Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
21st of July
some of the events you will find here,
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19 July 1979 - The oil tanker SS Atlantic Empress collides with another oil tanker Aegean Captain, causing the largest ever ship-borne oil spill, 18 miles east of the island of Tobago. At the time of the collision Atlantic Empress was sailing from Saudi Arabia to Beaumont, Texas, with a...
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1545 - The French invasion of the Isle of Wight occurred during the
Italian Wars in July 1545. The invasion was repulsed.
France had a long history of attacking the
Isle of Wight, and the 1545 campaign proved to be the last time to date that the
French have attempted to take it. Although the French forces, led by
Claude d'Annebault, greatly outnumbered those of the
English, the battles fought (including the battles of
the Solent and
Bonchurch) ended without a clear winner. However, as the French were repelled, it could be considered an
English victory. Although the operation was inconclusive, the English suffered heavily, including the loss of the
carrack Mary Rose in the Battle of the Solent. Details of the conflict have not been very well recorded, and some accounts claim that the French were defeated at each battle rather easily.
A French fleet attacks Bembridge in 1545.
1781 - The Action of 21 July 1781
was a naval skirmish off the harbor of Spanish River,
Cape Breton,
Nova Scotia (present-day
Sydney, Nova Scotia), during the
American Revolution. Two
French Navy frigates, led by Admiral
Latouche Tréville and
La Pérouse, engaged a convoy of 18 British ships and their escorts from the
Royal Navy. The two French frigates captured two of the British escorts while the remainder of the British convoy escaped.
Naval battle off Cape Breton (
Combat Naval A La Hauteur De Louisbourg) by
Auguste-Louis de Rossel de Cercy
1812 - HMS Sealark (10), Lt. Thomas Warrand,
captured Ville de Caen (16), Cptn. Cocket, off Start Point
HMS Sealark (or
Sea Lark) was the American
schooner Fly, launched in 1801 or 1811, that
HMS Scylla captured in 1811. The
Royal Navy took her into service as a 10-gun schooner. She participated in one notable
single-ship action in 1812 that in 1847 the Admiralty recognized with a clasp to the Naval General Service Medal. She was sold in 1820.
Sealark's most tumultuous moment came on 21 July 1812. That morning, alerted by a shore signal of the presence of an enemy vessel, Warrand set out and within an hour discovered a large
lugger flying English colours but chasing and firing at two West Indiamen sailing up the Channel.
Sealark caught up with the lugger and eventually an intense engagement ensued that lasted for an hour and a half before a boarding party from
Sealark captured the enemy vessel. She was the
Ville de Caen, of sixteen guns and 75 men. She belonged to
Saint Malo but was just a day out of the
Isle de Bas and had taken nothing; she was the same vessel that had fended off the lugger
Sandwich at some earlier date.
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-347033;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=S
The engagement was sanguinary.
Sealark had seven men killed, and 21 wounded, including Warrand.
Ville de Caen had 15 men killed, including her captain, M. Cocket, and 16 wounded.
Lloyd's Patriotic Fund awarded Warrand an honour sword worth 50
guineas. In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the award of the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Sealark 21 July 1812" to the four still surviving claimants from the action.
1850 - The first screw-driven gunboat Von der Tann engaged with ships Heckla and Valkyren
During the
First War of Schleswig, 1848-1850 between
Denmark and the two
duchies, the Schleswig-Holstein navy comprised three
paddlewheelers with sail rigging, a
schooner and 12 gunboats; their task was to protect the coast against Danish raids.
Von der Tann 1849. Painting by
Lüder Arenhold, 1891
Model of
Von der Tann
1898 - The Battle of Nipe Bay
1898 was an engagement of the
Spanish–American War. The battle was fought in
Nipe Bay,
Cuba, by four
United States Navy warships against the
Spanish sloop-of-war Jorge Juan and three
gunboats which were supported by forts guarding the harbor.
1907 - SS Columbia was lost after a collision with the lumber schooner San Pedro killing 88 passengers
SS Columbia (1880–1907) was a cargo and passenger
steamship that was owned by the
Oregon Railway and Navigation Company and later the
San Francisco and Portland Steamship Company.
Columbia was constructed in 1880 by the
John Roach & Sons shipyard in
Chester, Pennsylvania for the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company.
On 20 July 1907,
Columbia departed San Francisco, California, with 251 passengers and crew for Portland, Oregon under the leadership of Captain Peter Doran. When it became evening,
Columbiabecame shrouded in fog about 12 miles (19 km) off
Shelter Cove, but Captain Doran refused to slow the ship's speed. Even though the whistle of the steam schooner
San Pedro could be heard nearby, neither Doran nor
First Officer Hendricksen of
San Pedro reduced the speed of either vessel. During this time, the rolling motion of the waves had caused many passengers to retire to their cabins due to
seasickness. Fifteen minutes later,
San Pedro was seen coming straight for
Columbia. Doran finally ordered his ship to be put in full reverse, but it was too late. At 12:22 A.M. on 21 July 1907,
San Pedro hit the starboard side of
Columbia. Doran shouted at the other ship, "What are you doing man?" and continued his ordered reverse thrust, but the impact damaged the bow of the wooden hulled
San Pedro[40]and holed
Columbia which started to list to starboard and sink by the
bow. Passenger William L. Smith of
Vancouver, Washington described the impact as being "soft", while music teacher Otilla Liedelt of San Francisco reported the impact as being severe.
Photograph of SS
Columbia under way.
1959 - Launch of NS Savannah, the first nuclear-powered merchant ship
NS Savannah was the first
nuclear-powered merchant ship. Built in the late 1950s at a cost of $46.9 million, including a $28.3 million
nuclear reactor and
fuel core, funded by
United States government agencies,
Savannah was a demonstration project for the potential use of
nuclear energy. Launched on July 21, 1959, and named after
SS Savannah, the first steamship to cross the Atlantic ocean, she was in service between 1962 and 1972 as one of only four
nuclear-powered cargo ships ever built. (Soviet ice-breaker
Lenin launched on December 5, 1957, was the first nuclear-powered civil ship.)
straaten, painted c. 1654, depicts the final battle of the 
