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

27th of June

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

25 June 1808 HMS Caledonia was a 120-gun first-rate ship of the line (Caledonia-class like HMS Trafalgar) of the Royal Navy, launched on 25 June 1808 at Plymouth. She was Admiral Pellew's flagship in the Mediterranean. H.M.S. Caledonia, 120 guns, lying in Plymouth Sound The Admiralty...

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1693 - The Battle of Lagos (Battaglia di Capo San Vincenzo)
was a sea battle during the Nine Years' War on 27 June 1693 (17 June 1693 O.S.), when a French fleet under Anne Hilarion de Tourville defeated an Anglo-Dutch fleet under George Rooke. Rooke's squadron was protecting the Smyrna convoy, and it is by this name that the action is sometimes known.

In the spring of 1693, a large convoy was organized to transport English and Dutch merchant ships which were bound for Spain and the Mediterranean; they had been held back by the threat of attack by the French fleet, or by commerce raiders.
......

Battle of Lagos by Théodore Gudin

1790 - HMS Boyne was a 98-gun Royal Navy second-rate ship of the line (Boyne-class) launched on 27 June 1790 at Woolwich.
She was the flagship of Vice Admiral John Jervis in 1794.

1905 - Mutiny aboard the russian battleship Potemkin starts

During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05, many of the Black Sea Fleet's most experienced officers and enlisted men were transferred to the ships in the Pacific to replace losses. This left the fleet with primarily raw recruits and less capable officers. With the news of the disastrous Battle of Tsushima in May 1905 morale dropped to an all-time low, and any minor incident could be enough to spark a major catastrophe. Taking advantage of the situation, plus the disruption caused by the ongoing riots and uprisings, the Central Committee of the Social Democratic Organisation of the Black Sea Fleet, called "Tsentralka", had started preparations for a simultaneous mutiny on all of the ships of the fleet, although the timing had not been decided.

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

28th of June

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

25 June 1808 HMS Caledonia was a 120-gun first-rate ship of the line (Caledonia-class like HMS Trafalgar) of the Royal Navy, launched on 25 June 1808 at Plymouth. She was Admiral Pellew's flagship in the Mediterranean. H.M.S. Caledonia, 120 guns, lying in Plymouth Sound The Admiralty...

shipsofscale.com

1776 - Army Col. William Moultries' troops defend Sullivans Island and Charleston, S.C. from an attack by British Commodore Sir Peter Parker and his fleet during the American Revolution. After a nine-hour battle with casualties mounting, Parker retreats. With Charleston saved, the fort is named in honor of Col. William Moultrie.
The Battle of Sullivan's Island or the Battle of Fort Sullivan was fought on June 28, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War. It took place near Charleston, South Carolina, during the first British attempt to capture the city from American rebels. It is also sometimes referred to as the First Siege of Charleston, owing to a more successful British siege in 1780.
The British organized an expedition in early 1776 for operations in the rebellious southern colonies of North America. Delayed by logistical concerns and bad weather, the expedition reached the coast of North Carolina in May 1776. Finding conditions unsuitable for their operations, General Henry Clinton and Admiral Sir Peter Parker decided instead to act against Charleston. Arriving there in early June, troops were landed on Long Island (now called Isle of Palms), near Sullivan's Island where Colonel William Moultrie commanded a partially constructed fort, in preparation for a naval bombardment and land assault. General Charles Lee, commanding the southern Continental theater of the war, would provide supervision.

1794 - Joshua Humphreys, American shipbuilder and naval architect who designed the U.S. frigate Constitution, familiarly known as “Old Ironsides”, appointed master builder to build Navy ships.

1803 - The Action of 28 June 1803 marked the opening shots of the Blockade of Saint-Domingue after the collapse of the Treaty of Amiens and the outbreak of the War of the Third Coalition in May 1803.
A French heavy frigate and a corvette, both partially armed en flûte and unaware of the recently begun war, met three British 74-gun ships of the line. The corvette was overhauled and captured, but the frigate, sailing close to shore, managed to out-manoeuver her opponent and deliver a devastating raking broadside that put her out of action. The feat of a frigate besting a ship of the line yielded high praise for Willaumez, who had commanded the frigate. A large painting by Louis-Philippe Crépin was commissioned in 1819 to commemorate the event.

Detail from the Fight of the Poursuivante against the British ship Hercules, 28 June 1803: Poursuivantedelivers her decisive raking broadside. Louis-Philippe Crépin, 1819, Musée national de la Marine

1814 - USS Wasp fight HMS Reindeer
The sinking of HMS Reindeer was one of the hardest-fought naval actions in the Anglo-American War of 1812. It took place on 28 June 1814. The ship-rigged sloop of war USS Wasp forced the Cruizer-class brig-sloop HMS Reindeer to surrender after far more than half the brig's crew, including the Captain, were killed or wounded. Reindeer was too badly damaged in the action to be salvaged so the Americans set her on fire.

Action between USS 'Wasp' and HMS 'Reindeer', 28 June 1814 (NMM)

Painting of Marines Aboard USS Wasp Engage HMS Reindeer. June 1814.

1814 - HMS Leopard (50), well known 50-gun Portland-class fourth rate of the Royal Navy, which was onvolved in the so called “Chesapeake – Leopard affair. wrecked near the Island of Anticosti, Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Leopard escorted a convoy from Portsmouth on 6 May 1808.[6] Leopard left the convoy on 28 July at 35°S 7°E. She then was part of the convoy assigned to Josias Rowley in the Mauritius campaign of 1809–11 in the Indian Ocean. In 1812, Leopard had her guns removed and was converted to a troopship. On 28 June 1814 she was en route from Britain to Quebec, carrying a contingent of 475 Royal Scots Guardsmen, when she grounded on Anticosti Island in heavy fog. Leopard was destroyed, but all on board survived.


1904 - Sinking of SS Norge - more than 635 people died
SS Norge [ˈnɔrɡə] was a Danish passenger liner sailing from Copenhagen, Kristiania and Kristiansand to New York, mainly with emigrants, which sank off Rockall in 1904. It was the biggest civilian maritime disaster in the Atlantic Ocean until the sinking of Titanic eight years later, and is still the largest loss of life from a Danish merchant ship.

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

29th of June

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

25 June 1808 HMS Caledonia was a 120-gun first-rate ship of the line (Caledonia-class like HMS Trafalgar) of the Royal Navy, launched on 25 June 1808 at Plymouth. She was Admiral Pellew's flagship in the Mediterranean. H.M.S. Caledonia, 120 guns, lying in Plymouth Sound The Admiralty...

shipsofscale.com

1694 - Dutch fleet attacks French grain transports in the Battle of Texel
The Battle of Texel was a sea battle fought during the Nine Years' War on 29 June 1694, when a force of 7 French ships, under Jean Bart, recaptured a French convoy, which had earlier that month been taken by the Dutch, and captured 3 ships of the 8-ship escorting force under Hidde de Vries. De Vries was captured by the French, but shortly after died of wounds

1758 - HMS Renown (30) took French Guirlande (22)
HMS Renown, launched 1747, was a 30-gun fifth rate, previously the French ship La Renommée, Sirene Class frigate.
She was captured in 1747 by HMS Dover and broken up in 1771.
An engaging waterline depiction of this ‘state-of-the-art’ vessel La Renommee, a Sirene Class 30-gun French frigate whose speed and prowess was of utmost interest to the British Admiralty. Its distinctive ‘tumble-home’ on the upper topsides was a particular feature of its naval architecture.

http://www.shipmodel.com/models/hms-renown-waterline-mod


1798 - HMS Pique (38), and HMS Jason captured Seine (42).
They all grounded near Pointe de la Trenche and Pique was bilged so it was necessary to destroy her.
HMS Pique was a 38-gun fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She had formerly served with the French Navy, initially as the Fleur-de-Lys, and later as the Pique. HMS Blanche captured her in 1795 in a battle that left the Blanche's commander, Captain Robert Faulknor, dead. HMS Pique was taken into service under her only British captain, David Milne, but served for just three years with the Royal Navy before being wrecked in an engagement with the French ship Seine in 1798. The Seine had been spotted heading for a French port and Pique and another British ship gave chase. All three ships ran aground after a long and hard-fought pursuit. The arrival of a third British ship ended French resistance, but while the Seine and Jason were both refloated, attempts to save Pique failed; she bilged and had to be abandoned.

HMS Blanche tows the captured Pique into port, depicted by Robert Dodd

1813 - HMS Terrror launched in Topsham, Devon.
HMS Terror was a specialized warship and a newly developed bomb vessel constructed for the Royal Navy in 1813. She participated in several battles of the War of 1812, including the Battle of Baltimore with the bombardment of Fort McHenry. (It was at this battle where the "Star-Spangled Banner" was written by Francis Scott Key, which later became the American national anthem.) She was converted into a polar exploration ship two decades later, and participated in George Back's Arctic expedition of 1836–1837, the Ross expedition of 1839 to 1843, and Sir John Franklin's ill-fated attempt to force the Northwest Passage in 1845, during which she was lost with all hands along with HMS Erebus.

Kit review - HMS TERROR" - scale 1:75 from Occre

HMS Terror History mentioned by Occre: In 1845, under the command of Sir John A. Franklin, the ships Terror and Erebus set off on an expedition to navigate the famous Northwest Passage. They were the first ships to be fitted out with auxiliary steam engines and were also reinforced with iron...

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[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

30th of June

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

29 June 1813 - HMS Terrror launched in Topsham, Devon. HMS Terror was a specialized warship and a newly developed bomb vessel constructed for the Royal Navy in 1813. She participated in several battles of the War of 1812, including the Battle of Baltimore with the bombardment of Fort McHenry...

shipsofscale.com

1667 - The Battle of Martinique also known as Harman’s Martinican Bonfire
was a major naval battle fought in the Caribbean island of Martinique at St Pierre, from 30 June to 7 July 1667 that came towards the end of the Second Anglo-Dutch War. A French merchantile fleet anchored in the bay led by Joseph de La Barre were attacked by an English fleet led by Admiral Sir John Harman. The English were victorious, virtually wiping out the French fleet in the Caribbean, which contained no naval vessels,[clarification needed] and enabled them to secure their domination and position in the West Indies despite being at the war's end.

The attack on the French ships at Martinique 1667 by Willem van de Velde the Younger


1779 - Launch of 74-gun ship HMS Edgar
HMS Edgar was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, that saw service in the American Revolutionary, French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Launched in 1779, she fought in the battles of Cape St Vincent (in 1780) and Copenhagen (in 1801), two of the major naval engagements of the wars.
Edgar also saw service as flagship to two different admirals, and was the scene of a mutiny in 1808. After the end of her active career, she was employed as a prison ship before her 56-year life came to an end in 1835, when she was ordered to be broken up.
Edgar was ordered from Woolwich Dockyard on 25 August 1774. She was built to slightly modified lines of the Arrogant-class, which had been designed by Sir Thomas Slade. The Arrogant class of third rates was a development over Slade's previous Bellona-class, and a further nine ships were ordered from various yards, both Royal and commercial, to the same lines as Edgar. Originally, the Admiralty had intended to order her to be built to the lines of Sir John Williams' Alfred-class, specifically HMS Alexander. Her keel was laid down on 26 August 1776, and she was launched on 30 June 1779.
A list composed in or around 1793, giving details of twelve Royal Navy ships, reveals that Edgar possessed a white figurehead, with details painted in red and black. Of the other eleven ships mentioned, seven had the plain white figureheads as completed by the dockyards, whilst four had painted theirs with a larger palette since being launched.

1898 - The First Battle of Manzanillo
was a series of naval engagements during the Spanish–American War on 30 June 1898 in and outside of the harbor of Manzanillo, Cuba. Three American gunboats were forced to retire after attacking a squadron of Spanish gunboats and auxiliaries.

USS Hornet 1898

1934 - Launch of german Cruiser Admiral Graf Spee
Admiral Graf Spee was a Deutschland-class "Panzerschiff" (armored ship), nicknamed a "pocket battleship" by the British, which served with the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany during World War II. The two sister-ships of her class, Deutschland and Admiral Scheer, were reclassified as heavy cruisers in 1940. The vessel was named after Admiral Maximilian von Spee, commander of the East Asia Squadron that fought the battles of Coronel and the Falkland Islands, where he was killed in action, in World War I. She was laid down at the Reichsmarinewerft shipyard in Wilhelmshaven in October 1932 and completed by January 1936. The ship was nominally under the 10,000 long tons (10,000 t) limitation on warship size imposed by the Treaty of Versailles, though with a full load displacement of 16,020 long tons (16,280 t), she significantly exceeded it. Armed with six 28 cm (11 in) guns in two triple gun turrets, Admiral Graf Spee and her sisters were designed to outgun any cruiser fast enough to catch them. Their top speed of 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph) left only the few battlecruisers in the Anglo-French navies fast enough and powerful enough to sink them.



The ship conducted five non-intervention patrols during the Spanish Civil War in 1936–1938, and participated in the Coronation Review of King George VIin May 1937. Admiral Graf Spee was deployed to the South Atlantic in the weeks before the outbreak of World War II, to be positioned in merchant sea lanes once war was declared. Between September and December 1939, the ship sank nine ships totaling 50,089 gross register tons (GRT), before being confronted by three British cruisers at the Battle of the River Plate on 13 December. Admiral Graf Spee inflicted heavy damage on the British ships, but she too was damaged, and was forced to put into port at Montevideo. Convinced by false reports of superior British naval forces approaching his ship, Hans Langsdorff, the commander of the ship, ordered the vessel to be scuttled. The ship was partially broken up in situ, though part of the ship remains visible above the surface of the water.

Admiral Graf Spee at Spithead in 1937; HMS Hood and Resolution lie in the background

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

1st of July

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

29 June 1813 - HMS Terrror launched in Topsham, Devon. HMS Terror was a specialized warship and a newly developed bomb vessel constructed for the Royal Navy in 1813. She participated in several battles of the War of 1812, including the Battle of Baltimore with the bombardment of Fort McHenry...

shipsofscale.com

1644 - The naval Battle of Colberger Heide (also Kolberger Heide or Colberg Heath)
took place on 1 July 1644 during the Torstenson War, off the coast of Schleswig-Holstein. The battle was indecisive, but a minor success for the Dano-Norwegian fleet commanded by Jørgen Vind, assisted by Grabow and King Christian IV, over a Swedish fleet commanded by Klas Fleming, assisted by Ulfsparre and Bjelkenstjerna.
The Dano-Norwegian fleet consisted of 40 ships with about 927 guns, and the Swedish fleet consisted of 34 ships with 1018 guns and 7 fireships.

Christian IV at flagship "Trefoldigheden" (The Trinity) at the battle of Colberger Heide by Danish painter Vilhelm Nikolai Marstrand.

1677 - The Battle of Køge Bay
was a naval battle between Denmark-Norway and Sweden that took place in bay off Køge 1–2 July 1677 during the Scanian War. The battle was a major success for admiral Niels Juel and is regarded as the greatest naval victory in Danish naval history.

The Battle of Køge Bay, 1677, by Anton Melbye

1782 - The Raid on Lunenburg (also known as the Sack of Lunenburg)
occurred during the American Revolution when the US privateer, Captain Noah Stoddard of Fairhaven, Massachusetts, and four other privateer vessels attacked the British settlement at Lunenburg, Nova Scotia on 1 July 1782. The raid was the last major privateer attack on a Nova Scotia community during the war.

Brigantine MA Hope (Herbert Woodbury) and Schooner MA Scammell (Noah Stoddard), Raid on Lunenburg (1782) by A.J. Wright

1911 – Germany despatches the gunship SMS Panther to Morocco, sparking the Agadir Crisis.
Panther became notorious in 1911 when it was deployed to the Moroccan port of Agadir during the "Agadir Crisis" (also called the "Second Moroccan Crisis"). Panther was supposedly sent to protect German citizens in the port. (A German sales representative, Hermann Wilberg, had been sent to Agadir on behalf of the Foreign office, but only arrived three days after Panther.[citation needed]) The ship's actual mission was to apply pressure on the French, as the latter attempted to colonize Morocco, to extract territorial compensation in French Equatorial Africa. This was an example of "gunboat diplomacy". The incident contributed to the international tensions that would lead to the First World War.

The German gunboat SMS Panther (launched 1901) in 1902.

1942 - Montevideo Maru
was a Japanese auxiliary ship that was sunk in World War II, resulting in the drowning of a large number of Australian prisoners of war and civilians being transported from Rabaul. Prior to the war, it operated as a passenger and cargo vessel, traveling mainly between Asia and South America.
The sinking is considered the worst maritime disaster in Australia's history. A nominal list made available by the Japanese government in 2012 revealed that a total of 1054 prisoners (178 non-commissioned officers, 667 soldiers and 209 civilians) died on the Montevideo Maru. Of the ship's total complement, approximately twenty Japanese crew survived, out of an original 88 guards and crew.

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

2nd of July

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

29 June 1813 - HMS Terrror launched in Topsham, Devon. HMS Terror was a specialized warship and a newly developed bomb vessel constructed for the Royal Navy in 1813. She participated in several battles of the War of 1812, including the Battle of Baltimore with the bombardment of Fort McHenry...

shipsofscale.com

1813 - HMS Dædalus (40 guns) ex Italian Corona, grounded off Island of Ceylon and sank after being refloated.
French frigate Corona (1807)
Corona was a 40-gun Pallas-class frigate of the Italian Navy. The French built her in Venice in 1807 for the Venetian Navy. The British captured Corona at the Battle of Lissa and took her into the Royal Navy as HMS Daedalus. She grounded and sank off Ceylon in 1813 while escorting a convoy.

Daedalus sailed for the East Indies on 29 January 1813. On 1 July 1813 Daedalus was escorting a number of East Indiamen off Ceylon near Pointe de Galle. Maxwell set a course for Madras that was supposed to take her clear of all shoals. When he believed he was some eight miles off shore he changed course. At 8am on 2 July she grounded on a shoal. Although she hit gently, she had irreparably damaged her bottom. Maxwell and his crew attempted numerous remedies but could not save Daedalus and the Indiamen took off her crew. Within five minutes of Maxwell's departure Daedalus sank. The subsequent court martial ruled that the master, Arthur Webster, had failed to exercise due diligence in that he had failed to take constant depth soundings; the court ordered that he be severely reprimanded.

Hortense, sister-ship of Corona

1816 – The French frigate Méduse struck the Bank of Arguin and 151 people on board had to be evacuated on an improvised raft, a case immortalised by Géricault's painting The Raft of the Medusa.
Méduse was a 40-gun Pallas-class frigate of the French Navy, launched in 1810. She took part in the Napoleonic Wars, namely in the late stages of the Mauritius campaign of 1809–1811 and in raids in the Caribbean.

Le Radeau de la Méduse (1818–1819) by Théodore Géricault

A replica in scale 1:1 of this raft is in the exhibtion in Rochefort

Marine Museum Rochefort, France - MUSÉE DE LA MARINE Rochefort

During the days of the International Convention of Model Shipbuilding we had the chance also to visit the MUSÉE DE LA MARINE / Marine Museum in Rochefort http://en.musee-marine.fr/content/rochefort-musee-de-la-marine It is Housed in the hotel Cheusses, the museum has a central role as a...

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1839 – La Amistad (pronounced [la a.misˈtað]; Spanish for Friendship) was a 19th-century two-masted schooner, owned by a Spaniard living in Cuba. It became renowned in 2 nd July 1839 for a slave revolt by Mende captives, who had been enslaved in Sierra Leone, and were being transported from Havana, Cuba to their purchasers' plantations. The African captives took control of the ship, killing some of the crew and ordering the survivors to sail the ship to Africa. The Spanish survivors secretly maneuvered the ship north, and La Amistad was captured off the coast of Long Island by the brig USS Washington. The Mende and La Amistad were interned in Connecticut while federal court proceedings were undertaken for their disposition. The owners of the ship and Spanish government claimed the slaves as property; but the US had banned the African trade and argued that the Mende were legally free.

1915 – The Battle of Åland Islands,
or the Battle of Gotland, which occurred in July 1915, was a naval battle of World War I between the German Empire and the Russian Empire, assisted by a submarine of the British Baltic Flotilla. It took place in the Baltic Sea off the shores of Gotland, Sweden, a country neutral in World War I.
On 1 July 1915 a squadron consisting of the armored cruisers Admiral Makarov, Bayan, Oleg, Bogatyr, Rurik and Novik, under Rear Admiral Mikhail Bakhirev in Oleg left their harbours in order to bombard Klaipeda (Memel). While sailing through thick fog Rurik and Novik separated from the main group and later acted independently.

1950 - Battle of Chumonchin Chan
The Battle of Chumonchin Chan or the Action of 2 July 1950 was the battle fought between surface combatants during the main phase of the Korean War. It began after an Allied flotilla encountered a Korean People's Navy supply fleet.

On 2 July 1950, the USS Juneau, HMS Black Swan, and HMS Jamaica were sailing along the coast of the Sea of Japan (East Sea) when they encountered four North Korean torpedo and gunboats that had just finished escorting a flotilla of ten ammunition ships up the coast. The North Korean torpedo boats began an attack on the allied ships.
Before their torpedoes could be fired however, they were met with a salvo of gunfire from the United Nations ships which destroyed three of the torpedo boats. The surviving North Korean craft fled. Later in July, the Juneau encountered the same ammunition ships and destroyed them.

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

3rd of July

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

29 June 1813 - HMS Terrror launched in Topsham, Devon. HMS Terror was a specialized warship and a newly developed bomb vessel constructed for the Royal Navy in 1813. She participated in several battles of the War of 1812, including the Battle of Baltimore with the bombardment of Fort McHenry...

shipsofscale.com

1810 - The Action of 3 July 1810
was a minor naval engagement of the Napoleonic Wars, in which a French frigate squadron under Guy-Victor Duperré attacked and defeated a convoy of Honourable East India Company East Indiamen near the Comoros Islands. During the engagement the British convoy resisted strongly and suffered heavy casualties but two ships were eventually forced to surrender. These were the British flagship HMS Windham, which held off the French squadron to allow the surviving ship Astell to escape, and Ceylon. The engagement was the third successful French attack on an Indian Ocean convoy in just over a year, the French frigates being part of a squadron operating from the Île de France under Commodore Jacques Hamelin.

The French squadron at Grand Port. From left to right: Bellone, Minerve, Victor (background) and Ceylon, detail from Combat de Grand Port, by Pierre-Julien Gilbert

1898 - Battle of Santiago de Cuba,
concluding naval engagement, near Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, of the Spanish-American War, which sealed the U.S. victory over the Spaniards.

On May 19, 1898, a month after the outbreak of hostilities between the two powers, a Spanish fleet under Admiral Pascual Cervera arrived in Santiago harbour on the southern coast of Cuba. The Spanish fleet was immediately blockaded in harbor by superior U.S. warships from the U.S. squadrons in the Atlantic, under Rear Admiral William T. Sampson and Commodore Winfield S. Schley.
As long as the Spanish stayed within the protection of mines and shore batteries they could not be attacked, but nor could they challenge the U.S. blockade squadron. By July, however, the progress of U.S. land forces in Cuba put Cervera’s ships at risk from the shore. The Spanish admiral decided to attempt a breakout.

USS Brooklyn

1940 - The Attack on Mers-el-Kébir also known as the Battle of Mers-el-Kébir, was part of Operation Catapult.
The operation was a British naval attack on French Navy ships at the base at Mers El Kébir on the coast of French Algeria. The bombardment killed 1,297 French servicemen, sank a battleship and damaged five ships, for a British loss of five aircraft shot down and two crewmen killed.

1952 - On her maiden voyage—July 3–7, 1952 - USS United States broke the transatlantic speed record
held by the RMS Queen Mary for the previous 14 years by over 10 hours, making the maiden crossing from the Ambrose lightship at New York Harbor to Bishop Rock off Cornwall, UK in 3 days, 10 hours, 40 minutes at an average speed of 35.59 knots (65.91 km/h; 40.96 mph). The maximum speed attained for United States is disputed as it was once held as a military secret. The issue stems from an alleged value of 43 knots (80 km/h; 49 mph) that was leaked to reporters by engineers after the first speed trial. In a 1991 issue of Popular Mechanics, author Mark G. Carbonaro wrote that while she could do 43 knots (80 km/h; 49 mph) it was never attained. Other sources, such as one done by John J. McMullen & Associates places the ship's highest possible sustained top speed at 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph).

Liner United States photographed from Portsmouth on return maiden voyage to New York, summer 1952.

1988 - Iran Air Flight 655, a scheduled civilian passenger flight from Tehran to Dubai, was shot down by an SM-2MR surface-to-air missile fired from USS Vincennes, a guided missile cruiser of the United States Navy.
The aircraft, an Airbus A300, was destroyed and all 290 people on board including 66 children were killed. The jet was hit while flying over Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf along the flight's usual route. Vincennes had entered Iranian territorial waters after one of its helicopters drew warning fire from Iranian speedboats operating within Iranian territorial limits.

A300B2-203 Iran Air EP-IBT at Mehrabad International Airport, Tehran

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

4th of July

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

July 3, 1952 On her maiden voyage—July 3–7, 1952 - USS United States broke the transatlantic speed record held by the RMS Queen Mary for the previous 14 years by over 10 hours, making the maiden crossing from the Ambrose lightship at New York Harbor to Bishop Rock off Cornwall, UK in 3 days, 10...

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1695 - Start of bombardment of St. Malo by British Navy
In early 1694, ministers in the government of William III resolved to augment the Royal Navy's offensive capacity through provision of bomb vessels to attack French ports. In addition to the Navy's four existing Serpent-class bomb vessels, Admiralty requested that the Board of Ordnance purchase twelve private merchant ships for refitting as bombs. However by April 1694 only eight such vessels were available, to which Admiralty then added the sixth rate sloop Julian Prize to form the expanded bomb group. including f.e. the HMS Endeavour (1694), the HMS Dreadful (1695), HMS Angel, HMS Greyhound, HMS Owners Advent, and HMS Star.


1760 - Fire at Portsmouth Dockyard.
4th. July 1760 a fire broke out just after midnight in one of the major storehouses of the yard that contained large quantities of pitch, tar, turpentine and other combustible materials, and soon got out of control and spread to surrounding buildings. It was generally thought that lightning caused the fire as a great thunderstorm was raging at the time. The rain increased in intensity for some hours, which was eventually to be the saving of the Dockyard. However great damage was done to the Dockyard.

1788 – Launch of 98-gun HMS Prince
HMS Prince was a 98-gun London-class second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 4 July 1788 at Woolwich. She fought at the Battle of Trafalgar.
She saw relatively little action during her career and seems to have been a relatively poor sailer—she sailed, according to one observing captain, 'like a haystack.'
She was not immediately commissioned on the outbreak of war with Revolutionary France, lying in ordinary at Portsmouth in April 1794. Her hull was lengthened in 1796 with a new 17 foot section inserted (After lengthening 110 guns).


1790 - The Battle of Viborg Bay
(in Swedish literature known as Viborgska gatloppet, "the Viborg gauntlet") was a naval battle fought between Russia and Sweden on July 4, 1790, during the Russo-Swedish War (1788-1790). The Swedish Navy suffered heavy losses, losing six ships of the line and four frigates, but Gustav III of Sweden eventually ensured a Swedish naval escape through a Russian naval blockade composed of units of the Baltic Fleet, commanded by Admiral Vasili Chichagov. The battle ranks among the world's largest historical naval battles and also among the most influential, as it introduced the naval battle concept of "firepowerover mobility".

Battle of Vyborg Bay, by Ivan Aivazovsky

1814 – Launch of HMS Nelson (126-gun), Nelson-class
HMS Nelson was a 126-gun first rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 4 July 1814 at Woolwich Dockyard,[1] but then laid up incomplete at Portsmouth until 1854, when work began with a view to commissioning her for service in the Crimean War, but this ended before much work had been done, and the ship returned to reserve.


1898 - The sinking of The french Ocean liner SS La Bourgogne
with the loss of 549 lives after she collidied with British sailing ship Cromartyshire. At the time this sinking was infamous, because only 13% of the passengers survived, while 48% of the crew did. In 1886 she set a new record for the fastest Atlantic crossing by a postal steamer.

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

5th of July

please use the following link and you will find the details and all events of this day ..... in the following you will find some of the events

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

July 3, 1952 On her maiden voyage—July 3–7, 1952 - USS United States broke the transatlantic speed record held by the RMS Queen Mary for the previous 14 years by over 10 hours, making the maiden crossing from the Ambrose lightship at New York Harbor to Bishop Rock off Cornwall, UK in 3 days, 10...

shipsofscale.com

1722 - Relaunch of HMS Bonaventure ex-President later HMS Argyll (1650) after rebuilt
HMS President was a 38-gun fourth rate frigate of the Royal Navy, originally built for the navy of the Commonwealth of England by Peter Pett I at Deptford Dockyard, and launched in 1650.

1770 - First day of the 3 day Battle of Çeşme.
A Russian Fleet fleet of 9 ships of the line and other vessels under Alexei Grigoryevich Orlov found the Ottoman fleet of 16 ships of the line and other vessels under Mandalzade Hüsameddin Pasha anchored just north of Çeşme Bay, western Anatolia. Towards the end of the engagement an Ottoman ship of the line blew up after her main topsail caught fire and the fire quickly spread to other ships. Three fireships were sent in and almost the entire Ottoman fleet burnt. They lost 15 ships of the line, 6 frigates and many smaller vessels.
The Russo-Turkish War had begun in 1768, and Russia sent several squadrons from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean Sea to draw Ottoman attention away from their Black Sea fleet, then only 6 ships of the line strong. Two Russian squadrons, commanded by Admiral Grigory Spiridov and Rear Admiral John Elphinstone, a British adviser, combined under the overall command of Count Alexei Orlov, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Fleet, and went to look for the Ottoman fleet.
On 5 July 1770, they came across it, anchored in line just north of Çeşme Bay, western Anatolia. Details of the Ottoman fleet are uncertain, but it included 14–16 ships of the line including Real Mustafa of 84 guns, Rodos of 60 guns and a 100-gun flagship. In addition, there were perhaps 6 frigates, 6 xebecs, 13 galleys and 32 small craft, with about 1,300 guns in total. About 10 of the ships of the line, of 70–100 guns, were in the Ottoman main line with a further 6 or so ships of the line in the second, arranged so that they could fire through the gaps in the first line. Behind that were the frigates, xebecs, etc. The fleet was commanded by Kapudan Pasha Mandalzade Hüsameddin, in the fourth ship from the front (north end) of the line, with Hasan Pasha in the first ship, Real Mustafa, and Cafer Bey in the seventh. Two further ships of the line, probably small, had left this fleet for Mytilene the previous evening.
After settling a plan of attack, the Russian battle line (see Table 1 on wikipedia) sailed towards the south end of the Ottoman line and then turned north, coming alongside the Ottomans, with the tail end coming into action last (Elphinstone had wanted to approach the northern end first, then follow the wind along the Ottoman line, attacking their ships one by one – the method used by Nelson at the Battle of the Nile in 1798).

The destruction of the Ottoman fleet on 7 July, painting by Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovsky

1783 - Launch of French ship Séduisant (1783) 74-gun ship

Modèle réduit d'un vaisseau de 74 canons du même type que le Séduisant

1814 - Launch of french Superbe (1814), a Téméraire-class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.
Superbe was built at Antwerp, in a late effort of the First French Empire to replenish its Navy by using all available shipyards. Particularly well-built, to the point of being called the "nicest ship in the Navy", she became the only ship built at Antwerp to survive breaking up after the Bourbon Restoration.
She served in the Caribbean before returning to Brest to be put in the reserve in an inactive state.
In 1830, she took part in the French invasion of Algiers, after which she returned to Toulon to be decommissioned again.
In 1833, she served in the Mediterranean under Captain d'Oysonville. On 15 December, she was caught in a storm off Paros and ran aground at the entrance of Parekia harbour. The survivors returned to Toulon on Iphigénie, Galathée and Duquesne.


1833 - The fourth Battle of Cape St Vincent
was a decisive encounter in Portugal's Liberal Wars. A naval squadron commanded by the British officer Charles Napier, on behalf of Dom Pedro IV, regent for the rightful Queen Maria II, defeated the navy of the usurper Dom Miguel.

The Battle of Cape St. Vincent by Léon Morel-Fatio

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

6th of July

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

July 3, 1952 On her maiden voyage—July 3–7, 1952 - USS United States broke the transatlantic speed record held by the RMS Queen Mary for the previous 14 years by over 10 hours, making the maiden crossing from the Ambrose lightship at New York Harbor to Bishop Rock off Cornwall, UK in 3 days, 10...

shipsofscale.com

1747 - Birth of John Paul Jones at Arbigland, Scotland.
John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 – July 18, 1792) was the United States' first well-known naval commander in the American Revolutionary War. He made many friends and enemies—who accused him of piracy—among America's political elites, and his actions in British waters during the Revolution earned him an international reputation which persists to this day. As such, he is sometimes referred to as the "Father of the American Navy".


1759 - British squadron under George Rodney bombarded Le Havre,
The Raid on Le Havre was a two-day naval bombardment of the French port of Le Havre early in July 1759 by Royal Navy forces under Rear-Admiral George Rodney during the Seven Years' War, which succeeded in its aim of destroying many of the invasion barges being gathered there for the planned French invasion of Great Britain.

HMS Maria Anna, Earl of Chatham and Achilles off a coastal town

1779 - The Battle of Grenada.
Engagement between British fleet of 21 ships of the line and 1 frigate, under Vice-Admiral John Byron, and French fleet of 25 ships of the line and several frigates, under Admiral Comte d'Estaing.
The Battle of Grenada took place on 6 July 1779 during the Anglo-French War in the West Indies between the British Royal Navy and the French Navy, just off the coast of Grenada. The British fleet of Admiral John Byron (the grandfather of Lord Byron) had sailed in an attempt to relieve Grenada, which the French forces of the Comte D'Estaing had just captured.
Incorrectly believing he had numerical superiority, Byron ordered a general chase to attack the French as they left their anchorage at Grenada. Because of the disorganized attack and the French superiority, the British fleet was badly mauled in the encounter, although no ships were lost. Naval historian Alfred Thayer Mahan described the British loss as "the most disastrous ... that the British Navy had encountered since Beachy Head, in 1690."

1782 - The Battle of Negapatam.
British fleet of 11 ships, under Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes, engaged a French fleet of 11 ships, under the Bailli de Suffren, off the coast of India.
The Battle of Negapatam was the third in the series of battles fought between a British fleet, under Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes, and a French fleet, under the Bailli de Suffren, off the coast of India during the Anglo-French War. The battle was fought on 6 July 1782. The battle was indecisive but Suffren was thwarted in his goal by Hughes and withdrew to Cuddalore, while the British remained in control of Negapatam

1801 - Action off Algeciras or First Battle of Algeciras,
was a naval battle fought on 6 July 1801 (17 messidor an IX of the French Republican Calendar) between a squadron of British Royal Navy ships of the line and a smaller French Navysquadron at anchor in the fortified Spanish port of Algeciras in the Strait of Gibraltar. The British outnumbered their opponents, but the French position was protected by Spanish gun batteries and the complicated shoals that obscured the entrance to Algeciras Bay. The French squadron, under Contre-Admiral Charles Linois, had stopped at Algeciras en route to the major Spanish naval base at Cadiz, where they were to form a combined French and Spanish fleet for operations against Britain and its allies in the French Revolutionary Wars. The British, under Rear-Admiral Sir James Saumarez, sought to eliminate the French squadron before it could reach Cadiz and form a force powerful enough to overwhelm Saumarez and launch attacks against British forces in the Mediterranean Sea.

1804 - HMS Raven ex French corvette Arethuse (1798) (18) wrecked near Mazzara, Sicily coast.
Aréthuse, launched in April 1798, was the name-ship of the eponymous Aréthuse-class corvettes of the French Navy. Excellent captured her in 1799. The Royal Navy took her into service under the name HMS Raven.


1808 - HMS Seahorse (1794) (38), Cptn. John Stewart, captured Turkish Badere Zaffer (54), Scanderli Kichue Ali, and sank Alis Fezan (24)
His Majesty authorized the issue of a gold medal to Captain Stewart for the action; only 18 battles or actions qualified for such an award. In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the issue of the NGSM with clasp "Seahorse with Badere Zaffere" to all the surviving claimants from the action.


1809 - HMS Bonne Citoyenne (20), William Mounsey, captured Furieuse (20).
Bonne Citoyenne was a 20-gun corvette of the French Navy launched in 1794, the name ship of a four-vessel class. She was part of the French fleet active in the Bay of Biscay and English Channel. The Royal Navycaptured her in 1796, commissioning her as the sloop-of-war HMS Bonne Citoyenne.

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

7th of July

please use the following link and you will find the details and all events of this day ..... in the following you will find some of the events

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

July 3, 1952 On her maiden voyage—July 3–7, 1952 - USS United States broke the transatlantic speed record held by the RMS Queen Mary for the previous 14 years by over 10 hours, making the maiden crossing from the Ambrose lightship at New York Harbor to Bishop Rock off Cornwall, UK in 3 days, 10...

shipsofscale.com

1565 - Action of 7 July 1565
This battle in the Northern Seven Years' War took place on 7 July 1565 and was a decisive victory for a Swedish fleet of 49 ships, under Klas Horn, over a combined Danish and Lübecker fleet of 36 ships, under Otte Rud.

Fighting between the Danish and Swedish flag ships Jegermesther and St Erik, drawn by Rudolf van Deventer.

1777 - American frigates USS Hancock (32), Cptn. John Manley, and Boston (30), Cptn. Hector McNeil, were escorting their prize HMS Fox (28) to Boston. They were pursued by the British frigate HMS Rainbow (44), Cptn. Sir George Collier, who was joined by HMS Flora (32), Cptn. John Brisbane. The American ships steered different courses and Flora took Fox while Rainbow took Hancock. Cptn. McNeil was dismissed the American service for deserting Cptn. Manley.

Continental frigates Hancock and Boston capturing British frigate Fox, 7 June 1777

1800 - The Raid on Dunkirk
of 7 July 1800 was an attack by a British Royal Navy force on the well-defended French anchorage of Dunkirk in the English Channel during the French Revolutionary Wars. French naval forces had been blockaded in their harbours during the conflict, and often the only method of attacking them was through fireships or "cutting-out" expeditions, in which boats would carry boarding parties into the harbour at night, seize ships at anchor and bring them out. The attack on Dunkirk was a combination of both of these types of operation, aimed at a powerful French frigate squadron at anchor in Dunkirk harbour. The assault made use of a variety of experimental weaponry, some of which was tested in combat for the first time with mixed success.

Engraving after a painting by Thomas Whitcombe showing HMs Dart capturing French frigate Désirée in July 1800

1809 - Boats of HMS Bellerophon launched 1786 (74), Cptn. Samuel Warren, HMS Implacable (74), Cptn. Thomas Byam Martin, HMS Melpomene (38), Cptn. Peter Parker, and HMS Prometheus (18), Thomas Forrest, took 6 and sank 1 out of 8 Russian gunboats under Percola Point at Aspo near Fredrikshamm. The 12 vessels laden with powder and provisions that they were protecting were also captured.

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

8th of July

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

7 July 1800 - The Raid on Dunkirk of 7 July 1800 was an attack by a British Royal Navy force on the well-defended French anchorage of Dunkirk in the English Channel during the French Revolutionary Wars. French naval forces had been blockaded in their harbours during the conflict, and often the...

shipsofscale.com

1283 - The Battle of Malta
took place on 8 July 1283 in the entrance to the Grand Harbour, the principal harbour of Malta, as part of the War of the Sicilian Vespers. An Aragonese fleet of galleys, commanded by Roger of Lauria, attacked and defeated a fleet of Angevin galleys commanded by Guillaume Cornut and Bartholomé Bonvin.

14th-century painting of a light galley, from an icon now at the Byzantine and Christian Museum at Athens

1747 - HMS Maidstone (50). Launched in 1744, Cptn. Lord Keppel, chased an French merchant in-shore off Belle Isle, ran aground and was wrecked,
HMS Maidstone was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Rotherhithe to the dimensions laid down in the 1741 proposals of the 1719 Establishment, and launched on 12 October 1744.


1497 - First voyage of Vasco da Gama
On 8 July 1497 Vasco da Gama led a fleet of four ships with a crew of 170 men from Lisbon. The distance traveled in the journey around Africa to India and back was greater than around the equator. The navigators included Portugal's most experienced, Pero de Alenquer, Pedro Escobar, João de Coimbra, and Afonso Gonçalves. It is not known for certain how many people were in each ship's crew but approximately 55 returned, and two ships were lost. Two of the vessels were carracks, newly built for the voyage, the others were a caravel and a supply boat.


1716 - The naval Battle of Dynekilen (Slaget ved Dynekilen) during the Great Northern War.
On 28 October 1709 Frederik IV of Denmark, the Danish-Norwegian king declared war against Sweden. The war declaration came after the Swedish defeat at the Battle of Poltava, which resulted in a decisive victory for Peter I of Russia over Charles XII of Sweden.
In the naval enactment, a light Danish-Norwegian force of 7 ships under Peter Tordenskjold trapped and defeated a Swedish transport fleet of 44 ships in Dynekilen fjord, just north of Strömstad, on the west coast of Sweden. The Swedish transport fleet was transporting troops, ammunition and supplies from Göteborg, destined for the land forces under the command of Charles XII invading Norway.

Tordenskjold i Dynekilen by Carl Neumann


1757 - HMS Experiment (20), Cptn. John Strachan, captured the French privateer Télémaque (20) off Alicante
HMS Experiment (1740) was a 24-gun sixth rate, launched in 1740 and sold in 1763. She captured the French privateer Telemaque in 1757 and had a young John Jervis serving on board her.

This painting shows the action betwen HM ship 'Experiment', Captain John Strachan, and the French privateer 'Télémaque' of 20 guns and 460 men, of Alicante on 8 July 1757, during the Seven Years War. The 'Experiment' is the smaller vessel largely concealed by the larger enemy in front, which appears, in fact, to have mounted 24 broadside guns and is also pierced for sweeps below. With great superiority in men, the 'Télémaque' tried to board 'Experiment', and after two attempts partially succeeded, though the few French who did so were all killed. The picture shows one of these attempts, with the French boarding via the bowsprit of the 'Télémaque'. Lieutenant William Locker, on his first commission after promotion to 'Experiment' by his early patron, Sir Edward Hawke, was then ordered by Strachan to board the 'Télémaque', which resulted in her capture. The French lost 235 killed and wounded, while the 'Experiment' lost only forty-eight. Locker was wounded in the leg and despite a successful subsequent career as a captain - including as early commander and lifelong friend of Nelson - never fully overcame the effects. In 1793 his health brought him ashore to become Lieutenant-Governor of Greenwich Hospital, where he died in 1800. Locker was interested in art and became a patron of Dominic Serres, who probably painted this work for him. It is signed and date 1769 and inscribed, lower right 'EXPERIMENT AND TELEMAQUE'. This painting was presented to the Naval Gallery of the Hospital on 16 October 1830 by his son Edward Hawke Locker, Hospital Secretary from 1819 and a Commissioner from 1829. This was at the same time that gave it the portrait of William by Gilbert Stuart (BHC2846) and, by agreement, took back in substitution the Abbott portrait of him (BHC2845) that he had presented to the Gallery in 1824, on his foundation of it, at the request of the Hospital Directors. [PvdM 4/09]

https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections.html#!csearch;authority=vessel-311502;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=E

1760 - British squadron under Cptn. John Byron defeats French squadron under Francois Chenard de La Giraudais in the Bay of Chaleur, Gulf of Saint Lawrence.
The Battle of Restigouche was a naval battle fought in 1760 during the French and Indian War (the North American theatre of the Seven Years' War) on the Restigouche River between the British Royal Navy and the small flotilla of vessels of the French Navy, Acadian militia and Mi'kmaq militias. The loss of the French vessels, which had been sent to support and resupply the troops in New France after the fall of Quebec, marked the end of any serious attempt by France to keep hold of their colonies in North America. The battle was the last major engagement of the Mi'kmaq and Acadian militias before the Burying of the Hatchet Ceremony between the Mi'kmaq and the British.

A 1791 drawing of the frigate Le Machault, scuttled by her crew in the Restigouche River


1801 - The Algeciras campaign (sometimes known as the Battle or Battles of Algeciras)
was attempt by a French naval squadron from Toulon under Contre-Admiral Charles Linois to join a French and Spanish fleet at Cadiz during June and July 1801 during the French Revolutionary War prior to a planned operation against either Egypt or Portugal. To reach Cadiz, the French squadron had to pass the British naval base at Gibraltar, which housed the squadron tasked with blockading the Spanish port. The British squadron was commanded by Rear-Admiral Sir James Saumarez. After a successful voyage between Toulon and Gibraltar, in which a number of British vessels were captured, the squadron anchored at Algeciras, a fortified port city within sight of Gibraltar across Gibraltar Bay. On 6 July 1801, Saumarez attacked the anchored squadron, in the First Battle of Algeciras. Although severe damage was inflicted on all three French ships of the line, none could be successfully captured and the British were forced to withdraw without HMS Hannibal, which had grounded and was subsequently seized by the French.

1879 – Sailing ship USS Jeannette departs San Francisco carrying an ill-fated expedition to the North Pole.
USS Jeannette was a naval exploration vessel which, under the command of George W. De Long, undertook an ill-fated 1879–1881 voyage to the Arctic. After being trapped in the ice and drifting for almost two years, the ship and its crew of 33 were released from the ice, then trapped again, crushed and sunk some 300 nautical miles (560 km; 350 mi) north of the Siberian coast. The entire crew survived the sinking, but 11 died while sailing towards land in a small cutter. The other 22 reached Siberia, but 9 of them, including De Long, subsequently perished in the wastes of the Lena Delta.

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

9th of July

please use the following link and you will find the details and all events of this day ..... in the following you will find some of the events

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

7 July 1800 - The Raid on Dunkirk of 7 July 1800 was an attack by a British Royal Navy force on the well-defended French anchorage of Dunkirk in the English Channel during the French Revolutionary Wars. French naval forces had been blockaded in their harbours during the conflict, and often the...

shipsofscale.com

1745 - Action with Du Teillay, Elizabeth and the HMS Lion
Du Teillay was a French privateer ship, commissioned as such in Nantes in 1744 by Antoine Walsh (1703-1763), an Irish-born shipowner and slave trader operating in France. She played a central role in the Jacobite rising of 1745, ferrying Charles Edward Stuart to Ardmolich with supplies and funds to support his cause.

Le du Teillay - From a drawing commissioned by the National Trust for Scotland from Harold Wyllie on 26th July 1965.

1790 - The Battle of Svensksund (with 500 ships) (Finnish: Ruotsinsalmi, Russian: Rochensalm)
was a naval battle fought in the Gulf of Finland outside the present day city of Kotka on 9 and 10 July 1790. The Swedish naval forces dealt the Russian fleet a devastating defeat that resulted in an end to the Russo-Swedish War of 1788–90. The battle is the biggest Swedish naval victory and the largest naval battle ever in the Baltic Sea.
At 08:00 on 9 July 1790 the Russian flagship signaled the attack. By 09:30 the first ships had reached firing distance in the western flank but soon after fighting spread throughout the battle lines. The Swedish right wing under Lieutenant Colonel Törning met with increasing resistance as the Russian left wing opposing him was reinforced. However, the Swedes were able to move ships from their reserves to support their right wing with a counterattack which managed to lead the Russian left wing into disorder. Meanwhile, an increasingly strong southwesterly wind forced the Russian center deeper between converging Swedish lines. After no Russian ships were seen approaching from Frederikshamn, the Swedes were able to release more ships from their reserves to bolster the Swedish left wing led by Lieutenant Colonel Hjelmstierna. Half of Hjelmstierna's ships were sent to the rear of the Russian fleet through a narrow passage between Legma and Kutsalö which in turn forced the Russian right wing to deploy accordingly. However, movement to the back of the line was read as a signal to withdraw by the Russian left wing which started its retreat leaving the Russian center to face the Swedes alone.

1863 - The last day of the Siege of Port Hudson
The Siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana (May 22 – July 9, 1863), was the final engagement in the Union campaign to recapture the Mississippi in the American Civil War.
While Union General Ulysses Grant was besieging Vicksburg upriver, General Nathaniel Banks was ordered to capture the Confederate stronghold of Port Hudson, in order to go to Grant's aid. When his assault failed, Banks settled into a 48-day siege, the longest in US military history. A second attack also failed, and it was only after the fall of Vicksburg that the Confederate commander, General Franklin Gardner surrendered the port. The Union gained control of the river and navigation from the Gulf of Mexico through the Deep South and to the river's upper reaches.

Rear Admiral David G. Farragut

USS Monongahela under full sail.

1916 – Merchant unarmed submarine “Deutschland” arrived after first voyage in Baltimore
Deutschland was a blockade-breaking German merchant submarine used during World War I. It was developed with private funds and operated by the North German Lloyd Line. She was the first of seven U-151 class U-boats built and one of only two used as unarmed cargo submarines.
After making two voyages as an unarmed merchantman, she was taken over by the German Imperial Navy on 19 February 1917 and converted into U-155, armed with six torpedo tubes and two deck guns. As U-155, she began a raiding career in June 1917 that was to last until October 1918, sinking 120,434 tons of shipping and damaging a further 9,080 tons of shipping.

1940 - The Battle of Calabria, (known to the Italian Navy as the Battle of Punta Stilo)
was a naval battle during the Battle of the Mediterranean in the Second World War. It was fought between the Italian Royal Navy (Regia Marina) and the British Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Navy. The battle occurred 30 miles to the east of Punta Stilo, Calabria, on 9 July 1940. It was one of the few pitched battles of the Mediterranean campaign during the Second World War involving large numbers of ships on both sides. Both sides claimed victory, but in fact the battle was a draw and everyone returned to their bases as soon as possible.

Giuseppe Garibaldi in 1938

The Italian Battleship Cesare firing her salvoes near Punta Stilo (Battle of Calabria)

1947 – packet Steamer SS President Warfield renamed to SS Exodus 1947 arrived the harbor Sete near Montpellier in France to take over 4515 jewish immigrants for the journey to Palestine
Exodus 1947 was a ship that carried 4,500 Jewish immigrants from France to British Mandatory Palestine on July 11, 1947. Most were Holocaust survivors who had no legal immigration certificates for Palestine. The ship was boarded by the British in international waters, killing three passengers and injuring some ten. The ship was taken to Haifa where ships were waiting to return the Jews to refugee camps in Europe.
The ship was formerly the packet steamer SS President Warfield for the Baltimore Steam Packet Company. From the ship's launch in 1928 until 1942, it carried passengers and freight between Norfolk, Virginia and Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. During World War II, it served both the UK and the United States Navy; for the latter as USS President Warfield (IX-169).

Exodus ship following British takeover (note damage to makeshift barriers). Banner says: "HAGANAH Ship EXODUS 1947".

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

10th of July

please use the following link and you will find the details and all events of this day ..... in the following you will find some of the events

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

7 July 1800 - The Raid on Dunkirk of 7 July 1800 was an attack by a British Royal Navy force on the well-defended French anchorage of Dunkirk in the English Channel during the French Revolutionary Wars. French naval forces had been blockaded in their harbours during the conflict, and often the...

shipsofscale.com

1652 - War declaration by the English Parliament on 10 July 1652 – The First Anglo-Dutch War begins
As a result of Cromwell's ambitious programme of naval expansion, at a time when the Dutch admiralty was selling off many of its own warships, the British came to possess a greater number of larger and more powerful purpose-built warships than did their rivals across the North Sea. However, the Dutch had many more cargo ships, together with lower freight rates, better financing and a wider range of manufactured goods to sell — although Dutch ships were blocked by the Spanish from operations in most of southern Europe, giving the British an advantage there.

Naval battle near Ter Heijde on 10 August 1653, during the First Anglo-Dutch War. In the middle the Brederode, the Dutch flagship of Maarten Tromp is in combat with the English flagship Resolution under the command of admiral Monk.

1690 - The Battle of Beachy Head (Fr. Battle of Bévéziers)
was a naval engagement fought on 10 July 1690 during the Nine Years' War. The battle was the greatest French tactical naval victory over their English and Dutch opponents during the war. The Dutch lost six ships of the line (sources vary) and three fireships; their English allies also lost one ship of the line, whereas the French did not lose a vessel. Control of the English Channel temporarily fell into French hands but Vice-Admiral Tourville failed to pursue the Allied fleet with sufficient vigour, allowing it to escape to the River Thames.
Tourville was criticised for not following up his victory and was relieved of his command. English Admiral Torrington – who had advised against engaging the superior French fleet but had been overruled by Queen Mary and her ministers – was court-martialled for his performance during the battle. Although he was acquitted, King William dismissed him from the service.

The aftermath of the battle: Richard Endsor’s painting of the burning of the third rate Anne at Pett level, where her remains can still be seen

1778 - HMS Lively (1756) (20) Cptn. Biggs, left to watch Brest, found herself in the middle of the French fleet in a fog, and was captured by the French Iphigenie.
HMS Lively was a 20-gun post ship of the Royal Navy, launched in 1756. During the Seven Years' War she captured several vessels, most notably the French corvette Valeur in 1760. She then served during the American Revolutionary War, where she helped initiate the Battle of Bunker Hill. The French captured her in 1778, but the British recaptured her 1781. She was sold in 1784.

1796 - HMS Captain (74), Cptn. Andrews, seized Porto Ferrajo.


1866 - HMS Amazon sloop, Cdr. J. E. Hunter, ran into the SS Osprey, Capt. Burtridge, (cutting her in two and causing her to sink in a few minutes) off Portland, sustaining vital damage, and sank.
HMS Amazon (1865) was an Amazon-class wooden screw sloop launched in 1865 and sunk on 10 July 1866 in a collision in the English Channel.

2011 - the Sinking of russian river cruise ship Bulgaria with 122 people died
Bulgaria (Russian: Булга́рия, tr. Bulgariya) was a class 785/OL800 Russian river cruise ship (built in Komárno, Czechoslovakia) which operated in the Volga-Don basin. On 10 July 2011, Bulgaria sank in the Kuybyshev Reservoir of the Volga River near Syukeyevo, Kamsko-Ustyinsky District, Tatarstan, Russia, with 201 passengers and crew aboard when sailing from the town of Bolgar to the regional capital, Kazan. The catastrophe led to 122 confirmed deaths (bodies recovered and identified).
The sinking of Bulgaria was Russia's worst maritime disaster since 1986, when the SS Admiral Nakhimov collided with a cargo ship and 423 people died.

 

[mrshanks]

Whoa!!! I remember reading in the news when the Bulgaria sank!!! Uwe, you are amazing with your nautical history. Is there ever a single day in the year when something of nautical historical importance did not happen??

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

11th of July

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

11 July 1882 - The Bombardment of Alexandria in Egypt by the British Mediterranean Fleet took place on 11–13 July 1882. Admiral Beauchamp Seymour was in command of a fleet of fifteen Royal Navy ironclad ships which had previously sailed to the harbor of Alexandria to support the khedive Tewfik...

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1405 – Ming admiral Zheng He sets sail to explore the world for the first time.
The Yuan dynasty and expanding Sino-Arab trade during the 14th century had gradually expanded Chinese knowledge of the world: "universal" maps previously only displaying China and its surrounding seas began to expand further and further into the southwest with much more accurate depictions of the extent of Arabia and Africa. Between 1405 and 1433, the Ming government sponsored seven naval expeditions. The Yongle Emperor – disregarding the Hongwu Emperor's expressed wishes – designed them to establish a Chinese presence and impose imperial control over the Indian Ocean trade, impress foreign peoples in the Indian Ocean basin, and extend the empire's tributary system. It has also been inferred from passages in the History of Ming that the initial voyages were launched as part of the emperor's attempt to capture his escaped predecessor, which would have made the first voyage the "largest-scale manhunt on water in the history of China".


1882 - The Bombardment of Alexandria in Egypt by the British Mediterranean Fleet took place on 11–13 July 1882.
Admiral Beauchamp Seymour was in command of a fleet of fifteen Royal Navy ironclad ships which had previously sailed to the harbor of Alexandria to support the khedive Tewfik Pasha amid Ahmed ‘Urabi's nationalist uprising against his administration and its close ties to British and French financiers. He was joined in the show of force by a French flotilla as well. The move provided some security to the khedive, who withdrew his court to the now-protected port, but strengthened ‘Urabi's nationalists within the army and throughout the remainder of Egypt. On 11 June, anti-Christian riots began in Alexandria. The city's European residents fled and the Egyptian ‘Urabist army began fortifying and arming the harbor.
An ultimatum to cease this build-up being refused, the British fleet began a 10½-hour bombardment of the city without French assistance. Historians argue about whether Admiral Seymour exaggerated the threat from the Egyptian batteries at Alexandria in order to force the hand of a reluctant Gladstone administration. Once the British had attacked the city, they then proceeded to a full-scale invasion to restore the authority of the khedive. Egypt remained under British occupation until 1956.
The ultimatum, which was ignored amid denials of the defensive works by the Egyptian governor, was set to expire at 7:00 am on 11 July.

"Well Done Condor" by Charles Dixon.

1915 - The Ending of the Battle of the Rufiji Delta = Sinking of light cruiser SMS Königsberg
which was fought in German East Africa (modern Tanzania) from October 1914 – July 1915 during the First World War, between the German Navy's light cruiser SMS Königsberg, and a powerful group of British warships. The battle was a series of attempts, ultimately successful, to sink the blockaded German cruiser.

Battle damage to Königsberg.

1918 - Henry Ford launches the first of the 100 intended Eagle boats.
These boats have a solid cement bow, especially built for ramming and sinking submarines.
The Eagle class patrol craft were a set of steel ships smaller than contemporary destroyers but having a greater operational radius than the wooden-hulled, 110-foot (34 m) submarine chasers developed in 1917. The submarine chasers' range of about 900 miles (1,400 km) at a cruising speed of 10 knots (19 km/h) restricted their operations to off-shore anti-submarine work and denied them an open-ocean escort capability; their high consumption of gasoline and limited fuel storage were handicaps the Eagle class sought to remedy.

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

12th of July

please use the following link and you will find the details and all events of this day ..... in the following you will find some of the events

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

11 July 1882 - The Bombardment of Alexandria in Egypt by the British Mediterranean Fleet took place on 11–13 July 1882. Admiral Beauchamp Seymour was in command of a fleet of fifteen Royal Navy ironclad ships which had previously sailed to the harbor of Alexandria to support the khedive Tewfik...

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1776 - Third voyage of James Cook begins
James Cook's third and final voyage (12 July 1776 – 4 October 1780) took the route from Plymouth via Cape Town and Tenerife to New Zealand and the Hawaiian Islands, and along the North American coast to the Bering Strait.
Its ostensible purpose was to return Omai, a young man from Raiatea to his homeland, but the Admiralty used this as a cover for their plan to send Cook on a voyage to discover the Northwest Passage. HMS Resolution, to be commanded by Cook, and HMS Discovery, commanded by Charles Clerke, were prepared for the voyage which started from Plymouth in 1776.

The route of Cook's third voyage shown in red, blue shows route after his death.

1801 - The Second Battle of Algeciras (also known as the Battle of the Gut of Gibraltar)
was a naval battle fought on the night of 12 July 1801 between a squadron of British Royal Navy ships of the line and a larger squadron of ships from the Spanish Navy and French Navy in the Gut of Gibraltar. The battle followed closely the First Battle of Algeciras on 6 July (Remark Uwe: see the post at 6th July), in which a French squadron anchored at the Spanish port of Algeciras was attacked by a larger British squadron based at nearby Gibraltar. In a heavy engagement fought in calm weather in the close confines of Algeciras Bay, the British force had been becalmed and battered, suffering heavy casualties and losing the 74-gun ship HMS Hannibal. Retiring for repairs, both sides called up reinforcements, the French receiving support first, from the Spanish fleet based at Cadiz, which sent six ships of the line to escort the French squadron to safety.

Beau fait d'armes du capitaine Troude by Morel-Fatio, oil on canvas.

1870 - Death of John A. Dahlgren
John Adolphus Bernard Dahlgren (November 13, 1809 – July 12, 1870) was a United States Navy officer who founded his service's Ordnance Department and launched major advances in gunnery.

Rear Admiral Dahlgren, on board the USS Pawnee, beside a 50-pounder Dahlgren rifle (one of his bottle-shaped cast-iron cannons), c. 1864.

1918 - The Imperial Japanese Navy battleship Kawachi blows up at Shunan, western Honshu, Japan, killing at least 621.
Kawachi (河内) was the lead ship of the two-ship Kawachi-class dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in the first decade of the 20th century. Following the Japanese ship-naming conventions, Kawachi was named after Kawachi Province,[1] now a part of Osaka prefecture. During World War I she bombarded German fortifications at Tsingtao during the Battle of Tsingtao in 1914, but saw no other combat. She sank in 1918 after an explosion in her ammunition magazine with the loss of over 600 officers and crewmen.

Kawachi in 1911

1970 - Thor Heyerdahl and his crew reached barbados on his papyrus / reed built boat „Ra II" after a journey of 57 days.
Ra II is no in exhibition in the Kontiki museum in Oslo

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

13th of July

please use the following link and you will find the details and all events of this day ..... in the following you will find some of the events

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

11 July 1882 - The Bombardment of Alexandria in Egypt by the British Mediterranean Fleet took place on 11–13 July 1882. Admiral Beauchamp Seymour was in command of a fleet of fifteen Royal Navy ironclad ships which had previously sailed to the harbor of Alexandria to support the khedive Tewfik...

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1745 – Birth of Admiral Sir Robert Calder,
1st Baronet, KCB (12 July 1745 – 1 September 1818) was a British naval officer who served in the Seven Years' War, the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars.

The brand Caldercraft of the kit manufacturer Jotika got the name based on the Admiral

1795 - The Naval Battle of Hyères Islands
Early in the French Revolutionary Wars the British Mediterranean Fleet seized the entire French Mediterranean Fleet at the start of the Siege of Toulon in August 1793. Shortly before French forces recaptured the city in December, boarding parties attempted to burn the French fleet, but due to failures by Spanish forces only half of the French ships were destroyed. In 1794, as the French repaired their ships, the British invaded and captured the island of Corsica, subsequently using San Fiorenzo Bay as an anchorage from which they could blockade Toulon.
...................
The French had been unable to sail for most of the spring; Martin was initially preoccupied with gathering his ships and conducting repairs in his anchorage at the Îles d'Hyères off the French coast. He sent his most damaged ships back to Toulon, and they were joined there on 4 April by a reinforcement of six ships of the line under Contre-amiral Jean François Renaudin, sent from Brest on 22 February. Martin joined this force soon afterwards, but in May his fleet was struck by a significant mutiny.

1841 - London Straits Convention concluded (also mentioned often as Dardanelles Convention)
In the London Straits Convention concluded on 13 July 1841 between the Great Powers of Europe at the time—Russia, the United Kingdom, France, Austria and Prussia—the "ancient rule" of the Ottoman Empirewas re-established by closing the Turkish Straits (the Bosporus and Dardanelles), which link the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, from all warships whatsoever, barring those of the Sultan's allies during wartime. It thus benefited British naval power at the expense of Russia as the latter lacked direct access for its navy to the Mediterranean.
The treaty is one in a series dealing with access to the Bosporus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles. It evolved as a reaction to the secret article in the Treaty of Hünkâr İskelesi (Unkiar Skelessi), created in 1833, in which the Ottoman Empire guaranteed exclusive use of the straits to Ottoman and Imperial Russian warships in the case of a general war, allowing no 'foreign vessels of war to enter therein under any pretext whatsoever'. The modern treaty controlling relations is the Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits from 1936, which is still in force.

The Bosporus (red), the Dardanelles (yellow), and the Sea of Marmara in between, are known collectively as the Turkish Straits. Modern borders are shown.

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

14th of July

please use the following link and you will find the details and all events of this day ..... in the following you will find some of the events

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

11 July 1882 - The Bombardment of Alexandria in Egypt by the British Mediterranean Fleet took place on 11–13 July 1882. Admiral Beauchamp Seymour was in command of a fleet of fifteen Royal Navy ironclad ships which had previously sailed to the harbor of Alexandria to support the khedive Tewfik...

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1780 - HMS Nonsuch (64), Cptn. Sir James Wallace, took French frigate Belle Poule (32) off the mouth of the Loire
On the evening of 14 July 1780 Captain Sir James Wallace of the 64-gun ship of the line Nonsuch was off the Loire where her boats were burning the French frigate Legere. He observed three vessels to the north west, signalling each other and immediately gave chase. At about midnight Nonsuch caught up with one of the three off Île d'Yeu and commenced a two-hour action. When the French vessel struck she turned out to be Belle Poule. She was armed with thirty-two 12-pounder guns, had a crew of 275 men and was under the command of Chevalier Kergariou-Coatlès. In the engagement Belle Poule lost 25 men killed, including Kergariou, and 50 other officers and men, including her second captain, wounded. Nonsuch had lost three men killed and ten wounded, two of whom died later. The two French vessels that escaped were the frigate Aimable, of thirty-two 8-pounder guns, and the corvette Rossinolle, of twenty 6-pounder guns.
HMS Nonsuch
was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line Intrepide-class of the Royal Navy, launched on 17 December 1774 at Plymouth.
Nonsuch was commissioned in August 1775 as a guardship at Plymouth. She was fitted for the role in December 1776, but sailed for North America on 23 March 1777.

Belle Poule
was a French frigate of the Dédaigneuse class, which Léon-Michel Guignace built. She is most famous for her duel with the British frigate HMS Arethusaon 17 June 1778, which began the French involvement in the American War of Independence.

La Belle Poule based on the planset by Jean Boudriot

Planset review - LA BELLE-POULE - 1765 - 12-pdr frigate" in 1:48 by Jean Boudriot & Hubert Berti

Planset Review: LA BELLE-POULE 1765 - 12-pdr Frigate by ENGINEER GUIGNACE - A STUDY OF 12-PDR FRIGATE - frégate de XII de 1765 By Jean Boudriot & Hubert Berti - Translated by François Fougerat This interesting monograph with 22 drawings mainly in scale 1:48 was published in the original...

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1918 – SS Djemnah was a French cargo-passenger ship, that was sunk in the Mediterranean by the German submarine UB-105 during the First World War, More than 400 passengers died.

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

15th of July

please use the following link and you will find the details and all events of this day ..... in the following you will find some of the events

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

11 July 1882 - The Bombardment of Alexandria in Egypt by the British Mediterranean Fleet took place on 11–13 July 1882. Admiral Beauchamp Seymour was in command of a fleet of fifteen Royal Navy ironclad ships which had previously sailed to the harbor of Alexandria to support the khedive Tewfik...

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1796 - HMS Glatton (56), Cptn. Henry Trollope, engaged French Squadron off Flanders.
Under Trollope, Glatton first served in the English Channel where she engaged a French squadron on 15 July 1796. The French squadron consisted of a 50-gun ship, five frigates (two of 36 guns and three of 28), a brig, and a cutter. Glatton drove the French vessels into Flushing, having lost only two men wounded, one of whom died later, and despite having at times been surrounded by the enemy and exchanging fire at less than 20 yards. The French vessels may have included Brutus (a 74-gun cut down to 46-50 guns), Incorruptible (50 guns), Magicienne (32 guns), and Républicaine, and one French vessel apparently sank in Flushing harbour. (It was in this action that Captain Strangeways of the Royal Marines sustained the wound of which he died shortly thereafter, and which the illustration above commemorates.)


1798 - HMS Lion (64), Cptn. Manley Dixon, engaded four Spanish frigates off Cartagena, capturing Santa Dorotea (42)
Santa Dorotea was built in Ferrol in 1775. In 1798 she was assigned to a small frigate squadron under Commodore Don Felix O'Neil and departed Cartagena in company with the frigates Pomona, Proserpine and Santa Cazilda on 8 July. Santa Dorotea's captain for the expedition was Don Manuel Gerraro. Their attempts to raid shipping in the area were unsuccessful, and while returning to port at 09:00 on 15 July, the 64-gun HMS Lion, under Captain Manley Dixon, spotted them. Dixon approached the squadron, closing on Santa Dorotea, which had begun to fall behind her consorts, having lost a topmast sometime earlier. Realizing that Manley was attempting to cut off and engage Santa Dorotea, O'Neil ordered the front three frigates to turn around and sail to her defence. They passed close to Lion, commencing fire at 11:15. Lion replied, and O'Neil made two further attempts to distract Lion, while Santa Dorotea tried to damage her pursuer with her stern guns. The Spanish broadsides had no real effect, and Dixon was able to come alongside and exchange broadsides with Santa Dorotea.
Lion outgunned Santa Dorotea by nearly two to one and was able rapidly to inflict severe damage on her. Within minutes her mizzenmast had fallen and her mainmast and rudder were severely battered. O'Neil gave up attempting to relieve the beleaguered Santa Dorotea and made for Cartagena at 13:10. Isolated and unable to escape, Gerraro surrendered. Santa Dorotea had been badly damaged with at least 20 men killed and 32 wounded from a crew of 371. Lion had lost just two men wounded in the exchange: a seaman lost a leg and a midshipman was shot in the shoulder. Although Lion{{'""s rigging had been badly torn, there was no structural damage at all. Securing his prize, Dixon spent the next day conducting extensive repairs before sending Santa Dorotea to Earl St Vincent off Cadiz

Plan showing the body plan with sternboard outline and name on the counter, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for Lyon (1777)

This hand-coloured aquatint depicts the capture of the Spanish ship ‘Santa Dorotea’ by the English ‘Lion’ on 15th July, 1798. The ‘Lion’ is in the centre right of the picture and the ‘Santa Dorotea’ on the far right. Both ships are firing broadsides at one another, while the ‘Lion’ is also firing at another Spanish ship attacking on her port side. The action is brightly lit, with the intense white gunsmoke emphasised by a darker foreground sea.

1804 - HMS Lily (16), Lt. William Compton (Killed in Action), captured by French privateer Dame Ambert (16) off the Georgia
Lily was off the coast of Georgia in the afternoon of 14 July 1804 when she sighted two vessels. She sailed towards them but by sunset was only able to determine that one was a ship and the other a smaller vessel, possibly the larger vessel's prize. In the morning the larger vessel could be seen towing the smaller. As Lilly approached, the larger vessel dropped her tow and sailed to engage Lilly.

1815 – Napoleonic Wars: Napoleon Bonaparte surrenders aboard HMS Bellerophon.
Napoleon was being pressured to leave French soil by the interim French government in Paris. If he delayed, he risked becoming a prisoner of the Bourbons, Prussians or Austrians. The alternative was to surrender to the British and request political asylum. On 10 July Napoleon sent two emissaries, General Anne Jean Marie René Savary and the Comte de Las Cases, out to HMS Bellerophon to meet Maitland and discuss the possibility of allowing Napoleon to travel to the United States. Maitland was under orders to prevent this, and instead offered to take Napoleon on board his ship and transport him and his retinue to Britain. Further discussions and negotiations took place over the next few days, but with his options running out, Napoleon had decided by 13 July to surrender to the British. On 14 July Maitland was given a letter informing him that Napoleon would come out to Bellerophon the following morning to surrender.

The surrender of Buonaparte on board the Bellerophon, a popular, and somewhat stylised, 1816 print by G. M. Brighty, showing the moment of Napoleon's surrender to Captain Maitland

Napoleon on Board the Bellerophon, exhibited in 1880 by Sir William Quiller Orchardson. Orchardson depicts the morning of 23 July, as Napoleon watches the French shoreline recede. His retinue, from left to right Planat, Montholon, Maingaut, Las Cases, Savary, Lallemand and Bertrand, look on. In the background, Las Cases's son leans over the rail.

1862 – The CSS Arkansas, the most effective ironclad on the Mississippi River, battles with Union ships commanded by Admiral David Farragut, severely damaging three ships and sustaining heavy damage herself. The encounter changed the complexion of warfare on the Mississippi and helped to reverse Rebel fortunes on the river in the summer of 1862.