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

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
9 April 1940 - The Battle of Drøbak Sound took place in Drøbak Sound, the northernmost part of the outer Oslofjord in southern Norway.

German cruiser Blücher was sunk by Norwegian shore defences, killing 830 of 2,202 troops and crew aboard.
Part II - The Blücher


Blücher was the second of five Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruisers of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine (War Navy), built after the rise of the Nazi Party and the repudiation of the Treaty of Versailles. Named for Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, the Prussian victor of the Battle of Waterloo, the ship was laid down in August 1936 and launched in June 1937. She was completed in September 1939, shortly after the outbreak of World War II. After completing a series of sea trials and training exercises, the ship was pronounced ready for service with the fleet on 5 April 1940. She was armed with a main battery of eight 20.3 cm (8.0 in) guns and, although nominally under the 10,000-long-ton (10,000 t) limit set by the Anglo-German Naval Agreement, actually displaced over 16,000 long tons (16,000 t).

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Immediately upon entering service, Blücher was assigned to the task force that supported the invasion of Norway in April 1940. Blücher served as the flagship of Konteradmiral (Rear Admiral) Oskar Kummetz, the commander of Group 5. The ship led the flotilla of warships into the Oslofjord on the night of 8 April, to seize Oslo, the capital of Norway. Two old 28 cm (11 in) coastal guns in the Oscarsborg Fortress engaged the ship at very close range, scoring two hits, as did several smaller guns in other batteries. Two torpedoes fired by land-based torpedo batteries struck the ship, causing serious damage. A major fire broke out aboard Blücher, which could not be contained. The fire spread to one of her anti-aircraft gun magazines, causing a large explosion, and then spread further to the ship's fuel bunkers. Blücher then capsized and sank with major loss of life.

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The wreck lies at the bottom of Oslofjord, and in 2016 was designated as a war memorial to protect it from looters. Several artifacts have been raised from the wreck, including one of her Arado 196 floatplanes, which was recovered during an operation to pump out leaking fuel oil from the ship in 1994.


Design
Main article: Admiral Hipper-class cruiser

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Recognition drawing of an Admiral Hipper-class cruiser

The Admiral Hipper class of heavy cruisers was ordered in the context of German naval rearmament after the Nazi Party came to power in 1933 and repudiated the disarmament clauses of the Treaty of Versailles. In 1935, Germany signed the Anglo–German Naval Agreement with Great Britain, which provided a legal basis for German naval rearmament; the treaty specified that Germany would be able to build five 10,000-long-ton (10,000 t) "treaty cruisers". The Admiral Hippers were nominally within the 10,000-ton limit, though they significantly exceeded the figure.

As launched, Blücher was 202.80 meters (665.4 ft) long overall, had a beam of 21.30 m (69.9 ft) and a maximum draft of 7.74 m (25.4 ft). The ship had a design displacement of 16,170 t (15,910 long tons; 17,820 short tons) and a full load displacement of 18,200 long tons (18,500 t). Blücher was powered by three sets of Blohm & Voss geared steam turbines that drove three propellers. The turbines were supplied with steam by twelve ultra-high pressure oil-fired boilers. The ship's top speed was 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph) at 132,000 shaft horsepower (98,000 kW). As designed, her standard complement consisted of 42 officers and 1,340 enlisted men.

Blücher's primary armament was eight 20.3 cm (8.0 in) SK L/60 guns mounted in four twin gun turrets, placed in superfiring pairs forward and aft. Her anti-aircraft battery consisted of twelve 10.5 cm (4.1 in) L/65 guns, twelve 3.7 cm (1.5 in) guns, and eight 2 cm (0.79 in) guns. She had four triple 53.3 cm (21.0 in) torpedo launchers, all on the main deck next to the four range finders for the anti-aircraft guns.

Blücher's armored belt was 70 to 80 mm (2.8 to 3.1 in) thick; her upper deck was 12 to 30 mm (0.47 to 1.18 in) thick while the main armored deck was 20 to 50 mm (0.79 to 1.97 in) thick. The main battery turrets had 105 mm (4.1 in) thick faces and 70 mm thick sides. The ship was equipped with three Arado Ar 196 seaplanes and one catapult. Blucher never had more than two seaplanes on board, and en route to Oslo one had to rest on the catapult as one of the hangars was used for storing bombs and torpedoes.

Service history
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Blücher launching at Kiel, 8 June 1937

Blücher was ordered by the Kriegsmarine from the Deutsche Werke shipyard in Kiel. Her keel was laid on 15 August 1936, under construction number 246. The ship was launched on 8 June 1937, and was completed slightly over two years later, on 20 September 1939, the day she was commissioned into the German fleet. The commanding admiral of the Marinestation der Ostsee (Baltic Naval Station), Admiral Conrad Albrecht, gave the christening speech. Mrs. Erdmann, widow of Fregattenkapitän (Frigate Captain) Alexander Erdmann, former commander of SMS Blücher who had died in the ship's sinking, performed the christening. As built, the ship had a straight stem, though after her launch this was replaced with a clipper bow increasing the overall length to 205.90 meters (675.5 ft). A raked funnel cap was also installed.

Blücher spent most of November 1939 fitting out and finishing additional improvements. By the end of the month, the ship was ready for sea trials; she steamed to Gotenhafen in the Baltic Sea. The trials lasted until mid-December, after which the ship returned to Kiel for final modifications. In January 1940, she resumed her exercises in the Baltic, but by the middle of the month, severe ice forced the ship to remain in port. On 5 April, she was deemed to be ready for action, and was therefore assigned to the forces participating in the invasion of Norway.

Operation Weserübung
Main article: Operation Weserübung

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Blücher en route to Norway, as seen from the light cruiser Emden

On 5 April 1940, Konteradmiral (Rear Admiral) Oskar Kummetz came aboard the ship while she was in Swinemünde. An 800-strong detachment of ground troops from the 163rd Infantry Division also boarded. Three days later, on 8 April, Blücher left port, bound for Norway; she was the flagship for the force that was to seize Oslo, the Norwegian capital, Group 5 of the invasion force, She was accompanied by the heavy cruiser Lützow, the light cruiser Emden, and several smaller escorts. The British submarine Triton spotted the convoy steaming through the Kattegat and Skagerrak, and fired a spread of torpedoes; the Germans evaded the torpedoes, however, and proceeded with the mission.

Night had fallen by the time the German flotilla reached the approaches to the Oslofjord. Shortly after 23:00 (Norwegian time), the Norwegian patrol boat Pol III spotted the flotilla. The German torpedo boat Albatros attacked Pol IIIand set her on fire, but not before the Norwegian patrol boat raised the alarm with a radio report of being attacked by unknown warships. At 23:30 (Norwegian time) the south battery on Rauøy spotted the flotilla in the searchlight and fired two warning shots. Five minutes later, the guns at the Rauøy battery fired four rounds at the approaching Germans, but visibility was poor and no hits were scored. The guns at Bolærne fired only one warning shot at 23:32. Before Blücher could be targeted again, she was out of the firing sector of these shore guns and was seen no more by them after 23:35.

The German flotilla steamed on at a speed of 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph). Shortly after midnight (Norwegian time), an order from the Commanding Admiral to extinguish all lighthouses and navigation lights was broadcast over the NRK (Norsk rikskringkasting) [Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation]. The German ships had been ordered to fire only in the event they were directly fired on first. Between 00:30 and 02:00, the flotilla stopped and 150 infantrymen of the landing force were transferred to the escorts R17 and R21 (from Emden) and R18 and R19 (from Blücher).

Battle of Drøbak Sound
Main article: Battle of Drøbak Sound

One of the three 28 cm (11 in) guns at Oscarsborg Fortress

The R-boats were ordered to engage Rauøy, Bolærne and the naval port and city of Horten. Despite the apparent loss of surprise, the Blücher proceeded further into the fjord to continue with the timetable to reach Oslo by dawn. At 04:20, Norwegian searchlights again illuminated the ship and at 04:21 the 28 cm (11 in) guns of Oscarsborg Fortress opened fire on Blücher at very close range, beginning the Battle of Drøbak Sound with two hits on her port side. The first was high above the bridge, hitting the battle station for the commander of the anti-aircraft guns. The main range finder in the top of the battle mast was knocked out of alignment, but Blücher had four more major rangefinders. The second 28 cm shell struck near the aircraft hangar and started a major fire. As the fire spread, it detonated explosives carried for the infantry, hindering firefighting efforts. The explosion set fire to the two Arado seaplanes on board: one on the catapult and the other in one of the hangars. The explosion also probably punched a hole in the armored deck over turbine room 1. Turbine 1 and generator room 3 stopped for lack of steam and only the outboard shafts from turbine room 2/3 were operational.

The Germans were unable to locate the source of the gunfire. Blücher increased speed to 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph) in an attempt to get past the Norwegian guns. The 15 cm (5.9 in) guns on Drøbak, some 400 yd (370 m) on Blücher's starboard side, opened fire as well. At a distance of 500 m (1,600 ft) Blücher entered the narrows between Kopås and Hovedbatteriet, the main battery, at Kaholmen. The Kopås battery ceased firing at Blücher and engaged the next target, Lützow, scoring multiple hits. First engineer Karl Thannemann wrote in his report that the hits from the guns on Drøbak, which were fired on the starboard side, were all between section IV and X in a length of 75 m (246 ft) amidships, between B-turret and C-turret. However, all damage was on the port side. After the first salvo from the 15 cm batteries in Drøbak, the steering from the bridge was disabled. Blücher had just passed Drøbakgrunnen (Drøbak shallows) and was in a turn to port. The commander got her back on track by using the side shafts, but she lost speed. At 04:34 Norwegian land-based torpedo batteries scored two hits on the ship.


Blücher on fire and sinking in Drøbak Sound

According to Kummetz's report, the first torpedo hit Boiler Room 2, just under the funnel, and the second hit Turbine Room 2/3 (the turbine room for the side shafts). Boiler 1 had already been destroyed by gunfire. Only one boiler remained, but the steam pipes through Boilers 1 and 2 and Turbine Room 2/3 had been damaged and Turbine 1 had lost power. By 04:34, the ship had been severely damaged, but had successfully passed through the firing zone; most the Norwegian guns could no longer bear on her. The 15 cm guns in the Kopås battery were all standing in open positions with a wide sector of firing, and they were still within range. The battery crews asked for orders, but the commander of the fortress, Birger Eriksen, concluded: "The fortress has served its purpose".

After passing the gun batteries, the crew, including the personnel manning the guns, were tasked with fighting the fire. By that time she had taken on a list of 18 degrees, although this was not initially problematic. The fire eventually reached one of the ship's 10.5 cm ammunition magazines between turbine room 1 and turbine room 2/3, which exploded violently. The blast ruptured several bulkheads in the engine rooms and ignited the ship's fuel stores. The battered ship slowly began to capsize and the order to abandon ship was given. Blücher rolled over and sank at 07:30, with significant casualties. Naval historian Erich Gröner states that the number of casualties is unknown, and Henrik Lunde gives a loss of life figure ranging between 600 and 1,000 soldiers and sailors. Jürgen Rohwer meanwhile states that 125 seamen and 195 soldiers died in the sinking.

The loss of Blücher and the damage done to Lützow caused the German force to withdraw. The ground troops were landed on the eastern side of the fjord; they proceeded inland and captured the Oscarborg Fortress by 09:00 on 10 April. They then moved on to attack the capital. Airborne troops captured the Fornebu Airport and completed the encirclement of the city, and by 14:00 on 10 April it was in German hands. The delay caused by the temporary withdrawal of Blücher's task force, however, allowed the Norwegian government and royal family to escape the city.

Wreck
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One of Blücher's anchors is now at Aker Brygge in Oslo

Blücher remains at the bottom of the Drøbak Narrows, at a depth of 35 fathoms (210 ft; 64 m). The ship's screws were removed in 1953, and there have been several proposals to raise the wreck since 1963, but none have been carried out. When Blücher left Germany, she had about 2,670 cubic meters (94,000 cu ft) of oil on board. She expended some of the fuel en route to Norway, and some was lost in the sinking, but she was constantly leaking oil. In 1991 the leakage rate increased to 50 liters (11 imp gal; 13 U.S. gal) per day, threatening the environment. The Norwegian government therefore decided to remove as much oil as possible from the wreck. In October 1994 the company Rockwater AS, together with deep sea divers, drilled holes in 133 fuel tanks and removed 1,000 t (980 long tons; 1,100 short tons) of oil; 47 fuel bunkers were unreachable and may still contain oil. After being run through a cleaning process, the oil was sold. The oil extraction operation provided an opportunity to recover one of Blücher's two Arado 196 aircraft. The plane was raised on 9 November 1994 and is currently at the Flyhistorisk Museum, Sola aviation museum near Stavanger.

The shipwreck was protected as a war memorial on 16 June 2016, but also protected by law by the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage for those who actually have their burial at the bottom of the fjord. The intention was to protect the ship from looters


The Admiral Hipper class was a group of five heavy cruisers built by Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine beginning in the mid-1930s. The class comprised Admiral Hipper, the lead ship, Blücher, Prinz Eugen, Seydlitz, and Lützow. Only the first three ships of the class saw action with the German Navy during World War II. Work on Seydlitz stopped when she was approximately 95 percent complete; it was decided to convert her into an aircraft carrier, but this was not completed either. Lützow was sold incomplete to the Soviet Union in 1940.

Admiral Hipper and Blücher took part in Operation Weserübung, the invasion of Norway in April 1940. Blücher was sunk by Norwegian coastal defenses outside Oslo while Admiral Hipper led the attack on Trondheim. She then conducted sorties into the Atlantic to attack Allied merchant shipping. In 1942, she was deployed to northern Norway to attack shipping to the Soviet Union, culminating in the Battle of the Barents Sea in December 1942, where she was damaged by British cruisers. Prinz Eugen saw her first action during Operation Rheinübung with the battleship Bismarck. She eventually returned to Germany during the Channel Dash in 1942, after which she too went to Norway. After being torpedoed by a British submarine, she returned to Germany for repairs. Admiral Hipper while decommissioned after returning to Germany in early 1943, was partially repaired and recommissioned in the fall of 1944 for a refugee transport mission in 1945. Only Prinz Eugen continued to serve in full commission and stayed in the Baltic until the end of the war.

Admiral Hipper was scuttled in Kiel in May 1945, leaving Prinz Eugen as the only member of the class to survive the war. She was ceded to the US Navy, which ultimately expended the ship in the Operation Crossroads nuclear tests in 1946. Seydlitz was towed to Königsberg and scuttled before the advancing Soviet Army could seize the ship. She was ultimately raised and broken up for scrap. Lützow, renamed Petropavlovsk, remained unfinished when the Germans invaded the Soviet Union. The ship provided artillery support against advancing German forces until she was sunk in September 1941. She was raised a year later and repaired enough to participate in the campaign to relieve the Siege of Leningrad in 1944. She served on in secondary roles until the 1950s, when she was broken up.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_cruiser_Blücher
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Admiral_Hipper-class_cruiser
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
9 April 1940 - Heroic, but wholly ineffective, stand by the Norwegian armoured coastal defence ships Norge and Eidsvold at Narvik.
Both ships torpedoed and sunk with great loss of life.




Operation Weserübung
(German: Unternehmen Weserübung [ˈveːsɐˌʔyːbʊŋ]) was the code name for Germany's assault on Denmark and Norway during the Second World War and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign. The name comes from the German for "Operation Weser-Exercise", the Weser being a German river.

In the early morning of 9 April 1940 (Wesertag, "Weser Day"), Germany invaded Denmark and Norway, ostensibly as a preventive manoeuvre against a planned, and openly discussed, Franco-British occupation of Norway known as Plan R 4. After the invasions, envoys of the Germans informed the governments of Denmark and Norway that the Wehrmacht had come to protect the countries' neutrality against Franco-British aggression. Significant differences in geography, location and climate between the two nations made the actual military operations very dissimilar.

The invasion fleet's nominal landing time, Weserzeit ("Weser Time"), was set to 05:15.



HNoMS Eidsvold was a coastal defence ship and the lead ship of her class, serving in the Royal Norwegian Navy. Built by Armstrong Whitworth at Newcastle on Tyne in 1899, she was obsolete when sunk by German torpedoes in Narvik harbour on 9 April 1940 during the German invasion of Norway (Operation Weserübung).

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Description
Eidsvold was built as part of the general rearmament in the time leading up to the political events in 1905, and remained, along with her sister ship Norge, the backbone of the Royal Norwegian Navy for just over 40 years. She was named after the town of Eidsvold, the site of the drafting and signing of the Norwegian Constitution on 17 May 1814. Considered to be quite powerful ships for their time, with two 21 cm (8.26 inch) guns as their main armament, they were soon outclassed by the new Dreadnought battleships. They were armoured to withstand battle with ships of a similar class to their own, with 6 inches (15.24 cm) of Krupp cemented armour in the belt and 9 inches (22.86 cm) of the same armour on her two turrets. Eidsvold and Norge were the largest vessels in the Royal Norwegian Navy at 4,233 tons gross and crews of up to 270 men.

It was intended to augment the Norwegian coastal defence ship fleet with the two ships of the Bjørgvin-class, ordered in 1912, but after these were confiscated by the British Royal Navy at the outbreak of World War I, the Eidsvold-class and the older, two ship strong, Tordenskjold-class was forced to soldier on long after they were obsolete.

First and final battle
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Models of the coastal defence ships Tordenskiold and Eidsvold. Eidsvold in the rear

In the morning of 9 April 1940, German forces entered Narvik harbour under cover of fog and heavy snow. Despite the weather, they were spotted by Norwegian vessels, which promptly reported the sighting and alerted Eidsvold and Norge. Aboard both ships steps were taken to prepare for combat. The guns were loaded with live ammunition and life preservers issued to the crew. Around 04:15 in the morning, the Germans spotted Eidsvold. Captain Odd Isaachsen Willoch aboard Eidsvold immediately ordered to signal the leading German destroyer with an Aldis lamp, and when the Germans failed to respond to the signal, he ordered a warning shot placed before their bow while he flew a two flag signal, ordering the destroyer to halt.

Since the Germans had orders to occupy Norway peacefully if at all possible, the German destroyer Wilhelm Heidkamp stopped, and signalled Eidsvold that it would send an officer to negotiate. From a distance of about 200 metres, a small launch ferried Korvettenkapitän Gerlach over to Eidsvold. Gerlach and a signalman were received on the aft deck of Eidsvold by the second in command, and were taken to the bridge to speak to Captain Willoch. At the same time, the gun crews aboard Eidsvold kept the German destroyer in their sights, both the 21 cm guns and the 15 cm guns. Due to the short distance, the trajectory of the shells would have been flat, making it hard not to hit the thinly armoured vessel.

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At the bridge, Gerlach tried to convince Willoch that the Germans had arrived as friends and that Willoch should surrender his ship peacefully. Willoch countered by pointing out that he was bound by duty to resist, but did ask for a ten-minute break to consider the matter. However, instead of considering surrender, Willoch used this time to contact his superiors, as well as the captain of Norge, informing them of his intent to attack the German forces. While this was going on, another German destroyer had crossed behind Eidsvold and took up a position 700 metres (2,300 ft) from the vessel, ready to fire her torpedoes.

Gerlach tried once again to convince Willoch to surrender, but was turned down a second time. As he left the deck of Eidsvold, he fired a red flare, indicating that the Norwegians wished to fight. At this point, Captain Willoch hurried towards the bridge, while shouting "På plass ved kanonene. Nå skal vi slåss, gutter!" ("Man the guns. We're gonna fight, boys!"). Eidsvold turned towards the closest destroyer and accelerated, while the battery commander ordered the port battery (three 15 cm guns) to open fire. However, the Germans - afraid Eidsvold might ram the destroyer - fired four torpedoes at the old coastal defence ship.

Two or three of the torpedoes hit before the port guns could fire, according to Norwegian sources: one under the rear turret, one midship and one in the bow. It is likely that the torpedoes ignited one of the magazines aboard, because Eidsvold was blown in two and sunk in seconds, propellers still turning. Only six of the crew were rescued, while 175 died in the freezing water.

The wreck
Some remains of Eidsvold lie in shallow waters at the entrance to Narvik harbour. Mostly salvaged in situ, only minor remains are left of the ship


HNoMS Norge was a coastal defence ship of the Eidsvold-class in the Royal Norwegian Navy. Built by Armstrong Whitworth at Newcastle on Tyne, she was torpedoed and sunk by German destroyers in Narvik harbour on 9 April 1940.

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Description

Built as part of the general rearmament in the time leading up to the events in 1905, Norge remained, along with her sister-ship Eidsvold, the backbone of the Royal Norwegian Navy for just over 40 years. Norge and Eidsvold were the largest vessels in the Royal Norwegian Navy, displacing 4,233 tons and crewed by 270 men. Both vessels were considered to be quite powerful for their time, with two 21 cm (8.26 inch) guns as their main armament. They were armoured to withstand battle with ships of a similar size, with 6 inches (15.24 cm) of Krupp cemented armour in the belt and 9 inches (22.86 cm) of the same armour on the two gun turrets.

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The recently elected King Haakon VII boards Norge on 28 November 1905

It was intended to augment the Norwegian coastal defence ship fleet with the two ships of the Bjørgvin class, ordered in 1912, but after these were requisitioned by the British Royal Navy while still under construction at the outbreak of World War I the Eidsvold class and the older, two ship strong, Tordenskjold class was forced to soldier on long after they were obsolete.

First and final battle

The emergency steering wheel from Norge, retrieved from Narvik harbour by divers in 1983

On the morning of 9 April 1940, German forces entered Ofotfjord under cover of fog and heavy snow. The Germans contacted the captain of Eidsvold, demanding that he surrender, and when this was turned down, the battle-ready German destroyers torpedoed Eidsvold before she could fire her guns.

Aboard Norge, deeper inside the fjord, the explosions were heard, but nothing could be seen until two German destroyers suddenly appeared out of the darkness. Captain Per Askim of Norge gave orders to open fire. Four rounds were fired from the 21 cm guns (one from the fore gun and three from the aft) as well as seven or eight rounds from the starboard 15 cm guns, directed against the German destroyer Bernd von Arnim. The range has been estimated as 800 metres (1/2 mile). Due to the difficult weather conditions, it was hard to use the optical sights for the guns, which resulted in the first salvo falling short of the target and the others going over the target.

The German destroyers waited until they were alongside the pier before returning fire. Bernd von Arnim opened fire with her 12.7 cm (5 inch) guns, as well as with machine guns, but the weather gave the Germans problems as well. The destroyer also fired torpedoes—in all three salvoes of two torpedoes each. The first two salvoes missed, but the last struck Norge midships, and she sank in less than one minute, her propellers still turning. Ninety of the crew were rescued from the freezing water, but 101 perished in the battle which had lasted less than 20 minutes.


The salvaged anchor of Norge outside the War Museum in Narvik

The wreck
The remains of Norge lie at a depth of about 20 metres (66 ft), in the middle of Narvik harbour. Partly salvaged in situ, it is considered a war memorial and diving on the wreck is prohibited.




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HNoMS_Eidsvold
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_destroyer_Z21_Wilhelm_Heidkamp
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HNoMS_Norge
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_destroyer_Z11_Bernd_von_Arnim
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eidsvold-class_coastal_defence_ship
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
9 April 1942 - the British aircraft carrier HMS Hermes and her escorting Australian destroyer HMAS Vampire were sunk south-east of Trincomalee, Ceylon by Japanese aircraft.
Hermes sank with the loss of 307 men. Most of the survivors were rescued by the hospital ship
Vita


HMS Hermes
was a British aircraft carrier built for the Royal Navy and was the world's first ship to be designed as an aircraft carrier, although the Imperial Japanese Navy's Hōshō was the first to be launched and commissioned. The ship's construction began during the First World War but not completed until after the end of the war, delayed by multiple changes in her design after she was laid down. After she was launched, the Armstrong Whitworth shipyard which built her closed, and her fitting out was suspended. Most of the changes made were to optimise her design, in light of the results of experiments with operational carriers.

Finally commissioned in 1924, Hermes served briefly with the Atlantic Fleet before spending the bulk of her career assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet and the China Station. In the Mediterranean, she worked with other carriers developing multi-carrier tactics. While showing the flag at the China Station, she helped to suppress piracy in Chinese waters. Hermes returned home in 1937 and was placed in reserve before becoming a training ship in 1938.

When the Second World War began in September 1939, the ship was briefly assigned to the Home Fleet and conducted anti-submarine patrols in the Western Approaches. She was transferred to Dakar in October to cooperate with the French Navy in hunting down German commerce raiders and blockade runners. Aside from a brief refit, Hermes remained there until the fall of France and the establishment of Vichy France at the end of June 1940. Supported by several cruisers, the ship then blockaded Dakar and attempted to sink the French battleship Richelieu by exploding depth charges underneath her stern, as well as sending Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers to attack her at night. While returning from this mission, Hermes rammed a British armed merchant cruiser in a storm and required several months of repairs in South Africa, then resumed patrolling for Axis shipping in the South Atlantic and the Indian Ocean.

In February 1941, the ship supported Commonwealth forces in Italian Somaliland during the East African Campaign and did much the same two months later in the Persian Gulf during the Anglo-Iraqi War. After that campaign, Hermes spent most of the rest of the year patrolling the Indian Ocean. She was refitted in South Africa between November 1941 and February 1942 and then joined the Eastern Fleet at Ceylon.

Hermes was berthed in Trincomalee on 8 April when a warning of an Indian Ocean raid by the Japanese fleet was received, and she sailed that day for the Maldives with no aircraft on board. On 9 April a Japanese scout plane spotted her near Batticaloa, and she was attacked by several dozen dive bombers shortly afterwards. With no air cover, the carrier was quickly sunk by the Japanese aircraft. Most of the survivors were rescued by a nearby hospital ship, although 307 men from Hermes were lost in the sinking.

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Development
Like Hōshō, Hermes was based on a cruiser-type hull and she was initially designed to carry both wheeled aircraft and seaplanes. The ship's design was derived from a 1916 seaplane carrier design by Gerard Holmes and Sir John Biles, but was considerably enlarged by Sir Eustace d'Eyncourt, the Director of Naval Construction (DNC), in his April 1917 sketch design. Her most notable feature was the seaplane slipway that comprised three sections. The seaplanes would taxi onto the rigid submerged portion aft and dock with a trolley that would carry the aircraft into the hangar. A flexible submerged portion separated the rear section from the rigid forward portion of the slipway to prevent the submerged part from rolling with the ship's motion. The entire slipway could be retracted into the ship, and a gantry crane ran the length of the slipway to help recover the seaplanes. The design showed two islands with the full-length flight deck running between them. Each island contained one funnel; a large net could be strung between them to stop out-of-control aircraft. Aircraft were transported between the hangar and the flight deck by two aircraft lifts (elevators); the forward lift measured 30 by 30 feet (9.1 by 9.1 m) and the rear 60 by 18 feet (18.3 by 5.5 m). This design displaced 9,000 long tons (9,100 t) and accommodated six large Short Type 184 seaplanes and six smaller Sopwith Baby seaplanes. The ship's armament consisted of six 4-inch (102 mm) guns.

The DNC produced a detailed design in January 1918 that made some changes to his original sketch, including the addition of a rotating bow catapult to allow the ship to launch aircraft regardless of wind direction, and the ship was laid down that month to the revised design. Progress was slow, as most of the resources of the shipyard were being used to finish the conversion of Eagle from a battleship to an aircraft carrier. The leisurely pace of construction allowed for more time with which to rework the ship's design. By mid-June the slipway had been deleted from the design and the ship's armament had been revised to consist of eleven 6-inch (152 mm) guns and only a single anti-aircraft gun. By this time, the uncertainty about the best configuration for an aircraft carrier had increased to the point that the Admiralty forbade the builder from working above the hangar deck without express permission. Later that year the ship's design was revised again to incorporate a single island, her lifts were changed to a uniform size of 44 by 20 feet (13.4 by 6.1 m), and her armament was altered to ten 6-inch guns and four 4-inch anti-aircraft guns. These changes increased her displacement to 10,110 long tons (10,270 t).

Construction was suspended after Hermes was launched in September 1919 as the Admiralty awaited the results of flight trials with Eagle and Argus. Her design was modified in March 1920 with an island superstructure and funnel to starboard, and the forward catapult was removed. The logic behind placing the island to starboard was that pilots generally preferred to turn to port when recovering from an aborted landing. A prominent tripod mast was added to house the fire-control systems for her guns.

The last revisions were made to the ship's design in May 1921, after the trials with Argus and Eagle. The lifts were moved further apart to allow for more space for the arresting gear and they were enlarged to allow the wings of her aircraft to be spread in the hangar. Her anti-ship armament was reduced to six 5.5-inch (140 mm) guns and her flight deck was faired into the bow.

Description[edit]
Hermes had an overall length of 600 feet (182.9 m), a beam of 70 feet 3 inches (21.4 m), and a draught of 23 feet 3 inches (7.1 m) at deep load. She displaced 10,850 long tons (11,020 t) at standard load. Each of the ship's two sets of Parsons geared steam turbinesdrove one propeller shaft at a speed of 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph). Steam was supplied by six Yarrow boilers operating at a pressure of 235 psi (1,620 kPa; 17 kgf/cm2). The turbines were designed for a total of 40,000 shaft horsepower (30,000 kW), but they produced 41,318 shaft horsepower (30,811 kW) during her sea trials, and gave Hermes a speed of 26.178 knots (48.482 km/h; 30.125 mph). The ship carried 2,000 long tons (2,000 t) of fuel oil which gave her a range of 4,480 nautical miles (8,300 km; 5,160 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph).

The ship's flight deck was 570 feet (173.7 m) long and her lifts' dimensions were 36 by 36.6 feet (11.0 by 11.2 m). Her hangar was 400 feet (121.9 m) long, 50 feet (15.2 m) wide and 16 feet (4.9 m) high. Hermes was fitted with longitudinal arresting gear. A large cranewas positioned behind the island. Because of her size, the ship was only able to carry about 20 aircraft. Bulk petrol storage consisted of 7,000 imperial gallons (32,000 l; 8,400 US gal). The ship's crew totalled 33 officers and 533 men, exclusive of the air group, in 1939.

For self-defence against enemy warships, Hermes had six BL 5.5-inch Mk I guns, three on each side of the ship. All four of her QF Mk V 4-inch anti-aircraft guns were positioned on the flight deck. The ship's waterline belt armour was 3 inches (76 mm) thick[9] and her flight deck, which was also the ship's strength deck, was 1 inch (25 mm) thick. Hermes had a metacentric height of 2.9 feet (0.9 m) and handled well in heavy weather. However, she had quite a large surface area exposed to the wind and required as much as 25 to 30 degrees of weather helm at low speed when the wind was blowing from the side.

Service
HMS_Hermes_(95)_at_Honululu_c1924.jpg
HMS Hermes at Pearl Harbor, circa 1924

Hermes was laid down by Sir W. G. Armstrong-Whitworth and Company at Walker on the River Tyne on 15 January 1918 as the world's first purpose-designed aircraft carrier, and was launched on 11 September 1919. She was christened by Mrs. A. Cooper, daughter of the First Lord of the Admiralty, Walter Long. The shipyard was scheduled to close at the end of 1919 and the Admiralty ordered the ship towed to Devonport, where she arrived in January 1920 for completion.


Sinking
After the raid on Colombo by the Japanese aircraft carriers on 5 April, Hermes and Vampire were sent to Trincomalee to prepare for Operation Ironclad, the British invasion of Madagascar, and 814 Squadron was sent ashore. After advance warning of a Japanese air raid on 9 April 1942, they left Trincomalee and sailed south down the Ceylon coast before it arrived. They were spotted off Batticaloa, however, by a Japanese reconnaissance plane from the battleship Haruna. The British intercepted the spot report and ordered the ships to return to Trincomalee with the utmost dispatch and attempted to provide fighter cover for them. The Japanese launched 85 Aichi D3A dive bombers, escorted by nine Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters, at the two ships. At least 32 attacked them and sank them in quick order despite the arrival of six Fairey Fulmar II fighters of No. 273 Squadron RAF. Another six Fulmars from 803 and 806 Squadrons arrived after Hermes had already sunk. The rest of the Japanese aircraft attacked other ships further north, sinking the RFA Athelstone of 5,571 gross register tonnage (GRT), her escort, the corvette Hollyhock, the oil tanker SS British Sergeant and the Norwegian ship SS Norviken of 2,924 GRT.

Hermes sank with the loss of 307 men, including Captain Onslow. Vampire's captain and seven crewmen were also killed. Most of the survivors of the attack were picked up by the hospital ship Vita. Japanese losses to all causes were four D3As lost and five more damaged, while two Fulmars were shot down.

HermesSinking302403.jpg
A close-up view of Hermes sinking


HMAS Vampire was a V-class destroyer of the Royal Navy (RN) and Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Launched in 1917 as HMS Wallace, the ship was renamed and commissioned into the RN later that year. Vampirewas loaned to the RAN in 1933, and operated as a depot tender until just before World War II. Reactivated for war service, the destroyer served in the Mediterranean as part of the Scrap Iron Flotilla, and was escorting the British warships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse during their loss to Japanese aircraft in the South China Sea in December 1941. Vampire was sunk on 9 April 1942 by Japanese aircraft while sailing with the aircraft carrier HMS Hermes from Trincomalee.

HMAS_Vampire_Allan-Green.jpg



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Hermes_(95)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMAS_Vampire_(D68)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
9 April 1945 - while unloading a shipment of munitions at the Bari, Italy port, the Liberty ship SS Charles Henderson suffered an explosion that killed all on board along with 267 Italian nationals


The SS Charles Henderson was a Liberty ship built during World War II. It was destroyed in an ammunition explosion on 9 April 1945.

SS_John_W_Brown.jpg
SS John W. Brown, one of four surviving Liberty ships, photographed in 2000

Service
The vessel was operated for the War Shipping Administration by the Mississippi Shipping Company, New Orleans, from 1943.

On 21 January 1944, the Charles Henderson collided with the coastal tanker MV Plattsburgh Socony near Cape Henlopen, Delaware. The tanker caught fire as a result. "Fourth Naval District officers said one of the ships burst into flames after the collision and was abandoned an hour later." One seaman was reported missing and four suffered burns. "A navy picket boat drew alongside the burning tanker -- and 'stayed despite the danger of the ship exploding at any moment' -- to rescue four crewmen marooned on the bow. Other survivors escaped in a lifeboat."

Loading in June 1944, the Charles Henderson was one of many vessels at Normandy for the invasion of Europe.

The ship sailed from New York City on 25 February 1945, bound for Norfolk, Virginia. There it loaded 6,675 tons of aircraft bombs in its holds. With loading complete, it steamed for Bari, Italy on 9 March, but returned the same day to repair its condenser's main induction valve. The ship waited five days for the next Mediterranean-bound convoy, UGS-80. Upon arriving at Gibraltar, the Charles Henderson proceeded independently to Bari, via Augusta, Sicily, arriving 5 April.

Fate
In one of the largest ammunition disasters of World War II, the Charles Henderson was being unloaded at berth 14 at Bari, in Southern Italy, on 9 April 1945, when she was destroyed in a high order explosion. "This detonation caused by [handling] 500 pound bombs loaded with Composition B, killed 542 and injured 1,800. It is believed the bombs were hooked and dragged to the well, then lifted without mats. The crew may have hurried because the contract paid by number of items lifted. Buildings along the waterfront were destroyed for 2,000 feet. Ships were severely damaged to 2,100 feet."

800px-Bari_Explosion_1.jpg Bari_explosion_view_from_Barracks_crop_sm.jpg 1024px-Italy_3_Bari_Explosion_front_a.jpg
April 9, 1945 - Photos by WOJG Hubert Platt Henderson who was stationed at Bari as the Director of the 773rd Band

Thirty-nine crew and 13 Armed Guard were killed in the explosion. The only survivor was the chief engineer, who was ashore at the time of the blast. The wreck remained in Bari until 1948, when it was sold for scrap.



 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
9 April 1945 – World War II: The German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer is sunk by the Royal Air Force


Admiral Scheer was a Deutschland-class heavy cruiser (often termed a pocket battleship) which served with the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany during World War II. The vessel was named after Admiral Reinhard Scheer, German commander in the Battle of Jutland. She was laid down at the Reichsmarinewerft shipyard in Wilhelmshaven in June 1931 and completed by November 1934. Originally classified as an armored ship (Panzerschiff) by the Reichsmarine, in February 1940 the Germans reclassified the remaining two ships of this class as heavy cruisers.

50c5b8bbd38d4fbea68185e7d4a44180.jpg

Admiral_Scheer_in_Gibraltar.jpg Admiral_Scheer_ONI.jpg

Admiral_Scheer_at_sea_c._1935.jpg

The ship was nominally under the 10,000 long tons (10,000 t) limitation on warship size imposed by the Treaty of Versailles, though with a full load displacement of 15,180 long tons (15,420 t), she significantly exceeded it. Armed with six 28 cm (11 in) guns in two triple gun turrets, Admiral Scheer and her sisters were designed to outgun any cruiser fast enough to catch them. Their top speed of 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph) left only a handful of ships in the Anglo-French navies able to catch them and powerful enough to sink them.

Admiral Scheer saw heavy service with the German Navy, including a deployment to Spain during the Spanish Civil War, where she bombarded the port of Almería. Her first operation during World War II was a commerce raiding operation into the southern Atlantic Ocean; she also made a brief foray into the Indian Ocean. During the operation, she sank 113,223 gross register tons (GRT) of shipping, making her the most successful capital ship surface raider of the war. Following her return to Germany, she was deployed to northern Norway to interdict shipping to the Soviet Union. She was part of the abortive attack on Convoy PQ 17and conducted Operation Wunderland, a sortie into the Kara Sea. After returning to Germany at the end of 1942, the ship served as a training ship until the end of 1944, when she was used to support ground operations against the Soviet Army. She was sunk by British bombers on 9 April 1945 and partially scrapped; the remainder of the wreck lies buried beneath a quay.

Admiral_Scheer_bow.jpg


Return to the Baltic
KzS Ernst-Ludwig Thienemann, the ship's final commander, took command of Admiral Scheer in April 1944. On 22 November 1944, Admiral Scheer, the destroyers Z25 and Z35, and the 2nd Torpedo Boat Flotilla relieved the cruiser Prinz Eugen and several destroyers supporting German forces fighting the Soviets on the island of Ösel in the Baltic. The Soviet Air Force launched several air attacks on the German forces, all of which were successfully repelled by heavy anti-aircraft fire. The ship's Arado floatplane was shot down, however. On the night of 23–24 November, the German naval forces completed the evacuation of the island. In all, 4,694 troops were evacuated from the island.

Kiel,_Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945_CL2772.jpg
Admiral Scheer capsized in Kiel

In early February 1945, Admiral Scheer stood off Samland with several torpedo boats in support of German forces fighting Soviet advances. On 9 February, the ships began shelling Soviet positions. Between 18 and 24 February, German forces launched a local counterattack; Admiral Scheer and the torpedo boats provided artillery support, targeting Soviet positions near Peyse and Gross-Heydekrug. The German attack temporarily restored the land connection to Königsberg. The ship's guns were badly worn out by March and in need of repair. On 8 March, Admiral Scheer departed the eastern Baltic to have her guns relined in Kiel; she carried 800 civilian refugees and 200 wounded soldiers. An uncleared minefield prevented her from reaching Kiel, and so she unloaded her passengers in Swinemünde. Despite her worn-out gun barrels, the ship then shelled Soviet forces outside Kolberg until she used up her remaining ammunition.

The ship then loaded refugees and left Swinemünde; she successfully navigated the minefields on the way to Kiel, arriving on 18 March. Her stern turret had its guns replaced at the Deutsche Werke shipyard by early April. During the repair process, most of the ship's crew went ashore. On the night of 9 April 1945, a general RAF bombing raid by over 300 aircraft struck the harbor in Kiel. Admiral Scheer was hit by bombs and capsized. She was partially broken up for scrap after the end of the war, though part of the hull was left in place and buried with rubble from the attack in the construction of a new quay. The number of casualties from her loss is unknown.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutschland-class_cruiser
https://www.deutschland-class.dk/admiral_scheer/gallery/gallscheerwreck.html
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
9 April 1981 – The U.S. Navy nuclear submarine USS George Washington accidentally collides with the Nissho Maru, a Japanese cargo ship, sinking it.



USS George Washington (SSBN-598)
was the United States's first operational ballistic missile submarine. It was the lead ship of her class of nuclear ballistic missile submarines, was the third[5] United States Navyship of the name, in honor of George Washington (1732–1799), first President of the United States, and the first of that name to be purpose-built as a warship.

USS_George_Washington_(SSBN_589).jpg
George Washington during her launching ceremony in Groton.

Collision with Nissho Maru
On 9 April 1981, George Washington was at periscope depth and was broadsided by the 2,350 long tons (2,390 t) Japanese commercial cargo ship Nissho Maru in the East China Sea about 110 nmi (130 mi; 200 km) south-southwest of Sasebo, Japan. George Washington immediately surfaced and searched for the other vessel. Owing to the heavy fog conditions at the time, they did see the Nissho Maru heading off into the fog, but it appeared undamaged. After calling out for a P-3 Orion to search for the freighter, they headed into port for repairs; the crew was later flown back to Pearl Harbor from Guam. Unbeknownst to the crew of the George Washington, Nissho Maru sank in about 15 minutes. Two Japanese crewmen were lost; 13 were rescued by Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force AkiGumo(ja) and Aogumo(ja). The submarine suffered minor damage to her sail.

The accident strained U.S.–Japanese relations a month before a meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Zenko Suzuki and President of the United States Ronald Reagan. Japan criticized the U.S. for taking more than 24 hours to notify Japanese authorities, and demanded to know what the boat was doing surfacing only about 20 nmi (23 mi; 37 km) outside Japan's territorial waters.

The U.S. Navy initially stated that George Washington executed a crash dive during the collision, and then immediately surfaced, but could not see the Japanese ship due to fog and rain (according to a U.S. Navy report). A preliminary report released a few days later stated the submarine and aircraft crews both had detected Nissho Maru nearby, but neither the submarine nor the aircraft realized Nissho Maru was in distress.

On 11 April, President Reagan and other U.S. officials formally expressed regret over the accident, made offers of compensation, and reassured the Japanese there was no cause for worry about radioactive contamination. As is its standard policy, the U.S. Government refused to reveal what the submarine was doing close to Japan, or whether she was armed with nuclear missiles. (It is government and navy policy to neither confirm nor deny the presence of nuclear weapons on board.) The Navy accepted responsibility for the incident, and relieved and reprimanded the George Washington's commanding officer and officer of the deck.

On 31 August, the U.S. Navy released its final report, concluding the accident resulted from a set of coincidences, compounded by errors on the part of two members of the submarine crew.

After the collision with the Nissho Maru, the damaged sail was repaired with parts from the sail from the USS Abraham Lincoln which was waiting for disposal at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.





 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 9 April


1585 – The expedition organised by Sir Walter Raleigh departs England for Roanoke Island (now in North Carolina) to establish the Roanoke Colony.

The Roanoke Colony (/ˈroʊəˌnoʊk/), also known as the Lost Colony, was the first attempt at founding a permanent English settlement in North America. It was established in 1585 on Roanoke Island in what is today's Dare County, North Carolina. The colony was sponsored by Sir Walter Raleigh, although he himself never set foot in it.

The initial settlement was established in the summer of 1585, but a lack of supplies and bad relations with the local Native Americans caused many of its members to return to England with Sir Francis Drake a year later, leaving behind a small detachment. These men had all disappeared by the time a second expedition led by John White, who also served as the colony's governor, arrived in July 1587. White, whose granddaughter Virginia Dare was born there shortly thereafter (making her the first English child born in the New World), left for England in late 1587 to request assistance from the government, but was prevented from returning to Roanoke until August 1590 due to the Anglo-Spanish War. Upon his arrival, the entire colony was missing with only a single clue to indicate what happened to them: the word "CROATOAN" carved into a tree.

For many years, it was widely accepted that the colonists were massacred by local tribes, but no bodies were ever discovered, nor any other archaeological evidence. The most prevalent hypothesis now is that environmental circumstances forced the colonists to take shelter with local tribes, but that is mostly based on oral histories and also lacks conclusive evidence. Some artifacts were discovered in 1998 on Hatteras Island where the Croatan tribe was based, but researchers could not definitively say these were from the Roanoke colonists.

First voyages to Roanoke Island
On April 27, 1584, Raleigh dispatched an expedition led by Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe to explore the eastern coast of North America. They arrived on Roanoke Island on July 4 and soon established relations with the local natives, the Secotans and Croatans. Barlowe returned to England with two Croatans named Manteo and Wanchese, who were able to describe the politics and geography of the area to Raleigh. Based on the information given, Raleigh organized a second expedition, to be led by Sir Richard Grenville.


Sir Walter Raleigh

Grenville's fleet departed Plymouth on April 9, 1585, with five main ships: Tiger (Grenville's), Roebuck, Red Lion, Elizabeth, and Dorothy. A severe storm off the coast of Portugal separated Tiger from the rest of the fleet. The captains had a contingency plan if they were separated, which was to meet up again in Puerto Rico, and Tiger arrived in the "Baye of Muskito" (Guayanilla Bay) on May 11.

While waiting for the other ships, Grenville established relations with the resident Spanish while simultaneously engaging in some privateering against them. He also built a fort. Elizabeth arrived soon after the fort's construction. Grenville eventually tired of waiting for the remaining ships and departed on June 7. The fort was abandoned, and its location remains unknown.

Tiger sailed through Ocracoke Inlet on June 26, but it struck a shoal, ruining most of the food supplies. The expedition succeeded in repairing the ship and, in early July, reunited with Roebuck and Dorothy, which had arrived in the Outer Banks with Red Lion some weeks previous. Red Lion had dropped off its passengers and left for Newfoundland for privateering

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


1682 – Robert Cavelier de La Salle discovers the mouth of the Mississippi River, claims it for France and names it Louisiana.



1792 HMS Providence, Cptn. William Bligh, and HMS Assistant arrive at Tahiti on 2nd breadfruit voyage.

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


1804 HMS Amazon (38), Cptn. William Parker, captured a brig under fire at Sepet.

HMS Amazon
was a frigate of the Royal Navy. She served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars under several notable naval commanders and played a key role in the Battle of Copenhagen under Captain Edward Riou, when Riou commanded the frigate squadron during the attack. After Riou was killed during the battle, command briefly devolved to First-Lieutenant John Quilliam. Quilliam made a significant impression on Rear-Admiral Horatio Nelson who appointed him to serve on the flagship HMS Victory, and Amazon passed to William Parker, who continued the association with Nelson with service in the Mediterranean and participation in the chase to the West Indies during the Trafalgar Campaign. She went on to join Sir John Borlase Warren’s squadron in the Atlantic and took part in the defeat of Charles-Alexandre Léon Durand Linois's forces at the Action of 13 March 1806. During the battle, she hunted down and captured the 40-gun frigate Belle Poule.

HMS_Amazon_(1799)_pursuing_possible_Belle_Poule.jpg
HMS Amazon pursuing unnamed French vessel, possibly the Belle Poule, by Nicholas Pocock

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


1808 – Launch of French Pallas of the Pallas class constituted the standard design of 40-gun frigates of the French Navy during the Napoleonic Empire period.

The Pallas class constituted the standard design of 40-gun frigates of the French Navy during the Napoleonic Empire period. Jacques-Noël Sané designed them in 1805, as a development of his seven-ship Hortense class of 1802, and over the next eight years the Napoléonic government ordered in total 62 frigates to be built to this new design.

Pallas class, (40-gun design of 1805 by Jacques-Noël Sané on basis of the Hortense class, with 28 x 18-pounder and 12 x 8-pounder guns).

  • Pallas, (launched 9 April 1808 at Basse-Indre) - deleted in 1822.
  • Elbe, (launched 23 May 1808 at Basse-Indre) – renamed Calypso 30 August 1814; hulked 1825; demolished probably in 1841.
  • Renommée, (launched 21 August 1808 at Basse-Indre) – captured by British Navy 1811, becoming HMS Java.
  • Amélie, (launched 21 July 1808 at Toulon) – renamed Junon April 1814; "en flûte" 1837; deleted from the navy list 1842.
  • Clorinde, (launched 8 August 1808 at Paimboeuf) – captured by British Navy 1814, becoming HMS Aurora.
  • Elisa, (launched 1808 at Le Havre) – wrecked 1810.
  • Favorita, (launched 4 October 1808 at Venice for subsidiary "Italian" Navy) – to French Navy itself April 1810, renamed Favorite, burnt and destroyed by explosion at the Battle of Lissa in 1811.
  • Astrée, (launched 1809 at Cherbourg) – captured by British Navy 1810, becoming HMS Pomone.
  • Fidèle, (launched 1809 at Flushing after capture on stocks) – captured by British Navy 1809, becoming HMS Laurel.
  • Adrienne, (launched 1809 at Toulon) – renamed Aurore April 1814, then Dauphine September 1829 but reverted to Aurore August 1830; deleted 1848.
  • Nymphe, (launched 1810 at Basse-Indre); hulked 1832; taken apart 1873.
  • Iphigénie, (launched 1810 at Cherbourg) – captured by British Navy 1814, renamed HMS Palma, but shortly after becoming HMS Gloire.
  • Méduse, (launched 1810 at Paimboeuf) – wrecked 1816.
  • Pregel, (launched 1810 at St Malo) – renamed Eurydice August 1814; taken apart at Brest in 1825.
  • Ariane, (launched 1811 at Basse-Indre) – burnt to avoid capture in the action of 22 May 1812.
  • Médée, (launched 1811 at Genoa)- renamed Muiron 1850; foundered at Toulon in 1882.
  • Andromaque, (launched 1811 at Basse-Indre) – burnt to avoid capture in the action of 22 May 1812.
  • Yssel, (launched 1811 at Amsterdam, named Ijssel by the Dutch) – handed over to new Dutch Navy 1814; deleted in 1826.
  • Carolina, (launched 1811 at Naples) - .
  • Principessa di Bologna, (ordered 1810 at Venice for subsidiary "Italian" Navy) – to French Navy itself April 1810, renamed Princesse de Bologne and launched 1811 – captured by the Austrian Navy April 1814 at the fall of Venice.
  • Gloire, (launched 1811 at Le Havre) - condemned in 1822 and broken up at Brest.
  • Meuse, (launched 1811 at Amsterdam) – handed over to new Dutch Navy 1814 and renamed Maas; demolished in 1816.
  • Terpsichore, (launched 1812 at Antwerp) – captured by British Navy 1814, becoming HMS Modeste.
  • Érigone, (launched 1812 at Antwerp) - demolished at Brest 1825.
  • Aréthuse, (launched 1812 at Paimboeuf) - razeed to corvette in 1834; condemned and sold for demolition in 1851.
  • Jahde, (launched 1812 at Rotterdam) – renamed Psyché August 1814; deleted 1822.
  • Trave, (launched 1812 at Amsterdam) – captured by British Navy 1813, becoming HMS Trave.
  • Weser, (launched 1812 at Amsterdam) – captured by British Navy 1813, becoming HMS Weser.
  • Melpomene, (launched 1812 at Toulon) – captured by British Navy 1815, becoming HMS Melpomene.
  • Rubis, (launched 1812 at Basse-Indre) – wrecked 1813.
  • Ems, (launched 1812 at Rotterdam) – renamed Africaine August 1814; wrecked in 1822.
  • Atalante, (started as the Euridyce, launched 1812 at Lorient) – renamed Duchesse d'Angoulême July 1814; condemned and deleted in 1825.
  • Cérès, (launched 1812 at Brest) – captured by British Navy 1814, becoming HMS Seine.
  • Piave, (launched 1812 at Venice) - abandoned at the fall of Venice and taken by the Austrians; demolished in 1826.
  • Dryade, (launched 1812 at Genoa) – renamed Fleur de Lys in November 1814, reverted to Dryade March 1815 then Fleur de Lys again July 1815, finally Résolue August 1830; run aground and wrecked in a storm and demolished on site in 1833.
  • Sultane, (launched 30 May 1813 at Paimboeuf, near Nantes) – captured by British Navy 1814, becoming HMS Sultane.
  • Étoile, (launched 28 July 1813 at Paimboeuf, near Nantes) – captured by British Navy 1814, becoming HMS Topaze.
  • Rancune, (launched 30 September 1813 at Toulon) – renamed Néréide in August 1814; hulked in 1825.
  • Amphitrite, (launched October 1814 at Venice) – seized by the Austrians at Venice's capture, becoming Austrian Navy's Anfitrite and later Augusta.
  • Amstel, (launched 13 September 1814 at Rotterdam) - captured by the Dutch on the stocks at the fall of Rotterdam.
  • Ambitieuse, (launched November 1814 at Amsterdam) - taken on the stocks by the Dutch at the evacuation of Amsterdam and renamed Koningin, later renamed Wilhelmina; deleted ca. 1821.
  • Immortelle, (launched November 1814 at Amsterdam) - taken on the stocks by the Dutch at the evacuation of Amsterdam and renamed Frederika Sophia Wilhelmina; deleted from the Dutch Navy List in 1819.
  • Vestale, (launched October 1816 at Rotterdam) - abandoned on the stocks by the retreating French; the Dutch recommenced construction, later renaming her Rhijn in 1828, hulked in 1853 and demolished in 1874.
  • Fidèle, (launched 22 November 1817) - abandoned on the stocks by the retreating French; the Dutch recommenced construction, renaming her Schelde; deleted in 1853.
  • Cybele, (launched 11 April 1815 at Le Havre) – renamed Remise 1850.
  • Duchesse de Berry, (launched 25 August 1816 at Lorient) – renamed Victoire August 1830.
  • Constance, (launched 2 September 1818 at Brest) – hulked 1836, broken up after 1837.
  • Thétis, (launched 3 May 1819 at Toulon) – renamed Lanninon April 1865.
  • Astrée, (launched 28 April 1820 at Lorient).
  • Armide, (launched 1 May 1821 at Lorient).
1280px-Flore-IMG_2242.jpg
Hortense, sister-ship



1848 - A party of men from the sloop-of-war USS Dale march 12 miles inland from Guaymas, Mexico, to capture and spike a 3-gun Mexican battery that was firing at other ships.

USS Dale (1839)
(later Oriole) was a sloop-of-war in the United States Navy commissioned on 11 December 1839. Dale was involved in the Mexican–American War, the American Civil War, operations along Africa to suppress slave trade, and was used in the U.S. Coast Guard, among other activities. Dale was placed into ordinary (naval reserve) numerous times.

USS_Dale_(1839).jpg



1853 – Launch of HMS Malacca was a 17-gun sloop of the Royal Navy, launched in 1853. She later served as the Tsukuba of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

HMS Malacca
was a 17-gun sloop of the Royal Navy, launched in 1853. She later served as the Tsukuba of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Malacca was built to a design drawn up by the Surveyor’s Department and approved in 1848. She was ordered on 9 November 1847 from a Mr. Mould, at Moulmein, Burma and was laid down on 29 May 1849. She was launched on 9 April 1853, and completed by Mr. Ladd, the Government Inspector, the original builder, Mr. Mould, having failed in the meantime. She was sailed to Britain in May 1853, where she was given her engines and her fitting out was completed at Chatham Dockyard. She was undocked on 8 August 1854.

After several years of service she was re-engined in 1862, and reclassified as a corvette at about this time. After serving for a further seven years, she was sold in June 1869 to E. Bates. Bates sold her later that year to the Imperial Japanese Navy, who took her into service as the Tsukuba. She served as a stationary training ship after about 1900, and was broken up in 1906.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Malacca_(1853)


1940 – HNoMS Harald Haarfagre, known locally as Panserskipet Harald Haarfagre, was a Norwegian coastal defence ship, captured by German

HNoMS Harald Haarfagre
, known locally as Panserskipet Harald Haarfagre, was a Norwegian coastal defence ship. She, her sister ship Tordenskjold and the slightly newer Eidsvold class were built as part of the general rearmament in the time leading up to the events in 1905. Harald Haarfagre remained an important vessel in the Royal Norwegian Navy until she was considered unfit for war in the mid-1930s.

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


1940 – Nymphe and Thetis are captured during the Battle of Horten Harbour

The Battle of Horten Harbour or the Action at Horten was an engagement that occurred on 9 April 1940 during Operation Weserübung when the Germans launched an amphibious assault on Karljohansvern, the Norwegian naval base at Horten. After being initially repulsed by Norwegian naval units, German troops headed overland to outflank the base, forcing it to capitulate.

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


1940 – german cruiser Karlsruhe sunk

Karlsruhe was a light cruiser, the second member of the Königsberg class, and was operated between 1929 and April 1940, including service in World War II. She was operated by two German navies, the Reichsmarine and the Kriegsmarine. She had two sister ships, Königsberg and Köln. Karlsruhe was built by the Deutsche Werke shipyard in Kiel; she was laid down in July 1926, launched in August 1927, and commissioned into the Reichsmarine in November 1929. She was armed with a main battery of nine 15 cm SK C/25 guns in three triple turrets and had a top speed of 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph).

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Like her sisters, Karlsruhe served as a training cruiser for naval cadets throughout the 1930s. During the Spanish Civil War, she joined the non-intervention patrols off the Spanish coast. She was in the process of being modernized at the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, and so she was not ready for action until April 1940, when she participated in Operation Weserübung, the invasion of Norway. She landed troops at Kristiansand, and while returning to Germany, she was attacked by the British submarine HMS Truant; two torpedoes hit the ship and caused significant damage. Unable to return to port, Karlsruhe was scuttled by one of the escorting torpedo boats.

 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
10 April 1703 - HMS Salisbury (1698) encountered and was attacked by a squadron consisting of four French warships, including the Adroit, and three privateers.
After an engagement which left 17 killed and 34 wounded, Salisbury was taken by the French


HMS Salisbury
was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Richard and James Herring at Baileys Hard (near Bucklers Hard) on the Beaulieu River in Hampshire, England and launched on 18 April 1698.

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Salisbury was commissioned in 1699 under her first commander, Captain Richard Lestock. The following year she joined Admiral George Rooke's fleet in the Baltic, and remained with Rooke off Dunkirk in 1701. Lestock was succeeded by Captain Richard Cotton, but while off Orford Ness on 10 April 1703 she encountered and was attacked by a squadron consisting of four French warships, including the Adroit, and three privateers. After an engagement which left 17 killed and 34 wounded, Salisbury was taken by the French. She served with the French under the name Salisbury, and for a time was part of Claude de Forbin's squadron.

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On 1 May 1707, Salisbury very nearly fell back into English hands. Salisbury was part of the Dunkirk Squadron that attacked the English convoy commanded by Baron Wylde, during the Action of 2 May 1707. Captain George Clements lost his life in defence of HMS Hampton Court, but not before his crew so disabled Salisbury that she was left for a wreck, later recovered by the French who could not fit her out in time for their next warring exploit.

She was finally recaptured off Scotland on 15 March 1708 by HMS Leopard and other ships of Sir George Byng's squadron. She was renamed HMS Salisbury Prize, as a new HMS Salisbury had already been built. She was renamed HMS Preston on 2 January 1716.

On 8 May 1739 Preston was ordered to be taken to pieces and rebuilt at Plymouth according to the 1733 proposals of the 1719 Establishment, and was relaunched on 18 September 1742. From 1745 she was assigned to the Royal Navy's East Indies squadron which was based in the Dutch-held port of Trincomalee, Ceylon. In September 1748 she was declared unseaworthy and converted into a hulk. Over the following year she served as a storehouse for naval supplies and a support for the careening of other vessels, and was broken up in November 1749.

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Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, stern board with soem details, inboard profile with alterations to the stem and head, and a basic longitudinal half-breadth for Preston (1742), a 1733 Establishment, 50-gun Fourth Rate, two-decker. Reverse: Scale: 1:48. A part elevation of the quarterdeck illustrating the bell and rail, and the layout of the platforms

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Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, stern board with some decoration detail, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth proposed (and approved) for Preston (1742), a 1741 Establishment 50-gun Fourth Rate, two-decker. The rebuilding was proposed by the Master Shipwright Pierson Lock. Signed by Peirson Lock [Master Shipwright, Plymouth Dockyard, 1726-1742]

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Scale: 1:48. A block model of the ‘Preston’ (1742), a 50-gun, small two-decker. The ‘Preston’ was launched at Plymouth in 1742 and hulked in 1748. It was built to the 1733 Establishment. It was 134 feet long and 38½ feet in the beam, and weighed 853 tons burden. It carried a complement of 300 men. It had twenty-two 18-pound guns on its gun deck, twenty-six 12-pounders on its upper deck, fourteen 6-pounders on its quarterdeck, and four 6-pounders on its forecastle


https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-340400;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=P
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
10 April 1758 – Launch of HMS Thames, a 32-gun Richmond-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy built by Henry Adams and launched at Bucklers Hard


HMS
Thames
was a 32-gun Richmond-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy built by Henry Adams and launched at Bucklers Hard in 1758. She served in several wars, including for some four years in French service (as Tamise) after her capture. She was recaptured in 1796 and was broken up in 1803.

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The Action of 24 October 1793 between Uranie and HMS Thames

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British service
Thames was commissioned in April 1758. On 18 May 1759, she assisted in the capture of the French frigate Aréthuse, which was commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS Arethusa. She was deployed in the Mediterranean from August 1763 and paid off in March 1766 after wartime service.

She was repaired and recommissioned in October 1770 for the Falkland Islands dispute. She participated in the Spithead Review of 22 June 1773, and in a mission to Morocco in 1774. Paid off in July 1775, she was recommissioned in August 1776, and then paid off again in September 1782 after wartime service.

After several repairs at various times, she was recommissioned under Captain Thomas Troubridge in June 1790. The China fleet left Macao on 21 March. HMS Leopard and Thames escorted them as far as Java Head.

She was later again paid off, repaired, and refitted.

Capture
At the Action of 24 October 1793, while sailing to Gibraltar under Captain James Cotes, she met Jean-François Tartu's Uranie, off Gascony. In the ensuing engagement she lost her rigging and most of her starboard battery, yet killed Tartu and forced Uranie to disengage. The next day the frigate Carmagnole, under Zacharie Allemand, and accompanying vessels captured Thames, which was essentially a defenseless hulk. She was brought into French service as Tamise.

French service and recapture
Tamise was entrusted to Captain Jean-Marthe-Adrien l'Hermitte, who ordered some technical improvements. She went for two short cruises in the Channel where she succeeded in taking 22 British merchant vessels of various sizes. She also escaped a British squadron that ignored her because of her British construction lines. She was then the admiral's frigate, repeating orders, in Villaret de Joyeuse's fleet. She was charged with the reconnaissance of Lord Howe's fleet in the morning of the Glorious First of June 1794.

Under the command of Captain Fradin, Tamise took part in the disastrous campaign of "Grand Hiver" while still with Villaret Joyeuse's fleet. She also was sent on three individual chasing campaigns making several seizures and taking part in three inconclusive individual fights.

On 8 June 1796 Tamise was cruising with the Tribune in the approaches to the Channel when they encountered the British frigates, Santa Margarita and Unicorn, which chased the two French frigates. Unicorn captured Tribune, and Santa Margarita captured Tamise at the Action of 8 June 1796. The Royal Navy reinstated Tamise under her old name as HMS Thames.

British service again
Thames was recommissioned in December 1796 under Captain William Lukin and in June sailed for Jamaica. In April – May 1797 she was caught up in the Spithead and Nore mutinies. However, Lukin managed her well during this period and she was one of the first vessels to sail after the suppression of the mutiny. In the second half of 1797, Thames captured a small barge of one gun, name unknown, on the Jamaica station.

On 12 May 1800, Thames, Clyde and the hired armed cutter Suwarrow captured a French chasse maree, name unknown. On 1 June, Thames was a part of a squadron detached from Channel fleet to Quiberon Bay and the Morbihan. On 4 June Thames, Cynthia and some smaller vessels attacked the south-west end of Quiberon where the silenced the forts, which a landing party of troops later destroyed.

On 26 October Thames encountered a French privateer at about 9:30 in the morning. Thames pursued her quarry for five hours. During the pursuit they came upon Immortalite, which joined in. The two British vessels finally captured the ship Diable à Quatre some 36 leagues from the Cordouan lighthouse. She was armed with sixteen 6 and 12-pounder guns and had a crew of 150 men. She was only one day out of Bordeaux. The Royal Navy took her into service as Imogen.

On 26 or 29 October, Thames and Immortalite chased a French letter of marque schooner all day. They finally captured her and found that she had been sailing from Guadaloupe to Bordeaux with a cargo of coffee.[9] She was the schooner Unique.

A little over a month later, on 30 November she captured another French privateer in the Bay of Biscay after a six-hour pursuit. The prize, Actif, was armed with fourteen 6-pounder and two brass 12-pounder guns. She had a crew of 137 men and this was the first day of her first cruise. From her, Captain Lukin learned that in the previous three months only two British prizes had come into French or Spanish ports, one into Rochelle and one into Passage. The Royal Navy trook Actif into service as Morgiana.

On 18 January 1801, Thames captured the French navy corvette Aurore in the English Channel. Aurore was armed with 16 guns and was under the command of Lieutenant de vaisseau Charles Girault. She had as a passenger the governor of Mauritius's Aide de Camp, who was carrying dispatches to the French government there. The Royal Navy took Aurore into service as Charwell.

Captain Aiskew Paffard Hollis took command of Thames in June. On 5 July she became becalmed while trying to recall Superb to join the squadron under Rear Admiral Sir James Saumarez. On 8 July she observed a Franco-Spanish squadron of six sail of the line prepare to sail the next day for Algeciras, and sailed to Gibraltar to warn the admiral.

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Fine deed of arms by Captain Troude, Antoine Léon Morel-Fatio. Thames is in the right foreground.

Three days later Thames was part of Saumarez's squadron, which left Gibraltar to chase a Franco-Spanish squadron observed sailing from Algeciras. Thames took a minor part in the subsequent Battle of Algeciras Bay. The engagement resulted in the destruction of two first rates, and the capture of a third rate.

In subsequent months, assisted by the sloop-of-war Calpe, which had also participated in the battle, she destroyed a number of the enemy's coasters in the bay of Estepona.

Fate
Thames was paid off in January 1803 and broken up at Woolwich in September.


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Scale: 1:48. A contemporary full hull model of a ‘Richmond’-class 32-gun frigate (circa 1757), built in the Georgian style. The model is decked. Taken from the model, the vessel measured 129 feet along the gun deck by 34 feet in the beam, displacing 660 tons burden. It was armed with twenty-six 12-pounders on the upper deck, four 6-pounders on the quarterdeck and two 6-pounders on the forecastle. This type of vessel, an early ‘true frigate’, is similar to SLR0496. Although not identified with a particular ship, the dimensions represented are very close to those of the ‘Tweed’ (1759), but that ship probably had a round bow. A noticeable feature is the new style of figurehead. The familiar lion, which had been the standard form of bow decoration for smaller warships since about 1600, began to disappear after about 1750. It was commonly replaced by a human figure in classical dress. Frigates were fifth- or sixth-rate ships and so not expected to lie in the line of battle. With the advantage of superior sailing qualities over the larger ships of the line, they were used with the fleet for such tasks as lookout or, in battle, as repeating ships to fly the admiral’s signals. They also cruised independently in search of privateers.


The Richmond-class frigates were 32-gun sailing frigates of the fifth rate produced for the Royal Navy. They were designed in 1756 by the Navy's Surveyor, William Bately, and were his equivalent of the Southampton-class frigates designed by Bately's co-Surveyor, Thomas Slade. They were faster ships than the Southamptons, and were weatherly craft, remaining dry even in high seas. Three ships were ordered to this design between 1756 and 1757, while a second batch of three ships was ordered between 1761 and 1762 to a slightly modified design.

Ships in class
First batch

  • Richmond
    • Ordered: 12 March 1756
    • Built by: John Buxton, Deptford.
    • Keel laid: April 1756
    • Launched: 12 November 1757
    • Completed: 7 December 1757 at Deptford Dockyard.
    • Fate: Burnt at Sardinia to avoid capture on 19 May 1793.
  • Juno
    • Ordered: 1 June 1756
    • Built by: William Alexander, Rotherhithe.
    • Keel laid: June 1756
    • Launched: 29 September 1757
    • Completed: 6 November 1757 at Deptford Dockyard.
    • Fate: Burnt at Rhode Island to avoid capture on 5 August 1778.
  • Thames
    • Ordered: 11 January 1757
    • Built by: Henry Adams, Bucklers Hard.
    • Keel laid: February 1757
    • Launched: 10 April 1758
    • Completed: 29 May 1758 at Portsmouth Dockyard.
    • Fate: Taken to pieces at Woolwich Dockyard in September 1803.
Second (modified) batch
  • Lark
    • Ordered: 24 March 1761
    • Built by: Elias Bird, Rotherhithe.
    • Keel laid: 5 May 1761
    • Launched: 10 May 1762
    • Completed: 9 July 1762 at Deptford Dockyard.
    • Fate: Burnt at Rhode Island to avoid capture on 5 August 1778.
  • Boston
    • Ordered: 24 March 1761
    • Built by: Robert Inwood, Rotherhithe.
    • Keel laid: 5 May 1761
    • Launched: 11 May 1762
    • Completed: 16 July 1762 at Deptford Dockyard.
    • Fate: Taken to pieces at Plymouth Dockyard in May 1811.
  • Jason
    • Ordered: 30 January 1762
    • Built by: Robert Batson, Limehouse.
    • Keel laid: 1 April 1762
    • Launched: 13 June 1763
    • Completed: 19 September 1765 at Deptford Dockyard.
    • Fate: Sold at Chatham Dockyard on 10 February 1785.

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Deck (ZAZ2940)

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Scale 1:48. Plan showing the lower deck plan and orlop deck with fore & aft platforms for Richmond (1757), a 32-gun, Fifth Rate Frigate. NMM, Progress Book, volume 2, folio 332 shtates that 'Richmond' (1757) arrived at Deptford Dockyard on 29 January 1771 and was docked on 4 March 1771. She was undocked on 24 December 1772 and sailed to Chatham Dockyard on 17 April 1773 having undergone "a great repair" at the cost of £10,510.6.4. The Progress Boook also records "Surveyed in a Dock 8th April 1771, found to want between Midling [sic] and Large Repair. Estimate for the Hull £4,357 and 6 Months Time.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Thames_(1758)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richmond-class_frigate
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections.html#!csearch;searchTerm=Richmond_(1757
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-343202;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=R
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
10 April 1781 – Launch of HMS Arethusa , a 38-gun Minerva-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy built at Bristol in 1781


HMS
Arethusa
was a 38-gun Minerva-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy built at Bristol in 1781. She served in three wars and made a number of notable captures before she was broken up in 1815.

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Anson (left) and Arethusa (centre) capture Pomona

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American Revolutionary War
In February 1782, Arethusa captured the French ship Tartare, of fourteen 6-pounder guns. Tartare was the former British privateer Tartar, which the French ships Aimable and Diligente had captured in September 1780. The Royal Navy took Tartare into service as True Briton.

On 20 August 1782, Arethusa recaptured the former British warship Thorn. She was armed with 18 guns and carrying a crew of 71 men. She was also carrying a cargo of 10,000 pounds of indigo and eight hogsheads of tobacco.

French Revolutionary Wars
Arethusa was assigned to the British Western Frigate Squadron under Commodore John Borlase Warren. The squadron consisted of Flora, Captain Sir John Warren, Arethusa, Captain Sir Edward Pellew (later Lord Exmouth), Melampus, Captain Thomas Wells, Concorde, Sir Richard Strachan , and Nymphe, Captain George Murray. These were all 36-gun ships, apart from Nymphe and Arethusa with 38.

The Western Frigate Squadron engaged a French squadron off the Île de Batz on 23 April 1794. The squadron had sighted four strange sail which, upon closure, were identified as three French frigates and a corvette. The French squadron included the new French Frigate Pomone which, at 44 guns, was the most powerful ship in action that day. Flora and Arethusa were the first to close with Pomone and Babet, the corvette of 20 guns. The opening shots were fired just before 6 a.m. For about forty-five minutes, the four ships manoeuvred against one another without any severe damage being done. Then Flora lost her mainmast and was forced to drop astern. With Flora out of action, Pellew ordered Arethusa to close with the corvette. Arethusa’s carronades quickly destroyed her resistance. Leaving Babet to be finished by Melampus, Arethusa then engaged Pomone, coming to within pistol range at 8.30 a.m. and raking her repeatedly. Within twenty-five minutes one of the finest new French frigates was a ruin, her main and mizzen masts shot away and a fire burning on her aft deck. Just after 9 a.m., Pomone struck her colors.

Melampus and Arethusa captured Babet. The action had cost Babet some 30 to 40 of her crew killed and wounded. Arethusa also captured Pomonewhich had between eighty and a hundred dead or wounded out of her 350-man complement. Arethusa had three men killed and five wounded, a tribute to her superior gunnery. The captured vessels were brought her into Portsmouth, arriving on 30 April. The Royal Navy took Babet and Pomone into service under their existing names. Additionally Concorde captured Engageante in this action. Engageante suffered 30 to 40 men killed and wounded. Concorde lost one man killed and 12 wounded. Heavy mast damage to both vessels delayed their return to Portsmouth. Engageante was taken into British service as a hospital ship.

Some four months later, on 23 August, Arethusa and Flora sent their boats into Audierne Bay. There they attacked two French corvettes, Alerte and Espion, driving them ashore. The British took 52 prisoners.

On 21 October, the British frigate Artois captured Révolutionnaire at the Action of 21 October 1794. Artois shared the prize money with the other frigates in her squadron, Arethusa, Diamond, and Galatea.

On 31 January 1795 Arethusa was part of a squadron under Captain Sir John Borlase Warren that captured the Dutch East India Ship Ostenhuyson.

Later that year Arethusa, under the command of Captain Mark Robinson, was one of the Royal Navy vessels under Borlase Warren's command that participated in the unsuccessful Quiberon Expedition.

Arethusa was part of a fleet under the command of Rear Admiral Sir Henry Harvey, commander-in-chief for the Navy in the Leeward Islands, aboard Prince of Wales, that in February 1797 captured the Spanish-held Caribbean island of Trinidad. The flotilla sailed from Carriacou on 15 February and arrived off Port of Spain the next day. At Port of Spain they found a Spanish squadron consisting of four ships of the line and a frigate, all under the command of Rear-Admiral Don Sebastian Ruiz de Apodaca. Harvey sent Favourite and some of the other smaller ships to protect the transports and anchored his own ships of the line opposite the Spanish squadron. At 2am on 17 February the British discovered that four of the five Spanish vessels were on fire; they were able to capture the 74-gun San Domaso but the others were destroyed. Later that morning General Sir Ralph Abercrombie landed the troops. Captain Wolley of Arethusa superintended the landing. The Governor of Trinidad, José Maria Chacón, surrendered the next day. The flotilla shared in the allocation of £40,000 for the proceeds of the ships taken at Trinidad and of the property found on the island.

On 17 April, Arethusa, along with 60 other warships and transports, appeared off the Spanish colonial port city of San Juan, Puerto Rico. The fleet landed a 7,000-man invasion force of Royal Marines, German mercenaries, and black militia troops from the island of Tobago, commanded by General Sir Ralph Abercromby (also spelled "Abercrombie"). However, the resolute Spanish defense forced the British to withdraw after two weeks.

At daybreak on 10 August, Arethusa, commanded by Captain Thomas Wolley, was in the Atlantic Ocean at 30°49′N 55°50′W when she sighted three ships to windward. At 7:30 a.m. one of the ships bore down to within half gunshot, and opened fire. She proved to be the French 514-ton corvette Gaieté, commanded by Enseigne de vaisseau Jean-François Guignier. Having taken on a ship almost twice her size, mounting forty-four 18-pounder guns, there could only be one outcome, and the French ship was captured within half an hour, having sustained considerable damage to her sails and rigging, and lost two seamen killed and eight wounded. Arethusa lost one seaman killed, and the captain's clerk and two seamen wounded. The Royal Navy took Gaieté into service as Gaiete.

On 22 August 1798 a force of 1,100 French Soldiers landed in County Mayo to support a major rebellion in Ireland and the Militias across the whole of the South of England were mobilized. On 30 August the Arethusa arrived at Portsmouth from the coast of France and immediately sailed for Southampton River to embark the Dorset and Devon Militias

In May 1799 Arethusa came upon seven enemy vessels which made to engage her, but then turned away when she sailed towards them in "a spirited style". Arethusa captured one, an armed ship, which was carrying sundries from Saint-Domingue. Spitfire took the prize into Plymouth on the 23rd while Arethusa sailed off in search of the other six.

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Scale 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with inboard detail, longitudinal half breadth for Arethusa (1781), and later with alterations for Phaeton (1782), both 38-gun Fifth Rate Frigates

Napoleonic Wars
On 12 December 1805, Arethusa, Boadicea and Wasp left Cork, escorting a convoy of 23 merchant vessels. Four days later the convoy encountered a French squadron consisting of five ships of the line and four sailing frigates, as well as nine other vessels that were too far away for assessment. A letter writer to the Naval Chronicle, describing the encounter, surmised that the distant vessels were the Africa squadron that had been escorted by Lark and that they had captured. On this occasion, the British warships and six merchant vessels went one way and the rest went another way. The French chased the warships and the six for a day, ignored the 17, and eventually gave up their pursuit. Boadicea then shadowed the French while Wasp went back to French and Spanish coasts to alert the British warships there. Arethusa and her six charges encountered the French squadron again the next day, but after a desultory pursuit the French sailed off.

During the Action of 23 August 1806, Arethusa and Anson captured the Spanish frigate Pomona,[Note 3] as well as destroying a shore battery and defeating a fleet of gunboats. The captured frigate was taken into the Royal Navy as HMS Cuba.

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The capture of Curaçao, depicted by Thomas Whitcombe

On 1 January 1807 Arethusa, Latona, Anson, Fisgard, and Morne Fortunee captured Curaçao. The Dutch resisted and Arethusa lost two men killed and five wounded; in all, the British lost three killed and 14 wounded. On the ships alone, the Dutch lost six men killed, including Commandant Cornelius J. Evertz, who commanded the Dutch naval force in Curaçao and seven wounded, of whom one died later. With the colony, the British captured the frigate Kenau Hasselar, the sloop Suriname (a former Royal Naval sloop), and two naval schooners. In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the issue of the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Curacoa 1 Jany. 1807" to any surviving claimants from the action; 65 medals were issued.

On 29 November 1808, Arethusa was some eight or nine leagues NW of Alderney when she sighted and gave chase to a lugger making for the coast of France. After four hours Arethusa captured her quarry, which turned out to be the privateer Général Ernouf, of Calais, but eight days out of Cherbourg without having made any captures. She was armed with 16 guns and had a crew of 58 men under the command of Jacques Antoine de Boulogne. Boulogne had some 15 years experience of successful cruising against British trade, all without ever having been captured. Captain Robert Mends, in his letter, was fulsome in his praise of Général Ernouf, recommending that the Royal Navy acquire her.

On 4 April 1809, HMS Amethyst, HMS Emerald, and Arethusa encountered the newly-built French frigate Niémen. Amethyst and Emerald gave chase, with Emerald falling behind. Amethyst caught up the next day. Amethyst and Niémen engaged each other in a bitter battle. Arethusa arrived on the scene that evening, firing a couple of broadsides at the badly damaged French ship. Either at this point, or the next morning, Niémen surrendered. The Royal Navy took her into service as Niemen.

Between 26 and 27 February, Arethusa and Resistance captured four vessels off the coast of Spain: the 1-gun Mouche No. 4, the Etienneite, Charsier, master, Nancy, Subibelle, master, and a chasse-mareeof unknown name. Arethusa shared in the proceeds of the capture of Mouche No. 4, which was under the command of M. Sorrel. A boat under the command of Lieutenant Joseph William Bazalgette of HMS Resistance, captured Mouche on 26 February 1809 in an action that resulted in the death of the lieutenant de vaiseau commanding her.

Fate
Arethusa was broken up in 1815.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Arethusa_(1781)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
10 April 1781 – Launch of HMS Success, a 32-gun Amazon-class fifth-rate frigate of the British Royal Navy, which served during the American Revolutionary, French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.


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

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Success destroys the Santa Catalina, 16 March 1782

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Ship history
The ship, based on a design by Sir John Williams, Surveyor of the Navy, was ordered by the Admiralty on 22 February 1779, and built at Liverpool by John Sutton, being laid down on 8 May 1779, and launched 10 April 1781.

Service in the American War
Success was commissioned in March 1781 under the command of Captain Charles Morice Pole, to serve in the American Revolutionary War, where she made several captures. The first, on 12 August 1781, was in company with Daphne, when they took the Spanish merchant ship St. Sebastian. Then, on 2 October, Success, Daphne, and the cutter Cruizer, captured the French privateer Eclair. The following year, in the action of 16 March 1782, while escorting the storeship Vernon to Gibraltar, Success fought, captured, and burned the 34-gun Spanish frigate Santa Catalina off Cape Spartel. On 20 June 1782 she sailed with a convoy for Jamaica, and on 3 October 1782 Success and the cutter Pigmy captured the ship Vrouw Margaretha. Success was paid off in November 1783, following the end of the war.

Service in the wars against France
She remained in ordinary until November 1790 when a "great repair" began at Gravesend, which was not completed until December 1792, at a cost of £15,938, just in time for the beginning of the French Revolutionary Wars. She then began fitting out at Chatham Dockyard, where she was recommissioned in February 1793 under the command of Captain Francis Roberts, and was ready for sea by April.

On 25 August she sailed for the Caribbean, where Roberts died the following year, and on 1 September 1794 the notorious Captain Hugh Pigot was appointed to command her. She captured the French brig Poisson Volant on 30 September 1795.

From February 1797 she was commanded by Captain Philip Wilkinson, first serving in the English Channel and in the blockade of Cádiz. She recaptured the brig Providence on 24 September 1797, and shared with Indefatigable and Cambrian in the capture on 16 January 1798 of the 8-gun French privateer Inconceivable. On 2 June 1798 she sailed for North America, being part of the squadron that captured the Yonge Sybrandt on 12 June 1798.

In May 1799 Captain Shuldham Peard took command of Success, and was sent to serve in the Mediterranean. On 9 June of that year, Success was off Cap de Creus, when Peard spotted a polacca to the north-west. He gave chase, but the vessel took refuge in the harbour of El Port de la Selva, so he sent in his boats to cut her out. After a fierce action, in which Success suffered three killed and nine badly wounded, she proved to be the Bella Aurora, sailing from Genoa to Barcelona with a cargo of cotton, silk and rice, and armed with 10 guns, all 9- or 6-pounders. In his report Peard pointed out that the attack had been carried out in broad daylight by only 43 men against a vessel crewed by 113, protected by boarding netting, and supported from the shore by a small gun battery and a large number of men with muskets. Subsequently, in 1847, a clasp to the Naval General Service Medal marked "9 June 1799" awarded to any surviving members of the action who applied for it. Shortly after, Success was one of the fleet, part of which fought the action of 18 June 1799, in which three French frigates and two brigs were captured.

Success was then employed on the blockade of Malta, during which, on 18 February 1800, she played a crucial role in the capture of the French 74 Généreux, flagship of Rear-Admiral Perrée, Commander-in-Chief of the French naval forces in the Mediterranean, by raking her several times, before she was captured by the ships of the line Foudroyant and Northumberland. Success made several subsequent captures during the siege. On 28 April 1800 she took the French polacca La Bellone, from Valletta bound for Marseille, laden with cotton. On 25 June she captured the French aviso Entreprenant (or Intraprenant), under the command of Enseigne Louis Podesta, with four guns and a crew of 36 men, carrying provisions from Santa Messa to Valletta. The next day Success captured another aviso, Redoutable, under Enseigne Jean Pierre Louis Barallier, with the same armament, establishment, and mission as Entreprenant. Unfortunately for Success, she had to share the prize money with a large number of other British warships. The same day she captured the French felucca Fortune, which was apparently unarmed, but carrying provisions on the same route as the two avisos. During the night of 24 August, two French frigates, Justice and Diane, sailed from Valletta harbour, in an attempt to evade the British blockade. However they were seen and pursued, and after chase of several hours, and a running fight with Success, the Diane surrendered to her, Généreux and Northumberland. She mounted 42 guns, 18- and 9-pounders, but had a crew of only 114, having left the rest onshore as part of the garrison. Justice, however, escaped under cover of darkness. Finally, on 5 February 1801 she captured the Spanish felucca La Virgen del Rosario.

Capture and service in the French Navy
On 9 February 1801, while in the Bay of Gibraltar, Peard observed seven French ships of the line and two frigates, entering the Mediterranean, which he correctly assumed were bound for Egypt to relieve the French army there. Peard set sail in pursuit, intending to overtake them and find Lord Keith, the naval commander-in-chief, to inform him of their location. He caught up with the French squadron off Cape de Gata, and sailed past them during the night. For the next two days the French remained in sight at a distance. A fresh breeze sprang up during the night of the 12th, and Peard attempted to outdistance them, but discovered the French close by the next morning. They gave chase, and Peard set a course west hoping to encounter pursuing British ships. However at noon the wind fell, and the two French frigates crept closer. At 3 p.m. the French opened fire, and Peard, realising that his situation was hopeless, surrendered. When interrogated, Peard falsely claimed that British forces had landed on the coast of Egypt (which did not occur until 8 March), and that Rear-Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren, with a powerful squadron, was close by and in pursuit. Ganteaume changed course, and his squadron arrived at Toulon six days later, where Peard and his officers were promptly exchanged, arriving at Port Mahon by cartel on 26 February.

Success was subsequently commissioned into the French Navy as Succès. In July, under the command of Capitaine de frégate Jacques-François-Ignace Bretel, she sailed with the frigates Bravoure and Carrère from Toulon to Elba. On the voyage back, Carrère was captured on 3 August, while Bravoure and Succès escaped.

In September 1801, the British frigate Minerve was stationed off Elba. Early on 2 September she alerted Phoenix, which was anchored off Piombino, to the presence of two French frigates nearby. Phoenixand Minerve set out in pursuit and Pomone soon came up and joined them. Pomone re-captured Success while Minerve ran the 46-gun French frigate Bravoure onshore, with her crew of 283 men under the command of Monsieur Dordelin. Bravoure lost her masts and was totally wrecked; she struck without a shot being fired. Minerve took off a number of prisoners, including Dordelin and his officers, in her boats. With enemy fire from the shore and with night coming on, Captain Cockburn of Minerve decided to halt the evacuation of prisoners; he therefore was unwilling to set Bravoure on fire because some of her crew remained on board. Bretel was court-martialed for the loss of his ship, and acquitted on 10 December 1801.

Return to British service
By December 1801 Success was back in commission, under the command of Captain George Burlton, but was paid off following the signing of the peace treaty between Britain and France in March 1802. The peace did not last long, with Britain declaring war on France in May 1803. Success, following a refit at Portsmouth Dockyard, was recommissioned in August 1804 under the command of Captain George Scott, formerly of Stately, who commanded her until 13 March 1806, while stationed in the Caribbean.

On 18 April 1806, Captain John Ayscough assumed command of Success. Early on 20 November 1806, while just east of Guantánamo Bay (known as Cumberland Harbour to the British), Ayscough observed a felucca running into Hidden Port. He sent the ship's barge and yawl in pursuit, but on reaching the shore they discovered that about 50 armed men had landed from the felucca, which was lashed to a tree, and had taken a position at the top of a small hill overlooking the beach, upon which they had mounted a single long gun. They fired grape and ball down on the British, killing the First Lieutenant, Mr. Duke, with their first volley. The British withstood the enemy fire for an hour and twenty minutes, suffering seven more men wounded, and having the barge shot through in several places before Lieutenant Spence, then in command, deemed any attempt on the hill a useless sacrifice, so ordered the enemy ship to be towed out, which was achieved under heavy fire. She proved to be the French privateer Vengeur, which had sailed from Santo Domingo on 1 October, but being badly damaged she sank while under tow.

Success returned to England, escorting a convoy, at the end of the year, and was for several months employed in the blockade of Le Havre. On 21 October 1807 Success, Resistance and the cutter Sprightly, captured the French sloop Adelaide. Sir Samuel Hood then requested Success join his squadron in an expedition to Madeira in December 1807, where troops under Major-General William Beresford landed without opposition on 24 December, and after two days the Portuguese authorities capitulated. After returning to England with Hood's despatches, Success and the 48-gun frigate Loire, under Captain Alexander Wilmot Schomberg, were sent to patrol the seas around Greenland on fishery protection duties, venturing north of Svalbard, and reaching as far as 77° 30' North. In mid-1808 she embarked the Turkish Ambassador and his suite, together with the Earl of Roden, and sailed to the Mediterranean, escorting a convoy of merchantmen.

In March 1809 she sailed from Malta to Portsmouth carrying two Austrian messengers with dispatches, making the voyage in 23 days. She then returned to the Mediterranean in April with a convoy.

In early June 1809 Success took part in a joint expedition against Murat in Naples, from Sicily, led by Lieutenant-General John Stuart, with Rear Admiral George Martin commanding the naval forces. This operation was mounted to relieve the hard-pressed Austrians during the War of the Fifth Coalition, by capturing the islands of Ischia and Procida in the Gulf of Naples. The expedition sailed from Milazzo on 11 June, with a detachment under Lieutenant-Colonel Smith successfully attacking enemy positions in the Strait of Messina. On 25 June British troops, commanded by Major-General Robert Henry MacFarlane, landed on the island of Ischia supported by cannon fire from Warrior and Success, and British and Sicilian gun-boats. Captain Ayscough landed with the troops, but finding little to do on shore returned to his ship where he engaged the enemy's batteries, and succeeded in destroying several gun-boats. The British captured several coastal batteries and about 300 men, but the main body of the enemy under General Colonna, held out in the Castello Aragonese until 30 June before eventually surrendering. In total 1,500 men were taken prisoner, and almost 100 guns and their stores were captured. On 26 June 1809 gunboats under Ayscough's direction assisted Cyane in the capture and destruction of 18 armed gun-boats which were attempting to reach Naples from Gaeta.

On 30 July 1809 she captured two French privateers off the island of Kythira, one mounting nine carriage-guns and four swivels and a crew of 78, the other one gun and 20 men. In November 1809 Success conveyed the Turkish Ambassador and his suite from Smyrna to Malta.

On 4 April 1810, while off Falerna, Ayscough observed two 100-ton settees being loaded on the beach. He immediately sent the ship's boats under the command of Lieutenant George Sartorius, accompanied by the boats of Espoir, under the command of Lieutenant Robert Oliver. Unfortunately three of the boats were swamped close to shore when they struck a hidden reef, and two men from Espoirwere lost. The rest of the men swam ashore, but their powder now being wet, were only armed with cutlasses. The British came under fire from two long 6-pounders concealed behind some rocks, but nevertheless drove off the enemy, spiked the guns and set the ships on fire, before righting their boats and returning to the ships for the loss of only two men killed. Later, on 20 April, two sloops were captured and scuttled off Ischia.

On 25 April 1810, Success in company with the frigate Spartan, Captain Jahleel Brenton, and the brig-sloop Espoir, Commander Robert Mitford, observed a ship, three barks, and several feluccas at anchor under the castle of Terracina. The boats of the squadron were sent in under the Lieutenants William Augustus Baumgardt of Spartan and George Sartorius of Success, who, supported by the fire from the ships, and in spite of spirited resistance, brought out the ship and the barks, with a loss of only one man killed and two wounded.

On 1 May 1810, Success and Spartan pursued a French squadron, consisting of the 42-gun frigate Ceres, 28-gun corvette Fame, 8-gun brig Sparviere and the 10-gun cutter Achilles. The French managed to take shelter in the harbour of Naples, and Captain Brenton of Spartan, realising they would never come out while the two British ships were there, ordered Success to a point south-west of Capri. At dawn on 3 May Brenton observed the French coming out, accompanied by eight Neapolitan gun-boats, and in a hard-fought action succeeded in boarding and capturing the brig Sparviere, and causing severe damage to the other ships. Success was unable to play any part in the action being becalmed offshore. On 26 June Success and Scout, captured another ship, the Fortune.

Ayscough, with two other frigates and several sloops under his command, was then assigned to patrol the Strait of Messina, to protect Sicily against a threatened invasion by Murat, who had concentrated about 40,000 troops and 200 gun-boats. Murat launched his attack early on 18 September, with troops sailing from Scilla and Reggio, landing on the Punta del Faro, and at Mili Marina, south of Messina. However British troops reacted swiftly, and neutralized the attempted incursion with little loss to themselves, taking most of the enemy prisoner. Ayscough was next employed, with seven vessels under his command, reconnoitring the coast between Naples and Civita Vecchia, near Rome, but Success was seriously damaged during a severe gale while off Crete, and was obliged to return to England in mid-1811 for repairs.

Return to American waters
After repairs, Success was commissioned in August 1812, under the command of Captain Thomas Barclay, but reduced to 16 guns and employed as a troop ship. She operated on the coast of Spain in late 1812, then on the North American station from early 1813 during the War of 1812. There she was present at the attacks on Craney Island and Hampton, Virginia in June 1813, and on the 21st of that month shared in the capture of the American ship Herman.

Fate
Success was hulked at Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1814. She served there as a guard ship, prison ship, and as a powder hulk from 1817, before finally being broken up in 1820.


The Amazon-class frigates of 1773, made up of 32-gun fifth rates with a main battery of 12-pounder guns.

It comprised eighteen ships; Amazon, Ambuscade and Thetis were launched in 1773; the second batch - Cleopatra, Amphion, Orpheus, Juno, Success, Iphigenia, Andromache, Syren, Iris, Greyhound, Meleager, Castor, Solebay, Terpsichore and Blonde - were launched in 1779 to 1787





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

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon-class_frigate_(1773)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
10 April 1781 – Launch of HMS Perseverance, a 36-gun frigate of the British Royal Navy.


HMS Perseverance
was a 36-gun frigate of the British Royal Navy. She served on the North American station until 1787, after which she returned to England where she was refitted at Portsmouth. In 1789 Perseverance was sent to the East Indies, she returned to Portsmouth in 1793 when she was laid up before finishing her career there as a receiving ship. She was sold and broken up in May 1823.

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Background
Britain's early preference for smaller warships was dictated by its need to maintain a large navy at a reasonable cost. By the latter half of the 1770s however, Britain was facing a war with France, Spain and the United States of America, and found herself in need of a more powerful type of frigate.

In 1778, the Navy Board ordered the first of two new types of frigate, the 38-gun Minerva-class, designed by Edward Hunt, and the 36-gun Flora-class, designed by John Williams. Both had a main battery of 18 pounder guns. Shortly after, in 1779, Hunt was asked to design a 36-gun frigate as a comparison to William's Flora-class. The result was the Perseverance-class and HMS Perseverance, was the first of these fifth rates, ordered for the Royal Navy on 3 December 1779. It was followed by Phoenix in June 1781, Inconstant in December and Leda in March 1782.

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Print. HMS 'Perseverance' was a 36-gun frigate built by John Randall of Rotherhithe and launched on 10 April 1781

Construction
Perseverance was built at Rotherhithe by John Randall and Co and was 137 ft 0 in (41.76 m) along the gun deck, 113 ft 4.25 in (34.5504 m) at the keel, and had a beam of 38 ft 0 in (11.58 m). With a depth in the hold of 13 ft 5 in (4.09 m), she was 871 42⁄94 (bm). The keel was laid down in August 1780 and she was launched in April the following year when she was taken to Deptford to be fitted out and sheathed in copper. Her initial build cost £11,544.15.2d, at the time, plus a further £9,743.1.11d for fitting.

Designed to take a complement of 260 men, her armament consisted of a 26-gun main battery of 18-pounders with eight 9-pound guns and four 18-pound carronades on the quarter deck. The fo'c'sle carried two 9-pounders, four 18-pound carronades and fourteen 1⁄2 pound swivel guns. The swivels and carronades were not part of Hunts design and were added to it a couple of months before the ship was ordered. Hunt also intended 6-pound guns for the quarter deck and fo'c'sle but these were upgraded to 9-pounders in April 1780.

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Lines (ZAZ2806)

Career
Perseverance was first commissioned in March 1781 under Skeffington Lutwidge who had recently arrived in Britain with American prisoners of war. Lutwidge returned to the North American station with Perseverance, re-capturing the 20-gun HMS Lively on 29 July during his voyage across the Atlantic. Over the following two years Perseverance captured a number of American privateers including the General Green on 30 August 1781, the Raven on 1 April 1782 and the Diana on 29 August 1782. Perseverance was paid off in September 1783. She was briefly recommissioned in November 1787, serving less than two months under William Young. In December she was taken to Portsmouth, where she spent the next 12 months undergoing a refit at a cost of £2,096. Issac Smith took command in October and in February 1787 took her to the East Indies where she later took part in the Battle of Tellicherry.

In November 1791, Perseverance was anchored under the guns of the Tellicherry Fort with the 38-gun Minerva and the 36-gun Phoenix, while the East India Company was carrying out operations against Tipoo Sahib. The British suspected that the French were aiding the Sultan and had positioned a squadron between Mangalore and Mahé to intercept shipping and search it for contraband of war. When the French frigate, Résolue, was spotted in the company of two merchant vessels, Perseverance and Phoenix were sent to investigate. Résolue refused to heave to and began firing at the British frigates which responded in kind and after about twenty minutes, Résolue was forced to strike. Having searched the Résolue and found everything to be above board, the British would have returned to their ships and left, but the French captain refused to continue in his vessel and insisted on it being treated as a prize of war. Britain was not at war with France however so the merchant vessels were allowed to continue and the British towed Résolue to Mahé where she was left at anchor with her topmasts struck. The French commodore at Mahé was furious and complained bitterly, both to the British commodore, William Cornwallis, and his own superiors in Paris. The altercation could well have escalated into a diplomatic row but with France in the throes of a revolution, the incident was not taken much notice of.

Fate
Perseverance was paid off after the conclusion of the war in September 1793 and was laid up in ordinary at Portsmouth, serving as a receiving ship between 1800 and 1822. She was sold for £2,530 and broken up on 21 May 1823.


Perseverance class 36-gun fifth rates 1781-83, designed by Edward Hunt.

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Inboard profile plan (ZAZ2807)


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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
10 April 1781 – Launch of HMS Agamemnon, a 64-gun third-rate ship of the line of the British Royal Navy.


HMS Agamemnon
was a 64-gun third-rate ship of the line of the British Royal Navy. She saw service in the Anglo-French War, French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and fought in many of the major naval battles of those conflicts. She is remembered as being Nelson's favourite ship, and was named after the mythical ancient Greek king Agamemnon, being the first ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name.

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"Duckworth's Action off San Domingo, 6 February 1806" by Nicholas Pocock. HMS Agamemnon is visible in the background, third from left.

The future Lord Nelson served as Agamemnon's captain from January 1793 for 3 years and 3 months, during which time she saw considerable service in the Mediterranean. After Nelson's departure, she was involved in the infamous 1797 mutinies at Spithead and the Nore, and in 1801 was present at the first Battle of Copenhagen, but ran aground before being able to enter the action.

Despite Nelson's fondness for the ship, she was frequently in need of repair and refitting, and would likely have been hulked or scrapped in 1802 had war with France not recommenced. She fought at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805, as part of Nelson's weather column, where she forced the surrender of the Spanish four-decker Santísima Trinidad. Agamemnon's later career was served in South American waters off Brazil.

Her worn-out and poor condition contributed to her being wrecked when in June 1809 she grounded on an uncharted shoal in the mouth of the River Plate, whilst seeking shelter with the rest of her squadron from a storm. All hands and most of the ship's stores were saved, but the condition of the ship's timbers made it impossible to free the ship; her captain was cleared of responsibility for the ship's loss thanks to documents detailing her defects. Recently, the wreck of Agamemnon has been located, and several artefacts have been recovered, including one of her cannons.

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Construction
Agamemnon was ordered from the commercial shipbuilder Henry Adams at his Bucklers Hard shipyard on the Beaulieu River on 5 February 1777, to be built to the lines of the Ardent class, as designed by Sir Thomas Slade. Her keel was laid down in May. She was constructed using timber sourced from the surrounding New Forest. The total cost of her construction was £38,303 15s 4d. She was commissioned on 28 March 1781 under Captain Benjamin Caldwell—a full 13 days before her launch on 10 April.

A painting of the launch of Agamemnon by Harold Wyllie depicts blue skies and scores of spectators, despite the Hampshire Chronicle describing the day as being windy with heavy rain, and with few spectators in attendance.

She was named after King Agamemnon, a prominent figure in ancient Greek mythology who participated in the Siege of Troy, and was the first Royal Navy vessel to bear the name. Lord Nelson regarded her as his favourite ship, and to her crew she was known by the affectionate nickname 'Eggs–and–Bacon'. According to an article in The Gentleman's Magazine, her crew renamed her as they did not like the classical names that were in vogue at the Admiralty during this period (the crews of Bellerophon and Polyphemus also 'renamed' their ships, to 'Billy Ruffian' and 'Polly Infamous' respectively, for the same reason).

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Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth for Raisonnable (1768), and later for Agamemnon (1781) and Belliqueux (1780), all 64-gun Third Rate, two-deckers. Signed by Thomas Slade [Surveyor of the Navy, 1755-1771], and John Williams [Surveyor of the Navy, 1765-1784]

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The third, but second in order of events, in a series of ten drawings (PAF5871–PAF5874, PAF5876, PAF5880–PAF5881 and PAF5883–PAF5885) of mainly lesser-known incidents in Nelson's career, apparently intended for a set of engravings. Pocock's own numbered description of the subject in a letter of 2 June 1810 is: ' 3. The "Agamemnon" Engages 4 French Frigates and a Corvette.' For the rather complex circumstances of the commission, and Pocock's related letters, see PAF5871, ' View of St Eustatius with the "Boreas" '. A larger version of this action of Sardinia, from a different viewpoint, belongs to the Royal Naval Club, Portsmouth. Pocock also exhibited the subject at the O.W.C.S in 1811 (no. 17). Signed by the artist and dated, lower right. Exhibited: NMM Pocock exhib. (1975) no. 45.


The Ardent-class ships of the line were a class of seven 64-gun third rates, designed for the Royal Navy by Sir Thomas Slade.

Design
Slade based the design of the Ardent class on the captured French ship Fougueux.

Ships
Builder: Blades, Hull
Ordered: 16 December 1761
Launched: 13 August 1764
Fate: Sold out of the service, 1784
Builder: Chatham Dockyard
Ordered: 11 January 1763
Launched: 10 December 1768
Fate: Broken up, 1815
Builder: Adams, Bucklers Hard
Ordered: 8 April 1777
Launched: 10 April 1781
Fate: Wrecked, 1809
Builder: Perry, Blackwall Yard
Ordered: 19 February 1778
Launched: 5 June 1780
Fate: Broken up, 1816
Builder: Raymond, Northam
Ordered: 10 December 1778
Launched: 27 December 1784
Fate: Broken up, 1814
Builder: Adams, Bucklers Hard
Ordered: 3 August 1780
Launched: July 1784
Fate: Broken up, 1816
Builder: Hilhouse, Bristol
Ordered: 14 November 1782
Launched: 28 September 1785
Fate: Wrecked, 1799

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Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the imboard profile for 'Ardent' (1764), 'Raisonable' (1768) 'Belliqueux' (1780, 'Agamemnon' (1781), 'Indefatigable' (1784), 'Stately' (1784), and 'Nassau' (1785), all 64-gun Third Rate, two-deckers. The plan includes later (undated) alterations for converting a ship of this class to a troopship. The only ship to be converted was 'Nassau' (1785) in 1799.



Jotika / Caldercraft is producing a very good kit in scale 1:64

http://www.jotika-ltd.com/Pages/1024768/Nelson_5.htm

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
10 April 1795 - The Action of 10 April 1795 was a minor naval engagement during the French Revolutionary Wars in which a squadron of French Navy frigates was intercepted by a British battle squadron under Rear-Admiral John Colpoys which formed part of the blockade of the French naval base of Brest in Brittany.
British squadron under Rear Ad. Colpoys engaged three French frigate in the Channel. HMS Astraea (32), Cptn. Lord Henry Paulet, captured Gloire (36) and HMS Hannibal (74), Cptn. Markham, captured Gentille (36). Fraternite (36) escaped.



The Action of 10 April 1795 was a minor naval engagement during the French Revolutionary Wars in which a squadron of French Navy frigates was intercepted by a British battle squadron under Rear-Admiral John Colpoys which formed part of the blockade of the French naval base of Brest in Brittany. The French squadron split up in the face of superior British numbers, the three vessels seeking to divide and outrun the British pursuit. One frigate, Gloire was followed by the British frigate HMS Astraea and was ultimately brought to battle in a closely fought engagement. Although the ships were roughly equal in size, the British ship was easily able to defeat the French in an engagement lasting just under an hour.

The other French ships were pursued by British ships of the line and the chase lasted much longer, into the morning of 11 April when HMS Hannibal caught the frigate Gentille. Hannibal was far larger than its opponent and the French captain surrendered immediately rather than fight a futile engagement. The third French frigate, Fraternité successfully escaped. After refitting in Portsmouth, Colpoys' ships returned to their station off Brest, the blockade remaining in place for the remainder of the year.


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The image shows two naval warships in battle, one French, one British, firing broadsides at each other. Both have holes in their sails. On the left is a starboard stern view of La Gloire, flying the French flag at its stern. On the right is a starboard stern view of the Astraea, flying the British Royal Navy ensign at its stern. The Astraea captured La Gloire in the Channel on 10th April 1795. (Source: Winfield, R. (2005), British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793-1817).


Background
Great Britain and France had been at war for more than two years by April 1795, and British dominance at sea was well established, with the Royal Navymaintaining substantial blockade fleets off all of the principal French naval ports. The biggest port on the French Atlantic coast was at Brest in Brittany, from which French raiders could attack British shipping in the English Channel and Western Atlantic. The most efficient commerce raiders were frigates, light and fast warships that could strike rapidly and with devastating effect if left unopposed. One of the major roles of the British blockade squadrons was the detection and elimination of French frigates as they emerged from their bases.

In April 1795, the inshore squadron of the British blockade at Brest was commanded by Rear-Admiral John Colpoys, who had at his command five ships of the line: HMS London, HMS Valiant, HMS Colossus, HMS Hannibal and HMS Robust and frigates HMS Astraea and HMS Thalia. Colpoys' ships had formed an effective blockade: on 29 March they had taken the French corvette Jean Bart and the following day recaptured a lost British merchant ship. At 10:00 on 10 April, the British squadron was cruising off the approaches to Brest when three ships were spotted to the west.

Colpoys immediately ordered his squadron to give chase and at 12:00 the strange ships were identified as a squadron of French frigates. The French ships were the 36-gun Gloire, Gentille and Fraternité, led by Captain Beens of Gloire and on a three-month raiding cruise from Brest in the Bay of Biscay that had so-far been uneventful: the only prize taken had been a small Spanish merchant brig. Beens quickly discovered the danger his squadron was in, and gave orders for them to sail westwards away from the British squadron. However, the wind favoured Colpoys and his vastly superior squadron rapidly gained on the French frigates. The first British ship to come within range was the 74-gun HMS Colossus under Captain John Monkton, which managed to exchange distant gunfire with the rearmost French ship before the gap widened once more.

Battle
Seeing that his ships were in danger of being caught by the much larger British ships of the line, Captain Beens gave orders for the squadron to separate. Gentille and Fraternité splitting from Gloire to the west with the ships of the line HMS Hannibal and HMS Robust in close pursuit while Gloire swung northwest, eluding most of the British squadron except for the 32-gun frigate HMS Astraea under Captain Lord Henry Paulet, which managed to stay in contact throughout the afternoon.

At 18:00, with the rest of the pursuit far behind, Paulet succeeded in bringing Gloire within range of the cannon on his ship's quarterdeck. Opening fire with these guns brought a response from Beens' sternchaser guns, the frigates exchanging cannon shot for four and a half hours as Astraea slowly caught up with its elusive opponent. At 22:30, Paulet was finally close enough to lay Astraea alongside Gloire and the two frigates exchanged fire at close range for the next 58 minutes, Paulet concentrating his gunnery on the hull of the French ship while Beens' ordered his men to disable the British ship's rigging and masts. Gloire was a substantially larger ship than Astraea, both in weight of shot and gross tonnage, and the battle was fiercely contested: Beens suffered a head injury and all three of Astraea's topmasts taking serious damage, so much so that the main topmast collapsed in the aftermath of the action. However at 23:28, with two British ships of the line visible in the distance, Beens surrendered his ship to Paulet.

Both ships had suffered damage, with the injuries to Astraea's masts requiring urgent repairs while Gloire had also suffered damage to its rigging and sails. The French ship had also taken heavy casualties, with 40 men killed or wounded, including the captain. In contrast, Astraea had not lost a single man, although one of the eight wounded subsequently died. Paulet effected repairs to both ships and gave temporary command of Gloire to Lieutenant John Talbot, who was subsequently promoted. He then brought both ships to the Portsmouth, where Colpoys was reconstituting his scattered squadron.

Aftermath
It was while sailing off the Isle of Wight that Colpoys learned from Captain Edward Thornbrough of Robust that Hannibal had succeeded in catching the French frigate Gentille early on the morning of 11 April. The French captain surrendering without a fight before the overwhelming British force that he faced, shocked that his frigate had been caught by a ship of the line in open waters. In response, Hannibal's captain, John Markham, proudly claimed that "Hannibal sails like a witch". Hannibal subsequently joined Robust in the chase of Fraternité, succeeding in firing several shot at the French ship before falling behind in a period of calm weather. After a chase of several days, Fraternité's captain lightened his ship by throwing guns and stores overboard and ultimately escaped pursuit, later rejoining the Brest fleet and participating in a number of subsequent campaigns. Both Gloire and Gentille were purchased for the Royal Navy, the entirety of Colpoy's squadron sharing in the prize money by prior arrangement. Neither ship was in particularly good condition however and neither had long service in the British fleet. Colpoys returned to the inshore blockade of Brest with his squadron following a brief refit at Portsmouth, remaining off the port for the remainder of the year



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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
10 April 1800 - Launch of USS President, a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy, nominally rated at 44 guns


USS President was a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy, nominally rated at 44 guns. George Washington named her to reflect a principle of the United States Constitution. She was launched in April 1800 from a shipyard in New York City. President was one of the original six frigates whose construction the Naval Act of 1794 had authorized, and she was the last to be completed. Joshua Humphreys designed these frigates to be the young Navy's capital ships, and so President and her sisters were larger and more heavily armed and built than standard frigates of the period. Forman Cheeseman, and later Christian Bergh were in charge of her construction. Her first duties with the newly formed United States Navy were to provide protection for American merchant shipping during the Quasi War with France and to engage in a punitive expedition against the Barbary pirates in the First Barbary War.

On 16 May 1811, President was at the center of the Little Belt Affair; her crew mistakenly identified HMS Little Belt as HMS Guerriere, which had impressed an American seaman. The ships exchanged cannon fire for several minutes. Subsequent U.S. and Royal Navy investigations placed responsibility for the attack on each other without a resolution. The incident contributed to tensions between the U.S. and Great Britain that led to the War of 1812.

During the war, President made several extended cruises, patrolling as far away as the English Channel and Norway; she captured the armed schooner HMS Highflyer and numerous merchant ships. In January 1815, after having been blockaded in New York for a year by the Royal Navy, President attempted to run the blockade, and was chased by a blockading squadron. During the chase, she was engaged and crippled by the frigate HMS Endymion off the coast of the city. The British squadron captured President soon after, and the Royal Navy took her into service as HMS President until she was broken up in 1818. President's design was copied and used to build the next HMS President in 1829.

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President rides out a storm at anchor.

Design and construction
Main article: Original six frigates of the United States Navy
During the 1790s, American merchant vessels began to fall prey to Barbary Pirates in the Mediterranean, most notably from Algiers. Congress's response was the Naval Act of 1794. The Act provided funds for the construction of six frigates; however, it included a clause stating that construction of the ships would cease if the United States agreed to peace terms with Algiers.

Joshua Humphreys' design was long on keel and narrow of beam (width) to allow for mounting very heavy guns. The design incorporated a diagonal scantling (rib) scheme to limit hogging (warping); the ships were given extremely heavy planking. This gave the hull greater strength than those of more lightly built frigates. Humphreys developed his design after realizing that the fledgling United States Navy could not match the navies of the European states for size. He therefore designed his frigates to be able to overpower other frigates, but with the speed to escape from a ship of the line.

George Washington named President in order to reflect a principle of the United States Constitution. In March 1796, before President's keel could be laid down, a peace accord was announced between the United States and Algiers. Construction was suspended in accordance with the Naval Act of 1794. At the onset of the Quasi-War with France in 1798, funds were approved to complete her construction, and her keel was laid at a shipyard in New York City. Her original naval constructor was Forman Cheeseman and the superintendent was Captain Silas Talbot.

Based on experience Humphreys gained during construction of President's sister ships, Constitution and United States, he instructed Cheeseman to make alterations to the frigate's design. These included raising the gun deck by 2 in (5.1 cm) and moving the main mast 2 ft (61 cm) further rearward. President was built to a length of 175 ft (53 m) between perpendiculars and a beam of 44.4 ft (13.5 m).

Although construction was begun at New York in the shipyard of Foreman Cheesman, work on her was discontinued in 1796. Construction resumed in 1798, under Christian Bergh and naval constructor William Doughty.

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President fires on Little Belt

Armament
See also: Naval artillery in the Age of Sail
President's nominal rating was that of a 44-gun ship. However, she usually carried over 50 guns. During her service in the War of 1812, President was armed with a battery of 55 guns: thirty-two 24-pounder (10.9 kg) cannon, twenty-two 42-pounder (19 kg) carronades, and one 18-pounder (8 kg) long gun.

During her Royal Navy service as HMS President, she was initially rated at 50 guns, although she was at this stage armed with 60 guns—thirty 24-pounders (10.9 kg) on the upper deck, twenty-eight 42-pounder (19 kg) carronades on the spar deck, plus two more 24-pounder guns on the forecastle. In February 1817, she was again re-rated, this time to 60 guns.

Unlike modern Navy vessels, ships of this era had no permanent battery of guns. Guns were portable and were often exchanged between ships as situations warranted. Each commanding officer modified his vessel's armaments to his liking, taking into consideration factors such as the overall tonnage of cargo, complement of personnel aboard, and planned routes to be sailed. Consequently, a vessel's armament would change often during its career; records of the changes were not generally kept.

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Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sternboard outline, sheer lines with scroll figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for President (captured 1815), a captured United States Fourth Rate, as taken off at Portsmouth Dockyard. The inboard detail includes the knees and riders. Signed by Nicholas Diddams [Master Shipwright, Portsmouth Dockyard, 1803-1823].

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Scale: 1:24. Plan showing the half-breadth midship sections for President (captured 1815), a captured American 44-gun Frigate, and Akbar (1806), a purchased 56-gun Fourth Rate Frigate. Portsmouth Dockyard is the only time that the two ships were together between December 1816 and 1817 before 'President 'was broken up in June 1818.

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Print. The ships shown in the image are, from left to right: the 'Majestic', 'President', 'Pomone, 'Endymion' (partly dismasted) and 'Tenedos'. This is the second of a pair of prints recording the capture of the 'President' based on oil paintings by Buttersworth. The original oil on which this one was based may be BHC3557.

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Hand-coloured. HMS Endymion is shown stern-on in the left of the image, with her rigging severely damaged


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_President_(1800)
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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
10 April 1838 – Launch of HMS Penguin, a six-gun Alert-class packet brig built for the Royal Navy during the 1830s


HMS Penguin
was a six-gun Alert-class packet brig built for the Royal Navy during the 1830s

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Description
Penguin had a length at the gundeck of 95 feet (29.0 m) and 75 feet (22.9 m) at the keel. She had a beam of 30 feet 4 inches (9.2 m), a draught of 10 feet 11 inches (3.3 m) and a depth of hold of 14 feet 8 inches (4.5 m). The ship's tonnage was 360 4⁄94 tons burthen. The Alert class was initially armed with a pair of 6-pounder cannon and four 12-pounder carronades. Later they were equipped with six 32-pounder or eight 18-pounder cannon. The ships had a crew of 44 officers and ratings.

Construction and career
Penguin, the fourth ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy, was ordered on 14 April 1836, laid down in November 1836 at Pembroke Dockyard, Wales, and launched on 10 April 1838. She was completed on 21 September 1838 at Plymouth Dockyard and commissioned on 24 July of that year.

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The Falmouth packet, Penguin, is depicted under full sail in a following wind, in starboard side view. A smaller, single-masted coastal vessel, also flying a British flag, with its spinnaker booms out, follows in the wake of the Penguin. A castle, with a flag hoisted on its tower, is perched above the sheer cliffs of the coastline. The buildings of a settlement can be seen on the far left of the painting. This watercolur includes bodycolour and scraped highlights.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Penguin_(1838)
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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
10 April 1912 – RMS Titanic sets sail from Southampton, England on her maiden and only voyage.


RMS Titanic
was a British passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in 1912, after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers and crew aboard, more than 1,500 died, making it one of modern history's deadliest commercial marine disasters during peacetime. RMS Titanic was the largest ship afloat at the time she entered service and was the second of three Olympic-class ocean liners operated by the White Star Line. She was built by the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast. Thomas Andrews, chief naval architect of the shipyard at the time, died in the disaster.

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RMS Titanic departing Southampton on 10 April 1912

Titanic was under the command of Capt. Edward Smith, who also went down with the ship. The ocean liner carried some of the wealthiest people in the world, as well as hundreds of emigrants from Great Britain and Ireland, Scandinavia and elsewhere throughout Europe who were seeking a new life in the United States. The first-class accommodation was designed to be the pinnacle of comfort and luxury, with an on-board gymnasium, swimming pool, libraries, high-class restaurants and opulent cabins. A high-powered radiotelegraph transmitter was available for sending passenger "marconigrams" and for the ship's operational use. Although Titanic had advanced safety features such as watertight compartments and remotely activated watertight doors, it only carried enough lifeboats for 1,178 people—about half the number on board, and one third of her total capacity—due to outdated maritime safety regulations. The ship carried 16 lifeboat davits which could lower three lifeboats each, for a total of 48 boats. However, Titanic carried only a total of 20 lifeboats, four of which were collapsible and proved hard to launch during the sinking.

After leaving Southampton on 10 April 1912, Titanic called at Cherbourg in France and Queenstown (now Cobh) in Ireland before heading west to New York. On 14 April, four days into the crossing and about 375 miles (600 km) south of Newfoundland, she hit an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. ship's time. The collision caused the hull plates to buckle inwards along her starboard (right) side and opened five of her sixteen watertight compartments to the sea; she could only survive four flooding. Meanwhile, passengers and some crew members were evacuated in lifeboats, many of which were launched only partially loaded. A disproportionate number of men were left aboard because of a "women and children first" protocol for loading lifeboats. At 2:20 a.m., she broke apart and foundered with well over one thousand people still aboard. Just under two hours after Titanic sank, the Cunard liner RMS Carpathia arrived and brought aboard an estimated 705 survivors.

The disaster was met with worldwide shock and outrage at the huge loss of life and the regulatory and operational failures that led to it. Public inquiries in Britain and the United States led to major improvements in maritime safety. One of their most important legacies was the establishment in 1914 of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), which still governs maritime safety. Additionally, several new wireless regulations were passed around the world in an effort to learn from the many missteps in wireless communications—which could have saved many more passengers.

The wreck of Titanic was discovered in 1985 (more than 70 years after the disaster) during a US military mission, and it remains on the seabed. The ship was split in two and is gradually disintegrating at a depth of 12,415 feet (3,784 m). Thousands of artefacts have been recovered and displayed at museums around the world. Titanic has become one of the most famous ships in history; her memory is kept alive by numerous works of popular culture, including books, folk songs, films, exhibits, and memorials. Titanic is the second largest ocean liner wreck in the world, only beaten by her sister HMHS Britannic, the largest ever sunk, although she holds the record as the largest sunk while actually in service as a liner due to Britannic being used as a hospital ship at the time of her sinking. The final survivor of the sinking, Millvina Dean, aged two months at the time, died in 2009 at the age of 97.


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RMS Titanic leaving Belfast for her sea trials on 2 April 1912

Maiden voyage
Both Olympic and Titanic registered Liverpool as their home port. The offices of the White Star Line as well as Cunard were in Liverpool, and up until the introduction of the Olympic, most British ocean liners for both Cunard and White Star, such as Lusitania and Mauretania, sailed out of Liverpool followed by a port of call in Queenstown, Ireland. Since the company's founding in 1871, a vast majority of their operations had taken place out of Liverpool. However, in 1907 White Star established another service out of the port of Southampton on England's south coast, which became known as White Star's "Express Service". Southampton had many advantages over Liverpool, the first being its proximity to London.

In addition, Southampton, being on the south coast, allowed ships to easily cross the English Channel and make a port of call on the northern coast of France, usually at Cherbourg. This allowed British ships to pick up clientele from continental Europe before recrossing the channel and picking up passengers at Queenstown. The Southampton-Cherbourg-New York run would become so popular that most British ocean liners began using the port after World War I. Out of respect for Liverpool, ships continued to be registered there until the early 1960s. Queen Elizabeth 2 was one of the first ships registered in Southampton when introduced into service by Cunard in 1969.

Titanic's maiden voyage was intended to be the first of many trans-Atlantic crossings between Southampton and New York via Cherbourg and Queenstown on westbound runs, returning via Plymouth in England while eastbound. Indeed, her entire schedule of voyages through to December 1912 still exists. When the route was established, four ships were assigned to the service. In addition to Teutonic and Majestic, the RMS Oceanic and the brand new RMS Adriatic sailed the route. When the Olympic entered service in June 1911, she replaced Teutonic, which after completing her last run on the service in late April was transferred to the Dominion Line's Canadian service. The following August, Adriatic was transferred to White Star's main Liverpool-New York service, and in November, Majestic was withdrawn from service impending the arrival of Titanic in the coming months, and was mothballed as a reserve ship.

White Star's initial plans for Olympic and Titanic on the Southampton run followed the same routine as their predecessors had done before them. Each would sail once every three weeks from Southampton and New York, usually leaving at noon each Wednesday from Southampton and each Saturday from New York, thus enabling the White Star Line to offer weekly sailings in each direction. Special trains were scheduled from London and Paris to convey passengers to Southampton and Cherbourg respectively. The deep-water dock at Southampton, then known as the "White Star Dock", had been specially constructed to accommodate the new Olympic-class liners, and had opened in 1911.


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Edward Smith, captain of Titanic, in 1911

Crew
Main article: Crew of the RMS Titanic
Titanic had around 885 crew members on board for her maiden voyage. Like other vessels of her time, she did not have a permanent crew, and the vast majority of crew members were casual workers who only came aboard the ship a few hours before she sailed from Southampton. The process of signing up recruits had begun on 23 March and some had been sent to Belfast, where they served as a skeleton crew during Titanic's sea trials and passage to England at the start of April.

Captain Edward John Smith, the most senior of the White Star Line's captains, was transferred from Olympic to take command of Titanic. Henry Tingle Wilde also came across from Olympic to take the post of Chief Mate. Titanic's previously designated Chief Mate and First Officer, William McMaster Murdoch and Charles Lightoller, were bumped down to the ranks of First and Second Officer respectively. The original Second Officer, David Blair, was dropped altogether. The Third Officer was Herbert Pitman MBE, the only deck officer who was not a member of the Royal Naval Reserve. Pitman was the second to last surviving officer.

Titanic's crew were divided into three principal departments: Deck, with 66 crew; Engine, with 325; and Victualling (pronounced vi-tal-ling), with 494. The vast majority of the crew were thus not seamen, but were either engineers, firemen, or stokers, responsible for looking after the engines, or stewards and galley staff, responsible for the passengers. Of these, over 97% were male; just 23 of the crew were female, mainly stewardesses. The rest represented a great variety of professions—bakers, chefs, butchers, fishmongers, dishwashers, stewards, gymnasium instructors, laundrymen, waiters, bed-makers, cleaners, and even a printer, who produced a daily newspaper for passengers called the Atlantic Daily Bulletin with the latest news received by the ship's wireless operators.

Most of the crew signed on in Southampton on 6 April; in all, 699 of the crew came from there, and 40% were natives of the town. A few specialist staff were self-employed or were subcontractors. These included the five postal clerks, who worked for the Royal Mail and the United States Post Office Department, the staff of the First Class A La Carte Restaurant and the Café Parisien, the radio operators (who were employed by Marconi) and the eight musicians, who were employed by an agency and travelled as second-class passengers. Crew pay varied greatly, from Captain Smith's £105 a month (equivalent to £10,200 today) to the £3 10s (£340 today) that stewardesses earned. The lower-paid victualling staff could, however, supplement their wages substantially through tips from passengers.

Passengers

Main article: Passengers of the RMS Titanic

John Jacob Astor IV in 1909. He was the wealthiest person aboard Titanic.

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

The exact number of people aboard is not known, as not all of those who had booked tickets made it to the ship; about 50 people cancelled for various reasons, and not all of those who boarded stayed aboard for the entire journey. Fares varied depending on class and season. Third Class fares from London, Southampton, or Queenstown cost £7 5s (equivalent to £700 today) while the cheapest First Class fares cost £23 (£2,200 today). The most expensive First Class suites were to have cost up to £870 in high season (£85,000 today).

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Titanic at Southampton docks, prior to departure

Collecting passengers
Titanic's maiden voyage began on Wednesday, 10 April 1912. Following the embarkation of the crew the passengers began arriving at 9:30 a.m., when the London and South Western Railway's boat train from London Waterloo station reached Southampton Terminus railway station on the quayside, alongside Titanic's berth. The large number of Third Class passengers meant they were the first to board, with First and Second Class passengers following up to an hour before departure. Stewards showed them to their cabins, and First Class passengers were personally greeted by Captain Smith. Third Class passengers were inspected for ailments and physical impairments that might lead to their being refused entry to the United States – a prospect the White Star Line wished to avoid, as it would have to carry anyone who failed the examination back across the Atlantic. In all, 920 passengers boarded Titanic at Southampton – 179 First Class, 247 Second Class, and 494 Third Class. Additional passengers were to be picked up at Cherbourg and Queenstown.

The maiden voyage began at noon, as scheduled. An accident was narrowly averted only a few minutes later, as Titanic passed the moored liners SS City of New York of the American Line and Oceanic of the White Star Line, the latter of which would have been her running mate on the service from Southampton. Her huge displacement caused both of the smaller ships to be lifted by a bulge of water and then drop into a trough. New York's mooring cables could not take the sudden strain and snapped, swinging her around stern-first towards Titanic. A nearby tugboat, Vulcan, came to the rescue by taking New York under tow, and Captain Smith ordered Titanic's engines to be put "full astern". The two ships avoided a collision by a matter of about 4 feet (1.2 m). The incident delayed Titanic's departure for about an hour, while the drifting New York was brought under control.

After making it safely through the complex tides and channels of Southampton Water and the Solent, Titanic disembarked the Southampton pilot at the Nab Lightship and headed out into the English Channel. She headed for the French port of Cherbourg, a journey of 77 nautical miles (89 mi; 143 km). The weather was windy, very fine but cold and overcast. Because Cherbourg lacked docking facilities for a ship the size of Titanic, tenders had to be used to transfer passengers from shore to ship. The White Star Line operated two at Cherbourg, the SS Traffic and the SS Nomadic. Both had been designed specifically as tenders for the Olympic-class liners and were launched shortly after Titanic. (Nomadic is today the only White Star Line ship still afloat.) Four hours after Titanic left Southampton, she arrived at Cherbourg and was met by the tenders. There, 274 additional passengers were taken aboard – 142 First Class, 30 Second Class, and 102 Third Class. Twenty-four passengers left aboard the tenders to be conveyed to shore, having booked only a cross-Channel passage. The process was completed within only 90 minutes and at 8 p.m. Titanic weighed anchor and left for Queenstown with the weather continuing cold and windy.

At 11:30 a.m. on Thursday 11 April, Titanic arrived at Cork Harbour on the south coast of Ireland. It was a partly cloudy but relatively warm day, with a brisk wind. Again, the dock facilities were not suitable for a ship of Titanic's size, and tenders were used to bring passengers aboard. In all, 123 passengers boarded Titanic at Queenstown – three First Class, seven Second Class and 113 Third Class. In addition to the 24 cross-channel passengers who had disembarked at Cherbourg, another seven passengers had booked an overnight passage from Southampton to Queenstown. Among the seven was Father Francis Browne, a Jesuit trainee who was a keen photographer and took many photographs aboard Titanic, including the last-ever known photograph of the ship. A decidedly unofficial departure was that of a crew member, stoker John Coffey, a Queenstown native who sneaked off the ship by hiding under mail bags being transported to shore. Titanic weighed anchor for the last time at 1:30 p.m. and departed on her westward journey across the Atlantic.

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Titanic in Cork harbour, 11 April 1912

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The route of Titanic's maiden voyage, with the coordinates of its sinking



 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
10 April 1917 - while returning to pick up wounded at the port of Le Havre, France, the British hospital ship HMHS Salta struck a mine 1 nautical mile (1.9 km) north of the entrance to the dam.
A huge explosion smashed her hull near the stern in her engine room and hold number three.
She listed to starboard and she sank within 10 minutes. Of 205 people aboard, 79 were lost. The British patrol boat HMS P-26 tried to come alongside to assist but also struck a mine and sank.


HMHS Salta
(His Majesty's Hospital Ship) was a steam ship originally built for Société Générale de Transport Maritime Steam, but requisitioned for use as a British hospital ship during the First World War. On 10 April 1917 she hit a mine laid by the German U-boat UC-26.

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Salta before her wartime service

History
Built by the French company, Société des Forges et Chantiers de la Mediterranée, at La Seyne-sur-Mer for the Société Générale de Transport Maritime Steam. The Salta was chartered by the British Admiralty in February 1915 and converted into a hospital ship. The former liner was painted white with wide green stripes and the insignia of the Red Cross, according to the terms laid down in the Hague Convention of 1894.

Sinking
While returning to pick up wounded at the port of Le Havre, France, Salta struck a mine at 11:43, one mile (1.6 km) north of the entrance to the dam. A huge explosion smashed the hull near the stern in the engine room and hold number three. Water rushed into the disabled ship which listed to starboard and sank in less than 10 minutes. Of the 205 passengers and crew members, nine nurses, 42 member of the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) and 79 crew drowned.

The British patrol boat HMS P-26 attempted to come alongside to assist, but also struck a mine and sank.

One of the survivors of the sinking was a steward, Frederick Ralph Richardson. Entered below is a verbatim copy of the report he was required to make once he had been rescued and had somewhat recovered from the ordeal. The report is handwritten. The report contains at least one error in that he describes the Patrol Boat P-26 as a "Destroyer". Any other errors should be listed here so that the report stands as written. Mr. Richardson could not swim and had lost both his parents in a single small boat accident in Brightlingsea Creek, which is on the east coast of Essex near Colchester, United Kingdom.

Report on the sinking of H.M.H.S. "Salta" off Havre. April 10, 1917.

The Salta left Cowes Roads at 4a.m. on the 10th of April for Havre, escorted by one Destroyer. The weather was fair at the time, but the wind increased as we made for the French coast. We arrived off Havre about 11 a.m. and were cruising round to take the pilot on board, when the accident occurred.
I was in my cabin, writing, & the time as near as possible was about 10 mins. to 12, when we struck the mine, near the well deck portside aft. Everyone rushed to the boats, but owing to extremely bad weather and heavy seas, I understand that only three boats got away. These were swamped at once. The only chance now seemed to be to jump overboard at once, & try to float on some wreckage, as the ship was sinking quickly, & was under in seven minutes from the time the mine was struck. I had been in the water less than a minute when Captain Eastaway floated from the bridge as the ship went down and was lost. Miss England, the stewardess, was washed near to me. I spoke to her, urging her to hold on, but she seemed exhausted. I am very sorry to state, that I was quite unable to assist her, owing to such heavy seas running at the time, that it was impossible to do anything. I drifted about on a spar for about 1½ hours and was picked up by a mine-sweeper, & put in the cabin with the other survivors on board. Am sorry to say that several of the men died on this boat from cold & exposure after being rescued, & not from any neglect of the men on board the trawler. Everything possible was done by them for our comfort. We were taken into harbour, at Havre. Whilst making for Havre <this looks to be a subsequent insertion> One of the trawlers <the word trawlers is a subsequent insertion> crew reported that a Destroyer had been mined. I discovered afterwards that a good many of the survivors from the Salta were in this Destroyer, & only one of them was afterwards saved. This man was in hospital, & has since been sent to England. We landed at Havre about 3 p.m. I was able to walk at the time, & was taken to the Hospital Huts with the other men, and had dry clothing ( hospital ) issued to us, also Bovril etc., & were made comfortable. During the evening the Chief officer & I were asked to go to the Mortuary to identify our men. I discovered that Young, Lucas, Baker & Taylor from my Dept. were there, and 9 others, the Captain, Engineer, & 7 men of the Deck & Engine Room Dept. We retired for the night at 8 p.m., but I had no sleep owing to such pains, & unable to move. Reported same in the morning to the Doctor, I was taken to the X.Ray room then sent to bed, & found to be suffering from slightly fractured ribs and severe bruises on the body & legs I made enquiries respecting Mr. Haley the 2nd. Steward, but none of the survivors saw anything of him. The men were all supplied with suitable clothes by the British Consul. On Monday afternoon, April 16th the funeral of the 13 crew took place with full Naval and Military honours, including the Newfoundland Band, R.A.M.C. officers and men, & a large number of civilians. I was discharged from hospital on April 19th and reported to the British Consul who arranged for me to leave for Southampton on Friday night. Reported myself, on Saturday morning as you know by telephone message. I have given you the most important particulars as far as I know, & trust they are satisfactory.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMHS_Salta
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
10 April 1940 - in the First Battle of Narvik, the British destroyer HMS Hunter was sunk by German destroyer fire, along with a possible torpedo hit, and from being accidentally rammed astern by HMS Hotspur.
Hunter capsized and sank, killing 112 of her crew of 146.



First naval Battle of Narvik
The day after the German invasion, the Royal Navy took an opportunity to defeat the Kriegsmarine. The 2nd Destroyer Flotilla—under Commodore Bernard Warburton-Lee and comprising five H-class destroyers (HMS Hardy (flagship), Hotspur, Havock, Hunter and Hostile—moved up the fjord in the early morning. The German destroyers Hermann Künne and Hans Lüdemann were anchored alongside the tanker Jan Wellemand refuelling when the British destroyer attack began at 04:30. The German picket ship (Diether von Roeder) had left its post to refuel and as the British flotilla approached Narvik; they surprised and engaged a German force at the entrance to the harbour and sank two destroyers Wilhelm Heidkamp (killing Commodore Bonte) and Anton Schmitt, heavily damaged Diether von Roeder and inflicted lesser damage on two others. They also exchanged fire with German invasion troops ashore but did not have a landing force aboard and therefore turned to leave. Before the destroyers left the scene, Hostile fired her torpedoes at the merchant ships in the harbour. In total, eleven merchant ships (six German, one British, two Swedish and two Norwegian) were sunk during the British sortie into the harbour.

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The British flotilla was then engaged by three more German destroyers (Wolfgang Zenker, Erich Koellner and Erich Giese) emerging from the Herjangsfjord, led by Commander Erich Bey and then two more (Georg Thiele and Bernd von Arnim) coming from Ballangen Bay, under Commander Fritz Berger. In the ensuing battle, two British destroyers were lost: the flotilla leader HMS Hardy, which was beached in flames and HMS Hunter, which was torpedoed and sunk. A third—HMS Hotspur—was also damaged badly by a torpedo. Hotspur and the remaining British destroyers left the battlefield, damaging Georg Thiele as they did so. The German destroyers—now short of fuel and ammunition—did not pursue and the British ships were able to sink the 8,460 GRT ammunition supply ship Rauenfels which they encountered on their way out of the fjord. Soon, the German naval forces were blocked in by British reinforcements, including the cruiser HMS Penelope. During the night of 11–12 April, while manoeuvring in Narvik harbour, Erich Koellner and Wolfgang Zenkerran aground. Wolfgang Zenker damaged her propellers and was restricted to a speed of 20 kn (23 mph; 37 km/h). Erich Koellner was much more badly damaged, so the Germans planned—when she was repaired enough to move—to moor her at Tårstad in the same capacity as Diether von Roeder, as an immobile defence battery.

As the British destroyers left the Vestfjorden outside Narvik, two German submarines—U-25 and U-51—fired torpedoes at them but German torpedoes at the time had severe problems with their magnetic detonator systems—possibly due to the high northern latitude: all of them failed and either did not detonate at all or detonated well before their targets.

Both the German naval commander—Kommodore Friedrich Bonte (on Wilhelm Heidkamp)—and the British commander—Captain Bernard Warburton-Lee (on Hardy)—were killed in the battle. Warburton-Lee was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, Bonte the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.


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HMS Hunter was a H-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1930s. During the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 the ship enforced the arms blockade imposed on both sides by Britain and France, until she struck a mine in May 1937. She was under repair for the next year and a half, after which she rejoined the Mediterranean Fleet. During the first few months of World War II, Hunter searched for German commerce raiders in the Atlantic Ocean until she was transferred back to Britain in February 1940. Returning to action in the Norwegian Campaign, she was sunk by German destroyers during the First Battle of Narvik in April 1940.

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Description

Hunter displaced 1,350 long tons (1,370 t) at standard load and 1,883 long tons (1,913 t) at deep load. The ship had an overall length of 323 feet (98.5 m), a beam of 33 feet (10.1 m) and a draught of 12 feet 5 inches (3.8 m). She was powered by Parsons geared steam turbines, driving two shafts, which developed a total of 34,000 shaft horsepower (25,000 kW) and gave a maximum speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph). Steam for the turbines was provided by three Admiralty 3-drum water-tube boilers. Hunter carried a maximum of 470 long tons (480 t) of fuel oil that gave her a range of 5,530 nautical miles (10,240 km; 6,360 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). The ship's complement was 137 officers and men in peacetime, but this was increased to 146 in wartime.

The ship mounted four 45-calibre 4.7-inch (120 mm) Mark IX guns in single mounts. For anti-aircraft (AA) defence, Hunter had two quadruple Mark I mounts for the 0.5 inch Vickers Mark III machine gun. She was fitted with two above-water quadruple torpedo tube mounts for 21-inch (533 mm) torpedoes. One depth charge rail and two throwers were fitted; 20 depth charges were originally carried, but this increased to 35 shortly after the war began.

Career
Ordered on 13 December 1934, Hunter was laid down by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson at Wallsend-on-Tyne, England, on 27 March 1935. She was launched on 25 February 1936 and completed on 30 September. Excluding government-furnished equipment such as armament, the ship cost £253,167. Hunter was assigned to the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla of the Mediterranean Fleet upon commissioning.

Spanish Civil War

Spanish Nationalist E-boat Requeté

The destroyer patrolled Spanish waters during the Spanish Civil War, enforcing the edicts of the Non-Intervention Committee. Hunter struck a mine south of Almeria, Spain, on the afternoon of 13 May 1937. She suffered severe damage, with a heavy list, her radio wrecked and the bow flooded. Eight of her complement were killed and 24 wounded. The ship was towed clear of the minefield by the Spanish Republican destroyer Lazaga. The mines had been laid by two ex-German Spanish Nationalist E-boats, the Requeté and the Falange on the night of 6 April. Hunter was towed to Almeria by Hyperion, where she arrived in the early hours of 14 May. The light cruiser Arethusa towed her to Gibraltar,[6]where she was temporarily repaired from 15 May to 18 August. Hunter was towed to Malta for permanent repairs in August 1937, but they were not completed until 10 November 1938. The ship was assigned to the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla once her repairs were finished and she was given a brief overhaul in Malta between 24 June and 4 July 1939. Hunter was sent to Plymouth for a more thorough refit in mid-August 1939 that lasted through 27 August.

World War II

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German tanker Jan Wellem with a sunk merchant vessel to the right, after the foray of the British destroyers into the fjord of Narvik

When World War II began on 3 September, Hunter was en route to Freetown, Sierra Leone to search for German commerce raiders, before being transferred to the North America and West Indies Station in late October. Hunter remained on that station until she was transferred to the British Isles in February 1940 and began a refit at Falmouth that lasted until 9 March. The ship rejoined the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla of the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow on 17 March. On 6 April Hunter and the rest of the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla escorted the four destroyer minelayers of the 20th Destroyer Flotilla as they sailed to implement Operation Wilfred, an operation to lay mines in the Vestfjord to prevent the transport of Swedish iron ore from Narvik to Germany. The mines were laid on the early morning of 8 April, before the Germans began their invasion, and the destroyers joined the battlecruiser Renown and her escorts.

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Two of the casualties of the sinking of HMS Hunter, both identified, are interred at the Commonwealth War Graves section of Håkvik cemetery in Narvik, alongside 32 unidentified casualties from HMS Hardy

During the First Battle of Narvik on 10 April 1940, Hunter and four other H-class ships of the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla attacked the German destroyers that had transported German troops to occupy Narvik in northern Norway the previous day. The flotilla leader Hardy led four of her half-sisters down Ofotfjord in a surprise dawn attack on Narvik harbour during a blinding snowstorm. Hotspur and Hostile were initially left at the entrance, but Hunter followed Hardy into the harbour and fired all eight of her torpedoes into the mass of shipping. One torpedo hit the German destroyer Z22 Anton Schmitt in the forward engine room, followed by one of Hunter's 4.7-inch shells. As the British ships were withdrawing, they encountered five German destroyers at close range. Two of the German ships crossed the T of the British ships and quickly set Hardy on fire and forced her to run aground. Hunter eventually took the lead, but was severely damaged by the Germans, probably including one torpedo hit, and her speed dropped rapidly. Hotspur, immediately behind her, was temporarily out of control due to two hits, and rammed her from behind. When the ships managed to disengage, Hunter capsized. 107 men of the crew were killed and another five died of their wounds. The German destroyers rescued 46 men, who were released into Sweden on 13 April.

Rediscovery

Reuters photo handout of HMS Hunter wreck, London, 8 March 2008

The wreck was discovered on 5 March 2008 by the Royal Norwegian Navy mine control vessel HNoMS Tyr, after being unknown for nearly 70 years, and will be marked as a war grave to commemorate the lost members of her crew. A series of coordinated memorial ceremonies were held on board British and Norwegian warships on Saturday 8 March 2008, honouring all those who died during the battles of Narvik. Over a thousand NATO personnel took part, including British and Norwegian sailors, Royal Marines and soldiers. Led by HMS Albion, the UK's Fleet Amphibious Flagship, five warships steamed in line past the spot where the ship lies, marked for the occasion by Tyr. Hunter's final resting place was marked with wreaths cast into the sea.

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The wreckage of Hardy photographed in July 1962



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Hunter_(H35)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Hardy_(1936)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_destroyer_Z22_Anton_Schmitt
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battles_of_Narvik
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
10 April 1940 - German light cruiser Königsberg, while attacking Bergen, was badly damaged by Norwegian coastal artillery, and sunk by British bombers the following day in the harbor.


Königsberg was a German light cruiser of the Königsberg-class, that was operated between 1929 and April 1940, including service in World War II. She was the lead vessel of her class and was operated by two German navies, the Reichsmarine and the Kriegsmarine. She had two sister ships, Karlsruhe and Köln. Königsberg was built by the Kriegsmarinewerft in Wilhelmshaven; she was laid down in April 1926, launched in March 1927, and commissioned into the Reichsmarine in April 1929. She was armed with a main battery of nine 15 cm SK C/25 guns in three triple turrets and had a top speed of 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph).

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Königsberg served as a training ship for naval cadets throughout the 1930s, and joined the non-intervention patrols during the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s. After the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, she laid defensive minefields in the North Sea and then participated in Operation Weserübung, the invasion of Norway in April 1940. While attacking Bergen, she was badly damaged by Norwegian coastal artillery, and sunk by British bombers the following day in the harbor. The wreck was eventually raised in 1942 and broken up for scrap the following year.


Characteristics

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Königsberg in port; note the offset arrangement of the rear gun turrets
Main article: Königsberg-class cruiser (1927)

Königsberg was 174 meters (571 ft) long overall and had a beam of 15.2 m (50 ft) and a maximum draft of 6.28 m (20.6 ft). She displaced 7,700 long tons (7,800 t) at full combat load. Her propulsion system consisted of four steam turbines and a pair of 10-cylinder four-stroke diesel engines. Steam for the turbines was provided by six Marine-type double-ended oil-fired boilers. The ship's propulsion system provided a top speed of 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph) and a range of approximately 5,700 nautical miles (10,600 km; 6,600 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph). Königsberg had a crew of 21 officers and 493 enlisted men.

The ship was armed with nine 15 cm SK C/25 guns mounted in three triple gun turrets. One was located forward, and two were placed in a superfiring pair aft. The rear gun turrets were offset to increase their arc of fire. They were supplied with 1,080 rounds of ammunition, for 120 shells per gun. The ship was also equipped with two 8.8 cm SK L/45anti-aircraft guns in single mounts; they had 400 rounds of ammunition each. Königsberg also carried four triple torpedo tube mounts located amidships; they were supplied with twenty-four 50 cm (20 in) torpedoes. She was also capable of carrying 120 naval mines. The ship was protected by an armored deck that was 40 mm (1.6 in) thick amidships and an armored belt that was 50 mm (2.0 in) thick. The conning tower had 100 mm (3.9 in) thick sides.

Service history
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Königsberg on her visit to Britain in 1934; she is flying the British White Ensign and firing a salute

Königsberg was ordered as "Cruiser B" and given the temporary name Ersatz Thetis, since she was intended to replace the old cruiser Thetis. She was laid down at the Kriegsmarinewerft in Wilhelmshaven on 12 April 1926 and launched on 26 March 1927. She was commissioned into the Reichsmarine on 17 April 1929. After her commissioning, the ship was assigned as the flagship of the reconnaissance force for the German fleet. She thereafter conducted a series of training cruises for naval cadets and made numerous goodwill visits throughout the Mediterranean Sea. In 1931, the ship's first major modification took place; her foremast was shortened and her rear superstructure was slightly lengthened. Otto von Schrader commanded the ship from September 1931 to September 1934. Hubert Schmundt relieved him and served as the ship's captain for the following year. In 1934, a pair of 8.8 cm (3.5 in) anti-aircraft guns in individual mounts were installed on her aft superstructure just forward of her main battery turrets. That same year, she and the cruiser Leipzig made the first goodwill visit to the United Kingdom since the end of World War I sixteen years earlier.

In 1935, the ship had an aircraft catapult installed, along with a crane to handle floatplanes. The following year, the single 8.8 cm guns were replaced with a new triaxially stabilized twin-mount; two other twin mounts were added on the rear superstructure. Fire control directors for the anti-aircraft guns were also installed. After emerging from this refit, Königsberg was employed as a gunnery training ship. During the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s, the ship participated in non-intervention patrols, during which she forced Republicans to surrender a German freighter they had seized.

After returning to Germany, Königsberg resumed her gunnery training duties, and also served as a testbed for radar prototypes. She was scheduled to be transferred to the U-boat School, where she would be used as a target ship for U-boat crews. This duty was interrupted by the outbreak of World War II in September 1939. One day before the German invasion of Poland, on 31 August, Königsberg spotted the Polish destroyers Burza and Błyskawica in the Baltic. At the start of hostilities, she and several other German cruisers laid a defensive minefield in the North Sea. She then went into the Baltic Sea for training maneuvers. Kurt-Caesar Hoffmann served as the ship's captain from June to September 1939. In late 1939, a degaussing coil was installed on the ship's hull. Königsberg returned to active duty in March 1940, when she was assigned to the invasion force for the attack on Norway.

Operation Weserübung
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Königsberg circa 1936
Main article: Operation Weserübung

The invasion of Norway took place in early April 1940. Königsberg was assigned to Gruppe 3, and was tasked with transporting 600 troops from the Wehrmacht's 69th Infantry Division from Wilhelmshaven to Bergen, Norway. Gruppe 3 also included her sister ship Köln, the artillery training ship Bremse, and the torpedo boats Wolf and Leopard. The Germans left Wilhelmshaven on 8 April, and had reached their target the following day, where Königsberg transferred part of the landing party to several smaller vessels. She then made a high-speed run into the port in an attempt to land the remainder of the infantry in the town directly. A 21 cm (8.3 in) coastal battery at the Kvarven Fort took the ship under fire, and scored three hits, all forward. The hits caused severe flooding and fires in her boiler rooms that cut the ship's power. Adrift, and unable to maneuver, Königsberg had to drop anchor, while she and Köln, Luftwaffe bombers, and the infantry neutralized the Norwegian guns.

Königsberg required major repairs before she would be able to return to Germany, so she was temporarily moored in the harbor with her broadside facing the harbor entrance. This would allow her to bring all of her main battery guns to bear against any British naval attack. The rest of Gruppe 3 returned to Germany. On the evening of 9 April, she was attacked by British bombers, but to no effect. The following morning, the British launched another air raid on the ship. The raid consisted of sixteen Blackburn Skua dive bombers of the British Fleet Air Arm (seven of 800 Naval Air Squadron and nine of 803 Naval Air Squadron), launched from RNAS Hatston, Orkney. Königsberg's thin deck armor rendered her quite vulnerable to dive bomber attack. The Skuas attacked in three groups: the nine of 803 NAS, six of 800 NAS, and one aircraft of 800 NAS which lost contact during the outward flight but found Königsberg independently. The dive bombers attacked at 7:20, catching the ship's crew off guard. Half of the dive bombers had completed their dives before the crew realized they were under attack. Only one large anti-aircraft gun was reported as being manned with shells being fired once every five seconds from the aft of the ship with lighter anti-air weapons firing from the shore and adjacent ships firing even later in the attack.

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Königsberg under attack at Bergen

Königsberg was hit by at least five 500-pound (230 kg) bombs, which caused serious damage to the ship. One penetrated her thin deck armor, went through the ship, and exploded in the water, causing significant structural damage. Another hit destroyed the auxiliary boiler room. Two more bombs exploded in the water next to the ship; the concussion from the blasts tore large holes in the hull. She took on a heavy list almost immediately, and the captain ordered the crew to abandon the ship. It took slightly less than three hours from the start of the attack for the ship to completely capsize and sink, which gave the crew enough time to evacuate many of the dead and wounded. They also had time to remove a significant amount of ammunition and equipment from the stricken cruiser. Only eighteen men were killed in the attack. The wreck was raised on 17 July 1942, and slowly broken up for scrap thereafter. By 1943, the wreck had been completely dismantled in situ.

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http://www.dingeraviation.net/SkuaRoc/sinking_of_the_konigsberg.htm


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_cruiser_Königsberg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Königsberg-class_cruiser_(1927)
http://www.dingeraviation.net/SkuaRoc/sinking_of_the_konigsberg.htm
 
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