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

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
7 April 1765 - Launch of Artésien (“Artesian”) was a 64-gun ship of the line


Artésien (“Artesian”) was a 64-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, lead ship of her class. She was funded by a don des vaisseaux donation from the Estates of Artois.

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Artésien was built in 1765 as a part of a series of twelve ships of the line began by Choiseul to compensate for the losses endured by the French Royal Navy during the Seven Years' War. She was paid by the province of Artois and Flander, and named in its honour, according to the practice of the time.

Artésien took part in the American revolutionary war under Suffren, departing in 1781. Off Cape Verde, Artésien detected an English squadron, resulting in the Battle of Porto Praya.

Artésien was decommissioned in 1785 and used as a shear hulk.

A fine 1/28th scale model was used to instruct Louis XVI in naval studies. The model is now on display at the Musée de la Marine.

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Model on display at the Musée de la Marine


From ancre is a wonderful monographie available, written by Jacques FICHANT

https://ancre.fr/en/monograph/48-monographie-de-l-artesien-vaisseau-64-canons-1764.html

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https://shipsofscale.com/sosforums/...-th-21-st-october-2018.2050/page-3#post-43047

A ,odel of the 64-gun Third Rate Ship of the lIne L´ARTESIEN built by Pierre Blanc in scale 1:48 based on the monographie by Jacques FICHANT and published by ancre

https://ancre.fr/fr/monographies/48-monographie-de-l-artesien-vaisseau-64-canons-1764.html

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Attachments

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
7 April 1776 - The Continental brig USS Lexington, commanded by John Barry, captures the British sloop tender Edward near the Virginia Capes after a fierce fight that takes nearly an hour.


The first USS Lexington of the Thirteen Colonies was a brigantine purchased in 1776. The Lexington was an 86-foot two-mast wartime sailing ship for the fledgling Continental Navy of the Colonists during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783).

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History
Originally named the Wild Duck, Abraham van Bibber purchased her for the Maryland Committee of Safety, at St. Eustatius in the Dutch West Indies in February 1776. She soon got underway for the Delaware Capes and reached Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 9 March with a cargo of sorely needed gunpowder for the patriot forces. Four days later the Marine Committee purchased Wild Duck, renamed her Lexington after the Battle of Lexington (the first battle of the war), and turned her over to Wharton and Humphry for fitting out.

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Commanded by Capt. John Barry, Lexington dropped down the Delaware River 26 March and slipped through the British blockade6 April. The following day she fell in with British sloop Edward, a tender to the frigate Liverpool. After a fierce fight which lasted about an hour Edward struck her colors. Lexington took her prize into Philadelphia and as soon as the ship was back in fighting trim, Barry put to sea again. On 26 April Lexington encountered Sir Peter Parker's fleet sailing to attack Charleston, South Carolina. Two of the British ships gave chase on 5 May off the Delaware Capes. HMS Roebuck and Liverpool chased Lexington for eight hours and came close enough to exchange fire with the American ship before Barry managed to elude his pursuers and reach Philadelphia safely.

Lexington and Reprisal dropped down the Delaware to Cape May on the 20th, there joining Wasp and Hornet. Liverpool stood off the Delaware Capes preventing the American ships from escaping to sea. On 28 June Pennsylvania's brig Nancy arrived in the area with 386 barrels of powder in her hold and ran aground while attempting to elude British blockader Kingfisher. Barry ordered the precious powder rowed ashore during the night leaving only 100 barrels in Nancy at dawn. A delayed action fuse was left inside the brig, which exploded the powder just as a boatload of British seamen boarded Nancy. This engagement became known as the Battle of Turtle Gut Inlet.

On 10 July Lexington slipped to sea. On the 27th she captured Lady Susan, a ship of Lord Dunmore's Tory Fleet which operated out of the Chesapeake Bay. This privateer was commanded by William Goodrich, a member of the notorious Tory family which had plagued the shipping of Virginia and Maryland. (Richard Dale, one of seven members of the Lady Susan crew who signed on Lexington, later won fame under John Paul Jones.) Early in September, Lexington took another sloop, Betsy. About a fortnight later lightning struck Lexington forcing the brigantine home for repairs. Lexington anchored off Philadelphia 26 September, and two days later Barry relinquished command.

With repairs completed, Lexington, Capt. William Hallock in command, got underway for Cape Francois to obtain military cargo. On the return voyage, British frigate Pearl overhauled the brigantine just short of the Delaware Capes 20 December and captured her. The commander of the frigate removed Lexington's officers, but left 70 of her men on board under hatches with a prize crew. But by luring their captors with a promise of rum, the Yankee sailors recaptured the ship and brought her to Baltimore.

Lexington, now with Capt. Henry Johnson in command, sailed for France 20 February 1777 and took two prizes before reaching Bordeaux in March. In France, the brigantine joined Reprisal and Dolphin for a cruise seeking the Irish linen fleet scheduled to leave Dublin early in June. The American ships, commanded by Capt. Lambert Wickes, got underway 28 May and were carried far to westward by heavy winds. Approaching Dublin from the north they entered the north channel 18 June and hove to off the Mull of Kintyre. During the next four days they captured nine prizes, sinking three, releasing one, and retaining five. Heading south again on the 22nd, they took and scuttled a brig before arriving off Dublin Bay. The next morning they took another brig and released a ship bringing sugar, rum, and cotton from Jamaica. After placing prize crews on both vessels, they resumed their voyage around Ireland. On the 24th they stopped and released a smuggler and the next day took their last prize, a snow.

When they sighted ship-of-the-line HMS Burford near Ushant on the 26th, the American ships scattered and made their way individually to safety in France. Lexington remained at Morlaix, a Brittany fishing village, throughout the summer, hemmed in by British warships. However, France, under strong British diplomatic pressure, ordered the American ships out of French waters 12 September. Lexington got underway the next morning but made little headway because of light wind. She lay becalmed near Ushant on the morning of 19 September when British 10-gun cutter Alert, commanded by John Bazely, came into view. In the ensuing fight, Lexington's rigging was seriously damaged precluding flight. When the American brigantine ran out of powder Captain Johnson reluctantly struck his colors.




 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
7 April 1814 - Régulus, a Téméraire-class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, was scuttled by fire near Meschers-sur-Gironde to avoid capture by the British vessels HMS Egmont and HMS Centaur.


Régulus was a Téméraire-class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.

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From 25 May 1801, her armament was upgraded to carry between 80 and 86 guns.

During the Atlantic campaign of 1806, she was the flagship of L'Hermite's squadron (also comprising frigates Président and Cybèleand corvette Surveillant) during L'Hermite's expedition. She patrolled from the Gulf of Guinea to Brazil and the Caribbean. On 6 January 1806 the French squadron captured the 16-gun sloop-of-war HMS Favourite. The squadron also captured about 20 merchantman, notably including the ships Otway and Plowers.

In 1808, Régulus was in station with the Brest squadron.

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The French Régulus under attack by British fireships, during the evening of 11 August 1809. Drawing by Louis-Philippe Crépin.

In 1809, she was transferred to Rochefort. She famously took part in the Battle of the Basque Roads from 11 April 1809, under Captain Lucas, where she ran aground between Les Palles and Fouras. For 17 days, the stranded ship repelled assaults by the British, before refloating and returning to Rochefort on 29.

Fate
Régulus was scuttled by fire on 7 April 1814 near Meschers-sur-Gironde to avoid capture by the British vessels HMS Egmont and HMS Centaur.

Legacy
The scuttling of Régulus occurred off a limestone cliff dotted by numerous caves. The site was named in honour of the ship.

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Régulus caves


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Téméraire-class_ship_of_the_line
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
7 April 1875 – Launch of HMS Alexandra, a central battery ironclad of the Victorian Royal Navy, whose seagoing career was from 1877 to 1900.


HMS Alexandra
was a central battery ironclad of the Victorian Royal Navy, whose seagoing career was from 1877 to 1900. She spent much of her career as a flagship, and took part in operations to deter Russian aggression against Turkey in 1878 and the bombardment of Alexandria in 1882.

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Background
At the time of her design the Board of Admiralty were at loggerheads amongst themselves as regards the provision of sails in their contemporary warships; steam engine design had advanced to the point where ships could cross the Atlantic under steam power alone, but centuries of tradition had left an ingrained emotional attachment to sails in a small but influential number of the senior members of the naval hierarchy. This minority succeeded in convincing the Board to design Alexandra as a rigged broadside vessel.

Design

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Right elevation and deck plan as depicted in Harpers Monthly, February 1886

Built at Chatham Dockyard and engined by Messers Humphreys and Tennant, Alexandra was the last of a long series of progressive steps in the development of vessels of her type. As the militarily most effective of all of the broadside ironclads, it is ironic that she was designed by Nathaniel Barnaby, who was one of the earliest and most effective proponents of the virtues of turret-mounted artillery.

Her armament was disposed in a central box battery, with heavy guns deployed both on the main and on the upper deck. Recognising the increasing importance of axial fire, Barnaby arranged the artillery so that, by firing through embrasures, there was the capability of deploying four heavy guns to fire dead ahead, and two astern; all guns could if required fire on the broadside.

Alexandra was the last British battleship to carry her main armament wholly below decks; she was one of only two British ships to mount guns of 11-inch (280 mm) calibre, the other being HMS Temeraire.

She was the first British warship to be powered by vertical compound engines, carrying cylindrical high-pressure boilers with a working pressure of 60 pounds-force per square inch (410 kPa), as compared to rectangular boilers working at 30 lbf/in2 (210 kPa) pressure mounted in earlier ships. Twelve boilers were set back to back on either side of a longitudinal bulkhead; each engine drove an outward rotating screw of some 21 feet (6 m) in diameter. A pair of auxiliary engines, each of 600 indicated horsepower(450 kW), were fitted to turn the screws while the ship was proceeding under sail. These engines could, if required, propel the ship at a speed of 14.5 knots (26.9 km/h). At the time of her completion Alexandra was the fastest battleship afloat.

It had been intended to call the ship HMS Superb, but the name was changed at her launching, which was undertaken by Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, who was later Queen Alexandra. She was the first British ironclad to be launched by a member of the Royal Family; the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, the Duke and Duchess of Teck and the Duke of Cambridge were also present.

Service history
She was commissioned at Chatham on 2 January 1877 as flagship, Mediterranean Fleet, and held this position continuously until 1889. She was the flagship of Admiral Hornby in his passage through the Dardanelles during the Russian war scare of 1878. She ran aground in bad weather at the narrowest part of the strait; she was towed off by HMS Sultan in time to lead the squadron to Constantinople. She was present at the bombardment of Alexandria in 1882; in this action the Admiral's flag was shifted to HMS Invincible, as she was of shallower draught and could sail closer to shore. During this action on 11 July 1882, Gunner Israel Harding flung a live 10-inch shell overboard, an action which led to the award of the Victoria Cross. In 1886, the Duke of Edinburgh hoisted his flag on board, and Prince George of Wales, later King George V, joined as a lieutenant. She paid off in 1889 for modernisation.

In 1891, she was flagship of the Admiral Superintendent of Naval Reserves at Portsmouth, and remained so until 1901. Alexandra was featured in the first volume of the Navy and Army Illustrated in early c. April 1896 and was then described as a "coastguard ship at Portsmouth" with her principal armament being eight 18-tons guns, four 22-ton, six 4-inch and four six-pounder and six three-pounder quick firers.[3] At this time, she had a complement of 408 officers and men and was commanded by Captain W.H. Pigott. Her last sea-time was as flagship of the "B" fleet in the manoeuvres of 1900. In 1903 she became a mechanical training ship, and she was sold in 1908.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Alexandra_(1875)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
7 April 1898 – Launch of HMS Hermes, a Highflyer-class protected cruiser built for the Royal Navy in the 1890s


HMS Hermes
was a Highflyer-class protected cruiser built for the Royal Navy in the 1890s. She spent much of her early career as flagship for various foreign stations before returning home in 1913 to be assigned to the reserve Third Fleet. The ship was modified later that year as the first experimental seaplane carrier in the Royal Navy. In that year's annual fleet manoeuvers, she was used to evaluate how aircraft could cooperate with the fleet and if aircraft could be operated successfully at sea for an extended time. The trials were a success and Hermes was paid off in December at their conclusion. She was recommissioned at the beginning of World War I in August 1914 for service as an aircraft ferry and depot ship for the Royal Naval Air Service. She was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine in the Straits of Dover that October, with the loss of 44 lives.

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HMS Hermes at anchor, Dar es Salaam, German East Africa, before 1913

Design and description

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The two 6-inch guns on Hermes's quarterdeck

Hermes was designed to displace 5,650 long tons (5,740 t). The ship had an overall lengthof 372 feet (113.4 m), a beam of 54 feet (16.5 m) and a draught of 29 feet 6 inches (9.0 m). She was powered by two 4-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft, which produced a total of 10,000 indicated horsepower (7,500 kW) designed to give a maximum speed of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph). Hermes reached a speed of 20.5 knots (38.0 km/h; 23.6 mph) from 10,224 ihp (7,624 kW), during her sea trials. The engines were powered by 18 Belleville boilers. She carried a maximum of 1,125 long tons (1,143 t) of coal and her complement consisted of 470 officers and enlisted men.

Her main armament consisted of 11 quick-firing (QF) 6-inch (152 mm) Mk I guns. One gun was mounted on the forecastle and two others were positioned on the quarterdeck. The remaining eight guns were placed port and starboard amidships. They had a maximum range of approximately 10,000 yards (9,100 m) with their 100-pound (45 kg) shells. Eight quick-firing (QF) 12-pounder 12 cwt guns were fitted for defence against torpedo boats. One additional 12-pounder 8 cwt gun could be dismounted for service ashore. Hermes also carried six 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns and two submerged 18-inch torpedo tubes.

The ship's protective deck armour ranged in thickness from 1.5 to 3 inches (38 to 76 mm). The engine hatches were protected by 5-inch (127 mm) of armour. The main guns were fitted with 3-inch gun shields and the conning tower had armour 6 inches thick.

Construction and service

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A Short Folder seaplane being hoisted aboard in 1913

Hermes, named after the Greek god Hermes, was laid down by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering at their shipyard in Govan, Scotland on 30 April 1897, and launched on 7 April 1898, when she was named by Lady Kelvin. She was completed on 5 October 1899, and commissioned for service on the North America and West Indies Station by Captain Frank Hannam Henderson. She visited Bermuda and the West Indies in January 1900, and two months later arrived in Nassau, Bahamas with her shaft broken and boilers damaged. Towed to Jamaica by HMS Crescent, she then underwent repairs in the dockyard at Kingston, Jamaica. She served as the flagship of the North America and West Indies Station until late 1901 when she returned home to have her troublesome Belleville boilers replaced with Babcock & Wilcox boilers. The work was undertaken by Harland & Wolff at Belfast, where she arrived from Devonport in May 1902, in tow of the special service vessel HMS Traveller.

She was assigned to the Channel Fleet until 1905 when she was reduced to reserve at Portsmouth Royal Dockyard. The ship was recommissioned the following year as the flagship of the East Indies station, but she became the flagship of the Cape of Good Hope Station in 1907. Hermes returned home in March 1913 and was reduced to reserve as part of the Nore Command the next month.

Work began to modify her to accommodate three seaplanes in April to evaluate the use of aircraft in support of the fleet. Her forward 6-inch gun was removed and a tracked launching platform was built over the forecastle. A canvas hangar was fitted at the aft end of the rails to shelter the aircraft from the weather and a derrick was rigged from the foremast to lift the seaplane from the water. The guns on the quarterdeck were removed to allow for a seaplane to be stowed there in another hangar. A third aircraft could also be carried amidships, exposed to the elements. Three storage lockers were fitted with a total capacity of 2,000 imperial gallons (9,100 l; 2,400 US gal) of petrol in tins.

Hermes was recommissioned on 7 May and loaded two unknown aircraft on 5 July, making nine flights with them before 14 July. For the trials she initially used a Borel Bo.11 and a Short Folder, but the Borel was damaged in a storm and replaced by a Caudron G.2 amphibian. This latter aircraft took off successfully while the ship was moving on 28 July, but the take-off platform only seems to have been used twice during this time. During the manoeuvers, she simulated a reconnaissance Zeppelin for the Red Fleet, commanded by Vice Admiral John Jellicoe. The Folder could only carry a small wireless transmitter because of weight limits and it would be launched to search for enemy ships and report back to Hermes which would retransmit its message with its more powerful transmitter. The aircraft made a total of about 30 flights before 6 October. The tests showed that aircraft required radio transmitters to usefully perform reconnaissance, that sustained use of aircraft at sea was possible and that handling aircraft aboard ship and on the sea imposed their own set of requirements that could not be met by converted land-based aircraft.

The ship was paid off on 30 December, but was recommissioned on 31 August 1914. Assigned to the Nore Command, she was used to ferry aircraft and stores to France. It is uncertain if the flying-off platform was reinstalled. On 30 October she arrived at Dunkirk with one load of seaplanes. The next morning, Hermes set out on the return journey but was recalled because a German submarine was reported in the area. Despite zigzagging at a speed of 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph), she was torpedoed by U-27 at a range of 300 yards (270 m). Hermes sank off Ruylingen Bank in the Straits of Dover with the loss of 22 of her crew. Her wreck lies upside down in approximately 30 metres (98 ft) of water at coordinates 51°06′18″N 1°50′18″ECoordinates:
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51°06′18″N 1°50′18″E. In January 2017, two English divers were charged with failing to declare items removed from the wreck of Hermes, in contravention of the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.


The Highflyer-class cruisers were a group of three second-class protected cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the late 1890s.

Ships


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highflyer-class_cruiser
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
7 April 1910 – Launch of SMS Moltke, the lead ship of the Moltke-class battlecruisers of the German Imperial Navy, named after the 19th-century German Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke.


SMS Moltke
was the lead ship of the Moltke-class battlecruisers of the German Imperial Navy, named after the 19th-century German Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke. Commissioned on 30 September 1911, the ship was the second battlecruiser commissioned into the Imperial Navy.

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Moltke visiting Hampton Roads, Virginia in 1912

Moltke, along with her sister ship Goeben, was an enlarged version of the previous German battlecruiser design, Von der Tann, with increased armor protection and two more main guns in an additional turret. Compared to her British rivals—the IndefatigableclassMoltke and her sister Goeben were significantly larger and better armored.

The ship participated in most of the major fleet actions conducted by the German Navy during the First World War, including the Battles of Dogger Bank and Jutland in the North Sea, and the Battle of the Gulf of Riga and Operation Albion in the Baltic. Moltke was damaged several times during the war: the ship was hit by heavy-caliber gunfire at Jutland, and torpedoed twice by British submarines while on fleet advances.

Following the end of the war in 1918, Moltke, along with most of the High Seas Fleet, was interned at Scapa Flow pending a decision by the Allies as to the fate of the fleet. The ship met her end when she was scuttled, along with the rest of the High Seas Fleet in 1919 to prevent them from falling into British hands. The wreck of Moltke was raised in 1927 and scrapped at Rosyth from 1927 to 1929.

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SMS Moltke in New York in 1912

Development
In a conference in May 1907, the Germany Navy Office decided to follow up the unique Von der Tann battlecruiser with an enlarged design. The sum of 44 million marks was allocated for the 1908 fiscal year, which created the possibility of increasing the main guns to 30.5 cm (12 in) in diameter, instead of the 28 cm (11 in) weapons on the preceding design. However, Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, along with the Construction Department, argued that increasing the number of guns from 8 to 10 would be preferable instead of increasing the size of the previous battery. The General Navy Department held that for the new design to fight in the battle line, 30.5 cm (12 in) guns were necessary. Ultimately, Tirpitz and the Construction Department won the debate, and Moltke was equipped with ten 28 cm (11 in) guns. The guns were mounted in five twin gun turrets, three of which were on the centerline—one was forward and two were in a superfiring pair aft. The other two turrets were staggered wing turrets amidships. The Construction Department also mandated that armor protection was to be at least as good as that of Von der Tann. The ship was also to have a top speed of at least 24.5 knots (45.4 km/h; 28.2 mph).

During the design process, the ship's weight continued to grow due to the increase in the size of the citadel, armor thickness, the additions to the ammunition stores, and the rearrangement of the boiler system. The naval arms race between Germany and Britain put a great deal of stress on the Navy design staff, and prompted the decision to build two ships of the new design. They were assigned under the contract names of "Cruiser G" and "Cruiser H." Blohm & Voss received both contracts in 1908; "Cruiser G" was assigned to the 1908–1909 building year, while "Cruiser H" was assigned to 1909–1910. The contract for "Cruiser G" was awarded on 17 September 1908, under building number 200. The keel was laid on 7 December 1908, and the ship was launched on 7 April 1910. "Cruiser G" was commissioned on 30 September 1911, as SMS Moltke.

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SMS Moltke underway


The Moltke class was a class of two "all-big-gun" battlecruisers of the German Imperial Navy built between 1909–1911. Named SMS Moltke and SMS Goeben, they were similar to the previous Von der Tann unique battlecruiser, but the newer design featured several incremental improvements. The Moltkes were slightly larger, faster, and better armored, and had an additional pair of 28 centimeter guns.

Both ships served during World War I. Moltke participated in several major battles with the rest of the High Seas Fleet, including the battles of Dogger Bank and Jutland in the North Sea, and the Battle of the Gulf of Riga and Operation Albion in the Baltic Sea. At the end of the war, Moltke was interned with the majority of the High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow while the ships' fate was being discussed during peace treaty negotiations. The ships were scuttled on 21 June 1919 to prevent their seizure by the Allies.

Goeben was stationed in the Mediterranean at the start of the war; she escaped from pursuing Royal Navy ships to Constantinople. The ship, along with the light cruiser Breslau, was transferred to the Ottoman Navy soon after arrival. Strategically, Goeben played a very important role: she helped bring the Ottoman Empire into the war as a member of the Central Powers, and by acting as a fleet in being the ship prevented Anglo-French attempts to force the Bosporus, and similarly stymied a possible advance by the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Goeben was retained by the new Turkish government after the war. Only slightly modified from her original configuration, the ship remained on active service with the Turkish Navy until being decommissioned on 20 December 1950; she was stricken from the Navy register on 14 November 1954. Two years earlier, when Turkey joined NATO in 1952, the ship was assigned the hull number B70.[3] The ship was unsuccessfully offered for sale to the West German government in 1963. Without a group willing to preserve her as a museum, the ship was sold to M.K.E. Seyman in 1971 for scrapping. She was towed to the breakers on 7 June 1973, and the work was completed in February 1976.

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Goeben


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moltke-class_battlecruiser
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
7 April 1945 - Fast Carrier Task Force 58 aircraft attack the Japanese First Diversion Attack Force, sinking Japanese battleship Yamato and light cruiser Yahagi west-southwest of Kagoshima, Japan, as well as sinking four Japanese destroyers and damaging four others in the East China Sea.


Operation Ten-Go (天號作戰 (Kyūjitai) or 天号作戦 (Shinjitai) Ten-gō Sakusen) was a Japanese naval operation plan in 1945, consisting of four likely scenarios. Its first scenario, Operation Heaven One (or Ten-ichi-gō 天一号) became the last major Japanese naval operation in the Pacific Theater of World War II. The resulting engagement is also known as the Battle of the East China Sea.

In April 1945, the Japanese battleship Yamato (the largest battleship in the world), along with nine other Japanese warships, embarked from Japan on a deliberate suicide attack upon Allied forces engaged in the Battle of Okinawa. The Japanese force was attacked, stopped, and almost destroyed by United States carrier-borne aircraft before reaching Okinawa. Yamato and five other Japanese warships were sunk.

The battle demonstrated U.S. air supremacy in the Pacific theater by this stage in the war and the vulnerability of surface ships without air cover to aerial attack. The battle also exhibited Japan's willingness to sacrifice entire ships, even the pride of its fleet, in desperate kamikaze attacks aimed at slowing the Allied advance on the Japanese home islands.


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Yamato under attack. A large fire burns aft of her superstructure and she is low in the water from torpedodamage.

Background
By early 1945, following the Solomon Islands campaign, the Battle of the Philippine Sea and the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the once-formidable Imperial Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet was reduced to just a handful of operational warships and a few remaining aircraft and aircrew. Most of the remaining Japanese warships in the Combined Fleet were stationed at ports in Japan, with most of the large ships at Kure, Hiroshima.

As a final step before the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands, Allied forces invaded Okinawa on 1 April 1945. In March, in briefing Emperor Hirohito on Japan's response to the expected Okinawan invasion, Japanese military leaders explained that the Imperial Japanese Army was planning extensive air attacks, including the use of kamikaze. The emperor then reportedly asked, "But what about the Navy? What are they doing to assist in defending Okinawa? Have we no more ships?" Now feeling pressured by the emperor to also mount some kind of attack, Japan's Navy commanders conceived a kamikaze-type mission for their remaining operational large ships, which included the battleship Yamato.

The resulting plan—drafted under the direction of the Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet, Admiral Toyoda Soemu—called for Yamato and her escorts to attack the U.S. fleet supporting the U.S. troops landing on the west of the island. Yamato and her escorts were to fight their way to Okinawa and then beach themselves between Higashi and Yomitan and fight as shore batteries until they were destroyed. Once the ships were destroyed, their surviving crewmembers were supposed to abandon ship and fight U.S. forces on land. Very little, if any, air cover could be provided for the ships, which would render them almost helpless to concentrated attacks from US carrier-based aircraft. In preparation for executing the plan, the assigned ships left Kure for Tokuyama, Yamaguchi, off Mitajiri, Japan, on 29 March. However, despite obeying orders to prepare for the mission, Vice-Admiral Seiichi Itō—commander of the Ten-Go force—still refused to actually order his ships to carry it out, believing the plan to be futile and wasteful.

Other commanders of the Imperial Japanese Navy also had very negative feelings about the operation, believing that it was a waste of human life and fuel. Captain Atsushi Ōi—who commanded escort fleets—was critical as fuel and resources were diverted from his operation. As he was told that the aim of this operation was "the tradition and the glory of Navy," he shouted:

This war is of our nation and why should the honor of our "surface fleet" be more respected? Who cares about their glory? Damn fools!
("Surface fleet" refers to capital ships, especially battleships that "should have won the war".)
Vice Admiral Ryūnosuke Kusaka flew from Tokyo on 5 April to Tokuyama in a final attempt to convince the assembled commanders of the Combined Fleet—including Admiral Itō—to accept the plan. Upon first hearing of the proposed operation (it had been kept secret from most of them), the Combined Fleet commanders and captains unanimously joined Admiral Itō in rejecting it for the same reasons that he had expressed. Admiral Kusaka then explained that the Navy's attack would help divert U.S. aircraft away from the Army's planned kamikaze attacks on the U.S. fleet at Okinawa. He also explained that Japan's national leadership, including the emperor, were expecting the Navy to make their best effort to support the defense of Okinawa.

Upon hearing this, the Combined Fleet commanders relented and accepted the proposed plan. The ships' crews were briefed on the nature of the mission and given the opportunity to stay behind if desired — none did. However, approximately 80 crew members who were new, sick, or infirm, were ordered off the ships, including sixty-seven naval cadets of Etajima Naval Academy Class No. 74 who had arrived on the battleship three days earlier. The ships' crews now engaged in some last-minute intense drills to prepare for the mission, mostly practicing damage-control procedures. At midnight, the ships were fueled. Reportedly, in secret defiance of orders to provide the ships with only just enough fuel to reach Okinawa, the Tokuyama personnel actually gave Yamato and the other ships almost all of the remaining fuel in the port, although this probably still was not enough to allow the force to return to Japan from Okinawa. In a ceremonial farewell, officers and enlisted men drank sake together.

Prelude

Routes of the Japanese force (black line) and U.S. carrier aircraft (red dash) to the battle area.

At 16:00 on 6 April, Yamato, with Admiral Itō on board, the light cruiser Yahagi and eight destroyers departed Tokuyama to begin the mission. Two American submarines—Threadfin and Hackleback—sighted the Japanese force as it proceeded south through Bungo Suidō. Although they were unable to attack (due to the ships' speed), they did spend several hours shadowing the Japanese sortie and sending updates of its course to the U.S. fleet. The submarines' messages, which were reportedly sent uncoded, were also picked up by radio operators on the Japanese ships.

At dawn on 7 April, the Japanese force passed the Ōsumi Peninsula into the open ocean heading south from Kyūshū toward Okinawa. They shifted into a defensive formation, with Yahagi leading Yamato and the eight destroyers deployed in a ring around the two larger ships, with each ship 1,500 m (1,600 yd) from each other and proceeding at 20 kn (23 mph; 37 km/h). One of the Japanese destroyers—Asashimo—developed engine trouble and turned back. U.S. reconnaissance aircraft began to shadow the main force of ships. At 10:00, the Japanese force turned west to make it look like they were withdrawing, but at 11:30, after being detected by two American PBM Mariner flying boats, the Yamato fired a salvo with her 460 mm (18.1 in) bow guns using special "beehive shells" (三式焼霰弾, san-shiki shōsan dan) but could not prevent the two planes from shadowing the Japanese force, they turned back towards Okinawa.

Upon receiving contact reports early on 7 April, U.S. 5th Fleet commander Admiral Raymond Spruance ordered Task Force 54, which consisted mostly of modernized Standard-type battleships under the command of Rear Admiral Morton Deyo (which were engaged in shore bombardment), to intercept and destroy the Japanese sortie. Deyo moved to execute his orders, but Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher, who commanded Task Force 58 (TF 58), preempted Spruance and Deyo by launching a massive air strike from his carriers, without informing Spruance until after the launches were completed. As a senior naval aviation officer, "Mitscher had spent a career fighting the battleship admirals who had steered the navy’s thinking for most of the current century. One of those was his immediate superior, Raymond Spruance. Mitscher felt a stirring of battleship versus aircraft carrier rivalry. Though the carriers had mostly fought the great battles of the Pacific, whether air power alone could prevail over a surface force had not been proven beyond all doubt. Here was an opportunity to end the debate forever".

Around 10:00 on 7 April, Task Groups 58.1 and 58.3 (TG 58.1 and 58.3) began launching almost 400 aircraft in several waves from eight carriers (TG 58.1: Hornet, Bennington, Belleau Wood, San Jacinto; TG 58.3 Essex, Bunker Hill, Hancock and Bataan) that were located just east of Okinawa. The aircraft consisted of F6F Hellcat and F4U Corsair fighters, SB2C Helldiver dive bombers, and TBF Avenger torpedo bombers. After being informed of Mitscher's launches, Spruance agreed that the airstrikes could go ahead as planned. As a contingency, Spruance ordered Admiral Deyo to assemble a force of six battleships (Massachusetts, Indiana, New Jersey, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Missouri), together with seven cruisers (including the large cruisers Alaska and Guam) and 21 destroyers, and to prepare for a surface engagement with Yamato should the airstrikes prove unsuccessful.

Battle

Yamato2.jpg
U.S. aircraft, such as this Curtiss SB2C-3 Helldiver, begin their attacks on Yamato (center left). A Japanese destroyer is in the center right of the picture.

Around 12:00, the first American aircraft arrived over Yamato; these were F6F Hellcat and F4U Corsair fighters, which were under orders to deal with any Japanese aircraft that might appear to defend the ships below. None did.

Since it soon became obvious that the Japanese force had no air cover, the U.S. aircraft were able to set up for their attacks without fear of opposition from Japanese aircraft. U.S. bomber and torpedo aircraft arriving over the Yamato group—after their two-hour flight from Okinawa—were thus able to circle the Japanese ship formation just out of anti-aircraft range in order to methodically set up their attacks on the warships below. The first wave of U.S. carrier planes were spotted by a Japanese lookout on the bridge at 12:32. Two minutes later, Yamato opened fire with her 460 mm main batteries. The Japanese ships stopped zigzagging and increased speed to 24 kn (28 mph; 44 km/h), beginning evasive maneuvers, and opened fire with their anti-aircraft guns. Yamato carried almost 150 anti-aircraft guns, including her massive 460 mm guns.

The American F6F Hellcat fighters "were supposed to go first, strafing, rocketing, dropping light ordnance, distracting the enemy gunners while the SB2C Helldivers plunged almost straight down with their heavy bombs". This was because the TBM Avenger torpedo bombers "needed all the distraction and diversion they could get when they made their dangerous low altitude runs straight at the enemy ships". The Avengers mainly attacked from the port side so that if the torpedoes hit that side, it would increase the likelihood of the target ship capsizing.

Yahagi_02.jpg
The light cruiser Yahagi under intense bomb and torpedo attack.

At 12:46, a torpedo hit Yahagi directly in her engine room, killing the entire engineering room crew and bringing her to a complete stop. Yahagi was hit by at least six more torpedoes and 12 bombs by succeeding waves of air attacks. The Japanese destroyer Isokaze attempted to come to Yahagi's aid but was attacked and heavily damaged, and sank sometime later. Yahagi capsized and sank at 14:05.

During the first attack wave, despite evasive maneuvers that caused most of the bombs and torpedoes aimed at her to miss, Yamato was hit by two armor-piercing bombs and one torpedo. Her speed was not affected, but one of the bombs started a fire aft of the superstructure that was not extinguished. Also, during the first attack wave, Japanese destroyers Hamakaze and Suzutsuki were heavily damaged and taken out of the battle. Hamakaze sank later.

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Yamato listing to port and on fire

Between 13:20 and 14:15, the second and third waves of U.S. aircraft attacked, concentrating on Yamato. During this time, Yamato was hit by at least eight torpedoes and up to 15 bombs. The bombs did extensive damage to the topside of the ship, including knocking out power to the gun directors and forcing the anti-aircraft guns to be individually and manually aimed and fired, greatly reducing their effectiveness. The torpedo hits—almost all on the port side—caused Yamato to list enough that capsizing was now an imminent danger. The water damage-control station had been destroyed by a bomb hit making it impossible to counter-flood the specially designed spaces within the ship's hull to counteract hull damage. At 13:33, in a desperate attempt to keep the ship from capsizing, Yamato's damage control team counter-flooded both starboard engine and boiler rooms. This mitigated the danger but also drowned the several hundred crewmen manning those stations, who were given no notice that their compartments were about to fill with water. The loss of the starboard engines—plus the weight of the water—caused Yamato to slow to about 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h). At that same moment, the Americans launched another 110 aircraft from Task Group 58. Twenty Avengers made a new torpedo run from 60 degrees to port. Yamato started a sharp turn to port but three torpedoes ripped into her port side amidships, jamming her auxiliary rudder in position hard port.

With Yamato proceeding more slowly and therefore easier to target, U.S. torpedo aircraft concentrated on hitting her rudder and stern with torpedoes in order to affect her steering ability, which they succeeded in doing. At 14:02, after being informed that the ship could no longer steer and was unavoidably sinking, Admiral Itō ordered the mission canceled, the crew to abandon ship, and for the remaining ships to begin rescuing survivors. Yamato communicated this message to the other surviving ships by signal flag because her radios had been destroyed.

Yamato4.jpg
The only known photo of the Yamato exploding. The ship capsized after numerous bomb and torpedo hits.

At 14:05, Yamato was stopped dead in the water and began to capsize. Admiral Itō and Captain Aruga refused to abandon her with the rest of the survivors. At 14:20, Yamato capsized completely and began to sink (30°22′N 128°04′E). At 14:23, she suddenly blew up with an explosion so large that it was reportedly heard and seen 200 km (110 nmi; 120 mi) away in Kagoshima and sent up a mushroom-shaped cloud almost 20,000 ft (6,100 m) into the air. Japanese survivor Yoshida Mitsuru said that her large explosion downed several U.S. planes observing her end. The explosion is believed to have occurred when the fires ignited by bomb hits reached the main magazines.

Attempting to make it back to port, Japanese destroyer Asashimo was bombed and sunk with all hands by U.S. aircraft. The Japanese destroyer Kasumi was also crippled by U.S. carrier aircraft attack during the battle and had to be scuttled by other, relatively undamaged Japanese destroyers. Suzutsuki—despite her bow being blown off—was able to make it to Sasebo, Japan, by steaming in reverse the entire way.

The remaining three less-damaged Japanese destroyers (Fuyutsuki, Yukikaze, and Hatsushimo) were able to rescue 280 survivors from Yamato (sources differ on the size of Yamato's crew, giving it as between 2,750 and 3,300 men), plus 555 survivors from Yahagi (out of a crew of 1,000) and just over 800 survivors from Isokaze, Hamakaze, and Kasumi. Between 3,700 and 4,250 Japanese naval personnel perished in the battle. The ships took the survivors to Sasebo.

Yamato_battleship_explosion.jpg
Yamato moments after exploding.

A total of 10 U.S. aircraft were shot down by anti-aircraft fire from the Japanese ships; some of the aircrews were rescued by seaplane or submarine. In total, the U.S. lost 12 men. Some of the Japanese survivors reported that U.S. fighter aircraft strafed Japanese survivors floating in the water. Japanese survivors also reported that U.S. aircraft temporarily halted their attacks on the Japanese destroyers during the time that the destroyers were busy picking up survivors from the water.

Aerial kamikaze attacks
During the battle, the Japanese Army conducted an air attack on the U.S. naval fleet at Okinawa as promised, but they failed to sink any ships. Around 115 aircraft—many of them kamikaze—attacked the U.S. ships throughout the day of 7 April. Kamikaze aircraft hit the aircraft carrier Hancock, battleship Maryland, and destroyer Bennett, causing moderate damage to Hancock and Maryland and heavy damage to Bennett. About 100 of the Japanese aircraft were lost in the attack.

Aftermath
Ten-Go was the last major Japanese naval operation of the war, and the remaining Japanese warships had little involvement in combat operations for the rest of the conflict. Suzutsukiwas never repaired. Fuyutsuki was repaired but hit a U.S. air-dropped mine at Moji, Japan, on 20 August 1945, and was not subsequently repaired. Yukikaze survived the war almost undamaged. Hatsushimo hit a U.S. air-dropped mine on 30 July 1945, near Maizuru, Japan, and was the 129th, and last, Japanese destroyer sunk in the war.



 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
7 April 1945 - Yamato, the largest battleship ever built, was sunk by torpedo planes from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet and others.
280 of Yamato's 2,778 crew were rescued.
This was the greatest loss of life in a single warship in World War II.



Yamato (大和) was the lead ship of her class of battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) shortly before World War II. She and her sister ship, Musashi, were the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleships ever constructed, displacing 72,800 tonnes at full load and armed with nine 46 cm (18.1 in) Type 94 main guns, which were the largest guns ever mounted on a warship.

Named after the ancient Japanese Yamato Province, Yamato was designed to counter the numerically superior battleship fleet of the United States, Japan's main rival in the Pacific. She was laid down in 1937 and formally commissioned a week after the Pearl Harbor attack in late 1941. Throughout 1942, she served as the flagship of the Combined Fleet, and in June 1942 Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto directed the fleet from her bridge during the Battle of Midway, a disastrous defeat for Japan. Musashi took over as the Combined Fleet flagship in early 1943, and Yamato spent the rest of the year, and much of 1944, moving between the major Japanese naval bases of Truk and Kure in response to American threats. Although present at the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June 1944, she played no part in the battle.

The only time Yamato fired her main guns at enemy surface targets was in October 1944, when she was sent to engage American forces invading the Philippines during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. On the verge of success, the Japanese force turned back, believing they were engaging an entire US carrier fleet rather than a light escort carrier group that was all which stood between the battleship and vulnerable troop transports.

During 1944, the balance of naval power in the Pacific decisively turned against Japan, and by early 1945, its fleet was much depleted and badly hobbled by critical fuel shortages in the home islands. In a desperate attempt to slow the Allied advance, Yamato was dispatched on a one-way mission to Okinawa in April 1945, with orders to beach herself and fight until destroyed protecting the island. The task force was spotted south of Kyushu by US submarines and aircraft, and on 7 April 1945 she was sunk by American carrier-based bombers and torpedo bombers with the loss of most of her crew.

Yamato_Trial_1941.jpg
Yamato running machinery trials off Bungo Strait (outside Sukumo Bay) on 20 October 1941

Design and construction
Main article: Yamato-class battleship
During the 1930s the Japanese government adopted an ultranationalist militancy with a view to greatly expand the Japanese Empire. Japan withdrew from the League of Nations in 1934, renouncing its treaty obligations.[2] After withdrawing from the Washington Naval Treaty, which limited the size and power of capital ships, the Imperial Japanese Navy began their design of the new Yamato class of heavy battleships. Their planners recognized Japan would be unable to compete with the output of U.S. naval shipyards should war break out, so the 70,000 ton[3] vessels of the Yamato class were designed to be capable of engaging multiple enemy battleships at the same time.

Yamato1945.png
Line drawing of Yamato as she appeared in 1944–1945 (specific configuration from 7 April 1945)

The keel of Yamato, the lead ship of the class, was laid down at the Kure Naval Arsenal, Hiroshima, on 4 November 1937, in a dockyard that had to be adapted to accommodate her enormous hull. The dock was deepened by one meter, and gantry cranes capable of lifting up to 350 tonnes were installed. Extreme secrecy was maintained throughout construction, a canopy even being erected over part of the drydock to screen the ship from view. Yamato was launched on 8 August 1940, with Captain (later Vice-Admiral) Miyazato Shutoku in command. A great effort was made in Japan to ensure that the ships were built in extreme secrecy to prevent American intelligence officials from learning of their existence and specifications.

Armament

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Yamato near the end of her fitting out, 20 September 1941

Yamato's main battery consisted of nine 46 cm (18.1 in) 45 Caliber Type 94 naval guns—the largest caliber of naval artillery ever fitted to a warship, although the shells were not as heavy as those fired by the British 18-inch naval guns of World War I. Each gun was 21.13 metres (69.3 ft) long, weighed 147.3 metric tons (162.4 short tons), and was capable of firing high-explosive or armor-piercing shells 42 kilometres (26 mi). Her secondary battery comprised twelve 155-millimetre (6.1 in) guns mounted in four triple turrets (one forward, one aft, two midships), and twelve 127-millimetre (5.0 in) guns in six twin mounts (three on each side amidships). These turrets had been taken off the Mogami-class cruisers when those vessels were converted to a main armament of 20.3-centimetre (8.0 in) guns. In addition, Yamato carried twenty-four 25-millimetre (0.98 in) anti-aircraft guns, primarily mounted amidships. When refitted in 1944 and 1945 for naval engagements in the South Pacific, the secondary battery configuration was changed to six 155 mm guns and twenty-four 127 mm guns, and the number of 25 mm anti-aircraft guns was increased to 162.

Yamato_during_Trial_Service.jpg
Yamato during sea trials, October 1941.

Japanese_battleship_Yamato_under_air_attack_off_Kure_on_19_March_1945_(80-G-309662).jpg
Yamato under attack off Kure on 19 March 1945


Sinking The WW2 Greatest Supership Yamato | Greatest Naval Disaster | Military Documentary


Yamato: The Last Battle


 
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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
7 April 1945 - the cruiser Yahagi was badly damaged, capzised and sank after being attacked by aircraft from US Task Force 58.
Of her crew of 736 aboard, 445 were killed.



Yahagi (矢矧) was an Agano-class cruiser which served with the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II.

1920px-Japanese_cruiser_Yahagi.jpg
Yahagi off of Sasebo, Nagasaki in December 1943

Background
Yahagi was the third of four vessels completed in the Agano class of light cruisers, which were intended to replace increasingly obsolete light cruisers in the Imperial Japanese Navy. Funding was authorized in the 4th Naval Armaments Supplement Programme of 1939, although construction was delayed due to lack of capacity in Japanese shipyards. Like other vessels of her class, Yahagi was intended for use as the flagship of a destroyer flotilla.

Design
The design for the Agano class was based on technologies developed by the experimental cruiser Yūbari, resulting in a graceful and uncluttered deck line and single smokestack.

Yahagi was armed with six 152 mm Type 41 guns in three gun turrets.[3] Secondary armament included four 8cm/60 Type 98 naval guns designed specifically for the class, in two twin turrets amidships. Anti-aircraft weapons included two triple 25 mm AA guns in front of the bridge, and two twin 13 mm mounts near the mast. Yahagi also had two quadruple torpedo launchers for Type 93 torpedoes located below the flight deck, with eight reserve torpedoes. The torpedo tubes were mounted on the centerline, as was more common with destroyers, and had a rapid reload system with eight spare torpedoes. Being mounted on the centerline allowed the twin launchers to fire to either port or starboard, meaning that a full eight-torpedo broadside could be fired, whereas a ship with separate port and starboard launchers can only fire half of its torpedoes at a time. Two depth charge rails and 18 depth charges were also installed aft. Yahagi was also equipped with two Aichi E13A aircraft and had a flight deck with a 26-foot catapult.

The engines were a quadruple-shaft geared turbine arrangement with six boilers in five boiler rooms, developing 100,000 shp (75,000 kW) for a maximum speed of 35 knots (65 km/h).

Service career
Early career
Built at Sasebo Naval Arsenal, Yahagi was laid down on 11 November 1941, launched on 25 October 1942 and completed on 29 December 1943. On completion, she was assigned as flagship of Destroyer Squadron 10 of the IJN 3rd Fleet. In February 1944 she was dispatched to Singapore for training and for patrols of the Lingga Islands.

In May, Yahagi departed Singapore for Tawi Tawi with the aircraft carriers Taihō, Zuikaku and Shōkaku and cruisers Myōkō and Haguro as part of Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa's "First Carrier Striking Force" to oppose the American Fifth Fleet in a "decisive battle" off Saipan. Yahagi was command ship for DesDiv 10's Asagumo, DesDiv 17's Urakaze, Isokaze and Tanikaze, DesDiv 61's Wakatsuki, Hatsuzuki, Akizuki and Shimotsuki, screening the aircraft carriers.

Battles in the Philippines
The Battle of the Philippine Sea began on 19 June 1944. The "First Carrier Striking Force" attacked USN Task Force 58, but suffered overwhelming aircraft losses in what was latter nicknamed the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot". Yahagi escaped the battle unharmed, and together with Urakaze rescued 570 crewmen from the carrier Shōkaku after it was torpedoed by USS Cavalla (SS-244).

After dry dock and refitting at Kure Naval Arsenal from late June to early July 1944, Yahagi was fitted with two additional triple-mount Type 96 25 mm AT/AA Gun mounts amidships (bringing its total to 48 barrels) and a Type 13 air-search and a Type 22 surface-search radar set. On 8 July 1944, Yahagi departed Kure with troops, and numerous battleships, cruisers and destroyers and returned to Singapore via Manila.

On 22 October 1944, Yahagi was in the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Second Section of Force "A" of Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita's First Mobile Striking Force: (Center Force), commanding DesRon 10's DesDiv 2's Kiyoshimo, DesDiv 4's Nowaki and DesDiv 17's Urakaze, Yukikaze, Hamakaze and Isokaze. She was accompanied by battleships Kongō and Haruna and cruisers Tone, Chikuma, Kumano and Suzuya. During the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea on 24 October 1944, the fleet endured 11 raids by over 250 Task Force 38 carrier aircraft from the USS Enterprise, Essex, Intrepid, Franklin, Lexington and Cabot. Although the battleship Musashi was sunk and Yamato and Nagato were hit, Yahagi was unscathed.

Likewise in the Battle off Samar on 25 October 1944, Yahagi fought her way through the battle without damage. On 26 October 1944, Force A was attacked by 80 carrier aircraft off Panay, followed by 30 USAAF B-24 Liberator heavy bombers and an additional 60 carrier-based aircraft. Throughout these attacks Yahagi was not hit and returned to Brunei safely.

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Yahagi sinking

End of the Imperial Japanese Navy
On 16 November 1944, DesRon 10 was deactivated and Yahagi was assigned as the flagship of Rear Admiral Keizō Komura's new DesRon 2. Yahagi was ordered back to Japan on the same day for refit, returning safely to Sasebo on 24 November. She remained in Japanese home waters until March 1945.

On 6 April 1945, Yahagi received orders for "Operation Ten-Go", to attack the American invasion force off Okinawa. Yahagi was ordered to accompany Yamato on its final suicide mission against the American fleet. The operation also included the destroyers Isokaze, Hamakaze, Yukikaze, Kasumi, Hatsushimo, Asashimo, Fuyutsuki and Suzutsuki.

At 1220 on 7 April 1945 the Yamato force was attacked by waves of 386 aircraft (180 fighters, 75 bombers, 131 torpedo planes) from Task Force 58.

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Light cruiser Yahagi under intense bomb and torpedo attack

At 12:46, during the first wave, a torpedo hit Yahagi directly in her engine room, killing the entire engineering room crew and bringing her to a complete stop. Dead in the water, Yahagi was hit by at least six more torpedoes and 12 bombs by succeeding waves of air attacks. Isokazeattempted to come to Yahagi's aid but was attacked, heavily damaged, and sank sometime later. Yahagi capsized towards her starboard side, and sank at 14:05 at 30°47′N 128°08′ECoordinates:
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30°47′N 128°08′E taking 445 crewmen with her. Rear Admiral Komura and Captain Tameichi Hara were among the survivors rescued by Hatsushimo and Yukikaze. Her survivors could see Yamato in the distance, still steaming south as U.S. aircraft continued their attacks. However, in reality, Yamato was only minutes away from sinking. Yahagi was removed from the navy list on 20 June 1945.



 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
7 April 1989 - K-278 Komsomolets - the Soviet Mike-class nuclear submarine sank in the Barents Sea with the loss of 42 of her 67 crew following an onboard fire.


K-278 Komsomolets was the only Project 685 Plavnik (Плавник, meaning "fin", also known by its NATO reporting name of "Mike"-class) nuclear-powered attack submarine of the Soviet Navy. On 4 August 1984 K-278 reached a record submergence depth of 1,020 metres (3,350 feet) in the Norwegian Sea. The boat sank in 1989 and is currently resting on the floor of the Barents Sea, one mile deep, with its nuclear reactor and two nuclear warheads still on board. The single Project 685 was developed to test technologies for Soviet 4th generation nuclear submarines. Although primarily intended as a developmental model, it was fully combat capable, but sank after a fire broke out in the aft engineering compartment on its first operational patrol.

The Komsomolets was able to surface after the fire started and remained afloat for approximately 5 hours before sinking. Of the 42 crewmembers who died, only 4 were killed by the fire and smoke, while 34 died of hypothermia and drowning in the frigid waters while awaiting rescue that did not arrive in time. Because of this shocking loss of life a very public enquiry was conducted and, as a result, many formerly classified details were revealed by the Soviet news media.

1280px-DN-SN-87-07042-Mike_class_submarine-1_Jan_1986.JPEG

Design
The Project 685 was designed by the Rubin Design Bureau in response to a challenge to develop an advanced submarine that could carry a mix of torpedoes and cruise missiles with conventional or nuclear warheads. The order to design the submarine was issued in 1966 and design was completed in 1974. The first (and only) keel was laid down on 22 April 1978 at Severodvinsk. K-278was launched on 3 June 1983 and commissioned on 28 December 1983.

K-278 had a double hull, the inner one being composed of titanium, which gave her an operating depth far greater than that of the best American submarines. The pressure hull was composed of seven compartments with the second and third protected by stronger forward and aft bulkheads creating a "safety zone" in case of an emergency. An escape capsule was fitted in the sailabove these compartments to enable the crew to abandon ship in the event of an underwater emergency. Initial Western intelligence estimates of K-278’s speed were based on the assumption that it was powered by a pair of liquid-metal lead-bismuthreactors. When the Soviet Union revealed that the submarine used a single OK-650b-3 conventional pressurized-water reactor, these speed estimates were lowered.

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K-278 Komsomolets profile

Crew
According to Norman Polmar and Kenneth J. Moore – two Western experts on Soviet submarine design and operations – the Project 685's advanced design included many automated systems which, in turn, allowed for fewer crew members than would be expected for a submarine of its size. The manning table approved by the Soviet Ministry of Defense in 1982 called for a crew of just 57 men. This was later increased to 64: 30 officers, 22 warrant officers, and 12 petty officers and seamen.[3]

Submarine K-278 gets a name
In October 1988, K-278 was honored by becoming one of the few Soviet submarines to be given an actual name: Komsomolets(Комсомолец, meaning "a member of the Komsomol"), and her commanding officer, Captain 1st Rank Yuriy Zelenskiy was honored for diving to a depth of 1,020 meters (3,350 feet).

Sinking
On 7 April 1989, while under the command of Captain 1st Rank Evgeny Vanin and running submerged at a depth of 335 metres (1,099 ft) about 180 kilometres (100 nmi) southwest of Bear Island (Norway), fire broke out in the engine room due to a short-circuit, and even though watertight doors were shut, the resulting fire spread through bulkhead cable penetrations. The reactor scrammed and propulsion was lost. Electrical problems spread as cables burned through, and control of the boat was threatened. An emergency ballast tank blow was performed and the submarine surfaced eleven minutes after the fire began. Distress calls were made, and most of the crew abandoned ship.

The fire continued to burn, fed by the compressed air system. At 15:15, several hours after the boat surfaced, it sank in 1,680 metres (5,510 ft) of water,[citation needed] about 250 kilometres (135 nmi) SSW off Bear Island. The commanding officer and four others who were still on board entered the escape capsule and ejected it. Only one of the five to reach the surface was able to leave the capsule and survive before it sank again in the rough seas.

Rescue aircraft arrived quickly and dropped small rafts, but many men had already died from hypothermia in the 2 °C (36 °F) water of the Barents Sea. The floating fish factory B-64/10 Aleksey Khlobystov (Алексей Хлобыстов) arrived 81 minutes after K-278 sank, and took aboard 25 survivors and 5 fatalities. In total, 42 of the 69 crewmen died in the accident, including the commanding officer.

Aftermath
In addition to her eight standard torpedoes K-278 was carrying two torpedoes armed with nuclear warheads. Under pressure from Norway, the Soviet Union used deep sea submersibles operated from the oceanographic research ship Akademik Mstislav Keldysh to search for K-278. In June 1989, two months after the sinking, the wreck was located. Soviet officials stated that any possible leaks were insignificant and pose no threat to the environment.

Examination of the wreck in May 1992 revealed cracks along the entire length of the titanium hull, some of which were of 30–40 centimetres (12–16 inches) wide, as well as possible breaches in the reactor coolant pipes. An oceanographic survey of the area in August 1993 did suggest that waters at the site were not mixing vertically, and thus the sea life in the area was not being rapidly contaminated. That survey also revealed a hole over six metres (20 feet) wide in the forward torpedo compartment.

An expedition in mid-1994 revealed some plutonium leakage from one of the two nuclear torpedoes. On 24 June 1995, Keldysh set out again from St. Petersburg to the Mike datum to seal the hull fractures in Compartment 1 and cover the nuclear warheads, and declared success at the end of subsequent expedition in July 1996. The Russian government has declared the risk of radioactive contamination of the environment negligible until 2015 or 2025.

Norwegian authorities from the Marine Environmental Agency and Radiation Agency took several samples in August 2008 and no radiation was found. They checked for different radioactive substances including gamma emitters, plutonium, americium and strontium.

In 1993, Vice Admiral (ret.) Chernov, commander of the submarine group of which the Komsomolets was part, founded the Komsomolets Nuclear Submarine Memorial Society, a charity to support the widows and orphans of his former command. Since then, the Society's charter has expanded to provide assistance to the families of all Soviet and Russian submariners lost at sea. Also, 7 April has become a day of commemoration for all submariners lost at sea.




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_submarine_K-278_Komsomolets
 
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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
7 April 1990 – A fire breaks out on the passenger ferry Scandinavian Star, killing 159 people.


MS Scandinavian Star
, originally named MS Massalia, was a car and passenger ferry built in France in 1971. The ship was set on fire in April 1990, killing 159 people, and the official investigation blamed the fires on a convicted arsonist, who died in the fire. This finding has since been disputed.

History
M/S Massalia was built by Dubigeon-Normandie S.A. in 1971 and delivered to Compagnie de Paquebots who put her on the route MarseilleMálagaCasablanca and also cruises in the Mediterranean Sea.

In 1984 she was owned by a number of companies and named Stena Baltica, Island Fiesta and finally Scandinavian Star, a name given to her by Scandinavian World Cruises who chartered the ship for cruises between St. Petersburg, Florida and Tampa, Floridato Cozumel, Mexico.

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Scandinavian Star after the disaster

Fire
In 1990, the Scandinavian Star was sold to Vognmandsruten and put into service on DA-NO Linjen's route between Oslo, Norway, and Frederikshavn, Denmark. As the ship had been converted from a casino ship to a passenger ferry, a new crew needed to be trained and were given just ten days to learn new responsibilities. Master mariner Captain Emma Tiller, interviewed for the National Geographic Channel's documentary series Seconds from Disaster, stated that six to eight weeks would be a reasonable period to train a crew for a ship of the Star's size.

The documentary went on to explain that many of the crew could not speak English, Norwegian or Danish, thus further reducing the effectiveness of the response to the emergency. The insurance company Skuld's technical leader, Erik Stein, had inspected the ship shortly before, and had declared the fire preparedness deficient, for among other reasons because of defective fire doors.

During the night of 7 April 1990, at about 2 a.m. local time, fire broke out and was discovered by a passenger and was brought to the attention of the receptionist. The fire spread from deck 3 to 4 stopping at deck 5. As the stairwell and ceilings acted as chimneys for the fire to spread. Although the bulkheads were made of steel structure with asbestos wall boards, a melamine resinlaminate was used as a decorative covering and proved extremely flammable in subsequent testing, spreading fire throughout Deck 3. The burning laminates produced toxic hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide gases. The fire then spread to Deck 4 and Deck 5.

When the captain learned of the fire, he attempted to close the bulkhead fire doors on Deck 3. The fire doors were not configured for fully automatic closing and did not respond since emergency alarms near the doors had not been manually triggered by passengers or crew. A vehicle storage area ventilated by large fans to remove exhaust fumes was also located nearby, and the fans pulled air through an improperly secured fire door and caused rapid fire progress from Deck 3 through Deck 4 and Deck 5 via stairways located on either end.

The captain later ordered his crew to turn off the ventilation system when he realized it was feeding the fire, and an unintended result was that smoke was able to enter passenger cabins via the door vents. Some tried to seek refuge from the smoke in areas such as closets and bathrooms or remain asleep in bed, but were eventually overcome by smoke. Those who tried to escape may have variously encountered thick smoke, confusing corridor layouts, and poorly trained crew members. The captain ordered the general alarms to be activated, told everyone to abandon ship, and sent out a mayday request. The captain and crew ultimately abandoned ship before all passengers were evacuated, leaving many still on board the burning ship even after it was towed to the harbor.

Investigators proposed several reasons for why many passengers did not safely evacuate:

  1. Many people probably did not hear the alarms due to distance between their cabins and the alarms, and due to ordinary mechanical noise of the ship systems.
  2. Some people probably could not find their way out because of thick smoke obscuring the exit routes and signage.
  3. Burning melamine panels in the hallways produced poisonous hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide, causing rapid unconsciousness and death.
  4. Numerous Portuguese crew members did not speak or understand Norwegian, Danish or English, were unfamiliar with the ship, and had never practiced a fire drill. Only a few crew members even thought to put on breathing masks before entering smoke filled corridors.
  5. On Deck 5, where most passenger deaths occurred, the hallways were arranged in a layout that contained dead-ends and did not otherwise logically lead to emergency exits.
The ship was towed to Lysekil, Sweden, where the fire department suppressed the fire in ten hours. 158 people, or approximately one-third of all passengers on board, died on the ship. Another victim died two weeks later from his injuries. 136 of those killed were Norwegian.

The Scandinavian Star had had other fires prior to 1990. On 15 March 1988, while sailing for SeaEscape on a Caribbean cruise, a fire started in the engine room when the ship was about 50 nautical miles (90 km) northeast of Cancún, Mexico. The ship was carrying 439 passengers and 268 crew members. The ship lost power and the emergency oxygen system malfunctioned, hampering the fire-fighting crew's efforts. The inability of the crew members to communicate effectively with each other and with passengers was a serious concern and created confusion during the fire fighting and evacuation activities.

During the investigation of the fire, investigators learned that unreported fires had also occurred in 1985, caused by a deep-fryer, and again just days before the 15 March 1988 fire, caused by a broken lubricating pipe.

Investigation
An Oslo police investigation initially cast suspicion on Erik Mørk Andersen, a Danish truck driver who died in the disaster and who had three previous convictions for arson.[6] A later investigation in 2009 determined that there were several separate fires and that multiple people would have been needed to start them, especially if they were not familiar with the layout of the ship. A 2013 report prepared by a self-appointed Norwegian group called "Stiftelsen Etterforskning Av Mordbrannen Scandinavian Star" ("Foundation for Arson Investigation Scandinavian Star") denied that Anderson was responsible, claiming instead that multiple fires were deliberately set and the truck driver was killed by one of the first two fires (up to nine hours prior to the last fire being started).

The same 2013 report claimed that as many as nine experienced members of the crew, having joined the ship earlier in Tampa, were likely to be responsible for six separate fires on the Scandinavian Star as well as multiple acts of sabotage to both the ship and the fire crew's efforts to put out the fire. The report proposed the motive for the crime was insurance fraud, as the ship was insured for twice its value shortly before the fire broke out. The report claims that multiple people with insider knowledge of the ship were required for events to unfold as they did.

This controversial and unproven report led to renewed police interest; and in 2014 the investigation was officially reopened and charges dropped against the deceased suspect Erik Mørk Andersen.

In March 2015 the Parliament of Norway decided to remove the statute of limitations for arson, such that criminal investigation and prosecution remains possible.

In February 2016, the retired Danish investigator Flemming Thue Jensen, who had led the post-fire investigation in 1990, claimed that the fire was sabotage and was set by members of the ship's crew; that fire doors had been propped open to allow the fire to spread; and that a third flare-up that occurred after the ship had been evacuated of passengers was caused by crew members soaking mattresses with diesel fuel.

Changes to the International Code for Fire Safety Systems
The incident raised a number of issues relating to fire protection and evacuation on passenger ships. The International Code for Fire Safety Systems of the International Maritime Organization's International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea was comprehensively amended after the disaster, in 1992.

Salvage and later service
The burnt ship was towed to Copenhagen, Denmark on 18 April 1990, arriving two days later and remaining there for several months. On 11 August 1990 she was towed to the United Kingdom, first arriving at Hull before moving on to Southampton on 10 September, where the vessel was renamed Candi by simply painting over part of the original name.

In February 1994 she was sold at auction to International Shipping Partners. She was renamed Regal Voyager and sent to Italy for rebuilding, then later chartered to Comarit Ferries and put on the route between Tangier and Port Vendres.

In 1997 she was registered to St. Thomas Cruises and put on a route between Port Isabel, Texas and Puerto Cortés, Honduras for Isabel Cortes Ferry Service. Chartered to Ferries del Caribe in 1999, she was put on the route Santo DomingoSan Juan, Puerto Rico. The ship was laid up in Charleston, South Carolina in 2003, then sold to Indian shipbreakers in 2004 and renamed as Regal V. She arrived at Alang, Gujarat, India, on 14 May 2004, and the work to get her broken up started five days later.

Memorial

MS Scandinavian Star memorial

On 7 April 2006, a memorial was inaugurated in Oslo, near the Akershus Fortress. It features a mother with her child and a large commemorative plaque with the names of all the victims of the fire.



 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 7 April


1800 HMS Leviathan (74), Cptn. Carpenter, and HMS Emerald (36), Cptn. M. Waller, captured Spanish frigates Carmen (34), Dom Fraquin Porcel, and Florentina (34), Dom Manuel Norates. 11 merchantmen were also taken.

HMS Leviathan
was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the British Royal Navy, launched on 9 October 1790.[1] At the Battle of Trafalgar under Henry William Bayntun, she was near the front of the windward column led by Admiral Lord Nelson aboard his flagship, HMS Victory, and captured the Spanish ship San Augustin. A flag said to have been flown by the Leviathan at Trafalgar is to be sold at auction by Arthur Cory in March 2016 - Bayntun is thought to have given it to his friend the Duke of Clarence (later William IV), who then gave it to Arthur Cory's direct ancestor Nicholas Cory, a senior officer on William's royal yacht HMS Royal Sovereign, in thanks for helping the yacht win a race and a bet.[2][3]
Leviathan, Pompee, Anson, Melpomene, and Childers shared in the proceeds of the capture on 10 September 1797 of the Tordenskiold.[4]

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Attack on convoy of eighteen French merchant ships at Laigrelia, 1812

On 27 June 1812, Leviathan, HMS Imperieuse (1793), HMS Curacoa (1809) and HMS Eclair (1807); four British ships attacked an 18-strong French convoy at Laigueglia and Alassio in Liguria, northern Italy.

Fate
In 1816, after the end of the Napoleonic Wars, she was converted into a prison ship and in 1848 was sold and broken up.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Leviathan_(1790)


1810 HMS Sylvia cutter (12), Lt. Augustus Vere Drury, captured piratical proa in Straits of Sundra.

HMS Sylvia
was an Adonis-class schooner of the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic War. She was built at Bermuda using Bermudan cedar and completed in 1806. She took part in one notable single-ship action in the East Indies in 1810. The Navy sold her in 1816 and she then became a merchantman. She was wrecked in 1823 on a voyage to West Africa.

j0452.jpg
Scale: 1:48. Plan hsowing the inboard profile, upper deck, and lower deck with platforms for the Adonis Class consisting of Adonis (1806); Alban (1806); Alphea (1806); Bacchus (1806); Barbara (1806); Cassandra (1806); Claudia (1806), Laura (1806); Olympia (1806); Sylvia (1806); Vesta (1806); Zenobia (1806), all 10-gun Cutters (or single-masted Sloops) to be built at Bermuda, similar to the Lady Hamond. The plan has modifications relating to how the magazines on Cutters were fitted at Plymouth in 1806. Copies were sent to Mr Shedden on 1 May 1804, and again on 6 September 1804 for these vessels



1811 – Launch of french Ariane was a 40-gun frigate of the French Navy, lead ship of her class.

The Ariane was a 40-gun frigate of the French Navy, lead ship of her class.
Ariane was commissioned on 9 January 1812 under Captain Jean-Baptiste-Henri Féretier, as part of a two-frigate squadron tasked with commerce raiding in the Atlantic, that also comprised Andromaque and the brig Mameluck.

Returning to Lorient, the squadron met the 74-gun HMS Northumberland. In the ensuing Action of 22 may 1812, the two frigates ran aground trying to escape their much stronger opponent, and were set afire to prevent their capture.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Ariane_(1811)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallas-class_frigate_(1808)


1814 – Launch of USS Jefferson was a brig in the United States Navy during the War of 1812.

USS Jefferson
was a brig in the United States Navy during the War of 1812. She was named for Thomas Jefferson.

Jefferson was built at Sackett's Harbor, New York, for service in Commodore Isaac Chauncey's fleet on Lake Ontario and launched 7 April 1814. She was manned by a crew from sloop of war Erie which had been laid up at Baltimore because of the Britishblockade of Chesapeake Bay. Comdr. Charles G. Ridgeley was her captain.

Most of the guns for the new American ships had not reached Sackett's Harbor by 19 May when the British fleet arrived off the American base and began a strict blockade. Jefferson finally sailed with Chauncey's fleet on 31 July and arrived off Niagara on 5 August. With Sylph and Oneida she blockaded several English vessels inside the river while Chauncey with the rest of the fleet sailed on to Kingston to challenge the main English squadron. After remaining on blockade duty off Niagara for over a month, Jefferson sailed for Kingston to rejoin Chauncey. During the passage, on 12 September, a severe storm arose, which before abating three days later, almost swamped the brig. Ten of her guns were thrown overboard in the struggle to save the ship.

Jefferson rejoined her fleet on 17 September and operated with it during the remainder of the navigation season attempting to draw Sir James Yeo's ships into a decisive contest. Toward the end of November she was laid up for the winter.

Peace obviated Jefferson's planned return to commission in the spring. She apparently remained in ordinary until sold on 30 April 1825.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Jefferson_(1814)


1943 – Launch of Taihō (大鳳) (meaning Great Phoenix), was an aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.

Taihō (大鳳) (meaning Great Phoenix), was an aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. Possessing heavy belt armor and featuring an armored flight deck (a first for any Japanese aircraft carrier), she represented a major departure in Japanese aircraft carrier design and was expected to not only survive multiple bomb, torpedo, or shell hits, but also continue fighting effectively afterwards.

Japanese_aircraft_carrier_Taiho_02.jpg

Built by Kawasaki at Kobe, she was laid down on 10 July 1941, launched almost two years later on 7 April 1943 and finally commissioned on 7 March 1944. She sank on 19 June 1944 during the Battle of the Philippine Sea after suffering a single torpedohit from an American submarine, due to explosions resulting from design flaws and poor damage control.



1944 - USS Saufley (DD 465) sinks the Japanese submarine I 2, west-northwest of New Hanover, while USS Champlin (DD 601) is damaged after intentionally ramming German submarine U-856 380 miles off Nova Scotia, Canada. Champlin then teams with USS Huse (DE 145) to sink U-856.


1944 - USS Gustafson (DE 182) sinks the German submarine U 857 off Cape Cod, Mass.


1945 - First two Navy flight nurses land on an active battlefield at Iwo Jima.


1945 - Asashimo – On 7 April 1945, while escorting the Japanese battleship Yamato, the destroyer Asashimo was sunk by Allied aircraft. She was sunk with all 326 hands 150 nautical miles (280 km) southwest of Nagasaki after falling astern of Yamato's task force with engine trouble.


1920px-Asashimo.jpg



1945 - Isuzu – On 7 April 1945, 60 miles (97 km) northwest of Bima, the Japanese cruiser Isuzu after being torpedoed by USS Gabilan and USS Charr. Her captain and 450 crew were rescued; 190 were killed.

Isuzu (五十鈴) was the second of six vessels in the Nagara class of light cruisers, and like other vessels of her class, she was intended for use as the flagship of a destroyer flotilla. She was named after the Isuzu River, near Ise Shrine in the Chūbu region of Japan. She saw action during World War II in the Battle of Hong Kong and in the Solomon Islands campaign, and the Battle of Leyte Gulf before being sunk by American submarines in the Netherlands East Indies in April 1945.

1280px-Japanese_cruiser_Isuzu_1944.jpg

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


1945 - Kasumi (霞, "Haze") was the ninth of ten Asashio-class destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy sunk



1945 - USS Emmons – On 6 April 1945 the US destroyer was attacked, heavily damaged and set ablaze, by kamikaze aircraft. With 60 dead and 77 wounded the remaining crew was ordered to abandon ship. Next day, 7 April, the hulk was sunk to prevent her falling into enemy hands.

 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
8 April 1681 - HMS Nonsuch (42) and HMS Adventure (34), Cptn. William Booth, capture Algerine warship Golden Horse (46).


HMS Nonsuch
was a 36-gun fifth rate of the Royal Navy. She was an experimental fast-sailing design, built by the renowned shipwright Anthony Deane according to proposals by the Dutch naval officer Laurens van Heemskirk, who became her first captain. She was launched in December 1668, and commissioned the same day under van Heemskirk. In 1669 she was reclassed as a 42-gun Fourth rate, being commanded from 9 April by Captain Sir John Holmes. She was to spend most of her career in the Mediterranean. She was for a time based on Tangier, and was commanded by a succession of accomplished commanders who subsequently rose to flag rank in the Navy, including George Rooke from 1677 to 1680, then briefly under Cloudesley Shovell, and then Francis Wheler from 1680 to 1681. Under Wheler's command, she participated on 9 April 1681 in the capture of the Algerine 46-gun Golden Horse, along with the Fourth rate Adventure.

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She reverted to a 36-gun fifth rate in 1691, and was recommissioned under Captain Richard Short, for service off New England. Command passed in January 1693 to Captain Thomas Dobbin, then in November 1693 to Captain Thomas Taylor. She was captured off the Scilly Isles on 4 January 1695 by the French 48-gun privateer Le François; renamed Le Sans Pareil, she subsequently served in the French Navy until 1697.

py3931.jpg
An English fourth-rate seen from before the port beam with, on the broadside, nine guns on the gun deck, ten on the upper deck (square decorated ports) and three in wreathed ports on the quarterdeck. There are eight sweep ports between the guns on the gun deck. This is a pen and brown ink drawing with a wash over the preliminary work in pencil. It has been signed by the Younger, ‘W.V.VJ’. The ship may be one of the 42-gun fourth-rates which in 1677 were armed with twenty guns on the gun deck, eighteen on the upper deck and four on the quarterdeck. They were the ‘Assurance’ (1646) ‘Constant Warwick’ (1646, rebuilt 1666) ‘Falcon’ and ‘Sweepstakes’ (1666), ‘Nonsuch’ (1668) and ‘Phoenix’ (1671). Other drawings and the small number of gun-deck ports led Robinson to suggest the ‘Assurance’ as most probable, but she was sold in 1698 and he considered it unlikely she would have been drawn as late as 1701, which the style here suggests. By the style and paper he related this drawing to PAH5024, which shows the ‘Seahorse’ of 1694 and could be more certainly dated to about 1701. Both are very accurate drawings in pen and brown ink and the early features here, such as the square decorated ports, might be accounted for if it is this drawing is based on an offset from an earlier example. Robinson, however, fails to say whether the ‘Assurance’ of 1646 was rebuilt in 1675, the date he ascribes to the ship as shown


Adventure was a 34-gun fourth-rate frigate of the English Royal Navy, built by Peter Pett II at Woolwich and launched in 1646. The term 'frigate' during the period of this ship referred to a method of construction, rather than a role which did not develop until the following century.

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Used on Bulstrode Whitelocke's embassy to Sweden 1653-1654.

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The ‘Adventure’ seen from before the starboard beam, apparently with square decorated ports. On the broadside she carries eleven guns on the gun deck and upper deck and two on the quarterdeck. Inscribed ‘d adventer’ and signed in Indian ink ‘W.V.V.J.’

By 1677 her armament had been increased to 40 guns. Adventure was rebuilt as a 44-gun fourth rate at Chatham Dockyard in 1691. She was captured by the French off Martinique, in the West Indies on 1 March 1709

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Nonsuch_(1668)
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections.html#!csearch;searchTerm=Nonsuch_(1668
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections.html#!csearch;searchTerm=Adventure_(1646
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
8 April 1697 – Death of Niels Juel, Norwegian-Danish admiral (b. 1629)


Niels Juel
(8 May 1629 – 8 April 1697) was a Danish-Norwegian admiral and a Danish naval hero. He served as supreme command of the Royal Danish Navy during the late 17th century and oversaw development of the Danish Navy

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Background
Niels Juel was born the son of Erik Juel and Sophie Sehested, both of whom were descended from Danish nobility,[3][4] who lived in Jutland where the father had a career as a local functionary and judge. He was the brother of the diplomat Jens Juel (1631–1700). Niels Juel was born in Christiania, Norway, where his family sought refuge during the 1627 invasion of Jutland during the Thirty Years' War, while his father took part in the defense of the country at home. The following year after the occupation had ended, the family was reunited in Jutland. From 1635 to 1642, Juel was brought up by his aunt Karen Sehested (1606–1672) at the Stenalt estate near Randers.

In 1647 Juel was enrolled at the Sorø Academy.

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Niels Juel statue at Holmen Canal in Copenhagen

Career
In 1652 Juel entered Dutch naval service. He served his naval apprenticeship under Danish Admiral Maarten Tromp (1598–1653) and Dutch Admiral Michiel de Ruyter (1607–1676), taking part in all the chief engagements of the First Anglo-Dutch War (1652–54) between England and the Netherlands. From 1654–56, he attended Admiral Michiel de Ruyter on two trips to the Mediterranean during engagements against North African pirates. During an indisposition at Amsterdam in 1655–1656 he acquired a thorough knowledge of shipbuilding. In 1656 he returned to Copenhagen and entered Danish service as a naval officer, and in 1657 he was appointed admiral. He served with distinction during the Dano-Swedish War (1658–60) and took a prominent part in the defence of Copenhagen against the forces of King Charles X of Sweden.

During fifteen years of peace, Juel, as admiral of the fleet, labored assiduously to develop and improve the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy, though he bitterly resented the setting over his head in 1663 of Vice-Admiral Cort Adeler (1622–1675), on his return from service to the Republic of Venice during the Turkish wars. In 1675, at the outbreak of the Scanian War, he served at first under Adeler, but on the death of the latter in November 1675 he was appointed to the supreme command.

Juel then won a European reputation, and raised Danish sea-power to unprecedented eminence, by the system of naval tactics, perfected by Dutch admiral Michiel de Ruyter during the Third Anglo-Dutch War and afterwards by British Admiral Horatio Nelson (1758–1805), which consists in cutting off a part of the enemy's force and concentrating the whole attack on it. He first employed this maneuver at the Battle of Jasmund off Rügen (25 May 1676) when he broke through the enemy's line in close column and cut off five of their ships, which, however, nightfall prevented him from pursuing. Juel's operations were considerably hampered at this period by the conduct of his auxiliary, Dutch Lieutenant Admiral Philips van Almonde (1644–1711), who accused the Danish admiral of cowardice. A few days after the battle of Jasmund, Dutch Admiral Cornelis Tromp (1629–1691) with 17 fresh Danish and Dutch ships of the line, superseded Juel in the supreme command. Juel took a leading part in Cornelis Tromp's great victory off Battle of Öland (1 June 1676), which enabled the Danes to invade Scania unopposed.

On 1 June 1677, Juel defeated the Swedish admiral Erik Carlsson Sjöblad (1647–1725) during the Battle of Møn. On 30 June 1677 he won his greatest victory, in the Battle of Køge Bay southwest of Copenhagen. With 25 ships of the line and 1267 guns, he routed the Swedish admiral Henrik Horn (1618–1693) with 36 ships of the line and 1800 guns. For this great triumph, the reward of superior seamanship and strategy at an early stage of the engagement, Juel's experienced eye told him that the wind in the course of the day would shift from S.W. to W. and he took extraordinary risks accordingly; he was made lieutenant admiral general and a privy councillor. This victory, besides permanently crippling the Swedish navy, gave the Danes the self-confidence to become less dependent on their Dutch allies.

In the following year Cornelis Tromp was discharged by King Christian V, who gave the supreme command to Juel. In the spring of 1678 Juel put to sea with 84 ships carrying 2,400 cannon, but as the Swedes were no longer strong enough to encounter such a formidable armament on the open sea, his operations were limited to blockading the Swedish ports and transporting troops to Rügen. After the Treaty of Lund in 1679, Juel showed himself an administrator and reformer of the first order, and under his energetic supervision the Danish navy ultimately reached imposing dimensions, especially after Juel became chief of the admiralty in 1683.

Personal life
Juel was married to Margrethe Ulfeldt (1641–1703) in 1661. She was the daughter of nobleman Knud Ulfeldt (1609–1657) and Vibeke Podebusk (1608–1645). She was betrothed to him after her father died when she was 20, he was 30 years old. She gave birth to their four children between 1664 and 1672.

In 1674 Juel was awarded a Danish knighthood. In 1678, he was granted title to Valdemar's Castle (Danish: Valdemars Slot) on the island of Tåsinge. He died during 1697 at 68 years of age. He and his wife were buried in the Niels Juel chapel at the Church of Holmen in Copenhagen.


 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
8 April 1740 - The Action of 8 April 1740
British squadron of HMS Lennox (70), Cptn. Colvill Mayne, HMS Kent (70), Cptn. Durell, and HMS Orford (70), Cptn. Lord Augustus FitzRoy, captured Spanish Princesa (64), Don Parlo Augustino de Gera, off Cape Finisterre



The Action of 8 April 1740 was a battle between the Spanish third rate Princesa (nominally rated at 70 guns, but carrying 64) under the command of Don Parlo Augustino de Gera, and a squadron consisting of three British 70-gun third rates; HMS Kent, HMS Lenox and HMS Orford, under the command of Captain Colvill Mayne of Lenox. The Spanish ship was chased down and captured by the three British ships, after which she was acquired for service by the Royal Navy.

PrincesaVs3britsÁngelCortelliniSánchez(1858-1912)museonavaldemadrid.jpg
The 70-gun Spanish ship of the line Princesa in battle with HMS Lenox, Kent and Oxford, 8 April 1740 Museo Naval de Madrid

Background
On 25 March 1740 news reached the Admiralty that two Spanish ships had sailed from Buenos Aires, and were bound for Spain. Word was sent to Portsmouth and a squadron of three ships, consisting of the 70-gun ships HMS Kent, HMS Lenox and HMS Orford, under the command of Captain Colvill Mayne of Lenox, were prepared to intercept them. The ships, part of Sir John Balchen's fleet were briefly joined by HMS Rippon and HMS St Albans, and the squadron sailed from Portsmouth at 3am on 29 March, passing down the English Channel. Rippon and St Albans fell astern on 5 April, and though Mayne shortened sail, they did not come up. On 8 April Mayne's squadron was patrolling some 300 miles south-west of The Lizard when a ship was sighted to the north.

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Battle
The British came up and found her to be the Princesa, carrying 64 guns and a crew of 650 under the command of Don Parlo Augustino de Gera. They began to chase her at 10am, upon which she lowered the French colours she had been flying and hoisted Spanish ones. Mayne addressed his men saying 'When you received the pay of your country, you engaged yourselves to stand all dangers in her cause. Now is the trial; fight like men for you have no hope but in your courage.' After a two and half hour chase the British were able to come alongside and exchange broadsides, which eventually left the Spanish ship disabled. The British then raked her until she struck her colours. The Spanish ship had casualties of 33 killed and around 100 wounded, while eight men were killed aboard Kent, another eight aboard Orford, and another one aboard Lenox. Total British wounded amounted to 40, and included Captain Durell of Kent, who had one of his hands shot away.

According to the Spanish version of the facts, the ship Princesa was previously damaged before the battle. The Princesa started a hard battle against the three English ships chasing her. The combat lasted 6 hours. The Princesa seriously damaged one of the English ships (HMS Lenox) and put another one (HMS Kent) on the run, but could not face the battle against the third enemy ship (HMS Oxford) and had to surrender. On board of the Princesa there were 70 dead and 80 injured, and the ship was taken to Portsmouth, where she was repaired and used by the Royal Navy.

pw4577.jpg
The action from an engraving of a work by Peter Monamy
Text in English below image: 'The taking of the Princessa [sic] a Spanish Man of War, April 8, 1740, by his Majesties Ships the Lenox, Kent and Oxford. / N.B. The Princessa had 68 guns mounted, but was capable of mounting 86. Her breadth by the beam is 50 feet 4 inches which is four Inches broader than our first Rates: 152 foot by the Keel, which is two foot longer / than our first Rates: 166 foot 3 inches on the Gun Deck, & draws 26 foot Water abaft and 23 1/2 before which is a great deal more than our first Rates draw. She had 600 Men on board of whom 200 were killed. Her / Commander was an Old experience Officer & bravely fought the Ship for 6 hours.


Aftermath
Princesa was brought into Portsmouth on 8 May 1740. An Admiralty order of 21 April 1741 authorised her purchase, and this was duly done on 14 July 1741 for the sum of £5,418.11.6¾d. After a great repair she was fitted at Portsmouth between July 1741 and March 1742, for a total sum of £36,007.2.10d. Her spirited resistance to three ships of equal rating attracted much comment. A contemporary description noted that she was larger than any British first rate and carried unusually large guns, many of them brass. She was described as the finest ship in the Spanish Navy, with her high build allowing her to open her lower gunports in conditions that meant that her opponents could not. She was renamed HMS Princess and served in the Royal Navy until she was finally sold for breaking up on 30 December 1784 at Portsmouth.



HMS Princess was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She had briefly sailed as Princesa for the Spanish Navy, until her capture off Cape Finisterre in 1740 during the War of the Austrian Succession.

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After being chased down and captured by three British ships, she was acquired for service by the Royal Navy. Her design and fighting qualities excited considerable interest, and sparked a series of increases in the dimensions of British warships. She went on to serve under a number of commanders in several theatres of the War of the Austrian Succession, including the Mediterranean, where she was at the Battle of Toulon, and in the Caribbean and off the North American coast. She was then laid up and being assessed, was not reactivated for service during the Seven Years' War. She was instead reduced to a hulk at Portsmouth, in which capacity she lasted out both the Seven Years' War and the American War of Independence, being sold for breaking up in 1784, shortly after the end of the latter conflict, after a career in British service lasting 44 years.

Spanish career and capture
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Princesa was built between 1730 and 1731, being nominally rated at 70 guns, but carrying 64.[1] On 25 March 1740 news reached the Admiralty that two Spanish ships had sailed from Buenos Aires, and were bound for Spain. Word was sent to Portsmouth and a squadron of three ships, consisting of the 70-gun ships HMS Kent, HMS Lenox and HMS Orford, under the command of Captain Colvill Mayne of Lenox, were prepared to intercept them. The ships, part of Sir John Balchen's fleet were briefly joined by HMS Rippon and HMS St Albans, and the squadron sailed from Portsmouth at 3 am on 29 March, passing down the English Channel. Rippon and St Albans fell astern on 5 April, and though Mayne shortened sail, they did not come up. On 8 April Mayne's squadron was patrolling some 300 miles south-west of The Lizard when a ship was sighted to the north.

The British came up and found her to be Princesa, carrying 64 guns and a crew of 650 under the command of Don Parlo Augustino de Gera. They began to chase her at 10 am, upon which she lowered the French colours she had been flying and hoisted Spanish ones. Mayne addressed his men saying 'When you received the pay of your country, you engaged yourselves to stand all dangers in her cause. Now is the trial; fight like men for you have no hope but in your courage.' After a chase lasting two and a half hours, the British were able to come alongside and exchange broadsides, which eventually left the Spanish ship disabled. The British then raked her until she struck her colours. The Spanish ship had casualties of 33 killed and around 100 wounded, while eight men were killed aboard both Kent and Orford, and another one aboard Lenox. Total British wounded amounted to 40, and included Captain Durell of Kent, who had one of his hands shot away. The commander of Orford during the engagement had been Lord Augustus FitzRoy.

According to the Spanish version of the facts, the ship Princesa was seriously damaged before the combat. The Spanish ship Princesa begun a hard battle against the three English ships chasing her. The combat lasted six hours. Princesa caused serious damages to Lenox and obliged Kent to leave the battle, but could not face the encounter against Orford and surrendered. There were 70 killed and 80 wounded on board Princesa, which was taken to Portsmouth for reparation. Afterward, she was used by the Royal Navy.

British service
Princesa was brought into Portsmouth on 8 May 1740. An Admiralty order of 21 April 1741 authorised her purchase, and this was duly done on 14 July 1741 for the sum of £5,418.11.6¾d. After a great repair she was fitted at Portsmouth between July 1741 and March 1742, for a total sum of £36,007.2.10d. Her spirited resistance to three ships of equal rating attracted much comment. A contemporary description noted that she was larger than any British first rate and carried unusually large guns, many of them brass. She was described as the finest ship in the Spanish Navy, with her high build allowing her to open her lower gunports in conditions in which her opponents could not. The Admiralty finally had the ammunition to rouse Parliament from its complacency and fund a series of increases in British warship dimensions.

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Engraving of the Battle of Toulon

Princess was commissioned under her first commander, Captain Perry Mayne, in July 1741. He was succeeded in 1743 by Captain Robert Pett, who took her out to the Mediterranean in December that year. She was part of Admiral Thomas Mathews' fleet at the Battle of Toulon on 14 February 1744. She came under the temporary command of Commander John Donkley in July 1745, though he was soon replaced by Captain Joseph Lingen, all the while continuing in the Mediterranean. Thomas Philpot took command in 1746, and Princess sailed for the Leeward Islands with Admiral George Townshend. Captain John Cokburne took over in July 1746 and Princess first sailed to Louisbourg and then home after a gale. She became the flagship of Admiral Richard Lestock later in 1746 and was present at the operations off Lorient from 20 to 25 September 1746. In May 1747 Captain the Hon. Augustus Hervey took over command, and sailed to the Mediterranean, where in October 1747 she briefly became the flagship of Vice-Admiral John Byng.

Later years
Princess was paid off in November 1748. She was surveyed the following year, but no repairs were reported. After a period laid up and inactive, she was reported to be unfit for service on 15 November 1755; she was converted to a hulk at Portsmouth between August 1759 and July 1761. She was recommissioned in 1759 under Captain Edward Barber, and continued as a hulk during the Seven Years' War and the American War of Independence. Princess was finally sold at Portsmouth on 30 December 1784.

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Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead outline, and longitudinal half-breadth with deck details for 'Princessa' (1740), a captured Spanish Third Rate. The plan shows modifications done to fit her as a 74-gun Third Rate, two decker

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Scale: 1:48. A block design model of the ‘Princessa’ (1730), a Spanish 70-gun, two-decker, third-rate ship of the line. The model is made to moulded beam. The name ‘Princessa’ is marked on the starboard broadside. The ship was built in Santander in 1730. Its dimensions were 165 feet by 50 feet, and it weighed approximately 1714 tons burden. Its complement was 630 men. It carried twenty-eight 32-pound guns on its gun deck, twenty-eight 18-pounders on its upper deck, ten 9-pounders on its quarterdeck and four 9-pounders on its forecastle. It was a powerful vessel and was highly prized by the Royal Navy when it was taken in 1740, albeit requiring the combined force of three British 70-gunners (including the ‘Kent’ SLR0421) to do so. The ‘Princessa’ was larger and heavier than British 70-gunners of the period, and it was important in the navy’s development of the larger 74-gun third rates that replaced the ‘70s’ from the 1740s. In British service, the ‘Princessa’ was stationed in the Mediterranean from 1743 to 1746 and took part in the Battle of Toulon in February 1744. It then spent two years on the Leewards Islands station, then two at Louisbourg, before returning to the Mediterranean in 1747–48. The ‘Princessa’ was hulked at Portsmouth in 1761, and sold in 1784


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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
8 April 1758 - Launch of HMS Warspite at Deptford And Launch of HMS Lenox at Chatham Dockyard,
both 74-gun Dublin class third rate ship of the line


HMS Warspite was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line (a new class of two-decker that formed the backbone of British fleets) of the Royal Navy, launched on 8 April 1758 at Deptford.

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Her first service in the Seven Years' War against France was as one of Admiral Edward Boscawen's 14 ships in the Mediterranean, and on 19 August 1759 she took part in the Battle of Lagos, where she captured the French Téméraire. Warspite also participated in the Battle of Quiberon Bay under Admiral Sir Edward Hawke.

After the signing of the Treaty of Paris she was paid off on 5 May 1763, reappearing as a hospital ship during the American Revolutionary War (1775–83).

She was employed on harbour service from 1778. She was renamed Arundel in March 1800, and was eventually broken up at Portsmouth Dockyard in November 1801.

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Scale: 1:48. Plans showing the body plan, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth for 'Dublin' (1757), 'Norfolk' (1757), 'Shrewsbury' (1758), 'Warspite' (1758), 'Resolution' (1758), 'Lenox' (1758), and 'Mars' (1759) all 74-gun Third Rate, two-deckers.


HMS Lenox was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 25 February 1758 at Chatham Dockyard.

She was sunk as a breakwater in 1784.

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HMS Resolution (on her starboard side in the foreground)

The Dublin-class ships of the line were a class of seven 74-gun third rates, designed for the Royal Navy by Sir Thomas Slade.

Design
The Dublin-class ships were the first 74-gun ships to be designed for the Royal Navy, and marked the beginning of a more dynamic era of naval design than that in the ultra-conservative Establishment era preceding it.

Slade's draught was approved on 26 August 1755 when the first two orders were transmitted to Deptford Dockyard. The design was some 4½ feet longer than the preceding 70-gun ships of the 1745 Establishment, with the extra length making provision for an additional (14th) pair of 32-pounder guns on the lower deck compared with the 13 pairs of the 70-gun ships. They were nominally ordered as 70-gun ships (although always designed to carry 74), but redesignated as 74-gun during construction.

Ships
Builder: Deptford Dockyard
Ordered: 26 August 1755
Laid down: 18 November 1755
Launched: 6 May 1757
Completed: 1 July 1757
Fate: Broken up, May 1784
Builder: Deptford Dockyard
Ordered: 26 August 1755
Laid down: 18 November 1755
Launched: 28 December 1757
Completed: 23 February 1758
Fate: Broken up, December 1774
Builder: Wells & Company, Deptford
Ordered: 28 October 1755
Laid down: 14 January 1756
Launched: 23 February 1758
Completed: 2 May 1758 at Deptford Dockyard
Fate: Condemned and scuttled at Jamaica 12 June 1783
Builder: Chatham Dockyard
Ordered: 28 October 1755
Laid down: 8 April 1756
Launched: 25 February 1758
Completed: 26 May 1758
Fate: Sunk as breakwater, 1784; later raised and broken up May 1789
Builder: Woolwich Dockyard
Ordered: 28 October 1755
Laid down: 1 May 1756
Launched: 15 March 1759
Completed: 12 April 1759
Fate: Sold to be broken up, August 1784
Builder: Thomas West, Deptford
Ordered: 14 November 1755
Laid down: November 1755
Launched: 8 April 1758
Completed: 27 July 1758 at Deptford Dockyard
Fate: Broken up, November 1801
Builder: Henry Bird, Northam, Southampton
Ordered: 24 November 1755
Laid down: December 1755
Launched: 14 December 1758
Completed: 23 March 1759 at Portsmouth Dockyard
Fate: Wrecked, 20 November 1759 during Battle of Quiberon

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Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the profile (no waterlines) with some inboard detail, and a superimposed longitudinal half-breadth for Sandwich (1759), a 90-gun Second Rate, three-decker, building at Chatham Dockyard. Reverse: Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the sheer lines with some inboard detail, and a superimposed basic longitudinal half-breadth for (possibly) Lenox (1758), a 70-gun (later 74-gun) Third Rate, two-decker, building at Chatham Dockyard.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Lenox_(1758)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Warspite_(1758)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dublin-class_ship_of_the_line
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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
8 April 1777 – Launch of HMS Zebra, the first ship to bear the name in the British Navy. She was a 14 gun ship sloop of the Swan class,


HMS
Zebra
was the first ship to bear the name in the British Navy. She was a 14 gun ship sloop of the Swan class, launched on 8 April 1777. She was abandoned and blown up after going aground on 22 October 1778 at Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey, during the American Revolutionary War after only one year in service.

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Painting by Joseph Marshall (1773–5) of Kingfisher hull model

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Scale: 1:96. A contemporary full hull model of the 'Atalanta' (1775), a 16-gun sixth-rate sloop, built in bread and butter fashion and finished in the Georgian style. Model is partially decked, equipped, rigged and is complete with its original baseboard and display case. The name ‘Atalanta’ is on the stern. Built in the Royal Dockyard, Sheerness, the ‘Atalanta’ measured 97 feet along the upper deck by 27 feet in the beam and a tonnage of 300 (builders old measurement). As one of the larger class of ship-rigged sloops introduced in the 1760s, the ‘Atalanta’ carried 16 guns as well as a number of swivel guns on the quarterdeck. She was captured by the American 36-gun ship ‘Alliance’ in 1781 but was retaken by the British shortly after. She was eventually sold for breaking up in 1802. By comparing the original plans of this ship held in the NMM collection, there is no doubt that this model is an accurate representation of an 18th-century sloop. An Admiralty order issued in 1772 stated that the names were to be painted on the sterns of ships in large letters. The model significantly illustrates this point as can be seen on the stern counter. The unusually small scale of this model would suggest it was made for presentation purposes, possibly a gift to the person performing the naming ceremony. A fair amount of both the standing and running rigging has been replaced

The Swan class were built as a 14-gun class of ship sloops for the Royal Navy, although an extra 2 guns were added soon after completion.

Design
The class was designed by the Surveyor of the Navy, John Williams, and two vessels to this design (Swan and Kingfisher) were ordered in January 1766. Twenty-three more were ordered to the same design between 1773 and 1779; they formed the 'standard' ship sloop design of the British Navy during the American Revolutionary War, during which eleven of them were lost. Surviving vessels went on to serve during the French Revolutionary War and Napoleonic War.

The design provided for 16 gunports (8 per side, excluding the bridle-ports) but one pair was initially left unoccupied, and the ships were always rated at 14 guns. However an eighth pair of guns was added from 1780 onwards to utilise the vacant ports, without any change in the nominal rating.

The Swan class sloops were unusually attractive for the type of vessel. Not only did they have sleek hull lines but they also carried an unusual amount of decoration for their size. They were built just before the Admiralty issued orders that all vessels (especially lesser rates and unrated vessels) should have minimal decoration and carvings to save on costs, due to the seemingly ever-continuing war with France and other nations.

Construction
Following the initial 1766 order for two ships, a second pair was ordered in 1773 (Cygnet and Atalanta) and a further five in 1775 (Pegasus in April, Fly in August, and Swift, Dispatchand Fortune in October); all these were built in the Royal Dockyards. Another five were contracted in November 1775 to be built by commercial shipbuilders (Hound, Hornet, Vulture, Spy and Cormorant), and a further pair during 1776 (Zebra and Cameleon). Another two were ordered from the Royal Dockyards in January 1777 (Fairy and Nymph) and a final seven from commercial constructors over the following 30 months (Savage, Fury, Delight and Thorn during 1777, Bonetta and Shark during 1778, and Alligator in 1779).

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Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth proposed (and approved) for Atalanta (1775), a 14-gun Ship Sloop to be built at Sheerness

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Atalanta (1775) Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, stern board with decoration detail, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for Atalanta (1775), a 14 (later 16) gun Ship Sloop as built at Sheerness Dockyard. Signed by George White [Master Shipwright, Sheerness Dockyard, 1773-1778] ATALANTA 1775


Ships
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Frame (ZAZ4691)



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Zebra_(1777)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swan-class_ship-sloop
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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
8 April 1782 - The Battle of Delaware Bay, or the Battle of Cape May,
was a naval engagement fought between the Kingdom of Great Britain and United States during the American Revolutionary War.
Pennsylvania privateer Hyder Ally captures HMS General Monk


The Battle of Delaware Bay, or the Battle of Cape May, was a naval engagement fought between the Kingdom of Great Britain and United States during the American Revolutionary War. A British squadron of three vessels attacked three American privateers, that were escorting a fleet of merchantmen. The ensuing combat in Delaware Bay, near Cape May, ended with an American victory over a superior British force.

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Background
Twenty-three-year-old Lieutenant Joshua Barney of the Continental Navy commanded the privateer sloop Hyder Ally during the battles. She was owned by Pennsylvania business man, John Willcocks and was issued a letter of marque. The sloop-of-war was armed with sixteen 6-pounders and had a crew of about 110 men, officers and marines, and was named Hyder Ally after Hyder Ali, the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore on the Indian subcontinent and a British enemy. Also with Lieutenant Barney were the privateer sloops Charming Sally, with ten guns, and the twelve-gun General Greene. Barney's first command was to escort a rebel fleet of five merchantmen to the Delaware Bay. During this cruise, three British ships were sighted and a battle began. British forces included the 32-gun frigate HMS Quebec under Captain Christopher Mason, the twenty-four gun sloop-of-war HMS General Monk under Captain Josias Rogers and a New York privateer brig named Fair American crewed by American loyalists. Fair American was the former American privateer General Washington, commanded by Silas Talbot at her capture.

Battle

A map of the Delaware Bay and surroundings

At nightfall on April 7, 1782, the American convoy anchored within Cape May due to the wind which had died down to a calm. Later that night, the British in HMS Quebec and General Monk sighted the enemy fleet and anchored off the cape and made preparations to attack the Hyder Ally, which was considered the most formidable ship of the fleet. Unaware of the British vessels nearby, the Americans spent the night believing they were safe. The following morning three British privateers were spotted and Captain Mason signaled them to join him. Only the Brig Fair American responded. At 10:00 am the Americans sighted the British vessels approaching. Lieutenant Barney ordered the merchantmen to flee up the Delaware Bay under the protection of the General Greene and the Charming Sally while the Hyder Ally remained behind to engage the British.

The fleet was directed to sail as close to the shoreline as possible so as not to allow a pursuit. The larger British vessels would have a hard time following in the shallow water. The General Greene disobeyed Barney's orders and prepared for battle, and the Charming Sally grounded on a shoal and was abandoned by her crew. At about 11:00 am the three British vessels were identified by the Americans. HMS Quebec stood off the nearby Cape Henlopen to prevent the Americans from escaping Cape May into the Atlantic, but this was unnecessary as the Americans were headed into the bay rather than into open sea. The Fair American led the advance with the General Monk behind. Sometime after 12:00 pm the British came within range of the two American privateers. To try to lure the General Monk closer, Lieutenant Barney turned about as if attempting to flee. The Fair American opened fire with a broadside followed by another; the shots were accurate but caused little damage.

Still in a fake retreat, the Hyder Ally's gun ports remained closed and no shots had yet been fired by the Continentals. The General Greene did the same as the Hyder Ally and turned around, but she grounded just outside British gun range. The trick worked; Fair American broke off the effort to attack the General Greene as HMS General Monk proceeded forward to attack the Hyder Ally. Fortunately for Continental forces, the Fair American grounded in shallow water, and was put out of the action permanently because of damage to her hull. Heading forward, Captain Rodgers decided to slow down and launch a boat to take the abandoned Charming Sally, after which he continued on until he caught up with the Hyder Ally. When within range of pistols, Captain Rodgers ordered her to surrender. Barney answered with a broadside of grape, canister and round shot which raked the deck of the British sloop, killing some sailors and marines. General Monk replied with her bow guns which were the only weapons bearing down on the Americans at the time.


Joshua Barney, circa 1800

Barney ordered his ship to port and unleashed another broadside; these shots passed through the sails and rigging of the General Monk and damaged her main and top-gallant masts. Before the battle, the British bored their 6-pounders on the General Monk to fire 9-pound balls. This proved fatal when the British came within a few yards off 'the 'Hyder Ally's beam for a full broadside of their own. When they fired, the General Monk's cannons were torn up from the deck and flipped over. Several sailors burned themselves as they tried to right the cannons. A few minutes later the two sloops had drifted close enough to each other that the British and Americans could hear each other shouting commands. Barney took the opportunity to reload his cannon but he did not give his gunners the order to open fire. Instead the lieutenant shouted "hard a-port, do you want him to run abroad of us," another trick. Hearing this, Captain Rodgers ordered his ship to port as Lieutenant Barney ordered his vessel to starboard.

As a result, the two vessels collided and became entangled in each other's rigging. The American sailors fastened the General Monk to their ship to prevent her from breaking loose and then fired their broadside. The shots knocked out some of the British guns and sent the crew into confusion. The American marines sat high in the rigging of the Hyder Ally and poured musket fire into the British. Barney's men boarded while he remained on top of the compass box to direct the attack. About this time the box was shot out from under the lieutenant but he suffered only a slight injury. Barney also ordered that his port-side guns be turned around to the starboard so they could assist in the battle. After only twenty-six minutes of close-quarters combat, Captain Rodgers was wounded and all of his officers were killed except a midshipman who struck the colors.

A total of twenty Britons died and thirty-three were wounded. The General Monk was captured and the Fair American was aground and stranded so Captain Mason in HMS Quebec fled without actually engaging in the fight. American forces suffered the loss of four killed and eleven wounded. The Charming Molly was captured without a fight, the Hyder Ally was damaged considerably, and the General Greene was grounded but re-floated after HMS Quebec began her retreat.

Aftermath
The Americans won the day and Lieutenant Joshua Barney was given command of the prize HMS General Monk which had well over 300 shot-holes in her sides. Barney sailed both Hyder Ally and Monk to Chester, Pennsylvania where he left Hyder Ally and sailed on to Philadelphia in Monk.[1] He was then ordered to France to deliver dispatches to Benjamin Franklin. After the war ended Barney joined the French Navy. During the War of 1812, Barney was a captain and commanded the Chesapeake Bay Flotillaand later commanded marines and sailors at the Battle of Bladensburg.

Order of battle
Continental Navy:
Royal Navy:


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Delaware_Bay
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
8 April 1789 – Launch of spanish Descubierta and Atrevida, twin corvettes of the Spanish Navy, custom-designed as identical special exploration and scientific research vessels .


The Descubierta and Atrevida were twin corvettes of the Spanish Navy, custom-designed as identical special exploration and scientific research vessels . Both ships were built at the same time for the Malaspina Expedition. Under the command of Alessandro Malaspina (Descubierta) and José de Bustamante y Guerra (Atrevida) the two vessels sailed from Spain to the Pacific Ocean, conducting a thorough examination of the internal politics of the American Spanish Empire and the Philippines. They explored the coast of Alaska and worked to reinforce Spain's claim to the Pacific Northwest in the aftermath of the Nootka Crisis. After crossing the Pacific Ocean, the government in the Philippines examined. Exploration and diplomatic reconnaissance followed, with stops in China, New Zealand, Australia, and Tonga.

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The corvettes Descubierta and Atrevida; drawing by Fernando Brambila.

Under Malaspina's supervision and according to his specifications the Descubierta and Atrevida were constructed at the La Carraca shipyard in Cadiz by the shipbuilder Tómas Muñoz . Both vessels were 33.3 m (109 ft) long with a beam of 8.7 m (29 ft), a depth of hold of 4.3 m (14 ft), and a tonnage of 306 toneladas.[2] The complement of both the Descubierta and the Atrevida was 104. Their armament consisted of fourteen 6-pounder and two 4-pounder cannons.[3] They were launched together on 8 April 1789.

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Model of the Corvette Atrevida, commanded on the Malaspina Expedition by José Bustamante
(Maritime Museum of British Columbia, Victoria, BC, Canada)

Malaspina Expedition
Main article: Malaspina Expedition
Malaspina's expedition was the most important voyage of discovery dispatched by Spain in the 18th century. It had two primary goals, the first being to increase geographic and scientific knowledge in general, the second being to check on the status of Spain's vast empire, especially along the west coast of North America, where the Russians and the British were expanding their influence. Modeled after the voyages of James Cook, the Malaspina expedition was conducted in a highly scientific manner. Numerous scientists from many fields were among the crew. Indigenous peoples, such as the Tlingit and Tongan, were studied by the expedition's ethnographers.

The Descubierta and Atrevida sailed from Cadiz on 30 July 1789, stopping first at Montevideo on the Río de la Plata, then sailing south along the coast of Patagonia and visiting the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas). After rounding Cape Horn the expedition stopped at several Chilean ports and surveyed the Juan Fernández Islands. The two corvettes sailed north separately, surveying and mapping the coast between Peru and Mexico, where they arrived at the end of March 1790.

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In Mexico Malaspina received instructions from the Spanish king, Carlos IV requiring a change of plans. Instead of sailing to the Hawaiian Islands and the Kamchatka Peninsula, Malaspina was to sail to Alaska and survey the coast between Mount Saint Elias and Nootka Sound, on Vancouver Island, in order to prove or disprove the existence of a Northwest Passage supposedly located in that area. Accordingly, the two corvettes sailed from Acapulco on 1 May 1791, and arrived at Yakutat Bay by the end of June. Staying at Yakutat Bay for about a month, the scientists made detailed ethnographic studies of the local Tlingit people. Surveys along the coast of Alaska revealed no hint of the fabled Northwest Passage. On July 27 Malaspina and Bustamante headed south to Nootka Sound, arriving there on 12 August 1791. They remained at Nootka Sound for about a month. Detailed surveys were made of the area, while the ethnographers studied the Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka) people.

Leaving Nootka Sound, Malaspina and Bustamante sailed the Descubierta and Atrevida south to Monterey, Alta California. There Malaspina learned from Juan Carrasco that an inland sea had been discovered near Nootka Sound. It was the Strait of Georgia. Malaspina knew that an exploration voyage had to be dispatched immediately. He gave two of his officers, Dionisio Alcalá Galiano and Cayetano Valdés y Flores, command of two newly constructed goletas (schooners or brigs), and instructed them to thoroughly explore the new discovery. Malaspina himself supervised the final construction and fitting out of the two goletas, called the Sutil and the Mexicana.

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The Malaspina expedition crossed the Pacific Ocean, from Acapulco to Manila in the Philippines, by way of the Mariana Islands. Coastal surveys were done and a side-trip to Macao was made. Then the two corvettes sailed southwest, landing at Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides, then continuing on to southern New Zealand. After a visit to Dusky Sound, previously explored by Cook, the Spaniards explored Doubtful Sound, which no European had visited before.

From New Zealand the expedition sailed west to Port Jackson, Australia (today part of Sydney). They arrived in March 1793, about five years after the British first colonized Australia. The Malaspina expedition stayed for about a month. Relations with the British colonists were warm and friendly. The Spanish conducted scientific experiments, including astronomical and hydrographic observations, and the collection of many specimens of flora, fauna, and minerals. They also observed the British settlement, taking special note of any potential threat to Spanish interests in the Pacific. Malaspina was concerned that the increasing British presence in the Pacific might jeopardize Spanish trade between the Americas and the Philippines, which the Manila galleons had carried out for over two centuries with virtually no outside interference.

The Spanish corvettes left Port Jackson on 11 April 1793 and sailed northeast to Tonga, then known as the Friendly Islands. Cook had visited the southern Tongan islands in 1773. Malaspina opted to visit the northern archipelago now known as Vavaʻu. After the stay in Tonga the expedition sailed to Peru, then back around Cape Horn and on to Spain, arriving in Cadiz on 21 September 1793 after a voyage of over four years.

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This map shows the route of Malaspina's ship Descubierta with the return to Spain from Tonga omitted. The route of Bustamante's Atrevida was mostly the same, but deviated in some places.

Aftermath
In Spain Malaspina's involvement in a conspiracy to overthrow the government culminated in Malaspina's arrest, imprisonment, and eventually banishment. Most of the material collected by the expedition was put away and didn't see the light again until late in the 20th century.




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