Naval/Maritime History 22nd of March - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
2 October 1942 – World War II: Ocean Liner RMS Queen Mary accidentally rams and sinks her own escort ship, HMS Curacoa, off the coast of Ireland, killing 337 crewmen aboard the Curacoa.


HMS Curacoa was a C-class light cruiser built for the Royal Navy during the First World War. She was one of the five ships of the Ceres sub-class and spent much of her career as a flagship. The ship was assigned to the Harwich Force during the war, but saw little action as she was completed less than a year before the war ended. Briefly assigned to the Atlantic Fleet in early 1919, Curacoa was deployed to the Baltic in May to support anti-Bolshevik forces during the British campaign in the Baltic during the Russian Civil War. Shortly thereafter the ship struck a naval mine and had to return home for repairs.

31a1ecb2c727dc1939e39ed482159387.jpg

After spending the rest of 1919 and 1920 in reserve, she later rejoined the Atlantic Fleet and remained there until 1928, aside from a temporary transfer to the Mediterranean Fleet in 1922–1923 to support British interests in Turkey during the Chanak Crisis. Curacoa was then transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in 1929.

In 1933, she became a training ship and in July 1939, two months before the commencement of the Second World War, Curacoa was converted into an anti-aircraft cruiser. She returned to service in January 1940 and, while providing escort in the Norwegian Campaign that April, was damaged by German aircraft. After repairs were completed that year, she escorted convoys in and around the British Isles for two years. In late 1942, during escort duty, she was accidentally sliced in half and sunk by the ocean liner RMS Queen Mary, with the loss of 337 men.

Collision


RMS Queen Mary, 20 June 1945, in New York Harborcarrying US troops from Europe

On the morning of 2 October 1942, Curacoa rendezvoused north of Ireland with the ocean liner Queen Mary, which was carrying approximately 10,000 American troops of the 29th Infantry Division. The liner was steaming an evasive "Zig-Zag Pattern No. 8" course at a speed of 28.5 knots (52.8 km/h; 32.8 mph), an overall rate of advance of 26.5 knots (49.1 km/h; 30.5 mph), to evade submarine attacks. The elderly cruiser remained on a straight course at a top speed of 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph) and would eventually be overtaken by the liner.

The_Royal_Navy_during_the_Second_World_War_A5808.jpg

Each captain had different interpretations of The Rule of the Road believing his ship had the right of way. Captain John Wilfred Boutwood of the Curacoa kept to the liner's mean course to maximize his ability to defend the liner from enemy aircraft, while Commodore Sir Cyril Gordon Illingworth of Queen Mary continued their zig-zag pattern expecting the escort cruiser to give way.

We could see our escort zig-zagging in front of us - it was common for the ships and cruisers to zig-zag to confuse the U-boats. In this particular case however the escort was very, very close to us.
I said to my mate "You know she's zig-zigging all over the place in front of us, I'm sure we're going to hit her."
And sure enough, the Queen Mary sliced the cruiser in two like a piece of butter, straight through the six-inch armoured plating.
— Alfred Johnson, eye witness, BBC: "HMS Curacao Tragedy"​
At 13:32, during the zig-zag, it became apparent that Queen Mary would come too close to the cruiser and the liner's officer of the watch interrupted the turn to avoid Curacoa. Upon hearing this command, Illingworth told his officer to: "Carry on with the zig-zag. These chaps are used to escorting; they will keep out of your way and won't interfere with you." At 14:04, Queen Mary started the starboard turn from a position slightly behind the cruiser and at a distance of two cables (about 400 yards (366 m)). Boutwood perceived the danger, but the distance was too close for either of the hard turns ordered for each ship to make any difference at the speeds that they were travelling. Queen Mary struck Curacoa amidships at full speed, cutting the cruiser in half. The aft end sank almost immediately, but the rest of the ship stayed on the surface a few minutes longer.

Acting under orders not to stop due to the risk of U-boat attacks, Queen Mary steamed onwards with a damaged bow. She radioed the other destroyers of her escort, about 7 nautical miles (13 km; 8.1 mi) away, and reported the collision. Hours later, the convoy's lead escort, consisting of Bramham and one other ship,[40] returned to rescue approximately 101 survivors, including Boutwood. Lost with Curacoa were 337 officers and men of her crew, according to the naval casualty file released by The National Archives in June 2013. Most of the lost men are commemorated on the Chatham Naval Memorial and the rest on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial. Those who died after rescue, or whose bodies were recovered, were buried in Chatham and in Arisaig Cemetery in Invernesshire. Under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986, Curacoa's wrecksite is designated a "protected place".

Those who witnessed the collision were sworn to secrecy due to national security concerns. The loss was not publicly reported until after the war ended, although the Admiralty filed a writ against Queen Mary's owners, Cunard White Star Line, on 22 September 1943 in the Admiralty Court of the High Court of Justice. Little happened until 1945, when the case went to trial in June; it was adjourned to November and then to December 1946. Mr. Justice Pilcher exonerated the Queen Mary's crew and her owners from blame on 21 January 1947 and laid all fault on Curacoa's officers. The Admiralty appealed his ruling and the Court of Appeal modified the ruling, assigning two-thirds of the blame to the Admiralty and one third to Cunard White Star. The latter appealed to the House of Lords, but they upheld the decision.

38d0ac762f248bb949b34b10ff81b986.jpg
The damaged bow of Queen Mary



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Curacoa_(D41)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Queen_Mary
http://linerlogbook.blogspot.com/2014/09/needn-worryhe-will-keep-out-of-your-way.html
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
2 October 1946 – Launch of PS Waverley is the last seagoing passenger-carrying paddle steamer in the world. Built in 1946, she sailed from Craigendoran on the Firth of Clyde to Arrochar on Loch Long until 1973.


PS Waverley is the last seagoing passenger-carrying paddle steamer in the world. Built in 1946, she sailed from Craigendoran on the Firth of Clyde to Arrochar on Loch Long until 1973. Bought by the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society (PSPS), she has been restored to her 1947 appearance and now operates passenger excursions around the British coast.

Since 2003 Waverley has been listed in the National Historic Fleet by National Historic Ships UK as "a vessel of pre-eminent national importance".

1024px-PS_Waverley01.JPG
PS Waverley at Swanage

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PS_Waverley
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 2 October


1670 – Launch of French Joli 70/80-guns at Toulon – renamed Henri in June 1671; deleted 1686, sold 1687

Florissant Class, designed and built by Rodolphe Gédéon.
These ships were originally named Joli and Rubis respectively, but were renamed on 24 June 1671.


1706 – Dutch Hardenbroeck 50-guns captured by French - taken by the british in 1710 – to Russia 1712 as Esperans 44 – broken up at 1740


1746 – Death of Josiah Burchett, English admiral and politician (b. 1666)

osiah Burchett (1666? – 2 October 1746) was Secretary of the Admiralty in England, a position he held for almost fifty years from 26 September 1694 to 14 October 1742. In addition to his administrative duties, he was the author of the first general history of the Royal Navy, published in 1720 and based on official Admiralty records

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


1746 - Several ships of the french naval group of warships Négapatam sunk during a huricane near Madras (India).
Ships Duc d'Orléans (36), Phénix (44) and Lys (40) lost with death of appr. 1.200 seamen



1758 - HMS Lizard (1757 - 28) took Duc d'Hanovre off Brest.

HMS Lizard was a 28-gun Coventry-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy, in service from 1757 to 1828. Named after the Lizard, a peninsula in southern Cornwall, she was a broad-beamed and sturdy vessel designed for lengthy periods at sea. Her crewing complement was 200 and, when fully equipped, she was armed with 24 nine-pounder cannons, supported by four three-pounders and twelve 1⁄2-pounder swivel guns. Despite her sturdy build, she was plagued with maintenance problems and had to be repeatedly removed from service for repair.

Lizard saw active service between 1757 and 1793, during British involvement in the Seven Years' War, the American Revolutionary War and the French Revolutionary War. She assisted in major naval operations in the Caribbean and North America, including the British capture of Quebec City and Montreal, the Siege of Havana and the Battle of St Kitts. She also secured a total of nine victories at sea over enemy vessels, principally French privateers in action in American and European waters.

Removed from active service in 1794, Lizard was eventually refitted as a hospital ship and assigned to a berth near Burntwick Island where she received merchant seamen suspected of suffering from diseases including yellow fever and bubonic plague. What had been intended as a temporary assignment continued for 28 years, with Lizard eventually becoming the last of the Coventry-class vessels still in operation. She was removed from service, 71 years after her launch, and was sold for scrap at Deptford Dockyard in September 1828.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Lizard_(1757)


1776 - HMS Cruizer (8), Cdr. Francis Parry, was burnt off the coast of South Carolina.


1800 – Launch of HMS Blanche, a 36 gun Apollo-class frigate

Builder: John Dudman, Deptford Wharf
Ordered: 18 January 1799
Laid down: February 1800
Launched: 2 October 1800
Completed: 17 January 1801 at Deptford Dockyard.
Fate: Captured and burnt by the French 19 July 1805.

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


1804 - Devonshire, Cdr. Joseph Edmuns of HMS Fury, used as explosion vessel employed against French shipping in the Boulogne Roads. HMS Providence fireship was also used.


1805 - HMS Barracouta Schooner (4), Lt. J. Orchard, ran on shore on Jordan Key on the south side of Cuba

1806 - Boats of HMS Minerva (32), Cptn. George Ralph Collier, at Ons Island, took Spanish gunboat No. 2 commanded by Lt. Don Jesse Lopez.


1808 – Launch of French Albanais was a Téméraire-class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.

Albanais 74 (launched 2 October 1808 at Antwerp)
Pluton class – A revised design for Téméraire class, by Jacques-Noël Sané, described officially as "the small model" specially introduced to be constructed at shipyards outside France itself (the first pair were built at Toulon) where they lacked the depth of water required to launch 74s of the Téméraire Class.

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


1840 - Removal of gunpowder from Beyrout by parties from HMS Hastings (72), Cptn. John Lawrence, and HMS Edinburgh (74)


1863 - USS Bermuda seizes the blockade-running English schooner Florie near Matagorda, Texas, with a cargo of medicine, wine and saddles much needed by the Confederate cavalry.

USS Bermuda (1861) was a large steamer captured by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Union Navy as a cargo and general transport ship in support of the Union Navy blockade of Confederate waterways, primarily in Florida and the Gulf of Mexico. However, despite being a valuable cargo ship, she proved very adept at capturing blockade runners as her record proves.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Bermuda_(1861)


1888 Birth of Admiral DeWitt Clinton Ramsey

Admiral DeWitt Clinton Ramsey (2 October 1888 – 7 September 1961) was a U.S. Navy officer and pioneer naval aviator who served as an aircraft carrier commander during World War II. His postwar assignments including command of the U.S. Pacific Fleet and service as Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer) in the Navy Department and as Vice Chief of Naval Operations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeWitt_Clinton_Ramsey
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
3 October 1805 - HMS Barracouta wrecked


HMS Barracouta was a Royal Navy Ballahoo-class schooner of four 12-pounder carronades and a crew of 20. The prime contractor for the vessel was Goodrich & Co., in Bermuda, and she was launched in 1804. Like many of her class and the related Cuckoo-class schooners, she succumbed to the perils of the sea relatively early in her career.

large (1).jpg
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).
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/85907.html#ql3vXldI4lVQIorQ.99


She was commissioned under Lieutenant Joel Orchard and was wrecked on 3 October 1805. Barracouta had been sailing in company with Pique and Port Mahon but became separated from them in a gale. The next day Orchard discovered that he was not as far west as he had thought and so steered west-north-west. Because of bad weather and strong currents, and despite having kept a good lookout with soundings, she struck a reef of rocks during the night. Dawn found her on a ridge running north-south and about three miles from Padro Kay near the Jardines (Cuba).

Despite their best efforts, the crew was unable to save Barracouta as the waves pounded her onto the rocks, causing flooding. The crew cut away her masts and abandoned her. All her crew were saved and they spent several days on nearby keys salvaging stores until she broke up.

They then set sail in two boats, one of which they had previously taken from the Spanish. They then came across a Spanish schooner that they captured. Two privateers that had set out from Trinidad, Cuba to find them captured them in turn.[3] The crew were made prisoners of war; one, a sub-lieutenant, died during captivity.

large (2).jpg
Scale: 1:48. A plan showing the list of scantling with a midship section for 'Haddock' (1805), a four to six gun schooner. Also has a letter attached to the plan dated 27 December 1805 from Portsmouth Dockyard. The letter to the Navy Board relates to how the schooner was secured. Signed by Nicholas Diddams [Master Shipwright, Portsmouth Dockyard, 1803-1823], Henry Canham [Assistant to Master Shipwright, 1801-1813], and John Haynes [Assistant to Master Shipwright, 1801-1804?].
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/85909.html#u3k0CxhjfZHq0mVo.99



The Ballahoo class (also known as the Fish class) was a Royal Navy class of eighteen 4-gun schooners built under contract in Bermuda during the Napoleonic War. The class was an attempt by the Admiralty to harness the expertise of Bermudian shipbuilders who were renowned for their fast-sailing craft (particularly the Bermuda sloops). The Admiralty ordered twelve vessels on 23 June 1804, and a further six on 11 December 1805.

Construction
A number of different builders in different yards built them, with all the first batch launching in 1804 and 1805. The second batch were all launched in 1807. Goodrich & Co acted as the main contractor to the Navy Board, and in many cases the actual builder is unrecorded. They were all constructed of Bermuda cedar.

This durable, native wood, abundant in Bermuda, was strong and light, and did not need seasoning. Shipbuilders used it for framing as well as planking, which reduced vessel weight. It was also highly resistant to rot and marine borers, giving Bermudian vessels a potential lifespan of twenty years and more, even in the worm-infested waters of the Chesapeake and the Caribbean.

large (3).jpg
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].

Operational lives
Of the eighteen vessels in the class, only two were not lost or disposed of during the war, surviving to be sold in 1815-6. Twelve were wartime losses, and four were disposed of before 1815.

William James wrote scathingly of the Ballahoo and subsequent Cuckoo-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 the Cuckoo-class schooners did engage enemy vessels, in each case the enemy force was much stronger and overwhelmed the Cuckoo-class schooners.

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.​
Plan of HMS Haddock, c. October 1805

Ships
Orders of 23 June 1803
The first twelve were intended for three different stations:
  • Newfoundland: Herring, Mackerel, Pilchard, and Capelin
  • Jamaica:- Barracuta, Whiting, Pike, and Haddock
  • Leeward Islands: Flying Fish, Ballahou, Grouper, and Snapper.

Model kit
Jotika has a the Ballahou in program, scale 1:64
http://www.jotika-ltd.com/Pages/1024768/Nelson_9.htm

Ballahoo_Lrg.jpg



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Barracouta_(1804)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballahoo-class_schooner
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
3 October 1808 - HMS Carnation (1807 - 18), Cptn. Charles Mars Gregory (Killed in Action), captured by La Palinure (16), off Martinique


HMS Carnation was a Royal Navy 18-gun Cruizer class brig-sloop built by Taylor at Bideford and launched in 1807. After the French brig Palinure captured her, she was burned by the French to prevent her recapture.

Career
Carnation entered service at Plymouth in 1807 under Commander Charles Mars Gregory, who sailed her to the West Indies in 1808. On 3 October, the French brig Palinure engaged Carnation 180 miles northeast of Martinique. Gregory and all his officers were killed or wounded in the opening exchanges and Palinure's crew attempted to board. Carnation's crew were mustered to resist, but a Royal Marine sergeant named John Chapman refused the order and led over 30 men below decks to await capture. The remaining crew men were outnumbered and had to surrender.

Carnation had lost 10 killed and 30 wounded, perhaps half mortally; the French lost about 15 men killed and wounded. The French then took Carnation to Marin Bay, Martinique.

The French commissioned Carnation on 31 January 1809 under Ensign de vaisseau Simon-Auguste Huguet Huguet had distinguished himself in the engagement as Palinure's Capitaine de frègate Pierre-François Jance had been debilitated by yellow fever and reportedly died within an hour of the victory after transferring to Carnation, which was the better vessel.

large (4).jpg

Fate
During the invasion of Martinique in January 1809, British troops landed close to where she was berthed. On 31 January 1809 her crew set Carnation on fire, destroying her.

Postscript
The British arrested Chapman and 31 of the crew who had deserted the deck during the battle. A court martial convicted them of cowardice; Chapman was hanged from the yardarm of Ulysses the day after his sentence was passed. The others were sentenced to floggings and transportation as convicts to Botany Bay for 14 years, though it is not clear this part of their sentence was ever carried out. One man was acquitted.

On 31 October 1808, the frigate Circe encountered Palinure near Diamond Rock. A short engagement followed in which Circe captured Palinure. She had lost seven killed and eight wounded; Circe had lost one man killed and one wounded. The British took Palinure into service as HMS Snap.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Carnation_(1807)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruizer-class_brig-sloop
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
3 October 1811 – Launch of french Alcmène at Cherbourg


The French frigate Alcmène was an Armide-class frigate of a nominal 44 guns, launched in 1811. The British captured her on 1814. The Royal Navy named her HMS Dunira, and then renamed her HMS Immortalite but never commissioned her nor fitted her for sea. In March 1822 she became a receiving ship at Portsmouth. She was sold in January 1837.

HMS_Venerable_vs_Alcmène_5107.jpg
HMS Venerable vs the French Alcmène

In 1813, along with Iphigénie, she served at Cherbourg, in the squadron of contre-amiral Amable Troude, to protect the harbour.

Capture
On 16 January 1814, the 74-gun third-rate ship of the line Venerable, her prize, the ex-French letter of marque brig Jason, and Cyane were in company when they spotted two 44-gun French frigates, Alcmène and Iphigénie. Venerable joined her and after a chase that left Cyane far behind, captured Alcmène, though not without a fight. Venerable lost two men dead and four wounded, while the French lost 32 dead and 50 wounded. Alcmène had a complement of 319 men under the command of Commander Ducrest de Villeneuve, who was wounded when he brought her alongside Venerable and attempted a boarding.

Jason and Cyane tracked Iphigénie and initially fired on her but broke off the engagement because they were outgunned. Cyane continued the chase for over three days until Venerable was able to rejoin the fight after having sailed 153 miles in the direction she believed that Iphigénie had taken. On 20 January 1814, Venerable captured the quarry, having again left Cyane behind. She apparently did not resist after Venerable came up.. Before meeting up with the British ships, the two French vessels had taken some eight prizes. The action resulted in the award in 1847, to any surviving claimants, of the Naval General Service Medal with clasps "Venerable 16 Jany 1814" and "Cyane 16 Jany. 1814".

Venerable was able to locate Iphigénie because Commander Ducrest de Villeneuve of Alcmène was so angry at Captain Émeric, who was the senior French commander, for not having come alongside Venerable on the other side also to board, that he essentially revealed the rendezvous instructions to Admiral Durham. (Venerable was Durham's flagship). When some prisoners from Iphigénie's crew were brought on Venerable, crew from Alcmène too were enraged. Durham had to station Royal Marines between them, with fixed bayonets, to prevent fighting from breaking out.

La-fregate-de-18-la-penelope-1802-1816-par-francois-roux-18772.jpg
Portrait of Pénélope by François-Geoffroi Roux

Fate
The Royal Navy never commissioned Alcmène. The Admiralty initially named her Dunira. On 8 July, Lieutenant Edward Boys, formerly of Venerable, was confirmed in command of Dunira, but was put on half-pay in September. Then on 8 November the Admiralty renamed her Immortalite.

Immortalite became a receiving ship at Portsmouth in March 1822. She may have served for a while in the Quarantine Service at Standgate Creek.[9] She was sold in January 1837 to a Mr. W. Goldsworthy for £1,610.

1024px-Flore_img_0336.jpg
1/48th scale model of Flore, on display at the Musée national de la Marine in Paris

The Armide class was a type of 40-gun frigates of the French Navy, designed by Pierre Roland. A highly detailed and accurate model of Flore, one of the units of the class, is on display at Paris naval museum, originally part of the Trianon model collection.

Vessels in class

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Alcmène_(1811)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armide-class_frigate
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
3 October 1866 - The american passenger steamer Evening Star sank 180 miles east of Tybee Island in a heavy storm. Over 250 individuals perished, including New Orleans' most prominent madams and their new "recruits," members of a French opera company and a circus troupe, and some of New Orleans' most distinguished citizens, including General William Henry Palfrey and architect James Gallier, Sr.

evening_star_sinking__large.jpg

The Sinking of the Steamship Evening Star
On September 29, 1866 the steamship Evening Star set sail from New York bound for New Orleans. Along the way, it encountered a hurricane and sank on October 3, 1866 off the coast of Georgia. Robert Finger, the Chief Engineer survived, but his brother Lansing Finger, the First Assistant-Engineer, did not. Of the 270 persons on board only 17 survived. Transcribed below are a number of newspaper accounts.

AUGUSTA, Ga., Oct 9 - The following additional particulars of the loss of the steamer Evening Star are from the Savannah news of this morning, and embrace the latest details of the disaster:

The steamer Evening Star on the 2d inst, encountered a severe gale, which commenced at 2 o'clock in the afternoon when she was 180 miles cast of Tybee Island. After weathering the storm some seventeen hours she foundered at 6 o'clock on the morning of the 3d, with 270 souls on board. Only seventeen persons are known to have been saved. It seems that there were only three or four life-boats on board, one of which the Chief Engineer, the Purser, six of the crew and two passengers succeeded, after capsizing several times, in keeping afloat until they were picked up by the Norwegian bark, Fleetwing, from which they were transferred to the schooner J. Waring, and arrived here last evening.

The following is the list saved on the Purser's book: Robt. Finger, chief engineer; Ellery S. Allen, purser; John Long, water tender, Fred. Shaffer, coal passer; Geo. Smith, seaman; John Bowers, seaman; Dennis Gannon, waiter, Rowland Stevens, waiter; E. Lamer, passenger; S. H. Harris, passenger.

A second boat took sixteen persons from the steamer, among whom were the Captain and Third Mate. This boat was capsized twelve or fifteen times. The Captain was lost on the fourth time. This boat arrived at Ferandina Saturday forenoon, with six persons and two dead bodies on board.

Only one passenger was saved in the Third Mate's boat. His name is Frank Gerrard, whose residence is at No. 51 Bond street Brooklyn. The following are the names of the survivors in this boat: Thomas Fitzpatrick, third mate; John Dempcy, seaman; John Campbell, seaman; James Howe, seaman; Chancellor Mason, storage steward; Frank Girard, passenger.

- Rochester Daily Union and Advertiser October 10, 1866


https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evening_Star
https://www.geni.com/projects/The-Sinking-of-the-Evening-Star-Steamship-in-1866/13718
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
3 October 1918 - SS Burutu was a British steamship, sunk after a collision with the steamship City of Calcutta off the coast of South Wales about 25 miles south-west of Bardsey Island in the Irish Sea


SS Burutu was a British steamship, sunk after a collision with the steamship City of Calcutta off the coast of South Wales about 25 miles south-west of Bardsey Island in the Irish Sea on 3 October 1918.

1024px-BRITISH_SHIP_BURUTU.jpg

Ship history
The 3,863 GRT ship was built by Alexander Stephen and Sons of Linthouse for the Elder Dempster Lines, and launched on 11 February 1902.

On 10 April 1918 the Burutu (which was defensively armed) was damaged by the German U-boat U-154. The U-boat was fought off by gunfire 14 miles south-south-west off Cape Mesurado in Liberia, West Africa. Two members of the Burutu's crew were killed. The Captain, H.A. Yardley, was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and Seaman Edward Jones was given a gold medal by the passengers. With the Burutu damaged, arrangements were made for a temporary refit in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and for the return of the vessel to Liverpool.

However, while in the Irish Sea, the 3,863 ton Burutu was struck on the port side by the stern of the 7,653 ton City of Calcutta, and is said to have sunk within ten minutes. About 160 persons, including the Master and officers and others on watch, lost their lives. The two vessels were travelling in separate convoys, and, in accordance with Admiralty orders, were steaming without lights. The collision took place at night in stormy weather.

Casualties as listed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) are as follows: Frederick Austin Blythe (First Mate) from West Hartlepool, W.G. Blackburn (Junior Engineer), Herbert F. Chadwell (Signalman) from Sussex, William Grice (Ordinary Seaman) from Bristol, William E. Hollis (Ordinary Seaman) from Ilkeston, Derbyshire, F.J. Liddell, L. Mathieson (Foreman) from Glasgow, C.E.C. Sorenson from Sunderland, Jacob Bussey (Leading Seaman) from Newfoundland living in Middlesbrough. Casualties as listed in the Western Times in October 1918 are as follows: Captain Potter, Chief Officer Clark, Chief Engineer Goddard.

Newspapers reported that there was a gale and a heavy sea at the time of the tragedy. The reports stated that there was perfect discipline aboard, and that the suddenness of the disaster and the hostile elements prevented lifesaving. Reports at the time indicated that there were 42 survivors and that although the first lifeboat escaped the second capsized. Survivors witnessed the crowded decks at the time the ship sank. All officers were lost.

A memorial is dedicated to the men who died and whose graves are not known or cannot be maintained in St Saviours church, Lagos, Nigeria


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Burutu_(1902)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Hong_Moh
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
3 October 1936 - USS Enterprise (CV-6), launched


USS Enterprise (CV-6) was the seventh U.S. Navy vessel to bear the name. Colloquially called "the Big E", she was the sixth aircraft carrier of the United States Navy. A Yorktown-class carrier, she was launched in 1936 and was one of only three American carriers commissioned before World War II to survive the war (the others being Saratoga and Ranger).

1024px-USS_Enterprise_(CV-6)_in_Puget_Sound,_September_1945.jpg

She participated in more major actions of the war against Japan than any other United States ship. These actions included the Attack on Pearl Harbor (18 dive bombers of VS-6 were over the harbor; 6 were shot down with a loss of 11 men—she was the only American aircraft carrier with men at Pearl Harbor during the attack and the first to sustain casualties during the Pacific War), the Battle of Midway, the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, various other air-sea engagements during the Guadalcanal Campaign, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, and the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Enterprise earned 20 battle stars, the most for any U.S. warship in World War II, and was the most decorated U.S. ship of World War II. She is also the first American ship to sink an enemy vessel during the Pacific War when she sank Japanese submarine I-70 on 10 December 1941. On three occasions during the Pacific War, the Japanese announced that she had been sunk in battle, inspiring her nickname "The Grey Ghost".

USS_Enterprise_(CVS-6)_awaiting_disposal_at_the_New_York_Naval_Shipyard_on_22_June_1958.jpg
Enterprise awaiting disposal at the New York Naval Shipyard on 22 June 1958; the recently launched Independence is fitting-out on the opposite pier face

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Enterprise_(CV-6)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 3 October


1671 - Launch of french Heureux 48, later 54 guns guns at Le Havre - hulked 1690 and broken up after 1693. Précieux Class. Designed and built by Barthélémy Tortel.

Sistership Précieux 48, later 52 guns (launched 15 December 1671 at Le Havre) - captured by the Dutch 1677 but recovered; condemned 1678 and burnt.


1683 – Qing dynasty naval commander Shi Lang reaches Taiwan to receive the surrender of the Tungning kingdom after the Battle of Penghu.

The Battle of Penghu (Chinese: 澎湖海戰) was a naval battle fought in 1683 between the Kingdom of Tungning based in Taiwan and the Manchu-led Qing Empire of China. The Qing admiral Shi Lang[3] led a fleet to attack the Tungning forces in Penghu. Each side possessed more than 200 warships. The Tungning admiral Liu Guoxuan (劉國軒) was outmaneuvered by Shi Lang, whose forces outnumbered him three to one. Liu surrendered when his flagship ran out of ammunition and fled to Taiwan. The loss of Penghu resulted in the surrender of Zheng Keshuang, the last king of Tungning, to the Qing Empire.

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


1778 HMS Mary (1702 - 4) lost in Plymouth sound

HMS Mary (1702) was a 4-gun smack launched in 1702. She was rebuilt in 1728 and lost in 1778.

mary.jpg

large.jpg


1785 – Launch of French Patriote was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line

Patriote was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. She was one of the French ships which had their hull doubled with copper.
In September 1793, during the Siege of Toulon, she was taken by the British, who removed her armament and embarked the French sailors sympathetic to the Republic. Admiral Hood having agreed to expel them, she then ferried them to Brest, where she arrived on 16 October.[2]
In 1794 she took part in the battle of the Glorious First of June, in the Croisière du Grand Hiver winter campaign in 1794 and 1795, and in the Expédition d'Irlande in December 1796.
From 1821, she was used as a hulk.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Patriote_(1785)


1796 - HMS Narcissus (1781 - 20), Cptn. Percy Fraser, wrecked off New Providence.

HMS Narcissus was a Sphinx-class 20-gun sixth-rate post ship of the Royal Navy launched in 1781. Most notably in 1782, while she was under the command of Captain Edward Edwards, a mutiny occurred aboard the vessel that resulted in the hanging of six men, and the flogging of an additional 14. Captain Edwards went on to command HMS Pandora, which was assigned to carry the Bounty mutineers back to England.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Narcissus_(1781)


1799 - HMS Speedy (1798 - 14), Jahleel Brenton, chased Spanish coasters on shore in a bay to the east of Cape Trafalgar.

The schooner or gunboat HMS Speedy sank in a snowstorm in Lake Ontario south of Brighton, Ontario and west of Prince Edward County, on 8 October 1804, with the loss of all hands. The sinking changed the course of Canadian history because of the prominence of the citizens of the tiny colony of Upper Canada lost in the disastrous event.
The ship was built for the Provincial Marine in 1798 at the Point Frederick Navy Depot and was used to transport government officials and supplies.

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


1909 - Sangstad was a steam cargo ship wrecked

Sangstad was a steam cargo ship built in 1904 by the Robert Thompson & Sons of Sunderland for A. F. Klaveness & Co of Sandefjord. She was primarily employed as an ore carrier and collier doing tramp trade during her career.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Sangstad_(1904)


1921 - USS Olympia (C 6) sails to France to bring home the Unknown Soldier from World War I. Olympia returns stateside Nov. 9, 1921.

USS Olympia (C-6/CA-15/CL-15/IX-40) is a protected cruiser that saw service in the United States Navy from her commissioning in 1895 until 1922. This vessel became famous as the flagship of Commodore George Dewey at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish–American War in 1898. The ship was decommissioned after returning to the U.S. in 1899, but was returned to active service in 1902.

1024px-USS_Olympia;c0605.jpg

She served until World War I as a training ship for naval cadets and as a floating barracks in Charleston, South Carolina. In 1917, she was mobilized again for war service, patrolling the American coast and escorting transport ships.

After World War I, Olympia participated in the 1919 Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War and conducted cruises in the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas to promote peace in the unstable Balkan countries. In 1921, the ship carried the remains of World War I's Unknown Soldier from France to Washington, D.C., where his body was interred in Arlington National Cemetery. Olympia was decommissioned for the last time in December 1922 and placed in reserve.

In 1957, the U.S. Navy ceded title to the Cruiser Olympia Association, which restored the ship to her 1898 configuration. Since then, Olympia has been a museum ship in Philadelphia, where it is now part of the Independence Seaport Museum. Olympia was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966.

1920px-USS_Olympia_2.jpg
The USS Olympia on display as a museum ship on the Delaware River near Penn's Landing in Philadelphia.

The Olympia is the oldest steel American warship still afloat. Repairs, estimated at $10– 20 million, were desperately needed to keep the Olympia afloat, and in 2010 the Independence Seaport Museum considered finding a new steward for the Ship. By 2014, the museum reversed its plan to find a new steward and soon obtained funding from private donors as well as federal and state agencies to begin work on repairing the ship. The museum invested in extensive stabilization measures including reinforcing the most deteriorated areas of the hull, expanding the alarm system, installing a network of bilge pumping stand pipes (which will provide greater damage control capability in the unlikely event of a hull breach), extensive deck patching and extensive repair and recoating of the ship's rigging. This work was made possible by donations from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, The U.S. Cruiser Sailors Association and many individual donors. By 2017, the museum completed the first phase of repairs to the ship and has embarked on an ambitious national campaign to raise the $20 million needed to dry-dock the Olympia and address waterline deterioration of the hull.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Olympia_(C-6)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_of_the_Unknown_Soldier_(Arlington)#The_Unknown_of_World_War_I
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
4 October 1710 - Action of 4 October 1710 / Battle of Køge Bay

qSSASuW.jpg

This indecisive Battle of Køge Bay took place on 4 October 1710, during the Great Northern War, in Køge Bay, just south of Copenhagen. Denmark had 26 ships of the line and 5 frigates with 1808 guns, and Sweden had 21 ships of the line and several frigates with 1512 guns. The Danish ship Dannebroge exploded and of the 550-man crew only 9 survived. The Swedish ships Tre Kronor and Prinsessan Ulrika Eleonora ran aground. Because of the weather the battle could not continue. However, the Swedish fleet managed to sink and capture a Danish convoy of transport ships that were supposed to embark a Russian invasion force in Danzig. The action in Køge Bugt checked those Russian invasion plans of Sweden.


The Dannebrog was a Dano-Norwegian ship-of-the-line that exploded and sunk October 4, 1710, during the Great Northern War. Almost all of its crew of 600 were killed.

Backornament_of_Ship-of-the-line_Dannebroge.jpg
Backornament of Danish Ship-of-the-Line Dannebroge

200304_KMM---Dannebroge-2.jpg 200305_KMM---Dannebroge-agter.jpg

http://modelbyggerne.dk/linieskibet-dannebroge/

u1N9Uzs.jpg ee2NvVk.jpg yUNO0xQ.jpg


History
Construction

Dannebroge was built in 1692 and she was the largest ship-of-the-line in the Dano-Norwegian navy at that time with her 84 cannons placed on two decks and a crew of 600 men. She was also the first ship in Denmark that was built according to a plan drawing.

Untitled-Scanned-02-716959.jpg

The final battle
In 1710 Denmark–Norway was at war with Sweden. The Norwegian-born commander, Ivar Huitfeldt, was in charge of Dannebroge on October 4, 1710. Along with a Dano-Norwegian fleet of 44 other ships he had set sail for Liepāja (in modern Latvia). The mission was to escort 6,000 Russian troops to the Danish capital of Copenhagen, so they could support Denmark–Norway during the Great Northern War against the Swedes.

However, the fleet was intercepted by a Swedish fleet in the Battle of Køge Bay. According to the commander in chief of the Dano-Norwegian navy, Ulrik Christian Gyldenløve, the fire on Dannebroge was probably ignited by her own cannons. Gyldenløve mentions this in his letter to the king. Gyldenløve followed the battle from his ship Elephanten and wrote the letter at about 9 o'clock in the morning of October 5. It is unclear how many of the 600 men survived the explosion: some sources say three and others say nine.

DANNEBROG is notable as being not only the first warship built at Nyholm, but also as the second largest warship built for the Danish navy during the 17th century, being second only in size to the huge Danish fleet flagship FREDERICUS QUARTUS built seven years after the DANNEBROG, in 1699.Although the battleship which was Danish-Norwegian fleet flagship at the time the DANNEBROG was built – i.e., the second CHRISTIANUS QUINTUS, built in 1683 – mounted more cannon than did the DANNEBROG, the DANNEBROG’s hull dimensions were larger, being four feet longer and one and a half feet wider at the DANNEBROG’s extreme beam, while her draft was only two inches shallower than that of the CHRISTIANUS QUINTUS.Admiral Henrik Spann, designer of the DANNEBROG, was put in charge of shipbuilding at Holmen in 1690, and served in this capacity, as “Chef” of the Holmen shipyard, until 1694. Henrik Spann is credited with designing 2 ships-of-the-line and 3 frigates for the Danish navy; three of these five warships are included in the warship list appearing later in this article.

Dannebroge_(1692)_-_Hæk.jpg Dannebroge_(1692)_-_Stævn.jpg Dannebroge_spante.jpg

The DANNEBROG was destroyed in action on October 4, 1710, during the second Battle of Køge Bay, in the Great Northern War, by an explosion of her magazine as a result of combat damage caused while resisting an attack by the entire Swedish fleet.

In terms of action in major naval combat operations, the DANNEBROG achieved the greatest distinction in combat of any of the warships included in this article’s warship list. Therefore, the details of DANNEBROG’s heroic stand will be described here.

On October 4, 1710, a large Swedish battlefleet of 21 battleships attacked an even larger Danish fleet of 26 battleships lying at anchor in Køge Bay. Due to an apparent lack of vigilance, and having failed either to take appropriate defensive precautions or to timely react to the initial sighting of the Swedish fleet, the Danish fleet was unprepared to meet the Swedish onslaught, which descended rapidly on the anchored Danish fleet.

The DANNEBROG was one of the first Danish warships to get under way to meet and engage the Swedish fleet. However, combat damage caused the DANNEBROG to catch fire early in the engagement, possibly from the fire of her own batteries – in this regard, DANNEBROG was firing into the wind, and her cannons’ gunfire may have been blown back into the DANNEBROG’s highly inflammable rigging, or hull.

w3SLhlH.jpg

Iver Hvitfeld, the DANNEBROG’s commander, with fire endangering his ship, refrained from running the DANNEBROG for shore in order to save DANNEBROG from destruction, as this course of action would have driven DANNEBROG into the rest of the Danish fleet and thus imperiled the Danish fleet’s orderly formation, including the safety of Danish transports which were inter-mixed with the Danish warships.

Having refused to take the safer course of saving DANNEBROG and himself, Iver Hvitfeldt dropped anchor and, with the DANNEBROG ablaze, proceeded to fight the action with the entire Swedish fleet to its conclusion – thereby also affording the rest of the Danish fleet time to get under way, and its ships cleared for action.

After an engagement lasting an hour and a half, the burning DANNEBROG finally exploded, killing Hvitfeldt and most of the DANNEBROG’s crew – there were only three survivors. The shock and concussion of the DANNEBROG’s explosion, as well as a change in the weather that affected the warships’ sailing abilities, essentially marked the end of the battle.

Iver Hvitfeldt’s courageous, solitary, and ultimately decisive and sacrificial stand against the entire Swedish fleet, which resulted in the deliverance of the Danish fleet at a time of its greatest vulnerability and peril, has become one of the great symbols, and outstanding model of exemplary behavior in combat, in Denmark’s naval tradition.

Bronzekanon.jpg

The site of the DANNEBROG’s explosion and destruction in Køge Bay has been archaeologically investigated during the 20th Century, and artifacts were recovered.



The wreck

1280px-Langelinie_2005-02.jpg
The Langelinie Promenade with the Dannebroge monument.

Today Dannebroge is the only wreck within Danish sea territory, where it is forbidden to dive. The official Danish institution of cultural heritage, Kulturarvsstyrelsen, considers it to be a cemetery.

Some cannons were salvaged in 1714; others were salvaged in 1875 by the company Svitzer, which also searched for other objects that could be sold at an auction. Some of the cannons were later used by Danish architect Vilhelm Dahlerup, who made a monument for Dannebroge, which today can be found at Langelinie in Copenhagen.

http://modelbyggerne.dk/linieskibet-dannebroge/


HDMS Elephanten (Danish: "The Elephant") was a ship of the line of the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy, which she served from 1703 to 1728 until she was scuttled to create artificial island Elefanten at Holmen, Copenhagen. While in service she participated in the Battle of Køge Bay, where she served as Ulrik C. Gyldenløve's flagship.

HDMS_Elephanten.png
Painting of the backside of HDMS Elephanten


Ships involved in the battle

Denmark (Gyldenløve)
Elephant 90 (flag)
Fredericus IV 110
Christianus V 100
Dannebroge 94 - Blew up
Justitia 90
Norske Løve 84
Mars 80
Tre Løver 78
Prinds Christian 76
Sophia Hedvig 76
Wenden 72
Dronning Louisa 70
Haffru 70
Beskjermer 64
Ebenetzer 64
Charlotte Amalia 60
Svan 60
Anna Sophia 60
Fredericus III 56
Oldenborg 52
Sværdfisk 52
Tomler 52
Nelleblad 52
Fyen 50
Delmenhorst 50
Island 50

Sweden (Wachtmeister)
Göta Lejon 90 (flag)
Enigheten 94
Tre Kronor 86 - Aground, scuttled next day
Wenden 82
Sverige 82
Prinsessan Hedvig 80
Prinsessan Ulrika 80 - Aground, scuttled next day
Gota 76
Nordstjernan 76
Prins Carl 76
Prins Carl Fredrik 72
Småland 70
Karlskrona 70
Skåne 68
Bremen 64
Fredrika Amalia 62
Westmanland 62
Pommern 56
Södermanland 56
Wachtmeister 56
Werden 54
Several fireships - Burnt? 2 days later



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Køge_Bay_(1710)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_4_October_1710
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMS_Elephanten
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dannebroge
 
Last edited:
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
4 October 1744 - Loss of the HMS Victory (1737 - 100), Cptn. Samuel Faulkner. Admiral Sir John Balchen and 1,100 men lost.


HMS Victory was a 100-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built to the dimensions of the 1733 proposals of the 1719 Establishment at Portsmouth Dockyard, and launched on 23 February 1737.

800px-HMS_Victory_sinking.jpg
Peter Monamy was one of the first English artists to establish a native school of marine painting. His work is often alleged to "show an overwhelming influence of the Dutch style", but the authentic works created by him during his 45 year London career convincingly demonstrate that this influence was a great deal less than "overwhelming". In 1696 Monamy, aged 15, was bound apprentice for seven years to a former Master of the Painter-Stainer's Company, and was obviously trained and taught by him. It has repeatedly been asserted that he "may have" worked in van de Velde’s studio in Greenwich, but there is no evidence whatsoever of this supposed employment. Any such employment is exceedingly unlikely, and in fact virtually impossible. The van de Veldes ceased to maintain a studio in Greenwich soon after the 1689 Revolution of William III, and apparently moved their business to Covent Garden. At this time Monamy was 8-10 years old.
The Loss of the 'Victory', 4 October 1744, is a dramatic night scene in the native English taste. It is highly atmospheric, slightly naive, and discernibly unlike anything by the van de Veldes. The ship was recognized in her day as ‘the finest ship in the world’, but was wrecked and lost with all hands on the Caskets, near the island of Alderney in the English Channel after becoming separated from the rest of the English fleet in a gale.
In the painting, which is portrait format, the solitary vessel is going down with lanterns alight and firing two of her guns – their light eerily mirrored by the moonlight streaming down from behind the dark storm clouds in the sky. The painting could arguably be seen as an early visual example of the 18th-century taste for the sublime.


large (3).jpg
A Ship in Distress. Design'd to represent the loss of the Victory by a violent Storm near the Race of Alderney in the Year 1744 (PAH0712)
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/140659.html#jG7pWYBM2ITLupks.99


Construction
A small number of the timbers used in the construction of Victory were taken from the remains of the previous HMS Victory, which had caught fire and been burnt to the waterline in February 1721 whilst having weed burned from her bottom (in a process called "breaming"). Officially a rebuild of the previous vessel, the new Victory was built by master shipwright Joseph Allin and cost £38,239 to assemble, plus £12,652 fitting as a flagship. Launched in 1737 she became the flagship of the Channel Fleet under Sir John Norris following completion in 1740. She was the last British First Rate to be armed entirely with bronze cannon.

large (2).jpg
Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with stern board decoration, sheer lines with decoration detail and figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for 'Victory' (1737), a 100-gun First Rate, three-decker. Chapman's signature on the plan implies it was copied by him from the Admiralty during his visit to London in 1754. Signed by Fredrik Henrik Af Chapman [Swedish Naval Architect and Shipwright, 1721-1808]. This plan closely resembles the model of 'Victory' held in Cawdor Castle in terms of the scale, the decoration detail, and the position of the ports.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/79936.html#uXFL8WbCZXdtoRY2.99


large (1).jpg
Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, stern board outline, inboard profile, and longitudinal half-breadth for a 100-gun First Rate, three-decker. The plan was a copy sent by Sir Jacob Acworth to John Naish for rebuilding the 'Victory' of 1695, which had been taken to pieces at Portsmouth Dockyard from 1721. Alterations were later sent to Joseph Allin, Master Shipwright at Portsmouth Dockyard during the building of the replacement 'Victory', launched in 1737.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/79935.html#wXwpKlWOYpjzQh6Y.99


The Victory was "a high-sided ship for her draught and this was believed to have made her leewardly and to have led to her loss". The term "leewardly" means she had a tendency to be pushed to leeward (down wind) more than normal when sailing with the wind on or forward of the beam, increasing the risk of being driven ashore. A plan of the ship reproduced in Howard and an extant contemporary model also show her with four rows of lights (stern galleries), three open balconies along her stern, and four quarter galleries, one more of each than was usual for an English three-decker. These expansive features improved her internal capacity and conditions for the crew, but were heavy enough to compromise her stability in rough weather. Their addition to the ship reflected a long-running dispute between Jacob Acworth, the Surveyor of the Navy and representative of the Admiralty Board, and master shipwright Allin who had carriage of the actual construction of the ship. Acworth had instructed Allin that Admiralty required the ship's upper works to be "low and snug." Allin, jealous of his prerogatives as a shipwright, refused to adhere to this direction and instead built a particularly large and roomy craft. The completed ship was revealed to be so incompetent a sailer that she required several refits before she passed her sea trials.

large.jpg
Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the poop deck, quarterdeck and forecastle, upper deck, middle deck, and lower deck for Victory (1737), a 100-gun First Rate, three-decker. The ship was built, and later repaired in 1740 at Portsmouth Dockyard after a collision with Lion (1738).
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/539890.html#oa1YDmaG2kIuPhV0.99


Victory carried 28 guns on each of her gundecks, but with an additional set of unused gunports to the aft of the middle deck. She was the last Royal Navy three-decker to carry bronze cannons; after her loss the Navy switched instead to cheaper iron-made weapons for all first- and second-rate ships.

large (4).jpg
Scale: 1;48. A plan showing the longitudinal half-breadth, sheer lines below water line and the midship bend comparisons between the 'Royal Sovereign' (1701), 'Victory' (1738) and an established 100 Gunship in 1745. A key to the plan includes: Green lines: the Estabished 100 Gunship per 1745. Red lines: the 'Royal Sovereign' from Mr Bately's Draught. Red Sirmark spots formed from the draught of the 'Royal Sovereign' as found in the surveyors drawing rooms. Ticket lines with black ink: the 'Victory's' at equal Immersion with the established 100 Gunship Pencilled lines: alterations proposed by surveyor in May 1750 Midship bend drawn in: Black the established 100 Gunship. Black ticks the 'Victory'. Red the 'Royal Soverign' from Mr Batelys draught. On reverse: partly drawn sheer lines plan for unknown ship.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/384362.html#iwzDke9FXlRAtowI.99


Loss
She was wrecked with the loss of her entire crew while returning to England as the flagship of Admiral Sir John Balchen after relieving Sir Charles Hardy, who had been blockaded in the Tagus estuary by the French Brest fleet. As the fleet reached the English Channel on 3 October 1744 it was scattered by a large storm. At around 15:30 on 4 October, the ships accompanying Victory lost sight of her near the Channel Islands. For over 260 years she was believed to have been wrecked during the night on Black Rock just off the Casquets, with the loss of her entire complement.

Frigates were dispatched across the English Channel to search for her where she had last been seen wallowing on the horizon on 4 October. Eventually, Captain Thomas Grenville of HMS Falkland landed at Guernsey in the Channel Islands to provision, and there heard from locals that wreckage and part of a topmast had washed up on the island's shores. Further investigation proved that the wreckage had indeed come from Victory, which was believed to have run into the Casquets, a group of rocks nearby. Other wreckage was washed up on Jersey and Alderney, whose inhabitants had heard distress guns the night before the wreck but were unable to provide aid in the severe storm. No trace of any of the 1,150 sailors aboard Victory was found until the wreck was discovered in 2008.

large (6).jpg
Scale: 1:34.3. A contemporary full hull model of the 'Victory' (1737), a 100-gun three-decker first-rate ship of the line. Built in 'bread and butter fashion' and finished in the Georgian style, the model is partially decked, fully equipped and rigged. It was once thought that this model was made for the Royal Naval Academy at Portsmouth Dockyard, and used for the educating of young gentlemen to the sea-service. However, in 1740, the Admiralty commissioned a model of a First Rate to stand in the boardroom; four years later they complained that it was not finished yet and on 9 February 1745 they requested to "have the assistance of the three persons from Deptford who have experience in making models" [ADM 106/1021/29]. On 11 February 1745, the Navy Baord wrote that "James Edwards, John Mitchell and Adam Cooper, Shipwrights, at Deptford, may be lent to the Woolwich Yard to assist in completing the ship model for the Admiralty Boardroom." [ADM 106/1021/30]. The model is not fitted with guns, despite the Admiralty asking for this, but it is japanned, as was ordered. In fact, in February 1745 there was a request that "George Elphick be paid for japanning and varnishing a model of a first rate ship." [ADM 106/1007/147]. The 'Victory’ itself was built in the Royal Dockyard, Portsmouth and measured 174 feet along the gun deck by 50 feet in the beam and had a tonnage of 1921 (builders old measurement). In 1744, a formidable fleet, commanded by Admiral Sir John Balchen in the 'Victory’, was sent to relieve Gibraltar; broke the blockade of the river Tagus in Portugal and drove the French fleet into Cadiz. Balchen was returning to England when his fleet was scattered by a violent gale on 4 October. So much damage was done that the 'Victory’ was lost with all hands, nearly 1200 men, in the Western Approaches of the English Channel.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/66410.html#tvmgEuEJFCifpI9m.99


large (7).jpg large (9).jpg large (8).jpg

Discovery
On 1 February 2009, the Associated Press reported that Odyssey Marine Exploration, based in Tampa, Florida, United States, claimed to have found the wreck in May 2008, and has recovered two of the one hundred bronze cannons.[6] Located in the Western Approaches between England and France, as a military wreck she legally remains the property of the British Government under the laws of marine salvage. The wreck was found "more than 80 km (43 nm) from where anybody would have thought it went down", according to Odyssey Marine Exploration CEO Gregg Stemm, and 100 m (330 ft) deep,[6] meaning that the vessel had not foundered on the Casquets as had been surmised, but lay approximately at latitude 49°42.5' N and longitude 3°33.3' W. The team announced their findings publicly on 2 February and stated that they were negotiating with the British government over the wreckage. On 26 March 2009, the TV show Treasure Quest, which had followed the company's ship Odyssey Explorer exploring several different shipwreck sites, aired two hours of footage of the Odyssey Explorer's initial findings of the ship. The show included footage of the Odyssey Explorer's crew finding a 42 pounder cannon that identified the wreck as the Victory. The crew raised a 42 pounder cannon and a 12 pounder cannon which are now on display at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. In 2011 a Dutch salvage company was caught having illegally looted a cannon from the wreck site.

In January 2012 it was reported that the remains of HMS Victory are to be raised from the sea bed. The wreck is to be handed over to the Maritime Heritage Foundation, which is expected to employ Odyssey Marine Exploration to carry out the recovery. The terms of the contract with Odyssey Marine Exploration remain controversial, with concerns over, "allowing foreign investors to profit from the property, grave and memorial of Royal Navy personnel".

large (5).jpg

Possible treasure
There has been research which has backed up anecdotal evidence that there is a possibility that Victory was carrying significant quantities of gold and silver when she sank which could be worth hundreds of millions of pounds. Lisbon was the bullion capital of Europe and the Mediterranean world and, following the blockade of the river Tagus, there would have been a backlog of bullion to transport to England and Royal Navy ships were often used to safely transport private coinage. In addition to this, admiral Sir John Balchinhad recently captured six prize ships and could also have been carrying their assets. The Amsterdamsche Courant of 18/19 November 1744 describes how a huge sum of money was being carried by the flagship when she foundered: “People will have it that on board of the Victory was a sum of 400,000 pounds sterling that it had brought from Lisbon for our merchants.” This would equate to approximately 4 tons of gold coins

large (10).jpg large (11).jpg large (12).jpg
Scale: 1:48. A model of the Victory (1737) made entirely in wood, built from wood in layers based on waterlines, and painted in realistic colours. There is a marked division along the waterline, between the upper and lower halves of the model. The hull is painted white below the waterline and black above with yellow ochre bands running the length of the three gundecks. The gunports are shown painted brown and outlined in red. The paint finish on the port side is badly degraded. The quarter galleries and figurehead are not depicted, although the support for the figurehead is shown. The centre of the model has been hollowed out, which reduces the overall weight of the model. Inspection of the interior of the model with an endoscope revealed this had been carried out with a gouge with a concave cutting edge after the lifts had been glued together. The top of the model has been closed with thin panels across the top of the bulwarks. The model’s ‘decks’ have been glued on top of the upper lift. There is a hole with a diameter of 1.8cm cut into the deck in the waist and another hole at the fore end of the poop deck. On stern and starboard broadside it is painted 'Victory.'. On the paper label applied to quarter deck reads: “Victory 100 1737. Catalogued (1923) under No.63. If the beam is taken as moulded as in the Princessa model the Dimensions fit the Establishment of 1719 and 1733 for 100-gun ships. The distribution of ports and deadeyes visible on the starboard side beneath the overpainting does not agree with that shown either by model No.43 or by the contemporary Draughts of the Victory. This model may perhaps represent an early stage in the design” The length and midship section does match that of the original plan, which was drawn to the 1719 Establishment. The model is mounted on three inline supports and displayed on a dark-stained wooden baseboard with bevelled edges. Block models were made by, or under the supervision of, the Master Shipwright in the Royal Dockyards. They were made to plans which had first been drawn on paper. The models were then sent to the Navy Board Office in Tower Hill in London for approval. The ‘Victory’ joined the Channel Fleet in 1741 after being repaired following a collision with the ‘Lion’ in 1740. It was armed with heavy guns, carrying twenty-eight 32- or 42-pound guns on the gun deck, twenty-eight 24-pounders on the middle deck, twenty-eight 12-pounders on the upper deck, twelve 6-pounders on the quarterdeck and four 6-pounders on the forecastle. It was the last first rate to be armed only with brass guns. In April and May 1744, it served on the Lisbon convoy before becoming Admiral Balchen’s flagship later that year. The ship is best known as ‘Balchen’s Victory’, after the Admiral, lost with the ship when she foundered in a storm in October 1744. N.J. Ball
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/66411.html#TI6mzqkkYjM7epvx.99



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Victory_(1737)
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-357769;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=V
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Balchen
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
4 October 1744 - Admiral Sir John Balchen died and 1,100 men lost their life with sinking HMS Victory


Admiral Sir John Balchen (2 February 1670 – 4 October 1744), sometimes written as Balchin, was an officer of the British Royal Navy with a long and distinguished career during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. In the course of his service at sea, Balchen saw action in numerous battles against the French and Spanish navies across 60 years and three separate wars. He was twice captured by the French in action, both times being exonerated and commended for the defence of his ships against overwhelming odds.

800px-John_Blachen.jpg
Sir John Balchen, c.1695 by Jonathan Richardson the Elder

Balchen died in the shipwreck of the 100-gun first-rate HMS Victory off the Casquets in the Channel Islands during operations to deter French blockading of Spanish and Portuguese ports during the War of the Austrian Succession. A capable and efficient officer, Balchen never found the wealth and prestige fellow officers secured in other commissions, a fact which remained a source of frustration to him until his elevation to knighthood shortly before his death.

Battles/wars
Nine Years' War
War of the Spanish Succession
Battle of Vigo Bay
Battle at the Lizard
• Defence of HMS Gloucester
War of the Quadruple Alliance
Battle of Cape Passaro
War of the Austrian Succession

Nine Years' War
Balchen was born in February 1670, the only surviving child of the yeoman gentleman, John Balchen, and his wife, Ann Edspur. Home educated, Balchen took a commission in the Royal Navy aged 15 and, seven years later, gained promotion to lieutenant. For most of this period Balchen was stationed in the West Indies and, during his service there, was lucky in his health; the West Indies command was considered very dangerous during this period, mortality rates amongst sailors stationed there being very high due to malaria and yellow fever. The high death rate led to rapid promotion for those who survived, and Balchen was made Post Captain at the relatively young age of 27 during the Nine Years' War. Balchen had spent the war aboard HMS Dragon and HMS Cambridge under Admiral John Neville, who was impressed enough with his subordinate to give him command of the prize ship HMS Virgin, the safe conduct of which to England earned him the step to captain.

War of the Spanish Succession
As with the majority of the Royal Navy, Balchen was placed in reserve at the war's conclusion and returned to England to await further deployment. Whilst there, he married Susannah Apreece, daughter of an army colonel. The marriage produced six children, two of whom survived into adulthood; Frances, who later married Temple West (Vice Admiral Temple West) and George, who followed his father into the Navy. In 1701, Balchen was again at sea, commanding the small fireships HMS Firebrand and then HMS Vulcan with Sir George Rooke's fleet off the Spanish coast at the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession. He was probably engaged during the Battle of Vigo Bay in 1702, where Rooke's fleet captured a Spanish treasure fleet and was instrumental in the capture of the 56-gun Modéré, which he went on to briefly command as HMS Modéré.

In 1703, Balchen was transferred to the 44-gun frigate HMS Adventure in the North Sea. This was an area of great importance to the British war effort due to the convoys carrying naval supplies from Scandinavia, which crossed it regularly. The commission, however, yielded few opportunities in the way of prize money. The next year, he was transferred to the 54-gun HMS Chester, with which he was dispatched to the West African Coast, a region considered almost as fatal as the West Indies. Surviving once again, Balchen remained in the Chester and was attached to the convoys bound for Portugal and Virginia.

Balchen suffered his first defeat on 10 October 1707. Leaving the safety of Portsmouth harbour, his convoy was ambushed by a French squadron under Forbin and Duguay-Trouin, in what became the Battle at the Lizard. Although the dozen French warships were larger and stronger than the convoy escorts, Balchen took his ship into battle with the other warship captains. This action allowed the merchant convoy time to disperse and escape. The ensuing battle was one-sided, with the French warships battering three English ships into submission over several hours, including Balchen's command, which had been boarded by three French ships of the line. One British warship escaped, but HMS Devonshire exploded with the loss of nearly 900 lives. The French captured just 15 merchant ships from the hundreds in the convoy, as most made English ports before their pursuers could catch them.

Briefly a prisoner in France, Balchen, as an officer, was allowed to return to England on parole, where a court martial exonerated him for the loss of his ship and commended him for a brave defence. In 1709, he was formally exchanged for a French officer and returned to naval service, receiving command of the newly built 60-gun HMS Gloucester in August. Leaving Spithead on his first cruise in October, he had been at sea for just a few hours when Duguay-Trouin again appeared with a squadron of five ships of the line. Unable to outrun his opponents, Balchen engaged the 74-gun flagship Lis before being forced to surrender after being dismasted and threatened with boarding.

Balchen was exchanged almost immediately and the court martial, once again, exonerated him from all blame for the loss of his ship. He was rewarded for his bravery with command of HMS Colchester in 1710, in which, on 9 November, Balchen secured his first prize, a 20-gun French privateer which he outran in a gale. In 1712 and 1713, Balchen was in the Mediterranean under Sir John Jennings and returned home in 1713 for a period of unemployment on shore. With the end of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1715, Balchen was returned to sea in the 40-gun frigate HMS Diamond, which he used in the suppression of piracy in the West Indies until 1716. The same year, he received the shore position commanding the guardship HMS Orford in the Medway.

War of the Quadruple Alliance
In 1718, war once again broke out and experienced officers were immediately given sea postings, Balchen in the 80-gun HMS Shrewsbury in the fleet of Sir George Byng. Arriving in the Mediterranean, Vice-Admiral Charles Cornewall made Shrewsbury his flagship and Balchen his flag captain, a position which remained until December of that year. In July 1718, Shrewsbury had been engaged at the Battle of Cape Passaro, at which a Spanish fleet had been comprehensively defeated; Balchen's first great naval action and his first major victory.

In May 1719, Balchen was given command of the 70-gun HMS Monmouth under Sir John Norris, and served in the Baltic and North Seas until 1722. In 1722, Balchen took over the guardship HMS Ipswich at Spithead and, in 1726, returned to the Monmouth for further service in the Baltic under Norris and Sir Charles Wager. In 1727 Balchen was part of a mission to resupply besieged Gibraltar, although, by the time the fleet arrived, the siege had been broken. In 1728, Balchen received promotion to Rear-Admiral. In 1731, after a period in command of the 60-gun HMS Dreadnought, Balchen took over the 80-gun HMS Princess Amelia and commanded her in support of a Spanish landing at Livorno. Balchen returned in December and, in 1734, was promoted to Vice-Admiral, spending the next five years at his estates in England.

War of the Austrian Succession
At the outbreak of the War of Jenkins' Ear with Spain in 1739, Balchen commanded a squadron of seven ships off the Spanish Atlantic Coast. Tasked with intercepting Spanish convoys, Balchen was almost caught by a superior Spanish squadron, which forced him to withdraw deeper into the Atlantic. For several weeks, this provoked rumours in Britain that his force had been destroyed, until he got word to the Admiralty of his hurried retreat. During the next two years, Balchen spent most of his time on convoy duty and came to resent younger and more active officers who made substantial fortunes from prize money. He confided to a friend in 1741:

"[We] have Nobody spoke of Now but Mr. Virnon; he has all the Glory, and success pursues him. The West Indie people will be so Rich there wont be Roome for them to purchase Lands; whilst I am forced to drudge from place to place for Nothing."​
Loss of the Victory
In March 1743 Balchen received the command of the Greenwich Naval Hospital and £600 per annum as a pension.[4] Balchen chafed at being forced to remain ashore and was not pleased when he was forcibly retired in April 1744, aged 74. Two months later, however, Balchen was recalled up to the Admiralty. A fleet of 25 British and Dutch ships had been raised in a hurry to rescue a British squadron and convoy under Sir Charles Hardy, which had been trapped in the Tagus by a French Brest squadron. Due to a shortage of officers of sufficient experience and seniority to command a fleet of this kind, Balchen was called up at short notice and rewarded with a knighthood.

"He was retreating forever from the rage of the ocean, and from the dangers, difficulties and hardships, attending a sea-faring life. But when every danger was in appearance past, and every difficulty surmounted; when he was almost in sight of the harbour of repose, and the end of all his toils; a raging tempest blasted his pleasing hopes, and put a period at once to his life and worldly expectations."The Life of Sir John Balchen, 1787.

Balchen's fleet was successful in driving off the French, who retired in the face of his superior fleet without firing a shot, and Hardy's convoy was escorted safely to Gibraltar. On the way to the Portuguese Coast, Balchen finally made his fortune in prize money, capturing six heavily laden French West Indiamen. On his return journey however, the fleet was sailing through the Western Approaches in early October when it was hit by a violent storm. Scattered across the Channel, they one by one returned to England in a battered and leaking condition until, a few days later, only HMS Victory was missing. Victory, Balchen's flagship, was, at the time, one of the largest ships in the world, holding a broadside of 100 guns. She was also very new, having been completed less than seven years before.

Frigates were dispatched across the English Channel to search for the missing battleship, which was last seen on the horizon on 4 October. Captain Thomas Grenville of the frigate HMS Falkland landed at Guernsey in the Channel Islands to reprovision and there heard from locals that wreckage and part of a topmast had washed up on the island's shores. Further investigation proved that the wreckage had indeed come from the Victory, which was believed to have run into the Casquets, a group of rocks nearby. Other wreckage was washed up on Jersey and Alderney, whose inhabitants had heard distress guns the night before the wreck but were unable to provide aid in the severe storm. Of the 1,150 sailors aboard Victory, none was ever recovered.

(In 2008, the H.M.S. Victory was found approximately 100 km (62 miles) from the Casquets.)

Legacy
Balchen's death was met with national mourning in Britain, where he was regarded as an expert and veteran commander of great talent in seamanship, tactics and ship construction. He was also very popular with sailors below decks, having fought for them in the Admiralty over issues such as allowing volunteer seamen to transfer ship when their captain did the same and giving trustworthy sailors shore visiting privileges. His widow was allowed a pension of £500 a year following her husband's death and the consequent end of his income whilst his son George received a promotion to post captain. George, however, did not long outlive his father, dying of illness in Barbados the following year, aged only 28. His daughter, Frances, married British naval officer Temple West, best known for his role as second-in-command to Admiral John Byng in the Battle of Minorca (1756).

A large memorial to Balchen's memory was raised in Westminster Abbey, where it can still be seen. The relief commemorates Balchen's career, that of his son and also the men lost on the Victory in 1744 who have no other permanent memorial.[8] Balchen is remembered in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography as "a hard-working, thoroughgoing professional, recognised for his readiness to accept duty whenever and wherever required."


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Balchen
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
4 October 1770 – Launch of French Victoire, a 74 gun Bien-Aimé class Ship of the Line


Victoire was a Bien-Aimé-class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.


Naval_manoeuvres_Toulon_by_Flotte_de_Saint-Joseph-MnM_3_OA_5_D-IMG_8599.JPG
detail: Victoire at the Toulon naval review of 1777. She is incorrectly depicted as a three-decker; Victoire was actually a 74-gun, with two batteries.

Career
In July 1778, Victore departed Toulon, bound for the Mediterranean, in the context of the American Revolutionary War, under Captain d'Albert Saint Hyppolyte. On 12 August, she captured the sloop HMS Industry, and on 28 August, the 10-gun Levant .

On 1 May 1779, Victoire took part in the capture of HMS Montreal, along with Bourgogne. The next day she confronted HMS Thetis off Gibraltar.

British records largely agree. When Thetis and Montreal saw two large ships approaching under Dutch colours, they suspected that the strange ships were French and attempted to sail away. Thetis succeeded, but at 9p.m., Bourgogne and Victoire caught up with Montreal, came alongside, and ordered Douglas to send over a boat. Captain Douglas sent over Lieutenant John Douglas, whom the French ordered to Douglas to hail Montreal and instruct her to strike. Captain Douglas attempted to escape, but after the French had fired several broadsides into Montreal he struck.
Victoire took part in the Battle of Martinique and the Battle of the Chesapeake.

Victoire was eventually decommissioned in Brest in 1782, and broken up in 1792


Bien-Aimé class - designed by Antoine Groignard - only two ships were built of this class

Bien-Aimé 74 (launched 22 March 1769 at Lorient)
Victoire 74 (launched 4 October 1770 at Lorient)


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Victoire_(1773)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
4 October 1780 - 13 Royal Navy ships foundered in the great hurricane in the West Indies over 8 days - including HMS Thunderer (1760 - 74), HMS Phoenix (1759 - 44), HMS Barbadoes (1778 - 14)


HMS Thunderer was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 19 March 1760 at Woolwich. She earned a battle honour in a single-ship action off Cadiz with the French ship Achille (64 guns) in 1761, during the Seven Years' War.

1280px-Ship_of_74-gun_model_1760.jpg
Model of a 74-gun ship, 3rd rate, cz. 1760. Thought to be either HMS Hercules from 1759 or HMS Thunderer from 1760.

She foundered in the great hurricane in the West Indies in 1780.

Among the lost sailors were Captain Robert Boyle Nicholas, son of William Nicholas of Froyle, Hants, and Midshipman Nathaniel Cook (1764–1780), the second child of Captain James Cook.


HMS Phoenix was a 44-gun fifth rate Ship of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1759 and sunk in 1780 and saw service during the American War of Independence.

Launch
The Phoenix was launched in 1759 under Captain Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany

lossy-page1-1280px-The_Phoenix_and_the_Rose_engaged_by_the_enemy's_fire_ships_and_galleys_on_A...jpg
The Phoenix and the Rose engaged by the enemy's fire ships and galleys on Aug. 16, 1776. Engraving by Dominic Serres after a sketch by Sir James Wallace

Activities in North America
Naval Operations

The Phoenix saw service during the American War of Independence under Captain Hyde Parker, Jr.[2] The ship was assigned to New York and by June 5, 1776 was laying off Sandy Hook, New Jersey with a small flotilla of ships.[4] Later that month, the Phoenix captured at least three ships and disrupted an American attack on a lighthouse near Sandy Hook. In the early days of July 1776, the Phoenix, along with the Roseand Greyhound moved toward Red Hook, Brooklyn and anchored at Gravesend, Brooklyn. On July 8, 1776, Parker was ordered to assume command of the HMS Rose and move upriver from New York City.

She, along with HMS Rose and three smaller ships, launched an attack on New York City on 12 July 1776. During that attack, Phoenix and the other ships easily passed patriot defenses and bombarded urban New York for two hours. This action largely confirmed Continental fears that the Royal Navy could act with relative impunity when attacking deep-water ports. The Phoenix continued to harass patriot positions along the Hudson River till August 16 when she withdrew back to the waters off of Staten Island. Maps from that autumn show the Phoenix and the Rose again in the waters south of Manhattan.

Counterfeiting
Phoenix was also involved in a kind of currency war. During the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress authorized the printing of paper currency called continental currency. As early as January 1776, John and George Folliott began counterfeiting Continental $30 bills on the Phoenix. The counterfeiting operation on the Phoenix ran till at least April 1777. The counterfeit notes could be purchased for the price of the paper they were printed on. Inflation was indeed a major problem for the rebelling colonists, reaching monthly levels of 47 percent by November 1779. And the Phoenix counterfeiting contributed, at least in part, to such staggering currency problems.

Loss
Phoenix, under Captain Hyde Parker, sunk on the night of 4 October 1780. The loss occurred during a major hurricane that disabled England's entire fleet in the West Indies. The loss was memorably recorded by Lieutenant Archer in a letter of November 6, 1780:

If I were to write forever, I could not give you an idea of it; the sea of fire, running as it were the Alps or Peaks of Teneriffe; the wind roaring louder than thunder, the whole made more terrible, if possible, by a very uncommon kind of blue lightning; the poor ship very much pressed, yet doing what she could, shaking her sides and groaning at every stroke.​
Before she sunk, the crew cut the mainmast away after the storm felled it.

Over the course of three days, the crew was able to land provisions and stores on the shore of Cuba, a hostile territory then a possession of Spain. Hyde Parker ordered his crew to repaired the damaged cutter and then dispatched it toward Montego Bay in Jamaica. A rescue mission of three fishing boats and, later, the sloop Porcupine evacuated the survivors. Phoenix had lost 20 men when the mainmast fell. The surviving 240 men reached Montego Bay safely on 15 October


HMS Barbadoes (1778), a 14-gun brig-sloop in service 1778–80


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Phoenix_(1759)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Thunderer_(1760)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
4 October 1782 – French Bizarre, a 64 gun Ship of the Line wrecked


Bizarre was a 64-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. She was present at two major battles, and was wrecked in 1782.

1024px-Protecteur_mg_9407.jpg
Model of a 64-gun ship from the 1770s of the same type as the Bizarre

Career
Built on a design by François Coulomb, Bizarre entered service in 1753. She took part in the Seven Years' War, notably attacking an English convoy off Ireland on 10 October 1758, along with the 28-gun corvette Mignonne. Together they captured 44 merchantmen as well as the convoy's escort HMS Winchelsea.

She was activated for the American Revolutionary War and appointed to Suffren's squadron in the Indian Ocean. She was present at the Battle of Negapatam in 1782, although she did not take part in the action. She was also at the Battle of Trincomalee.

Fate
On 4 October 1782, she ran aground near Cuddalore and became a total loss. Her commanding officer, Captain La Landelle, was dismissed from the Navy



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Bizarre_(1751)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
4 October 1810 - Launch of italian - French Favorita - Favorite, a 44 gun Pallas-class frigate


Favorite was the 44-gun Pallas-class frigate Favorita of the Navy of the Kingdom of Italy. The Italians exchanged her to the French Navy for the three brigs Cyclope, Écureuil and Mercure.

On 12 March 1811, Favorite, under Bernard Dubourdieu, led a frigate squadron to raid the British commerce raider base of the island of Lissa. The squadron encountered William Hoste's frigate squadron, leading to the Battle of Lissa.

Clorinde-cropped.jpg
Clorinde, sister ship of Favorite

In the ensuing fight, Favorite attempted to board the British flagship HMS Amphion, distancing herself from the rest of her squadron. As the two ships neared, Amphion discharged a howitzer full of bullets which rendered a large number of the French casualties. Dubourdieu himself was killed at 9:10. Favorite's first officer and second officers were killed as they attempted again to board Amphion. As she sailed around Amphion in an attempt to rake her and take her in a crossfire with the other French frigates, Favorite was outmanoeuvred and ran aground.

Her crew set her on fire, and she exploded as the battle was still ongoing. Led by colonel Gifflinga, the crew of Favorite captured a coastal boat at Port St George which they used to flee to Lessina.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Favorite_(1810)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallas-class_frigate_(1808)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
4 October 1821 - Lt. Robert F. Stockton sails aboard USS Alligator from Boston to West Africa, to suppress the African slave trade and select and acquire territory to resettle former slaves in their native continent.


The third USS Alligator was a schooner in the United States Navy.

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

USS_Alligator.jpg
Artist illustration of USS Alligator 1820-1822 taken from NOAA website - http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/projects/04alligator/media/alligator.htm

First anti-slavery patrol
When Alligator put to sea from Boston, Massachusetts on 3 April, she embarked upon a twofold mission. Lt. Stockton had been given command of Alligator as a result of his dogged efforts to persuade the Secretary of the Navy, Smith Thompson, to pass over several officers senior to him so that, in addition to cruising the west African coast to suppress the slave trade, he might also search for and acquire a stretch of the coast of Africa for the American Colonization Society. The Society had previously established a colony of former American slaves on the coast, but the climate in that area was so debilitating and unhealthy that the colony had disintegrated. Representatives of the Society therefore had approached Stockton to aid them in the acquisition of a more suitable parcel of land.

After a stop at New York to complete her crew, the warship sailed for waters off the west coast of Africa where she cruised from Cape Verde south to the equator in an effort to stem the illegal exportation of slaves from Africa to the Americas. Though she captured several slavers, among which were the schooners Mathilde, L'Eliza, and Daphne, perhaps her greatest contribution was the selection and acquisition of the territory around Cape Mesurado by her commanding officer and a representative of the American Colonization Society, Dr. Eli Ayers, who was embarked in Alligator for that purpose. The negotiations with the primary native chieftain, King Peter, involved great danger since his people were noted slavers themselves. Initial negotiations went well, but King Peter failed to appear at the appointed time to conclude the treaty. Instead, he repaired to a place some 20 miles inland leaving Stockton with the challenge to follow him to his retreat inland "if he dare." Thereupon, Stockton and Ayres took up the figurative gauntlet and headed inland. The result of their efforts — the parcel of coast around Cape Mesurado — was the germ from which the Republic of Liberia grew.

With that mission concluded, Alligator set sail to return to the United States and reentered Boston sometime in July. She remained there into the fall.

Second anti-slavery patrol
On 4 October 1821, Alligator put to sea from Boston again bound for the west coast of Africa. On 5 November, she encountered a strange sail ahead steering a perpendicular course. On sighting Alligator, the newcomer, instead of continuing on her way, lay to and awaited Alligator's approach. Lookouts on the American schooner soon reported that the stranger was wearing a distress flag, and Alligator moved in to offer assistance. However, when the warship entered gun range, the supposedly endangered vessel opened fire upon her and hoisted the Portuguese flag. Since the malefactor possessed guns of longer range than those mounted in Alligator, Lt. Stockton was obliged to load his guns and then to have his crew lie flat on the deck while he steered his ship in on her. The wind was slight that day, and Alligator weathered several hours of bombardment and suffered several casualties before she had the enemy within range of her own guns. When she succeeded, though, the issue was resolved rapidly. Her first volley sent the stranger's entire crew below for shelter. The American ship then poured broadside after broadside into her for about 20 minutes. At that point, Alligator's adversary struck her colors. Stockton hailed her, and her captain came on deck. He claimed her to be a Portuguese letter of marque.

Records of this action have identified this vessel by two slightly different names, Mariano Faliero and Marianna Flora, Stockton deemed her to be a pirate, put a prize crew on board, and sent her back to the United States to be condemned by an admiralty court. However, she was returned to her owners in response to the request of the Portuguese Government. During the remainder of the cruise, Alligator captured several slavers off the coast of Africa before returning to Boston.

Anti-piracy patrol
Early in 1822, Alligator sailed from Boston to the West Indies to combat the piracy then rampant in the Caribbean. In April, she took the pirate schooner Cienega off Nuevitas, Cuba. Alligator remained on the West Indian station for the remainder of her career.


Overhead view of USS Alligator's wreck on Alligator Reef.

While at Matanzas in November of that year, she got word that an American schooner and brig had been taken by a group of pirates and were located about 45 miles east of Matanzas. She took the master and mate of the captured schooner on board and set sail to reclaim the American ships. She arrived at her destination at dawn on 9 November and found the pirates in possession of one ship, two brigs, and five schooners. Alligatorl aunched armed boats which gave chase to a heavily armed schooner that opened fire with five of her guns and commenced a battle. The boats from Alligator pressed home their attack and soon overhauled the schooner which they boarded in a mad rush. In the short, but sharp, fight, Alligator lost her commanding officer, Lieutenant William H. Allen, wounded mortally by two musket balls. Soon thereafter, boats from Alligator captured all the pirate vessels except one schooner that managed to escape. Most of the pirates fled ashore. On 18 November 1822, Alligator departed Matanzas escorting a convoy.

Before dawn the following morning, she ran hard aground on what is now known as Alligator Reef off the coast of Florida. After working desperately to refloat their ship, officers and crewmen gave up on a hopeless task. On 23 November 1822, they set fire to Alligator, and the young but battle-tested warship soon blew up.

The wreck lies at 24°51.079′N 80°37.103′WCoordinates:
17px-WMA_button2b.png
24°51.079′N 80°37.103′W

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Alligator_(1820)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F._Stockton
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 4 October


1363 – Ending of Battle of Lake Poyang : In one of the largest naval battles in history, Zhu Yuanzhang's rebels defeat rival Chen Youliang.

The battle of Lake Poyang (鄱陽湖之戰) was a naval conflict which took place 30 August – 4 October 1363 between the rebel forces of Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Youliang during the Red Turban Rebellion which led to the fall of the Yuan dynasty. Chen Youliang besieged Nanchang with a large fleet on Lake Poyang, China's largest freshwater lake, and Zhu Yuanzhang met his force with a smaller fleet. After an inconclusive engagement exchanging fire, Zhu employed fire ships to burn the enemy tower ships and destroyed their fleet. This was the last major battle of the rebellion prior to the rise of the Ming dynasty.

Songrivership3.jpg
A Song dynasty louchuan with a trebuchet, so called "tower-ship", depicted in the Wujing Zongyao

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


1670 – Launch of French Alsace 56-guns, later 60 guns (designed by Jean Laure and built by François Pomet) at Rochefort - renamed Fier in June 1671; condemned 1695 and broken up before 1700.


1741 HMS Trial (1732 - 8/14) scuttled as unfit for service

HMS Tryall (1732), an 8-gun sloop launched in 1732 and scuttled in the South Pacific in 1741


1797 - HMS Alexandrian schooner (1796 - 6), Lt. William Wood Senhouse, captured french privateer schooner Epicharis (8) off Barbadoes

HMS Alexander was the French privateer schooner Alexandre that the British Royal Navy captured in 1796, purchased, and took into service as a ship's tender to HMS Prince of Wales and a troopship. She was the victor in two single-ship actions against opponents of equal or greater force. The Navy sold her in 1802.

In September Alexander delivered dispatches to the Governor of Demerara and to Captain Jemmett Mainwaring of Babet, after which Senhouse sailed for Barbados. At daylight on 4 October Alexandria was some five or six leagues west of Barbados when she sighted a schooner in pursuit of an American brig. By 9:00am Senhouse was able to bring the schooner, which proved to be the French privateer Epicharis, to action. After 50 minutes the privateer struck. Epicharis was armed with eight guns and had a crew of 74 men. Alexander lost one man killed, and four wounded, one mortally. The French had at least four men killed and 12 wounded; Senhouse believed that French casualties were greater, and based his count of 74 men on Epicharis on the number of men actually counted after she struck.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Alexander_(1796)


1812 – Launch of french Dryade, a 44 gun Pallas-class frigate

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallas-class_frigate_(1808)


1855 - Launch of French Algesiras, a 90 gun Algesiras Sub-class of Napoleon-class Ship of the Line

The Algésiras was a 90-gun steam ship of the line of the French Navy, lead ship of her class. She was the first production ship built on the principles of the "fast ship of the line" pioneered by Napoléon.

Algesiras_school_ship.png

In 1859, she took part in the blockade of Venice and various operations in the Mediterranean.
She was decommissioned in 1865 and used as a transport. She was later used as a school ship.
On 25 November 1906, she was destroyed in Toulon by an accidental fire.

The Algésiras class was a late type of 90-gun ships of the line used by the French navy. They were designed from the beginning to use a combination of sail and steam engine for propulsion.

Borda_ex-Intrépide_Bougault.jpg
French ship Borda (ex-Valmy)

After the breakthrough of the Napoléon, the Algésiras class was the improved designed which went into mass production.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Algésiras_(1855)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoléon-class_ship_of_the_line
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algésiras-class_ship_of_the_line
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
5 October 1338 - The town Southampton was sacked by French, Genoese and Monegasque ships (under Charles Grimaldi, who used the plunder to help found the principality of Monaco).


The English Channel naval campaign of the years 1338 and 1339 saw a protracted series of raids conducted by the nascent French navy and numerous privately owned raiders and pirates against English towns, shipping and islands in the English Channel which caused widespread panic, damage and financial loss to the region and prompted a serious readjustment of English finances during the early stages of the Hundred Years War. This period was then followed by a French disaster caused by over-confidence and a reversing of roles which had a major effect in the English successes of the next two decades. However this result was by no means assured until late 1339 and had the French fought a little longer, they could have potentially ended the war before it had really begun.

Charles_Grimaldi_de_Monaco.jpg
Charles Grimaldi,

Coastal raids were not uncommon in fourteenth century England, with privately owned shipping and occasionally royal ships from France, Castile, Genoa, Scotland and Scandinavia all conducting nuisance attacks against coastal shipping and fishing villages throughout the era, even during periods of peace. What made the naval campaigns of 1338 and 1339 so important was that these were focused and sustained raids with a deliberate strategic aim in mind, targeting major English towns rather than isolated hamlets and doing so at a critical point in the developing war.

Old-City-Map-455x480.jpg

The Hundred Years War
In 1338 with the Hundred Years War just a year old, the French government was facing a severe threat on two sides. On the south were the English territories of Gascony and Aquitaine, from which lancing raids and chevauchées could be launched into the French heartlands, and where the boundary was both poorly defined and relied far more on the allegiance of the local fief than upon national designations. To the north-east, the situation was even more grim, with the English funded armies of, Hainaut, Brabant and even the Holy Roman Empire either preparing or threatening invasion of France's northern provinces.

Financial troubles
However, King Edward III, the leader of this loose coalition, had one very serious problem. In spite of England's huge revenue from control of the wool industry, his exchequer was bankrupt. Without English funding, his coalition would collapse but such huge spending requirements were needed to maintain the army building in Flanders that by 1338 after just one campaign, he was unable to continue fighting without borrowing enormous sums from Italian bankers at ruinous interest (which he would later default on, prompting an enormous financial crash in Italy). Edward's concerns were common knowledge to other heads of state in Europe and it was recognised by the French government that by destroying English ports and shipping, they could gain such a stranglehold both on the wool trade and the shipping of reinforcements that Edward might be forced to abandon his invasion plans.

Portsmouth & Jersey
At the beginning of February, King Philip VI appointed a new Admiral of France, one Nicholas Béhuchet, who had previously served as a treasury official and now was instructed to wage economic warfare against England. On 24 March he began his campaign, leading a large fleet of small coastal ships across the Channel from Calais and into the Solent where they landed and burnt the vitally important port-town of Portsmouth. The town was unwalled and undefended and the French were not suspected as they sailed towards the town with English flags flying. The result was a disaster for Edward, as the town's shipping and supplies were looted, the houses, stores and docks burnt down and those of the population unable to flee were killed or taken off as slaves. No English ships were available to contest their passage from Portsmouth and none of the militias intended to form in such an instance made an appearance.

The fleet then sailed to the Channel Islands, which had already suffered minor attacks the previous year but now faced a major threat, Jersey being invaded by the French crews and the entire eastern half of the island reduced to ruins, only Mont Orgueil holding out. The raid had been predicted by intelligence officers in the royal household, but defensive measures were woefully inefficient and efforts to intercept the attack had utterly failed.

img_0448.jpg
The Arcades. Once on the dockside facing the water, behind each arch would be a warehouse, a businesses, or a merchant’s house, but the doors and windows were bricked up to defend against future naval attacks.

Piracy
This raid caused panic in numerous communities of southern England, and prompted a flurry of expensive defence precautions along the coastline further reducing Edward's ability to make war on France from the continent. The furthest reaches of the English coast, at Devon and Cornwall refused to supply any materials or money for the war for the remainder of the year, insisting they needed their resources to defend themselves. Such precautions were not misplaced; hearing of the weakness of the English coast, dozens of merchants and landlords in Normandy, Picardy and Brittany bought coastal traders and equipped them for war resulting in pinprick raids and piracy right along the English coastline. Evidence is unclear whether the French understood exactly how effective this tactic was; Béhuchet clearly grasped that by raiding English shipping and cutting off trade he could cripple the English economy but it is not known if he understood the financial drain his coastal raids had on Edward's exchequer (modern historians tend to think that perhaps he did not but that he considered them to be good for the war effort in any case).

This piracy also affected the other theatre of war, as French and Castilian ships attacked grain, trade and payroll ships between England and Bordeaux, reducing that city and the region it governed to near mutiny, especially after a large food convoy was badly damaged in an action off Talmont on the 23 August.

Southampton_-_mur_medieval_02.JPG
Part of Southampton's Town Walls

Guernsey & Southampton
The campaign at sea began again in September, when a large French and Italian fleet descended on the Channel Islands once again under Robert Bertrand, Marshal of France. The island of Sark, which had suffered a serious raid the year before, fell without a fight and Guernsey was captured after a brief campaign. The island was largely undefended, as most of the Channel Islands garrison was in Jersey to prevent another raid there, and the few that were sent to Guernsey and Sark were captured at sea. Messengers from the islands were also captured, preventing the English government from discovering what had happened for over a week. On Guernsey, the forts of Castle Cornet and Vale Castle were the only points to hold out. Neither fort lasted very long as both were undermanned and unprovisioned. The garrisons were put to death. A brief naval battle was fought between Channel Islanders in coastal and fishing vessels and Italian galleys, but despite two of the Italian ships being sunk the Islanders were defeated with heavy casualties. Guernsey remained French for sometime, only being relinquished when defending the island became untenable in the aftermath of the battle of Sluys.

Troupes_anglaises_en_mer_devant_une_ville_XIVeme_siecle.jpg

The next aim for Béhuchet and his lieutenant Hugh Quiéret were the supply lines between England and Flanders and thus they gathered over 40 large ships at Harfleur and Dieppe and used them to attack a small English fleet off Cadsand. The five large vessels were loading trade goods off the island and were surprised and rapidly overwhelmed, resulting in the loss of five large and powerful English ships including Edward III's flagships the Cog Edward and the Christopher. The crews and a party of reinforcements who were captured were all executed and the ships added to the French fleet. A few days later on 5 October, this force conducted its most damaging raid of all landing several thousand French, Norman, Italian and Castilian sailors close to the major port of Southampton and assaulting it from both land and sea. The town's walls were old and crumbling and direct orders to repair it had been ignored. Most of the town's militia and citizens fled in panic into the countryside, only the castle's garrison holding out for a brief while until a force of Italians breached the defences and the town fell.

That morning in October 1338, enemy ships silently sailed up Southampton water and dropped their anchors near West Quay (the actual old quay, not the shopping centre…). Some of Southampton’s boundaries had stone defences already, but West Quay was undefended as it was used constantly by the merchants and it was feared military defences would hamper trade. The French took full advantage of this. Remember, at this point, Southampton did not have the town walls we all know today.
The raiders stormed the town. A bloodthirsty party made up from French, Spanish, and Genoese – all encouraged by, and under the control of, the King of France – ran riot. Warehouses were pillaged, shops were robbed, houses and businesses were burnt to the ground and innocent Sotonians were murdered in cold blood. It has been called Southampton’s darkest day.
As well as its citizens killed, the town’s resources were plundered. Wool, vast amounts of gold, and even the King’s stash of wine was stolen. The raiders left Southampton a smoking ruin.
It’s safe to say then, that King Edward III was far from happy. He ordered that the town be completely enclosed in stone walls to keep any future raiders at bay. Alas, the 1338 raid had damaged Southampton’s economy in such a way that this order could not immediately be carried out. It simply could not be afforded.

The scenes of Portsmouth were repeated as the entire town was razed to the ground, thousands of pounds worth of stores and shipping taken back to France and captives massacred or taken as slaves. The following day militia bands began to harass the French force on the outskirts of the town and the French departed, leaving behind the burning town, which was further damaged by brigands who came to loot before the local authorities could return.

1339
An early winter forced a pause in the Channel warfare, and 1339 saw a vastly different situation, as English towns had taken the initiative over the winter and prepared organised militias to drive off raiders more interested in plunder than set-piece battles. Responsibility over these militias was placed in the hands of several leading Earls, who were warned that if they failed to defend their stretch of coastline there would be penalties. Although piracy at sea was still a serious problem, with ships burnt and crews massacred as far north as the Bristol Channel, the large scale raids of 1338 were over. An attack on Jersey failed as the island was now too strongly defended and attacks on Harwich, Southampton again and Plymouth were driven off with heavy losses, the mercenary elements of the French force unwilling to risk a large scale battle. Hastings was burnt to the ground, but it was little more than a fishing village at the time and did not represent a major success. The combined fleet was reduced to attacking fishing boats and parading the bodies through the streets of Calais.

An English fleet had also been constituted over the winter and this was used in an effort to gain revenge on the French by attacking coastal shipping. The result was an embarrassing disaster as the mercenary captains of the fleet realised that more money could be made by attacking and looting the Flemish convoys of Edward's allies rather than the French, forcing Edward to pay a huge amount of compensation and endure severe diplomatic embarrassment. This force did prove vital though in July, when 67 French and mercenary vessels attempted to attack the Cinque Ports. The expedition was met by organised militia at Sandwich and turned towards Rye, burning several small villages on the way but failing to land at the town. There the English fleet under Robert Morley caught up with them, forcing the French force to flee back across the Channel. This scare had been too much for the Genoese mercenaries who made up the most experienced part of the French fleet, and they demanded more pay. King Philip VI responded by imprisoning fifteen of them, whereupon the others simply returned to Italy, at a stroke costing the French their best sailors and ships as well as two thirds of their navy.

English revenge
The English soon heard of this development, Morley taking his fleet to the French coast, burning the towns of Ault and Le Tréport and foraging inland, ravaging several villages and provoking a panic to mirror that at Southampton the year before. He also surprised and destroyed a French fleet in Boulogne harbour. English and Flemish merchants rapidly fitted out raiding ships and soon coastal villages and shipping along the North and even the west coasts of France were under attack. The Flemish navy too was active, sending their fleet against the important port of Dieppe in September and burning it to the ground. These successes did much to rebuild morale in England and the Low Countries as well as repair England's battered trade. It did not however have anything like the financial impact of the earlier French raids as France's continental economy could survive depredations from the sea much better than the maritime English. The following year however, a naval operation would have a significant effect on the war and provide the first major clash or arms when the English and French fleets met at the battle of Sluys. The victory of the English there, helped substantially by the Italian desertion the year before would provide naval superiority in the Channel for decades to come resulting in the English ability to invade France at several points at once, an advantage that would prove vital in the longer war.


Charles I of Monaco (died August 15, 1357) was Lord of Monaco and the founder of the Grimaldi dynasty.

The oldest son of Rainier I by his first wife, Salvatica del Carretto, Charles was forced to flee into exile following the Rock of Monaco falling into Genoese control on April 10, 1301.
He was appointed Admiral of France.

After thirty years of Genoese rule, Charles retook the Rock on September 12, 1331, and ruled to his death, when the Rock was again conquered by the Genoese army.
Also he was Baron of San Demetrio (Kingdom of Naples).

In 1346 he took the Lordship of Menton and, in 1355, he conquered the Lordship of Roquebrune.
On June 29, 1352, Charles designed a co-rulership of Monaco between his uncle Antonio (his father's youngest brother), and his own sons, Rainier II and Gabriele.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Channel_naval_campaign,_1338–1339
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southampton
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_I,_Lord_of_Monaco
https://historicsouthampton.wordpress.com/2016/08/07/the-1338-raid/
http://seesouthampton.co.uk/pirates-and-southampton/
 
Back
Top