were embroiled in the Revolt of the Lash (Revolta da Chibata), in which the crews of four Brazilian ships demanded the abolition of corporal punishment in the navy. The mutineers surrendered after four days, when a bill was passed granting amnesty to all those involved. In 1922, the two battleships were used to help put down a revolt at Fort Copacabana. Two years later, lieutenants on São Paulo mutinied but found little support from other military units, so they sailed to Montevideo, Uruguay, and obtained asylum. Minas Geraeswas modernized in the 1930s, but both battleships were too old to participate actively in the Second World War, and instead were employed as harbor defense ships in Salvador and Recife. São Paulowas sold in 1951 to a British shipbreaker, but was lost in a storm north of the Azores while being towed to its final destination. Minas Geraes was sold to an Italian scrapper in 1953 and towed to Genoathe following year.


Minas Geraes after its 1930s modernization, possibly during the Second World War


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_battleship_São_Paulo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minas_Geraes-class_battleship

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 April 1909 – Launch of Diderot, one of the six Danton-class semi-dreadnought battleships built for the French Navy in the early 1900s.


Diderot was one of the six Danton-class semi-dreadnought battleships built for the French Navy in the early 1900s. Shortly after World War I began, the ship participated in the Battle of Antivari in the Adriatic Sea and helped to sink an Austro-Hungarian protected cruiser. She spent most of the rest of the war blockading the Straits of Otranto and the Dardanelles to prevent German, Austro-Hungarian and Turkish warships from breaking out into the Mediterranean. Diderot briefly participated in the occupation of Constantinople after the end of the war. She was modernized in 1922–25 and subsequently became a training ship. The ship was condemned in 1936 and later sold for scrap.



Design and description
Although the Danton-class battleships were a significant improvement from the preceding Liberté class, they were outclassed by the advent of the dreadnought well before they were completed. This, combined with other poor traits, including the great weight in coal they had to carry, made them rather unsuccessful ships, though their numerous rapid-firing guns were of some use in the Mediterranean.

Diderot was 146.6 meters (481 ft 0 in) long overall and had a beam of 25.8 meters (84 ft 8 in) and a full-load draft of 9.2 meters (30 ft 2 in). She displaced 19,736 metric tons (19,424 long tons) at deep load and had a crew of 681 officers and enlisted men. The ship was powered by four Parsons steam turbines using steam generated by twenty-six Belleville boilers. The turbines were rated at 22,500 shaft horsepower (16,800 kW) and provided a top speed of around 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph). Diderot, however, reached a top speed of 19.9 knots (36.9 km/h; 22.9 mph) on her sea trials. She carried a maximum of 2,027 tonnes (1,995 long tons) of coal which allowed her to steam for 3,370 nautical miles (6,240 km; 3,880 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

Diderot's main battery consisted of four 305mm/45 Modèle 1906 guns mounted in two twin gun turrets, one forward and one aft. The secondary battery consisted of twelve 240mm/50 Modèle 1902 guns in twin turrets, three on each side of the ship. A number of smaller guns were carried for defense against torpedo boats. These included sixteen 75 mm (3.0 in) L/65 guns and ten 47-millimetre (1.9 in) Hotchkiss guns. The ship was also armed with two submerged 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes. The ship's waterline armor belt was 270 mm (10.6 in) thick and the main battery was protected by up to 300 mm (11.8 in) of armor. The conning toweralso had 300 mm thick sides.

Wartime modifications
During the war 75 mm anti-aircraft guns were installed on the roofs of the ship's two forward 240 mm gun turrets. During 1918, the elevation of the 240 mm guns was increased which extended their range to 18,000 meters (20,000 yd).

Career
Construction of Diderot began on 26 December 1906[2] by Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire in Saint-Nazaire and the ship was laid down on 20 October 1907. She was launched on 19 April 1909 and was completed on 1 August 1911. The ship was assigned to the First Division of the First Squadron (escadre) of the Mediterranean Fleet when she was commissioned. The ship participated in combined fleet maneuvers between Provence and Tunisia in May–June 1913 and the subsequent naval review conducted by the President of France, Raymond Poincaré on 7 June 1913. Afterwards, Diderot joined her squadron in its tour of the Eastern Mediterranean in October–December 1913 and participated in the grand fleet exercise in the Mediterranean in May 1914.

World War I
In early August 1914, the ship cruised the Strait of Sicily in an attempt to prevent the German battlecruiser Goeben and the light cruiser Breslau from breaking out to the West. On 16 August 1914 the combined Anglo-French Fleet under Admiral Auguste Boué de Lapeyrère, including Voltaire, made a sweep of the Adriatic Sea. The Allied ships encountered the Austro-Hungarian cruiser SMS Zenta, escorted by the destroyer SMS Ulan, blockading the coast of Montenegro. There were too many ships for Zenta to escape, so she remained behind to allow Ulan to get away and was sunk by gunfire during the Battle of Antivari off the coast of Bar, Montenegro. Voltaire subsequently participated in a number of raids into the Adriatic later in the year and patrolled the Ionian Islands. From December 1914 through 1917, the ship participated in the distant blockade of the Straits of Otranto while based in Corfu. In May 1918, Diderot became flagship of the First Division of the Second Squadron and was transferred that month to Mudros with her sister ships, Mirabeau and Vergniaud, to prevent Goeben from breaking out into the Mediterranean and remained there until the end of the war.

Postwar
After the Armistice of Mudros was signed on 30 October between the Allies and the Ottoman Empire, the ship participated in the early stage of the occupation of Constantinople from 12 November to 12 December. Diderot was based in Toulon throughout 1919 and was modernized in 1922–25 to improve her underwater protection. The ship became a training ship in 1927 and was condemned in on 17 March 1937; sold to M. Gosselin-Duriez on 30 July 1937 for 3,557,010 FF, she arrived at Dunkirk for breaking up on 31 August.




The Danton-class battleship was a class of six pre-dreadnought battleships built for the French Navy (Marine Nationale) before World War I. The ships were assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet after commissioning in 1911. After the beginning of World War I in early August 1914, five of the sister ships participated in the Battle of Antivari. They spent most of the rest of the war blockading the Straits of Otranto and the Dardanelles to prevent warships of the Central Powers from breaking out into the Mediterranean. One ship was sunk by a German submarine in 1917.

The remaining five ships were obsolescent by the end of the war and most were assigned to secondary roles. Two of the sisters were sent to the Black Sea to support the Whites during the Russian Civil War. One ship ran aground and the crew of the other mutinied after one of its members was killed during a protest against intervention in support of the Whites. Both ships were quickly condemned and later sold for scrap. The remaining three sisters received partial modernizations in the mid-1920s and became training ships until they were condemned in the mid-1930s and later scrapped. The only survivor still afloat at the beginning of World War II in August 1939 had been hulked in 1931 and was serving as part of the navy's torpedo school. She was captured by the Germans when they occupied Vichy France in 1942 and scuttled by them after the Allied invasion of southern France in 1944.

French battleship Diderot - Wikipedia

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

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 April 1972 - The Battle of Đồng Hới was a clash between United States Navy warships and Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF) MiG-17F fighter bombers, several torpedo boats and shore batteries during the Vietnam War. This was the first time U.S. warships faced an air raid since the end of World War II.


The Battle of Đồng Hới was a clash between United States Navy warships and Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF) MiG-17F fighter bombers, several torpedo boats and shore batteries on April 19, 1972 during the Vietnam War. This was the first time U.S. warships faced an air raid since the end of World War II.

The Battle for Đồng Hới Gulf involved fierce firefights when Navy ships attempted to stop North Vietnamese troops and supplies transiting the coast highway in North Vietnam from reaching the battle front in Quảng Trị Province. The air raid described here marked the end of daylight raids by the Navy. Within a few weeks, however, all North Vietnamese resistance at Đồng Hới was suppressed.


MiG-17F (No. 2047) manned by pilot Nguyen Van Bay "B", one of the VPAF's aircraft participating in the Battle of Đồng Hới



Battle
The U.S. warships involved were the 7th Fleet flagship, guided missile cruiser USS Oklahoma City, the guided missile cruiser USS Sterett, and destroyers USS Lloyd Thomas and USS Higbee.

The American warships operating in the Gulf of Tonkin were shelling North Vietnamese coastal targets around Đồng Hới, Quảng Bình Province, North Central Coast region near the DMZ along the 17th parallel, the provisional borderline between South Vietnam and North Vietnam when they were attacked by VPAF MiGs in the first air attack on U.S. naval forces in the Vietnam War.

At approximately 17:00, USS Sterett detected three hostile aircraft approaching the navy ships. One of the MiG-17Fs scored a direct hit on USS Higbee with a BETAB-250 (250 kg, 550 lb) bomb, after failing to hit its target twice on two previous attack runs. The explosion destroyed the aft 5-inch (127 mm) gun mount which was empty, as the 12-man crew having been evacuated following a "hang fire" (a round stuck in one of the barrels). Another MiG-17 simultaneously aimed its bombs at USS Oklahoma City but missed the target. According to U.S. claims, one of the MiGs was shot down by a Terrier surface-to-air missile from USS Sterett. One more MiG disappeared from Sterett's radar along with a Terrier missile fired at it from the frigate, indicating a probable kill. A North Vietnamese Styx anti-ship missile was alleged to have been fired and intercepted, but this was not confirmed by official documentation.

At approximately 18:00 as the US ships withdrew to the northeast, USS Sterett detected two surface targets shadowing the US ships, after 30 minutes, Sterett opened fire on the targets with its 5-inch guns destroying the two suspected North Vietnamese P 6-class torpedo boats.

Aftermath

USS Higbee showing the aft 5"/38 gun mount bombed during the battle of Đồng Hới


USS Higbee (DDR-806) being refueled by USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14), in 1960

The North Vietnamese claimed the sortie involved two MiG-17s piloted by Lê Xuân Dị and Nguyễn Văn Bảy "B", of which all returned safely to their base, and that the North Vietnamese navy had not participated in any engagement until August 27. The attack crippled Higbee's 5-inch gun turret, impaired its steering and propulsion, and wounded 4 sailors on deck. Oklahoma City only sustained minor damage on its stern. The U.S. later responded by bombardment against Vinh and Đồng Hới on April 19 and 20, and an air strike by 33 aircraft on April 22 at the Gát airfield, from which the attacking MiG-17s had taken off, destroying one MiG and damaging another on the ground.

Although the losses inflicted were superficial, the North Vietnamese attack had forced the Americans to employ more of their strength to prevent future incidents against the background of downscaling U.S. military activities in the area.


Higbee under repair at Subic bay following her bomb hit

Battle of Đồng Hới - Wikipedia

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

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 April 1989 - USS Iowa – An open breech explosion occurred in the center gun of turret Number Two aboard Iowa, killing all 47 men in the turret.


On 19 April 1989, the Number Two 16-inch gun turret of the United States Navy battleship USS Iowa (BB-61) exploded. The explosion in the center gun room killed 47 of the turret's crewmen and severely damaged the gun turret itself. Two major investigations were undertaken into the cause of the explosion, one by the U.S. Navy and then one by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Sandia National Laboratories. The investigations produced conflicting conclusions.

The first investigation into the explosion, conducted by the U.S. Navy, concluded that one of the gun turret crew members, Clayton Hartwig, who died in the explosion, had deliberately caused it. During the investigation, numerous leaks to the media, later attributed to U.S. Navy officers and investigators, implied that Hartwig and another sailor, Kendall Truitt, had engaged in a homosexual relationship and that Hartwig had caused the explosion after their relationship had soured. In its report, however, the U.S. Navy concluded that the evidence did not show that Hartwig was homosexual but that he was suicidal and had caused the explosion with either an electronic or chemical detonator.

The victims' families, the media, and members of the U.S. Congress were sharply critical of the U.S. Navy's findings. The U.S. Senate and U.S. House Armed Services Committees both held hearings to inquire into the Navy's investigation and later released reports disputing the U.S. Navy's conclusions. The Senate committee asked the GAO to review the U.S. Navy's investigation. To assist the GAO, Sandia National Laboratories provided a team of scientists to review the Navy's technical investigation.


A cutaway of a 16-inch gun turret aboard an Iowa-class battleship

During its review, Sandia determined that a significant overram of the powder bags into the gun had occurred as it was being loaded and that the overram could have caused the explosion. A subsequent test by the Navy of the overram scenario confirmed that an overram could have caused an explosion in the gun breech. Sandia's technicians also found that the physical evidence did not support the U.S. Navy's theory that an electronic or chemical detonator had been used to initiate the explosion.

In response to the new findings, the U.S. Navy, with Sandia's assistance, reopened the investigation. In August 1991, Sandia and the GAO completed their reports, concluding that the explosion was likely caused by an accidental overram of powder bags into the breech of the 16-inch gun. The U.S. Navy, however, disagreed with Sandia's opinion and concluded that the cause of the explosion could not be determined. The U.S. Navy expressed regret (but did not offer apology) to Hartwig's family and closed its investigation.


Debris and smoke fly through the air as USS Iowa's Turret Two's center gun explodes


Iowa's Number Two turret is cooled with sea water shortly after exploding.


Iowa, with damaged Turret Two still locked in firing position, arrives at Norfolk on 23 April.


USS Iowa (BB-61) is a retired battleship, the lead ship of her class, and the fourth in the United States Navy to be named after the state of Iowa. Owing to the cancellation of the Montana-class battleships, Iowa is the last lead ship of any class of United States battleships and was the only ship of her class to have served in the Atlantic Ocean during World War II.

During World War II, she carried President Franklin D. Roosevelt across the Atlantic to Mers El Kébir, Algeria, en route to a meeting of vital importance in 1943 in Tehran with Prime Minister Winston Churchill of Britain and Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union. When transferred to the Pacific Fleet in 1944, Iowa shelled beachheads at Kwajalein and Eniwetok in advance of Allied amphibious landings and screened aircraft carriersoperating in the Marshall Islands. She also served as the Third Fleet flagship, flying Admiral William F. Halsey's flag at the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay. During the Korean War, Iowa was involved in raids on the North Korean coast, after which she was decommissioned into the United States Navy reserve fleets, better known as the "mothball fleet." She was reactivated in 1984 as part of the 600-ship Navy plan and operated in both the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets to counter the recently expanded Soviet Navy. In April 1989, an explosion of undetermined origin wrecked her No. 2 gun turret, killing 47 sailors.

Iowa was decommissioned for the last time in October 1990 after 19 total years of active service, and was initially stricken from the Naval Vessel Register (NVR) in 1995. She was reinstated from 1999 to 2006 to comply with federal laws that required retention and maintenance of two Iowa-class battleships. In 2011 Iowa was donated to the Los Angeles–based non-profit Pacific Battleship Center and was permanently moved to Berth 87 at the Port of Los Angeles in 2012, where she was opened to the public as the USS Iowa Museum.


USS Iowa fires her 16-inch guns on 15 August 1984 during a firepower demonstration after her modernization


Iowa fires a full broadside of nine 16-inch (406 mm)/50-caliber and six 5-inch (127 mm)/38 cal guns during a target exercise near Vieques Island, Puerto Rico, on 1 July 1984. Shock waves are visible in the water.

USS Iowa turret explosion - Wikipedia

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Iowa_(BB-61)

 

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


1744 – Launch of HMS Hind was a 10-gun two-masted Hind-class sloop of the Royal Navy, designed by Joseph Allin and built by Philemon Perry at Blackwall on the Thames River , England

HMS Hind was a 10-gun two-masted Hind-class sloop of the Royal Navy, designed by Joseph Allin and built by Philemon Perry at Blackwall on the Thames River , England and launched on 19 April 1744.
She was lost, presumed to have foundered, off Louisbourg, Nova Scotia in September 1747.


lines This plan relates to the new-builds which originally hads the names of the ships they replaced - esp. the Rupert's Prize and Pembroke's Prize. Peregrina was launched as Merlin Galgo was launched as Swallow NMM, progress Book, volume 2, folio 542, states that 'Rupert Prize' was renamed 'Hind' per Admiralty Order dated April 1744. She was launched 19 April 1744, and fitted at Woolwich Dockyard between April and May 1744. The previous 'Rupert Prize' was sold in October 1743. NMM, Progress Book volume 2, folio 540, states that 'Pembroke Prize' was renamed per Admiralty Order 'Vulture' on 18 April 1744. She was launched in May 1744, and surveyed afloat and refitted at Plymouth Dockyard, October-November 1744. The previous 'Pembroke Prize' was sold 13 March 1743

HMS Hind (1744) - Wikipedia

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1757 – Birth of Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, English admiral and politician (d. 1833)

Admiral Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, GCB (19 April 1757 – 23 January 1833) was a British naval officer. He fought during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary Wars, and the Napoleonic Wars. His younger brother Israel Pellew also pursued a naval career.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Pellew,_1st_Viscount_Exmouth


1758 – Birth of William Carnegie, 7th Earl of Northesk, Scottish admiral (d. 1831)

Admiral William Carnegie, 7th Earl of Northesk GCB (19 April 1758 – 28 May 1831) was born at Bruntsfield in Edinburgh to Admiral George Carnegie, 6th Earl of Northesk and Anne Melville



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Carnegie,_7th_Earl_of_Northesk


1770 – Captain James Cook, still holding the rank of lieutenant, sights the eastern coast of what is now Australia.

Cook then sailed to New Zealand and mapped the complete coastline, making only some minor errors. He then voyaged west, reaching the southeastern coast of Australia on 19 April 1770, and in doing so his expedition became the first recorded Europeans to have encountered its eastern coastline.


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

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


1783 - George Washington proclaims end of hostilities


1780 – Launch of French Fée, (launched 19 April 1780 at Rochefort) – demolished 1790

Cérès class (32-gun design by Charles-Etienne Bombelle, with 26 x 12-pounder and 6 x 6-pounder guns).
Cérès, (launched 24 November 1779 at Rochefort) – demolished 1787.
Fée, (launched 19 April 1780 at Rochefort) – demolished 1790.


1806 – Launch of HMS Crocodile was a 22-gun sixth-rate post-ship launched in South Shields in 1806

HMS Crocodile was a 22-gun sixth-rate post-ship launched in South Shields in 1806. She was broken up at Portsmouth in October 1816.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Crocodile_(1806)

Banterer-class post ship - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1833 – Death of James Gambier, 1st Baron Gambier, Bahamian-English admiral and politician, 36th Commodore Governor of Newfoundland (b. 1756)

Admiral of the Fleet James Gambier, 1st Baron Gambier, GCB (13 October 1756 – 19 April 1833) was a Royal Navy officer. After seeing action at the capture of Charleston during the American Revolutionary War, he saw action again, as captain of the third-rate HMS Defence, at the battle of the Glorious First of June in 1794, during the French Revolutionary Wars, gaining the distinction of commanding the first ship to break through the enemy line.



Gambier went on to be a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty and First Naval Lord and then served as Governor of Newfoundland. Together with General Lord Cathcart, he oversaw the bombardment of Copenhagenduring the Napoleonic Wars. He later survived an accusation of cowardice for his alleged inaction at the Battle of the Basque Roads.


The third-rate HMS Defence, commanded by Gambier, at the Glorious First of June in 1794

James Gambier, 1st Baron Gambier - Wikipedia

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1861 President Lincoln orders blockade of Southern ports from South Carolina to Texas


1907 - HMS Ariel was a two funnel, 30 knot destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1895 – 1896 Naval Estimates. was wrecked in a storm in 1907

HMS Ariel was a two funnel, 30 knot destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1895 – 1896 Naval Estimates. Named after Shakespeare's "airy spirit", or the biblical spirit of the same name, she was the ninth ship of the name to serve in the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1897, served at Chatham and Malta, and was wrecked in a storm in 1907.

HMS Ariel (1897) - Wikipedia

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1917 - The U.S. Naval Armed Guard crew on board SS Mongolia engages and damages a German U-boat, the first engagement against the enemy after declaration of war on April 6.

SS Mongolia was a 13,369-ton passenger-and-cargo liner originally built for Pacific Mail Steamship Company in 1904. She later sailed as USS Mongolia (ID-1615) for the U.S. Navy, as SS President Fillmore for the Dollar Line and as SS Panamanian for Cia Transatlantica Centroamericano.



In March 1917, following the German declaration of a submarine blockade around Britain, Mongolia was chartered as an Army transport and received a self-defense armament of three 6-inch (150 mm) deck guns manned by U.S. Navy gun crews. One month later, Mongolia became the first American vessel to test the blockade, using those guns to drive off (and possibly sink) a U-boat seven miles southeast of Beachy Head, in the English Channel. That was the first armed encounter for an American vessel after the US's entry to World War I. For the next year, Mongolia ferried American troops and supplies to Europe. Two American nurses, Clara Ayres and Helen Burnett Wood, were accidentally killed during one of these crossings, and another was wounded. During the afternoon of 20 May 1917, the nurses were on the deck of the Mongolia, observing the firing of the aft 6-inch gun, when they were struck by fragments of the shell's brass casing.

SS Mongolia (1903) - Wikipedia

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1920 - The first German submarine brought to the United States after World War I arrives at New York. During World War I, U 111 sank three Allied merchant vessels that included the British steamer Boscastle on April 7, 1918. The submarine surrendered later that year.

SM U-111 was one of the 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy in World War I. She took part in the First Battle of the Atlantic. She was the only submarine which had a clergyman on board (Wilhelm Meinhold, Marinepfarrer).

Completed at Kiel early in January 1918, she went to the Kiel School for shakedown and training until March, when she joined 4. Flottille. She was monitored continuously by British Naval Intelligence (Room 30), on which her movement reports are based. All her operations took place in 1918.

Service history
She departed 26 March on her first war patrol, operating in the Irish Sea and western entrance to the English Channel, sinking two steamers and returning to Kiel and 23 April. Her second patrol began 27 May, sailing from Heligoland Bight via Muckle Flugga to the western English Channel. She sank at least one confirmed steamer, and returned the same way, arriving 24 June. Her third patrol, between 25 August and 29 September, was via Fastnet and Scillies into the Irish Sea, where she was hampered by British A/S patrols and obtained no sinkings.

Post War Career
U-111 surrendered at Harwich,England 20 November 1918, after the Armistice. On 7 April 1919, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Freeland A. Daubin, she sailed for the United States after 12 days of preparations and testing. On her mast the United States flag flew above the Reich War Flag. She arrived first at Portland, Maine on 18 April 1919, and then in New York City, New York on 19 April 1919 where U-111 docked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The U-111, along with four other captured German submarines that were brought to the United States, were used to promote the sale of the Victory Liberty Loan. The U-111 can be seen in a short newsreel film after her arrival on YouTube.

Originally the U-164 was supposed to come to the United States, but it was found in such atrocious shape that the U-111 was substituted. The other ships that were brought over to the United States were U-117, U-140, UB-88, UB-148, and UC-97. All sailed to America under their own power except U-140 which was towed. These submarines were listed in U.S. Navy records as the Ex-German Submarine Expeditionary Force.

By early September of 1919 the U-111 had completed a head-to-head comparison test against the American submarine USS S-3 (SS-107). It was found that, "The American boat is speedier, has a greater radius of action and is much more habitable than the German boats. Naval officers are of the opinion that the American submarine is the more seaworthy." A summary of the results of the tests from this article are shown in the following table

During the period of October 1919 to April 1920 U-111 was used for mechanical efficiency experiments off the coast of Florida and Cuba. During these trials she achieved better speeds than in the test results shown above. She was able to go 17.08 knots on the surface, and the submerged speed was almost one knot better than the Germans were able to achieve. The submarine traveled over 11,000 miles, there were no problems during her operation, and the only maintenance performed was of a routine nature (cleaning, painting, etc.). She then made her way to Portsmouth, New Hampshire for decommissioning and destruction.

The U-111s final days on the seas were supposed to conclude in 1921. On 18 June 1921, while being towed from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to be used as a target for aerial bombing by airplanes, she started to take on water. She sank about three miles off the coast of Cape Henry, Virginia, in 35 feet of water, well short of the 50 miles offshore where the tests were to take place. The stern of the submarine remained protruding above the water. Considered a navigation hazard, she was raised on 14 August 1922 by the USS Falcon, placed on pontoons, brought back to Norfolk Navy Yard, where she sank again in Number 3 dry dock before it could be pumped out. The submarine was refloated one more time, patched up, and on 30 August 1922 she made a final journey to sea. The U-111 was sunk on 31 August 1922 when her hatches were opened, and the USS Falcon set off a depth charge by the sub. Her remains are approximately 300 feet below the ocean surface near the Winter Quarters Shoal lightship along the Virginia coast.



U-111 at New York City, 1919

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SM_U-111


1945 - USS Buckley (DE 51) and USS Reuben James (DE 153) sink the German submarine U-879 southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia.

USS Buckley (DE-51) was the lead ship of her class of destroyer escorts in the service with the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946. After spending 23 years in reserve, she was scrapped in 1969.



USS Reuben James (DE-153) was a Buckley-class destroyer escort in the United States Navy. She was the second ship named for Reuben James, a Boatswain's Mate who distinguished himself fighting the Barbary pirates.

Reuben James was laid down on 7 September 1942 at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia, launched on 6 February 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Oliver Hiram Ward, and commissioned on 1 April 1943, with Lieutenant Commander Frank D. Giambattista in command.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Buckley_(DE-51)

USS Reuben James (DE-153) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
20 April 1453 - Fall of Constantinople - Turks fail to prevent Genoese supply ships reaching Constantinople
Three Genoese galleys and a Byzantine blockade runner fight their way through an Ottoman blockading fleet a few weeks before the fall of Constantinople.


The Fall of Constantinople (Greek: Ἅλωσις τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, translit. Halōsis tēs Kōnstantinoupoleōs; Turkish: İstanbul'un Fethi, lit. 'Conquest of Istanbul') was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by an invading Ottoman army on 29 May 1453. The attackers were commanded by the 21-year-old Sultan Mehmed II, who defeated an army commanded by Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos and took control of the imperial capital, ending a 53-day siege that began on 6 April 1453. After conquering the city, Sultan Mehmed transferred the capital of the Ottoman State from Edirne to Constantinople and established his court there.


Siege of Constantinople from Bibliothèque nationale mansucript Français 9087 (folio 207 v). The Turkish army of Mehmet II attacks Constantinople in 1453. Some soldiers are pointing canons to the city and others are pulling boats to the Golden Horn.

The capture of the city (and two other Byzantine splinter territories soon thereafter) marked the end of the Byzantine Empire, a continuation of the Roman Empire, an imperial state dating to 27 BC, which had lasted for nearly 1,500 years. The conquest of Constantinople also dealt a massive blow to the defense of mainland Europe, as the Muslim Ottoman armies thereafter were left unchecked to advance into Europe without an adversary to their rear.

It was also a watershed moment in military history. Since ancient times, cities had used ramparts and city walls to protect themselves from invaders, and Constantinople's substantial fortifications had been a model followed by cities throughout the Mediterranean region and Europe. The Ottomans ultimately prevailed due to the use of gunpowder (which powered formidable cannons).

The conquest of the city of Constantinople and the end of the Byzantine Empire was a key event in the Late Middle Ages which also marks, for some historians, the end of the Medieval period.



Siege
At the beginning of the siege, Mehmed sent out some of his best troops to reduce the remaining Byzantine strongholds outside the city of Constantinople. The fortress of Therapia on the Bosphorus and a smaller castle at the village of Studius near the Sea of Marmara were taken within a few days. The Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara were taken by Admiral Baltoghlu's fleet. Mehmed's massive cannon fired on the walls for weeks, but due to its imprecision and extremely slow rate of reloading the Byzantines were able to repair most of the damage after each shot, limiting the cannon's effect.


The Ottoman Turks transport their fleet overland into the Golden Horn.

Meanwhile, despite some probing attacks, the Ottoman fleet under Suleiman Baltoghlu could not enter the Golden Horn due to the chain the Byzantines had previously stretched across the entrance. Although one of the fleet's main tasks was to prevent any ships from outside from entering the Golden Horn, on 20 April a small flotilla of four Christian ships managed to slip in after some heavy fighting, an event which strengthened the morale of the defenders and caused embarrassment to the Sultan. Baltoghlu's life was spared after his subordinates testified to his bravery during the conflict.

Mehmed ordered the construction of a road of greased logs across Galata on the north side of the Golden Horn, and dragged his ships over the hill, directly into the Golden Horn on 22 April, bypassing the chain barrier. This seriously threatened the flow of supplies from Genoese ships from the — nominally neutral — colony of Pera, and demoralized the Byzantine defenders. On the night of 28 April, an attempt was made to destroy the Ottoman ships already in the Golden Horn using fire ships, but the Ottomans had been warned in advance and forced the Christians to retreat with heavy losses. Forty Italians escaped their sinking ships and swam to the northern shore. On orders of Mehmed, they were impaled on stakes, in sight of the city's defenders on the sea walls across the Golden Horn. In retaliation, the defenders brought their Ottoman prisoners, 260 in all, to the walls, where they were executed, one by one, before the eyes of the Ottomans. With the failure of their attack on the Ottoman vessels, the defenders were forced to disperse part of their forces to defend the sea walls along the Golden Horn.

The Ottoman army had made several frontal assaults on the land wall of Constantinople, but were always repelled with heavy losses. Venetian surgeon Niccolò Barbaro, describing in his diary one of such frequent land attacks especially by the Janissaries, wrote:

“

They found the Turks coming right up under the walls and seeking battle, particularly the Janissaries ... and when one or two of them were killed, at once more Turks came and took away the dead ones ... without caring how near they came to the city walls. Our men shot at them with guns and crossbows, aiming at the Turk who was carrying away his dead countryman, and both of them would fall to the ground dead, and then there came other Turks and took them away, none fearing death, but being willing to let ten of themselves be killed rather than suffer the shame of leaving a single Turkish corpse by the walls.

”

Siege of Constantinople as depicted between 1453 and 1475.

After these inconclusive frontal offensives, the Ottomans sought to break through the walls by constructing underground tunnels in an effort to mine them from mid-May to 25 May. Many of the sappers were miners of Serbian origin sent from Novo Brdo by the Serbian despot. They were placed under the command of Zagan Pasha. However, an engineer named Johannes Grant, a German who came together with the Genoese contingent, had counter-mines dug, allowing Byzantine troops to enter the mines and kill the workers. The Byzantines intercepted the first Serbian tunnel on the night of 16 May. Subsequent tunnels were interrupted on 21, 23, and 25 May, and destroyed with Greek fire and vigorous combat. On 23 May, the Byzantines captured and tortured two Turkish officers, who revealed the location of all the Turkish tunnels, which were then destroyed.

On 21 May, Mehmed sent an ambassador to Constantinople and offered to lift the siege if they gave him the city. He promised he would allow the Emperor and any other inhabitants to leave with their possessions. Moreover, he would recognize the Emperor as governor of the Peloponnese. Lastly, he guaranteed the safety of the population that might choose to remain in the city. Constantine XI only agreed to pay higher tributes to the sultan and recognized the status of all the conquered castles and lands in the hands of the Turks as Ottoman possession.

“

Giving you though the city depends neither on me nor on anyone else among its inhabitants; as we have all decided to die with our own free will and we shall not consider our lives.

”

Around this time, Mehmed had a final council with his senior officers. Here he encountered some resistance; one of his Viziers, the veteran Halil Pasha, who had always disapproved of Mehmed's plans to conquer the city, now admonished him to abandon the siege in the face of recent adversity. Zagan Pasha argued against Halil Pasha, and insisted on an immediate attack. Mehmed planned to overpower the walls by sheer force, expecting that the weakened Byzantine defense by the prolonged siege would now be worn out before he ran out of troops and started preparations for a final all-out offensive.

Fall of Constantinople - Wikipedia

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[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
20 April 1657 - Santa Cruz de Teneriffe - British fleet under Robert Blake totally destroyed a Spanish silver fleet of 16 ships at Santa Cruz Bay, Tenerife.


The Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife was a military operation in the Anglo-Spanish War (1654–60) in which an English fleet under Admiral Robert Blakeattacked a Spanish treasure fleet at Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Spanish Canary Islands. Most of the Spanish merchantmen were scuttled and the remainder were burnt by the English, though the treasure, which had already been landed, was saved.


Robert Blake's flagship George at the battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 1657.



Background
England, ruled at the time by the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell, decided to support France in its war with the Spanish Empire in 1654. This intervention was mostly motivated by hopes to profit from the war through raids on Spanish possessions in the West Indies. War was openly declared in October 1655 and endorsed when the Second Protectorate Parliament assembled the following year. An English attempt to capture the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo failed, however, whereupon the English shifted their attention to Europe. One of the prime enterprises became the blockade of Cadiz, which had not previously been attempted on such a scale. Robert Blake was to be in charge and also was to come up with methods that he had used in his previous encounters with the Dutch and Barbary pirates.

Blake kept the fleet at sea throughout an entire winter in order to maintain the blockade. During this period a Spanish convoy was destroyed by one of Blake's captains, Richard Stayner. A further six ships were sent from England as reinforcements towards the end of 1656, including George, which became Blake's flagship.[citation needed] In February 1657, Blake received intelligence that the convoy from Mexico was on its way across the Atlantic. Although his captains wanted to search for the Spanish galleons immediately, Blake refused to divide his forces and waited until victualling ships from England arrived to re-provision his fleet at the end of March. After this Blake (with only two ships to watch Cadiz), sailed from Cadiz Bay on 13 April 1657 to attack the plate fleet, which had docked at Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands to await an escort to Spain.

Blake's fleet arrived off Santa Cruz on 19 April. Santa Cruz lies in a deeply indented bay and the harbour was defended by a castle armed with forty guns and a number of smaller forts connected by a triple line of breastworks to shelter musketeers. In an operation similar to the raid on the Barbary pirates of Porto Farina in Tunisia in 1655, Blake planned to send twelve frigates under the command of Rear-Admiral Stayner in Speaker into the harbour to attack the galleons while he followed in George with the rest of the fleet to bombard the shore batteries.

Battle

Admiral Robert Blake led the attack at Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

The attack began at 9:00 am on 20 April. Stayner's division manoeuvred alongside the Spanish ships, which protected the English ships to some extent from the guns of the castle and forts. No shot was fired from the English ships until they had moved into position and dropped anchor. Blake saw what the Spanish had not; that the six galleons masked the fire of the other ten ships. While the frigates attacked the galleons, Blake's heavier warships sailed into the harbour to bombard the shore defences. Blake ordered that no prizes were to be taken; the Spanish fleet was to be utterly destroyed. Most of the Spanish fleet, made up of smaller armed merchantmen, were quickly silenced by the superior gunnery of Stayner's warships. The two great galleons fought on for several hours. Blake's division cleared the breastworks and smaller forts; smoke from the gunfire and burning ships worked to the advantage of the English by obscuring their ships from the Spanish batteries.

Around noon, the flagship of the Spanish admiral, Don Diego de Egues, caught fire; shortly afterwards she was destroyed when her powder magazine exploded. English sailors took to boats to board Spanish ships and set them on fire. By 3:00 pm, all sixteen Spanish ships in the harbour were sunk, ablaze or had surrendered. Contrary to orders, Swiftsure and four other frigates each took a surrendered ship as a prize and attempted to tow them out of the harbour. Blake sent peremptory orders that the prizes were to be burnt. He had to repeat his order three times before the reluctant captains obeyed.

Having achieved its objective of destroying the Spanish vessels, the English fleet was faced with the hazardous task of withdrawing from Santa Cruz harbour under continuing fire from the forts. According to accounts the wind suddenly shifted from the north-east to the south-west at exactly the right moment to carry Blake's ships out of the harbour; however, this story is probably based upon a misunderstanding of a report pertaining to general weather conditions on the voyage as a whole.[8] The English fleet worked its way back out to the open sea by warping out, or hauling on anchor ropes, a tactic Blake had introduced during the raid on Porto Farina. Speaker, which was the first ship to enter the harbour and last to leave, had been badly damaged, but no English ships were lost in the battle.

Aftermath
The Spanish treasure from Mexico had been unloaded and secured ashore. Blake was unable to seize it but it was also temporarily unavailable to the government in Madrid. Blake's force had suffered no more than 48 men killed and 120 wounded.

of the victory reached England the following month. On 28 May, Parliament voted to reward Blake with a jewel worth £500, which was equivalent to the reward voted to General Thomas Fairfax for his victory at the Battle of Naseby in 1645. Stayner was knighted by Oliver Cromwell. Blake received orders to return home in June. He made one further voyage to Salé in Morocco, where he succeeded in concluding a treaty to secure the release of English slaves. He returned to Cadiz in mid-July and handed command of the fleet to his flag captain, John Stoakes. Leaving nineteen ships to maintain the blockade, Blake sailed for England with eleven ships, most in need of repair. However, Blake's health was in terminal decline. Worn out by his years of campaigning, he died aboard his flagship the George on 7 August 1657 as his fleet approached Plymouth Sound.

Ships involved
Blake's fleet comprised 22 vessels:

• Bridgewater
• Bristol
• Centurion
• Colchester
• Convert
• Fairfax
• Foresight
• George
• Hampshire
• Jersey
• Langport
• Lyme
• Maidstone
• Nantwich
• Newbury
• Newcastle
• Plymouth
• Speaker
• Swiftsure
• Unicorn
• Winsby
• Worcester

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Santa_Cruz_de_Tenerife_(1657)

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
20 April 1768 – Launch of HMS Trident, a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, at Portsmouth.


HMS Trident was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 20 April 1768 at Portsmouth.



From April until June 1778 she was under the command of John Inglis.
For some of the period between 1793 and 1796, she was under the command of Captain Theophilus Jones.
Trident was sold out of the navy in 1816.



Plan showing the body plan with stern decoration, sheer lines with stern quarter decoration, and longitudinal half-breadth for Prudent (1768), Europa [also spelt Europe] (1765), and Trident (1768). From Tyne & Wear Archives Service.


The Exeter-class ships of the line were a class of four 64-gun third rates, designed for the Royal Navy by William Bateley.

Design
The draught for Exeter was based upon the Richmond-class frigates of 1757.



Ships

• HMS Exeter

Builder: Henniker, Chatham
Ordered: 13 January 1760
Launched: 26 July 1764
Fate: Burned, 1785

• HMS Europa

Builder: Adams, Lepe, Hampshire
Ordered: 16 December 1761
Launched: 21 April 1765
Fate: Broken up, 1814

• HMS Trident

Builder: Plymouth Dockyard
Ordered: 4 December 1762
Launched: 20 April 1768
Fate: Sold out of the service, 1816

• HMS Prudent

Builder: Woolwich Dockyard
Ordered: 7 January 1762
Launched: 28 September 1768
Fate: Sold out of the service, 1814


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with sternboard outline, sheer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth proposed (and approved) for Trident (1768), a 64-gun Third Rate, two-decker, to be built at Plymouth. The plan include a table of mast and yard dimensions. Signed by William Bately [Surveyor of the Navy, 1755-1765]


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Trident_(1768)

Exeter-class ship of the line - Wikipedia

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
20 April 1776 – Launch of HMS Camilla, a Royal Navy 20-gun Sphinx-class post ship.
Camilla was built in Chatham Dockyard to a design by John Williams


HMS Camilla was a Royal Navy 20-gun Sphinx-class post ship. Camilla was built in Chatham Dockyard to a design by John Williams and was launched in 1776. She served in the American Revolution, the French Revolutionary Wars, and the Napoleonic Wars, before being sold in 1831.


The Penobscot Expedition naval battle, by Dominic Serres



American Revolution
Camilla was commissioned in May 1776 and sailed for North America in August. There she captured the privateer schooner Independence, John Gill, Master, of six carriage guns, eight swivels, and 50 men. She was on a cruise from Boston. Camilla also captured Admiral Montague, sailing from Hispaniola to Rhode Island with a cargo of molasses and coffee, Chance sailing to Georgia with coffee, and Polly, sailing to Surinam in ballast.

On 23 January 1777, 12 miles (19 km) north of Charlestown, South Carolina, Camilla, under Captain Charles Phipps, captured the American sloop Fanny, which was heading to that port from Cap-Français, Hispaniola, with a cargo of molasses. Then in February Captain John Linzee took command of Camilla.

On 20 February 1777, Camilla and Perseus, Captain George Keith Elphinstone, captured the 170-ton snow, Adventure. They captured her 99 miles (159 km) northeast of Antigua, British West Indies, as she was going from Newburyport, Massachusetts to St. Eustatius, Netherlands West Indies, with a cargo of fish, staves, spermacaeti candles and pine planks. Camilla fired eleven shots before Adventure would stop. Perseus and Camilla shared the prize money. Eight days latter, Camilla captured Ranger, William Davies, Master, which was sailing in ballast from St. Lucia. Fanny, Adventure, and Ranger were all condemned and sold at Antigua.

April 1777 was a busy month for Camilla. On 6 April she captured the brig Willing Maid, bound from St. Thomas, Danish West Indies, to Ocracoke Inlet, North Carolina, with a cargo of sugar, rum, and salt. However, the brig sprang a leak and sank. On 11 April 1777, Camilla was patrolling with 44-gun frigate Roebuck near the mouth of the Delaware River, just north of the Cape Henlopen lighthouse, when they came upon the American merchantman Morris. Gunfire from the two British vessels drove Morris ashore, where she suddenly blew up with such force that it shattered the windows on the British vessels. Reports indicate that Morris was carrying 35 tons of gunpowder and that the captain and six crewmen still on the vessel were laying a train of gunpowder to blow her up, when things went wrong. It is not clear whether the powder train burnt too quickly or a shot from Camilla or Roebuck set it off. What is clear is that the vessel disintegrated and all aboard her died in the explosion. Much of her cargo of arms was, however, salvageable, and Americans onshore were able to get it.

On the 15 and 20 April Camilla took two more prizes, carrying rum, molasses and sugar, and molasses, respectively, but there are no details available. On 21 April, she captured Perfect, Etienne Codnet, Master, bound from Cape Nichola, Hispaniola, with a cargo of molasses. Then on the 25 and 26 April she took two more unknown vessels, both carrying rum and rice. She also captured Fonbonne, W. De Gallet, Master, and W. Galley, Owner, which was sailing from Cap-Français to Miquelon with a cargo of wine and molasses.

In July 1777, boats from Camilla and Pearl captured and burnt the Continental schooner Mosquito.

Camilla captured several merchantmen in late 1777 or early 1778. On 15 November she captured the sloop Admiral Montague, sailing from Hispaniola to Rhode Island with a cargo of molasses and coffee. That same day, she captured Chance, Thomas Bell, Master, which was sailing to Georgia with a cargo of flour and rum. Lastly, on 14 March 1778, Camilla captured Polly, William Thompson, Master, which was sailing to Surinam in ballast.

When Philadelphia fell to the British in 1777, several American vessels found themselves trapped between the city and the British fleet further down the Delaware River. The Americans launched some three fire ships towards the British, but gunfire from Roebuck, Camilla, and other British vessels caused the Americans to set their ships on fire too soon, and to abandon them. British boats were able to pull the fire ships on shore where they could do no harm.


Recruiting poster from 1778 for Camilla

In February 1778 Captain John Collins took command of Camilla. She then participated in two operations, one at Newhaven on 5 July and another at Penobscot from 21 July to 14 August.

On 29 May 1779, Camilla was part of Admiral George Collier's small flotilla that sailed up the Hudson River and captured Stony Point, two months later the site of the American victory in the Battle of Stony Point. Amongst other services, she exchanged fire with Fort Lafayette.

That summer, the British Fleet moved north. Camilla was one of the vessels that participated in Tryon's raid on New Haven, Connecticut in July.

She was also among the vessels sharing in the prize money for the capture, on 14 August, of the American privateer Hunter. Camilla then participated in the battle that on 15–16 August destroyed the American Penobscot Expedition.

During the autumn Camilla captured the brig Chance, John M'Kay Master, off Cape Cod. The brig was sailing from St. Eustatius to Connecticut with a cargo of salt. Around this time she also recaptured the Mackerel and Marquis of Rockingham. On 12 October she captured the brig Revenge.

In December Camilla sailed from New York to Charleston, South Carolina, with Vice Admiral Mariot Arbuthnot's squadron. Thus, spring 1780, found Camilla, Captain Charles Phipps, participating at the Siege of Charleston. The city capitulated on 11 May. Camilla shared in the prize money resulting from the naval captures.

On 30 September, Camilla participated in the capture of the brigs Wasp, Potomack, and Portsmouth Hero, and the schooners Providence, Fanny and Betsey. Then on 1 November she took the schooner Henrico.

On 19 April 1781, Camilla took the sloop Ann. Camilla then sailed to join the Downs squadron. Captain J. Wainwright assumed command in November 1782. She was paid off in March 1783.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with stern board decoration, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for Camilla (1776), a 20-gun Sixth Rate Sloop as built at Chatham Dockyard



Between the wars
Commander John Hutt of Trimmer received promotion to post captain and then in March 1783 recommissioned Camilla. He sailed her for Jamaica on 11 May 1783. While she was on the Jamaica station a mutiny occurred aboard Camilla. Five men received 800 lashes. Camilla sailed back to Britain in 1784, but in December sailed for Jamaica again.

In September 1790, Camilla was reported to have brought the Duke of Sudermania from Finland to the Swedish Royal Court at Drottningholm Palace.

French Revolutionary Wars
In March 1794 commissioned Camilla for the Downs station. After receiving promotion to post-captain on 31 October 1795, Richard Dacres was appointed to command Camilla, which formed part of Richard Strachan's squadron in the English Channel.

Camilla shared with Diamond, Syren, Magicienne, and Childers in the proceeds of the capture on 10 April 1796 of Smuka Piga. Then Camilla, Aquilon, Diamond, Minerva, Syren, Magicienne, and Childersshared in the capture on 29 April of Mary. On 24 December Melampus, Latona, Camilla and the hired armed cutter Grand Falconer, shared in the capture of Esperance.

On 20 February 1797, Camilla captured Heros. In March Captain Stephen Poyntz replaced Dacres. The next month, on 19 April, Diamond, Minerva, Cynthia, Grand Falconer, and Camilla captured the American ship Favourite, which was carrying a cargo of flour. Then on 20 May, Camilla captured Jeanie.

When Robert Larkan took command of Camilla in September 1797, he brought with him Richard Spencer, who would go on to become an admiral, be knighted, and become Government Resident in Albany, Western Australia. On 6 November, Camilla took Marianne.


Generals Thomas Maitland and Toussaint Louverture meet to discuss a secret treaty, unknown artist, c.1800

On 4 May 1799, after a three-week voyage from Philadelphia, Camilla arrived at Cap-Français, Haiti, with the British General, Thomas Maitland on board. The British government had empowered him to pledge its support to General Toussaint Louverture.

In January 1800 Camilla managed to take three prizes. On 6 January she took Jeune Aimie. Then six days later she captured Speculation, with the hired armed cutter Fly in sight.

During the evening of 29 January 1800, off Le Havre, Camilla captured the French privateer lugger Vigoureaux (or Vigoreaux). Vigoureaux was armed with three guns, had a crew of 26 men and was 19 days out of Cherbourg, not having taken anything. The hired armed cutter Duchess of York was in sight.

Then on 15 March Camilla left Portsmouth as escort to a convoy for Newfoundland.

Later that year Camilla lost her mainmast in a storm while accompanying a convoy from Newfoundland to Britain. Though the storm scattered the convoy, Camillaarrived in Portsmouth, having found and escorted six vessels to Weymouth and Poole. In December 1801 Captain E. Brace replaced Larkan, only to be superseded in 1802 by Captain Henry Hill. Hill sailed Camilla from Portsmouth for Newfoundland on 29 July; she returned to Portsmouth on 29 November.

Napoleonic Wars
Captain C. Woolaston briefly replaced Hill. Then in April 1803 Captain Brydges Watkinson Taylor took command of Camilla. In May he sailed for Newfoundland.

On 15 August 1805, Camilla captured the French navy's brig-corvette Faune, of 16 guns and 98 men. Camilla chased Faune for nine hours before capturing her at 45°18′N 7°36′W. The 74-gun, third rate Goliath had seen three sail and joined the chase, helping Camilla to capture Faune. The Royal Navy took Faune into service as HMS Fawn.

Goliath, with Raisonnable in company, then sailed off to capture the French ship-corvette Torche on the next day. In December 1805, Taylor moved to Thames, a new frigate, and Captain Charles Upton replaced him. In March 1806 Captain J. Tower replaced Upton.

Between May 1807 and 1808 Camilla was in the Leeward Islands under the command of Captain John Bowen, who had taken command in July 1806. On 2 March 1808, a party of about 200 marines and sailors from Cerberus, Circe, and Camilla, all under the command of Captain Pigot of Circe, landed near Grand Bourg on the island of Marie-Galante. The militia on the island quickly surrendered, together with their 13 guns, plus small arms and gunpowder. Neither side suffered any casualties. In 1825 the crews of Ulysses, Cerberus, Circe, and Camilla shared in the prize money arising out of the island's surrender.

Between 30 July and August 1809 Camilla was one of the many vessels participating in the debacle of the Walcheren Campaign. On 3 November, Camilla, under temporary captain William Henry Dillon, encountered the Drie Gebroeders. She was sailing from Norway under a Danish master and with a cargo of timber. On her deck were a number of wooden trucks for gun-carriages, which were obviously war material. The master stated that he was taking his cargo to Britain so Dillon let him proceed. After two hours, the merchant vessel was plainly heading toward the Dutch coast so Dillon caught up with the vessel and seized it. The master explained that he was sailing toward Holland only to avoid "the Lemon and Oar", a dangerous reef in the North Sea. Dillon knew that the master's explanation was inconsistent with the vessel's position and so sent the vessel to Britain as a prize.

Final years
Camilla was laid up in ordinary at Sheerness in December 1809, and then used as a floating breakwater. From 1814 to 1825 she served as a receiving ship until she was "laid aground for the protection of the waters".

The "Principle Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy" offered "Lying at Sheerness, Camilla, of 433 tons", for sale on 13 April 1831. She sold on that day.







https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Camilla_(1776)

Sphinx-class post ship - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-299715;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=C

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
20 April 1781 - HMS Resource (28), Cptn. Bartholomew Rowley, took Licorne, former Unicorn, (28) off Cape Blaize.



HMS Resource was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1778 and sold for breaking up in 1816.



Career
Resource was first commissioned in July 1778 under the command of Captain Patrick Fotheringham.

On 20 April 1781 Resource recaptured the 20-gun post ship Unicorn, which the French frigate Andromaque had captured on 4 September 1780. Resource had reached Cape Blaise by noon and at 2pm spotted a strange sail. By 4:30 Resource was close enough that both vessels began to exchange fire. After an hour and a half, the French vessel struck. She turned out to be Unicorn, and armed with twenty 9-pounder guns and eight 12-pounder carronades. She had a crew of 181 men under the command of Chevalier de St. Ture. In the engagement, Resource lost 15 men killed and 30 wounded; Unicorn lost eight men killed and 30 wounded, four of whom died later.

Ten crew members were drowned in October 1799 when the ship's boat foundered in The Downs while returning to Resource after a journey to the shore. The dead included the captain of marines and the ship's purser.

Because Resource served in the navy's Egyptian campaign (8 March to 2 September 1801), her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal that the Admiralty authorised in 1850 for all surviving claimants.

With the resumption of war with France in 1803 Britain feared an invasion from France. Around 24 September 1803 the Admiralty decided to bring Unite, Modeste, Heroine, Solebay, Daedalus, Quebec, Iris, Retribution, Vestal, and Resource, out of ordinary and to sail them under jury rig to Long Reach to rearm. They were then to proceed to the Lower Hope, to be moored across the River for the protection of the Thames. Trinity House would be responsible for manning them.

Between September and October 1803 Resource was at Deptford being refitted for Trinity House.[2] In May 1805 Resource was still at Lower Hope in Ordinary, serving as a floating battery. On 17 April 1806 Resource was renamed Enterprise and assigned to service off the Tower of London.

Fate
The "Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy" offered "Enterprise, of 28 guns and 603 tons", "lying at Deptford" for sale on 28 August 1816. She was sold on that day for £1,420.


Scale 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines and longitudinal half breadth as proposed and approved for building Siren [Syren] (1773) and Fox (1773), and later for building Enterprize (1773), and Surprize (1774), all 28-gun, Sixth Rate Frigates. The plan includes a table of the mast and yard dimensions. Signed by John Williams [Surveyor of the Navy, 1765-1784]


Scale 1:48. Plan showing the inboard profile plan for the Enterprize Class 1770: Enterprize (1774), Siren (1773), Fox (1773), Surprize (1774), Acteon (1775), Medea (1778), Serpine (1777), Andromeda (1777), Aurora (1777), Sibyl (1779), Brilliant (1779), Pomona (1778), Crescent (1779), Nemesis (1780), Resource (1778), Mercury (1779), Cyclops (1779), Vestal (1779), Laurel (1779), Pegasus (1779), and with modifications, written in green ink, for Hussar (1784), Rose (1783), Dido (1784), Thisbe (1783), Alligator (1787), Circe (1783), Lapwing (1785), all 28-gun, Sixth Rate Frigates building at various Royal and private yards. The reverse of the plan shows a section through the deck for the after Bitts as they appear face on, from upper deck to keel


The Enterprise-class frigates were the final class of 28-gun sailing frigates of the sixth-rate to be produced for the Royal Navy. These twenty-seven vessels were designed in 1770 by John Williams. A first batch of five ships were ordered as part of the programme sparked by the Falklands Islands emergency. Two ships were built by contract in private shipyards, while three others were constructed in the Royal Dockyards using foreign oak.

A second batch of fifteen ships were ordered in 1776 to 1778 to meet the exigencies of the North American situation, and a final group of seven ships followed in 1782 to 1783 with only some minor modifications to include side gangways running flush with the quarter deck and forecastle, and with solid bulkheads along the quarterdeck.





HMS Unicorn (1776) was a 20-gun post ship launched in 1776. The French frigate Andromaque captured her on 4 October 1780[4] took her into service as La Licorne. HMS Resource recaptured her in April 1781. The Royal Navy took her back into service as Unicorn Prize; she was broken up at Deptford in 1787.



Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth for building Perseus (1776) and Unicorn (1776), both 20-gun Sixth Rate Sloops at Rotherhithe by Messrs Randall. Signed by John WIlliams [Surveyor of the Navy, 1765-1784]


To Captain Sir Thomas Williams, This Print representing The Capture of the French Frigate La Tribune by His Majesty's Ship The Unicorn on the 8th June 1796 (PAH7894)

HMS Resource (1778) - Wikipedia

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise-class_frigate
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[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
20 April 1782 - Third Battle of Ushant
or the Action of 20–21 April 1782 was a naval battle fought during the American Revolutionary War, between a French naval fleet of three ships of the line protecting a convoy and two British Royal naval ships of the line off Ushant, a French island at the mouth of the English Channel off the north-westernmost point of France.



The Third Battle of Ushant or the Action of 20–21 April 1782 was a naval battle fought during the American Revolutionary War, between a Frenchnaval fleet of three ships of the line protecting a convoy and two British Royal naval ships of the line off Ushant, a French island at the mouth of the English Channel off the north-westernmost point of France. This was the third battle that occurred in this region during the course of the war.



Background
Intelligence had been received that the French were detaching a fleet from Brest destined for the East Indies to supply the Bali de Suffren's fleet in his campaign to recapture French possessions taken by the British in support of Admiral Edward Hughes. Vice-Admiral Samuel Barrington, was sent out with a fleet consisting of twelve sail of the line and three frigates in hopes of falling in with them, sailing on 5 April from Portsmouth.

On 20 April, the fleet was northeast of Ushant when the frigate HMS Artois under Captain John Macbride sent a signal after discovering the French fleet. Barrington then made the signal for the 84-gun ship HMS Foudroyant in the lead under Captain John Jervis with other ships, to give chase to the French fleet.

The French convoy comprised nineteen transports and the 64-gun Actionnaire armed en flûte bound from Brest to the Île-de-France They were escorted by the 74-gun Protecteur and Pégase, and the frigates Indiscrète and Andromaque. At sunset Foudroyant had got far ahead of her consorts, and near enough to the French ships and made them out to be a convoy. The squadron soon afterwards separated and the largest ship, the 1,778-ton Pégase which Foudroyant was pursuing, also bore up.


HMS Foudroyant towing the Pégase entering Portsmouth Harbour, 30 April 1782 by Dominic Serres

Battle
A hard squall with hazy weather, coming on about the same time Foudroyant lost sight of the fleet, and about half an hour after midnight brought the chase to close action.


Captain John Jervis of HMS Foudroyant

Broadsides from Foudroyant caused significant damage and after engaging about three-quarters of an hour, Foudroyant boarded Pégase, and compelled her commander Chevalier de Sillans to surrender. Out of a crew of 700 men, she had upwards of 100 killed and wounded while the rest had surrendered. Only two or three men were wounded in Foudroyant including Jervis himself. With other ships arriving up, Pégase was taken possession of; on board the British sailors found a great deal of carnage and the ship was materially damaged in her masts and yards. Her mizzen mast and fore topmast sell overboard soon after the action.

In the morning of the 21st some of the squadron again joined company and with the disabled state of Pégase and the continuation of a strong gale with heavy seas induced Captain Jervis to the signal for immediate assistance. The 90-gun HMS Queen, captained by Frederick Maitland, signaled to assist the ship.

As soon as the weather permitted Jervis moved the prisoners by nine o clock in the evening of the 22nd; he had taken a hundred on board Queen and put an officer and men into Pégase in addition to those formerly sent by Jervis. Captain Maitland ordered Pégase and a cutter that was in company make their way to England and immediately sail towards the rest of the convoy, which he came up with in sight of a chase after fourteen hours. Queen engaged the ship protecting the convoy fired at her with a broadside which was returned only with one gun and struck her colours. Maitland immediately took possession and found her to be Actionnaire, a French ship of sixty-four guns armed en flûte and commanded by Captain de Querengal a Knight of the Order of Saint Louis. She had on board two hundred and sixty seamen and five hundred and fifty soldiers of whom nine were killed and twenty wounded, with most being captured.

At this time there were over one thousand one hundred prisoners on board Queen and Maitland attempted to chase the French ship Protecteur of seventy-four guns but decided to help in taking the rest of the convoy.

Twelve of the convoy were taken; four of them by the frigate HMS Prudente commanded by Lord Charles Fitz Gerald. Jervis meanwhile also captured four transports: Fidelité (178 troops and stores), Belonne (147 troops and stores), Lionne (180 troops and stores), and Duc de Chartres (stores and arms).

Aftermath
Nearly half of the French convoy was captured causing severe financial losses to the French treasury; on Actionnaire eleven chests of Dutch silver were on board, a large quantity of naval and ordnance stores, provisions, wine and rum. There were also lower masts for four seventy-fours, with sails and rigging complete besides her own masts, which were intended for the recently captured HMS Hannibal off Sumatra renamed (Petit Annibal). The capture of half the convoy in addition was a huge blow to the Bali de Suffren. The British loss was minimal with only a total of five men were wounded and moderate damage to their ships.

Pégase though had been severely damaged, particularly in her masts and yards. Her mizzen mast and fore topmast sell overboard soon after the action was used in the Royal Navy and commissioned as the third rate HMS Pegase. She served as a prison ship from 1799, and was used in this role until 1815 when she was broken up.

Lord Charles FitzGerald in HMS Prudente who being on his return to Spithead with his prizes, soon after he came upon a cutter off Cape Clear to which he gave chance pursuit of thirty six hours most of the time within gun he came up with and took her. She was called Le Marquis de Castries and was a French privateer pierced for twenty guns but mounting only eighteen six pounders.

Vice Admiral Barrington with the ships under his command returned to Spithead on 26 April and soon after that for his services Jervis was invested as a Knight of the Bath on 19 May 1782.


Pégase was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, lead ship of her class, launched in 1781.



She was captured by the Captain John Jervis on 21 April 1782, in HMS Foudroyant, Jervis was invested Knight of the Order of the Bath for the capture. Pégase was bought into the Navy and commissioned as the third rate HMS Pegase. She served as a prison ship in Portsmouth from 1799, and was broken up in 1815.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, stern board outline with decoration detail and name in a cartouche on the counter, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for Pegase (1782), a captured French Third Rate, as taken off at Portsmouth Dockyard. The plan shows the ship with the French layout of fittings, and the proposed alterations for fitting her as a British 74-gun Third Rate, two-decker. Signed by George White [Master Shipwright, Portsmouth Dockyard, 1779-1793]


The Foudroyant was an 80-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. She was later captured and served in the Royal Navy as the Third Rate HMS Foudroyant.





Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for Foudroyant (captured 1758), a captured French 80-gun, fitted as an 80-gun Third Rate, two-decker. The plan illustrates a British configuration. The ship was fitted at Portsmouth Dockyard between 26 February and August 1759. She was later refitted between January and April 1760 at Plymouth Dockyard. Foudroyant later underwent a large repair at Plymouth Dockyard between February 1772 and November 1773

Battle of Ushant (1782) - Wikipedia

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Pégase_(1781)
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/80525.html
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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
20 April 1787 – Launch of french brig Alerte


The French brig Alerte was launched in April 1787. The Royal Navy captured her at Toulon in August 1793, and renamed her HMS Vigilante. The British set her on fire when they evacuated Toulon in December of that year. After the French rebuilt her as Alerte, she served at the Battle of Aboukir Bay. The British recaptured her in June 1799 and took her into service as HMS Minorca. Minorca was sold in 1802.




French brig Alerte (I)
Alerte was built at Rochefort Dockyard and designed as an aviso, under the designation Aviso No. 1. Hubert Pennevert completed her as a bric of 10 guns.

In 1790 she was under the command of Sous-lieutenant de vaisseau D'Aujard in the Levant. In November 1791, still under the command of D'Aujard, she was cruising off the coast of Syria. In 1793 she cruised along the Ligurian coast, escorted a convoy from Villefranche to Toulon, and sailed from Tunis to Marseilles. Between 4 April and 17 May she was under the command of Lieutenant de vaisseau Courdouan; between 17 July and 5 August she was under the command of Lieutenant de vaisseau Marchand.

British brig
On 28 August 1793, the British occupied Toulon, where Alerte was among the many vessels they seized. The British renamed her HMS Vigilante, before renaming her back to Alert or Alerte. In September she was under the command of Commander William Edge.

The Siege of Toulon went badly for the Royalist, and Spanish and British forces, and they were forced to quit the city on 18 December. As they did so, they set fire to the "Frigate Alerte", of "16 guns" and "in want of repairs".

French brig Alerte (II)
Alerte burned to her waterline, but the French were able to rebuild her at Toulon during January and February 1794. She was in dry-dock at Venice between June and July 1797.

On 1 August 1798 she was at the battle of Aboukir Bay (Battle of the Nile). Vice-Admiral François-Paul Brueys D'Aigalliers hoped to lure the British fleet onto the shoals at Aboukir Island, sending the brigs Alerte and Railleur to act as decoys in the shallow waters, but the plan failed. Then, as the British fleet approached, Brueys sent Alerte ahead, passing close to the leading British ships and then steering sharply to the west over the shoal in the hope that the ships of the line might follow and become grounded. None of Nelson's captains fell for the ruse and the British fleet continued undeterred.

After the French defeat, Alerte left Alexandria in the squadron under Contre-Admiral Jean-Baptiste Perrée, consisting of the 40-gun Junon, 36-gun Alceste, 32-gun Courageuse, 18-gun Salamine, and Alerte. The squadron then carried artillery and munitions from Alexandria to Jaffa, and cruised the coast of Syria. Being almost completely bereft of ammunition, having left most of it at Jaffa, the squadron headed for Europe and then took shelter in Genoa.

Main article: Action of 18 June 1799
On 17 June 1799 the squadron, still under Perrée, while en route from Genoa for Toulon, was south of Toulon when it ran into a British squadron under the command of Captain John Markham of Centaur.[6] In the ensuing Action of 18 June 1799, the British captured the entire French squadron, with Captain capturing the brig Alerte which was under the command of "Dumay, Lieutenant". French records show that she was under the command of lieutenant de vaisseau Demay.

HMS Minorca
The British took Alerte into service as Minorca. They commissioned her in August 1800 under Commander George Miller. On 26 January Foudroyant was in company with Minorca and Queen Charlottewhen she recaptured the Ragusean brig Annonciata, Michele Pepi, master.

Minorca served with the British blockade of Malta. Between 29–31 March Minorca played an important role in the capture of the French ship of the line Guillaume-Tell by sailing to bring up ships of the blockading squadron while the frigate HMS Penelope harried her.

Further information: Action of 31 March 1800
Minorca was among the many ships that shared in the proceeds of the capture of the French frigate Dianne on 25 August. On 16 February 1801 she captured the Turenne, J. Imbert, master, or the Furienne. Turenne or Furienne was a French xebec of six guns and a crew of 38 men. She had 1200 stand of arms on board and had been sailing from Leghorn to Alexandria.

In March Minorca returned to Aboukir Bay. She was part of Admiral Keith's naval force at the British expedition to Egypt. Here she was among the vessels moored as near as possible to the beach, with their broadsides towards it to support the landing of the troops. In 1850 the Admiralty authorized the award of the Naval General Service medal with clasp "Egypt" to all claimants from vessels that had been present between March and September. Minorca was among the vessels listed as qualifying.

Fate
Minorca was paid off in April 1802, after the Treaty of Amiens ended the war with France. She was sold later that year.

French brig Alerte (1787) - Wikipedia

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
20 April 1796 - HMS Indefatigable (44), Sir Edward Pellew, captured French frigate Virginie (40), Cptn. Jacques Bergeret, off the Lizard


On the morning of 20 April 1796, Indefatigable sighted the French 44-gun frigate Virginie off the Lizard. Indefatigable, Amazon, and Concorde chased Virginie, with Indefatigable catching her just after midnight on 21 April after a chase of 15 hours and 168 miles. After an hour and three quarters of fighting, she still had not struck and had somewhat outmaneuvered Indefatigable when Concorde arrived. Seeing that she was outnumbered, Virginie struck.

Virginie carried 44 guns, 18 and 9-pounders, and had a crew of 340 men under the command of Citizen Bergeret, Capitaine de Vaisseau. She had 14 or 15 men killed, 17 badly wounded, and 10 slightly. She also had four feet of water in her hold from shot holes. Indefatigable had no casualties. Pellew sent Virginie into Plymouth under the escort of Concorde, and followed the next day with Amazon, which had sustained some damage. The Royal Navy took Virginie into service as Virginie.



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




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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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



Virginie class, (40-gun design by Jacques-Noël Sané, with 28 x 18-pounder and 12 x 8-pounder guns, plus 4 x 36-pounder obusiers).

• Virginie, (launched 1794 at Brest) – captured by British Navy 1795, becoming HMS Virginie.
• Courageuse, (launched 1794 at Brest) – renamed Justice in April 1795 – captured by British Navy 1801, then handed over to Turks.
• Harmonie, (launched 1796 at Bordeaux).
• Volontaire, (launched 1796 at Bordeaux) – captured by British Navy 1806, becoming HMS Volontaire.
• Cornélie, (launched 1797 at Brest) – captured by Spanish Navy 1808.
• Didon, (launched 1799 at St Malo) – captured by British Navy 1805, becoming HMS Didon.
• Rhin, (launched 1802 at Toulon) – captured by British Navy 1806, becoming HMS Rhin.
• Belle Poule, (launched 1802 at Basse-Indre) – captured by British Navy 1806, becoming HMS Belle Poule.
• Surveillante, (launched 1802 at Basse-Indre) – captured by British Navy 1803, becoming HMS Surveillante.
• Atalante, (launched 1802 at St Malo) – burnt 1805.

HMS Indefatigable was one of the Ardent class 64-gun third-rate ships-of-the-line designed by Sir Thomas Slade in 1761 for the Royal Navy. She was built as a ship-of-the-line, but most of her active service took place after her conversion to a 44-gun razee frigate. She had a long career under several distinguished commanders, serving throughout the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. She took some 27 prizes, alone or in company, and the Admiralty authorised the issue of four clasps to the Naval General Service Medal in 1847 to any surviving members of her crews from the respective actions.[1][2][3] She was broken up in 1816.



Construction
Indefatigable was ordered on 3 August 1780 (long after Slade's death), and her keel was laid down in May 1781 at the Bucklers Hard shipyard in Hampshire owned by Henry Adams. She was launched in early July 1784 and completed from 11 July to 13 September of that year at Portsmouth Dockyard as a 64-gun two-decked third rate for the Royal Navy. She had cost £25,210 4s 5d to build; her total initial cost including fitting out and coppering was £36,154 18s 7d. By that time, she was already anachronistic for the role of a ship of the line as the French only built the more powerful 74-gun ships, and was never commissioned in that role.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plans, stern board outline with some decoration detail, sheer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth for Indefatigable (1784), a 64-gun Third Rate, two-decker, as built and launched at Bucklers Hard by Henry Adams. The ship was fitted at Portsmouth Dockyard between July and November 1784

Design modification
In 1794, she was razéed; her upper gun deck was cut away to convert her into a large and heavily armed frigate. The original intention was to retain her twenty-six 24-pounder guns on her gundeck, and to mount eight 12-pounder guns on her quarterdeck and a further four on her forecastle, which would have rated her as a 38-gun vessel. However, it was at this time that the carronade was becoming more popular in the Navy, and her intended armament was altered on 5 December 1794 with the addition of four 42-pounder carronades to go on her quarterdeck and two on her forecastle. Indefatigable was thereafter rated as a 44-gun fifth-rate frigate, along with Magnanime and Anson, which were converted at about the same time. The work was carried out at Portsmouth from September 1794 to February 1795 at a cost of £8,764. On 17 February 1795, a further two 12-pounder guns were added to her quarterdeck, though her official rating remained unchanged.


Sheer draught of HMS 'Indefatigable' dated to 1794 to show the proposal for cutting the the 64-gun Third Rate down to a frigate. In this process, the ship was 'razeed', and her upper deck was removed and she was reduced to an armament of 44 guns. On this plan, the ticked line represents the upper deck which was to be removed, and the solid lines represent her new design, internal fittings, are shown in red

The Ardent-class ships of the line were a class of seven 64-gun third rates, designed for the Royal Navy by Sir Thomas Slade.



Ardent class (Slade)

• Ardent 64 (1764) – captured 1779, recaptured 1782, sold 1784
• Raisonnable 64 (1768) – broken up 1815
• Agamemnon 64 (1781) – wrecked 1809
• Belliqueux 64 (1781) – broken up 1816
• Stately 64 (1784)
• Nassau 64 (1785) – wrecked 1799
• Indefatigable 64 (1784) – razéed to 44-gun frigate 1794, broken up 1816

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Indefatigable_(1784)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardent-class_ship_of_the_line
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-320570;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=I

French frigate Virginie (1794) - Wikipedia

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginie-class_frigate
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-358100;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=V

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
20 April 1796 - HMS Inconstant (36) captured Unite (36) in the Mediterranean.
The Unite was taken into the Royal Navy as HMS Surprise made famous by the Patrick O'Brian series about Jack Aubrey.


HMS Surprise was the name the Royal Navy gave to the French Navy's corvette Unité after her capture in 1796. Launched on 16 February 1794, the ship gained fame in 1799 for the recapture of HMS Hermione, and in 1802 was sold out of the service.

Historical fiction author Patrick O'Brian set many of his Aubrey–Maturin series aboard HMS Surprise, including the 2003 film.





Construction
Pierre-Alexandre Forfait designed Unité, the name ship for a class of corvette. Although the French initially rated Unité as a corvette, the ships of her class bridged a gap between smaller warships and frigates, and at various times were rated as frigates.


Contemporary plans of HMS Surprise

French service
On 20 March 1794, lieutenant de vaisseau Jean le Drézénec, who was 41 years old and had entered the naval service soon after the revolution from a career in the merchant service, arrived to take command of Unité. He supervised the fitting out of the ship, and found the long guns were too large to be easily reloaded, and the lower sails were also too large. He notified the authorities, who urged him to finish fitting out the ship because a major naval operation was imminent. Soon afterwards, Unité took part in the battle of the Glorious First of June by escorting the dismasted Révolutionnaire as she was towed by the Audacieux.

In June 1794 Unité completed repairs in Saint-Malo and Brest to damage she had sustained in the battle. In the following months she escorted merchant vessels along the coasts of France. On 28 September, with the corvette Bergere and under the command of Lieutenant de Vaisseau Gouley, the two ships left Brest to sail northwest in between Ireland and the islands of the Hebrides and St Kilda to intercept enemy merchant ships. On 17 October, the ships captured a 200-ton merchant ship Dianne. The next day the weather turned foul and the two ships were separated. Unwilling or unable to continue the mission alone, Unité searched for Bergere fruitlessly for sixteen days before finally returning to Brest on 1 November.


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

Capture by the Royal Navy
After repairs, Unité was ordered to join the Mediterranean fleet at Toulon, and arrived there in March 1795. She spent the remainder of the year either blockaded in port or serving as a courier. In April 1796, she was ordered on one such courier mission to North Africa to deliver personnel and messages to the port of Bône. At the time, Le Drézénec, who had been recently promoted to capitaine de frégate, was suffering from smallpox and was incapacitated. Consequently, her first lieutenant, Lieutenant Le Breton, commanded Unité.

Captain Thomas Fremantle in command of the frigate HMS Inconstant had heard there was a French frigate in Bône, and sailed to intercept her. When Unité arrived in the afternoon of 20 April 1796, the watch aboard Unité identified Inconstant as a neutral vessel and Le Breton did not clear the ship for action. About an hour later, Inconstant sailed alongside, boarded and captured Unité intact.

About a year after capture, Unité was renamed HMS Surprise because another French ship also named Unité had already been taken into the navy. Surprise was re-classed by the British as a 28-gun sixth-rate frigate, though she carried twenty-four 32-pounder carronades on her main deck, eight 32-pounders on her quarter- and fore- decks and two (or four) long 6-pound cannons as chasers. As in the French Navy, this led to difficulty in her rating, considered a fifth rate from 1797 to 1798 but a sixth rate the rest of her commission. Also, she bore the main-mast of a 36-gun ship, just as unusual as her large armament.


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

Recapture of HMS Hermione
See also: Hermione mutiny and Cutting out of the Hermione
Under Captain Edward Hamilton, Surprise sailed in the Caribbean for several years, capturing several privateers. Surprise gained fame for the cutting-out expedition in 1799 of HMS Hermione. Hermione's crew had mutinied, and had sailed her into the Spanish possession of Puerto Cabello. Captain Edward Hamilton of Surprise led a boarding party to retake Hermione and, after an exceptionally bloody action, sailed her out under Spanish gunfire. The Spanish casualties included 119 dead; 231 were taken prisoner, while another 15 jumped or fell overboard. Hamilton had 11 injured, four seriously, but none killed.


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

Fate
After the Treaty of Amiens, the Royal Navy sold Surprise out of the service at Deptford in February 1802 and she was broken up


Surprise in fiction


The replica of HMS Rose in 2000 painted to resemble Surprise at O'Brian's suggestion

HMS Surprise was the ship chosen by author Patrick O'Brian to restore Captain "Lucky" Jack Aubrey of the Aubrey–Maturin series to his place as a captain, and eventually see him raise his flag as an admiral of the Royal Navy. Surprise is an important element of the series, both because of her importance to the running plotline, and because of the emotional attachment she has earned among the characters in the book and real life fans of the series.

In the late 1990s, publisher W. W. Norton & Company rented the replica of HMS Rose in New York for a pier-side party to celebrate the publication of Patrick O’Brian's latest novel. O’Brian himself was present, and he casually mentioned to the frigate's captain, Richard Bailey, that if the Rose were painted in an 1805 colour scheme she would be a "dead ringer" for the frigate Surprise that appeared in his books. Bailey quickly ordered his crew to get out the paint and make the changes. O’Brian was so impressed that he changed his mind about his prohibition of having any of his books converted into film, and Norton immediately started looking for a Hollywood production company. For the 2003 film Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, the role of Surprise was filled by the same replica of HMS Rose, which was purchased by the film studio and extensively modified at Baja Studiosto resemble the original Surprise for the role.

The book HMS Surprise by O'Brian also mentions Aubrey being a midshipman aboard Surprise. The series has the Surprise in service until O'Brian's extended fictional year of 1812, using the latitude of fiction in The Reverse of the Medal. In that era, the Royal Navy commissioned a 38-gun frigate by this name in September 1812.

The fictional Surprise is sold out of the service in The Reverse of the Medal, being purchased by Stephen Maturin and employed first as a letter of marque and later as His Majesty's hired ship Surprise under Aubrey's command. Maturin agrees to sell the Surprise to Aubrey in The Nutmeg of Consolation, though later novels suggest that never transpired and Maturin continued to own the ship. Surprise's ultimate fictional fate is unknown although she was still at sea in 1817 when Aubrey receives news of his promotion to rear-admiral of the blue in her great cabin at the end of Blue at the Mizzen, the last completed novel in the series.


HMS Inconstant was a 36-gun Perseverance class fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She had a successful career serving in the French Revolutionaryand Napoleonic Wars, capturing three French warships during the French Revolutionary naval campaigns, the Curieux, the Unité, and the former British ship HMS Speedy.


Plan of Inconstant

HMS Surprise (1796) - Wikipedia

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https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-351688;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=S
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Inconstant_(1783)

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
20 April 1805 - HMS Renard (18), Cdr. Jeremiah Coghlan, engaged privateer General Ernouf (16), Paul Gerard Pointe, which caught fire and blew up in the West Indies


HMS Spencer was a 16-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy, formerly the civilian Sir Charles Grey. The Admiralty purchased her in 1795, after having hired her in 1793-94, and renamed her HMS Lilly in 1800. The French privateer Dame Ambert captured her in 1804 and Lilly became the French privateer Général Ernouf. She blew up in 1805 while in an engagement with HMS Renard.



Origins
On 11 August 1795 Captain Francis Pender arrived at Bermuda. Shortly thereafter he purchased two vessels, one of which became Bermuda and the other of which was the Sir Charles Grey, which he renamed Spencer. Sir Charles Grey had been a privateer and for a while a hired armed vessel, and was named for Charles Grey, 1st Earl Grey. Commander Thomas Hurd, of Bermuda, commissioned her, but he had been engaged in hydrographic survey work and Pender replaced him in Spencer with Lieutenant Andrew F. Evans.

Career
On 4 May 1796 Spencer was sailing in company with Esperance and Bonetta when they sighted a suspicious vessel. Spencer set off in chase while shortly thereafter Esperance saw two vessels, a schooner and a sloop, and she and Bonetta set off after them. Spencer sailed south-southeast and the other two British vessels sailed southwest by west, with the result that they lost sight of each other. Spencer captured the French gun-brig Volcan, while Bonetta and Esperance captured the schooner Poisson Volant.

Spencer shared with Bonetta and Esperence in the prize money for "Puissant Volant".[7] Similarly, Esperance and Bonetta shared with Spencer in the proceeds of the capture of Volcan.

Commander J. Dunbar replaced Evans in August 1798, and remained in command until November 1798. His replacement was J. Walton.

Around September 1799, Joseph Spear was promoted to Commander and became captain of Lily, on the Halifax station.

On 10 May 1800 the Royal Navy launched the 74-gun third rate Spencer. To avoid having two vessels with the same name, the brig-sloop Spencer became Lilly.

In May 1801 Lilly was in the Bahamas, still under Spear, and a year later she was at Halifax, on the Halifax station. The Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, Sir John Wentworth, had requested that the navy station a vessel there "in the season" to interrupt the contraband trade by American vessels. Spear transferred from Lilly in 1802.

Commander W. Compton replaced Spear in December 1802. In August 1803 Lilly was under the command of Randall McDonnell.

On 27 February 1804, Lilly, under Captain William Lyall, were at Halifax where Llyall had to draw a bill of exchange to pay the expenses of boats and crews serving the ship. Lilly was on her way to Bermuda when on 1 March she captured the Batavian Republic schooner Draak near Bermuda. Draak was armed with four 4-pounder guns and one long 3-pounder gun, and had a crew of 50 men under the command of a "lieutenant of frigate" Jan Justus Dingemans. She was seven weeks out of Curaçoa but had not taken anything. Lyall reported that the engagement lasted 15 minutes and that Draak made preparations to board Lilly, but then struck. The engagement resulted in a marine on Lilly losing his arm, and in the death of two men on Draak, and one wounded. Lyall described Draak as a four-year-old Bermuda-built vessel, coppered, and a remarkably fast sailer. After Lyall, Lilly again came under the command of Commander William Compton.

Capture
Lily was off the coast of Georgia in the afternoon of 14 July 1804 when she sighted two vessels. She sailed towards them but by sunset was only able to determine that one was a ship and the other a smaller vessel, possibly the larger vessel's prize. In the morning the larger vessel could be seen towing the smaller. As Lilly approached, the larger vessel dropped her tow and sailed to engage Lilly.

The enemy vessel proceeded to stay by Lilly's stern and to use her long guns at ranges Lilly's carronades could not match. The fire from the enemy vessel killed Compton and so damaged Lilly's rigging that she lost her ability to manoeuvre. Seeing that the enemy vessel was preparing to board, Lieutenant Samuel Fowler, who was now in command, wanted to surrender, but the warrant officers objected. As the two vessels came alongside Lily was finally able to fire a broadside, which the French returned, and French fire killed Fowler. The British repelled several French attempts to board but eventually the French prevailed. Lilly's casualties were Compton and Fowler killed, and 16 men wounded.

The French vessel was Dame Ambert, a privateer of 16 guns. Dame Ambert had been the British packet Marlborough (or Marlboro, Duke of Marlborough, or General Marlborough), prior to her capture.

The French put their British prisoners onto a prize vessel and sent them into Hampton Roads. Once in America, a number of the British seamen deserted.

French privateer
Her captors had Lilly fitted out as a privateer and renamed Général Ernouf for Jean Augustin Ernouf, governor of Guadeloupe. Giraud Lapointe took command.

On 1 July 1804 Général Ernouf encountered the British letter of marque Britannia, which was under the command of Captain D. Leavey, but did not engage. Four days later the two again sighted each other, and again the French vessel did not engage. However, one month later, on 5 August, Général Ernouf encountered Britannia, and this time, sensing an easy capture as her quarry appeared unready, came alongside and attempted to board. The two vessels exchanged both cannon and small arms fire, with Britannia twice repulsing boarding attempts. After the engagement left both vessels with severely damaged masts and rigging, Général Ernouf withdrew, with Britannia in pursuit; however, Britannia lost her attacker in the dark after night fell. Britannia had one man killed (a passenger who volunteered his services), and four wounded, Leavey among them.

On 14 August the frigate Galatea attempted to cut out Général Ernouf, which was sheltering at the Saintes near Guadeloupe where shore batteries could protect her. The attack was a debacle for the British, who failed completely in their attempt. Galatea's captain, Henry Heathcote, had been too obvious in his reconnoitering and the French were waiting for the night attack. In all, the British lost some 10 men killed, including Lieutenant Charles Hayman (the commander of the boarding party and first lieutenant of Galatea), and 55 or more wounded or captured. The French lost four killed and suffered some wounded, among them Captain Lapointe, commander of Général Ernouf, and Lieutenant Mouret, commander of the detachment of troops the French stationed aboard her in anticipation of the attack. The French also captured Galatea's barge, which the other three boats of the cutting out party could not retrieve as they made their escape.

Destruction
On 20 March 1805 HMS Renard was at 21°14′N 71°30′W when she sighted a ship to the north-west. Renard gave chase and as she approached, her quarry shortened sail and made ready to engage. At 2:20 p.m., Renard opened fire. After 35 minutes, the French vessel appeared to be on fire, and ten minutes later she exploded. Renard lowered a boat and was able to rescue 55 men, all the rest of the 160 men aboard the French vessel having perished. The survivors reported that their vessel was the Général Ernouf. She had been under the command of Paul Gerard Pointe, and was seven days out of Basseterre. She had intended to intercept the homeward-bound Jamaica fleet. Prior to the explosion, Général Ernouf had 20-30 men killed and wounded; Renard had only nine wounded.



HMS Renard was the French privateer Renard, launched in 1797, that Cerberus captured in the Channel that same year. The Royal Navy took her into service under her existing name and she participated in some notable engagements on the Jamaica station before the Navy sold her in 1809.



Capture
Cerberus was on the Irish station when on 12 and 14 November 1797 she captured two French privateers, the Epervier and the Renard. Both vessels were pierced for 20 guns, were copper-bottomed, quite new, and fast sailers. Renard carried eighteen 6-pounders and had a crew of 189 men. Lloyd's List reported Cerberus's capture of two privateers, one of 30 guns and one of 18, and the arrival of both at Cork. The Royal Navy took both into service, though it never actually commissioned Epervier, which was frequently listed as Epervoir.

Career
Renard arrived in Plymouth on 12 January 1799. She sat there for six months, finally undergoing fitting between July 1799 and January 1800. While undergoing fitting she may have received additional cannons and extensive upperworks to hold them. There is some question though whether she in fact received the additional armament and upperworks (see below). Commander Peter Spicer commissioned Renard in August 1799 for the Channel.

Renard shared in the recapture of the brig Defiance on 13 December 1800 with Suffisante, Spitfire, and the hired armed cutter Swift (2). Twelve days later, Renard and Spitfire captured the Danish galliot Palmboom (or Palm Baum). Then on 29 December Renard captured Neptunus.

In April 1801 Commander James A. Worth replaced Spicer. Renard, Dasher, and Suffisante were in company for the recapture of the brig William on 3 April 1801. On 1 April a French privateer Renard had captured William, Wedland, master, which had been sailing from Bristol to Newfoundland. Dashersent William into Plymouth. Also on 3 April, Renard, Suffisante, and Garland shared in the recapture of the brig Swan.

Renard and Spitfire shared in the capture on 24 April of Prince Hendrich. The next day they captured Prince Frederick Van Prussia.

In May 1802 Commander Charles M. Gregory assumed command, and that same month sailed Renard for the Leeward Islands. Commander Robert Pearson replaced Gregory, only to be himself replaced in October by Commander William Cathcart. Reports in Lloyd's List of ship arrivals and departures make it clear that between 1803 and 1804 Renard convoyed vessels between Britain and the Leeward Islands.

Cathcart received promotion to post captain in June 1804 and with it command of Clorinde, however he died of yellow fever before fully taking command. His replacement on Renard was Commander Jeremiah Coghlan.

On 20 March 1805 Renard was at 21°14′N 71°30′W when she sighted a ship to the north-west. Renard gave chase and as she approached, her quarry shortened sail and made ready to engage. At 2:20 p.m., Renard opened fire. After 35 minutes, the French vessel appeared to be on fire, and ten minutes later she exploded. Renard lowered a boat and was able to rescue 55 men, all the rest of the 160 men aboard having perished. She had been under the command of Paul Gerard Pointe, and was seven days out of Basseterre. She had intended to intercept the homeward-bound Jamaica fleet. The survivors reported that their vessel was the Général Ernouf. Général Ernouf was the former HMS Lily. Prior to the explosion, Général Ernouf had 20-30 men killed and wounded; Renard had only nine wounded.

Earlier, Renard captured Eugene, which had been sailing from Bordeaux to New Orleans, and sent her into Jamaica.

On 11 October, Renard, after a long chase and some firing, captured the French privateer schooner Bellona (or Bellone) on the north side of San Domingo. Bellona was armed with four guns and had a crew of 50 men. She was seven days out of Barracona and had taken an American brig. Coghlan reported that Bellona was only four months old and was considered the fastest sailer out of Cuba. It is possible that this Bellona was the vessel that captured the American schooner Hiram, of New York, Fusson, master, that Success recaptured.

A French privateer captured, on 21 February 1806, the sloop James and the schooner Betsey, both of which were sailing from Calabash Bay to Kingston. The privateer also captured Hard Times, Banee, master, which was sailing from Black River to Kingston. Renard recaptured all three.

On 28 May 1806 Renard captured the French navy brig Diligent (or Diligente), after a 64-hour-long chase. Diligent, under the command of lieutenant de vaisseau Vincent Thévenard, was armed with fourteen 6-pounders and two 32-pounder brass carronades, and carried a crew of 125 men. She was seven days out of Pointe a Petre, Guadeloupe, with dispatches for France that she succeeded in throwing overboard while Renard was chasing her. She was coppered and copper fastened, and Coghlan believed only three years old. Vice-Admiral Dacres had her purchased and commissioned as Diligent. French records report that the capture took place in the Puerto Rico channel. She had sailed from Concarneau to Cayenne, and was cruising in the Antilles prior to her capture by the English sloop "Fox". Diligente arrived at Jamaica on 3 June.

Thévenard had surrendered his ship without a shot being fired by either side. When taken on board Renard, her smallness surprised him and he requested to return to his ship to continue the fight. Coghlan naturally laughed at this request. Thévenard then asked that Coghlan award him a certificate stating that he had not acted in a cowardly manner. Coghlan replied "No, I cannot do that; but I will give you one that shall specify you have acted 'prudently'!"

In July or August 1807 Coghlan transferred to Elk. It is not clear who replaced him as commander of Renard.

On 1 October 1807 Renard captured the Danish vessel Peder and Anna.[20] Within five days the sloop-of-war Renard had arrived at Deal, together with three other vessels, all four coming from Honduras.

Fate
In December 1808 the Commissioners of the Navy offered "His Majesty's sloops ...Renard..." for sale at Sheerness. The Commissioners continued advertising her availability into May 1809, suggesting that she sold soon after that.

HMS Spencer (1795) - Wikipedia

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HMS Renard (1803) - Wikipedia

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
20 April 1808 - HMS Widgeon (8), Lt. George Elliot (2), driven ashore on the Scottish coast and wrecked.


HMS Widgeon was a Royal Navy Cuckoo-class schooner of four 12-pounder carronades and a crew of 20. She was built by William Wheaton at Brixham and launched in 1806. Like many of her class and the related Ballahoo-class schooners, she succumbed to the perils of the sea relatively early in her career.



She was commissioned in 1807 under Lieutenant William Morgan for the North Sea. In 1808 she came under the command of Lieutenant George Elliot.

Widgeon was on the Scottish coast helping to assemble a convoy for America when she received orders to proceed to Banff to notify the ships waiting there that the convoy was about to depart. She arrived there on 18 April 1808 and the next day sent a boat into the port. Widgeon then remained four to five miles offshore while waiting for her boat to return.

During a heavy snowstorm on 20 April, at 2:30am she ran into a reef two miles to the northwest of Banff. Her crew threw shot overboard and fired guns of distress. However, there was a heavy swell and she filled with water within 10 minutes. Although she soon was bilged, her crew took to the boats and were saved.[3][4]

The subsequent court martial on her loss sentenced Widgeon's pilot, Alexander Layell, to six months incarceration in the Marshalsea Prison and to be fined all pay due to him. Elliot had ordered Layell to remain at least four miles from shore throughout the night. Instead, Layell had gone below, leaving a bosun's mate in charge, who had let Widgeon drift towards the shore.


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


The Cuckoo class was a class of twelve 4-gun schooners of the Royal Navy, built by contract in English shipyards during the Napoleonic War. They followed the design of the Bermuda-designed and built Ballahoo-class schooners, and more particularly, that of Haddock. The Admiralty ordered all twelve vessels on 11 December 1805. A number of different builders in different yards built them, with all launching in 1806.



Operational lives
Nine of the twelve vessels were lost or disposed of during the war, the survivors being sold in 1816. Enemy forces took four, of which the British were able to retake two. Seven wrecked or foundered with a loss of about 22 crew members in all.

William James wrote scathingly of the Cuckoo- and Ballahoo-class schooners, pointing out the high rate of loss, primarily to wrecking or foundering, but also to enemy action. He reports that they were "sent to 'take, burn, and destroy' the vessels of war and merchantmen of the enemy". The record suggests that none seem to have done so successfully. In the only two (arguably three) cases when they did engage enemy vessels, in each case the enemy force was much stronger and the Cuckoo-class vessels were overwhelmed.

James also remarks that:

Their very appearance as "men of war" raised a laugh at the expense of the projector. Many officers refused to take the command of them. Others gave a decided preference to some vessels built at the same yard, to be employed as water-tanks at Jamaica. Moreover, when sent forth to cruise against the enemies of England...these "king's schooners" were found to sail wretchedly, and proved so crank and unseaworthy, that almost every one of them that escaped capture went to the bottom with the unfortunate men on board.

Scale: 1:48. A plan showing upper deck, and hold and platforms for 'Haddock' (1805), a four to six gun schooner, as fitted at Portsmouth in October 1805. This plan was used for the subsequent Cuckoo class of gun schooners (1805), consisting of 'Magpie' (1806), 'Jackdaw' (1806), 'Cuckoo' (1806), 'Wagtail' (1806), 'Woodcock' (1806), 'Wigeon' (1806), 'Sealark' (1806), 'Rook' (1806), 'Landrail' (1806), 'Pigeon' (1806), 'Crane' (1806), 'Quail' (1806). Initialled by Nicholas Diddams [Master Shipwright, Portsmouth Portsmouth, 1803-1823]

HMS Widgeon (1806) - Wikipedia

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuckoo-class_schooner
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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
20 April 1809 - HMS Alcmene (32), W. Henry Tremlett, wrecked on a shoal at the mouth of the Loire.
or 29th April (dates different in some sources)


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



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


Lines (ZAZ2926)

Career
Alcmene went out as a convoy escort to the West Indies in November 1795, returning in January the following year and serving on the Lisbon station from August.[2] Alcmene's main tasks involved escorting convoys to and from Oporto and Lisbon, some numbering upwards of 200 merchants; and cruising off the coast in search of enemy warships and privateers.

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

On 22 August, Alcmene captured the French gunboat Légère, of two 6-pounder guns and some swivel guns, and 61 men, off Alexandria. Hope tried to board her before her captain could throw overboard any dispatches she was carrying for Napoleon Bonaparte, then in Egypt. Hope was unsuccessful, but two seamen from Alcmene's crew jumped overboard and were able to retrieve the dispatches before they sank. One of Alcemene's boats was able to rescue the intrepid seamen.[8] The Royal Navy took the gunboat into service as HMS Legere.

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

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

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

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

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

Alcmene then returned to Plymouth in November 1799.

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

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

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

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

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

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


Scale 1:48. Plan showing the framing profile (disposition) for Pallas (1793), a 32-gun, Fifth Rate Frigate, building at Woolwich Dockyard and later copies sent to Chatham Dockyard for Stag (1793), Unicorn (1734), and later for Galatea (1794), Lively (1794), Alcemene (1794), and Cerberus (1794), all 32-gun, Fifth Rate Frigates


sistership

HMS Galatea, by Thomas Whitcombe


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

• HMS Cerberus 1794 - sold 1814.
• HMS Alcmene 1794 - wrecked off Nantes on 29 April 1809.
• HMS Galatea 1794 - broken up 1809.
• HMS Lively 1794 - wrecked near Rota Point, Cadiz on 12 April 1798

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Alcmene_(1794)
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