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

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 January 1943 - The Battle off Zuwarah was a World War II naval battle which took place on the night of 19 January 1943 in Libyan waters between British and Italian forces.


The Battle off Zuwarah was a World War II naval battle which took place on the night of 19 January 1943 in Libyan waters between British and Italian forces. The battle ended with the complete destruction of an Italian flotilla of small minesweepers and auxiliary vessels evacuating Tripoli.


HMS Javelin

Background
The British Royal Naval destroyers HMS Kelvin and HMS Javelin were patrolling the area off Zuwarah, Libya. Part of a task force, their mission was to cut off the escape route of the last Italian ships fleeing from Tripoli, which would be conquered by Allied troops on 23 January 1943. Kelvin and HMS Nubian had forced the Italian torpedo boat Perseo to retire damaged and then sunk the 4,537 ton D'Annunzio, a merchant ship fleeing from Tripoli, on 15 January 1943.

On the night of 19/20 January 1943 Javelin's Type 271 radar detected a number of ships heading directly towards the Tunisian coast, coming from Tripoli. It was the Tripoli minesweeping flotilla, which had been ordered to leave the city and evacuate to Tunisia and then to Italy to avoid capture. The flotilla, under the command of Lieutenant Giuseppe Di Bartolo, was made up of four small minesweeping tugs (RD 31, RD 36, RD 37 and RD 39, of which RD 36 and 37 were crewed with Italian Guardia di Finanzapersonnel); the trawler Scorfano (the largest ship in the convoy); the small tanker Irma; the auxiliary minesweepers DM 12 Guglielmo Marconi (a requisitioned brigantine); R 26 Angelo Musco and R 224 Cinzia (two former fishing vessels); the auxiliary patrol vessel V 66 Astrea (a motor sailing vessel); and the pump boat S. Barbara (towed by the Scorfano).



Battle
Javelin and Kelvin moved to an area of interception and sent star shells into the air, illuminating the lead ships. Realizing this was a group of Italian vessels (mistaken for a convoy), the British opened fire and the battle commenced. The Italians, under heavy fire, were able neither to fight back effectively (the RD minesweepers being armed with a 76 mm gun and two 6,5 mm each, while the other ships were only equipped with machine guns) nor to escape (having lower speed than the destroyers). RD 36, the flagship of the flotilla leader, tried to fight back to help the retreat of the other ships, but was soon sunk with all hands (the ship and her crew were awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valour for the action against overwhelming odds). The other vessels, fleeing towards the coast in the attempt to allow their crews to escape, were pursued, picked up one by one and destroyed. RD 37 and Scorfano were sunk with no survivors; Marconi was set afire but allowed all of her crew to escape before to sink, and the Irma was finished off with a torpedo.

By the morning of 20 January, the flotilla had been completely annihilated. Kelvin had expended 300 rounds of her 4.7 inch guns and Javelin 500 rounds. Javelin and Kelvin quickly retreated to Malta, where they arrived safely the next day. 180 men were killed on the Italian side, while the survivors either swam to the shore or were picked up by Italian vessels the next day.



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

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 January 1996 – The barge North Cape oil spill occurs as an engine fire forces the tugboat Scandia ashore on Moonstone Beach in South Kingstown, Rhode Island.


The North Cape oil spill took place on January 19, 1996, when the tank barge North Cape and the tug Scandia grounded on Moonstone Beach in South Kingstown, Rhode Island after the tug caught fire in its engine room during a winter storm. An estimated 828,000 gallons of home heating oil was spilled. Oil spread throughout a large area of Block Island Sound, including Trustom Pond National Wildlife Refuge, resulting in the closure of a 250-square-mile (650 km2) area of the soundfor fishing.

Hundreds of oiled birds and large numbers of dead lobsters, surf clams, and sea stars were recovered in the weeks following the spill. US federal and Rhode Island state governments undertook considerable work to clean up the spill and restore lost fishery stocks and coastal marine habitat. The North Cape oil spill is considered a significant legal precedent in that it was the first major oil spill in the continental U.S. after the passage of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, resulting from the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska on March 24, 1989.


Tug Scandia and tank barge North Cape January 20, 1996

Environmental impacts
Of the many affected communities, one important habitat was the Trustom Pond National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is nearly 800 acres (320 ha) in area and protects the only undeveloped salt pond in the state and its inhabitants. The oil caused a large number of deaths in wildlife such as birds, lobsters, surf clams and sea stars. More than 2000 birds were killed, one of these species being the piping plover, a federally listed threatened species. The wind and choppy waters of the storm in combination with the oil caused a rapid and foamy dispersion of the oil into the water column. As a result, a large number of shellfish washed ashore in the few days following the spill. Because of the complex interconnected nature of the marine ecosystem, the effects on one species eventually spread to every level of the food chain in that environment. Even small and uncommon species can serve as keystone species for the ecosystem, determining the functionality of the community as a whole.


Tank barge North Cape and its tow tug Scandia grounded along the south shore of Rhode Island USA. Some sheen is visible. January 1996.

Social and economic impacts
Humans were affected by the disturbance in several ways such as temporary loss of the fishing industry and financial strain. Residents and tourists alike depend on the coastal environment for both recreational and economical pursuits. More than 200 square miles (520 km2) of commercial fishery were closed for several months following the spill and some seafood businesses were unable to make up the economic losses from that time out of work. Over a year after the spill, the owners of the tug and barge were given criminal charges because the Oil Pollution act of 1990 had made it illegal to negligently discharge harmful quantities of oil into the United States' navigable waters. The owners paid a total of $9.5 million in criminal and other costs.



Recovery efforts
As a result of the severe weather during the time of the spill, the oil spread quickly to the deeper levels of water, making clean up a more difficult and the skimming method less effective. Several organizations worked together to create a restoration plan following the spill. The primary organizations involved were the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, and the United States Coast Guard. Captain Patrick A. Turlo was the commander on science for the Coast Guard. This was the first oil spill whose damages were to be assessed by the new federal regulations of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, a law designed to compensate the public for losses resulting from an oil spill. Projects included restocking wildlife populations and protecting and enhancing their habitats. The total project cost was $117 million. This incident and other disturbances have illustrated the need to improve both the ecological and social resilience of coastal environments. Many organizations were involved to find a solution to the disaster, and to find a way to clean up all the oil from the deep levels of the bay.


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

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 19 January


1678 - HMS Guernsey engaged an Algerine Corsair.

HMS Guernsey was a 22-gun ship launched as HMS Basing in 1654, and renamed HMS Guernsey in 1660. She was converted to a fireship in 1688 and broken up in 1693.


This may be a portrait of the ‘Guernsey’, fifth-rate, 30 guns. She was built in 1654 as the ‘Basing’. She was renamed in 1660 and condemned in 1693. She is viewed from abaft the starboard beam. On the tafferel is a large cross with a helmet and mantling above it, presumably the arms of Guernsey. Above the quarter gallery is a swan with wings outspread. It is freely drawn, but not as accurately as most drawings by the Younger at this period. The ship is shown too long for the amount of stern showing, and the stern is heeled slightly to port while the fore part of the ship is not.


This might be the same ship as PAG6236 and in spite of the inscription she is not the same ship as PAG6235, which is identified as the ‘Newcastle’ with reasonable certainty; she is a good deal smaller and may well be the ‘Guernsey’. This is an unsigned pencil drawing by the Younger. It is inscribed ‘d Kastel 1676’.

http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-316834;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=G


1788 – The second group of ships of the First Fleet arrive at Botany Bay.

The First Fleet was the 11 ships that departed from Portsmouth, England, on 13 May 1787 to found the penal colony that became the first European settlement in Australia. The Fleet consisted of two Royal Navy vessels, three store ships and six convict transports, carrying between 1,000 and 1,500 convicts, marines, seamen, civil officers and free people (accounts differ on the numbers), and a large quantity of stores. From England, the Fleet sailed southwest to Rio de Janeiro, then east to Cape Town and via the Great Southern Ocean to Botany Bay, arriving over the period of 18 to 20 January 1788, taking 250 to 252 days from departure to final arrival.


The First Fleet entering Port Jackson on 26 January 1788 by Edmund Le Bihan

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


1796 – Dutch Zealand 64 – captured 19 January 1796 by the british, harbour service 1803, sold 1830


1804 - HMS Fearless Gun-boat (12), Lt. Williams, driven on shore and wrecked in Cawsand Bay.

HMS Fearless (1794) was a 12-gun gunvessel launched in 1794 and wrecked in 1804 in Plymouth Sound in the company of a dockyard lighter. Heavy weather forced both vessels to cut from Cawsand Bay and drove them ashore near Redding Point. That only one man was lost was due to the efforts of Cawsands fishermen with lanterns and ropes


1806 – Britain occupies the Dutch Cape Colony after the Battle of Blaauwberg.

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


1808 - HMS Flora (36), Cptn. Loftus Otway Bland, wrecked on the coast of Holland.

HMS Flora (1780) was a 36-gun fifth rate launched in 1780 and wrecked in 1808. Because Flora served in the navy's Egyptian campaign between 8 March 1801 and 2 September, her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal, which the Admiralty issued in 1847 to all surviving claimants


Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with inboard profile, longitudinal half-breadth for Flora (1780). States that it is a copy of an original. From Tyne & Wear Archives Service, Blandford House, Blandford Square, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4JA.

https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_ship&id=7652
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections.html#!csearch;searchTerm=Flora_(1780


1813 - William Jones takes office as the fourth Secretary of the Navy, serving until Dec. 1, 1814.

William Jones (1760 – September 6, 1831) was an American politician.



Jones was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Apprenticed in a shipyard, during the American Revolutionary War, he saw combat in the battles of Trenton and Princeton and later served at sea. In the decades that followed the war, he was a successful merchant in Charleston, South Carolina, and in Philadelphia. He was elected as a Republican to the United States House of Representatives in 1800 and was offered the office of Secretary of the Navy in 1801, but declined and remained in Congress to the end of his term in 1803.

With the War of 1812 raging, Jones became Secretary of the Navy in January 1813. His policies contributed greatly to American success on the Great Lakes and to a strategy of coastal defense and commerce raiding on the high seas. In late 1814, near the end of his term, he made recommendations on the reorganization of the Navy Department. These led to the establishment of the Board of Commissionerssystem which operated from 1815 until 1842.

From May 1813 to February 1814, Jones also served as acting Secretary of the Treasury and in 1816 was appointed President of the Second Bank of the United States. He returned to commercial pursuits in 1819. Jones died in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

The destroyer USS William Jones (DD-308) was named in his honor.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Jones_(statesman)


1839 - Capture of Aden by HMS Volage (28), Cptn. Henry Smith, and troops.

HMS Volage was a Sixth-rate Sailing frigate launched in 1825 for the Royal Navy.



Volage served as the lead ship in the Aden Expedition due to her being the largest and best armed of the ships assembled.
In 1831, Volage was docked in Rio de Janeiro (at the time capital of the Empire of Brazil) alongside HMS Warspite. Volage was the vessel that took Dom Pedro I, who had just abdicated the Brazilian throne, to Portugal, in order to face his brother Dom Miguel in the context of the ongoing Portuguese Civil War of 1828-1834.
Volage fought in the Battle of Chuenpi during the First Opium War under the command of Captain Henry Smith. In 1847 she was converted into a survey ship. Volage was deployed to the Baltic during the Crimean War. At one point geologist Thomas Abel Brimage Spratt served aboard her.
Fate: The Navy scrapped Volage in 1864


Scale 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines, and longitudinal half breadth as proposed and approved for Volage (1825), a 28-gun, Sixth Rate Sloop.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Volage_(1825)
https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_ship&id=7358


1943 - USS Swordfish (SS 193) sinks army cargo ship Myoho Maru, which was part of the Japanese Solomons reinforcement convoy, while USS Greenling (SS 213) damages Japanese cargo ship north of Rabaul.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Swordfish_(SS-193)


1974 - Battle of the Paracel Islands

The Battle of the Paracel Islands was a military engagement between the naval forces of China and South Vietnam in the Paracel Islands on January 19, 1974. The battle was an attempt by the South Vietnamese navy to expel the Chinese navy from the vicinity.
As a result of the battle, the PRC established de facto control over the Paracels.

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

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
20 January 1755 – Birth of Sir Albemarle Bertie, 1st Baronet, English admiral (d. 1824)


Admiral Sir Albemarle Bertie, 1st Baronet, KCB (20 January 1755 – 24 February 1824) was a long-serving and at the time controversial officer of the British Royal Navy who saw extensive service in his career, but also courted controversy with several of his actions.

Bertie won recognition for unsuccessfully defending his ship against superior odds in the American Revolutionary War. He was later criticised however for failing to close with the enemy at the Glorious First of June and later for pulling rank on a subordinate officer just days before the capture of the French island of Mauritius and taking credit for the victory. Despite these controversies, Bertie was rewarded for his service with a baronetcy and the Order of the Bath, retiring in 1813 to his country estate at Donnington, Berkshire.

Years of service 1760s–1812
Rank Admiral
Commands held

• HMS Crocodile
• HMS Nymphe
• HMS Latona
• HMS Thunderer
• HMS Renown
• HMS Windsor
• HMS Malta
• Cape of Good Hope Station

Battles/wars

• American Revolutionary War
  • First Battle of Ushant
  • Loss of HMS Fox
• French Revolutionary Wars
  • Glorious First of June
• Napoleonic Wars
  • Capture of Mauritius

Awards
Baronetcy
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath

American Revolutionary War
Albemarle Bertie was born in 1755, the natural son of Peregrine Bertie, 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, and much of his childhood is undocumented. It is not even clear when he entered the Navy, although he was gazetted lieutenant in December 1777 aged 22, quite a bit older than most of his contemporaries. Within a year of promotion, Bertie had witnessed combat on the repeating frigate Fox at the First Battle of Ushant, a brief and inconclusive action which resulted in a court martial for Admiral Hugh Palliser, a court martial at which Commander Bertie (as he by then was), was called on to give evidence in 1779. The intervening two years had been highly eventful, Bertie spending most of it as a prisoner of war in France after Fox had been taken by the larger French Junon on 11 September 1778.


A painting depicting the 1778 Battle of Ushant.

Following his exchange and appearance as a witness, Bertie spent two years without a ship, due to the shortage of available positions for young officers during the American Revolutionary War. On 21 March 1782, after a change of government, Bertie was reinstated and made captain of the 24-gun frigate Crocodile stationed in the Channel, serving in her until June. He remained on half-pay throughout the 1780s, marrying Emma Heywood of Maristow House in Devon on 1 July 1783, and having four children: Lyndsey James, Catherine Brownlow, Emma and Louisa Frances. His wife Emma predeceased him, dying in March 1805. He briefly commanded the frigate Nymphe between October and December 1787.

French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
In 1790 at the Spanish armament, Bertie gained command of the frigate Latona before progressing to captain of a ship of the line, Edgar in 1792, in which he assisted at the capture of the French privateer Le Général Dumourier, and her prize St. Iago, having on board more than two million dollars, besides valuable cargo worth between two and three hundred thousand pounds. The following year he took command of Thunderer in Lord Howe's Channel Fleet. With Thunderer and Howe, Bertie participated in the Atlantic campaign of May 1794 and the culminating Glorious First of June. Howe omitted Bertie from his dispatches of the battle and Bertie was not awarded a commemorative medal like many of the other captains. His failure to close with the French fleet was later cited against him.

For the next ten years Bertie remained with the Channel Fleet on uneventful blockade duty, serving under Sir John Borlase Warren and commanding Thunderer, Renown, Windsor and Malta on this duty. On 23 April 1804, Bertie was promoted to rear-admiral, climbing the ranks over the next three years until he was senior enough to become admiral in charge of the Cape of Good Hope Station off South Africa, being promoted to vice-admiral on 28 April 1808. He served off South Africa for the next two years, suddenly sailing in late 1810 to take over the operations to invade Mauritius and seize it from the French. Most of the fighting had already been concluded by Admiral William O'Bryen Drury before Bertie's arrival and Drury was furious at Bertie's behaviour, writing several strong letters to the Admiralty in protest.

Bertie returned to Britain in 1811 and endured a brief political storm over his actions at Mauritius, which had been criticised by his fellow senior officer on the island Lord Minto. Angered, Bertie requested court martial to defend his conduct but was firmly refused by the Admiralty, which did not wish for another scandal. A change of government the following year changed the political situation however and Bertie was returned to favour and presented with a baronetcy on 8 December 1812 as reward for the capture of Mauritius, Drury having died in the meantime.

Retirement
Retiring to his country estate at Donnington in Berkshire, Bertie continued to be promoted post-retirement, becoming a full admiral on 4 June 1814. He was also made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on the restructuring of the orders of knighthood, on 2 January 1815. He died in 1824 after ten years' retirement, and his title was inherited by his only son Sir Lyndsey James Bertie, 2nd Bt., then a lieutenant in the 12th Regiment of Dragoons. Although sources do explicitly state that his son succeeded to the Baronetcy, Lieutenant Bertie appears to have died at Waterloo in July 1815, and is not mentioned in the will of Admiral Bertie, drafted in August 1815.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Albemarle_Bertie,_1st_Baronet

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
20 January 1783 – Launch of HMS Gladiator, a 44-gun fifth-rate Roebuck-class ship of the Royal Navy


HMS Gladiator was a 44-gun fifth-rate Roebuck-class ship of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 20 January 1783 by Henry Adams of Bucklers Hard. She spent her entire career on harbour service, never putting to sea. Even so, her crew earned prize money for the seizure of two Russian and five American ships. Her sessile existence made her an excellent venue for courts-martialand a number of notable ones took place aboard her. She was broken up in 1817.


Lines (ZAZ2238)


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with stern board decoration, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for Charon (1778), as built at Harwich in 1778, and later used for Experiment (1784), Gladiator (1783), and Serapis (1782), all 44-gun Fifth Rate, two-deckers. Note that Charon was built with a single row of windows, unlike other ships in the class. Signed by John Williams [Surveyor of the Navy, 176-1784] and Edward Hunt [Surveyor of the Navy, 1778-1784].

Class and type: Roebuck-class ship
Type: 44-gun fifth rate
Tons burthen: 882 tons (exact; bm)
Length:

• 140 ft (42.7 m) (overall)
• 115 ft 1 in (35.1 m) (keel)

Beam: 37 ft 11 1⁄2 in (11.6 m)
Draught:

• 10 ft 10 1⁄2 in (3.3 m) (unladen)
• 14 ft 8 in (4.5 m) (laden)

Depth of hold: 16 ft 5 in (5.0 m)
Sail plan: Full-rigged ship
Armament:

• Lower deck:20 x 18-pounder guns
• Upper deck:22 x 12-pounder guns
• FC:2 x 6-pounder guns

Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with stern board outline, sheer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth for Gladiator (1783), a 44-gun Fifth Rate, two-decker, as built at Bucklers Hard by Mr Adams. Note that she had a single line of stern gallery windows.

Career
Gladiator was commissioned in December 1792 under Lieutenant Samuel Hayter as a convalescent ship. Then, still under Hayter, she was recommissioned in February 1794 as a guardship. In December 1795 she was under the command of Lieutenant Stephen Parker, followed by Lieutenant Emanuel Hungerford from September 1799. She was Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Bickerton's flagship from February 1800 to May. Lieutenant Joseph Bromwich then took command of Gladiator, being succeeded in September by Lieutenant John Connolly. From December 1801 she was again a convalescent ship and the flagship for Rear-Admiral Sir John Holloway until to April 1802 when she was paid off.

Gladiator was recommissioned in April 1803 under Lieutenant Thomas Harrison. From May she was again Holloway's flagship until June 1804 when she became Rear-Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin's flagship. In February 1807 she came under the command of Lieutenant John Price as a convalescent ship.

On 26 October 1806, Tsar Alexander I of Russia declared war on Great Britain. The official news did not arrive there until 2 December, at which time the British declared an embargo on all Russian vessels in British ports. Gladiator was one of some 70 vessels that shared in the seizure of the 44-gun Russian frigate Speshnoy (Speshnyy), then in Portsmouth harbour. The British seized the Russian storeship Wilhelmina (Vilghemina) at the same time. The Russian vessels were carrying the payroll for Vice-Admiral Dmitry Senyavin’s squadron in the Mediterranean.

In 1811 Gladiator was under the command of Lieutenant Thomas Dutton and served as flagship for Rear-Admiral William Hargood. Lieutenant-Commander Charles Hewitt took command in July 1812, and Gladiator successively bore the flags of Rear Admirals Hargood, Edward Foote and Peter Halkett.

When news of the outbreak of the War of 1812 reached Britain, the Royal Navy seized all American vessels then in British ports. Gladiator was among the Royal Navy vessels then lying at Spithead or Portsmouth and so entitled to share in the grant for the American ships Belleville, Janus, Aeos, Ganges and Leonidas seized there on 31 July 1812.


Replica of HMS Gladiator's figurehead at Buckler's

Courts-martial
Because Gladiator spent her entire career in port, she provided a convenient venue for courts-martial. In 1800 alone she was the venue for over 30. In that year alcohol was causative in many cases, but not all.

On 3 July a court-martial tried John Duncan, seaman on HMS Hermione, for having murdered officers of that ship, or aiding and abetting thereof in September 1797, and then conveying the ship to the enemy at La Guaira. The charges were proven so the court directed that Duncan be hanged.

The court-martial ordered one man hanged for desertion, which was an unusually harsh verdict. However, the man had deserted three times, after having enlisted three times (under different names) and taken the bounty money. Also, there had been a large number of desertions at Portsmouth and the court's intent was to send a message.

On 10 December a court-martial tried John Hubbard and George Hynes, seamen from HMS St George, for an unnatural crime. The court found them guilty and sentenced them to death.

At least three courts-martial involved charges against Admirals. The first occurred between 23 and 26 December 1805, after the Battle of Cape Finisterre (1805). Admiral Robert Calder requested a court-martial to review his decision not to pursue the enemy fleet after the engagement. The court ruled that Calder's failure to pursue was an error of judgement, not a manifestation of cowardice or disaffection, and severely reprimanded him.

The second occurred between 6 and 11 March 1807. The accused was Sir Home Popham and the charge was that he had conducted an unapproved (and notably quixotic and unsuccessful) expedition to Buenos Ayres, leaving his duty station, the Cape of Good Hope, undefended. The charge was found proven and the court reprimanded Sir Home.

The third was the court-martial of Admiral Lord Gambier for his conduct of the Battle of the Basque Roads. Admiral Sir Eliab Harvey, who had commanded "The Fighting Temeraire" at the Battle of Trafalgar, believed that Gambier had missed an opportunity to inflict further damage upon the French fleet. He told Gambier "I never saw a man so unfit for the command of a fleet as Your Lordship." Thomas Cochrane threatened to use his parliamentary vote against Gambier for not committing the fleet to action. Gambier called for a court-martial to examine his conduct. The court, on 26 July 1809 exonerated Gambier. Consequently, neither Harvey nor Cochrane were appointed by the Admiralty to command for the duration of the war.

Another notable court-martial took place on 5–6 February 1810. The court-martial assembled to try Captain Warwick Lake for having marooned a sailor named Robert Jeffery of Recruiton the desert island of Sombrero. Some months after Lake had abandoned the sailor, Lake's commanding officer, Sir Alexander Cochrane, had discovered what had happened and immediately ordered Lake to retrieve Jeffery. When Recruit arrived at Sombrero, Jeffery could not be found. (An American ship had picked up Jeffery and he was eventually discovered some three years later in Massachusetts. He returned to Britain where Lake provided compensation in lieu of a suit.) The subsequent court-martial ordered that Lake be dismissed from the service.

On 23 April 1813, Gladiator was the venue for the court-martial of the officers and men of Java for the loss of their ship in the action with the Constitution on 29 December 1812. The court honourably acquitted Lieutenant Henry Ducie Chads and the other surviving officers and men of Java.

What was probably one of the last courts-martial held on Gladiator occurred between 18 and 21 August 1815. The subject was the conduct of Captain Daniel Pring, of Linnet, and the officers and men of the squadron at the Battle of Plattsburgh on Lake Champlain. The court honourably acquitted Captain Pring and the others.

Fate
Gladiator was paid off on 5 October 1815. She was broken up in August 1817.



Argo as flagship at Gibraltar in 1799

The Roebuck-class ship was a class of twenty 44-gun sailing two-decker warships of the Royal Navy. The class carried two complete decks of guns, a lower battery of 18-pounders and an upper battery of 9-pounders. This battery enabled the vessel to deliver a broadside of 285 pounds. Most were constructed for service during the American Revolutionary War but continued to serve thereafter. By 1793 five were still on the active list. Ten were hospital ships, troopships or storeships. As troopships or storeships they had the guns on their lower deck removed. Many of the vessels in the class survived to take part in the Napoleonic Wars. In all, maritime incidents claimed five ships in the class and war claimed three.

Classification
The Royal Navy classed the Roebuck class as fifth rates like frigates but did not classify them as frigates. Although sea officers sometimes casually described them and other small two-deckers as frigates, the Admiralty officially never referred to them as frigates. By 1750, the Admiralty strictly defined frigates as ships of 28 guns or more, carrying all their main battery (24, 26 or even 28 guns) on the upper deck, with no guns or openings on the lower deck (which could thus be at sea level or even lower). A frigate might carry a few smaller guns - 3-pounders or 6-pounders, later 9-pounders - on their quarterdeck and (perhaps) on the forecastle. The Roebuck-class ships were two-deckers with complete batteries on both decks, and hence not frigates.

Design and construction
The Admiralty assigned the contract for Roebuck to Chatham Dockyard on 30 November 1769. Some seven years after the design was first produced, the Admiralty re-used it for a second batch of nineteen ships. The Admiralty ordered them to meet the particular requirements of the American War of Independence for vessels suitable for coastal warfare in the shallow seas off North America (where deeper two-deckers could not sail). The first five vessels of the class, and the later Guardian, had two rows of stern lights (windows), like larger two-deckers though actually there was just the single level of cabin behind. Most, if not all, of the other ships of the class - from Dolphin onwards - had a 'single level' frigate-type stern.


Battle between Continental Ship Bonhomme Richard and HMS Serapis, 23 September 1779, by Thomas Mitchell, 1780, US Naval Academy Museum

Roebuck class 1774-83 (Thomas Slade)

• HMS Roebuck 1774 - hospital ship 1790, troopship 1799, floating battery 1803, broken up 1811
• HMS Romulus 1777 - taken by France 1781
• HMS Actaeon 1778 - hulked 1793
• HMS Janus 1778 - troopship 1789, wrecked 1800
• HMS Charon (I) 1778 - sunk 1781
• HMS Dolphin 1781 - hospital ship 1781, troopship 1800, storeship 1804, broken up 1817
• HMS Ulysses 1779 - sold 1816
• HMS Serapis (I) 1779 - taken by John Paul Jones' Bonhomme Richard 1779
• HMS Endymion 1779 - lost 1790
• HMS Assurance 1780 - troopship 1791, transport 1796, hulked 1799
• HMS Argo 1781 - troopship 1791, sold 1816
• HMS Diomede 1781 - lost 1795
• HMS Guardian 1784 - sold 1791
• HMS Mediator 1782 - storeship and renamed Camel 1788, broken up 1810
• HMS Regulus 1785 - troopship 1800, broken up 1816
• HMS Resistance 1782 - blown up 1798
• HMS Serapis (II) 1782 - storeship 1798, broken up 1819
• HMS Gladiator 1783 - hulked 1807
• HMS Experiment 1784 - troopship, 1793, hulked 1805
• HMS Charon (II) 1783 - hospital ship 1794, troopship 1800, broken up 1805

Inboard profile plan (ZAZ5372)



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Gladiator_(1783)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roebuck-class_ship
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-315398;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=G
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-347496;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=S

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
20 January 1786 – Launch of Spanish Mexicano (or Mejicano), a 112-gun three-decker ship of the line built at Havanna for the Spanish Navy in 1786


Mexicano (or Mejicano) was a 112-gun three-decker ship of the line built at Havanna for the Spanish Navy in 1786 to plans by Romero Landa. One of the eight very large ships of the line of the Santa Ana class, also known as los Meregildos. Mexicano served in the Spanish Navy for three decades throughout the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, finally being sold at Ferrol in 1815. Although she was a formidable part of the Spanish battlefleet throughout these conflicts, the only major action Mexicano participated in was the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1797.


Graduated Bar Scale. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth for an unnamed Spanish 112-gun three-decker. Spain built a number of 112-gun warships of which five were built at Ferrol, where Julian Martin de Retamosa was the shipbuilder. These included the 'Purisma Concepcion', 'San Jose' (1783), 'Santa Ana', 'Salvador del Mundo' (1787), and 'Reina Luisa'. It is possible that this plan was never approved or used to construct a 112-gun three-decker. Signed by Julian Martin de Retamosa [Shipbuilder and designer, and Lieutenant General of the Spanish Royal Navy].

Class and type: Santa Ana-class ship of the line
Tonnage: 2,112 tonnes
Length: 56.14 m
Beam: 15.5 m
Draught: 7.37 m
Sail plan: Full rigged ship
Armament:

• On launch:
• 30 × 36-pounder cannon
• 32 × 24-pounder cannon
• 32 × 12-pounder cannon
• 18 × 8-pounder cannon

19th-century engraving of the Santa Ana (sistership)

Construction
The Santa Ana class was built for the Spanish fleet in the 1780s and 1790s as heavy ships of the line, the equivalent of Royal Navyfirst rate ships. The other ships of the class were the Santa Ana, Conde de Regla, Salvador del Mundo, Real Carlos, San Hermenegildo, Reina María Luisa and Príncipe de Asturias. Three of the class were captured or destroyed during the French Revolutionary Wars. Mexicano was constructed at Havanna, built over eleven months in 1785 at a cost of 328,000 pesos, most of which was supplied by the Cabildo of New Spain, known as Mexico and from where the ship took its name.

History
The maiden voyage of Mexicano was made from Havanna to Ferrol with a light armament of 80 guns under Captain Miguel Felix Goycoechea, who reported that the ship sailed smoothly and with endurance.

In 1797, Mexicano was with the Spanish fleet which fought the British at the Battle of Cape St Vincent. The Spanish fleet was defeated and four ships were lost, although Mexicano survived the battle with losses of 25 killed, including Captain Francisco de Herrara and 46 seriously wounded. Between 1799 and 1801, Mexicano was with the combined French and Spanish fleet stationed at Brest after participating in the Croisière de Bruix campaign. By the end of the Napoleonic Wars Mexicano was laid up at Ferrol, her hull in a bad condition, and at the end of the war the ship was sold out of service and broken up.



Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sternboard outline, sheer lines with some inboard and figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for Salvador del Mundo (captured 1797), a captured Spanish First Rate. The plan illustrate the ship as taken off at Plymouth Dockyard when a 112-gun First Rate, three-decker. Signed by Joseph Tucker [Master Shipwright, Plymouth Dockyard, 1802-1813].

The Period of Spanish Consolidation - 1782 to 1807

• Santa Ana class (also called los Meregildos)
  • Santa Ana 112 (launched 29 September 1784 at Ferrol) - Stricken 1812[7]
  • Mejicano (San Hipólito) 112 (launched 20 January 1786 at Havana) - Stricken 8 October 1813 and sold 1815
  • Conde de Regla 112 (launched 4 November 1786 at Havana) - Strricken 14 July 1810 and BU 1811
  • Salvador del Mundo 112 (launched 2 May 1787 at Ferrol) - Captured by Britain at the Battle of Cape St Vincent, 14 February 1797, retaining same name, BU 1815
  • Real Carlos 112 (launched 4 November 1787 at Havana) - Blew up in action, 12 July 1801
  • San Hermenegildo 112 (launched 20 January 1789 at Havana) - Blew up in action, 12 July 1801
  • Reina Luisa 112 (launched 12 September 1791 at Ferrol) - Renamed Fernando VII 1809, wrecked 9 December 1815
  • Príncipe de Asturias 112 (launched 28 January 1794 at Havana) - Stricken 1812,[8] BU 1814

sistership Real Carlos, Alejo Berlinguero, Museo Naval de Madrid.


This painting is one of a pair with BHC0486, showing the Battle of St Vincent, 14 February 1797. The pair clearly relate to a pair of watercolours exhibited at the RA in 1798 and now in a private collection. The end of the year 1796 found the British forced to abandon the Mediterranean, since Admiral Sir John Jervis's Mediterranean fleet was outnumbered in ships of the line by 38 to 13. Early in 1797, however, the French and Spanish fleets were separated without having followed up their advantage. On 1 February Admiral Don José de Cordova left Cartagena for Cadiz with 27 of the line. Jervis, whose fleet had been reduced to ten of the line determined to intercept him but before that happened he was reinforced by Rear-Admiral William Parker with five of the line. In the event, the performance of the British ships more than made up for the disparity in numbers and four of the Spaniards, including two first-rates, were taken. The painting shows the commencement of the action, at the point when the 'Victory', 100 guns, raked the 'Salvador del Mundo', 112 guns, causing her to strike her flag. The 'Salvador del Mundo' is shown in the right foreground, in starboard-bow view, her stern swathed in the smoke of the 'Victory's' broadside, from which protrudes the port bow of that ship. In the left background a group of ships, in starboard-quarter view, bear down upon the enemy, while in the right background another group is in action. The painting is signed and dated 1798. The artist was the son of John Clevely the Elder and the twin brother of John Clevely the Younger. Both brothers became painters having worked in Deptford Royal Dockyard. He was appointed Draughtsman to Prince William fourth Duke of Clarence (later William IV) and then became Marine Painter to George, the Prince Regent (later George IV). He specialized in battle scenes such as this and exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1780 to 1803. The Museum holds more than thirty of his drawings.


To the Rt Honble John Jervis... This Representation of the Sea Fight off Cape St Vincent on the 14 of Feb 1797... Represents the Victory bearing up on in order to rake the Salvador del Mundo... (PAI5360)


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_ship_Mexicano_(1786)
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections.html#!csearch;searchTerm=Salvador_del_Mundo

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
20 January 1789 – Launch of Spanish San Hermenegildo, a 112-gun three-decker ship of the line built at Havanna for the Spanish Navy


San Hermenegildo was a 112-gun three-decker ship of the line built at Havanna for the Spanish Navy in 1789 to plans by Romero Landa, one of the eight very large ships of the line of the Santa Ana class, also known as los Meregildos. San Hermenegildo served in the Spanish Navy during the French Revolutionary Wars and was destroyed with heavy loss of life during the Second Battle of Algeciras.


Navío San Hermenegildo". Pintura del Museo Naval de Madrid.

Construction
The Santa Ana class was built for the Spanish fleet in the 1780s and 1790s as heavy ships of the line, the equivalent of Royal Navyfirst rate ships. The other ships of the class were the Santa Ana, Mexicano, Salvador del Mundo, Conde de Regla, Real Carlos, Reina María Luisa and Príncipe de Asturias. Three of the class were captured or destroyed during the French Revolutionary Wars.


Plano de un navío de 112 cañones diseñado por José Romero y Fernández de Landa



History
In 1793, during the War of the Pyrenees, San Hermenegildo was the flagship of the squadron under Federico Gravina in the Mediterranean operating off Catalonia. The squadron subsequently participated in the evacuation of Toulon during the last stage of the siege, alongside the British fleet under Vice-Admiral Samuel Hood.

In 1800 San Hermenegildo was refitted at Ferrol, repairing a number of faults that had existed since her construction and increasing the weight of cannon that the ship could carry. Later in the year San Hermenegildo participated in repelling the British Ferrol Expedition.


To Sir James Saumarez.. This Plate representing the Capture of the St Antonie of 74 Guns under French Colours & the Blowing up of the Real Carlos & San Hermenegildo, Spanish... is... Dedicated by... Edwd Harding (PAH7998)

By July 1801, San Hermenegildo was at Cádiz. When a French squadron defeated a British force at the First Battle of Algeciras on 6 July, San Hermenegildo joined the squadron sent to escort the French from Algeciras back to Cádiz. During the night of 12 July the combined force was returning through the Straits of Gibraltar when a British squadron attacked them at the Second Battle of Algeciras. During the confused night action which followed, HMS Superb cut through the rearguard and between Real Carlos and San Hermenegildo. The Spanish ships opened fire, striking one another, as a fire spread across Real Carlos's decks. In the darkness the two huge Spanish ships collided, fire spreading out of control until both exploded in a fireball that could be seen from shore. More than 1,700 men were killed in blast, one of the greatest losses of life at sea to that time.


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


Santa Ana class (also called los Meregildos)

• Santa Ana 112 (launched 29 September 1784 at Ferrol) - Stricken 1812[7]
• Mejicano (San Hipólito) 112 (launched 20 January 1786 at Havana) - Stricken 8 October 1813 and sold 1815
• Conde de Regla 112 (launched 4 November 1786 at Havana) - Strricken 14 July 1810 and BU 1811
• Salvador del Mundo 112 (launched 2 May 1787 at Ferrol) - Captured by Britain at the Battle of Cape St Vincent, 14 February 1797, retaining same name, BU 1815
• Real Carlos 112 (launched 4 November 1787 at Havana) - Blew up in action, 12 July 1801
• San Hermenegildo 112 (launched 20 January 1789 at Havana) - Blew up in action, 12 July 1801
• Reina Luisa 112 (launched 12 September 1791 at Ferrol) - Renamed Fernando VII 1809, wrecked 9 December 1815
• Príncipe de Asturias 112 (launched 28 January 1794 at Havana) - Stricken 1812,[8] BU 1814

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_ship_San_Hermenegildo_(1789)
https://www.todoababor.es/articulos/des-1801.htm

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
20 January 1801 - HMS Mercury (28), Cptn. T. Rogers, captured french Sans Pareille (20), Lt. Gabriel Renault, off Sardinia.


Sans Pareille was a privateer that the French Navy purchased off the stocks in 1797 or 1798, and that was launched in 1798. The Royal Navy captured her in 1801 off Sardinia, but laid her up when she reached Britain in 1802. She was sold in 1805.

Displacement: 480 tons (French)
Tons burthen: 335 67⁄94 (bm), or 280 (French; "of load")
Length:

• 97 ft 5 in (29.7 m) (overall)
• 77 ft 3 in (23.5 m) (keel)

Beam: 28 ft 7 in (8.7 m)
Depth of hold: 8 ft 2 in (2.5 m)
Complement:

• French service:148, but 15 at capture
• British service:100

Armament:

• French service: 18 x brass 9-pounder guns + 2 x 36-pounder obussiers (at capture)
• British service: 18 x 24-pounder carronades

Capture
On 20 January 1801, HMS Mercury was some 40 leagues off Sardinia when she captured Sans Pareille after a chase of nine hours. She was a French navy corvette under the command of Citoyen Gabriel Renault, lieutenant de vaisseau. She carried 18 long brass 9-pounders and two howitzers. The reason she did not resist was that she had a crew of only 15 men. She had sailed from Toulon the day before and was carrying a cargo of shot, arms, medicines, and all manner of other supplies for the French army at Alexandria, Egypt. The Admiralty took Sans Pareille into service as HMS Delight.

HMS Delight
It is not clear when the Royal Navy commissioned Delight. Commander the Honourable Frederick Aylmer was formally appointed to command Delight on 13 July 1802.

On 11 September Delight arrived at the Motherbank and promptly went into quarantine. She had made the transit from Gibraltar in 15 days. Five days later she sailed eastward to be paid off.

Fate
Delight arrived at Plymouth on 19 September where she was paid-off and laid-up. The Principal Officers and Commissioners of the Navy first offered the "Hull of His Majesty's Sloop Delight", at Plymouth for sale on 20 March 1805.[6] Delight sold there in April.



HMS Mercury was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was built during the American War of Independence and serving during the later years of that conflict. She continued to serve during the years of peace and had an active career during the French Revolutionary Wars and most of the Napoleonic Wars, until being broken up in 1814.


HMS Mercury cutting out a French gunboat from Rovigno, 1 April 1809

Class and type: 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate
Tons burthen: 605 12⁄94 (bm)
Length:

• 120 ft 9 3⁄4 in (36.8 m) (overall)
• 99 ft 10.5 in (30.4 m) (keel)

Beam: 33 ft 9 in (10.3 m)
Depth of hold: 11 ft 0 1⁄2 in (3.4 m)
Sail plan: Full-rigged ship
Complement: 200
Armament:

• Upper deck: 24 × 9-pounder guns
• QD: 4 x 6-pounder guns + 4 x 18-pounder carronades
• Fc: 2 x 18-pounder carronades
• 12 × swivel guns

Scale 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines and longitudinal half breadth for Pomona (1778), then Pegasus (1779), then Mercury (1779), and wih pencil alterations for Hussar (1784), Rose (1783), Dido (1784), Thisbe (1783), Alligator (1787), Circe (1783), Lapwing (1785), all 28-gun, Sixth Rate Frigates. Signed by John Williams [Surveyor of the Navy, 171765-1784]. The top ship is not 'Laurel' as listed in the annotation on the right, as this plan predates her ordering by over one year.

Construction and commissioning
Mercury was ordered from Peter Mestaer, at the King and Queen Shipyard, Rotherhithe on the River Thames on 22 January 1778 and was laid down there on 25 March. She was launched on 9 December 1779 and was completed by 24 February 1780 after being fitted out at Deptford Dockyard. £6,805 7s 0d was paid to her builder for her construction, with the total including fitting and coppering subsequently rising to £13,603 8s 0d. Mercury entered service in 1780, having been commissioned in October 1779 under Captain Isaac Prescott




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Mercury_(1779)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_corvette_Sans_Pareille_(1798)

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
20 January 1809 - Cutter HMS Claudia (1806 - 10), Lt. Anthony Bliss William Lord, wrecked off Norway.


HMS Claudia was an Adonis-class schooner of the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic War. She was built at Bermuda using Bermudan cedar and completed in 1806. She was commissioned under Lieutenant Anthony Bliss William Lord in March 1806.

Tons burthen: 110 93⁄94bm
Length:

• 68 ft 2 in (20.8 m) (gundeck)
• 50 ft 5 5⁄8 in (15.4 m) (keel)

Beam: 20 ft 4 in (6.2 m)
Depth of hold: 10 ft 3 in (3.1 m)
Complement: 35
Armament:1 0 x 18-pounder carronades


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the inboard profile, upper deck, and lower deck with platforms for the Adonis Class consisting of Adonis (1806); Alban (1806); Alphea (1806); Bacchus (1806); Barbara (1806); Cassandra (1806); Claudia (1806), Laura (1806); Olympia (1806); Sylvia (1806); Vesta (1806); Zenobia (1806), all 10-gun Cutters (or single-masted Sloops) to be built at Bermuda, similar to the Lady Hamond. The plan has modifications relating to how the magazines on Cutters were fitted at Plymouth in 1806. Copies were sent to Mr Shedden on 1 May 1804, and again on 6 September 1804 for these vessels.

She moved to the Baltic station. On 26 August 1807 she detained the Danish bark Spes Feller. Four days later, on 30 August, she detained Resolution. Then on 4 September she captured Stockfisker, and on 29 April 1808 Neunderueiring.

Claudia was wrecked off Kristiansand (Norway) on 20 January 1809, as she was attempting to enter the Baltic. Driven close to shore by a storm, after the storm abated she struck a reef and sank before her crew could launch her boats. Although Lord swam through the freezing waters to get a line to Norwegian rescuers, 14 men died from drowning or exposure to the extreme cold


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with half stern board ourtline, sheer lines with some inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth for the Lady Hammond (fl.1804), a single-masted Bermudan Sloop, and for building the Adonis Class consisting of Adonis (1806); Alban (1806); Alphea (1806); Bacchus (1806); Barbara (1806), later a two-masted Schooner; Cassandra (1806); Claudia (1806), Laura (1806); Olympia (1806); Sylvia (1806); Vesta (1806); Zenobia (1806), all 10-gun Cutters.


The Adonis class was a Royal Navy class of twelve 10-gun schooners built under contract in Bermuda during the Napoleonic War. The class was an attempt by the Admiralty to harness the expertise of Bermudian shipbuilders who were renowned for their fast-sailing craft. The Admiralty ordered twelve vessels on 2 April 1804.

Winfield reports, based on Admiralty records, that although all twelve were ordered as cutters, all were completed as (or converted to) schooners. An article in the Bermuda Historical Quarterly reports that eight were built as cutters (Alban, Bacchus, Barbara, Casandra, Claudia, Laura, Olympia, and Sylvia), and three as schooners (Adonis, Alphea, and Vesta). The account does not mention Zenobia, but does mention that Laura and Barbara (at least) were re-rigged as schooners. The discrepancy lies in the poor communications between the Navy Board in Britain and the builders in Bermuda, as well as in deficiencies of record-keeping. Alterations in the masting and rigging of small (unrated) combatants were not infrequent at this time.

Construction
The Navy Board ordered the vessels on 2 April 1804. Goodrich & Co acted as the main contractor to the Navy Board, and contracted out the actual building to different builders in different yards. In many cases the actual builder is unrecorded. All twelve vessels were apparently laid down in 1804 (but documentary evidence is lacking). Each vessel was launched and commissioned during 1806 (precise dates unrecorded).

The vessels were all constructed of Bermuda cedar. This durable, native wood, abundant in Bermuda, was strong and light, and did not need seasoning. Shipbuilders used it for framing as well as planking, which reduced vessel weight. It was also highly resistant to rot and marine borers, giving Bermudian vessels a potential lifespan of twenty years and more, even in the worm-infested waters of the Chesapeake and the Caribbean.

Operational lives
Of the twelve vessels in the class, seven were wartime losses. Only five were not lost during the war, surviving to be sold in between 1814 and 1816.




Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with stern board outline, sheer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth for Laura (1806), a 10-gun single-masted Cutter as taken off at Plymouth Dockyard in 1806. Signed Joseph Tucker [Master Shipwright, Plymouth Dockyard, later Surveyor of the Navy, 1813-1831]. Note that the pencil names are of the other ships in the class, and the annotation has been added at a later date.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Claudia_(1806)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adonis-class_schooner
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/86193.html

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
20 January 1817 - HMS Telegraph (14), Lt. John Little, wrecked by a gale whilst anchored off the Eastern Hoe in Plymouth Sound.


HMS Telegraph was built in 1812 in New York as the American letter of marque Vengeance. The Royal Navy captured her in 1813 and took her into service as the 14-gun schooner or gunbrig Telegraph. Over a period of only about two years she took numerous small prizes and caused the destruction of a French 16-gun brig. A gale caused the wrecking of Telegraph in 1817.

Class and type:

• Schooner (1812–13)
• Sloop-of-war (1813–17)

Tons burthen: 180 tons (bm)
Sail plan: Schooner
Complement:

• 15 (Vengeance)
• 60 (HMS Telegraph)

Armament:12 x twelve-pounder carronades (HMS Telegraph)

Capture of Vengeance
On 1 January 1813, the 36-gun fifth-rate 18-pounder frigate Phoebe captured Vengeance. Vengeance was an American letter of marquee schooner of 180 tons and a 15-man crew that had been sailing from New York to Bordeaux with a cargo of cotton, coffee, sugar and indigo. Vengeance arrived in Plymouth on 8 January. She was closely followed by Hunter, Judathau Upton, master, an American privateer schooner that Phoebe had also captured. Hunter had been armed with 14 guns but she thrown 12 overboard during the chase. She had a crew of 73 men.

Prize taking

Lieutenant Timothy Scriven commissioned Telegraph at Plymouth. In British service Telegraph was armed with twelve 12-pounder carronadesand had a crew of 60 men.

On 12 August 1813 she captured the American schooner Ellen & Emeline after a chase of 44 hours that brought the vessels to within 10 miles of Santander. Ellen & Emeline carried a cargo of silk for New York and was armed with a single 12-pounder gun on a pivot. She was only three hours out of Nantes when Telegraph first sighted her.[5] Then on 23 August Telegraph detained and sent in the American schooner Allen & Adelaide, Booth, master, also from Nantes.

On 12 September Telegraph cut out of Bordeaux four small French vessels:

• lugger Gustave, of 82 tons, from Bourdeaux, bound for Nantes;
• chasse maree Unis Amis, of 54 tons, from Bourdeaux, bound to Nantes;
• lugger Precieux, of 94 tons, from Bourdeaux, bound to Nantes; and
• chasse maree Dunoire, of 68 tons, from Bourdeaux, bound to Brest. On 18 September Telegraph arrived at Falmouth with her four French prizes, laden with brandy, wine, and the like. She also destroyed the chasse maree Martha

Ten days later she sailed with a convoy of transports for St. Sebastian. On 7 October, she arrived with dispatches for Sir George Collier in Surveillante on the north coast of Spain.

Telegraph vs Flibustier


Destruction of the Flibustier Octr 13th 1813. From a sketch by Captn Scriven, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich

On 13 October 1813 Telegraph caused the destruction of the French 16-gun brig Flibustier (1810) in the mouth of the Adour. Flibustier had been in St Jean de Luz sheltering where shore batteries could protect her when she sought to escape because of the approach of Wellington's army. She started out during a "dark and stormy night", but Telegraph immediately pursued her. After an action lasting three-quarters of an hour, the French saw Challenger and Constant coming up to join the engagement. Flibustier's crew set her on fire and escaped ashore. Lieutenant Scriven sent boats to try to save her, but they were unsuccessful and she blew up. Papers found on board showed lieutenant de vaisseau Jean-Jacques-Léonore Daniel had been the commander. She had been armed with sixteen French 24-pounder carronades, two 9-pounder guns, a brass howitzer, and four brass 3-pounder guns. There had been 160 men on board and Scriven reported that from what he saw, the French losses must have been considerable; Telegraph had no casualties. Lloyd's List reported that when Flibustier blew up there were still 30 wounded men aboard. The same report gave her armament as sixteen 32-pounder carronades, two long 9-pounder guns, and four brass 4-pounder guns.

Scriven believed that Flibustier was bound for Santona to relieve the garrison there as her cargo consisted of treasure, arms, ammunition, and salt provisions. He also thought that some of the men who had been aboard her were officers and soldiers for the garrison.

Both armies witnessed the British victory, with the allied army giving three cheers. As a reward for his success Scriven received a promotion to Commander and Telegraph was re-rated as a sloop of war.

Prize taking again
Telegraph took the French galiot Hercules, of 134 tons and five men, bound from Oleron to Nantes on 29 December. The next day she took the French chasse-marée Felicitee, of 60 tons and one man, bound from Bordeaux to Nantes. These may be the vessels described as the chasse-marée that on 4 January 1814 arrived in Plymouth, and the ketch that arrived in Falmouth, both prizes that Telegraph had taken.

On 27 February 1814 Telegraph captured the French chasse maree Clemence. Then on 10 March she captured the French dogger (or galliot) North Star from Île de Ré, of 80 tons and five men, also bound for Nantes. The next day Helicon arrived in the Isles of Scilly towing a chasse-marée that Telegraph had taken. The North Star may have been the French galiot Neidsteerm that Telegraph had sent into Plymouth on 5 April.

Telegraph then sailed to the Halifax station. On 3 November Telegraph captured and destroyed the sloop Alert, of 25 tons and a crew of three. Three days later Telegraph was in company with Majestic and Pactolus when they recaptured the brig Recovery. The next day Telegraph captured the sloop Four Brothers, of 20 tons and two men. That same day she destroyed the sloop John, of two men and 30 tons and the schooner Ann, of three men and 32 tons. Later that month Telegraph took the schooner Mary from Philadelphia for Havana and sent her to Bermuda. Bermuda then reported the arrivals of the brig Amy, with flour from Philadelphia, prize to Telegraph, and Mary, prize to Spencer and Telegraph. Telegraph had captured both on 25 November. Amy was of 84 tons and had a crew of eight. Mary was of 110 tons and had a crew of seven.

On 16 November 1814, Telegraph's and Spencer's boats ran the famous American privateer Syren ashore under Cape May, where her crew destroyed her. Syren, a 7-gun schooner out of Baltimore and under the command of J.D. Daniels, had had a successful cruise in which she captured several prizes. One was Sir John Sherbooke. Another had taken place on 12 July 1814 when Syren captured the Royal Navy's 4-gun schooner Landrail after a fight of 40 minutes with casualties on both sides.

The next month, on 11 December, Telegraph captured Rose.

At the end of December, on the 28th, Telegraph captured Trim, of four men and 40 tons. Then in the new year, on 12 January 1815, Telegraph captured Attempt of four men and 52 tons. Lastly, five days later, Telegraph captured the schooner William, of eight men and 105 tons, near Cape Hatteras.

In September 1815 Lieutenant Richard Crossman took command of Telegraph. In 1816 Lieutenant Jonathan Little replaced him. On 5 October, Telegraph seized the smuggling vessel Betsey and her cargo of spirits. The Collector of His Majesty's Excise, in Falmouth, also paid bounty-money for the three men who were on Betsey when Telegraph captured her.

Loss
During the night of 19–20 January 1817 Telegraph was anchored off the Eastern Hoe in Plymouth Sound. A gale came up that parted her cables and wrecked her on the point of Mount Batten, at the entrance of Catwater. The same gale caused the loss of Jasper. Telegraph's only fatality was a seaman whom she crushed to death against her side. Several other men were injured. (Another report gives her losses as two dead out of her 50-man crew.) The court martial (on 28 January 1817), attributed the loss to short cables and insufficiently heavy anchors.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Telegraph_(1813)

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
20 January 1887 - Kapunda; a British emigrant ship which; sank after colliding with the barque Ada Melmoure in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Brazil


Kapunda was a British emigrant ship which sank on 20 January 1887 after colliding with the barque Ada Melmoure in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Brazil. She was an iron-hulled ship of 1,095 tons, owned by Frinder, Anderson, and Company


Kapunda, about 1880

Kapunda was in the Atlantic Ocean off Brazil heading from London to Fremantle, Western Australia, with a crew of 40, carrying 279 emigrants and general cargo, when at 3:20 a.m. on 20 January 1887 she collided with the 549-ton Ada Melmoure, which was bound from Coquimbo, Chile, to the United Kingdom with a cargo of manganese ore. Ada Melmoure hit Kapunda near the bow, and Kapunda sank so quickly that no lifeboats could be launched. Nine people managed to climb aboard Ada Melmoure, six others found a small boat in the water and boarded it, and Ada Melmoure lowered a boat that picked up one crew member. These 16 were the only survivors; the other 303 aboard Kapunda, including Captain John Masson, lost their lives in the disaster.



On 25 January 1887, 14 of Kapunda′s survivors transferred from Ada Melmoure to the French barque Ulysses, which took them to Bahia, Brazil. The other two survivors stayed with Ada Melmoure, landing at Maceió[where?] after Ada Melmoure also sank.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapunda_(ship)
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapunda_(Schiff)

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
20 January 1918 - The Battle of Imbros was a naval action that took place during the First World War.


The Battle of Imbros was a naval action that took place during the First World War. The battle occurred on 20 January 1918 when an Ottoman squadron engaged a flotilla of the British Royal Navy off the island of Imbros in the Aegean Sea. A lack of heavy Alliedwarships in the area allowed the Ottoman battlecruiser Yavûz Sultân Selîm and light cruiser Midilli to sortie into the Mediterranean and attack the British monitors and destroyers at Imbros before assaulting the naval base at Mudros.

Although the Ottoman forces managed to complete their objective of destroying the British monitors at Imbros, the battle turned sour for them as they sailed through a minefield while withdrawing. Midilli was sunk and Yavûz Sultân Selîm heavily damaged. Although Yavûz Sultân Selîm managed to beach herself within the Dardanelles, she was subjected to days of air attacks until she was towed to safety. With the most modern cruiser of the Ottoman Navy sunk and her only battlecruiser out of action, the battle effectively curtailed the Ottoman Navy's offensive capability until the end of the war.


Yavûz Sultân Selîm beached in the Dardanelles after the Battle of Imbros

Prelude
By January 1918, the situation for the Ottoman Army in Palestine had begun to falter. The new German commander of the Ottoman Black Sea fleet, Rebeur Paschwitz, decided to try to relieve Allied naval pressure on Palestine by making a sortie out of the Dardanelles: Several British naval elements of the Aegean Squadron had been taking refuge in Kusu Bay off the islands of Imbros, and they were a prime target for an Ottoman raid. After raiding what shipping could be found at Imbros, Rebeur-Paschwitz would then turn to Mudros and attack the British naval base there. The Allied force guarding the Dardanelles consisted of a few heavy British and French units as well as several monitors tasked with coastal bombardment. Escorting the monitors were several British destroyers. The pre-dreadnought battleships HMS Agamemnon and HMS Lord Nelson were also tasked with guarding the area, but the Lord Nelson had been tasked with ferrying the squadron's admiral to a conference at Salonika. Taking advantage of the absence of the British battleship, the Germans and Ottomans decided to dispatch the battlecruiser Yavûz Sultân Selîm (ex-SMS Goeben) and the light cruiser Midilli (ex-SMS Breslau) to attack the area. The Allied forces at Imbros on 20 January consisted of the monitors HMS Raglan and HMS M28 as well as the Acheron-class destroyers HMS Tigress and HMS Lizard.[5]Agamemnon was nearby at Mudros, but she was much too slow to chase down the Ottoman ships if they wanted to avoid engaging her:

Without Agamemnon and Lord Nelson the British were severely undergunned in comparison to the Ottoman ships. Tigress and Lizard both were armed with two 4-inch guns, two 12 pounders, and two 21-inch torpedo tubes. They were swift ships capable of making 27 knots (50 km/h) at best speed. The two monitors present at Imbros were better suited for coastal bombardment than naval combat, though their heavy guns gave them an element of firepower the destroyers lacked. Raglan, an Abercrombie-classmonitor, was armed with two 14-inch guns, two 6-inch guns, and two 3-inch guns.[6] M28 was a smaller vessel than Raglan and as such carried a lighter armament sporting a single 9.2-inch cannon, one 12 pounder, as well as a six pounder anti-aircraft gun. The biggest weak point of both Raglan and M28 were their low top speeds of 7 and 11 knots (13 and 20 km/h) respectively, giving them little capability to escape an Ottoman raid. In contrast to the British force, the Ottoman vessels were both fast and heavily armed. Midilli sported eight 150 mm cannons, 120 mines, two torpedo tubes, and a top speed of 25 knots (46 km/h). Yavûz Sultân Selîmwas the most powerful ship in the Ottoman fleet with a top speed of 25.5 knots, ten 283 mm guns, twelve 150 mm guns, a dozen 8.8-centimetre guns, and four torpedo tubes. Thus, with no heavy units available to repel them, there was little in the means of effective Allied opposition when the Ottomans set out on their mission.



Battle
Setting out towards Imbros, Yavûz Sultân Selîm struck a mine on transit to the island, but the damage was insignificant and the two Ottoman vessels were able to continue their mission. Yavûz Sultân Selîm then proceeded to bombard the British signal station at Kephalo Point while Midilli was sent ahead to guard the entrance of Kusu Bay. As Yavûz Sultân Selîm and Midilli approached Kusu Bay, they were sighted by the destroyer HMS Lizard at 5:30 am. Lizard attempted to engage the Ottoman ships, but could not close to torpedo range due to heavy fire from her opponents. Yavûz Sultân Selîm soon sighted the two British monitors taking refuge in the bay, and broke off from Lizard to engage them. As Yavûz Sultân Selîmattacked the monitors, Midilli continued to duel with Lizard who was then joined by the destroyer HMS Tigress. Lizard and Tigress attempted to shield the monitors from Yavûz Sultân Selîm by laying a smoke screen, but this was ineffective. The monitors were both much too slow to evade Yavûz Sultân Selîm and she was able to score numerous hits on Raglan, hitting her foretop and killing her gunnery and direction officers. Raglan attempted to return fire with its 6 and 14-inch guns, but scored no hits on the German vessels before her main armament was knocked out when a shell pierced its casemate and ignited the ammunition within it. Shortly after she was disarmed, Raglan was hit in her magazine by one of Yavûz Sultân Selîm's 11-inch shells causing the monitor to sink. After Raglan was sunk, the Ottoman battlecruiser began turned her attention to HMS M28, striking her amidships and setting her alight before she was sunk when her magazine exploded at 6:00 a.m. With the two monitors sunk, the Ottomans decided to break off the engagement and head south in an attempt to raid the allied naval base at Mudros.

Upon withdrawing from Kusu Bay, the Ottoman force accidentally sailed into a minefield and were shadowed by the two British destroyers they had previously engaged. In addition to the destroyers, several British and Greek aircraft were launched from Mudros to engage the Germans. Greek ace Aristeidis Moraitinis, escorting two Sopwith Baby seaplanes, fought ten enemy aircraft and shot down three enemy seaplanes with his Sopwith Camel. With the approach of enemy aircraft Midilli, which had been following Yavûz Sultân Selîm, took the lead so as to take advantage of her heavier anti-aircraft armament. Midilli then struck a mine near her aft funnel, and shortly afterwards Yavûz Sultân Selîm hit one as well. Within half an hour Midilli had struck four more mines and began to sink. Yavûz Sultân Selîm attempted to rescue Midilli but also struck a mine and was forced to withdraw. Fleeing towards the safety of the Dardanelles, Yavûz Sultân Selîm was pursued by Lizard and Tigress. In order to cover Yavûz Sultân Selîm four Ottoman destroyers and an old cruiser rushed out to engage the British destroyers.[5] After the lead Ottoman destroyer began to take hits, the Ottoman squadron was forced to withdraw back up the Dardanelles. As the British destroyers approached Cape Helles, they were fired upon by Ottoman shore batteries and withdrew.

In addition to Lizard and Tigress, a dozen British seaplanes from Ark Royal were launched to finish off Yavûz Sultân Selîm. Although they managed to score two hits against the battlecruiser, the Ottoman ship was by this time near the coast. Thus combined efforts from ten Ottoman seaplanes as well as heavy anti-aircraft fire were able to drive off the air attacks, downing one Sopwith Baby and damaging another aircraft. The four Ottoman destroyers returned and guarded Yavûz Sultân Selîm as she sailed up the Dardnelles. Severely damaged, the Ottoman battlecruiser ran aground on a sandbar off Nagara Point and became stranded. The next six days saw further air attacks by Allied seaplanes against the Ottoman battlecruiser, with six hits being scored against her. Ottoman seaplanes and heavy shore batteries responded to the raids and were able to guard Yavûz Sultân Selîmand beat back the air attacks. Despite the air raids, Yavûz Sultân Selîm suffered only superficial damage from them as the 65-pound (29 kg) bombs used by the British were too small to be effective.[3] Allied commanders proposed plans for a submarine raid against the battlecruiser, but the only submarine attached to the Aegean squadron, HMS E12, had mechanical problems and was inoperative. A raid into the Dardanelles was therefore postponed until a working submarine could be dispatched to the area.

Aftermath
With no way to free herself, Yavûz Sultân Selîm remained stranded on the sandbar until 26 January when the Ottoman battleship Turgut Reis finally arrived and towed her back into the Black Sea. In one last effort to destroy the battlecruiser, the British sent the submarine HMS E14 into the Dardanelles on 27 January. Yavûz Sultân Selîm had already left the area, and so E14 began sailing back to Allied waters after discovering the battlecruiser's absence. Sighting an Ottoman freighter, the British submarine attempted to torpedo her. The second torpedo fired exploded prematurely. The resulting explosion damaged the submarine, forcing it to try to flee the straits. She came under heavy fire from nearby Ottoman shore batteries and was eventually beached with her commander, Geoffrey Saxton White, and another sailor killed and seven captured. White was posthumously awarded the Victoria Crossfor his efforts to beach the submarine and save its crew.

Although the Ottoman force destroyed the British monitors as planned, their losses traversing the minefield after the engagement in Kusu Bay offset these successes considerably. With Midilli sunk and Yavûz Sultân Selîm severely damaged, the threat of the Ottoman Navy to the Allies was greatly reduced for the remainder of the war. Despite the removal of these two vessels from the Ottoman battle line, the commanders of the British Aegean Squadron were criticized for sending their battleships so far from the Dardanelles. Had either Agamemnonor Lord Nelson had been nearby during the Ottoman raid, Yavûz Sultân Selîm might have been destroyed.





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

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
20 January 1918 - HMS Raglan was a First World War Royal Navy Abercrombie-class monitor, which was sunk during the Battle of Imbros in January 1918.


HMS Raglan was a First World War Royal Navy Abercrombie-class monitor, which was sunk during the Battle of Imbros in January 1918.



Design
On 3 November 1914, Charles M. Schwab of Bethlehem Steel offered Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, the use of eight 14-inch (356 mm)/45 cal BL MK II guns in twin gun turrets, originally destined for the Greek battleship Salamis. These turrets could not be delivered to the German builders, due to the British blockade. The Royal Navy immediately designed a class of monitors, designed for shore bombardment, to use the turrets.



Construction
Raglan was laid down at the Harland and Wolff Ltd shipyard at Govan on 1 December 1914. The ship was named Robert E Lee in honour of the CSA General Robert E Lee, however as the United States was still neutral, the ship was hurriedly renamed HMS M3on 31 May 1915. She was then named HMS Lord Raglan on 20 June 1915 and again renamed HMS Raglan on 23 June 1915.

Career


Raglan leaving Malta for Brindisi during the First World War.

Raglan sailed for the Dardanelles in June 1915. She remained in the Eastern Mediterranean, based at Imbros.

On 29 October, Raglan took part in the Third Battle of Gaza.

On 20 January 1918, while the battleships Agamemnon and Lord Nelson were absent, Raglan and other members of the Detached Squadron of the Aegean Squadron were attacked by the Turkish battlecruiser Yavuz Sultan Selim (formerly German battlecruiser SMS Goeben), the light cruiser Midilli (formerly German light cruiser SMS Breslau) and four destroyers. Raglan was sunk with the loss of 127 lives. The monitor M28 was also sunk in the same battle. Midilli and Yavuz Sultan Selim ran into a minefield while withdrawing; Midilli sank and Yavuz Sultan Selim was badly damaged.





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

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
20 January 1921 – The British K-class submarine HMS K5 sinks in the English Channel; all 56 on board die.


HMS K5 was one of the K-class submarines that served in the Royal Navy from 1917-1921. She was lost with all hands when she sank en route to a mock battle in the Bay of Biscay.


Aerial view of K5 showing smoke from steam engine

War service
At the end of the war in 1918, K5 was part of the 12th Submarine Flotilla based at Rosyth, along with six others of the K-class.

Loss
K5 left Torbay on 19 January 1921 with the K8, K10, K15 and K22 as part of the Atlantic Fleet for a mock battle in the Bay of Biscay.

The submarine was commanded by an experienced officer, Lieutenant Commander John A Gaimes, DSO, RN, but had a new crew. The other officers on board were Lieutenant F Cuddeford, Engineer-Lieutenant E Bowles, Acting Engineer-Lieutenant G Baker, Lieutenant B Clarke and Acting Lieutenant R Middlemist. The full complement included 51 ratings on board.

All 57 hands were lost on 20 January about 120 mi (190 km) south-west of the Isles of Scilly. She had signalled that she was diving but she did not surface at the end of the exercise. An oil slick was discovered and after planks from the battery covers and a sailor's "ditty box" were recovered, it was presumed that she had somehow gone past her maximum depth and been crushed.

On return from her exercises in the Mediterranean in 1922, Hood and the rest of the fleet dropped wreaths and held a memorial service where K5 had gone down.

Problems with the K-class
Retired Rear-Admiral S.S. Hall wrote in The Times under the heading "An Experts Theory" "...it may be taken as certain that the loss of the vessel was due to some delay to checking the downward momentum gained by the vessel being overtrimmed in diving, either by admitting compressed air too slowly to too many tanks at one time, to tanks only partially full, or to a sea connexion being closed prematurely."

The waters where the battle exercises were taking place were so deep that the vessel would have been crushed, losing control due to the intake of water. Admiral Hall wrote that it was "not clear why the 'K' class should be taken for cruises in the Atlantic in winter." He describes the submarines as 'freaks' that were designed especially for the conditions of the North Sea during World War I. "The high surface speed necessitates great length, and the further complication of steam demands very large openings for funnels and air intakes to boiler rooms. These have always been a source of great anxiety in bad weather or in rapid diving." And he drew attention to the need for a thoroughly trained crew to operate them safely.

K13 suffered a similar fate during her acceptance trials, when she foundered with the loss of 32 of those on board. The cause of the incident was related to the openings Hall refers to.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_K5

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
20 January 1942 - SS Kurtuluş was a Turkish cargo ship which became famous for her humanitarian role in carrying food aid during the famine Greece suffered under the Axis occupation in World War II. She sank on 20 February 1942 in the Sea of Marmara


SS Kurtuluş was a Turkish cargo ship which became famous for her humanitarian role in carrying food aid during the famine Greece suffered under the Axis occupation in World War II. She sank on 20 February 1942 in the Sea of Marmara during her fifth voyage from İstanbul, Turkey to Piraeus, Greece. In Turkish kurtuluş means "liberation".




The ship
The steamer Kurtuluş was built by Caird & Purdie Shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England in 1883. She was a dry-freight carrier, 76.5 m (250 feet) long with 2,735 gross tons capacity. After having served under different flags and names, she was purchased in 1924 by the prominent Turkish shipowning family, Kalkavan brothers. She served as freighter in Turkish waters as one of the first ships under the flag of the newly established Turkish Republic. She was re-sold in 1934 to another family active in the same field, Tavilzade brothers, who named her "SS Kurtuluş" ("Liberation") in 1934. In 1941, SS Kurtuluş was leased by the Turkish government for humanitarian relief to be provided during the food crisis in Greece.

The mission
Greece experienced the Great Famine (Greek: Μεγάλος Λιμός) during the time the country was occupied by Nazi Germany starting April 1941, as well as a sea blockade by the Royal Navy at the same time. The famine is reported to have caused the death of 70,000 people according to the official, Nazi-controlled, Greek sources of the period and over 300,000 according to the historian Mark Mazower.

The National Greek War Relief Association, an organization formed in October 1940 by the Greek Orthodox Church, started to raise funds in the United States and to organize relief efforts to supply the population with food and medicine. The British were initially reluctant to lift the blockade since it was the only form of pressure they had on the Axis Powers. However, a compromise was reached to allow shipments of grain to come from the neutral Turkey, despite the fact that it was within the blockade zone.



Turkish president İsmet İnönü signed a decision to help the people whose army he had personally fought during the Turkish War of Independence 19 years previous. The people of Turkey thus became the first to lend a helping hand to Greece. Foodstuffs were collected by a nationwide campaign of Kızılay (Turkish Red Crescent) and the operation was mainly funded by the American Greek War Relief Association and the Hellenic Union of Constantinopolitans. Food supplies were sent to the port of Istanbul to be shipped to Greece. SS Kurtuluş was prepared for her voyage with big symbols of the Red Crescent painted on both sides.

After having received permission from London to cross the blockade zone, the ship left Karaköy Pier on 6 October 1941 for the first time. Upon landing in Piraeus, the port city near Athens, the International Red Cross took charge of unloading and of distributing the foodstuffs. In the following months, SS Kurtuluş made three more voyages to Greece delivering a total of 6,735 tons of food aid.

During her fifth voyage, after having left Istanbul on 18 February, the old ship was caught in heavy weather and rough seas in the Sea of Marmara. During the night of 20 February 1942, SS Kurtuluş was blown onto rocks off the coast near Saraylar village, north of Marmara Island. She sank the next morning at 9:15. All 34 crew members reached Marmara Island. The place was later named Cape Kurtuluş in her memory.

Despite the loss of SS Kurtuluş, Turkey maintained her determination to help, and continued sending aid until 1946 with other ships like SS Dumlupınar, SS Tunç, SS Konya, SS Güneysu and SS Aksu. One ship, the SS Dumlupınar brought around 1,000 sick Greek children aged 13–16 to İstanbul to recuperate in a safe place.



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

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 20 January


1691 – Launch of French Adroit, 44 guns, design by Etienne Salicon, at Le Havre – burnt off Orkney June 1703.


1783 - Great Britain and the United States sign a provisional peace treaty proclaiming an end to hostilities.


1788 – The third and main part of First Fleet arrives at Botany Bay. Arthur Phillip decides that Port Jackson is a more suitable location for a colony.

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


1810 - French convoy driven on shore near La Rochelle.


1817 - HMS Jaspar Sloop wrecked on Rocks under Mount Batten, entrance of Catwater.


1825 - Mary, launched at Liverpool in 1806, wrecked

Mary was launched at Liverpool in 1806. She made one voyage as a slave ship before the British slave trade ended, during which voyage she engaged in a notable blue on blue action with two British warships. She then traded with Haiti and Brazil, and possibly made one voyage to India under license from the British East India Company (EIC). She then became a whaler and was lost in 1825 in the Pacific on the second of two whaling voyages.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_(1806_ship)


1855 - HMS Bermuda (1848) was a 3-gun schooner launched 1848 and wrecked 20 January 1855, with no loss of life


1887 – The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl Harbor as a naval base.

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


1903 - President Theodore Roosevelt issues an Executive Order placing Midway Islands under the jurisdiction of the Navy Department due to recurring complaints of Japanese squatters and poachers.


2009 - Beim Untergang der Segelyacht Taube vor der Westküste Marokkos kommen sechs der sieben Besatzungsmitglieder ums Leben.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taube_(Schiff)

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
21 January 1782 - HMS Blonde (1760 - 32), Cptn. Andrew Barclay, wrecked on Nantucket Shoal


HMS Blonde was a 32-gun fifth rate warship of the British Royal Navy captured from the French in 1760. The ship wrecked on Blonde Rock with American prisoners on board. An American privateer Captain Daniel Adams rescued the American prisoners and let the British go free. The Captain's decision created an international stir. Upon returning to Boston, the American privateer was banished for letting go the British crew and he and his family became Loyalist refugees in Nova Scotia.



'Aeolus' is shown in the foreground on the right hand side of the picture. Plate No.5.; Stored with PAD7510-PAD7513, PAD7515-PAD7520. Inscribed left to right under the ships depicted: 'Brilliant - Capt. Loggie, 30 guns, 240 men; Le Terpischore, Capt. Defravandois, 26 guns, 300 men; Pallas, Capt. Clements, 36 guns, 240 men; Le Blonde, Capt. La Kayce, 32 guns, 400 men; Aeole, Capt. Elliot, 32 guns, 220 men; Marshall Belleisle, Mons. Thurot, 44 guns, 545 men'


Career
On 24 February 1760, during the Seven Years' War, a British squadron under Captain John Elliot in HMS Aeolus met a French squadron under Captain François Thurot in the Maréchal de Belle-Isle. In the subsequent Battle of Bishops Court, the British captured Maréchal de Belle-Isle (after Thurot was killed), Terpsichore, and Blonde. The Royal Navy took the latter two into service.

During the American Revolution, the Blonde was in the Battle off Liverpool, Nova Scotia (1778). In 1780 the Blonde captured the commander of the Resolution, for which his crew took revenge the following year in the Raid on Annapolis Royal (1781). Blonde was wrecked on Blonde Rock, Nova Scotia on 21 January 1782.[2][3][4][5][6] The 60 American prisoners on board HMS Blonde made their way to Seal Island, Nova Scotia. American privateer Noah Stoddard in the Scammell reluctantly allowed the British crew to go free and return to Halifax in HMS Observer, which was involved in the Naval battle off Halifax en route.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Blonde_(1760)

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
21 January 1783 – Launch of HMS Carnatic, a 74-gun Courageux-class third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy,


HMS Carnatic was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 21 January 1783 at Deptford Wharf. The British East India Company paid for her construction and presented her to the Royal Navy.


Scale 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth for 'Colossus' (1787), 'Leviathan' (1790), 'Carnatic' (1783), and 'Minotaur' (1793), all 74-gun Third Rate, two-deckers based on the lines for the captured French Third Rate 'Courageux' (captured 1761). Signed by John Williams [Surveyor of the Navy, 1765-1784] and Edward Hunt [Surveyor of the Navy 1778-1784].

Class and type: Courageux-class ship of the line
Tons burthen: 1719 30⁄94 (bm)
Length: 172 ft 4 1⁄2 in (52.5 m) (gundeck); 1,140 ft 3 1⁄2 in (347.6 m) (keel)
Beam: 48 ft 0 in (14.6 m)
Depth of hold: 20 ft 9 1⁄2 in (6.337 m)
Sail plan: Full rigged ship
Armament:

• Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns
• Upper gundeck: 28 × 18-pounder guns
• QD: 14 × 9-pounder guns
• Fc: 4 × 9-pounder guns

On 17 May 1815, the Admiralty renamed her HMS Captain. Captain was broken up on 30 September 1825.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the inboard profile for the Carnatic (1783), and Leviathan (1790). Later the plan was used for Colossus (1787), and Minotaur (1793), all 74-gun Third Rate, two-deckers.

The Courageux-class ships of the line were a class of six 74-gun third rates of the Royal Navy. Their design was a direct copy of the French ship Courageux, captured in 1761 by HMS Bellona. This class of ship is sometimes referred to as the Leviathan class. A further two ships of the class were built to a slightly lengthened version of the Courageux draught. A final two ships were ordered to a third modification of the draught.

Ships
Standard group

• HMS Carnatic

Builder: Dudman, Deptford
Ordered: 14 July 1779
Launched: 21 January 1783
Fate: Broken up, 1825

• HMS Colossus

Builder: Clevely, Gravesend
Ordered: 13 December 1781
Launched: 4 April 1787
Fate: Wrecked, 1798

• HMS Leviathan

Builder: Chatham Dockyard
Ordered: 9 December 1779
Launched: 9 October 1790
Fate: Sold out of the service, 1848

• HMS Minotaur

Builder: Woolwich Dockyard
Ordered: 3 December 1782
Launched: 6 November 1793
Fate: Wrecked, 1810



HMS Aboukir (1807)

Lengthened group

• HMS Aboukir

Builder: Brindley, Frindsbury
Ordered: 24 November 1802
Launched: 18 November 1807
Fate: Sold, 1838

• HMS Bombay

Builder: Deptford Dockyard
Ordered: 23 July 1805
Launched: 28 March 1808
Fate: Broken up, 1825

Modified group

• HMS Blake

Builder: Deptford Dockyard
Ordered: 30 October 1805
Launched: 23 August 1808
Fate: Sold, 1816

• HMS San Domingo

Builder: Woolwich Dockyard
Ordered: 30 October 1805
Launched: 3 March 1809
Fate: Sold, 1816



Scale: 1:96. Plan showing the inboard profile, roundhouse, spar deck, upper deck, lower deck, orlop deck, and fore platform for Carnatic (1783), a 74-gun Third Rate, two-decker, as fitted for a Receiving Ship at Plymouth Dockyard between June and July 1805. Signed by William Rule [Surveyor of the Navy, 1793-1813] and Henry Peake [Surveyor of the Navy, 1806-1822].


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Carnatic_(1783)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courageux-class_ship_of_the_line
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections.html#!csearch;searchTerm=Carnatic_(1783

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
21 January 1788 - Arthur Phillip, commander of the First Fleet, and a party which included John Hunter, departed Botany Bay in three small boats to explore other bays to the north. Phillip discovered that Port Jackson, about 12 kilometres to the north, was an excellent site for a colony with sheltered anchorages, fresh water and fertile soil.


The First Fleet was the 11 ships that departed from Portsmouth, England, on 13 May 1787 to found the penal colony that became the first European settlement in Australia. The Fleet consisted of two Royal Navy vessels, three store ships and six convict transports, carrying between 1,000 and 1,500 convicts, marines, seamen, civil officers and free people (accounts differ on the numbers), and a large quantity of stores. From England, the Fleet sailed southwest to Rio de Janeiro, then east to Cape Town and via the Great Southern Ocean to Botany Bay, arriving over the period of 18 to 20 January 1788, taking 250 to 252 days from departure to final arrival.

Arrival in Australia
It was soon realised that Botany Bay did not live up to the glowing account that the explorer Captain James Cook had provided. The bay was open and unprotected, the water was too shallow to allow the ships to anchor close to the shore, fresh water was scarce, and the soil was poor. First contact was made with the local indigenous people, the Eora, who seemed curious but suspicious of the newcomers. The area was studded with enormously strong trees. When the convicts tried to cut them down, their tools broke and the tree trunks had to be blasted out of the ground with gunpowder. The primitive huts built for the officers and officials quickly collapsed in rainstorms. The marines had a habit of getting drunk and not guarding the convicts properly, whilst their commander, Major Robert Ross, drove Phillip to despair with his arrogant and lazy attitude. Crucially, Phillip worried that his fledgling colony was exposed to attack from Aborigines or foreign powers. Although his initial instructions were to establish the colony at Botany Bay, he was authorised to establish the colony elsewhere if necessary.


The First Fleet arrives in Port Jackson, 27 January 1788, by William Bradley

On 21 January, Phillip and a party which included John Hunter, departed the Bay in three small boats to explore other bays to the north.Phillip discovered that Port Jackson, about 12 kilometres to the north, was an excellent site for a colony with sheltered anchorages, fresh water and fertile soil. Cook had seen and named the harbour, but had not entered it. Phillip's impressions of the harbour were recorded in a letter he sent to England later: "the finest harbour in the world, in which a thousand sail of the line may ride in the most perfect security ...". The party returned to Botany Bay on 23 January.


Sydney Cove, Port Jackson in the County of Cumberland - from a drawing made by Francis Fowkes in 1788.

On the morning of 24 January, the party was startled when two French ships were seen just outside Botany Bay. This was a scientific expedition led by Jean-François de La Pérouse. The French had expected to find a thriving colony where they could repair ships and restock supplies, not a newly arrived fleet of convicts considerably more poorly provisioned than themselves. There was some cordial contact between the French and British officers, but Phillip and La Pérouse never met. The French ships remained until 10 March before setting sail on their return voyage. They were not seen again and were later discovered to have been shipwrecked off the coast of Vanikoro in the present-day Solomon Islands.

On 26 January 1788, the Fleet weighed anchor and sailed to Port Jackson. The site selected for the anchorage had deep water close to the shore, was sheltered, and had a small stream flowing into it. Phillip named it Sydney Cove, after Lord Sydney the British Home Secretary. This date is celebrated as Australia Day, marking the beginning of British settlement. The British flag was planted and formal possession taken. This was done by Phillip and some officers and marines from the Supply, with the remainder of Supply's crew and the convicts observing from on board ship. The remaining ships of the Fleet did not arrive at Sydney Cove until later that day.


Port Jackson as seen from the air.



https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Phillip
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Fleet
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Jackson
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manly#Geschichte

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
21 January 1793 - Louis XVI of France executed


Louis XVI (French pronunciation: [lwi sɛːz]; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793), born Louis-Auguste, was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as Citizen Louis Capet during the four months before he was guillotined. In 1765, at the death of his father, Louis, son and heir apparent of Louis XV, Louis-Auguste became the new Dauphin of France. Upon his grandfather's death on 10 May 1774, he assumed the title "King of France and Navarre", which he used until 4 September 1791, when he received the title of "King of the French" until the monarchy was abolished on 21 September 1792.



The first part of his reign was marked by attempts to reform the French government in accordance with Enlightenment ideas. These included efforts to abolish serfdom, remove the taille, and increase tolerance toward non-Catholics. The French nobility reacted to the proposed reforms with hostility, and successfully opposed their implementation. Louis implemented deregulation of the grain market, advocated by his economic liberal minister Turgot, but it resulted in an increase in bread prices. In periods of bad harvests, it would lead to food scarcity which would prompt the masses to revolt. From 1776, Louis XVI actively supported the North American colonists, who were seeking their independence from Great Britain, which was realised in the 1783 Treaty of Paris. The ensuing debt and financial crisis contributed to the unpopularity of the Ancien Régime. This led to the convening of the Estates-General of 1789. Discontent among the members of France's middle and lower classes resulted in strengthened opposition to the French aristocracy and to the absolute monarchy, of which Louis and his wife, Queen Marie Antoinette, were viewed as representatives. Increasing tensions and violence were marked by events such as the storming of the Bastille, during which riots in Paris forced Louis to definitively recognize the legislative authority of the National Assembly. Louis XVI was iniciated into masonic lodge Trois-Frères à l'Orient de la Cour.

Louis's indecisiveness and conservatism led some elements of the people of France to view him as a symbol of the perceived tyranny of the Ancien Régime, and his popularity deteriorated progressively. His disastrous flight to Varennes in June 1791, four months before the constitutional monarchy was declared, seemed to justify the rumors that the king tied his hopes of political salvation to the prospects of foreign intervention. The credibility of the king was deeply undermined, and the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of a republic became an ever-increasing possibility. Despite his lack of popular approbation, Louis XVI did abolish the death penalty for deserters, as well as the labor tax, which had compelled the French lower classes to spend two weeks out of the year working on buildings and roads.

In a context of civil and international war, Louis XVI was suspended and arrested at the time of the Insurrection of 10 August 1792; one month later, the absolute monarchy was abolished; the First French Republic was proclaimed on 21 September 1792. He was tried by the National Convention (self-instituted as a tribunal for the occasion), found guilty of high treason, and executed by guillotine on 21 January 1793, as a desacralized French citizen under the name of "Citizen Louis Capet," in reference to Hugh Capet, the founder of the Capetian dynasty – which the revolutionaries interpreted as Louis's family name. Louis XVI was the only King of France ever to be executed, and his death brought an end to more than a thousand years of continuous French monarchy. Both of his sons died in childhood, before the Bourbon Restoration; his only child to reach adulthood, Marie Therese, was given over to the Austrians in exchange for French prisoners of war, eventually dying childless in 1851.



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