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

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
18 February 1800 - The Battle of the Malta Convoy
HMS Alexander (74), Lt. William Harrington (Acting), and HMS Success (32), Cptn. Shuldham Peard, captured Genereux (74) off Malta.


Généreux was a French Téméraire-class 74-gun ship of the line. After capture she completed her career as part of the Royal Navy as HMS Généreux.


Coloured lithograph (PAF4706 is an uncoloured impression). Le Genereux and HMS Leander are depicted after the action. Le Genereux, in port side view, is flying the French flag at the main mast and stern, gun ports are open, all sails are holed. The starboard bow of HMS Leander is visible on the right-hand side of the image. She appears to have lost her masts, tattered sails are draped on the decks and hang from the bowspit. Flotsam is visible in the calm sea. While carrying Nelson's despatches announcing the victory in the Battle of the Nile, HMS Leander was captured by the French Le Genereux on 18th August 1798. The crew displayed exceptionally brave resistence. The commander, Captain Thomas Boulden Thompson, and Nelson's flag commander, Edward Berry, who was on board, were afterwards knighted. Le Genereux was eventually captured and added to the Royal Navy in 1800.

History
She was launched in 1785 at Rochefort. Under Louis-Jean-Nicolas Lejoille, she was one of only two ships to escape the British attack at the Battle of the Nile in August 1798, along with Guillaume Tell.



Shortly after the battle of the Nile, on 18 August 1798, she fell in with a smaller British ship of the line, HMS Leander of 50 guns. After a long battle, the Généreux captured the Leander, with the Leander suffering 35 killed and 57 wounded and the Généreux suffered around 100 killed and 180 wounded.

In March 1799, Généreux escorted a convoy to Corfu. En route, her captain, Lejoille, decided to bombard Brindisi. He was killed in the ensuing exchange of fire, and lieutenant Claude Touffet took over. The city fell on 3 March after a two-hour battle.

On 6 February 1800, Généreux, under Captain Renaudin, departed from Toulon leading a squadron comprising the frigate Badine, the corvettes Sans Pareille and Fauvette, and the fluyt Ville de Marseille, under Rear-Admiral Jean-Baptiste Perrée. In the morning of 18 February, an English fleet chased the French squadron off Lampedusa island. In the ensuing Battle of the Malta Convoy, Perrée was killed, and Généreux covered the squadron, allowing Badine, Sans Pareille and Fauvette to escape, before striking her colours. Her battle ensign, a 16 m by 8.3 m tricolour, was given to the city of Norwich by Berry and Nelson. The flag has been preserved; its size and completeness marking it as a special artifact of the period.

She became HMS Généreux and she was in Minorca in 1801 when she press-ganged a crew from the Walmesley. She engaged Spanish ships and she was intended to go to Egypt. Storm damage prevented this so she patrolled off what is now Libya. After taking part in an unsuccessful attack on the French island of Elba, she set sail from Minorca for Spithead after peace was declared. She arrived at Spithead on 27 July 1802. She was finally broken up in 1816.


Battle of the Nile (PAF4700)


HMS Alexander was a 74-gun third-rate of the Royal Navy. She was launched at Deptford Dockyard on 8 October 1778. During her career she was captured by the French, and later recaptured by the British. She fought at the Nile in 1798, and was broken up in 1819. She was named after Alexander the Great.


Launch of HMS Alexander at Deptford in 1778 (BHC1875), by John Cleveley the Younger (NMM) - HMS Alexander is the ship still on the slipway, centre background


HMS Foudroyant was an 80-gun third rate of the Royal Navy, one of only two British-built 80-gun ships of the period (the other was HMS Caesar. Foudroyant was built in the dockyard at Plymouth Dock (a.k.a. Devonport) and launched on 31 March 1798.[Note 2] Foudroyant served Nelson as his flagship from 6 June 1799 until the end of June 1801.


A model of Foudroyant in Monmouth Museum

Foudroyant had a long and successful career, and although she was not involved in any major fleet action, she did provide invaluable service to numerous admirals throughout her 17 years on active service. In her last years she became a training vessel for boys.


HMS Northumberland was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at the yards of Barnard, Deptford and launched on 2 February 1798.


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


Success destroys the Santa Catalina, 16 March 1782



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Généreux_(1785)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Alexander_(1778)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Foudroyant_(1798)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Northumberland_(1798)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Success_(1781)

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
18 February 1801 - HMS Penguin (16), Robert Mansel, engaged a French corvette (24) and two merchantmen (16) in the South Atlantic.


The Dutch brig Komeet was launched in 1789 at Amsterdam. HMS Unicorn captured her on the Irish station in 1795. The British Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Comeet; it renamed her HMS Penguin in 1798. It sold her in 1808.



Dutch service
In 1791 Komeet sailed to Cape of Good Hope, in company with the Dutch naval corvette Scipio, leaving on 17 December 1791. Scipio arrived on 27 March 1792 and Komeet arrived on 4 April.

In May 1795, Komeet, under the command of Captain-Lieutenant Mynheer Claris, and Scipio, under the command of de Jong, set out with a convoy of nine East Indiamen for Europe. The problem was that France had occupied the Dutch Republic and its successor the Batavian Republic was now a French ally and thus an enemy of Great Britain. The Dutch captains decided to sail via the Shetland Islands to ports in then-neutral Norway.

On 28 August 1795, the convoy encountered Unicorn, in company with Diana and Seahorse. Unicorn captured the Dutch East Indiaman Cromhout or Crumhout. The Cromhout's capture resulted in at least £40,000 in prize money to be distributed among her captors. Then Unicorn parted company with the rest of the squadron and after a chase of 13 hours captured Komeet. Captain Thomas Williams of Unicorn described her as a remarkably fine vessel, only four years old, sails extremely well. She was armed with 18 English 9-pounder guns and was provisioned with water and food for 110 men for a nine-month cruise.[5] The Royal Navy took her into service as Comeet. Scipio and the remaining seven Indiamen reached neutral Norway.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with stern board outline and some decoration, the sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for Penguin (captured 1795), a captured Dutch brig. The plan illustrates her as fitted in her British configuration as a 16-gun Brig Sloop although she retains her Dutch name of Comeet on the plan. The plan includes a table of the mast and yard dimensions. Signed by Edward Tippett [Master Shipwright, Portsmouth Dockyard, 1793-1799].

British service
French Revolutionary Wars
The Royal Navy commissioned her in May 1796 under Commander John King Pulling. Although some records suggest that she was renamed to Penguin on 2 October 1798,[1] she was already sailing under the name Penguin at the time that she captured her first prize in 1796.

On 10 April, Unicorn recaptured the brig Thames while in company with Penguin and the hired armed cutter Fox (the third). At some point between 28 March and 19 April, Penguin saved the crew of the Prince of Wales, which had foundered on her way from Galway to Cork.

On 18 September Penguin captured the brig Mary, of Liverpool, after a chase of 10 hours. The French privateer lugger Taupe à L'Oeuil (or Tap à L'Oeil), of eight guns and 42 men, had captured her 5 days earlier. Discovering that Mary was faster than their own vessel, the privateers exchanged vessels, putting all their English prisoners in the lugger, after transferring their guns, small arms and ammunition to Mary, which they renamed Taupe à L'Oeuil. At the time that Penguin captured the French privateers, they had been out of Brestfor 18 days and had taken four prizes, all of which Pulling was pleased to report Penguin had recaptured. The four were:

• Iris, Samuel Walters master, of and from Swansea, which had been sailing to Cork with a cargo of coal, taken on 10 September and retaken two days later;
• Betsey, William Biggs master, from Exeter, belonging to Teignmouth, sailing to Milford with a cargo of pottery, and ransomed. She had been taken on 12 September. When Penguin recaptured Mary, she also liberated the ransomer and the bond that had been paid.
• Mary, John Laughton master, from Leghorn, belonging to Liverpool, sailing to Bristol with a cargo of merchandise.
• Liverpool, Underwood master, from Lisbon, belonging to Liverpool, sailing to Bristol with a cargo of cotton. She had been taken and recaptured on 18 September. Penguin shared the prize money for Liverpool with Fox and Santa Margitta.

On 24 May 1797 Penguin was off The Lizard with a convoy sailing to Cork when she encountered the French lugger privateer Terrible. After a short chase Penguin was able to capture her quarry, which was armed with four guns and had a crew of 25 men. She was a week out of Morlaix but had not captured anything.

Penguin had one more notable action under Pulling's command. On 21 August she saw two vessels sailing towards her. They were flying the English flag, but then revealed themselves to be French. Within half-an-hour of an exchange of fire the rearmost struck. However, the seas were too rough for Pulling to take possession, and the other vessel was larger, so Pulling set off after her. A running fight lasting one hour and 40 minutes ensued before the second French vessel struck. She turned out to be the French privateer corvette Oiseau, pierced for 20 guns but carrying sixteen 9-pounder guns and two long French 12-pounder guns. She had a crew of 119 men, of whom one was killed and five wounded in the pursuit.

Pulling then went back to recapture the first vessel, which was trying to escape. She turned out to be Express, of Dartmouth, which Oiseaux had captured. She had been the French privateer Approcrate, of 12 guns, and had been captured a few months earlier.

Oiseaux was quite new, having been launched in June and on her maiden cruise out of Nantes. She had been at sea for 34 days and had captured three prizes, including Express.

Between September and December, Penguin briefly became Admiral R. Kingsmill's flagship. In January 1798 Commander Bendall Littlehales replaced Pulling. Littlehales continued on the Irish station until 15 May 1800 when he was promoted to post captain. His replacement on 22 July, was Commander Robert Mansel.

In February 1801 Mansel sailed Penguin for the Cape of Good Hope. On the way, on 18 February, Penguin engaged in an inconclusive engagement with three unidentified French ships near the Canary Islands. The three consisted of a corvette of 24 guns, and two privateers, each of 18 guns. Mansel sailed to meet the three and in the subsequent engagement managed to cause the corvette to strike her colours. However, he was unable to take possession as the other two French vessels continue firing. Eventually they succeeded in causing great damage to Penguin's rigging, essentially crippling her. By this time it was dark, and though Mansel and his crew stood ready to fight off boarders, the French took the opportunity to sail off. The crew worked to effect repairs and in the morning Penguin attempted to follow the French vessels, but was unable to prevent them reaching Teneriffe. In the engagement Penguin had several men wounded. The day after the engagement, Penguin detained a Swedish East Indiaman, which then carried his letter describing the action. A later account suggests one of the wounded men may have died subsequently.

Lieutenant the Honourable Duncombe Pleydell-Bouverie was promoted to Commander on 14 February 1801, but did not take command of Penguin until 28 August. At this time Penguin was on the Irish station again. Bouverie was promoted to post captain in Braaveon 2 April 1802. His replacement, in June, was Lieutenant James M'Farland (or McFarlane). Between May and November 1803 Penguin was refitting at Portsmouth.

Napoleonic Wars
Commander George Morris recommissioned Penguin in October 1803 for the West Coast of Africa. Here, on 24 March, her boats destroyed a French privateer. Penguin had driven the privateer on the bar of the Senegal River on 17 March but could not get close enough to destroy her, while the surf did not do the job either. On 24 March two more French privateers showed up and attempted to rescue the stranded vessel. Rather than permit this, Morris sent in his boats, which were able to set her on fire. The British sustained no casualties in the affair.

The French privateer was the Renommee, under the command of Citizen Renaud. She was a large vessel, armed with twelve 6-pounder guns, two of which were still aboard her when the British destroyed her, and two 9-pounder guns. She had a crew of 89 men. She belonged to Senegal, but had come from Cayenne via Gorée.

Morris sailed Penguin to the Jamaica station. There, on 22 February 1805, Penguin captured 797 bottles of quicksilver on the Spanish ship Emeralda. Then, sometime between 1 March and 1 June 1805, she captured the Spanish schooner Santa Severina, which was carrying pitch and tar.

Next, on 25 January 1806, Penguin was in company with Magicienne in the Mona Passage when Magicienne captured the Spanish packet ship Carmen, of two guns and 18 men. During 1806, Penguin also captured the Spanish privateer Marsellois, of three guns and 55 men.

After the Battle of San Domingo on 6 February, their captains drove the flagship, Impérial, and the Diomède, on shore between Nizao and Point Catalan, their hulls broadside to the beach and their bottoms stove in by the reefs that lay offshore, to prevent their capture.

On 8 February, Admiral Sir John Duckworth sent boats from Acasta and Magicienne to the wrecks. Boarding unopposed, the boat parties removed the remaining French crewmen as prisoners and set both ships on fire. Penguin shared by agreement in Magicienne's prize money from the action.

In June, Penguin was under the command of Commander John Langdale Smith. On 16 June she captured the sloop Two Sisters, while still on the Jamaica station. In August Morris took command of Elk, on the Jamaica station, replacing Smith.

On 18 August Penguin was in company with Franchise, Magicienne, and Veteran as they escorted a fleet of 109 merchantmen from Jamaica to Britain. The convoy cleared the Gulf of Florida but between 19 and 23 August they ran into a gale that did not fully abate until 25 August. Initial reports had nine vessels foundering, with the crew of some being saved; later reports put the loss at 13 merchant vessels foundered and two abandoned but later salvaged. Franchise lost her fore-mast and main-top-mast but together with Penguinmanaged to bring 71 merchant vessels back to England. (Others arrived earlier or later, and some went to America.) Magicienne, however, was so badly damaged that she had to put in at Bermuda for repairs.

Fate
Penguin was paid off to ordinary in second-half 1806. She was offered for sale on 27 July 1808 at Chatham, and sold that same day.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_brig_Komeet_(1789)
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-323820;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=P

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
18 February 1807 - bomb vessel HMS Prospero (1800/1803 - 8), William KING, and HMS Speedwell (1780 - 16) foundered off Dieppe with the loss of most of the crews


HMS Prospero was the mercantile Albion, launched at South Shields in 1800. The British Royal Navy purchased her in 1803 and converted her to a bomb vessel. She foundered in 1807 with the loss of almost her entire crew.



Albion
It has not proved possible to identify Albion in either Lloyd's Register or the Register of Shipping. Both show an Albion, of 412 tons (bm), launched at Shields in 1800. However, both also show this Albion as still trading with the West Indies as late as 1809.

HMS Prospero
The Navy renamed Albion HMS Prospero as it had just launched a 74-gun HMS Albion. Prospero underwent fitting out at Deptford Dockyard between 5 November 1803 and 24 February 1804. Prospero, Hecla, and Meteor came into Portsmouth on 28 December 1803 to be fitted as bomb vessels, which work was to be done expeditiously.

Commander Salusbury Pryce Humphreys commissioned her in January 1804. In June Commander Charles Jones replaced Humphreys. On 9 April 1806 Prospero sent a vessel under American colours into the Downs.

Commander Gustavus Stupart then commanded Prospero in the Downs between 19 June 1805 and 25 August 1806. On 5 June 1806 she recaptured Autumn, Philip Pank, master.

Commander William King assumed command in September 1806.

Fate
Prospero was caught in a storm and wrecked near Dieppe on 18 February 1807. Only six members of her crew survived.




HMS Speedwell was a mercantile vessel that the Admiralty purchased in 1780. During the American Revolutionary War she served at Gibraltar during the Great Siege. In 1796 she was converted to a brig. Although she did capture two French privateers and participate in an incident in which the Royal Navy violated Swedish neutrality, her service in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars was apparently relatively uneventful. A storm in February 1807 destroyed her with the loss of her entire crew.



Fate
On 18 February 1807 Robertson was still her captain when a storm drove Speedwell onto the shore near Dieppe. There were no survivors.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Prospero_(1803)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Speedwell_(1780)

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
18 February 1807 - HMS Magpie, a Royal Navy Cuckoo-class schooner, grounded on the coast of France, which led to her capture


HMS Magpie was a Royal Navy Cuckoo-class schooner that William Rowe of Newcastle built and launched on 17 May 1806. Like all her class, she was armed with four 12-pounder carronades and had a crew of 20. She had been in British service for less than a year when she grounded on the coast of France, which led to her capture. She then served in the French navy until 1828, including a few years as a prison ship.



Capture
Lieutenant Edward Johnson commissioned her in 1806. Fleeing a storm she attempted to anchor near Les Sept Îsles on the coast of Brittany. This proved impossible and she took shelter in a bay near Perros. When Magpie anchored, she grounded. As French troops approached in boats she surrendered. The troops took her and her crew captive on 18 February 1807.


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

French service
The French took her into service as Magpye and commissioned her at Brest under lieutenant de vaisseau Arnous-Dessaulsays, on 16 May 1807.

By 1809, she was carrying messages for Admiral Willaumez when on 21 February he attempted to escape Brest with a large French fleet. The British blockade squadron drove them to take shelter under the Île d'Aix. Lieutenant Arnous commanded Magpye for 38 months before removing to the corvette Echo. His biographer avers that during this time Magpye escorted convoys in the Channel and had numerous engagements with the British without, however, suffering any harm or casualties.

On 19 June 1811, Captain Proteau took command of the 17th coastal squadron at Brest with Magpye as his "flagship", while between June and December Magpie was under the command of Lieutenant de vaisseauClémendot. On 17 August Proteau became commander of the 3rd squadron of the Imperial coastal flotilla at Boulogne, including the 17th squadron. He removed to the pram Ville-de-Rouen. The flotilla was laid up in March 1812.

On 26 July 1814 the French changed Magpye's name to Colombe. During the Hundred Days her name reverted to Magpye, only to revert to Colombe on 15 July 1815. She was paid off on 20 August but recommissioned 5 April 1816 for Senegal. By October 1816 she was listed as an 80-ton transport.

Around 1820 she participated at Brest in trials of three new types of rudder. In 1821 she may have been engaged in fisheries protection.

In 1823 she reverted to being a schooner. In December 1823 she sailed from Lorient to Rochefort under the command of enseigne de vaisseaux Dagorne, and arrived in January 1824. A French Parliamentary report from 1826 notes that she is mentioned in the national accounts for 1824 as being laid up at Rochefort with a two-man crew.

Fate
In 1826 Colombe became a prison ship at Brest. She was broken up at Rochefort in August 1828



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


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

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

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

James also remarks that:

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

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Magpie_(1806)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuckoo-class_schooner
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-305548;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=C

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
18 February 1817 - HMS Alceste (1806 - 38), Cptn. Murray Maxwell, wrecked off Island of Pulo Leat, China Seas.


HMS Alceste was built at Rochefort in 1804 for the French Navy as Minerve, an Armide-class frigate. In the spring of 1806, prior to her capture, she engaged HMS Pallas, then under Lord Cochrane. During the duel she ran aground but Cochrane had to abort his attack when French reinforcements appeared.


An Armide-class frigate similar to Alceste, illustrated by François-Geoffroi Roux

The British seized her in an action on 25 September 1806, and the Royal Navy took Minerve into service as Alceste in March 1807; Alceste then continued to serve throughout the Napoleonic Wars. On 29 November 1811, Alceste led a British squadron that captured a French military convoy carrying more than 200 cannon to Trieste in the Balkans. After this loss, Napoleon changed the direction of his planned eastward expansion in 1812 from the Balkans to Russia. The British historian James Henderson has suggested that the two events were linked, and may have changed the course of the war.

In 1814, Alceste was converted to a troopship and used to transport British soldiers to North America during the War of 1812. Following the Treaty of Paris in 1815, Alceste carried Lord Amherst on his 1816 diplomatic mission to China. On the return journey, she struck a reef in the Java Sea; her wreck was subsequently plundered and burned by Malayan pirates.



Construction and armament
Alceste was built to a design by Pierre Rolland for the French Navy as Minerve, an Armide-Class frigate. Her construction began at Rochefort in May 1804, she was launched in September 1805 and finished that November. Measuring 152 feet 5 inches (46.46 m) along her gundeck with a beam of 40 feet 0 inches (12.19 m) and a depth in the hold of 12 feet 8 inches (3.86 m); she had a capacity of 1,097 71⁄94 tons burthen. When first fitted out, Minerve carried twenty-eight 18 pounders (8.2 kg) as her main battery and fourteen 32-pounder (15 kg) carronades on her quarter-deck; her forecastle had two 9-pounder (4.1 kg) long guns and two 32-pounder (15 kg) carronades.


Lines & Profile (ZAZ2294)


French frigate Pomone engaging with Alceste and Active on 29 November 1811. Painting by Pierre Julien Gilbert

Fate
With the many uncharted shoals and reefs, and frequent storms, the South China Seas remain some of the most dangerous waters in the world. Despite the continual use of a sounding lead, on 18 February 1817, Alceste grounded on one of the many hidden reefs in the Java Sea. Maxwell ordered the anchor dropped to prevent the ship from slipping into deeper water, an undesirable situation if the hull had been breached, which turned out to be the case. The pumps were unable to cope with the influx of water and the ship's carpenter, Cheffy, reported that Alceste was beyond repair.


The encampment Fort Maxwell on Pulo Leat Island. Painted by John McLeod in 1819

Maxwell ordered his first lieutenant, Henry Parkyns Hoppner, to take Lord Amherst and his party in two of the boats to an island, known today as Pulo Leat, three miles away. The island's thick vegetation prevented an assessment of whether it was inhabited, and forced the boat crews to row a further three miles along the shore before finding a suitable landing spot between the mangroves. The rest of the ship's company were evacuated in the remaining boats and a large raft. Because of the lack of provisions, in particular drinking water, it was decided that Hoppner would continue with Amherst and his embassy to Java, roughly 200 miles to the south. Once there, a rescue could be initiated.

Hoppner's return journey to Java could not be accomplished in less than nine days, so further supplies would be required for the 200 remaining survivors. An unarmed expedition made its way back to Alceste to see what could be salvaged, but was forced back by the arrival of Malay Dyak pirates who plundered the wreck. Maxwell ordered the construction of a stockade and the improvisation of additional weapons to counter the threat of an attack. The digging of a well solved the problem of water. On 22 February, an armed party set out to reclaim the ship but the pirates set fire to Alceste and made off. The fire lasted throughout the night and destroyed the wreck; the following morning Maxwell sent out a boat that managed to retrieve some barrels of flour, cases of wine, and a cask of ale.[48] The pirates returned at dawn on 26 February, entering the cove aboard two proas and two canoes. Second lieutenant Hay led a sortie that boarded one of the proas, killing four pirates and capturing two more. The proa could not be brought to shore and was scuttled. More pirates arrived over the next two days. They made no attempt to land, but behaved aggressively by firing their swivel guns towards the shore. By 1 March there were fourteen pirate proas in the cove, with more arriving on the following night.

Provisions were now running low, and with the rescue mission overdue, Maxwell began formulating a plan to capture sufficient proas to escape from the island. While the plan was being proposed a sail was spotted on the horizon, heading toward the island. The appearance of this vessel, coupled with a sudden attack spearheaded by Alceste's marines, caused the pirates to flee. The rescue ship was Ternate, a 16-gun brig belonging to the British East India Company's navy, the Bombay Marine, despatched by Lord Amherst on the day of his arrival in Batavia.

Ternate returned to Batavia with the castaways, where Amherst chartered the ship Caesar for the journey to England. During a stop at St Helena, Maxwell met Napoleon, who remembered the action on 29 November 1811 when Alceste had captured La Pomone, and remarked, "... your government must not blame you for the loss of Alceste, for you have taken one of my frigates." The requisite court martial exonerated Maxwell, his officers, and his crew of the loss of Alceste. Maxwell received much praise for his actions, and £1500 from the East India Company. He was knighted in 1818.


Deck (ZAZ2295)


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


1/48th scale model of Flore, on display at the Musée national de la Marine in Paris

Armide class, (40-gun design by Pierre Roland, with 28 x 18-pounder and 8 x 12-pounder guns and 4 x 36-pounder obusiers).

• Armide, (launched 24 April 1804 at Rochefort) – captured by British Navy 1806, becoming HMS Armide.
• Minerve, (launched 9 September 1805 at Rochefort) – captured by British Navy 1806, becoming HMS Alceste.
• Pénélope, (launched 28 October 1806 at Bordeaux) – deleted 1826.
• Flore, (launched 11 November 1806 at Rochefort) – wrecked 1811.
• Amphitrite, (launched 11 April 1808 at Cherbourg) – burnt 1809.
• Niémen, (launched 8 November 1808 at Bordeaux) – captured by British Navy 1809, becoming HMS Niemen.
• Saale, (launched 28 October 1810 at Rochefort) – renamed Amphitrite September 1814, reverted to Saale March 1815, then Amphitrite again in July 1815 – deleted 1821.
• Alcmène, (launched 3 October 1811 at Cherbourg) – captured by British Navy 16 January 1814, becoming HMS Dunira, but quickly renamed HMS Immortalite.
• Circé, (launched 15 December 1811 at Rochefort) – deleted 1844.

lines & profile These plans show her as fitted as a British ship. NMM, Progress Book, volume 6, folio 365, states that 'Armide' was at Plymouth Dockyard between 1806 and 1809 for middling repairs and to be fitted.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Alceste_(1806)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armide-class_frigate
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-331317;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=M
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-292767;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=A

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
18 February 1858 - It is believed that the HMS Sappho foundered with all hands off the southeast coast of Australia.


HMS Sappho was a Royal Navy brig that gained public notoriety for causing a diplomatic incident over the slave trade with the United States of America and then went missing off the Australian coast in 1857–58.


HMS Ringdove, a sister-ship to HMS Sappho

Construction and service career
Sappho, one of a class of nine-second-class brigs, was built at the Plymouth Dockyard and over her 20-year career she was variously armed with 16 and later 12 guns. Sappho was the second Royal Navy vessel to be named after the famous Greek poet Sappho of the 6th and 7th century B.C., the first, a slightly smaller Star-class brig, having been broken up in 1830.



Sappho was one of a large number of warships designed by Sir William Symonds that were intended to be both very fast under sail and carry heavy firepower. One of the main drivers for their design was the suppression of slavery. During her 20-year career, Sappho was engaged in four commissions: West Indies and North American Station (1837–1842), Africa and Cape of Good Hope Stations (1843–1847), West Indies and North America Station (1849–1852) and African Station (1856–1857). Suppression of slavery was the main duty on the African and West Indies stations. On 6 December 1849 [2] , Sappho stranded on a cay in the Gulf of Honduras but was later refloated. Commander Mitchell was court martialled and dismissed from his ship. This was reported to have been harsh as most of his senior officers were dead or in hospital due to (alleged) Yellow Fever and Mitchell was still suffering with a broken arm from a gunnery accident.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines and longitudinal half-breadth for Snake (1832) and Serpent (1832), both 16-gun Second Class Brigs. The plan was altered in July 1832 for the Racer (1833) and Ringdove (1833). Further alterations were made to the plan for Racer (1833), Ringdove (1833), Sappho (1837), Wolverine (1836), Wanderer (1835), Harlequin (1836) and Lily (1837), all 16-gun Second Class Brigs built in Royal Yards. Signed by William Symonds [Surveyor of the Navy, 1832-1848].

Diplomatic incident
Sappho left Portsmouth in March 1856 with a crew of about 140 under the command of Commander Fairfax Moresby, eldest son of Admiral Sir Fairfax Moresby, to be part of a British squadron patrolling the coast of West Africa to suppress the slave trade.

On 9 May 1857, Sappho seized the American barque Panchita at Porto de Lenha on the Congo river, commanded by Captain Sladden. Lieutenant Ireland and 12 men were transferred to Panchita and she was sailed to New York under arrest, arriving on 9 July. On the following day, the owner – J. P. Weeks – brought suit against the prize crew on the grounds of unlawful seizure, as a result of which they were arrested, and held in bail to $15,000. Ultimately, the American courts found for the owners, although compensation had not been settled over two years later. The incident was also raised in the United States Congress.

On 10 September Sappho legally intercepted a 150 long tons (150 t) schooner preparing to board slaves, and burned her. On 18 September Sappho legally engaged a much larger slaver, the 1,088-long-ton (1,105 t) full-rigged ship Charles of New Orleans, about 40 mi (64 km) from Loanda, Portuguese West Africa, and drove it ashore – about 380 slaves were rescued but about 150 were drowned. The Royal Navy later awarded prize money to the crew of Sappho for this capture.

Disappearance of Sappho


HMS Sappho being saved off the coast of Honduras, 11 December 1849

Commander Moresby was censured for his handling of the Panchita incident and Sappho was ordered to proceed to the Australian Station. She sailed from the Cape of Good Hope for Sydney on 8 January 1858 but failed to arrive. As she was not expected in Sydney, her non-appearance caused no concern until late in the year. In October 1858, Admiral W Loring in Sydney was informed that Sappho had been seen by the crew of the schooner Yarrow off Cape Bridgewater, Victoria at the western entrance to Bass Strait on 18 February. Extensive searches by a number of vessels including HMS Elk and HMVS Victoria failed to find any trace of the missing vessel.

Late in 1858, rumours began spreading in England that the vessel had been wrecked on "an island off the coast of Australia," that some survivors had been rescued and that Capt. Moresby had gone insane. These rumours did the rounds of the international press for over a year as they were picked up and passed along. There was no truth to any of these rumours.

Cause of the disaster
Naval authorities believed it most likely that Sappho had hit one of the many rocks and islets in Bass Strait and foundered with all hands. Modern reconstructions of events believe it more likely that she capsized during gales that lashed Bass Strait on the days immediately after she was last seen. Naval brigs such as Sappho were unstable due to the combination of fine hull-lines, heavy armament and high sail area. Between 1856 and 1860, three similar vessels went missing without trace and a fourth, HMS Camilla, capsized off the West Coast of Africa on 9 May 1859 with the loss of about 50 of her crew.

The Apollo Bay Historical Society asserts on its Historical Shipwrecks Roll of Honour that Sappho disappeared in between Cape Otway and Cape Patton, off the Victoria Coast near the Otway Ranges. They are unsure as to how this claim is made, although residents of the townships at Wye River and Kennett River claim to be descendants of a ship of the Royal Navy.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the inboard profile for Snake (1832) and Serpent (1832), both 16-gun Brigs building at Limehouse by Fletcher and Fearnall. The later alterations in 1831 and 1832 relate to Racer (1833), Wanderer (1835), Harlequin (1836), Ringdove (1833), Wolverine (1836), Sappho (1837) and Lily (1837) building at Royal Yards. Signed by William Symonds [Surveyor of the Navy, 1832-1848] - referring to the 1832 alterations.


Scale: 1:24. Plan showing a half midship section for Racer (1833), a 16-gun Brig to be built at Portsmouth Dockyard. The plan includes later proposed alterations from Plymouth Dockyard for Sappho (1837) in order to use an old store of converted timbers. Signed by John Edye [Chief Clerk to the Surveyor of the Navy, dates?].


sail (ZAZ4776)


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Sappho_(1837)
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...7;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=S;start=0

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
18 February 1865 - In order for CSS Charleston, CSS Chicora, and CSS Palmetto State not to be captured by Rear Adm. John A. Dahlgren's squadron during the evacuation of Charleston, S.C., Confederate Capt. John R. Tucker, orders the ships be set afire and blown up.


CSS Charleston was a casemate ironclad ram built for the Confederate Navy (CSN) at Charleston, South Carolina during the American Civil War. Funded by the State of South Carolina as well as donations by patriotic women's associations in the city, she was turned over to the Confederate Navy and defended the city until advancing Union troops that threatened Charleston caused her to be destroyed in early 1865 lest she be captured. Her wreck was salvaged after the war and the remains have been obliterated by subsequent dredging.



Construction and description
James M. Eason was awarded a contract by the State of South Carolina to build a larger ironclad at Charleston in November 1862 after he finished the casemate ram CSS Chicora. Funds were also contributed by the city's "Ladies' Gun-boat Association", which led to Charleston's nickname of the "Ladies' Gunboat". He began construction the next month and completed the ship in September 1863.

Charleston was 189 feet (57.6 m) long overall and had a beam of 34 feet (10 m). Her depth of hold was 14 feet (4.3 m) and she had a draft 12 ft 6 in (3.8 m). The ship had a displacement of 600 long tons (610 t). Charleston's propulsion system is unknown, but her engine had a diameter of 36 inches (910 mm) and her propeller was 8 feet 6 inches (2.6 m) in diameter. At any rate, she was credited with a speed of 6 knots(11 km/h; 6.9 mph). The ship was armed with two 9-inch (229 mm) smoothbore guns at the ends of the ship, probably Dahlgren guns, and four muzzle-loading Brooke rifles on the broadside that fired 90–110-pound (41–50 kg) projectiles, which would make them 7-inch (178 mm) guns although their exact type is unknown. Charleston was also fitted with a wrought-iron ram. The ship's armor was 4 inches (102 mm) thick. All together, her ram and armor weighed 600 long tons (610 t). Her crew numbered 150 officers and enlisted men.

Service
Once completed, Charleston served as the flagship of the CSN's Charleston Squadron together with the rams Palmetto State and Chicora. Her only captain was Commander Isaac N. Brown. The ship was set on fire and blown up with 10 long tons (10 t) of gunpowder in the Cooper River on the night of 17/18 February 1865 to prevent her capture by the Union Army once the city was evacuated by the Confederates. The wreck was salvaged to a depth of 12 feet (3.7 m) below low water by Benjamin Maillefort in 1872–73 and the site has been thoroughly dredged to deepen the channel, destroying any remains. Its last known location was at 32°47′29″N 79°55′21″W


CSS Chicora was a Confederate ironclad ram that fought in the American Civil War. She was built under contract at Charleston, South Carolina in 1862. James M. Eason built her to John L. Porter's plans, using up most of a $300,000 State appropriation for construction of marine batteries; Eason received a bonus for "skill and promptitude." Her iron shield was 4 inches (102 mm) thick, backed by 22 inches (559 mm) of oak and pine, with 2-inch (51 mm) armor at her ends. Keeled in March, she was commissioned in November, Commander John Randolph Tucker, CSN assuming command.





In thick, predawn haze on January 31, 1863, Chicora and CSS Palmetto State raided the Federal blockading force of unarmored ships lying just outside the entrance to Charleston Harbor. With ram and gun, Palmetto State forced USS Mercedita to surrender, then disabled USS Keystone State, who had to be towed to safety. Chicora meanwhile engaged other Union ships in a long-range gun duel, from which she emerged unscathed to withdraw victoriously to shelter inside the harbor.


CSS Chicora and Palmetto State at anchor in Charleston Harbor

She took part in the defense of the forts at Charleston on April 7 when they were attacked by a squadron of ironclad monitors under Rear Admiral Samuel Francis du Pont, USN. The Federal ships were forced to retire for repairs and did not resume the action.

Chicora was actively employed in the fighting around Charleston during 1863 and 1864. Her valuable services included the transporting of troops during the evacuation of Morris Island, and the bombardment of Forts Sumter, Gregg, and Wagner. In August 1863 she had the distinction of furnishing the first volunteer officer and crew for the Confederate Submarine Torpedo Boat H. L. Hunley.

"A Lieutenant’s commission in the Confederate States Navy was conferred on me, with orders to report for duty on the ironclad Chicora at Charleston. My duties were those of a deck officer, and I had charge of the first division. On the occasion of the attack upon the blockading squadron ... It was my part, on the memorable morning, to aim and fire one effective shell into the Keystone State while running down to attack us, which (according to Captain LeRoy’s report), killing twenty-one men and severely wounding fifteen, caused him to haul down his flag in token of surrender. The enemy now kept at a respectful distance while preparing their ironclad vessels to sail up more closely. Our Navy Department continued slowly to construct more of these rams, all on the same general plan, fit for little else than harbor defense." -- William T. Glassell, Lt. CSN​

She was destroyed by the Confederates when Charleston was evacuated on February 18, 1865.


CSS Palmetto State was an ironclad ram built in January 1862 by Cameron and Co., Charleston, South Carolina, under the supervision of Flag Officer D. N. Ingraham, CSN. She was readied for service in the American Civil War by September 1862 when Lieutenant Commander John Rutledge, CSN, was placed in command. Her casemate armor was 4 inches (102 mm) thick, backed by 22 inches (559 mm) of wood, while 2 inches (51 mm) of iron armor was used everywhere else. Her pilothouse was not placed forward but was positioned abaft of the smokestack.



Before dawn on January 31, 1863, Palmetto State and her sister ram CSS Chicora crept through thick haze to surprise the Union blockading force off Charleston. Taking full advantage of her low silhouette in the darkness, the ironclad steamed in under the guns of USS Mercedita, ramming as well as firing heavy shot point-blank into her hull. Completely disabled, with cannons that could not be depressed low enough to fire at Palmetto State, the Union ship was forced to surrender. The ram then turned her attention to USS Keystone State, firing several shells into the blockader. Her steam chests punctured, Keystone State lost all power and had to be towed to safety. A long-range cannon duel between the Confederate rams and other Union blockaders then took place, but little damage was inflicted by either side before Palmetto State and Chicora withdrew to safety within Charleston Harbor. The attack by the Confederate rams caused the temporary withdrawal of the blockaders from their inshore positions and led to the claim by the Confederate government, unsuccessfully advanced, that the blockade of Charleston had been broken.



Palmetto State also joined in the defense of Charleston during Admiral Samuel Francis du Pont's unsuccessful April 1–7, 1863 attack on the harbor forts. Her officers and men were cited for rendering valuable services on the night of September 6–7, 1863 during the removal troops from Fort Wagner and Battery Gregg.

Palmetto State was later set-fire by the Confederates to avoid capture upon the evacuation of Charleston on February 18, 1865.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSS_Charleston
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSS_Palmetto_State
http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/86/86453.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSS_Chicora
http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/86/86454.htm
http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/86/86idx.htm

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
18 February 1874 – Launch of James Craig, a three-masted, iron-hulled barque restored and sailed by the Sydney Heritage Fleet, Sydney, Australia


James Craig is a three-masted, iron-hulled barque restored and sailed by the Sydney Heritage Fleet, Sydney, Australia.






History
Built in 1874 in Sunderland, England, by Bartram, Haswell, & Co., she was originally named Clan Macleod. She was employed carrying cargo around the world and rounded Cape Horn 23 times in 26 years. In 1900 she was acquired by Mr J J Craig, renamed James Craig in 1905 and began to operate between New Zealand and Australia until 1911.


As Clan Macleod

Unable to compete profitably with freight cargo, in later years James Craig was used as a collier. Like many other sailing ships of her vintage, she fell victim to the advance of steamships and was first laid up, then used as a hulk, until eventually being abandoned at Recherche Bay in Tasmania. In 1932 she was sunk by fishermen who blasted a 3-metre hole in her stern.



Restoration
Restoration of James Craig began in 1972, when volunteers from the Lady Hopetoun and Port Jackson Marine Steam Museum (now the Sydney Heritage Fleet) refloated her and towed her to Hobart for initial repairs. Brought back to Sydney under tow in 1981, her hull was placed on a submersible pontoon to allow work on the hull restoration to proceed. Over twenty-five years, the vessel was restored, repaired by both paid craftspeople and volunteers and relaunched in 1997. In 2001 restoration work was completed and she now goes to sea again. A DVD on her restoration has been produced and available from the Sydney Heritage Fleet.

Current situation
James Craig is currently berthed at Wharf 7 of Darling Harbour, near the Australian National Maritime Museum. She is open to the public, and takes passengers out sailing on Sydney Harbour and beyond. She is crewed and maintained by volunteers from the Sydney Heritage Fleet. The cost of maintaining her is approaching $1 million a year and the ship relies on generating income from visitors alongside, charters, events, and regular fortnightly daysails with up to 80 passengers.


James Craig leaving Forgacs Dockyard in 2007


James Craig in Hobart for Wooden Boat Show in Feb 2013

The ship has now made historic return voyages to Hobart (2005, 2009, 2011, 2013, and 2017) and to Port Philip (Melbourne and Williamstown) in 2006 and 2008. The voyages to Hobart to coincide with the Wooden Boat Festival (one of the largest in the world).

In October 2013 James Craig participated in the International Fleet Review 2013 in Sydney, Australia.

Historical value
James Craig is of exceptional historical value in that she is one of only four 19th century barques in the world that still go regularly to sea. She sails out through the Sydney heads fortnightly, when not on voyages to Melbourne, Newcastle or Hobart. As such she is a working link to a time when similar ships carried the bulk of global commerce in their holds. Thousands of similar ships plied the oceans in the 19th and early 20th centuries linking the old world, the new world, Asia and Oceania. She is sailed in the traditional 19th Century manner entirely by volunteers from the Master to the galley crew. Her running rigging consists of 140 lines secured to belaying pins and spider bands. Many of the crew know each rope by name. She achieved 11.3 knots on a return voyage from Melbourne in February 2006 and "she was loving every minute of it!"



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Craig_(barque)

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
18 February 1915 – Launch of SMS Bayern, the lead ship of the Bayern class of battleships in the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy)


SMS Bayern was the lead ship of the Bayern class of battleships in the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy). The vessel was launched in February 1915 and entered service in July 1916, too late to take part in the Battle of Jutland. Her main armament consisted of eight 38 cm (15 in) guns in four turrets, which was a significant improvement over the preceding König's ten 30.5 cm (12 inch) guns. The ship was to have formed the nucleus for a fourth battle squadron in the High Seas Fleet, along with three of her sister ships. Of the other ships only one—Baden—was completed; the other two were canceled later in the war when production requirements shifted to U-boat construction.



Bayern was commissioned midway through the war, and had a limited service career. The first operation in which the ship took part was an abortive fleet advance into the North Sea on 18–19 August 1916, a month after she had been commissioned. The ship also participated in Operation Albion in the Gulf of Riga, but shortly after the German attack began on 12 October 1917, Bayern was mined and had to be withdrawn for repairs. She was interned with the majority of the High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow in November 1918 following the end of World War I. On 21 June 1919, Admiral Ludwig von Reuter ordered the fleet to be scuttled; Bayern sank at 14:30. In September 1934, the ship was raised, towed to Rosyth, and scrapped.



Design
Main article: Bayern-class battleship


Armor layout for Bayern; the numbers represent the armor thickness in millimeters in each area

Bayern was 179.4 m (588 ft 7 in) long at the waterline, and an even 180 m (590 ft 7 in) long overall. She had a beam of 30 m (98 ft 5 in) and a draftof 9.3–9.4 m (30 ft 6 in–30 ft 10 in) Bayern displaced 28,530 metric tons (28,080 long tons) at a normal displacement; at full combat load, she displaced up to 32,200 t (31,700 long tons). Bayern was powered by three Parsons steam turbines rated at 34,521 shaft horsepower (25,742 kW) and three oil-fired and eleven coal-fired Schulz-Thornycroft boilers, and on trials achieved 55,202 shaft horsepower (41,164 kW); she had a maximum speed of 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph). The ship could carry up to 3,400 t (3,300 long tons; 3,700 short tons) of coal and 620 t (610 long tons; 680 short tons) of fuel oil, which provided a maximum range of 5,000 nmi (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at a cruising speed of 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph).

The ship was the first German warship armed with eight 38 cm (15 in) SK L/45 guns. The main battery guns were arranged in four twin gun turrets: two superfiring turrets each fore and aft. Her secondary armament consisted of sixteen 15 cm (5.9 in) SK L/45 guns, six 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/45guns and five 60 cm (23.6 in) underwater torpedo tubes, one in the bow and two on each beam. Upon commissioning, she carried a crew of 42 officers and 1,129 enlisted men. The ship had an armored belt that was 170–350 mm (6.7–13.8 in) thick and an armored deck that was 60–100 mm (2.4–3.9 in) thick. Her forward conning tower had 400 mm (16 in) sides, and the main battery turrets had 350 mm thick sides and 200 mm (7.9 in) thick roofs.


The Bayern class was a class of four super-dreadnought battleships built by the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy). The class comprised Bayern, Baden, Sachsen, and Württemberg. Construction started on the ships shortly before World War I; Baden was laid down in 1913, Bayern and Sachsen followed in 1914, and Württemberg, the final ship, was laid down in 1915. Only Baden and Bayern were completed, due to shipbuilding priorities changing as the war dragged on. It was determined that U-boats were more valuable to the war effort, and so work on new battleships was slowed and ultimately stopped altogether. As a result, Bayern and Baden were the last German battleships completed by the Kaiserliche Marine.

Bayern and Baden were commissioned into the fleet in July 1916 and March 1917, respectively. This was too late for either ship to take part in the Battle of Jutland on 31 May and 1 June 1916. Bayern was assigned to the naval force that drove the Imperial Russian Navy from the Gulf of Riga during Operation Albion in October 1917, though the ship was severely damaged by a mine and had to be withdrawn to Kiel for repairs. Badenreplaced Friedrich der Grosse as the flagship of the High Seas Fleet, but saw no combat.

Both Bayern and Baden were interned at Scapa Flow following the Armistice in November 1918. Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter, the commander of the interned German fleet, ordered his ships be sunk on 21 June 1919; Bayern was successfully scuttled, though British guards managed to beach Baden to prevent her from sinking. The ship was expended as a gunnery target in 1921. Sachsen and Württemberg, both at various stages of completion when the war ended, were broken up for scrap metal. Bayern was raised in 1934 and broken up the following year.




Unfinished battleship Württemberg(right) and the Mackensen-class battlecruiser Prinz Eitel Friedrich in Hamburg after the war, in about 1920



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Bayern
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayern-class_battleship

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
18 February 1942 - USS Truxtun (DD 229) and USS Pollux (AKS-2) sink during a heavy storm in Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, with the loss of 204 lives.


USS Truxtun (DD-229) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. She was the third ship named for Thomas Truxtun.

Truxtun was laid down on 3 December 1919 and launched on 28 September 1920 from William Cramp & Sons, sponsored by Miss Isabelle Truxtun Brumby, and commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 16 February 1921, Lieutenant Commander Melville S. Brown in command.



Fate
On Christmas Day 1941, Truxtun departed Boston, Massachusetts in the screen of Convoy HX-168. She arrived at Reykjavík on 13 January 1942 and, six days later, headed back to Argentia with Convoy ON-57. At 0410 on 18 Februar, while acting as escort to USS Pollux (AKS-2) in Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, Truxtun ran aground "in a howling gale" between the outport communities of Lawn and St. Lawrence, near Chambers Cove. She broke up almost immediately after grounding and, in spite of the heroic efforts of the local populace, lost 110 members of her crew to the elements. USS Pollux (AKS-2) was also wrecked with 93 fatalities, and USS Wilkes (DD-441) also grounded, but made way with no fatalities.

Robert Chafe's play, Oil and Water, depicts the story of Lanier Phillips, the sole African American survivor of the sinking of Truxtun.



The second USS Pollux (AKS-2) was a Castor-class general stores issue ship.

Pollux was laid down by the Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Hoboken, N.J. as SS Comment on 26 May 1939; launched on 16 December 1939, acquired by the Navy on 16 January 1941; converted to a general stores ship by the Brewers Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Hoboken, N.J., and commissioned on 6 May 1941, Comdr. Hugh W. Turney in command.



Loss
On 18 February 1942 Pollux grounded during a storm at Lawn Point off Newfoundland and was wrecked with 93 fatalities. USS Truxtun (DD-229) was also wrecked, at Chambers Cove, off St. Lawrence harbour with 110 fatalities. USS Wilkes (DD-441) grounded at the same time, but made way with no fatalities.

At 04:14 on the 18th, searchlights were sighted revealing land 2 points on the port bow. The Commanding Officer of Pollux had just entered the bridge from the chart house, and immediately gave the order for full speed astern, hard right rudder and sounding collision quarters. But it was too late and 3 minutes later the ship grounded. Realizing that she was hard aground and starting to go down slightly by the head, the Commanding Officer ordered full speed ahead to prevent the ship from sliding off and sinking in deep water.

Due to the extremely difficult surf caused by the gale raging in the Atlantic and the bitterness of the winter weather loss of life was heavy on both Pollux and Truxtun. Heroic efforts to swim lines ashore failed due to the inability to handle them when they became oil soaked. Some of the crew attempted to swim ashore, many unsuccessfully. Finally lines with a boatswain's chair were rigged to a ledge and the remaining personnel were conveyed ashore. Truxtun broke up almost immediately after grounding and soon thereafter Pollux did likewise. The survivors owed their rescue in large measure to the tireless, efficient and in many cases heroic action of the people of Lawn and St. Lawrence, Newfoundland.

The total loss of life between both the USS Pollux and the USS Truxtun was 203 victims.




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Truxtun_(DD-229)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Pollux_(AKS-2)

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
18 February 1944 - the cruiser HMS Penelope was leaving Naples to return to the Anzio area when she was torpedoed by U-410.
A torpedo struck her after engine room and was followed 16 minutes later by another torpedo that hit her after boiler room causing her immediate sinking. Her captain and 414 of her crew were killed; 206 survived.


HMS Penelope was an Arethusa-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was built by Harland & Wolff (Belfast, Northern Ireland); her keel was laid down on 30 May 1934. She was launched on 15 October 1935, and commissioned 13 November 1936. She was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat near Naples with great loss of life on 18 February 1944. On wartime service with Force K, she was holed so many times by bomb fragments that she acquired the nickname "HMS Pepperpot".



Sinking
On 18 February 1944, Penelope, under the command of Captain G. D. Belben, was leaving Naples to return to the Anzio area when she was torpedoed at 40.55°N 13.25°E by the German submarine U-410 under the command of Horst-Arno Fenski. A torpedo struck her in the after engine room and was followed sixteen minutes later by another torpedo that hit in the after boiler room, causing her immediate sinking; 417 of the crew, including the captain, went down with the ship and 206 survived. A memorial plaque commemorating those lost is in St Ann's Church, HM Dockyard, Portsmouth.

The Ship
C. S. Forester, author of the Horatio Hornblower series of sea stories set at the time of the Napoleonic Wars, published his novel The Ship in May 1943. It is set in the war in the Mediterranean and follows a Royal Navy light cruiser in an action where it defeats a superior Italian force. The character and motivation of many of the men on board and the contributions they make are considered. The author dedicated the book "with the deepest respect to the officers and crew of HMS Penelope". The story of the fictional HMS Artemis is based on but does not follow in detail, the Second Battle of Sirte. The book was published before Penelope was sunk.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Penelope_(97)

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
18 February 1944 - in Operation Hailstone, the Japanese destroyer Oite was sunk in Truk harbor by Allied aircraft.
Oite was torpedoed, broke in half, and sank almost immediately, killing 172 of 192 crew and all 523 survivors that she had rescued from the Agano that was sunk two days earlier.


The Japanese destroyer Oite (追風 "Tail Wind") was one of nine Kamikaze-class destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy during the 1920s.During the Pacific War, she participated in the Battle of Wake Island in December 1941 and the occupations of New Guinea and the Solomon Islands in early 1942.



Design and description
The Kamikaze class was an improved version of the Minekaze-class destroyers. The ships had an overall length of 102.5 meters (336 ft 3 in) and were 97.5 meters (319 ft 11 in) between perpendiculars. They had a beam of 9.1 meters (29 ft 10 in), and a mean draft of 2.9 meters (9 ft 6 in). The Kamikaze-class ships displaced 1,422 metric tons (1,400 long tons) at standard load and 1,747 metric tons (1,719 long tons) at deep load. They were powered by two Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by four Kampon water-tube boilers. The turbines were designed to produce 38,500 shaft horsepower (28,700 kW), which would propel the ships at 37.3 knots (69.1 km/h; 42.9 mph). During sea trials, the ships comfortably exceeded their designed speeds, reaching 38.7 to 39.2 knots (71.7 to 72.6 km/h; 44.5 to 45.1 mph). The ships carried 420 metric tons (413 long tons) of fuel oil which gave them a range of 3,600 nautical miles (6,700 km; 4,100 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph). Their crew consisted of 148 officers and crewmen.

The main armament of the Kamikaze-class ships consisted of four 12-centimeter (4.7 in) Type 3 guns in single mounts; one gun forward of the superstructure, one between the two funnels and the last pair back to back atop the aft superstructure. The guns were numbered '1' to '4' from front to rear. The ships carried three above-water twin sets of 53.3-centimeter (21.0 in) torpedo tubes; one mount was between the forward superstructure and the forward gun and the other two were between the aft funnel and aft superstructure.

Early in the war, the No. 4 gun and the aft torpedo tubes were removed in exchange for four depth charge throwers and 18 depth charges. In addition 10 license-built 25 mm (0.98 in) Type 96 light AA guns were installed. These changes increased their displacement to 1,499 long tons (1,523 t). Survivors had their light AA armament augmented to be between thirteen and twenty 25 mm guns and four 13.2 mm (0.5 in) Type 93anti-aircraft machineguns by June 1944. These changes reduced their speed to 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph).

Construction and career
Oite was laid down by the Uraga Dock Company at its shipyard in Uraga on 16 March 1923, launched on 27 November 1924 and completed on 30 October 1925. Originally commissioned simply as Destroyer No. 11, the ship was assigned the name Oite on 1 August 1928.

Pacific War
At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, Oite was the flagship of Destroyer Division 29 under Destroyer Squadron 6 of the 4th Fleet. She sortied from Kwajalein on 8 December as part of the Wake Island invasion force. This consisted of the light cruisers Yūbari, Tenryū, and Tatsuta, the destroyers Yayoi, Hayate, Mutsuki, Oite, Kisaragi, and Asanagi, two old Momi-class vessels converted to patrol boats (Patrol Boat No. 32 and Patrol Boat No. 33), and two troop transports containing 450 Japanese Special Naval Landing Forces (SNLF) troops.

The Japanese approached the island early on the morning of 11 December, and the warships began to bombard the island at a range of 8,200 meters (9,000 yd) at 05:30. As none of the six American 5-inch (12.7 cm)coast-defense guns replied, Rear Admiral Sadamichi Kajioka, commander of the invasion forces, ordered his ships to close the island, believing that the American guns had been destroyed by the earlier aerial attacks. Encouraging this, Major James Devereux, commander of the United States Marine garrison, had ordered his men to hold their fire until he gave the order to do so. After the Japanese ships had closed to a range of 4,100 meters (4,500 yd), he ordered his guns to open fire. They did so with great effect, sinking Hayate, near-missing Kajioka's flagship Yubari, and causing to him to order his forces to disengage. Oite was slightly damaged by near-misses that also wounded 14 crewmen. The ship returned on 23 December with the second (and ultimately successful) Wake Island invasion force before returning to Kwajalein.


A Japanese destroyer (probably Oite) under U.S. Navy aircraft attack near Truk Lagoon on 18 February 1944

From January through March 1942, Oite provided cover for Japanese forces during Operation R (the invasion of Rabaul, New Britain) and Operation SR (the invasion of Lae and Salamaua), returning to Sasebo Naval Arsenal for repairs in April. In late April, Oite escorted a convoy from Sasebo to Truk. During the Battle of the Coral Sea from 7–8 May 1942, Oite was assigned to the Operation Mo invasion force for Port Moresby in New Guinea. When that operation was cancelled, she was reassigned to the Solomon Islands sector, patrolling from Rabaul and escorting an airfield construction crew from Truk to Bougainville and Guadalcanal. In August 1942, Oite made a "Tokyo Express" troop transport run to Guadalcanal, but at the end of the month was reassigned to cover troop landings on Nauru and Ocean Island during Operation RY.

In September 1942, Oite made patrols in the central Pacific, and escorted troop convoys from Palau to the Solomons through September 1943. Oite was struck by a torpedo on 21 September 1943, while escorting a convoy from Truk, via Saipan to Yokosuka, but the torpedo was a dud and did only minor damage. Oite continued in the escort role through February 1944 between the Japanese home islands and Saipan, and between Saipan and Rabaul, with increasing losses to American submarines.

On 16 February 1944 Oite was escorting the damaged cruiser Agano to Japan from Truk when Agano was torpedoed and sunk by the United States Navy submarine USS Skate. Oite rescued 523 of Agano's crew and turned back towards Truk. However, just as Oite was entering Truk harbor on 18 February, the Japanese base was struck by United States Navy aircraft in Operation Hailstone. Oite was torpedoed, broke in half and sank almost immediately with loss of 172 of 192 crewmen and all 523 survivors of Agano. Oite was struck from the Navy List on 31 March 1944.

The remains of Oite were found in March 1986 at a depth of around 200 feet (61 m) of water, in two sections approximately 40 feet (12 m) apart. The bow section is upside down, with the bridge buried in mud; the afterpart lies on the bottom upright.




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_destroyer_Oite_(1924)

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
18 February 1946 – Sailors of the Royal Indian Navy mutiny in Bombay harbour, from where the action spreads throughout the Provinces of British India, involving 78 ships, twenty shore establishments and 20,000 sailors


The Royal Indian Navy revolt (also called the Royal Indian Navy mutiny or Bombay mutiny) encompasses a total strike and subsequent revolt by Indian sailors of the Royal Indian Navy on board ship and shore establishments at Bombay harbour on 18 February 1946. From the initial flashpoint in Bombay, the revolt spread and found support throughout British India, from Karachi to Calcutta, and ultimately came to involve over 20,000 sailors in 78 ships and shore establishments.

The mutiny was repressed with force by British troops and Royal Navy warships. Total casualties were 8 dead and 33 wounded. Only the Communist Party supported the strikers; the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League condemned it.


The RIN Revolt: a brief history


HMIS Akbar at Bombay Harbour

The RIN Revolt started as a strike by ratings of the Royal Indian Navy on 18 February in protest against general conditions. The immediate issues of the revolt were living conditions and food. By dusk on 19 February, a Naval Central Strike committee was elected. Leading Signalman Lieutenant M.S. Khan and Petty Officer Telegraphist Madan Singh were unanimously elected President and Vice-President respectively. The strike found some support amongst the Indian population, though not their political leadership who saw the dangers of mutiny on the eve of Independence (see below). The actions of the mutineers was supported by demonstrations which included a one-day general strike in Bombay. The strike spread to other cities, and was joined by elements of the Royal Indian Air Force and local police forces.

Indian Naval personnel began calling themselves the "Indian National Navy" and offered left-handed salutes to British officers. At some places, NCOs in the British Indian Army ignored and defied orders from British superiors. In Madras and Poona (now Pune), the British garrisons had to face some unrest within the ranks of the Indian Army. Widespread rioting took place from Karachi to Calcutta. Notably, the revolting ships hoisted three flags tied together – those of the Congress, Muslim League, and the Red Flag of the Communist Party of India (CPI), signifying the unity and downplaying of communal issues among the mutineers.

The revolt was called off following a meeting between the President of the Naval Central Strike Committee (NCSC), M. S. Khan, and Vallab Bhai Patel of the Congress, who had been sent to Bombay to settle the crisis. Patel issued a statement calling on the strikers to end their action, which was later echoed by a statement issued in Calcutta by Mohammed Ali Jinnah on behalf of the Muslim League. Under these considerable pressures, the strikers gave way. Arrests were then made, followed by courts martial and the dismissal of 476 sailors from the Royal Indian Navy. None of those dismissed were reinstated into either the Indian or Pakistani navies after independence.

Events of the revolt
The Second World War had caused rapid expansion of the Royal Indian Navy (RIN). In 1945, it was 10 times larger than its size in 1939. Due to war and as with the army recruitment was no longer confined to martial races; men from different social strata were recruited. Between 1942 and 1945, the CPI leaders helped in carrying out mass recruitment of Indians especially communist activists into the British Indian army and RIN for war efforts against Nazi Germany. However once the war was over, the newly recruited men turned against the British.

After the Second World War, three officers of the Indian National Army (INA), General Shah Nawaz Khan, Colonel Prem Sahgal and Colonel Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon were put on trial at the Red Fort in Delhi for "waging war against the King Emperor", i.e., the British sovereign personifying British rule. The three defendants were defended at the trial by Jawaharlal Nehru, Bhulabhai Desai and others. Outside the fort, the trials inspired protests and discontent among the Indian population, many of whom came to view the defendants as revolutionaries who had fought for their country. In January 1946 British airmen stationed in India took part in the Royal Air Force Revolt of 1946 mainly over the slow speed of their demobilisation, but also in some cases issuing demands against being used in support of continued British colonial rule. The Viceroy at the time, Lord Wavell, noted that the actions of the British airmen had influenced both the RIAF and RIN mutinies, commenting "I am afraid that [the] example of the Royal Air Force, who got away with what was really a mutiny, has some responsibility for the present situation."


HMIS Hindustan at Bombay Harbour after the war.

The revolt was initiated by the ratings of the Royal Indian Navy on 18 February 1946. It was a reaction to the treatment meted out to ratings in general and the lack of service facilities in particular. On 16 January 1946, a contingent of 67 ratings of various branches arrived at Castle Barracks, Mint Road, in Fort Mumbai. This contingent had arrived from the basic training establishment, HMIS Akbar, located at Thane, a suburb of Bombay, at 1600 in the evening. One of them Syed Maqsood Bokhari went to the officer on duty and informed him about issues involving the galley (kitchen) staff at the training establishment.

The sailors were that evening alleged to have been served sub-standard food. Only 17 ratings took the meal, the rest of the contingent went ashore to eat in an open act of defiance. It has since been said that such acts of neglect were fairly regular, and when reported to senior officers present practically evoked no response, which certainly was a factor in the buildup of discontent. The ratings of the communication branch in the shore establishment, HMIS Talwar, drawn from higher strata of society, harboured a high level of revulsion towards the authorities, having complained of neglect of their facilities fruitlessly.

The INA trials, the stories of Subhas Chandra Bose ("Netaji"), as well as the stories of INA's fight during the Siege of Imphal and in Burma were seeping into the glaring public-eye at the time. These, received through the wireless sets and the media, fed discontent and ultimately inspired the sailors to strike. In Karachi, revolt broke out on board the Royal Indian Navy ship, HMIS Hindustan off Manora Island. The ship, as well as shore establishments were taken over by mutineers. Later, it spread to the HMIS Bahadur. A naval central strike committee was formed on 19 February 1946, led by M. S. Khan and Madan Singh. The next day, ratings from Castle and Fort Barracks in Bombay, joined in the revolt when rumours (which were untrue) spread that HMIS Talwar's ratings had been fired upon.

Ratings left their posts and went around Bombay in lorries, holding aloft flags containing the picture of Subhas Chandra Bose and Lenin. Several Indian naval officers who opposed the strike and sided with the British were thrown off the ship by ratings. Soon, the mutineers were joined by thousands of disgruntled ratings from Bombay, Karachi, Cochin and Vizag. Communication between the various mutinies was maintained through the wireless communication sets available in HMIS Talwar. Thus, the entire revolt was coordinated. The strike by the Naval ratings soon took serious proportions. Hundreds of strikers from the sloops, minesweepers and shore establishments in Bombay demonstrated for two hours along Hornby Road near VT (now the very busy D.N. Road near CST). British personnel of the Defence forces were singled out for attacks by the strikers who were armed with hammers, crowbars and hockey sticks. The White Ensign was lowered from the ships.

In Flora Fountain, vehicles carrying mail were stopped and the mail burnt. British men and women going in cars and victorias were made to get down and shout "Jai Hind" (Victory to India). Guns were trained on the Taj Mahal Hotel, the Yacht Club and other buildings from morning till evening. After the outbreak of the mutiny, the first thing the mutineers did was to free B.C. Dutt (who was arrested during General Auchinleck’s visit). Then they took possession of Butcher Island (where the entire ammunition meant for Bombay Presidency was stocked).

1,000 RIAF men from the Marine Drive and Andheri Camps also joined in sympathy.

The strike soon spread to other parts of India. The ratings in Calcutta, Madras, Karachi and Vizag also went on strike with the slogans "Strike for Bombay", "Release 11,000 INA prisoners" and "Jai Hind".

On 19 February, the Tricolour was hoisted by the ratings on most of the ships and establishments. By 20 February, the third day, armed British destroyers had positioned themselves off the Gateway of India. The RIN Revolt had become a serious crisis for the British government. An alarmed Clement Attlee, the British Prime Minister, ordered the Royal Navy to put down the revolt. Admiral J.H. Godfrey, the Flag Officer commanding the RIN, went on air with his order to "Submit or perish". The movement had, by this time, inspired by the patriotic fervour sweeping the country, started taking a political turn.

The naval ratings' strike committee decided, in a confused manner, that the HMIS Kumaon had to leave Bombay harbour while HMIS Kathiawar was already in the Arabian Sea under the control of mutineering ratings. At about 1030 Kumaon suddenly let go the shore ropes, without even removing the ships' gangway while officers were discussing the law and order situation on the outer breakwater jetty. However, within two hours fresh instructions were received from the strikers' control room and the ship returned to the same berth.

The situation was changing fast and rumours spread that Australian and Canadian armed battalions had been stationed outside the Lion gate and the Gun gate to encircle the dockyard where most ships were berthed. However, by this time, all the armouries of the ships and establishments had been seized by the striking ratings. The clerks, cleaning hands, cooks and wireless operators of the striking ship armed themselves with whatever weapon was available to resist the British destroyers that had sailed from Trincomalee in Ceylon (Sri Lanka).

The third day dawned charged with fresh emotions. The Royal Air Force flew a squadron of bombers low over Bombay harbour in a show of force, as Admiral Arthur Rullion Rattray, Flag Officer, Bombay, RIN, issued an ultimatum ordering the ratings to raise black flags and surrender unconditionally.

In Karachi, realising that using Indian troops against Indian sailors would place stress on the morale and discipline of the former, the 2nd Battalion of the Black Watch had been called from their barracks. The first priority was to deal with the revolt on Manora Island. Ratings holding the Hindustan opened fire when attempts were made to board the ship. At midnight, the 2nd Battalion was ordered to proceed to Manora, expecting resistance from the Indian naval ratings who had taken over the shore establishments HMIS Bahadur, Chamak and Himalaya and from the Royal Naval Anti-Aircraft School on the island. The Battalion was ferried silently across in launches and landing craft. D company was the first across, and they immediately proceeded to the southern end of the island to Chamak. The remainder of the Battalion stayed at the southern end of the Island. By the morning, the British soldiers had secured the island.

Confrontation with the Hindustan
The decision was made to confront the Indian naval ratings on board the destroyer Hindustan, armed with 4-in. guns. During the morning three guns (caliber unknown) from the Royal Artillery C. Troop arrived on the island. The Royal Artillery positioned the battery within point blank range of the Hindustan on the dockside. An ultimatum was delivered to the mutineers aboard Hindustan, stating that if they did not the leave the ship and put down their weapons by 10:30 they would have to face the consequences. The deadline came and went and there was no message from the ship or any movement.

Orders were given to open fire at 10:33. The gunners' first round was on target. On board the Hindustan the Indian naval ratings began to return gunfire and several shells whistled over the Royal Artillery guns. Most of the shells fired by the Indian ratings went harmlessly overhead and fell on Karachi itself. They had not been primed so there were no casualties. However, the mutineers could not hold on. At 10:51 the white flag was raised. British naval personnel boarded the ship to remove casualties and the remainder of the mutinous crew. Extensive damage had been done to Hindustan's superstructure and there were many casualties among the Indian sailors.

HMIS Bahadur was still under the control of mutineers. Several Indian naval officers who had attempted or argued in favour of putting down the revolt were thrown off the ship by ratings. The 2nd Battalion was ordered to storm the Bahadur and then proceed to storm the shore establishments on Manora island. By the evening D company was in possession of the A A school and Chamak, B company had taken the Himalaya, while the rest of the Battalion had secured Bahadur. The revolt in Karachi had been put down.

In Bombay, the guncrew of a 25-pounder gun fitted in an old ship had by the end of the day fired salvos towards the Castle barracks. Patel had been negotiating fervently, and his assurances did improve matters considerably. However, it was clear that the revolt was fast developing into a spontaneous movement with its own momentum. By this time the British destroyers from Trincomalee had positioned themselves off the Gateway of India. The negotiations moved fast, keeping in view the extreme sensitivity of the situation and on the fourth day most of the demands of the strikers were conceded in principle.

Immediate steps were taken to improve the quality of food served in the ratings' kitchen and their living conditions. The national leaders also assured that favorable consideration would be accorded to the release of all the prisoners of the Indian National Army.

Casualties and dismissals
Total fatalities arising from the mutiny were seven RIN sailors and one officer killed. Thirty-three RIN personnel and British soldiers were injured. A total of 476 sailors were discharged from the RIN as a result of the outbreak.

Many sailors in HMIS Talwar were reported to have Communist leanings and on a search of 38 sailors who were arrested in the HMIS New Delhi, 15 were found to be subscribers of CPI literature. The British later came to know that the revolt, though not initiated by the Communist Party of India, was inspired by its literature.



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

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 18 February


1669 – Launch of French Couronne 80/82 guns (designed and built by Laurent Hubac, launched 18 February 1669 at Brest) – broken up in 1712


1743 – Launch of HMS Chester, a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy

HMS Chester was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Deptford to the dimensions laid down in the 1741 proposals of the 1719 Establishment, and launched on 18 February 1743.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth for rebuilding Falkland (1744), a 1741 Establishment 50-gun Fourth Rate, two-decker. The plan was later used for Portland (1744), and Harwich (1743), Colchester (1744), Chester (1744), Winchester (1744),Gloucester (1745), Maidstone (1744), Advice (1746), Norwich (1745), Ruby (1745), Salisbury (1746). The body plan and longitudinal half-breadth was later altered for Litchfield (1746) and Colchester (1746).

Chester was sold out of the navy in 1767.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Chester_(1743)
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-301895;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=C


1752 – Launch of HMS Weymouth, a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy,

HMS Weymouth was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Plymouth Dockyard to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment, and launched on 18 February 1752.

Weymouth served until 1772, when the decision was taken to have her broken up.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with some inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth proposed for building 60-gun ships for the Royal Navy. This Establishment, when approved, included Anson (1747), Saint Albans (1747), Tyger (1747), and Weymouth (1752), and in a modified version for Medway (1755) and York (1753). Signed by Joseph Allen [Master Shipwright, Deptford Dockyard, 1742-1746], John Ward [Master Shipwright, Chatham Dockyard, 1732-1752], Peirson Lock [Master Shipwright, Portsmouth Dockyard, 1742-1755 (died)], John Holland [Master Shipwright, Woolwich Dockyard, 1742-1746], and John Pook [Master Shipwright, Sheerness Dockyard, 1742-1751 (died)].

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Weymouth_(1752)
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-363796;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=W


1807 HMS Griper (12), Lt. Edward Oorris, foundered off Ostend.

Bold (or modified Confounder) class
A revival of Sir William Rule's Confounder class of 1804, this final group was built to a somewhat modified version of that design, and were commonly referred to as the Bold class. Twelve were ordered in November 1811, and a further batch of six followed in November 1812. Unlike earlier brigs of this size, most were re-rated as brig-sloops at or soon after their completion, and were under commanders (rather than lieutenants), at least until 1815-17, when they reverted to being gun-brigs.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with stern board outline, sheer lines with a scroll figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for Griper (1804) and Furious (1804), both 12-gun Gunbrigs built by Messrs Brindley at King's Lynn. Note that the Admiralty stamp claims Flamer (1804), which was actually built at Frindsbury not King's Lynn by the same company. Signed by John Henslow [Surveyor of Navy, 1794-1806] and William Rule [Surveyor of Navy, 1793-1813].


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the inboard profile, upper deck, and lower deck for the 58 ships of the Archer class (1800), 12-gun Gunbrigs built by contract. Reverse is annotated with a list of the builders and the ships names.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_gun-brigs_of_the_Royal_Navy
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-547691;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=G


1807 - HMS Inveterate Gun-boat (12), Lt. George Norton, wrecked near St. Valery en Caux, Calais, when she drifted ashore in a heavy gale.

The Confounder class vessels were built to an 1804 design by William Rule. The design reflected learning from the experiences of the earlier gunbrig classes. As a result, the Confounder class vessels were more "sea-kindly" and better able to handle long voyages. Two vessels were converted to mortar brigs in 1809.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_gun-brigs_of_the_Royal_Navy


1827 - HMS Diamond (1816 - 38 later 46) accidentally burnt whilst out of commission at Portsmouth

HMS Diamond (1816), a fifth-rate launched at Chatham in 1816 and broken up following a serious fire at Portsmouth in 1827.




Lines (ZAZ2339)


Inboard profile plan (ZAZ2397) (after refitting in 1817)


Scale: 1:24. Plan showing the midship section with details illustrating the method of securing the beams to the sides on Diamond (1816), a 38-gun Fifth Rate Frigate building at Chatham Dockyard.

https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-307153;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=D


1846 - Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft issues the General Order to change Larboard to Port for identification of the left side of a sailing vessel.

George Bancroft (October 3, 1800 – January 17, 1891) was an American historian and statesman who was prominent in promoting secondary education both in his home state, at the national and international level. During his tenure as U.S. Secretary of the Navy, he established the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1845. He was a senior American diplomat in Europe. Among his best-known writings is the magisterial series, History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent.



Port and starboard are nautical and aeronautical terms of orientation that deal unambiguously with the structure of vessels and aircraft. Their structures are largely bilaterally symmetrical, meaning they have mirror-image left and right halves if divided long-ways down the middle.



Side
To understand which is which, when a person is on board and facing the bow on a vessel or aircraft, that is, facing forward towards the direction the vehicle is heading when underway, the port side is the left-hand side and the starboard side is the right-hand side. However, port and starboard never change; they are unambiguous references that are not based on the relative directions of an observer, just as the cardinal directions of east and west do not change no matter the direction a person faces

The term starboard derives from the Old English steorbord, meaning the side on which the ship is steered. Before ships had rudders on their centrelines, they were steered with a steering oar at the stern of the ship on the right hand side of the ship, because more people are right-handed. Since the steering oar was on the right side of the boat, it would tie up at the wharf on the other side. Hence the left side was called port. The Oxford English Dictionary cites port in this usage since 1543.

Formerly, larboard was often used instead of port. This is from Middle English ladebord and the term lade is related to the modern load. Larboard sounds similar to starboard and in 1844 the Royal Navy ordered that port be used instead. The United States Navy followed suit in 1846. Larboard continued to be used well into the 1850s by whalers.

An Anglo-Saxon record of a voyage by Ohthere of Hålogaland used the word "bæcbord" ("back-board") for the left side of a ship.

Importance of standard terms
The navigational treaty convention, the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea—for instance, as appears in the UK's Merchant Shipping (Distress Signals and Prevention of Collisions) Regulations 1996 (and comparable US documents from the US Coast Guard)—sets forth requirements for maritime vessels to avoid collisions, whether by sail or powered, and whether a vessel is overtaking, approaching head-on, or crossing. To set forth these navigational rules, the terms starboard and port are absolutely essential, and to aid in in situ decision-making, the two sides of each vessel are marked, dusk to dawn, by navigation lights, the vessel's starboard side by green and its port side by red. Aircraft are lit in the same way.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_and_starboard
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Bancroft


1865 - SS Syren (also spelled Siren) was a privately owned iron-hulled sidewheel steamship and blockade runner, captured

SS Syren (also spelled Siren) was a privately owned iron-hulled sidewheel steamship and blockade runner built at Greenwich, Kent, England in 1863, designed for outrunning and evading the Union ships on blockade patrol around the Confederate States coastline during the American Civil War. Owned by the Charleston Importing and Exporting Company, Syren made her first run on 5 November 1863, importing supplies for the Confederacy from Nassau to Wilmington. Syren completed a record 33 runs through the Union blockade, the most of any blockade runner, before invading Union forces captured her while Syren was berthed at Charleston Harbor.

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


1891 – Launch of HMS Apollo, the sixth ship of the Royal Navy to be named for the Greek god Apollo, was a second-class Apollo-class protected cruiser

HMS Apollo, the sixth ship of the Royal Navy to be named for the Greek god Apollo, was a second-class Apollo-class protected cruiser launched in 1891 and converted to a minelayer in 1909 along with six of her sisters. They formed a minelaying squadron in 1914—15 during the First World War, although Apollo was disarmed in 1915 and served in secondary roles until broken up in 1920.


Diagram of an Apollo-class cruiser


Scale: 1:48. A half block model of the starboard side of the second class cruiser HMS Apollo (1891), made entirely in wood and painted pink-brown below the waterline, a narrow white stripe above and black above the waterline. Hull details include a ram bow; single row of portholes; five rectangular positions along the gunwale amidships for gun placements; and rudder. Other features and fittings include a foredeck with a small gun, wave deflector, stump foremast and bridge; two stump funnels and two ventilators all painted ochre; and aft deck with stump mainmast, small gun, deckhouse and rail . The model is displayed on a backboard painted off-white with a mahogany-stained frame with bevelled edges. On plaque attached to top right-hand side of backboard ‘Apollo’.


Profile (ZAZ7635) of the steam cutter

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Apollo_(1891)
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-292027;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=A


1944 - The amphibious force under Rear Adm. Harry W. Hill lands troops on Engebi Island, Eniwetok, securing the island before the end of the day.

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


1945 - U.S. Navy destroyers engage Japanese vessels off Iwo and Chichi Jima. USS Waldron (DD 699) is damaged after intentionally ramming a gunboat; USS Dortch (DD 670) sinks auxiliary submarine chaser Ayukawa Maru north-northwest of Iwo Jima; USS Barton (DD 722), USS Ingraham (DD 694), and USS Moale (DD 693) operating near Chichi Jima, sink Japanese guardboats No.35 Nanshin Maru, No. 3 Kyowa Maru, and No.5 Kukuichi Maru.

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

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 February 1694 - HMS Sussex (80), Ad. Sir Francis Wheler, and HMS Cambridge (70) Capt. John WARD, lost in a hurricane off Gibraltar - in total 13 ships were lost with 1,200 casualties in total


HMS Cambridge was a 70-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched in 1666 at Deptford Dockyard.
Cambridge was wrecked in 1694.





HMS Sussex was an 80-gun third-rate ship of the line of the English Royal Navy, lost in a severe storm on 19 February 1694 off Gibraltar. On board were possibly 10 tons of gold coins. This could now be worth more than $500 million, including the bullion and antiquity values, making it one of the most valuable wrecks ever.


Model of HMS Sussex, starboard

HMS Sussex was launched at Chatham Dockyard on 11 April 1693, and was the pride of the Royal Navy. As the flagship of Admiral Sir Francis Wheler, she set sail from Portsmouth on 27 December 1693, escorting a fleet of 48 warships and 166 merchant ships to the Mediterranean.

'Nov. 22. Kensington. Instructions for Sir Francis Wheler, knight, commander-in-chief of a squadron fitted out for the Straits. As soon as you join the Spanish armada, pursuant to the instructions of the Lords of the Admiralty, you shall act as most advisable for the annoying of the French, and shall give the Duke of Savoy notice of your arrival in the Mediterranean; and in case he desire your co-operation in any design against the French, you shall use your best endeavours to bring the same to a happy issue. During your stay in the Mediterranean you are to correspond as frequently as you can with Viscount Galway, our envoy extraordinary to the Duke of Savoy; and, as far as may be consistent with the service you are employed in, to act according to the advices you shall receive from him.'​

After a short stopover in Cadiz, the fleet entered the Mediterranean. On 27 February a violent storm hit the flotilla near the Strait of Gibraltar and in the early morning of the third day, HMS Sussex sank. All but two "Turks" of the 500 crew on board drowned, including Admiral Wheler, whose body, legend has it, was found on the eastern shore of the rock of Gibraltar in his night-shirt.

Due to the extent of the fatalities, it was not possible to establish the exact cause of the disaster, but it has been noted that 'the disaster seemed to confirm suspicions already voiced about the inherent instability of 80-gun ships with only two decks, such as the Sussex, and a third deck would be added for new ships of this armament.'

Besides HMS Sussex, 12 other ships of the fleet sank. There were approximately 1,200 casualties in total, in what remains one of the worst disasters in the history of the Royal Navy.


Treasure hunt
Between 1998 and 2001, the American Company Odyssey Marine Exploration searched for the Sussex and claimed that it had located the shipwreck at a depth of 800 metres.

In October 2002, Odyssey agreed to a deal with the ship's rightful owner, the British government, on a formula for sharing any potential spoils. Odyssey would get 80 percent of the proceeds up to $45 million, 50 percent from $45 million to $500 million and 40 percent above $500 million. The British government would get the rest.

The Americans were then poised to start the excavation in 2003, but it was delayed amid a raft of complaints from some archaeological quarters, denouncing it as a dangerous precedent for the "ransacking" of shipwrecks by private firms under the aegis of archaeological research.

Just as Odyssey was about to start an excavation, it was stopped by the Spanish authorities, in particular the government of Andalusia in January 2006.

In March 2007, Andalusia gave assent for the excavation to start with the condition that Spanish archeologists would take part in the excavation in order to ascertain that the shipwreck to be excavated is indeed the Sussex and not a Spanish galleon. On the same day, Odyssey Marine sent one of its survey vessels from Gibraltar, west of Cadiz to begin its Black Swan Project, which has resulted in Spain taking action against the company and cancelling its agreement to cooperate on the Sussex project.

A wonderful model of the Sussex in scale 1:60 was built by our member @ramonolivenza I was able to see in reality during my visit in Rochefort last year:



some more photos of this model you can find in my report of the visit of the international convention of model shipbuilding

https://shipsofscale.com/sosforums/...-th-21-st-october-2018.2050/page-2#post-42867

As I learnt from Ramon during the talks, he was partly working based on this planset
Please take a look also at the Planset review:

Building a Navy Board Model of HMS Sussex 1693
by Gilbert McArdle



https://shipsofscale.com/sosforums/...l-of-hms-sussex-1693-by-gilbert-mcardle.2225/




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Sussex_(1693)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Cambridge_(1666)

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 February 1741 – Launch of HMS Drake, an 8-gun snow-rigged sloop of the Royal Navy,


HMS Drake was an 8-gun snow-rigged sloop of the Royal Navy, launched in 1741 as the first of three Drake class sloops constructed for convoy duty during the Anglo-Spanish War of Jenkins' Ear from 1739 to 1742. After limited service off the Channel Islands, she was sailed to Gibraltar where she was wrecked in 1742 while under the temporary command of her first lieutenant.



Construction
Drake was the first of three small, fast vessels designed by Surveyor of the Navy Jacob Acworth to guard merchant convoys in British home waters after the declaration of war against Spain in 1739. She was ordered in June 1740, to be constructed by shipwright Thomas West in the civilian dockyard at Deptford. Her dimensions were in keeping with other vessels of her class with an overall length of 85 ft 1.5 in (25.9 m), a beam of 23 ft 9.25 in (7.2 m) and measuring 206 43⁄94 tonnes burthen.


No Scale. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth of Drake (1741), Hawke (1741), and Swift (1741), all 8-gun Sloops.

She had two masts, square-rigged and supported by a trysail mast aft of the main mast. Although fitted with seven pairs of gunports along her upper deck, she was armed with only eight four-pounder cannons with the remaining ports left unused. Twelve lightweight half-pounder swivel guns were also mounted on the deck, and her complement was 80 men.

Active service
Drake was commissioned in February 1741 under Commander Frederick Rogers. She assisted convoys in waters surrounding the Channel Islands for the remainder of that year, then sailed for Gibraltar in December. There the captaincy was transferred to Commander John Pitman, and six months later to Commander John Stringer who continued her convoy duties in the Channel and off Gibraltar itself.

Wreck
On 22 November 1742, Drake was under the temporary command of Lieutenant Nathaniel Stephens when she was wrecked in Gibraltar harbour and left in an unsalvageable condition. The wreck lay abandoned on the Gibraltar shore for several years; it was finally sold out of service on 13 October 1748.


No Scale. Plan showing basic fittings of upper deck, and fore and aft platforms for Drake (1741) and Hawke (1741), both 8-gun Sloops.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Drake_(1741)
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections.html#!csearch;searchTerm=drake_1741

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 February 1758 - HMS Invincible (74) lost on the Owers.


The Invincible was originally a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy launched in October 1744. Captured on 14 October 1747, she was taken into Royal Navy service as the third rate HMS Invincible.


Invincible 74 guns commanded by Sir John Bentley Kt in the years 1749-1752 and of which this drawing was made by his Clerk during the time of St John's command. Sir John commanded the Invincible twice again in the year 1757 until she was lost in 1758 in the month of February she was one of the fleet attached to the fleet expedition against Louisburg under the direction of Adml Boscawen but was lost in turning out of Spithead on a shore in consequence of missing stays Sir John was tried... (PAD8491)


During the early part of the 18th century British ship designers had made few significant advances in design, whereas French shipbuilding benefited from a remarkably creative period. At the time of the capture of Invincible, there was not one 74-gun ship in the Royal Navy. By 1805 at the battle of Trafalgar, three quarters of British ships of the line were of this singular design and the 74-gun ship had become the backbone of all major navies of the world.



Invincible was one of the first trio of a new and longer type of 74-gun ships. Until 1738, French 74s had been little more than 154 (French) feet in gundeck length, carrying just thirteen pairs of 36-pdr guns on the lower deck, fourteen pairs of 18-pdr guns on the upper deck and eight pairs of 8-pdr guns on the quarterdeck and forecastle, with the balance of the 74 guns made up of four small 4-pdr guns on the poop.


The Invincible after her capture - The Invincible French Ship of War mounting 74 Guns, Captured from France, May 3d 1747, by Vice Admiral Anson & Rear Admiral Vernon (PAF7937)

This was changed by François Coulomb's design for the Terrible, launched in 1739 at Toulon. The gundeck length was stretched to 164 (French) feet, and the four small guns on the poop were eliminated, replaced by new gunports for an additional pair of 36-pdr guns on the lower deck and an extra pair of 18-pdr guns on the upper deck. This new gun establishment became the standard for all subsequent French 74s. The next two ships, Invincible designed by Pierre Morineau and Le Magnanime designed by Blaise Geslain, were begun in early 1741 at Rochefort and were each even longer than Le Terrible.

At the First Battle of Cape Finisterre (14 May 1747) during the War of the Austrian Succession, Invincible was escorting a convoy of merchant ships when she was sighted by the British channel fleet of 16 ships of the line, which gave chase. Invincible attacked the British ships to give the convoy a chance to escape, and alone engaged six British warships. In the end with most of her crew dead or wounded she struck her colours. Gracious in defeat, the French Commander, Saint-Georges, handed his sword to Admiral George Anson.

HMS Invincible sank in February 1758 when she hit a sandbank in the East Solent. The ship remained upright for 3 days after its grounding allowing the crew to safely escape.

The wreck site was designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act on 30 September 1980. In 1996 Amer Ved grounded at the wrecksite, although it is not clear whether or not this resulted in damage to the remains. In 2013 the wreck was placed on English Heritage's list of ten most at risk heritage sites due to parts of the ship being exposed by changing seabed levels. In July 2016 it was announced that £2 million of the fines imposed for the Libor banking scandal would be used to fund an excavation of the wreck site


A port-broadside view of the Invincible on steady waters, flying the British flag with sails billowing in the wind; accompanying her is a ship’s boat on the right. The Invincible occupies the majority of the image. In the left distance are two vessels, one shown starboard quarter with a British flag and the other port bow.







https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Invincible_(1747)
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-320983;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=I

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 February 1760 - Launch of HMS Bellona, a 74-gun Bellona-class third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy


HMS Bellona was a 74-gun Bellona-class third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. Designed by Sir Thomas Slade, she was a prototype for the iconic 74-gun ships of the latter part of the 18th century. "The design of the Bellona class was never repeated precisely, but Slade experimented slightly with the lines, and the Arrogant, Ramillies, Egmont, and Elizabeth classes were almost identical in size, layout, and structure, and had only slight variations in the shape of the underwater hull. The Culloden class ship of the line was also similar, but slightly larger. Thus over forty ships were near-sisters of the Bellona." Bellona was built at Chatham, starting on 10 May 1758, launched on 19 February 1760, and commissioned three days later. She was the second ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name, and saw service in the Seven Years' War, American Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic Wars.



Bellona left to join the squadron blockading Brest (this being the Seven Years' War) on 8 April 1760. She was later detached to patrol off the Tagus Riverin Spain, and on 13 August, while sailing with the frigate Brilliant, she sighted the French 74-gun ship Courageux in company with two frigates. The British ships pursued, and after 14 hours, caught up with the French ships and engaged at the Action of 14 August 1761, the Brilliant attacking the frigates, and Bellona taking on the Courageux. The frigates eventually got away, but the Courageux struck her colours, and was later repaired and taken into the Royal Navy.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines and longitudinal half-breadth for 'Dragon' (1760) and 'Superb' (1760), and 'Bellona' (1760), 74-gun Third Rate, two-deckers.

In 1762 Bellona was paid off and did not see action again until 1780, during the American Revolutionary War. She was coppered at this time, one of the first British ships to receive the hull-protecting layer. Until 1783 she cruised in the North Sea and the West Indies, and participated in reliefs of Gibraltar.

Bellona was once again paid off, recommissioned briefly in 1789 in expectation of war with Russia, but didn't get into action again until 1793, when she went to the West Indies.

On 10 January 1797, Belona and Babet drove a small French privateer schooner ashore on Deseada. They tried to use the privateer Legere, of six guns and 48 men, which Bellona had captured three days earlier, to retrieve the schooner that was on shore. In the effort, both French privateers were destroyed. Then Babet chased a brig, which had been a prize to the schooner, ashore. The British were unable to get her off so they destroyed her. Babet and Belona were paid headmoney in 1828, more than 30 years later.

Bellona took part in the Action of 18 June 1799, securing the surrender of the frigates Junon and Alceste, and helping HMS Centaur in capturing Courageuse.

In 1801 she was in the Battle of Copenhagen, participating despite having grounded on a shoal. She continued to serve in the North Sea and Bay of Biscay until 1814, when she paid off for the last time and was broken up, having served in the navy for over 50 years, an unusually long time for one of the old wooden ships.

Bellona in fiction
Bellona appears in the Patrick O'Brian novels The Commodore and The Yellow Admiral as the pennant ship of a squadron led by the character Jack Aubrey.






Scale: 1:38.4 (5/16 inch to the foot). A model of the 74-gun ship Bellona (1760), made entirely in wood with wood, metal, and organic and inorganic material fittings and painted and varnished. The vessel is depicted on a slipway with a drawer at the stern end of its scenic carrying case, which opens to extend the slipway to twice its length so that the model can be launched. The hull is coppered below the waterline, and varnished or polished wood above and the broad closed wale is painted black. The gunports are all depicted open and the interior faces of the lids are painted red. The three channels are shown above the two principal gundecks, complete with deadeyes. Some deck and stern gallery fittings and embellishments are made from ivory and windows are glazed in mica. Forecastle fittings include stove pipe and belfry, waist includes a capstan with bars fitted, upper deck houses the double wheel and the poop has a skylight. Some deck planks have been removed to show interior structure. Other fittings include an elaborate figurehead with a green glaze and three stern lanterns. The model is displayed on a launch cradle and slipway within a stylised section of dock. This is set inside a travelling case with side panels in dark, polished wood to which is fitted two pairs of brass carrying handles. On the counter of the stern ‘Bellona’.


Scale: 1:48. A model of the 74-gun ship Bellona (1760) made entirely in a mid-brown patinated wood and varnished or polished. The model depicts the framing and construction of the vessel and other features such as channels and figurehead. The hull framing is complete with all full and filling frames in position. The construction of features such as keel, deadwood and stem post is shown and sections of planking have been fastened to the port side below the main wale. Below this, from bow to stern, are four ribbands. A number of port lids and channels, complete with ivory or bone deadeyes, are shown in position. The figurehead depicts a female figure and abaft of it are four hawse holes. The decks are depicted in frame but contain fittings such as gratings, pin rails and a capstan in the waist. The model is asymmetrical: the rails, for example, are complete along the entire port side forecastle, upper and poop decks, but missing on the starboard side. The model is displayed on a pair of moulded wood crutches with rectangular bases.


The Bellona-class ships of the line were a class of five 74-gun third rates, whose design for the Royal Navy by Sir Thomas Slade was approved on 31 January 1758. Three ships were ordered on 28 December 1757, with names being assigned on 1 February 1758. Two further ships to this design were ordered on 13 December 1758, at the same time as two ships of a revised design – the Arrogant class.

Design
Slade's Bellona class was the first class of British 74s to have a gun deck length of 168 ft (51 m), and marked the beginning of a stabilisation of the design of this size of ship. Several subsequent classes designed by Slade were almost identical to the Bellona draught, with the main differences restricted to the underwater hull – the most numerous of these being the Arrogant and Elizabeth classes.

Bellona class (Slade)

• Bellona 74 (1760) – broken up 1814
• Dragon 74 (1760) – sold 1784
• Superb 74 (1760) – wrecked 1783
• Kent 74 (1762) – sold 1784
• Defence 74 (1763) – wrecked 1811

The bombardment of Morro Castle on Havana -- HMS Dragon, centre





https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Bellona_(1760)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellona-class_ship_of_the_line
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-295484;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=B

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 February 1794 - British squadron under Commodore Robert Linzee captured Minerve.


Minerve was a 40-gun frigate of the French Navy, lead ship of her class. She operated in the Mediterranean during the French Revolutionary Wars. Her crew scuttled her at Saint-Florent to avoid capture when the British invaded Corsica in 1794, but the British managed to raise her and recommissioned her in the Royal Navy as the 38-gun fifth rate HMS St Fiorenzo (also San Fiorenzo).


HMS St Fiorenzo and Piémontaise

She went on to serve under a number of the most distinguished naval commanders of her age, in theatres ranging from the English Channel to the East Indies. During this time she was active against enemy privateers, and on several occasions she engaged ships larger than herself, being rewarded with victory on each occasion. She captured the 40-gun Résistance and the 22-gun Constance in 1797, the 36-gun Psyché in 1805, and the 40-gun Piémontaise in 1808. (These actions would earn the crew members involved clasps to the Naval General Service Medal.) After she became too old for frigate duties, the Admiralty had her converted for successively less active roles. She initially became a troopship and then a receiving ship. Finally she was broken up in 1837 after a long period as a lazarette.



French career
The French built Minerve at Toulon, laying her down on 10 February 1782 and launching her on 21 July 1782. She was the lead ship of her class. Minerve began her career in the Mediterranean, in particular operating in the Levant campaign from 1790 to 1791. In March 1793 she and Melpomène escorted from Toulon to Algiers two xebecs that the French had outfitted for the Dey. On Minerve’s return to Toulon her commander was arrested following an insurrection on board. On 18 February 1794, her commander scuttled her before the British under Sir David Dundas captured the town of San Fiorenzo(San Fiurenzu or Saint-Florent, Haute-Corse) in the Gulf of St. Florent in Corsica. (Other accounts suggest that gunfire from British shore batteries sank her.) The British found Minerve on 19 February 1794, and were able to refloat her. They then took her into service as a 38-gun frigate under the name St Fiorenzo.


San Fiorenzo (far left) and Nymphe (second from right) capture Résistance and Constance, 9 March 1797. Oil painting by Nicholas Pocock.


lines & profile NMM, Progress Book, volume 5, folio 283, states that 'San/Saint Fiorenzo' (1794)) arrived at Chatham Dockyard on 22 November 1794 and was docked on 21 March 1795. She was undocked on 2 June 1795 and sailed on 14 August 1795 having been fitted. She arrived at Sheerness Dockyard on 14 August 1795, departing on 29 August 1795.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_St_Fiorenzo_(1794)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Linzee
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-350139;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=S

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 February 1801 - Action of 19 February 1801
HMS Phoebe (36), Cptn. Robert Barlow took French frigate Africaine (44), Cptn. Majendie, off Ceuta in Morocco.


The Action of 19 February 1801 was a minor naval battle fought off Ceuta in Spanish North Africa in February 1801 between frigates of the French and Royal Navies during the French Revolutionary Wars. The engagement formed part of a series of actions fought to prevent the French from resupplying their garrison in Egypt, which had been trapped there without significant reinforcement since the defeat of the French Mediterranean Fleet at the Battle of the Nile two and a half years earlier. The leader of the Egyptian expedition, General Napoleon Bonaparte, had returned to France in 1799 and promised aid to the troops left behind, prompting several expeditions to the region carrying reinforcements.

The frigate Africaine had been sent from Rochefort early in 1801 with more than 400 soldiers for the Egyptian garrison, and by February had reached the Mediterranean Sea, Commodore Saulnier seeking to pass along the North African coast to avoid patrolling Royal Navy warships. On the afternoon of 19 February however the overladen French warship was discovered by the British HMS Phoebe and rapidly chased down and brought to action. In an engagement lasting two hours, the French ship was reduced to a wallowing wreck as broadsides from Phoebe tore through the hull, rigging and the soldiers packed on the decks: by the time Africaine surrendered, 200 men were dead and another 143 wounded. The captured ship was brought into the base at Port Mahon in Menorca and subsequently served in the Royal Navy.



Background
In 1798 a large French expeditionary force under General Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Egypt, then under the nominal control of the Ottoman Empire, in an extension of the ongoing French Revolutionary Wars. The fleet that had convoyed the French army was anchored in Aboukir Bay near Alexandria, and was discovered there by a British fleet under Vice-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson on 1 August. In the ensuing Battle of the Nile the French Mediterranean Fleet was almost totally destroyed, preventing the French forces in Egypt from maintaining regular reinforcement and communication from France and ending the possibility of a wholesale evacuation of the French army. Following an unsuccessful campaign in Syria, Bonaparte returned to France without his army, eventually seizing control of the French government during the events of 18 Brumaire.

By 1801, the troops in Egypt were in an increasingly desperate situation: supplies were low, reinforcement from France almost non-existent and disease was rife. In addition they were subject to constant attack by Ottoman and irregular Egyptian forces, culminating in the assassination of General Jean Baptiste Kléber. Bonaparte, conscious of his promises to send reinforcements to the beleaguered army in Egypt, planned a series of expeditions to the region to restore morale and numbers to the expeditionary force, drawn from troops and naval units available on the French Atlantic coast. The largest force consisted of 5,000 soldiers and nine ships under Rear-Admiral Honoré Ganteaume and sailed from Brest in January 1801, but this squadron had been preceded by two frigates from Rochefort, Africaine and Régénérée.

Each of the frigates carried, in addition to their regular complement, approximately 400 soldiers and large quantities of muskets, cannon and ammunition to reinforce the Egyptian garrison. The ships had an uneventful passage southwards, separating before entering the Mediterranean and taking different routes towards Egypt. Africaine, under the command of Commodore Saulnier who had previously fought at the Nile and in the Action of 31 March 1800 as captain of the ship of the line Guillaume Tell, had elected to travel along the North African coast to avoid British patrols in open waters, and by 19 February was passing the Spanish North African town of Ceuta, 6 nautical miles (11 km) east of Gibraltar. Africaine was a large modern 40-gun frigate with 715 men aboard but the huge quantity of supplies made the vessel slow and unresponsive and vulnerable to attack by a more agile opponent. Also sailing off Ceuta on the afternoon of 19 February was the 36-gun British frigate HMS Phoebe under the command of Captain Robert Barlow. Phoebe, carrying 239 men aboard (22 below the required complement), was operating from the British base at Port Mahon on Menorca on a routine patrol between there and Gibraltar, and had just passed Ceuta to the south on the last leg of the journey when at 16:00 the lookout sighted Africaine.


Capture of the Africaine French frigate by the Phoebe... 1 Nov 1801 (PAH4006)

Battle
Barlow immediately turned to investigate the strange sail, steering southwards directly at the lumbering vessel. Saulnier was seemingly unwilling to attempt any manoeuvere in the face of the enemy, as Africaine continued to hold the original course without deviation. By 19:30 it was inevitable that Phoebe would intercept Africaine and Saulnier shortened sail, slowing his frigate to meet the threat. Barlow was still unsure of the identity of the stranger and fired a shot over Africaine as a warning to its captain to identify his ship. Saulnier responded by turning to port and firing a broadside directly at Phoebe. It was poorly aimed however and mostly scattered into the sea without effect. At this, Barlow pulled Phoebe into a parallel position to Africaine and unleashed a much more devastating broadside from close range. The two frigates then began an exchange of fire at close range.

The effect of Phoebe's broadsides on the overladen French frigate were disastrous: for two hours Africaine limped northwards with Phoebe pouring fire into the French ship without significant reply. Even as they were cut down by cannon fire, French soldiers continued to climb out of the hold and join the combat on deck, their musketry useless at the range between the ships and the press of bodies obstructing the French sailors from working their guns effectively. Saulnier was killed, Général de division Edme Desfourneaux badly wounded and many of their subordinates including all of the naval lieutenants, made casualties; almost all of the rigging had been torn away, most of the guns smashed from their mounts and the decks literally heaped with dead bodies. Even the orlop, usually the safest part of a ship and therefore where the ships medical facilities were located, came under heavy fire and three surgeons were killed while standing at the operating table. Eventually the senior surviving officer, Captain Jean-Jacques Magendie, who had suffered a severe head wound, authorised the colours to be struck at 21:30, approximately 60 nautical miles (110 km) east of Gibraltar, thereby surrendering the ship. Phoebe by contrast was only lightly damaged, with the principle injury being to the masts: both ships might have been dismasted had there been any strong wind rather than a deep calm during the evening. Only one man, Seaman Samuel Hayes, had been killed and just 12 wounded including the first lieutenant.

Aftermath
Barlow took possession of the battered French vessel and set his men to making hasty repairs before the weather could worsen. The first task was dealing with the dead and wounded on the French ship: Magadie reported in the immediate aftermath that 200 men had been killed and 143 were seriously wounded or dying, figures that Barlow considered to be understated. When repairs were complete, Barlow turned his ships towards nearby Gibraltar, but in the face of a westerly breeze progress was slow and after fours days he abandoned the attempt and turned back to Menorca, concerned for the state of the wounded men and the large number of prisoners of war aboard both vessels. However, the wind dropped when the ships were off the Southern coast of Majorca and Phoebe and Africaine did not reach Port Mahon until 5 March. The action was highly praised by the station commander Captain Manley Dixon, who stated in a letter to the Admiralty dated 10 March 1801 "that more Skill or effective Gunnery were never displayed in any Combat than in the present Instance".

Barlow was subsequently knighted for his success, and moved from Phoebe to the frigate HMS Concorde, a highly desirable warship noted for its speed, before moving to the ship of the line HMS Triumph later in the year. His wounded first lieutenant, John Wentworth Holland, was promoted to commander and the other officers and the enlisted men were all highly praised in the official dispatch. Africaine was purchased by the Royal Navy and briefly renamed Amelia before reverting to Africaine. The ship had a long career in British service during the Napoleonic Wars, participating in numerous actions including the controversial Action of 13 September 1810 during the Mauritius campaign. Nearly five decades later the battle was among the actions recognised by the clasp "PHOEBE 19 FEBY. 1801", attached to the Naval General Service Medal which was awarded upon application to all British participants from Phoebe still living in 1847. Régénérée had an uninterrupted passage to Egypt, arriving on 1 March, one day before the British Expeditionary Force initiated a close blockade of the coast. Régénérée proved to be the only major French warship to reach the garrison after Ganteaume's squadron was repeatedly driven back in its efforts. Without supplies and reinforcements the French army in Egypt could not effectively resist the major British invasion of the country in March 1801 and after a brief campaign was forced to capitulate at Alexandria in August.

Historical analysis of the battle has praised Barlow's conduct: his tactics of refusing to allow the French ship to come alongside and board his vessel, thereby turning the French superiority in numbers into a disadvantage was commended by William James,[8] and historian Tom Wareham has noted that the standing British practice of firing into enemy hulls rather than at the rigging as practiced by the French gave Barlow an advantage against the crowded decks of Africaine. Saulnier too has been praised for his efforts to avoid combat with his ship so overladen and for the subsequent valour with which his crew and their passengers fought so fiercely for two hours against mounting odds and in the face of "truly dreadful" casualties, although he was also subject to criticism in France when it emerged that he had removed the quoins from his guns in an effort to force his men to fire at the British rigging rather than the hull: Bonaparte ordered that in future his ships intended "not to dismast the enemy, but to do him as much harm as possible."


HMS Phoebe was a 36-gun fifth rate of the Royal Navy. She had a career of almost twenty years and fought in the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. Overall, her crews were awarded six clasps to the Naval General Service Medals, with two taking place in the French Revolutionary Wars, three during the Napoleonic Wars and the sixth in the War of 1812. Three of the clasps carried the name Phoebe. During her career, Phoebe sailed to the Mediterranean, the Baltic, the Indian Ocean, South East Asia, North America and South America.


Capture of La Nereide Decr 21st. 1797 (PAD5533)

Once peace finally arrived, Phoebe was laid up, though she spent a few years as a slop ship during the 1820s. She was then hulked. The Admiralty finally sold her for breaking up in 1841.


Africaine was one of two 40-gun Preneuse-class frigates of the French Navy built to a design by Raymond-Antoine Haran. She carried twenty-eight 18-pounder and twelve 8-pounder guns. The British captured her in 1801, only to have the French recapture her in 1810. They abandoned her at sea as she had been demasted and badly damaged, with the result that the British recaptured her the next day. She was broken up in 1816.



lines & profile It is likely that these plans show her prior to her refit. NMM, Progress Book, volume 5, folio 712, states that 'Africaine' was refitted at Deptford Dockyard between 17 February 1802 and 17 February 1803.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_19_February_1801
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Africaine_(1798)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Phoebe_(1795)
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-289602;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=A