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
23 February 1781 – Launch of French Illustre, a 74-gun Magnanime class ship of the line of the French Navy


The Illustre was a 74-gun Magnanime class ship of the line of the French Navy.



She took part in the campaigns of Suffren before staying in Brest between 1788 and 1791. She was razeed into a 44-gun frigate in 1793.

In February 1794, she was renamed Mucius Scévola, and Scévola the next month.

She took part in the Expédition d'Irlande. On 30 December 1796, she was wrecked in a storm and was so badly damaged that she was scuttled. The crew was evacuated by Révolution.


The Magnanime class was a class of two 74-gun ships of the line built for France in the late 1770s. They were designed by Jean-Denis Chevillard, and both were constructed at Rochefort Dockyard.

• Magnanime

Builder: Rochefort Dockyard
Ordered: 1778
Begun: October 1778
Launched: 27 August 1779
Completed: December 1779
Fate: Decommissioned in 1792 at Brest, broken up in 1793

• Illustre

Builder: Rochefort Dockyard
Ordered: 1778 or 1779
Begun: August 1779
Launched: 23 February 1781
Completed: March 1781
Fate: Renamed Mucius Scévola in January 1791, shortened to Scévola in February 1791, and cut down (raséed) to a 50-gun "heavy" frigate between August 1793 and February 1794. Wrecked in a storm on 16 December 1796 during the attempted invasion of Ireland.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Illustre_(1781)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnanime-class_ship_of_the_line

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
23 February 1786 – Launch of French La Réunion, a 36-gun French warship launched in 1786.


La Réunion was a 36-gun French warship launched in 1786. During the French Revolutionary War she was stationed at Cherbourgand was successfully employed harassing British merchant shipping in the English Channel until the British captured her off the Cotentin Peninsula during the action of 20 October 1793. Renamed HMS Reunion, she served for three years in the Royal Navyhelping to counter the threat from the new Batavian Navy, before she was wrecked in the Thames Estuary in December 1796.





Construction
La Réunion was built at Toulon between February 1785 and January 1787. She was one of a further five ships built to Joseph-Marie-Blaise Coulomb's 1777 design for the Magicienne-class frigates. La Réunion was launched on 23 February 1786.

French career
On 20 April 1792 the Legislative Assembly voted for war with Austria thus starting a conflict which would become known as the French Revolutionary War. France declared war on Britain on 1 February 1793 and began to focus heavily on the disruption of British commerce through the deployment of frigates on raiding operations against British commercial shipping. In the English Channel, two of the most successful raiders were the frigates Réunion and Sémillante, both then based in Cherbourg on the Cotentin Peninsula. These frigates would make short cruises, leaving Cherbourg in the early evening and returning in the morning with any prizes they had encountered during the night.

Action of 20 October 1793
Main article: Action of 20 October 1793


Action between HMS 'Crescent' and the 'Reunion', 20 October 1793: surrender (Painting) (BHC0465)


H.M.S. Crescent, under the command of Captain James Saumarez, capturing the French frigate Réunion off Cherbourg, 20 October 1793, att. John Christian Schetky


Action between HMS 'Crescent' and the 'Reunion', 20 October 1793: ships engaged (Painting) (BHC0464)

The British response to the French raids was to attempt a blockade of the French coast, and to that end, despatched a number of vessels including the 36-gun frigate HMS Crescent, under Captain James Saumarez. On the morning of 20 October, Réunion, under the command of Captain François Dénian, and a 14-gun cutter, the Espérance, were returning from a cruise when they were spotted by Crescent. A second British frigate, the 28-gun HMS Circe, was becalmed some 9 nautical miles (17 km) away and Espérance fled towards Cherbourg, leaving Réunion to engage Crescent alone. Although Réunion was bigger, 951 long tons (966 t) compared to 888 long tons (902 t), and carried a larger crew; Crescent had a slight advantage in weight of shot, 315 pounds (143 kg) to 310 pounds (141 kg) and was marginally faster.

After the opening exchanges, Réunion had lost her fore yard and mizzen topmast while Crescent had lost the top off her foremast. Both ships had rigging cut and a number of sails damaged but Crescent was still able to manoeuvre across Réunion's stern and rake her. This raking caused huge damage to the French ship and her crew, and although Réunion continued to resist for some time, she was no longer able to move effectively. With Saumarez about to cross his bow and Circe now rapidly approaching due to a strengthening wind, Dénian realised he had no choice but to surrender his vessel. The engagement had lasted two hours and ten minutes during which time the cutter Espérance managed to escape to Cherbourg. The French frigate Sémillante, which had been anchored in the harbour, was unable to come to Réunion's rescue because of contrary wind and tides.

British career
The captured ship was taken to Portsmouth where she was fitted out and finally registered as a British warship in May 1794. In the winter of 1794/5, France gained control of what was then the Dutch Republic and captured the Dutch fleet which had been frozen in harbour. Reunion was sent to become part of a newly formed British fleet to be stationed at Great Yarmouth and intended to oppose the threat from the new Batavian Navy. Captain James Almes took command of Reunion in July 1795 and on 22 August led a small squadron that captured the Dutch ship Alliance in the North Sea.

Action of 22 August 1795
Main article: Action of 22 August 1795


The Action of 22 August 1795 by Nicholas Pocock

Reunion put to sea on 8 August in the company of HMS Isis, 50 guns, and Vestal, 28 guns, and on 12 August they were joined by another frigate, the 32-gun HMS Stag. On the 22nd, the squadron, under Almes orders, was cruising off the coast of Norway when at around 1300hrs, it spotted two ships and a cutter to windward and heading towards shore on a larboard tack. These ships proved to be the 36-gun frigates, Alliance and Argo, and the 16-gun cutter, Vlugheld. A favourable wind change allowed Stag to overhaul the rear most ship, Alliance, and bring her to action at about 1615hrs while the remaining British ships engaged in a running battle with Argo and Vlugheld. After an hour's fighting, Stag managed to force the surrender of her larger opponent but Argo, despite suffering much damage, and Vlugheld escaped into port at 1730hrs.

Later career
HMS Reunion remained on blockade duty in the North Sea for the rest of her career. In July 1796, command of HMS Reunion passed to Acting Captain William Hotham and then to Captain Henry William Bayntun who accidentally wrecked the ship on the Sunk Sand in the Thames Estuary on 7 December 1796. Bayntun and his entire crew survived and were later exonerated of blame for the loss of the ship.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Réunion_(1786)

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
23 February 1788 – Launch of the French ex-naval brick-aviso and then privateer Épervier


The first HMS Epervier, sometimes spelled HMS Epervoir, was the French ex-naval brick-aviso and then privateer Épervier, launched in 1788. The British captured her in 1797 and registered her in 1798 as an 18-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy. The Navy never commissioned her and she was sold in 1801.



Design
Epervier was an Expédition-class "brick-aviso" (advice brig). Benjamin Dubois built the six members of the class at Saint-Malo Montmarin to a 3 October 1787 design by Pierre-Alexandre-Laurent Forfait, and all were launched in 1788. They cost 86,000 Livre tournois each.

The British captured two other members of the class, but never added them to the navy. The two were Curieux (captured in June 1793), and Impatient (captured in May 1803), by Naiad.

French service
Épervier was originally armed with six 4-pounder guns. In 1792 her armament was increased to ten 4-pounders and four 12-pounder howitzers. The next year she received six more 4-pounder guns. She was in dry-dock at Rochefort in 1795. In April 1797 she was condemned at Cayenne, but then became a privateer. Between 1794 and 1797, she carried eighteen 4-pounders and four two-pounder guns.

Capture
Epervier was operating as a French privateer when HMS Cerberus, under the command of Captain John Drew, captured her. Cerberus was on the Irish station when on 12 and 14 November 1797 she captured two French privateers, Epervier and Renard. Both vessels were pierced for 20 guns, were copper-bottomed, quite new, and fast sailers. Epervier was armed with sixteen 4-pounder guns and had a crew of 145 men. Renard carried eighteen 6-pounders and had a crew of 189 men Lloyd's List reported Cerberus's capture of two privateers, one of 30 guns and one of 18, and the arrival of both at Cork.

Between these two captures, Cerberus recaptured the Adelphi, prize to Epervier. Adelphi, Patterson, master, had been sailing from Quebec to London when Epervier captured her; she too went into Cork.[8] Epervier arrived at Plymouth on 12 January 1798, and was registered on 14 February. However, the Navy never commissioned her. The Navy did take Renard into service, retaining her name; she served until 1807. Although the Navy did not commission Epervier/Epervoir, two legal notices in the London Gazette give the names of two men, one of whom is described as a master on Epervoir, and one of whom is named as having been a lieutenant on her.

Fate
The Commissioners of the Navy listed Epervoir, of 254 tons burthen, for sale at Plymouth in August 1801. She was sold on 7 September 1801.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Epervier_(1797)

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
23 February 1796 – Launch of HMS Cynthia, a ship sloop of unusual design, launched in 1796


HMS Cynthia was a ship sloop of unusual design, launched in 1796. She took part in one medal-worthy boat action and participated in captures of a number of merchant vessels, was present at two notable occasions, the surrender of the Dutch fleet in the Vlieter Incident and the capture of Alexandria, and her crew participated in two land attacks on forts. She was broken up in 1809.



Design
Wells & Co. of Rotherhithe built Cynthia with a shallow draught and three daggerboards (John Schank's sliding keels) for stability. She was rated for 18 guns but during construction her rating was reduced to sixteen 6-pounder guns; she also carried fourteen half-pound swivels, although the latter were probably replaced by a much smaller number of carronades during her career.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, midship section and plan illustrating the keel box, sheer lines with some inboard detail and scroll fugurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for Cynthia (1796), a 16-gun Sloop fitted with three sliding keels. A copy of this was sent to Mr Wells on 2 October 1795.

Service during the French Revolutionary Wars
Cynthia was commissioned in March 1796 under Commander Micajah Malbon. Thirteen months later, Cynthia, in company with Diamond, Minerva, Camilla, and the hired armed cutter Grand Falconer captured the American ship Favourite on 19 April 1797. On 5 October Cynthia was in company with Diamond, Syren and Melampus when they captured the Spanish ship Nostra Senora Del Carmen.

Cynthia, Cormorant and St Fiorenzo recaptured the American vessel Betty. Then on 24 Nov 1797 she was in company with Cormorant and Grand Falconer when they captured the French merchant sloop Necessaire.

On 15 February 1798 Cynthia was in company with Cormorant when they captured the Prussian galiot Welwaert. On 28 August 1799, Cynthia was with the British fleet that captured the Dutch hulks Drotchterland and Brooderschap, and the ships Helder, Venus, Minerva, and Hector, in the New Diep, in Holland. A partial pay-out of prize money resulted in a payment of 6s 8d to each seaman that had been in the fleet that day. The capture of these vessels was part of the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland and preceded by two days the Vlieter Incident in which a large part of the navy of the Batavian Republic, commanded by Rear-Admiral Samuel Story, surrendered to the British navy on a sandbank near the Channel known as De Vlieter, near Wieringen. Cynthia was also among the vessels sharing in the prize money from the Dutch vessels of the Vlieter Incident.

On 4 June 1800, Cynthia was part of a squadron under Captain Edward Pellew in Impetueux. The 32-gun frigate Thames, Captain William Lukin, Cynthia, and some small-craft, attacked the south-west end of Quiberon and silenced the forts. Troops under Major Ramsey then landed and destroyed the forts. The attack resulted in the British taking several vessels and scuttling others. The only casualties were in Cynthia, which lost two men killed and one wounded.

Because Cynthia was with Pellew's squadron for a time, she benefited from the prize or salvage money for the Vigilant, Menais, Industry, Insolent,Ann and for the wreck of a vessel sold. Vessels of the squadron had made the captures, which they then shared with the remainder. Cynthia also shared in the proceeds from the recapture of the Lancaster on 28 June.

On 25 August Cynthia, now under Commander John Dick, was in a squadron and convoy under the command of Rear-Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren.[14] She participated in another attack on a fort at the bay of Playa de Dominos (Doniños), outside the port of Ferrol, together with the 74-gun Impétueux, the 28-gun frigate Brilliant, and the 14-gun hired armed cutter St Vincent. The vessels silenced the battery, which was armed with eight 24-pounders. Then seamen from the ships landed to assist a large force of army troops to haul the guns up to the heights above Ferrol. However, it became apparent that Ferrol was too well fortified. The Navy then reembarked the troops and the whole British force withdrew.

Four days later, in Vigo Bay, Admiral Sir Samuel Hood assembled a cutting-out party from the vessels under his command consisting of two boats each from Cynthia, Stag, Amelia, Brilliant and Amethyst, four boats from Courageaux, as well as the boats from Renown, London and Impetueux The party went in and after a 15-minute fight captured the French privateer Guêpe, of Bordeaux and towed her out. She was of 300 tons burthen and had a flush deck. Pierced for 20 guns, she carried eighteen 9-pounders, and she and her crew of 161 men were under the command of Citizen Dupan. In the attack she lost 25 men killed, including Dupan, and 40 wounded. British casualties amounted to four killed, 23 wounded and one missing. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "29 Aug. Boat Service 1800" to all surviving claimants from the action.

On 5 December Cynthia and the gunvessel Urchin were in company with the 36-gun frigate Florentina when Florentina captured the French polacre Union, bound from Alexandria to France with a cargo of rice and coffee. Two days later, the same three vessels captured the French brig Bon Pasteur Retrouve on the same route with rice, coffee and sugar. Six days after that, the same three vessels captured the French brig Heureuse Clairon and her cargo of rice and coffee.

On 19 February 1801, Cynthia and Florentina were among the vessels sharing in the capture of the Rosa. On 9 June Cynthia was among the vessels participating in the capture of the Felicite and Josephine, off Alexandria. Then on 28 July she shared in the capture of the Almas di Purgatoria, also off Alexandria.

In August 1801, Cynthia participated in the Egyptian operations. In the morning of 17 August, after the Battle of Alexandria and the subsequent siege, Captain Alexander Cochrane in the 74-gun Ajax, with the sixth-rate Bonne Citoyenne, Cynthia, the brig-sloops Port Mahon and Victorieuse, and three Turkish corvettes, were the first vessels to enter the harbour. Because Cynthia served in the navy's Egyptian campaign between 8 March 1801 and 2 September, her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal that the Admiralty authorised in 1850 for all surviving claimants.

In 1801 or 1802, Lord Elgin requested that Cynthia help transport some cases of the so-called Elgin marbles, but her captain, Commander Wright, declined. One of Cynthia's last tasks was to transport ten Army mutineers from Gibraltar on 12 January 1803 to Portsmouth, where seven were transferred to Calcutta on 21 April for transport to Australia.

Fate
In February 1803 Cynthia was laid up in ordinary at Chatham. She broken up in 1809.


Scale: 1:12. Plan showing the elevation, plan and sections of the midship keel bod for the sliding keels for Cynthia (1796), a 16-gun Sloop fitted with three sliding keels. The plan shows the manner of framing used.


No scale. Plan showing the constructional side elevation and section through the sliding keel for Cynthia (1796), a 16-gun Sloop fitted with three sliding keels, built at Rotherhithe by Messrs Wells.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the framing profile (disposition) for Cynthia (1796), a 16-gun Sloop fitted with three sliding keels. A copy of this was sent to Mr Wells on 2 October 1795.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the inboard profile for Cynthia (1796), a 16-gun Sloop fitted with three sliding keels, building at Rotherhithe by Messrs Wells.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Cynthia_(1796)
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-305861;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=C

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
23 February 1805 - HMS Leander (50), Cptn. John Talbot, re-captured HMS Cleopatra and took French frigate Ville de Milan (38), Cptn. Pierre Guillet.


HMS Milan was a 38-gun fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She had previously been the Ville de Milan, a 40-gun frigate of the French Navy, but served for only a year before being chased down and engaged by the smaller 32-gun frigate HMS Cleopatra. Ville de Milan defeated and captured her opponent, but suffered so much damage that she was forced to surrender without a fight several days later when both ships encountered HMS Leander, a British fourth rate. Milan went on to serve with the Royal Navy for another ten years, before being broken up in 1815, after the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars.



Construction and French career
Ville de Milan was built at Lorient to a one-off design by Antoine Geoffroy. She was originally named Hermione, but was renamed after her launch; she was completed for service by February 1804. She was assigned to the West Indies and sailed from Martinique on 28 January under Captain Jean-Marie Renaud, bound for France with important despatches.


Battle between Ville de Milan and HMS Cleopatra, depicted in a contemporary print

On 16 February the Ville de Milan was spotted off Bermuda by the 32-gun HMS Cleopatra, under Captain Sir Robert Laurie. Laurie ordered a chase, while Renaud, who had orders to avoid combat, pressed on sail in an attempt to escape. The chase covered 180 miles and lasted until the following morning, when it became clear to Renaud that he was being overhauled and would be forced to fight. He reluctantly prepared to meet the Cleopatra, with the ships exchanging fire, the Cleopatra from her bowchasers, the Ville de Milan from her stern battery. The engagement began in earnest at 2.30pm, and a heavy cannonade was maintained between the two frigates until 5pm. The Cleopatra had suffered heavy damage to her rigging, and now tried to manoeuvre across the Frenchman's bows to rake her. While doing so she had her wheel shot away and her rudder jammed. The Ville de Milanapproached from windward and ran aboard the Cleopatra, jamming her bowsprit over the quarterdeck of the British ship and raked her decks with musket fire. The British resisted one attempt to board, but on being unable to break free, were forced to surrender to a second boarding party. The Cleopatra had 22 killed and 36 wounded, with the loss of her foremast, mainmast and bowsprit. The Ville de Milan had probably about 30 killed and wounded, with Captain Renaud among the dead. She also lost her mainmast and mizzenmast. Though wounded, the Ville de Milan's second officer, Capitaine de frégate Pierre Guillet took command. Three days were spent transferring a prize crew and prisoners, and patching up the ships, before the two got underway on 21 February.


The chase of Ville de Milan by HMS Cleopatra

However on 23 February they were discovered by the 50-gun HMS Leander, under Captain John Talbot. The two vessels came together for support, but when Leander ran up to them, they hoisted French colours and separated. Talbot chased Cleopatra, brought her to with a shot and took possession. The freed crew reported the situation to Talbot, and left him to pursue the fleeing Ville de Milan. Talbot soon overtook her and she surrendered without a fight. Both were taken back to Halifax, where the Ville de Milan was taken into service as HMS Milan, with Laurie as her captain. Laurie's engagement with the superior opponent had initially cost him his ship, but had rendered her easy prey to any other Royal Navy frigate in the vicinity. Had he not brought her to battle, the Ville de Milan could have easily outsailed the Leander or even engaged her on fairly equal terms. Instead the damage and losses incurred in breaking down the Cleopatra had left her helpless to resist.



lines & profile Date: NMM, Progress Book, volume 6, folio 356, states that 'Milan' (1805) arrived at Portsmouth Dockyard on 15 March 1806, recoppered in April 1806, and sailed on 4 May 1806 having been fitted. She was taken to pieces in December 1815.


British career
Milan was refitted at Portsmouth between 12 March and 4 April 1806 and commissioned that year under Sir Robert Laurie, who would command her for the next four years. She returned to the Halifax station for much of this time, but by 1812 was laid up in ordinary at Portsmouth. The conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars led to her being broken up at Chatham Dockyard in December 1815.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Milan_(1805)
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections.html#!csearch;searchTerm=Milan_(1805

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
23 February 1809 - The Battle of Les Sables-d'Olonne was a minor naval battle fought off the town of Les Sables-d'Olonne on the Biscay Coast of France between a French Navy squadron of three frigates and a larger British squadron of ships of the line.


The Battle of Les Sables-d'Olonne was a minor naval battle fought on 23 February 1809 off the town of Les Sables-d'Olonne on the Biscay Coast of France between a French Navy squadron of three frigates and a larger British squadron of ships of the line. The French squadron had sailed from the port of Lorient on 23 February in an effort to link up with a fleet from Brest under Jean-Baptiste Willaumez, but missed the rendezvous and was pursued by a British blockade squadron under Rear-Admiral Robert Stopford. The French commander, Commodore Pierre Roch Jurien, anchored his squadron under the batteries which protected the town of Les Sables-d'Olonne in the hope of dissuading an attack.


Battle of Les Sables d'Olonne

Ignoring the batteries, Stopford ordered his squadron to attack at 09:00 on 24 February, HMS Defiance leading the line. Shortly after the main batteries of Stopford's ships of the line came into the battle, the French ships were overwhelmed one by one and shortly after noon all three had been driven ashore with heavy casualties. British histories recount that all three were destroyed, although French histories report that they were salvaged but found to be damaged beyond repair. The fleet under Willaumez was trapped in the anchorage at Basque Roads on 26 February and defeated at the Battle of Basque Roads in April with heavy losses.

Background
In 1809 the Royal Navy was dominant in the Atlantic, the French Atlantic fleet trapped by close blockade in the French Biscay ports by the British Channel Fleet. The largest French base was at Brest in Brittany, where the main body of the French fleet lay at anchor under the command of Contre-amiral Jean-Baptiste Willaumez, with smaller French detachments stationed at Lorient and Rochefort. The squadron at Lorient comprised three ships of the line and five frigates under Commodore Amable Troude, watched by its own blockade squadron of four ships of the line under Captain John Poo Beresford.

In February the Brest fleet put to sea for an operation against the British forces in the Caribbean planning an attack against the French colonies in the Caribbean. In late 1808, the French learned that invasion was planned of Martinique and orders were sent to Willaumez to concentrate with the squadrons from Lorient and Rochefort and reinforce the island. Willaumez was only able to escape the blockade when winter storms forced the British fleet to retreat into the Atlantic, his ships passing southwards through the Raz de Sein at dawn on 22 February with eight ships of the line and two frigates.[3] A single ship of the line, HMS Revenge, had remained on station off Brest, and sailed in pursuit.



Chase
Willaumez's fleet discovered Beresford's ships off Lorient at 16:30 in the afternoon and Willaumez ordered his second-in-command, Contre-amiral Antoine Louis de Gourdon, to drive Beresford away. Gourdoun brought four ships around to chase the British squadron of HMS Theseus, HMS Triumph and HMS Valiant, with the remainder of the French fleet following more distantly. Beresford turned away to the northwest, and his objective achieved, Gourdan rejoined Willaumez and the fleet sailed inshore, anchoring near the island of Groix, with the route to Lorient clear.

Early on 23 February Willaumez sailed again, taking his fleet southwards towards the Pertuis d'Antioche near Rochefort after sending the schooner Magpye into Lorient with orders for Troude to follow him to the rendezvous. Troude found that the tide was too low to sail at once, and so sent a squadron of three frigates ahead, under the command of Commodore Pierre Roch Jurien. These frigates were the 40-gun Italienne, Calypso and Cybèle, which sailed together on the evening of 23 February southwards in the direction of Belle Île. Their departure had been observed by Beresford's force, which remained off Lorient to watch Troude but sent the 38-gun frigate HMS Amelia under Captain Frederick Paul Irby and 18-gun brig-sloop HMS Doterel under Commander Anthony Abdy in pursuit.

At dawn on 24 February, near the Île de Ré, Amelia closed on Cybèle, forcing the other French frigates to fall back in support and open fire, driving the pursuers back. As Irby dropped off, sails appeared to the south. This was a British squadron from the Rochefort blockade commanded by Rear-Admiral Robert Stopford with the ships of the line HMS Caesar, HMS Defiance and HMS Donegal. Stopford had been stationed off the Chassiron lighthouse when Willaumez had passed, and he had sent the frigate HMS Naiad under Captain Thomas Dundas north to notify the rest of the British Channel Fleet that was in pursuit. Naiad sighted Jurien's squadron and signaled Stopford, who set a course to cut Jurien off from Willaumez, leaving the frigates HMS Amethyst and HMS Emerald to watch the French fleet.

Action
Jurien recognised immediately that his force was severely outnumbered and steered for the coast in search of a safe anchorage. The best available was the town of Les Sables-d'Olonne, which had a small harbour protected by gun batteries. At 09:10 Amelia was in range to fire on Cybèle's stern before the British frigate dropped back to join Stopford's rapidly advcing force. The French then anchored under the batteries of the town with "springs" on their anchor cables, a system of attaching the bow anchor that increased stability and allowed the ships to swing their broadsides to face an enemy while stationary.

Stopford was not intimidated and at 10:30 his squadron bore down on the French in a line of battle led by Defiance and followed by Caesar, Donegal and Amelia. At 11:00 Defiance, with the lightest draught of the ships of the line, was able to close to within 600 metres (660 yd) of the French squadron. The British ship opened fire and took fire in response from the frigates and batteries. At 11:20 Caesar and Donegal joined the attack, followed at 11:30 by Amelia. The concentrated fire of the large British ships was far too heavy for the French and at 11:50 Cybèle and Italienne cut their anchor cables and drifted away from the British and onto the shore. Neither crew was able to continue in the fight as burning wadding had drifted from Defiance and set them on fire. At about this time Caesar withdrew to deeper water to avoid grounding and Defiance veered anchor cable to turn its fire onto Calypso.

Within minutes Calypso had also veered its cable so that Italienne, now beached, could resume fire on the British squadron, but the frigate overcompensated and drifted stern-first onto the shore. The British ships continued their fire until the rapidly falling tide forced them to retire one by one, with Defiance being the last to retire at 12:15. The squadron then returned for one more pass, the final shots fired by Donegal, before Stopford ordered them to withdraw.

Order of battle




Aftermath
The British ships at Les Sables-d'Olonne were not seriously damaged, with minor damage to the rigging of Donegal and Caesar and damage to the rigging and masts of Defiance. Three British sailors were killed and 31 wounded. French losses were more severe, with 24 killed and 51 wounded. Although Stopford's dispatch on the action makes clear that attempts to repair the French ships began almost immediately, it is widely reported in British accounts that three ships were destroyed. The French were in fact able to salvage two of the frigates. Cybèle was wrecked beyond recovery, her hull so much holed by rocks that she was sinking. Calypso and Italienne were brought into port, but the battering they had taken was too severe for repairs to be effective and Calypso was broken up, while Italienne was sold to private merchant concerns as unfit for further military service. Cocault was court-martialed for the loss of Cybèle and uninamely honourably acquitted on 2 June 1809, the court finding his conduct "worthy of the highest praise".

Stopford had hoped that his attack on Jurien's squadron might draw Willaumez's fleet out of the anchorage in support, where they might be surprised and defeated by the British fleet. Willaumez however made no movement to prevent the destruction of the frigate squadron. Stopford returned to watch the French fleet from the anchorage at Basque Roads, where he was shortly after joined by the British fleet under Admiral Lord Gambier, and was present although not directly engaged in the Battle of Basque Roads in April at which the French fleet was defeated, losing five ships. Willaumez had been replaced in March by Zacharie Allemand, whose defensive positions were unable to prevent a major attack by fireships on 11 April followed by a bombardment by conventional warships.[20] In the aftermath of the battle Gambier was accused of failing to effectively support the attack and faced a court-martial in July, although he was acquitted and returned to command

Battle of Les Sables-d'Olonne - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
23 February 1812 - Jean Bart, a French privateer launched in Marseille in 1807, captured


Jean Bart was a French privateer launched in Marseille in 1807, and commissioned as a privateer by the Daumas brothers. She was the first privateer captained by Jean-Joseph Roux.

She is depicted in two watercolours by Antoine Roux the Elder, dated 1810 and 1811.




Career
First captain
Jean Bart sailed for her first cruise in 1807, returning to Marseille in 1808.

Career under Jean-Joseph Roux
From May 1809 to July 1810, she was captained by Jean-Joseph Roux.[1] Jean Bart a 109-man crew, with four 12-pounder carronades, two six-pounder long guns, one chase 10-pounder gun mounted on a pivot at the bow, along with 60 rifles, 28 pistols, 33 sabres and 13 spears.

The crew comprised 11 officiers (including one surgeon), 6 masters and 2 second masters (including two crew masters, two master gunners, one captain-at-arms, one master helmsman, one master carpenter and one load master), 17 able seamen (topmen, helmsmen and gunners), 20 seamen, 7 boys, 34 volunteers and 11 others.

First cruise
On 4 June 1809, Jean Bart captured her first prize of the cruise, a Spanish merchantman laden with wheat, bound for San Feliu from Malta, and sent her to France.[5] On 13, she captured the British mercantile corvette Marie-Auguste (?), Joseph Tool, master, which was sailing from Alicante to Messina on ballast

On 19 June, Jean Bart captured two American ships: the 200-ton brig Elizabeth, and the 300-ton, 6-gun three-masted ship Weymouth, Gardner, master, both from Boston and bound for Palerme with loads of sugar, coffee, pepper, tobacco and various other goods. They were sent to France but the arrival of Elizabeth to France in unconfirmed, while Weymouth was recaptured. The next day, she captured the British brig Liffey, from London and bound for Palerme with various goods, which surrendered after a brief artillery exchange, and sent her to France. On 1 July, Jean Bart was intercepted by a British cruiser, which she narrowly managed to elude after a running battle.

From 3 to 9 August 1809, Jean Bart encountered four American merchantmen, but as Roux found no cause to seize them, he "regretfuly" had to send them on their way.

On 15 August, Jean Bart captured the Spanish pink Nuevo Cordeno, P.A. Bagon, master, which was sailing From Sardinia to Mahón with two passengers and a 5-man crew. The next day, she captured two Spanish ships: another pink, laden with weath, and a three-masted polacca with unspecified cargo, both sailing from Sardinia to Mahón.


Jean Bart boarding Eagle on 9 February 1810

Second cruise
On her second cruise, Jean Bart captured the British mercantile corvette Eagle on 9 February 1810. Eagle, Thomas Walker, master, with a 15-man crew and 14 12-pounder guns, was bound from Palerma and Malta with four passengers and a load of leather, dye, blackwood, iron and various other goods. Eagle put up a serious resistance and Roux had to board her before she surrendered, both ships sustaining two wounded each. Jean Bart and Eagle arrived at Golfe Juan together on 1 or 2 December, but British cruisers forced them off Marseille and into a hide-and-seek chase; they eventually arrived at Toulon on 11 December.

Roux had the mast of Jean Bart replaced by 25 December (a first replacement mast was found to be eaten by insects, and the second was too large and had to be worked upon before it would fit).

On 11 March, she captured the British polacca Valetta, Edward Molley, master, bound from Malta to Bistol with a load of coton and various other goods. Valetta, of 4 12-pounder guns, had a 21-man crew. Valetta strongly resisted, first by long-range gunfire and, after one hour, as the ships were closing in to each other, intense artillery and musketry fire; Jean Bart eventually boarded Valetta, which only struck her colours after trying to repel the French with bladed weapons. Valetta had four seriously wounded, and Jean Bart sustained one killed and seven wounded.

In the morning of 23 June 1810, Jean Bart encountered a British pink, which she attempted to attack; however, two brigantines soon joined in, exchanged signals with the pink, and engaged Jean Bart around 3 PM; after a three-hour exchange, Jean Bart had to limp away with 4 killed, 14 wounded (two of whom would die of their wounds in the next days), and having sustained serious damage to he rigging and hull. The next day, having effected temporary repairs, Jean Bart captured the British Catherine, Philippe Medicy, master, bound from Malta to Mahón and Tarragona with a load of coton. However, the mainmast of Jean Bart was found to be more severely damaged by the battle of the 23rd than previously understood, and Roux set sail to return to Marseille.

On 9 July, Jean Bart recaptured the Genoan ship Jesus and Maria, which the British privateer Intrepid had taken as prize. Jesus and Maria, Antoine Boggio, master, had been sailing from Ajaccio to Santa Margherita, near Genoa, with a load of iron, wheat and cheese, when she fell prey to Intrepid; her prize crew had been attempting to sail her to Malta when Jean Bart recaptured her.

Third cruise
Jean Bart departed for a third cruise, but on 26 November 1810, the mainmast of Jean Bart started splitting in two places and threatened to break, and Roux set heading North to return to Marseille and effect repairs. On 28, Jean Bart encountered the British brig Purita, Salvatore Antiniolo, master, bound from Matla to Gibraltar and Cadiz with a load of sulfur, oil, ropes, soap and various other goods, as well as two passengers; Purita had a 16-man crew and 6 guns. Roux sent her to France, where she is confirmed to have arrived.

On 27 January, Jean Bart captured the American schooner Zebra, bound from Boston to Tarragona with a load of staves. The next day, she captured the British 160-ton polacca Emma, which was returning from London to Malta with no cargo, a 9-man crew and 6 guns. Emma fired a few cannon shots before surrendering.

On 2 February 1811, she captured the American 156-ton brig Star, John Holman, master, sailing from Salem to Palerma with a 11-man crew and a load of coffee, indigo, dye, spices and cod. The next day, she seized the Swedish 300-ton Neutralité (?), John Tornberg, master, which was sailing from London to Cagliari with a 14-man crew and no cargo. In both of these cases, Roux illegally displayed his true colours only after the masters of the ships had arrived aboard Jean Bart and produced their papers; the capture of Star was voided by the tribunal, probably for this reason.

Career under Honoré Plaucheur
From October 1810 to February 1812, she cruised under Honoré Plaucheur, with 106 men and 5 guns. On 23 February, HMS Blossom captured her.

Fate
On 23 February 1812, HMS Blossom captured Jean Bart.

Jean Bart (1807 ship) - Wikipedia

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
23 February 1814 - HMS Epervier (18), Ruchard Wales, took U.S. privateer brig Alfred (16), Cptn. Williams.


HMS Epervier was an 18-gun Cruizer-class brig-sloop of the Royal Navy built by Ross at Rochester, England, and launched on 2 December 1812. USS Peacock captured her in 1814 and took her into service. USS Epervier disappeared in 1815 while carrying dispatches reporting the signing of a treaty with the Dey of Algiers.


The Peacock and Epervier, 1814. Engraving by Abel Bowen

War of 1812
Epervier was commissioned in January 1813 under Commander Richard Walter Wales. On 20 August 1813, Epervier captured the schooner Lively, which was sailing from St. Thomas to Halifax. Then one month later, on 20 September, she captured Active. Under her master, E. Altberg, Active, of 390 tons (bm), was sailing from Gottenburg to Boston with a cargo of iron. Three days later, Epervier, Majestic and Wasp captured Resolution.

On 5 October Epervier and Fantome captured the American privateer, Portsmouth Packet. She had previously been Liverpool Packet, a noted Nova Scotian privateer, and returned to successful privateering under the Liverpool Packet name after the British recaptured her. At the time of her capture, Portsmouth Packet was armed with five guns, carried a crew of 45, and had sailed from Portsmouth the previous day. Almost a month later, on 3 November, Epervier and Fantome captured Peggy of 91 tons (bm), W. O. Fuller, master, which was sailing from George's River to Boston with a cargo of timber and wood.

On 23 February 1814 Epervier was cruising off Cape Sable, when she captured the American privateer-brig Alfred, of Salem. Alfred, which mounted 16 long 9-pounders and had a crew, variously described, as being of 94 or 108 men, surrendered without a fight. (The British 38-gun frigate Junon, under the command of Captain Clotworthy Upton, was in sight about 10 nautical miles (19 km; 12 mi) to leeward.)

While returning to Halifax with Alfred, Wales found out that some of his crew were plotting with the prisoners from Alfred to take over one or both vessels and escape to the United States. Wales continued on to Halifax, where he arrived two days later, having sailed through a gale to do so. There he notified his uncle, Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren, the commanding officer of the station, that he didn't trust his crew. Warren dismissed Wales' concerns and she sailed on 3 March with the same crew. She and the schooner Shelburne sailed with a small convoy bound to Bermuda and the West Indies. Before she left Halifax, Wales exchanged her two 6-pounder bow chasers and the carronade for her launch for two 18-pounder carronades.



Capture
Main article: Capture of HMS Epervier
On 14 April Epervier sailed from Port Royal, Jamaica, calling at Havana, where she took on board $118,000 in specie. She left Havana on 25 April bound for Halifax The 22-gun sloop-of-war USS Peacock captured Epervier off Cape Canaveral, Florida, on 29 April, during the War of 1812. Epervier's crew consisted mainly of invalids from the hospital, giving her the worst crew of any ship on her station. In the engagement Epervier suffered eight killed and 15 wounded, as well as extensive damage.

US service
Despite the extensive damage inflicted in this engagement, John B. Nicolson, Peacock's First Lieutenant, was able to sail her to Savannah, Georgia. Following repairs, the US Navy took her into service as USS Epervier.

Epervier, under Master Commandant John Downes, sailed to join the Mediterranean Squadron under Commodore Stephen Decatur, Jr., whose mission was to stop the harassment of American shipping by the Dey of Algiers. Epervier joined with Guerriere, Constellation, and Ontario in the Battle off Cape Gata on 17 June 1815, which led to the capture of the 44 (or 46)-gun frigate Meshuda (or Mashuda). Epervier fired nine broadsides into Meshuda to induce her to surrender, after Guerriere had already crippled the Algerian vessel.

Two days later Epervier and three of the smaller vessels of the squadron captured the Algerine brig of war Estedio, of twenty-two guns and 180 men, at the Battle off Cape Palos. After the conclusion of peace with Algiers, Decatur transferred Downes to Guerriere.

Loss
After the Dey signed a treaty, Decatur chose Epervier, under Lieutenant John T. Shubrick, Guerriere's former first lieutenant, to carry a copy of the treaty and some captured flags to the United States. Captain Lewis, and Lieutenants Neale and John Yarnall, came on board as passengers. Epervier sailed through the Straits of Gibraltar on 14 July 1815 and was never heard from again. She may have encountered a hurricane reported in the Atlantic on 9 August 1815. In all, she was carrying 132 sailors and 2 marines.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with stern board outline, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth for building Epervier (1812), an 18 gun Brig Sloop at Rochester by Mrs Ross. Signed by William Ruke [Surveyor of the Navy, 1793-1813] and Henry Peake [Surveyor of the Navy, 1806-1822].

Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the inboard profile for Epervier (1812), an 18 gun Brig Sloop building at Rochester by Mrs Ross. Signed by William Rule [Surveyor of the Navy, 1793-1813].

HMS Epervier (1812) - Wikipedia

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
23 February 1855 – Launch of The second USS Niagara, a screw frigate in the United States Navy


The second USS Niagara was a screw frigate in the United States Navy.

Niagara was launched by New York Navy Yard on 23 February 1855; sponsored by Miss Annie C. O'Donnell; and commissioned on 6 April 1857, Captain William L. Hudson in command.



Service history


The Niagara, Valorous, Gordon and Agamemnon laying the cable at mid-ocean

Transatlantic telegraph cable, 1857—1858
Niagara sailed from New York on 22 April 1857 for England, arriving Gravesend on 14 May. A log of the ship's voyage across the Atlantic[1] was kept by the correspondent of the New York Daily Times, where it was published on Thursday, 14 May 1857. On arrival in England Niagara was equipped to lay cable for the first transatlantic telegraph, which was to follow the shallow tableland discovered between Newfoundland and Ireland by Matthew F. Maury. By 11 August, when a break in the cable defied recovery, she had laid several hundred miles westward from Valentia Island, Ireland. She returned to New York 20 November and decommissioned 2 December to prepare for a second essay at cable-laying. Recommissioning 24 February 1858, Captain William L. Hudson in command, she sailed 8 March, arrived Plymouth, England, 28 March, and experimented with HMS Agamemnon. The ships returned to Plymouth to fit out, then made a mid-ocean rendezvous on 29 July, spliced their cable ends, and each sailed toward her own continent. On 5 August, Niagara's boats carried the end of the cable ashore at Bay Bulls Arm [2], Newfoundland, and the same day Agamemnon landed her end of the cable. The first message flashed across 16 August, when Queen Victoria sent a cable to President James Buchanan. This first cable operated for three weeks; ultimate success came in 1866.

Voyage to Africa, 1858
During the summer of 1858, the U.S. Navy experienced increased pressure to interdict slave traffic in the Caribbean Sea. On 21 August, the USS Dolphin captured the slave ship Echo off of Cuba with men, women, and children taken from Kabenda, Guinea. There were originally 450 to 470 Africans, but that number had dwindled to 306 when they arrived at Castle Pickney, Charleston, South Carolina. Congressional law required the return of the Africans to Monrovia, Liberia and the huge size of the Niagara made her well suited for returning them. On 20 September, Capt. John S. Chauncey boarded 271 Africans who were suffering terribly from scurvy and dysentery. Chauncey expected to reach Africa in twenty days, but that changed when a heavy northwest wind took the Niagara way off course. Seventy-one Africans died before he reached Monrovia on 9 November. Captain Chauncey sent 200 survivors ashore and arrived back in New York Harbor on 11 December. Six days later, the Niagara was decommissioned.



Voyage to Japan, 1860—1861
Niagara recommissioned on 14 May 1860, Captain William McKean in command. Another unique assignment awaited; she was to carry Japan's first diplomatic mission to the United States from Washington to New York, and then home. Leaving New York on 30 June, Niagara called in Porto Grande, Cape Verde Islands; São Paulo-de-Loande (now Luanda), Angola; Batavia (now Djakarta), Java; and Hong Kong. The frigate entered Tokyo Bay on 8 November to land her distinguished passengers, then sailed on 27 November for Hong Kong, Aden, and Cape Town, returning Boston on 23 April 1861 to learn of the outbreak of the Civil War. The cruise of the Niagara.

Civil War, 1861—1865
Quickly preparing for duty on the blockade of southern ports, USS Niagara arrived off Charleston, South Carolina on 10 May, and two days later captured blockade runner CSS General Parkhill attempting to make Charleston from Liverpool.[4] Through the summer she gave similar service at Mobile Bay, and was at Fort Pickens, Florida on 22 September when Flag Officer William McKean in Niagara took command of the East Gulf Blockading Squadron. She engaged Confederate defenses at Fort McRee, Pensacola, and Warrington on 22 November, and was hulled twice above the waterline. On 5 June 1862 she sailed for repairs at Boston Navy Yard, where she decommissioned 16 June. Recommissioned 14 October 1863, Niagara steamed from New York on 1 June 1864 to watch over Confederate warships then fitting out in Europe. She reached her base at Antwerp on 26 June, and from there roved the English Channel, the French Atlantic Coast and the Bay of Biscay. On 15 August she took steamer Georgia, a former Confederate warship, off Portugal. In February and March, with USS Sacramento she lay at Ferrol, Spain, to prevent Confederate ironclad Stonewall from departing, but the much more powerful southern ship was able to make good her escape.

Niagara patrolled with the European Squadron until 29 August when she cleared Cadiz for Boston, arriving on 20 September. There she decommissioned on 28 September 1865, remaining in the Boston Navy Yard until sold on 6 May 1885.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Niagara_(1855)

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
23 February 1864 – Launch of Danmark, an armored frigate of the Royal Danish Navy originally ordered by the Confederate States Navy


Danmark was an armored frigate of the Royal Danish Navy originally ordered by the Confederate States Navy.



The origins of the Danmark lie in efforts of the Confederate States of America to purchase warships in Europe, which is to say in the United Kingdom and France, during the American Civil War. These efforts were led by James Dunwoody Bulloch, but the Danmarkwas ordered by another Confederate agent, Lieutenant (later Commander) James H. North.

North was sent to Europe by Confederate Navy secretary Stephen Mallory with the aim of buying a completed sea-going ironclad warship, the French Navy's Gloire, and ordering a similar vessel on Confederate account. The French government refused to sell Gloire, or to allow a sister ship to be built in French shipyards.



North proceeded to Britain, where the Whig government had adopted a laissez-faire attitude to American arms-buying. Here he met with George Thomson, co-owner of the Clydebank shipbuilders J. & G. Thompson. North signed a contract with Thomson's on 21 May 1862 for an armoured frigate of some 3,000 tons and 80 metres in length, for a contract price of 190,000 pounds sterling—around two million Confederate dollars at the prevailing rate of exchange—paying a deposit of 18,000 pounds. Thomson's contracted to the deliver the ship by 1 June 1863.

Known to the Confederates as "North's ship", or as "Number 61", she was Santa Maria to her builders. As finally completed, she displaced 4,750 tons, a slab-sided three-masted barque. Under steam, she would make 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph).



By the summer of 1863, the Confederate agents in Europe were seeking to sell off North's ship, offering her to the Imperial Russian Navy. The ship was clearly unsuited to Confederate needs, being too large and requiring too large a crew for their limited resources, and her draft of 6 metres was too deep for operations in the shoal waters on the Confederate coasts. Thompson's too were concerned that they would not be allowed to deliver the ship to the Confederates in the changed political climate and cancelled the contract in late 1863.

Work continued slowly on the ship, which was launched on 23 February 1864. The outbreak of the Second War of Schleswig led the Royal Danish Navy to purchase the ship, but delays in fitting out and working up meant that she was not ready for service before the end of the war.

The Danmark undertook only one active commission, from June to October 1869. At sea with her armament aboard she rolled violently, and the coal consumption of her engines was extremely high. As a result, she remained in reserve thereafter, becoming a barracks ship in 1893.

As commissioned into Danish service, she was armed with 20 60-pounder (8-inch) smoothbore muzzle-loading guns of 88 hundredweight and 8 18-pounder rifled muzzle-loading guns of 40 hundredweight. In 1865 this was changed to an all-rifled muzzle-loading armament of 12 60-pounder guns and 10 24-pounder guns. Two more 24-pounder guns were added in 1867.

HDMS Danmark - Wikipedia

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
23 February 1892 – Launch of SMS Condor ("His Majesty's Ship Condor"), an unprotected cruiser of the Imperial German Navy.


SMS Condor ("His Majesty's Ship Condor") was an unprotected cruiser of the Imperial German Navy. She was the fourth member of the Bussard class, which included five other vessels. The cruiser's keel was laid down in Hamburg in 1891, she was launched in February 1892, and was commissioned in December of that year. Intended for overseas duty, Condor was armed with a main battery of eight 10.5-centimeter (4.1 in) guns, and could steam at a speed of 15.5 knots (28.7 km/h; 17.8 mph).



Condor served abroad for the majority of her career, first in German East Africa in the 1890s, followed by a stint in the South Seas Station in the Pacific Ocean in the 1900s. She was present in East Africa amid rising tensions with Britain during the Second Boer War in 1899, and frequently suppressed uprisings in Germany's Pacific island holdings in the decade before the outbreak of World War I. Badly worn out, she returned to Germany in March 1914 and was removed from service. In 1916, she was converted into a storage hulk for mines. After the end of World War I, she was discarded and broken up for scrap in 1921.



Design


Illustration of her sister ship Geier

Main article: Bussard-class cruiser
Condor was 83.9 meters (275 ft) long overall, with a beam of 12.7 m (42 ft) and a draft of 4.42 m (14.5 ft) forward. She displaced 1,864 t (1,835 long tons; 2,055 short tons) at full combat load. Her propulsion system consisted of two horizontal 3-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines powered by four coal-fired cylindrical boilers. These provided a top speed of 15.5 kn (28.7 km/h; 17.8 mph) and a range of approximately 2,950 nautical miles(5,460 km; 3,390 mi) at 9 kn (17 km/h; 10 mph). She had a crew of 9 officers and 152 enlisted men.

The ship was armed with eight 10.5 cm SK L/35 quick-firing (QF) guns in single pedestal mounts, supplied with 800 rounds of ammunition in total. They had a range of 10,800 m (35,400 ft). Two guns were placed side by side forward, two on each broadside, and two side by side aft. The gun armament was rounded out by five revolver cannon. She was also equipped with two 35 cm (14 in) torpedo tubes with five torpedoes, both of which were mounted on the deck.


The Bussard class of unprotected cruisers were built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) in the late 1880s and early 1890s. The class comprised six ships: Bussard, the lead ship, Falke, Seeadler, Cormoran, Condor, and Geier. Designed for service in Germany's colonial empire, the class emphasized a long-range cruising radius and relatively heavy armament; they were also the last cruisers in the Kaiserliche Marine to be equipped with an auxiliary sailing rig. The ships were equipped with eight 10.5-centimeter (4.1 in) guns.

All six ships served abroad for the majority of their careers, primarily in Africa and the south Pacific, where they assisted in the suppression of uprisings such as the Boxer Rebellion in China and the Sokehs Rebellion in the Caroline Islands. Cormoranparticipated in the seizure of the Kiautschou Bay concession in China in 1897, and Falke was involved in the Venezuela Crisis of 1902–03. Bussard and Falke were broken up for scrap in 1912, but the remaining four ships were still in service following the outbreak of World War I in August 1914.

Cormoran was based in Tsingtao with unusable engines; she was scuttled in the harbor since she was no longer operational. Geierbriefly operated against British shipping in the Pacific before having to put into Hawaii for internment by the then-neutral United States. After the United States entered the war in April 1917, she was seized and commissioned into the US Navy as USS Schurz; she served as an escort until she was accidentally sunk following a collision with a freighter in June 1918. Seeadler and Condor, meanwhile, had been converted into mine storage hulks after the start of the war. Seeadler was destroyed by an accidental explosion in 1917. Condor was the only member of the class to survive the war, and she was scrapped in 1921.




SMS Bussard in Dar es Salaam

SMS Condor - Wikipedia

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Bussard-class cruiser - Wikipedia

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
23 February 1901 – Launch of Tsesarevich (Russian: Цесаревич), a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Imperial Russian Navy, built in France at the end of the 19th century


Tsesarevich (Russian: Цесаревич) was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Imperial Russian Navy, built in France at the end of the 19th century. The ship's design formed the basis of the Russian-built Borodino-class battleships. She was based at Port Arthur, northeast China, after entering service and fought in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. Tsesarevich was torpedoed during the surprise attack on Port Arthur and was repaired to become the flagship of Rear Admiral Wilgelm Vitgeft in the Battle of the Yellow Sea and was interned in Tsingtau after the battle.



After the war, the ship was transferred to the Baltic Fleet and helped to suppress the Sveaborg Rebellion in mid-1906. While on a Mediterranean cruise, her crew helped survivors of the 1908 Messina earthquake in Sicily. Tsesarevich was not very active during the early part of World War I and her bored sailors joined the general mutiny of the Baltic Fleet in early 1917. Now named Grazhdanin, the ship participated in the Battle of Moon Sound in 1917, during which she was lightly damaged. The ship was seized by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution in late 1917 and decommissioned the following year. Grazhdanin was scrapped in 1924–1925.

Design and description
Tsar Nicholas II had desired a warm-water port on the Pacific since his accession to the throne in 1894. He achieved this ambition in March 1898 when Russia signed a 25-year lease for Port Arthur and the Liaotung Peninsula with China. Japan had previously forced China to sign over the port and its surrounding territory as part of the treaty that concluded the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895, but the Triple Intervention of France, Russia, and Germany forced them to return the port in exchange for a sizeable increase in the indemnity paid by the Chinese. Japan invested much of the indemnity money in expanding its fleet, while Russia began a major building programme ("For the Needs of the Far East") to defend its newly acquired port.



Russian shipyards were already at full capacity so the Naval Ministry decided to order ships from abroad. Specifications were issued on 14 June 1898 and a few days later the chief designer of the French shipyard Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranéeproposed a design based on that of the French battleship Jauréguiberry. The Naval Technical Committee approved the design with a few changes to which the French readily agreed. The General Admiral, Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich, selected the French design over a competing proposal from the Baltic Works. A contract was signed on 20 July 1898 at a cost of 30.28 million francs(11.355 million rubles) for delivery in 42 months.

Tsesarevich's most obvious design feature was her tumblehome hull. This had several advantages because it allowed greater freeboard since the narrow upper decks reduced the structural weight of the vessel's hull, it increased the field of fire of guns mounted on the sides, and it reduced the ship's roll in heavy seas. Its great disadvantage was that it reduced buoyancy and stabilitywhich contributed to excessive heel during turns. During the Battle of the Yellow Sea in August 1904, Imperial Japanese Navyobservers thought the Tsesarevich was going to capsize when she suddenly turned out of the battleline.



Tsesarevich was 118.5 metres (388 ft 9 in) long overall, had a beam of 23.2 metres (76 ft 1 in) and a draught of 7.92 metres (26 ft 0 in). The ship displaced 13,105 tonnes (12,898 long tons). Her crew consisted of 28–29 officers and 750 enlisted men.

The ship was powered by two vertical triple-expansion steam engines using steam generated by 20 Belleville boilers at a working pressure of 19 kg/cm2 (1,863 kPa; 270 psi). The boilers were fitted with economizers that preheated their feed water. The engines were rated at 16,300 indicated horsepower (12,200 kW) and designed to reach a top speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph). Tsesarevich handily exceeded her design speed and reached 18.77 knots (34.76 km/h; 21.60 mph) from 15,254 indicated horsepower (11,375 kW) during her official machinery trials in July–August 1903. She normally carried 800 long tons (810 t) of coal, but could carry a maximum of 1,350 long tons (1,370 t). This allowed the ship to steam for 5,500 nautical miles (10,200 km; 6,300 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). Tsesarevich was fitted with six steam-driven electric generators with a total capacity of 550 kilowatts (740 hp).

Russian battleship Tsesarevich - Wikipedia

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
23 February 1918 SS Florizel – Sank after striking a reef at Horn Head Point Cape Race near Cappahayden, Newfoundland on 23 February 1918. Of 144 people aboard, 94 were lost.


SS Florizel, a passenger liner, was the flagship of the Bowring Brothers' Red Cross Line of steamships and one of the first ships in the world specifically designed to navigate icy waters. During her last voyage, from St. John's to Halifax and on to New York City, she sank after striking a reef at Horn Head Point, near Cappahayden, Newfoundland, with the loss of 94 including Betty Munn, a three-year-old girl, in whose memory a statue of Peter Pan was erected at Bowring Park in St. John's.




History
Bowring Brothers were the operators for the New York, Newfoundland and Halifax Steamship Company, Limited. The Bowring fleet of ships of that era were given names from Shakespearean plays: Florizel was named after young Prince Florizel in The Winter's Tale. Florizel was primarily a passenger liner, built for the Bowring Brothers to replace an earlier ship, the SS Silvia, which had been lost at sea. At the time of Florizel's construction she was considered a luxury liner; she had room for 145 first-class accommodations.

She was one of the first ships in the world to be specifically designed to navigate the icy waters around Newfoundland and Labrador. The vessel was modified each spring to participate in the annual seal hunt, an additional source of income. She was built of steel and had a rounded bow and almost a flat bottom, to enable her to slide up on an ice floe and break through. Often captained by Captain Abram Kean, she participated in the rescue of sealers during the Great 1914 Newfoundland Sealing Disasterand she broke many records on her numerous voyages to the seal hunt.

Florizel was also used as a transport vessel during World War I. Before its conversion into a troopship, the sealing steamer only accommodated 50 crew and 250 passengers. In October 1914 she carried the first 540 volunteers of the Newfoundland Regiment, the Blue Puttees. She joined a fleet of 33 Atlantic liners and six Royal Navy warships, to form the largest contingent of troops to cross the Atlantic for Europe

Last voyage
Florizel departed St. John's on Saturday, 23 February 1918, for Halifax and then on to New York, with 78 passengers and 60 crew. Among the passengers were many prominent St. John's businessmen. Shortly after the vessel passed through the St. John's Narrows at 8:30 PM the weather turned nasty. The vessel's log was not deployed due to the ice conditions. After sighting the Bay Bulls Lighthouse and losing sight of land at 10:20 PM, none of the three lighthouses south of Bay Bulls were sighted. Nevertheless, after eight hours of steaming southward, Captain Martin reckoned that he had rounded Cape Race, maintained his order for full speed, and ordered the final course change at 4:35 AM to West by South. At this point, without the benefit of either the log or lighthouse sightings, the Captain had only soundings and engine RPMs to verify DR position, however neither were utilized. Florizel, had actually traveled just 45 mileswas well short of the Cape. The sea crashing against the rocks at Horn Head Point was white with froth and Captain Martin mistook it for ice and crashed full speed into the rocks at 4:50 AM. Most of the passengers and crew that survived the initial crash found shelter in the Marconi Shack, the least damaged portion of the ship.ocean man

Rescue
An SOS was sent out and received by the Admiralty wireless station located at Mount Pearl. The Evening Telegram newspaper reported, "... first news of the disaster was picked up by the Admiralty wireless station at Mount Pearl in a radio from the stranded ship: 'SOS Florizel ashore near Cape Race fast going to pieces.'"

By the evening of 24 February, the first rescue ships had arrived to no sign of life. The weather had abated somewhat when light was spotted and a rescue attempt was carried out after the storm had calmed. Of the 138 passengers and crew, 44 had survived the initial crash and 27 hours after the ship had struck ground, the last of the passengers and crew were rescued. Medals of bravery were awarded to several crew members of HMS Briton and HMS Prospero who had responded to the wreck; these were given by the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VIII, while he was in St. John's in 1919.

Investigation
Captain Martin, who had survived the tragedy, was held responsible for the disaster, because of the lack of soundings taken during the course of the voyage. His certificate was suspended for twenty-one months. It was not until later that Captain Martin was found not to have been at fault. The Chief Engineer, J.V. Reader, had reduced the speed of the vessel as soon as she left port, bypassing the captain's orders to proceed at full speed. This action had caused the ship to make less distance than had been thought. The reason cited for Reader's action was to prolong the trip to Halifax such that the vessel would have to dock overnight and allow Reader time to visit his family while there.




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

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
23 February 1942 – World War II: Japanese submarines fire artillery shells at the coastline near Santa Barbara, California.


The Bombardment of Ellwood during World War II was a naval attack by a Japanese submarine against United States coastal targets near Santa Barbara, California. Though damage was minimal, the event was key in triggering the West Coast invasion scare and influenced the decision to intern Japanese-Americans. The event also marked the first shelling of the North American mainland during the conflict.


The Ellwood Oil Field and the location of the Japanese attack.



Background
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, seven Japanese submarines patrolled the American West Coast. They sank two merchant ships and damaged six more, skirmishing twice with U.S. Navy air or sea forces. By the end of December, the submarines had all returned to friendly waters to resupply. However, several had gone to Kwajalein, and would pay a return visit to American waters. One of these was the Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-17. The I-17 displaced 3,654 long tons (3,713 t) when submerged and was 365 ft 6 in (111.40 m) long. Her armament included six 20 in (510 mm) torpedo tubes and 17 torpedoes, plus a 14-cm deck gun. She carried 101 officers and men, captained by Commander Kozo Nishino.

The Japanese government, concerned about President Roosevelt's radio speech scheduled for February 23, 1942, ordered a Japanese submarine to shell the California coast on that day. A naval reserve officer, Nishino had commanded a pre-war merchant ship that sailed through the Santa Barbara Channel. His ship had once stopped at the Ellwood Oil Field to take on a cargo of oil.



Bombardment
About 1900 (7:00 pm) on 23 February 1942, the I-17 came to a stop opposite the Ellwood field. Nishino ordered his deck gun cleared for action. Its crew took aim at a Richfield aviation fuel tank just beyond the beach. The Japanese opened fire about 15 minutes later, the first rounds landing near a storage facility. The oil field's workmen had mostly returned home, but a skeleton crew on duty heard the rounds impact. They took it to be an internal explosion, until one man spotted the I-17 in the distance. An oiler named G. Brown later told reporters that the enemy submarine looked so big to him he thought it must be a cruiser or a destroyer, until he realized that just one gun was firing.

Nishino soon ordered his men to aim at the second storage tank. Brown and the others called the police, as the Japanese shells continued to fall around them.

Firing in the dark on a submarine buffeted by waves, it was inevitable that many rounds would miss their target. One round passed over Wheeler's Inn, whose owner Laurence Wheeler promptly called the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office. A deputy sheriff assured him that warplanes were already on their way, but none ever arrived. The Japanese shells destroyed a derrick and a pump house, while the Ellwood Pier and a catwalk suffered minor damage. After 20 minutes, the gunners ceased fire and the submarine sailed away. Estimates of the number of explosive shells fired ranged from a minimum of 12 to as many as 25. Even though he caused only light damage, Nishino had achieved his purpose, which was to spread fear along the American west coast.

Reverend Arthur Basham of Montecito called the police to claim he had seen the enemy submarine from his home. He said the I-17 turned south towards Los Angeles, apparently flashing signal lights to someone on shore. In reality, the I-17had sailed west, returning to Japan in safety.





Aftermath
The reports of Nishino's attack caused hundreds to flee inland. Since several people in Santa Barbara claimed to have seen "signal lights", a blackout was ordered for the rest of the night. the baseless claims of "signals" were used to justify Franklin D. Roosevelt's controversial internment of Japanese Americans (U.S. citizens included), which began just one week later.[citation needed]

One night after the Elwood attack, the Battle of Los Angeles took place. In response to claimed sightings of "enemy aircraft", anti-aircraft batteries opened fire all across the city, causing panic among its residents.

Japanese submarines continued to conduct occasional attacks against allied shipping off the U.S. coast during the rest of the war. Sent to American waters in hopes of targeting warships, the submarines managed to sink only a handful of merchant ships, besides conducting minor attacks on shore targets. These consisted of a bombardment of Fort Stevens on the Columbia River, an attack on a Canadian lighthouse on Vancouver Island, and two minor air raids launched from a submarine in an attempt to start forest fires in southwest Oregon.

Bombardment of Ellwood - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
23 February 1942 - the small ship Struma, crowded with Jewish refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe trying to reach Palestine, was towed from Istanbul through the Bosphorus and into the Black Sea by the Turkish authorities with her refugee passengers aboard, where she was left adrift with her engine inoperable.
Early on 24 February she was torpedoed and sunk by the Soviet submarine Shch-213. There was one survivor; an estimated 791 men, women and children were killed.


The Struma disaster was the sinking on 24 February 1942 of a ship, MV Struma, that had been trying to take nearly 800 Jewish refugees from Axis-allied Romania to Mandatory Palestine. She was a small iron-hulled ship of only 240 GRT that had been built in 1867 as a steam-powered schooner but had recently been re-engined with an unreliable second-hand diesel engine. Strumawas only 148.4 ft (45 m) long, had a beam of only 19.3 ft (6 m) and a draught of only 9.9 ft (3 m) but an estimated 791 refugees and 10 crew were crammed into her.



Struma's diesel engine failed several times between her departure from Constanţa on the Black Sea on 12 December 1941 and her arrival in Istanbul on 15 December. She had to be towed by a tug both to leave Constanţa and to enter Istanbul. On 23 February 1942, with her engine still inoperable and her refugee passengers aboard, Turkish authorities towed Struma from Istanbul through the Bosphorus out to the coast of Şile in North Istanbul. Within hours, in the morning of 24 February, the Soviet submarine Shch-213 torpedoed her, killing an estimated 781 refugees plus 10 crew, making it the Black Sea's largest exclusively civilian naval disaster of World War II. Until recently the number of victims had been estimated at 768, but the current figure is the result of a recent study of six different passenger lists. Only one person aboard, 19-year-old David Stoliar, survived (he died in 2014).

The Struma disaster joined that of SS Patria – sunk after Haganah sabotage while laden with Jewish refugees 15 months earlier – as rallying points for the Irgun and Lehi revisionist Zionist clandestine movements, encouraging their violent revolt against the British presence in Palestine


Photo believed to show Struma in port in Istanbul, 1942

Voyage and detention
See also: Romania during World War II
Struma had been built as a luxury yacht, but was 74 years old and in the 1930s had been relegated to carrying cattle on the River Danube under the Panamanian flag of convenience. The Mossad LeAliyah Bet intended to use her as a refugee ship, but shelved the plan after the German entry into Bulgaria.[9] Her Greek owner Jean D. Pandelis instead contacted Revisionist Zionists in Romania. The New Zionist Organization and Betar Zionist youth movement began to make arrangements but an argument over the choice of passengers left the planning in the hands of Betar.

Apart from the crew and 60 Betar youth, there were over 700 passengers who had paid large fees to board the ship. The exact number is not certain, but a collation of six separate lists produced a total of 791 passengers and 10 crew. Passengers were told they would be sailing on a renovated boat with a short stop in Istanbul to collect their Palestinian immigration visas. Ion Antonescu's Romanian government approved of the voyage.

Each refugee was allowed to take 20 kilograms (44 lb) of luggage. Romanian customs officers took many of the refugees' valuables and other possessions, along with food that they had brought with them. The passengers were not permitted to see the vessel before the day of the voyage. They found that she was a wreck with only two lifeboats. Below decks, Struma had dormitories with bunks for 40 to 120 people in each. The berths were bunks on which passengers were to sleep four abreast, with 60 centimetres (2 ft) width for each person.

On 12 December, 1941, the day of her sailing, Struma's engine failed so a tug towed her out of the port of Constanţa. The waters off Constanţa were mined, so a Romanian vessel escorted her clear of the minefield. She then drifted overnight while her crew tried vainly to start her engine. She transmitted distress signals and on 13 December the Romanian tug returned. The tug's crew said they would not repair Struma's engine unless they were paid. The refugees had no money after buying their tickets and leaving Romania, so they gave all their wedding rings to the tugboatmen, who then repaired the engine. Struma then got under way but by 15 December her engine had failed again so she was towed into the port of Istanbul in Turkey.

There she remained at anchor, while British diplomats and Turkish officials negotiated over the fate of the passengers. Because of Arab and Jewish unrest in Palestine, Britain was determined to apply the terms of the White Paper of 1939 to minimise Jewish immigration to Palestine. British diplomats urged the Turkish government of Refik Saydam to prevent Struma from continuing her voyage. Turkey refused to allow the passengers to disembark. While detained in Istanbul, Struma ran short of food. Soup was cooked twice a week and supper was typically an orange and some peanuts for each person. At night each child was issued a serving of milk.

After weeks of negotiation, the British agreed to honour the expired Palestinian visas possessed by a few passengers, who were allowed to continue to Palestine overland. With the help of influential friends (Vehbi Koc), a few others also managed to escape. One woman, Madeea Solomonovici, was admitted to an Istanbul hospital after miscarrying. On 12 February British officials agreed that children aged 11 to 16 on the ship would be given Palestinian visas, but a dispute occurred over their transportation to Palestine. The United Kingdom declined to send a ship, while Turkey refused to allow them to travel overland. According to some researchers, a total of 9 passengers disembarked while the remaining 782 and 10 crew stayed on the ship. Others believe that there had only been 782 passengers initially, only Madeea Solomonovici being allowed to leave the ship.



Towing to sea and sinking


Map of the Bosphorus strait showing where Struma anchored in quarantine in Istanbul harbour (1), and where she was torpedoed and sank in the Black Sea (2)

Negotiations between Turkey and Britain seemed to reach an impasse. On 23 February 1942 a small party of Turkish police tried to board the ship but the refugees would not let them aboard. Then a larger force of about 80 police came, surrounded Struma with motor boats, and after about half an hour of resistance got aboard the ship. The police detached Struma's anchor and attached her to a tug, which towed her through the Bosphorus and out into the Black Sea. As she was towed along the Bosphorus, many passengers hung signs over the sides that read "SAVE US" in English and Hebrew, visible to those who lived on the banks of the strait. Despite weeks of work by Turkish engineers, the engine would not start. The Turkish authorities abandoned the ship in the Black Sea, about 10 miles north of the Bosphorus, where she drifted helplessly.


On the morning of 24 February there was a huge explosion and the ship sank. Many years later it was revealed that the ship had been torpedoed by the Shchuka-class Soviet submarine Shch-213, that had also sunk the Turkish vessel Çankaya the evening before.

Struma sank quickly and many people were trapped below decks and drowned. Many others aboard survived the sinking and clung to pieces of wreckage, but for hours no rescue came and all but one of them died from drowning or hypothermia. Of the estimated 791 people killed, more than 100 were children. Struma's First Officer Lazar Dikof and the 19-year-old refugee David Stoliar clung to a cabin door that was floating in the sea. The First Officer died overnight but Turks in a rowing boat rescued Stoliar the next day. He was the only survivor. Turkey held Stoliar in custody for many weeks. Simon Brod (1893-1962), a Jewish businessman from Istanbul, who during World War II helped to rescue an untold number of Jewish refugees who reached Turkey, arranged for Stoliar's meals during his two-month incarceration. Upon his release, Brod brought Stoliar home. He provided him with clothes and a suitcase, and a train ticket to Allepo USHMM after Britain gave him papers to go to Palestine.

Aftermath
On 9 June 1942, Lord Wedgwood opened the debate in the British House of Lords by alleging that Britain had reneged on its commitments and urging that the League of Nations mandate over Palestine be transferred to the USA. He stated with bitterness: "I hope yet to live to see those who sent the Struma cargo back to the Nazis hung as high as Haman cheek by jowl with their prototype and Führer, Adolf Hitler". Anglo-Jewish poet Emanuel Litvinoff, serving in the British army at the time, wrote a scathing poem, mourning the loss and betrayal of Struma. Having volunteered in the British army to fight the Nazis, he now called the British khaki he wore a "badge of shame."

For many years there were competing theories about the explosion that sank Struma. In 1964 a German historian discovered that Shch-213 had fired a torpedo that sank the ship. Later this was confirmed from several other Soviet sources. The submarine had been acting under secret orders to sink all neutral and enemy shipping entering the Black Sea to reduce the flow of strategic materials to Nazi Germany.

Frantz and Collins call Struma's sinking the "largest naval civilian disaster of the war". Greater numbers of civilians perished in other maritime disasters of the war, including Wilhelm Gustloff, Cap Arcona and Junyō Maru, but there were also military personnel aboard those ships at the time.

Israeli politics still refers to the Struma disaster. On 26 January 2005 Israel's then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, told the Knesset:

The leadership of the British Mandate displayed... obtuseness and insensitivity by locking the gates to Israel to Jewish refugees who sought a haven in the Land of Israel. Thus were rejected the requests of the 769 [sic] passengers of the ship Struma who escaped from Europe – and all but one [of the passengers] found their death at sea. Throughout the war, nothing was done to stop the annihilation [of the Jewish people].

Wrecks
Struma
In July 2000 a Turkish diving team found a wreck on the sea floor in about the right place and announced that it had found Struma. A team led by a British technical diver and a grandson of one of the victims, Greg Buxton, later studied this and several other wrecks in the area but could not positively identify any as Struma; the wreck found by the Turks was far too large.

On 3 September 2000 a ceremony was held at the site to commemorate the tragedy. It was attended by 60 relatives of Struma victims, representatives of the Jewish community of Turkey, the Israeli ambassador and prime minister's envoy, British and American delegates, but David Stoliar chose to not attend for family reasons.

Soviet Shch-213 submarine
In November 2008 a team of Dutch, German and Romanian divers of the Black Sea Wreck Diving Club discovered the wreck of Shch-213 off the coast of Constanţa in Romania. Since the registration markings that could help identify the wreck were missing due to damage to the submarine, it took divers until 2010 to identify her as Shch-213.

Struma disaster - Wikipedia

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MV Struma - Wikipedia

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[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 23 February


1654 – Launch of HMS Colchester (1654) was a 24-gun ship - sunk in action in 1666.

Vessels of 1653–1656 Programmes


1693 – Launch of French Éole 64, later 58 guns (launched 23 February 1693 at Le Havre) – sold 1710

Saint Louis Class, designed by Joseph Andrault, built by Philippe Cochois and Pierre Chaillé.
Saint Louis 64, later 58 guns (launched 10 December 1692 at Le Havre) – sold 1712
Éole 64, later 58 guns (launched 23 February 1693 at Le Havre) – sold 1710


1705 - Launch of French Achille 64, later 62 guns (Designed and built by Blaise Pangalo, launched 23 February 1705 at Brest) – reclassed as Third Rank 1707, broken up 1744


1795 - The U.S. Navy Office of Purveyor of Supplies is established.


1812 – Launch of French Agamemnon was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy

Agamemnon was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. She served during the later days of the First French Empire, notably taking part in the Action of 5 November 1813. During the Bourbon Restoration, she was razéed into a 58-gun frigate and renamed Amphitrite.


Scale model of Achille, sister ship of French ship Agamemnon (1812), on display at the Musée de la Marine in Paris.

Career
Built in French-occupied Genoa, Agamemnon was commissioned in 1812 and appointed to Toulon squadron. She took part in the Action of 5 November 1813 under Jean-Marie Letellier, and suffered the brunt of the French losses during the engagement, with nine wounded and damage to her masts.
In June 1822, she transferred to Brest and the next year, she was razéed into a 58-gun frigate. She was recommissioned on 17 April 1824 as Amphitrite. In 1827, she cruised the Mediterranean under Commander Troude, taking part in the blockage of Algiers in October. She notably chased 11 ships from Algiers on 4 October, along with Galathée.
Agamemnon was decommissioned in July 1829, but reactivated for the Invasion of Algiers. She was again decommissioned in November 1830,[2] and hulked in Toulon in 1836.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Agamemnon_(1812)


1824 - HMS Delight (10), Robert Hay, lost in a hurricane at the Mauritius.

HMS Delight (1819) was a 10-gun brig-sloop of the Cherokee class launched in 1819 and wrecked in 1824 with the loss of her entire crew. She had been carrying some 103 slaves that she had rescued from Providence Island where they had been stranded when the French brig Lys had wrecked there.

Cherokee-class brig-sloop - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Alacrity (1818), Ariel (1820), Barracouta (1820), Beagle (1820), Brisk (1819), Bustard (1818), Cygnet (1819), Delight (1819), Eclipse (1819), Emulous (1819), Falcon (1820), Frolic (1820), Onyx (1822), Opossum (1821) - National Maritime Museum

1919 - The first ship named for an enlisted man, USS Osmond Ingram (DD 255), is launched.

USS Osmond Ingram (DD-255/AVD–9/APD-35) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. She was named for Osmond Ingram.



Osmond Ingram was laid down 15 October 1918 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation's Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts; launched 23 February 1919; sponsored by Mrs. N. E. Ingram, mother of Osmond Ingram; and commissioned at Boston 28 June 1919, Lieutenant Commander M. B. DeMott in command. She was designated AVD–9 from 2 August 1940 until 4 November 1943; reverted to DD–255 until 22 June 1944; and completed her service as APD–35.

USS Osmond Ingram - Wikipedia

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1954 - The third USS Intrepid was a steel-hulled bark in the United States Navy wrecked

The third USS Intrepid was a steel-hulled bark in the United States Navy.


USS Intrepid at the Independence Wharf at Mare Island Navy Yard in the early 1920s. She was servings as the Yard's Receiving Ship at this time.

Intrepid's keel was laid down by the Mare Island Navy Yard at Vallejo, California. She was launched on 8 October 1904, sponsored by Miss Helen de Young, and commissioned on 16 August 1907 with Commander Edward E. Capehart in command.
Intrepid was assigned to the Yerba Buena Training Station at San Francisco, California, for duty until 28 February 1912, when she became the receiving ship at the same station. The latter assignment lasted until 25 January 1914 when Intrepid became the receiving ship at Mare Island Navy Yard, where she was decommissioned 15 October 1914.
Intrepid was recommissioned in ordinary at Mare Island Navy Yard on 11 November 1915 for use as a barracks for the men of the submarines F-1, F-2, F-3, and F-4 of the United States Pacific Fleet. In 1920 she again became the receiving ship at Mare Island Navy Yard.
Intrepid was decommissioned on 30 August 1921 and was sold on 20 December 1921 for conversion to a commercial barge for the Hawaiian Dredging Company.
Reacquired by the US Navy during World War II, she became Sludge Removal Barge YSR-42 at Pearl Harbor and as such was employed during the salvage of USS Oklahoma.
Returned to commercial service after the war, she was wrecked on the north beach of the Columbia River on 23 February 1954 under the ownership of the Independent Iron Works of Oakland, CA, while being towed to Portland, OR, for sale. Her remains are still visible. 46°15′24″N 123°51′5″W

USS Intrepid (1904) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
24 February 1780 - Action of 24 February 1780


The Action of 24 February 1780 was a minor naval battle that took place off the island of Madeira during the American Revolutionary war. A French convoy was intercepted and pursued by a British Royal Navy squadron ending with the French 64 gun ship Protée being captured along with three transports.



Events
Background
In early 1780 the Royal Navy under Admiral George Rodney had defeated a Spanish fleet and subsequently relieved Gibraltar under siege by Spanish and French forces. Rodney then sailed for the West Indies in February, detaching part of the fleet for service in the English Channel.

On 16 February 1780, a French convoy with troops and ammunition bound for India departed Lorient escorted by the 64 gun ship of the line Protée with Ajax, Éléphant and Charmante. Protée, under Captain Duchilleau de Laroche was the flagship of the convoy.


Plan of the movements made by the French ship Prothée to protect its convoy while it is attacked by several English ships off Madeira on 24 February 1780.

Action
On 23 February, off the island of Madeira, the convoy met Rodney's fleet; Duchilleau ordered Ajax to double back with most of the convoy, while he would lure the British by continuing on the same bearing with Charmante and the smallest ships of the convoy. The British fleet chased Protée while Ajax escaped with the convoy; seeing the ships under his protection out of harm's way around 1am, Duchilleau tried to effect his own escape, but Protée caught the wind, breaking her tops and mizzen, allowing HMS Resolution, under Lord Robert Manners, to catch on around 2am, soon joined by the 74-gun HMS Bedford and HMS Marlborough.

Hopelessly outnumbered and out gunned, Protée struck while Charmante returned to Lorient, arriving there on 3 March. Three merchantmen were also captured.

Aftermath
Court-martialled for the loss of his ship, Duchilleau was honourably acquitted.

For the British the booty was substantial, as well as the three transports, Protée was carrying £60,000 worth of silver with the prize money subsequently shared.

Protée was commissioned in the Royal Navy as the third rate HMS Prothee.



Prothee IMG 7026


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with stern board decoration and name, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for 'Prothee' (1780), a captured French Third Rate, as fitted as a 64-gun Third Rate, two-decker. Signed by George White [Master Shipwright, Portsmouth Dockyard, 1779-1793].

Protée was an Artésien-class 64-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, launched in 1772.



Career
Further information: Action of 24 February 1780
On 16 February 1780, Protée departed Lorient escorting a convoy bound for India, with troops and ammunition. Protée, under Captain Duchilleau de Laroche was the flagship of the convoy.

On 23 February, off Spain, the convoy met Rodney's fleet. Hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned, Protée struck while Charmante returned to Lorient, arriving there on 3 March. Three merchantmen were also captured. Court-martialled for the loss of his ship, Duchilleau was honourably acquitted.

Protée was commissioned in the Royal Navy as the third rate HMS Prothee. She was converted to serve as a prison ship in 1799, and broken up in 1815. Eight of her small cannons were purchased by John Manners, 5th Duke of Rutland and are currently at Belvoir Castle, Leicestershire. The cannon are still fired on special occasions, such as weddings and the Duke's birthday.



A row of prison hulks in Portsmouth Harbour is shown on the left of the picture. These hulks were ships which were no longer seaworthy and commonly had their masts reduced or removed. They were introduced in the early 1770s, when an attempt was made to alleviate the pressure on prisons and they served as a cheap alternative to building more prisons on land. They were first used on the Thames, but Portsmouth soon had some moored in Langstone and Portsmouth Harbours, together with a hospital ship. The conditions on board the hulks were unheatlhy and overcrowded, with little or no ventilation since the ports on the landward side were boarded over as a deterrent against escape. The skyline of Portsmouth is visible in the distance to the left, together with a variety of shipping at anchor. A ship in full sail is moving towards the viewer and in the foreground is a row of sandbanks,with several figures shown on the largest bank on the right. This is one of three versions of this subject in the collection. The others are BHC1923 and BHC1925: of these, the former came into the collection in 1955 as by Garneray - a French privateering officer who was held as a prisoner of war in the 'Prothee' hulk for eight years from 1806, but had shore parole from 1812 and did various versions of the subject. He later became very well known in France and, in effect, their first 'Peintre officiel de la Marine' from 1817 although this corps was not formally established until 1830. The other two, including this one, arrived in the 1930s and were previously attributed to 'style of Daniel Turner', a London painter best known for views of Nelson's funeral. BHC1923 and 1925 are very similar: this one is the same subject but a much bluer and calmer treatment. There is at present no reason to think they are not all, in fact, early works by Garneray, whose style varied considerably and was given the alias 'Hoppey Turner' by a British officer who made money by selling his works for him. This may be the origin of the Daniel Turner connection.





Model of the Artesien

The Artésien class was a type of 64-gun ships of the line of the French Navy. A highly detailed and accurate model of Artésien, lead ship of the class, was part of the Trianon model collection and is now on display at Paris naval museum.

Artésien class of five ships to design by Joseph-Louis Ollivier.

• Artésien 64 (launched 7 March 1765 at Brest)
• Roland 64 (launched 14 February 1771 at Brest)
• Alexandre 64 (launched 28 February 1771 at Brest) – captured 1782
• Protée 64 (launched 10 November 1772 at Brest) – captured by the British in February 1780 and added to the RN as HMS Prothee, BU 1815
• Éveillé 64 (launched 10 December 1772 at Brest)

Lines (ZAZ7327) of a Launch of the Prothee

Action of 24 February 1780 - Wikipedia

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French ship Protée (1772) - Wikipedia

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Artésien-class ship of the line - Wikipedia

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[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
24 February 1783 - HMS Pallas, one of the three 36-gun Venus-class fifth-rate frigates of the Royal Navy, was burnt to avoid capture


HMS Pallas was one of the three 36-gun Venus-class fifth-rate frigates of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1757 and served until her loss in 1783.
At 12.2.1783 she run ashore at Sao Jorge in the Azores due to leaks, so 12 days later she was burnt to avoid capture.



Construction


Sir Thomas Slade, naval architect for Pallas in 1756

The Venus class of 36-gun frigates were designed by Thomas Slade, the Surveyor of the Navy and former Master Shipwright at Deptford Dockyard. Alongside their smaller cousin, the 32-gun Southampton class, the Venus-class represented an experiment in ship design; fast, medium-sized vessels capable of overhauling smaller craft and single handedly engaging enemy cruisers or privateers. As a further innovation, Slade borrowed from contemporary French ship design by removing the lower deck gun ports and locating the ship's cannons solely on the upper deck. This permitted the carrying of heavier ordinance without the substantial increase in hull size which would otherwise have been required in order to keep the lower gun ports consistently above the waterline. The lower deck was instead used for additional stores, enabling Venus-class frigates to remain at sea for longer periods without resupply.

Armament
Pallas' principal armament was 26 iron-cast twelve-pound cannons, located along her upper deck. The guns were constructed with shorter barrels as traditional twelve-pound cannons were too long to fit within the frigate's narrow beam. Each cannon weighed 28.5 long cwt (3,200 lb or 1,400 kg) with a gun barrel length of 7 feet 6 inches (2.29 m) compared with their 8 feet 6 inches (2.59 m) equivalent in larger Royal Navy vessels.

The twelve-pound cannons were supported by ten six-pounder guns, eight on the quarterdeck and two on the forecastle, each weighing 16.5 long cwt (1,800 lb or 800 kg) with a barrel length of 6 feet (1.8 m). Taken together, the twelve-pound and six-pound cannons provided a broadside weight of 189 pounds (86 kg). She was also equipped with twelve 1⁄2-pound swivel guns for anti-personnel use. These swivel guns were mounted in fixed positions on the quarterdeck and forecastle.





Lines & Profile (ZAZ2625)


sheer & profile (ZAZ2624)

The Venus-class frigates were three 36-gun sailing frigates of the fifth rate produced for the Royal Navy. They were designed in 1756 by Sir Thomas Slade, and were enlarged from his design for the 32-gun Southampton-class frigates, which had been approved four months earlier.

The 36-gun frigates, of which this was to be the only British design in the era of the 12-pounder frigate, carried the same battery of twenty-six 12-pounders as the 32-gun predecessors; the only difference lay in the secondary armament on the quarter deck, which was here doubled to eight 6-pounders. Slade's 36-gun design was approved on 13 July 1756, on which date two ships were approved to be built by contract to these plans. A third ship was ordered about two weeks later, to be built in a royal dockyard.

The Venus-class were faster than their Southampton-class predecessors, making up to 13 knots ahead of strong winds and ten knots while close-hauled compared with Southampton-class speeds of 12 and 8 knots respectively. Both Venus- and Southampton-class frigates were highly maneuverable and capable of withstanding heavy weather, in comparison with their French counterparts during the Seven Years' War.




Action between HMS Venus (left) and French frigate La Sémillante, 27 May 1793.


Battle of Cape Finisterre, 1761. Brilliant is engaged with Maliceuse and Hermione at far right. From a painting by H. Fletcher, c.1890

HMS Pallas (1757) - Wikipedia

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Venus-class frigate - Wikipedia

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
24 February 1796 – Launch of Princess Charlotte, an "extra ship’’ of the British East India Company (EIC)


Princess Charlotte was an "extra ship’’ of the British East India Company (EIC), launched in 1796. She made four voyages for the EIC. On her second voyage she suffered a short-lived mutiny and then spent almost a year as an armed ship in the service of the EIC, including a voyage to the Red Sea. A squadron of the French Navy captured her in the Vizagapatam roads in 1804, on her fourth voyage.


Defence of the Centurion in Vizagapatam Road, Septr. 15th 1804, Engraving by Thomas Sutherland after a painting by Sir James Lind

Voyages
Because she sailed during the Napoleonic Wars, she sailed under letters of marque issued separately for each captain. These authorized her masters to engage in offensive action against the French, and not just defend themselves; that they were allowed to do without a letter.



Voyage #1 (1796-97)
Princess Charlotte , under the command of Captain Charles Elton Prescott, left Portsmouth on 27 June 1796. Prescott’s letter of marque was dated 16 April 1796.[3] She reached Cape Town on 20 September, and Madras on 9 January 1797. For the return trip she reached Trincomalee on 11 April, Cape Town on 6 July, St Helena on 2 August, and she reached the Downs on 24 October.

Voyage #2 (1798-1800)
Charles Elton Prescott was again her captain when she left Portsmouth on 24 March 1798. She was carrying as passengers 22 gentleman, five ladies, 15 women and children, and 51 soldiers of the 12th Regiment of Foot, who had had to leave their officer behind at Portsmouth as he was unfit to travel. She reached Cape Town on 30 May and stayed there for almost six weeks. The reason was that a mutiny had broken out that day that Prescott and the officers had quickly subdued. Because the whole crew was involved, Prescott anchored in Simons Bay next to the 64-gun, third-rate ship of the line Sceptre, whose marines rowed guard around her that night. Prescott called for a court-martial, but legal issues resulted in some delays. Eventually the three ringleaders (quartermaster and two boatswain's mates) were found guilty and sentenced to hang, a sentence commuted to 18-months imprisonment.

She reached Madras on 18 August, and Calcutta on 26 September. The EIC then decided to use Princess Charlotte as an armed ship from December 1798 until November 1799. Princess Charlotte was to serve as a cruiser on the Malabar Coast and into the Red Sea. She left Saugor on 14 December. On 6 January she and Earl Howe received orders from the third rate ship of the line HMS Victorious to cruise between the Palmyra Rocks and Pigeon Island. Prescott and his officers received commissions from the government for the duration of their service. By 31 January she was in Goa and by 19 February Bombay. The government in Bombay armed her with thirty-eight 12-pounder guns and embarked 176 men from the European Regiment to serve as marines.

She served under the command of Rear Admiral John Blankett, who sent her and Fox to the Red Sea to cut the French in Egypt off from India and to prevent them from supporting the Kingdom of Mysore against the British. She delivered 54 men from the 84th Regiment of Foot and 55 men from the EIC artillery to Babelmandel Island. She sailed to Mokha, where she arrived 1 May. Six days later she was at Babelmandel, then Mokha on 2 June, Babelmandel on 16 June, Bombay by 18 September, and Diamond Harbour by 25 December.

Lord Mornington and the Bengal Government awarded Prescott with a gratuity of £1000 for his services. The Board of Directors of the EIC further rewarded him with a grant of £2000. They bestowed proportionate grants to Princess Charlotte's other officers and seamen.

Released from her military duties, Princess Charlotte returned to Britain. She passed Saugor on 5 January 1800, reached Cape Town on 25 April, St Helena on 7 June, and the Downs on 23 September.

Voyage #3 (1801-1803)
For her third voyage, Princess Charlotte was under the command of Captain Benjamin Richardson. Richardson’s letter of marque was dated 2 April 1801. She left Portsmouth on 23 April 1801 and reached Madras on 11 August. From there she sailed to Penang, which she reached by 8 December. By 17 January 1802 she was at Amboina. She left Timor on 20 June, reaching St Helena on 29 August. She then sailed to the River Shannon, where she arrived on 17 November, before arriving at the Downs on 1 January 1803.

Voyage #4 (1804 & loss)
Captain John Logan acquired letter of marque on 23 January 1804. He sailed Princess Charlotte from Portsmouth on 20 March 1804.[2] Princess Charlotte was one of a convoy of eight East Indiamen, all under escort by HMS Lapwing. Other East Indiamen in the convoy included Brunswick, Canton, and Lord Nelson.

Princess Charlotte and the East Indiaman Barnaby were in the Vizagapatam Roads on 18 September and under escort by Centurion when a squadron under Contre-Admiral Charles-Alexandre Durand Linois, in the 74-gun Marengo, arrived.

Main article: Battle of Vizagapatam
Centurion held off the French, who withdrew even though they had crippled her. During the encounter, Barnaby's captain ran her ashore to avoid capture, wrecking her. Logan ignored signals from Centurion to add Princess Charlotte's broadside to the combat. He also ignored subsequent signals to run ashore to avoid capture. Instead, Logan surrendered without firing a shot. The French frigate Sémillante took possession of Princess Charlotte and the French took her with them to Mauritius as they withdrew.

Because Princess Charlotte had not loaded for her homeward voyage, the EIC reported that it had not lost any cargo.[6] The French took her to Mauritius.

On 3 September 1806 the former Princess Charlotte was at Port Louis, Île de France. She was sailing between Île de France and Madagascar carrying slaves and cattle.

Post-script
John Logan would captain other Indiamen for the EIC. He was captain of the Indiaman Experiment, which with two other Indiamen in the home-bound convoy, disappeared on 28 October 1808 during a gale off Mauritius.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Charlotte_(1796_EIC_ship)

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
24 February 1802 - Capture of Porcher at Calcutta


Porcher was launched in 1799 at Calcutta. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) from Bengal to England. A French privateer captured her in 1802, which gave rise to a case in French courts about the validity of the capture given the impending Treaty of Amiens. The French courts condemned her in prize and new owners in Bordeaux named her Ville de Bordeaux. The British recaptured her in 1804. Thereafter she traded between England and India as a licensed ship. In 1809 she sailed to England where in 1810 new owners renamed her Cambridge. As Cambridge she made three voyages for the EIC as an extra ship. In 1818 she was again sold with her new owners continuing to sail her to the Far East as a licensed ship. She then made two more voyages to India for the EIC. In 1840 she was sold to an American trading house at Canton, and then to the Qing Dynasty, which purchased her for the Imperial Chinese Navy. The British Royal Navy destroyed her on 27 February 1841 during the Battle of First Bar at the onset of the First Opium War.


Porcher's (left) magazine detonating after an engagement with a Royal Navy squadron during the First Opium War.

Porcher
Captain Benjamin Blake sailed Porcher from Calcutta on 5 February 1800. On 17 February she passed Kedgeree. She reached Madras on 31 March and St Helena on 24 June. She arrived at the Downs on 23 September.

Porcher entered Lloyd's Register in the supplemental pages to the 1800 issue. It shows B. Blake as owner and master, her origin as Calcutta, and trade as London-India. Porcher was admitted to registry in Great Britain on 21 January 1801.

On 28 January 1801 Blake sailed Porcher for Calcutta. She left Calcutta on 18 February 1802 for England. On the way, the French privateer Bellone intercepted her on 24 February 1802 and captured her. Porcher arrived at Île de France on 9 April as a prize to Bellone.

In August, an American ship brought letters reporting that Bellona had captured Porcher in the Bay of Bengal. Furthermore, though both captor and captive had copies of the "Preliminaries of Peace", the expectation was that Porcher and her cargo would be condemned. Lloyd's List reported on 13 August that Bellona had captured Porcher, Tay, and Highland Chief.

In June 1802, Earl Cornwallis sailed to Île de France having on board a number of French prisoners, who had been detained in Bengal. The prisoners were under the charge of Mr. Campbell, whom the Bengal Government had also charged with negotiating with the Governor of Île de France for the release of Tay, Highland Chief, and Porcher. The vessels and their cargoes were estimated to be worth £100,000.

Blake and the master of Tay protested the seizures. Lloyd's List reported on 28 December 1802 that Highland Chief, Porcher, and Tay had been condemned.

Porcher arrived at Bordeaux on 18 February 1803. There she was again condemned and sold to local buyers who named her Ville de Bordeaux. In 1804 the British recaptured her and she reverted to the name Porcher. She then continued in private trade in India.

In 1809 she sailed to England. In March 1810 Porcher sold some lots of ebony wood that remained unclaimed in the EIC’s warehouse in London and that in 1817 the EIC stated that it would sell if not immediately reclaimed.

In London new owners renamed her Cambridge. In London, Pitcher & Co. measured her in 1810 for charter to the EIC.[ Cambridge was admitted to the registry of Great Britain on 30 May 1810.




Cambridge
On Friday 9 October 1810, the EIC chartered Cambridge from "Lestock Wilson, Esq." for one voyage at a rate of £33 7s 6d per ton (burthen).

On 1 March 1811 Captain Charles Morlock received a letter of marque against the French for Cambridge. Mortlock sailed Cambridge from Torbay on 12 May, bound for Madras and Bengal. She reached Madeira on 2 June, and Madras on 26 September. She arrived at Diamond Harbour on 13 November. Homeward bound, she passed Saugor on 4 January 1812 and reached St Helena on 12 May. She arrived at Long Reach on 27 July.

Captain James Toussaint received letter of marque №284 against America. Under his command, Cambridge left China on 15 March 1815, reached St Helena on 5 July, and arrived at the Downs in September.

Captain John Freeman sailed Cambridge from Plymouth on 20 March 1816, bound for China. She reached St Helena on 28 May, and Batavia on 5 September. She arrived at Whampoa on 29 October. Homeward-bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 22 January 1817, reached St Helena on 10 April, and arrived at Long Reach on 8 June.

In 1818 Thomas Heath purchased Cambridge for use as a licensed ship sailing to the Far East.

The table below uses data from Lloyd's Register and the Register of Shipping. It is clearly inaccurate in many details. The entries were only as accurate as owners chose to keep them.

Between 1825 and 1827 Cambridge made two more voyages for the EIC, both one-way.

On 1 June 1825 Captain James Barber sailed Cambridge from Portsmouth, bound for Bombay. She arrived there on 13 October.

Captain James Barber sailed from Plymouth on 6 July 1826, bound for Madras and Bengal. Cambridge reached Madras on 8 November and Penang on 23 December. She arrived at Kedgeree on 19 January 1827.



Chinese warship
Cambridge is longer listed in Lloyd's Register after 1840. The reason is that Douglas sailed her from Bombay to Canton with a cargo of opium and cotton. On the way he stopped at Singapore and purchased twenty-eight 6-pounder and four 12-pounder guns to add to the six carronades that she already carried.

At Canton, Douglas convinced Charles Elliot, the chief superintendent at Canton, to charter Cambridge as a de facto warship to protect British shipping in the Pearl River delta. As soon as he could, Elliot ended the hire of Cambridge.

An American trading house in Canton purchased Cambridge, and renamed her Chesapeake. However, Elliot had insisted that Douglas ship her guns back to India before he sold her.

The Americans then sold Chesapeake at the onset of the First Opium War. The Qing Dynasty purchased her for the Imperial Chinese Navy. Because Cambridge/Chesapeake was unarmed, the Chinese armed her with a motley collection of local guns.

Fate
On 27 February 1841 a British Royal Navy flotilla sailed up the Pearl River and attacked Chinese artillery batteries on First Bar Island. Cambridge and a fleet of Chinese War Junkssailed out of Canton to counter them.

In the ensuing Battle of First Bar, Cambridge engaged the British, but her crew abandoned her when British cannon fire overwhelmed her. Seamen and marines from HMS Calliope boarded Cambridge and set her on fire. Eventually the ship's magazine detonated, creating a sound so loud British dispatches reported that it "must have been heard in Canton."

Porcher (1799 ship) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Battle of First Bar - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org