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

[Uwek]

11 July 1882 - The Bombardment of Alexandria in Egypt by the British Mediterranean Fleet took place on 11–13 July 1882.

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

The ultimatum, which was ignored amid denials of the defensive works by the Egyptian governor, was set to expire at 7:00 am on 11 July.


"Well Done Condor" by Charles Dixon.

The Bombardment
At 7:00 a.m. on 11 July 1882 Admiral Seymour aboard HMS Invincible signaled to HMS Alexandra to commence firing at the Ras El Tin fortifications followed by the general order to attack the enemy's batteries. According to Royle, "[a] steady cannonade was maintained by the attacking and defending forces, and for the next few hours the roar of the guns and the shrieks of passing shot and shell were alone audible." The attack was carried out by the off-shore squadron as it was underway, the ships turning from time to time to keep up the barrage. This was not entirely effective and by 9:40, HMS Sultan, HMS Superb and HMS Alexandra anchored off the Lighthouse Fort and concentrated their now-stationary batteries on Ras El Tin. The fort battery was able to score hits, particularly on Alexandra, but by 12:30, Inflexible had joined the attack and the fort's guns were silenced.


Plan of the Bombardement

Meanwhile, HMS Temeraire had taken on the Mex Forts (with Invincible splitting its broadsides between Ras El Tin and Mex) and was causing damage to Mex when she grounded on a reef. The gunboat HMS Condor(Beresford) went to her assistance and she was refloated and resumed the attack on the Mex fort. While the off-shore squadron was engaging the forts at long-range, HMS Monarch, HMS Penelope and HMS Condor was ordered into close engagements with the forts at Maza El Kanat and Fort Marabout.

HMS Condor seeing that Invincible was within range of the guns at Fort Marabout sailed to within 1,200 feet of the fort and began furiously firing at the fort. When Fort Marabout's guns were disabled, the flagship signaled "Well Done, Condor." The Condor's action allowed the ships to finish off Fort Mex.


HMS Alexandra (1875) at Malta after 1886 when she had been painted white at the request of HRH the Duke of Edinburgh whose flag she wears.

With the Mex Fort's guns silenced, HMS Sultan signaled to Invincible to attack Fort Adda, which she did with the assistance of Temeraire. At 1:30, a lucky shell from HMS Superb blew up the magazine of Fort Adda and those batteries ceased firing. At about this time, the British fleet began to run short of ammunition. However, nearly all of the guns from Fort Adda west were silenced. HMS Superb, Inflexible and Temeraire focused their fire on the remaining eastern forts until at 5:15, the general order to cease fire was issued. The Egyptians, both outmanned and outgunned had used their firepower to good effect, but the outcome of the bombardment had never been in doubt. The Cairo newspaper El Taif erroneously reported that the Egyptian forts had sunk three ships.

The next day, HMS Temeraire reconnoitered the forts and discovered that the Hospital battery had reconstituted its defences. At 10:30 a.m., Temeraire and Inflexible opened fire and the battery raised the flag of truce at 10:48 a.m. Very soon an Egyptian boat set out to the flagship bearing the flag of truce and a cease-fire was ordered. By 2:50 p.m., HMS Bittern signaled that the negotiations had failed and the bombardment was to resume. Still, most of the forts flew white flags and an irregular cannonade by the British fleet began.


One of HMS Temeraire's 11 inch 25-ton disappearing muzzle-loading rifles. HMS Alexandra shelled the forts with similar guns.

By 4:00 p.m. a fire had broken out on shore, and by evening the fire had engulfed the wealthiest quarter of Alexandria, the area predominantly inhabited by Europeans. The fire raged for the next two days before it burned itself out. Admiral Seymour, unsure of the situation in the city didn't land any troops to take control of the city or fight the fire. It was not until 14 July that British marines and sailors landed in Alexandria.


Photo in Alexandria after the bombardment and fire of 11–13 July 1882.

British Ships involved:

Battleships
HMS Alexandra
HMS Superb
HMS Sultan
HMS Temeraire
HMS Inflexible
HMS Monarch
HMS Invincible
HMS Penelope

Torpedo boat
HMS Hecla

Despatch boat
HMS Helicon

Gunvessels
HMS Condor
HMS Bittern
HMS Beacon
HMS Cygnet
HMS Decoy

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

 

[Uwek]

11 July 1915 - The Ending of the Battle of the Rufiji Delta = Sinking of light cruiser SMS Königsberg

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

Background
In 1914 the most powerful German ship in the Indian Ocean was the light cruiser Königsberg. After an engine failure following her sinking of the British protected cruiser HMS Pegasus, Königsberg and her supply ship Somali hid in the delta of the Rufiji River while Königsberg's damaged machinery was transported overland to Dar es Salaam for repair. The British cruiser HMS Chatham discovered Königsberg in the delta towards the end of October. On 5 November, two additional British cruisers, HMS Dartmouth and Weymouth, arrived at the scene, and blockaded the German ship in the delta. In early November, Chatham opened fire at long range and set fire to Somali, but she failed to hit Königsberg, which promptly moved further upstream. The British ships were more powerful than Königsberg, but were unable to navigate the delta. The crew of Königsberg camouflaged their ship so it looked like the forest around the delta.


SMS Königsberg at Dar es Salaam

Blockade
The British made several attempts to sink Königsberg including one to slip a shallow-draught torpedo boat (with escorts) within range, an operation easily repulsed by the force in the delta. A blockship, the Newbridge, was sunk by the British across one of the delta mouths to prevent her escape; however, it was soon realized that Königsberg could still escape through one of the delta's other channels. Dummy mines were laid in some of these alternatives, but they were considered a doubtful deterrent. A civilian pilot named Cutler was hired to bring his Curtiss seaplane for reconnaissance; his plane was shot down, although the presence of the elusive cruiser was verified. A pair of Royal Naval Air Service Sopwith seaplanes were brought up with the intention of scouting and even bombing the ship, but they soon fell apart in the tropical conditions. A trio of Short seaplanes fared a little better, managing to take photographs of the ship before they were grounded by the glue-melting tropical heat and German fire.

Attempts to use the 12 in (300 mm) guns of the old battleship HMS Goliath to sink the cruiser were unsuccessful, once again because the shallow waters prevented the battleship getting within range.

However, by March 1915 Königsberg's food supplies were low, and many crew members had died from malaria and other tropical diseases. Generally cut off from the outside world, the morale of the sailors fell. However, the situation was marginally improved with a scheme to resupply the ship and give her a fighting chance to return home. A captured British merchant ship, Rubens, was renamed Kronborg and given a Danish flag, papers, and a crew of German sailors specially selected for their ability to speak Danish. She was then loaded with coal, field guns, ammunition, fresh water, and supplies. After successfully infiltrating the waters of East Africa, she was intercepted by the alerted HMS Hyacinth, which chased her to Manza Bay. The trapped ship was set on fire by the crew and left. The Germans later salvaged much of her cargo, which was later used in the land campaign, and some transported to Königsberg.


HMS SEVERN in bombarding position in Arab House Creek in the Rufigi River Delta, German East Africa, 3 July 1917. Port wings flooded to get extra elevation for its 6 inch guns. The after 6 inch gun is being loaded to bombard the railway loop trenches.

Sinking
Two shallow-draught monitors, HMS Mersey and Severn, were towed to the Rufiji from Malta by the Red Sea, reaching the delta in June 1915. With non-essential items removed, added armour bolted on, and covered by a full bombardment from the rest of the fleet, they ran the gauntlet. Aided by a squadron of four land aircraft, two Caudronsand two Henry Farmans, based at Mafia Island to spot the fall of shells, they engaged in a long-range duel with Königsberg, which was assisted by shore-based spotters. Although Mersey was hit and the monitors were unable to score on the first day, they returned again on 11 July. Finally, their 6 in (150 mm) guns knocked out Königsberg's armament and then reduced her to a wreck. At around 14:00, Looff ordered her scuttled with a torpedo. After the battle, the British were unquestionably the strongest naval power in the Indian Ocean.


The battered Königsberg after she was scuttled




Battle damage to Königsberg.

Aftermath
The next day, 33 German dead were buried by the 188 remaining crewmen. A plaque reading "Beim Untergang S.M.S. Königsberg am 11.7.15 gefallen..." was placed near the graves, followed by a list of the dead. The Germans recovered Königsberg's ten 105-millimetre (4.1 in) quick-firing guns, mounted them on improvised field carriages, and used them with great success as powerful field guns in their guerrilla campaign against the Allies around East Africa. The guns were used as harbor fortifications in Dar es Salaam, with one being remounted onto the passenger ship Graf von Götzen. The last gun was not knocked out until October 1917. The remaining crew from Königsberg went on to serve as ground troops under General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck.


One of Königsberg's guns emplaced in the delta / Königsberg gun in the field (1916)

Three of Königsberg's 105-mm guns survived; one is on display outside Fort Jesus, Mombasa, Kenya, another outside the Union Building in Pretoria, South Africa and the third at Jinja Barracks in Uganda. There are stories of another in the Congo, but no details have been forthcoming.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Rufiji_Delta
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Königsberg_(1905)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Mersey_(1913)

 

[Uwek]

11 July 1918 - Henry Ford launches the first of the 100 intended Eagle boats.

These boats have a solid cement bow, especially built for ramming and sinking submarines.

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


USS Eagle 56 (PE-56) was a United States Navy World War I-era patrol boat that remained in service through World War II. On 23 April 1945, while towing targets for US Navy bomber exercises off the coast of Maine, Eagle 56 was sunk by the German submarine U-853. Only 13 of the 67 crew survived. The loss was classified as a boiler explosion until 2001 when historical evidence convinced the US Navy to reclassify the sinking as a combat loss due to enemy action



They were originally commissioned USS Eagle Boat No.1 (or 2,3..etc.) but this was changed to PE-1 (or 2,4.. etc.) in 1920. They never officially saw combat in World War I, but some were used during the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. PE-19, 27, 32, 38, 48 and 55–57 survived to be used in World War II.

Attention turned to building steel patrol vessels. In their construction, it was necessary to eliminate the established shipbuilding facilities as possible sources of construction as they were totally engaged in the building of destroyers, larger warships, and merchant shipping. Accordingly, a design was developed by the Bureau of Construction and Repair which was sufficiently simplified to permit speedy construction by less experienced shipyards.


Eagles 35 and 58, Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba, April 1927. Larger ship is likely the USS Argonne.

The first Eagle boat was launched on 11 July. The launching of these 200-foot (61 m) craft was a formidable operation. Not built on ways from which they could slide into the water, the hulls moved slowly from the assembly line on enormous, tractor-drawn flatcars. They were then placed on a 225-foot (69 m) steel trestle alongside the water's edge which could be sunk 20 feet (6.1 m) into the water by hydraulic action. The plan was to fit the Eagles out with all the basic equipment of a warship--turbines, weaponry, wiring, etc.--after launch, but this quickly became a choke point due to the cramped spaces on the boats themselves, and violated Ford's own mass production ethos.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagle-class_patrol_craft
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Eagle_Boat_56_(PE-56)

 

[Uwek]

11 July 1405 – Ming admiral Zheng He sets sail to explore the world for the first time.

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



Zheng He was placed as the admiral in control of the huge fleet and armed forces that undertook these expeditions. Wang Jinghong was appointed his second in command. Preparations were thorough and wide-ranging, including the use of such numerous linguists that a foreign language institute was established at Nanjing. Zheng He's first voyage departed 11 July 1405, from Suzhou and consisted of a fleet of 317 ships holding almost 28,000 crewmen.


Early 17th-century Chinese woodblock print, thought to represent Zheng He's ships.

Zheng He's fleets visited Brunei, Java, Thailand and Southeast Asia, India, the Horn of Africa, and Arabia, dispensing and receiving goods along the way.[58] Zheng He presented gifts of gold, silver, porcelain, and silk; in return, China received such novelties as ostriches, zebras, camels, and ivory from the Swahili. The giraffe he brought back from Malindi was considered to be a qilin and taken as proof of the favor of heaven upon the administration.

While Zheng He's fleet was unprecedented, the routes were not. Zheng He's fleet was following long-established, well-mapped routes of trade between China and the Arabian peninsula employed since at least the Han dynasty. This fact, along with the use of a more than abundant number of crew members that were regular military personnel, leads some to speculate that these expeditions may have been geared at least partially at spreading China's power through expansion.[63] During the Three Kingdoms Period, the king of Wu sent a twenty year long diplomatic mission led by Zhu Ying and Kang Tai along the coast of Asia, which reached as far as the Eastern Roman Empire.[64] After centuries of disruption, the Song dynasty restored large-scale maritime trade from China in the South Pacific and Indian Oceans, reaching as far as the Arabian peninsula and East Africa.[65] When his fleet first arrived in Malacca, there was already a sizable Chinese community. The General Survey of the Ocean Shores (瀛涯勝覽, Yíngyá Shènglǎn) composed by the translator Ma Huan in 1416 gave very detailed accounts of his observations of people's customs and lives in the ports they visited.[66] He referred to the expatriate Chinese as "Tang" people (唐人, Tángrén).


The Kangnido map (1402) predates Zheng's voyages and suggests that he had quite detailed geographical information on much of the Old World.

Zheng He generally sought to attain his goals through diplomacy, and his large army awed most would-be enemies into submission. But a contemporary reported that Zheng He "walked like a tiger" and did not shrink from violence when he considered it necessary to impress foreign peoples with China's military might. He ruthlessly suppressed pirates who had long plagued Chinese and southeast Asian waters. For example, he defeated Chen Zuyi, one of the most feared and respected pirate captains, and returned him back to China for execution. He also waged a land war against the Kingdom of Kotte on Ceylon, and he made displays of military force when local officials threatened his fleet in Arabia and East Africa. From his fourth voyage, he brought envoys from thirty states who traveled to China and paid their respects at the Ming court.

In 1424, the Yongle Emperor died. His successor, the Hongxi Emperor (r. 1424–1425), stopped the voyages during his short reign. Zheng He made one more voyage during the reign of Hongxi's son, the Xuande Emperor (r. 1426–1435) but, after that, the voyages of the Chinese treasure ship fleets were ended.

Sailing charts


One of a set of maps of Zheng He's missions (郑和航海图), also known as the Mao Kun map, 1628

A section of the Wubei Zhi oriented east: India in the upper left, Sri Lanka upper right, and Africa along the bottom.

Zheng He's sailing charts, the Mao Kun map, were published in a book entitled the Wubei Zhi (A Treatise on Armament Technology) written in 1621 and published in 1628 but traced back to Zheng He's and earlier voyages. It was originally a strip map 20.5 cm by 560 cm that could be rolled up, but was divided into 40 pages which vary in scale from 7 miles/inch in the Nanjing area to 215 miles/inch in parts of the African coast.


The ships
Traditional and popular accounts of Zheng He's voyages have described a great fleet of gigantic ships, far larger than any other wooden ships in history.

Chinese records state that Zheng He's fleet sailed as far as East Africa. According to medieval Chinese sources, Zheng He commanded seven expeditions. The 1405 expedition consisted of 27,800 men and a fleet of 62 treasure ships supported by approximately 190 smaller ships.

The fleet included:

• "Chinese treasure ships" (宝船, Bǎo Chuán), used by the commander of the fleet and his deputies (nine-masted, about 127 metres (417 feet) long and 52 metres (171 feet) wide), according to later writers.
• Equine ships (馬船, Mǎ Chuán), carrying horses and tribute goods and repair material for the fleet (eight-masted, about 103 m (338 ft) long and 42 m (138 ft) wide).
• Supply ships (粮船, Liáng Chuán), containing staple for the crew (seven-masted, about 78 m (256 ft) long and 35 m (115 ft) wide).
• Troop transports (兵船, Bīng Chuán), six-masted, about 67 m (220 ft) long and 25 m (82 ft) wide.
• Fuchuan warships (福船, Fú Chuán), five-masted, about 50 m (160 ft) long.
• Patrol boats (坐船, Zuò Chuán), eight-oared, about 37 m (121 ft) long.
• Water tankers (水船, Shuǐ Chuán), with 1 month's supply of fresh water.

Six more expeditions took place, from 1407 to 1433, with fleets of comparable size.



If the accounts can be taken as factual Zheng He's treasure ships were mammoth ships with nine masts, four decks, and were capable of accommodating more than 500 passengers, as well as a massive amount of cargo. Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta both described multi-masted ships carrying 500 to 1,000 passengers in their translated accounts. Niccolò Da Conti, a contemporary of Zheng He, was also an eyewitness of ships in Southeast Asia, claiming to have seen 5 masted junks weighing about 2,000 tons. There are even some sources that claim some of the treasure ships might have been as long as 600 feet. On the ships were navigators, explorers, sailors, doctors, workers, and soldiers along with the translator and diarist Gong Zhen.

The largest ships in the fleet, the Chinese treasure ships described in Chinese chronicles, would have been several times larger than any other wooden ship ever recorded in history, surpassing l'Orient, 65 metres (213.3 ft) long, which was built in the late 18th century. The first ships to attain 126 m (413.4 ft) long were 19th century steamers with iron hulls. Some scholars argue that it is highly unlikely that Zheng He's ship was 450 feet (137.2 m) in length, some estimating that they were 390–408 feet (118.9–124.4 m) long and 160–166 feet (48.8–50.6 m) wide instead while others put them as small as 200–250 feet (61.0–76.2 m) in length, which would make them smaller than the equine, supply, and troop ships in the fleet.

One explanation for the seemingly inefficient size of these colossal ships was that the largest 44 Zhang treasure ships were merely used by the Emperor and imperial bureaucrats to travel along the Yangtze for court business, including reviewing Zheng He's expedition fleet. The Yangtze river, with its calmer waters, may have been navigable by these treasure ships. Zheng He, a court eunuch, would not have had the privilege in rank to command the largest of these ships, seaworthy or not. The main ships of Zheng He's fleet were instead 6 masted 2000-liao ships.

A model from chinese modeler:
The model has won praise from many domestic experts specializing in ancient ships, and they all believe that Wei's model is the only one that possesses the original characteristics among the model ships on display so far.







https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ming_treasure_voyages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zheng_He
http://en.people.cn/200506/21/eng20050621_191504.html

 

[Uwek]

11 July - other naval events


1427 - Sea Battle at Oresund
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seeschlacht_im_Öresund_(1427)

1798 - Reestablishment of US Marine Corps under the Constitution
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Marine_Corps

1798 - Boats of HMS Regulus (44) captured three vessels.

1803 - HMS Racoon (16), Austin Bissell, captured Lodi (10), Cptn. Pierre Taupier, in Leogane Roads between the island of Guanaba and St. Domingo.

1804 - Boats of HMS Narcissus (32), Cptn. Ross Donnelly, HMS Seahorse (38), Cptn. Courtenay Boyle, and HMS Maidstone (32), Cptn. R. H. Moubray, boarded and fired eleven enemy vessels and brought one out at La Vandour in Hieres Bay.

1806 - Boats of HMS Minerve (32), Cptn. George Ralph Collier, captured Spanish privateer Buena Dicha.

1809 - HMS Solebay (32), Commodore Edward Henry Columbine, in moving up a river in Senegal went on shore and was wrecked
HMS Solebay (1785) was a 32-gun fifth rate launched in 1785 and wrecked in 1809. Along with HMS Derwent, they were the first ships in the West Africa Squadron that the British government had established to interdict and end the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade.

1812 - HMS Encounter Brig (14) taken attempting to cut out some vessels at San Lucar, Spain.

1813 - HMS Conflict (12), Cptn. Henry Baker, and consorts under Ad. Sir J. B. Warren, took Portsmouth, Ocracoke Island, Anacondo (18) and Atlas (10).

1914 – Launch of battleship USS Nevada (BB-36)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Nevada_(BB-36)

 

[Uwek]

12 July 1801 - The Second Battle of Algeciras (also known as the Battle of the Gut of Gibraltar)

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


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

Arriving at Algeciras on 9 July, the combined squadron was ready to sail again on 12 July, departing Algeciras to the westwards during the evening. The British squadron under Rear-Admiral Sir James Saumarez, having effected its own hasty repairs, set off in pursuit. Finding that his ships were falling behind, Saumarez instructed his captains to separate and attack the combined squadron as best they were able to. The fastest ship was HMS Superb (a Pompee-class 74-gunner, launched in 1798) under Captain Richard Goodwin Keats, which sailed through the Spanish rearguard as a moonless night fell. Superb fired on the rearmost ships, setting the 112-gun Real Carlos on fire and capturing the Saint Antoine. Unable to determine friend from foe in the darkness, Real Carlos inadvertently engaged the Spanish ship San Hermenegildo, spreading the fire to its compatriot. Both ships subsequently exploded with enormous loss of life.



July 12th 1801, the ships of line Real Carlos and San Hermenegildo explot

HMS Superb sails unnoticed off the Spanish fleet at Algeciras Bay, while the Hermenegildo and Real Carlos explode in the background after mistakenly firing on one other. Drawing by Antoine Léon Morel-Fatio.


Navío Real Carlos de la Armada Española, realizado por Alejo Berlinguero (1750-1810), museo naval de Madrid

A second stage of the battle then developed, as HMS Venerable took the lead of the British line, attacking the rearmost French ship Formidable under Captain Amable Troude. In a furious and protracted engagement, Venerable suffered heavy damage and was driven ashore, allowing the remainder of the French force to return to Cadiz without further fighting.


The Battle of Camperdown, 11 October 1797 by Thomas Whitcombe, painted 1798, showing the British flagship Venerable (flying the Blue Ensign from her stern) engaged with the Dutch flagship Vrijheid.

In the aftermath of the action, Venerable was towed off the shoreline and back to Gibraltar for repairs, while the remainder of the British squadron restored the British blockade of the French and Spanish ships in Cadiz, returning the situation to that in place before the battle. This British victory, coming so soon after Saumarez's defeat in Algeciras harbour, did much to restore parity in the region and the heavy casualties inflicted on the Spanish were to contribute to a weakening of the Franco-Spanish alliance which was a contributory factor in the signing of Treaty of Amiens, which brought the war to a temporary halt early the following year. In France, despite the heavy Spanish losses, the battle was celebrated as a victory, with Troude widely praised and promoted for the defence of his ship.

A detailed information about the battle and the order of battle you can find at wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Algeciras
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Battle_in_the_Algeciras_Campaign
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_ship_Real_Carlos_(1787)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_ship_San_Hermenegildo_(1789)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Formidable_(1795)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Superb_(1798)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Venerable_(1784)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompée-class_ship_of_the_line

 

[Uwek]

12 July 1776 - Third voyage of James Cook begins

James Cook's third and final voyage (12 July 1776 – 4 October 1780) took the route from Plymouth via Cape Town and Tenerife to New Zealand and the Hawaiian Islands, and along the North American coast to the Bering Strait.

Its ostensible purpose was to return Omai, a young man from Raiatea to his homeland, but the Admiralty used this as a cover for their plan to send Cook on a voyage to discover the Northwest Passage. HMS Resolution, to be commanded by Cook, and HMS Discovery, commanded by Charles Clerke, were prepared for the voyage which started from Plymouth in 1776.


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

Omai was returned to his homeland and the ships sailed onwards, discovering the Hawaiian Archipelago, before reaching the Pacific coast of North America. The two charted the west coast of the continent and passed through the Bering Strait when they were stopped by ice from sailing either east or west. The vessels returned to the Pacific and called briefly at the Aleutians before retiring towards Hawaii for the winter.

At Kealakekua Bay, a number of quarrels broke out between the Europeans and Hawaiians culminating in Cook's death in a violent exchange on 14 February 1779. The command of the expedition was assumed by Charles Clerke who tried in vain to find the passage before his own death. Under the command of John Gore the crews returned to a subdued welcome in London in October 1780.

Vessels and provisions


Resolution and Discovery


HMS Resolution

On his last voyage, Cook once again commanded HMS Resolution. Resolution began her career as the 462 ton North Sea collier Marquis of Granby, launched at Whitby in 1770, and purchased by the Royal Navy in 1771 for £4,151 and converted at a cost of £6,565. She was 111 feet (34 m) long and 35 feet (11 m) abeam. She was originally registered as HMS Drake. After she returned to Britain in 1775 she had been paid off but was then recommissioned in February 1776 for Cook's third voyage. The vessel had on board a quantity of livestock sent by George III as gifts for the South Sea Islanders. These included sheep, cattle, goats and pigs as well as the more usual poultry. Cook also requisitioned: "100 kersey jackets, 60 kersey waistcoats, 40 pairs of kersey breeches, 120 linsey waistcoats, 140 linsey drawers, 440 checkt shirts, 100 pair checkt draws, 400 frocks, 700 pairs of trowsers, 500 pairs of stockings, 80 worsted caps, 340 Dutch caps and 800 pairs of shoes."

Captain Charles Clerke commanded HMS Discovery, which was a Whitby-built collier of 299 tons, originally named Diligence when she was built in 1774 by G. & N. Langborn for Mr. William Herbert from whom she was bought by the Admiralty. She was 27 feet (8.2 m) abeam with a hold depth of 11 feet (3.4 m). She cost £2,415 including alterations. Originally a brig, Cook had her changed to a full rigged ship.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_voyage_of_James_Cook
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Discovery_(1774)
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resolution_(Schiff,_1771)
http://libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/maps/websites/pacific/cook3/cook3.html

 

[Uwek]

12 July 1870 - Death of John A. Dahlgren

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


Portrait of Rear Admiral John Adolphus Bernard Dahlgren, officer of the United States Navy

Dahlgren devised a smoothbore howitzer, adaptable for many sizes of craft as well as shore installations. He then introduced a cast-iron muzzle-loading cannon with vastly increased range and accuracy, known as the Dahlgren gun, that became the Navy's standard armament.

In the Civil War, Dahlgren was made Commander of the Washington Navy Yard, where he established the Bureau of Ordnance. In 1863, he took command of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron at the rank of Rear Admiral, and helped William Tecumseh Sherman secure Savannah, Georgia.

Dahlgren gun


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

His most famous contribution was the Dahlgren gun, a cast-iron muzzle loading cannon.

His "shell gun" design was an improvement on the shell-gun invented by the French Admiral Henri-Joseph Paixhans. Dahlgren wrote:

Paixhans had so far satisfied naval men of the power of shell guns as to obtain their admission on shipboard; but by unduly developing the explosive element, he had sacrificed accuracy and range.... The difference between the system of Paixhans and my own was simply that Paixhans guns were strictly shell guns, and were not designed for shot, nor for great penetration or accuracy at long ranges. They were, therefore, auxiliary to, or associates of, the shot-guns. This made a mixed armament, was objectionable as such, and never was adopted to any extent in France... My idea was, to have a gun that should generally throw shells far and accurately, with the capacity to fire solid shot when needed. Also to compose the whole battery entirely of such guns.​

The United States Navy had equipped several ships with 8-inch Paixhans guns of 63 and 55 cwt. in 1845, and later a 10-inch shell gun of 86 cwt. In 1854, the six Merrimack-class steam frigates were equipped with 9-inch Dahlgren shell guns. By 1856, the Dahlgren gun had become the standard armament of the United States Navy.


A 9-inch Dahlgren smoothbore naval gun and crew in the stern pivot position of USS Miami, 1864.

The boat howitzer derived from a requirement realized during the Mexican–American War. During that war, naval landing parties were armed with a variety of army ordnance, often too heavy and cumbersome for use with the landing boats. Dahlgren first experimented with standard army-issue 12-pounder mountain howitzers before devising his own system of guns. The boat howitzers came in four basic types: small, light (or medium), and heavy versions of the 12-pounder and a larger 24-pounder. All conformed to the same basic shape, straight gun tubes with no adorning bands or clefts. Elevation was made via a screw threaded into the knob at the breech. Instead of by traditional trunnions, the guns were attached to the carriage by a loop under the barrel. The Dahlgren system also included mounting carriages that facilitated various employments of the guns. A single-axle metal carriage was designed for shore use. A bed-type carriage was used on small boats, with a rail system to allow the gun to be trained fore, aft and broadside of the boat. A similar mount was offered for shipboard use. The system of boat howitzers was used by the Navy well into the 1890s, with some examples used in ceremonial purposes into the 20th Century.


View on deck of U.S.S. Kearsarge showing aft XI-inch Dahlgren shell gun / IX-inch Dahlgren mounted on a Marsilly carriage / Line engraving of a VIII-inch Dahlgren shell gun on an iron carriage

However, fatefully, one of the "Dahlgrens" exploded on being tested in 1860, causing Navy regulations to require the use of much lower levels of powder until 1864, well into the Civil War. The commander of USS Monitor felt that had his gunner packed the cannons with a full charge, he might have been able to destroy CSS Virginia.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_A._Dahlgren
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahlgren_gun

 

[Uwek]

12 July 1918 - The Imperial Japanese Navy battleship Kawachi blows up at Shunan, western Honshu, Japan, killing at least 621.

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


Kawachi in 1911

The Ship
The Kawachi class was ordered on 22 June 1907 under the 1907 Warship Supplement Program after the Russo-Japanese War as Japan's first dreadnoughts, although their construction was delayed by a severe depression. Their design was based on the Aki with a uniform 12-inch (305 mm) main-gun armament, although cost considerations prevented all the guns from having the same barrel length.


Right elevation and plan of the Kawachi-class battleships from Brassey's Naval Annual 1915

The ship had an overall length of 526 feet (160.3 m), a beam of 84 feet 3 inches (25.7 m), and a normal draft of 27 feet (8.2 m). She displaced 20,823 long tons (21,157 t) at normal load. Her crew ranged from 999 to 1100 officers and enlisted men. Kawachi was fitted with a pair of license-built Curtis steam turbine sets, each set driving one propeller, using steam from 16 Miyabara water-tube boilers. The turbines were rated at a total of 25,000 shaft horsepower (19,000 kW) for a design speed of 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph). She carried enough coal and fuel oil to give her a range of 2,700 nautical miles (5,000 km; 3,100 mi) at a speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph).


imperial Japanese Navy Battleship Kawachi under construction in Yokosuka Navy Yard, 20th of October 1911.

Kawachi's main armament consisted of four 50-caliber 12-inch 41st Year Type guns in two twin-gun turrets, one each fore and aft of the superstructure, and eight 45-caliber 12-inch 41st Year Type guns mounted in four twin-gun turrets, two on each side of the superstructure.[5] Kawachi's secondary armament was ten 45-caliber 6-inch/45 41st Year Type guns, mounted in casemates in the sides of the hull, and eight 40-caliber quick-firing (QF) 4.7-inch 41st Year Type guns. The ship was also equipped with a dozen 40-caliber 3-inch 4th Year Type guns and four others were used as saluting guns. In addition, the battleship was fitted with five submerged 18-inch (457 mm) torpedo tubes, two on each broadside and one in the stern.

The waterline main belt of the ship had a maximum thickness of 12 inches amidships. It tapered to a thickness of 5 inches (127 mm) at the ends of the ship. A 6-inch (152 mm) strake of armor protected the casemates. The barbettes for the main guns were 9–11 inches (229–279 mm) thick. The armor of Kawachi's main gun turrets had a maximum thickness of 11 inches. The deck armor was 1.1 inches (29 mm) thick and the conning tower was protected by 6 to 10 inches of armor.


A postcard of Kawachi at anchor

Fate
Kawachi rejoined the First Squadron after her refit commanded by Captain Yoshimoto Masaki and entered Tokuyama Bay on the evening of 11 July 1918. The following morning torpedo target practice was cancelled due to rough seas and the battleship remained at anchor for the rest of the day. That afternoon a loud explosion was heard at 15:51 in the vicinity of the starboard forward main-gun turret and large quantities of smoke erupted from the turret and between the first and second funnels. Two minutes later, she began to list to starboard and capsized at 15:55, only four minutes after the explosion. Over a thousand men were aboard Kawachi at the time of the explosion and over 600 were killed, with 433 survivors.


Japanese battleship Kawachi main deck

The Imperial Japanese Navy convened a commission to investigate the explosion the day after the incident with Vice Admiral Murakami Kakuichi as chairman. The commission first suspected arson, but no plausible suspect could be found and it reported that the corditein her magazine might have spontaneously ignited due to decomposition. Kawachi's magazines had been inspected in January–February 1918, however, and no problems were discovered, which made that possibility less likely. The commission made recommendations on tighter control of production and handling of cordite that were successfully adopted by the navy. The Japanese Navy considered salvaging Kawachi, but ultimately decided that it would be too expensive and would delay the construction of one battlecruiser by over a year. Stricken from the navy list on 21 September 1918, the wreck was later partially dismantled although most of the hull was abandoned in place to serve as an artificial reef.

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

 

[Uwek]

Other events on 12 July


1756 - HMS Lichfield (50), Cptn. Matthew Barton, and HMS Warwick (60) captured Arc en Ciel (50) off Louisburg

1771 - HMS Endeavour, Lt. James Cook, arrived back in England.

1774 - HMS Adventure (10), Lt. Tobias Furneaux, arrived Britain after first Eastward circumnavigation.

1794 - Horatio Nelson's right eye injured at Calvi.


Print depicting the wounding of Horatio Nelson at the Siege of Calvi, 1794

British efforts then focused on Fort Mozello, subjecting the fort to a heavy fire for a further twelve days, at which point a breach had been blown in the western wall of the badly-damaged fort. During this period French counter-battery fire proved effective and dangerous; Serocold was killed by cannon fire while manning a battery, and Nelson severely injured by flying stone splinters on 12 July, eventually losing the sight in his right eye

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


1796 - HMS Alfred (74), Cptn. T. Drury, captures the French frigate Renommée (44) ), launched 1794 as Républicaine française a Galathée class frigate off St.-Domingo.


Galathée, sister-ship of Républicaine française

Some sources also mention this event happened at 13th June 1796

1804 - HMS Aigle (36), Cptn. George Wolfe, drove Charente (20), John Sanson, and Joie (8), Benjamin Godobert, ashore in the mouth of the Gironde and burnt them.

1929 - The Flugschiff ("flying ship") Dornier Do X, as it was called, was launched for its first test flight on 12 July 1929, with a crew of 14, at the Bodensee in Germany.



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

1943 - Battle of Kolombangara

The Battle of Kolombangara (Japanese: コロンバンガラ島沖海戦) (also known as the Second Battle of Kula Gulf) was a naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the night of 12/13 July 1943, off Kolombangara in the Solomon Islands.




USS St Louis after battle

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

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

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

https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ra_II

 

[Uwek]

13 July 1795 - The Naval Battle of Hyères Islands

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



Pursuit
On 4 July Hotham detached a small squadron led by Captain Horatio Nelson in HMS Agamemnon, with the frigate HMS Meleager and the smaller ships HMS Ariadne, HMS Moselle and HMS Mutine. Nelson's orders were to liaise with Austrian general Joseph Nikolaus De Vins for operations against French Army of Italy positions in Northwestern Italy, as well as patrol off Genoa and then to pass along the French coast to the west.

At 16:00 on 7 July off Cape del Melle, Nelson's force discovered the French fleet. Martin had visited Genoa, where Ferdinand III the Grand Duke of Tuscany had recently signed peace terms with France, and then sent Mercure and Guerrier back to Toulon. On sighting Nelson, Martin recognised the small size of the British force and led his fleet in pursuit, Nelson retreating towards San Fiorenzo with Moselle trailing behind the rest of the squadron. At 07:20 the following morning, Agamemnon began firing signal guns in the hope of alerting Hotham to the presence of the French, and at 09:30 the leading French ships saw the British fleet at anchor. Although the British were unprepared and vulnerable to attack, Martin immediately ordered his fleet to turn away to the west, towards Toulon The winds were blowing from the west and both Martin and Hotham were hampered. The British fleet was in a state of unreadiness, and it was not until 21:00 that Hotham was able to lead 23 ships of the line, including Agamemnon and two allied Neapolitan ships, out of the bay in pursuit of the French, who had used the delay to escape to the north.

For four days Hotham searched for the French against the wind coming from the southwest. Late on 12 July, approximately 24 nautical miles (44 km) east of Île du Levant, the small frigate HMS Cyclops learned from passing vessels that the French had recently passed by to the south. Hotham gave the signal to "prepare for battle" and led his fleet to the southwest in the expectation of meeting the French. During the night a gale from the northwest caused damage to the sails of a number of ships, but at dawn on 13 July the French were seen just 5 nautical miles (9.3 km) to leeward, scattered widely. At 03:45 Hotham gave orders to form his ships up and sailed to larboard in an effort to cut the French off from land. Martin used the time to organise his fleet and by 08:00 the French were sailing in line of battle back towards the Îles d'Hyères.



Catching the rearguard
Recognising that the French might now escape, Hotham gave orders for a general chase, allowing his fastest ships the opportunity to come up with the French to the best of their ability. By noon the French were 0.75 nautical miles ahead of the British to the northeast, with Hotham's fleet scattered across 8 nautical miles of sea. At 12:30 a wind shift from southwest to the north brought the French about so that the broadsides of the last three French ships could bear on the approaching British. The leading British ships, HMS Culloden, HMS Cumberland and HMS Victory all came under fire.
The shift in wind favoured the British, allowing them to gain rapidly on the French. The British ships were soon able to return fire, targeting the slowest French ship, Alcide. Although Culloden was forced back after losing a topmast, Alcide was soon badly damaged and isolated. At 14:00, in danger of being overwhelmed, Captain Leblond Saint-Hylaire struck his colours and surrendered his ship to Cumberland. Captain Bartholomew Rowley did not acknowledge the surrender, passing on to attack the next French ship in line, and the French frigates Alceste and Justice attempted to pass a tow rope to Alcide and drag it away from the British fleet. The ship's boat carrying the rope was sunk by fire from Victory, and the frigates sheered off under heavy fire. An attempt by Aquilon to reach Alcidewas abandoned when it became clear that the surrendered ship was on fire.



By 14:42 more British ships, including Agamemnon, HMS Blenheim, HMS Captain and HMS Defence were now within long range and trading fire with the rearmost French ships Généreux, Berwick, Tyrannicide and Aquilon, with which Cumberland was now heavily engaged. Hotham then suddenly issued flag signals instructing his captains to discontinue the action and return to the flagship HMS Britannia. Hotham was at this point 8 nautical miles (15 km) from the action and unable to see that his ships were poised to attack the main French fleet, concerned that his dispersed ships were vulnerable to the fire from the French fleet and shore batteries. Admiral Mann on Victory had to repeat the order twice before Rowley acknowledged and retired from combat. At this point the battling ships were approximately 12 nautical miles (22 km) southeast of Cape Roux, towards which the French, having gained the weather gage by a shift in wind to the east were now sailing.
Fire had taken hold on the surrendered Alcide in the foretop, probably due to the detonation of a grenade. By 14:15 it had spread out of control, sweeping the ship from end to end. The crew threw themselves into the sea to escape the flames and approximately 300 were collected by boats from the passing British ships, but at least 300 are believed to have been killed when the ship's magazines detonated at 15:45. Captain Leblond Saint-Hylaire was among the dead.

Aftermath
Aside from the heavy loss of life on Alcide, French losses are not reported, although few other French ships were heavily engaged. British losses were mild, with 11 killed and 28 wounded across five ships. Cumberland, the most heavily engaged of the British fleet, suffered no casualties at all. Victory, Cumberland and Culloden had all been damaged in the sails and rigging, but none seriously.

After the explosion of Alcide, the fighting died out, with the French retreating to Toulon and the British retreating to Leghorn, via San-Fiorenzo.

Orders of battle
French Fleet
Admiral Martin's squadron
Orient 120 Vice-admiral Martin
Tonnant 80 Rear-admiral Delmotte
Victoire 80
Généreux 74
Heureux 74
Barra 74
Guerrier 74
Mercure 74
Alcide 74 Captain Leblond Saint-Hylaire - Burnt with the loss of 300 men
Timoléon 74
Duquesne 74
Peuple Souverain 74
Berwick 74
Junon 32
Friponne
Minerve 40
Artémise 32
Alceste
Sérieuse 32
Brune
Badine
Alerte
Hazard
Scout

Admiral Renaudin's squadron
Jemmapes 74 Rear-admiral Jean François Renaudin
Tyrannicide 74
Jupiter 74
Révolution 74
Aquilon 74
Républicain 74
Justice 40
Alceste 36
Embuscade 32
Félicité 32

British-Neapolitan Fleet
Vice-Admiral William Hotham
Britannia 100 Vice-Admiral William Hotham
Victory 100 Rear- Admiral Robert Mann
Princess Royal 98 Vice-Admiral Samuel Goodall
St George 98 Vice-Admiral Sir Hyde Parker
Windsor Castle 98 Vice-Admiral Robert Linzee
Blenheim 90
Gibraltar 80
Captain 74
Fortitude 74
Bombay Castle 74
Saturn 74
Cumberland 74
Terrible 74
Defence 74
Egmont 74
Culloden 74
Bedford 74
Courageux 74
Audacious 74
Agamemnon 64 Commodore Horatio Nelson
Diadem 64
and 9 ships with smaller armament

Neapolitan Ships
Guiscardo 74
Sammbita 74

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Hyères_Islands
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_battle_at_the_Battle_of_the_Hyères_Islands
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Agamemnon_(1781)

 

[Uwek]

13 July 1841 - London Straits Convention concluded (also mentioned often as Dardanelles Convention)

In the London Straits Convention concluded on 13 July 1841 between the Great Powers of Europe at the time—Russia, the United Kingdom, France, Austria and Prussia—the "ancient rule" of the Ottoman Empirewas re-established by closing the Turkish Straits (the Bosporus and Dardanelles), which link the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, from all warships whatsoever, barring those of the Sultan's allies during wartime. It thus benefited British naval power at the expense of Russia as the latter lacked direct access for its navy to the Mediterranean.

The treaty is one in a series dealing with access to the Bosporus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles. It evolved as a reaction to the secret article in the Treaty of Hünkâr İskelesi (Unkiar Skelessi), created in 1833, in which the Ottoman Empire guaranteed exclusive use of the straits to Ottoman and Imperial Russian warships in the case of a general war, allowing no 'foreign vessels of war to enter therein under any pretext whatsoever'. The modern treaty controlling relations is the Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits from 1936, which is still in force.


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

Historical background
The Straits Convention was an agreement between the major powers to strengthen the Ottoman Empire. It evolved from the earlier Treaty of the Dardanelles, signed between Britain and the Ottomans in 1809.

Beginning in 1831, Egypt, under the leadership of Muhammad Ali of Egypt, was revolting against the Ottoman Empire, resulting in the Egyptian–Ottoman War (1831–33). Russian Tsar, Nicholas I, chose to support the Ottomans. In 1833, Russia sent a naval force and troops to support the Ottoman defense of Constantinople. Britain was likewise supporting the Ottoman Empire. Nevertheless, Russia was then the Ottomans' principal ally; the two countries signed the Treaty of Hünkâr İskelesi, which reflected this alliance. The Treaty guaranteed that the Ottomans would close the Straits to foreign warships if and when Russia was under threat, and requested this.

Negotiations
Still, the hostility between the Turks and the Egyptians continued in 1839, resulting in the Egyptian–Ottoman War (1839–41). The Egyptians again threatened the Ottoman positions. Lord Palmerston of Britain called for talks with Russia, Austria, and Prussia in London in 1840. This resulted in the Convention of London (1840). Efforts were made to convince France, which tended to side with Mehmet, to accept a multilateral agreement. This evolved into the Straits Convention of 1841, which included guarantees similar to those of the 1809 Treaty of the Dardanelles, also extending the 1840 Convention of London.

The motivation of Czar (Tsar) Nicholas I to agree to the closing of the straits has been said to be his uneasiness over the Treaty of Hünkâr İskelesi,[citation needed] which he feared might turn the other Great Powers against Russia by creating too close an alliance between him and the Sultan, Abdülmecid I.[citation needed] He also authorised the British Navy to quell the attack on the Ottoman Empire by its former vassal, Muhammad Ali. However, Anglo-Russian tensions over the region remained, leading eventually to the Crimean War.

Outcomes
From the British point of view, this convention helped preserve the European balance of power by preventing Russia's newly powerful navy from dominating the Mediterranean. From the Russian point of view, the treaty encouraged the aggressive policies of Britain in the region, which would lead to the Crimean War. Different interpretations, as well as history of British-Russian relations in the 1840s, suggest that the Straits Convention 'appeared to establish a new era of harmony' between both powers, keeping Russian navy out of the Mediterranean and British out of the Black Sea.

While these arrangements forced Czar (Tsar) Nicholas I to abandon his plans for reducing the Ottoman Empire to complete dependence upon Russia and wresting the control of the Christian countries of the Balkans from the Porte, the Ottoman Empire was not wholly independent after the convention, as it relied on Britain and France for protection


Today the european and the asian side at the Bosporus are connected with 3 bridges and also a tunnel.


Last week I had the chance to visit during a business meeting the newest of the three bridges in the north close to the Black sea



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Straits_Convention
https://www.abebooks.com/9781158305599/1841-Treaties-London-Straits-Convention-1158305591/plp

 

[Uwek]

Other events on 13 July


1745 – Birth of Admiral Sir Robert Calder,

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



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

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Calder
http://www.jotika-ltd.com/Pages/1024768/Nelson_Front.htm

1772 - HMS Resolution, Cmdr. James Cook, and HMS Adventure, Lt. Tobias Furneaux, departed England


Resolution and Adventure with fishing craft in Matavai Bay, painted by William Hodges in 1776, shows the two ships of Commander James Cook's second voyage of exploration in the Pacific at anchor in Tahiti.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Resolution_(1771)

1812 - The frigate, USS Essex, commanded by Capt. David Porter, captures the merchant brig, Lamprey, in the Atlantic.

The first USS Essex of the United States Navy was a 36-gun or 32-gun sailing frigate that participated in the Quasi-War with France, the First Barbary War, and in the War of 1812. The British captured her in 1814 and she then served as HMS Essex until sold at public auction on 6 June 1837.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Essex_(1799)

1854 - The sloop of war, USS Cyane (1837), bombards San Juan del Norte (Greytown), Nicaragua, in retaliation for ill-treatment of U.S. citizens. Marines and Sailors also seize weapons and powder in retribution for an attack on U.S. Consular officials for U.S. refusal to pay reparation.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Cyane_(1837)

1939 - Rear Adm. Richard Byrd is appointed to command the 1939-1941 U.S. Antarctic Service Expedition. Under objectives outlined by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Byrd establishes an east and west base and holds a wide range of scientific observations until international tensions end the expedition in early 1941.

 

[Uwek]

14 July 1780 - HMS Nonsuch (64), Cptn. Sir James Wallace, took French frigate Belle Poule (32) off the mouth of the Loire

Capture
On the evening of 14 July 1780 Captain Sir James Wallace of the 64-gun ship of the line Nonsuch was off the Loire where her boats were burning the French frigate Legere. He observed three vessels to the north west, signalling each other and immediately gave chase. At about midnight Nonsuch caught up with one of the three off Île d'Yeu and commenced a two-hour action. When the French vessel struck she turned out to be Belle Poule. She was armed with thirty-two 12-pounder guns, had a crew of 275 men and was under the command of Chevalier Kergariou-Coatlès. In the engagement Belle Poule lost 25 men killed, including Kergariou, and 50 other officers and men, including her second captain, wounded. Nonsuch had lost three men killed and ten wounded, two of whom died later. The two French vessels that escaped were the frigate Aimable, of thirty-two 8-pounder guns, and the corvette Rossinolle, of twenty 6-pounder guns.

HMS Nonsuch
was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line Intrepide-class of the Royal Navy, launched on 17 December 1774 at Plymouth.
Nonsuch was commissioned in August 1775 as a guardship at Plymouth. She was fitted for the role in December 1776, but sailed for North America on 23 March 1777.

On 7 July 1780 Nonsuch, under the command of Sir James Wallace, captured the brig-rigged cutter Hussard of Saint Malo. Hussard was armed with eighteen 6-pounder guns. The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Echo.

On 14 July Nonsuch captured the 26-gun frigate Belle Poule off the Loire. The Royal Navy took Belle Poule into service under her existing name.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth for Ruby (1776) and Nonsuch (1774), and later for Vigilant (1774), Eagle (1774), and America (1777), all 64-gun Third Rate, two-deckers. Signed by John Williams [Surveyor of the Navy, 1765-1784].


In April 1781, Nonsuch was part of Admiral George Darby's relief fleet during the Great Siege of Gibraltar. On 14 May 1781, on the homeward voyage, while scouting ahead, Nonsuch chased and brought to action the French 74-gun Actif, hoping to detain her until some others of the fleet came up. However, Actif was able to repulse Nonsuch, causing her to suffer 26 men killed and 64 wounded, and continued on to Brest.
Nonsuch fought at the Battle of the Saintes (9 April—12 April 1782).
Late in 1782 Nonsuch and Zebra escorted a fleet from Georgia "with the principal inhabitants, their Negroes, and their Effects" to Jamaica.
Between February and May 1794 Nonsuch was at Chatham, being cut down and fitted as a floating battery. Broken up in 1802.

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


Model by Arthur Molle

Belle Poule was built in Bordeaux between March 1765 and early 1767. She served in two campaigns in the West Indies, where due to her good sailing performance she was selected for the first French attempt at covering her hull with copper to resist marine growths.

From 1772 to 1776, she was sent on hydrographic missions, during which the young La Pérouse came to the attention of his superiors.


Scale 1:48. A plan showing the body plan, stern board outine with decorations and name in a cartouche on the stern counter, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, longitudinal half-breadth for Belle Poule (1780), a captured French Frigate as taken off at Portsmouth Dockyard, prior to fitting as a 36-gun, Fifth Rate Frigate. Signed by George White [Master Shipwright, Portsmouth Dockyard, 1779-1793].

On 12 December 1776, she left India to return to Brest. At the time, France was not yet engaged in the American War of Independence, but there had been numerous incidents involving French and British ships. Indeed, on 27 April 1777, Belle Poule was chased by a British ship of the line, which she easily evaded to reach Brest. In December 1777, Belle Poule was selected to ferry Silas Deane back to America, along with news of the French-American Alliance.

When war broke out, Belle Poule was sent on a reconnaissance mission, along with the 26-gun frigate Licorne, the corvette Hirondelle, and the smaller Coureur, to locate the squadron of Admiral Keppel. They encountered the British squadron, which chased them.

Action of 17 June 1778
Arethusa caught up with the French and a furious battle ensued. Eventually, Arethusa had to break off the fight, having lost her main mast. The British captured the smaller French ships, but the two frigates escaped the numerous ships of the line pursuing them. Belle Poule lost 30 killed and 72 wounded, among which her captain, Lieutenant Jean Isaac Chadeau de la Clocheterie. Arethusa had eight men killed and 36 wounded. The battle was so famous that ladies of the high society invented the hairstyle "Belle Poule", with a ship on the top of the head.


A painting by Auguste-Louis de Rossel de Cercy depicting the fight of Belle Poule and Arethusa

Between September and October 1778, Belle Poule teamed up with French ship Vengeur and captured five privateers. In 1779, Belle Pouleserved as coast guard and convoy escort.

British service
She was commissioned in February 1781 into the British Royal Navy, retaining her name. She served for the next 21 months under Captain Philip Patton with William Bligh as the ship's Master. On 17 April she, with Berwick, captured the privateer Calonne, under the command of Luke Ryan. Calonne was only two years old, a fast sailer, and well equipped for a voyage of three months and a crew of 200 men. She was armed with twenty-two 9-pounder guns, six 4-pounder guns and six 12-pounder carronades.

Belle Poule participated in the 1781 battle of Dogger Bank. 46 Hollandia, one of the Dutch ships-of-the-line, sank after the battle. Belle Poule took away her flag, which was kept flying, and carried it to Admiral Parker.

The Royal Navy put Belle Poule into ordinary at Chatham in November 1782. She then served briefly as a receiving ship from 1796 before the Admiralty sold her for breaking up in 1801.


Planset / Monographie of the La Belle Poule:
Jean Boudriot and Hubert Berti made a wonderful planset of 22 plates of the Belle Poule aviabale from ancre (link at the end)





https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Nonsuch_(1774)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Belle_Poule_(1765)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_17_June_1778
https://ancre.fr/en/monograph/17-la-belle-poule-fregate-1765.html?search_query=belle&results=11

 

[Uwek]

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

The ship
The Djemnah was built in La Ciotat in 1875 for the shipping company Messageries Maritimes.


Djemnan (ship) Side view of ship Djemnan, built 1874, and weighing 3785 tons. It was torpedoed south of Crete on July 14th 1918.

Displacing 5,400 tonnes, the ship was 125 metres long, with a beam of 12.1 metres. Her top speed was 14 knots. The ship could carry 1385 passengers (83 in First Class, 42 in Second, 60 in Third and 1,200 below decks). The ship was used as a line ship to the Far East and to the Southern Indian Ocean.



On 6 July 1918, the ship left from Marseilles for Madagascar, with a crew of 153, 601 passengers and 530 tons of cargo. On 14 July the ship was 69 nautical miles north from the Libyan coast when she was torpedoed at 21.32 by the German submarine UB-105 under command of Wilhelm Marschall. The ship sank in two minutes, taking with her 436 people, including the captain. 110 survivors were picked up by the trawler Presidency and 218 by the British escort HMS Mallow.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Djemnah
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SM_UB-105
https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?137286

 

[Uwek]

15 July 1815 – Napoleonic Wars: Napoleon Bonaparte surrenders aboard HMS Bellerophon.

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


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


Embarquement de Bonaparte a Bord du Bellerophon
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/110182.html#UzizZREGXo7mliBv.99

Napoleon embarked aboard the brig Épervier early in the morning of 15 July, and made his way out to the Bellerophon. As he approached, the 74-gun Superb, flying Vice-Admiral Hotham's flag, was sighted approaching. Concerned that the brig might not reach Bellerophon before the Superb arrived, and that consequently Hotham would take over and receive Napoleon himself, Maitland sent Bellerophon's barge to collect the former Emperor and transfer him to the ship. At some point between 6 and 7 a.m., the barge pulled alongside Bellerophon and General Henri Gatien Bertrand climbed aboard, followed by Napoleon. The marines came to attention, and Napoleon walked to the quarterdeck, took his hat off to Maitland and in French announced "I am come to throw myself on the protection of your Prince and your laws." Maitland bowed in response. With the former emperor in custody aboard a British warship, the Napoleonic Wars were finally over. To maritime historian David Cordingly, this moment was Bellerophon's "crowning glory [when] six weeks after the battle of Waterloo, ... Napoleon, trapped in Rochefort, surrendered to the captain of the ship that had dogged his steps for more than twenty years."

Napoleon on Bellerophon


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

Maitland showed Napoleon the great cabin, which he had placed at his disposal, and gave him a tour of his ship. At 10:30 a.m., Superb anchored in the roadstead and Maitland went to make his report. Hotham approved of his arrangements, and agreed that Napoleon should be transported to England aboard Bellerophon. He came aboard himself to meet the former Emperor, and a grand dinner was held in the great cabin, attended by Napoleon's retinue and British officers. The following day Napoleon visited Hotham on Superb, and after his return, Maitland began the voyage to England in company with HMS Myrmidon. A routine was soon developed, with Napoleon usually taking a walk on deck around 5 p.m., followed by a formal dinner at 6 p.m. The sailors and officers removed their hats and kept their distance when Napoleon came on deck, only talking with him if he invited them to. The routine was broken slightly early in the morning of 23 July, when Napoleon appeared at dawn, as Bellerophon came in sight of Ushant, the last piece of French land visible for the remainder of the journey. He climbed up to the poop deck, attended by a midshipman, and spent the morning watching the coastline slowly recede from view. He was joined by members of his retinue, though he did not speak to any of them.


Scene in Plymouth Sound in August 1815, an 1817 painting by John James Chalon. Bellerophon is at the centre of the picture, surrounded by crowds of people in small boats who have come to see Napoleon.

Bellerophon anchored off Brixham on the morning of 24 July, and there Maitland received orders from Admiral Lord Keith to "prevent every person whatever from coming on board the ship you command, except the officers and men who compose her crew." Despite turning away the shore boats which approached the anchored warship bringing fresh bread and fruit to sell, word eventually leaked out that Napoleon was aboard the ship. The news created a sensation, and large numbers of boats filled with sightseers soon surrounded the ship. Occasionally Napoleon would come out to look at them, but despite entreaties from some people to be allowed on board, Maitland refused to allow any contact between ship and shore. On 26 July Bellerophon received orders to proceed to Plymouth harbour where Lord Keith was anchored aboard his flagship HMS Ville de Paris. Napoleon remained on board Bellerophon and the ship was kept isolated from the throngs of curious sightseers by two guardships, HMS Liffey and HMS Eurotas, anchored close at hand.


Napoleon on the Bellerophon at Plymouth, by Sir Charles Lock Eastlake, 1815. Eastlake was rowed out to the Bellerophon to make sketches, from which he later painted this portrait.

Bellerophon spent two weeks in Plymouth harbour while the authorities came to a decision about what to do with Napoleon. On 31 July they communicated their decision to the former emperor. Napoleon was to be exiled to the remote island of Saint Helena. He would be allowed to take three officers, his surgeon, and twelve servants. Napoleon, who had hoped to be allowed to settle quietly in Britain, was bitterly disappointed by the news. Bellerophon was not to take him into exile. The Admiralty was concerned that the ageing ship was unsuitable for the long voyage to the South Atlantic, and the 74-gun HMS Northumberland was selected for the task. On 4 August, Lord Keith ordered Bellerophon to go to sea and await the arrival of HMS Northumberland. On 7 August Napoleon thanked Maitland and his crew for their kindness and hospitality, and left Bellerophon where he had spent over three weeks without ever landing in England. He boarded Northumberland, which then sailed for Saint Helena.

Captain Maitland's account of the time Napoleon spent on board his ship was published in 1826.


The Ship

HMS Bellerophon was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. Launched in 1786, she served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, mostly on blockades or convoy escort duties. Known to sailors as the "Billy Ruffian", she fought in three fleet actions, the Glorious First of June, the Battle of the Nile and the Battle of Trafalgar, and was the ship aboard which Napoleon finally surrendered, ending 22 years of nearly continuous war with France.



Built at Frindsbury, near Rochester in Kent, Bellerophon was initially laid up in ordinary, briefly being commissioned during the Spanish and Russian Armaments. She entered service with the Channel Fleet on the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars, and took part in the Glorious First of June in 1794, the first of several fleet actions of the wars. Bellerophon narrowly escaped being captured by the French in 1795, when her squadron was nearly overrun by a powerful French fleet, but the bold actions of the squadron's commander, Vice-Admiral Sir William Cornwallis, caused the French to retreat. She played a minor role in efforts to intercept a French invasion force bound for Ireland in 1797, and then joined the Mediterranean Fleet under Sir John Jervis. Detached to reinforce Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson's fleet in 1798, she took part in the decisive defeat of a French fleet at the Battle of the Nile. She then returned to England and went out to the West Indies, where she spent the Peace of Amiens on cruises and convoy escort duty between the Caribbean and North America.



Bellerophon returned to European waters with the resumption of the wars with France, joining a fleet under Vice-Admiral Cuthbert Collingwoodblockading Cadiz. The reinforced fleet, by then commanded by Horatio Nelson, engaged the combined Franco-Spanish fleet when it emerged from port. At the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October Bellerophon fought a bitter engagement against Spanish and French ships, sustaining heavy casualties including the death of her captain, John Cooke. After repairs Bellerophon was employed blockading the enemy fleets in the Channel and the North Sea. She plied the waters of the Baltic Sea in 1809, making attacks on Russian shipping, and by 1810 was off the French coast again, blockading their ports. She went out to North America as a convoy escort between 1813 and 1814, and in 1815 was assigned to blockade the French Atlantic port of Rochefort. In July 1815, defeated at Waterloo and finding escape to America barred by the blockading Bellerophon, Napoleon came aboard "the ship that had dogged his steps for twenty years" (according to maritime historian David Cordingly) to finally surrender to the British. It was Bellerophon's last seagoing service. She was paid off and converted to a prison ship in 1815, and was renamed Captivity in 1824 to free the name for another ship. Moved to Plymouth in 1826, she continued in service until 1834, when the last convicts left. The Admiralty ordered her to be sold in 1836, and she was broken up.

Bellerophon's long and distinguished career has been recorded in literature and folk songs, commemorating the achievements of the "Billy Ruffian"


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Bellerophon_(1786)

 

[Uwek]

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



Breaking through to Vicksburg
During this time, the Federal Navy had attacked Vicksburg with a large force made up of a squadron of ships, under Flag Officer David G. Farragut, that had come up from the Gulf of Mexico and a flotilla of United States Army gunboats and rams, under Flag Officer Charles H. Davis, from upriver.

Soon thereafter, General Earl Van Dorn, commanding the Confederate Army forces at Vicksburg, and as such in control of Arkansas, ordered Captain Brown to bring his ship down to the city. Brown filled out the crew of Arkansas with more than 100 sailors from vessels on the Mississippi, plus about 60 Missouri soldiers. Capt. William Pratt Parks was chosen to command the gun on the larboard side. Brown stated, "The only trouble they ever gave me was to keep them from running Arkansas into the Union fleet before we were ready for battle." He then set sail for Vicksburg and the Union fleet.

Capt. Parks had enlisted in Woodruff's Battery, Arkansas Light Artillery. Transferred east, Parks was elected First Lieut. in Co. H (Hoadley's Arkansas Battery), 1st Tennessee Heavy Artillery Regiment. Co. H. was transferred from Fort Pillow to Vicksburg and became part of new Co. B (composed of Hoadley's (old) Co. H, along with (old) Cos. A and G and part of (old) Co. C. Parks was selected to serve as Capt. of Co. B while serving aboard Arkansas as commander of the larboard gun. Parks would later sink USS Cincinnati while in command of Co. B. as part of the Upper Water Battery defense of Vicksburg.


Arkansas running through the Federal fleet above Vicksburg, Mississippi, on 15 July 1862

After approximately 15 miles (24 km), it was discovered that steam from the boilers had leaked into the forward magazine and rendered the gunpowder wet and useless. Captain Brown and his men found a clearing along the bank of the Yazoo River, landed the wet powder and spread it out on tarpaulins in the sun to dry. With constant stirring and shaking the powder was dry enough to ignite by sundown. Arkansas proceeded on her way.

Shortly after sunrise on 15 July 1862, three Federal vessels were sighted steaming towards Arkansas—the ironclad Carondelet, the wooden gunboat Tyler, and the ram Queen of the West. The Federal vessels turned downriver, and a running battle ensued. Carondelet was quickly disabled with a shot through her steering mechanism, causing her to run aground. Attention was turned to Tyler and the ram, which ran for their fleet with Arkansas pursuing. Soon the Federal fleet came into view around the river bend above Vicksburg, "a forest of masts and smokestacks." Captain Brown determined to steam as close to the enemy vessels as possible in order to prevent his vessel being rammed and to sow confusion. The Federal ships were largely immobile, as they did not have their steam up. They and Arkansasexchanged shots at close range, but she soon passed to safety beyond them. Arkansas arrived at Vicksburg to the sound of enthusiastic cheering from the citizens and within sight of the lower Federal fleet.

That night, Farragut's fleet ran past the batteries at Vicksburg and attempted to destroy Arkansas while doing so. They did not move until so late in the day, however, that they could not see their target. Only one shell hit home, killing two men and wounding three.

Although Arkansas did not destroy any enemy vessels, she inflicted losses among the personnel of the Federal fleets. In the engagement on the Yazoo and her passage of the fleet at Vicksburg, their total loss was 18 killed, 50 wounded, and an additional 10 missing (probably drowned). Farragut's fleet lost another 5 killed and 9 wounded when they ran past the Vicksburg batteries.[8] The cost to Arkansasfor the entire day's action was 12 killed and 18 wounded

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

 

[Uwek]

Other events on 15 July

1747 - George Byng promoted Vice-Admiral of the Blue

1796 - HMS Glatton (56), Cptn. Henry Trollope, engaged French Squadron off Flanders.

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


Scale 1:48. Plan showing the inboard profile plan Glatton (1795), a converted East India Company ship, a 54-gun, Forth Rate, two-decker, as fitted at Chatham Dockyard as a convict transport. The plan shows large gun ports on the upper deck to accomodate an all carronade armament. Signed David Polhill (Master Shipwright, 1801-1803) Annoted on the reverse: "Glatton 54 Guns as fitted at Chatham in 1802 for carrying Convicts to Botany Bay." NMM, Progress Book, volume 5, folio 603, states that 'Glatton' (1795) was an East India Company ship purchased in 1795 as a 56-gun Fourth Rate. She arrived at Chatham Dockyard on 1 April 1802 and was docked on 17 April for the cpper to be removed and recoppered. 'Glatton' was undocked on 20 March and sailed on 18 Augut 1802 having been fitted for short? sea.

Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/83271.html#I3YKkIwxq4h8klma.99

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Glatton_(1795)

1798 - HMS Lion (64), Cptn. Manley Dixon, engaded four Spanish frigates off Cartagena, capturing Santa Dorotea (42)


HMS Lion

Santa Dorotea was built in Ferrol in 1775. In 1798 she was assigned to a small frigate squadron under Commodore Don Felix O'Neil and departed Cartagena in company with the frigates Pomona, Proserpine and Santa Cazilda on 8 July. Santa Dorotea's captain for the expedition was Don Manuel Gerraro. Their attempts to raid shipping in the area were unsuccessful, and while returning to port at 09:00 on 15 July, the 64-gun HMS Lion, under Captain Manley Dixon, spotted them. Dixon approached the squadron, closing on Santa Dorotea, which had begun to fall behind her consorts, having lost a topmast sometime earlier. Realizing that Manley was attempting to cut off and engage Santa Dorotea, O'Neil ordered the front three frigates to turn around and sail to her defence. They passed close to Lion, commencing fire at 11:15. Lion replied, and O'Neil made two further attempts to distract Lion, while Santa Dorotea tried to damage her pursuer with her stern guns. The Spanish broadsides had no real effect, and Dixon was able to come alongside and exchange broadsides with Santa Dorotea.

Lion outgunned Santa Dorotea by nearly two to one and was able rapidly to inflict severe damage on her. Within minutes her mizzenmast had fallen and her mainmast and rudder were severely battered. O'Neil gave up attempting to relieve the beleaguered Santa Dorotea and made for Cartagena at 13:10. Isolated and unable to escape, Gerraro surrendered. Santa Dorotea had been badly damaged with at least 20 men killed and 32 wounded from a crew of 371. Lion had lost just two men wounded in the exchange: a seaman lost a leg and a midshipman was shot in the shoulder. Although Lion{{'""s rigging had been badly torn, there was no structural damage at all. Securing his prize, Dixon spent the next day conducting extensive repairs before sending Santa Dorotea to Earl St Vincent off Cadiz


An engraving of a painting by Thomas Whitcombe depicting the capture of Spanish frigate Santa Dorotea by HMS Lion on 15 July 1798.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Lion_(1777)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Santa_Dorothea_(1798)

1804 - HMS Lily (16), Lt. William Compton (Killed in Action), captured by French privateer Dame Ambert (16) off the Georgia

Lily was off the coast of Georgia in the afternoon of 14 July 1804 when she sighted two vessels. She sailed towards them but by sunset was only able to determine that one was a ship and the other a smaller vessel, possibly the larger vessel's prize. In the morning the larger vessel could be seen towing the smaller. As Lilly approached, the larger vessel dropped her tow and sailed to engage Lilly.

The enemy vessel proceeded to stay by Lilly's stern and to use her long guns at ranges Lilly's carronades could not match. The fire from the enemy vessel killed Compton and so damaged Lilly's rigging that she lost her ability to manoeuvre. Seeing that the enemy vessel was preparing to board, Lieutenant Samuel Fowler, who was now in command, wanted to surrender, but the warrant officers objected. As the two vessels came alongside Lily was finally able to fire a broadside, which the French returned, and French fire killed Fowler. The British repelled several French attempts to board but eventually the French prevailed. Lilly's casualties were Compton and Fowler killed, and 16 men wounded.

The French vessel was Dame Ambert, a privateer of 16 guns. Dame Ambert had been the British packet Marlborough (or Marlboro, Duke of Marlborough, or General Marlborough), prior to her capture.

The French put their British prisoners onto a prize vessel and sent them into Hampton Roads. Once in America, a number of the British seamen deserted.

HMS Lily, a 16-gun brig-sloop. She was formerly the brig Sir Charles Grey, purchased in 1795 and named HMS Spencer. She was renamed Lily (or Lilly) in 1800, captured by the French privateer Dame Ambert in 1804, and renamed Général Ernouf. She exploded and was lost in 1805 during an engagement with HMS Renard.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Spencer_(1795)

1805 - Gunbrigs HMS Plumper, Lt. James Henry Garrety, and HMS Teazer, Lt. George Lewis Kerr, captured by French gun vessels off Granville

 

[Uwek]

16 July 1863 - The Battle of Shimonoseki Straits (Japanese:下関海戦, Shimonoseki Kaisen)

was a naval engagement fought on July 16, 1863, by the United States Navy warship USS Wyoming against the powerful daimyō (feudal lord) Mōri Takachika of the Chōshū clan based in Shimonoseki.

The USS Wyoming under Captain David McDougal, sailed into the strait and single-handedly engaged the US-built but poorly manned Japanese fleet. Engaged for almost two hours before withdrawing, McDougal sank two enemy vessels and severely damaged the other one, and inflicted some forty Japanese casualties. The Wyoming suffered considerable damage with four crew dead and seven wounded.

The battle was a prelude to the larger-scale 1863 and 1864 Shimonoseki Campaign by allied foreign powers. It took place among the troubled events of the Late Tokugawa shogunate from 1854 to 1868, associated with the opening of Japan to the European and American powers.


The USS Wyoming battling in the Shimonoseki Straits against the Choshu steam warships Daniel Webster, the brig Lanrick, and the steamer Lancefield.


Background
In 1863, the Japanese Emperor Kōmei, breaking with centuries of imperial tradition and dissatisfied with Japan's opening to the United States and Europe, began to take an active role in matters of state and issued on March 11 and April 11, 1863, an "Order to expel barbarians" (攘夷実行の勅命). The Shimonoseki-based Chōshū clan, under Lord Mori, followed the order and began to take action to expel all foreigners by the date fixed as a deadline, May 10 on a lunar calendar. Openly defying the shogunate, Mori ordered his forces to fire without warning on all foreign ships traversing Shimonoseki Strait.

The Chōshū clan was equipped with mostly antiquated cannon firing round shot, but also some modern armament, such as five 8-inch Dahlgren guns which had been presented to Japan by the United States and three steam warships of American construction: the barque Daniel Webster of six guns, the brig Kosei of ten guns (originally the Lanrick), and the steamer Koshin of four guns (originally the Lancefield).


screw sloop of war USS Wyoming launched 1859

Attacks on foreign shipping
The first attack occurred on June 25, 1863. The American merchant steamer Pembroke, under Captain Simon Cooper, was riding at anchor outside Shimonoseki Strait when it was intercepted and unexpectedly fired upon by two European-built warships belonging to the Choshu clan. The crew of one enemy vessel taunted the frantic American seamen with the loud and unnerving cry, "Revere the Emperor and drive out the barbarians!" ("尊皇攘夷", pronounced "Sonnō Jōi"). Under incessant cannon fire, Pembroke managed to get under way and escape through the adjacent Bungo Strait, with only slight damage and no casualties. Upon arrival in Shanghai, Cooper filed a report of the attack and dispatched it to the U.S. Consulate in Yokohama, Japan.

The next day, June 26, the French naval dispatch steamer Kienchang was also riding at anchor outside the strait when Japanese artillery, atop the bluffs surrounding Shimonoseki, opened fire on her. Damaged in several places, the French vessel escaped with one wounded sailor.

On July 11, despite warnings from the crew of the Kienchang, with whom they had rendezvoused earlier, the 16-gun Dutch warship Medusa cruised into Shimonoseki Strait. Her skipper, Captain François de Casembroot was convinced that Lord Mori would not fire on his vessel due to the strength of his ship and longstanding relations between the Netherlands and Japan. But Mori opened fire, pounding Medusa with more than thirty shells and killing or wounding nine seamen. De Casembroot returned fire and ran the rebel gauntlet at full speed, fearful of endangering the life of the Dutch Consul General, who was aboard.

Within a short time, the Japanese warlord had fired on vessels of most of the foreign nations with consulates in Japan.

Battle

David McDougal, captain of the USS Wyoming, photographed circa 1864-1871.

Under the sanction by Minister Pruyn, in an apparent swift response to the attack on the Pembroke, Comdr. McDougal called all hands at 4:45 a.m. on July 14, 1863, and Wyoming got under way 15 minutes later for the strait. After a two-day voyage, she arrived off the island of Himeshima on the evening of 15 July and anchored off the south side of that island.

At five o'clock in the following morning, Wyoming weighed anchor and steamed toward the Strait of Shimonoseki. She went to general quarters at nine, loaded her pivot guns with shell, and cleared for action. The warship entered the strait at 10:45 and beat to quarters. Soon, three signal guns boomed from the landward, alerting the batteries and ships of Lord Mori of Wyoming's arrival.

At about 11:15, after being fired upon from the shore batteries, Wyoming hoisted her colors and replied with her 11-inch pivot guns. Momentarily ignoring the batteries, McDougal ordered Wyoming to continue steaming toward a bark, a steamer, and a brig at anchor off the town of Shimonoseki. Meanwhile, four shore batteries took the warship under fire. Wyoming answered the Japanese cannon "as fast as the guns could be brought to bear," while shells from the shore guns passed through her rigging.

USS Wyoming then passed between the brig and the bark on the starboard hand and the steamer on the port, steaming within pistol shot range. One shot from either the bark or brig struck near Wyoming's forward broadside gun, killing two men and wounding four. Elsewhere on the ship, a Marine was struck dead by a piece of shrapnel.


Wyoming sinking the Japanese Lancefield.

Wyoming grounded in uncharted waters shortly after she made one run past the forts. The Japanese steamer, in the meantime, had slipped her cable and headed directly for Wyoming —possibly to attempt a boarding. Wyoming, however, managed to work free of the mud and then unleashed her 11-inch Dahlgrens on the enemy ship, hulling her and damaging her severely. Two well-directed shots exploded her boilers and, as she began to sink, her crew abandoned the ship.

Wyoming then passed the bark and the brig, firing into them steadily and methodically. Some shells were "overs" and landed in the town. As McDougal wrote in his report to Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles on July 23, "the punishment inflicted and in store for him will, I trust, teach him a lesson that will not soon be forgotten."

After having been under fire for a little over an hour, Wyoming returned to Yokohama. She had been hulled 11 times, with considerable damage to her smokestack and rigging. Her casualties had been comparatively light: four men killed and seven wounded—one of whom later died. Significantly, Wyoming had been the first foreign warship to take the offensive to uphold treaty rights in Japan.

The two Japanese steamers sunk by the Wyoming were raised again by Chōshū in 1864 and attached to the harbor of Hagi. The battle did not deter the Choshu clan, and the shore batteries remained intact. The shelling of foreign ships continued. Foreign powers would later combine into a powerful fleet in 1864 in order to conduct the Shimonoseki Campaign, with successful results.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Shimonoseki_Straits
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Wyoming_(1859)

 

[Uwek]

16 July 1797 Action of 16 July 1797 when HMS Anson (44), Cptn. Philip Charles Durham, and HMS Sylph (18), Cptn. John Chambers White, destroyed Calliope (32) off Ushant


At the Action of 16 July 1797, Anson and Sylph drove the French corvette Calliope on shore, where Sylph proceeded to fire on her. When Pomone checked a week later, Calliope was wrecked; her crew were camped on shore trying to salvage what stores they could. Pomone confirmed that the flute Freedom and a brig that had also been driven ashore too were wrecked.


Capture of the Pomona by Anson & Arethusa off Havannah, 23 Aug 1806

The ship - Ship of Line converted to "Super"-frigate

HMS Anson was a ship of the Royal Navy, launched at Plymouth on 4 September 1781. Originally a 64-gun third rate Intrepid-class ship of the line, she fought at the Battle of the Saintes.

The ship proved too weak to stand in the line of battle, so in 1784 she was razéed to produce a frigate of 44 guns (fifth rate). Stronger than the average frigate of the time, the razee frigate Anson subsequently had a successful career during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars, mostly operating against privateers, but also in small actions against enemy frigates.

Anson was lost in a shipwreck on 29 December 1807. Trapped by a lee shore off Loe Bar, Cornwall, she hit the rocks and between 60 and 190 men were killed. The subsequent treatment of the recovered bodies of drowned seamen caused controversy, and led to the Burial of Drowned Persons Act 1808.

Design and construction
The ship was ordered on 24 April 1773 as an Intrepid-class ship of the line of 64 guns. The lead ship of the class, HMS Intrepid, had entered service in 1771 and proved satisfactory in sea trials, so the Royal Navyincreased their order from four to fifteen ships. Anson was part of the expanded order, named after George Anson, 1st Baron Anson, the victorious admiral of the First Battle of Cape Finisterre (1747).

Anson was launched on 4 September 1781 by Georgina, Duchess of Devonshire. She was completed and entered service on 15 October 1781.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with stern quarter decorations, and longitudinal half-breadth proposed (and approved) for 'Anson' (1781), a 64-gun Third Rate, two-decker. Signed by John Williams [Surveyor of the Navy, 1765-1784].
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/81187.html#l9JsSgosyfPkh7bM.99

The Intrepid-class design had been originally approved in 1765, so by the time Anson was launched it was over 15 years old. During that period, the design of ships-of-the-line had evolved, with the standard size and layout now being the seventy-four. Anson was therefore rather small and less solidly built than most of her contemporaries.

Conversion to a frigate
Experience with 64-gun ships throughout the navy, at the Battle of the Saintes and elsewhere, had shown that they were now too poorly armed and weakly built to stand in the line of battle against larger ships-of-the-line. Rather than dispose of the ships entirely, the Royal Navy subjected some ships to a razée – removing the uppermost deck (and its armament) to produce a large frigate. The subsequent razee frigate was more heavily armed and built than a typical purpose-built frigate, though was not as fast and easy to handle in strong winds.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for 'Anson' (1781), a 64-gun Third Rate, two decker, as built at Plymouth Dockyard. The plan also records in pencil the outline for when she was cut down to a 38-gun Fifth Rate Frigate in 1794. Signed by John Henslow [Master Shipwright, Plymouth Dockyard, 1775-1784].


Inboard profile plan (ZAZ2399)
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Anson was chosen for this process and in 1794 the ship was razéed. The original forecastle and quarterdeck were removed, and the former upper deck (now weather or spar-deck) was partially removed and restructured to provide a new forecastle and quarterdeck. The result was a frigate of 44 guns, with a primary gun deck armament of twenty-six 24-pounder cannon (most frigates of the time were too lightly built to handle such heavy guns, so were armed with 18-pounders). The new quarterdeck and forecastle also allowed the armaments stationed there to be substantially strengthened from the original design, including adding carronades. Anson was thus heavily armed for a frigate, and retained the stronger construction (and ability to absorb damage) of a ship-of-the-line.


'Loss of the Anson Frigate, off Cornwall', in an 1808 depiction by William Elmes



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Anson_(1781)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intrepid-class_ship_of_the_line