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

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
8 September1934 – Off the New Jersey coast, a fire aboard the passenger liner SS Morro Castle kills 137 people.


EL Morro Castle was an ocean liner of the 1930s that was built for the Ward Line for voyages between New York City and Havana, Cuba. The ship was named for the Morro Castle fortress that guards the entrance to Havana Bay. On the morning of September 8, 1934, en route from Havana to New York, the ship caught fire and burned, killing 137 passengers and crew members. The ship eventually beached herself near Asbury Park, New Jersey, and remained there for several months until she was towed off and scrapped.

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The devastating fire aboard the TEL Morro Castle was a catalyst for improved shipboard fire safety. Today, the use of fire-retardant materials, automatic fire doors, ship-wide fire alarms, and greater attention to fire drills and procedures resulted directly from the Morro Castle disaster.

Building of TEL Morro Castle
On May 22, 1928, the U.S. Congress passed the Merchant Marine Act of 1928, creating a $250 million construction fund to be lent to U.S. shipping companies to replace old and outdated ships with new ones. Each of these loans, which could subsidize as much as 75% of the cost of the ship, was to be paid back over 20 years at very low interest rates. One company that quickly availed itself of this opportunity was the Ward Line (officially: the New York and Cuba Mail Steam Ship Company), which had been carrying passengers, cargo and mail to and from Cuba since the mid-19th century. Naval architects were hired by the line to design a pair of passenger and cargo liners to be named TEL Morro Castle after the stone fortress and lighthouse in Havana and TEL Oriente after Oriente Province in Cuba.

At the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, work was begun on Morro Castle in January 1929. In March 1930 Morro Castle was christened, followed in May by her sister ship Oriente. Each ship was 508 feet (155 metres) long, measured 11,520 gross register tons (GRT) and had turbo-electric transmission, with General Electric twin turbo generators supplying current to propulsion motors on twin propeller shafts. Each ship was luxuriously finished to accommodate 489 passengers in first and tourist class, along with 240 crew members and officers. The cost of each ship was estimated at about $5 million. In a growing age of passenger ships having cruiser sterns, Morro Castle and Oriente were constructed with the classic counter sterns.

Disaster strikes the TEL Morro Castle
Impending nor'easter
The final voyage of Morro Castle began in Havana on September 5, 1934. On the afternoon of the 6th, as the ship paralleled the southeastern coast of the United States, it began to encounter increasing clouds and wind. By the morning of the 7th, the clouds had thickened and the winds had shifted to easterly, the first indication of a developing nor'easter. Throughout that day, the winds increased and intermittent rains began, causing many to retire early to their berths.

Captain's death
Early that evening, Captain Robert Willmott had his dinner delivered to his quarters. Shortly thereafter, he complained of stomach trouble and, not long after that, died of an apparent heart attack. Command of the ship passed to the Chief Officer, William Warms. During the overnight hours, the winds increased to over 30 miles per hour as the Morro Castle plodded its way up the eastern seaboard.

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TEL Morro Castle on fire, September 8, 1934.

Fire
At around 2:50 a.m. on September 8, while the ship was sailing around eight nautical miles off Long Beach Island, a fire was detected in a storage locker within the First Class Writing Room on B Deck. Within the next 30 minutes, the Morro Castle became engulfed in flames. As the fire grew in intensity, Acting Captain Warms attempted to beach the ship, but the growing need to launch lifeboats and abandon ship forced him to give up this strategy. Within 20 minutes of the fire's discovery (at about 3:10), the fire burned through the ship's main electrical cables, plunging the ship into darkness. As all power was lost, the radio stopped working as well, so that the crew were cut off from radio contact after issuing a single SOS transmission. At about the same time, the wheelhouse lost the ability to steer the ship, as those hydraulic lines were severed by the fire as well.[5]:40 Cut off by the fire amidships, passengers tended to gravitate toward the stern. Most crew members, on the other hand, moved to the forecastle.[5]:48 On the ship, no one could see anything. In many places, the deck boards were hot to the touch, and breathing was challenging in the thick smoke. As conditions grew steadily worse, the decision became either "jump or burn" for many passengers. However, jumping into the water was problematic as well. The sea, whipped by high winds, churned in great waves that made swimming extremely difficult.

On the decks of the burning ship, the crew and passengers exhibited the full range of reactions to the disaster at hand. Some crew members were incredibly brave as they tried to fight the fire. Others tossed deck chairs and life rings overboard to provide persons in the water with makeshift flotation devices.[5]:50

Only six of the ship's 12 lifeboats were launched: boats 1, 3, 5, 9, and 11 on the starboard side, and boat 10 on the port side. Although the combined capacity of these boats was 408, they carried only 85 people, most of them crew members. Many passengers died for lack of knowledge of how to use the life preservers. As they hit the water, life preservers knocked many persons unconscious, leading to subsequent death by drowning, or broke victims' necks from the impact, killing them instantly.

Rescue efforts at sea
The rescuers were slow to react. The first rescue ship to arrive on the scene was the SS Andrea F. Luckenbach. Two other ships—the SS Monarch of Bermuda and the SS City of Savannah—were slow in taking action after receiving the SOS but eventually did arrive on the scene. The fourth ship to participate in the rescue operations was the SS President Cleveland, which launched a motor boat that made a cursory circuit around the Morro Castle and, upon seeing nobody in the water along her route, retrieved her motor boat and left the scene.

The Coast Guard vessels Tampa and Cahoone positioned themselves too far away to see the victims in the water and rendered little assistance. The Coast Guard's aerial station at Cape May, New Jersey, failed to send their float planes until local radio stations started reporting that dead bodies were washing ashore on the New Jersey beaches, from Point Pleasant Beach to Spring Lake.

In time, additional small boats arrived on the scene. The large ocean swells presented a major problem, making it very difficult to see people in the water. A plane piloted by Harry Moore, Governor of New Jersey and Commander of the New Jersey Guard,[clarification needed] helped boats to find survivors and bodies by dipping its wings and dropping markers.

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SS Morro Castle after the fire; photo taken from the seaward end of the Asbury Park Convention Hall pier, November 1934.

Recovery efforts on shore
As telephone calls and radio stations spread news of the disaster along the New Jersey coast, local citizens assembled on the coastline to nurse the wounded, retrieve the dead, and try to unite families that had been scattered among different rescue boats that landed on the New Jersey beaches.

By mid-morning, the ship was totally abandoned and its burning hull drifted ashore, coming to a stop in shallow water off Asbury Park, New Jersey, late that afternoon at almost the exact spot where the New Era had wrecked in 1854. The fires continued to smoulder for the next two days, and in the end, 135 passengers and crew (out of a total of 549) were lost.

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The ship was declared a total loss, and its charred hulk was finally towed away from the Asbury Park shoreline on March 14, 1935. According to one account, it later started settling by the stern and sank while being towed.

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In the intervening months, because of its proximity to the boardwalk and the Asbury Park Convention Hall pier, from which it was possible to wade out and touch the wreck with one's hands, the wreck was treated as a destination for sightseeing trips, complete with stamped penny souvenirs and postcards for sale.[8] (Other accounts have it that the ship was towed to Gravesend Bay on March 14, 1935, after serving as an Asbury Park attraction, and then to Baltimore on the 29th, where it was scrapped.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Morro_Castle_(1930)
https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/ss-morro-castle-burnt-1934/
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
8 September 1943 - Operation Zitronella (Lemon Flavour), also known as Operation Sizilien (Sicily), was an eight-hour German raid on Spitzbergen


Background
During the Second World War, the Svalbard archipelago was the scene of a number of military operations. In August 1941, British, Canadian and Free Norwegian Forces landed on Spitzbergen during Operation Gauntlet. The operation was to destroy the coal industry together with associated equipment and stores. No attempt was made to establish a garrison and the civilian population was evacuated.

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German battleship Tirpitz

In April 1942, a Norwegian force landed at Barentsburg in Operation Fritham, intended to establish a permanent presence in the islands. The operation met considerable difficulties but by the summer of 1943, the Norwegians were well established. Nazi Germany had set up a number of manned meteorological stations in the Arctic to improve weather forecasts, vital for the warfare against Allied convoys from the UK to the USSR. One of the first manned stations, "Knospe", was established in late 1941 in the inner part of Krossfjorden in the main island, commanded by H. R. Knoespel, following the evacuation of the Norwegian and Russian civilians that September.

The Kriegsmarine decided to evacuate the "Knospe" weather station during the summer of 1942, since the ice-free season made it vulnerable to Allied attack. The submarine U-435 (Kapitänleutnant Siegfried Strelow) was ordered to recover the six-man detachment, which it did on 23 August 1942 without Allied interference.

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Action
In September 1943, the German Naval Command decided to destroy the Allied weather stations in the islands. The task force included the battleshipsTirpitz (in her only offensive action) and Scharnhorst, plus nine destroyers (the Narvik class destroyers: Z27, Z29, Z30, Z31, Z33, and the Erich Steinbrinck, Karl Galster, Theodor Riedel, Hans Lody).

On 8 September, the ships landed a battalion of troops, supported by the gunfire of the eight 15-inch guns of Tirpitz and the nine 11-inch guns of Scharnhorst, against two 3-inch guns of the defenders. Gunfire from Scharnhorst put the Norwegian guns out of action. The two 40 mm bofors guns fired about 150 rounds at the German destroyers. The Norwegian survivors fled into the hinterland, using a blazing coal dump for cover as the landing party seized the installations at Barentsburg. The German ships methodically bombarded the buildings on shore and after destroying coal depots and other facilities, the German landing party withdrew. Six Norwegians had been killed, Captain Morten Bredsdorff and 30 others were sent to Oflag XXI-C in Schildberg in the German-annexed Reichsgau Wartheland, joining 1,089 Norwegian officers interned there.[5][6]

Aftermath
Under cover of the attack, the Luftwaffe installed a weather station on Hopen Island. Isolated for months by Nazi Germany's surrender in May 1945, the airmen on Hope Island gave themselves up in September 1945 to the captain of a Norwegian fishing boat. Operation Zitronella/Sizilien was only a qualified success. It brought no lasting benefit, since the Allies quickly returned to Spitzbergen and re-established the weather station. On 19 October, the cruiser USS Tuscaloosa arrived at Barentsburg with relief and reinforcements for the Norwegian garrison.

Evaluation
Samuel Eliot Morison described Operation Zitronella as a political move on the part of the Kriegsmarine, to show Hitler that the German surface fleet had some value. Morison evaluates the effort as disproportionate to the results, suggesting that the same ends could have been achieved more simply.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Zitronella
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 8 September

1656 - Frigate squadron under Vice Ad. Sir Richard Stayner captures two treasure ships of the Spanish plate fleet off Cadiz

1788 - Captain William Bligh discovered the Bounty Islands en route from Spithead to Tahiti and named them after his ship, HMS Bounty, just months before the famous mutiny.

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From Proclamation Island - looking South East.

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

1790 – Launch of French Inconstante at Rochefort
– captured by British Navy 1793. / Charmante class, (32-gun design by Jean-Denis Chevillard, with 26 x 12-pounder and 6 x 6-pounder guns).

1811 HMS Hotspur (36), Cptn. Hon. Joscelin Percy, engaged a number of French vessels near near Calvados, Baie de la Seine , sunk one brig, drove two on shore. She grounded as she came within gun-shot but was got off with assistance from HMS Barbadoes (28), Capt. Edward Rushworh, and HMS Goshawk (16), James Lilburne, after 4 hours under fire from the shore.

1812 HMS Laura cutter (10), Lt. Charles Newton Hunter, captured by French privateer brig Diligent off the Delaware river.

1858 - The sloop-of-war USS Marion captures the American slave ship Brothers off the southeast coast of Africa.

1888 – Launch of Spanish Peral Submarine, Peral was one of the first electric battery-powered submarines, built by the Spanish engineer and sailor Isaac Peral for the Spanish Navy. The first fully capable military submarine,

Peral1888.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peral_Submarine
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
9 September - Birthdays and Days of Death


1629 – Birth of Cornelis Tromp, Dutch general (d. 1691)

Cornelis Maartenszoon Tromp (3 September 1629 – 29 May 1691) was a Dutch naval officer. He was the son of Lieutenant Admiral Maarten Tromp. He became Lieutenant Admiral General in the Dutch Navy and briefly Admiral General in the Danish Navy. He fought in the first three Anglo-Dutch Wars and in the Scanian War.

Character


Tromp at a later age, painted by David van der Plas


Cornelis Tromp

Tromp was a very aggressive squadron commander who personally relished the fight, preferring the direct attack having the weather gage over line-of-battletactics. As a result, he had to change ships often: four times at the Four Days' Battle, three times at Schooneveld and two times at Texel. He was popular with his crews, despite the danger he put them in, because of his easy-going manners and his supporting the cause of the House of Orange against the States regime of Johan de Witt. However, he often treated his fellow officers with contempt, both his equals and superiors. Indeed, he is today infamous for his insubordination, although the two examples most often mentioned in this context, not following De Ruyter on the second day of the Four Days' Battle and chasing the English rear in the St James's Day Fight, seem to have been honest mistakes. He was very jealous of De Ruyter but generally treated him with respect, though he considered him too common. Tromp tried to imitate the lifestyle of the nobility, marrying a rich elderly widow, Margaretha van Raephorst, in 1667. He had no children. At home, without fighting to distract him, Cornelis, or Kees as he was normally called, grew quickly bored and indolent. He had the reputation of being a heavy drinker, so much so that many inns at the time were named after him. An example book for inn signs proposed the following inscription:

IN THE ADMIRAL TROMP
The heaviest drinker that is known
Is Tromp, as he has often shown.
So all real men do gather here,
To likewise fill their mouths with beer.


Tromp was a vain man, having an extremely high opinion of himself, which he never hesitated in sharing with others. He felt that, son of a famous father, he had a natural right to the position of naval hero. During his life he posed as a sitter for at least 22 paintings, a record for the 17th century, many by top artists such as Ferdinand Bol. His art possessions were displayed in his estate, that long after his death was called Trompenburgh, the manor house built in the form of a warship.

As his wider family was among the most fanatical supporters of Orange, he participated in most of their schemes, especially those of his brother-in-law Johan Kievit, a shrewd and unscrupulous intriguer. Tromp however had no great enthusiasm for subtle plotting; later in life he came to regret many of his actions. He died in great mental anguish, convinced he would go to hell as punishment for his crimes.

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


1721 – Birth of Fredrik Henrik af Chapman, Swedish admiral and shipbuilder (d. 1808)

Fredrik Henrik af Chapman (9 September 1721 in Gothenburg – 19 August 1808) was a Swedish shipbuilder, scientist and officer in the Swedish navy. He was also manager of the Karlskrona shipyard 1782-1793. Chapman is credited as the first person to apply scientific methods to shipbuilding and is considered to be the first naval architect.

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Chapman is wearing a Sami (Lappish) jacket and the knight cross of the Order of Sword.

Chapman was the author of Architectura Navalis Mercatoria (1768) and several other shipbuilding-related works. His Tractat om Skepps-Byggeriet ("Treatise on Shipbuilding") published in 1775 is a pioneering work in modern naval architecture. He was the first shipbuilder in Northern Europe to introduce prefabrication in shipyards and managed to produce several series of ships in record time.

He was ennobled as "af Chapman" in 1772, after the successful coup of Swedish king Gustav III.

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Chapman's parabola method.

Architectura Navalis Mercatoria
In 1765 Chapman applied for permission from his work as a chief naval builder for the Archipelago Fleet at the naval base at Sveaborg to work on Architectura Navalis Mercatoria, a collection of contemporary ship types that he considered to be the best and most interesting. The work had been commissioned by Duke Charles, the brother of king Gustav and was published in 1768. The book contained 62 illustrations of ships and smaller vessels, both Swedish and foreign designs. Some of these were Chapman's own designs, but many were also types that he had seen during visits to foreign countries. Everything from large warships to small fishing vessels were represented.

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The 1923 reconstruction of the royal barge Vasaorden (sv), which was originally designed by Chapman in 1774 for Gustav III

The book was intended for an international audience and the text was available in Swedish, French and English. All measurements were given in Swedish, French and English feet. However, it took seven years to finish the accompanying explanatory texts. The charts and the following Tractat om Skepps-byggeriet ("Treatise on shipbuilding") in 1775 launched Chapman as one of the leading experts on ship building in the world.

A further advance in the general theory was made on the appearance in 1775 of a work on the construction of ships by the Swedish Constructor—Admiral Frederick Henry de Chapman. This was translated into French by Vial du Clairbois, 1779, and into English by Dr. Inman, 1820. It contains the first published record of the use of Simpson's rules for approximate quadrature, and the calculations of displacement, centre of buoyancy, and metacentre given in the book closely resemble those made at the present day.​
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fredrik_Henrik_af_Chapman


1754 – Birth of William Bligh, English admiral and politician, 4th Governor of New South Wales (d. 1817)

Vice-Admiral William Bligh FRS (9 September 1754 – 7 December 1817) was an officer of the Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. The Mutiny on the Bounty occurred during his command of HMS Bounty in 1789; after being set adrift in Bounty's launch by the mutineers, Bligh and his loyal men reached Timor, a journey of 3,618 nautical miles (6,701 km; 4,164 mi).

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The mutineers turning Lt Bligh and some of the officers and crew adrift from His Majesty's Ship HMS Bounty. By Robert Dodd

Seventeen years after the Bounty mutiny, on 13 August 1806, he was appointed Governor of New South Wales in Australia, with orders to clean up the corrupt rum trade of the New South Wales Corps. His actions directed against the trade resulted in the so-called Rum Rebellion, during which Bligh was placed under arrest on 26 January 1808 by the New South Wales Corps and deposed from his command, an act which the British Foreign Office later declared to be illegal. He died in Lambeth, London on 7 December 1817.

Bligh's letter to his wife, Betsy
The following is a letter to Bligh's wife, written from Coupang, Timor, Dutch East Indies (circa June 1791), in which the first reference to events on Bounty is made.


William Bligh, pictured in his 1792 account of the mutiny voyage, A Voyage to the South Sea
My Dear, Dear Betsy,
I am now, for the most part, in a part of the world I never expected, it is however a place that has afforded me relief and saved my life, and I have the happiness to assure you that I am now in perfect health....
Know then my own Dear Betsy, that I have lost the Bounty ... on the 28 April at day light in the morning Christian having the morning watch. He with several others came into my Cabin while I was a Sleep, and seizing me, holding naked Bayonets at my Breast, tied my Hands behind my back, and threatened instant destruction if I uttered a word. I however call'd loudly for assistance, but the conspiracy was so well laid that the Officers Cabbin Doors were guarded by Centinels, so Nelson, Peckover, Samuels or the Master could not come to me. I was now dragged on Deck in my Shirt & closely guarded – I demanded of Christian the case of such a violent act, & severely degraded for his Villainy but he could only answer – "not a word sir or you are Dead." I dared him to the act & endeavoured to rally some one to a sense of their duty but to no effect....
The Secrisy of this Mutiny is beyond all conception so that I can not discover that any who are with me had the least knowledge of it. It is unbeknown to me why I must beguile such force. Even Mr. Tom Ellison took such a liking to Otaheite [Tahiti] that he also turned Pirate, so that I have been run down by my own Dogs...
My misfortune I trust will be properly considered by all the World – It was a circumstance I could not foresee – I had not sufficient Officers & had they granted me Marines most likely the affair would never have happened – I had not a Spirited & brave fellow about me & the Mutineers treated them as such. My conduct has been free of blame, & I showed everyone that, tied as I was, I defied every Villain to hurt me...
I know how shocked you will be at this affair but I request of you My Dear Betsy to think nothing of it all is now past & we will again looked forward to future happyness. Nothing but true consciousness as an Officer that I have done well could support me....Give my blessings to my Dear Harriet, my Dear Mary, my Dear Betsy & to my Dear little stranger[14] & tell them I shall soon be home...To You my Love I give all that an affectionate Husband can give –
Love, Respect & all that is or ever will be in the power of your
ever affectionate Friend and Husband Wm Bligh.​
Strictly speaking, the crime of the mutineers (apart from the disciplinary crime of mutiny) was not piracy but barratry, the misappropriation, by those entrusted with its care, of a ship and/or its contents to the detriment of the owner (in this case the British Crown).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Bligh
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
9 September 1000 – Battle of Svolder, Viking Age.


The Battle of Svolder (Svold or Swold) was a naval battle fought in September 999 or 1000 in the western Baltic Sea between King Olaf Tryggvason of Norway and an alliance of his enemies. The backdrop of the battle was the unification of Norway into a single state, long-standing Danish efforts to gain control of the country, and the spread of Christianity in Scandinavia.

King Olaf was sailing home after an expedition to Wendland (Pomerania), when he was ambushed by an alliance of Svein Forkbeard, King of Denmark, Olof Skötkonung (also known as Olaf Eiríksson), King of Sweden, and Eirik Hákonarson, Jarl of Lade. Olaf had only 11 warships in the battle against a fleet of at least 70. His ships were captured one by one, last of all the Ormen Lange, which Jarl Eirik captured as Olaf threw himself into the sea. After the battle, Norway was ruled by the Jarls of Lade as a fief of Denmark and Sweden.

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The Battle of Svolder, at which the Jomsvikings fought with Denmark against Norway, maybe with a swap of allegiance to side with Forkbeard's advantage, of his 400 ships to Tryggvason's 100.

The exact location of the battle is disputed, and depends on which group of sources is preferred: it is only Icelandic sources that place it near a place called Svolder, while Adam of Bremen places it in Øresund.

The most detailed sources on the battle, the kings' sagas, were written approximately two centuries after it took place. Historically unreliable, they offer an extended literary account describing the battle and the events leading up to it in vivid detail. The sagas ascribe the causes of the battle to Olaf Tryggvason's ill-fated marriage proposal to Sigrid the Haughty and his problematic marriage to Thyri, sister of Svein Forkbeard. As the battle starts Olaf is shown dismissing the Danish and Swedish fleets with ethnic insults and bravado while admitting that Eirik Hákonarson and his men are dangerous because "they are Norwegians like us". The best known episode in the battle is the breaking of Einarr Þambarskelfir's bow, which heralds Olaf's defeat.

In later centuries, the saga descriptions of the battle, especially that in Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla, have inspired a number of ballads and other works of literature.

The battle is joined

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The chaotic nature of a sea battle is shown in Peter Nicolai Arbo's Svolder painting.
See also: Naval tactics in the Age of Galleys

The disposition adopted in the battle was one which recurs in many sea-fights of the Middle Ages where a fleet had to fight on the defensive.[43] Olaf lashed his ships side to side, with his own, the Long Serpent, in the middle of the line, where her bows projected beyond the others. The advantages of this arrangement were that it left all hands free to fight, that a barrier could be formed with the oars and yards, and that it limited the enemy's ability to make its superior numbers count. The Long Serpent was the longest ship and so also the tallest—another advantage to the defenders, who could rain down arrows, javelins and other missiles while the enemy would have to shoot upwards. Olaf, in effect, turned his eleven ships into a floating fort.

The sagas give all the credit to the Norwegians, praising Eirik Hákonarson for any intelligence and for most of the valour shown by Olaf Tryggvason's opponents. The Danes and Swedes rush at the front of Olaf's line and are repulsed, suffering heavy casualties and loss of ships. Jarl Eirik attacks the flank and forces his vessel, the Iron Ram, up against the last ship of Olaf's line, which he clears with a fierce attack and then proceeds onto the next ship. In this way, Olaf's ships were cleared one by one, till the Long Serpent alone was left.

Einarr Þambarskelfir

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Einarr Þambarskelfir tries the king's bow and finds it too weak.

One of the best known episodes from the battle involves Einarr Þambarskelfir, an archer in King Olaf's fleet who later became a cunning politician. Heimskringla describes his attempt at killing Jarl Eirik and saving the day for Olaf:

Einar shot an arrow at Earl Eirik, which hit the tiller end just above the earl's head so hard that it entered the wood up to the arrow-shaft. The earl looked that way, and asked if they knew who had shot; and at the same moment another arrow flew between his hand and his side, and into the stuffing of the chief's stool, so that the barb stood far out on the other side. Then said the earl to a man called Fin, -- but some say he was of Fin (Laplander) race, and was a superior archer, -- "Shoot that tall man by the mast." Fin shot; and the arrow hit the middle of Einar's bow just at the moment that Einar was drawing it, and the bow was split in two parts.
"What is that", cried King Olaf, "that broke with such a noise?"
"Norway, king, from thy hands," cried Einar.
"No! not quite so much as that," says the king; "take my bow, and shoot," flinging the bow to him.
Einarr took the bow, and drew it over the head of the arrow. "Too weak, too weak," said he, "for the bow of a mighty king!" and, throwing the bow aside, he took sword and shield, and fought valiantly.​
The same story is found in Gesta Danorum, though there Einarr is aiming at Svein, rather than Eirik.

King Olaf's death

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In the final stage of the battle, Eirik and his men board the Long Serpent.

At last, the Long Serpent is overpowered and Olaf Tryggvason defeated. The Danish sources report that when all was lost he committed suicide by throwing himself into the sea, "the end befitting his life", according to Adam of Bremen. Saxo Grammaticus says that Olaf preferred suicide to death at the hands of the enemy and jumped overboard in full armour rather than see his foes victorious. The Norwegian and Icelandic accounts are more complex and more favourable to Olaf. Hallfreðr's memorial poem for his lord had already alluded to rumours that Olaf escaped death at Svolder. The sagas offer a variety of possibilities. Ágripreports:

"But of the fall of King Óláfr nothing was known. It was seen that as the fighting lessened he stood, still alive, on the high-deck astern on the Long Serpent, which had thirty-two rowing places. But when Eiríkr went to the stern of the ship in search of the king, a light flashed before him as though it were lightning, and when the light disappeared, the king himself was gone."​
Other sagas suggest that one way or another Olaf made his way to the shore; perhaps by swimming, perhaps with the help of angels, most likely rescued by one of the Wendish ships present. After his escape, Olaf supposedly sought salvation for his soul abroad, perhaps joining a monastery. Mesta describes a series of "sightings" of him in the Holy Land, the last in the 1040s.

King Olaf, like Charlemagne, Frederick Barbarossa and Sebastian of Portugal, is one of those legendary heroic figures whose return was looked for by the people, their deaths never completely accepted.[37] (See King in the mountain.)

Aftermath

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Division of Norway after the Battle of Svolder according to the Heimskringla.

After the Battle of Svolder, the victorious leaders split Norway into areas of control. Heimskringla gives the most detailed account of the division, describing it as threefold. Olaf the Swede received four districts in Trondheim as well as Møre, Romsdal and Rånrike. He gave these to Jarl Svein Hákonarson, his son in law, to hold as a vassal. Svein Forkbeard gained possession of the Viken district, where Danish influence had long been strong. The rest of Norway was ruled by Eirik Hákonarson as Svein's vassal. Fagrskinna, in contrast, says that the Swedish part consisted of Oppland and a part of Trondheim. Other sources are less specific.

The Jarls Eirik and Svein proved strong, competent rulers, and their reign was prosperous. Most sources say that they adopted Christianity but allowed the people religious freedom, leading to a backlash against Christianity which undid much of Olaf Tryggvason's missionary work.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Svolder
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
9 September 1763 – Launch of HMS Solebay, a Mermaid-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy


which saw active service between 1766 and 1782, during the latter part of the Seven Years' War and throughout the American Revolutionary War. After a successful career in which she captured seven enemy vessels, she was wrecked ashore on the Caribbean Island of Nevis.

Construction


Sir Thomas Slade, naval architect for Solebayin 1760

Solebay was one of three Royal Navy vessels designed according to a 1760 schematic drawn up by Sir Thomas Slade, a naval architect and newly appointed Surveyor of the Navy. Slade had been impressed with the sailing qualities of a captured French vessel, Abénaquise, and used this vessel as his template for Solebay with modifications to incorporate a heavier hull and better sailing qualities in poor weather. His plans for the new 28-gun sixth-rate were approved by Admiralty on 30 January 1762. At the time, the Royal Dockyards were fully engaged in maintaining and fitting-out the Navy's ships of the line. Consequently, the contracts for Solebay were issued to a private shipyard, Thomas Airey and Company of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, with a requirement that the vessel be completed within 14 months at a cost of £9.3s per ton burthen.

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Scale 1:48. Plan showing the sheer lines, including one water line, for Hussar (1763) and later for Soleby (1763), both 28-gun, Fifth Rate Frigates. Annotation on the reverse: "A Copy of this Draft with the Body the same of the Mermaid was given to Mr Robt Inwood for Building a 28 Gun Ship agreeable there to 20th Marech 1762-Named the Hussar. Another of these Dat was given to Mr Thos Airey & Co for Building a 28 Gun Ship at Newcastle upon Tyne 10th April 1762~ Named the Solebay."
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/83107.html#gFIgLFKiGAtdGmij.99


Solebay's keel was laid down on 10 May 1762 and work proceeded swiftly with the vessel ready to be launched by 9 September 1763, just outside Admiralty's stipulated construction time. As built, Solebay was 124 ft 0 in (37.8 m) long with a 102 ft 8.5 in (31.3 m) keel, a narrow beam of 33 ft 8 in (10.26 m), and a hold depth of 11 ft 6 in (3.5 m). She measured 619 4⁄94 tons burthen. Construction and fit-out cost £9,979.7s, including provision of 24 nine-pounder cannons located along her gun deck, supported by four three-pounder cannons on the quarterdeck and twelve 1⁄2-pounder swivel guns ranged along her sides.

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Scale 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines and longitudinal half breadth as proposed and approved for Mermaid (1761), a 28-gun, Fifth Rate Frigate, for building at Hull by Mr Blaydes, and later for Hussar (1763) and Soleby (1763), also 28-gun, Fifth Rate Frigates, similar to the French Aurora (Abienakise 1757). The sheer was altered for these two ships. Annotation on the reverse: "A copy of this Draught was given to Messers Hugh & Beris Blaydes for building a ship agreeable there to May 1760 Named the Mermaid. Another Copy of this Body & Lines with the sheer part agreeable to another Draught a little alter'd there to 20th March 1762 - Nam'd the Hussar. Another of the same as above was given to Mr Thos Airey & Co for Building the ship agreeable there to at Newcastle upon Tyne 10th April 1762 - Named the - Solebay."
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/83099.html#SPIsVwZrSLyZlgiS.99


She was named on 30 April 1763 after Sole Bay in Southwold in Suffolk. In selecting her name the Board of Admiralty continued a tradition dating to 1644, of using prominent geographic features; Sole Bay having been the site of a naval engagement between the English and the Dutch in 1672. 17. Her designated complement was 200, comprising two commissioned officers – a captain and a lieutenant – overseeing 40 warrant and petty officers, 91 naval ratings, 38 Marines and 29 servants and other ranks. Among these other ranks were four positions reserved for widow's men – fictitious crew members whose pay was intended to be reallocated to the families of sailors who died at sea.

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Scale: 1:96. Plan showing the upper deck, lower deck, and fore & aft platforms for Solebay (1763), a 28-gun Sixth Rate Frigate, as taken off at Portsmouth Dockyard. Signed by Thomas Bucknall [Master Shipwright, Portsmouth Dockyard, 1762-1772].
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/83230.html#wpXmgUC3fFtGmC72.99


Career
Solebay commissioned in August 1763 under Captain William Hay. In 1777-78 the vessel was used as a floating prison for John McKinly, the first President of Delaware, who was captured by the British Army after the Battle of Brandywine.


The Mermaid-class frigates were a group of six 28-gun sailing frigates of the sixth rate designed in 1760 by Sir Thomas Slade, based on the scaled-down lines of HMS Aurora (originally a French prize, L'Abénaquise, which had been captured in 1757).

The contract for the prototype was agreed on 12 May 1760, for a ship to be launched within twelve months, and her name was assigned as Mermaid on 28 October 1760. The contract for the second ship was agreed on 10 March 1762, for a ship to be launched within thirteen months, and the contract for the third ship was agreed on 2 April 1762, for a ship to be launched within fourteen months; both names were assigned on 30 April 1763.

Some ten years after the design was first produced, it was re-used for a second batch of three ships which were ordered on Christmas Day, 1770. While the design differences from the first batch were minor (the keel was a few inches longer), the second batch were normally designated the Modified Mermaid class.

Ships in class
First batch
  • HMS Mermaid
    • Ordered: 24 April 1760
    • Built by: Hugh Blaydes, Hull.
    • Keel laid: 27 May 1760
    • Launched: 6 May 1761
    • Completed: September 1761 at the builder's yard.
    • Fate: Run ashore to avoid capture by the French 8 July 1778.
  • HMS Hussar
    • Ordered: 30 January 1762
    • Built by: Thomas Inwood, Rotherhithe.
    • Keel laid: 1 April 1762
    • Launched: 26 August 1763
    • Completed: 7 November 1763 at Deptford Dockyard.
    • Fate: Wrecked in Hell's Gate passage, New York, on 24 November 1779.
1920px-Hussar_(1763)_RMG_J6378.png
Hussar (1763) Scale 1:48. Plan showing the Inboard profile plan as proposed for Hussar (1763), a 28-gun, Fifth Rate Frigate, building at Rotherhite by Mr.Robert Inwood. Initialled T.S. [Thomas Salde, Surveyor of the Navy, 1755-1771] HUSSAR 1763
  • HMS Solebay
    • Ordered 30 January 1762
    • Built by: Thomas Airey & Company, Newcastle.
    • Keel laid: 10 May 1762
    • Launched: 9 September 1763
    • Completed: December 1763 at the builder's yard, then 2 January to 15 March 1764 at Sheerness Dockyard.
    • Fate: Wrecked off Nevis Island and burnt to avoid capture 25 January 1782.
Second batch
  • HMS Greyhound
    • Ordered: 25 December 1770
    • Built by: Henry Adams, Bucklers Hard.
    • Keel laid: February 1771
    • Launched: 20 July 1773
    • Completed: October 1775 to 9 January 1776 at Portsmouth Dockyard.
    • Fate: Wrecked off Deal 16 August 1781.
  • HMS Triton
    • Ordered: 25 December 1770
    • Built by: Henry Adams, Bucklers Hard.
    • Keel laid: February 1771
    • Launched: 1 October 1773
    • Completed: 15 October 1773 to 4 November 1775 at Portsmouth Dockyard.
    • Fate: Taken to pieces at Deptford Dockyard in January 1796.
  • HMS Boreas
    • Ordered: 25 December 1770
    • Built by: Hugh Blaydes & Hodgson, Hull.
    • Keel laid: May 1771
    • Launched: 23 August 1774
    • Completed: 13 September 1774 to 23 October 1775 at Chatham Dockyard.
    • Fate: Sold at Sheerness Dockyard May 1802.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Solebay_(1763)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mermaid-class_frigate
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
9 September 1780 – Launch of French Sceptre, a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.


In 1781 and 1782, she took part in the naval operations in the American Revolutionary War, under Admiral de Grasse. She fought at the Battle of the Chesapeake and at the Battle of the Saintes. In August, Sceptre, Astrée, and Engageante, under La Pérouse, raided several English fur trading posts during the Hudson Bay Expedition, including Fort Prince of Wales. In 1783, she was decommissioned in Brest.

On 29 September 1792, she was renamed Convention. She took part in the battle of the Glorious First of June in 1794, engaging HMS Caesar and Bellerophon. She later took part in the Croisière du Grand Hiver winter campaign of 1794-1795, the Expédition d'Irlande of December 1796, and the Bruix' expedition of 1799.

In August 1800, she was renamed Marengo, and was condemned in 1802. She was used as a prison hulk in Brest before being broken up in 1811.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Sceptre_(1780)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
9 September 1796 - The Action of 9 September 1796


was an inconclusive minor naval engagement between small French Navy and British Royal Navy squadrons off northeastern Sumatra, near Banda Aceh, during the French Revolutionary Wars. The French squadron comprised six frigates engaged on a commerce raiding operation against British trade routes passing through captured parts of the Dutch East Indies, and posed a considerable threat to the weakened British naval forces in the region. The British force consisted of two 74-gun ships of the line hastily paired to oppose the eastward advance of the French squadron.

The French squadron, commanded by Contre-amiral Pierre César Charles de Sercey, had left their base on Île de France in July, cruising off Ceylon and Tranquebar before sailing eastwards. Their movements had so far been unopposed as British forces in the East Indies were concentrated at Simon's Town in the west and Malacca in the east. After raiding the shipping at Banda Aceh on 1 September the squadron sailed eastwards to attack Penang. On 8 September, while the French were removing supplies from a captured British merchant ship east of Banda Aceh, two large sails were spotted. These were HMS Arrogant and HMS Victorious, sent to drive off the French before they could attack the scattered British shipping and ports in the region.

Although the British ships were substantially larger than any individual French vessel, the frigates were more numerous and more manoeuvrable. Neither side could afford to take significant damage in the battle, so each sought to drive the other off rather than achieve an outright victory. On 9 September Sercey's frigates formed a line of battle, successfully engaging first Arrogant and then Victorious and inflicting damage on each while preventing them from supporting one another. The French frigates, particularly Vertu and Seine, also suffered and by late morning both sides disengaged, the British retiring to Madras for repairs while Sercey anchored at King's Island in the Mergui Archipelago, eventually sheltering in Batavia.

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Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with quarter gallery decorations, and longitudinal half-breadth proposed for 'Defence (1763), Kent' (1762), 'Cornwall' (1761), and 'Arrogant' (1761), all 74-gun Third Rate, two deckers. Signed by Thomas Slade

Background
At the start of 1796 French and allied forces had been almost completely driven from the Indian Ocean, most of the colonies of the French-allied Batavian Republic falling to British invasions during 1795. The only significant French presence was on Île de France and a few other nearby islands, from which a squadron of two frigates periodically operated against British trade. The British were so confident of supremacy that they had split their forces, with a large squadron based at Simon's Town in the Cape Colony of Southern Africa under Sir George Keith Elphinstone and a smaller dispersed force operating under Peter Rainier in the Dutch East Indies, based at the captured port of Malacca. The important trading ports of Calcutta, Madras and Bombay were largely undefended, as were the valuable trade routes which supported them.

On 4 March 1796 significant French reinforcements were dispatched when a squadron of four frigates and two corvettes sailed from Rochefort under the command of Contre-amiral Pierre César Charles de Sercey. Both corvettes were lost before the squadron had left the Bay of Biscay and frigate Cocarde forced to return to port after running aground. After resupplying at La Palma and joining with replacement frigate Vertu, the squadron enjoyed unimpeded progress, seizing several British and Portuguese ships, including two Indiamen in the South Atlantic and Western Indian Ocean. The squadron had not been dispatched primarily to increase the French military presence in the East Indies, but rather to enforce the National Convention's decree that Île de France abolish slavery. The agricultural economy of the island depended on slavery to remain profitable, and the colonial committee had simply ignored the decree when it first arrived in 1795. The matter was then taken up by the Committee for Public Safety, which sent agents Baco and Burnel to ensure the ruling was carried out, supported by 800 soldiers under General François-Louis Magallon.

On arrival at Port Louis on 18 June, the agents were confronted by a large body of heavily armed militia opposed to the abolition of slavery. Although they ordered Magallon to attack the islanders, the general refused and the agents were sent back to sea in a small corvette, eventually returning to Europe. Sercey remained in the East Indies, refitting his ships and joining his squadron to that already at Île de France. This force he divided, sending Preneuse and a corvette to patrol the Mozambique Channel. The remaining six frigates, comprising Vertu, Régénérée, Forte, Seine, Prudente and Cybèle, with the privateer schooner Alerte, Sercey took eastwards on 14 July, towards the Bay of Bengal.

Sercey was unaware of how scattered British forces were in the region, and sent Alerte to scout ahead after the squadron arrived off Ceylon. Captain Drieu of Alerte made the miscalculation of attacking a ship on 14 August which turned out to be the 28-gun British dispatch frigate HMS Carysfort, and on board Alerte the British captors discovered documents revealing the exact extent of Sercey's strength and intentions. Carysfort's captain was unable to warn any allied ships as his small frigate was the only British warship in the Bay of Bengal, and so he instead arranged for false information to be passed to Sercey regarding a fictional British battle squadron at Madras. This was sufficient to deter Sercey from lingering in the area, and after a raiding sweep along the coast to Tranquebar his squadron sailed eastwards once more.

On 1 September Sercey raided Banda Aceh, capturing a number of merchant ships and on 7 September seized the small merchant ship Favourite off the northeastern coast of Sumatra en route to attack the British port of Penang. The following morning, as his squadron transferred rice from the prize, two large sails appeared in the distance to the northeast. These sails belonged to the 74-gun British ships of the line HMS Arrogant under Captain Richard Lucas and HMS Victorious under Captain William Clark. These ships had been sent to the East Indies from the Cape at the start of August on orders from Elphinstone and were engaged in protecting British trade with China. When news reached Penang that Sercey was in the region, Lucas ordered Clark to join him in a search for the French in the Straits of Malacca.

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Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the framing profile (disposition) for 'Venerable' (1784) and 'Victorious' (1785), both 74-gun Third Rate two-deckers building at blackwall by Mr John Perry & Co. Signed by John Williams [Surveyor of the Navy, 1765-1784], and Edward Hunt

Battle
Lucas first sighted the French at 06:00 on 8 September, approximately 24 nautical miles (44 km) east of Point Pedro, the northeastern tip of Sumatra. By 10:00 Sercey had determined that the new arrivals were probably hostile and formed his frigates into a line of battle, tacking to investigate. Lucas and Clark conferred at 14:00, Clark believing that two of the ships were French ships of the line while Lucas correctly insisted that they were six frigates, accompanied by the captured East Indiaman Triton. The captains agreed to pursue the French and bring them to battle when possible. At 14:30, Fortedetermined that the approaching ships were British ships of the line and Sercey turned away, unwilling to risk suffering severe damage in a pointless engagement with two such powerful opponents. Sercey's squadron attempted to seek shelter in coastal waters, closely pursued by Lucas' ships; by 21:30 the British were just 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) behind the French.

By the morning of 9 September the wind had dropped and the French frigates were sailing in line slowly eastwards along the northern coast of Sumatra, the British ships close behind. With battle inevitable, Sercey gave orders at 06:00 for his line to put about and seize the weather gage while Lucas led Arrogant on a path to intercept. At 07:25 Lucas opened fire on the lead French ship Vertu at the range of 700 yards (640 m). The British ship was able to fire two broadsides before Captain Lhermitte on Vertu could reply, the first French volley snatching away the ensign. Arrogant then progressively came under fire from the whole French line, as Seine, Forte and Cybèle passed, the more distant Régénéree and Prudente joining the fusillade. During this exchange of fire both Arrogant and Vertu suffered damage to their sails and rigging, the Arrogant temporarily unmaneuverable as the winds dropped almost completely.

Victorious was also hit, Captain Clark forced to retire wounded after being struck in the thigh by debris at 08:00. At 08:30 the rearmost French ship, Prudente, passed out of range of Arrogant leaving the ship isolated. With Lucas unable to participate, Lieutenant William Waller on Victorious assumed command and ordered his ship to engage the French at 08:40, a string of signal flags hoisted on Arrogant unreadable in the light winds. Victorious was soon surrounded by the French, with two frigates on the port bow and four on the port beam, all firing into the ship of the line from approximately 900 yards (820 m). By 10:15, when the wind suddenly returned, Victorious had been badly damaged. Using the wind to turn towards the distant Arrogant, Waller exposed his ship's stern and was repeatedly raked. The winds remained unreliable, and Victorious took further damage for the next half-hour, the French ships remaining outside the arcs of fire from the British ship.

The damage Vertu had taken early in the combat rendered Lhermitte unable to continue the action, and his ship gradually fell out of the line to the south. Captain Pierre Julien Tréhouart turned Cybèle away too, using sweeps to reach Vertu and take the ship under tow. With Vertu secured and Arrogant slowly coming back into range, Sercey ordered his squadron to turn away to the north at 10:55, the last shots fired at long range from Victorious at 11:15.

Combatant summary

HMS Arrogant
HMS Victorious

Vertu
Seine -
Captain Latour
Forte
Cybèle
Régénérée
Prudente


Aftermath
Losses on both sides were heavy. Arrogant had been damaged early in the battle and lost seven killed and 27 wounded while Victorious which bore the brunt of the French attack, suffered 17 killed and 57 wounded, the latter including Clark. Neither British ship was in sufficient repair to continue the engagement; Arrogant had several cannon dismounted and her sail's and rigging were tattered. Victorious was less badly damaged, but had more than one in five of the crew unfit for duty. All of the French ships suffered damage and casualties, although Régénérée reported no losses in the aftermath. Vertu was damaged early on and took 24 casualties, Seine was hit by heavy fire later in the battle and lost 62 dead and wounded, with the captain among the former. The remainder of the squadron suffered lighter losses, with 12 on Prudente, 17 on Cybèle and 23 on Forte.

Lucas and Clark remained off Sumatra until basic repairs could be completed before Arrogant then took Victorious under tow, leading the damaged ship back to Penang and then Madras for repairs, arriving on 6 October. Sercey abandoned plans for an attack on Penang and sailed northwards to King's Island in the Mergui Archipelago. There his ships underwent extensive repairs, some even replacing their lower masts. In October the squadron swept eastwards to the Ceylon coast before turning back west towards Batavia, where Sercey hoped the supply depots would provide more support than those on Île de France. The squadron remained at Batavia throughout the winter, ceding control of the Indian Ocean trade routes to the British.

The action has been described as inconclusive by British historian C. Northcote Parkinson as neither side could achieve a decisive result. Parkinson is also scathing of his criticism of both Clark and Waller, accusing them of failing to properly to prepare for battle or effectively manoeuvere their ship under fire. During the battle neither side had actually sought a decisive result, both unwilling to risk damage which would jeopardise their mission. Sercey's orders were to raid British trade routes, not to engage heavy warships and suffer the consequent damage: the battle severely curtailed his opportunities to prey on British merchant shipping in the East Indies during 1796. Lucas sought to block Sercey's passage through the Malacca Straits, but was aware that his ships, though large and powerful, were outnumbered and outgunned in the engagement, particularly given the size of the main French line, composed of ships with batteries of 18-pounder long guns and including Forte, one of the most massive frigates then at sea. William James considers that had the winds been more favourable Lucas might have been able to cut off and capture at least two French frigates, but had Sercey attempted a boarding action against the ships of the line his more numerous crews would probably have successfully seized them.


HMS Arrogant was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 22 January 1761 at Harwich. She was the first of the Arrogantclass ships of the line, designed by Sir Thomas Slade.
She took part in the Action of 8 September 1796 and in January 1799 was with the British squadron at the defence of Macau during the Macau Incident.
By 1804 she had been converted to a hulk at Bombay where she served as a receiving ship, sheer hulk, and floating battery. In 1810 she was condemned as unfit for further service. She was sold out of service in 1810

HMS Victorious was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Blackwall Yard, London on 27 April 1785. She was the first ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name.
In April 1795, Victorious ran aground on the Shipwash Sand, in the North Sea off the coast of Suffolk and was dismasted.
During the month of February 1796, Victorious encountered and captured the French privateer brig Hasard, formerly the British pilot ship Cartier, which was returning to Île de France (Mauritius) with a 10-man crew after having captured the East Indiaman Triton.
She took part in the Action of 8 September 1796.
Victorious participated in the capture of the Dutch colony of Cape Town, in which an invasion had been caused due to fears of France's expansion across the world. Britain seized the strategic Cape Town and thus secured the nation its routes to the East. The rest of her career was spent in the warm climates of the East Indies, patrolling the vast waters in that region.
In 1801 Captain Pulteney Malcolm took command as Victorous served as flagship for Admiral Peter Rainier.
Fate
On her homeward passage from the East Indies in 1803, Victorious proved exceedingly leaky. When she met with heavy weather in the North Atlantic, her crew had difficulty keeping her afloat till she reached the Tagus, where she was run ashore. Malcolm, with the officers and crew, returned to England in two vessels that he chartered at Lisbon. She was condemned and then broken up in August at Lisbon.

Vertu was a 40-gun French frigate designed by engineer Segondat. She served in Sercey's squadron in the Indian Ocean, and in Saint-Domingue. She was captured by the Royal Navy at the end of the Blockade of Saint-Domingue when the island surrendered to the British. After her capture the Navy sailed her to Britain but never commissioned her, and finally sold her in 1810.

Seine was a 38-gun French Seine-class frigate that the Royal Navy captured in 1798 and commissioned as the fifth rate HMS Seine. On 20 August 1800, Seine captured the French ship Vengeance in a single ship action that would win for her crew the Naval General Service Medal. Seine's career ended in 1803 when she hit a sandbank near the Texel.

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A Representation of the Jason 38 guns, capturing the La Seine a French Frigate of 42 Guns near the Penmark Rocks, June 30th 1798 (PAF4693)

Forte was a French 42-gun frigate, lead ship of her class.

Cybèle was an Nymphe class 40-gun frigate of the French Navy.

Régénérée was a 40-gun Cocarde-class frigate of the French Navy. The British captured her in 1801 at the fall of Alexandria, named her HMS Alexandria, sailed her back to Britain, but never commissioned her. She was broken up in 1804.

HMS_Brilliant_(1779)_beating_off_two_French_frigates.jpg
Battle of Régénérée and Vertu against HMS Brilliant

The Prudente was a 32-gun Capricieuse-class frigate of the French Navy.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_9_September_1796
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
9 September 1943 – Sinking of Italian battleship Roma by airbomb


Roma named after two previous ships and the city of Rome, was the fourth Vittorio Veneto-class battleship of Italy's Regia Marina (Royal Navy). The construction of both Roma and her sister ship Impero was due to rising tensions around the world and the navy's fear that only two Vittorio Venetos, even in company with older pre-First World War battleships, would not be enough to counter the British and French Mediterranean Fleets. As Roma was laid down almost four years after the first two ships of the class, some small improvements were made to the design, including additional freeboard added to the bow.

1280px-Battleship_Roma.jpg

Roma was commissioned into the Regia Marina on 14 June 1942, but a severe fuel shortage in Italy at that time prevented her from being deployed; instead, along with her sister ships Vittorio Veneto and Littorio, she was used to bolster the anti-aircraft defenses of various Italian cities. In this role, she was severely damaged twice in June 1943, from bomber raids on La Spezia. After repairs in Genoa through all of July and part of August, Roma was deployed as the flagship of Admiral Carlo Bergamini in a large battle group that eventually comprised the three Vittorio Venetos, eight cruisers and eight destroyers. The battle group was scheduled to attack the Allied ships approaching Salerno to invade Italy (Operation "Avalanche") on 9 September 1943, but the news of the 8 September 1943 armistice with the Allies led to the operation being cancelled. The Italian fleet was instead ordered to sail to La Maddalena (Sardinia) and subsequently to Malta to surrender to the Allies.

While the force was in the Strait of Bonifacio, Dornier Do 217s of the German Luftwaffe's specialist wing KG 100—armed with Fritz X radio-controlled bombs—sighted the force. The first attack failed, but the second dealt Italia (ex-Littorio) and Roma much damage. The hit on Roma caused water to flood two boiler rooms and the after engine room, leaving the ship to limp along with two propellers, reduced power, and arc-induced fires in the stern of the ship. Shortly thereafter, another bomb slammed into the ship and detonated within the forward engine room, causing catastrophic flooding and the explosion of the #2 main turret's magazines, throwing the turret itself into the sea. Sinking by the bow and listing to starboard, Roma capsized and broke in two, carrying 1,393 men—including Bergamini—down with her.


Background
For additional information, see Littorio-class battleship
The Italian leader Benito Mussolini did not authorize any large naval rearmament until 1933. Once he did, two old battleships of the Conte di Cavour classwere sent to be modernized in the same year, and Vittorio Veneto and Littorio were laid down in 1934. In May 1935, the Italian Naval Ministry began preparing for a five-year naval building program that would include four battleships, three aircraft carriers, four cruisers, fifty-four submarines, and forty smaller ships. In December 1935, Admiral Domenico Cavagnari proposed to Mussolini that, among other things, two more battleships of the Littorio class be built to attempt to counter a possible Franco-British alliance—if the two countries combined forces, they would easily outnumber the Italian fleet. Mussolini postponed his decision, but later authorized planning for the two ships in January 1937. In December, they were approved and money was allocated for them; they were named Roma and Impero ("Empire").

Laid down nearly four years after Vittorio Veneto and Littorio, Roma was able to incorporate a few design improvements. Her bow was noticeably redesigned to give Roma additional freeboard; partway into construction, it was modified on the basis of experience with Vittorio Veneto so that it had had a finer end at the waterline. She was also equipped with thirty-two rather than twenty-four 20 mm (0.79 in)/65 caliber Breda guns.

Description
Main article: Littorio-class battleship

Roma56.jpg
CG rendering of Roma

Roma was 240.68 meters (789.6 ft) long overall and had a beam of 32.82 m (107.7 ft) and a draft of 9.6 m (31 ft). She was designed with a standard displacement of 40,992 long tons (41,650 t), a violation of the 35,000-long-ton (36,000 t) restriction of the Washington Naval Treaty; at full combat loading, she displaced 45,485 long tons (46,215 t). The ship was powered by four Belluzo geared steam turbines rated at 128,000 shaft horsepower (95,000 kW). Steam was provided by eight oil-fired Yarrow boilers. The engines provided a top speed of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) and a range of 3,920 mi (6,310 km; 3,410 nmi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph). Roma had a crew of 1,830 to 1,950 if she had been completed.

Roma's main armament consisted of nine 381-millimeter (15.0 in) 50-caliber Model 1934 guns in three triple turrets; two turrets were placed forward in a superfiring arrangement and the third was located aft. Her secondary anti-surface armament consisted of twelve 152 mm (6.0 in) /55 Model 1934/35 guns in four triple turrets amidships. These were supplemented by four 120 mm (4.7 in) /40 Model 1891/92 guns in single mounts; these guns were old weapons and were primarily intended to fire star shells. Roma was equipped with an anti-aircraft battery that comprised twelve 90 mm (3.5 in) /50 Model 1938 guns in single mounts, twenty 37 mm (1.5 in)/54 guns in eight twin and four single mounts, and sixteen 20 mm (0.79 in) /65 guns in eight twin mounts.

The ship was protected by a main armored belt that was 280 mm (11 in) with a second layer of steel that was 70 mm (2.8 in) thick. The main deck was 162 mm (6.4 in) thick in the central area of the ship and reduced to 45 mm (1.8 in) in less critical areas. The main battery turrets were 350 mm (14 in) thick and the lower turret structure was housed in barbettes that were also 350 mm thick. The secondary turrets had 280 mm thick faces and the conning tower had 260 mm (10 in) thick sides. Roma was fitted with a catapult on her stern and equipped with three IMAM Ro.43 reconnaissance float planes or Reggiane Re.2000 fighters.

Service history

RN_Roma_at_launch_on_June_9th_1940_(1).jpg
Roma being launched, June 9, 1940

Roma's keel was laid by the Italian shipbuilder Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico on 18 September 1938, and she was launched on 9 June 1940. After just over two years of fitting-out, the new battleship was commissioned into the Regia Marina on 14 June 1942. She arrived in the major naval base of Taranto on 21 August, and was assigned to the Ninth Naval Division. Although Roma took part in training exercises and was moved to various bases including Taranto, Naples, and La Spezia, in the next year, she did not go on any combat missions as the Italian Navy was desperately short of fuel. In fact, by the end of 1942, the only combat-ready battleships in the navy were the three Vittorio Venetos because the fuel shortage had caused the four modernized battleships to be removed from service. When combined with a lack of capable vessels to escort the capital ships, the combat potential of the Italian Navy was virtually non-existent.

Roma and her two sisters were moved from Taranto to Naples, on 12 November, in response to the Allied invasion of North Africa; while en route, the three battleships were attacked by the British submarine HMS Umbra, though no hits were made. On 4 December, the United States launched a major air raid on Naples in an attempt to destroy the Italian fleet; one cruiser was destroyed and two others were damaged in the attack, as were four destroyers. Two days later, Roma was transferred with Vittorio Veneto and Littorio to La Spezia, where she became the flagship of the Regia Marina. They remained here through the first half of 1943, without going on any operations.

During this time, La Spezia was attacked many times by Allied bomber groups. Attacks on 14 and 19 April 1943, did not hit Roma, but an American raid on 5 June, severely damaged both Vittorio Veneto and Roma. B-17 aircraft carrying 908 kg (2,002 lb) armor-piercing bombs damaged the stationary battleships with two bombs each. Roma suffered from two near hits on either side of her bow. The starboard-side bomb hit the ship but passed through the side of the hull before exploding. The ship began taking on water through leaks from frames 221 to 226—an area covering about 32 square feet (3.0 m2)—and through flooding from the bow to frame 212. The second bomb missed but exploded in the water near the hull. Leaks were discovered over a 30 sq ft (2.8 m2) area ranging from frames 198 and 207. Approximately 2,350 long tons (2,630 short tons; 2,390 t) of water entered the ship.

Roma was damaged again by two bombs in another raid on 23–24 June. One hit the ship aft and to starboard of the rear main battery turret and obliterated several staterooms, which were promptly flooded from broken piping. The second landed atop the rear turret itself, but little damage was suffered due to the heavy armor in that location. This attack did not seriously damage Roma or cause any flooding, but she nevertheless sailed to Genoa for repairs. Roma reached the city on 1 July, and returned to La Spezia, on 13 August, once repairs were complete.

Loss

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Roma underway

Along with many of the principal units of the Italian fleet—including Vittorio Veneto and Italia (the ex-Littorio)—the cruisers Eugenio di Savoia, Raimondo Montecuccoli, and Emanuele Filiberto Duca d'Aosta, and eight destroyers—Roma sailed from La Spezia with Adone Del Cima as captain and also as the flagship of Admiral Carlo Bergamini on 9 September 1943, a day after the proclamation of the 1943 Italian armistice. The group was later joined by three additional cruisers from Genoa, Duca degli Abruzzi, Giuseppe Garibaldi, and Attilio Regolo.

On that same day, the fleet had been scheduled to sail towards Salerno in order to attack the Allied ships sailing to invade Italy as part of Operation "Avalanche"; the proclamation of the armistice on 8 September, however, had led to the cancellation of this operation. As German forces in Italy launched Operation Achse, Admiral Bergamini was ordered to leave La Spezia, in order to prevent the fleet from falling in German hands, and reach Allied-controlled ports. Due to Bergamini's initial reluctance to bring his ships to Malta (not knowing the details of the armistice and what would be the fate of the fleet once in Allied controlled ports) and to initial plans for the transfer of Victor Emmanuel III, his court and the government from Rome to La Maddalena (the destroyers Vivaldi and Da Noli sailed from Genoa and La Spezia, heading for Civitavecchia, for this purpose), the initial destination was La Maddalena, a naval base in Sardinia. Once at La Maddalena, Bergamini would receive further orders (to proceed to Malta) from Admiral Bruno Brivonesi, naval commander of Sardinia, as well as some documents regarding the conditions of the armistice for the Navy. The transfer of the king to La Maddalena was cancelled, however (he instead fled towards Pescara), and when the fleet arrived off La Maddalena, German troops had occupied that base to transfer their troops from Sardinia to Corsica, therefore the stop at La Maddalena was also cancelled and Supermarina ordered Bergamini to head for Allied-controlled Bône. The fleet then changed course, but when Germany learned that the Italian fleet was sailing towards an Allied base, the Luftwaffe sent Dornier Do 217s armed with Fritz X radio-controlled bombs to attack the ships. These aircraft caught up with the force when it was in the Strait of Bonifacio.


A Fritz X radio-controlled bomb

The Do 217s trailed the fleet for some time, but the Italian fleet did not open fire upon sighting them; they were trailing the fleet at such a distance that it was impossible to identify them as Allied or Axis, and Bergamini believed that they were the air cover promised to them by the Allies. However, an attack upon Italia and Roma at 15:37 spurred the fleet into action, as the anti-aircraft batteries onboard opened fire and all ships began evasive maneuvers. About fifteen minutes after this, Italia was hit on the starboard side underneath her fore main turrets, while Roma was hit on the same side somewhere between frames 100 and 108. This bomb passed through the ship and exploded beneath the keel, damaging the hull girder and allowing water to flood the after engine room and two boiler rooms. The flooding caused the inboard propellers to stop for want of power and started a large amount of arcing, which itself caused many electrical fires in the aft half of the ship.

Losing power and speed, Roma began to fall out of the battle group. Around 16:02, another Fritz X slammed into the starboard side of Roma's deck, between frames 123 and 136. It most likely detonated in the forward engine room, sparking flames, and causing heavy flooding in the magazines of main battery turret number two and the fore port side secondary battery turret, and putting even more pressure upon the previously stressed hull girder. Seconds after the initial blast, the number two 15-inch turret was blown over the side by a massive explosion, this time from the detonation of that turret's magazines.

This caused additional catastrophic flooding in the bow, and the battleship began to go down by the bow while listing more and more to starboard. The ship quickly capsized and broke in two. According to the official inquest conducted after the sinking, the ship had a crew of 1,849 when she sailed; 596 survived with 1,253 men going down with Roma. According to naval historian Francesco Mattesini, who cites the research of Pier Paolo Bergamini, the son of Admiral Bergamini, around two hundred men from Bergamini's staff were aboard Roma, and were mistakenly not included in the official inquiry. These men increased the total number aboard to 2,021 and the total fatalities to 1,393. In her 15-month service life, Roma made 20 sorties, mostly in transfers between bases (none were to go into combat), covering 2,492 mi (4,010 km) and using 3,320 tonnes (3,270 long tons; 3,660 short tons) of fuel oil in 133 hours of sailing.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_battleship_Roma_(1940)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 9 September


1803 Boats of HMS Sheerness (44), Cptn. J. S. Carden, captured two chasse-marees.


1811 HMS Bucephalus (32), Capt. Charles Pelly, started a 5 day engagement with Nymphe and Midusa off Java.


1841 - Congress authorizes the first iron-hulled warship. Designed by Samuel Hart, USS Michigan launches in December 1843 and serves to protect the Great Lakes.

Construction and design
The side wheel steamer Michigan was built in response to the British Government arming two steamers in response to the Canadian rebellions in the late 1830s with Secretary of the Navy Abel P. Upshur selecting an iron hull partly as a test of practicability of using such a "cheap and indestructible a material" for ships.The ship was designed by Samuel Hart, and fabricated in parts at Pittsburgh in the last half of 1842, transported overland and assembled at Erie. The launch on 5 December 1843 was unsuccessful with the ship sticking after moving some 50 feet (15.2 m) down the ways and efforts to complete the launch ended by nightfall. On returning in the morning Hart found Michigan had launched "herself in the night" and was floating offshore in Lake Erie.

By 1908 the ship was noted in the journal The American Marine Engineer as being the oldest metal hulled vessel then existing and of interest to engineers because of the ship's age. The two engines were inclined simple steam engines of 36 inches (91.4 cm) with a 96 inches (243.8 cm) stroke that were original and running well in 1908.[2] The first of three sets of boilers were return flue type that lasted fifty years before finally being replaced by bricked in return tube types. The operating pressure was low, 25 pounds (11.3 kg) sufficient to drive the engines at 20 rpm, with engine room piping of .125 inches (0.318 cm) thick copper connecting with brass flange joints. When, about 1905, the ship finally changed from kerosene lights to electric a special engine for the dynamo had to be constructed to operate on the low pressure steam. The steam was also used in a peculiar system for repelling boarders with hot water direct from the boiler.Coal consumption before the latest modifications was two tons per hour and after the modifications was as low as one half ton per hour. The ship carried two steam launches. The ship had never made even ten knots until dispatched from the harbor at Cleveland to Buffalo to prevent riots on the assassination of President William McKinley 6 September 1901 and, with the safeties weighted, she made almost fourteen knots at 30 rpm at one point.

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USS Michigan, seen here after her name was changed to USS Wolverine in 1905.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Michigan_(1843)


1885 – Launch of SS La Bretagne, an ocean liner that sailed for the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT) from her launch in 1886 to 1912, sailing primarily in transatlantic service on the North Atlantic. Sold to Compagnie de Navigation Sud-Atlantique in 1912, she sailed for that company under her original name and, later, as SS Alesia on France–South America routes. The liner was sold for scrapping in the Netherlands in December 1923, but was lost while being towed.

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SS La Bretagne in her post-1895 configuration

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La Bretagne as she appeared c. 1890–1895

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


1919 - Valbanera was a steamship operated by the Pinillos Line of Spain from 1905 until 1919, when it sank in a hurricane with the loss of all 488 crew and passengers aboard.

Valbanera was a 400-foot-long (120 m) steamer capable of carrying close to 1,200 passengers. It sailed a regular route between Spain and Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Gulf coast of the United States. In the summer of 1919 the ship left the Canary Islands after earlier calling at several ports in Spain, loaded with cargo and 1,142 passengers, mostly immigrants to Cuba, and 88 crew members.

Although most of the passengers were booked for Havana, 749 left the ship when it called at Santiago de Cuba on September 5. The 1919 Florida Keys Hurricane hit Havana on September 8, before Valbanera reached the port. While the storm was raging an unidentified ship was seen off the harbor entrance signaling for a pilot, but the harbor was closed and the ship was notified it could not enter. The ship acknowledged, and signaled it would move away from shore to ride out the storm.

On September 13, the Cuban Consul in Key West contacted the Commandant of the United States Navy Base in Key West concerning rumors that Valbanera had sunk. Radio operators at the base reported hearing Valbanera in contact with the Morro Castle radio station in Havana on September 12, but further investigation indicated that they had probably mistaken the call letters for Infante Isabel, ECY, which had been in contact with Morro Castle, for the call letters for Valbanera, ECV. The last confirmed radio communication with Valbanera had been on September 9. The U.S. sub chaser 320 spotted a submerged wreck with just the masts above water in the vicinity of Rebecca Shoal (about 45 miles (72 km) west of Key West) on September 12, but identified it as a two-masted schooner. Two other Navy ships passing the area on September 13 did not notice anything of a wreck. Another sub chaser sent out on September 16 returned the next day with confirmation that a large ship was wrecked on Half Moon Shoal. On September 19 Coast Guard cutter Tuscarora and sub chaser 203 were able to see the name Valbanera on the wreck. The next day the officer who had reported the wrecked schooner on September 12 confirmed that he had seen Valbanera. The wreck was 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Rebecca Shoal, with just the masts and a couple of lifeboats above the water. There were 488 passengers and crew on Valbanera when it sank. No bodies were seen or recovered..

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


1936 – The crews of Portuguese Navy frigate NRP Afonso de Albuquerque and destroyer Dão mutinied against the Salazar dictatorship's support of General Franco's coup and declared their solidarity with the Spanish Republic.

The NRP Afonso de Albuquerque was a warship of the Portuguese Navy, named after the 16th-century Portuguese navigator Afonso de Albuquerque. She was destroyed in combat on 18 December 1961, defending Goa against the Indian Armed Forces invasion.

The ship was the first of the Afonso de Albuquerque class, which also included the NRP Bartolomeu Dias. These ships were classified, by the Portuguese Navy, as avisos coloniais de 1ª classe (1st class colonial aviso or sloop) and were designed to maintain a Portuguese naval presence in the Overseas territories of Portugal. They had limited capacity to combat other surface vessels, as they were intended, mainly, to support amphibious operations and troops on land.

After the Second World War, the Afonso de Albuquerque class ships were reclassified as frigates.

In her career Afonso de Albuquerque served mainly in the Indian and the Pacific oceans, protecting the Portuguese territories of Mozambique, India, Macau and Timor.

NRP_Afonso_de_Albuquerque.jpg
NRP Afonso de Albuquerque

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NRP_Afonso_de_Albuquerque
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_destroyer_Dão


1938 – Launch of The SS South Steyne is an heritage-listed retired public steam ferry.

For 36 years, she operated on the Manly run on Sydney Harbour and was the largest, steam-powered, passenger ferry in the world. Having more recently been used as a floating restaurant at Darling Harbour, since April 2016 she has been stored at Berrys Bay, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. She was designed by Walter Leslie Dendy and John Ashcroft and built from 1937 to 1938 by Henry Robb Ltd. She is also known as South Steyne (S.S.), Manly Ferry and "SS South Steyne"; and she was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

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Photo of the ship SS South Steyne.

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

1942 – World War II: A Japanese floatplane drops incendiary bombs on Oregon.

The Lookout Air Raids were minor but historic Japanese air raids that occurred in the mountains of Oregon, several miles outside Brookings during World War II. This was the only time during World War II that the continental United States suffered an air raid attack by enemy forces.

I-26_Japanese_submarine.jpg
The Japanese Submarine I-26, a sister vessel to the I-25. Note the aircraft hangar immediately forward of the conning tower.

On September 9, 1942, a Japanese Yokosuka E14Y Glen floatplane, launched from a Japanese submarine, dropped two incendiary bombs with the intention of starting a forest fire. However, with the efforts of a patrol of fire lookouts and weather conditions not amenable to a fire, the damage done by the attack was minor. The attack was the first time the contiguous United States was bombed by an enemy aircraft and the second time that the mainland US was bombed by someone working for a foreign power, the first being the bombing of Naco, Arizona by Patrick Murphy, although the Murphy bombing inside the U.S. was an accident.

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Nobuo Fujita standing by his Yokosuka E14Y"Glen" seaplane.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lookout_Air_Raids
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
10 September 1759 -The Battle of Frisches Haff or Battle of Stettiner Haff


was a naval battle between Sweden and Prussia that took place 10 September 1759 as part of the ongoing Seven Years' War. The battle took place in the Szczecin Lagoon (German: Stettiner Haff) between Neuwarp and Usedom, and is named after an ambiguous earlier name for the Lagoon, Frisches Haff, which later exclusively denoted the Vistula Lagoon.

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Plan of the battle

Swedish naval forces consisting of 28 vessels and 2,250 men under Captain Lieutenant Carl Rutensparre and Wilhelm von Carpelan destroyed a Prussian force of 13 vessels and 700 men under captain von Köller.

The consequence of the battle was that the small fleet Prussia had at its disposal ceased to exist. The loss of naval supremacy meant also that the Prussian positions at Usedom and Wollin became untenable and were occupied by Swedish troops.

Swedish intervention in the Seven Years' War
At the outbreak of the conflict, Sweden was led by a government dominated by the pro-French Caps party, which felt that this war (mainly aimed against Prussia) was the chance for Sweden to recapture territories lost to Prussia in the past in Pomerania and restore the mouth of the Oder to Swedish control. The chancellor and head of the Caps party, baron Anders Johan von Höpken, sent an army of 14,500 men to Stralsund, capital of Swedish Pomerania, under field-marshal Ungern-Sternberg, with his main mission being the capture of Stettin (today in Poland), which controls the mouths of the Oder.

First operations
The Swedes launched a first offensive but were beaten back in Stralsund by the Prussian army under marshal Lehwaldt. Ungern-Sternberg was replaced by count von Rosen, who took no risks and left himself blockaded in Stralsund. However, a Russian offensive in west Prussia forced Lehwaldt to leave Swedish Pomerania on 27 June 1758. Sweden sent reinforcements and a new commander-in-chief, count Hamilton, who profited from Prussian difficulties by going back on the offensive. Although Prussian troops in the area had been heavily denuded to face the Russian threat, they put up a tenacious resistance to the Swedes and battles and skirmishes came one after the other without either of the belligerents able to gain a decisive advantage over the other. The conflict took a naval turn when the Prussians built a fleet at Stettin, by the more or less fortunate transformation of fishing or transport boats into warships, to defy a Swedish squadron supporting their land offensive. Informed of these preparations, the Swedes decided to destroy this fleet.

Course
At the start of August 1759, the Swedish squadron under Ruthensparre moved into the Oder, moving towards the Stettin lagoon. On 8 August it forced the defences of Peenemünde and penetrated the western half of the lagoon (called Kleines Haff, or Little Lagoon, by the Germans). On 22 August the Swedes won an initial engagement against a fleet under captain von Köller off Anclam. On 10 September, the two fleets again faced each other, near Neuwarp. The Swedish ships commanded by Wilhelm von Carpellan were ranged in 4 lines - in the first were the most powerful ships (four 13-gun galleys armed), then four 5-gun demi-galleys (with mixed sail and oar propulsion), then 3 sloops and 1 ship with howitzers, and finally a line of 13 gunboats. For their part, the Prussians had four galiots and four galleys with 12 cannon each as well as 5 canonnières. Once within range, the Swedes placed themselves in a single line. However, the three Swedish demi-galleys and 9 gunboats sailed towards the south where unidentified sailing vessels had appeared - these turned out to be neutral ships, but this meant these Swedish ships did not take part in the start of the four-hour battle. The battle ended in a heavy Prussian defeat, with their main ships sunk or captured and more than 600 of their sailors captured, for smaller losses (13 killed and 14 wounded) on the Swedish side.

Results
The victory guaranteed Swedish control of the lagoon, which they exploited by capturing the island of Wollin. However, their ultimate goal of Stettin remained in Prussian hands. Undaunted, the Prussians began to build a new fleet. The Battle of Frisches Haff was thus a short-lived victory for the Swedes and the Russian retreat from the war of 1762 placed them in a very difficult situation. Realising they did not have a large enough force to hold off the redoubtable troops under king Frederick II of Prussia on their own, the Swedes proposed a peace settlement to him based on a return to the pre-war status quo. Frederick accepted the proposal and formalised it by signing the treaty of Hamburg on 22 May 1762.

Ships
  • Sweden
    • Carlskrona, galley, 13 cannon
    • Cronoborg, galley, 13 cannon
    • Malmö, galley, 13 cannon
    • Blecking, galley, 13 cannon
    • Svärdfisk, half-galley, 5 cannon
    • Delphin, half-galley, 5 cannon
    • Cabilliou, half-galley, 5 cannon
    • Stor, half-galley, 5 cannon
    • 1 ship armed with howitzers
    • 3 sloops
    • 13 gunboats
  • Prussia
    • Kœnig von Preussen, galiot, 14 cannon
    • Prinz von Preussen, galiot, 14 cannon
    • Kœnig Heinrich, galiot, 14 cannon
    • Kœnig Wilhelm, galiot, 14 cannon
    • Jupiter, galley, 11 cannon
    • Mars, galley, 11 cannon
    • Neptunus, galley, 10 cannon
    • Merkurius, galley, 10 cannon
    • 5 gunboats

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Frisches_Haff
 
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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
10 September 1813 - The Battle of Lake Erie, sometimes called the Battle of Put-in-Bay,


was fought on 10 September 1813, on Lake Erie off the coast of Ohio during the War of 1812. Nine vessels of the United States Navy defeated and captured six vessels of the British Royal Navy. This ensured American control of the lake for the rest of the war, which in turn allowed the Americans to recover Detroit and win the Battle of the Thames to break the Indian confederation of Tecumseh. It was one of the biggest naval battles of the War of 1812.

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Battle of Lake Erie by William Henry Powell, painted 1865, shows Oliver Hazard Perry transferring from Lawrence to Niagara

Background
1812
When the war broke out, the British immediately seized control of Lake Erie. They already had a small force of warships there: the sloop-of-war Queen Charlotte and the brig General Hunter. The schooner Lady Prevost was under construction and was put into service a few weeks after the outbreak of war. These vessels were controlled by the Provincial Marine, which was a military transport service and not a naval service. Nevertheless, the Americans lacked any counter to the British armed vessels. The only American warship on Lake Erie, the brig Adams, was not ready for service at the start of the war, and when the American army of Brigadier General William Hull abandoned its invasion of Canada, Adams was pinned down in Detroit by the British batteries at Sandwich on the Canadian side of the Detroit River. The British Major-General Isaac Brock used his control of the lake to defeat Hull's army at the Siege of Detroit, by cutting the American supply lines and rapidly transferring himself and some reinforcements to Amherstburg from where they launched a successful landing on the American side of the Detroit River.

The British took Adams when Detroit was surrendered, renaming her Detroit. Together with the brig Caledonia, which had been commandeered from the Canadian North West Company, she was boarded and captured near Fort Erie on 9 October, by American sailors and soldiers led by Lieutenant Jesse Elliot. Detroit ran aground on an island in the middle of the Niagara River and was set on fire to prevent her being recaptured. Caledonia was taken to the navy yard at Black Rock and commissioned into the United States Navy. Also present at Black Rock were the schooners Somers and Ohio and the sloop-rigged Trippe, which had all been purchased by the United States Navy and were being converted into gunboats. While the British held Fort Erie and the nearby batteries which dominated the Niagara River, all these vessels were pinned down and unable to leave Black Rock.

Late in 1812, Paul Hamilton, the United States Secretary of the Navy had received long-time American lake mariner Daniel Dobbins, who had escaped capture at Detroit and brought information on the British forces on Lake Erie. Dobbins recommended the bay of Presque Isle in Erie, Pennsylvania as a naval base on the lake. Dobbins was dispatched to build four gunboats there, although Lieutenant Elliot objected to the lack of facilities. Commodore Isaac Chauncey had been appointed to command of the United States naval forces on the Great Lakes in September 1812. He made one brief visit to Erie on 1 January 1813 where he approved Dobbins's actions and recommended collecting materials for a larger vessel, but then returned to Lake Ontario where he afterwards concentrated his energies.

1813
In January 1813, William Jones (who had replaced Hamilton as the United States Secretary of the Navy) ordered the construction of two brig-rigged corvettes at Presque Isle, and transferred shipwright Noah Brown there from Sackets Harbor on Lake Ontario to take charge of construction. Other than their rig and crude construction (such as using wooden pegs instead of nails because of shortages of the latter), the two brigs were close copies of the contemporary USS Hornet. The heaviest armament for the ships came from foundries on Chesapeake Bay, and were moved to Presque Isle only with great difficulty. (The Americans were fortunate in that some of their largest cannon had been dispatched shortly before raiding parties under Rear-Admiral George Cockburn destroyed a foundry at Frenchtown on the eastern seaboard.) However, the Americans could get other materials and fittings from Pittsburgh, which was expanding as a manufacturing center, and smaller guns were borrowed from the Army.

Master Commandant Oliver Hazard Perry had earlier been appointed to command on Lake Erie, through lobbying by Jeremiah B. Howell, the Senior Senator from Rhode Island, supplanting Lieutenant Elliot. He arrived at Presque Isle to take command at the end of March. Having arranged for the defense of Presque Isle, he proceeded to Lake Ontario to obtain reinforcements of seamen from Commodore Isaac Chauncey. After commanding the American schooners and gunboats at the Battle of Fort George, he then went to Black Rock where the American vessels had been released when the British abandoned Fort Erie at the end of May. Perry had them towed by draft oxen up the Niagara, an operation which took six days, and sailed with them along the shore to Presque Isle.

Meanwhile, Commander Robert Heriot Barclay was appointed to command the British squadron on Lake Erie. Another British officer had already endangered his career by refusing the appointment as success appeared unlikely. Barclay missed a rendezvous with Queen Charlotte at Point Abino and was forced to make the tedious journey to Amherstburg overland, arriving on 10 June. He brought with him only a handful of officers and seamen. When he took command of his squadron, the crews of his vessels numbered only seven British seamen, 108 officers and men of the Provincial Marine (whose quality Barclay disparaged), 54 men of the Royal Newfoundland Fencibles and 106 soldiers, effectively landsmen, from the 41st Foot. Nevertheless, he immediately set out in Queen Charlotte and Lady Prevost. He first reconnoitred Perry's base at Presque Isle and determined that it was defended by 2,000 Pennsylvania militia, with batteries and redoubts. He then cruised the eastern end of Lake Erie, hoping to intercept the American vessels from Black Rock. The weather was hazy, and he missed them.

During July and August, Barclay received two small vessels, the schooner Chippeway and the sloop Little Belt, which had been reconstructed at Chatham on the Thames River and attempted to complete the ship-rigged corvette HMS Detroit at Amherstburg. Because the Americans controlled Lake Ontario and occupied the Niagara Peninsula in early 1813, supplies for Barclay had to be carried overland from York. The American victory earlier in the year at the Battle of York resulted in the guns (24-pounder carronades) intended for Detroit falling into American hands. Detroit had to be completed with a miscellany of guns from the fortifications of Amherstburg. Barclay claimed at his court martial that these guns lacked flintlock firing mechanisms and matches, and that they could be fired only by snapping flintlock pistols over powder piled in the vent holes.

Barclay repeatedly requested men and supplies from Commodore James Lucas Yeo, commanding on Lake Ontario, but received very little. The commander of the British troops on the Detroit frontier, Major-General Henry Procter, was similarly starved of soldiers and munitions by his superiors. He declined to make an attack on Presque Isle unless he was reinforced, and instead he incurred heavy losses in an unsuccessful attack on Fort Stephenson, which he mounted at the urgings of some of his Indian warriors.

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Portrait of Oliver Hazard Perry, painted by Gilbert Stuart, 1818.

Blockades of Presque Isle and Amherstburg
By mid-July, the American squadron was almost complete, although not yet fully manned (Perry claimed to have only 120 men fit for duty). The British squadron maintained a blockade of Presque Isle for ten days from 20 July to 29 July. The harbour had a sandbar across its mouth, with only 5 feet (1.5 m) of water over it, which prevented Barclay sailing in to attack the American ships (although Barclay briefly skirmished with the defending batteries on 21 July), but also prevented the Americans leaving in fighting order. Barclay had to lift the blockade on 29 July because of shortage of supplies and bad weather. It has also been suggested that Barclay left to attend a banquet in his honour, or that he wished the Americans to cross the bar and hoped to find them in disarray when he returned. Perry immediately began to move his vessels across the sandbar. This was an exhausting task. The guns had to be removed from all the boats, and the largest of them had to be raised between "camels" (barges or lighters which were then emptied of ballast). When Barclay returned four days later, he found that Perry had nearly completed the task. Perry's two largest brigs were not ready for action, but the gunboats and smaller brigs formed a line so confidently that Barclay withdrew to await the completion of Detroit.

Chauncey had dispatched 130 extra sailors under Lieutenant Jesse Elliot to Presque Isle. Although Perry described some of them as "wretched", at least 50 of them were experienced sailors drafted from USS Constitution, then undergoing a refit in Boston. Perry also had a few volunteers from the Pennsylvania militia.

His vessels first proceeded to Sandusky, where they received further contingents of volunteers from Major General William Henry Harrison's Army of the Northwest. After twice appearing off Amherstburg, Perry established an anchorage at Put-in-Bay, Ohio. For the next five weeks, Barclay was effectively blockaded and unable to move supplies to Amherstburg. His sailors, Procter's troops, and the very large numbers of Indian warriors and their families there quickly ran out of supplies. After receiving a last-minute reinforcement of two naval officers, three warrant officers and 36 sailors transferred from a transport temporarily laid up in Quebec under Lieutenant George Bignall, Barclay had no choice but to put out again and seek battle with Perry.

In the days preceding the battle, Perry told his friend, Purser Samuel Hambleton, that he wanted a signal flag, or battle flag, to signal to his fleet when to engage the enemy. Hambleton suggested using the dying words of Perry's friend Captain James Lawrence of the frigate USS Chesapeake, "Don't Give up the Ship". Hambleton had the flag sewn by women of Erie, and presented it to Perry the day before the battle. The flag would become an icon in American naval history.

Battle

Movements of the squadrons of Perry and Barclay on the morning of 10 September

On the morning of 10 September, the Americans saw Barclay's vessels heading for them, and got under way from their anchorage at Put-in-Bay. The wind was light. Barclay initially held the weather gauge, but the wind shifted and allowed Perry to close and attack. Both squadrons were in line of battle, with their heaviest vessels near the centre of the line.

The first shot was fired, from Detroit, at 11:45. Perry hoped to get his two largest brigs, his flagship Lawrence and Niagara, into carronade range quickly, but in the light wind his vessels were making very little speed and Lawrence was battered by the assortment of long guns mounted in Detroit for at least 20 minutes before being able to reply effectively. When Lawrence was finally within carronade range at 12:45, her fire was not as effective as Perry hoped, her gunners apparently having overloaded the carronades with shot.

Astern of Lawrence, Niagara, under Elliot, was slow to come into action and remained far out of effective carronade range. It is possible that Elliott was under orders to engage his opposite number, Queen Charlotte, and that Niagara was obstructed by Caledonia, but Elliot's actions would become a matter of dispute between him and Perry for many years. Aboard Queen Charlotte, the British ship opposed to Niagara, the commander (Robert Finnis) and First Lieutenant were both killed. The next most senior officer, Lieutenant Irvine of the Provincial Marine, found that both Niagara and the American gunboats were far out of range, and passed the brig General Hunter to engage Lawrence at close range.

Although the American gunboats at the rear of the American line of battle steadily pounded the British ships in the centre of the action with raking shots from their long guns from a distance, Lawrence was reduced by the two British ships to a wreck. Four-fifths of Lawrence's crew were killed or wounded. Both of the fleet's surgeons were sick with lake fever, so the wounded were taken care of by the assistant, Usher Parsons. When the last gun on Lawrence became unusable, Perry decided to transfer his flag. He was rowed a half mile (1 km) through heavy gunfire to Niagara while Lawrence was surrendered. (It was later alleged that he left Lawrence after the surrender, but Perry had actually taken down only his personal pennant, in blue bearing the motto, "Don't give up the ship".)

When Lawrence surrendered, firing died away briefly. Detroit collided with Queen Charlotte, both ships being almost unmanageable with damaged rigging and almost every officer killed or severely wounded. Barclay was severely wounded and his first lieutenant was killed, leaving Lieutenant Inglis in command. Most of the smaller British vessels were also disabled and drifting to leeward. The British nevertheless expected Niagara to lead the American schooners away in retreat. Instead, once aboard Niagara, Perry dispatched Elliot to bring the schooners into closer action, while he steered Niagara at Barclay's damaged ships, helped by the strengthening wind.

Brig_Niagara_1913_edit.jpg
Niagara at Put-in-Bay, Ohio for the centennial of the Battle of Lake Erie in 1913.

Niagara broke through the British line ahead of Detroit and Queen Charlotte and luffed up to fire raking broadsides from ahead of them, while Caledonia and the American gunboats fired from astern. Although the crews of Detroit and Queen Charlotte managed to untangle the two ships they could no longer offer any effective resistance. Both ships surrendered at about 3:00 pm. The smaller British vessels tried to flee but were overtaken and also surrendered.

Although Perry won the battle on Niagara, he received the British surrender on the deck of the recaptured Lawrence to allow the British to see the terrible price his men had paid.

Casualties
The British lost 41 killed and 94 wounded. The surviving crews, including the wounded, numbered 306. Captain Barclay, who had previously lost his left arm in 1809, lost a leg and part of his thigh in the action while his remaining arm was rendered "permanently motionless". The Americans lost 27 killed and 96 wounded, of whom 2 later died. The heaviest American casualties were suffered aboard Lawrence, which had 2 officers and 20 men killed, and 6 officers and 55 men wounded.

Of the vessels involved, the three most battered (the American brig Lawrence and the British ships Detroit and Queen Charlotte) were converted into hospital ships. A gale swept the lake on 13 September and dismasted Detroit and Queen Charlotte, further shattering the already battered ships. Once the wounded had been ferried to Erie, Lawrence was restored to service for 1814, but the two British ships were effectively reduced to hulks

Aftermath
Perry's vessels and prizes were anchored and hasty repairs were underway near West Sister Island when Perry composed his now famous message to Harrison. Scrawled in pencil on the back of an old envelope, Perry wrote:

Dear General:
We have met the enemy and they are ours. Two ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop.
Yours with great respect and esteem,
O.H. Perry


Once his usable vessels and prizes were patched up, Perry ferried 2,500 American soldiers to Amherstburg, which was captured without opposition on 27 September. Meanwhile, 1,000 mounted troops led by Richard Mentor Johnson moved by land to Detroit, which also was recaptured without fighting on or about the same day. The British army under Procter had made preparations to abandon its positions even before Procter knew the result of the battle. In spite of exhortations from Tecumseh, who led the confederation of Indian tribes allied to Britain, Procter had already abandoned Amherstburg and Detroit and began to retreat up the Thames River on 27 September. Lacking supplies, Tecumseh's Indians had no option but to accompany him. Harrison caught up with Procter's retreating force and defeated them on 5 October at the Battle of the Thames, where Tecumseh was killed, as was his second-in command and most experienced warrior, Wyandot Chief Roundhead.

The victory on Lake Erie had disproportionate strategic import. The Americans controlled Lake Erie for the remainder of the war. This accounted for much of the Americans' successes on the Niagara peninsula in 1814 and also removed the threat of a British attack on Ohio, Pennsylvania, or Western New York.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lake_Erie
 
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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 10 September - Part 1


1591 – Death of Richard Grenville, English admiral and politician (b. 1542)

Sir Richard Grenville (15 June 1542 – 10 September 1591) (alias Greynvile, Greeneville, Greenfield, etc.) lord of the manors of Stowe, Kilkhampton in Cornwall and of Bideford in Devon, was an English sailor who, as captain of the Revenge, died at the Battle of Flores (1591), fighting against overwhelming odds, and refusing to surrender his ship to the far more numerous Spanish. His ship, the Revenge, met 53 Spanish war ships near Flores in the Azores. He and his crew fought the fifty three in a three-day running battle. Many Spanish ships were sunk or so badly damaged that they had to retire from the battle. The Revenge was boarded three times and each time the boarders were seen off.

800px-Sir_Richard_Grenville_from_NPG.jpg

Grenville was also a soldier, an armed merchant fleet owner, privateer, colonizer, and explorer. He took part in the early English attempts to settle the New World, and also participated in the fight against the Spanish Armada. His non-military offices included Member of Parliament for Cornwall, High Sheriff of County Cork in 1569–70 and Sheriff of Cornwall in 1576–77. He was the grandfather of Sir Bevil Grenville (1596–1643) of English Civil War fame, whose son was John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath (1628–1701).

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



1691 – Launch of French Admirable, 82 guns

Th
e Admirable was a First Rank three-decker ship of the line of the French Royal Navy. She was intended to be armed with 88 guns (like the similar Orgueilleux built alongside her at Lorient), but was modified during construction and completed with 82 guns, comprising six huge 48-pounders plus eighteen 36-pounder guns on the lower deck, twenty-eight 18-pounder guns on the middle deck, and twenty-four 8-pounder guns on the upper deck, with six 6-pounder guns on the quarterdeck.

Designed and constructed by Laurent Coulomb, she was begun at Lorient Dockyard in September 1690 and launched on 10 September of the following year. She was completed in March 1692 and took part in the Battle of Barfleur on 29 May 1692; damaged in that battle, she was run ashore at Cherbourg where she was burnt by boats from Englkish warships on 1 June 1692. A replacement for her was built at Lorient later the same year by Laurent Coulomb.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Admirable_(1691)

1695 – Launch of French Solide, 50 guns (designed and built by Blaise Pangalo, launched 10 September 1695 at Brest) – burnt in the Battle of Vigo Bay in October 1702


1746 – Launch of french Lys, 64 guns, at Brest – captured by the British off North America in June 1755 / Lys class.
Designed and built by Jacques-Luc Coulomb.


1759 - Battle of Pondicherry

The Battle of Pondicherry was a naval battle between a British squadron under Vice-Admiral George Pocock and French squadron under Comte d'Aché off the Carnatic coast of India near Pondicherry during the Seven Years' War. The battle took place on 10 September 1759.[1] The outcome was indecisive.

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


1807 - Bomb vessel HMS Explosion (1797 - 10), Edward Ellicot, wrecked on a reef near Sandy Island, Heligoland.


1811 - Boats of HMS Victory (100) Cptn. George Honey, captured Danish gunboats

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


1851 - The paddle frigate USS Mississippi carries Gov. Louis Kossuth and the other refugees of the overthrown government of the Hungarian Republic from Dardanelles to Gibraltar.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lajos_Kossuth
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Mississippi_(1841)

1861 - During the Civil War, USS Lexington (1861) and USS Conestoga (1861) support an armed advance at Lucas Bend, Mo. While supporting the advance, the vessels damage the Confederate gunboat, CSS Jackson (1849), and silence a Confederate battery.

USS_Lexington_Muller.jpg USS_Conestoga_h55321.jpg
USS Lexington / USS Conestoga, photographed during the Civil War

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Lexington_(1861)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Conestoga_(1861)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSS_Jackson

1881 – Maiden voyage of SS Arabic, cargo ship for White Star Line, launched 30 April 1881, completed 12 August 1881, maiden voyage 10 September 1881, renamed Spaarndam 1890, scrapped 1901

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Arabic_(1881)

1896 – Launch of SS Pennsylvania, passenger ship for Holland America Line

Pennsylvania was the first in a four-ship "P class" built for the Hamburg America Line; the other ships were SS Pretoria, SS Graf Waldersee and SS Patricia.

1280px-SS_Pennsylvania_(1896).jpg

SS Pennsylvania was a cargo liner built by Harland & Wolff, Belfast and launched in 1896 for the German Hamburg America Line for the transatlantic trade, particularly German emigration to the United States. She took refuge in the United States upon the outbreak of the First World War and upon the U.S. joining hostilities was seized and renamed the SS Nansemond. She was briefly commissioned as USS Nansemond in 1919, and used by the U.S. military to transport American troops and supplies to Europe. After the war ended, the SS Nansemond transported over 20,000 troops back across the Atlantic. She was then laid up in the Hudson River before scrapping in 1924.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Pennsylvania_(1896)

1908 – Launch of SS Laurentic, passenger ship for White Star Line,

SS Laurentic was a British ocean liner of the White Star Line. She was converted to an armed merchant cruiser at the onset of World War I, and sank after striking two mines north of Ireland on 25 January 1917, with the loss of 354 lives. She was carrying about 43 tons of gold ingots at the time of her loss, and as of 2017, 20 bars of gold are yet to be recovered.

StateLibQld_1_149967_Laurentic_(ship)_(cropped).jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Laurentic_(1908)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 10 September - Part 2


1939 – World War II: The submarine HMS Oxley is mistakenly sunk by the submarine HMS Triton near Norway and becomes the Royal Navy's first loss of a submarine in the war.

HMS Oxley (originally HMAS Oxley) was an Odin-class submarine of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and Royal Navy (RN)

O_Class_(AWM_301134).jpg
HMAS Oxley (foreground) and Otway

Design and construction
Main article: Odin-class submarine
The Odin-class submarines were built to a slightly modified design for Australian service. They were 275 feet (84 m) in length overall, with a beam of 29 feet 7 inches (9.02 m), and a mean draught of 13 feet 3 inches (4.04 m). Displacement was 1,350 tons when surfaced, and 1,870 tons when submerged. The boats had diesel motors for surface running and electricity generation, but when underwater ran off electric motors.They had two propeller shafts. Maximum speed was 15.5 knots (28.7 km/h; 17.8 mph) on the surface, and 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) when dived. Oxley had a ship's company of 54. Armament consisted of eight 21-inch (530 mm) torpedo tubes (six facing forward, two facing aft), one 4-inch (100 mm) deck gun, and two machine guns.

Oxley was laid down by Vickers-Armstrong Limited at Barrow-in-Furness, England in March 1925, under the designation OA1. She was launched on 29 June 1926, completed on 22 July 1927, and commissioned into the RAN on 1 April 1927. The submarine was named after explorer John Oxley.

Operational history
After commissioning, Oxley and Otway were temporarily assigned to the Royal Navy's 5th Submarine Flotilla. On 8 February 1928, the two submarines set out for Australia in the longest unescorted voyage undertaken by a British submarine. The submarines were diverted to Malta after cracks were found on Otway's engine columns. On arrival in Malta, similar fractures were found in Oxley's engine columns, and the two boats were detained while improved columns were fabricated and installed. They resumed their voyage in November, and reached Sydney on 14 February 1929. Because of the deteriorating financial conditions leading into the Great Depression, the two submarines were placed into reserve a year later; Oxley was paid off into Reserve on 10 May 1930. Oxley underwent diving exercises every second week until 9 April 1931, when the submarine was paid off in full prior to transfer to the RN.

The ongoing cost of maintaining the boats, coupled with the tonnage limits imposed by the London Naval Treaty prompted the Australian government to offer Oxley and Otway to the Royal Navy. The submarines were transferred and commissioned on 10 April 1931.

On 29 April, Oxley and Otway (which had also been recommissioned into the RN) left Sydney for Malta. During 1939, the submarine was based at Portsmouth as part of the 5th Submarine Flotilla. At the onset of war the submarine was a member of the 2nd Submarine Flotilla. From 26–29 August 1939, the 2nd Submarine Flotilla deployed to its war bases at Dundee and Blyth. Following the outbreak of the Second World War, Oxley was assigned to patrol duties off the coast of Norway. She was assigned the pennant number 55.

Loss
On 10 September 1939, Oxley was sunk by HMS Triton. Oxley was the first British submarine lost during the Second World War.

When the Admiralty was notified that His Majesty's Government would declare war on Germany, five submarines of the Second Flotilla, including HMS Triton and HMS Oxley, were ordered to patrol on the Obrestad line off Norway on 24 August 1939. Thus, on 3 September all British submarines were in their combat patrol sectors.

At 1955 on 10 September 1939, Triton had surfaced, fixed a position off the Obrestad Light, set a slow zigzag patrol, and began charging batteries. Lieutenant Commander Steel, having verified that the area was clear and having posted lookouts, gave the bridge to the officer of the watch and went below, leaving orders that he was to be called if anything unusual appeared. At 2045, he was called to the bridge when an object in the water could be seen very fine on the port bow.

Steel ordered propulsion shifted to the main motors, the signalman to the bridge, and torpedo tubes 7 and 8 readied for firing. The object was recognised as a submarine low in the water.

Once on the bridge, the signalman sent three challenges over several minutes with the box lamp, none of which were answered. Steel wondered if the boat could be HMS Oxley, which should have been patrolling next in line, but some distance away. Steel and his bridge crew studied the silhouette, but could not distinguish what type of submarine it was.

A fourth challenge was sent: three green rifle-grenade flares. After firing, Steel counted slowly to 15 and then decided that they were seeing a German U-boat. He ordered tubes 7 and 8 fired with a three-second interval. Less than a minute later, an explosion was heard.

Triton moved into the area to investigate and heard cries for help. The light from the Aldis lamp revealed three men floundering amid oil and debris.

Lieutenant Guy C. I. St.B. Watkins and Lieutenant Harry A. Stacey entered the water and rescued Lieutenant Commander H.G. Bowerman, Oxley's commanding officer, as well as Able Seaman Gluckes, a lookout. The third person in the water, Lieutenant F.K. Manley, was seen to be swimming strongly when he suddenly sank from view. Neither Manley's body nor any other survivors from Oxley were found.

A Board of Enquiry found that Steel had done all he reasonably could in the circumstances. Oxley was out of position, Triton had acted correctly, and the first Allied submarine casualty of World War II was due to "friendly fire." During the war, the loss of Oxley was attributed to an accidental explosion. After the war, it was explained to have been a collision with Triton. The truth was not made public until the 1950s.

Memorial
As Oxley was operating from Dundee with the 2nd Submarine Flotilla when she was lost, her crew are all commemorated on Dundee International Submarine Memorial.

HMS Triton was a submarine of the Royal Navy named for the son of Poseidon and Amphitrite, the personification of the roaring waters. She was the lead ship of the T class (or Triton class) of diesel-electric submarines. Her keel was laid down on 28 August 1936 by Vickers Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness. She was launched on 5 October 1937, and commissioned on 9 November 1938 with Lieutenant Commander H. P. de C. Steel in command.

HMS_Triton.jpg
British T class submarine HMSM TRITON underway.

Sinking
On 28 November 1940, Triton left Malta for a patrol in the southern Adriatic Sea. On 6 December, she picked up a distress message from the Italian merchant Olimpia and set course to intercept and finish her off. Neither Olimpia nor Triton was heard from again. Triton was declared lost with all hands on 18 December. The Italians claimed that she was sunk by torpedo boats, probably Confienza, possibly by Clio, but the date cited was several days after contact was lost. The British claimed that she was sunk by naval mines in the Strait of Otranto.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Oxley
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Triton_(N15)

1942 – World War II: The British Army carries out an amphibious landing on Madagascar to re-launch Allied offensive operations in the Madagascar Campaign.

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


1989 - A bulgarian tug collieded on the Danube near Galati with rumanian passenger ship Mogoșoaia. 207 people died.

Nava-de-pasageri-MOGOSOAIA.jpg
Mogosoaia before she sunk

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2011 - Spice Islander I, a Ro-Ro ferry sank resulting in the deaths of 1,573 people; many of whom were never recovered.

Spice Islander I was a 836 GRT Ro-Ro ferry which was built in Greece in 1967 as Marianna. She was renamed Apostolos P following a sale in 1988. She was sold to a Honduran company in 2007 and renamed Spice Islander I. On 10 September 2011, she sank resulting in the deaths of 1,573 people; many of whom were never recovered.

Spice_Islander.jpg
MV Spice Islander I anchored in Zanzibar in 2010

Description
The ship was 60.00 metres (196.85 ft) long, with a beam of 11.40 metres (37.4 ft). She was assessed at 836 GRT, 663 NRT, 225 DWT. The ship was propelled by two Poyaud 12VUD25 diesel engines, of 1,560 horsepower (1,160 kW).

History
Built in 1967 as Marianna for an unknown owner, she was later sold to Theologos P. Naftiliaki of Piraeus, Greece. In 1988, Marianna was sold to Apostolos Shipping and renamed Apostolos P. She was later sold to Saronikos Ferries and placed in service on the Piraeus – AeginaAgistri route.

In 2005, Apostolos P was registered to Hellenic Seaways. In 2007, she was sold to Makame Hasnuu of Zanzibar, Tanzania, and renamed Spice Islander I.

On 25 September 2007, Spice Islander I was off the coast of Somalia when she experienced engine problems due to contaminated fuel. After the alarm had been raised via Kenya, USS Stout from Combined Task Force 150 was sent to her aid. The ship was on a voyage from Oman to Tanzania and was not carrying any passengers. USS James E. Williams also responded. Stout provided the ship with 7,800 US gallons (30,000 l; 6,500 imp gal) of fuel and supplied the ten crew with food and water. After her engines were restarted, she resumed her voyage to Tanzania.

Incident

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INDIAN OCEAN (Sept. 26, 2007) - Guided-missile destroyer USS Stout (DDG 55) tows Tanzanian-flagged passenger ferry Spice Island while in international waters off the coast of Somalia. Spice Island, which was carrying no passengers, hailed for engineering assistance when it ran out of fuel while transiting to Tanzania. Stout provided the crew with food, water and fuel and helped to get the vessel operational under its own power. Coalition forces have a long-standing tradition of helping mariners in distress by providing medical assistance, engineering assistance and search and rescue efforts. U.S. Navy photo (RELEASED)

At 21:00 local time (19:00 UTC), the MV Spice Islander I sailed from Unguja, the main island of the Zanzibar archipelago, for Pemba Island to the north. The ship's official capacity was 45 crew and 645 passengers, but it was reported to be heavily overloaded. Around four hours after departure, Spice Islander I sank between Zanzibar and Pemba. The ship is thought to have capsized after losing engine power. Of those on board, around 620 were rescued, with at least 40 of them suffering serious injuries. In addition to passengers, the ferry was believed to have been transporting cargo such as rice.

Death toll
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Map showing Zanzibar Archipelago, the location of the disaster

Early news reports claimed that the ferry was carrying an estimated 800 people at the time of her sinking, and by 12 September, it was reported that over 240 bodies had been recovered. However, on 14 October, the Tanzanian government confirmed that the vessel had in fact been carrying around 3,586 passengers, of whom 2,764 were unaccounted for. In an investigative report published on 19 January 2012, these figures were revised downward, with 2,470 passengers, 203 confirmed dead, and 1,370 missing.

Response
The Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar set up a center for people involved in the tragedy and called upon reserves from Zanzibar to join the effort. It also called for foreign support from African countries. The survivors were rescued by ferries and brought back to Zanzibar's main harbour, in Stone Town.

On 11 September, three days of mourning began for those who died in the incident. An investigation into the sinking was also announced; the Zanzibar minister of state, Mohamed Aboud Mohamed said: "The government will take stern measures against those found responsible for this tragedy, in accordance with the country's laws and regulations."

Eight months later, the MV Skagit, another ferry on the same route, also sank, also with large loss of life.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_the_MV_Spice_Islander_I
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Spice_Islander_I

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
11 September 1758 – Battle of Saint Cast - France repels British invasion during the Seven Years' War.


The Battle of Saint Cast was a military engagement during the Seven Years' War on the French coast between British naval and land expeditionary forces and French coastal defence forces. Fought on 11 September 1758, it was won by the French.

Bataille_de_Saint_Cast_1758_par_Ozanne.jpg
British attack on Saint-Cast in 1758 during the Seven Years War.

During the Seven Years' War, Britain mounted numerous amphibious expeditions against France and French possessions around the world. In 1758 a number of expeditions, then called Descents, were made against the northern coast of France. The military objectives of the descents were to capture and destroy French ports, divert French land forces from Germany, suppress privateers and spread panic and confusion in France. The battle of Saint Cast was the final engagement of a descent in force that ended in disaster for the British.

Background
The expedition contained sizable naval and land forces. The naval forces were two squadrons consisting of: Admiral Anson's 22 ships of the line with 9 frigates crewed by 15,500 men and Commodore Howe's 1 ship of the line of 64 guns, 4 of 50 guns, 10 frigates, 5 sloops, 2 fire-ships, 2 bomb ketches, 6,000 sailors, 6,000 marines, 100 transports, 20 tenders, 10 store-ships and 10 cutters with crews totaling some 5,000 merchant seamen. The land forces were four infantry brigades consisting of: the Guards Brigade made up of the 1st battalions of the 1st, Coldstream and 3rd Foot Guards and three brigades made up of the 5th, 24th, 30th, 33rd, 34th, 36th, 38th, 67th, 68th and 72nd Regiments of Foot, as well as an artillery train of 60 cannon with 400 artillerymen and a few hundred Light Dragoon cavalry, totaling over 10,000 soldiers.


Admiral Lord Anson

Britain's naval forces were under the command of Admiral Lord Anson, seconded by Commodore Howe. Britain's land forces were commanded by Lieutenant-General Thomas Bligh. Against this the French had numerous garrison troops and militia spread thinly over the northern coast of France that would have to be concentrated at whichever place the British landed.
Initially the expedition met with considerable success capturing the port of Cherbourg. The British destroyed the port, the docks and the ships harbored there, carrying off or destroying considerable war material and goods.

French troops from various places began moving on Cherbourg and the British expedition re-embarked to move against Saint Malo on 5 September but it was found to be too well defended. The weather now turned against the British as well and it was decided it would be safer to re-embark the land forces further west in the bay of Saint Cast near the small village of Saint Cast and the towns of Le Guildo and Matignon. The fleet sailed ahead while the army marched overland on 7 September, engaging in skirmishes on the 7th, 8th and 9th. On 10 September the Coldstream Guards were sent ahead to Saint Cast to collect provisions and convoy them back to the army. Lieutenant-General Bligh with the army camped at Matignon some 3 miles from Saint Cast.


Richelieu, duc d'Aiguillon

During this time Richelieu, duc d'Aiguillon, military commander of Brittany, had gathered some 12 regular line infantry battalions, including the Regiments of Royal Vaisseaux, Volontaire Étranger, Bourbon, Bresse, Quercy, Penthièvre and Marmande, from the garrison of Saint Malo a brigade of the Regiments of Fontenay-le-Comte, Brie and Boulonnais; six squadrons of cavalry, some companies of coastal militia, and several artillery batteries. The French army amounting to 8,000 or 9,000 men, under the field command of Marquis d'Aubigné, was fast marching on Saint Cast from Brest by way of the town of Lamballe and from the town of Dinan.

Bataille_de_Saint-Cast.jpg
La bataille de Saint-Cast, livrée le 11 septembre 1758. Huile sur toile d'Artus Despagne, exposée à la préfecture des Côtes d'Armor.

saint-cast-bataille.jpg

The battle
Bligh broke camp by 3 in the morning of the 11th and reached the beach at Saint Cast before 9 but the embarcation went very slowly. The transports stood well off shore and the flat-bottomed landing boats used to carry some 70 men each were initially employed loading supplies, artillery, livestock and horses. Hardly any soldiers had embarked when the French appeared and began a cannonade of the beach.

Disaster_in_the_Bay_of_St._Cas.jpg
A landing boat sinks as the British retreat

Bligh had formed the 1st Foot Guards and the grenadier companies of the line regiments into a rear guard of about 1500 men under the command of the Guards Brigade commander, Major-General Dury, to cover the withdrawal of the army from behind some dunes along the beach. A great deal of confusion and panic set in among the British in the hurry to get off the beach. The French forces moved down a covered way to the beach and deployed three brigades into line with a fourth in reserve. The five frigates and the bomb ketches tried to cover the British embarkation and their fire disordered and drove back the French line for a while. The French artillery batteries were well positioned on higher ground commanding the beach and the bay. They exchanged shots with the ships of the fleet, and sank three landing boats full of soldiers; other landing boats were damaged on the beach. When the British troops remaining ashore were some 3,000, the French closed in. Under fire from the British fleet, the French advanced against the final British position led by a battalion of 300 men of combined grenadier companies in a bayonet charge commanded by the Marquis de Cussi and Comte de Montaigu. The rear guard under Dury attempted a counter-attack in which he was fatally wounded and the 1st Foot Guards and line grenadiers broke and fled into the sea with 800 killed and over 700 taken prisoner. The French infantry pursued the stragglers into waist-deep water until the fleet ceased fire, at which point they attended to the British wounded, having suffered about 300 casualties themselves.

800px-Emm._Arm._d_Aiguillon_St_Cast_1758.jpg
Emmanuel Armand de Vignerot du Plessis Richelieu, duke of Aiguillon, won the St-Cast battle in 1758.

Aftermath
While the British continued such expeditions against French colonies and islands beyond the reach of the French land forces, this was the last attempt by an amphibious expedition in force against the coast of France during the Seven Years' War. The fiasco of the embarcation from Saint Cast helped convince British Prime Minister Pitt to send instead military aid and troops to fight alongside Ferdinand and Frederick the Great on the continent of Europe. The negative potential for another disaster and expense of expeditions this size was considered to outweigh the temporary gain of the raids.

The French had this to say about their own performance:

"si les Bretons s'étaient couverts de gloire, le petit Duc (d'Aiguillon) s'était couvert de farine." (though the Bretons were covered with glory, the little duke was covered with flour.) This refers to the location of the headquarters at the mill of Moulin d'Anne, where it is rumoured that the duke was entertained by the miller.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Saint_Cast
http://warsoflouisxiv.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-battle-of-saint-cast-1758.html
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
11 September 1778 - Capture of HMS Fox by french Junon

Combat_de_la_frégate_française_la_Junon_contre_la_frégate_anglaise_Fox_en_septembre_1778.jpg
The capture of HMS Fox by the French frigate Junon

Capture


USS Hancock and USS Bostonovertake HMS Fox.

On 7 June 1777 HMS Fox was cruising off the Newfoundland banks when she sighted a strange vessel. Fox sailed towards the stranger until she sighted yet another strange vessel. Suspecting that these were both American frigates, Fox attempted to escape. However, Hancock, the first of the two, caught up with Fox and an engagement started that lasted for about a half-hour before Boston was able to join the combat. Fox again attempted to sail away, but Hancock caught up and opened fire. After Boston came up too and was able to shoot away Fox's mainmast and wheel, Fotheringham struck. Fox had lost four men killed and eight wounded.

Recapture
Main article: Capture of the USS Hancock

One month later, on 7–8 July, Hancock, Boston, and Fox were in company when they encountered HMS Rainbow, under the command of Captain Sir George Collier, and HMS Victor. Rainbow had left Halifax in the morning of 6 July and in the afternoon sighted three sail. She gave chase, during which HMS Flora came up independently and proceeded to engage one of the unknown vessels. The next day Rainbow and Flora exchanged quarry, with Rainbow pursuing the largest enemy vessel, accepting that one of the three American vessels would necessarily escape. The brig Victor was a poor sailer and essentially played no role in the engagement. Ultimately, Rainbow captured Hancock after a 39-hour chase, but Boston escaped to the Sheepscot River on the Maine coast. (Captain McNeill, of Boston, was court-martialed in June 1779 for his failure to support Hancock and was dismissed from the U.S. Navy.)

Collier's after-action letter made no mention of any casualties on either side, even though the vessels had exchanged some fire. Hancock normally had a complement of 290 men, but only 229 on board when Rainbowcaptured her; the remainder were a prize crew on Fox. Fotheringham and 40 of his men were prisoners on Hancock. The other officers and some of the men were aboard Boston, and Captain John Manley of Hancockhad put most into a fishing vessel and sent them to Newfoundland. Because of the number of American prisoners involved, Rainbow took Hancock into Halifax. When Collier arrived at Halifax he was delighted to see that Flora had captured Fox and that they had arrived there before him.

And capture again by french Junon
The French frigate Junon captured Fox on 11 September 1778. Fox, now under the command of Captain the Honourable Thomas Windsor, was off Brest when she sighted a ship and sloop. Fox gave chase, but the weather made visibility poor and obscured Junon's approach. When Fox finally sighted Junon, Fox prepared to engage. The two vessels maneuvered against each other until finally they gave up and simply exchanged broadsides. Junon, unusually for a French vessel, fired at Fox's hull rather than her rigging, with the result that Junon's heavier guns were able to inflict heavy casualties on Fox, and shoot away her three masts. Windsor was forced to strike, having lost 14 men killed and 32 wounded.



See “2 September 1773 – Launch of HMS Fox”
https://www.shipsofscale.com/sosfor...ime-events-in-history.2104/page-23#post-38665

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Fox_(1773)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
11 September 1779 – Launch of french Lutine, a 32 gun Magicienne-class frigate, later HMS Lutine


Lutine was a frigate which served in both the French Navy and the Royal Navy. She was launched by the French in 1779. The ship passed to British control in 1793 and was taken into service as HMS Lutine. She sank among the West Frisian Islands during a storm in 1799.

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She was built as a French Magicienne-class frigate with 32 guns, and was launched at Toulon in 1779. During the French Revolution, Lutine came under French Royalist control. On 18 December 1793, she was one of sixteen ships handed over to a British fleet at the end of the Siege of Toulon, to prevent her being captured by the French Republicans. In 1795, she was rebuilt by the British as a fifth-rate frigate with 38 guns. She served thereafter in the North Sea, where she was part of the blockade of Amsterdam.

Lutine sank during a storm at Vlieland in the West Frisian Islands on 9 October 1799, whilst carrying a large shipment of gold. Shifting sandbanks disrupted salvage attempts, and the majority of the cargo has never been recovered. Lloyd's of London has preserved her salvaged bell – the Lutine Bell – which is now used for ceremonial purposes at their headquarters in London.


Acquisition by the Royal Navy
Main article: Siege of Toulon
On 27 September 1793, the royalists in Toulon delivered the city, naval dockyards, arsenal, and French Mediterranean fleet to a British fleet commanded by Vice Admiral Lord Hood. The French vessels included:

...seventeen ships of the line (one 120, one 80 and fifteen 74s), five frigates and eleven corvettes. In various stages of refitting in the New Basin were four ships of the line (one 120, one 80, and two 74s) and a frigate. Mainly in the Old Basin and, for the most part, awaiting middling or large repair, were eight ships of the line (one 80 and seven 74s), five frigates and two corvettes.​
Lutine was one of the ships from the Old Basin. During the siege of Toulon, the British converted Lutine to a bomb vessel that fired mortars at the besieging French artillery batteries, which were under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte. When they abandoned Toulon on 19 December, the British took Lutine with them and commissioned her as HMS Lutine.

Service in Northern Europe
The loss of the Lutine occurred during the Second Coalition of the French Revolutionary Wars, in which an Anglo-Russian army landed in the Batavian Republic (now the Netherlands), which had been occupied by the French since 1795. (The French had captured the Dutch fleet the previous year in a cavalry charge over the frozen polders.) Admiral Duncan had heavily defeated the Dutch fleet in 1797 at the Battle of Camperdown and the remainder of the Dutch fleet was captured on 30 August 1799 by the Duke of York.

During this period Lutine served as an escort, guiding transports in and out of the shoal waters around North Holland.

In October 1799 she was employed in carrying about £1.2 million in bullion and coin (equivalent in value to £108 million in 2018), from Yarmouth to Cuxhaven in order to provide Hamburg's banks with funds in order to prevent a stock market crash and, possibly, for paying troops in North Holland. In the evening of 9 October 1799, during a heavy north-westerly gale, the ship under Captain Lancelot Skynner, having made unexpected leeway, was drawn by the tidal stream flowing into the Waddenzee, onto a sandbank in Vlie off the island of Terschelling, in the West Frisian Islands. There, she became a total loss. All but one of her approximately 240 passengers and crew perished in the breaking seas.

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HMS Lutine in distress

Captain Portlock, commander of the British squadron at Vlieland, reported the loss, writing to the Admiralty in London on 10 October:

Sir, It is with extreme pain that I have to state to you the melancholy fate of H.M.S. Lutine, which ship ran on to the outer bank of the Fly [an anglicisation of 'Vlie'] Island passage on the night of the 9th inst. in a heavy gale of wind from the NNW, and I am much afraid the crew with the exception of one man, who was saved on a part of the wreck, have perished. This man, when taken up, was almost exhausted. He is at present tolerably recovered, and relates that the Lutine left Yarmouth Roads on the morning of the 9th inst. bound for the Texel, and that she had on board a considerable quantity of money.
The wind blowing strong from the NNW, and the lee tide coming on, rendered it impossible with Schowts [probably schuits, local fishing vessels] or other boats to go out to aid her until daylight in the morning, and at that time nothing was to be seen but parts of the wreck.
I shall use every endeavour to save what I can from the wreck, but from the situation she is lying in, I am afraid little will be recovered.​
Three officers, including Captain Skynner, were apparently buried in the Vlieland churchyard, and around two hundred others were buried in a mass grave near the Brandaris lighthouse in Terschelling. No memorials mark these graves.

Captain Lancelot Skynner came from Easton on the Hill, near Stamford, England, where his father was rector for many years. Plaques on the former rectory (known for a time as Lutine House) and in the church commemorate this and Captain Skynner.

The failure of the gold to arrive precipitated the very crisis that it had been designed to prevent.

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Internal shot of Rostrum at Lloyd's and Lutine Bell

The site of the wreck
The site of the wreck, the Vlie, was notorious for its strong currents and the danger of storms forcing ships onto the shore. The area is composed of sandbanks and shoals, which the currents continuously shift, with channels through them: in 1666, during the Second Anglo-Dutch War, Admiral Holmes had managed to penetrate these shoals and start Holmes's Bonfire, surprising the Dutch who had considered the shoals impassable. The depth of water also constantly changes, and this has caused much of the difficulty in salvage attempts.

Lutine was wrecked in a shallow channel called the IJzergat, which has now completely disappeared, between the islands of Vlieland and Terschelling. Immediately after Lutine sank, the wreck began silting up, forcing an end to salvage attempts by 1804. By chance, it was discovered in 1857 that the wreck was again uncovered, but covered again in 1859. The wreck was probably partially uncovered between 1915 and 1916, although no salvage was attempted because of World War I.

The gold
The gold was insured by Lloyd's of London, which paid the claim in full. The underwriters therefore owned the gold under rights of abandonment and later authorised attempts to salvage it. However, because of the state of war, the Dutch also laid claim to it as a prize of war.

Captain Portlock was instructed by the Admiralty on 29 October 1799 to try to recover the cargo for the benefit of the persons to whom it belongs; Lloyd's also sent agents to look over the wreck. The Committee for the Public Properties of Holland instructed the local Receivers of Wrecks to report on the wreck, and F.P. Robbé, the Receiver on Terschelling, was authorised in December 1799 to begin salvage operations. All three parties had drawn attention to the difficulty of salvage due to the unfavourable position of the wreck and lateness of the year. At this point, the wreck was lying in approximately 7.5 metres (25 ft) of water.

In 1821, Robbé's successor as Receiver at Terschelling, Pierre Eschauzier successfully petitioned King William I and by royal decree received the sole right

to attempt the further salvage of the cargo of the English frigate, the Lutine, which foundered between Terrschelling and Vlieland in the year 1799, proceeding from London and bound for Hamburg, and having a very considerable capital on board, consisting of gold and silver as well as thousands of Spanish coins, believed to amount in all to 20 million Dutch guilders.​
In return, the state would receive half of all recoveries. Eschauzier and his heirs therefore became the owners of the wreck by royal decree and thus are known as the 'Decretal Salvors'.

Eschauzier's attempts spurred Lloyd's to approach the British government to defend their rights to the wreck. In 1823, King William revised by subsequent decree the original decree: everything which "had been reserved to the state from the cargo of the above-mentioned frigate" was ceded to the King of Great Britain as a token "of our friendly sentiments towards the Kingdom of Great Britain, and by no means out of a conviction of England's right to any part of the aforementioned cargo." This share was subsequently ceded back to Lloyd's

The gold was apparently stored in flimsy casks bound with weak iron hoops and the silver in casks with wooden hoops. Within a year of the wreck, these casks had largely disintegrated, and the sea had started to scatter and cover the wreck.

Lloyd's records were destroyed by fire in 1838, and the actual amount of the gold lost is now unknown. In 1858 Lloyd's estimated the total value at £1.2 million, made up of both silver and gold. Despite extended operations, over 80% remains to be salvaged. An uncorroborated newspaper report in 1869 referred to the Dutch crown jewels being on board.

Initial salvage attempts were executed during 1799-1938

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Reed more about at wikipedia

The Lutine Bell at Lloyd´s


Internal shot of Rostrum at Lloyd's and Lutine Bell

The ship's bell (engraved "ST. JEAN - 1779") was recovered on 17 July 1858. The bell was found entangled in the chains originally running from the ship's wheel to the rudder, and was originally left in this state before being separated and re-hung from the rostrum of the Underwriting Room at Lloyd's. It weighs 48 kilograms (106 lb) and is 46 centimetres (18 in) in diameter. It remains a mystery why the name on the bell does not correspond with that of the ship. The bell was traditionally struck when news of an overdue ship arrived - once for the loss of a ship (i.e. bad news), and twice for her return (i.e. good news). The bell was sounded to ensure that all brokers and underwriters were made aware of the news simultaneously. The bell has developed a crack and the traditional practice of ringing news has ended: the last time it was rung to tell of a lost ship was in 1979 and the last time it was rung to herald the return of an overdue ship was in 1989.

During World War II, the Nazi radio propagandist Lord Haw-Haw asserted that the bell was being rung continuously because of Allied shipping losses during the Battle of the Atlantic. In fact, the bell was rung once, with one ring, during the war, when the Bismarck was sunk.

It tolls when a member of the Royal Family dies and was heard after the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. It is now rung for ceremonial purposes to commemorate disasters such as the 9/11 disaster, the Asian tsunami, and the London Bombings, and is always rung at the start and end of the two minutes silence on Armistice Day.

The bell has hung in four successive Lloyd's Underwriting Rooms:
  • The Royal Exchange 1859 - 1928;
  • Lloyd's building in Leadenhall Street 1928-1958;
  • Lloyd's first Lime Street headquarters 1958-1986;
  • The present Lloyd's building in Lime Street since 1986.
There is also a chair and table at Lloyd's made from the rudder of the frigate. The rudder was salvaged on 18 September 1858. This furniture was previously in the Lloyd's writing room and was used by the Chairman of Lloyd's at the annual general meeting of members, but is now kept in the Old Library of the Lloyd's building


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Lutine_(1779)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magicienne-class_frigate
http://www.interlloydclaims.nl/lutine_timeline.php
http://www.scribeweekly.com/de lutine.htm
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
11 September 1781 - HMS Richmond (1757 – 32 – Richmond-class) and HMS Iris (1776 - 28 - ex-USS Hancock), were taken when the french fleet under the Comte de Grasse returned at the Chesabeake (6 days after the battle)


HMS Richmond (1757 – 32 – Richmond-class), Cptn. Charles Hudson, and HMS Iris (28), Cptn. George Dawson, having been ordered to enter the Chesapeake and cut away the buoys left when the French slipped their cables, were taken when the fleet under the Comte de Grasse returned as they were completing the task.

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Scale: 1:48. A contemporary full hull model of a ‘Richmond’-class 32-gun frigate (circa 1757), built in the Georgian style. The model is decked. Taken from the model, the vessel measured 129 feet along the gun deck by 34 feet in the beam, displacing 660 tons burden. It was armed with twenty-six 12-pounders on the upper deck, four 6-pounders on the quarterdeck and two 6-pounders on the forecastle. This type of vessel, an early ‘true frigate’, is similar to SLR0496. Although not identified with a particular ship, the dimensions represented are very close to those of the ‘Tweed’ (1759), but that ship probably had a round bow. A noticeable feature is the new style of figurehead. The familiar lion, which had been the standard form of bow decoration for smaller warships since about 1600, began to disappear after about 1750. It was commonly replaced by a human figure in classical dress. Frigates were fifth- or sixth-rate ships and so not expected to lie in the line of battle. With the advantage of superior sailing qualities over the larger ships of the line, they were used with the fleet for such tasks as lookout or, in battle, as repeating ships to fly the admiral’s signals. They also cruised independently in search of privateers.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/66458.html#LFOWFqGFSF8dktIP.99


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HMS Boston, sistership of Richmond

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HMS Richmond was the name ship of the six-vessel, 32-gun Richmond-class fifth-rate frigates of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1757 and served throughout the American Revolutionary War until the French 74-gun Bourgogne and the frigate Aigrette captured her on 11 September 1781 in the Chesapeake. She then served as Richemont.
The French burned her at Sardinia on 19 May 1793 to prevent the Spanish from capturing her.


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

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

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Richmond_(1757)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richmond-class_frigate
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Hancock_(1776)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Chesapeake
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
11 September 1781 - HMS Terrible (1762 - 74) was burnt as unseaworthy due to damage received at the Battle of the Chesapeake


HMS Terrible was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 4 September 1762 at Harwich, England.

In the English Channel, in 1777, under Captain Richard Bickerton, she took an American privateer brig called the Rising States, Capt Thompson.

In 1778 she fought at the First Battle of Ushant, and in 1781 Terrible (Capt. Finch) was part of Sir Thomas Graves' fleet at the Battle of the Chesapeake. During the course of the battle, she took heavy damage, and was scuttled, or deliberately sunk, after the battle had ended.

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Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth for 'Ramillies' (1763); 'Terrible' (1762); 'Russell' (1764); 'Invincible' (1765); 'Magnificent' (1766); 'Prince of Wales' (1765); 'Marlborough' (1767); 'Robust' (1764), all 74-gun Third Rate, two-deckers. Note the pencil annotations of chain channels and gunports. An annotation on the reverse states that the class was similar to the 'Superb' (1760), specifically mentioning 'Monarch', 'Magnificent', and Marlborough'.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/81028.html#VbvGxG3Rdv1QhiBv.99



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

Design
The draught for the Ramillies class was very similar to that of the Bellona class and subsequent Arrogant class, with the only real differences to be found in the shape of the underwater hull. There were two distinct sub-groups; four ships were built in the Royal Dockyards to the original design, approved on 25 April 1760 – although the name-ship Ramillies had originally been ordered as a Bellona-class unit. Slade subsequently amended his design for the ships which were to be built by commercial contractors – this modified design, with slightly amended dimensions, being approved on 13 January 1761.

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Ships
First group
Dockyard-built ships:
Builder: Chatham Dockyard
Ordered: 1 December 1759
Laid down: 25 August 1760
Launched: 25 April 1763
Completed: November 1763
Fate: Abandoned and burned off Newfoundland, 21 September 1782.

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Scale: 1:48. A plan showing the inboard profile, with the longitudinal half-breadth super-imposed for 'Ramilles' (1763), a 74 gun Third Rate two-decker.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/385549.html#7OXgX59yUtKrJv2v.99

Builder: Deptford Dockyard
Ordered: 22 November 1760
Laid down: 2 June 1761
Launched: 20 July 1765
Completed: 24 September 1765
Fate: Broken up at Chatham, March 1813
Builder: Deptford Dockyard
Ordered: 16 December 1761
Laid down: 15 April 1762
Launched: 20 September 1767
Completed: September 1778
Fate: Wrecked off Brest, 25 March 1804.
Builder: Deptford Dockyard
Ordered: 4 December 1762
Laid down: 3 June 1763
Launched: 26 August 1767
Completed: 1 December 1767
Fate: Wrecked off Belle Île, 4 November 1800

Second (modified) group
Contract-built ships:
Builder: John Barnard, Harwich
Ordered: 1 January 1761
Laid down: February 1761
Launched: 4 September 1762
Completed: 18 December 1762
Fate: Burned following the Battle of Chesapeake, 11 September 1781
Builder: Thomas West, Deptford
Ordered: 1 January 1761
Laid down: June 1761
Launched: 10 November 1764
Completed: 6 January 1765 at Woolwich Dockyard
Fate: Sold out of the service in the East Indies, 1811
Builder: John and William Wells, Deptford
Ordered: 12 October 1761
Laid down: December 1761
Launched: 9 March 1765
Completed: February 1777 at Chatham Dockyard.
Fate: Wrecked off Yarmouth, 16 March 1801
Builder: John Barnard, Harwich
Ordered: 16 December 1761
Laid down: February 1762
Launched: 25 October 1764
Completed: 10 December 1764
Fate: Broken up at Portsmouth, January 1817
Builder: Henry Bird and Roger Fisher, Milford Haven
Ordered: 16 December 1762
Laid down: March 1762
Launched: 4 June 1765
Completed: 22 December 1770 at Plymouth Dockyard
Fate: Broken up at Plymouth, August 1783


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Terrible_(1762)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramillies-class_ship_of_the_line
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
11 September 1786 – Launch of HMS Royal Sovereign, a 100-gun first rate ship of the line


which served as the flagship of Admiral Collingwood at the Battle of Trafalgar. She was the third of seven Royal Navy ships to bear the name. Designed by Sir Edward Hunt, she was launched at Plymouth Dockyard on 11 September 1786, at a cost of £67,458, and was the only ship built to her draught. She was known by her crew as the "West Country Wagon" due to her poor manoeuvrability and speed.

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The eighth, but last in order of events, of a series of ten drawings (PAF5871–PAF5874, PAF5876, PAF5880-PAF5881 and PAF5883–PAF5885) of mainly lesser-known incidents in Nelson's career, apparently intended for a set of engravings. This and PAF5881 are exceptions in terms of their subject. Pocock's own numbered description of it in a letter of 2 June 1810 (see below) is: '8. Storm the Day after the Battle the "Victory" under Courses Endev[ourin]g to Clear the Land. The "Royal Sovereign" in Tow by the "Euryalus" &c. &c.' The view is towards the coast of Spain off Cadiz, with the lighthouse at Rota in the centre left distance, and 'Victory' heading towards it in stern view over the tow-line. To the right are disabled enemy ships, including prizes, some being cast away in the post-Trafalgar storm. For the rather complex circumstances of the commissioning of these ten drawings, and Pocock's related letters, see ' View of St Eustatius with the "Boreas"' (PAF5871). PAF0021 is a related pencil drawing by Pocock of the same subject. Signed and dated by the artist in the lower right. Exhibited: NMM Pocock exhib. (1975) no. 54.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/100710.html#pfCe3fuYo98eEriW.99


In service
Royal Sovereign was part of Admiral Howe's fleet at the Glorious First of June, where she suffered 14 killed and 41 wounded.

On 16 June 1795, as the flagship of Vice-Admiral William Cornwallis, she was involved in the celebrated episode known as 'Cornwallis' Retreat'.

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Scale: 1:72. A contemporary Block model of the Royal Sovereign (1786), a 100 guns, first rate, three-decker ship of the line. Name "Royal Sovereign" on stern. Number "8" on starboard broadside.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/66511.html#tbIKhy0XqZv7Q8R0.99

Trafalgar
The first ship of the fleet in action at Trafalgar on 21 October 1805, she led one column of warships; Nelson's Victory led the other. Due to the re-coppering of her hull prior to her arrival off Cádiz, Royal Sovereign was a considerably better sailer in the light winds present that day than other vessels, and pulled well ahead of the rest of the fleet. As she cut the enemy line alone and engaged the Spanish three decker Santa Ana, Nelson pointed to her and said, 'See how that noble fellow Collingwood carries his ship into action!' At approximately the same moment, Collingwood remarked to his captain, Edward Rotheram, 'What would Nelson give to be here?'

Royal Sovereign and Santa Ana duelled for much of the battle, with Santa Ana taking fire from fresh British ships passing through the line, including HMS Mars and HMS Tonnant, while nearby French and Spanish vessels fired on Royal Sovereign. Santa Ana struck at 14:15, having suffered casualties numbering 238 dead and wounded after battling Royal Sovereign and HMS Belleisle. Royal Sovereign lost her mizzen and mainmasts, her foremast was badly damaged and much of her rigging was shot away. At 2.20 pm Santa Ana finally struck to Royal Sovereign. Shortly afterwards a boat came from Victory carrying Lieutenant Hill, who reported that Nelson had been wounded. Realising that he might have to take command of the rest of the fleet and with his ship according to his report being "perfectly unmanageable", by 3 pm he signalled for the frigate Euryalus to take Royal Sovereign in tow. Euryalus towed her round to support the rest of the British ships with her port-side guns, and became engaged with combined fleet's van under Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley, as it came about to support the collapsing centre. Fire from the lead ships shot away the cable between Royal Sovereign and Euryalus, and the latter ship made off towards Victory. Royal Sovereign exchanged fire with the arriving ships, until Collingwood rallied several relatively undamaged British ships around Royal Sovereign, and Dumanoir gave up any attempt to recover some of the prizes, and made his escape at 4.30pm.

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At 4.40 pm one of Victory's boats, carrying Captain Henry Blackwood and Lieutenant Hill, came alongside and Blackwood reported Nelson's death to Collingwood. This left Collingwood in command of the fleet, and with a storm rising, and disregarding Nelson's final order to bring the fleet to anchor, Collingwood ordered Blackwood to hoist the signal to all ships to come to the wind on the starboard tack, and to take disabled and captured ships in tow. Royal Sovereign was by now almost or totally unmanageable and virtually uninhabitable. As she had most of her masts shot away she could not make signals. Having his ship too much disabled by enemy fire at just before of 6 pm Collingwood, who had succeeded Nelson in command of the fleet had to transfer himself and his flag to the frigate Euryalus, while Euryalus sent a cable across and took Royal Sovereign in tow for second time. At the end of the action Collingwood signalled from the frigate to the rest of the fleet to prepare to anchor. HMS Neptune took over the tow on 22 October, and was replaced by HMS Mars on 23 October. Royal Sovereign had lost one lieutenant, her master, one lieutenant of marines, two midshipman, 29 seamen, and 13 marines killed, and two lieutenants, one lieutenant of marines, one master's mate, four midshipman, her boatswain, 69 seamen, and 16 marines wounded.

After Trafalgar
Royal Sovereign returned to duty in the Mediterranean the next year and remained on the blockade of Toulon until November 1811, when she was ordered to return home to the Channel Fleet. In 1812 and 1813 she was under the command of Rear Admiral James Bissett serving under Admiral Keith.

She was credited with the capture on 5 August 1812 of the American ship Asia, of 251 tons, which had been sailing from St. Mary's to Plymouth with a cargo of timber. Royal Sovereign shared the proceeds of the capture with all the vessels in Keith's squadron, suggesting that what happened was that Asia sailed into Plymouth unaware that the War of 1812 between Britain and the United States had broken out and was seized as she arrived, the formal credit going to the flagship.

After her useful active life she was converted to harbour service as a receiving ship at Plymouth before being renamed HMS Captain on 17 August 1825. Hulked in June 1826, Captain was finally broken up at Plymouth, with work being completed on 28 August 1841. Four of her guns were saved and are incorporated in the Collingwood Memorial in Tynemouth.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Royal_Sovereign_(1786)
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-344887;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=R
 
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