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

[Uwek]

Other events on 25 July


1278 - The naval Battle of Algeciras takes place in the context of the Spanish Reconquista resulting in a victory for the Emirate of Granada and the Maranid Dynasty over the Kingdom of Castile.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Algeciras_(1278)

1757 - HMS Southampton (32), Cptn. James Gilchrist, engaged five French privateers off the Isle of Wight

1779 - US Amphibious expedition against British in Penobscot Bay, ME

1800 - HMS Nemesis (28), Cptn. Thomas Baker, and HMS Arrow (28), William Bolton, captured Danish frigate Freya (40), Cptn. Krabbe.

1803 HMS Vanguard (1787) (74), Cptn. James Walker, and HMS Tartar (32), Cptn. Perkins, captured Duquesne (74) off San Domingo

On 24 July, two French 74s, Duquesne and Duguay Trouin, and the frigate Guerrière put to sea from Cap-Français during a squall in an effort to evade Bellerophon, Elephant, Theseus, Tartar under Captain Perkins, and Vanguard, which were blockading the port. The French ships separated during the night but the British overtook Duquesne the following day and captured her after a short exchange of fire with Vanguard, which lost one man killed and one wounded. The prize was broken up on arrival in England after being damaged running on to the Morant Cays.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Vanguard_(1787)

1809 - HMS Princess Caroline (74), Cptn. Charles Dudley Pater, and consorts captured four Russian vessels.

HMS Princess Carolina (1807) was a 74-gun third rate, also known as Princess Caroline. She was previously the Danish ship Prindsesse Carolina, but was captured at the Battle of Copenhagen in 1807. There were plans to rename her HMS Braganza, but this was never carried out and she was sold in 1815.



Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, stern board outline, sheer lines with inboard detail and scroll figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for 'Princess Caroline' (captured 1807), a captured Danish Third Rate, as fitted for a 74-gun Third Rate, two-decker at Portsmouth Dockyard in 1808. Signed by Henry Canham [Assistant to Master Shipwright, Portsmouth Dockyard 1801-1813].
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/80969.html#0e4qKq0o8wMZik8H.99

1809 - Boats of HMS Fawn (18) captured Guadaloupe.

1810 - HMS Thames (32), Cptn. Granville George Waldegrave, HMS Pilot (18), John Toup Nicholas, and HMS Weazle (18), Henry Prescott, at Amanthe. Six gunboats, two scampavias and 28 transports were taken and the rest of a convoy destroyed.

1863 - U.S. Squadron bombards Fort Wagner, NC

1839 - Birth of Francis Garnier


Marie Joseph François Garnier (Vietnamese: Ngạc Nhi; 25 July 1839 – 21 December 1873) was a French officer, inspector of Indigenous Affairs of Cochinchina and explorer. He eventually became mission leader of the Mekong Exploration Commission in 19th century Southeast Asia.

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

1898 - During the Spanish-American War, a landing party from the armed yacht, USS Gloucester, single-handedly captures Guanica, Puerto Rico.



On 25 July, she entered the harbor before the fleet at Guánica, Puerto Rico, and captured the place for the U.S. Army in what is known as the Puerto Rican Campaign. The handling and fighting of Gloucester merited the commendation of the Navy Department. As the Army was anxious to transfer the place of disembarkation to the harbor of Ponce, the Fleet was directed to proceed to Ponce to reconnoiter; capture all lighters found there; and occupy such positions necessary for holding the port until the arrival of the Army. On 1 August, with assistance from Wasp, Gloucester took possession of Arroyo, and hoisting the U.S. flag, Wainwright held it until arrival of the Army, a day later.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Gloucester_(1891)

1943 - The first Navy ship named for an African-American, USS Harmon (DE 678), is launched. USS Harmon is named in honor of Mess Attendant 1st Class Leonard Roy Harmon who posthumously receives the Navy Cross for heroic actions trying to save a shipmate on board USS San Francisco (CA 38) during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on Nov. 13, 1942.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Harmon_(DE-678)

1946 - The second of two nuclear weapon tests - BAKER - is detonated during Operation Crossroads at Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands. The first test was ABLE.



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

 

[Uwek]

26 July 1758 - French and Indian War: The Siege of Louisbourg ends (8 June–26 July 1758) with British forces defeating the French and taking control of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence

The Siege of Louisbourg was a pivotal operation of the Seven Years' War (known in the United States as the French and Indian War) in 1758 that ended the French colonial era in Atlantic Canada and led directly to the loss of Quebec in 1759 and the remainder of French North America the following year.

Background
The British government realized that with the Fortress of Louisbourg under French control, the Royal Navy could not sail up the St. Lawrence River unmolested for an attack on Quebec. After an expedition against Louisbourg in 1757 led by Lord Loudon was turned back due to a strong French naval deployment, the British under the leadership of William Pitt resolved to try again with new commanders.

Pitt assigned the task of capturing the fortress to Major General Jeffery Amherst. Amherst's brigadiers were Charles Lawrence, James Wolfe and Edward Whitmore, and command of naval operations was assigned to Admiral Edward Boscawen. The chief engineer was John Henry Bastide who had been present at the first siege of Louisbourg in 1745 and was chief engineer at Fort St Philip, Minorca, in 1756 when the British had surrendered the fort and island to the French after a long siege.


English propaganda against Louisbourg and French Canada in 1755

As they had in 1757, the French planned to defend Louisbourg by means of a large naval build-up. However, the British blockaded the French fleet sailing from Toulon when it arrived in Cartagena, and defeated a French relief force at the Battle of Cartagena. The French consequently abandoned their attempt to reinforce Louisbourg from the Mediterranean, and only 11 ships were available to oppose the British off Louisbourg. Most of the cannons and men were moved inside the fort and five ships (Appolon, Fidèle, Chèvre, Biche, Diane) were sunk to block the entrance to the harbour. On 9 July, Echo tried to slip out of the harbour under the cover of a dense fog, but was intercepted and seized by HMS Scarborough and HMS Junon. This left the French with only five half-empty ships in the harbour : Célèbre (64), Entreprenant (74), Capricieux (64), Prudent (74) and Bienfaisant (64).

Order of battle
British forces assembled at Halifax, Nova Scotia where army and navy units spent most of May training together as the massive invasion fleet came together. After a large gathering at the Great Pontack, on 29 May the Royal Navy fleet departed from Halifax for Louisbourg. The fleet consisted of 150 transport ships and 40 men-of-war. Housed in these ships were almost 14,000 soldiers, almost all of whom were regulars (with the exception of four companies of American rangers). The force was divided into three divisions: Red, commanded by James Wolfe, Blue, commanded by Charles Lawrence and White commanded by Edward Whitmore. On 2 June the British force anchored in Gabarus Bay, 3 miles (4.8 km) from Louisbourg.


Siege Of Louisbourg Map 1758

The French commander (and governor of Île-Royale (New France), the Chevalier de Drucour, had at his disposal some 3,500 regulars as well as approximately 3,500 marines and sailors from the French warships in the harbour. However, unlike the previous year, the French navy was unable to assemble in significant numbers, leaving the French squadron at Louisbourg outnumbered five to one by the British fleet. Drucour ordered trenches to be prepared and manned by some 2,000 French troops, along with other defences, such as an artillery battery, at Kennington Cove.

Royal Navy Fleet throughout the siege
HMS Namur (1756) 90 Admiral Edward Boscawen
HMS Royal William (ex HMS Prince 1670) 84 Sir Charles Hardy
HMS Princess Amelia (1757) 80 Admiral Philip Durell
HMS Invincible (1744) 74
HMS Dublin (1757) 74 Captain George Rodney (battle of the Saints in 1782)
HMS Terrible (original french 1739) 74
HMS Northumberland (1750) 70
HMS Vanguard (1748) 70
HMS Orford (1749) 70
HMS Burford (1757) 70
HMS Somerset (1748) 70
HMS Lancaster (1694) 70
HMS Devonshire (1745) 66
HMS Bedford (1698) 64
HMS Captain (1743) 64
HMS Prince Frederick (1679) 64
HMS Pembroke (1757) 60
HMS Kingston (1697) 60
HMS York (1753) 60
HMS Prince of Orange (1734) 60
HMS Defiance (1744) 60
HMS Nottingham (1703) 60
HMS Centurion (1732) 54
HMS Sutherland (1741) 50

(Remark Uwe: You can see, that the British used also some very old ladies for this Siege, the oldest one was the Royal William which was already close to 90 years old. She was broken up in 1813, so she served the british Navy 143 years )


the old Lady: HMS Royal William ex HMS Prince before the Wind

Siege
Weather conditions in the first week of June made any landing impossible and the British were only able to mount a bombardment of the improvised shore defenses of Gabarus Bay from a frigate. However, conditions improved, and at daybreak on 8 June Amherst launched his assault using a flotilla of large boats, organized in seven divisions, each commanded by one of his brigadiers. French defenses were initially successful and after heavy losses, Wolfe ordered a retreat. However, at the last minute, a boatload of light infantry in Wolfe's division (i.e., members of Rogers Rangers) found a rocky inlet protected from French fire and secured a beachhead. Wolfe redirected the rest of his division to follow. Outflanked, the French retreated rapidly back to their fortress.


British troops landing at 58th Foot at the Battle of Ticonderoga on 8th July 1758 in the French and Indian War



Continuing heavy seas and the difficulty inherent to moving siege equipment over boggy terrain delayed the commencement of the formal siege. In the meantime, Wolfe was sent with 1,220 picked men around the harbour to seize Lighthouse Point, which dominated the harbour entrance. This he did on 12 June. After eleven days, on 19 June, the British artillery batteries were in position and the orders were given to open fire on the French. The British battery consisted of seventy cannons and mortars of all sizes. Within hours, the guns had destroyed walls and damaged several buildings.


View of Louisbourg when the city was besieged in 1758

On 21 July a mortar round from a British gun on Lighthouse Point struck a 64-gun French ship of the line, Le Célèbre , and set it ablaze. A stiff breeze fanned the fire, and shortly after Le Célèbre caught fire, two other French ships, L'Entreprenant and Le Capricieux, had also caught fire. L'Entreprenant sank later in the day, depriving the French of the largest ship in the Louisbourg fleet.

The next major blow to French morale came on the evening of 23 July, at 10:00. A British "hot shot" set the King's Bastion on fire. The King's Bastion was the fortress headquarters and the largest building in North America in 1758. Its destruction eroded confidence and reduced morale in the French troops and their hopes to lift the British siege.

Most historians regard the British actions of 25 July as the "straw that broke the camel's back". Using a thick fog as cover, Admiral Boscawen sent a cutting-out party to destroy the last two French ships in the harbour. The British raiders eliminated these two French ships of the line, capturing Bienfaisant and burning Prudent, thus clearing the way for the Royal Navy to enter the harbour. James Cook, who later became famous as an explorer, took part in this operation and recorded it in his ship's log book.


British burning of the warship Prudent and capturing of the warship Bienfaisant during the siege of Louisbourg.

Capitulation
On 26 July the French surrendered. Having fought a spirited defence, the French expected to be accorded the honours of war, as they had given to the surrendering British at the Battle of Minorca. However, Amherst refused, tales of the atrocities supposedly committed by France's native allies at the surrender of Fort Oswego and Fort William Henry probably fresh in his mind. The defenders of Louisbourg were ordered to surrender all of their arms, equipment and flags. These actions outraged Drucour, but because the safety of the non-combatant inhabitants of Louisbourg depended upon him he reluctantly accepted the terms of surrender. The Cambis regiment refused to honour the terms of surrender, breaking its muskets and burning its regimental flags rather than hand them over to the British victors. Brigadier-General Whitmore was appointed the new Governor of Louisbourg, and remained there with four regiments.


British Fleet at the Siege of Louisburg July 1758 in the French and Indian War

Aftermath
Louisbourg had held out long enough to prevent an attack on Quebec in 1758. However the fall of the fortress led to the loss of French territory across Atlantic Canada. From Louisbourg, British forces spent the remainder of the year routing French forces and occupying French settlements in what is today New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland. The second wave of the Acadian expulsion began. The British engaged in the St. John River Campaign, the Cape Sable Campaign, the Petitcodiac River Campaign, the Ile Saint-Jean Campaign, and the removal of Acadians in the Gulf of St. Lawrence Campaign (1758).

The loss of Louisbourg deprived New France of naval protection, opening the Saint Lawrence to attack. Louisbourg was used in 1759 as the staging point for General Wolfe's famous Siege of Quebec ending French rule in North America. Following the surrender of Quebec, British forces and engineers set about methodically destroying the fortress with explosives, ensuring that it could not return to French possession a second time in any eventual peace treaty. By 1760, the entire fortress was reduced to mounds of rubble. In 1763 the Treaty of Paris saw France formally cede Canada, including Cape Breton Island, to the British. In 1768 the last of the British garrison departed along with most of the remaining civilian inhabitants.


left: French mortar used during the siege, displayed at the Canadian War Museum, Ottawa.
right: Cannon from Le Prudent, currently at the Battlefields Park, Quebec City


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Louisbourg_(1758)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Prince_(1670)
https://www.britishbattles.com/french-indian-war/battle-of-louisburg-1758/

 

[Uwek]

26 July 1789 - The naval Battle of Öland

took place on 26 July 1789 during the Russo-Swedish War (1788–90).

Background
The Swedish battlefleet had spent the winter at Karlskrona which was struck by relapsing fever epidemic during the stay. Epidemic had started from the capture of the Russian ships of line Vladislav during the Battle of Hogland in 1788. From the captured sailors the disease had spread widely into the fleet during its prolonged stay at Sveaborg in 1788 was carried with the fleet to Karlskrona later that year. Fitting ships for the sealing season proceeded very slowly and was greatly hindered by the losses suffered due to the illness to the crews. From December 1788 to September 1789 total of 26,249 were treated for sickness in naval hospitals at Karlskrona alone of whom 5,286 perished while the total death toll of the epidemics is assumed to be around 15,000 lives. By the end of June thousands of soldiers had to be sent from the infantry as reinforcements for the fleet. Regardless of the obstacles Admiral Otto Henrik Nordenskiöld who was responsible for refitting was able to ready fleet of 21 ships of the line and 8 frigates for sailing already for 6 June however without crews.


The Swedish navy is saluted when passing between the redoubts outside Karlskrona.

The Russian fleet had spent the winter of 1788–1789 in split into several elements at Copenhagen, Reval and Kronstadt. Together with newly built ships and effective repairs of ships damaged earlier the Russians were looking to be able to deploy around 40 ships capable to taking part to battle line with combined crew of roughly 30 000 men. Admiral Samuel Grieg who had commanded the Russian fleet at the Battle of Hogland had perished in the autumn 1788 and Admiral Von Dessin who had commanded the elements of the Russian fleet deployed to Copenhagen was removed from command. They were replaced respectively with Admirals Vasili Chichagov and Timofei Kozljaninov. The goal for the Russian naval operations in 1789 was to link together the separated fleet elements and then engage the Swedish fleet as soon as possible while meanwhile providing forces to uphold the blockades of the shipping routes along the Finnish coast.

Lack of crews prevented the Swedish fleet from any training or exercises and it was effectively confined to the docks. The fleet was finally able to set sail on 6 July despite that several ships were still undermanned, several lacking more than hundred men from their complements. Having assembled 21 ships of the line and 8 large frigates under his flag, Prince Karl, Duke of Södermanland decided to intercept the Russian fleet near the island of Öland before the elements of the Russian fleet would be able to link up. Admiral Otto Henrik Nordenskjöld acted as flag-captain to the Duke Charles.


The Swedish and Russian navies on the evening of the 25th of July, "when rough sea prevented the battle".

Battle
After setting sail the Swedish fleet patrolled the waters between Skåne, Rügen, Bornholm and Själland in the southern Baltic Sea. Fleet was still not clean from diseases (mainly the relapsing fever) and several small dispatch vessels were used for shipping healthy men to fleet while transporting ever growing number of sick back to Karlskrona. On 23 July did the Swedish fleet receive news that 35 ship strong Russian fleet had been seen outside of Gotland and finally at noon on 25 July were the first Russian ships sighted. Both fleets took northernly heading and Swedish tried to close in the distance.

The Russian fleet attempted to slip between the Swedes and Karlskrona but when it became clear that it would not succeed the Russians were content with just keeping distance to the Swedes. Winds were getting stronger which prevented either side from taking action later on 25 July 1789. On morning of 26 July fleets again sighted each other and Swedes again attempted to close in and engage the Russian but were unable to do so as the Russian fleet carefully avoided it. Further problem for the Swedes was that the rear-guard commanded by Admiral Per Liljehorn had become separated from the rest of the fleet and did not rejoin it despite of repeatedly being ordered to do so.


The Swedish and Russian navies at the end of the battle on the 26th of July

The Russian fleet continued evading the Swedish trying to slip between the Swedes and their home port. Finally by 1400 on 26 July had first ships reached the cannon range and started the battle. Varying winds forced battle to be paused between 1600 and 1800 but it was later commenced again. Fighting continued until 2000 when the Russian fleet turned towards east. Swedish fleet was unable to follow as the undermanned crews could not handle both guns and sails simultaneously. During the battle the fleets remained fair distance apart and the cannons were fired near their maximum ranges and thus had very little effect. Misfiring cannons and barrel explosions were the main cause of losses on both sides. During the fight three trailing ships of the Russian fleet were left separated from the rest of the fleet. Several Swedish ships were ordered to engage these stragglers but the Swedish ships turned away before even reaching the cannon range. Captains of the ships later claimed that they turned away from the Russian ships according to orders from Admiral Per Liljehorn who kept his ships away from the fight.


The forefront of the Swedish navy chasing the Russian navy on the 27th and 28th of July.

Swedes were able to receive reinforcements and ship out the sick on 28 July after which the Swedish turned again to chase the Russians but without success as the Russians repeatedly avoided engaging the Swedish fleet. Similar action was repeated on following days until on 30 July the continuously worsening sickness amongst the crews forced the Swedes to seriously consider returning to their base as roughly 2 500 men had gotten sick after the fleet had set sail. On 31 July the wind turned which was seen as favorable for arrival of the Russian squadron from Copenhagen. To avoid being caught between two Russian fleets the Swedish fleet started back towards Karlskrona. On the same day the Russian squadron from Copenhagen joined with the Russian fleet.

Aftermath
For three days the fleets maneuvered within sight of each other, but finally the Swedes retreated to the naval base at Karlskrona. The battle ended in a draw, but the Russians remained in control of the Baltic Sea. The epidemic that still had not ended at Karlskrona then confined the Swedish fleet to its anchorage for most of the remainder of the year.

Per Liljehorn was stripped of his admiral's rank even before the fleet returned to Karlskrona. Suspicions concerning Liljehorn arose after the debacle; it was widely suspected that the Russians had bribed him. A court martial convicted him but the government declined to execute him. Chichagov too was investigated for his inaction and avoidance of battle. However, the court martial found him not found guilty because his orders explicitly stated that he should first rendezvous with the Russian squadron from Copenhagen before engaging the Swedish fleet.

The fleets

Sweden
Wladislaff 76
Enigheten 74
Götha Lejon 74
Kung Adolf Fredrik 74
Kung Gustaf III 74
Louise Ulrika 74
Sophia Magdalena 74
Fäderneslandet 66
Äran 64
Dristigheten 64
Dygden 64
Försightigheten 64
Hedvig Elisabeth Charlotta 64
Manligheten 64
Ömheten 64
Prins Carl 64
Prins Fredrik Adolf 64
Tapperheten 64
Rättvisan 62
Wasa 62
Riksens Ständer 60
Gripen 44
Uppland 44
Euredice 40
Fröya 40
Galathea 40
Minerva 40
Thetis 40
Zemire 40

Russia
Rostislav 100
Dvyenadtsat Apostolov 100
Knyaz Vladimir 100
Iezekiil 78
Kir Ioann 74
Mstislav 74
Pobyedoslav 74
Prints Gustav 74
Sv. Elena 74
Sv. Petr 74
Yaroslav 74
Boleslav 66
Deris 66
Izyaslav 66
Pamyat Evstafia 66
Rodislav 66
Svyatoslav 66
Viktor 66
Vysheslav 66

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Öland_(1789)

 

[Uwek]

26 July 1806 - The Action of 26 July 1806

was a minor naval engagement of the Napoleonic Wars fought off the southern coast of the island of Celebes in the Dutch East Indies. During the battle, a small British squadron attacked and defeated a Dutch force defending a valuable convoy, which was also captured. The British force—consisting of the Amazon-Class frigate HMS Greyhound and Cruiser class brig-sloop HMS Harrier under the command of Captain Edward Elphinstone—was initially wary of the Dutch, mistaking the Dutch East Indiaman merchant ship Victoria for a ship of the line. Closer observation revealed the identity of the Dutch vessels the following day and Elphinstone led his frigate against the leading Dutch warship Pallas while Harrier engaged the merchant vessels and forced them to surrender. Only the corvette William escaped, taking no part in the engagement.

The battle was the first in a series of actions by the Royal Navy squadron based at Madras with the intention of eliminating the Dutch squadron maintained at Java. Greyhound had been sent to the Java Sea and the Molucca Islands to reconnoitre the Dutch ports in preparation for a raid on Java by a larger force under Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Pellew later in the year. Elphinstone's success was followed by a second frigate action by Captain Peter Rainier in which the Dutch ship Maria Riggersbergen was captured. In November 1806, Admiral Pellew led the main body of his squadron against the capital of the Dutch East Indies at Batavia and a year later eliminated the last vessels of the Dutch East Indies squadron at Griessie.


Scale 1:32. Amazon-class. Built at this slightly larger and unusual scale, the model is a fine example of the Georgian style of modelling, with a fully planked hull and partially planked decks. The hull is constructed 'bread-and-butter’ fashion, of wooden planks glued together horizontally and then shaped externally to fit templates taken from the building plans. The wooden core is then gouged out internally to produce a shell of about an inch thick, over which the planking, deck beams and decoration are applied. The model has been made to a high standard of workmanship and includes some fittings not always shown, such as the compass binnacle just forward of the wheel, shot racks between the guns, the hammock-netting stanchions and swivel guns on the ship's side.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/66276.html#1khUb61lZukAqhIW.99

Background
The Dutch squadron in the Dutch East Indies was a constant threat to the British system of trade routes during the Napoleonic Wars. The Dutch—under the guise of the Kingdom of Holland and ruled by the French Emperor Napoleon's brother Louis Bonaparte—had joined the war against Britain following the end of the Peace of Amiens in 1803. Although the primary function of the Dutch East Indies squadron was the suppression of piracy, their presence threatened British shipping in the Malacca Straits, in particular the lucrative trade with China. At the start of every year, the "China Fleet"—a large convoy of British East Indiamen merchant ships—sailed from Canton and passed through the South China Sea and the Malacca Strait on their journey to the Indian Ocean and eventually to Britain. Worth millions of pounds, these convoys were vital to the British economy, but they faced considerable danger in passing through waters that were within easy reach of the Dutch ports in Java.

In 1804, a French squadron under Rear-Admiral Charles Linois used Batavia on Java as a base to attack the China Fleet, although the attempt ended in failure at the Battle of Pulo Aura. Java presented a clear threat to British maritime interests in the South China Sea, but the British squadron based in the Indian Ocean was too weak in 1805 to consider operations so far from its main base at Madras while Linois remained active. By the start of 1806, Linois had sailed into the Atlantic and an expeditionary force had seized the Dutch base at the Cape of Good Hope, securing the western Indian Ocean and providing reinforcements that allowed Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Pellew to begin operations against the Dutch forces in the East Indies.


Sheer Plan and Lines of a Cruiser class


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the framing profile (disposition) of a Cruiser class brig sloop
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/83931.html#pYRACpAct53jtmzh.99

Pellew's first action, during the spring of 1806, was to deploy several frigates to the Java Sea with instructions to reconnoitre the Dutch squadron and its main port at Batavia. The first British ship to reach the Java Sea was the 32-gun frigate HMS Greyhound under Captain Edward Elphinstone, which arrived in July 1806. In company with the brig-sloop HMS Harrier under Commander Edward Troubridge, the two vessels cruised in search of Dutch activity in the area. On 4 June they successfully destroyed the armed brig Christian Elizabeth at Manado and two days later captured the Belgica at Tidore.


A model of HMS Teazer. Also a Cruizer Class vessel, HMS Harrier was would have been identical, apart from her figurehead:
http://www.kenthistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=20169.0

During the evening of 25 July, lookouts spotted four sails passing through the Selayar Strait that separates Selayar Island from the southern tip of Celebes. These four vessels were a Dutch convoy from the Molucca Islands, consisting of: The Dutch national frigate Pallas, of 36 guns, under Captain N. S. Aalbers; Dutch East India Company corvette William, of twenty 24-pounder guns and 110 men, under Captain P. Feteris; Dutch East Indiaman Victoria (or in some sources Vittoria), of about 800 tons burthen (bm), under Captain Klaas Kenkin and Dutch East Indiaman Batavier, of some 500 tons (bm) under Captain William De Val.

The Action
On observing the Dutch ships, Elphinstone immediately gave chase. Aalbers responded by forming his ships in a line of battle and retaining close formation as the convoy passed the Celebes coast close to the small Dutch trading posts at Borthean and Balacomba. At 21:00, Aalbers ordered his force to anchor 7 nmi (8.1 mi; 13 km) offshore and prepare for the British attack. Elphinstone was cautious however as Victoria was a particularly large ship, with two decks and the appearance of a ship of the line. Aware that such a large vessel could easily destroy his frigate Elphinstone halted his advance and Greyhound and Harrier stopped to observe the Dutch convoy during the night, maintaining a position 2 nmi (2.3 mi; 3.7 km) to windward of Aalbers' force.


Amazon class frigate

At dawn, lookouts on Greyhound were able to establish that Victoria was a large merchant ship rather than a warship and Elphinstone was encouraged to resume the attack. Aalbers sailed shortly afterwards, his ships tacking away from the shore in line of battle ready for the British advance. In doing so, Pallas drew ahead of the next ship in line, creating a gap through which the British attack could be directed. At 05:00, Elphinstone raised French colours in an effort to confuse the Dutch officers and indicated that he wished to speak with the Dutch commander. Aalbers was not fooled, and when Elphinstone opened fire on Pallas at close range at 05:30, the Dutch frigate replied immediately. With the frigates engaged, Harrier cut between Pallas and Victoria, Troubridge discharging his carronades into Victoria and ordering his crew to fire muskets at the deck of Pallas. In response, Victoria and Batavier pulled out of the line to engage Harrier, which continued its fire against Pallas, while William, bringing up the rear of the Dutch line, pulled out completely and sailed for the coast.

Elphinstone rapidly took advantage of the confusion Harrier's attack had created, passing Aalbers' bow and raking his ship. Elphinstone then threw his sails back, halting his ship and allowing Greyhound to maintain a position across Pallas' bow from which he could inflict severe damage on the Dutch frigate without coming under fire himself. As the damage and casualties mounted on Pallas, Harrier joined the attack. Gunfire from the Dutch ship gradually slackened, and finally stopped at 06:10, the Dutch flag was struck from the mast and Pallas surrendered with over 40 casualties from a crew of 250 (including 50 local recruits). Throughout the engagement, Victoria and Batavier had kept up a constant but inefficient fire on Harrier, Troubridge waiting until the Dutch flagship surrendered before counterattacking.

With Troubridge in pursuit, the Dutch merchant ships were unable to escape Harrier, and at 06:30 Victoria surrendered. Sending a boat to take possession, Troubridge immediately turned away towards Batavier. Elphinstone too was sailing towards the isolated merchant vessel and at 06:40 Captain De Val surrendered rather than fight the superior British force. William successfully escaped in the aftermath of the battle, rapidly outdistancing a weak chase from the battered Harrier. All three captured ships were taken over by prize crews and brought to Port Cornwallis on South Andaman Island. Casualties on Pallas were heavy, with eight men killed outright and 32 wounded, including Aalbers and three of his lieutenants. Six of the wounded later died, including the Dutch captain. There were also four men killed on the East Indiamen and seven wounded, one of whom died later. British losses by contrast were light, with one man killed and eight wounded on Greyhound and just three wounded on Harrier.

Aftermath
The Pallas was initially taken into the Royal Navy as HMS Macassa but was renamed HMS Celebes within a year of her capture. Following a survey at Calcutta on 23rd September 1807, the Royal Navy decided not to formally purchase the vessel and she was subsequently sold. Commander Troubridge's share of the prize money for the Batavia and the Vittoria alone came to some £26,000; a huge sum of money.

In the meantime, in August of 1806, Commander Troubridge was appointed to command HMS Macassar and was replaced in command of HMS Harrier firstly by Mr William Wilbraham who was in command for a month and then by Mr George Pigot. Mr Pigot was Posted and appointed to command the ex-Dutch 32-gun frigate HMS Java. HMS Harrier's next commander was Mr Justice Finley.

Elphinstone did not long survive his victory: he was ordered back to Britain in early 1807 and took passage on Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Troubridge's flagship HMS Blenheim. He was presumed drowned in February 1807 along with the entire crew, when Blenheim disappeared during a hurricane in the western Indian Ocean.

For Pellew, the victory was an encouraging sign of the weakness of the Dutch squadron. In October, Captain Peter Rainier seized another Dutch frigate from Batavia harbour itself and the following month Admiral Pellew led a large scale raid on the port that eliminated most of the Dutch East Indies squadron. Two ships of the line escaped Pellew's attack, but they were old and in a poor state of repair, and so were unable to defend themselves when Pellew discovered and destroyed them at Griessie in 1807


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_26_July_1806
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Celebes_(1806)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Harrier_(1804)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruizer-class_brig-sloop
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Maria_(1801_ship)

 

[Uwek]

26 July 1817 - Launch of Leda-Class Frigate HMS Arethusa

HMS Arethusa was a 46-gun Leda-class fifth-rate frigate built for the Royal Navy during the 1810s. The ship was never commissioned and was converted into a lazarette (quarantine ship) in 1836. She was renamed HMS Bacchus in 1844 and was further converted into a coal hulk in 1851–52. The ship was sold for scrap in 1883.

Description
Arethusa had a length at the gundeck of 150 feet 11 inches (46.0 m) and 126 feet 11 inches (38.7 m) at the keel. She had a beam of 40 feet 1 inch (12.2 m), a draught of 14 feet 7 inches (4.4 m) and a depth of hold of 12 feet 9 inches (3.9 m). The ship's tonnage was 1084 60⁄94 tons burthen. The Leda-class frigates were armed with twenty-eight 18-pounder cannon on her gundeck, fourteen 32-pounder carronades on her quarterdeck and a pair of 9-pounder cannon and two more 32-pounder carronades in forecastle. The ship had a crew of 315 officers and ratings.

Construction and career -> one ship without career!
Arethusa, the fourth ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy, was ordered on 22 November 1812, laid down in February 1815 at Pembroke Dockyard, Wales, and launched on 29 July 1817. She sailed for Plymouth Dockyard on 21 August 1817 and was completed for ordinary on 27 September at the cost of £25,923. The ship was never on active duty and was converted for service as a lazarette for Liverpool in April–June 1836. Arethusa was renamed HMS Bacchus on 12 March 1844 to release her name for the large frigate being built and converted into a coal hulk in 1851–52. The ship was sold to Castle & Sons for £1,450 on 14 August 1883 to be broken up.



Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth for 'Leda' (1800), and later with alterations for 'Pomone' (1805), 'Shannon' (1806), 'Leonidas' (1807), 'Surprise' (1812), 'Lacedemonian' (1812), 'Tenedos' (1812), 'Lively' (1804), 'Trinocomalee' (1817), 'Amphitrite' (1816), 'Hebe' (1826), and 'Venus' (1820), all 38-gun Fifth Rate, Frigates. The draught was prepared from that of the captured French ship 'Hebe' (captured 1782). The plans for 'Amphitrite' and 'Trincomalee' were resent in 1813 on the 'Stirling Castle' after the capture of 'Java' by the US Frigate 'Constitution' in 1812. A duplicate set were dispatched on the Hon East India Company ship 'Tigris' in 1814. This plan was sent to Devonport, arriving on 20 January 1875. The plan was later sent to Chatham, arriving 8 July 1893, for making a half-model of 'Shannon' for the museum in the R. N. College, Greenwich.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/84700.html#A77OHU6WeY2SpXgI.99


Leda Class frigates

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




HMS Trincomalee in the historic dockyard, Hartlepool.

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

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


HMS Frigate Unicorn in Victoria dock, dundee



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



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Arethusa_(1817)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leda-class_frigate
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Trincomalee
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Unicorn_(1824)
https://www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/register/498/hms-unicorn

 

[Uwek]

26 July 1820 - Launch of HMS Trafalgar

HMS Trafalgar was ordered as a 98-gun second rate ship of the line, re-rated as a 106-gun first rate ship of the line in February 1817 and launched on 26 July 1820 at Chatham. She was jointly designed by the Surveyors of the Navy at the time, and was the only ship built to her draught.



She was renamed HMS Camperdown on 22 February 1825.




http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...6;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=T;start=0

Camperdown was placed on harbour service in 1854 and became a coal hulk three years later. She was renamed HMS Pitt on 29 July 1882 and was sold out of the Navy in May 1906.


Medium includes graphite. The ship was previously HMS 'Trafalgar', originally designed as a 98-gun second rate but re-classified as a 106-gun first rate ship of the line in February 1817. It was the only vessel built to that draught, was launched at Chatham on 26 July 1820 and on 22 February 1825 was renamed 'Camperdown'. The vessel moved from flagship at Sheerness to being laid up at Portsmouth in the quarter prior to 20 June 1844. It became a receiving ship at Portsmouth by 20 June 1854 and then was converted to a coal hulk between 20 March and 20 June 1857 and was again renamed as HMS 'Pitt' on 29 August 1882. As the 'Pitt' it was sold out of service on 15 May 1906 and was broken up in Castle’s yard at Charlton on the Thames. The drawing shows the ship in Portsmouth harbour flying the blue ensign of fleet auxiliary vessels, looking seaward during some festive event, possibly the annual Portsmouth regatta, with ships dressed overall and a salute being fired from HMS 'Victory' (the Portsmouth flagship) in the background. Wyllie - who has signed the drawing lower right - moved from Hoo on the Medway to Portsmouth in 1906 and may have done the drawing just before the former 'Camperdown' was decommissioned, though it could have been earlier. [PvdM 4/18]
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/126161.html#0UK3TkAoZlf2PdTh.99

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Trafalgar_(1820)
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...6;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=T;start=0

 

[Uwek]

26 July 1824 - Launch of HMS Vengeance

HMS Vengeance was an 84-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 27 July 1824 at Pembroke Dockyard. The Canopus-class ships were all modelled on a captured French ship, the Franklin, which was renamed HMS Canopus in British service. Some of the copies were faster than others, though it was reported that none could beat the original.


HMS Canopus

In August 1851 Vengeance, commanded by Captain Lord Edward Russell, left Portsmouth for the Mediterranean. After stops at Lisbon and Gibraltar, she arrived at Malta on 2 October. The ship was nicknamed 'the wind's-eye liner', and was faster than all the other ships except HMS Phaeton. Vengeance's commander during 1851 and 1852 was William Robert Mends. Vengeance returned to England at Christmas 1852, before returning to the Mediterranean with a new second in command, Commander George Le Geyt Bowyear (1818–1903), in the spring. By June she had rejoined the fleet at Malta, and then accompanied the whole Mediterranean fleet under Vice-Admiral James Dundas to Bashika Bay outside the Dardanelles as political tension increased before the Crimean War. In October the fleet moved through the Dardanelles to the Bosphorus and moored at Beikos Bay. In January she visited Sinope, where the Battle of Sinop had been fought the previous November between a Turkish squadron and the Russian fleet, resulting in a Turkish defeat. Vengeance moved to Varna in March, and then took part in the bombardment of Odessa on 22 April. The ship assisted with the transportation of the army across the Black Sea to the Crimea before attending at the Battle of Alma on 20 September.

She became a receiving ship in 1861, and was eventually sold out of the navy in 1897.


Scale: 1:16. A sectional model depicting the circular stern for Canopus Class second rate vessels. The model is made entirely of wood, with the outboard painted black and the traditional yellow buff stripes along the gun decks, which carry on round the stern and onto the galleries. The lower part of the stern is painted brown to indicate copper sheaving. There are twelve gun ports, all of which are painted red internally. The upper and lower stern galleries all run into one with the quarter galleries and comprise of a series of dummy as well as framed glass panels, and individual sliding sash doors, some of which are working. On the lower stern galleries moulded columns are painted on raised pillars between each stern gallery window. The stern post is fitted together with two small brass eyes to take the rudder, which unfortunately is missing. Internally the model comprises of three decks supported by deck beams and shelves, all of which are painted a light brown colour. The underside of the decks and beams are painted white. The lower of the decks is fitted to a solid waterline base, with the interior hull and ceiling planking painted the same colour as the decks. The poop deck is fitted with a raise taffrail and bulwark rail complete with ports for guns and access. On the starboard stern quarter at the upper gun deck the model inscribed "Canopus Class" and on the lower deck "Original After-Port" is hand painted. There is an accompanying original metal display plaque painted black and inscribed "CIRCULAR STERN, of ships of "Canopus" class. 84 GUNS, built by Sir Robert Sepping, between 1821-1832. S.K.No550 CL1 DIV. E.".
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/68230.html#Uqgpg1dpZaBIOJX3.99


The Canopus-class ships of the line were a class of nine 84-gun two-deck second rates of the Royal Navy. Their design was based on an enlarged version of the lines of the captured French ship Franklin, since commissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Canopus, although this ship herself was not included as a member of the class. The earlier ships were initially ordered as 80-gun third rates, but this classification was altered by changes in the rating system in February 1817. This class of ships is sometimes referred to as the Formidable class.







Ships of the Class

• HMS Formidable

Builder: Chatham Dockyard
Launched: 19 May 1825
Fate: Sold, 1906

• HMS Ganges

Builder: Bombay Dockyard
Launched: 10 November 1821
Fate: Sold, 1929

• HMS Asia

Builder: Bombay Dockyard
Launched: 19 January 1824
Fate: Sold, 1908

• HMS Vengeance

Builder: Pembroke Dockyard
Launched: 27 July 1824
Fate: Sold, 1897

• HMS Powerful

Builder: Chatham Dockyard
Launched: 21 June 1826
Fate: Broken up, 1864

• HMS Clarence

Builder: Pembroke Dockyard
Launched: 25 July 1827
Fate: Burnt, 1884

• HMS Bombay

Builder: Bombay Dockyard
Launched: 17 February 1828
Fate: Burnt, 1864

• HMS Thunderer

Builder: Woolwich Dockyard
Launched: 22 September 1831
Fate: Sold, 1901

• HMS Monarch

Builder: Chatham Dockyard
Launched: 18 December 1832
Fate: Broken up, 1866

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Vengeance_(1824)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canopus-class_ship_of_the_line

 

[Uwek]

26 July 1845 – Brunel´s ship SS Great Britain started her Maiden Voyage

On 26 July 1845—seven years after the Great Western Steamship Company had decided to build a second ship, and five years overdue—Great Britain embarked on her maiden voyage, from Liverpool to New York under Captain James Hosken, with 45 passengers. The ship made the passage in 14 days and 21 hours, at an average speed of 9.25 knots (17.13 km/h; 10.64 mph) – almost 1.5 knots (2.8 km/h; 1.7 mph) slower than the prevailing record. She made the return trip in 13½ days, again an unexceptional time.









Recovery and restoration

The salvage operation, made possible by several large donations, including from Sir Jack Hayward and Sir Paul Getty, was organised by 'the SS Great Britain Project', chaired by Richard Goold-Adams. Ewan Corlett conducted a naval architect's survey, reporting that she could be refloated. A submersible pontoon, Mulus III, was chartered in February 1970. A German tug, Varius II, was chartered, reaching Port Stanley on 25 March. By 13 April, after some concern about a crack in the hull, the ship was mounted successfully on the pontoon and the following day the tug, pontoon and the Great Britain sailed to Port Stanley for preparations for the transatlantic voyage. The voyage (code name "Voyage 47") began on 24 April, stopped in Montevideo from 2 May to 6 May for inspection, then across the Atlantic, arriving at Barry Docks, west of Cardiff on 22 June. ("Voyage 47" was chosen as the code name because it was on her 47th voyage from Penarth, in 1886, that during a tempest she had sought shelter in the Falklands.) Bristol-based tugs then took over and towed her, still on her pontoon, to Avonmouth Docks.

The ship was then taken off the pontoon, in preparation for her re-entry into Bristol, now truly afloat. On Sunday 5 July, amidst considerable media interest, the ship was towed up the River Avon to Bristol. Perhaps the most memorable moment for the crowds that lined the final few miles was her passage under the Clifton Suspension Bridge, another Brunel design. She waited for two weeks in the Cumberland Basin for a tide high enough to get her back through the locks to the Floating Harbour and her birthplace, the dry dock in the Great Western Dockyard (now a grade II* listed building, disused since bomb damage in the Second World War).

The recovery and subsequent voyage from the Falklands to Bristol were depicted in the 1970 BBC Chronicle programme; "The Great Iron Ship".

The original intent was to restore her to her 1843 state. However, the philosophy changed and the conservation of all surviving pre-1970 material became the aim. In 1984 the SS Great Britain was designated as a Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the fourth such designation outside the USA.

By 1998, an extensive survey discovered that the hull was continuing to corrode in the humid atmosphere of the dock and estimates gave her 25 years before she corroded away. Extensive conservation work began which culminated in the installation of a glass plate across the dry dock at the level of her water line, with two dehumidifiers, keeping the space beneath at 20% relative humidity, sufficiently dry to preserve the surviving material. This being completed, the ship was "re-launched" in July 2005, and visitor access to the dry dock was restored. The site is visited by over 150,000 visitors per year with a peak in numbers in 2006 when 200,000 people visited.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Great_Britain
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isambard_Kingdom_Brunel
http://www.brunel200.com/ss_great_britain.htm

 

[Uwek]

26 July 1932 - schoolship of german Reichsmarine Niobe sank during a white squall, 69 cadets died


The Segelschulschiff Niobe was a tall ship used by the Reichsmarine to train cadets and aspiring NCOs. She sank during a white squall on 26 July 1932, with the loss of 69 lives. At Gammendorfer Strand on Fehmarnisland, within view of the site of the sinking, the Niobe-Denkmal monument was erected.


Niobe was a sail training ship from Germany that capsized on 26 July 1932, here rigged as a three-masted jackass-barque (originally four-masted schooner).

Construction
She was built as a four-masted schooner in 1913 by the Danish shipyard Frederikshavns Værft og Flydedok under her original name Morten Jensen and initially sailed as a freighter for F. L. Knakkergaard in Nykøbing Mors. In 1916 she was sold to Norway and renamed Tyholm.

Later that year, while carrying mine timber to England, she was taken as a prize by SM UB-41 and sold to private German owners. Following several intermediate phases under various names (Aldebaran, Niobe, and Schwalbe), including one as a charter ship for a film company, she was purchased in 1922 by the German navy which selected her new name Niobe after the mythological daughter of Tantalus, and converted her into a three-mast barque to train future officers and non-commissioned officers. The previous training vessels, Grossherzog Friedrich August and Prinzess Eitel Friedrich, had been seized by the Allies as war reparations.

In a white squall on 26 July 1932, the ship capsized near the German island of Fehmarn in the Baltic Sea (54°35.7′N 11°11.2′ECoordinates:

54°35.7′N 11°11.2′E)[3] and sank within minutes as due to the hot weather, all hatches and portholes were open. 40 of her crew were rescued by the cargo ship SS Theresia L M Russ, but 69 died. The ship was raised on 21 August 1932, towed to Kiel and inspected while the bodies were buried. On 18 September 1933 the wreck was ceremonially sunk by the torpedo boat Jaguar, attended by much of the then-small German navy.

Film of the salvage of the Niobe

Design
The ship had a steel hull and displaced 645 tonnes. After her conversion into a training ship she measured 57.8 m (189 ft 8 in) in overall length, 46.1 m (151 ft 3 in) without the bowsprit, and 9.17 m (30 ft 1 in) in width. The height of the main mast was 34.8 m (114 ft 2 in), and she carried 15 sails with 983 square metres (10,580 sq ft) of total sail area. She had an auxiliary diesel engine with 160 shaft horsepower (120 kW). Her regular crew comprised seven officers and 27 men. Usually 65 cadets would be trained.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niobe_(schooner)

 

[Uwek]

26 July 1945 - HMS Vestal sunk by Kamikaze - the last Royal Navy ship to be lost in the Second World War

HMS Vestal was an Algerine-class minesweeper of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1943 and saw service in the Pacific War against the Empire of Japan. She was critically damaged by Japanese kamikaze aircraft in 1945 and was subsequently scuttled in waters close to Thailand.



Vestal was the only British ship to be taken out of action by kamikaze pilots in the Indian Ocean and the last Royal Navy ship to be lost in the Second World War. She was sunk whilst partaking in Operation Livery. Vestal was commanded by Lt. Charles William Porter, DSC, from 26 July 1943 until 26 July 1945, when the ship was sunk.

1944
Vestal underwent trials until October 1944. She took part in a minesweeping exercise around Harwich with a flotilla, which was working in the Scheldt estuary. This was with the ships Pincher, Recruit, Rifleman, Plucky, Fancy, Squirrel, and Chameleon, all of which were Algerine-class minesweepers.

1945
Vestal was deployed as a part of the East Indies Fleet, along with Pincher, Plucky, Recruit, Pickle, Rifleman, and Chameleon. On 24 July, Squirrel hit a mine, which killed seven men. The ship was scuttled by Rotherham, and the survivors were rescued by Vestal, and taken to the battleship Nelson.

Vestal was sunk on 26 July 1945 whilst participating in Operation Livery. At around 18:25, an alarm was sounded as three unidentified planes had been spotted coming over Phuket Island, and were soon followed by several more. Vestal was hit by a kamikaze, sustaining critical damage and killing twenty men. She was the last Royal Navy ship to be sunk in the Second World War. As the ship was hit close to Thailand, which was a Japanese ally, the crew were taken off and the ship was scuttled.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Vestal_(J215)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algerine-class_minesweeper

 

[Uwek]

Other events on 26 July


1798 - HMS Gardland (28), Cptn. James Athol Wood, wrecked off Madagascar.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Sibyl_(1779)

1798 - HMS Brilliant (28), Cptn. Hon. C. Paget, engaged Vertu and Regenre.

1798 - HMS Garland (28), Cptn. James Athol Wood, wrecked on the coast of Madagascar.

1812 - USS Essex captures the British brig, HMS Leander, off Newfoundland. Engaging British vessels the following week, USS Essex burns the brig, HMS Hero, and captures the ship, Nancy, also off Newfoundland on August 2.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Essex_(1799)

1908 - Launch of Italian Cruiser San Giorgio



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

1912 - The first tests of an airborne wireless are conducted near Annapolis, Md. using the Wright (B 1) piloted by Lt. John Rodgers. On one flight, Ensign Charles H. Maddox, who is giving technical assistance to the aviators, sends messages to USS Stringham (TB 19) at a distance of about one and a half miles.

1945 – World War II: The USS Indianapolis arrives at Tinian with components and enriched uranium for the Little Boy nuclear bomb.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Indianapolis_(CA-35)

1956 – Following the World Bank's refusal to fund building the Aswan Dam, Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalizes the Suez Canal, sparking international condemnation.

Because of Egyptian overtures towards the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States withdrew their pledge to support the construction of the Aswan Dam. Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser responded by nationalizing the canal on 26 July 1956 and transferring it to the Suez Canal Authority, intending to finance the dam project using revenue from the canal. On the same day that the canal was nationalized Nasser also closed the Straits of Tiran to all Israeli ships. This led to the Suez Crisis in which the UK, France, and Israel invaded Egypt. According to the pre-agreed war plans under the Protocol of Sèvres, the Israelis invaded the Sinai Peninsula, forcing Egypt to engage them militarily, and allowing the Anglo-French partnership to declare the resultant fighting a threat to stability in the Middle East and enter the war - officially to divide the two forces but in reality to regain the Canal and bring down the Nasser government.



To save the British from what he thought was a disastrous action and to stop the war from a possible escalation, Canadian Secretary of State for External Affairs Lester B. Pearson proposed the creation of the first United Nations peacekeeping force to ensure access to the canal for all and an Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula. On 4 November 1956, a majority at the United Nations voted for Pearson's peacekeeping resolution, which mandated the UN peacekeepers to stay in Sinai unless both Egypt and Israel agreed to their withdrawal. The United States backed this proposal by putting pressure on the British government through the selling of sterling, which would cause it to depreciate. Britain then called a ceasefire, and later agreed to withdraw its troops by the end of the year. Pearson was later awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. As a result of damage and ships sunk under orders from Nasser the canal was closed until April 1957, when it was cleared with UN assistance. A UN force (UNEF) was established to maintain the free navigability of the canal, and peace in the Sinai Peninsula.

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

 

[Uwek]

27 July 1778 - The Battle of Ushant (also called First Battle of Ushant,)

was fought between French and British fleets 100 miles (160 km) west of Ushant, an island at the mouth of the English Channel off the north-westernmost point of France.



Background
The British had a fleet of thirty ships-of-the-line, four frigates, and two fire-ships commanded by Admiral Augustus Keppel, in HMS Victory, which sailed from Spithead on 9 July 1778. The French fleet had thirty-two ships-of-the-line, seven frigates, five corvettes and one lugger, commanded by Vice-Admiral Comte d'Orvilliers, who had sailed from Brest on 8 July 1778. Keppel sighted the French fleet west of Ushant at just after 12:00 on 23 July. Keppel immediately ordered his battleships into line and set off in pursuit. At around 19:00, the French fleet went about and began heading towards the British. Keppel, who did not wish to engage at night, had his ships hove to in response. In the morning, d'Orvilliers, found himself to the north-west of the British fleet and cut off from Brest, although he retained the weather gage. Two of his ships, standing to leeward, escaped into port, leaving him with thirty ships-of-the-line. Keppel tried for three days to bring the French to action but d'Orvilliers declined, maintaining his position upwind and heading into the Atlantic.


on the left: Keppel, 1749, Joshua Reynolds's first painting of him, produced on Menorca
on the right: Louis Guillouet, comte d'Orvilliers.

Battle
At 06:00 on 27 July, with the British fleet roughly line-abreast, Keppel gave the order for the rear division, under Sir Hugh Palliser, to chase to windward. At 09:00, the French, who had hitherto been sailing in the same direction, several miles to windward, went about once more. As the rearmost ships of the French fleet were tacking however, the wind changed allowing the British to close the gap between them and their quarry. At 10:15 the British were slightly to leeward, line-ahead on the same course as the French. A little later, a change in wind direction brought about a rain squall which cleared at around 11:00. A further change in wind direction to the south-west gave advantage to the British which d'Orvilliers sought to negate by ordering his ships about. The French, now heading towards British in a loose formation, would pass slightly to windward.



The French ships were a few points off the wind and d'Orvilliers ordered them close hauled which caused the French line to veer slightly away from the British. The battle began at 11:20 when the fourth French ship in the line was able to bring her guns to bear. Keppel, who wished to save his salvo for the enemy flagship, received the broadsides of six French ships without reply. Once he had engaged the 110 gun Bretagne, he continued to attack the next six ships in the French line, the Ville de Paris of 90 guns.


Model of the 110-gun Bretagne

As the British van, under Sir Robert Harland, passed the end of the French line, Harland ordered his ships about so as to chase the French rearguard, including the Sphinx. Palliser's ten ships at the rear had not formed line of battle but were instead in a loose irregular formation. This was in part due to Keppel's earlier order to break off and chase the French ships to windward. Palliser's division therefore was badly mauled, having allowed itself to be attacked piecemeal. At 13:00 Victory passed the last French ship and attempted to follow Harland but was so badly damaged in the masts and rigging that Keppel had to wear round and it was 14:00 before his ships were on the opposite tack. It was about this time that Palliser in Formidable, emerged from the battle, downwind of Keppel's division.


The Engagement off Ushant 27th of July 1778 between the British fleet Commanded by Adml Keppel and the French Fleet under Count D'Orvilliers: Drawn by an Officer on board the Victory; engraving

Meanwhile, the French line had tacked and was now heading south on the starboard tack and threatening to pass the British fleet to leeward. The French practice of firing high into the rigging had left several of the British ships disabled and it was this group that Keppel now stood down towards whilst making the signal, 'form line of battle'. By 16:00, Harland's division had gone about and joined Keppel's ships in line but Palliser would not or could not conform and his ships, misunderstanding Keppel's intentions, formed line with their commander, several miles upwind from the rest of the British fleet. D'Orvilliers did not however attack the British fleet while it was divided into three sections but instead continued his course, passing the British fleet to leeward.

At 17:00, Keppel sent the sixth-rate, HMS Fox to demand that Palliser join the main body of the fleet and when this failed, at 19:00, Keppel removed Palliser from the chain of command by individually signalling each ship in Palliser's division. By the time those ships had joined Keppel, night had fallen and, under cover of darkness, the French fleet sailed off. By daylight the French were 20 miles away and with no chance of catching them, Keppel decided to return to Plymouth to repair his ships.

Aftermath
France
The Duc de Chartres, Louis Philippe II d'Orléans, a French Prince du sang, ("Prince of the royal blood"), who took part in the battle, requested permission to carry news of its outcome to Paris and Versailles. He arrived there early on the morning of 2 August 1778, had Louis XVI awakened, and announced a victory. Chartres was widely celebrated and received a twenty-minute standing ovation when he attended the Paris Opera. Chartres then returned to Brest to rejoin the fleet. Fresh reports of the battle and Chartres' role then began to arrive in the French capital. Far from a victory, it was now reported as being at best indecisive, and Chartres was accused by d'Orvilliers of either misunderstanding or deliberately ignoring an order to engage the enemy.

Britain
A violent quarrel, exacerbated by political differences, broke out between the British commands. This led to two courts-martial, the resignation of Keppel, and great injury to the discipline of the navy. Keppel was court-martialled but cleared of misconduct in action. Palliser was criticised by an inquiry before the affair turned into a squabble of party politics.


Accurate representation of court-martial of English Admiral Keppel


Some facts about some ships envolved:

The Bretagne was a large 110-gun three-decker French ship of the line, built at Brest, which became famous as the flagship of the Brest Fleet during the American War of Independence. She was funded by a don des vaisseaux grant by the Estates of Brittany. The Bretagne was one of seventeen ships of the line ordered in 1762 as a result of the Duc de Choiseul’s campaign to raise funds for the navy from the cities and provinces of France. She was completed at Brest in 1766.
She fought at the Battle of Ushant in 1778 as Orvilliers' flagship.



During the French Revolution she was renamed Révolutionnaire. In May 1794 she fought in the skirmishes before the Battle of the Glorious First of June, dropping to the rear of the French fleet to drive off the pursuing British ships. In action against five or six 74-gun ships she was badly damaged, lost all her masts, and was only saved from capture by confusion among the enemy. She was towed to Rochefort by the battleship Audacieux, escorted by the corvette Unité.
After repairs, the Bretagne took part in the Croisière du Grand Hiver, where she was very heavily damaged.
Too damaged by the battle to be repaired, she was broken up between January and May 1796.

Sphinx was a two-deck 64 gun ship of the French Navy. She was built at Brest to plans by Ollivier Fils and launched in 1776. She took the name of a recently retired 64-gun ship with the same dimensions. She fought in the American War of Independence, most notably in Suffren's campaign in the Indian Ocean.
She was built according to norms laid down by French shipbuilders in the 1730s and 1740s which had aimed at a good combination of low cost and high manoeuvrability and armament, in the face of a numerically-superior British Royal Navy. The first 64-gun ship of her type was launched in 1735, followed by dozens of others until the end of the 1770s, a decade in which they were definitively outclassed by 74-gun ships.



During American War of Independence (1775–1783) Sphinx fought as part of Louis Guillouet d'Orvilliers's fleet against Augustus Keppel's force at the Battle of Ushant on 27 July 1778, captained by comte de Soulanges. She formed part of the Blue Squadron, the rear guard commanded by Louis-Philippe d'Orléans, duc de Chartres.

In 1780 she joined Guichen's squadron sent to fight in the Antilles. On 17 April 1780, still captained by the comte de Soulanges, she fought in the Battle of Martinique in the West Indies. She and the rest of the squadron then returned to France.
In 1781 she joined Suffren's small force, sent to fight in the Indian Ocean. On 16 April she fought in the French victory at the Battle of Porto Praya. Afterwards she took the badly-damaged Annibal in tow. She was then stationed off the Cape of Good Hope for a few weeks to take on board reinforcements heading for Mauritius Island.
Between 1782 and 20 June 1783, Sphinx was an engaged in Suffren's five battles in the Bay of Bengal and off Sri Lanka - the battles of Sadras (17 February 1782), Providien (12 April 1782), Negapatam (6 July 1782), Trincomalee (August and September 1782) and Cuddalore (20 June 1783). During this campaign she captured the troop transport Raikes on 6 June 1782 and HMS Resolution three days later. She also took Héros in tow after the latter was dismasted at the Battle of Trincomalee.

Ville de Paris was a large three-decker French ship of the line that became famous as the flagship of the Comte de Grasse during the American Revolutionary War. Originally laid down in 1757 as the 90-gun Impétueux, she was funded by the City of Paris and renamed Ville de Paris in 1762 as a result of the don des vaisseaux, Duc de Choiseul’s campaign to raise funds for the navy from the cities and provinces of France.
She was completed in 1764 as a 90-gun first rate, just too late to serve in the Seven Years' War. She was one of the first three-deckers to be completed for the French navy since the 1720s.



In 1778, on the French entry into the American Revolutionary War she was commissioned at Brest, joining the fleet as the flagship of the Comte de Guichen. In July she fought in the indecisive Battle of Ushant (1778).
She sank in September 1782 with other ships when the 1782 Central Atlantic hurricane hit the fleet off Newfoundland Admiral Graves was leading back to England with the loss of all hands but one.

HMS Fox was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. Fox was first commissioned in October 1775 under the command of Captain Patrick Fotheringham. The Americans captured her in June 1777, only to have the British recapture her about a month later. The French then captured her a little less than a year after that, only to lose her to grounding in 1779, some six months later.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ushant_(1778)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Bretagne_(1766)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Sphinx_(1776)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Fox_(1773)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Ville_de_Paris_(1764)

 

[Uwek]

27 July 1752 - Saint Louis, a French East Indiaman, launched

She served in the Indian Ocean where she participated in three battles and at least one single-ship action. In 1768, she became a careening hulk in Lorient.

Career
In February 1753, Saint-Louis departed Lorient, bound for the Indian Ocean. She called in at Gorée and Île de France (now Mauritius) before arriving in Pondicherry. She returned via Île de France, Bourbon (now Réunion), and Martinique, returning to Lorient in January 1755.

With the Seven Years' War underway, she was prepared for a new voyage in March 1756, but remained in Lorient harbour, ready to depart, until June. She eventually sailed in December with a 253-man complement and full armament (26 heavy guns out of a total of 54 guns), under Captain Louis de Joannis, to reinforce Aché's Indian Ocean squadron.

On 29 April 1758, she took part in the Battle of Cuddalore, engaging HMS Yarmouth (1745 64 guns) and HMS Cumberland (1710 80 guns three decker). At the battle of Negapatam, her first officer, Langery, had his head shot away by a cannonball.


The action between the English East Indiaman Pitt and French ship St Louis was a minor event which occurred off Fort St David, near Pondicherry. When Commodore Wilson, the captain of the ‘Pitt’ tried to engage the ‘St Louis’ in blowy weather he was unable to operate his lower tier of guns. So he was forced to break off the engagement after a brief exchange and escaped by out-sailing the Frenchman. The painting shows the two ships firing into each other, with the ‘Pitt’ on the left. The painting is inscribed ‘Commodore Wilson of the ‘Pitt’ engaging the ‘St Louis’ French ship of the line belonging to the Squadron of Monsieur de Ache on the 28th Septem 1759’, although the date written is incorrect.

Next, she took part in the battle of Pondicherry on 10 September, engaging HMS Newcastle (1750 50-guns), HMS Tiger (1747 60 guns)) and HMS Grafton (1750 70 guns). On 29 September 1758, she had an inconclusive engagement with the British East Indiaman Pitt (launched originaly in France 1754 as Pondichery) as , before returning to France in December 1760.

She cruised again from January 1761 to March 1763. In January 1764 she departed Lorient, armed with 12 guns, bound for Île de France. She returned to Lorient in July 1764.

In September 1766, she departed Lorient, with a 211-man complement and 14 guns launched in 1754, sailed to the Indian Ocean, and returned to Lorient in May 1768, but ran aground in the harbour on 31 May. This led to her decommissioning and use as a careening hulk. The French East India Company was dissolved in 1769, and in April 1770 the French Royal Navy purchased Saint Louis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Louis_(1752_ship)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pondichéry_(1754_ship)

 

[Uwek]

27 July 1770 - the 16 year old boy William Bligh joined HMS Hunter as an able seaman,

the term used because there was no vacancy for a midshipman, and started on this day a naval carreer


Portrait of Rear Admiral William Bligh by Alexander Huey, en:1814

William Bligh was born on 9 September 1754, but it is not clear where. It is likely that he was born in Plymouth, Devon, as he was baptised at St Andrew's Church, Plymouth on 4 October 1754, where Bligh's father, Francis (1721–1780), was serving as a customs officer. Bligh's ancestral home of Tinten Manor in St Tudy near Bodmin, Cornwall, is also a possibility. Bligh's mother, Jane Pearce (1713–1768), was a widow (née Balsam) who married Francis at the age of 40. Bligh was signed for the Royal Navy at age seven, at a time when it was common to sign on a "young gentleman" simply to gain, or at least record, the experience at sea required for a commission. In 1770, at age 16, he joined HMS Hunter as an able seaman, the term used because there was no vacancy for a midshipman. He became a midshipman early in the following year. In September 1771, Bligh was transferred to Crescent and remained on the ship for three years.

In 1776, Bligh was selected by Captain James Cook (1728–1779), for the position of sailing master of Resolution and accompanied Cook in July 1776 on Cook's third voyage to the Pacific Ocean, during which Cook was killed. Bligh returned to England at the end of 1780 and was able to give details of Cook's last voyage.

................................................

His colorful live can be read here:

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

 

[Uwek]

27 July 1808 - HMS Pickle schooner wrecked on the Chipiona shoal at the entrance to Cadiz as she was entering carrying dispatches. .

HMS Pickle was a topsail schooner of the Royal Navy. She was originally a civilian vessel named Sting, of six guns, that Lord Hugh Seymour purchased to use as a tender on the Jamaica station. Pickle was at the Battle of Trafalgar, and though she was too small to take part in the fighting, Pickle was the first ship to bring the news of Nelson's victory to Great Britain. She also participated in a notable single-ship action when she captured the French privateer Favorite in 1807. Pickle was wrecked in 1808, but without loss of life. In 1995 five replica Baltic packet schooners were constructed at the Grumant & Askold shipyard in Russia. One, named "Alevtina & Tuy", was in 2005 renamed "Schooner Pickle", although not a replica of HMS Pickle, to represent the 1805 vessel for the 200-year Trafalgar celebration. Retaining her adopted name, she is berthed in Hull Marina on the Humber. The vessel, owned by Historic Motor and Sail (https://historicmotorandsail.org.uk) is kept as a representation of the original Pickle and can be seen at ports throughout the East coast of England during the summer months.




Scale: 1:48. A full hull and rigged exhibition style model of HM Schooner ‘Pickle’ (circa 1800). A small vessel of 127 tons and 73 feet in length, the ‘Pickle’ was schooner rigged, that is she had two masts both rigged fore and aft which gave a good turn of speed even in unfavourable winds. Such rigs were rare in Europe during this time, but much more common across the Atlantic; the Pickle had been built in Bermuda and taken into the navy in 1800. She had taken little part in the actual Battle of Trafalgar, not unusual for such a small vessel, but played an important part in the aftermath, rescuing 120-130 men and one woman from the water. Under the command of Lieutenant John Lapenotiere, the ‘Pickle’s’ claim to fame was as the despatch vessel carrying the news of Nelson’s victory at the Battle of Trafalgar back to England. Setting sail on the 29 October, 1805, Lapenotiere made a fast passage in strong and favourable winds reaching the port of Falmouth in eight days. He then took land transport for the 260 miles to London, arriving on the 5 November.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/208949.html#Fdv0ozKO1Zf0hdhm.99


Origins
Originally named Sting, Pickle was built in 1799 in Bermuda, where this type of vessel was known as a Bermuda sloop. Vice-Admiral Lord Hugh Seymour, the commander in chief on the Jamaica Station, formally purchased Sting in December 1800 for £2,500, after having leased her for some time at £10 per day. His purchase was in defiance of orders not to purchase vessels. However, faced with a fait accompli, the Admiralty issued an order in February 1801 that her name be changed to Pickle.

Interestingly, between April and June 1800, on the Leeward Island station, a Pickle participated in the capture of four prizes and a recapture. Sting may have been known as Pickle on station long before the Admiralty made her name change official; the London Gazette seems to have no mention of a Sting during this period. That said, the Naval Chronicle numbers the "schooner Sting" among the vessels escorting the convoy in which Lowestoffe wrecked on 10 August 1801. The Admiralty admonished Sting's commander after September 1801, Lieutenant Thomas Thrush, to cease referring to her as Sting and to refer to her as Pickle.

HMS Pickle at Trafalgar

During the Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805), Pickle and the other small vessels kept well back from the fighting, as a single broadside from a ship of the line would have sunk her instantly. Pickle herself was stationed to the north-west of the weather line, where Nelsonwas leading HMS Victory into battle.

In the later stages of the battle, Pickle, Entreprenante, and the boats of Prince and Swiftsure went to the rescue of the crew of the French ship Achille, which caught fire and subsequently exploded. Together they rescued two women and somewhere between 100 and 200 men French guns "cooking off" as they became heated killed two or three seamen in other boats.

One of the women was floating, completely naked, holding onto an oar; she was brought on board the schooner wearing a pair of seaman's trousers that a seaman on the boat that picked her up had taken off and given to her. Later she recounted how she had had to fight off a number of men who had tried to take her oar.

The prisoners in Pickle outnumbered her crew three-to-one, and were heard plotting to take her over to take her into Cadiz. Pickle's crew kept a particularly sharp watch over the prisoners,and nothing happened.



Pickle was the first ship to bring the news of Nelson's victory at Trafalgar to Great Britain, arriving at Falmouth on 4 November 1805, after a hard voyage in bad weather. Vice Admiral Collingwood, who had assumed command after the death of Nelson, chose her to carry his dispatches describing the battle and announcing Nelson's death. Collingwood sent Pickle, captained by John Richards Lapenotière, back to Britain with the dispatches telling of the great victory. This was a signal honour for any junior officer, as it almost guaranteed promotion. After arriving in Falmouth, Lapenotière took a chaise to London to deliver the dispatches to the Admiralty, stopping 21 times to change horses. The Admiralty duly promoted him to Commander for this service, and the Committee of the Lloyd's Patriotic Fundgave him a sword worth 100 guineas and £500 in cash. The route that Lapenotière travelled is now known as The Trafalgar Way.


A replica of HMS Pickle, a Bermuda sloop (built as the merchantman Sting), which carried the news of British victory back to Britain from the Battle of Trafalgar. The ship is of a type traditional to Bermuda, and many were commissioned from Bermudian builders or bought-up from trade by the Royal Navy, first to counter French privateers, then as Advice boats.

Model of the HMS Pickle in scale 1:64 from Jotika

http://www.jotika-ltd.com/Pages/1024768/Manuals_Pickle.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Pickle_(1800)

 

[Uwek]

27 July 1862 - American passenger steamer Golden Gate caught fire off the coast of Mexico in 1862 on a voyage from San Francisco to Panama, 204 people died



A tinted line engraving of the New York-built merchant steamship Golden Gate, produced for ‘Stuart’s Naval and Mail Steamers of the United States’ (1863). She is shown under steam with her sails furled, in a flat calm. A long pennant streaming from her mizzen mast, smoke billowing backwards from both funnels and the spray from her paddlewheel imply that she is making swift progress through the water. The Golden Gate caught fire off the coast of Mexico in 1862, on a voyage from San Francisco to Panama, the flames spreading rapidly because she was built of wood. She was carrying 242 passengers and a crew of 95, of whom only 100 apparently survived. Some of her substantial cargo of silver and gold was salvaged by divers. (H. Parker and F.C. Bowen, ‘Mail and Passenger Steamships of the XIXth Century’, London, 1928, p. 125). The fineness of the engraving suggests that this may be the work of James Parsons Major, described in Mantle Fielding’s ‘Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors and Engravers’ (1983) as an Englishman born in Somerset in 1818, who went to the United States as a banknote engraver in 1830 and died in New Jersey in 1900. He was in charge of the engraving of American banknotes for over fifty-five years and resided in Brooklyn until 1872. Mounted with PAH0271.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/140219.html#htHvM544uW17IJuA.99

Between San Francisco and Panama, about 15 miles from Manzanillo, Mexico, fire was discovered in the engine room, and the vessel was headed for what is now called Playa de Oro to beach. Many of the passengers sought refuge in the stern, but the flames spread in that direction, and when boats were launched in the heavy surf the occupants were crushed against the ship or drowned; the ship broke up in the surf. Reports of between 175 and 223 passengers and crew lost their lives, together with the baggage, mail, and nearly all the cargo of $1.4 million in specie. Survivors arrived in San Francisco in August, and the Daily Alta California published reports of the disaster from those survivors and from Capt. W.W. Hudson and Capt. R.H. Pearson.



A hand-coloured lithograph of the burning of the New York-built merchant steamship Golden Gate (1851), which caught fire off the coast of Mexico in 1862 on a voyage from San Francisco to Panama. She was carrying 242 passengers and a crew of 95, of whom only 100 apparently survived. Some of her substantial cargo of silver and gold was salvaged by divers. (H. Parker and F.C. Bowen, ‘Mail and Passenger Steamships of the XIXth Century’, London, 1928, p. 125). This dramatic lithograph shows garish yellow and orange flames sweeping across her wooden decks, causing panicked passengers and crew to jump overboard. Three packed lifeboats in the foreground pull away from the conflagration. Mounted with PAH0272.A hand-coloured lithograph of the burning of the New York-built merchant steamship Golden Gate (1851), which caught fire off the coast of Mexico in 1862 on a voyage from San Francisco to Panama. She was carrying 242 passengers and a crew of 95, of whom only 100 apparently survived. Some of her substantial cargo of silver and gold was salvaged by divers. (H. Parker and F.C. Bowen, ‘Mail and Passenger Steamships of the XIXth Century’, London, 1928, p. 125). In this dramatic lithograph, garish yellow and orange flames sweep across her wooden decks, causing panicked passengers and crew to jump overboard. Three packed lifeboats in the foreground pull away from the conflagration. Mounted with PAH0272.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/140218.html#tJhotWzRLKmVdHtA.99


https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Gate_(Schiff)
http://www.maritimeheritage.org/passengers/gg072762.html

 

[Uwek]

Other events on 27 July


1549 – The Jesuit priest Francis Xavier's ship reaches Japan.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Xavier

1663 - The English Parliament passes the second Navigation Act requiring that all goods bound for the American colonies have to be sent in English ships from English ports. After the Acts of Union 1707, Scotland would be included in the Act.

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

1703 - Squadron under Rear-Admiral Dilkes destroyed French ships off Granville.

1711 - Jamaica squadron under Commodore James Littleton captured a Spanish galleon.

1740 – Birth of Jeanne Baré, French explorer (d. 1803)

Jeanne Baret (sometimes spelled Baré or Barret) (July 27, 1740 – August 5, 1807) was a member of Louis Antoine de Bougainville's expedition on the ships La Boudeuse and Étoile in 1766–1769. Baret is recognized as the first woman to have completed a voyage of circumnavigation of the globe.


Boudeuse arriving in Matavai in 1767.

Jeanne Baret joined the expedition disguised as a man, calling herself Jean Baret. She enlisted as valet and assistant to the expedition's naturalist, Philibert Commerçon (anglicized as Commerson), shortly before Bougainville's ships sailed from France. According to Bougainville's account, Baret was herself an expert botanist.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanne_Baret
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Boudeuse_(1766)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_fluyt_Étoile_(1767)

1776 - During the American Revolution, the Continental brig, Reprisal, commanded by Capt. Lambert Wickes, transports the newly appointed commercial and naval agent, William Bingham, to Martinique. While en route, the British sloop-of-war, HMS Shark, approaches the brig at the entrance to St. Pierre Harbor. After a sharp encounter and inconclusive action, HMS Shark withdraws and Reprisal enters port.


HMS Shark from NMM

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Reprisal_(1776)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Shark_(1776)

1811 - Boats of HMS Active (38), Cptn. James Alexander Gordon, captured 18 vessels and destroyed 10, in a creek of Ragosinza, without the loss of a British man.

1816 – Battle of Negro Fort: The battle ends when a hot shot cannonball fired by US Navy Gunboat No. 154 explodes the Fort's Powder Magazine, killing apx. 275. It is considered the deadliest single cannon shot in US history.

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

1885 - Launch of HMS Icarus was a Mariner-class composite screw gunvessel of 8 guns, and the third Royal Navy vessel to carry the name. She was launched 27 July 1885 at Devonport and sold in 1904.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Icarus_(1885)

1862 - During the Civil War, the side-wheel steamer, USS Yankee, commanded by William Gibson, and the side-wheel tug, USS Satellite, commanded by Master Amos Foster, capture schooner J.W. Sturges in Chippoak Creek, Va.

1916 – Death of Charles Fryatt, English captain (b. 1872)

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

1943 - USS Scamp (SS 277) torpedoes and sinks the Japanese submarine (I 168), which had sunk USS Yorktown (CV 5) and USS Hammann (DD 412) at the Battle of Midway, south-south-west of Truk. USS Scamp also damages the Japanese oiler, Kazahaya.



USS Scamp (SS-277), a Gato-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the scamp grouper, a member of the Serranidae family.
Her keel was laid down on March 6, 1942 at the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine. She was launched on July 20, 1942 sponsored by Miss Katherine Eugenia McKee, and commissioned on September 18, 1942 with Commander W.G. Ebert in command.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Scamp_(SS-277)

1987 – RMS Titanic Inc. begins the first expedited salvage of wreckage of the RMS Titanic.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premier_Exhibitions#RMS_Titanic_Inc.

 

[Uwek]

28 July 1566 - The disaster at Visby - most of danish fleet distroyed in heavy strom

The historical background for the disaster is a battle at sea during the Nordic 7 Years War. On July 26th the Danish-Lübeck fleet had fought the Swedish fleet at the northern tip of Öland. After a furious battle (but with no considerable loss of ships) the Danish-Lübeck fleet headed for Visby to bury a Danish nobleman that had been killed during the battle. It was the commander of the Danish ship “Akilles” – Kristoffer Mogensøn – whose head had been shot off. As a nobleman he had the right to be buried in sacred ground. Gotland was Danish territory at this time. The fleet anchored at the roadstead outside Visby In spite of warnings from the lord of Visborg castle Jens Bille and reservations of several of the fleet commanders.


The disaster on Visby roadsted as illustrated in a 17th century copper engraving from’King Frederich II’s Chronicle (detail). The masts of 2nd flagship Hannibal can be seen at ‘4’ right besides the town.

All high ranking officers participated in the funeral that took place in Visby cathedral on July 28th. During the night (after everyone had returned to the ships) a horrendous storm broke out with strong winds from the northwest. Cables were torn or cut and many of the ships capsized, sank or drifted towards the beach where they were broken to pieces. The storm lasted for 5-6 hours.

The sun rose upon a frightening sight in the morning of July 29th 1566. The losses were enormous. Only 17 Danish and 8 Lübeck ships had managed to stay afloat and away from the coast. Many masts had been cut and many cannons thrown over board in the desperate attempt to save the ships. Eleven Danish ships and three Lübeck ships were lost. The beaches were full of the bodies of the thousands of drowned people. Sources estimate that between 6000 and 7000 people drowned that night. This was likely to be one of the greatest disasters at sea in the Baltic ever.



The Danes lost the following ships: Samson (flagship), Hannibal (2nd flagship), Merkurius, Akilles, Engelen, Floris, Solen, Køgehøgen, Papegøjen, Gribben, Engelske Fortun and Hertug Adolfs Pinke. The Lübeck fleet lost the Morian (flagship), Josva and Meerweib.
The drowned included the Danish admirals Hans Lauritsøn and Jens Truidsøn Ulfstand and the Lübeck admiral Bartholomew Thinnappel (who was also Mayor of Lübeck).

http://www.magotland.se/1057
http://www.magotland.se/1099
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_26_July_1566

 

[Uwek]

28 July 1588 - Fireship attack on Spanish Armada / Battle of Gravelines

On 27 July, the Armada anchored off Calais in a tightly-packed defensive crescent formation, not far from Dunkirk, where Parma's army, reduced by disease to 16,000, was expected to be waiting, ready to join the fleet in barges sent from ports along the Flemish coast. Communication had proven to be far more difficult than anticipated, and it only now became known that this army had yet to be equipped with sufficient transport or assembled in the port, a process which would take at least six days, while Medina Sidonia waited at anchor; and that Dunkirk was blockaded by a Dutch fleet of thirty flyboats under Lieutenant-Admiral Justinus of Nassau.[41] Parma wanted the Armada to send its light pataches to drive away the Dutch, but Medina Sidonia could not do this because he feared that he might need these ships for his own protection. There was no deep-water port where the fleet might shelter – always acknowledged as a major difficulty for the expedition – and the Spanish found themselves vulnerable as night drew on.


English fireships are launched at the Spanish armada off Calais

The Dutch flyboats mainly operated in the shallow waters off Zeeland and Flanders that larger warships with a deeper draught, like the Spanish and English galleons, could not safely enter. The Dutch therefore enjoyed an unchallenged naval advantage in these waters, even though their navy was inferior in naval armament. An essential element of the plan of invasion, as it was eventually implemented, was the transportation of a large part of Parma's Army of Flanders as the main invasion force in unarmed barges across the English Channel. These barges would be protected by the large ships of the Armada. However, to get to the Armada, they would have to cross the zone dominated by the Dutch navy, where the Armada could not go. This problem seems to have been overlooked by the Spanish planners, but it was insurmountable. Because of this obstacle, England never was in any real danger, at least from the Duke of Parma and the Army of Flanders. Because of the eventual English victory at sea, the Army of Flanders escaped the drowning death Justinus and his men had in mind for them, ready to fight another day.



At midnight on 28 July, the English set alight eight fireships, sacrificing regular warships by filling them with pitch, brimstone, some gunpowder and tar, and cast them downwind among the closely anchored vessels of the Armada. The Spanish feared that these uncommonly large fireships were "hellburners", specialised fireships filled with large gunpowder charges, which had been used to deadly effect at the Siege of Antwerp. Two were intercepted and towed away, but the remainder bore down on the fleet. Medina Sidonia's flagship and the principal warships held their positions, but the rest of the fleet cut their anchor cables and scattered in confusion. No Spanish ships were burnt, but the crescent formation had been broken, and the fleet now found itself too far to leeward of Calais in the rising southwesterly wind to recover its position. The English closed in for battle.

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

 

[Uwek]

28 July 1806 - HMS Mars (74), Cptn. Robert Dudley Oliver, captured Rhin (44), Capt. Chesneau, in the Bay of Biscay

HMS Mars was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Mars-class of the Royal Navy, launched on 25 October 1794 at Deptford Dockyard.
The two ships of the Mars class were the first large 74s since the Valiant class of 1759, carrying the heavier armament of 24 pdrs on their upper decks, as opposed to the 18 pdrs of the middling and common classes. The other one was the HMS Centaur, Builder: Woolwich Dockyard and launched 14 March 1797, Fate: Broken up, 1819





Scale: 1:48. A block model of the ‘Mars’ (1794), a 74-gun, two-decker ship of the line. The model differs somewhat in style from the usual block design models, in that it is both decked and equiped, pierced for gunports and has detail upperworks and rigging. HMS ‘Mars’ was built at Chatham Dockyard between 1788 and 1794, to the design of Sir John Henslow. It was a 74-gun ship, combining the best effective gunpowder with a reasonably small and cheap hull. The ‘Mars’ had 24-pound instead of 18-pound guns on her upper deck and so was rated as a ‘large class’ ‘74’. In 1795 the ‘Mars’ took part in Cornwallis’s retreat against a superior French force in the English Channel. The crew were involved in the 1797 mutiny at Spithead. In 1798 it captured the French 64-gun ship ‘Hercule’ in a celebrated action at the Passage du Raz. In 1805 it fought at Trafalgar under Captain George Duff, who was killed in the action. The ship was finally broken up for scrap in 1823.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/66538.html#ejiHDDDBGlFWrsxp.99


Scale: 1:48. A contemporary full hull block model of the 74-gun third-rate ship ‘Mars (1794), built in the solid form of ‘bread and butter’ construction. These rather robust and basic ‘block’ models were probably made after an order was issued by the Navy Board to all of the shipwrights in the royal dockyards. It stated that a ‘block or solid’ should be sent to accompany the draught (plan) for discussion upon new designs of warship. These models were fairly quick to make and would withstand the rough ride to and from London, unlike their more fragile plank on frame counterparts. The ‘Mars’ was launched at Deptford dockyard and measured 176 feet along the gun deck by 49 feet in the beam. It captured the French 74-gun ‘Hercule’ in 1798 and took part in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. On each occasion it lost its captain, the two officers being Alexander Hood and George Duff. It was finally broken up in 1823.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/66532.html#zmt1OLgsfRx13JUj.99




http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-329627;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=M



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Mars_(1794)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars-class_ship_of_the_line
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-329627;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=M