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

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
4 May 1945 - USS Morrison – On 4 May 1945, in the Battle of Okinawa, the US destroyer was sunk after being hit by four kamikaze aircraft.
After the fourth hit the destroyer, heavily damaged, began to list sharply to starboard. Two explosions occurred almost simultaneously that lifted her bow in the air. She then sank so quickly that most men below decks were killed. 152 men were killed.


USS Morrison (DD-560), a Fletcher-class destroyer, was a ship of the United States Navy, named for Coxswain John G. Morrison (1838–1897), who received the Medal of Honor for exceptional bravery during the Civil War.

Morrison was laid down by Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp., Seattle, Wash., 30 June 1942; launched 4 July 1943, sponsored by Miss Margaret M. Morrison, daughter of Coxswain Morrison; and commissioned 18 December 1943, Commander Walter H. Price in command.

After shakedown off San Diego, California, Morrison departed Seattle 25 February 1944 for the South Pacific, via Pearl Harbor and the Marshalls. In mid-April the destroyer joined TG 50.17 for screening operations off Seeadler Harbor, Manus, Admiralties, during the fueling of carriers then striking Japanese installations in the Carolines.


USS Morrison (DD-560), viewed from Gambier Bay(CVE-73), 24 July 1944.

Battle of Okinawa
After shore bombardment exercises in the Hawaiian Islands, Morrison departed for Ulithi 3 March. By 21 March she had joined TF 54 underway to support the invasion of Okinawa. The destroyer arrived off the southern shores of Okinawa on the 25th, 7 days before the landings 1 April, and joined in the preparations of bombardment.

In the early morning of 31 March she sank Japanese submarine I-8. After Stockton (DD-646) made a positive sound contact off Okinawa and expended her depth charges in the attack, Morrison arrived on the scene to see the submarine surface, then immediately submerge. She dropped a pattern of charges which seconds later forced the sub to the surface where it was sunk by gunfire. At daylight Morrison's small boats rescued the lone survivor.

The ship continued shore bombardment, night illumination, and screen operations off Ōshima Beach. On the night of 11 April Morrison assisted Anthony (DD-515) in illuminating and sinking enemy landing craft heading north along the beach.

Three days later Morrison began radar picket duty. Her first two stations, southwest of Okinawa, were occasionally raided at night. She replaced Daly (DD-519) at the third station 28 April after the other destroyer was hit by a kamikaze.

On 30 April Morrison was shifted to the most critical station on the picket line. After 3 days of bad weather had prevented air raids, the dawn of 4 May was bright, clear, and ominous. At 07:15 the combat air patrol was called on to stop a force of about 25 planes headed toward Morrison, but some got through.

The first attack on Morrison, a main target as fighter-director ship, was a suicide run by a "Zeke". The plane broke through heavy flak to drop a bomb which splashed off the starboard beam and exploded harmlessly. Next a "Val" and another "Zeke" followed with unsuccessful suicide runs. About 08:25 a "Zeke" approached through intense antiaircraft fire to crash into a stack and the bridge. The blow inflicted heavy casualties and knocked out most of the electrical equipment. The next three planes, all old twin-float biplanes, maneuvered, despite heavy attack, to crash into the damaged ship. With the fourth hit, Morrison, heavily damaged, began to list sharply to starboard.

Few communication circuits remained intact enough to transmit the order to abandon ship. Two explosions occurred almost simultaneously, the bow lifted into the air, and by 08:40 Morrison had plunged beneath the surface. The ship sank so quickly that most men below decks were lost, a total of 152.

In July 1957 the sunken hull of Morrison was donated, along with those of some 26 other ships sunk in the Ryukyus area to the Government of the Ryukyu Islands for salvage.

Morrison received eight battle stars for World War II service.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Morrison_(DD-560)

Battle of Okinawa - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
4 May 1945 - USS Luce – On 4 May 1945, in the Battle of Okinawa, the US destroyer was sunk by a kamikaze attack. She shot down one attacker but the explosion from the bomb it carried caused a power failure. Unable to bring her guns to bear in time she was struck in the aft section by the second kamikaze. Her port engine was knocked out, engineering spaces flooded and the rudder jammed. She listed heavily to starboard and the order to abandon ship was given. Moments later she sank in a violent explosion killing 126 of her 312 officers and men.


USS Luce (DD-522), a Fletcher-class destroyer, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Rear Admiral Stephen B. Luce (1827–1917).

Luce was laid down by Bethlehem Steel Co., Staten Island, N.Y., 24 August 1942; launched 6 March 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Stephen B. Luce, Jr., wife of Rear Adm. Stephen B. Luce’s grandson; and commissioned 21 June 1943, Commander D. C. Varian in command.


In 1944, while wearing Camouflage Measure 32, Design 18D.

History
Luce departed New York 5 September 1943 and arrived Bremerton, Wash., 28 October after visiting Trinidad and San Diego en route. She departed 1 November for Pearl Harbor as plane guard for Enterprise (CV-6), and conducted gunnery training exercises in the Hawaiian Islands until 24 November. She then steamed to Adak Island, Alaska, and from 30 November 1943 to 8 August 1944 engaged in patrol and ASW duties off Attu Island. This duty was interrupted 1 February 1944 when she sailed from Massacre Bay, Attu, to participate in the 3 to 4 February bombardment of Paramushiru, Kurile Islands, with Task Force 94 (TF 94) of the Northern Pacific Force. Completely surprising the enemy, the attack was successful; Luce destroyed a 2,000-ton enemy freighter in the action. She returned to Attu 4 February and resumed patrol. On 13 June Luce, with TF 94, bombarded Matsuwa, Kurile Islands, and 26 June attacked Paramushiru a second time. On 8 August the ship departed for San Francisco and returned to Pearl Harbor 31 August.

As a unit of the Southern Attack Force, TF 79, Luce sortied from Manus, Admiralty Islands, 11 October. During the assault on Leyte 20 to 23 October, she patrolled outside the LST-transport areas providing air cover. Between 1 November and 12 December, Luce sailed from Manus to New Guinea on escort and ASW patrols, and from 12 to 27 December supported the Huon Gulf, New Guinea, landing operations. On 27 December she got underway to screen transports for the Lingayen Gulf attack and landings.

She arrived in the operating area 9 January 1945 screening LSTs and transports of TF 78. She fended off all enemy attackers and succeeded in shooting down one on the 11th. In company with 40 other ships, Luce departed 11 January and fought her way victoriously to San Pedro Bay 16 January. The ship patrolled this area until 25 January when she departed for the assault on San Antonio, San Felipe area, Luzon. This operation was unopposed, and Lucesailed for Mindoro 30 January. From 2 February to 24 March she escorted resupply convoys between Subic Bay and San Pedro Bay.

Fate
On 24 March 1945 she departed Leyte escorting and screening units of TF 51 which landed heavy artillery on Kelse Shima for the support of the main landings on Okinawa. She was detached from this duty 1 April and assigned radar picket duty off Kerama Retto. About 07:40, 4 May, Japanese kamikaze(suicide) planes were intercepted by the combat air patrol in the vicinity of Luce. Two enemy planes avoided the interceptors and attacked her from the portside. Luce shot down one, but the explosion from the bomb it carried caused a power failure. Unable to bring her guns to bear in time, she was struck in the aft section by the second kamikaze. The port engine was knocked out, engineering spaces flooded, and the rudder jammed. At 08:14 Luce took a heavy list to starboard and the order to abandon ship was passed. Moments later she slid beneath the surface in a violent explosion carrying 126 of her 312 officers and men with her.

USS Luce (DD-522) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/522.htm

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
4 May 1945 - Orion – On 4 May 1945, while transporting refugees to Copenhagen, the German auxiliary cruiser Orion was hit by bombs from Soviet aircraft off Swinemünde and sank. Of the more than 4,000 people aboard, 150 died.


Orion (HSK-1) was an auxiliary cruiser of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine which operated as a merchant raider during World War II. Built by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg in 1930/31 as the freighter Kurmark, she was requisitioned by the navy at the outbreak of World War II and converted into the auxiliary cruiser Orion, commissioned on 9 December 1939. Known to the Kriegsmarine as Schiff 36, her Royal Navy designation was Raider A. She was named after the constellation Orion.



Construction and conversion
The Orion was built in 1930 by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg as a freighter for HAPAG, the Hamburg-America Line. To save money, the engines of the liner New York were reused. That proved a poor decision, since the Orion was plagued for her entire life by engine problems.

After the war broke out the German Seekriegsleitung (Naval Operations Command) was ill-prepared for raider warfare. The operations of the German auxiliary cruisers of World War I were evaluated and considered a great success, having disrupted British merchant shipping around the world. However the overall effect on the war was evaluated as having been rather minor and so only a small program of converting merchant vessels into auxiliary cruisers was initiated on 5 September 1939.

The first two ships being requisitioned were the Kurmark (Orion) and the Neumark (German auxiliary cruiser Widder), and conversion started immediately.

Raider voyage
One of the first auxiliary cruisers operated by Germany in World War II, Orion left Germany on 6 April 1940, under the command of Korvettenkapitän (later Fregattenkapitän) Kurt Weyher. She passed south through the Atlantic disguised as a neutral vessel, where she attacked and sank SS Haxby, a 5,207-ton freighter.

In May 1940 Orion rounded Cape Horn and entered the Pacific. She entered New Zealand waters in June 1940 and laid mines off Auckland during the night of 13/14 June 1940, one of which sank the liner RMS Niagara five days later. Two other ships were caught by mines from Orion, as well as two trawlers and an auxiliary minesweeper.

This done, Orion raided across the Indian and Pacific Oceans attacking four more ships. One she sent to occupied France as a prize; the others were sunk.

On 20 October 1940 she made rendezvous with the raider German auxiliary cruiser Komet, and the supply ship Kulmerland; operating together they accounted for a further seven ships, including the liner Rangitane and five ships off Nauru, before going their separate ways in the new year.

One Nakajima E8N float plane was purchased in early 1941 by the German naval attaché to Japan, Vice-Admiral Paul Wenneker, and dispatched on board the supply ship Münsterland to rendezvous with the Orion at the Maug Islands in the Northern Marianas. The meeting occurred on 1 February 1941, and Orion thus became the only German naval vessel of the World War II to employ a Japanese float plane.

A further six months passed cruising in the Indian Ocean yielded nothing, though she did encounter and capture her final victim, the SS Chaucer, in July 1941, in the South Atlantic when Orion was on her way home.

Orion returned to Bordeaux in occupied France on 23 August 1941. After 510 days and 127,337 nautical miles (235,828 km) at sea she had sunk ten ships with a combined tonnage of 62,915 gross register tons (GRT), plus two more (totalling 21,125 GRT) in cooperation with Komet.

The German freighter Anneliese Essberger, disguised as the Norwegian freighter Herstein, was supposed to meet the Orion on 30 Aug. 1941. The planned rendezvous was Point Corona at 28 degrees N, 43 degrees W. Failing to see the Orion, the freighter continued north.

Later history
De-commissioned as a commerce raider, the ship was renamed Hektor in 1944 and was used as artillery training ship. In January 1945 she was again renamed Orion and was used to transport refugees from Germany's eastern provinces across the Baltic Sea to ports in northern Germany and occupied Denmark. On her way to Copenhagen on 4 May 1945, after she had picked up the crew of the old battleship Schlesien, the ship was hit by two bombs (51st mine-torpedo Aviation Regiment of the USSR) off Swinemünde. The crew managed to beach the fiercely burning ship on a sandbank. Of the more than 4,000 people on board, only 150 were rescued. The hulk was scrapped in 1952.


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

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
4 May 1953 – Ernest Hemingway wins the Pulitzer Prize for The Old Man and the Sea.


The Old Man and the Sea is a short novel written by the American author Ernest Hemingway in 1951 in Cuba, and published in 1952. It was the last major work of fiction by Hemingway that was published during his lifetime. One of his most famous works, it tells the story of Santiago, an aging Cuban fisherman who struggles with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream off the coast of Cuba.

In 1953, The Old Man and the Sea was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and it was cited by the Nobel Committee as contributing to their awarding of the Nobel Prize in Literature to Hemingway in 1954.

Plot summary
The Old Man and the Sea tells the story of a battle between an aging, experienced fisherman, Santiago, and a large marlin. The story opens with Santiago having gone 84 days without catching a fish, and now being seen as "salao", the worst form of unluckiness. He is so unlucky that his young apprentice, Manolin, has been forbidden by his parents to sail with him and has been told instead to fish with successful fishermen. The boy visits Santiago's shack each night, hauling his fishing gear, preparing food, talking about American baseball and his favorite player, Joe DiMaggio. Santiago tells Manolin that on the next day, he will venture far out into the Gulf Stream, north of Cuba in the Straits of Florida to fish, confident that his unlucky streak is near its end.

On the eighty-fifth day of his unlucky streak, Santiago takes his skiff into the Gulf Stream, sets his lines and by noon, has his bait taken by a big fish that he is sure is a marlin. Unable to haul in the great marlin, Santiago is instead pulled by the marlin, and two days and nights pass with Santiago holding onto the line. Though wounded by the struggle and in pain, Santiago expresses a compassionate appreciation for his adversary, often referring to him as a brother. He also determines that, because of the fish's great dignity, no one shall deserve to eat the marlin.

On the third day, the fish begins to circle the skiff. Santiago, worn out and almost delirious, uses all his remaining strength to pull the fish onto its side and stab the marlin with a harpoon. Santiago straps the marlin to the side of his skiff and heads home, thinking about the high price the fish will bring him at the market and how many people he will feed.

On his way in to shore, sharks are attracted to the marlin's blood. Santiago kills a great mako shark with his harpoon, but he loses the weapon. He makes a new harpoon by strapping his knife to the end of an oar to help ward off the next line of sharks; five sharks are slain and many others are driven away. But the sharks keep coming, and by nightfall the sharks have almost devoured the marlin's entire carcass, leaving a skeleton consisting mostly of its backbone, its tail and its head. Santiago knows that he is defeated and tells the sharks of how they have killed his dreams. Upon reaching the shore before dawn on the next day, Santiago struggles to his shack, carrying the heavy mast on his shoulder, leaving the fish head and the bones on the shore. Once home, he slumps onto his bed and falls into a deep sleep.

A group of fishermen gather the next day around the boat where the fish's skeleton is still attached. One of the fishermen measures it to be 18 feet (5.5 m) from nose to tail. Pedrico is given the head of the fish, and the other fishermen tell Manolin to tell the old man how sorry they are. Tourists at the nearby café mistakenly take it for a shark. The boy, worried about the old man, cries upon finding him safe asleep and at his injured hands. Manolin brings him newspapers and coffee. When the old man wakes, they promise to fish together once again. Upon his return to sleep, Santiago dreams of his youth—of lions on an African beach.




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

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
4 May 1960 – Launch of The Vlora was a cargo ship built in 1960 in Ancona (Italy) that sailed under the Albanian flag until 1996. It is most famous for carrying tens of thousands of Albanian refugees to the Italian port of Bari on 8 August 1991, an unprecedented mass arrival that left Italian authorities unprepared.


Construction
The ship was built in the Cantieri Navali Riuniti of Ancona in (Italy) by the Società Ligure di Armamento (based in Genoa). Originally bearing the name Ilice, it was a sister ship to the Ninny Figari, the Sunpalermo and the Fineo. Launched on 4 May 1960 and placed into service on 16 June of the same year, it was sold in 1961 to the government controlled Joint Sino-Albanian Shipping Company, who based it in Durrës under Albanian flag and renamed it the Vlora.



Refugees from the Vlora (background) in Bari's port(Italy) on 8 August 1991

Voyage to Bari (1991)
Background
The fall of communism in Albania in the early 1990s gave way to a major economic collapse (with severe food shortages) amid widespread political and social unrest in the country. This incited many Albanians to try and leave the previously secluded nation. Many Albanians fled to Greece in the south, while some ethnic Slavs tried to cross into northern neighbour, Yugoslavia. In Tirana foreign embassies were mostly unsuccessfully stormed after rumours spread of visas being handed out. Up to 3000 Albanians managed to enter the compound of the German embassy while some successfully entered the Czech embassy grounds. The ones in the German embassy were eventually allowed to leave to Germany via Italy.

Many of the emigrants decided on Italy, less than a hundred miles away across the Strait of Otranto, partly attracted by the (erroneous) portrayals of wealth on Italian television adverts they were able to watch in Albania. Earlier in 1991 a number of crossings were attempted by hundreds or thousands of Albanian refugees who forcefully commandeered different vessels, from Romanian freighters to Albanian navy tugboats as the overrun harbor security forces in Durrës or Vlora looked on helplessly. One such crossing on 7 March had seen around 20,000 immigrants land in Brindisi on a number of small vessels, the city of only 80,000 had found itself struggling to cope with such an influx, yet the inhabitants generously provided food and shelter and the immigrants were generally well received.

Boarding the ship (7 August)
The Vlora had returned from Cuba with a load of sugar, its main engines were out of use and it docked in Durrës to unload its cargo and go through repairs. Meanwhile, throngs of people had gathered in the port from around the country in the hope of boarding any ship and sail to Italy. Without anyone to stop them, thousands of them (between 10,000 and over 20,000 according to reports) boarded the Vlora on 7 August 1991 by jumping in the sea and climbing aboard on ropes, filling virtually every inch of the ship (some hanging from ladders for most of the voyage). Unable to talk the stowaways — some of whom were armed — out of their plan, the captain, Halim Milaqi, decided to sail the overcrowded boat for Italy, fearful of what could happen if amateurs were to commandeer the ship.

Crossing into Italy (8 August)
Sailing with only its auxiliary motors, without a radar (due to passenger presence) and with excess weight, the ship also lost its cooling tubes after passengers cut them open to try and hydrate themselves, with the captain then using seawater to avoid melting the motor. They fortunately benefited from generous weather and arrived on Italian shores in the early hours of 8 August.[1][6] Approaching Brindisi's port at around 4AM, the captain was advised against docking in the city by the police's vice-prefect as the city was still coming to terms with the thousands of Albanians who had arrived in March or in between and didn't have the capacity to absorb more.

The ship's captain then changed course to Bari, only 55 miles away, which the weakened ship took seven hours to reach. During that time, little had been done to prepare for this mass arrival, both the police prefect and the superintendent were on holiday while the mayor's office was only told when the ship was already in the port. An attempt was made to blockade the port's entrance using small ships and the navy frigate Euro to try and constrain the captain to return to Albania. Citing the worsening conditions on board the ship, after passengers had spent 36 hours with virtually no food or water in stifling heat, Milaqi refused to back down and entered the port, communicating that he had injured people aboard and he could not mechanically turn around.[6] The Vlora was made to dock at the quay furthest away from the city centre usually reserved for coal unloading, whilst in the port scores of its passengers jumped into the water and swam to the shore or climbed down ropes while it was mooring, with many disappearing into the city.

Stadium confinement and clashes (8 August)
The Italian government's hard-line policy, expressed by Interior Minister Vincenzo Scotti, was to stop refugee ships from landing on Italian shores and otherwise deporting immigrants straight away. As such, the Vlora's passengers did not disembark to a warm welcome, orders from Rome called for them to be kept in the port, with little to no material help, and ferried back to Albania within days if not hours. When the improbability of such a plan emerged, other measures were haphazardly put in place, some of the injured (a few caused by the unrelenting sun) were taken by ambulance to hospital, as were a number of heavily pregnant women, the mayor Enrico Dalfino and vice-prefect Giuseppe Cisternino organised the distribution of water.

Despite doubts expressed by Dalfino, the authorities started bussing the immigrants from around midday to the Stadio della Vittoria, an out of use stadium, where they would be kept until their deportation. By the afternoon the Albanians had understood that they were ultimately to be sent home, groups of them tried to force their way through the police cordon surrounding the stadium, with many managing to escape, the authorities then decided to stop bringing anyone to the stadium and close the gates, locking them inside. The situation spun further out of control, the stadium's groundsman was effectively held hostage until the intervention of the mayor, personnel supervising the fair handling out of food were assaulted and the police then evacuated the stadium, leaving it as a lawless zone controlled by the most violent elements (some armed with firearms). Food and water was literally thrown over the wall by the authorities using a fire truck crane, which meant it was mostly appropriated by the before-mentioned thugs.

The night saw the tension flare up even more, with clashes between the police and Albanians trying (and succeeding for some) to break through the cordon. The police, who had a number of projectiles thrown at them, opened fire. Some Albanians were treated for gunshot wounds, the police - who themselves had members injured by projectiles - say these were caused by prior infighting in the stadium.

After a brief respite, the cat and mouse game between the Albanians trying to escape and the authorities started anew on Friday morning. Some 3,000 Albanians managed to bust the gates open and make a rush for it, with over 200 injuries resulting, including around 20 policemen. Whilst hundreds of refugees managed to escape, some hiding in the Fiera del Levante exhibition pavilions, around 2,000 were surrounded by police outside the stadium, who progressively transferred them to the port in spite of their sometimes violent resistance.

The situation inside the stadium neared boiling point, with some Albanians reportedly looting vehicles before driving them recklessly inside the stadium, panicking their compatriots. A small group also set fire to a Red Cross office and a garage at the stadium causing material damage according to Red Cross officials.

Deportation through all means (9–16 August)
Meanwhile, the Italian authorities had finally been able to organise their response to the refugee crisis, requisitioning private ferries, the first—the Tiziano—arriving on the 9th, to transport them back to Albania, where they also sent two navy ships to help with disembarkation. Some of the most refractive elements were taken to the airport and flown back to Albania with military C-130's in groups of around 60 (escorted by as many policemen). By mid-afternoon, around 3,000 had been repatriated, some left voluntarily as the hostile reception and poor conditions had left them disillusioned about life in Italy, most were told lies, with the ships and planes supposed to take them to other Italian cities.

The outgoing flow of refugees hastened with the arrival of two other ferries, the Espresso Grecia and the Malta, two days later. By the 11th, around 3,000 Albanians still remained in Bari's stadium, mostly the hard-line faction who refused to be convinced by the authorities say-so, the police chief Vincenzo Parisi convinced a number to leave with the offer of new clothes and 50,000 lire (a small fortune in Albania). After three days, the remaining hold-backs were told they had won the right to stay in Italy, however as soon as they exited the stadium they were put into buses and taken to the airport, from where they were flown directly to Tirana, leading the press to title that the Albanian invasion had been ended on 16 August.

Reactions
Visiting the port and stadium on 10 August, Bishop Antonio Bello was scandalised by the dire conditions he found the Albanians in, prompting him to write an article in Avvenire denouncing the authorities, chief of which the minister of interior and the head of the Protezione civile, for treating them like animals.

Outcome
With the media attention highlighting the dire situation in Albania, that country's authorities, pressured by Italy, put its ports under military control and halted all passenger trains to stem flow of emigrants. At the same time the Italian government offered to help the country financially (to the tune of $9 million in food) if Albania helped rein in and take back the immigrants leaving for Italy.

Though undocumented immigration from Albania continued thereafter, it lessened in scale and was mostly organised by criminal gangs who used fast motorboats to cross the strait at night and leave their paying passengers to swim to the shore.





https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vlora_(ship)

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
4 May 1982 – Twenty sailors are killed when the British Type 42 destroyer HMS Sheffield is hit by an Argentinian Exocet missile during the Falklands War.


HMS Sheffield was a Type 42 guided missile destroyer laid down by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering at Barrow-in-Furness on 15 January 1970. She was launched by Queen Elizabeth II on 10 June 1971 and commissioned on 16 February 1975. She was the second Royal Navy ship to be named after the city of Sheffield in Yorkshire.

The ship was part of the Task Force 317 sent to the Falkland Islands during the Falklands War. She was struck by an Exocet air-launched anti-ship missilefrom a Super Etendard aircraft belonging to the Argentine Navy on 4 May 1982 and foundered on 10 May 1982.



Sinking
Argentinian attack
Sheffield was first detected by an Argentine Naval Aviation Lockheed SP-2H Neptune (2-P-112) patrol aircraft at 07:50 on 4 May 1982. The Neptune kept the British ships under surveillance, verifying Sheffield's position again at 08:14 and 08:43. Two Argentine Navy Super Étendards, both armed with AM39 Exocets, took off from Río Grande naval air base at 09:45 and met with an Argentine Air Force KC-130H Hercules tanker at 10:00 hours. The two aircraft were 3-A-202, piloted by mission commander Capitán de Fragata (Commander) Augusto Bedacarratz, and 3-A-203, piloted by Teniente (Lieutenant) Armando Mayora.

At 10:35, the Neptune climbed to 1,170 metres (3,840 ft) and detected a large and two medium-sized contacts at the coordinates 52°33′55″S 57°40′55″W. A few minutes later, the Neptune contacted the Super Étendards with this information. Flying at very low altitude at approximately 10:50, both Super Étendards climbed to 160 metres (520 ft) to verify these contacts, but failed to locate them and returned to low altitude. 25 miles (40 km) later they climbed again and, after a few seconds of scanning, the targets appeared on their radar screens.

Both pilots loaded the coordinates into their weapons systems, returned to low level, and after last minute checks, launched their AM39 Exocet missiles at 11:04 from 20 to 30 miles (32 to 48 km) away from their targets. The Super Étendards did not need to refuel again from the KC-130, which had been waiting, and landed at Río Grande at 12:04. Supporting the mission were an Argentine Air Force Learjet 35 as a decoy and two IAI Daggers as the KC-130 escorts

On the Sheffield
At approximately 10:00 on 4 May, Sheffield was at defence watches, second degree readiness, one of three Type 42 destroyers operating as a forward ASW picket for the task force, south-east of the Falklands. On some task force ships (including Sheffield) the threat from the type 209 submarine was seen as higher priority than the threat from the air. After General Belgrano was sunk, Captain Saltordered that Sheffield change course every 90 seconds to counter the potential Argentine submarine threat. Sheffield's radar operators had difficulty distinguishing Mirage and Super Etendard aircraft, and the destroyer may have lacked effective IFF or radar jamming. HMS Glasgow, operating at high readiness, detected two Super Etendard 'Agave' (Exocet-capable) targets on 965M main surveillance radar, 40 nautical miles (74 km) out and immediately communicated the warning codeword 'Handbrake' by UHF and HF to all task force ships. Sheffield had assessed the Exocet threat overrated for the previous two days, and assessed another as a false alarm (as did HMS Invincible). Sheffield apparently did not hear the incoming aircraft and missiles, detect them on its electronic support measures (ESM) sets, or see a radar contact on its screens swept by its own radar. No detections were reported via data link from Glasgow. Sheffield failed to go to action stations, launch chaff, prepare the 4.5" gun and Sea Dart missiles, or indeed take any action or even inform the captain Sheffield had relieved her sister ship Coventry as the latter was having technical trouble with her type 965 radar. Sheffield and Coventrywere chatting over UHF. Communications ceased until an unidentified message was heard flatly stating, "Sheffield is hit."[


The grave of Neil Goodall, cook on Sheffield, who died in the Argentine attack. Lavender Hill Cemetery, Enfield.

Sheffield picked up the incoming missiles on her type 965 radar (an interim fitting until the Type 1022 set was available); the operations officer informed the missile director, who queried the contacts in the ADAWS 4 fire control system. Critically, Sheffield did not have an ECM jammer fitted and lacked other critical ECM equipment, and failed to go to action stations or a heightened state of readiness, or to do anything to prepare weapons or the decoy system. The launch aircraft had not been detected as the British had expected, and it was not until smoke was sighted that the target was confirmed as sea skimming missiles. Five seconds later, an Exocet hit Sheffield amidships, approximately 8 feet (2.4 m) above the waterline on deck 2, tearing a gash in the hull. "It penetrated as far as the ship’s galley, where eight cooks are thought to have been killed instantly. Fire erupted within seconds and the ship filled with smoke." The other missile splashed into the sea a half mile off her port beam.

Response
The flagship, HMS Hermes, dispatched the escorts Arrow and Yarmouth to investigate, and a helicopter was launched. Confusion reigned until Sheffield's Lynx helicopter unexpectedly landed aboard Hermes carrying the air operations officer and operations officer, confirming the strike.

Such was the lack of warning that there was no time to engage in defensive manoeuvres, leading to a change in British policy whereby any Royal Navy vessel that suspected it might be under missile attack would turn toward the threat, accelerate to maximum speed and fire chaff to prevent a ship being caught defenceless again. The codeword used to start this procedure was 'handbrake', which had to be broadcast once the signal of the Agave radar of the Super Étendard was picked up.


Argentine Navy Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard.

The initial Ministry of Defence (MOD) Board of Inquiry on the sinking of Sheffield concluded that, based upon available evidence, the warhead did not detonate. However, some of the crew and members of the task force believed that the missile's 165 kilograms (364 lb) warhead had detonated. This was supported by a MOD re-assessment of the loss of Sheffield, which reported in summer 2015. In a paper delivered to the RINA Warship Conference in Bath in June 2015, it was concluded that the Exocet warhead did indeed detonate inside Sheffield, with the results supported by analysis using modern damage analysis tools not available in 1982 and evidence from weapon hits and trials conducted since the end of the Falklands campaign.

Regardless, the impact of the missile and the burning rocket motor set Sheffield ablaze. Some accounts suggest that the initial impact of the missile immediately crippled the ship's onboard electricity generating systems, but this only affected certain parts of the ship, which caused ventilation problems. The missile strike also fractured the water main, preventing the anti-fire mechanisms from operating effectively, and thereby dooming the ship to be consumed by the raging fire. The Royal Navy Court of Inquiry suggested the critical factors leading to loss of Sheffield were:

1. Failure to respond to HMS Glasgow's detection and communication of two approaching Super Etendards by immediately going to action stations and launching chaff decoys;[20]
2. Lack of ECM jamming capability;
3. Lack of a point defense system;
4. Inadequate operator training, in particular simulated realistic low-level target acquisition.

Slow response of the available 909 Sea Dart tracking radar and its operator limited the possible response. The spread of the fire was not adequately controlled due to the presence of ignitable material coverings and lack of adequate curtains and sealing to restrict smoke and fires. Captain Salt's handing of the ship during the four hours over which the fires were fought were not faulted, nor was his decision to abandon ship due to the risk of fires igniting the Sea Dart magazine, the exposed position to air attack of HMS Arrow and Yarmouth assisting the firefighting, and fact that the combat capability of the destroyer was irredeemably lost.

As Sheffield's crew were waiting to be rescued, Sub-lieutenant Carrington-Wood led the crew in singing "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" from Monty Python’s Life of Brian.

Over the six days from 4 May 1982, five inspections were made to see if any equipment was worth salvaging. Orders were issued to shore up the hole in Sheffield's starboard side and tow the ship to South Georgia.[16] Before these orders were effected, however, the burnt-out hulk had already been taken in tow by the Rothesay-class frigate Yarmouth. The high seas that the ship was towed through caused slow flooding through the hole in the ship's side, which eventually sank her. The ship sank at 53°04′S 56°56′W on 10 May 1982, the first Royal Navy vessel sunk in action since World War II.

Deaths
Twenty of her crew (mainly on duty in the galley area and in the computer room) died as a result of the attack. The wreck is a war grave and designated as a protected place under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.

Fire
The sinking of Sheffield is sometimes blamed on a superstructure made wholly or partially from aluminium, the melting point and ignition temperature of which are significantly lower than those of steel. However, this is incorrect as Sheffield's superstructure was made entirely of steel. The confusion is related to the US and British Navies abandoning aluminium after several fires in the 1970s involving USS Belknap and HMS Amazon and other ships that had aluminium superstructures.[23][a] The sinking of the Type 21 frigates Antelope and Ardent, both of which had aluminium superstructures, probably also had an effect on this belief, though these cases are again incorrect and the presence of aluminium had nothing to do with their loss.

The fires on Sheffield and other ships damaged by fire caused a later shift by the Royal Navy from the nylon and synthetic fabrics then worn by British sailors. The synthetics had a tendency to melt on to the skin, causing more severe burns than if the crew had been wearing non-synthetic clothing



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Sheffield_(D80)

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 4 May


1695 – Launch of HMS Basilisk, a Serpent-class bomb vessel of the Royal Navy, one of ten such vessels commissioned in 1695 to support land assaults on continental ports.

HMS Basilisk was a Serpent-class bomb vessel of the Royal Navy, one of ten such vessels commissioned in 1695 to support land assaults on continental ports. Initially commissioned as part of Admiral John Berkeley's fleet during the Nine Years' War, she also saw service as an exploratory vessel along the St Lawrence River, and later as part of the victorious British forces at the Battle of Cape Passaro.

At 163 tonnes burthen she was the largest vessel in her class and also the last survivor of it; all nine of her sister ships had been lost or broken up by the time she was decommissioned and broken up at Deptford Dockyard in 1729.

HMS Basilisk (1695) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1787 – Launch of french Goéland, the name ship of a two-vessel class of "brick-avisos" (advice brigs), built to a design by Raymond-Antoine Haran

Goéland was the name ship of a two-vessel class of "brick-avisos" (advice brigs), built to a design by Raymond-Antoine Haran and launched in 1787. She served the French Navy for several years carrying dispatches until in 1793 HMS Penelope and HMS Proserpine captured her off Jérémie. The Royal Navy took her into service briefly as Goelan and sold her in 1794. As the merchant brig Brothers she appears to have sailed as a whaling ship in the South Seas Whale Fisheries until 1808 or so, and then traded between London and the Brazils. She is no longer listed after 1815.

French brick-aviso Goéland (1787) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1790 - Fredrikshamn/Hamina in Finland - Swedish galley flotilla defeats Russian galley flotilla.


1796 HMS Spencer (16), Cptn. Andrew Fitzherbert Evans, captured French gun-brig Volcan (12)

On 4 May 1796 Spencer was sailing in company with Esperance and Bonetta when they sighted a suspicious vessel. Spencer set off in chase while shortly thereafter Esperance saw two vessels, a schooner and a sloop, and she and Bonetta set off after them. Spencer sailed south-southeast and the other two British vessels sailed southwest by west, with the result that they lost sight of each other. Spencer captured the French gun-brig Volcan, while Bonetta and Esperance captured the schooner Poisson Volant.

HMS Spencer was a 16-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy, formerly the civilian Sir Charles Grey. The Admiralty purchased her in 1795, after having hired her in 1793-94, and renamed her HMS Lilly in 1800. The French privateer Dame Ambert captured her in 1804 and Lilly became the French privateer Général Ernouf. She blew up in 1805 while in an engagement with HMS Renard.

HMS Esperance was launched in America in 1781, and is first listed in Lloyd's Register in 1784 under the name Clementina. She then served as a slave ship, sailing out of Liverpool. In 1786 Brent and Co. purchased her, renamed her Ellis, but still sailed her as a slaver. In 1793 she became the privateer Ellis. The French captured her, then the Spanish, and then the French recaptured her. After returning to French ownership, she became the Frenchcorvette Esperance. The Royal Navy captured her in 1795 and took her into service as HMS Esperance. Thus, in her brief military career, Esperance had changed hands four times. She was sold in 1798.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Spencer_(1795)

HMS Esperance (1795) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1805 HMS Seahorse (38), Cptn. Courtenay Boyle, and boats cut out the largest vessel and sank several more of a Spanish convoy at San Pedro.

HMS Seahorse was a 38-gun Artois-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1794 and broken up in 1819.


HMS Seahorse capturing the Badiri-i-Zaffer, 6 July 1808






Scale: approximately 1:32. According to the writing on the side of the hull, this model was made from part of the mainmast of the French flagship ‘L’Orient’ which blew up at the Battle of the Nile in 1798. The model is rather crudely made and its hull is not quite in the right proportions, being too deep, so it is probably sailor-made. The rigging appears to be contemporary. Marmaduke Stalkaart, who also wrote a textbook on naval architecture, built the ‘Seahorse’ (1794) at Rotherhithe on the Thames. It was one of the ‘Artois/Apollo’ class, of which several models exist. The ‘Seahorse’ was not actually present at the Battle of the Nile, but joined Nelson’s fleet soon afterwards

HMS Seahorse (1794) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artois-class_frigate
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections.html#!csearch;searchTerm=Seahorse_(1794;start=0


1806 Boats of HMS Renommee (44), Cptn. Sir Thomas Livingstone, and HMS Nautilus (18), Edward Palmer, cut out Spanish schooner Giganta from under the protection of the guns of Torre de Vieja.

HMS Nautilus (1804) was an 18-gun sloop launched in 1804 and wrecked in 1807. It took six days for help to arrive and 62 of the 122 men aboard died.


1809 HMS Parthian (10), Richard Harward, captured privateer Nouvelle Gironde (14), M. Lecompte

HMS Parthian (1808) was a 10-gun Cherokee-class brig-sloop launched in 1808 and wrecked on the coast of Egypt on 15 May 1828.



https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-575608;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=P


1811 A French brig of war (18), destroyed in the harbour of Parenzo on the coast of Istria , by HMS Belle Poule (38) Capt. James Brisbane, and HMS Alceste (38), Cptn. Murray Maxwell.

From 4–5 May 1811, Belle Poule participated with Alceste in an attack on Parenza (Istria).[16] They chased a French 18-gun brig into the harbour but the ships could not close enough to bombard her. Instead, the two vessels landed 200 seamen and all their marines on an island nearby. They then landed two 9-pounders and two howitzers that they placed in one battery, and a field piece that they placed farther away. Eventually, they and the French in Parenza engaged in five hours of mutual bombardment, during which the British were able to sink the brig.[16] They then returned men and cannons to their ships. In the action Belle Poule had one man killed and three wounded and Alceste had two men killed; all casualties occurred onshore.

HMS Belle Poule was a Royal Navy fifth rate frigate, formerly Belle Poule, a Virginie-class frigate of the French Navy, which was built by the Crucy family's shipyard at Basse-Indre to a design by Jacques-Noël Sané. She was launched on 17 April 1802, and saw active service in the East, but in 1806 a British squadron under Sir John Borlase Warren captured her off La Palma in the Canary Islands. The Admiralty commissioned her into the Royal Navyas HMS Belle Poule. She was sold in 1816


Capture of the 'Gypsy', 30 April 1812: left to right: HMS Belle Poule, Gypsy, and HMS Hermes, by Thomas Buttersworth





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

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

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


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

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Belle_Poule_(1806)
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-295415;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=B

HMS Alceste (1806) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1897 – Launch of Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, a German transatlantic ocean liner named after Wilhelm I, German Emperor, the first monarch of the (second) German Empire.

Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse (Ger. orth. Kaiser Wilhelm der Große) was a German transatlantic ocean liner named after Wilhelm I, German Emperor, the first monarch of the (second) German Empire.



The liner was constructed in Stettin (now Szczecin, Poland) for the North German Lloyd (NDL), and entered service in 1897. It was the first liner to have four funnels and is considered to be the first "superliner."[2] The first of four sister ships built between 1903 and 1907 by NDL (the others being SS Kronprinz Wilhelm, SS Kaiser Wilhelm II and SS Kronprinzessin Cecilie, she marked the beginning of a change in the way maritime supremacy was demonstrated in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century.

The ship began a new era in ocean travel and the novelty of having four funnels was quickly associated with size, strength, speed and above all luxury. Quickly established on the Atlantic, she gained the Blue Riband for Germany, a notable prize for the fastest trip from Europe to America which had been previously dominated by the British.

In 1900, she was involved in a fire in the port of New York which resulted in several deaths. She was also the victim of a naval ram in the French port of Cherbourg in 1906. With the advent of her sister ships, she was modified to an all-third-class ship to take advantage of the lucrative immigrant market travelling to the United States.

Converted into an auxiliary cruiser at the outbreak of World War I, she was given orders to capture and destroy enemy ships. She destroyed several before being defeated in the Battle of Río de Oro by the British cruiser HMS Highflyer and scuttled by her crew, just three weeks after the outbreak of war. Her wreck was discovered in 1952 and dismantled.

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


1914 - Perseo - On 4 May 1917 the troop transport, sailing from Messina to Cephalonia, was torpedoed and sunk by the Austro-Hungarian submarine U-4, killing 227 men.

SM U-4 (Austria-Hungary) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1917 - Destroyer Division 8, commanded by Cmdr. Joseph K. Taussig, arrive at Queenstown, Ireland, to protect convoy escorts against German U-Boats.


1945 - During the Okinawa Campaign, the Japanese attempt to land on Okinawa but are repulsed by the Allied naval forces. Kamikazes attack and sink: USS Luce (DD 522), USS Morrison (DD 560), USS LSM 190, USS LSM 194. Damaged by the suicide bombers are USS Birmingham (CL 62) and USS Sangamon (CVE 26).


1995 - The CSS Hunley, the first working submarine , was found

The H.L. Hunley was found in 1995 in the Charleston outer harbor about four miles off Sullivan’s island. The divers had to dive down 30 feet of water before finding the Hunley, which was buried in the sand and sediment. There is some controversy about who located the actual position of the Hunley. Well-known author Clive Cussler and underwater archaeologist E. Lee Spence both claim to have made the original discovery. Cussler claims to have discovered it in 1995, and Spence says he discovered it in 1970 but failed to validate the discovery by diving in the location.[2]


Conrad Wise Chapman – Submarine Torpedo Boat H.L. Hunley, Dec. 6, 1863


H.L. Hunley recovery

The Hunley was sent to Lasch Conservation Center at the old Charleston Navy Yard for conservation. The remains of the eight crewmen serving on the Hunley when it sank were found and buried on April 17, 2004, at the Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston. The recovery and conservation of the H.L. Hunley was championed by South Carolina Senator Glenn McConnell. He asked Warren Lasch to take on the fundraising and oversee the conservation and restoration treatment of the Hunley. Lasch accepted the challenge in 1997 and became the chairman of the Friends of the Hunley.


2008 - Comandante Sales - On 4 May 2008 the passenger ferry Comandante Sales capsized on the Solimoes River killing 41 on board

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
5 May 1757 – Launch of HMS Southampton, the name ship of the 32-gun Southampton-class fifth-rate frigates of the Royal Navy.


HMS Southampton was the name ship of the 32-gun Southampton-class fifth-rate frigates of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1757 and served for more than half a century until wrecked in 1812.




George III in HMS Southampton reviewing the fleet off Plymouth, 18 August 1789




In 1772, Southampton – at the time commanded by the capable John MacBride, destined for a distinguished naval career – was sent to Elsinore, Denmark, to take on board and convey to exile in Germany the British Princess Caroline Matilda, George III's sister, who had been deposed from her position as Queen of Denmarkdue to her affair with the social reformer Johan Struensee.

On 3 August 1780, Southampton captured the French privateer lugger Comte de Maurepas, of 12 guns and 80 men, under the command of Joseph Le Cluck. She had on board Mr. Andrew Stuart, Surgeon's Mate of HMS Speedwell, "as a ransomer." She had suffered shot holes between wind and water and sank shortly thereafter. Southampton shared the head money award with Buffalo, Thetis, and Alarm.

On 10 June 1796, Southampton captured the French corvette Utile at Hyères Roads, by boarding. Utile was armed with twenty-four 6-pounder guns and was under the protection of a battery. She had a crew of 136 men under the command of Citizen François Veza. The French put up a resistance during which they suffered eight killed, including Veza, and 17 wounded; Southampton had one man killed. The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Utile. Gorgon, Courageux, and the hired armed cutter Fox were in company at the time, and with the British fleet outside Toulon. They shared with Southampton in the proceeds of the capture, as did Barfleur, Bombay Castle, Egmont, and St George.

Lloyd's List reported that she and the sloop Brazen had run aground and lost their masts on the coast of Mississippi during a great hurricane on 19 and 20 August 1812, but that the crews were saved. Neither vessel was lost though.

On 22 November, Southampton, under the command of Captain James Lucas Yeo, captured the American brig USS Vixen. Vixen was armed with twelve 18-pounder carronades and two 9-pounder bow chasers, and had a crew of 130 men under the command of Captain George Reed. She had been out five weeks but had not captured anything.

Fate
A strong westerly current wrecked Southampton and Vixen on an uncharted submerged rock off Conception Island in the Crooked Island Passage of the Bahamas on 27 November. No lives were lost.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Southampton_(1757)

Southampton-class frigate - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
5 May 1757 – Launch of HMS Burford, a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Chatham Dockyard to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment as amended in 1754


HMS Burford was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Chatham Dockyard to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment as amended in 1754, and launched in 1757.



She fought in the Seven Years' War in North America (including the capture of Louisbourg) and in the western squadron under Admiral Edward Hawke, including the Battle of Quiberon Bay. After the war she spent the subsequent peace as guardship at Plymouth and a troopship to the West Indies and was repaired in 1772. In the American Revolutionary War she was sent to the East Indies from 1779 to 1784 as part of admiral Edward Hughes's squadron where she participated in all five indecisive actions against the French admiral Suffren. After her return to England in 1784 she was sold for breaking up in 1785.

Design and Construction
Although nominally a 70 gun third rate of the 1745 Establishment, the Burford design was heavily amended by Joseph Allin, Surveyor of Navy, in 1754. She was ordered on 15 January 1754 as the first of five ships which made up the last group of 'traditional' 70 gun ships (they carried only 68 guns in practice) to be built before the 74 gun ship became the standard third rate. On 13 June 1754 she was named HMS Burford after her predecessors and the secondary title of George Beauclerk, 3rd Duke of St Albans and was the third and last ship of this name in Royal Navy. She was begun by Master Shipwright Adam Hayes at Chatham Dockyard on 30 October 1754, then from August 1755 was completed by John Lock. Launched on 5 May 1757, she was completed on 15 July 1757. Her first commander was Captain James Young who commissioned her a month before launching in April 1757.

Service History
Burford took an active part in the Seven Years' War, initially with Admiral Hawke in 1757. In 1758 she was commanded by Captain James Gambier (who was her captain throughout the rest of the war) at the capture of Louisberg, then in the West Indies between November 1758 and November 1759. She rejoined Hawke on 13 November 1759 just in time for the Battle of Quiberon Bay on 20 November. She remained with Hawke until 1763, seeing action at Belle Isle in 1761 and the Basque Roads in 1762.

At the end of the Seven Years' War Burford was guard ship at Plymouth from May 1763 until 1770, with two expeditions to the West Indies as a troopship in 1764 and 1768. She was paid of in March 1770 for a Middling repair at Plymouth Dockyard (costing £11,317.6.2d) between November 1769 and February 1772, before going into Ordinary until 1776.

At the start of the American Revolutionary War Burford was commissioned under Captain G Bowyer for Ireland and completed fitting out at Plymouth Dockyard in May 1777. Between March and November 1777 she was at Portsmouth Dockyard fitting for the East Indies at a cost of £11,393.9.7d. Initially commissioned in May 1778 by Captain Taylor Penny, she was taken over by Captain Peter Rainier in October of that year before sailing on 7 March 1779 for service with Rear Admiral Edward Hughes on the East Indies Station. She participated in destruction of shipping at Mangalore on 8 December 1780, and then in the battles of Sadras, Providien, Negapatam, Trincomalee and Cuddalore against the French Chef d'escadre Suffren. In 1784 she returned to England with Sir Richard king, arriving at Woolwich Dockyard on 3 July 1784.

Fate
Burford was sold at Woolwich for break up for a price of £1,320 on 31 March 1785.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Burford_(1757)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burford-class_ship_of_the_line

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
5 May 1794 - The Action of 5 May 1794 was a minor naval engagement fought in the Indian Ocean during the French Revolutionary Wars.
HMS Orpheus (32), Cptn Henry Newcome, captured french Duguay-Trouin (34) off the Isle of France


The Action of 5 May 1794 was a minor naval engagement fought in the Indian Ocean during the French Revolutionary Wars. A British squadron had been blockading the French island of Isle de France (now Mauritius) since early in the year, and early on 5 May discovered two ships approaching their position. As the strange vessels came closer, they were recognised as the French frigate Duguay Trouin, which had been captured from the East India Company the year before, and a small brig. Making use of a favourable wind, the British squadron gave chase to the new arrivals, which fled. The chase was short, as Duguay Trouin was a poor sailor with many of the crew sick and unable to report for duty. The British frigate HMS Orpheus was the first to arrive, and soon completely disabled the French frigate, successfully raking the wallowing ship. After an hour and twenty minutes the French captain surrendered, Captain Henry Newcome of Orpheus taking over the captured ship and bringing his prize back to port in India.



Background
Britain joined the French Revolutionary Wars in February 1793, but the news did not reach the Indian Ocean for four months. The immediate priority of the British squadron under Commodore William Cornwallis in British India was the capture of the French colonies in India, especially their main port of Pondicherry. Once the British had completed this operation at the end of August 1793, the squadron returned to Europe. This left British commerce in Eastern waters badly exposed, and privateers and warships operating from Isle de France captured a number of merchant vessels, including the large East Indiaman Princess Royal, which three privateer corvettes seized on 27 September in the Sunda Strait.

Princess Royal was a well-armed ship, carrying twenty-six 12-pounder cannon and a number of smaller calibre guns on the maindeck. The French Navy immediately took her into service as the 34-gun frigate Duguay Trouin and attached her to the Isle de France squadron of the frigates Prudente and Cybèle, and the brig Vulcain under Captain Jean-Marie Renaud. This force skirmished inconclusively with a squadron of East India Company ships in the Sunda Strait in January 1794, before returning to Isle de France with the captured East Indiaman Pigot.

By the early spring of 1794, three vessels had come out from Britain - 32-gun frigate HMS Orpheus under Captain Henry Newcome, the 50-gun fifth rate HMS Centurion under Captain Samuel Osbourne, and the 44-gun HMS Resistance under Captain Edward Pakenham to replace Cornwallis's squadron. These ships passed the French bases on Isle de France en route to India, and briefly blockaded the port with some success against French merchant vessels: Orpheus alone sent three officers and twenty men to India in captured merchant ships. The French too had ships at sea during this period, Duguay Trouin and Vulcain cruising together in the Indian Ocean during the spring before returning to Isle de France.

Battle
As the French vessels approached the island on 5 May they were sighted by lookouts on the British squadron. The British captains then waited for the French to get closer, launching a chase in the mid-morning when they held the weather gage so that the wind was behind them. This allowed them to rapidly close with the French vessels whose efforts to escape were hampered by Duguay Trouin's poor sailing qualities. At 11:45, Orpheus was the first to reach the French frigate, firing on Duguay Trouin from long range. Within ten minutes the British ship had pulled closer to the former East Indiaman and although Duguay Trouin briefly returned fire, Orpheus was soon positioned across the starboard quarter of the French ship, allowing Newcome to pour raking fire into the Duguay Trouin without reply.

By 13:15, Duguay Trouin was a battered wreck, with the hull significantly damaged, the bowsprit shot away and heavy casualties among the crew. With his ship unmanageable and Centurion and Resistance now 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) away and approaching rapidly, the French captain struck his colours and surrendered. The brig Vulcain had taken the opportunity to escape as Duguay Trouin and Orpheus fought and later reached Isle de France. Newcome lost one midshipman killed and one officer and eight men wounded in the exchange from a crew of 194. Losses on Duguay Trouin were far more severe: the French ship recorded 21 men killed and 60 wounded from a nominal complement of 403.

Aftermath
Newcome initially took his prize to Mahé in the Seychelles, where he demanded fresh supplies, particularly water, for his prisoners. The French governors of the islands refused, and Newcome stormed and seized the town, taking all of the supplies and military stores. The wounded and sick prisoners were disembarked, and the contents of a small French brig were turned over to the inhabitants to replace the seized supplies. Newcome then returned to India with his prize, but the ship was not subsequently purchased by the Royal Navy.

Historical reaction to the battle has focused on the significantly stronger British position in the encounter, with three large regular warships pitted against a hastily converted merchant vessel with a significant proportion of the crew suffering from illness. Duguay-Trouin was also weakly built and weakly armed: early estimates that the Duguay Trouin's main battery mounted twenty-six 18-pounder long guns were revised to 12-pounders with eight smaller cannon on the upper deck. The British blockade of Isle de France continued throughout the year, with Centurion engaged in an inconclusive action against a French squadron in October. Although Isle de France remained in French hands throughout the conflict, the Indian Ocean was largely under British control by 1796.


Princess Royal, launched in 1786, was an East Indiaman. She made two complete trips to India for the British East India Company (EIC) and was on her third trip, this one to China, when French privateers or warships captured her on 27 September 1793. The French Navy took her into service in the Indian Ocean as a 34-gun frigate under the name Duguay Trouin. The Royal Navy recaptured her and she returned to British merchant service. In 1797 she performed one more voyage for the EIC. She received a letter of marque in July 1798 but was captured in October 1799 off the coast of Sumatra.





EIC
Captain James Horncastle commanded Princess Royal on all three of her voyages, including her last. Unfortunately, on 29 September 1793 three French warships captured her off Anger (or Anjere) Point while she was still on her way to China.

H. Couperus, the Dutch governor of Malacca, wrote a letter on 15 December 1793 to the English captains there that a letter from Batavia dated 29 September reported that three French warships had attacked and captured Princess Royal. The letter further reported that the French ships mounted about 120 guns between them. Captain Bampton, of Hormazeer, arrived with a cargo of sugar from Batavia that he picked up after delivering a cargo to Botany Bay. He reported that he had seen three French ships at Batavia, two of 50 guns and one of 44 guns. Another report, this by Captain Simpson of Carron, stated that three French warships were cruising off the coast of Canton. He described them as a 64-gun, a 44-gun, and a 20-gun vessel; they had a large number of troops aboard and were believed responsible for Princess Royal's capture.

A later account reports that the three privateers were the 36-gun Dumouriez, 32-gun La Liberté, and 28-gun Égalité. Horncastle fought for an hour before striking. Princess Royal had two men killed and three wounded.

Her captors took Princess Royal to Île de France. There she was sold; reportedly, "Prize-taking has become so lucrative on Mauritius that bidding for the fast-sailing Princess Royal was fierce and she sold for 2,400,000 livres." Lloyd's List reported that she was in Mauritius being fitted out as a privateer. The French Navy requisitioned her and renamed her Duguay Trouin.

French naval service
Main article: Sunda Strait campaign of January 1794
On 25 January 1794, Duguay Trouin, under the command of under the command of Julien Thérouart, was in the Sunda Strait as part of a French naval squadron from Île de France, that also included the frigates Prudente and Cybèle, and the brig Vulcain, all four vessels under the overall command of Captain Jean-Marie Renaud. There they engaged a squadron of EIC ships consisting of the East Indiamen William Pitt, Houghton, and Britannia, the country ship Nonsuch, the Bombay Marine (EIC) 14-gun brig Nautilus, and two recently captured French privateers, all under the overall command of Commodore Charles Mitchell. (The two privateers were the corvettes Vengeur and Résolue. On 17 January they had attacked the EIC factory at Bencoolen, where the East Indiaman Pigot had repelled them. Mitchell's squadron encountered the two on 22 January and captured them.)

For an hour the two squadrons continued a general exchange of fire at long-range, before Mitchell turned William Pitt, Houghton and Nonsuch towards the French at 09:30, the latter two both managing to hit Cybèle with destructive broadsides. Firing continued for another 18 minutes as Renaud withdrew, eventually anchoring off the island of Pulau Baby. Neither commander was keen to continue the action, Mitchell fearing that his undermanned ships would not be able to properly engage the better armed French vessels. Casualties among the French squadron are not known, but the only loss on the British ships was on Nonsuch, which had a man killed in combat with Cybèle.

In need of reinforcement and resupply, Mitchell drew his squadron back to Batavia and was there joined by the 36 gun Dutch frigate Amazone under Captain Kerwal and an armed merchant ship. Mitchell's ships then cruised the Sunda Strait for another two weeks without discovering any enemy vessels, before concluding the operation on 8 February and returning to the Indian Ocean via Bencoolen.

Renaud used Mitchell's retreat to withdraw also into the Indian Ocean via Bencoolen. His squadron reached the British trading post on 9 February, where Pigot was still undergoing repairs. The French vessels' arrival took Pigot by surprise and they captured her. As the merchant ship was manoeuvred out of the bay, Renaud demanded the surrender of the small Fort Marlborough nearby and was informed that the fort was well armed and that the arrival of Mitchell's squadron was expected at any moment. Unwilling to reengage with Mitchell, Renaud withdrew immediately without assaulting the fort. The French squadron subsequently returned to Île de France.

Recapture
HMS Orpheus, Captain Newcome, captured Duguay Trouin on 5 May 1794. In the action, Orpheus had a midshipman killed, and nine men wounded. French casualties amounted to 21 men killed and 60 wounded. Many of the French crew were ill and Newcome believed that they would not survive the voyage to Madras. Instead, he sailed to Mahé, Seychelles, where he arrived on 16 May. It was a French possession but it made no resistance when he arrived.

Newcome landed 200 sick and wounded prisoners, as well as the rest of Dugay Trouin's crew on Ste. Anne Island, from where a brig later carried them to at Port-Louis, Mauritius. Newcome wrote to Malartic, the governor of Mauritius, asking him to release British prisoners equal in number and rank to those Newcome had landed.

While it was in the Seychelles, the British squadron also captured the brig Olivette, which belonged to the French privateer Jean-François Hodoul, and Deux Andrés, a slaver from Mozambique under the command of Captain Hardy, with 408 slaves on board. On 20 May Newcome sent Olivette to Praslin to gather supplies for the squadron,

Newcome left Mahé on 1 June and arrived at Madras on 18 June, together with Duguay Trouin and Deux Andrés.

Merchantman and capture
On 2 August 1794, it was announced that friends of Captain Reid, of Madras, had purchased Duguay Trouin and appointed him her captain. Duguay Trouin sold for £2900. Her purchasers renamed her Catherine and employed her in the coastal trade. John Reid had left Princess Royal by 4 May 1797. (He shipped on board the country ship Pearl for Bussora and may have died later that year.)

She made one more voyage for the EIC. At some point Catherine reverted to the name Princess Royal. It is most likely that the name reversion occurred before she left for England.

Captain John Wedgborough (or Wedgebrough) left Bombay on 9 August 1797. Princess Royal reached the Cape on 16 October and St Helena on 3 December. She arrived at the Downs on 31 January 1798. Wedgebrough received a letter of marque on 14 July 1798.

Lloyd's List reported in 1800 that a privateer had captured Princess Royal, "late Company's ship", in November 1799 off the coast of Sumatra. The captor was reported to be the privateer Malartic, of 12 guns. Malartic's captain was the noted French privateer Jean-Marie Dutertre. Le Moniteur Universel reported on 2 floréal an VIII (22 April 1800) that two privateers had captured Princess Royal and 15 lesser vessels, with a note stating that the 120-man Malartic had alone captured Princess Royal.


HMS Orpheus was a 32–gun fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1780, and served for more than a quarter of a century, before she was wrecked in 1807.



American War of Independence
On 14 April 1781, Orpheus and HMS Roebuck captured the USS Confederacy off the Delaware. The Royal Navy briefly took her into service as HMS Confederate.

French Revolutionary Wars
On 5 May 1794, Orpheus captured the French frigate Duguay Trouin, the former East Indiaman Princess Royal, which the French had captured on 27 September 1793.
On 22 June 1796 Orpheus was in the Straits of Banca, where she captured the Dutch brig Harlingen. The British took Harlingen into service as HMS Amboyna.
In August 1797 Orpheus was reported as being in Madras and Captain William Hill was appointed commander.

Napoleonic Wars
On 16 April 1806, Orpheus, Captain Thomas Briggs, was in company with the revenue cutter Badger. They shared in the proceeds of the capture of two merchant vessels, Vrou Fingina and Vyf Gesusters.

Fate
Orpheus, under the command of Captain Thomas Briggs, arrived off Jamaica from England in the evening of 22 January 1807. Being short of water, Briggs decided to try to sail her into Port Royal, rather than wait for a pilot. Around midnight Orpheus grounded on a reef that was not accurately marked on her charts. Efforts to lighten her failed and she took on water. When the water reached her main deck, the crew took to the boats, abandoning her.

Action of 5 May 1794 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Orpheus_(1780)

Princess Royal (1786 EIC ship) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
5 May 1806 – Launch of HMS Shannon, a 38-gun Leda-class frigate of the Royal Navy.


HMS Shannon was a 38-gun Leda-class frigate of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1806 and served in the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. She won a noteworthy naval victory on 1 June 1813, during the latter conflict, when she captured the American Navy's USS Chesapeake in a singularly bloody battle.




Ship portrait. Oil painting by A. de Simone, entitled 'HMS Shannon'.

Construction and commissioning
Josiah and Thomas Brindley built Shannon at Frindsbury in Kent and launched her on 5 May 1806. She spent her first seven years under the command of Captain Philip Broke, who was transferred from Druid and took command of Shannon in June that year.


Scale: 1:48. A contemporary half block model of the Shannon (1806), a 36 gun frigate.



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


"The Brilliant Achievement of the Shannon... in boarding and capturing the United States Frigate Chesapeake off Boston, 1 June 1813 in fifteen minutes" by W. Elmes. Shannon is to the left.

Fighting Chesapeake
Main article: Capture of USS Chesapeake
Issuing a challenge
During his long period in command of Shannon, Broke had drilled his crew to an extremely high standard of naval gunnery.

The weekly routine at sea was for the watch on deck to be exercised at the great guns on Monday and Tuesday forenoons, and in the afternoons the first division of the watch was exercised at small arms. Wednesday and Thursday forenoons saw the watch on deck at the carronades, and in the afternoons the second division of the watch at small arms. Friday was reserved for the midshipmen – great guns in the morning, small arms in the afternoon. Thus each man had one morning at the 18-pounders, one morning at the carronades and two afternoons with musquets in every week. Saturdays were reserved for washing clothes and scrubbing the berth deck in the afternoon. Sunday, apart from Church service and any necessary evolutions with the sails, was free.

In addition to these gunnery drills, Broke was fond of preparing hypothetical scenarios to test his crew. For example, after all hands had been drummed to quarters, he would inform them of a theoretical attack and see how they would act to defend the ship. He would also arrange on occasion for a wooden cask to be sent over the side so competitions could be held to see which crew could hit it and how fast they could do so. A game called 'singlestick' was also practised. "This was a game employing roughly similar thrusts and parries as were used with cutlass, but as it was played with blunt sticks, hits, although painful, were not often dangerous. It soon developed quickness of eye and wrist."

Eager to engage and defeat one of the American 'super-frigates' that had already scored a number of victories over smaller Royal Navy ships in single-ship confrontations, Broke prepared a challenge. The warship President had already slipped out of the harbour under the cover of fog and had evaded the British. Constitution was undergoing extensive repairs and alterations and would not be ready for sea in the foreseeable future. However, Chesapeake appeared to be ready to put to sea.

Consequently, Broke decided to send his challenge to Chesapeake, which had been refitting in Boston harbour under the command of Captain James Lawrence, offering single-ship combat. While patrolling offshore, Shannon had intercepted and captured a number of American ships attempting to reach the harbour. After sending two of them off to Halifax, he found that his crew was dangerously reduced in numbers. Broke therefore resorted to burning the rest of the prizes in order to conserve his highly trained crew in anticipation of the battle with Chesapeake. Broke sent the boats from the burnt prizes into Boston, carrying Broke's oral invitation to Lawrence to come out and engage him. He had already sent Tenedos away in the hope that the more favourable odds would entice the American out, but eventually began to despair that Chesapeake would ever come out of the harbour. He finally decided to send a written challenge.

As the Chesapeake appears now ready for sea, I request you will do me the favour to meet the Shannon with her, ship to ship, to try the fortune of our respective flags. The Shannon mounts twenty-four guns upon her broadside and one light boat-gun; 18 pounders upon her main deck, and 32-pounder carronades upon her quarter-deck and forecastle; and is manned with a complement of 300 men and boys, beside thirty seamen, boys, and passengers, who were taken out of recaptured vessels lately. I entreat you, sir, not to imagine that I am urged by mere personal vanity to the wish of meeting the Chesapeake, or that I depend only upon your personal ambition for your acceding to this invitation. We have both noble motives. You will feel it as a compliment if I say that the result of our meeting may be the most grateful service I can render to my country; and I doubt not that you, equally confident of success, will feel convinced that it is only by repeated triumphs in even combats that your little navy can now hope to console your country for the loss of that trade it can no longer protect. Favour me with a speedy reply. We are short of provisions and water, and cannot stay long here.

By now Shannon had been off Boston for 56 days and was running short of provisions, while the extended period at sea was wearing the ship down. She would be even more at a disadvantage facing Chesapeake, fresh from harbour and a refit.

Broke despatched a boat carrying the invitation, manned by a Mr Slocum, a discharged American prisoner. The boat had not reached the shore when Chesapeake was seen underway, sailing out of the harbour. She was flying three American ensigns and a large white flag at the foremast inscribed 'Free Trade and Sailor's Rights'.

Though Lawrence had not received Broke's letter before leaving harbour, according to author Ian W. Toll, it would not have made any difference, Lawrence intended to sail at the first day of favourable weather. The fact that it was not in his nation's interests at this point in the war to be challenging British frigates seems not to have entered into his reasoning; President had in fact slipped out of harbour in foul weather to commerce raid, which was deemed in the US national interest.


'HMS Shannon taking USS Chesapeake, 1 June 1813'. The American frigate Chesapeake was captured by the British ship Shannon off the Boston coast, in a battle which lasted only 15 minutes but claimed over 120 lives.

The two ships had in one another about as close a match as could exist in a state of war. Chesapeake's (rated at 38 guns) armament of twenty-eight 18-pounder long guns was an exact match for Shannon. Measurements proved the ships to be about the same deck length. The only measurable difference between the two ships was the size of their complements: Chesapeake's 379 against Shannon's 330. Shannon carried 276 officers, seamen and marines of her proper complement; eight recaptured seamen; 22 Irish labourers who had been 48 hours in the ship and of whom only four could speak English, and 24 boys, of whom about 13 were under 12 years of age.

Broke had trained his gun crews to fire accurate broadsides into the hulls of enemy vessels, with the aim of killing their gun crews, rather than shooting down the masts. By contrast, half of Chesapeake's officers and up to one quarter of the crew were new to the ship. Her crew had conducted no practice at small arms nor of the main battery. Despite this, Lawrence believed that he would win the battle. The previous American victories over smaller Royal Navy ships left him expectant of success, especially since Chesapeake had a substantially larger crew than Shannon.

Still, before setting sail, Lawrence wrote two quick notes, one to the Secretary of the Navy pronouncing his intentions and another to his brother-in-law asking him to look after Lawrence's wife and children in event of his death. He then set sail. Just before the engagement, the American crew gave three cheers.

Initial engagement


John Christian Schetky's Boarding the Chesapeake, which depicts the first broadsides between Chesapeake and Shannon

The two ships met at half past five in the afternoon, 20 nautical miles (37 km) east of Boston lighthouse, between Cape Ann and Cape Cod. Shannon was flying a rusty blue ensign and her dilapidated outside appearance after a long period at sea suggested that she would be an easy opponent. Observing Chesapeake's many flags, a sailor had questioned Broke: "Mayn't we have three ensigns, sir, like she has?" "No," said Broke, "we've always been an unassuming ship."

Shannon refused to fire upon Chesapeake as she bore down, nor would Chesapeake rake Shannon despite having the weather gage. Lawrence's behaviour that day earned him praise from the British officers for gallantry. The two ships opened fire just before 18:00 at a range of about 35 metres, with Shannon scoring the first hit, striking Chesapeake on one of her gunports with two round shot and a bag of musket balls fired by William Mindham, the gun captain of one of Shannon's starboard 18-pounders. Two or three further broadsides followed that swept Chesapeake's decks with grape and roundshot from Shannon's 32-pounder carronades. Shannon's fire destroyed Chesapeake's helm and fore-topsail halyards; this caused her to 'luff up' into the wind. Chesapeake, unable to manoeuvre, then made sternway (was blown backwards). Her port stern quarter contacted Shannon's side, level with the fifth gun port from the bow, and was trapped by one of Shannon's anchors.

With Chesapeake trapped against Shannon and unable to manoeuvre, Chesapeake's stern now became exposed to raking British fire. Her situation worsened when a small open cask of musket cartridges abaft the mizzen-mast blew up. When the smoke cleared, Captain Broke judged the time was right and gave the order to board. Lawrence, too, tried to give the order to board, but the British were faster.

The British board

Captain Broke leads the boarding party aboard Chesapeake

Mr Stevens, the boatswain attempted to lash the two ships together to prevent Chesapeake from disengaging and escaping. This bravery cost him an arm. A party of small-arm men rushed aboard Chesapeake, led by Broke and including the purser, Mr G. Aldham, and the clerk, Mr John Dunn. Aldham and Dunn were killed as they crossed the gangway, but the rest of the party made it onto Chesapeake.

Captain Broke, at the head of not more than twenty men, stepped from the rail of the waist-hammock netting to the muzzle of the after-carronade of the Chesapeake, and sprang from thence upon her quarterdeck.

The main-deck was found to be empty, having been swept clear by Shannon's broadsides. Broke and his men quickly advanced forward along the deck, while more British reinforcements leapt aboard.

Meanwhile, the first lieutenant, Mr George T. L. Watt, had attempted to hoist the British colours over Chesapeake but was killed, hit in the forehead by grapeshot, as he did so. Fighting had now broken out along the top-masts of the ships as rival sharpshooters fired upon their opponents in the masts, and on the sailors on the exposed decks. The British marksmen, led by Midshipman William Smith, who had command of the fore-top, stormed Chesapeake's fore-top over the yard-arm and killed all the Americans there.

Captain Broke himself led a charge against a number of the Americans who had managed to rally on the forecastle. After four minutes of fierce fighting, the Americans called for quarter, but then, finding that they outnumbered the British, they rallied and counterattacked. Three American sailors, probably from the rigging, descended and attacked Captain Broke. Although taken by surprise, he killed the first. The second hit him with a musket, which stunned him, while the third sliced open his skull with his sabre, knocking Broke to the deck. Before the American could finish Broke off, he was cut down by William Windham. Shannon's crew rallied to the defence of their captain and carried the forecastle, killing the remaining Americans.

Broke handed over command of Shannon to Lieutenant Provo Wallis. Though wounded, Broke was able to save the life of a young American midshipman who had slid down a rope from the fore-top. With American resistance weakening, Lieutenant Charles Leslie Falkiner, who had commanded the boarders who had rushed the main-deck, took command of the prize. While the two yard-arms had been locked together, Mr Cosnaham, who had commanded the main-top, had crawled out on the main yard-arm where he could fire down onto Chesapeake, killing three of her men.

The Chesapeake is taken


An 1830 representation of HMS Shannon leading the captured American frigate Chesapeake into Halifax Harbour in June 1813.

The British then secured the ship and took her surrender. The engagement had lasted just eleven minutes. Shannon had lost 23 killed, and had 56 wounded. Chesapeake had about 60 killed, including her four lieutenants, the master and many other of her officers, and about as many wounded. Captain Lawrence had been mortally wounded by fire from Shannon's fore-top and was carried below before Chesapeake was boarded. His last order upon being wounded was "Don't give up the ship!".

A large cask of unslaked lime was found open on Chesapeake's forecastle and another bag of lime was discovered in the fore-top. British sailors alleged the intention was to throw handfuls into the eyes of Shannon's men in an unfair and dishonourable manner as they attempted to board, though that was never done by Chesapeake's crew, and the historian Albert Gleaves has called the allegation "absurd," noting, "Lime is always carried in ship's stores as a disinfectant, and the fact that it was left on the deck after the ship was cleared for action was probably due to the neglect of some subordinate, or petty officer."


Gravestones for the casualties of Chesapeake (left) and Shannon (right), CFB Halifax, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Shannon's midshipmen during the action were Messrs. Smith, Leake, Clavering, Raymond, Littlejohn and Samwell. Samwell was the only other officer to be wounded in the action. Mr Etough was the acting master, and conned the ship into the action. Shortly after the frigate had been secured, Broke fainted from loss of blood and was rowed back to Shannon to be attended to by the ship's surgeon. After the victory, a prize crew was put aboard Chesapeake and Shannon escorted her and her crew into Halifax, arriving there on 6 June. Lieutenant Bartholomew Kent, of Nova Scotia brought the first news of the British victory back to London.

At Halifax Chesapeake's crew was imprisoned. Chesapeake herself was repaired and taken into service by the Royal Navy before she was sold at Portsmouth, England in 1820 and broken up.

Aftermath

paper announcing the Shannon's victory

The victory in closely matched combat raised the shaken morale of the Royal Navy, and the Americans honoured the heroism of Captain Lawrence. After setting out on 5 September for a brief cruise under a Captain Teahouse, Shannon departed for England on 4 October, carrying the recovering Captain Broke. They arrived at Portsmouth on 2 November. After the successful action Lieutenants Wallis and Falkiner were promoted to the rank of commander, and Messrs. Etough and Smith were made lieutenants. Captain Broke was made a baronet that September. The Court of Common Council of London awarded him the freedom of the city, and a sword worth 100 guineas. He also received a piece of plate worth 750 pounds and a cup worth 100 guineas.

The British buried Captain Lawrence in Halifax with full military honours; six senior British naval officers served as pall bearers. Although Shannon's surgeon had pronounced as fatal Captain Broke's head wound from a cutlass stroke, he survived; nevertheless he never again commanded a ship. Two-thirds of the men who followed Broke in the boarding party were wounded or killed. The casualties, 228 dead or wounded between the two ships' companies, were high, with the ratio making it one of the bloodiest single ship actions of the age of sail. It had the single highest body count in an action between two ships in the entirety of the war. The fact that it happened in 15 minutes is a sign of the sheer ferocity with which this battle was fought.

In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the issue of the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Shannon wh. Chesapeake" to any surviving claimants from the action.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Shannon_(1806)
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...6;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=S;start=0

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
5 May 1813 – Launch of HMS Wolfe (later HMS Montreal, originally HMS Sir George Prevost), a 20-gun sloop-of-war, launched at the Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard at Kingston, Upper Canada, on 22 April 1813
(the shipyard defines the launch on 5 May due to problems during the launch, several tries)


HMS Wolfe (later HMS Montreal, originally HMS Sir George Prevost) was a 20-gun sloop-of-war, launched at the Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard at Kingston, Upper Canada, on 22 April 1813. She served in the British naval squadron in several engagements on Lake Ontario during the War of 1812. Upon her launch, Wolfe was made the flagship of the squadron until larger vessels became available. Along with the naval engagements on Lake Ontario, Wolfe supported land operations in the Niagara region and at the Battle of Fort Oswego (as Montreal). Following the war, the vessel was laid up in reserve and eventually sold in 1832.




A scene on Lake Ontario – United States sloop of war Gen. Pike, Commodore Chauncey, and the British sloop of war Wolfe, Sir James Lucas Yeo, preparing for action, 28 September 1813


Description and construction
After the outbreak of the war, the British Governor General of Canada, Lieutenant General Sir George Prevost ordered the construction of warships for the Provincial Marine on 14 December 1812 to match American ships being built at Sackett's Harbor, New York. One was to be constructed at Kingston, Upper Canada, the other at York. Designed by Thomas Plucknett, the construction of the vessel was handed over to James Morrison of Montreal who had been hired as master shipwright at Kingston. Progress was slow and Morrison was fired and Daniel Allen, the foreman of the shipwrights, was made master. Daniel Allen was fired in March 1813 for urging his artificers to strike and George Record replaced him as master shipwright of the Kingston yard.

The construction of the new vessel picked up and by April the vessel was ready. On 22 April, the vessel was ready to be launched using a non-traditional method. During the launching, the vessel jammed in her cross-supports and after three days of pulling, was returned to her original position. Launched again on 25 April, this time using the traditional method, the vessel slid into the water successfully. The vessel was initially named Sir George Prevost after the British governor general, in response to the American Madison, which had been named after the president of the United States. Prevost objected to the name and the vessel was re-christened with the name Wolfe, after the British general who died at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. A sister ship, named Sir Isaac Brock, was constructed at York, Upper Canada.

Wolfe measured 426 23⁄94 tons burthen, with a gun deck that measured 107 ft 0 in (32.6 m) and was 103 ft 0 in (31.4 m) long at the keel. The vessel had a beam of 30 ft 10 in (9.4 m), a draught of 11 ft 0 in (3.4 m) and a depth of hold of 4 ft 6 in (1.4 m). Wolfe had only two decks, a flush gun deck above and a berthing deck below, with a shallow hold. The vessel was pierced for twenty-two gun ports. Wolfe was designed to carry her long guns facing forward and astern through bridle ports. When the vessel was launched, the only guns available were eighteen 18-pounder (8 kg) carronades and two 12-pounder (5 kg) long guns. This later changed to four 68-pounder (31 kg) and ten 32-pounder (15 kg) carronades and one 24-pounder (11 kg) and eight 18-pounder long guns. Wolfe ended her war service with eighteen 32-pounder carronades and three 18-pounder long guns. Wolfe had a complement of 224 officers and enlisted.


Scale: 1:96. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with some inboard detail, and the longitudinal half-breadth for Montreal (1814), a 22-gun Sloop, as built in April 1813. Signed by Thomas Strickland [Master Shipwright, Kingston Naval Yard, 1814-1815 (died)]


Scale: 1:96. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with some inboard details and figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for Montreal (1814), a 22-gun Sloop, as altered in April 1815 to include a spar deck. Signed by Thomas Strickland [Master Shipwright, Kingston Naval Yard, 1814-1815 (died)]

Service history
The arrival of Commodore Sir James Lucas Yeo at Kingston on 16 May marked the command takeover of the naval forces on the Great Lakes by the Royal Navy from the Provincial Marine. Yeo made Wolfehis flagship and made Commander Daniel Pring as his flag captain. On 27 May, the squadron sailed from Kingston loaded with troops commanded by Sir George Prevost for Sackett's Harbor, New York. They arrived on 28 May and unloaded troops for the assault on the United States Navy's key naval base on Lake Ontario. Though none of the vessels other than Beresford took part in the actual battle, the objectives of the attack were partially met, with the American naval yard being burnt down. The squadron collected the remaining troops and withdrew.

The squadron sailed again from Kingston on 3 June, transporting troops and supplies to the Burlington Heights area. While off Forty Mile Creek, alterations were made to the cabin layout and the painting was finished, as the job had been left incomplete when Wolfe had sailed for Sackett's Harbor. The squadron returned to Kingston on 17 June via the south shore of Lake Ontario, capturing three merchant schooners, two sloops and raiding along the Genesee River and American Eighteen Mile Creek. On 18 June, the squadron sailed again from Kingston, trading shots with Fort Oswego on 19 June and raiding Sodus, New York. The squadron returned on 28 June.

In July, most of the month was spent by Yeo preparing the squadron. Aboard Wolfe the 18-pounder carronades were replaced with 32-pounder versions. In July Pring was sent to command on Lake Champlain. The squadron left Kingston on 31 July to seek out the American squadron under Commodore Isaac Chauncey. The two squadrons met in a series of indecisive clashes though August and September where Wolfe, Royal George and Beresford captured the American schooners Julia and Growler on 10 August. Wolfe was badly damaged by the American vessel General Pike on 28 September, being partly dismasted. She escaped into Burlington Bay at the western end of Lake Ontario. The Americans did not pursue, and the British squadron was able to return to Kingston on 7 October and make repairs. Beyond making a small transport voyage in early October, Wolfe and Royal George remained laid up through the winter months.

As Montreal
During the winter of 1813–1814, Wolfe was rearmed, with her original medley of guns being replaced by seven long 24-pounder and eighteen long 18-pounder guns. In January 1814, the Royal Navy formally took over ownership of the Great Lakes squadron from the British Army, and all the vessels were added to the Navy List. To avoid duplication of names already on the list, several of the vessels were renamed. Wolfe was renamed Montreal on 22 January 1814. Upon entering Royal Navy service, the vessel was reclassified a sixth rate. As the British had also completed two frigates during the winter, Montreal ceased to be the British flagship and command of the vessel passed to Commander Francis Spilsbury.

On 4 May 1814, the squadron departed Kingston, intend on attacking Fort Oswego again. They arrived the next day and during the night, Montreal and Niagara (the renamed Royal George) got within 1,000 yards (910 m) of the fort. At 06:00 on 6 May, the two vessels opened fire, marking the beginning of the Battle of Fort Oswego. The naval bombardment provided by the squadron drove the American militiaback from their chosen place. The attack was successful and the fort and town were captured. After returning to Kingston with the spoils from the attack, Yeo's squadron sailed to blockade Sackett's Harbor. The blockade was put in place on 19 May and Montreal was given the task of patrolling off Stony Island. On 29 May, a large detachment under the command of Captain Stephen Popham of Niagara and Captain Spilsbury departed the squadron in two gunboats and heavy ship's boats intent on capturing an American flotilla of bateaux. At Sandy Creek, the force was defeated by the Americans and Captains Popham and Spilsbury were captured and the majority of the crews of Niagara and Montreal either captured or killed. As a result, men from HMS Netley and HMS Star were transferred to fill out their crews. As a result of the defeat at Sandy Creek, the blockade was lifted on 5 June, with the squadron returning to Kingston on 13 June.

In June, Captain George Downie was given command of Montreal, though through the summer, the vessel did not venture far from Kingston. In September, HMS St Lawrence was launched. Captain Downie was sent to command on Lake Champlain, taking the place of Captain Peter Fisher who had been recalled to Lake Ontario by Commodore Yeo. Fisher was given Downie's vessel, Montreal to command, a situation he was not happy with. Montreal was smaller than the flagship of the Lake Champlain squadron and smaller than HMS Princess Charlotte which had been given to a junior officer. Fisher made a complaint to the Admiralty over the command situation, which would later be one of the reason's for Yeo's recall in November.

St Lawrence's arrival on Lake Ontario ended American attempts to gain control of the lake. On 1 November, the squadron sailed for Fort George, with Montreal among the vessels transporting troops. The squadron returned to Kingston on 10 November. On 28 November, Montreal sailed again, but returned after just three days due to the vessel's poor condition. After the end of the war, Montreal was paid off into the ordinary. The vessel was sold on 1 January 1832.

A wreck located within Kingston Harbour, west of Cedar Island, was discovered in 2002. Known locally as "Guenter's Wreck", the shipwreck was tentatively identified as Montreal, though the final identification has not been declared. An archaeological survey was performed in 2012.


This coloured aquatint is a depiction drawn by a Lieutenant Hewitt of the Royal Marines, depicting the British Attack on Fort Oswego on May 6th 1814 during the War of 1812. Fort Oswego (now Fort Ontario) was a US-held stronghold and key military supply base on the south-eastern shores of Lake Ontario, and was subjected to a British raid commanded by Commodore James Yeo on the aforementioned date. During this raid the fort was destroyed, abandoned by its defenders, resulting in a British victory. The fort itself is clearly seen in the centre-right of this drawing, still manned by US troops and with the Stars and Stripes flying on a pole above the battlements. The village of Oswego, which the fort protected, can also be seen in the centre-right background. The most prominent subjects of this painting, however, are the British ships besieging the fort. These included the frigates ‘Princess Charlotte’ and ‘Prince Regent’, 42 and 56-gun warships respectively, designed and built exclusively for service on the Great Lakes. The ‘Prince Regent’ is seen in the left-hand foreground prominently flying the Red Ensign, while the ‘Princess Charlotte’ can be seen astern of the ‘Regent’ and in the lower centre of the drawing, likewise flying the Red Ensign. Five smaller vessels can be seen in the background from left to right. These include the 16-gun brig ‘Star’, which can be seen through the rigging of the ‘Prince Regent’. The other four vessels in the right-hand background of the drawing include (in order of left to right) the ‘Charwell’, ‘Montreal’, ‘Niagra’ and on the far right edge, the 10-gun brig ‘Magnet’. All of these vessels had different names at the beginning of their launchings on the Great Lakes, which has confused many scholars. Rowed troop boats can also be seen scattered throughout the scene, as well as the British troops (which included the Glengarry Light Infantry and De Watteville’s Regiment from the regular army, as well as the Royal Marines), landing on the lake-shore and advancing on the fort on land in the left-hand background. The scene of the battle is punctuated by the clouds of gun smoke, from the fort, ships and ground forces ashore

HMS Wolfe (1813) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-332038;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=W

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
5 May 1829 – Launch of French Créole, a 24-gun Créole-class corvette of the French Navy


The Créole was a 24-gun Créole-class corvette of the French Navy.




1/40th scale model of Créole, on display at the Musée national de la Marine in Paris


Bombardment of San Juan de Ulúa off Vera Cruz. From left to right, the corvette Créole, and the frigates Gloire, Néréide and Iphigénie.

Career
She took part in the Pastry War under lieutenant commander de Joinville, and most notably in the Bombardment of San Juan de Ulloa.

On 20 January 1844, Créole was driven ashore on Negropont, Greece. She was refloated on 27 January with assistance from HMS Vesuvius and taken in to Piraeus, Greece, where she sank. She was later refloated.

Model
A finely crafted shipyard model is on display at the Musée national de la Marine in Paris. It was originally stored in the office of the prince de Joinville.








A very good monographie of the
LA CREOLE - Corvette - 1823
made by famous Jean Boudriot is available from ancre:



https://ancre.fr/en/monograph/61-monographie-de-la-creole-corvette-1823.html

French corvette Créole (1829) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://ancre.fr/en/monograph/61-monographie-de-la-creole-corvette-1823.html

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
5 May 1840 – Launch of HMS Maeander, a Seringapatam-class sailing frigate of the British Royal Navy


HMS Maeander was a Seringapatam-class sailing frigate of the British Royal Navy. Her service included the suppression of piracy, the Russian War, and support for the suppression of slavery with the West Africa Squadron. She was wrecked in a gale in 1870.




HMS Maeander (c1850) by Oswald Walters Brierly

Career
Maeander was launched at Chatham Dockyard on 5 May 1840. From 1 November 1847 to 1851 her captain was Henry Keppel.

Maeander served in the East Indies, cooperating with James Brooke in the suppression of piracy. Next, in September 1849 she sailed from Singapore via Batavia for Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific coast of America; United States Army Lieutenant George H. Derby, in his "Report of the Expedition of the U.S. Transport Invincible" notes that Keppel with the Maeander was in the Mexican port of Guaymas on 5 February 1851. After twelve months on the Valparaiso station, Maeander then returned to Britain with $860,000 in bullion via the Straits of Magellan. (At the time she was thought to have been the largest vessel to have passed through the straits.) She was in the straits for over nine days in May 1851, anchoring every night because of the difficulty of the passage).

On 14 July 1852 Captain Charles Talbot took command of Maeander. On 30 May 1854 Captain Thomas Baillie took command. She served in the White Sea in 1855 during the Crimean War.


Observing a volcanic eruption in the Indonesian seas (October 1849)

On 2 December 1856, James Robert Drummond was appointed captain of Maeander, for coast guard service.George Fowler Hastings succeeded Drummond. In September 1857 an advertisement seeking a 'seaman schoolmaster' to instruct the boys of the Maeander in the 3Rs. was placed in the name of 'Captain the Hon. G F Hastings CB'.

Hastings was appointed superintendent of Haslar Hospital in January 1858. In 1859 Commander Malcolm MacGregor assumed command of Maeander.

In 1860 her armament was reduced to ten guns as part of her conversion into a storeship. She then joined the West Africa Squadron at Ascension Island as a replacement for Tortoise.

From 1 November 1859 to July 1861 Maeander was under the command of Captain William Farquharson Burnett. On 23 February 1861 Captain Frederick Lamport Barnard took command. From 24 December 1864 to January 1866 her commander was Captain Joseph Grant Bickford.


Drawing. Portrait of HMS 'Meander', a 5th-rate 44-gun ship launched in 1840 which served in the Crimean War, shown prominently in the centre of the painting.

Fate
In July 1870 Maeander was wrecked in a gale in the South Atlantic Ocean off Ascension Island. Her remains are at a depth of 14 metres (46 feet) in position 07°54′45″S 14°24′24″WCoordinates:

07°54′45″S 14°24′24″W, bows on to the shore. She lies on her port side and has opened up. Timber, copper sheathing, knees supporting her gun deck, and her tiller have been located.

Memorials
A memorial tablet to the men of Maeander killed between 1848-51 can be seen at St Ann's Church, HMNB Portsmouth.






The Seringapatam-class frigates, were a class of British Royal Navy 46-gun sailing frigates. The first vessel of the class was HMS Seringapatam. Seringapatam's design was based on the French frigate Président, which the British had captured in 1806. Seringapatam was originally ordered as a 38-gun frigate, but the re-classification of British warships which took effect in February 1817 raised this rating to 46-gun.



The Admiralty ordered six further ships to this design – including three ships which had originally been ordered as Leda-class frigates, but the Seringapatam design was subsequently altered to produce a Modified version which was labelled the Druid sub-class, and three of the ships formerly ordered to the Seringapatam original design (Madagascar, Nemesis and Jason) were re-ordered to this modified design. Subsequently a further modification of the design was produced, which was labelled the Andromeda sub-class, and the remaining three of the ships formerly ordered to the Seringapatam original design (Manilla, Tigris and Statira) were re-ordered to this modified design. Further vessels were ordered to both modified designs, but the majority of these were subsequently cancelled. Both modified types are listed below.

Seringapatam class 46-gun fifth rates, 1819–40

• HMS Seringapatam 1819
• HMS Madagascar 1822
• HMS Druid 1825
• HMS Nemesis 1826
• HMS Africaine 1827
• HMS Leda 1828
• HMS Hotspur 1828
• HMS Eurotas 1829
• HMS Andromeda 1829
• HMS Seahorse 1830
• HMS Stag 1830
• HMS Forth 1833
• HMS Maeander 1840
• HMS Euphrates - cancelled 1831.
• HMS Orpheus - cancelled 1831.
• HMS Severn - cancelled 1831.
• HMS Tiber - cancelled 1831.
• HMS Manilla - cancelled 1831.
• HMS Spartan - cancelled 1831.
• HMS Theban - cancelled 1831.
• HMS Jason - cancelled 1831.
• HMS Statira - cancelled 1832.
• HMS Tigris - cancelled 1832.
• HMS Inconstant - cancelled 1832.
• HMS Pique - cancelled 1832.

Scale: 1:48. A contemporary full hull model of the 44-gun frigate HMS ‘Meander’ (1840) mounted on its original wooden baseboard. The hull is painted copper below the waterline to indicate sheathing whilst the black topsides have a white stripe along the level of the gundeck. It is rigged with stump masts, channels and deadeyes, whilst on deck the detail is sparse and includes hatch gratings, glazed skylight and pinrails. The ‘Meander’ was one of the modified ‘Seringapatam’ class of frigates and measured 159 feet in length by forty-one feet in the beam. It was originally ordered in 1824, launched 1840 and eventually after a fairly uneventful career, hulked in 1857


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Maeander_(1840)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seringapatam-class_frigate
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-330261;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=M

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
5 May 1842 – Launch of The second USS Savannah, a frigate in the United States Navy. She was named after the city of Savannah, Georgia.


The second USS Savannah was a frigate in the United States Navy. She was named after the city of Savannah, Georgia.

Savannah was begun in 1820 at the New York Navy Yard, but she remained on the stocks until 5 May 1842, when she was launched. She was one of nine frigates to be built from a prototype design by naval architect William Doughty.



Savannah, with Captain Andrew Fitzhugh in command, joined the Pacific Squadron as flagship in 1844. As the prospect of war with Mexico became imminent, the Squadron moved into position off the California coast. On 7 July 1846, the Squadron captured Monterey without firing a shot. On 8 September 1847, Savannah returned to New York for repairs.

She served as flagship for the Pacific Squadron again from 1849–52. Repairs at Norfolk, Virginia took her into 1853, and on 9 August of that year, she sailed for a three-year cruise on the Brazil Station. In November 1856 she was inactivated, and in 1857, razeed, or reduced to a 24 gun sloop of war. She then served as flagship for the Home Squadron on the east coast of Mexico during 1859 and 1860.



USS Savannah, USS Saratoga and two charted steamers fought the small Battle of Anton Lizardo in 1860. Two armed Mexican vessels were captured by the Americans after they were deemed pirates by the Mexican government.

With the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, Savannah was deployed off the coast of Georgia, where she shared in the capture of two Confederate prizes, the schooner, E. J. Waterman, and the ship, Cheshire. On 11 February 1862, Savannah was taken out of active service and placed in use as an instruction and practice ship at the United States Naval Academy.
CAPT Edward Gabriel André Barrett, US Navy in command of Savannah, gunnery ship for instruction of volunteer officers wrote and published two famous texts, still available at present, known for rapid education of voluntary officers: "NAVAL HOWITZER"[1] and "GUNNERY INSTRUCTIONS"

In 1870, after conducting her last training cruise to England and France, she was laid up at the Norfolk Navy Yard. She remained there until sold to E. Stannard and Company of Westbrook, Connecticut, in 1883.


A Civil War Print - "The Guardship "Savannah"
Print of USS Savannah at anchor.
From "The Soldier in our Civil War", by Frank Leslie, 1884.

USS Savannah (1842) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/86/86047.htm

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
5 May 1937 – Launch of MV Wilhelm Gustloff, a German cruise ship converted into a hospital ship and which while functioning as a military transport ship was sunk on 30 January 1945 by Soviet submarine S-13 in the Baltic Sea while evacuating German civilians, German officials, refugees from Prussia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Estonia and Croatia and military personnel from Gotenhafen (now Gdynia) as the Red Army advanced.
By one estimate, 9,400 people died, which makes it the largest loss of life in a single ship sinking in history.


MV Wilhelm Gustloff was a German cruise ship converted into a hospital ship and which while functioning as a military transport ship was sunk on 30 January 1945 by Soviet submarine S-13 in the Baltic Sea while evacuating German civilians, German officials, refugees from Prussia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Estonia and Croatia and military personnel from Gotenhafen (now Gdynia) as the Red Army advanced. By one estimate, 9,400 people died, which makes it the largest loss of life in a single ship sinking in history.

Constructed as a cruise ship for the Nazi Kraft durch Freude (Strength Through Joy) organisation in 1937, she had been requisitioned by the Kriegsmarine (German navy) in 1939. She served as a hospital ship in 1939 and 1940. She was then assigned as a floating barracks for naval personnel in Gdynia (Gotenhafen) before being put into service to transport evacuees in 1945.


Wilhelm Gustloff as a hospital ship. Danzig, 23 September 1939

Sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff Deadliest maritime disaster in history-WWII


Construction
Wilhelm Gustloff was constructed by the Blohm & Voss shipyards. Measuring 208.5 m (684 ft 1 in) long by 23.59 m (77 ft 5 in) wide, with a capacity of 25,484 gross register tons (GRT), she was launched on 5 May 1937.

Name
The ship was originally intended to be named Adolf Hitler but instead was christened after Wilhelm Gustloff, leader of the National Socialist Party's Swiss branch, who had been assassinated by a Jewish medical student in 1936. Hitler decided on the name change after sitting next to Gustloff's widow during his memorial service.

After completing sea trials in the North Sea from 15 to 16 March 1938 she was handed over to her owners.

Operation Hannibal – evacuation
Main article: Operation Hannibal
Operation Hannibal was the naval evacuation of German troops and civilians as the Red Army advanced. The Wilhelm Gustloff's final voyage was to evacuate German refugees, military personnel, and technicians from Courland, East Prussia, and Danzig-West Prussia. Many had worked at advanced weapon bases in the Baltic from Gdynia/Gotenhafen to Kiel.

The ship's complement and passenger lists cited 6,050 people on board, but these did not include many civilians who boarded the ship without being recorded in the official embarkation records. Heinz Schön, a German archivist and Gustloff survivor who extensively researched the sinking during the 1980s and 1990s, concluded that Wilhelm Gustloff was carrying a crew of 173 (naval armed forces auxiliaries), 918 officers, NCOs, and men of the 2 Unterseeboot-Lehrdivision, 373 female naval auxiliary helpers, 162 wounded soldiers, and 8,956 civilians, of which an estimated 5,000 were children, for a total of 10,582 passengers and crew. The passengers, besides civilians, included Gestapo personnel, members of the Organisation Todt, and Nazi officials with their families. The ship was overcrowded, and due to the temperature and humidity inside many passengers defied orders not to remove their life jackets.

The ship left Danzig at 12:30 pm on 30 January 1945, accompanied by the passenger liner Hansa, also filled with civilians and military personnel, and two torpedo boats. Hansa and one torpedo boat developed mechanical problems and could not continue, leaving Wilhelm Gustloff with one torpedo boat escort, Löwe. The ship had four captains (Wilhelm Gustloff's captain, two merchant marine captains, and the captain of the U-Boat complement housed on the vessel) on board, and they disagreed on the best course of action to guard against submarine attacks. Against the advice of the military commander, Lieutenant Commander Wilhelm Zahn (a submariner who argued for a course in shallow waters close to shore and without lights), the Wilhelm Gustloff's captain Friedrich Petersen decided to head for deep water which was known to have been cleared of mines. When he was informed by a mysterious radio message of an oncoming German minesweeper convoy, he decided to activate his ship's red and green navigation lights so as to avoid a collision in the dark, making Wilhelm Gustloff easy to spot in the night.

As Wilhelm Gustloff had been fitted with anti-aircraft guns, and the Germans, in obedience to the rules of war, did not mark her as a hospital ship, no notification of her operating in a hospital capacity had been given and, as she was transporting military personnel, she did not have any protection as a hospital ship under international accords.

Die Gustloff - Kai Wiesinger, Valerie Niehaus, Tom Wlaschiha (2008)
german film with english subtitles

Sinking
The ship was soon sighted by the Soviet submarine S-13, under the command of Captain Alexander Marinesko. The submarine sensor on board the escorting torpedo boat had frozen, rendering it inoperable, as had Wilhelm Gustloff's anti-aircraft guns, leaving the vessels defenseless. Marinesko followed the ships to their starboard (seaward) side for two hours before making a daring move to surface his submarine and steer it around Wilhelm Gustloff's stern, to attack it from the port side closer to shore, where the attack would be less expected. At around 9 pm (CET), Marinesko ordered his crew to launch four torpedoes at Wilhelm Gustloff's port side, about 30 km (16 nmi; 19 mi) offshore, between Großendorf and Leba. The first was nicknamed "for the Motherland," the second "for Leningrad," the third "for the Soviet people", and the fourth, which got jammed in the torpedo tubes and had to be dismantled, "for Stalin." The three torpedoes which were fired successfully all struck Wilhelm Gustloff on her port side.

The first torpedo struck Wilhelm Gustloff's bow, causing the watertight doors to seal off the area which contained quarters where off-duty crew members were sleeping. The second torpedo hit the accommodations for the women's naval auxiliary, located in the ship's drained swimming pool, dislodging the pool tiles at high velocity, which caused heavy casualties; only three of the 373 quartered there survived. The third torpedo was a direct hit on the engine room located amidships, disabling all power and communications.

Reportedly, only nine lifeboats were able to be lowered; the rest had frozen in their davits and had to be broken free. About 20 minutes after the torpedoes' impact, Wilhelm Gustloff listed dramatically to port, so that the lifeboats lowered on the high starboard side crashed into the ship's tilting side, destroying many lifeboats and spilling their occupants across the ship's side.

The water temperature in the Baltic Sea at that time of year is usually around 4 °C (39 °F); however, this was a particularly cold night, with an air temperature of −18 to −10 °C (0 to 14 °F) and ice floes covering the surface. Many deaths were caused either directly by the torpedoes or by drowning in the onrushing water. Others were crushed in the initial stampede caused by panicked passengers on the stairs and decks. Many others jumped into the icy Baltic. The majority of those who perished succumbed to exposure in the freezing water.

Less than 40 minutes after being struck, Wilhelm Gustloff was lying on her side. She sank bow-first 10 minutes later, in 44 m (144 ft) of water.

German forces were able to rescue 996 of the survivors from the attack: the torpedo boat T36 rescued 564 people; the torpedo boat Löwe, 472; the minesweeper M387, 98; the minesweeper M375, 43; the minesweeper M341, 37; the steamer Göttingen, 28; the torpedo recovery boat (Torpedofangboot) TF19, 7; the freighter Gotenland, two; and the patrol boat (Vorpostenboot) V1703, one baby.

All four captains on Wilhelm Gustloff survived her sinking, but an official naval inquiry was only started against Wilhelm Zahn. His degree of responsibility was never resolved, however, because of Nazi Germany's collapse in 1945.

Losses
The figures from Heinz Schön's research make the loss in the sinking to be 9,343 total, including about 5,000 children. Schön's more recent research is backed up by estimates made by a different method. An Unsolved History episode that aired in March 2003, on the Discovery Channel, undertook a computer analysis of her sinking. Using maritime EXODUS software, it was estimated 9,600 people died out of more than 10,600 on board. This analysis considered the passenger density based on witness reports and a simulation of escape routes and survivability with the timeline of the sinking


A model of Wilhelm Gustloff at the Laboe Naval Memorial

Nacht fiel über Gotenhafen - Die Katastrophe der Wilhelm Gustloff (Spielfilm v 1959)

MV Wilhelm Gustloff - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 5 May


1494 – Christopher Columbus lands on the island of Jamaica and claims it for Spain..


1752 – Laiunch of French Redoutable 74 (launched 5 May 1752 at Toulon, design by François Coulomb the Younger) – driven ashore and burnt by the British in the Battle of Lagos in August 1759.


1781 - Protector was a frigate of the Massachusetts Navy, launched in 1779, captured by british

Protector was a frigate of the Massachusetts Navy, launched in 1779. She fought a notable single-ship action against a British privateer General Duffbefore the British Royal Navy captured her in 1781. The Royal Navy took her into service as the sixth-rate post ship HMS Hussar. Hussar too engaged in a notable action against the French 32-gun frigate Sybille. The Royal Navy sold Hussar in 1783 and a Dutch ship-owner operating from Copenhagen purchased her. She made one voyage to the East Indies for him before he sold her to British owners circa 1786. She leaves Lloyd's Register by 1790.

Protector (1779 frigate) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1799 HMS Fortune (10), Lt. Lewis Davies, and gunboats captured by Salamine.

HMS Fortune (1798) was an 18-gun sloop captured from the French in 1798 and recaptured by them in 1799.


1811 – Launch of french Médée was a 46-gun frigate of the French Navy.

The Médée was a 46-gun frigate of the French Navy.
She took part in the Invasion of Algiers in 1830, and in the Battle of Veracruz in 1838.
In 1849, reconditioned as a hulk, she was renamed Muiron. She sank in 1883

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Médée_(1811)

Pallas-class frigate (1808) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1812 – Launch of French Galatée, a Consolante class frigate carried a main battery consisting of 18-pounder long guns.

The Consolante class frigate carried a main battery consisting of 18-pounder long guns. The designers were François Pestel and Jacques-Noël Sané.



Consolante class, (40-gun design by François Pestel, with 28 x 18-pounder and 12 x 8-pounder guns).
Consolante, (launched 22 July 1800 at Saint-Malo).
Piémontaise, (launched 15 November 1804 at Saint-Servan).
Italienne, (launched 15 August 1806 at Saint-Servan).
Danaé, (launched 18 August 1807 at Genoa).
Bellone, (launched February 1808 at Saint-Servan).
Néréide, (launched December 1808 at Saint-Servan).
Illyrienne, (launched 13 November 1811 at Saint-Servan).
Galatée, (launched 5 May 1812 at Genoa).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consolante-class_frigate


1814 – Launch of HMS Dee, a Conway class sailing sixth rates were a series of ten Royal Navy post ships built to an 1812 design by Sir William Rule.

The Conway class sailing sixth rates were a series of ten Royal Navy post ships built to an 1812 design by Sir William Rule. All ten were ordered on 18 January 1812, and nine of these were launched during 1814, at the end of the Napoleonic War; the last (Tees) was delayed and was launched in 1817.

These ships were originally designated as "sloops", but were nominally rated as sixth rates of 20 guns when built, as their 12-pounder carronades were not included in the official rating. When this changed in February 1817, they were rated at 28 guns.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conway-class_post_ship


1864 - CSS Bombshell - An Erie Canal steamer — was a U.S. Army transport, later sunk by the Confederate batteries on 18 April 1864, then raised and taken into the Confederate States Navy under the command of Lieutenant Albert Gallatin Hudgins, CSN


1908 – Launch of Amalfi was a Pisa-class armored cruiser of the Italian Royal Navy (Italian: Regia Marina) built in the first decade of the 20th century.

Amalfi was a Pisa-class armored cruiser of the Italian Royal Navy (Italian: Regia Marina) built in the first decade of the 20th century. During the Italo-Turkish War of 1911–12, Amalfi operated with the Italian fleet off Tripoli in September 1911 and participated in the amphibious landings at Derna in October. In April 1912, Amalfi and sister ship Pisa led the way in attacks on Turkish forts in the Dardanelles. After the rest of the fleet retired later in the month, the pair of armored cruisers remained in the area to attack Turkish communications facilities. After the Treaty of Lausanne signed in October 1912 ended the war, Amalfi escorted the Italian king and queen on the royal yacht to Germany and Sweden during a 1913 visit.



At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Italy declined to join her Triple Alliance partners, Germany and Austria-Hungary. The country was eventually persuaded to side with the Entente Powers and declared war on neighboring Austria-Hungary in May 1915. After the Austro-Hungarian Navyraided the Italian coast with relative impunity in May and June, Amalfi, Pisa, and two other armored cruisers were sent to Venice to thwart future sorties by the Austrians. Shortly after their arrival, the ships were sent—in a show of force—to patrol near the main Austrian naval base at Pola on the night of 6/7 July 1915. During Amalfi's return from that mission, she was torpedoed by Austria-Hungarian submarine U-26 (in fact SM UB-14 flying the Austro-Hungarian flag, since Germany and Italy were not yet at war) and sunk with the loss of 67 men. Amalfi's loss caused the Italians to keep the other armored cruisers at Venice in port for most of the next year before they were eventually relocated.

Italian cruiser Amalfi - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1913 – Launch of SMS Grosser Kurfürst was the second battleship of the four-ship König class. Grosser Kurfürst (or Großer Kurfürst) served in the German Imperial Navy during World War I.

SMS Grosser Kurfürst was the second battleship of the four-ship König class. Grosser Kurfürst (or Großerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Grosser_Kurfürst_(1913)#cite_note-sharp_S-2 Kurfürst) served in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The battleship was laid down in October 1911 and launched on 5 May 1913. She was formally commissioned into the Imperial Navy on 30 July 1914, days before the outbreak of war between Germany and the United Kingdom. Her name means Great Elector, and refers to Frederick William I, the Prince-elector of Brandenburg. Grosser Kurfürst was armed with ten 30.5-centimeter (12.0 in) guns in five twin turrets and could steam at a top speed of 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph).


Recognition drawing of a König-class battleship

Along with her three sister ships, König, Markgraf, and Kronprinz, Grosser Kurfürst took part in most of the fleet actions during the war, including the Battle of Jutland on 31 May and 1 June 1916. The ship was subjected to heavy fire at Jutland, but was not seriously damaged. She shelled Russian positions during Operation Albion in September and October 1917. Grosser Kurfürst was involved in a number of accidents during her service career; she collided with König and Kronprinz, grounded several times, was torpedoed once, and hit a mine.



After Germany's defeat and the signing of the Armistice in November 1918, Grosser Kurfürst and most of the capital ships of the High Seas Fleet were interned by the Royal Navy in Scapa Flow. The ships were disarmed and limited to skeleton crews while the Allied powers negotiated the final version of the Treaty of Versailles. On 21 June 1919, days before the treaty was signed, the commander of the interned fleet, Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter, ordered the fleet to be scuttled to ensure that the British would not be able to seize the ships. Unlike her sister ships, Grosser Kurfürst was raised in 1938 for scrapping and subsequently broken up in Rosyth.


German battleship Grosser Kurfürst taken during Operation Albion in October 1917

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Grosser_Kurfürst_(1913)

König-class battleship - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
6 May 1682 - HMS Gloucester (60) wrecked off Yarmouth


HMS Gloucester was a 50-gun third rate Speaker-class ship of the line, originally built for the navy of the Commonwealth of England during the 1650s and taken over by the Royal Navy after the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. The ship participated in multiple battles during the Anglo-Spanish War of 1654–60, and the Second and Third Anglo-Dutch Wars. Gloucester was wrecked in 1682 on a sandbar while carrying the Duke of York (the future James II).



Description
Gloucester had a length at the gundeck of 117 feet (35.7 m), a beam of 34 feet 10 inches (10.6 m), and a depth of hold of 13 feet 6 inches (4.1 m). The ship's tonnage was 755 11⁄94 tons burthen. Originally built for 50 guns, in 1667 she actually carried 57 (19 demi-cannon, 4 culverins, and 34 demi-culverins). This was raised in 1677 to 60 guns. The ship had a crew of 210–340 officers and ratings.


A portrait of the ‘Mary’, 62 guns, built 1650 as the ‘Speaker’, renamed 1660, wrecked 1703. The ship is viewed from the starboard bow, showing the bowsprit, spritsail topmast and half the lower masts. There are men in the fore shrouds. This is a spirited and accurate drawing rather confused with corrections. It was probably drawn as the ship left the Dutch coast with the Restoration squadron

Construction and career
Gloucester was the first ship in the Navy to be named after the eponymous port. Part of the 1652 Naval Programme, the ship was ordered on December 1652. She was built at Limehouse under the direction of Master Shipwright Matthew Graves, and was launched in March 1653 at a cost of £5,473.

Battle Honours
Engagements in which HMS Gloucester took part include

• 1666: Four Days' Battle, Orfordness
• 1672: Solebay
• 1673: Schooneveld, Texel

The sinking of Gloucester


The Wreck of the 'Gloucester' off Yarmouth, 6 May 1682
This dramatic painting represents the wrecking of the ‘Gloucester’ while carrying the Duke of York to Leith. The ship had foundered on the Lemon and Oar sandbank off Yarmouth as a result of the pilot’s negligence. The Duke escaped with several other notable figures, including John Churchill, afterwards Duke of Marlborough, but about 130 people perished in the incident. Desperate crewmembers are frantically abandoning ship, some swimming to a lifeboat that is already full to overflowing. Three sailors are praying for their lives on the tiny sandbank. In the background other ships of the line stand by. Although this painting shows the ‘Gloucester’ beached on the sandbank, there was apparently about twelve feet of water over the Lemon. Johan Danckerts was a Dutch-born painter who came to work in England to work. He was joined by his brother, Hendrick, who became court painter to Charles II

At around 05:30 on 6 May 1682, Gloucester struck a sandbank off Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. In a strong Easterly gale the ship was pounded against the sand until the rudder broke off and the ship was holed. The Duke of York and John Churchill (the future Duke of Marlborough) were rescued in the ship's boat. Boats from the accompanying fleet managed to save many of the crew, but around 120 sailors and passengers lost their lives. Victims of the sinking included Robert Ker, 3rd Earl of Roxburghe and Donough O'Brien, Lord Ibrackan and Sir John Hope of Hopetoun, Hope of Craighall .

HMS Gloucester (1654) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-274756;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=G
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-329771;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=M

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
6 May 1709 - HMS Portland (54) re-captured Coventry (50)
correct dates see Threedecks


HMS Coventry was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the English Royal Navy, launched at Deptford Dockyard in 1695.



The French 54-gun Auguste, together with the 54-gun Jason, captured Coventry in September 1704.
On 17 March 1709, Portland recaptured Coventry.


HMS Portland was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Woolwich Dockyard on 28 March 1693.





She was rebuilt according to the 1719 Establishment at Portsmouth, and was relaunched on 25 February 1723.

She was present at Wager's Action a naval confrontation on 8 June 1708 N.S (28 May O.S.), between a British squadron under Charles Wager and the Spanish treasure fleet, as part of the War of Spanish Succession.

On 17 March 1709, Portland recaptured Coventry, which the 54-gun Auguste and the 54-gun Jason (1704) had captured in September 1704.

Portland was broken up in 1743.


Wager's Action off Cartagena, 28 May 1708


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Portland_(1693)

British Fourth Rate ship of the line 'Portland' (1693)

British Fourth Rate ship of the line 'Portland' (1693). Dates of service, name changes, previous and next incarnations, dimensions, armament, commanders, officers and crewmen, actions, battles, sources

threedecks.org

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Coventry_(1695)

French Fourth Rate ship of the line 'Le Coventry' (1704)

French Fourth Rate ship of the line 'Le Coventry' (1704). Dates of service, name changes, previous and next incarnations, dimensions, armament, commanders, officers and crewmen, actions, battles, sources

threedecks.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
6 May 1757 – Launch of HMS Dublin, a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, at Deptford.


HMS Dublin was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 6 May 1757 at Deptford.



She was broken up in 1784.


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



HMS Resolution (on her starboard side in the foreground)

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

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

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

Ships

• HMS Dublin

Builder: Deptford Dockyard
Ordered: 26 August 1755
Laid down: 18 November 1755
Launched: 6 May 1757
Completed: 1 July 1757
Fate: Broken up, May 1784

• HMS Norfolk

Builder: Deptford Dockyard
Ordered: 26 August 1755
Laid down: 18 November 1755
Launched: 28 December 1757
Completed: 23 February 1758
Fate: Broken up, December 1774

• HMS Shrewsbury

Builder: Wells & Company, Deptford
Ordered: 28 October 1755
Laid down: 14 January 1756
Launched: 23 February 1758
Completed: 2 May 1758 at Deptford Dockyard
Fate: Condemned and scuttled at Jamaica 12 June 1783

• HMS Lenox

Builder: Chatham Dockyard
Ordered: 28 October 1755
Laid down: 8 April 1756
Launched: 25 February 1758
Completed: 26 May 1758
Fate: Sunk as breakwater, 1784; later raised and broken up May 1789

• HMS Mars

Builder: Woolwich Dockyard
Ordered: 28 October 1755
Laid down: 1 May 1756
Launched: 15 March 1759
Completed: 12 April 1759
Fate: Sold to be broken up, August 1784

• HMS Warspite

Builder: Thomas West, Deptford
Ordered: 14 November 1755
Laid down: November 1755
Launched: 8 April 1758
Completed: 27 July 1758 at Deptford Dockyard
Fate: Broken up, November 1801

• HMS Resolution

Builder: Henry Bird, Northam, Southampton
Ordered: 24 November 1755
Laid down: December 1755
Launched: 14 December 1758
Completed: 23 March 1759 at Portsmouth Dockyard
Fate: Wrecked, 20 November 1759 during Battle of Quiberon





https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Dublin_(1757)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dublin-class_ship_of_the_line
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-308250;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=D