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

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Events on 26 August

1652 - Battle of Plymouth

The Battle of Plymouth was a naval battle in the First Anglo-Dutch War. It took place on 16 August 1652 (26 August 1652 (Gregorian calendar))[a] and was a short battle, but had the unexpected outcome of a Dutch victory over England. General-at-Sea George Ayscue of the Commonwealth of Englandattacked an outward bound convoy of the Dutch Republic commanded by Vice-Commodore Michiel de Ruyter. The two commanders had been personal friends before the war. The Dutch were able to force Ayscue to break off the engagement, and the Dutch convoy sailed safely to the Atlantic while Ayscue sailed to Plymouth for repairs.


Michiel de Ruyter painted by Ferdinand Bol in 1667

Loss of prestige for the English and the beginning of fame for De Ruyter
The English ships had expected to easily defeat the Dutch in a set battle because of their superiority in armament and numbers. While the failure came as an unpleasant surprise to the English, the Dutch populace rejoiced in the tactical draw, hailing De Ruyter, who had not been well known among the larger public, as a naval hero. The English accused some merchantmen captains of cowardice. Ayscue was blamed for poor leadership and organisation: his attempt to present the encounter as a victory failed to convince. He lost command after this battle, though probably for political reasons: he had known royalist sympathies. Less important was his emphasis on capturing prizes while avoiding battle; in the first year of the war this was a very common attitude, the English mainly seeing the conflict as one large privateering campaign, allowing them to gain riches at the expense of the Dutch; only with the Battle of the Gabbard would they really try to establish naval dominion.

This victory was very important to the naval career of De Ruyter: it was the first time he commanded an independent force as a fleet commander. Before, he only had had subcommand of a flotilla aiding Portugal in 1641. As a result of the battle he acquired the nickname The Sea Lion. Before he could return home, De Ruyter was first involved in the Battle of the Kentish Knock but arriving in Middelburg he was received by the States of Zealand and rewarded with a golden honorary chain of a hundred Flemish pounds for both battles because he in the first had shown "masculine courage" and in the second "courageous prudence" — having convinced Witte de With to a timely retreat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Plymouth

1711 - HMS Greyhound (1702 - 40) wrecked in Tynemouth.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Greyhound_(1702)

1767 - Launch of HMS Marlboro (1767 - 74)

HMS Marlborough was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 26 August 1767 at Deptford. She was one of the Ramilliesclass built to update the Navy and replace ships lost following the Seven Years' War. She was first commissioned in 1771 under Captain Richard Bickerton as a guard ship for the Medway and saw active service in the American Revolutionary War and on the Glorious First of June. At the battle of the First of June Marlborough suffered heavy damage apparently as a result of her white ensign being mistaken for the French ensign.
On the evening of 3 November 1800 Marlborough was at sea in a storm off Brittany's Belle Île when strong winds drove her onto a partially submerged ledge of rocks. A substantial breach was opened in her hull and she began to batter against the rocks with each incoming wave. Her commander, Captain Thomas Sotheby, ordered the ship's guns and stores to be thrown overboard to lighten her, but she remained stuck fast.
The storm abated by the following morning, but the ship had settled on the rocks and was awash to her orlop deck as waves flowed in through the hull. A distress signal was raised and answered by HMS Captain which drew close to Marlborough and succeeded in taking off all 600 of her crew. No attempt was made to salvage the ship itself.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Marlborough_(1767)

1768 – Captain James Cook sets sail from England on board HMS Endeavour.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_voyage_of_James_Cook
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Endeavour

1791 – John Fitch is granted a United States patent for the steamboat.

Fitch was granted a U.S. patent on August 26, 1791, after a battle with James Rumsey, who had also invented a steam-powered boat. The newly created federal Patent Commission did not award the broad monopoly patent that Fitch had asked for, but rather a patent of the modern kind, for the new design of Fitch's steamboat. It also awarded steam-engine-related patents dated that same day to Rumsey, Nathan Read, and John Stevens. The loss of a monopoly due to these same-day patent awards led many of Fitch's investors to leave his company. While his boats were mechanically successful, Fitch no longer had the financial resources to carry on.


Model of the "Perseverance (steam locomotive)," Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin, Germany.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Fitch_(inventor)

1799 - The Artois class frigate HMS Tamar (1796 - 38), Cptn. Thomas Western, captured the French corvette Republicaine (32), Capt. Le Bozee.

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

1804 - HMS Immortalite (42), Cptn. Edward William Campbell Owen, HMS Harpy (18), sloop, Edmund Heywood, HMS Adder (12), gunbrig, Lt. George Wood, and HMS Constitution, cutter, James Samuel Denis, engaged more than 90 brigs and luggers off Boulogne. HMS Constitution was sunk by a shell off Cap Gris Nez .

1808 - HMS Implacable (74), Cptn. Thomas Byam Martin, and HMS Centaur (74), Cptn. W. H. Webley, captured Russian Vsevelod (74), Cptn. Roodneff, which was subsequently set on fire as it had run too firmly aground.

The Russian ship Vsevolod (1796) (also Vsewolod; Russian: Всеволод) was a 74-gun ship of the line launched in 1796. She served in the North Sea and the Baltic until the British 74-gun third rates Implacable and Centaur destroyed her in 1808 during the Anglo-Russian War (1807-1812).

On 24 August Vsevolod, under Captain Rudno (or Rudnew or Roodneff) exchanged fire with Implacable, with the Russian suffering heavy casualties before running aground. During this exchange three nearby Russian ships failed to render assistance. Vsevolod hauled down her colors, but Hood recalled Implacable because the Russian fleet was approaching. During the fight Implacable lost six men killed and twenty-six wounded, including two who did not recover and three who had limbs amputated.; Vsevolod lost some 48 dead and 80 wounded.


Vsevolod burning, after the action with the Implacableand Centaur, destroyed in the presence of the Russian Fleet near Rogerwick bay on 26 August 1808.

The Russian frigate Poluks then towed Vsevolod towards Rager Vik (Ragerswik or Rogerswick or Russian: Baltiyskiy) where the Russian fleet was sheltering. However, Vsevolod grounded some six miles from the port.

On 25 August Centaur came up and was able to drive off the boats that were attempting to get the disabled ship into harbor. Seamen from Centaur were able to lash her mizzen to the Russian bowsprit before Centaur opened fire. Both vessels grounded, and both sides attempted to board the other vessel. However, Implacable came up and fired into Vsevolod for about 10 minutes, forcing the Russian to strike again. Implacable hauled Centaur off. The battle had cost Centaur three killed and 27 wounded. Vsevolod, which had received about 100 men as reinforcements after her initial battle with Implacable, lost another 124 men killed and wounded in the battle with Centaur; 56 Russians swam ashore and so escaped being taken prisoner.

Their prize was so firmly aground that Sir Samuel Hood, in Centaur, ordered Vsevolod burnt. On 26 August the British removed their prisoners, including the wounded, and then set fire to Vsevolod, which blew up some hours later. The cutter Baltic would later land the prisone

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Implacable_(1805)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_ship_Vsevolod_(1796)

1810 - French frigate squadron of Bellone, Minerve, Victor and captured Indiaman Ceylon, defeated a British squadron at Vieux Grand Port, Mauritius. HMS Nereide (38), Cptn. Nesbit J. Willoughby, and HMS Iphegenia (36), Cptn. Henry Lambert, struck. HMS Sirius (36), Cptn. Samuel Pym, and HMS Magicienne (32), Cptn. Lucius Curtis, were both burnt to prevent them falling into enemy hands after grounding.

1859 - The Novara-Expedition, he first large-scale scientific, around-the-world mission of the Austrian Imperial navy is returning to Triest

Authorized by Archduke Maximillian, the journey lasted 2 years 3 months, from 30 April 1857 until 30 August 1859.



The expedition was accomplished by the frigate Novara, under the command of Kommodore Bernhard von Wüllerstorf-Urbair, with 345 officers and crew, plus seven (7) scientists aboard. Preparation for the research journey was made by the "Imperial Academy of Sciences in Vienna" and by specialized scholars under direction of the geologist Ferdinand von Hochstetter and the zoologist Georg von Frauenfeld. The first coca plant (cocaine) investigations, in particular on St. Paul Island, the Nicobar Islands, and on New Zealand (first geological mapping by Hochstetter), created the bases for future geological research. The oceanographic research, in particular in the South Pacific, revolutionized oceanography and hydrography.

The collections of botanical, zoological (26,000 preparations), and cultural material brought back enriched the Austrian museums (especially the natural-history museum). They were also studied by Johann Natterer, a scientist who collected Vienna museum specimens during 18 years in South America. The geomagnetic observations made throughout the whole expedition significantly increased the scientific knowledge in this field. Finally, the expedition's introduction of coca plant leaves made it possible to isolate cocaine in its pure form for the first time in 1860.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novara-Expedition
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Novara_(1850)

1865 - American Civil War ends with Naval strength over 58,500 men and 600 ships

1922 - japanese light cruiser Niitaka sunk in storm near westcoast of Kamtschatka. The complete crew of 400 lost

On 26 August 1922, Niitaka anchored near the mouth of a river in what is now part of the Ust-Bolsheretsky District on the southern coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula, while a party of 15 led by Lieutenant Shigetada Gunji went ashore. Sudden typhoon-force winds drove the vessel onto rocks, where it overturned, killing all 284 people aboard at 51°30′N 156°29′ECoordinates: 51°30′N 156°29′E. The only survivors were the members of the shore party. A Russian source states that the captain survived the accident, only to commit seppuku afterwards.



A salvage team sent in 1923 determined the wreck to be unsalvageable, and destroyed the remains with explosives. A concrete obelisk was also erected with a portion of the ship’s mast on a hill slightly north of the wreck site. Niitaka was formally written off the navy list on 1 April 1924.

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

1949 - While operating in stormy seas off northern Norway, USS Cochino (SS 345) suffers a series of serious battery explosions that result in her loss. Though Cochino's crew is successfully rescued by USS Tusk (SS 426), the submarine loses seven of her own men during this difficult effort.



USS Cochino (SS-345), a Balao-class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the cochino, a triggerfish found in the Atlantic. Her keel was laid down by Electric Boat Company of Groton, Connecticut. She was launched on April 20, 1945 sponsored by Mrs. M.E. Serat, and commissioned on August 25, 1945 with Commander W.A. Stevenson in command.

Cochino joined the U.S Atlantic Fleet, cruising East Coast and Caribbean Sea waters from her home port of Key West, Florida. On July 18, 1949, she put to sea for a cruise to Britain, and arctic operations. Her group ran through a violent polar gale off Norway, and the joltings received by Cochino played their part on August 25 in causing an electrical fire and battery explosion, followed by the generation of both hydrogen and chlorine gases.

Defying the most unfavorable possible weather conditions, Commander (later Rear Admiral) Rafael Celestino Benítez (1917–1999), commanding officer of Cochino, and his men fought for 14 hours to save the submarine, displaying seamanship and courage. But a second battery explosion on August 26 made "Abandon Ship" the only possible order, and Cochino sank. Tusk's crew rescued all of Cochino's men except for Robert Wellington Philo, a civilian engineer. Six sailors from Tusk were lost during the rescue.

Cochino is one of four United States Navy submarines to be lost since the end of World War II. The others are USS Stickleback, USS Thresher and USS Scorpion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Cochino_(SS-345)

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
27 August 1814 – HMS Avon, a Cruizer-class brig-sloop launched in 1805, captured by USS Wasp, abandoned and sunk


The Sinking of HMS Avon was a single ship action fought during the War of 1812. In the battle, the ship-rigged sloop of war USS Wasp forced the Cruizer-class brig-sloop HMS Avon to surrender. The Americans could not take possession of the prize as other British brig-sloops appeared and prepared to engage. Avon sank shortly after the battle.


Caption: The Wasp and Reindeer. Engraving by Abel Bowen, from "The Naval Monument."

Prelude
The heavy sloop of war USS Wasp had spent seven weeks in Lorient in France, making repairs after an earlier hard-fought action against HMS Reindeer, and replacing casualties from the crews of American privateersin the port. Wasp sortied on 27 August, and almost immediately was involved in action. Early on 1 September, a convoy of ten merchant ships escorted by the ship of the line HMS Armada was encountered. Waspmade repeated attacks and succeeded in capturing one ship loaded with iron, brass and arms.

Later that day, as night was falling, Master Commandant Johnston Blakely, commanding Wasp, spotted four other unknown sail, and made for the nearest.

Battle
The unknown vessel was the Cruizer-class brig-sloop HMS Avon, mounting sixteen 32-pounder carronades and two 6-pounder long guns. Wasp carried twenty-two 32-pounder carronades, two 12-pounder chase guns and a 12-pounder boat carronade removed from Reindeer.

As Wasp approached Avon's quarter, the two vessels exchanged several hails, in which the Americans demanded that the British vessel heave to, and shots from the bow and stern chase guns. Blakely eventually drew up alongside Avon, deliberately selecting the leeward position to prevent Avon escaping downwind.

It was fully dark by this time, the wind was fresh and the sea was fairly rough. Nevertheless, the American gunners were very accurate. After half an hour, Avon had been partly dismasted, one third of her crew were casualties and her guns had been silenced, many of the broadside carronades being dismounted. By contrast, although the battle took place at such short range that one American sailor was struck by wadding from a British carronade, only four shot struck the hull of Wasp and only three American sailors were wounded.

Three quarters of an hour after the start of the battle, Avon surrendered. While the crew of Wasp were lowering a boat to take possession, another unknown vessel was seen approaching, followed by two more. Waspmade away downwind while the braces which had been shot away were replaced. The nearest pursuer was the British brig-sloop HMS Castilian. The brig got close enough to fire an inaccurate broadside over Wasp's quarter, but Avon had been making repeated distress signals, and Castilian broke off to help. Avon's crew was taken off, and the shattered brig sank soon afterwards.

Aftermath
Wasp continued to cruise west of the mouth of the English Channel. On 21 September, it met with a neutral Swedish merchant vessel, on board which were two officers from the frigate USS Essex, which had been captured the previous year off the coast of Chile. Some of the officers from the prizes taken earlier by Wasp were put aboard the Swedish ship. After the two vessels parted, Wasp vanished, and was presumed lost to bad weather south of the Azores.

The released prisoners brought news of the one-sided nature of the action between Wasp and Avon to Britain. This caused calls to be made for larger, better-armed sloops and brigs to be built, without taking into consideration the far more effective American gunnery.


The ships:
USS Wasp was a sloop-of-war that served in the U.S. Navy in 1814 during the War of 1812. She was the fifth US Navy ship to carry that name. She carried out two successful raiding voyages against British trade during the summer of 1814, in the course of which she fought and defeated three British warships. Wasp was lost, cause unknown, in the Atlantic in early autumn, 1814.



Service history
Wasp was a ship-rigged sloop-of-war constructed in 1813 at Newburyport, Massachusetts, by Cross & Merrill. She was commissioned early in 1814, Master Commandant Johnston Blakeley in command. She remained at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, until late spring awaiting sailing orders and, upon receipt of them, put to sea on 1 May 1814 for a war cruise to the western approaches to the English Channel.

First raiding voyage
Wasp captured her first vessel, the 207-ton barque Neptune, on 2 June 1814, embarked her crew as prisoners, and burned the prize at sea. On 13 June 1814, she took William, a 91-ton brig, and burned her as well. Wasp encountered the 131-ton armed brig Pallas on 18 June 1814, captured her, apparently without resistance, and scuttled her. Her fourth victim, 171-ton galiot Henrietta, which she took on 23 June 1814, was given up to the prisoners Wasp had thus far taken. On 26 June 1814, Wasp captured and scuttled the 325-ton ship Orange Boven.

Sinking of HMS Reindeer
Main article: Sinking of HMS Reindeer

The Wasp and Reindeer. Engraving by Abel Bowen, from the 1838 "The Naval Monument."


U.S. Marines aboard USS Waspengage the HMS Reindeer from the 1945 painting by American artist, Staff Sgt. John F. Clymer, on display at the U.S. National Museum of the Marine Corps

On 28 June 1814, Wasp came upon the 18-gun Cruizer class brig-sloop HMS Reindeer some 225 miles west of Plymouth, England, and brought her to battle. The fight lasted only 19 minutes, but during that brief span of time the two ships traded a murderous fire of grape and solid shot. Several times, Reindeer's crew tried to board Wasp, but the American crew repulsed them on each occasion. In the end, Wasp's own ship's company boarded Reindeer and carried the day. Wasp suffered six hits in her hull, and some of her rigging was shot away, but she remained sailable. Reindeer had suffered 25 men killed, including her captain, Commander William Manners, and 42 wounded.

After taking prisoners on board, setting fire to Reindeer, and watching her explode, Wasp set course for Lorient, France. En route, she took two more prizes, the 112-ton brig Regulator on 4 July 1814 and the 151-ton schooner Jenny on 6 July 1814. Jenny had been sailing from leghorn to St Petersburg when Wasp captured her. On 7 July another vessel came across Jenny and reported that her masts were cut away and she was full of water. Not long thereafter, Wasp entered Lorient for repairs, provisions, and care for her wounded. Wasp brought Jenny's crew with her and put them on a cartel for Britain.

Second raiding voyage
Wasp remained in Lorient until she again put to sea on 27 August 1814. On 30 August 1814, she captured the brig Lettice and, on 31 August 1814, took another, Bon Accord. Early in the morning of 1 September 1814, she encountered a convoy of 10 ships escorted by the 74-gun ship-of-the-line HMS Armada. Wasp made for the convoy and singled out the brig Mary, which she quickly took as a prize, carrying off Mary's crew as prisoners and burning her. The American sloop then attempted to take another ship in the convoy, but Armada chased her off.

Sinking of HMS Avon

Fate
After Wasp and Atalanta parted company, on 9 October 1814 she spoke the Swedish brig Adonis, bound from Rio de Janeiro to Falmouth, England, about three weeks after the Atalanta capture. Wasp reported that she was headed for the Caribbean.[3] Wasp probably foundered in a storm.


HMS Avon was a Royal Navy Cruizer-class brig-sloop built by Symons at Falmouth and launched on 31 January 1805.[1][2] In the War of 1812 she fought a desperate action with the USS Wasp that resulted in Avonsinking on 27 August 1814.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the framing profile (disposition) for Ferret (1806), Swallow (1805), Musquito (1804), Scorpion (1803), Scout (1804), Dispatch (1804), Minorca (1805), Racehorse (1806), Rover (1808), Avon (1805), Surinam (1805), Amaranthe (1804), Calyspo (1805), Wolverine (1805), Weazle (1805), Espoir (1804), Moselle (1804), Leveret (1806), Bellette (1806), Mutine (1806), Emulous (1806), Alacrity (1806), Philomel (1806), Frolick (1806), Recruit (1806), Royalist (1807), Grasshopper (1806), Columbine (1806), Pandora (1806), Forester (1806), Foxhound (1806), Primrose (1807), Cephalus (1807), Procris (1806), Raleigh (1806), Carnation (1807), Redwing (1806), Ringdove (1806), Philomel (1806), Sappho (1806), Peacock (1806), Clio (1807), Pilot (1807), Magnet (1807), Derwent (1807), Eclypse (1807), Sparrowhawke (1807), Eclaire (1807), Nautilus (1807), Barracouta (1807), Zenobia (1807), Peruvian (1808), Pelorus (1808), Doterel/Dotterel (1808), Charybidis (1809), Hecate (1809), Rifleman (1809), Sophie (1809), Echo (1809), Arachne (1809), Castillian (1809), Persian (1809), Trinculo (1809), Crane (1809), Thracian (1809), Scylla (1809), and those built of fir, including Raven (1804), Saracen (1804), Beagle (1804), Harrier (1804), Elk (1804), and Reindeer (1804), all 18-gun Brig Sloops built in private yards. The plan includes alterations for when the ships were repaired dated September 1817.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/83931.html#11msOE3uUv3Zs9Am.99

Very interesting plans of the framing profile with planking

Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the framing profile (disposition) for the Cruizer class (1797). As the plan has the watermark of 1806, it is likely to refer to those launched in that year and after.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/83932.html#C4079g4CUzIPmMbY.99

Service
Avon entered service at Spithead under the command of Commander Francis J. Snell and sailed for the Mediterranean on 18 April 1805.[2] On 7 May she captured the Frisken. By 9 May Avon was off Lisbon, where the schooner Milbrook reported to Snell her capture of the Spanish privateer lugger Travella, of three guns and 40 men, off the Bayona Islands (Baiona), and the recapture of the British brig Stork. Then on 20 January 1806, Avon was present when Pomone recaptured the Maid of the Mill.

In March 1806 Avon came briefly under the command of Commander James Stewart and was employed in convoying and cruising. In May Commander Mauritius Adolphus Newton De Stark took command and sailed Avon in the Channel. He was then given the task of escorting to the Baltic the Russian vessel Neva, which was returning from a voyage of discovery. Hostilities had just begun between Napoleon and Russia and the British government deemed an escort a prudent precaution. For his services the Tsar presented de Stark with a breakfast service of plate and a purse of 100 guineas.

Avon sailed for North America on 28 August. She was carrying Mr Erskine, HM Minister to the United States. On the way to the United States, Avon encountered the French 74-gun Regulus, which gave chase for eight hours, firing constantly, before de Starck was able to lose her in a squall. Avon arrived at Annapolis Royal on 30 October. On his return voyage he met up with a Royal Navy 74-gun ship with orders to go to Bermuda and then to take to Britain despatches from French Admiral Willaumez that Avon had taken from an American vessel she had examined on her way out of the Chesapeake. Avon arrived at Spithead on 7 January 1807.


An earlier USS Wasp boards the Cruizer-class HMS Frolic, 1812 , a sister ship

In January 1807 Commander Thomas Thrush took command and sailed Avon to Jamaica on 16 April. (He had been appointed to her in September 1806 but had had to await her return.) During her time on the Jamaica station lightning struck Avon, damaging her badly, but fortunately causing no deaths. Thrush also had the opportunity to take Avon to Cartagena to pick up a freight of dollars; his commission on the transport when he delivered it to Britain was £2,056. On 1 May 1809 he was promoted to post-captain and removed to Garland.

In June 1809 Commander Henry Fraser took command. On 15 March 1810, the 28-gun Rainbow, under James Woolbridge, and Avon encountered the French frigate Néréide, under the command of Jean-François Lemaresquier. Lemaresquier fled to separate the two British ships, but stopped to engage Rainbow after Avon had fallen back. He soon had reduced Rainbow to a battered state, but Avon resolutely came in support and put a 30-minute fight against the much stronger Néréide before herself retreating. Damage on Néréide prevented her from giving chase. Lemaresquier therefore continued on his course, reaching Brest on 30 March. By 1812 Avon was back at Portsmouth.

Commander George Sartorious took command on 22 July 1813 and Avon served on the Cork Station. She underwent repairs at Portsmouth in November. Sartorious left her in June 1814 on his promotion to post-captain, and Commander the Honourable James Arbuthnot recommissioned her in July.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Avon_(1805)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruizer-class_brig-sloop
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_HMS_Avon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Wasp_(1814)
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-574500;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=C

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
27 August 1816 - The Bombardment of Algiers

was an attempt by Britain and the Netherlands to end the slavery practices of Omar Agha, the Dey of Algiers. An Anglo-Dutch fleet under the command of Admiral Lord Exmouth bombarded ships and the harbour defences of Algiers.


Bombardment of Algiers, 1823, by Martinus Schouman.

There was a continuing campaign by various European navies and the American navy to suppress the piracy against Europeans by the North African Barbary states. The specific aim of this expedition, however, was to free Christian slaves and to stop the practice of enslaving Europeans. To this end, it was partially successful, as the Dey of Algiers freed around 3,000 slaves following the bombardment and signed a treaty against the slavery of Europeans. However, this practice did not end completely until the French conquest of Algeria.

Background
Following the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, the Royal Navy no longer needed the Barbary states as a source of supplies for Gibraltar and their fleet in the Mediterranean Sea. This freed Britain to exert considerable political pressure to force the Barbary states to end their piracy and practice of enslaving European Christians.

In early 1816, Exmouth undertook a diplomatic mission to Tunis, Tripoli, and Algiers, backed by a small squadron of ships of the line, to convince the Deys to stop the practice and free the Christian slaves. The Deys of Tunis and Tripoli agreed without any resistance, but the Dey of Algiers was more recalcitrant and the negotiations were stormy. Exmouth believed that he had managed to negotiate a treaty to stop the slavery of Christians and returned to England. However, due to confused orders, Algerian troops massacred 200 Corsican, Sicilian, and Sardinian fishermen who were under British protection just after the treaty was signed. This caused outrage in Britain and Europe, and Exmouth's negotiations were seen as a failure.

As a result, Exmouth was ordered to sea again to complete the job and punish the Algerians. He gathered a squadron of five ships of the line, one 50-gun spar-decked frigate (HMS Leander), four conventional frigates (HMS Severn, Glasgow, Granicus, and Hebrus), and five bomb ships (HMS Belzebub, Fury, Hecla, and Infernal). HMS Queen Charlotte—100 guns—was his flagship and Rear Admiral David Milne was his second in command aboard HMS Impregnable, 98 guns. This squadron was considered by many to be an insufficient force, but Exmouth had already unobtrusively surveyed the defences of Algiers; he was very familiar with the town, and was aware of a weakness in the field of fire of the defensive batteries. He believed that more large ships would have interfered with each other without being able to bring much more fire to bear. In addition to the main fleet, there were four sloops (HMS Heron, Mutine, Cordelia, and Britomart), eight ships' boats armed with Congreve rockets, and some transports to carry the rescued slaves.

When the British arrived in Gibraltar, a squadron of five Dutch frigates (Melampus, Frederica, Dageraad, Diana, and Amstel) and the corvette Eendragt, led by Vice-AdmiralTheodorus Frederik van Capellen, offered to join the expedition. Exmouth decided to assign them to cover the main force from Algerian flanking batteries, as there was insufficient space in the mole for the Dutch frigates.

Plan of attack
Main article: Bombardment of Algiers order of battle


Council of war on board the Queen Charlotte, 1818, Nicolaas Bauer

The day before the attack, the frigate Prometheus arrived and its captain W. B. Dashwood attempted to secretly rescue the British Consul and his wife and infant. Some of the rescue party was discovered and arrested. The attack was described by the U.S. Consul.

The plan of attack was for the larger ships to approach in a column. They were to sail into the zone where the majority of the Algerian guns could not be brought to bear. Then, they were to come to anchor and bombard the batteries and fortifications on the mole to destroy the defences. Simultaneously, HMS Leander—50 guns—was to anchor off the mouth of the harbour and bombard the shipping inside the mole. To protect Leander from the shore battery, frigates HMS Severn and Glasgow were to sail inshore and bombard the battery.

Troops would then storm ashore on the mole with sappers of the Corps of Royal Engineers.

Bombardment
Exmouth in Queen Charlotte anchored approximately 80 yd (73 m) off the mole, facing the Algerian guns. However, a number of the other ships anchored out of position, notably Admiral Milne aboard HMS Impregnable, who was 400 yards from where he should have been. This error reduced the effectiveness of these ships and exposed them to fiercer Algerian fire. Some of the other ships sailed past Impregnable and anchored in positions closer to the plan. The unfortunate gap created by the misplaced HMS Impregnable was closed by the frigate HMS Granicus and the sloop Heron.


Sketch showing the positions of the fleet during the bombardment


Painting by George Chambers Sr.

In their earlier negotiations, both Exmouth and the Dey of Algiers had stated that they would not fire the first shot. The Dey's plan was to allow the fleet to anchor and then to sortie from the harbour and board the ships with large numbers of men in small boats. But Algerian discipline was less effective and one Algerian gun fired a shot at 15:15. Exmouth immediately began the bombardment.

The Algerian flotilla of 40 gunboats made an attempt to board Queen Charlotte while the sailors were aloft setting sail, but twenty-eight of their boats were sunk by broadsides, and the remaining ran themselves on shore. After an hour, the cannon on the mole were effectively silenced, and Exmouth turned his attention to the shipping in the harbour, which was destroyed by 19:30. One unmanned Algerine frigate was destroyed after being boarded by the crew of Queen Charlotte's barge, who then set it on fire. Three other Algerine frigates and five corvettes were destroyed by the fire of mortars and rockets. The burning shipping drifting in the harbour forced some bombarding ships to manoeuvre out of their way.

Impregnable was isolated from the other ships and made a large and tempting target, attracting attention from the Algerian gunners who raked her fore and aft, severely damaging her. 268 shots hit the hull, and the main mast was damaged in 15 places, with 50 killed and 164 wounded.

One sloop had been fitted out as an explosion vessel, with 143 barrels of gunpowder aboard, and Milne asked at 20:00 that it be used against the "Lighthouse battery", which was mauling his ship. The vessel was exploded, but to little effect and against the wrong battery.


Bombardment of Algiers, a painting of the action by Thomas Luny

Despite this, the Algerian batteries could not maintain fire and, by 22:15, Exmouth gave the order for the fleet to weigh anchor and sail out of range, leaving HMS Minden to keep firing to suppress any further resistance. The wind had changed and was blowing from the shore, which helped the fleets depart. By 01:30 the next morning, the fleet was anchored out of range. The wounded were treated, and the crew cleared the damage caused by the Algerian guns. Casualties on the British side were 128 killed and 690 wounded, (16 percent killed or wounded). As a comparison, the British casualties at the Battle of Trafalgar had been only 9 percent.

The allied squadron had fired over 50,000 round shot using 118 tons of gunpowder, and the bomb vessels had fired 960 explosive mortar shells.

The Algerian forces had had 308 guns and 7 mortars.

The translator of the letter Exmouth sent to the Dey left an eye-witness account of the damage done to the city, which he saw when he accompanied the letter under a flag of truce. The construction of the mole could not be discerned, neither could the positions where the batteries had been sited. No more than four or five guns that were still mounted were visible, and many fine houses had been destroyed. The bay was filled with the smoking hulks of the remains of the Algerine navy and by many floating bodies.

Result
The following day at noon, Exmouth sent the following letter to the Dey:

"Sir, for your atrocities at Bona on defenceless Christians, and your unbecoming disregard of the demands I made yesterday in the name of the Prince Regent of England, the fleet under my orders has given you a signal chastisement, by the total destruction of your navy, storehouse, and arsenal, with half your batteries. As England does not war for the destruction of cities, I am unwilling to visit your personal cruelties upon the unoffending inhabitants of the country, and I therefore offer you the same terms of peace which I conveyed to you yesterday in my Sovereign's name. Without the acceptance of these terms, you can have no peace with England."​

He warned that if they were not accepted, then he would continue the action. The Dey accepted the terms, not realising that they were a bluff, as the fleet had already fired off almost all of its ammunition. A treaty was signed on September 24, 1816. The room it was signed in had been hit by nine round shot and was a perfect ruin. The Dey freed 1,083 Christian slaves and the British Consul and repaid the ransom money taken in 1816, about £80,000. Over 3000 slaves in total were later freed. Drescher notes Algiers as 'the sole case in the sixty years of British slave trade suppression in which a large number of British lives were lost in actual combat.' However, despite British naval efforts it has been difficult to assess the long-term impact of the Bombardment of Algiers as the Dey reconstructed Algiers, replacing Christian slaves with Jewish labour, and the Barbary slave trade continued under subsequent Deys (see Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle (1818)).


Bombardment of Algiers order of battle

British
Ship Guns Notes
Queen Charlotte 104 Flagship of Adm. Edward Pellew
Impregnable 98 Rear-Adm. David Milne
Albion 74
Minden 74
Superb 74
Leander 50
Glasgow 40
Severn 40
Granicus 36
Hebrus 36
Heron 18
Mutine 18
Prometheus 18
Britomart 10
Cordelia 10
Beelzebub 10 Bomb w/two mortars
Fury 10 Bomb w/two mortars
Infernal 12 Bomb w/two mortars
Hecla 12 Bomb w/two mortars
Express 4---Advice boat tender to Revenge

Netherlands
Ship Guns Notes
Amstel 44
Diana 44
Frederica 44
Melampus 44 Vice-adm. Jonkheer Theodorus Frederik van Capellen - flagship
Dageraad 36
Eendragt 20


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardment_of_Algiers_(1816)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardment_of_Algiers_order_of_battle

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
27 August 1824 – Launch of french Suffren, a 90 gun ship oft he line and lead ship of her class

The Suffren was a 90-gun Ship of the line of the French Navy, lead ship of her class. She was the third ship in French service named in honour of Pierre André de Suffren de Saint Tropez.


1/20th scale model on display at the Musée national de la Marine


Straight walls of an arsenal model of Suffren, with the lower long 30-pounder battery, the upper short 30-pounder battery, and the 30-pounder carronadeson the deck

Career
The Suffren was the first ship of the line built with straight sides, after the specifications of the Commission de Paris, instead of the traditional tumblehome common on ships of the line.

She took part in the Battle of Tagus on 11 July 1831, under Captain Trotel, as Albin Roussin's flagship, and stayed off Lisbon for one month thereafter, leaving Portugal on 14 August.

The next year, she took part in the Battle of Ancona, on 22 February, ferrying 1500 infantrymen.



In 1838 she ran aground near Cádiz after a tempest. She was refloated by the steam ships Iéna and Phare.

She took part in the war against Morocco in August 1844, bombing Tangier on the 6 August and landing troops in Mogador on 16.

In 1854, Suffren was involved in the Crimean War. In July, an epidemic of cholera in the fleet in the Black Sea killed 20 and sickened 100 aboard. On 17 October, Suffren took part in the siege of Sevastopol.

The next year, she was converted to a troop ship. From 1857 to 1860, she was used as a gunnery school by the École Navale, before being stricken on 4 April 1861 and converted to a hulk. She was renamed Ajax on 8 April 1865, and scrapped in 1874.


The Suffren class was a late type of 90-gun ships of the line of the French Navy.

The design was selected on 30 January 1824 by the Commission de Paris, an appointed Commission comprising Jean-Marguerite Tupinier, Jacques-Noël Sané, Pierre Rolland, Pierre Lair and Jean Lamorinière. Intended as successors of the 80-gun Bucentaure class and as the third of four ranks of ships of the line,[1] they introduced the innovation of having straight walls, instead of the tumblehome design that had prevailed until then; this tended to heighten the ships' centre of gravity, but provided much more room for equipment in the upper decks. Stability issues were fixed with underwater stabilisers.

Only the first two, Suffren and Inflexible, retain the original design all through their career; the others were converted to steam and sail during their construction.[

Units
Fourteen ships were ordered to this design, of which twelve were modified as steam-driven vessels.

• Suffren

Launched: 27 August 1829
Fate: Deleted February 1861, renamed Ajax in April 1865, and taken to pieces 1874-76.

• Inflexible

Launched: 21 November 1839
Fate: Condemned August 1875.


The Inflexible as boys' school

• Bayard

Launched: 28 August 1847
Fate: Renamed Triton in August 1876

• Duguesclin

Launched: 3 May 1848
Fate: Wrecked 14 December 1859; refloated and taken to pieces in June 1860

• Breslaw

Launched: 31 July 1848
Fate: Deleted in May 1871, renamed Breslau 1881 and taken to pieces 1886-87.

• Charlemagne

Launched: 16 January 1851
Completed: December 1851 (as steam screw ship)
Fate: Condemned in February 1882. Taken to pieces 1884


French ship of the line Charlemagne / The 'Charlemagne', with 'HMS Trafalgar' leaving Port Mahon under tow by 'HMS Firebrand', 1 June 1852

• Jean Bart

Launched: 14 September 1852
Completed: April 1853 (as steam screw ship)
Fate: Renamed Donawerth in August 1868; sold or broken up in 1869


The Jean Bart

• Donawerth

Launched: 15 February 1854

• Tilsitt

Launched: 30 March 1854

• Saint Louis

Launched: 25 April 1854

• Alexandre

Launched: 27 March 1857

• Fontenoy

Launched: 2 December 1858

• Masséna

Launched: 15 March 1860

• Castiglione

Launched: 14 July 1860:



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Suffren_(1824)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suffren-class_ship_of_the_line

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
27 August 1893 - Columbian Naval Review in harbour of New York



This is a print of the 1893 International Naval Rendezvous that is currently on display in the museum's Steel Navy gallery. Local lithographer and book publisher Sam W. Bowman produced this elaborate and highly detailed image depicting the thirty-seven ships from around the world at anchor in Hampton Roads. Bowman published over 4,000 of the prints and many still survive today.

Along with two squadrons of U.S. Navy cruisers and gunboats, squadrons of ship from Great Britain, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Holland, Russia, and Spain all sent ships. The peaceful collection of ships was a minor diplomatic triumph as many of the nations present were fierce rivals. After a week in Hampton Roads, the fleet travelled as a group to New York City for a parade in the Hudson River. The event is also noteworthy for the experimental use of a carrier pigeons network to deliver official messages from the USS Dolphin in Hampton Roads to the Secretary of the Navy in Washington and newspapers in New York. Despite a fear that hawks would capture and eat the pigeons en route, the messages got through. Carrier pigeons would be used by the Navy for several more years after this experiment.


The key beneath the image notes the ships and their country of origin: "ARG: Nueve De Julio. BRA: Aquidaban, Tiradentes, Republica. ENG: Blake, Australia, Magicienne, Tartak, Partridge, FRA: Jean Bart, Arethuse, Hussard, GER: Kaiserin Augusta, Seeadler. HOL: Van Speyk. ITA: Etna, Giovanni Bansan; Dogali. RUSS: Demetri Donskoi, Gen. Admiral, Rynda, Emperor Nicholas, Admiral Machimoff, Pamiate Azova. U.S: Newark, Baltimore, San Francisco, Atlanta, Charleston, Dolphin."

The naval review was part of the World's Columbian Exposition, which celebrated the 400th anniversary of Columbus' discovery of America. The main event was hosted in Chicago.under the same title, but it is also referred to as The Chicago World's Fair.



Naval reviews and parades of ships is popular way Hampton Roads has marked historic events. Today is the official beginning of OPSAIL 2012 in Hampton Roads and it starts at Noon with an international parade of ships.OPSAIL 2012's theme is the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 and America's sea services' role in the conflict. See more at ourflagwasstillthere.org.

In the case of the 1893 Rendezvous and review, the April event was supposed to mark the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' arrival in the New World (never mind that they were a year late.) In addition to the ships in the print is a "Proposed Statue of Christopher Columbus" that was to be built on the Rip Raps. Thus, someone had an idea to build a Statue of Liberty-size statue of the Italian explorer at the entrance to Hampton Roads. The idea was quietly rejected when funding for the project was not forthcoming.



Ships involved
Line at harbour
United States (Konteradmiral Bancroft Gherardi)

• USS Philadelphia
• USS Newark
• USS Atlanta
• USS San Francisco
• USS Bancroft
• USS Bennington
• USS Baltimore
• USS Chicago
• USS Yorktown
• USS Charleston
• USS Vesuvius
• USS Concord

Argentina (Konteradmiral Howard)

• Neuve de Julio

Netherland (Kapitän Arriens)

• Van Speyk

SMS Kaiserin Augusta und SMS Seeadler 1893 in New York

Germany (Kapitän Buchsel)

• SMS Kaiserin Augusta
• SMS Seeadler

United States

• USS Miantonomoh

Other Line
Great Britain (John Ommanney Hopkins, Oberbefehlshaber der Mittelmeerflotte)

• HMS Blake
• HMS Australia
• HMS Magicienne
• HMS Tartar

Russia (Konteradmiral Koznakoff)

• Dmitri Donskoi
• General Admiral
• Rynda

France (Konteradmiral de Libran)

• Jean Bart
• Aréthuse
• Hussard

Italy (Konteradmiral Magnaghi)

• Etna
• Giavanni Bausan

Reina Regente in New York
Spain (Konteradmiral Gomez Y Lono)

• Infanta Isabel
• Reina Regente
• Nueva Espana

Brasil (Konteradmiral de Noronha)

• Aquidaban
• Tiradentes
• Republica

Visitor ships:

• USS Dolphin: Grover Cleveland
• USS George S. Blake: Diplomatisches Corps
• USS Monmouth: Kongress der Vereinigten Staaten
• USS General Meigs: amtierender Herzog von Veragua als Nachkomme der Familie Kolumbus

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbian_Naval_Review

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
27 August 1896 - Anglo-Zanzibar War: The shortest war in world history (45 minutes from 09:00 to 09:45), between the United Kingdom and Zanzibar.


The Anglo-Zanzibar War was a military conflict fought between the United Kingdom and the Zanzibar Sultanate on 27 August 1896. The conflict lasted between 38 and 45 minutes, marking it as the shortest recorded war in history. The immediate cause of the war was the death of the pro-British Sultan Hamad bin Thuwaini on 25 August 1896 and the subsequent succession of Sultan Khalid bin Barghash. The British authorities preferred Hamud bin Muhammed, who was more favourable to British interests, as sultan. In accordance with a treaty signed in 1886, a condition for accession to the sultanate was that the candidate obtain the permission of the British consul, and Khalid had not fulfilled this requirement. The British considered this a casus belli and sent an ultimatum to Khalid demanding that he order his forces to stand down and leave the palace. In response, Khalid called up his palace guard and barricaded himself inside the palace.

At 08:00 on the morning of 27 August, after a messenger sent by Khalid requested parley from Cave, the consul replied that he would only have salvation if he agreed to the terms of the ultimatum. At 08:30 a further messenger from Khalid declared that "We have no intention of hauling down our flag and we do not believe you would open fire on us"; Cave replied that "We do not want to open fire, but unless you do as you are told we shall certainly do so." At 08:55, having received no further word from the palace, aboard St George Rawson hoisted the signal "prepare for action".


Dispositions of naval forces at 09.00


British cruiser HMS St George of 1892.

At exactly 09:00, General Lloyd Mathews ordered the British ships to commence the bombardment. At 09:02 Her Majesty's Ships Racoon, Thrush and Sparrow opened fire at the palace simultaneously, Thrush's first shot immediately dismounted an Arab 12-pounder cannon. Three thousand defenders, servants and slaves were present in the largely wooden palace, and even with barricades of crates, bales and rubber, there were many casualties from the high explosive shells. Despite initial reports that he had been captured and was to be exiled to India, Sultan Khalid escaped from the palace. A Reuters news correspondent reported that the sultan had "fled at the first shot with all the leading Arabs, who left their slaves and followers to carry on the fighting", but other sources state that he remained in the palace for longer. The shelling ceased at around 09:40, by which time the palace and attached harem had caught fire, the Sultan's artillery had been silenced and his flag cut down.


HMS St George and HMSPhilomel

During the bombardment a small naval engagement occurred when, at 09:05, the obsolete Glasgow fired upon the St George using her armament of 7 nine-pounder guns and a Gatling gun, which had been a present from Queen Victoria to the sultan. The return fire caused Glasgow to sink, though the shallow harbour meant that her masts remained out of the water. Glasgow's crew hoisted a British flag as a token of their surrender, and they were all rescued by British sailors in launches. Thrush also sank two steam launches whose Zanzibari crews shot at her with rifles. Some land fighting occurred when Khalid's men fired on Raikes' askaris, with little effect, as they approached the palace. The fighting ceased with the end of the shelling. The British controlled the town and the palace, and by the afternoon Hamud bin Muhammed, an Arab favourable to the British, had been installed as sultan with much reduced powers. The British ships and crews had fired around 500 shells, 4,100 machine gun rounds and 1,000 rifle rounds during the engagement.


The bombing of Stone Town in a 1896 British newspaper

The sultan's forces sustained roughly 500 casualties, while only one British sailor was injured. Sultan Khalid received asylum in the German consulate before escaping to German East Africa (in the mainland part of present Tanzania). The British quickly placed Sultan Hamud in power at the head of a puppet government. The war marked the end of the Zanzibar Sultanate as a sovereign state and the start of a period of heavy British influence.


The masts of the sunken Glasgow can be seen in this panorama of Zanzibar Town harbour taken in 1902, looking east. The House of Wonders is the white building with a tower and many balconies in the middle of the photograph; the harem and palace stood to the left. The consulate buildings are to the right.

Duration
The war, lasting less than three quarters of an hour, is considered the shortest in recorded history. Several durations are given by sources, including 38, 40 and 45 minutes, but the 38-minute duration is the most often quoted. The variation is due to confusion over what actually constitutes the start and end of a war. Some sources take the start of the war as the order to open fire at 09:00 and some with the start of actual firing at 09:02. The end of the war is usually put at 09:40, when the last shots were fired and the palace flag struck, but some sources place it at 09:45. The logbooks of the British ships also suffer from this with St George indicating that cease-fire was called and Khalid entered the German consulate at 09:35, Thrush at 09:40, Racoon at 09:41, and Philomel and Sparrow at 09:45.




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Zanzibar_War
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HHS_Glasgow
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_St_George_(1892)

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
27 August 1896 - His Highness' Ship HHS Glasgow sunk by british forces in Zanzibar


His Highness' Ship HHS Glasgow was a royal yacht belonging to the Sultan of Zanzibar. She was built in the style of the British frigate HMS Glasgow which had visited the Sultan in 1873. Glasgow cost the Sultan £32,735 and contained several luxury features but failed to impress the Sultan and she lay at anchor in harbour at Zanzibar Town for much of her career. The vessel was brought out of semi-retirement on 25 August 1896 when she participated in the Anglo-Zanzibar War and was soon sunk by a flotilla of British warships. Glasgow's wreck remained in the harbour, her three masts and funnel projecting from the water, until 1912 when she was broken up for scrap.


The HHS Glasgow, taken near Zanzibar. Caption given as "The Sultan's guardship before the Bombardement".

Construction
Glasgow was built in 1878 as a replacement for Sultan Bargash's fleet which had been lost in a hurricane in 1872. Glasgow was based upon the British Royal Navy screw frigate HMS Glasgow which had impressed the Sultan during a visit to Zanzibar in 1873. Bargash consulted with Sir William Mackinnon, the founder of the British-India Steam Navigation Company, who recommended the firm of William Denny and Brothers as shipbuilders. On 17 April 1877 Denny wrote to the Bargash's agents promising to build "a vessel in every way a handsome and substantial piece of work" and on 14 May 1877 the ship was laid down. The vessel was constructed with an iron frame covered with teak planks and a keel made from rock elm, the hull was sheathed with Muntz metal below the waterline. Glasgow was equipped with three masts and a steam propulsion system with a lifting propeller. The vessel was launched on 2 March 1878.


HMS Glasgow was the inspiration for her Zanzibari namesake

Glasgow was well fitted out for its role as a royal yacht and contained two state rooms, a dining saloon, a bathroom and a water closet for use by the Sultan. In all, the vessel cost £32,735 and was fitted out with seven-rifled, muzzle-loading nine-pounder cannon and a nine-barrelled Gatling gun, courtesy of Queen Victoria. It set sail for Zanzibar from Portsmouth on 17 April 1878 under the command of Captain Hand of the Royal Navy. Upon arrival in Zanzibar Town, the Sultan inspected his new purchase and was rumoured to be unimpressed, Glasgow being rather less imposing than its namesake, the British frigate. The ship lay at anchor in harbour through the rest of the Sultan's reign and that of his three successors until 1896.

Anglo-Zanzibar War
Main article: Anglo-Zanzibar War



On 25 August 1896 a new Sultan, Khalid, ascended to the sultancy without first consulting the British authorities, as required by treaty. This sparked the Anglo-Zanzibar War. On 27 August the now obsolete Glasgow, the sole vessel of the Zanzibar Navy, fired upon a flotilla of five British ships, led by the cruiser HMS St George with its 9.2-inch (230 mm) guns. In return Glasgow was holed below her waterline and began sinking. Her crew hoisted the British flag as a token of surrender and all were rescued by British sailors in launches. The ship eventually sank at 10:45 am that day, settling on the harbour bed with just its masts and funnel projecting from the water.




The tips of the masts and funnel of the sunken Glasgow can be seen in this panorama of Zanzibar Town harbour taken in 1902

Glasgow remained there until an unstable mast prompted the harbour master and the Zanzibar government to consider raising her. Eventually, in 1912, a salvage company was awarded a £2,500 contract and she was broken up with explosive charges over a period of six months. The debris was disposed of at sea, her boiler, propeller and several cannon being sold for scrap. Several sections of iron frames remain intact on the harbour bed together with teak planks, sheets of Muntz metal, iron ballast blocks and the remains of the steam engine and propeller shaft. The site is occasionally visited by sports divers.

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

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
27 August 1931 - The Flugschiff ("flying ship") Dornier Do X reached after a monthly journey the harbour of New York City.

The Dornier Do X was the largest, heaviest, and most powerful flying boat in the world when it was produced by the Dornier company of Germany in 1929. First conceived by Dr. Claude Dornier in 1924, planning started in late 1925 and after over 240,000 work-hours it was completed in June 1929.



During the years between the two World Wars, only the Soviet Tupolev ANT-20 Maksim Gorki landplane of a few years later was physically larger, but at 53 metric tons maximum takeoff weight it was not as heavy as the Do X's 56 tonnes.
The Do X was financed by the German Transport Ministry and in order to circumvent conditions of the Treaty of Versailles, which forbade any aircraft exceeding set speed and range limits to be built by Germany after World War I, a specially designed plant was built at Altenrhein, on the Swiss portion of Lake Constance.

The type was popular with the public, but a lack of commercial interest and a number of non-fatal accidents prevented more than three examples from being built.

Operation

The engineer in the machine centre operated the throttles of the 12 engines

The Flugschiff ("flying ship"), as it was called, was launched for its first test flight on 12 July 1929, with a crew of 14. In order to satisfy skeptics, on its 70th test flight on 21 October there were 169 on board of which 150 were passengers (mostly production workers and their families, and a few journalists), ten were aircrew and nine were "stowaways" who did not hold tickets. The flight set a new world record for the number of persons carried on a single flight, a record that was not broken for 20 years. After a takeoff run of 50 seconds the Do X slowly climbed to an altitude of 200 m (650 ft). As a result of its size, passengers were asked to crowd together on one side or the other to help make turns. It flew for 40 minutes (Flug Revue claims it was the 42nd flight and lasted 53 minutes, and historical film shows "fliegt mit 170 personen") at a maximum speed of 170 km/h (105 mph) before landing on Lake Constance.



To introduce the airliner to the potential United States market the Do X took off from Friedrichshafen, Germany on 3 November 1930, under the command of Friedrich Christiansen for a transatlantic test flight to New York. The route took the Do X to the Netherlands, England, France, Spain, and Portugal. The journey was interrupted at Lisbon on 29 November, when a tarpaulin made contact with a hot exhaust pipe and started a fire that consumed most of the left wing. After sitting in Lisbon harbor for six weeks while new parts were fabricated and the damage repaired, the flying boat continued (with several further mishaps and delays) along the Western coast of Africa and by 5 June 1931 had reached the islands of Cape Verde, from which it crossed the ocean to Natal in Brazil, where the crew were greeted as heroes by the local German émigré communities.


Cover carried from Rio de Janeiro to New York on the Do-X, August 5–27, 1931

The flight continued north via San Juan to the United States, reaching New York on 27 August 1931, almost ten months after departing Friedrichshafen. The Do X and crew spent the next nine months there as its engines were overhauled, and thousands of sightseers made the trip to Glenn Curtiss Airport (now LaGuardia Airport) to tour the leviathan of the air. The economic effects of the Great Depression dashed Dornier's marketing plans for the Do X, and it departed from New York on 21 May 1932 flying via Newfoundland and the Azores to Müggelsee, Berlin where it arrived on 24 May and was met by a cheering crowd of 200,000.



Final fate
Germany's original Do X was turned over to Deutsche Luft Hansa, the national airline at that time, after the financially strapped Dornier Company could no longer operate it. After a successful 1932 tour of German coastal cities, Luft Hansa planned a Do X flight to Vienna, Budapest, and Istanbul for 1933. The voyage ended after nine days when the flying boat's tail section tore off during a botched, over-steep landing on a reservoir lake near Passau. While the fiasco was successfully covered up, the Do X was out of service for three years, during which time it changed hands several times before reappearing in 1936 in Berlin,[clarification needed] Hormann writes "Am 5.September 1933 flog Chefeinflieger Wagner die DO-X zum Bodensee zurück. Mit dem Fiasko von Passau begann für DO-X der Weg ins Museum." ("On 5 September 1933 chief test pilot Wagner flew the DO-X back to the Bodensee (Lake Constance). The Passau fiasco started the DO-X's trip to the museum.") The Do X then became the centerpiece of Germany's new aviation museum Deutsche Luftfahrt-Sammlung at Lehrter Bahnhof.

The Do X remained an exhibit until it was destroyed in an RAF air raid during World War II on the night of 23–24 November 1943. Fragments of the torn-off tail section are on display at the Dornier Museum in Friedrichshafen. While never a commercial success, the Dornier Do X was the largest heavier-than-air aircraft of its time, a pioneer in demonstrating the potential of an international passenger air service. A successor, the Do-20, was envisioned by Dornier, but never advanced beyond the design study stage.


https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dornier_Do_X

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
27 August 1942 - Launch of USS Iowa (BB 61)


USS Iowa (BB-61) is the lead ship of her class of battleship and the fourth in the United States Navy to be named after the state of Iowa. Owing to the cancellation of the Montana-class battleships, Iowa is the last lead ship of any class of United States battleships and was the only ship of her class to have served in the Atlantic Ocean during World War II.


Iowa fires a full broadside of nine 16-inch (406 mm)/50-caliber and six 5-inch (127 mm)/38 cal guns during a target exercise near Vieques Island, Puerto Rico, on 1 July 1984. Shock waves are visible in the water.

During World War II, she carried President Franklin D. Roosevelt across the Atlantic to Mers El Kébir, Algeria, en route to a meeting of vital importance in 1943 in Tehran with Prime Minister Winston Churchill of Britain and Josef Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union. When transferred to the Pacific Fleet in 1944, Iowa shelled beachheads at Kwajalein and Eniwetok in advance of Allied amphibious landings and screened aircraft carriersoperating in the Marshall Islands. She also served as the Third Fleet flagship, flying Admiral William F. Halsey's flag at the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay. During the Korean War, Iowa was involved in raids on the North Korean coast, after which she was decommissioned into the United States Navy reserve fleets, better known as the "mothball fleet." She was reactivated in 1984 as part of the 600-ship Navy plan and operated in both the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets to counter the recently expanded Soviet Navy. In April 1989, an explosion of undetermined origin wrecked her No. 2 gun turret, killing 47 sailors.


Iowa in drydock in San Francisco, undergoing repairs and modernization after being damaged during Typhoon Cobra

Iowa was decommissioned for the last time in October 1990 after 19 total years of active service, and was initially stricken from the Naval Vessel Register (NVR) in 1995. She was reinstated from 1999 to 2006 to comply with federal laws that required retention and maintenance of two Iowa-class battleships. In 2011 Iowa was donated to the Los Angeles–based non-profit Pacific Battleship Center and was permanently moved to Berth 87 at the Port of Los Angeles in 2012, where she was opened to the public as the USS Iowa Museum.

Construction
Ordered in July 1939, USS Iowa was laid down at New York Naval Shipyard in June 1940. She was launched on 27 August 1942, sponsored by Ilo Wallace (wife of Vice President Henry Wallace), and commissionedon 22 February 1943 with Captain John L. McCrea in command.

USS Iowa's main battery consisted of nine 16 in (406 mm)/50 caliber Mark 7 guns, which could fire 2,700 lb (1,200 kg) armor-piercing shells 20 nmi (23 mi; 37 km). Her secondary battery consisted of twenty 5 in (127 mm)/38 cal guns in twin mounts, which could fire at targets up to 12 nmi (14 mi; 22 km) away. With the advent of air power and the need to gain and maintain air superiority came a need to protect the growing fleet of Allied aircraft carriers; to this end, Iowa was fitted with an array of Oerlikon 20 mm and Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft guns to defend Allied carriers from enemy airstrikes.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Iowa_(BB-61)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa-class_battleship
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armament_of_the_Iowa-class_battleship

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 27 August

1704 – Launch of french Neptune 72 guns (Designed and built by François Coulomb snr, launched 27 August 1704 at Toulon) – wrecked 1713

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

1764 – Launch of French Citoyen, 74 gun ship of the line and lead ship of her class

The Citoyen was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, lead ship of her class to a design by Joseph-Louis Ollivier. She was funded by a don des vaisseaux donation from the Bankers and General Treasurers of the Army.
Ordered in May 1757 as Cimeterre, the ship was renamed Citoyen on 20 January 1762. A launching attempt aborted on 10 August 1764, when she came to a halt on the ramp, and she was eventually set afloat 17 days later.
She took part in the Battle of Martinique (1780). In 1781, under Captain de Thy, she was appointed to the squadron of Admiral de Grasse and took part in the Battle of Fort Royal in April. On 24 August, along with Glorieux, she captured HMS Cormorant off Charleston. In September, she took part in the Battle of the Chesapeake on 5 September 1781, in the Battle of St Kitts on 25/26 January 1782 and the Battle of the Saintes on 12 April 1782.
In 1783, on returning to France, she was decommissioned, and was eventually broken up in 1791.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Citoyen_(1764)

1779 – Launch of French Magnanime, 74 gun ship of the line – lead ship of her class

The Magnanime was a 74-gun of the French Navy, lead ship of her class
She took part in the American War of Independence in De Grasse's squadron, most notably in the Battle of the Saintes, where she trailed with Zélée, in the Battle of St. Lucia, and in the Battle of the Chesapeake.
She was broken up in Brest in 1793.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Magnanime_(1779)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnanime-class_ship_of_the_line

1790 – Launch of French 40 gun frigate Perle, a modified Minerve-class

(same dimensions as Minerve class, but with an additional gun port in each broadside)
Completed: September 1792 - Fate: Handed over to the British 29 August 1793, taken in as HMS Amethyst, wrecked 27 December 1795

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

1793 – French Revolutionary Wars: The city of Toulon revolts against the French Republic and admits the British and Spanish fleets to seize its port, leading to the Siege of Toulon by French Revolutionary forces.

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

1796 – Launch of French 18 gun corvette Etonnante, Etna-class

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_corvette_Étonnante_(1796)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etna-class_corvette

1797 - HMS Jason (1794 - 38 - Artois-class) and HMS Triton (1796 - 32 - ), Cptn. John Gore, captured part of a French convoy

HMS Jason was a 38-gun Artois-class fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She served during the French Revolutionary Wars, but her career came to an end after just four years in service when she struck an uncharted rock off Brest and sank on 13 October 1798. She had already had an eventful career, and was involved in several engagements with French vessels.







HMS Triton (1796) was one of the first frigates to be built of fir and was designed by Admiral James Gambier (1756–1833) who later became a member of the Board of Admiralty.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/66550.html#5mmxq1walohQWrs5.99




Scale: 1:48. A Georgian full hull model of the ‘Triton’ (1796), a 32-gun frigate. The model is decked. The ‘Triton’ was one of the first frigates to be built of fir and was designed by Admiral James Gambier (1756–1833) who later became a member of the Board of Admiralty. It has a square to transom stern, which is unusual for British ships of the period. It also has built-up bulwarks round the quarterdeck, a feature that was introduced in the 1790s, and a simplified ‘fiddle’ figurehead to save expense. The model shows no fittings such as capstans and steering wheel. The ship served off the coast of France from 1797 to 1800, but was reduced to harbour service in 1801, presumably because of the weakness of her timbers. The model was given to Greenwich Hospital in 1865.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/66550.html#akqAYu1jwo4LDkFS.99




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Jason_(1794)
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-355424;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=T
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-321807;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=J

1807 - A Danish gunboat flotilla, under Lt. Christian Wulff, attacks a British battery at Gl. Pesthus on Kallebodstrand

1810 – Napoleonic Wars: The French Navy defeats the British Royal Navy, preventing them from taking the harbour of Grand Port on Île de France. – Last day of Battle of Grand Port

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

1832 – Launch of HMS Andromache, a 28 gun sixth rate and lead ship of her class


Scale 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines and longitudinal half breadth for building Andromache (1832), a 28-gun, Sixth Rate vessel, building at Pembroke Dockyard. Signed Robert Seppings (Surveyor of the Navy). Annotation in top left: "Recieved. 23rd Novr 1830. John Peake" (Master Shipwright)
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/83085.html#JLZozlBpfszRSVES.99



HMS Andromache was a 28-gun sixth rate launched in 1832. She was converted to a powder hulk in 1854 and was broken up in 1875.
She took William Napier to China and participated in the war with China at Canton in 1834.


HMS Imogene and Andromache passing the batteries of the Bocca Tigris.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Andromache_(1832)

1840 – Launch of HMS St George, a 120 gun first rate, a broadened Caledonia-class ship of the line


Launch of HM Ship St George 120 guns from the Dock-Yard Devonport August 27th 1840 (PAD6176)
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/110327.html#sQcdDrhTF156Ged7.99

HMS St George was a 120-gun first rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 27 August 1840 at Plymouth.
She was fitted with screw propulsion in 1859, and was sold out of the service in 1883.


The St George and the Arethusa on the Hamoaze near Bull Point

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_St_George_(1840)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caledonia-class_ship_of_the_line

1859 – Petroleum is discovered in Titusville by Edwin L. Drake, Pennsylvania leading to the world's first commercially successful oil well.

Edwin Drake was hired by the Seneca Oil Company to investigate suspected oil deposits in Titusville, Pennsylvania. James Townsend, President of the Seneca Oil Company, sent Drake to the site in the spring of 1858. The oil company chose the retired railway man partly because he had free use of the rail. Drake decided to drill in the manner of salt well drillers. He purchased a steam engine in Erie, Pennsylvania, to power the drill. The well was dug on an island on the Oil Creek. It took some time for the drillers to get through the layers of gravel. At 16 feet (5 m) the sides of the hole began to collapse. Those helping him began to despair, but not Drake. It was at this point that he devised the idea of a drive pipe. This cast iron pipe consisted of 10-foot-long (3.0 m) joints. The pipe was driven down into the ground. At 32 feet (10 m) they struck bedrock. The drilling tools were now lowered through the pipe and steam was used to drill through the bedrock. The drilling, however, was slow. Progress was made at the rate of just three feet per day. After initial difficulty locating the necessary parts to build the well, which resulted in his well being nicknamed "Drake's Folly", Drake proved successful.



Meanwhile, crowds of people began to gather to jeer at the apparently unproductive operation. By 1859 Drake was also running out of money. Drake's colleagues back in Connecticut gave up on finding any oil by April 1859 and after spending $2,500, Drake took out a $500 loan to keep the operation going. On August 27, 1859 Drake had persevered and his drill bit had reached a total depth of 69.5 feet (21 m). At that point the bit hit a crevice. The men packed up for the day. The next morning Drake’s driller, Billy Smith, looked into the hole in preparation for another day’s work. He was surprised and delighted to see crude oil rising up. Drake was summoned and the oil was brought to the surface with a hand pitcher pump. The oil was collected in a bath tub.

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

 

[Pathfinder65]

Thank you Uwe for the History lesson.

 

[Uwek]

Thank you all for your comments and Likes ..... This topic is getting more and more "followers" and this makes me happy.
Every single day between 100 to 200 people (members and guests) are reading / viewing or maybe only opening this thread
- for some it is like reading the daily newspaper (I borrowed this wording) - and this makes me happy, the incentive to make this work
Thank you all for reading (and learning like me every day)

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
28 August 1597 - The naval Battle of Chilcheollyang

took place in the night of 28 August 1597. It resulted in the destruction of nearly the entire Korean fleet.



Background
In 1597, Japanese decided to stop all negotiations with the Koreans and Chinese Ming Dynasty and planned a re-invasion of Korea. To do so, they plotted to remove Admiral Yi Sun-sin from his position. Japanese spies directed by Konishi Yukinaga spread word that Kato Kiyomasa was urging other Japanese to continue fighting and would soon be crossing the sea. King Seonjo ordered Admiral Yi to capture Kato, but Yi refused to do so, as he knew that the words were the fabrications of Japanese agents.

Seonjo was in fear of a possible coup d'état attempt by Yi or by his supporters, which was never plotted, but Seonjo convinced himself it could happen any day: Yi refused to carry out his orders several times and his fleet was the strongest combat force on both sides. Yi refused to carry out the orders purely due to tactical reasons, but the act of insubordination itself, no matter how justifiable, frightened the King beyond his breaking point. King Seonjo finally ordered the execution of Yi, but the royal court reluctantly yet successfully resisted the order and was able to lower the punishment to imprisonment and demotion. Yi was placed under the command of Gwon Yul to recover from his wounds from the torture administered during the investigation of the charges against him. Seonjo then replaced Yi with Won Gyun as the naval chief of staff.

The battle
Won Gyun (12 February 1540 – 27 August 1597), a Korean general and admiral during the Joseon Dynasty, also knew the information was false and did not advance toward Busan for the same tactical reasons Yi reported to the royal court before his removal from the post. Yi was removed for refusing orders to engage the Japanese. The government continued to trust the information and ordered Won to attack Japanese ships at Ungchŏn. Won attacked the Japanese — who were mostly unarmed and protected under the cease-fire treaty to support the negotiation process which was about to be terminated — and defeated them. He lost one of his battleships and its captain during the attack. He did not advance after receiving a letter of protest from the Japanese commander. Then Field Marshal Gwon Yul, who was also under heavy pressure from the king, recalled Won to his headquarters and once again ordered him to attack Busan. Won finally led the navy towards Busan, along with the famous admiral Yi Eok Ki, following orders despite tactical considerations.
Won Gyun set sail for Busan on 17 August with the entire fleet, some 200 ships.


The famous korean Turtle ships

The Korean fleet arrived near Busan on 20 August in 1597. As the day was about to end, they met a force of 500 to 1,000 Japanese ships arrayed against them. Won Gyun ordered a general attack on the enemy armada, but the Japanese fell back, letting the Koreans pursue. After a few back and forth exchanges, with one chasing the other, one retreating, the Japanese turned around one last time, destroying 30 ships and scattering the Korean fleet.

Won's men docked at Gadeok and ran ashore to find water where they were ambushed by 3,000 enemy troops under Shimazu Yoshihiro. They lost 400 men and several vessels.
From Gadeok, Won retreated north and west into the strait between Geoje and the island of Chilchon, Chilchonnyang. Won Gyun then retired to his flagship and refused to see anyone. The entire fleet sat in the strait for an entire week.
The Japanese commanders convened on 22 August to plan a joint assault on the Koreans. Shimazu Yoshihiro ferried 2,000 of his men to Geoje where he arrayed them on the northwest coast, overlooking the Korean fleet below.

On the night of 28 August, a Japanese fleet of 500 ships moved into the strait and attacked. By dawn nearly all the Korean ships had been destroyed.

Won Gyun fled to the mainland but could not keep up with his men. He sat down under a pine tree until the Japanese found him. It's assumed his head was cut off.
Won Gyun fled, but Yi Eok-gi refused to leave, fighting on until he finally jumped into the waters to his death.

Prior to the destruction on 28 August, Bae Seol shifted 12 ships to an inlet farther down the strait and managed to escape. Bae Seol set fire to the camps at Hansando before the Japanese arrived. He then sailed west with the remaining 12 ships, all that was left of the Korean navy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Chilcheollyang
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Won_Gyun
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yi_Eokgi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle_ship

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
28 August 1652 - The naval Battle of Elba (or Battle of Monte Cristo)

was a naval battle which took place on 28 August 1652 during the First Anglo-Dutch war, between a Dutch squadron under Johan van Galen and an English squadron under Captain Richard Badiley.



Battle
The English were trying to reach Livorno, where a squadron under Captain Henry Appleton was under siege by the Dutch squadron. Leaving four of his fourteen vessels to maintain the watch over Livorno, van Galen took his remaining ten ships to intercept Badiley's squadron. The two encoutered each other between Montecristo and Elba Islands. The Phoenix was captured by the Jaarsveld, while the other English warships retreated into Porto Longone. The captured ship, Phoenix, was recaptured 2 months later during a night raid at Livorno.

Ships involved:

Netherlands (Johan van Galen)
Jaarsveld 44 (flagship of van Galen)
Prinses Roijaal 34 (Albert Corneliszoon 't Hoen; killed)
Wapen van Zeeland 32 (Joost Willemszoon Block; killed)
Eendracht 40 (Jacob de Boer, Vice-Admiral)
Maan 40 (David Janszoon Bondt; killed)
Vereenigde Provinciën/Zeven Provinciën 40 (Hendrick Claeszoon Swart; killed)
Haarlem 40 (Dirck Quiinen Verveen)
Maagd van Enkhuysen 34 (Cornelis Tromp)
Zeelandia 32 (Andries de Boer)
Jonge Prins 28 (Cornelis Barentszoon Slordt)

The Jaarsveld and four other ships of the squadron belonged to the Amsterdam Admiralty, but the Prinses Roijaal, Eendracht and Jonge Prins belonged to the Noorderkwartier Admiralty, while Wapen van Zeeland and Zeelandia belonged to the Zeeland Admiralty.

England (Capt. Richard Badiley)
Paragon 52 ('flagship' of Badiley)
Elizabeth 36 (Capt. Jonas Reeves)
Phoenix 36 (Capt. John Wadsworth) - Captured by Eendracht
Constant Warwick 32 (Capt. Owen Cox)

The squadron was convoying four merchantmen, who however took no part in the Action and made their way independently into Porto Longone.
Mary Rose 32 (merchantman, Capt. Jonas Poole)
William and Thomas 30 (merchantman, Capt. John Godolphin)
Thomas Bonaventure 28 (merchantman, Capt. George Hughes??)
Richard and William 24 (merchantman, Capt. John Wise??)


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

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
28 August 1760 - Launch of HMS Essex

HMS Essex was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 28 August 1760 at Rotherhithe, designed for the Royal Navy by Sir Thomas Slade.

She was on harbour service from 1777, and was sold out of the service in 1799.




Scale: 1:48. A contemporary block design of the third rate ‘Essex’ (1760), a 64-gun, two-decker ship of the line. The number ‘88’ is on the base. On the side of the hull are painted the chain plates and the gun ports. The figurehead is painted onto the side and front of a solid block. Built by Stanton & Co., the ‘Essex’ measured 158 feet in length by 45 feet in the beam, displacing 1379 tons. Between 1791–98 it served as a receiving ship at Portsmouth. Receiving ships were old warships that were permanently moored in a naval port to accommodate new recruits to the navy, or men brought in through impressment. It was sold off in 1799.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/66466.html#82EKr6qew77v1T7Y.99

Ships of the Essex class

• HMS Essex

Launched: 28 August 1760
Fate: Sold out of the service, 1799


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plans, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth for 'Africa' (1761), 'Asia' (1764), 'Essex' (1760), all 64-gun Third Rate, two-deckers. Note alterations made to the quarterdeck.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/81132.html#0uzs8JQy6wieo74l.99

• HMS Africa

Launched: 1 August 1761
Fate: Sold out of the service, 1774


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Essex_(1760)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essex-class_ship_of_the_line
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-310966;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=E

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
28 August 1779 - Launch of HMS Montague

HMS Montague was a Alfred-class 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 28 August 1779 at Chatham Dockyard.



Montague took part in the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1780 and the Glorious First of June in 1794.

On 30 October 1794 Montague and Ganges captured the French corvette Jacobine. Jacobine was armed with twenty-four 12-pounder guns, and had a crew of 220 men; she was nine days out of Brest and taken nothing. The Royal Navy took Jacobin into service as HMS Matilda.

She was driven ashore and damaged at Saint Lucia in the Great Hurricane of 1780 but recovered.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with stern board decoration, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for 'Montague' (1779), a 74-gun Third Rate, two-decker, as built at Chatham Dockyard.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/80848.html#uX0RfhEb1v61dSJP.99




Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the starboard framing profile (disposition) for 'Montague' (1779), a 74-gun Third Rate, two-decker, illustrating the repairs to the frames replacing the rotten wood, and other timbers damaged by being loose and shot. The plan also records which timbers were checked and placed back, and those which were original or taken from another vessel. Signed by Nicholas Diddams [Master Shipwright, Portsmouth Dockyard, 1803-1823].
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/80849.html#4yzderAtqc44798M.99


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the starboard profile of the lower deck wale with diminishing planking layers below, for 'Montague' (1779), a 74-gun Third Rate, two-decker, illustrating the repairs and replacement of rotten wood. Signed by Nicholas Diddams [Master Shipwright, Portsmouth Dockyard, 1803-1823].
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/80852.html#sqdpPzGjEWQlMw4g.99



The Alfred-class ships of the line were a class of four 74-gun third rates for the Royal Navy by Sir John Williams. They were an enlarged version of the Royal Oak class.

Ships of the class

• HMS Alexander

Builder: Deptford Dockyard
Ordered: 21 July 1773
Launched: 8 October 1778
Fate: Broken up, 1819


John Cleveley the Younger, Launch of HMS Alexander at Deptford in 1778. The launch of the 74-gun warship HMS 'Alexander' at Deptford Dockyard. The 'Alexander' can be seen on the stocks in the background. There are a number of barges and smaller vessels, full of spectators, watching her launch. In the foreground, several Royal Navy vessels are moored off the dockyard, including the 'Royal Caroline' on the far left. The 'Alexander' later served at the Battle of the Nile in 1798. In the painting the festive celebrations are emphasized through the inclusion of flags and pennants and the representation of crowds of spectators on the quayside and in boats the water. With its low horizon the work recalls Dutch 17th-century marine painting. Like his father, John Cleveley the Younger depicted the Royal Dockyards at Deptford, Woolwich and Chatham and in many works the son followed his father’s example in producing paintings commemorating launches. However, the artist abandoned his father’s stiff, documentary style in favour of a more open, atmospheric view. John Cleveley the Younger and his brother Robert, who also worked as an artist, treated a much wider range of subjects and addressed a wider audience through making pictures for reproduction in prints.

• HMS Alfred

Builder: Chatham Dockyard
Ordered: 13 August 1772
Launched: 22 October 1778
Fate: Broken up, 1814

• HMS Warrior

Builder: Portsmouth Dockyard
Ordered: 13 July 1773
Launched: 18 October 1781
Fate: Broken up, 1857


HMS Warrior as a prison ship. The image caption is, "The 'Warrior' hulk with the 'Sulphur' washing-ship in the distance."

• HMS Montague

Builder: Chatham Dockyard
Ordered: 16 July 1774
Laid Down: 30 January 1775
Launched: 28 August 1779
Completed for Sea: 23 September 1779
Fate: Broken up, 1818

• A fifth ship Edgar was also ordered (16 July 1774) to this design, but on 25 August 1774 was altered to the modified Arrogant design.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Montagu_(1779)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred-class_ship_of_the_line
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-331962;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=M
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Montagu_(1779)
http://www.kenthistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=18626.0
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Oak-class_ship_of_the_line

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 28 August

1779 – Launch of HMS Endymion, a 44 gun Roebuck-class frigate

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roebuck-class_ship

1779 – Launch of French Serieuse, a 32 gun Magicienne-class frigate

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Sérieuse_(1779)

1796 - HMS Topaze (38), Cptn. S. G. Church, captured Elizabeth.

1797 - HMS Pomone (44), Cptn. R. C. Reynolds, destroyed Petit Dia'le.

1799 - HMS Contest Gun-boat, Lt. John Ides Short, driven on shore in the Helder.

1809 - Battery at Cortelazzo, at the mouth of the Piave river between Venice and Trieste, carried by boats of HMS Amphion (32), Cptn. William Hoste. Six Venetian gunboats Surveillante, Vedette, and Nos. 64, 76, 77 and 78 with two trabaccolos, moored under the battery were brought out and five other trabaccolos were burnt in the river.

1810 – Battle of Grand Port: The French accept the surrender of a British Navy fleet.

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

1813 – Launch of HMS Dartmouth, one of 27Apollo-class 36 gum frigates

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

1847 – Launch of French Bayard, a 90 gun Suffren class

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Bayard_(1847)

1861 – American Civil War: Union forces attack Cape Hatteras, North Carolina in the Battle of Hatteras Inlet Batteries which lasts for two days.

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

1867 - Capt. William Reynolds of the screw sloop-of-war, USS Lackawanna, raises the U.S. flag over Midway Islands and takes formal possession of these islands for the United States

1914 – World War I: The Royal Navy defeats the German fleet in the Battle of Heligoland Bight.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Heligoland_Bight
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Heligoland_Bight_(1914)

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Events on 29 August

1350 – Battle of Winchelsea (or Les Espagnols sur Mer): The English naval fleet under King Edward III defeats a Castilian fleet of 40 ships.

The Battle of Winchelsea or the Battle of Les Espagnols sur Mer ("the Spaniards on the Sea"), was a naval battle that took place on 29 August 1350 and was a victory for an English fleet of 50 ships commanded by King Edward III over a Castilian fleet of 47 larger vessels commanded by Don Carlos de la Cerda. Between 14 and 26 Castilian ships were captured, and several were sunk. Only two English vessels were sunk but there was significant loss of life.
In spite of Edward's success, however, Winchelsea was only a flash in a conflict that raged between the English and the Spanish for over 200 years, coming to a head with the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Les_Espagnols_sur_Mer
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seeschlacht_von_Winchelsea
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Winchelsea

1583 - HMS Delight ran aground off Sable Island.

1672 – Launch of French Maure and same day Fendant at Bayonne, Maure class 48 guns (later 58 gun) ships of the Maure class

Designed by Joseph Saboulin and built by Jean Hontabat.
Maure 48, later 58 guns (launched 29 August 1672 at Bayonne) – renamed Content in June 1678; hulked in 1694.
Fendant 48, later 58 guns (launched 29 August 1672 at Bayonne) – hulked in April 1694.

1672 – Launch of French Bizarre (ex-Mignonne) 42/44 guns at Marseille – deleted 1694 and sold for commerce / Aventurier class, designed by Louis Audibert:

1707 - HMS Wincheley (26), Cptn. William Jone,s foundered in a hurricane.

1778 - Battle of Rhode Island

The Battle of Rhode Island (also known as the Battle of Quaker Hill[5] and the Battle of Newport) took place on August 29, 1778. Continental Army and militia forces under the command of General John Sullivan had been besieging the British forces in Newport, Rhode Island, which is situated on Aquidneck Island, but they had finally abandoned their siege and were withdrawing to the northern part of the island. The British forces then sortied, supported by recently arrived Royal Navy ships, and they attacked the retreating Americans. The battle ended inconclusively, but the Continental forces withdrew to the mainland and left Aquidneck Island in British hands.


Entry of the French squadron in Newport Bay Aug. 8, 1778. (Drawing by Pierre Ozanne, 1778)

The battle was the first attempt at cooperation between French and American forces following France's entry into the war as an American ally. Operations against Newport were planned in conjunction with a French fleet and troops, but they were frustrated in part by difficult relations between the commanders, as well as by a storm that damaged both French and British fleets shortly before joint operations were to begin.

The battle was also notable for the participation of the 1st Rhode Island Regiment under the command of Colonel Christopher Greene, which consisted of Africans, American Indians, and white colonists.

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

1779 - HMS Boreas (28), Cptn. Charles Thompson, took Compass (en flute).

1781 Raid on Annapolis Royal

The Raid on Annapolis Royal took place on 29 August 1781 during the American Revolutionary War. The raid involved two American privateers attacking and pillaging Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia to revenge the British destruction of the Penobscot Expedition. One historian described it as "one of the most daring and dramatic raids upon Nova Scotia.

Background
During the American Revolution, Americans regularly attacked Nova Scotia by land and sea. American privateers devastated the maritime economy by raiding many of the coastal communities, The raids intensified after the British victory over the Penobscot Expedition, such as the numerous raids on Liverpool and the Raid on Lunenburg (1782).
On 31 March 1781, the HMS Blonde captured Captain Amos Potter of the American Privateer Resolution (6 guns, 25 men) near Halifax, Nova Scotia, while his crew escaped. Five months later, Potter’s crew sought revenge on the British by sacking Annapolis Royal.

Battle
The Resolution was joined by another American Privateer Reprisal (8 guns, 10 swivels, 60 men) under the command of Capt. Curtiss, totalling 80 men. They secured the blockhouse from the 3 soldiers in the town. Over the next hours, the privateers rounded up the militia, under the command of Phineas Lovett, and disarmed and imprisoned them. They spiked the town cannons. The privateers then pillaged the valuables from the whole town, taking silverware, provisions, furniture, bedding, clothing and so forth. They retreated to Goat Island and took prisoner Thomas Williams (father of Sir W.F. Williams), John Ritchie (grandfather of Hon. J.W. Ritchie, solicitor general), a Sergeant and 5-6 others, one of whom they referred to as the "Governor of Annapolis".They later exchanged the Governor for their former commander Captain Potter and returned to Boston the following month.

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


1782 HMS Royal George (1756 - 100) while heeled at Spithead off Portsmouth to repair the coppering with the lower deck guns run out, was struck by a sudden and violent squall which threw her over so much that water rushed in the open ports. She filled and sank killing Rear-Admiral Richard Kempenfelt and about 900 crew.


Sinking of Royal George

HMS Royal George was a 100-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Woolwich Dockyard and launched on 18 February 1756. The largest warship in the world at the time of launching, she saw service during the Seven Years' War including being Admiral Sir Edward Hawke's flagship at the Battle of Quiberon Bay and later taking part in the Battle of Cape St Vincent.


A fictitious combination of two events set in Deptford Dockyard in southeast London, England, UK: the launch of the H.M.S. Cambridge (left) in Deptford on 21 October 1755, and the H.M.S. Royal George (right) which was actually launched at Woolwich Dockyard the following year

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Royal_George_(1756)

1788 - Launch of French Sensible, a 32 gun Magicienne class frigate

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Sensible_(1788)

1791 HMS Pandora (24), Cptn. Edward Edwards, with 14 Bounty mutineers, wrecked on Great Barrier Reef.

1800 Twenty boats Sir John Warren's squadron cut out Fench privateer Guepe (18) from under the batteries in Vigo Bay.

1811 Start of 3 day campaign by HMS Sir Francis Drake (38), Cptn. George Harris, HMS Phaeton (38), Cptn. Fleetwood Broughton Pellew, and HMS Dasher (18) which captures Madura.

1814 HMS Peacock (18), William Mends, foundered off South Carolina

1824 Battle of Gerontas

The Battle of Gerontas (Greek: Ναυμαχία του Γέροντα) was a naval battle fought close to the island of Leros in the southeast Aegean Sea. On August 29 (O.S), 1824, a Greek fleet of 75 ships defeated an Ottoman armada of 100 ships contributed to by Egypt, Tunisia and Tripoli.
The Battle of Gerontas was one of the most decisive naval engagements of the Greek War of Independence and secured the island of Samos under Greek control.


map of the battle of Geronta, 29 August 1824

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gerontas

1861 – American Civil War: The Battle of Hatteras Inlet Batteries gives Federal forces control of Pamlico Sound.

The Battle of Hatteras Inlet Batteries (August 28–29, 1861) was the first combined operation of the Union Army and Navy in the American Civil War, resulting in Union domination of the strategically important North Carolina Sounds.


Capture of the Forts at Cape Hatteras inlet-First day, fleet opening fire and troops landing in the surf

Two forts on the Outer Banks (Fort Clark and Fort Hatteras) had been built by the Confederates, to protect their commerce-raiding activity. But these were lightly-defended, and their artillery could not engage the bombarding fleet under Flag Officer Silas H. Stringham, commandant of the Atlantic Blockading Squadron, which had been ordered to keep moving, to avoid presenting a static target. Although held up by bad weather, the fleet was able to land troops under General Ben Butler, who took the surrender of Flag Officer Samuel Barron.

This battle represented the first application of the naval blockading strategy. The Union retained both forts, providing valuable access to the sounds, and commerce raiding was much reduced. The victory was welcomed by a demoralised Northern public after the humiliation of 1st Bull Run. The engagement is sometimes known as the Battle of Forts Hatteras and Clark.

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

1862 - The gunboat, USS Pittsburgh, supports Army troops landing at Eunice, Ark., during the Civil War.

1903 – The Slava, the last of the five Borodino-class battleships, is launched.

Slava (Russian: Слава "Glory") was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Imperial Russian Navy, the last of the five Borodino-class battleships. Commissioned too late to participate in the Battle of Tsushima during the Russo-Japanese War, she survived while all of her sister ships were either sunk during the battle or surrendered to the Imperial Japanese Navy.



Serving in the Baltic Sea during World War I, Slava was the largest ship of the Russian Gulf of Riga Squadron that fought the German High Seas Fleet in the Battle of the Gulf of Riga in August 1915. She repeatedly bombarded German positions and troops for the rest of 1915 and during 1916. During the Battle of Moon Sound in 1917, Slava was badly damaged by the German dreadnought SMS König, significantly increasing her draft. The shallow channel made it impossible to escape and she was scuttled in the Moon Sound Strait between the island of Muhu (Moon) and the mainland. The Estonians scrapped her during the 1930s.

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

1915 – US Navy salvage divers raise F-4, the first U.S. submarine sunk in an accident.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_F-4

1916 - High waves force armored cruiser USS Memphis (ex USS Tennessee) aground at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, killing 33 men. Lt. Claud A. Jones rescues crewmen from the dying ship's steam-filled engineering spaces. Years later, in Aug. 1932, Jones receives the Medal of Honor for his actions.


The wreck of Memphis at Santo Domingo on 29 August 1916

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Tennessee_(ACR-10)

1943 – World War II: German-occupied Denmark scuttles most of its navy; Germany dissolves the Danish government.

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

1944 - PBY aircraft sink Japanese sailing vessel, Toyokuni Maru, at the entrance to Ambon Bay.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

for some it is like reading the daily newspaper

I am one of those readers every morning with my coffee and breakfast I sit down to read this topic. This has to be the best series on a model ship forum no doubt about it. The topic provides a structure to the hobby kind of a historical profile.

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
30 August 1757 – Launch of HMS Diana, a 32 gun Southampton class Fifth rate frigate

Not the Jotika / Caldercraft HMS Diana (1794 – 38 – Artois-class)!

HMS Diana was one of the four 32-gun Southampton-class fifth-rate frigates of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1757. In 1760, at the Battle of Neuville she and HMS Vanguard pursued and sank two French frigates, Atlante, commanded by Jean Vauquelin, and Pomone; Diana took on board the important prisoners. Later, she served through the American Revolutionary War.




Career
In 1792 there was a civil in San Domingo with between the white and black inhabitants. Captain Thomas McNamara Russell of Diana, on a relief mission to the authorities on Saint-Domingue, received the intelligence that John Perkins, a mulatto (mixed-race) British former naval officer from Jamaica, was under arrest and due to be executed in Jérémie for supplying arms to the rebel slaves. Britain and France were not at war and Russell requested that the French release Perkins. The French authorities promised that they would, but didn't. After the exchange of numerous letters, Russell decided that the French were not going to release Perkins. Russell then sailed around Cap-Français to Jérémie and met with Ferret. Russell and Captain Nowell, of Ferret, decided that Nowell's first lieutenant, an officer named Godby, would go ashore and recover Perkins whilst the two ships remained offshore within cannon shot, ready to deploy a landing party if need be. Lieutenant Godby landed and after negotiations the French released Perkins.

Fate
The "Principle Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy" offered the hull of "Diana, Burthen 668 Tons" for sale at Deptford on 16 May 1793. The purchasers had to post a bond of £2000 that they would break her up in a limited time.


The Southampton-class frigates were 32-gun sailing frigates of the fifth rate produced for the Royal Navy. They were designed in 1756 by Sir Thomas Slade, and were the first 'true' fifth-rate frigates produced to the new single-deck concept (that is, without any gunports on the lower deck). They were, however, designed with sweep ports (for rowing) along the lower deck.


deck Signed by John Henslow [Master Shipwright, Plymouth Dockyard, 1775-1784; Surveyor of the Navy, 1784-1806]. NMM, Progress Book, volume 5, folio 256 states that 'Southampton' was at Plymouth Dockyard from October to December 1776 for small repairs and to be fitted. Her only other visit to Plymouth Dockyard is in 1794, by which time John Henslow was Surveyor of the Navy.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/82861.html#fueb6pddhsEvYw1b.99

Unlike the contemporary sixth-rate frigates of 28 guns, which were derived from French designs by Slade, the Southampton class were fully British-designed. Unlike the French models, these ships had considerably more height on the lower deck, and were originally intended to work their cables here.


Scale: 1:24. Plan showing the elevation and plan for the steering apparatus as fitted to Southampton (1757), a 32-gun Fifth Rate Frigate; to an invention of Captain Lawson (Seniority, 21 October 1810, no ship assigned [Steel's Navy List, March 1811]). Signed Nicholas Diddams [Master Shipwright, Portsmouth Dockyard, March 1803 - January 1823].
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/86485.html#gwthMFKzlx4sTpWf.99



A total of four ships were built in oak during the Seven Years’ War, all ordered from private shipyards. The initial design was approved on 12 March 1756, and provided for a ship of 648 37/94 tons burthen, and the contract with Robert Inwood to build the prototype reflected this. On 25 May the design was modified by Slade to lengthen the ship on the lower deck by 3 inches, and along the keel by 10½ inches, thus raising the tonnage to 652 51/94 burthen; on the same date, the name Southampton was approved for the prototype, and two further ships were ordered to be built to this design, with a fourth vessel being ordered one week later

Ships in class

• Southampton
  • Ordered: 12 March 1756
  • Built by: Robert Inwood, Rotherhithe.
  • Keel laid: April 1756
  • Launched: 5 May 1757
  • Completed: 19 June 1757 at Deptford Dockyard.
  • Fate: Wrecked in the Bahamas on 27 November 1812.

'George III in HMS Southampton reviewing the fleet off Plymouth, 18 August 1789'. The Carnatic is shown just right of the centre of the picture, heading the line of ships being reviewed.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/11952.html#LeJHJimTW3ugote7.99

• Minerva
  • Ordered: 25 May 1756
  • Built by: John Quallet, Rotherhithe.
  • Keel laid: 1 June 1756
  • Launched: 17 January 1759
  • Completed: 3 March 1759 at Deptford Dockyard.
  • Fate: Captured by the French on 22 August 1778. Retaken on 4 January 1781 and renamed Recovery 20 April 1781. Sold at Deptford Dockyard 30 December 1784.
• Vestal
  • Ordered: 25 May 1756
  • Built by: John Barnard & John Turner, Harwich.
  • Keel laid: June 1756
  • Launched: 17 June 1757
  • Completed: 17 August 1757 at the builder's shipyard.
  • Fate: Taken to pieces at Deptford Dockyard in June 1775.
• Diana
  • Ordered: 1 June 1756
  • Built by: Robert Batson, Limehouse.
  • Keel laid: June 1756
  • Launched: 30 August 1757
  • Completed: 12 September 1757 at Deptford Dockyard.
  • Fate: Sold at Deptford Dockyard on 16 May 1793.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Diana_(1757)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southampton-class_frigate