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

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
9 November 1914 - Battle of Cocos - SMS Emden is sunk by HMAS Sydney - Part II

Battle
Wireless station capture
During the night of 8–9 November, Emden sailed to Direction Island. At 06:00 on 9 November, the ship anchored in the Cocos lagoon, deployed a steam pinnace (to tow a 50-strong landing party in two boats, led by Emden's first officer, Hellmuth von Mücke, ashore), and transmitted the coded summons for Buresk. The ship was spotted by off-duty personnel at the cable and wireless station, and although the ship was initially suspected to be Minotaur, the station's medical officer observed that the foremost funnel was false, and informed superintendent Darcy Farrant that it may be Emden in the bay. Farrant ordered the telegraphist on duty (already alerted by the German's coded signal) to begin transmitting a distress call by wireless and cable. Emden was able to jam the wireless signal shortly after it began, while the cable distress call continued until an armed party burst into the transmission room. Minotaur heard the wireless call and acknowledged, but von Müller was unconcerned, as the signal strength indicated that Minotaur was at least 10 hours away. Von Mücke instructed Farrant to surrender the keys to the station's buildings and any weapons, which the superintendent handed over, along with news that the Kaiser had announced awards for Emden's actions at Penang.

After taking control of the station and its 34 staff, German personnel smashed the transmitting equipment and severed two of the station's three undersea cables, plus a dummy cable. They also felled the main wireless mast; although taking care at the request of the staff to avoid damaging the station's tennis court, the mast landed on a cache of Scotch whisky. At around 09:00, lookouts on Emden saw smoke from an approaching ship. Initially assumed to be Buresk, by 09:15 she had been identified as an approaching warship, believed to be HMS Newcastle or another vessel of similar vintage. As Emden was prepared for battle, several signals were sent to the shore party to hurry up, but at 09:30, the raider had to raise anchor and sail to meet the approaching hostile ship, leaving von Mücke's party behind despite their best efforts to catch up.

The ANZAC convoy, positioned 80 kilometres (50 mi) north-east of the Cocos Islands, heard the coded Buresk summons, then the distress call from Direction Island. Believing the unidentified ship to be Emden or Königsberg (also believed to be at large in the region), Melbourne's captain, Mortimer Silver, ordered his ship to make full speed and turn for Cocos. Silver quickly realised that as commander of the convoy escort, he needed to remain with the troopships, and he reluctantly ordered Sydney to detach. Ibuki raised her battle ensign and requested permission to follow Sydney, but the Japanese ship was ordered to remain with the convoy. At 09:15, Sydney spotted Direction Island and the attacking ship. Confident of being able to outrun, outrange, and outshoot the German vessel, Glossop ordered the ship to prepare for action. He agreed with his gunnery officer to open fire at 9,500 yards (8,700 m): well within Sydney's firing range, but outside the believed range of Emden's guns.

Combat

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Japanese poster depicting the Battle of Cocos.

Emden was the first to fire at 09:40, and scored hits on her fourth salvo: two shells exploded near the aft control station and wrecked the aft rangefinders, while a third punched through the forward rangefinder and through the bridge without exploding. These shots landed at a range of approximately 10,000 yards (9,100 m); the 30-degree elevation of her main guns allowed her to fire much further than British estimates. Von Müller recognised that his success in the battle required Emden to do as much damage as possible before the other ship retaliated, but despite the heavy rate of fire from the Germans over the next ten minutes (at points reaching a salvo every six seconds), the high angle of the guns and the narrow profile presented by Sydney meant that only fifteen shells hit the Australian warship, of which only five exploded. As well as the rangefinders, damage was sustained to the S2 gun when a nearby impact sent hot shrapnel into the gun crew then ignited cordite charges being stored nearby for the fight, and another shell exploded in a forward mess deck. Four sailors were killed and another sixteen wounded; the only casualties aboard Sydney during the entire engagement.

Sydney attempted to open the gap between the two ships as she opened fire. This was hampered by the loss of both rangefinders, requiring each mounting to be targeted and fired locally. The first two salvoes missed, but two shells from the third struck: one exploding in Emden's wireless office, another by the Germans' forward gun. Heavy fire from Sydney damaged or destroyed Emden's steering gear, rangefinders, and the voicepipes to the turrets and engineering, and knocked out several guns. The forward funnel collapsed overboard, then the foremast fell and crushed the fore-bridge. A shell from Sydney landed in the aft ammunition room of Emden, and the Germans had to flood it or risk a massive explosion.

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Emden beached on North Keeling Island

At around 10:20, the manoeuvring of the two ships brought them to within 5,500 yards (5,000 m), and Glossop took the opportunity to order a torpedo firing. The torpedo failed to cover the distance, and sank without exploding. The Australian ship sped up and turned to starboard so guns that had yet to fire could engage. Emden matched Sydney's turn, but by this point, the second funnel had been blasted off, and there was a fire in the engine room. In addition, about half of the cruiser's personnel had been killed or wounded, and the abandoning of the attack party on Direction Island meant there were no reserves to replace them. By 11:00, only one of Emden's guns was still firing. As the third funnel went overboard, Emden found herself closer to North Keeling Island, and von Müller ordered the ship to beach on North Keeling Island, hoping to prevent further loss of life. Emden ran aground at around 11:20, at which point, Sydney ceased fire. After Sydney contacted the convoy to report "Emden beached and done for", the soldiers aboard the troopships were granted a half-day holiday from duties and training to celebrate.

After Emden's beaching
Sydney then turned to pursue and capture Buresk, which had arrived on the horizon during the battle. The cruiser caught up shortly after 12:00 and fired a warning shot, but on closing with Buresk, Sydney found the collier had already commenced scuttling. Sydney recovered the boarding party and the crew from Buresk, fired four shells to hasten the collier's sinking, then once she had submerged, turned back towards North Keeling Island.

The Australian cruiser reached Emden around 16:00. The Germans' battle ensign was still flying, generally a sign that a ship intends to continue fighting. Sydney signalled "Do you surrender?" in international code by both lights and flag-hoist. The signal was not understood, and Emden responded with "What signal? No signal books". The instruction to surrender was repeated by Sydney in plain morse code, then after there was no reply, the message "Have you received my signal?" was sent. With no response forthcoming, and operating under the assumption that Emden could still potentially fire, launch torpedoes, or use small arms against any boarding parties, Glossop ordered Sydney to fire two salvoes into the wrecked ship. This attack killed 20 German personnel. The ensign was pulled down and burned, and a white sheet was raised over the quarter-deck as a flag of surrender. During the battle, 130 personnel aboard Emden were killed, and 69 were wounded, four of the latter died of their wounds.

Glossop had orders to ascertain the status of the transmission station, and left with Sydney to do so, after sending a boat with Buresk's crew to Emden with some medical supplies and a message that they would return the next day. In addition to checking on Direction Island, there was also the potential that Emden and Königsberg had been operating together and that the second ship would approach to recover the attack party from the island, or go after the troop convoy; consequently, Sydney could not render assistance to Emden's survivors until such threats had passed. It was too late to make a landing on Direction Island, so the cruiser spent the night patrolling the islands, and approached the wireless station the next morning. On arrival, the Australians learned that the Germans had escaped the previous evening in a commandeered schooner. Sydney embarked the island's doctor and two assistants, then headed for North Keeling Island.

Aftermath
The Australian cruiser reached the wreck of Emden at 13:00 on 10 November. After sending an officer over to receive assurance that the Germans would not fight, Glossop began a rescue operation. Transferring the German survivors from Emden to Sydney took about five hours, with the difficulty of transferring so many wounded, rough seas, and overcrowding aboard the Australian cruiser. The two Australian medical officers aboard Sydney and the medical staff from Direction Island worked from 18:00 on 10 November to 04:30 the next morning to clear the most pressing needs for medical attention, with Emden survivors prioritised. Some of the Germans had swum ashore after the beaching, and the difficulty of recovering them from the beach in the dark meant the rescue of the 20-odd survivors was put off until the morning of 11 November, although personnel from Sydney and Bureskwere sent ashore the previous evening with supplies. Most of 11 November was spent treating less pressing cases; the Direction Island staff left the ship around midday, and Emden's ship's surgeon, who had previously been unable to assist because of the shock and stress of caring for so many wounded from the battle's end until Sydney returned, had recovered enough by this point to assist as an anaesthetist.

On 12 November, the auxiliary cruiser Empress of Russia arrived, and the majority of the German personnel (excluding the officers and those too injured to be moved) were transferred over for transportation to Colombo. Sydney caught up to the ANZAC convoy at Colombo on 15 November. There were no celebrations of Sydney's success as the cruiser entered harbour: Glossop had signalled ahead to request that the sailors and soldiers aboard the warships and transports refrain from cheering, out of respect for the German wounded being carried aboard.

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The wreck of Emden, some years after the battle

After Emden's defeat, the only German warship in the Indian Ocean basin was SMS Königsberg; the cruiser had been blockaded in the Rufiji River in October, and remained there until her destruction in July 1915. Australia was no longer under direct threat from the Central Powers, and many of the RAN ships designated for the nation's defence could be safely deployed to other theatres. Over the next two years, troop convoys from Australia and New Zealand to the Middle East sailed without naval escort, further freeing Allied resources. The state of affairs persisted until the raiders Wolf and Seeadler began operations in the region in 1917.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cocos
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
9 November 1918 - HMS Britannia, a King Edward VII-class pre-dreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy, torpedoed and sunk


HMS Britannia was a King Edward VII-class pre-dreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy. She was named after Britannia, the Latin name of Great Britain under Roman rule. After commissioning in September 1906, she served briefly with the Atlanticand Channel Fleets before joining the Home Fleet. In 1912, she, along with her sister ships of the King Edward VII class, was assigned to the 3rd Battle Squadron but in June 1913, she returned to duties with the Home Fleet.

When the First World War broke out, Britannia was transferred back to the 3rd Battle Squadron, which was part of the Grand Fleet. In 1916, she was attached to the 2nd Detached Squadron, then serving in the Adriatic Sea. After a refit in 1917, she conducted patrol and convoy escort duties in the Atlantic. On 9 November 1918, just two days before the end of the war, she was torpedoed by a German submarine off Cape Trafalgar and sank with the loss of 50 men.

HMS_Britannia.jpg


Technical characteristics
HMS Britannia was built at Portsmouth Dockyard. She was laid down on 4 February 1904, launched on 10 December 1904, and completed in September 1906.

Although Britannia and her seven sister ships of the King Edward VII class were a direct descendant of the Majestic class, they were also the first class to make a significant departure from the Majestic design, displacing about 1,000 tons more and mounting for the first time an intermediate battery of four 9.2-inch (234-mm) guns in addition to the standard outfit of 6-inch (152-mm) guns. The 9.2-inch was a quick-firing gun like the 6-inch, and its heavier shell made it a formidable weapon by the standards of the day when Britannia and her sisters were designed; it was adopted out of concerns that British battleships were undergunned for their displacement and were becoming outgunned by foreign battleships that had begun to mount 8-inch (203-mm) intermediate batteries. The four 9.2-inch were mounted in single turrets abreast the foremast and mainmast, and Britannia thus could bring two of them to bear on either broadside. Even then, Britannia and her sisters were criticised for not having a uniform secondary battery of 9.2-inch guns, something considered but rejected because of the length of time it would have taken to design the ships with such a radical revision of the secondary armament layout. In the end, it proved impossible to distinguish 12-inch and 9.2-inch shell splashes from one another, making fire control impractical for ships mounting both calibres, although Britannia had fire-control platforms on her fore- and mainmasts rather than the fighting tops of earlier classes.

Like all British battleships since the Majestic class, the King Edward VII-class ships had four 12-inch (305-mm) guns in two twin turrets (one forward and one aft), although the final three King Edwards, including Britannia, mounted the Mark X 12-inch, a improvement on the Mark IX mounted by the first five King Edwards. Mounting of the 6-inch guns in casemates was abandoned in Britannia and all seven of her sister ships, the 6-inch instead being placed in a central battery amidships protected by 7-inch (178-mm) armoured walls. Otherwise, Britannia's armour was much as in the London-class battleships, although there were various differences in detail from the Londons.

Britannia and her sisters were the first British battleships with balanced rudders since the 1870s and were very manoeuvrable, with a tactical diameter of 340 yards (311 m) at 15 knots (27.75 km/h). However, they were difficult to keep on a straight course, and this characteristic led to them being nicknamed "the Wobbly Eight" during their 1914–1916 service in the Grand Fleet. They had a slightly faster roll than previous British battleship classes, but were good gun platforms, although very wet in bad weather.

Primarily powered by coal, Britannia had oil sprayers installed during her construction, as did all of her sisters except HMS New Zealand, the first time this had been done in British battleships. These allowed steam pressure to be rapidly increased, improving Britannia's acceleration. The eight ships between them were given four different boiler installations for comparative purposes; Britannia's boiler installation is reported both as 12 Babcock & Wilcox and three cylindrical boilers and as 18 Babcock & Wilcox and three cylindrical. during which she made 18.24 knots (33.8 km/h).

Britannia was a powerful ship when she was designed, and completely fulfilled the goals set for her at that time. However, she was unlucky in that the years of her design and construction were ones of revolutionary advancement in naval guns, fire control, armour, and propulsion. She joined the fleet in September 1906, but was made obsolete three months later by the completion of the revolutionary battleship HMS Dreadnought in December 1906 and the large numbers of the new dreadnought battleships that commissioned in succeeding years. By 1914, Britannia and her King Edward VII-class sisters were, like all pre-dreadnoughts, so outclassed that they spent much of their 1914–1916 Grand Fleet service steaming at the heads of divisions of the far more valuable dreadnoughts, protecting the dreadnoughts from naval mines by being the first battleships to either sight or strike them.

Operational history
Pre-First World War

HMS Britannia was commissioned into the reserve at Portsmouth Dockyard on 6 September 1906. She went into full commission on 2 October 1906 for service in the Atlantic Fleet. She transferred to the Channel Fleet on 4 March 1907. Under a fleet reorganisation on 24 March 1909, the Channel Fleet became the Second Division, Home Fleet, and Britannia became a Home Fleet unit in that division, becoming Flagship, Vice Admiral, Second Division, in April 1909. She underwent a refit at Portsmouth from 1909 to 1910. On 14 July 1910, she collided with the barque Loch Trool, suffering slight damage.

Under a fleet reorganisation in May 1912, Britannia and all seven of her sisters of the King Edward VII class (Africa, Commonwealth, Dominion, Hibernia, Hindustan, King Edward VII, and Zealandia) were assigned to form the 3rd Battle Squadron, assigned to the First Fleet, Home Fleet. The squadron was detached to the Mediterranean in November 1912 because of the First Balkan War (October 1912 – May 1913); it arrived at Malta on 27 November 1912 and subsequently participated in a blockade by an international force of Montenegro and in an occupation of Scutari. The squadron returned to the United Kingdom in 1913 and rejoined the Home Fleet on 27 June 1913, after which Britannia left the squadron to return to the Second Division, Home Fleet.

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Forecastle of Britannia ca. October 1914.

First World War
Upon the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, Britannia transferred back to the 3rd Battle Squadron, which was assigned to the Grand Fleet and based at Rosyth.

The squadron was used to supplement the Grand Fleet's cruisers on the Northern Patrol. On 2 November 1914, the squadron was detached to reinforce the Channel Fleet and was rebased at Portland. It returned to the Grand Fleet on 13 November 1914. Britannia ran aground in the Firth of Forth at Inchkeith on 26 January 1915, suffering considerable bottom damage, but was refloated after 36 hours and was repaired and refitted at Devonport Dockyard.

Britannia served in the Grand Fleet until April 1916. During sweeps by the fleet, she and her sister ships often steamed at the heads of divisions of the far more valuable dreadnoughts, where they could protect the dreadnoughts by watching for mines or by being the first to strike them.

On 29 April 1916, the 3rd Battle Squadron was rebased at Sheerness, and on 3 May 1916 it was separated from the Grand Fleet, being transferred to the Nore Command. Britannia remained there with the squadron until August 1916, when she began a refit at Portsmouth Dockyard.

On completion of her refit in September 1916, Britannia transferred out of the 3rd Battle Squadron for service in the 2nd Detached Squadron, which had been organised in 1915 to reinforce the Italian Navy against the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the Adriatic Sea. She underwent a refit at Gibraltar in February–March 1917, and on its completion was attached to the 9th Cruiser Squadron to serve on the Atlantic Patrol and on convoy escort duty, based mainly at Sierra Leone. She relieved armoured cruiser HMS King Alfred as flagship of the 9th Cruiser Squadron in March 1917 and underwent a refit at Bermuda in May 1917, during which her 6-inch (152-mm) guns were removed and replaced by four 6-inch (152-mm) guns mounted on her shelter deck.

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Britannia sinking in the Atlantic off Cape Trafalgar on 9 November 1918.

Loss
On the morning of 9 November 1918, under the command of Captain Francis Wade Caulfeild, RN, Britannia was on a voyage in the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar when she was torpedoed off Cape Trafalgar by the German submarine UB-50. After the first explosion, the ship listed ten degrees to port. A few minutes later, a second explosion started a fire in a 9.2-inch (234-mm) magazine, which in turn caused a cordite explosion in the magazine. Darkness below decks made it virtually impossible to find the flooding valves for the magazines, and those the crew did find were poorly located and therefore hard to turn, and the resulting failure to properly flood the burning magazine probably doomed the ship. Britannia held her 10-degree list for 2½ hours before sinking, allowing most of the crew to be taken off. Most of the men who were lost were killed by toxic smoke from burning cordite; 50 men died and 80 were injured. In total, 39 officers and 673 men were saved.

Britannia was sunk only two days before the Armistice ending the First World War was signed on 11 November 1918.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Britannia_(1904)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
9 November 1919 - Launch of japanese super-dreadnought battleship Nagato


Nagato (長門), named for Nagato Province, was a super-dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the 1910s. The lead ship of her class, she carried supplies for the survivors of the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923. The ship was modernized in 1934–36 with improvements to her armor and machinery and a rebuilt superstructure in the pagoda mast style. Nagato briefly participated in the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937 and was the flagship of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto during the attack on Pearl Harbor. She covered the withdrawal of the attacking ships and did not participate in the attack itself.

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Nagato on her sea trials, 30 September 1920

Other than participating in the Battle of Midway in June 1942, where she did not see combat, the ship spent most of the first two years of the Pacific War training in home waters. She was transferred to Truk in mid-1943, but did not see any combat until the Battle of the Philippine Sea in mid-1944 when she was attacked by American aircraft. Nagato did not fire her main armament against enemy vessels until the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944. She was lightly damaged during the battle and returned to Japan the following month. The IJN was running out of fuel by this time and decided not to fully repair her. Nagato was converted into a floating anti-aircraft platform and assigned to coastal defense duties. She was attacked in July 1945 as part of the American campaign to destroy the IJN's last remaining capital ships, but was only slightly damaged and went on to be the only Japanese battleship to have survived World War II. In mid-1946, the ship was a target for nuclear weapon tests during Operation Crossroads. She survived the first test with little damage, but was sunk by the second.

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Drawing of Nagato as she appeared in 1944

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_battleship_Nagato
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 9 November


1620 – Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower sight land at Cape Cod, Massachusetts

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


1730 – Launch of Spanish Conquistador 62 at Havana - Scuttled 5 April 1741


1742 - George Rodney promoted Captain in the age of 24

The War of the Austrian Succession had broken out by this point and in August 1742 Rodney had his first taste of action when he was ordered by Matthews to take a smaller vessel and launch a raid on Ventimiglia where the Spanish army had stockpiled supplies and stores ready for a planned invasion of Britain's ally the Republic of Genoa, which he successfully accomplished. Shortly after this, he attained the rank of post-captain, having been appointed by Matthews to Plymouth on 9 November. He picked up several British merchantmen in Lisbon to escort them home, but lost contact with them in heavy storms. Once he reached Britain his promotion was confirmed, making him one of the youngest Captains in the navy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Brydges_Rodney,_1st_Baron_Rodney


1805 - Cuthbert Collingwood promoted to Vice-Admiral.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuthbert_Collingwood,_1st_Baron_Collingwood


1809 – Launch of HMS Leda, an Apollo-class frigate, at Woolwich

Builder: Woolwich Dockyard
Ordered: 23 March 1808
Laid down: October 1808
Launched: 9 November 1809
Completed: 8 December 1809.
Fate: Sold to be broken up on 30 April 1817.

The Apollo-class sailing frigates were a series of twenty-seven ships that the British Admiralty commissioned be built to a 1798 design by Sir William Rule. Twenty-five served in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, two being launched too late.

Of the 25 ships that served during the Napoleonic Wars, only one was lost to enemy action. Of the entire class of 27 ships, only two were lost to wrecking, and none to foundering.

The Admiralty ordered three frigates in 1798–1800. Following the Peace of Amiens, it ordered a further twenty-four sister-ships to the same design between 1803 and 1812. The last was ordered to a fresh 38-gun design. Initially, the Admiralty split the order for the 24 vessels equally between its yards and commercial yards, but two commercial yards failed to perform and the Admiralty transferred these orders to its own dockyards, making the split 14–10 as between the Admiralty and commercial yards.

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


1810 - HMS Conflict Brig (12) foundered in the Bay of Biscay.

HMS Conflict (1805) was a 12-gun gun-brig launched in 1805. She foundered in 1810.


1813 - Batteries at Port Nouvelle captured by HMS Undaunted (1807 - 38), Cptn. Thomas Ussher, and HMS Guadeloupe (16), Arthur Stowe.

On 9 November 1813 Undaunted and the sloop Guadeloupe attacked Port-la-Nouvelle, with the Marines storming the batteries while men from the ships captured two vessels and destroyed five. Captain Ussher noted in his report that this brought the total number of vessels taken or destroyed in the 10 months he had been in command of Undaunted up to seventy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Undaunted_(1807)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_brig_Nisus_(1805)


1822 - The brig USS Alligator, commanded by Lt. William H. Allen, recaptures several merchant ships from pirates off Matanzas, Cuba, but Allen dies in battle. Boats from Alligator capture all the pirate vessels except one schooner that manages to escape.

The third USS Alligator was a schooner in the United States Navy.
Alligator was laid down on 26 June 1820 by the Boston Navy Yard; launched on 2 November 1820; and commissioned in March 1821 — probably on the 26th — with Lieutenant Robert F. Stockton in command. On 6 June 1996, the site of its wreck was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

USS_Alligator.jpg

While at Matanzas in November of that year, she got word that an American schooner and brig had been taken by a group of pirates and were located about 45 miles east of Matanzas. She took the master and mate of the captured schooner on board and set sail to reclaim the American ships. She arrived at her destination at dawn on 9 November and found the pirates in possession of one ship, two brigs, and five schooners. Alligator launched armed boats which gave chase to a heavily armed schooner that opened fire with five of her guns and commenced a battle. The boats from Alligator pressed home their attack and soon overhauled the schooner which they boarded in a mad rush. In the short, but sharp, fight, Alligator lost her commanding officer, Lieutenant William H. Allen, wounded mortally by two musket balls. Soon thereafter, boats from Alligator captured all the pirate vessels except one schooner that managed to escape. Most of the pirates fled ashore. On 18 November 1822, Alligator departed Matanzas escorting a convoy.

Before dawn the following morning, she ran hard aground on what is now known as Alligator Reef off the coast of Florida. After working desperately to refloat their ship, officers and crewmen gave up on a hopeless task. On 23 November 1822, they set fire to Alligator, and the young but battle-tested warship soon blew up.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Alligator_(1820)


1863 - During the Civil War, the side wheel steamer USS James Adger, commanded by Cmdr. Thomas H. Patterson, captures blockade runner Robert E. Lee off Cape Lookout, Shoals, N.C.

USS James Adger was a sidewheel steamer in the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She retained her former name.
Before being pressed into service by the United States Navy, the SS James Adger was a United States Mail Steamship operating between Charleston, South Carolina and New York City, New York. Owned by James Adger II (James Adger & Co) of Charleston, she was seized while in New York City at the outset of the Civil War and converted for military duty by the Union Navy.
James Adger was built at New York City by William H. Webb in 1851. Her 240 hp (180 kW) side-lever engine was supplied by the Allaire Iron Works.
James Adger was purchased at New York for the sum of $85,000 from Spofford, Tileston & Co., on 20 July 1861, and commissioned at New York Navy Yard on 20 September 1861, Commander John B. Marchand in command.

The_capture_of_the_'Emily_St._Pierre'_off_Charleston,_March_1862_by_William_Gay_Yorke.jpg
USS James Adger, capturing the 'Emily St. Pierre' off Charleston, 18 March 1862

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


1921 - USS Olympia (C 6) arrives at the Washington Navy Yard from France carrying the body of the Unknown Soldier of World War I for interment at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia.

USS Olympia (C-6/CA-15/CL-15/IX-40) is a protected cruiser that saw service in the United States Navy from her commissioning in 1895 until 1922. This vessel became famous as the flagship of Commodore George Dewey at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish–American War in 1898. The ship was decommissioned after returning to the U.S. in 1899, but was returned to active service in 1902.

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USS_Olympia;Port Bow, 10 February 1902.

She served until World War I as a training ship for naval cadets and as a floating barracks in Charleston, South Carolina. In 1917, she was mobilized again for war service, patrolling the American coast and escorting transport ships.

After World War I, Olympia participated in the 1919 Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War and conducted cruises in the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas to promote peace in the unstable Balkan countries. In 1921, the ship carried the remains of World War I's Unknown Soldier from France to Washington, D.C., where his body was interred in Arlington National Cemetery. Olympia was decommissioned for the last time in December 1922 and placed in reserve.

In 1957, the U.S. Navy ceded title to the Cruiser Olympia Association, which restored the ship to her 1898 configuration. Since then, Olympia has been a museum ship in Philadelphia, where it is now part of the Independence Seaport Museum. Olympia was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966.

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The USS Olympia on display as a museum ship on the Delaware River near Penn's Landing in Philadelphia.

The Olympia is the oldest steel American warship still afloat. Repairs, estimated at $10– 20 million, were desperately needed to keep the Olympia afloat, and in 2010 the Independence Seaport Museum considered finding a new steward for the Ship. By 2014, the museum reversed its plan to find a new steward and soon obtained funding from private donors as well as federal and state agencies to begin work on repairing the ship. The museum invested in extensive stabilization measures including reinforcing the most deteriorated areas of the hull, expanding the alarm system, installing a network of bilge pumping stand pipes (which will provide greater damage control capability in the unlikely event of a hull breach), extensive deck patching and extensive repair and recoating of the ship's rigging. This work was made possible by donations from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, The U.S. Cruiser Sailors Association and many individual donors.By 2017, the museum completed the first phase of repairs to the ship and has embarked on an ambitious national campaign to raise the $20 million needed to dry-dock the Olympia and address waterline deterioration of the hull.

Unknown_Soldier_at_the_Washington_Navy_Yard.jpg
The Unknown Soldier from World War I arriving at the Washington Navy Yard, circa 1921 (colorized)

On 3 October 1921, Olympia departed Philadelphia for Le Havre, France, to bring the remains of the Unknown Soldier home for internment in Arlington National Cemetery. The cruiser departed France on 25 October 1921; she was escorted by a group of French destroyers for part of the voyage. At the mouth of the Potomac river on 9 November, the battleship North Dakota and the destroyer Bernadou joined the Olympia as she steamed to the Washington Navy Yard. After transferring the remains ashore, the cruiser fired her guns in salute. She conducted a last training cruise for midshipmen in the summer of 1922.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Olympia_(C-6)


2013 - USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), the lead ship of her class of United States Navy aircraft carriers, christened

USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) is the lead ship of her class of United States Navy aircraft carriers. The ship is named after the 38th President of the United States, Gerald Ford, whose World War II naval service included combat duty aboard the light aircraft carrier Monterey in the Pacific Theater.

1920px-USS_Gerald_R._Ford_(CVN-78)_underway_on_8_April_2017.JPG
Gerald R. Ford underway on 8 April 2017

The keel of Gerald R. Ford was laid down on 13 November 2009 Construction began on 11 August 2005, when Northrop Grumman held a ceremonial steel cut for a 15-ton plate that forms part of a side shell unit of the carrier. She was christened on 9 November 2013. Gerald R. Ford entered the fleet replacing the decommissioned USS Enterprise (CVN-65), which ended her 51 years of active service in December 2012. Originally scheduled for delivery in 2015, Gerald R. Ford was delivered to the Navy on 31 May 2017 and formally commissioned by President Donald Trump on 22 July 2017. She is expected to leave on her first deployment around 2022.[18] As of 2017, she is the world's largest aircraft carrier.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Gerald_R._Ford
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
10 November 1716 - HMS Auguste (1705 - 60), Cptn. Robert Johnson, ran ashore on the island of Anholt during heavy weather.


HMS Auguste was the French 54-gun Auguste built in Brest in 1704 that the British captured in 1705. In her brief French service she captured two British men-of-war. She was wrecked in 1716.

large.jpg
Scale:1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth for August (captured 1705), a captured French Fourth Rate, converted to a 60-gun two-decker. Note that the lower deck includes fittings for rowing.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/81356.html#UMVsD8u7oUVW0RMT.99

French service
While a naval vessel, Auguste was designed by Étienne Hubac specifically to be employed as a privateer by René Duguay-Trouin, in whose service she was employed as part of a squadron of four vessels. Together with the 54-gun Jason (1704), she captured HMS Coventry in September 1704. Then, on 12 November, together with Jason and the 26-gun frigate Valeur (1704), she captured the third rate Elizabeth 30 miles south of the Isles of Scilly. In February 1705 Auguste and the 44-gun Fourth Rank Thétis were escorting Gloutonne, Élephant, and Jean et Jacques (which were armed en flute), when the convoy ran into a squadron under Admiral George Byng off Cape Finisterre. Only the Auguste escaped.

Chatham, together with Medway and HMS Tryton (1702), captured Auguste on 8 August 1705 (Old Style Calendar) - 19 August (New Calendar).

British service
Auguste was registered for Royal Navy service from 28 August 1705 and fitted out for service in the English Channel. Commissioned for active service by Captain Robert Bokenham, she proved her worth by capturing the French privateers La Marie-Madeleine on 13 September 1706, and L'Hirondelle on 30 September 1706.

Bokenham died in 1707 and Captain Thomas Scott replaced him. The next year, Auguste was joined to the fleet of Admiral George Byng, which was in need of reinforcement after the Scilly naval disaster of 1707. The fleet patrolled the Channel and the North Sea throughout 1708. In 1709, Lord Duffus replaced Scott. From 1710 to 1713, she was under the command of Captain Robert Thompson in the Dunkirk squadron (1710), the Mediterranean (1711), and the West Indies (1712).

Loss
In 1716, while under the command of Captain Robert Johnson, Auguste was in the Baltic. She had sailed from Nore on 18 May with a squadron under Sir John Norris to join a combined English-Dutch-Danish-Russian fleet in a demonstration to Sweden that Britain and her allies would resist Swedish interference with trade.

In November she was returning to England from Copenhagen with a convoy. As the weather worsened, the convoy took shelter on the evening of 9 November at Læsø island. During the night Auguste's cables broke and she sailed out to sea to avoid being driven on shore. On the night of 10 November a gale drove her ashore on the nearby island of Anholt. Captain Johnson, his officers, and at least 250 of his men were saved. Another 40 may have landed in Sweden. In all, most of her people were saved.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Auguste_(1705)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
10 November 1721 - HMS Royal Anne Galley (1709 - 42), Cptn. Francis Willis, wrecked during a gale off Lizard Point, Cornwall


HMS Royal Anne Galley was a 42-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She ran aground and was wrecked during a gale off Lizard Point, Cornwall, while she was travelling to the West Indies.

1.jpg
Launch of an English ship, possibly the James Galley c1676 by William Van de Velde the Younger (© National Maritime Museum)

Construction
Royal Anne Galley was constructed and launched in 1709 at Woolwich Dockyard. She was completed in 1709. She was named Royal Anne Galley after Queen Anne of England, and served from 1709 until her loss in 1721. The ship was 38.7 metres (127 ft 0 in) long, with a beam of 6.4 metres (21 ft 0 in) and the ship was assessed at 511bm. She had 42 cannons and was the Royal Navy's last oared fighting ship.

Sinking
On 10 November 1721, HMS Royal Anne Galley was on a voyage from the UK to the West Indies with John Hamilton, 3rd Lord Belhaven and Stenton, the new Governor of Barbados on board, when bad weather forced the ship to return to port in Falmouth. Before they could return, Royal Anne Galley was in the eye of the storm and she was wrecked on the Stag Rocks on Lizard Point, Cornwall. Of the 200 passengers and crew, only two survived the sinking. Lord Belhaven was amongst those killed. It is believed their bodies were buried by locals in Pistil Meadow as they were washed up.

Wreck
The wreck of the ship lies at (49°55′N 5°12′W) and was found near Lizard Point by divers in the 1970s. Some artefacts that were raised includes cutlery bearing Lord Belhaven's family crest.

Detailed document about the research you can find here:

http://www.cismas.org.uk/index.php

CISMAS - The Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Maritime Archaeology Society - was formed in 2004 to promote maritime archaeology in Cornwall and the Scillies. The society currently has over 100 members, about three quarters of them divers. The first CISMAS project was a two year survey of the debris field around the wreck of HMS Colossus (1798) in the Isles of Scilly. Other projects undertaken include:
  • a maritime survey of Mount’s Bay in Cornwall
  • surveying the wreck of HMS Firebrand (1707)
  • a monitoring survey of HMS Colossus (1798)
  • excavation on HMS Colossus in 2012 & 2015
  • excavation in Tresco Channel in 2013
  • work on the wreck of the Royal Anne Galley (1721)
  • survey of the prehistoric inter-tidal archaeology of Samson Flats.
  • LATEST 3D virtual tour of the protected wreck sites of Scilly
    See our 3D interactive models CISMAS on Sketchfab
    For details of CISMAS projects see the project page
    NEW Wheel Wreck Investigation - download the report here
    See a diver’s eye view video of the Colossus Dive Trail here



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Royal_Anne_Galley_(1709)
 

Attachments

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
10 November 1764 - Launch of HMS Russell, a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, at Deptford

HMS Russell was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 10 November 1764 at Deptford.

large (1).jpg
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#ZW1hyj8DIvTjU43r.99

Career
In 1782, she was commanded by Captain James Saumarez at the Battle of the Saintes. In 1794 she was part of Admiral Howe's fleet at the Glorious First of June, and in the following year Russell fought in the Battle of Groix. She also fought at the Battle of Camperdown in 1797.

In 1797 she was commanded by Admiral ( then Captain ) Henry Trollope who led her at the Battle of Camperdown.

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Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the inboard profile proposed 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.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/81029.html#zm16iFHSi3CIHpbH.99

On 24 February 1801, Lloyd's List reported that Russell had towed "Duckingfield Hall", Pedder, master, into Torbay. She had been sailing from Antigua to London when of the Scilly Islands another vessel had run foul of her. Duckenfield Hall had lost her foremast, and her fore, main, and mizzen topmasts; the vessel that ran into her was believed to have foundered.

On 16 October 1803 she was three days out of Rio and in company with the fourth rate HMS Grampus. They were escorting the East Indiamen Northampton, Lord Melville, Earl Spencer, Princess Mary, Anna, Ann, Glory, and Essex, all bound to Bengal. Also, Grampus carried £100,000 for the British East India Company.

On 12 February 1808 Russell arrived off the Danish possession of Tranquebar where she landed troops of the 14th Regiment of Foot and the Honourable East India Company's artillery. Tranquebar capitulated without resistance.

Fate
She was sold out of the service in 1811.


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.

Ramillies class (Slade)
Modified Ramillies class (Slade)


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Russell_(1764)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramillies-class_ship_of_the_line
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
10 November 1777 - HMS Siren (or Syren) (1773 - 28) ran aground at Rhode Island


HMS Siren (or Syren) was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. Siren was first commissioned in August 1775 under the command of Captain Tobias Furneaux, her only commanding officer.

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Scale 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines and longitudinal half breadth as proposed and approved for building Siren [Syren] (1773) and Fox (1773), and later for building Enterprize (1773), and Surprize (1774), all 28-gun, Sixth Rate Frigates. The plan includes a table of the mast and yard dimensions. Signed by John Williams [Surveyor of the Navy, 1765-1784].
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/83189.html#COGAl4YXbX2rSYYy.99


Service
She took part in the Battle of the Rice Boats on 2-3 March 1776 on the border between the Province of Georgia and the Province of South Carolina and in the Battle of Sullivan's Island of 28 June 1776 upon Charleston, South Carolina.

Fate
Siren, escorting a convoy in poor visibility, ran aground at about 6:00 am on 6 November 1777 near Point Judith, along with two other ships. Efforts were made to bring her off, but American forces ashore brought up field artillery and prevented salvage operations. Siren was abandoned with the loss of 2 killed and 5 wounded.

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Scale 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with stern board decoration and name on the stern counter, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, and longitudinal half breadth for Syren/Siren (1773), a 28-gun, Sixth Rate Frigate, as built by Henri at Chatham. The plan also includes pencil modifications for converting a troop ship for 300 troops and 105 ships company. This may not be for Siren (1773), could be for another member of the Enterprize Class. NMM, Progress Book, volume 5, folio 303, states that 'Syren' was launched at Hennicker's Yard, Chatham on 2 November, arriving at Chatham Dockyard on the same day. She was docked on 16 August 1775 and undocked on 8 September 1775,sailing on 5 October 1775 having been fitted for foreign service.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/83190.html#gXvtT8XfZ335gsFI.99


Class and type: 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate
Tons burthen: 603 40⁄94 bm
Length:
  • 120 ft 10 in (36.83 m) (overall)
  • 99 ft 7.5 in (30.366 m) (keel)
Beam: 33 ft 9 in (10.3 m)
Depth of hold: 10 ft 9 in (3.28 m)
Sail plan: Full-rigged ship
Complement: 200 officers and men
Armament:
large (5).jpg
Scale 1:48. Plan showing the inboard profile plan for the Enterprize Class 1770: Enterprize (1774), Siren (1773), Fox (1773), Surprize (1774), Acteon (1775), Medea (1778), Serpine (1777), Andromeda (1777), Aurora (1777), Sibyl (1779), Brilliant (1779), Pomona (1778), Crescent (1779), Nemesis (1780), Resource (1778), Mercury (1779), Cyclops (1779), Vestal (1779), Laurel (1779), Pegasus (1779), and with modifications, written in green ink, for Hussar (1784), Rose (1783), Dido (1784), Thisbe (1783), Alligator (1787), Circe (1783), Lapwing (1785), all 28-gun, Sixth Rate Frigates building at various Royal and private yards. The reverse of the plan shows a section through the deck for the after Bitts as they appear face on, from upper deck to keel.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/83174.html#l4O2QL54IHJbWGtf.99



The Enterprise-class frigates were the final class of 28-gun sailing frigates of the sixth-rate to be produced for the Royal Navy. These twenty-seven vessels were designed in 1770 by John Williams. A first batch of five ships were ordered as part of the programme sparked by the Falklands Islands emergency. Two ships were built by contract in private shipyards, while three others were constructed in the Royal Dockyards using foreign oak.

A second batch of fifteen ships were ordered in 1776 to 1778 to meet the exigencies of the North American situation, and a final group of seven ships followed in 1782 to 1783 with only some minor modifications to include side gangways running flush with the quarter deck and forecastle, and with solid bulkheads along the quarterdeck.

Enterprize class 28-gun sixth rates 1773-87; 27 ships, designed by John Williams.
  • HMS Siren 1773 - wrecked on the coast of Connecticut 1777.
  • HMS Fox 1773 - taken by USS Hancock 1777, retaken by HMS Flora a month later, but then taken by the French Junon off Brest in 1778.
  • HMS Enterprize 1774 - hulked as receiving ship at the Tower of London 1791, broken up 1807.
  • HMS Surprise 1774 - sold 1783.
  • HMS Actaeon 1775 - grounded at Charleston and burnt to avoid capture on 28 June 1776.
  • HMS Proserpine 1777 - wrecked off Heligoland in 1799.
  • HMS Andromeda 1777 - capsized in the Great West Indian Hurricane of 1780.
  • HMS Aurora 1777 - sold 1814.
  • HMS Medea 1778 - hulked as a hospital ship at Portsmouth in 1801 and sold in 1805.
  • HMS Pomona 1778 - renamed Amphitrite in 1795, broken up 1811.
  • HMS Resource 1778 - converted to troopship in 1799, hulked as receiving ship at the Tower of London and renamed Enterprize in 1803, broken up in 1816.
  • HMS Sibyl 1779 - renamed Garland in 1795, lost off Madagascar on 26 July 1798.
  • HMS Brilliant 1779 - broken up 1811.
  • HMS Crescent 1779 - captured by the French frigates Gloire (1778) and Friponne (1780) on 20 June 1781.
  • HMS Mercury 1779 - used as floating battery since 1803, converted to troopship in 1810, broken up in 1814.
  • HMS Pegasus 1779 - converted to troopship in 1800, hulked as receiving ship in 1814, sold 1816.
  • HMS Cyclops 1779 - converted to troopship in 1800, hulked as receiving ship at Portsmouth in 1807, sold 1814.
  • HMS Vestal 1779 - converted to troopship in 1800, on lease to Trinity House from 1803 to 1810, hulked as prison ship at Barbados in 1814, sold 1816.
  • HMS Laurel 1779 - driven ashore and disintegrated during the Great West Indian Hurricane of 1780.
  • HMS Nemesis 1780 - taken by the French in 1795, retaken in 1796, converted to troopship in 1812, sold 1814.
  • HMS Thisbe 1783 - converted to troopship in 1800, sold 1815.
  • HMS Rose 1783 - wrecked on Rocky Point, Jamaica, on 28 June 1794.
  • HMS Hussar 1784 - wrecked near Île Bas on Christmas Eve 1796.
  • HMS Dido 1784 - converted to troopship in 1800, hulked as Army prison ship at Portsmouth in 1804, sold 1817.
  • HMS Circe 1785 - wrecked near Yarmouth on 6 November 1803.
  • HMS Lapwing 1785 - hulked as salvage ship at Cork in 1810, residential ship at Pembroke from 1813, broken up in 1828.
  • HMS Alligator 1787 - hulked as salvage ship at Cork in 1810, sold in 1814.
large (6).jpg
Scale 1:96. Plan showing the quarter deck and forecastle, upper deck, lower deck and fore and aft platforms for Siren/Syren (1773), a 28-gun, Sixth Rate Frigate as taken off at Chatham Dockyard in 1775. NMM, Progress Book, volume 5, folio 303, states that 'Syren' was launched at Hennicker's Yard, Chatham on 2 November, arriving at Chatham Dockyard on the same day. She was docked on 16 August 1775 and undocked on 8 September 1775,sailing on 5 October 1775 having been fitted for foreign service.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/83191.html#BVgyc3RTOfGydSfr.99



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Siren_(1773)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise-class_frigate
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
10 November 1807 - Cruizer class Sloop HMS Leveret (1806 - 18), Richard James O'Connor, wrecked on the Albion Shoal, Galloper Rock, near Great Yarmouth in a gale.


HMS Leveret was a Cruizer-class brig-sloop built by John King at Dover and launched in 1806. She was commissioned under Commander George Salt. She sailed for the Mediterranean in April 1807 and was off Cadiz in July. Later she sailed to the Baltic. On 21 October she recaptured the brig Beaver, of Yarmouth.

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Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the framing profile (disposition) for Ferret (1806), Swallow (1805), Musquito (1804), Scorpion (1803), Scout (1804), Dispatch (1804), Minorca (1805), Racehorse (1806), Rover (1808), Avon (1805), Surinam (1805), Amaranthe (1804), Calyspo (1805), Wolverine (1805), Weazle (1805), Espoir (1804), Moselle (1804), Leveret (1806), Bellette (1806), Mutine (1806), Emulous (1806), Alacrity (1806), Philomel (1806), Frolick (1806), Recruit (1806), Royalist (1807), Grasshopper (1806), Columbine (1806), Pandora (1806), Forester (1806), Foxhound (1806), Primrose (1807), Cephalus (1807), Procris (1806), Raleigh (1806), Carnation (1807), Redwing (1806), Ringdove (1806), Philomel (1806), Sappho (1806), Peacock (1806), Clio (1807), Pilot (1807), Magnet (1807), Derwent (1807), Eclypse (1807), Sparrowhawke (1807), Eclaire (1807), Nautilus (1807), Barracouta (1807), Zenobia (1807), Peruvian (1808), Pelorus (1808), Doterel/Dotterel (1808), Charybidis (1809), Hecate (1809), Rifleman (1809), Sophie (1809), Echo (1809), Arachne (1809), Castillian (1809), Persian (1809), Trinculo (1809), Crane (1809), Thracian (1809), Scylla (1809), and those built of fir, including Raven (1804), Saracen (1804), Beagle (1804), Harrier (1804), Elk (1804), and Reindeer (1804), all 18-gun Brig Sloops built in private yards. The plan includes alterations for when the ships were repaired dated September 1817.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/83931.html#JG1tV1JHxvoZUKCo.99


Later that month Commander Richard James Laurence O’Connor took command. She was under his command when she wrecked on the Galloper Rock near Great Yarmouthduring a gale on 10 November. She had been ordered to see Waldemaar, a captured Danish ship-of-the-line, safely into port. No lives were lost as a fishing smack, the Samuel, came up and Leveret's crew used her boats to transfer to the smack.

A contemporary newspaper report has the gale forcing Leveret onto the "Long Sand", where she lost her rudder. With seven feet of water in her hold she was drifting towards the Galloper. As the water level rose, the crew were ordered to abandon ship and took to the boats. A vessel out of Ipswich then took them to Harwich.

The court martial held on board Magnanime in Sheerness Harbour on 18 November 1807 ruled that O'Connor, his officers and his crew had made every exertion to save their ship once she had struck. Rear Admiral Wells, Commander-in-Chief Sheerness, then charged that O'Connor had not helped a frigate "on her beam ends" on the Long Sand on 10 November. The court ruled that O'Connor was blameless and that the charge was not proven. O'Connor’s next command was the 18-gun brig Ned Elven.

U.S.S._Wasp_Boarding_H.M_Brig_Frolic.jpg
An earlier USS Wasp boards the Cruizer-class HMS Frolic, 1812

Type: Cruizer-class brig-sloop
Tonnage: 384 22⁄94 (bm)
Length:
  • 100 ft 0 in (30.48 m) (gundeck)
  • 77 ft 2 3⁄4 in (23.539 m) (keel)
Beam: 30 ft 7 in (9.32 m)
Draught: 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) (laden);10 ft 0 in (3.05 m) (unladen)
Depth of hold: 12 ft 9 in (3.89 m)
Sail plan: Brig rigged
Complement: 121
Armament:16 x 32-pounder carronades + 2 x 6-pounder bow guns


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Leveret_(1806)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruizer-class_brig-sloop
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
10 November 1808 - HMS Amethyst (36), Cptn. Michael Seymour, captured French frigate Thetis (44), Cptn. Pinsun (Killed in Action).


HMS Amethyst was a Royal Navy 36-gun Penelope-class fifth-rate frigate, launched in 1799 at Deptford. Amethyst served in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, capturing several prizes. She also participated in two boat actions and two ship actions that won her crew clasps to the Naval General Service Medal. She was broken up in 1811 after suffering severe damage in a storm.

large (8).jpg
This was purchased for the Museum from Davis, a London dealer, by Sir James Caird in 1948 with PAH9534. It was then believed to show the frigate 'Amethyst' in chase of the 'Thetis', 10 November 1808, but was reidentified before 1975 when it was shown in the NMM Pocock exhibition (no. 29) under the title above. Another version with small variations, and formerly in the collection of Sir Bruce Ingram, was acquired by the Ministry of Works in 1953.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/149482.html#yhXVodhcfXXUIKZb.99

French Revolutionary Wars
Amethyst was commissioned in May 1799 under the command of Captain John Cooke. She then operated on the Dutch coast later that year. During the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland, Amethyst conveyed the Duke of York to the Netherlands and later participated in the evacuation of the force following the campaign's collapse.

On 18 December she and Beaulieu recaptured the brig Jenny. Eleven days after that, Amethyst and Beaulieu recaptured the ships Dauphin, Cato, Cabrus, and Nymphe.

On 29 December Amethyst captured the French privateer brig Aventurier (or Avanture). Aventurier, out of Lorient, was armed with 14 guns and had a crew of 75 men. One month earlier, on 29 November, Aventurier had captured the American ship Cato and taken her master, John Parker, and his crew prisoner. When Amethyst captured Aventurier Cooke freed the Americans and informed Parker that Cato had been sent to Cork. Cooke sent Aventurier into Plymouth from where Parker and his mate traveled to Cork.

On 7 January 1800, the French armed ship Huzelle (or Ursule), came into Plymouth. She had been carrying passengers from Cayenne, including women and children, when Amethyst captured her. On her way into a British port, the French privateer Providence, of 14 guns and 152 men, had recaptured her and sent her to Bordeaux. However, before she got get there, Beaulieu and Unicorn again captured her and sent her into Plymouth. Huzelle was low on provision with the result that a five-year-old child died while she was in Plymouth Sound; as she anchored at Catwater, M.P. Symonds, the broker for the prize, delivered fresh provisions to Huzelle. Among Huzelle's passengers were a Colonel Molonson of Invalids, and a naturalist, M. Burnelle, with a cabinet of curiosities for the French National Museum at Paris.

Later that month, on the 26th, Oiseaux encountered the French frigate Dédaigneuse and gave chase. Sirius and Amethyst joined the next day. On the 28th Oiseaux and Siriuseffected the capture. Unfavourable winds kept Amethyst from joining the action. She was brought into Royal Navy service as HMS Dedaigneuse.

In February 1800 Amethyst was in company with Nymphe when on 15 February they captured the French privateer cutter Valiant (or Vaillante), of Bordeaux, after a long chase. Valiant was armed with one long 18-pounder, two long 12-pounder, and twelve 6-pounders guns. She had a crew of 131 men who had been out four days, but had not yet captured anything.

On 24 February, Nymphe, in company with Amethyst, captured the French letter of marque Modeste, of about 600 tons burthen. She was pierced for 16 guns and had a crew of 70 men. She had left the Île de France some nine weeks earlier and was sailing for Bordeaux with a cargo of cotton, coffee, tea, sugar, indigo, and the like. Still in company with Nymphe, Amethyst captured Julius Pringle and recaptured Active (4 March) and Amity (21 March).

Then on 31 March, Amethyst, with Nymphe, captured the French privateer Mars. Mars was armed with twenty 12-pounder guns and two 36-pounder obusiers, and carried a crew of 180 men. Cooke described her as being "one of the finest Privateers fitted out of Bourdeaux." The British took Mars into service as Garland.

Amethyst also captured a valuable American ship attempting to dock in a French port. This may have been Caroline, captured on 14 April.

In early June Cooke met up with Captain Sir Edward Pellew's squadron at Quiberon Bay. The squadron engaged in a successful large scale raid on Morbihan, though Amethyst's role, if any, is unclear.

Amethyst was among the vessels of a squadron that shared the proceeds for the recapture on 28 June 1800 of Lancaster. She was also part of Pellew's squadron, which shared in the proceeds of the capture of Vigilant, Menais, Insolent, Ann, and the wreck of a vessel that was sold, and the recapture of Industry.

On 29 July, a boat each from Viper, Impetueux and Amethyst, all manned by volunteers under the command of Lieutenant Jeremiah Coghlan of Viper, cut out the French naval brig Cerbère, armed with three 24-pounder and four 6-pounder guns. Cerbère was manned by 87 men under the command of lieutenant de vaisseau Menage and was moored in a port within pistol-shot of three batteries and near a number of naval vessels. The attack was a success, with the British boarding party of some 20 men losing only one man killed and eight wounded, including Coghlan; none of the casualties were from Amethyst's boat, which did not take part in the actual boarding. The French lost six men killed and 20 wounded. In admiration for the feat, Pellew's squadron gave up their share of the prize money, with the result that it accrued in its entirety to the cutting-out party. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "29 July Boat Service 1800" to the four surviving claimants from the action.

Next, Amethyst participated in an abortive invasion of Ferrol. On 29 August, in Vigo Bay, Admiral Sir Samuel Hood assembled a cutting-out party from the vessels under his command consisting of two boats each from Amethyst, Stag, Amelia, Brilliant, and Cynthia, four boats from Courageaux, as well as the boats from Renown, London, and Impetueux. The party went in and after a 15-minute fight captured the French privateer Guêpe, of Bordeaux, and towed her out. She was of 300 tons burthen and had a flush deck. Pierced for 20 guns, she carried eighteen 9-pounders, and she and her crew of 161 men were under the command of Citizen Dupan. In the attack she lost 25 men killed, including Dupan, and 40 wounded. British casualties amounted to four killed, 23 wounded and one missing. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "29 Aug. Boat Service 1800" to all surviving claimants from the action.

On 9 October, Amethyst returned to Plymouth from a secret mission. She and Nymphe would share in the prize money for a captured a French East Indiaman. During their stay in port the prize netted them £36,000.

In 1801, Amethyst operated off Spain, capturing two Spanish privateers and the French corvette Général Brune. On 26 January, Oiseaux encountered Dédaigneuse and gave chase while unfavorable winds kept Amethyst from joining the action. The British brought Dédaigneuse into Royal Navy service as HMS Dedaigneuse.

Later on 28 January Sirius and Amethyst captured the Spanish Letter of Marque Charlotta (or Carlotta) of Ferol, 16 hours out of Ferol on her way to Curaçao. The capture took place about six or seven leagues from Cape Belem in Galicia. The hired armed cutter Earl St Vincent shared in the capture.
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In October 1801 Captain Charles Taylor took command of Amethyst, only to be replaced in the next month by Captain Henry Glynn, for the North Sea. During the Peace of Amiens, Amethyst sailed on anti-smuggling patrols off the coast of Scotland under the command of Captain Alexander Campbell.

During the autumn and winter of 1802–03 Amethyst was sent to the Northern Station, based at Leith. On Wednesday 27 October 1802, 38 miles off Tod Head, she captured Vlugheid, smuggling cutter from Flushing. Aboard were John Dangerfield and eleven other seamen. On 18 November 1802, three or four leagues from the Isle of May, Campbell captured Fly, a smuggling lugger from Flushing, "laden with 570 Ankers of Gineva and eighty five Bails of Tobacco". On Tuesday 30 November Amethyst gave chase to three more smuggling luggers, but lost them due to lack of wind.

Captain Campbell wrote to the Admiralty on 27 October 1802 requesting that he might keep the seamen captured on Vlugheid, because Amethyst was 29 short of complement. However, Dangerfield and the others were released on 22 November.

In a letter to the Admiralty dated 10 November Capt. Campbell reported that the smugglers were attempting to bribe the seamen to desert from His Majesty’s ships on the Leith station “so as to disable them from cruising.” In a letter dated 27 October 1802, at sea, he had complained that “The Revenue Cruizers belonging to Leith are seldom out of Harbour. I have not seen or heard of any of them during my cruise altho’ there are several smuggling vessels on the coast.”

Napoleonic Wars
In the months before the resumption of war with France, the Navy started preparations that included impressing seamen. The crews of outbound Indiamen were an attractive target. Woodford and Ganges were sitting in the Thames in March 1803, taking their crews on board just prior to sailing. At sunset, a press gang from HMS Immortalite rowed up to Woodford, while boats from Amethyst and HMS Lynx approached Ganges. As the press gangs approached they were noticed, and the crews of both Indiamen were piped to quarters. That is, they assembled on the decks armed with pikes and cutlasses, and anything they could throw. The officers in charge of the press gangs thought this mere bravado and pulled alongside the Indiamen, only to meet a severe resistance from the crewmen, who had absolutely no desire to serve in the Royal Navy. The men from Immortalite suffered several injuries from shot and pike that were thrown at them, and eventually the marines opened fire with muskets, killing two sailors on Woodford. Even so, the press gangs were not able to get on board either Indiaman, and eventually withdrew some distance. When Woodford's officers finally permitted the press gang from Immortalite to board, all they found on board were a few sickly sailors.

Some seven months later, on 11 November 1803 Amethyst captured Spes, H. L. Cornelia, master. Three days later, Amethyst captured Johannes. That same day Amethyst captured Irene, L. J. Lubbens, master.

In June 1804, a court martial dismissed Campbell from command of Amethyst and stripped him of all his seniority on the Captain's List for misconduct in an action with four Dutch vessels off the coast of Norway. Command transferred to Captain John Spranger.

On 24 July Amethyst, while in company with Magicienne, captured Agnela. On 30 July Amethyst captured the Ebenezer, and then on 1 August Amethyst captured Juno. In December Amethyst participated in the pursuit of a French squadron under Admiral Willaumez.

In November 1805 Amethyst encountered the brig-sloop Wolverine off the coast of Madeira. After a series of ambiguous and misinterpreted moves by the other, the two captains mistook each other for enemies and opened fire. Both vessels survived and the two captains proceeded to exchange mutually recriminatory letters.

Amethyst was among the vessels that shared in the proceeds of the capture, on 25 July 1805, of the Jonge Jacob.


Sir Michael Seymour, Ist Baronet

Captain Michael Seymour replaced Spranger. On 15 May 1807, Amethyst captured the privateer Josephine some 20 leagues from Scilly. Josephine was armed with four 2-pounders guns and small arms. She had a crew of 45 men, but had put ten on board Jane, which had been sailing from Lisbon. Josephine had sailed from the Île de Batz and Jane was her only capture. When Amethyst captured Josephine, Amethyst was in company with Dryad and Plover.

Then on 9 September Amethyst captured the Danish ship Twende Venner
Later, on 18 October, Amethyst recaptured the ship Susannah. Amethyst also recaptured the American brig Rising Sun.
On 10 March 1808 Amethyst captured the Spanish brig Vigilantie. Eleven days later Amethyst recaptured the Portuguese schooner Inseperavil Unio.

On 3 May Amethyst and Conflict captured the French sloop Actif. Sixteen days later, Amethyst, Conflict, and Growler were in company when they captured the French schooner Annais. The next month, on 10 June, Amethyst and Conflict captured the Spanish schooner Carmelita. Fourteen days later, Amethyst captured the American brig Sally Tracey. Then Amethyst was again in company with Growler when they captured St. Etienne, Maria Julia, and six chasse marees on 9 July. Lastly, on 17 September Amethyst captured sundry spars.

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Capture of the Thetis by the Endymion Nov 10 1808 from a sketch by Captain Wm Hill page 199 (PAD8659)
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/112810.html#tbl5UuxxQEdOCMAS.99

In November 1808 Amethyst captured the French frigate Thétis at the Action of 10 November 1808. British casualties in the engagement were severe, with 19 killed and 51 wounded, but French losses were several times larger, with 135 dead and 102 wounded. Amethyst had been severely damaged in the engagement and repairs took 71 days to complete at Plymouth. Seymour's victory was rewarded: Seymour himself was presented with a commemorative medal, £100 (with £625 to share among the wounded) and the freedoms of Cork and Limerick. The Admiralty awarded him a gold medal; this was one of only 18 actions that it so honoured. In addition, first lieutenant Goddard Blennerhasset was promoted to commander, the junior officers were advanced, and the Royal Navy purchased Thétis, commissioning her as HMS Brune. In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the issue of the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Amethyst Wh. Thetis" to the still living survivors of the battle.

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In 1809, Amethyst was with Sir Robert Stopford's squadron off Rochefort. She saw action in the early stages of the Battle of Brest Roads and in April captured the French frigate Niémen, under the command of Mons. Dupotet, Capitaine de Frigate, at the Action of 6 April 1809. Niémen had 47 killed and 73 wounded; Amethyst had eight killed and 37 wounded. In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the issue of the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Amethyst 5 April 1809".

Later in the year, Seymour participated in the Walcheren Expedition, providing naval support to the transports. On 11 August she was part of a squadron under Captain William Stewart that forced the passage between shore batteries at Flushing and Cadsand. Amethyst had one man killed and one man wounded in the operation. Seymour left the ship in 1809; his replacement in September was Captain Jacob Walton.

Fate
On 15 February 1811 Amethyst was anchored in Plymouth Sound, intending to sail the next day join the fleet off Brest with provisions, including live bullocks. To facilitate her departure Walton decided to use only her bower anchor. A heavy storm caught her and blew her on shore near Cony Cliff Rocks, Mount Batten, before her crew could lower a second anchor. Lines were passed to the shore that enabled most of the crew to reach safety, though eight men did die. Most of the ship's stores were salvaged over the next few days. Still, the ship was too badly damaged to salvage and by 10 March wave action had broken up the hull.

The subsequent court martial found Walton and Robert Owen, the master, negligent and reprimanded both for allowing Amethyst to be anchored so close to shore with only one anchor. The court also barred Owen for a year from serving in anything larger than a sixth rate

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Amethyst_(1799)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Thétis_(1788)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
10 November 1821- Launch of HMS Ganges, an 84-gun second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, at Bombay Dockyard


HMS Ganges was an 84-gun second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 10 November 1821 at Bombay Dockyard, constructed from teak. She is notable for being the last sailing ship of the Navy to serve as a flagship, and was the second ship to bear the name.

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HMS Ganges at anchor in Victoria

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Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth as altered for Formidable (1825), an 84-gun Second Rate, two-decker, based on the lines of the captured French Second Rate Canopus (ex Le Franklin). The plan was further altered in November 1816 for Ganges (1821), an 84-gun Second Rate, two-decker, and a copy dispatched to Bombay.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/80278.html#4F66dJlSVs0jYzYF.99


Admiralty orders of 4 June 1816 directed her to be built as a facsimile of HMS Canopus (the ex-French ship Franklin, which had fought at the Battle of the Nile). Building began in May 1819, under the direction of master shipbuilder Jamsetjee Bomanjee Wadia.

She was commissioned at Portsmouth in 1823, and served in several locations over the following decades. Notable events included a period as flagship of the South AmericaStation for three years, during which she landed Royal Marines in Rio de Janeiro after a mutiny by Brazilian soldiers. She also saw action in the Mediterranean from 1838 to 1840, bombarding Beirut and blockading Alexandria. She was paid off during the Crimean War, and saw no action.

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Scale: 1:16. Plan showing the outboard profile illustrating the standing rigging for Ganges (1821), an 84-gun Second Rate, two-decker. Signed by Thomas Atkinson [Master Attendant & King's Harbour Master, Portsmouth Dockyard] and John Gage [unknown] NMM, Progress Book, volume 6, folio 92, states that 'Ganges' arrived at Portsmouth Dockyard on 26 August 1829 and was docked on 24 September 1829 to have her copper replaced. She was undocked on 13 November 1829 and sailed on 18 Feburary 1831 having had defects rectified and having been fitted as a Guardship.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/80221.html#5tPbUKccrX3q0Lr8.99


From 1857 to 1861, she was the flagship of the Pacific Station, based at Valparaíso, Chile under the command of Rear admiral Robert Lambert Baynes. She spent considerable time addressing the San Juan Boundary Dispute from the Esquimalt Royal Navy Dockyard at the Colony of Vancouver Island after which she returned to England to be converted into a training ship; she began service as the training ship HMS Ganges in 1865 at Mylor Harbour, near Falmouth; in 1899, she was moved to Harwich.

In 1905, she became part of RNTE (Royal Naval Training Establishment) Shotley, which also included the ships HMS Caroline and HMS Boscawen III.

She was renamed Tenedos III in 1906, then moved to Devonport to become part of the training establishment HMS Indus; on 13 August 1910, she was renamed Indus V. In October 1922, she was renamed Impregnable III and transferred to the training establishment HMS Impregnable, also at Devonport. She was finally taken out of service in 1923, and transferred to the dockyard; in 1929, she was sold for breaking up. The following year, after over a century in service, she was finally broken up at Plymouth.

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‘Ganges’, shown in port-broadside view, dominates the picture, riding at anchor in a calm, against a backdrop suggestive of a naval base or shoreside warehousing. Inscribed below on the left: “Lit. de Jacobsen hermos Valparaiso”; and in the centre below: “H.M.S. Ganges. 84 Guns / Respectfully dedicated to Rear Admiral Baynes C.B. / Capt John Fulford and the Officers of H.M.S. Ganges / by J. Dixon R.N.”. The lithographer’s inscription, which previously has been treated as one long name, is more likely to be a Spanish way of saying “Lithographed by Jacobsen, [of] beautiful Valparaiso”. This makes sense in the context of the ‘Ganges’’ career, being as she was re-commissioned for Pacific duties in 1857. Robert Lambert Baynes was a rear-admiral from 7.2.1855 to 5.8.1861, but his C.B. was advanced to K.C.B. in 1860. John Fulford was captain throughout the period (W Laird Clowes, “The Royal Navy – a history”, vol.6, p.549; and vol.[7?], p.572).

Upon breaking, some of the timber was used to make souvenirs, usually having a small brass plaque with some of the ship's history attached. The panelling in the captain's cabin was purchased by Thomas Nelson, 4th Earl Nelson, who installed it in the principal top-floor room at Trafalgar Parkin Wiltshire.[3] The captain's cabin in the stern was used in the construction of the Burgh Island Hotel in Devon, where it remains to this day. In 1933, timbers from the ship were also used to construct the cross that stands outside the eastern end of Guildford Cathedral in Surrey.

The town of Ganges, British Columbia, on Salt Spring Island, and the adjacent waters of Ganges Harbour are named after HMS Ganges. In addition, the transom board of one of HMS Ganges' ship's boats has pride of place in Centennial Park in the town of Ganges. The community of Vesuvius Bay, also on Saltspring Island, was named after HMS Vesuvius, which, with Ganges, was also assigned to the Pacific Station.

The ship's badge has been adopted by the Saltspring Island Sailing Club, and the badge's distinctive elephant is the key symbol in the club's burgee.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Ganges_(1821)
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-314582;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=G
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
10 November 1847 – The passenger ship Stephen Whitney is wrecked in thick fog off the southern coast of Ireland, killing 92 of the 110 on board. The disaster results in the construction of the Fastnet Rock lighthouse.


Stephen Whitney was a passenger carrying sailing ship which was wrecked on West Calf Island off the southern coast of Ireland on 10 November 1847 with the loss of 92 of the 110 passengers and crew aboard. She was a packet ship in Robert Kermit's Red Star Line. The ship was named after a Kermit investor, New York merchant Stephen Whitney.

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The 1,034 ton ship left New York City on 18 October for Liverpool carrying passengers and a cargo which included corn, raw cotton, cheese, resin, and 20 boxes of clocks. On 10 November in thick fog, the captain, C.W. Popham, mistook the Crookhaven lighthouse for the one at the Old Head of Kinsale. At around 10 pm, the ship struck the western tip of West Calf Island, completely breaking up within about ten minutes.

The loss of the ship triggered the decision to replace the Cape Clear Island lighthouse with one on Fastnet Rock.






https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Whitney_(ship)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fastnet_Rock
http://indigo.ie/~eaglejr/lhfastnet.html
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
10 November 1890 - HMS Serpent, an Archer-class torpedo cruiser, was lost when she ran aground off Cape Vilan in northwest Spain with the loss of all but three of her crew.


HMS Serpent, was an Archer-class torpedo cruiser of the Royal Navy. Serpent was built at Devonport Dockyard, entering service in 1888. She was lost when she ran aground off Cape Vilan in northwest Spain with the loss of all but three of her crew.

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Construction
Serpent was laid down at Devonport Dockyard on 9 November 1885 as a member of the Archer-class of torpedo cruisers, was launched on 10 March 1887 and completed in March 1888.

Torpedo cruisers were small, relatively fast, ships intended to defend the fleet against attacks by hostile torpedo boats, while themselves being capable of attacking hostile fleets with torpedoes. The Archer class were enlarged derivatives of the earlier Scout-class, which carried a heavier armament.

Serpent was 240-foot (73.15 m) long overall and 225-foot (68.58 m) between perpendiculars, with a beam of 36-foot (10.97 m) and a draught of 14-foot-6-inch (4.42 m). Displacement was 1,770 long tons (1,800 t) normal and 1,950 long tons (1,980 t) full load. The ship's machinery, built by Harland and Wolff, consisted of two horizontal compound steam engines rated at 4,500 indicated horsepower (3,400 kW), which were fed by four boilers and drove two shafts for a speed of 17.5 knots (32.4 km/h; 20.1 mph). 475 tons of coal were carried, sufficient to give a range of 7,000 nautical miles (13,000 km; 8,100 mi),[3] and three masts were fitted.

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Plans of Archer-class torpedo cruiser

Armament consisted of six 6-inch (5 ton) guns, backed up by eight 3-pounder QF guns and two machine guns. Three 14-inch torpedo tubes completed the ship's armament. Armour consisted of a 3⁄8 inch (10 mm) deck, with 1 inch (25 mm) gunshields and 3 inches (76 mm) protecting the ship's conning tower. The ship had a complement of 176 officers and ratings.

Service
Serpent took part in the 1888 Fleet manoeuvres, where her machinery proved unreliable and in the 1889 manoeuvres. On 8 November 1890, Serpent left Devonport to relieve the sloop Acorn on the West African Station. On the night of 10 November, Serpent was caught in a heavy storm in the Bay of Biscay and attempted to reach shelter, but ran aground on Cape Vilan near the village of Camariñas in Galicia, northwest Spain. All but three of her crew were killed. The resulting court martial investigating the cause of the loss of Serpent concluded that the ship had been lost as a result of a navigation error.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Serpent_(1887)
 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
10 November 1942 - french battleship Jean Bart sunk during Battle of Casablanca


Jean Bart was a French battleship of World War II, named for the 17th-century seaman, privateer, and corsair Jean Bart. She was the second Richelieu-class battleship. Derived from the Dunkerque class, Jean Bart (and her sister ship Richelieu) were designed to fight the new battleships of the Italian Navy. Their speed, shielding, armament, and overall technology were state of the art, but they had a rather unusual main battery armament arrangement, with two 4-gun turrets forward and none aft.

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Jean Bart was incomplete when France surrendered to Germany in June 1940. She sailed from Saint-Nazaire to Casablanca just before the Armistice. She was sunk in harbour in 1942. After the war she was re-floated, completed with an updated anti-aircraft battery, and entered service in 1955. She had a very short career: Jean Bart was put into reserve in 1957, decommissioned in 1961, and scrapped in 1969.

Design
The Richelieu class was designed in response to the Italian Littorio-class battleships laid down in 1934, with Richelieu being laid down in 1935. When Germany laid down the two Bismarck-class battleships in November 1935 and June 1936, France ordered the second Richelieu, Jean Bart.

Jean Bart was intended to be the exact sister ship of Richelieu, with the same 35,000-long-ton (35,562 t) tons standard displacement, same hull dimensions (length : 247.85 m (813 ft), beam : 33.00 m (108 ft), draught : 9.22 m (30.2 ft)), same armament, protection, and propulsion.

Her general layout, with two four-gun turrets forward, originated with the Dunkerque battleship class. The quadruple turret had first been proposed for France's last pre-World War Ibattleship projects, the Normandie,[4] and Lyon-class battleships. The quad turret was also featured on nearly all the French battleship projects in the 1920s,. The "all forward" main battery arrangement was influenced by pre-1921 British battlecruiser projects and the Nelson-class battleships

The Richelieu-class battleships had, with 380 mm (14.96 in) calibre guns, and 327 mm (12.9 in) thick belt armor covering approximately 60% of total length, the same hitting and staying power as contemporary battleships built within the limit of 35,000 tons displacement in the Washington Naval Treaty. The 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph) maximum speed was surpassed only by the U.S. Iowa-class battleships.

Construction

Jean Bart was laid down in December 1936; she was built in the large Caquot dock in Penhoët, commonly known as the "Jean Bart-dock". She was floated out on 6 March 1940, and transferred from the building basin to the nearby fitting-out basin. She was expected to leave in October 1940. In May 1940, it was decided that the uncompleted battleship had to be sent to a safer place in Britain or in French Africa, beyond the Luftwaffe's range. However, the fitting-out basin, where the ship was afloat, was separated from the navigational channel by an earth dam. In late May, when it appeared that Germany would win the Battle of France, the Navy began dredging the earth dam, so Jean Bart could leave at high tide on 20 June. Half the propulsion machinery (boilers and turbines) was installed, to be used when necessary. On 18 June, as German troops were approaching, her captain was ordered to prepare to sail immediately or to scuttle the ship. The dredging work was finished the middle of the next night, with very narrow margins for the battleship to pass through, and in the early hours of 19 June, nearly in view of the German vanguard, Jean Bart – barely 75% completed, her steam engines never having been worked before, and under the threat of German bombers – was taken out of the Saint Nazaire docks by four tugs. She reached Casablanca under her own steam on 22 June; the average speed on the journey's final leg was 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph)

At Casablanca

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Jean Bart incomplete in Casablanca harbor, taken from an airplane of USS Ranger

Jean Bart, moored in Casablanca harbour, stayed uncompleted as facilities to complete her were completely lacking. Her 90 mm and 37 mm mountings were even disembarked, and reallocated to the Casablanca harbour anti-aircraft defence, and the battleship left with only four twin 13.2 mm AA machine guns.[citation needed]

During 1941, a 14 m (46 ft) duplex OPL[e] Modèle 1937 rangefinder was installed on the fore tower platform 8, and another 8 m (26 ft) duplex OPL Modèle 1937 range finder, atop the #2 turret. A 3 m (9.8 ft) SOM[f] range finder was fitted atop the conning tower for navigation, and, in October, two fire control directors, with 3 m (9.8 ft) SOM range finder, removed from Dunkerque, were fitted on the bridge wings.

In April 1942, the anti-aircraft defence was reinforced with four 37 mm AA single CAS Modèle 1925 mountings, and two new-built 90 mm twin AA mountings. In May, a standard test-firing of the 380 mm guns was carried out, as a fire control system was conceived, using triangulation from three points, the forward tower of Jean Bart, and the shore stations of Sidi Abderhamane and Dar Bou Azza.[30] In June, two 37 mm AA double semi-automatic CAD Modèle 1933 mountings were fitted as the single 37 mm Modèle 1925, but one, were disembarked. The French DEM [g] early radar installation was installed, with two rotating antennæ atop the forward tower, and passed for operational service in October. During early November, a fifth 90 mm AA mounting was installed.

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Jean Bart attacked by planes of USS Ranger

On 8 November 1942, Allied landings in French North Africa (Operation Torch) began. Vichy French government forces attacked the Allied forces in defense of the neutrality of French Morocco, in what became known as the Naval Battle of Casablanca. Jean Bart opened fire with the four 380 mm (15 in) guns of her one operational turret on U.S. warships covering the landings. She was hit and moderately damaged by U.S. dive bombers from the aircraft carrier USS Ranger. The battleship was silenced by the fifth hit from the 406 mm (16.0 in) guns of USS Massachusetts, which jammed the rotating mechanism of the one working turret. The first of the seven 406 mm (16.0 in) shells which hit her, and the only one which pierced the upper armoured deck, had exploded in a magazine of 152 mm (6.0 in) turret, which was empty as these turrets had not been installed. In normal war circumstances, this event could have had catastrophic consequences. The weakness of the armor of these magazines was known, and was to be corrected on Gascogne.

The 380 mm (15 in) turret was quickly repaired. On 10 November, Jean Bart opened fire again, and almost hit USS Augusta, the Task Force 34 flagship. Bombers from Ranger soon inflicted severe damage on her, two heavy bombs hitting the bow and the stern, and she sank into the harbor mud with decks awash. Jean Bart's commanding officer, Captain Barthes, was promoted to Rear Admiral on 18 November 1942. During the three days of the 'Battle of Casablanca', Jean Bart fired twenty-five 380 mm rounds; twenty-two of her seamen were killed.

Completion

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Damaged Jean Bart photographed in Casablanca on November 16, 1942

After the French North Africa forces joined the Allies, the French hoped to complete Jean Bart in the United States, as it has been done for Richelieu. But the first decision which affected Jean Bart was the removing of the four 380 mm barrels of her main artillery #1 turret, which were shipped to the United States, to replace the ruined barrels of Richelieu, which had not been repaired in Dakar, due to the German obstruction.

Then, the ship was quickly made seaworthy for an Atlantic voyage. The proposals for her completion were delivered to the US Navy by Vice Admiral Fenard, the Chief of the French Naval Mission to the United States. A May 1943 proposal was for completion as a hybrid battleship-carrier. Jean Bart would have been armed with only one main turret, using 340 mm (13.4 in)guns from Lorraine which had been interned in Alexandria in 1940. To this would be added fifteen U.S.-built dual-purpose 127 mm (5 in) double turrets, sixteen Bofors 40 mm (1.6 in) quad mountings, numerous Oerlikon 20 mm (0.79 in) mountings, and aircraft installations for six planes (Grumman Avenger or Fairey Barracuda bombers and Hellcat or Seafire fighters). A second, less expensive, proposal was for an anti-aircraft battleship. Armament would have used the main battery as the first proposal, plus seventeen 127 mm (5 in) double turrets and twenty Bofors quad 40 mm (1.6 in) mountings. US naval staff concluded that American shipyards could not easily replicate French methodologies and that the necessary parts were not available; all proposals were rejected by Admiral Ernest King, operational commander of the US Navy, in March 1944, and Jean Bart remained in Casablanca.

When the war ended, the French Navy decided, on 22 February 1945, Jean Bart would not be scrapped but the question of how the ship was to be completed remained. At a meeting of the French Navy Board, on 21 September 1945, Louis Kahn, Chief Naval Construction, who had designed the Joffre-class aircraft carrier in the 1930s, proposed completing her as a 40,000 tonnes (39,000 long tons) aircraft carrier operating 40–54 aircraft. The conversion would take no less than five years at a cost 5 billion Francs. This seemed unsatisfactory, especially to Admiral Fenard and Admiral Nomy (later Chief of Staff in 1951), as foreign carriers were carrying twice the aircraft on the same displacement; for example, the British HMS Eagle then under construction had a 38,600 long tons (39,200 t) displacement, (46,000 long tons (47,000 t) full load), and was designed for 80 aircraft. Rear Admiral Barjot noted that it seemed strange that there was so much opposition to the carrier conversion, despite wartime experience showing the need for carriers. The decision was finally made to complete Jean Bart as a battleship, a «second Richelieu». She would be a command ship with heavy anti-aircraft armament, while her main armament would be useful for shore bombardment.

Jean Bart, which had left Casablanca in August 1945 for Cherbourg, which had the only usable graving dock on the French Atlantic coast at the time, was moved to the Brest Arsenal's Laninon docks in March 1946. Work proceeded slowly as the facility was still recovering from wartime damage.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_battleship_Jean_Bart_(1940)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
10 November 1944 – The ammunition ship USS Mount Hood explodes at Seeadler Harbour, Manus, Admiralty Islands, killing at least 432 and wounding 371.


USS Mount Hood (AE-11) was the lead ship of her class of ammunition ships for the United States Navy in World War II. She was the first ship named after Mount Hood, a volcano in the Cascade Range in Oregon. On 10 November 1944, shortly after 18 men had departed for shore leave, the rest of the crew were killed when the ship exploded in Seeadler Harbor at Manus Island in Papua New Guinea. The ship was obliterated while also sinking or severely damaging 22 smaller craft nearby.

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History
Marco Polo was a cargo ship built under a US Maritime Commission contract (as MC hull 1356), by the North Carolina Shipbuilding Co., Wilmington, N.C..

The ship was renamed Mount Hood, 10 November 1943; launched 28 November 1943; sponsored by Mrs. A. J. Reynolds; acquired by the Navy on loan-charter basis, 28 January 1944; converted by the Norfolk Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Norfolk, Virginia, and the Norfolk Navy Yard; and commissioned 1 July 1944, Comdr. Harold A. Turner in command.

Following an abbreviated fitting out and shakedown period in the Chesapeake Bay area, ammunition ship Mount Hood reported for duty to ComServFor, Atlantic Fleet, 5 August 1944. Assigned to carry cargo to the Pacific, she put into Norfolk, where her holds were loaded. On 21 August, as a unit of Task Group 29.6, she transited the Panama Canal on the 27th, and continued on, independently, via Finschafen, New Guinea. Mount Hood arrived at Seeadler Harbor, in Manus Island of the Admiralty Islands, on 22 September. Assigned to ComSoWesPac, she commenced dispensing ammunition and explosives to ships preparing for the Philippine offensive.

Disaster
At 08:30, 10 November 1944, a party consisting of communications officer, Lt. Lester H. Wallace, and 13 men left the ship and headed for shore. At 08:55, while walking on the beach, they saw a flash from the harbor, followed by two quick explosions. Scrambling into their boat, they headed back to the ship, only to turn around again shortly thereafter as "There was nothing but debris all around..."

USS_Mount_Hood_(AE-11)_explodes_at_Seeadler_Harbor_on_10_November_1944.jpg
Mount Hood explodes: the smoke trails are left by fragments ejected by the explosion.

Mount Hood, anchored in about 35 feet (11 m) of water, had exploded with an estimated 3,800 tons of ordnance material on board. The initial explosion caused flame and smoke to shoot up from amidships to more than masthead height. Within seconds, the bulk of her cargo detonated with a more intense explosion. Mushrooming smoke rose to 7,000 feet (2,100 m), obscuring the ship and the surrounding area for a radius of approximately 500 yards (500 m). Mount Hood's former position was revealed by a trench in the ocean floor 1,000 feet (300 m) long, 200 feet (60 m) wide, and 30 to 40 feet (9 to 12 m) deep. The largest remaining piece of the hull was found in the trench and measured no bigger than 16 by 10 feet (5 by 3 m). No other remains of Mount Hood were found except fragments of metal which had struck other ships in the harbor and a few tattered pages of a signal notebook found floating in the water several hundred yards away. No human remains were recovered of the 350 men aboard Mount Hood or small boats loading alongside at the time of the explosion. The only other survivors from the Mount Hood crew were a junior officer and five enlisted men who had left the ship a short time before the explosion. Two of the crew were being transferred to the base brig for trial by court martial; and the remainder of the party were picking up mail at the base post office. Charges against the prisoners were dropped following the explosion.

The concussion and metal fragments hurled from the ship also caused casualties and damage to ships and small craft within 2,000 yards (1,800 m). The repair ship Mindanao, which was broadside-on to the blast, was the most seriously damaged. All personnel topside on Mindanao were killed outright, and dozens of men were killed or wounded below decks as numerous heavy fragments from Mount Hood penetrated the side plating. Eighty-two of Mindanao's crew died. The damage to other vessels required more than 100,000 man-hours to repair, while 22 small boats and landing craft were sunk, destroyed, or damaged beyond repair; 371 sailors were injured from all ships in the harbor.

A board convened to examine evidence relating to the disaster was unable to ascertain the exact cause. After only a little over four months' service, Mount Hood was struck from the Naval Register on 11 December 1944.

List of ships damaged
The following ships were damaged by the explosion of Mount Hood:
Aerial_view_of_USS_Mindanao_(ARG-3)_after_the_explosion_of_USS_Mount_Hood_(AE-11)_at_Seeadler_...jpg
Explosion of USS Mount Hood (AE-11) in Seeadler Harbor, Manus, Admiralty Islands, 10 November 1944. Small craft gathered around USS Mindanao (ARG-3) during salvage and rescue efforts shortly after Mount Hoodblew up about 350 yards away from Mindanao's port side. Mindanao, and seven motor minesweepers (YMS) moored to her starboard side, were damaged by the blast, as were the USS Alhena (AKA-9) (in the photo's top left center) and USS Oberrender(DE-344), (top right). Note the extensive oil slick, with tracks through it made by small craft.

In addition to the above ships, nine medium landing craft (LCM) and a pontoon barge moored alongside Mount Hood were also destroyed, and 13 small boats or landing craft were sunk or damaged beyond repair.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Mount_Hood_(AE-11)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
10 November 1975 – The 729-foot-long freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald sinks during a storm on Lake Superior, killing all 29 crew on board.


SS Edmund Fitzgerald was an American Great Lakes freighter that sank in a Lake Superior storm on November 10, 1975, with the loss of the entire crew of 29. When launched on June 7, 1958, she was the largest ship on North America's Great Lakes, and she remains the largest to have sunk there.

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For 17 years, Edmund Fitzgerald carried taconite iron ore from mines near Duluth, Minnesota, to iron works in Detroit, Toledo, and other Great Lakes ports. As a workhorse, she set seasonal haul records six times, often breaking her own previous record. Captain Peter Pulcer was known for piping music day or night over the ship's intercom while passing through the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers (between Lakes Huron and Erie), and entertaining spectators at the Soo Locks (between Lakes Superior and Huron) with a running commentary about the ship. Her size, record-breaking performance, and "DJ captain" endeared Edmund Fitzgerald to boat watchers.

Carrying a full cargo of ore pellets with Captain Ernest M. McSorley in command, she embarked on her ill-fated voyage from Superior, Wisconsin, near Duluth, on the afternoon of November 9, 1975. En route to a steel mill near Detroit, Edmund Fitzgerald joined a second freighter, SS Arthur M. Anderson. By the next day, the two ships were caught in a severe storm on Lake Superior, with near hurricane-force winds and waves up to 35 feet (11 m) high. Shortly after 7:10 p.m., Edmund Fitzgerald suddenly sank in Canadian (Ontario) waters 530 feet (88 fathoms; 160 m) deep, about 17 miles (15 nautical miles; 27 kilometers) from Whitefish Bay near the twin cities of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario—a distance Edmund Fitzgerald could have covered in just over an hour at her top speed. Although Edmund Fitzgerald had reported being in difficulty earlier, no distress signals were sent before she sank; Captain McSorley's last message to Arthur M. Anderson said, "We are holding our own." Her crew of 29 perished, and no bodies were recovered. The exact cause of the sinking remains unknown, though many books, studies, and expeditions have examined it. Edmund Fitzgerald may have been swamped, suffered structural failure or topside damage, been shoaled, or suffered from a combination of these.

The disaster is one of the best-known in the history of Great Lakes shipping. Gordon Lightfoot made it the subject of his 1976 hit song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" after reading an article, "The Cruelest Month", in the November 24, 1975, issue of Newsweek. The sinking led to changes in Great Lakes shipping regulations and practices that included mandatory survival suits, depth finders, positioning systems, increased freeboard, and more frequent inspection of vessels.

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Final voyage and wreck

The National Transportation Safety Board map of probable course of Edmund Fitzgerald and Arthur M. Anderson

Edmund Fitzgerald left Superior, Wisconsin, at 2:15 p.m. on the afternoon of November 9, 1975, under the command of Captain Ernest M. McSorley. She was en route to the steel mill on Zug Island, near Detroit, Michigan, with a cargo of 26,116 long tons (29,250 short tons; 26,535 t) of taconite ore pellets and soon reached her full speed of 16.3 miles per hour (14.2 kn; 26.2 km/h). Around 5 p.m., Edmund Fitzgerald joined a second freighter under the command of Captain Jesse B. "Bernie" Cooper, Arthur M. Anderson, destined for Gary, Indiana, out of Two Harbors, Minnesota. The weather forecast was not unusual for November and the National Weather Service (NWS) predicted that a storm would pass just south of Lake Superior by 7 a.m. on November 10.

SS Wilfred Sykes loaded opposite Edmund Fitzgerald at the Burlington Northern Dock #1 and departed at 4:15 p.m., about two hours after Edmund Fitzgerald. In contrast to the NWS forecast, Captain Dudley J. Paquette of Wilfred Sykes predicted that a major storm would directly cross Lake Superior. From the outset, he chose a route that took advantage of the protection offered by the lake's north shore in order to avoid the worst effects of the storm. The crew of Wilfred Sykes followed the radio conversations between Edmund Fitzgerald and Arthur M. Anderson during the first part of their trip and overheard their captains deciding to take the regular Lake Carriers' Association downbound route. The NWS altered its forecast at 7:00 p.m., issuing gale warnings for the whole of Lake Superior. Arthur M. Anderson and Edmund Fitzgerald altered course northward seeking shelter along the Ontario coast where they encountered a winter storm at 1:00 a.m. on November 10. Edmund Fitzgerald reported winds of 52 knots (96 km/h; 60 mph) and waves 10 feet (3.0 m) high. Captain Paquette of Wilfred Sykes reported that after 1 a.m., he overheard McSorley say that he had reduced the ship's speed because of the rough conditions. Paquette said he was stunned to later hear McSorley, who was not known for turning aside or slowing down, state that "we're going to try for some lee from Isle Royale. You're walking away from us anyway ... I can't stay with you."

At 2:00 a.m. on November 10, the NWS upgraded its warnings from gale to storm, forecasting winds of 35–50 knots (65–93 km/h; 40–58 mph).[42] Until then, Edmund Fitzgerald had followed Arthur M. Anderson, which was travelling at a constant 14.6 miles per hour (12.7 kn; 23.5 km/h), but the faster Edmund Fitzgerald pulled ahead at about 3:00 a.m. As the storm center passed over the ships, they experienced shifting winds, with wind speeds temporarily dropping as wind direction changed from northeast to south and then northwest. After 1:50 p.m., when Arthur M. Anderson logged winds of 50 knots (93 km/h; 58 mph), wind speeds again picked up rapidly and it began to snow at 2:45 p.m., reducing visibility; Arthur M. Anderson lost sight of Edmund Fitzgerald, which was about 16 miles (26 km) ahead at the time.

Shortly after 3:30 p.m., Captain McSorley radioed Arthur M. Anderson to report that Edmund Fitzgerald was taking on water and had lost two vent covers and a fence railing. The vessel had also developed a list. Two of Edmund Fitzgerald's six bilge pumps ran continuously to discharge shipped water. McSorley said that he would slow his ship down so that Arthur M. Anderson could close the gap between them. In a broadcast shortly afterward, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) warned all shipping that the Soo Locks had been closed and they should seek safe anchorage. Shortly after 4:10 p.m., McSorley called Arthur M. Anderson again to report a radar failure and asked Arthur M. Anderson to keep track of them. Edmund Fitzgerald, effectively blind, slowed to let Arthur M. Anderson come within a 10-mile (16 km) range so she could receive radar guidance from the other ship.

For a time, Arthur M. Anderson directed Edmund Fitzgerald toward the relative safety of Whitefish Bay; then, at 4:39 p.m., McSorley contacted the USCG station in Grand Marais, Michigan, to inquire whether the Whitefish Point lightand navigation beacon were operational. The USCG replied that their monitoring equipment indicated that both instruments were inactive. McSorley then hailed any ships in the Whitefish Point area to report the state of the navigational aids, receiving an answer from Captain Cedric Woodard of Avafors between 5:00 and 5:30 p.m. that the Whitefish Point light was on but not the radio beacon. Woodard testified to the Marine Board that he overheard McSorley say, "Don't allow nobody on deck," as well as something about a vent that Woodard could not understand. Some time later, McSorley told Woodard, "I have a 'bad list', I have lost both radars, and am taking heavy seas over the deck in one of the worst seas I have ever been in."


Map showing the location of the wreck, with the red pointer
By late in the afternoon of November 10, sustained winds of over 50 knots (93 km/h; 58 mph) were recorded by ships and observation points across eastern Lake Superior. Arthur M. Anderson logged sustained winds as high as 58 knots (107 km/h; 67 mph) at 4:52 p.m., while waves increased to as high as 25 feet (7.6 m) by 6:00 p.m. Arthur M. Anderson was also struck by 70-to-75-knot (130 to 139 km/h; 81 to 86 mph) gusts and rogue waves as high as 35 feet (11 m).

The last communication from the ship came at approximately 7:10 p.m., when Arthur M. Anderson notified Edmund Fitzgerald of an upbound ship and asked how she was doing. McSorley reported, "We are holding our own." She sank minutes later. No distress signal was received, and ten minutes later, Arthur M. Anderson lost the ability either to raise Edmund Fitzgerald by radio or to detect her on radar.

Search

One of Edmund Fitzgerald's lifeboats, on display at the Valley Camp museum ship

Captain Cooper of Arthur M. Anderson first called the USCG in Sault Ste. Marie at 7:39 p.m. on channel 16, the radio distress frequency. The USCG responders instructed him to call back on channel 12 because they wanted to keep their emergency channel open and they were having difficulty with their communication systems, including antennas blown down by the storm. Cooper then contacted the upbound saltwater vessel Nanfri and was told that she could not pick up Edmund Fitzgerald on her radar either. Despite repeated attempts to raise the USCG, Cooper was not successful until 7:54 p.m. when the officer on duty asked him to keep watch for a 16-foot (4.9 m) boat lost in the area. At about 8:25 p.m., Cooper again called the USCG to express his concern about Edmund Fitzgerald and at 9:03 p.m. reported her missing. Petty Officer Philip Branch later testified, "I considered it serious, but at the time it was not urgent."

Lacking appropriate search-and-rescue vessels to respond to Edmund Fitzgerald's disaster,[59] at approximately 9:00 p.m., the USCG asked Arthur M. Anderson to turn around and look for survivors. Around 10:30 p.m., the USCG asked all commercial vessels anchored in or near Whitefish Bay to assist in the search.[60] The initial search for survivors was carried out by Arthur M. Anderson, and a second freighter, SS William Clay Ford. The efforts of a third freighter, the Toronto-registered SS Hilda Marjanne, were foiled by the weather. The USCG sent a buoy tender, Woodrush, from Duluth, Minnesota, but it would take two and a half hours to launch and a day to travel to the search area. The Traverse City, Michigan, USCG station launched an HU-16 fixed-wing search aircraft that arrived on the scene at 10:53 p.m. while an HH-52 USCG helicopter with a 3.8-million-candlepower searchlight arrived at 1:00 a.m. on November 11. Canadian Coast Guard aircraft joined the three-day search and the Ontario Provincial Police established and maintained a beach patrol all along the eastern shore of Lake Superior.

Although the search recovered debris, including lifeboats and rafts, none of the crew were found.[63] On her final voyage, Edmund Fitzgerald's crew of 29 consisted of the captain, the first, second and third mates, five engineers, three oilers, a cook, a wiper, two maintenance men, three watchmen, three deckhands, three wheelsmen, two porters, a cadet and a steward. Most of the crew was from Ohio and Wisconsin;[64] their ages ranged from 20-year-old watchman Karl A. Peckol to Captain McSorley, 63 years old and planning his retirement.

Edmund Fitzgerald is among the largest and best-known vessels lost on the Great Lakes[66] but she is not alone on the Lake Superior seabed in that area. In the years between 1816, when Invincible was lost, and 1975, when Edmund Fitzgerald sank, the Whitefish Point area had claimed at least 240 ships


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Edmund_Fitzgerald
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 10 November


1556 – Death of Richard Chancellor, English explorer(b. c. 1521)

Richard Chancellor (died 1556) was an English explorer and navigator; the first to penetrate to the White Sea and establish relations with Russia

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


1727 – Death of Alphonse de Tonty, French-American sailor and explorer (b. 1659)

Pierre Alphonse de Tonty, or Alphonse de Tonty, Baron de Paludy (ca. 1659 – 10 November 1727)[1] was an officer who served under the French explorer Cadillac and helped establish the first European settlement at Detroit, Michigan, Fort Pontchartrain du Detroit on the Detroit River in 1701. Several months later, both Cadillac and Tonty brought their wives to the fort, making them the first European women to travel so deep into the new territory.

He was born in Paris, ca. 1659, to Lorenzo de Tonti who was a financier and former governor of Gaeta who was in France in exile. Lorenzo de Tonti was the inventor of the form of life insurance known as the tontine. Henri de Tonti, involved in LaSalle's exploration of the Mississippi River and the establishment of the first settlement in Arkansas, was his older brother.

Tonty was commanding the fort in Detroit by 1717, but by 1727 numerous complaints, including those by the Huron led to his dismissal.

Tonty was involved in numerous scandals and disreputable activities before he was eventually dismissed from his post as commandant of Fort Pontchartrain. He died before he could obtain another appointment or return to France.

Tonty was married twice. His first marriage in 1689 was to Marie Anne Picoté de Belestre with whom he had 13 children. She was the daughter of Pierre Picoté de Belestre.

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


1728 – Death of Fyodor Apraksin, Russian admiral (b. 1661)

Count Fyodor Matveyevich Apraksin (also Apraxin; Russian: Фёдор Матве́евич Апра́ксин; 27 October 1661 – 10 November 1728, Moscow) was one of the first Russian admirals, governed Estonia and Karelia from 1712 to 1723, was made general admiral (1708), presided over the Russian Admiralty from 1718 and commanded the Baltic Fleet from 1723.

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


1775 - Congress votes to raise two battalions of Continental Marines, establishing the Marine Corps.


1805 - HMS Biter Gun-brig (12), Lt. George Thomas Wingate, wrecked near Calais.

HMS Biter (1804) was a 12-gun gun-brig launched in 1804 and wrecked in 1805.


1863 - During the Civil War, CSS Alabama captures and burns clipper ship Winged Racer carrying a cargo of sugar, hides, and jute in the Straits of Sunda off Java.

CSS Alabama was a screw sloop-of-war built in 1862 for the Confederate States Navy at Birkenhead on the River Mersey opposite Liverpool, England by John Laird Sons and Company. Alabama served as a successful commerce raider, attacking Union merchant and naval ships over the course of her two-year career, during which she never docked at a Southern port. She was sunk in June 1864 by USS Kearsarge at the Battle of Cherbourg outside the port of Cherbourg, France.

CSSAlabama.jpg

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


1943 - PB4Y-1 patrol bombers from VB-103, VB-105, and VB-110, along with British aircraft, sink the German submarine U-966 in the Bay of Biscay off northwest Spain. Spanish fishing trawlers rescue the survivors.

On 10 November 1943, U-966 was attacked by an RAF Wellington of 612 Squadron/B and then US Navy B-24 Liberators of squadrons VB-103 and VB-110.

U_570.jpg

Later that day Liberator GR Mk V BZ774/D of the RAF's Czechoslovak-crewed 311 Squadron/D sighted U-966 at 43°45′N 08°00′W. The submarine headed for the neutral Spanish coast at full speed but at 13:54 BZ774/D attacked her with wing-mounted SAP60 semi-armour piercing rocket projectiles (RPs).

Several of the RPs failed to function, and the Czechoslovak aircrew was unable to see any effects on the target from those that did. But U-966 slowed to an estimated six to eight knots, and then within 200 yards (180 m) of the Spanish coast she slowed to two knots before running aground. 42 of her 50 crew survived. They scuttled her in the Bay of Biscay off O Porto de Bares, Galicia, Spain, after several depth charge attacks badly damaged her, then took to their dinghies and were interned in Spain.

The wreck is at 43°46′8″N 07°38′0″WCoordinates:
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43°46′8″N 07°38′0″W. The wreckage was found in various locations near Punta de Estaca de Bares by a team of three Spanish divers in June 2018.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-966
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
11 November 1620 – The Mayflower Compact is signed in what is now Provincetown Harbor near Cape Cod.


The Mayflower Compact was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. It was written by the male passengers of the Mayflower, consisting of separatist Puritans, adventurers, and tradesmen. The Puritans were fleeing from religious persecution by King James of England.

The Mayflower Compact was signed aboard ship on November 11, 1620. They used the Julian Calendar, also known as Old Style dates, which was ten days behind the Gregorian Calendar. Signing the covenant were 41 of the ship's 101 passengers while the Mayflower was anchored in Provincetown Harbor within the hook at the northern tip of Cape Cod.

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Signing the Mayflower Compact 1620, a painting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris 1899

Reasons for the Compact
The Mayflower was originally bound for the Colony of Virginia, financed by the Company of Merchant Adventurers of London. Storms forced them to anchor at the hook of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, however, as it was unwise to continue with provisions running short. This inspired some of the non-Puritan passengers (whom the Puritans referred to as "Strangers") to proclaim that they "would use their own liberty; for none had power to command them" since they would not be settling in the agreed-upon Virginia territory. To prevent this, the Pilgrims determined to establish their own government, while still affirming their allegiance to the Crown of England. Thus, the Mayflower Compact was based simultaneously upon a majoritarian model and the settlers' allegiance to the king. It was in essence a social contract in which the settlers consented to follow the community's rules and regulations for the sake of order and survival.

The Pilgrims had lived for some years in Leiden, a city in the Dutch Republic. Historian Nathaniel Philbrick states, "Just as a spiritual covenant had marked the beginning of their congregation in Leiden, a civil covenant would provide the basis for a secular government in America."

Text

Bradford's transcription of the Compact

The original document has been lost, but three versions exist from the 17th century: printed in Mourt's Relation (1622), which was reprinted in Purchas his Pilgrimes (1625); hand-written by William Bradford in his journal Of Plimoth Plantation (1646); and printed by Bradford's nephew Nathaniel Morton in New-Englands Memorial (1669). The three versions differ slightly in wording and significantly in spelling, capitalization, and punctuation. William Bradford wrote the first part of Mourt's Relation, including its version of the compact, so he wrote two of the three versions. The wording of those two versions is indeed quite similar, unlike that of Morton. Bradford's handwritten manuscript is kept in a vault at the State Library of Massachusetts.

Modern version
IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first Colony in the northern Parts of Virginia; Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid: And by Virtue hereof do enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Officers, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general Good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due Submission and Obedience. IN WITNESS whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape-Cod the eleventh of November, in the Reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, Anno Domini; 1620.​
The document was signed under the Old Style Julian calendar, since England did not adopt the Gregorian calendar until 1752. The Gregorian date would be November 21.

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1920 U.S. postage stamp depicting the signing of the compact

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayflower_Compact
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
11 November 1742 - Death of Sir Stafford Fairborne


Admiral of the Fleet Sir Stafford Fairborne (1666 – 11 November 1742) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. As a captain he saw action in command of various ships at the Battle of Beachy Head, at the Battle of Barfleur and at the Battle of Lagos during the Nine Years' War.

As a flag officer Fairborne was given command of the inshore squadron in a fleet sent to the Mediterranean during the War of the Spanish Succession. The fleet was defeated at the Battle of Cádiz but later achieved a victory at the Battle of Vigo Bay. He later became Second-in-Command, under Sir Cloudesley Shovell, of the Mediterranean Fleet and was present at the siege and capture of Barcelona. After that he was given command of a squadron sent to La Rochelle and took part in the capture of Ostend.

Fairborne represented Rochester as a Member of Parliament from 1705 to 1710 and also served as a member of the council of the Lord High Admiral (an office vested at that time in Prince George of Denmark).

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Years of service 1681–1715
Rank Admiral of the Fleet
Commands held
HMS Bonadventure
HMS Half Moon
HMS Richmond
HMS Phoenix
HMS Warspite
HMS Elizabeth
HMS Monck
HMS Victory
HMS Defiance
HMS London
HMS Albemarle
HMS Torbay
HMS Suffolk
HMS Tilbury
Battles/wars
Nine Years' War
War of the Spanish Succession
Other work MP for Rochester


Early career
Born the eldest son of Sir Palmes Fairborne, Governor of Tangiers and Margery Fairborne (née Devereux), Fairborne became a King's letter boy in 1681. Promoted to lieutenant, he commanded the fourth-rate HMS Bonadventure during the captain's illness in a successful encounter with some Salé vessels off Mamora in June 1685 and, after being promoted to commander on 12 July 1686, he was given command of the Salé prize HMS Half Moon later that month. Fairborne's patron from this time was Admiral Arthur Herbert.

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The first-rate HMS London, a ship which Fairborne commanded in Summer 1697

Promoted to captain on 30 August 1688, Fairborne was given command of the fifth-rate HMS Richmond later that month. The fact that his mother had been left without a pension by the old regime is likely to have made Fairborne a supporter of the Glorious Revolution of November 1688. He transferred to the command of the fifth-rate HMS Phoenix in early 1689 and then commanded the third-rate HMS Warspite at the French victory at the Battle of Beachy Head in June 1690 during the Nine Years' War. After the battle the upper decks of the ship were found to be full of Dutch musket balls.

Fairborne served as part of the naval brigade under the Duke of Marlborough at the siege of Cork in September 1690 during the Williamite War in Ireland before commanding the third-rate HMS Elizabeth at the Battle of Barfleur in May 1692. He commanded the third-rate HMS Monck in the fleet under Sir George Rooke, which while in charge of the Smyrna convoy, was scattered by the French at the Battle of Lagosoff Cape St. Vincent in June 1693.

Fairborne was given command of the first-rate HMS Victory in 1695 and then transferred to the command of the third-rate HMS Defiance in February 1696 with orders to protect the outward-bound trade in the Downs. He returned to HMS Victory in March 1697 and then transferred to the first-rate HMS London in June 1697 and to the second-rate HMS Albemarle in Autumn 1697.

Fairborne was appointed to the third-rate HMS Torbay in May 1699, but as the ship was not ready, he transferred to the storeship HMS Suffolk in Summer 1699 and then took command of the fourth-rate HMS Tilbury in January 1700 with orders to sail to Newfoundland to clear the coast of pirates. Later in the year he served in the Mediterranean.

Senior command

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Fairborne commanded the inshore squadron at the Battle of Vigo Bay in October 1702

Promoted to rear-admiral on 30 June 1701, Fairborne was knighted on 3 November 1701. After receiving the Freedom of the City of Cork, he was given command of the inshore squadron, with his flag in the first-rate HMS St George, in a fleet sent to the Mediterranean in Summer 1702 during the War of the Spanish Succession. The fleet was defeated at the Battle of Cádiz in September 1702 but, after Fairborne transferred his flag to the third-rate HMS Essex, the fleet achieved a victory at the Battle of Vigo Bay in October 1702. After the battle he was tasked with assisting Sir Cloudesley Shovell to bring the prizes home delivering a squadron of them safely to Spithead in November 1702. In February 1703, he refused a command in the West Indiesand, fearing he had been banned by the council of the Lord High Admiral from holding any future command, challenged Admiral George Churchill to a duel: both officers were subsequently arrested.

Promoted to vice-admiral on 6 May 1703, Fairborne became Third-in-Command, with his flag in the second-rate HMS Association, serving under Shovell in the Mediterranean Fleet with orders to annoy the enemy, assist the allies and protect English trade. The ship was caught in the great storm of December 1703 and, having been torn from her anchor at Gunfleet Sands, was blown across the North Sea to the coast of the Netherlands in dreadful conditions which resulted in the loss of 28 lives from exposure and exhaustion. Nothing was heard from Fairborne for a whole month. After refitting at Gothenburg in Sweden the ship returned to England.


Rochester Guildhall: the lower of two white plaques above the doorway reads "These pavements were given by the Honourable Sir Stafford Fairbourne Anno Domini 1706"

Fairborne was given command of a squadron in the English Channel, with his flag in the third-rate HMS Shrewsbury in 1704. He became Second-in-Command, under Shovell, of the Mediterranean Fleet in Spring 1705 and was present at the siege and capture of Barcelona in October 1705. He was also elected Whig Member of Parliament for Rochester in 1705 and appointed a member of the council of the Lord High Admiral (an office vested at that time in Prince George of Denmark)[9] in February 1706. That year he financed the laying of a new pavement outside Rochester Guildhall, the commemorative stone for which still remains in place on the front of the building. He was given command of a squadron sent to La Rochelle in May 1706 and took part in the capture of Ostend in June 1706. In each of these actions he was personally involved in dangerous inshore operations and was said to have "courted danger like a mistress".

Fairborne was promoted to full admiral on 7 January 1708 and, having retired as a council member in June 1708, was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 21 December 1708. In Parliament he supported the Whig Ministry voting for the Naturalization of the German Palatines in 1709 but lost his Rochester seat at the general election in 1710 which produced a landslide victory for the Tory party in the wake of the prosecution of Henry Sacheverell which Fairborne had supported.[2] He was offer a post as commissioner for disbanding the marines in 1713 but refused it in the vain hope that he would one day return to senior office in the Admiralty. The Tory Earl of Orford, who became First Lord of the Admiralty, ensured Fairborne never did return to office. In retirement he lived at No. 33 Golden Square in London. He died on 11 November 1742 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stafford_Fairborne
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
11 November 1779 - HMS Tartar (28) took Spanish frigate Santa Marqarita (28) off Cape Finisterre.


The Action of 11 November 1779 was a minor naval engagement between the British Royal Naval frigate HMS Tartar and the Spanish frigate Santa Margarita off Lisbon during the Anglo-Spanish War.

On 11 November, Captain Alexander Graeme in Tartar, belonging to the squadron under Commodore George Johnstone, was off Lisbon when he sighted the Spanish 38-gun frigate Santa Margarita. Tartar, with the wind behind her, caught up and engaged the Spanish vessel. After around two hours of fighting Santa Marguerita was almost dismasted when her captain decided to strike her colours.

Santa Margarita was added to the Royal Navy under her existing name as a 12-pounder 36-gun frigate. She had a very long career, serving until 1836.


HMS Tartar was a 28-gun sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy.

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Scale 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with inboard detail and longitudinal half breadth for building Lowestoff (1756) and Tartar (1756), both 28-gun, Sixth Rate Frigates. Note the French influence on the designs bow shape, single bitts, and wheel abaft mizzen. Top right: "A Copy of this Draught was given to Mr Graves of Lime house for Building a 28-guns, p. 13th June 1755. Do to Mr Randell....of Rotherhithe."
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/83135.html#2AjfA0QcjP0d547S.99


Class and type: Lowestoffe-class sixth-rate frigate
Tons burthen: 587 19⁄94 (bm) (4 tons more than designed)
Length:
  • 117 ft 10 in (35.9 m) (gundeck)
  • 96 ft 11 in (29.5 m) (keel)
Beam: 33 ft 9 in (10.3 m)
Depth of hold: 10 ft 3 in (3.1 m)
Sail plan: Full-rigged ship
Complement: 200 officers and men
Armament:
  • Upperdeck: 24 × 9-pounder guns
  • QD: 4 × 3-pounder guns
  • 12 × swivel guns
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Scale 1:48. Plan showing sheer lines and only one water line for Tartar (1757), a 28-gun, Sixth Rate Frigate, as being altered during repairs at Chatham by Mr Nicholson's Yard. The decks were raised, as shown by the ticked red lines. Annotation: top right: "A Copy was sent to Mr Belshar the Overseer 2nd December 1790."
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/82991.html#sf69gIa3VmxrJQSX.99

Naval career
Tartar was designed by Sir Thomas Slade and based on the Lyme of 1748, "with such alterations as may tend to the better stowing of men and carrying for guns."

The ship was first commissioned in March 1756 under Captain John Lockhart, and earned a reputation as a fast sailer during service in the English Channel. She made many captures of French ships during the Seven Years' War, including 4 in 1756 and 7 the following year.

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During the peace that followed, the ship sailed to Barbados carrying a timekeeper built by John Harrison, as a part of a series of experiments used to determine longitude at sea. She also served in the American Revolutionary War, capturing the Spanish Santa Margarita of 28 guns off Cape Finisterre on 11 November 1779.

She went on to see further service during the French Revolutionary War. On 14 December the French frigate Minerve captured off the island of Ivica the collier Hannibal, which was sailing from Liverpool to Naples. However, eleven days later, Tartar recaptured the Hannibal off Toulon and sent her into Corsica.

Tartar was wrecked off Saint-Domingue on 1 April 1797.


HMS Santa Margarita was a 36-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She had been built for service with the Spanish Navy, but was captured after five years in service, eventually spending nearly 60 years with the British.

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Dodd, Robert; Action Between the 'Amazone' and HMS 'Santa Margarita': Cutting the Prize Adrift, 30 July 1782; National Maritime Museum

Spanish career
Santa Margarita was built at Ferrol in 1774. In the Action of 11 November 1779 Captain Alex Graeme of HMS Tartar brought her to battle off Lisbon and captured her. She was taken into Royal Navy service by an Admiralty Order of 16 March 1780; she was then repaired and refitted at Sheerness between February 1780 and June 1781.

British career
American Revolution

Santa Margarita was commissioned in March 1781 under Captain Elliot Salter, who sailed her to North America where she formed part of George Johnstone's squadron in June 1781. On 29 July 1782 she captured the 36-gun Amazone off Cape Henry, but the next day the squadron under Vaudreuil intervened, recapturing Amazone.

Two months later, on 30 September, Santa Margarita captured the American privateer Hendrick.

Santa Margarita was repaired at Bucklers Hard between 1790 and 1793, followed by a period fitting out at Portsmouth.

French Revolutionary Wars
Santa Margarita was recommissioned under Captain Eliab Harvey in 1793, and sailed to the Leeward Islands in December that year. She then formed part of the fleet in the West Indies under John Jervis, and was present at the capture of Martinique in February 1794. By August 1794 she was in Sir John Borlase Warren's squadron, and was present at the destruction of the Volontaire on the Penmarks on 23 August 1794, and the capture of the Espion and the destruction of the Alerte in Audierne Bay on that day.

On 29 March 1795 she was sailing with HMS Cerberus when the two engaged and captured the 18-gun Jean Bart in the English Channel. The Jean Bart was subsequently taken into service as HMS Arab. A few days earlier the squadron to which Cerberus and Santa Margarita belonged shared in the capture of Jean Bart and the recapture of the Caldicot Castle.

In April 1795 Santa Margarita came under the command of Captain Thomas Byam Martin.

At the Action of 8 June 1796 she captured the French Tamise, which had previously been the HMS Thames. Santa Margarita had two killed and three wounded in the action. She went on to capture the 16-gun privateer Buonoparte on 24 October 1796, and the 18-gun privateer Vengeur the following day. Vengeur (or Vengeance) was the former packet King George. Santa Margarita sent both into Cork. Vengeur was armed with 18 guns and had a crew of 110 men. She was nine days out of Brest when Santa Margarita captured her. Vengeur had captured the ship Potomah, which had been sailing from Poole to Newfoundland with a cargo of merchandise; the British recaptured the Potomah.

Captain George Parker assumed command of Santa Margarita in December 1796. On 21 June 1797 she captured the privateer San Francisco (alias Los Amigos) off the Irish coast. San Francisco was pierced for 14 guns and had a crew of 53 men. She was from St Sebastian and had cruised between Scilly and Cape Clear for 20 days without having captured anything. She was apparently quite new and sailed well. Parker observed that with better luck she might have done some mischief.

Parker went on to have further success against privateers. He captured the 16-gun Adour off Cape Clear on 10 July 1797 and the 16-gun Victorine on 8 August in the same area.

Santa Margarita sailed to the Leeward Islands again in March 1798, and at the end of the year captured the 14-gun privateer Quatorze Juillet. She sailed to Jamaica in August 1801, coming under the command of Captain Augustus Leveson-Gower in April 1802, followed by Captain Henry Whitby in 1803.

Combat_de_la_fregate_Amazone_et_du_HMS_Santa_Margarita_juillet_1782.jpg
The capture of the Amazone by HMS Santa Margarita, one of a pair by Robert Dodd

Napoleonic Wars
Santa Margarita was on the Irish station in 1804, followed by a period in the Channel between 1804 and 1807 under Captain Wilson Rathbone.[1] She was re-coppered at Plymouthin 1805 and again in 1806, and laid up in ordinary there between 1812 and 1813.

Fate
She was fitted as a lazarette in April 1814 and moved to Pembroke. She became a quarantine ship at Milford between 1814 and 1825, and was fitted out between 1824 and 1826 to allow her to be sailed to Liverpool. She was probably sold there on 8 September 1836 for the sum of £1,710


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_11_November_1779
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Tartar_(1756)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Santa_Margarita_(1779)
 
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