Naval/Maritime History 25th of April - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
26 January 1793 - Horatio Nelson appointed to command HMS Agamemnon (1781 - 64)


HMS Agamemnon was a 64-gun third-rate ship of the line of the British Royal Navy. She saw service in the Anglo-French War, French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and fought in many of the major naval battles of those conflicts. She is remembered as being Nelson's favourite ship, and was named after the mythical ancient Greek king Agamemnon, being the first ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name.


Horatio, Lord Nelson, by John Hoppner

The future Lord Nelson served as Agamemnon's captain from January 1793 for 3 years and 3 months, during which time she saw considerable service in the Mediterranean. After Nelson's departure, she was involved in the infamous 1797 mutinies at Spithead and the Nore, and in 1801 was present at the first Battle of Copenhagen, but ran aground before being able to enter the action.

Despite Nelson's fondness for the ship, she was frequently in need of repair and refitting, and would likely have been hulked or scrapped in 1802 had war with France not recommenced. She fought at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805, as part of Nelson's weather column, where she forced the surrender of the Spanish four-decker Santísima Trinidad. Agamemnon's later career was served in South American waters off Brazil.

Her worn-out and poor condition contributed to her being wrecked when in June 1809 she grounded on an uncharted shoal in the mouth of the River Plate, whilst seeking shelter with the rest of her squadron from a storm. All hands and most of the ship's stores were saved, but the condition of the ship's timbers made it impossible to free the ship; her captain was cleared of responsibility for the ship's loss thanks to documents detailing her defects. Recently, the wreck of Agamemnon has been located, and several artefacts have been recovered, including one of her cannons.




Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth for Raisonnable (1768), and later for Agamemnon (1781) and Belliqueux (1780), all 64-gun Third Rate, two-deckers. Signed by Thomas Slade [Surveyor of the Navy, 1755-1771], and John Williams [Surveyor of the Navy, 1765-1784]

French Revolutionary War
Under Nelson
In anticipation of the start of Britain's involvement in the French Revolutionary War after the execution of King Louis XVI, Agamemnon was recommissioned on 31 January 1793. She was placed under the command of Captain Horatio Nelson, and after provisioning joined the fleet lying at anchor at the Nore. She subsequently sailed to join the Mediterranean fleet under Vice-Admiral Hood, which was blockading the French port of Toulon. On 27 August the town of Toulon declared its allegiance to the Royalist Bourbon cause, and Hood's fleet moved in to take control of the naval dockyard and the 30 French ships of the line that were in the harbour. After capturing 19 of the ships, Agamemnon was sent to Naples to ask King Ferdinand IV for reinforcements with which to secure the town; he agreed to provide 4,000 men. When the revolutionary army, commanded by Napoleon Buonaparte, launched its assault against Toulon, the troops proved insufficient to hold it, and they were forced to abandon the town. Later in the autumn, Agamemnon fought the inconclusive Action of 22 October 1793 against a French frigate squadron off Sardinia.

In April and May 1794, seamen from Agamemnon, led by Nelson, helped capture the Corsican town of Bastia. The French surrendered on 21 May, after a 40-day siege. After this action, Agamemnon was forced to sail to Gibraltar to undergo urgent repairs, the ship having become very worn out after just 16 months at sea, despite having undergone a fairly extensive refit just prior to being recommissioned. Upon completion of her repairs, Agamemnon returned to Corsica, anchoring south of Calvi on 18 June. After Hood arrived with additional ships, Agamemnon contributed guns and men to the 51-day siege of Calvi, during which time Nelson lost the sight in his right eye when a French shot kicked sand and grit into his face. The town surrendered on 10 August, Agamemnon having lost six men in the engagement. Shortly thereafter the inhabitants of Corsica declared themselves to be subjects of His Majesty King George III.


Agamemnon (left) battling Ça Ira on 13 March 1795. The frigates HMS Inconstant (left, background) and Vestale (right) are also visible.

Agamemnon, still with the Mediterranean fleet—now under Vice-Admiral William Hotham, who had superseded Hood in December 1794—participated in the Battle of Genoa when a French fleet, comprising 15 ships of the line, was sighted on 10 March 1795. Three days later, the French having shown no signs that they were willing to give battle, Admiral Hotham ordered a general chase. The French ship Ça Ira lost her fore and main topmasts when she ran into one of the other ships of the French fleet, Victoire, allowing HMS Inconstant to catch up with and engage her. Agamemnon and Captain came up to assist soon after, and continued firing into the 80-gun French ship until the arrival of more French ships led to Admiral Hotham signalling for the British ships to retreat. Ça Ira was captured the following day, along with Censeur, which was towing her, by Captain and Bedford.

On 7 July 1795, whilst in company with a small squadron of frigates, Agamemnon was chased by a French fleet of 22 ships of the line and 6 frigates. Due to adverse winds, Admiral Hotham was unable to come to her aid until the following day, and the French fleet was sighted again on 13 July, off the Hyères Islands. Hotham signalled for his 23 ships of the line to give chase, and in the ensuing Battle of the Hyères Islands, Agamemnon was one of the few Royal Navy ships to engage the enemy fleet. The French ship Alcide struck her colours during the battle, only to catch fire and sink. Many of the other French ships were in a similar condition; Agamemnon and Cumberland were manoeuvring to attack a French 80-gun ship when Admiral Hotham signalled his fleet to retreat, allowing the French to escape into the Gulf of Fréjus. Admiral Hotham was later greatly criticised for calling off the battle, and was relieved as Commander-in-Chief in the Mediterranean by Admiral Sir John Jervis at the end of the year.

Nelson was promoted to Commodore on 11 March. Shortly thereafter, in the action of 31 May 1796, boats from Agamemnon and Nelson's squadron captured a small convoy of French vessels off the Franco-Italian coast, while suffering minimal casualties.

On 10 June 1796 Nelson transferred his pennant to HMS Captain, Captain John Samuel Smith replacing him as Agamemnon's commander. Having been deemed in great need of repair, Agamemnon then returned to England.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horatio_Nelson,_1st_Viscount_Nelson
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Agamemnon_(1781)
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-289643;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=A

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
26 January 1800 - HMS Brazen (18), James Hanson, was driven by a gale on to the Ave Rocks near Newhaven and was destroyed


HMS Brazen was the French privateer Invincible General Bonaparte (or Invincible Bonaparte or Invincible Buonaparte), which the British captured in 1798. She is best known for her wrecking in January 1800 in which all but one of her crew drowned.



Capture
Invincible General Bonaparte was a French privateer of 20 guns and 170 men under the command of Jean Pierre Lamothe and under the ownership of Salanche, Bordeaux. The frigate Boadicea captured her on 9 December 1798. She was sixteen days out of Bordeaux and reportedly had not made any captures.

However, a privateer by the same name had taken and burned Friendship, Smith, master, which had been sailing from St Ube's to Falmouth. Boadiceasent Invincible Buonaparte, of "18 guns and 175 men" into Portsmouth.

The prize arrived at Spithead on 18 December and in time the Admiralty decided to purchase her. The Admiralty renamed her Brazen and established her as an 18-gun sloop of war.

Service
Brazen was fitted for service in the Channel and Captain James Hanson, who had sailed with Captain George Vancouver (1791-4), commissioned her on 19 October 1799. Two weeks later, Captain Andrew Sproule, Commander of the Brighton Sea Fencibles wrote to Captain Henry Cromwell drawing attention to the presence of French privateers off the coast. A week later Admiral Milbanke told the Admiralty in London that "the Brazen Sloop sailed this morning under orders to cruise till further notice for the protection of the Trade and annoyance of the enemy between Beachy Head and Dunmose."

She sailed from Morwellham, a small inland Devon port, and on 25 January 1800, she captured a French vessel off the Isle of Wight that Hanson sent into Portsmouth with a 12-man prize crew. This left Brazena little short-handed.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, stern board outline, and longitudinal half-breadth for Brazen (captured 1798), a captured French privateer prior to being fitted as a 16-gun Ship Sloop. The plans shows the ship with her original French name of 'Invincible General Bonaparte'. Note the pronounced 'V' shaped hull, indicating that she was built for speed. Signed by Edward Tippett [Master Shipwright, Portsmouth Dockyard, 1793-1799].

Wreck
Unfortunately, early in the morning on the next day, 26 January, Brazen was wrecked under high cliffs west of Newhaven. Captain Sproule and 20 Sea Fencibles rushed to the site but arrived too late to rescue any of the crew, all but one of whom died.

The sole survivor was Jeremiah Hill, a seaman from HMS Carysfort who had joined the crew of Brazen ten days before the wreck. Hill had been asleep below decks when the ship struck the cliffs on the night of 25 January. On waking he rushed to assist his crew mates, who were engaged in cutting away the main and mizzen masts to lighten the ship and avoid her beating against the rocks. Although they succeeded in cutting away the masts the force of the waves against the hull was too great and Brazen immediately heeled over onto her side. Hill, who could not swim, fell or jumped overboard and managed to grab a part of the main mast that was floating beside the hull. This kept him afloat until he was able to reach some broken timbers from one of Brazen's gun carriages. He clutched these and slowly floated to shore.

On the following morning, Brazen's hull was visible about half a mile from shore. The tide was low and observers could see large numbers of her crew still clinging to the upturned hull. As the hours passed the ship's remains gradually disappeared, until by high tide the waves were "breaking nearly fifty feet up the cliff face" and it was evident there could be no further survivors.

Sproule and his Sea Fencibles rescued what they could from Brazen, including the sternpost, two of her guns, and some timbers from the hull.[6] As the bodies of the crew washed ashore the local citizens buried them in the churchyard of St Michael's in Newhaven. In all, they recovered some 95 bodies, out of a crew of about 105.[6] Hanson's body, however, was never retrieved.

Postscript
Friends of Captain Hanson erected a monument in the form of an obelisk in the churchyard. The text commemorates Hanson, his officers (who are named), and the crew. In 1878 his widow, Louisa, restored the monument. She lived to the age of 103 and is believed to have been the longest recipient of a naval pension on record.

The wrecking so shocked the people of Newhaven that they formed a committee to investigate how a similar disaster could be avoided. In May 1803, using funds partly raised locally and partly from Lloyd's of London, they acquired a rescue lifeboat of Henry Greathead's "Original" design. This was some twenty years before the formation of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Brazen_(1798)

 

[Bryian]

And don't forget that today is a very special day for Australia. Its when the first fleet arrived in Australia at Botany bay.

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
26 January 1805 - HM brig Epervier (16), John Impey, captured the French privateer schooner L'Elizabeth (4)


HMS Epervier was a French 16-gun Alcyon-class brig. HMS Egyptienne captured her in the Atlantic Ocean on 27 July 1803; she was taken into Royal Navyservice under her existing name. Before being broken up in 1811 she captured several prizes and was present at the Battle of San Domingo. Her crew received a clasp to the Naval General Service Medal for their participation in that battle and another for an action in December 1808. She was laid up in late 1810 and was sold in 1811.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with stern board decoration and name in a cartouche on the stern counter, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth half-breadth for the Epervier (captured 1803), a captured French Brig, possibly as fitted as an 18-gun Brig Sloop. Signed by Nicholas Diddams [Master Shipwright, Portsmouth Dockyard, 1803-1823].


French origins and capture
Epervier was built between 1801 and 1802 by Enterprise Crucy Basse-Indre (near Nantes) to a design by François Gréhan. She was launched on 30 June 1802.

She was commissioned under Lieutenant de vaisseau Emmanuel Halgan. At some point Jérôme Bonaparte boarded her. On 31 August 1802 she sailed from Nantes for Martinique and Guadeloupe.

Captain Charles Fleeming (Fleming) and Egyptienne captured Epervier off the coast of France on 27 July 1803 as she was returning to Lorient from Guadeloupe. At the time she was armed with 16 guns and had a crew of 90 men.



British service
The British rearmed her, upgrading her battery substantially. Commander James Watson commissioned her in May 1804 and then in August Commander John Impey assumed command and sailed for Jamaica the next month.

On 15 January 1805, Epervier captured the Sally.

Then eleven days later, Epervier was in the Leeward Islands, six miles from Crab Island. For five hours she chased a strange sail before she succeeded in capturing the French privateer schooner Elizabeth from Marie Galante. Elizabeth was armed with four carriage guns and small arms. One of her crew of 34 was killed during her "obstinate Attempt to escape." She had already taken a sloop from Tortola that she had sent into St. Thomas.

On 9 May Epervier and Circe captured the Charles. Later that month, on 25 May Epervier captured the Spanish schooner Casualidad. She was taking a cargo of cocoa from Puerto Cabello to Old Spain.

Lieutenant James Higginson (acting) assumed command in January 1806. On 6 February Epervier was with the squadron under Vice Admiral, Sir John Duckworth in Superb, which took or destroyed five sail of the line in the Battle of San Domingo. Epervier was too small to take part in the battle but she did share in the prize money. In 1847 Her crew also qualified for the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "St. Domingo".

Commander Samuel J. Pechell assumed command of Epervier in March 1807 until April when John Bowker of San Josef was promoted from Lieutenant to the command. Ill health forced Bowker to give up his command to Thomas Tudor Tucker from Curieux. On 11 May, while under Tucker's command, Epervier captured the brig Mildred.

Bowker re-assumed command and on 27 October was in command of Epevier when she captured the Danish galliot Active. However Bowken then had to return home in February 1808. His successor was again Tucker.

On 12 December Epervier joined the frigate Circe, the ship-sloop Stork, the schooner Morne Fortunee, and the advice boat Express in an action against the French 16-gun schooner Cygne and two schooners off the Pearl Rock, Saint-Pierre, Martinique. The British eventually succeeded in destroying Cygne, but suffered heavy casualties in the process. In all, the British lost some 12 men killed, 31 wounded, and 26 missing (drowned or prisoners) for little gain. Epervier suffered no losses. In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the award of the Naval General Service Medal with the clasp "Off The Pearl Rock 13 Decr. 1808" to the then living survivors of the battle. Later in December Tucker transferred to Cherub.

Fate
Commanders Thomas Barclay and James P. Stewart, and possibly Lt. M. de Courcy (acting). commanded her briefly. On 4 September 1810 the Navy Office offered her for sale at Chatham Dockyard. Epervier was scrapped at Chatham in June 1811.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Epervier_(1803)

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
26 January 1807 – Launch of HMS Porcupine, a Royal Navy Banterer-class post ship of 24 guns


HMS Porcupine was a Royal Navy Banterer-class post ship of 24 guns, launched in 1807. She served extensively and relatively independently in the Adriatic and the Western Mediterranean during the Napoleonic Wars, with her boats performing many cutting out expeditions, one of which earned for her crew the Naval General Service Medal. She was sold for breaking up in 1816 but instead became the mercantile Windsor Castle. She was finally sold for breaking up in 1826 at Mauritius.


Model of HMS Cyane (sistership)

Design
Porcupine was rated a 24-gun ship and the original plan was that she would mount that number of long 9-pounders on her main deck plus two 6-pounder guns on her forecastle. She also carried ten 24-pounder carronades on her quarter-deck and forecastle. By the time that Captain the Honorable Henry Duncan commissioned her in March 1807, the Admiralty had added two brass howitzers to her armament, while exchanging her 9-pounders for 32-pounder carronades. Her complement was increased by twenty to 175 officers, men and boys.

Service
Porcupine entered service in March 1807, operating in the Mediterranean Fleet during the Napoleonic Wars under the command of Captain Henry Duncan. Detached to serve on independent command in the Adriatic Campaign, Porcupine fought numerous minor actions with shore batteries and coastal merchant ships.



Adriatic
On 23 September 1807, she captured the Fortuna.[5] Then on 7 October Porcupine chased a trabaccolo into the harbour of Zupaino on Šipan (Giuppana), the largest of the Elaphiti Islands. That evening Duncan sent his boats, under the command of Lieutenant George Price, with Lieutenant Francis Smith, into the harbour where they captured and brought out the trabaccolo, which was the Venetian gunboat Safo. She was armed with a 24-pounder gun and some swivel guns, and had a crew of some 50 men, all under the command of enseigne de vaisseau Anthonio Ghega. She was well moored to the shore and was expecting an attack. Even so, once the British arrived, most of the crew jumped overboard. Safo belonged to a division of gunboats deployed to protect the coast and had been sent out from Ragusa (Dubrovnik) three days earlier. Also, before entering the harbour, the British captured a guard boat with one 4-pounder swivel gun. Despite the resistance, the Porcupine had only two men wounded.

Between 23 September and 23 November, Porcupine captured some 40 enemy vessels, most of which were carrying grain and wine between Ragusa and Catero (Kotor). Duncan received intelligence that the French were going to fortify the island of Curzola. He therefore kept Porcupine between the island and Ragusa. On 27 November Lieutenant Price in the cutter captured two small vessels sailing from Ragusa; small arms fire from the shore wounded one man. Two days later Price went into the harbour of Zuliano where he destroyed several small vessels and wine in warehouses that was intended for French troops. He brought out the only vessel afloat, a trabaccolo carrying a cargo of wool. As he was leaving the port another trabaccolo approached and before Porcupine could intercept it, Price had captured it too. She was sailing from Ragusa to Curzola with military stores, including two 6½" brass mortars, two 5½" brass howitzers, four new carriages for 18-pounder guns, together with material for constructing a shore battery as well as shot and shell. Duncan was able to get the guns and most of the stores on to Porcupine before a gale came up, which forced him to destroy the two trabaccolos.

Porcupine's next exploit occurred on 7 January 1808. After a chase of eight hours, Porcupine captured the French transport Saint Nicolo. She was armed with two guns, had a crew of 16 sailors, and also had on board 31 soldiers from the 6th Regiment of the Line. She was 36 hours out of Tarento. Finding out from the prize that another vessel had left four hour earlier, Duncan set out to find her in the channel between Paxos and Corfu. He was successful in intercepting his quarry, which turned out to be Madonna del Carmine. She was armed with six guns, had a crew of 20 men, and was carrying 33 soldiers, also from the 6th Regiment. Both vessels were on their first voyage and were carrying cargoes of grain and gunpowder for the garrison at Corfu.

Western Mediterranean
Next, Duncan was ordered to cruise in the Western Mediterranean off Naples and continued his successful operations against coastal shipping. Following the outbreak of the Peninsular War, Duncan was ordered to take the Duke of Orléans to Cadiz. Duncan refused and was subject to disparaging comments about his age, although he was later proven correct in his assessment. In June 1808, Robert Elliott was appointed to replace Duncan; however, some months elapsed before he was able to do so.


Civitavecchia in 1795, etching by William Marlow.

On 23 June a French vessel exited Civitavechia and tried to elude Porcupine. However, Porcupine succeeded in running her ashore between two towers, each armed with two cannons. Lieutenant Price took in the boats and succeeded in destroying her, without suffering any casualties and despite heavy fire from the towers. The vessel was from Ischia and was sailing with a cargo of wine.

Two days later, Porcupine was off the island of Monte Christo when a daylight she encountered a French schooner. After an 11-hour chase, Porcupine succeeded in capturing her about four leagues south of Bastia. The French crew abandoned their vessel and escaped before Porcupine could take possession of her. She was the Nouvelle Enterprise, three weeks old, pierced for 14 guns but only mounting six. She was 24 hours out of Leghorn and was carrying bale goods for Scala Nova in Turkey.

However, on 9 July Duncan spotted an enemy merchant vessel, and her escorts, two gunboats, each armed with a 24-pounder gun, all sailing along the coast.[9]Porcupine was becalmed off Monte Circello, Romania so Duncan sent in her boats. After rowing eight hours in the heat, the boats succeeded in driving the merchant vessel on shore and the gunboats to take shelter under the guns of two shore batteries at Port d'Anzo (Anzio). Three more French vessels arrived and succeeded in getting into the harbour. One of the vessels was a large polacca of six guns, and she anchored a little further out than the other vessels. That evening Duncan sent in the boats again to cut her out. The polacca, which had a crew of some 20-30 men, was expecting an attack and had tied her to the beach. French soldiers were on the beach, and the polacca was within close range of the batteries, a tower, and the gunboats. Still, the British succeeded in capturing her and getting her out to sea, though it took them about an hour and twenty minutes to do so. The polacca had been sailing from Hieres Bay to Naples with a cargo of salt. In the attack, the British suffered eight men wounded, including Lieutenant Price, who was severely injured in his head and leg. He received a promotion to commander for this and earlier achievements in some 30 boat actions. In 1847 the Admiralty issued the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "10 July Boat Service 1808" to all surviving claimants from the action.

On 10 July, Porcupine captured Madonna de Rosario. Eleven days later, Porcupine ran a French polacca ashore near Monte Circello. Lieutenant Smith took in the boats and destroyed the polacca, which was of about 200 tons burthen (bm) and which had been carrying a cargo of iron hoops and staves. The cutting out expedition suffered no casualties though it came under fire from a tower with two guns located no more than a pistol-shot away.

After dark on 8 August, Porcupine, still under the command of Duncan, had her cutter and jolly boat under Lieutenant Francis Smith cut out a vessel she had run ashore on the island of Pianosa. The cutting out party was successful, bringing out Concepcion, which was armed with four guns. She had been lying within 30 yards of a tower and a shore battery of six guns. She was also defended by soldiers on the beach and one of her guns which she had landed. She had been carrying bale goods from Genoa to Cyprus. The action cost Porcupine one man killed, and a lieutenant and eight men severely wounded, with three men later dying of their wounds.[6] Smith might have received a promotion for this and prior actions but Duncan's letter to Admiral Collingwood was lost and the duplicate arrived only after Collingwood had died in March 1810.

Channel
By 14 July 1810, Elliot had assumed command of Porcupine. On that day the sailing master for Porcupine impressed an American sailor, Isaac Clark, from Jane out of Norfolk, Virginia. Elliott tore up the seaman's protection (a document attesting to his being an American citizen and so exempt from British impressment), declaring the man an Englishman. Over the next few weeks Elliott had Clark whipped three times (each whipping consisting of 24 lashes) when Clark refused to go on duty, and held in irons on bread and water. After nine weeks Clark surrendered. He served on Porcupine for two and a half years, being wounded in an engagement with a French frigate. Eventually he was transferred to Impregnable and then to a hospital due to ongoing problems with his wound. There the American consul was able to get him released and discharged, a copy of the protection having been forwarded from Salem, Massachusetts. Clark further testified that there were seven Americans aboard Porcupine, three of whom had agreed to serve.

In 1811, Porcupine was ordered to sail to Brazil and returned to Portsmouth. She was at Portsmouth on 31 July 1812 when the British authorities seized the American ships there and at Spithead on the outbreak of the War of 1812. She therefore shared, with numerous other vessels, in the subsequent prize money for these vessels: Belleville, Aeos, Janus, Ganges, and Leonidas.

Porcupine later joined the squadron off Bordeaux, assisting the British advance during the Peninsular War. Porcupine, while under command of Captain John Goode and carrying the flag of Rear-Admiral Charles Penrose, through early 1814 operated against French coastal positions and squadrons.

On the morning of 23 February 1814, she and the other vessels of Penrose's flotilla assisted the British Army in its crossing of the Ardour river, near Bayonne. In this service two of Porcupine's seamen drowned, as did some others from the flotilla when boats overturned crossing the bar on the coast.

On 2 April Captain Goode, who had ascended the Gironde above Pouillac, sent Porcupine's boats, under the orders of Lieutenant Robert Graham Dunlop, to pursue a French flotilla that was proceeding down from Blaye to Tallemont. As the British boats approached them, the French flotilla ran on shore under the cover of about 200 troops from Blaye who lined the beach. Dunlop landed with a party of seamen and marines and drove the French off. The landing party remained until the tide allowed them to take away most of the French vessels. The British captured a gun-brig, six gun-boats, one armed schooner, three chasse-marées, and an imperial barge, and burned a gun-brig, two gun-boats, and a chasse-marée. Total British casualties were two seamen missing and 14 seamen and marines wounded.

Porcupine returned to Plymouth from Bordeaux on 6 September 1814. On 4 November she sailed to the Coast of Africa and thence to the Cape of Good Hope before coming back to Sierra Leone on 29 April 1815.

Dis-osal: On 16 October 1815 Porcupine arrived at Deal and sailed for the river to be paid off. She arrived at Woolwich on 6 November and was paid off and laid up in ordinary. Although there were some plans for her to serve on the South America station, she never sailed again for the Royal Navy. Porcupine was sold at Woolwich Dockyard in April 1816 for breaking up.

Merchantman and loss
However, rather than breaking her up, J. Short & Co., purchased her, converted her to a merchantman and renamed her Windsor Castle. Her owners traded with India under a license from the British East India Company The supplemental pages for Lloyd's Register for 1816 show her master as "Hornblower", and her trade as London-India. In 1818 her master was T. Hoggart and her trade was London-Bengal.

On 1 June 1826, she put into Mauritius leaking badly. There she was surveyed, condemned as a constructive total loss, and sold for breaking up.

Post script
In January 1819, the London Gazette reported that Parliament had voted a grant to all those who had served under the command of Lord Viscount Keith in 1812, between 1812 and 1814, and in the Gironde. Porcupine was listed among the vessels that had served under Keith in 1813 and 1814. She had also served under Kieth in the Gironde.




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Porcupine_(1807)

 

[Uwek]

And don't forget that today is a very special day for Australia. Its when the first fleet arrived in Australia at Botany bay.

Yes, about the First fleet I made already some events in the last days, but off course ......

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
26 January 1788 – The British First Fleet, led by Arthur Phillip, sails into Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) to establish Sydney, the first permanent European settlement on Australia.
Commemorated as Australia Day


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

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.

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.


Capt. Arthur Phillip raising the British flag at Sydney Cove, 26 January 1788

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.


An engraving of the First Fleet in Botany Bay at voyage's end in 1788, from The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay.[43] Sirius is in the foreground; convict transports such as Prince of Wales are depicted to the left.


After January 1788
The ships of the First Fleet mostly did not remain in the colony. Some returned to England, while others left for other ports. Some remained at the service of the Governor of the colony for some months: some of these were sent to Norfolk Island where a second penal colony was established.

1788

• 15 February – HMS Supply sails for Norfolk Island carrying a small party to establish a settlement.
• 5/6 May – Charlotte, Lady Penrhyn and Scarborough set sail for China.
• 14 July – Borrowdale, Alexander, Friendship and Prince of Wales set sail to return to England.
• 2 October – Golden Grove sets sail for Norfolk Island with a party of convicts,[59][60] returning to Port Jackson 10 November, while HMS Sirius sails for Cape of Good Hope for supplies.
• 19 November – Fishburn and Golden Grove set sail for England. This means that only HMS Supply now remains in Sydney cove.

1789

• 23 December – HMS Guardian carrying stores for the colony strikes an iceberg and is forced back to the Cape. It never reaches the colony in New South Wales.

1790:

• 19 March – HMS Sirius is wrecked off Norfolk Island.
• 17 April – HMS Supply sent to Batavia, Java, for emergency food supplies.
• 3 June – Lady Juliana, the first of six vessels of the Second Fleet, arrives in Sydney cove. The remaining five vessels of the Second Fleet arrive in the ensuing weeks.
• 19 September – HMS Supply returns to Sydney having chartered the Dutch vessel Waaksamheid to accompany it carrying stores.

Australia Day, Sydney Harbour, 2004

Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Celebrated annually on 26 January, it marks the anniversary of the 1788 arrival of the First Fleet of British ships at Port Jackson, New South Wales, and the raising of the Flag of Great Britain at Sydney Cove by Governor Arthur Phillip. In present-day Australia, celebrations reflect the diverse society and landscape of the nation and are marked by community and family events, reflections on Australian history, official community awards and citizenship ceremonies welcoming new members of the Australian community.

The meaning and significance of Australia Day has evolved and been contested over time, and not all states have celebrated the same date as their date of historical significance. Unofficially, or historically, the date has also been variously named "Anniversary Day", "Foundation Day" and "ANA Day". The date of 26 January 1788 marked the proclamation of British sovereignty over the eastern seaboard of Australia (then known as New Holland). Although it was not known as Australia Day until over a century later, records of celebrations on 26 January date back to 1808, with the first official celebration of the formation of New South Wales held in 1818. On New Year's Day 1901, the British colonies of Australia formed a federation, marking the birth of modern Australia. A national day of unity and celebration was looked for. It was not until 1935 that all Australian states and territories adopted use of the term "Australia Day" to mark the date, and not until 1994 that the date was consistently marked by a public holiday on that day by all states and territories.

In contemporary Australia, the holiday is marked by the presentation of the Australian of the Year Awards on Australia Day Eve, announcement of the Australia Day Honours list and addresses from the Governor-General and the Prime Minister. It is an official public holiday in every state and territory. With community festivals, concerts and citizenship ceremonies, the day is celebrated in large and small communities and cities around the nation. Australia Day has become the biggest annual civic event in Australia.

Some Indigenous Australian events are now included. However, since at least 1938, the date of Australia Day has also been marked by Indigenous Australians, and those sympathetic to their cause, mourning what they see as the invasion of their land by Europeans and protesting its celebration as a national holiday. These groups sometimes refer to 26 January as Invasion Day or Survival Day and advocate that the date should be changed,[8][9] or that the holiday should be abolished entirely.




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

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
26 January 1808 - William Bligh deposed as governor of NSW by 'Rum Rebellion' mutiny.


The Rum Rebellion of 1808 was the only successful armed takeover of government in Australian history. During the 19th century, it was widely referred to as "the Great Rebellion".


A propaganda cartoon created within hours of William Bligh's arrest, portraying him as a coward

On 26 January 1808, 20 years to the day after Arthur Phillip founded the first European settlement in Australia, the New South Wales Corps under the command of Major George Johnston, working closely with John Macarthur, deposed the Governor of New South Wales, William Bligh. Afterwards, the military ruled the colony, with the senior military officer stationed in Sydney acting as the lieutenant-governor of New South Wales until the arrival from Britain of Major-General Lachlan Macquarie as the new governor at the beginning of 1810.





https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rum_Rebellion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Bligh

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
26 January 1826 – Launch of HMS Sulphur, a 10-gun Hecla-class bomb vessel of the British Royal Navy


HMS Sulphur was a 10-gun Hecla-class bomb vessel of the British Royal Navy, famous as one of the ships in which Edward Belcher explored the Pacificcoast of the Americas.




Lines (ZAZ5687)


Inboard profile plan (ZAZ5767)

Ship history
Sulphur was launched in 1826, and in 1829 carried Lieutenant-Colonel Frederick Irwin, officers, passengers and a detachment of troops from the 63rd Regiment to the Swan River Colony. She was converted into a survey ship in 1835 was sent along with HMS Starling to the Pacific Ocean. Captain Frederick Beechey commanded the expedition under orders to survey the Pacific coast "from Valparaíso to 63°30' N." By the time the ship reached Valparaíso on 9 June 1836 however, Beechey became too ill to continue leading the vessel and departed for the United Kingdom. Henry Kellett replaced Beechey and sailed for Panama City where the expedition waited for a replacement officer. Edward Belcher arrived at the port in March 1837 as the new officer and the expedition continued its operations, sailing for the Federal Republic of Central America.

Sulphur reached the capital of Russian America New Archangel, on 11 September where Governor Ivan Kupreyanov greeted the British with a colonial ball. After departing south, Sulphur reached the site of the first Nootka Convention, Yuquot, on 3 October. After meeting with local Nuu-chah-nulth dignitaries, the British vessel then went to the mouth of the Columbia River. Bad weather prevented the ship from visited from Fort Vancouver and instead sailed south for Yerba Buena in Alta California. Sulphur returned to the Columbia River on 28 July 1839.[5] After visiting Fort Vancouver the expedition went south, reaching San Blas on 24 November, where it remained until December. Sailing for the Marquesas Islands, Sulphur reached the archipelago in January 1840. She participated in the First Opium War between 1840 and 1841. The ship was used to survey the harbour of Hong Kong in 1841 and returned to England in 1842. She was used for harbour service from 1843, and was broken up by 20 November 1859, by then the last bomb vessel on the Navy List.

Richard Brinsley Hinds (1811-1846) served as surgeon on Sulphur 1835-42. He was a naturalist, and collected numerous samples of plants and marine animals for study. He edited The Botany of the Voyage of H.M.S. Sulphur [es] and The Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Sulphur (1844). The introduction to Zoology, Volume 1 provides a detailed description of the voyage.

Sulphur Channel on the north shore of Hong Kong Island was named after the ship.



His Majesty's Discovery Ships Fury and Hecla Hand coloured lithograph depicting the Fury and Hecla, which took part in 1824 and 1825 in Parry's attempt to discover a N/W passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Inscribed: "His Majesty's Discovery Ships Fury [and] Hecla". The Fury is on the left, Hecla on the right. His Majesty's Discovery Ships Fury and Hecla

The Hecla class was a class of bomb vessels of the Royal Navy of the early 19th century. They were designed for use as bomb or mortar ships and were very heavily built. Eight ships were launched; all were converted for use as exploration or survey ships. Four ships of the class are known for the role they played in Arctic and Antarctic exploration.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the half-section through the ship just aft the large stove that provided the heating on board and the inboard profile as fitted to Fury (1814), a Bomb Vessel converted for Arctic exploration (Northwest Passage) under Captain William Parry. The half-section also illustrates the additional planking to protect the ship. The ship was converted at Deptford Dockyard between November 1820 and April 1821. The plan states she was fitted for 'discovery to the North Pole', but this order was subsequently changed to searching for the Northwest Passage.

Ships

• HMS Fury

Builder: Mrs Mary Ross, Rochester
Ordered: 5 June 1813
Laid down: September 1813
Launched: 4 April 1814
Completed:Notes: Converted to Arctic discovery vessel in 1821
Fate: Bilged in Prince Regent Inlet, and abandoned in the Arctic on 25 August 1825

• HMS Hecla

Builder: Barkworth & Hawkes, North Barton (Hull)
Ordered: 5 June 1813
Laid down: July 1813
Launched: 22 July 1815
Completed:Notes: Arctic discovery vessel from 1819 to 1827. Converted to survey ship in December 1827
Fate: Sold on 13 April 1831

• HMS Infernal

Builder: Barkworth & Hawkes, North Barton (Hull)
Ordered: 5 June 1813
Laid down: July 1813
Launched: 26 July 1815
Completed:Notes:
Fate: Sold on 13 April 1831

• HMS Meteor

Builder: Pembroke Dockyard
Ordered: 18 May 1819
Laid down: May 1820
Launched: 25 June 1823
Completed: 26 July 1823
Notes: Survey ship, renamed HMS Beacon in June 1832
Fate: Sold on 17 August 1846

• HMS Aetna

Builder: Chatham Dockyard
Ordered: 18 May 1819
Laid down: September 1821
Launched: 14 May 1824
Completed: June 1824
Notes: Converted to survey ship in 1826. Receiving ship at Portsmouth in 1839.
Fate: Sold on 20 February 1846

• HMS Sulphur

Builder: Chatham Dockyard
Ordered: 18 May 1819
Laid down: May 1824
Launched: 26 January 1826
Completed: 21 February 1826
Notes: The last bomb-ship in Royal Navy service. Converted to survey ship in December 1835. Receiving ship at Woolwich from May 1843
Fate: Broken up by 20 November 1857

• HMS Thunder

Builder: Deptford Dockyard
Ordered: 18 May 1819
Laid down: November 1826
Launched: 4 August 1829
Completed: 26 October 1829
Notes: Converted to survey ship in January 1833
Fate: Broken up in March 1851

• HMS Vesuvius

Builder: Deptford Dockyard
Ordered: 18 May 1819 (Order transferred to Chatham Dockyard, reordered on 30 August 1828)
Laid down: August 1830
Launched:
Completed:
Notes:
Fate: Cancelled on 10 January 1831

• HMS Devastation

Builder: Plymouth Dockyard
Ordered: 18 May 1819
Laid down: 1820
Launched:
Completed:
Notes: Suspended on 10 January 1831
Fate: Cancelled on 11 July 1833

• HMS Volcano

Builder: Plymouth Dockyard
Ordered: 18 May 1819
Laid down: 1821
Launched:
Completed:
Notes: Suspended on 10 January 1831
Fate: Cancelled on 11 July 1833

• HMS Beelzebub

Builder: Plymouth Dockyard
Ordered: 18 May 1819
Laid down:
Launched:
Completed:
Notes: Suspended on 10 January 1831
Fate: Cancelled on 11 July 1833

• HMS Erebus

Builder: Pembroke Dockyard
Ordered: 9 January 1823
Laid down: October 1824
Launched: 7 June 1826
Completed: February 1828
Notes: Arctic discovery vessel in 1839, fitted with screw in 1845
Fate: Abandoned in Arctic on 22 April 1848

Service
Fury and Hecla sailed with William Edward Parry on his explorations in search of the Northwest Passage, with Fury being lost to ice on the second. Meteor was renamed Beacon and used as a survey ship, while Aetna and Thunder were both used as survey ships. Sulphur was also used as a survey ship, at one time being commanded by Edward Belcher who later commanded an expedition in search of John Franklin (though not in Sulphur). Erebus was one of two ships commanded by James Clark Ross during his exploration of Antarctica and by Franklin on his ill-fated search for the Northwest Passage. The other was the Vesuvius-class bomb vessel Terror. Both ships were lost during this last voyage.


Scale: 1:24. Plan showing the part section through the after side of the fore bomb-bed for Fury (1814), a bomb vessel building at Rochester by Mrs Mary Ross. The plan illustrates the bolts and chocks used to hold the beams and diagonal shores together, as well as the outline of the shot racks. Initialled by Henry Peake [Surveyor of the Navy, 1806-1822], Joseph Tucker [Surveyor of the Navy, 1813-1831] and Robert Seppings [Surveyor of the Navy, 1813-1832].


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing a section and plan view of the shell room on board the Fury (1814), a bomb vessel. The plan illustrates the storage position of the carcasses and shells within the room and the mechanism for conveying the shells.


Scale: 1:24. Plan showing the half section of the midship section illustrating the additional wooden sheathing as fitted to Fury (1814), a Bomb Vessel converted for Arctic exploration (Northwest Passage) under Captain William Parry. The ship was converted at Deptford Dockyard between November 1820 and April 1821. The plan states she was fitted for 'discovery to the North Pole', but this order was subsequently changed to searching for the Northwest Passage.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Sulphur_(1826)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hecla-class_bomb_vessel
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=F;start=20

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 26 January


1781 – Launch of spanish Santo Domingo 64 at Ferrol - BU 1807


1856 – First Battle of Seattle. Marines from the USS Decatur drive off American Indian attackers after all day battle with settlers.

The Battle of Seattle was a January 26, 1856 attack by Native Americans upon Seattle, Washington.[2] At the time, Seattle was a settlement in the Washington Territory that had recently named itself after Chief Seattle (Sealth), a leader of the Suquamish and Duwamish peoples of central Puget Sound.
Backed by artillery fire and supported by Marines from the United States Navy sloop-of-war Decatur, anchored in Elliott Bay (Seattle's harbor, then called Duwam-sh Bay), the settlers suffered only two deaths. It is not known if any of the Native American raiders died, though the historian Phelps writes that they later "would admit" to 28 dead and 80 wounded. The battle, part of the multi-year Puget Sound War or Yakima War, lasted a single day

USS Decatur was a sloop-of-war in the United States Navy during the mid-19th century. She was commissioned to protect American interests in the South Atlantic Ocean, including the interception of ships involved in the African slave trade. Decatur served in both the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War.
The sloop-of-war was named in honor of Commodore Stephen Decatur (1779–1820), one of the United States Navy's greatest heroes and leaders of the first two decades of the 19th century.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Seattle_(1856)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Decatur_(1839)


1866 - USS Wyandotte, originally USS Western Port, was a steamer acquired by the Navy as a gunboat for the Paraguay Expedition wrecked

USS Wyandotte, originally USS Western Port, was a steamer acquired by the Navy as a gunboat for the Paraguay Expedition in 1858. When the crisis of the American Civil War occurred, she operated in support of the Union Navy blockade of Confederate waterways.


The Paraguay Squadron (Harper's Weekly, New York, October 16, 1858).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Wyandotte_(1853)


1887 – Birth of Marc Mitscher, American admiral and pilot (d. 1947)

Marc Andrew "Pete" Mitscher (January 26, 1887 – February 3, 1947) was a pioneer in naval aviation who became an admiral in the United States Navy, and served as commander of the Fast Carrier Task Force in the Pacific during the latter half of World War II.



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


1911 – Glenn Curtiss flies the first successful American seaplane.

The Curtiss Model E was an early aircraft developed by Glenn Curtiss in the United States in 1911.


Curtiss a-1 pusher 1911, the United States Navy's first aircraft

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss_Model_E
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Curtiss


1913 - The body of John Paul Jones is laid in its final resting place in the Chapel of the Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md.

John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 – July 18, 1792) was the United States' first well-known naval commander in the American Revolutionary War. He made many friends and enemies—who accused him of piracy—among America's political elites, and his actions in British waters during the Revolution earned him an international reputation which persists to this day. As such, he is sometimes referred to as the "Father of the American Navy" (a sobriquet he shares with John Barry and John Adams).



Jones grew up in Scotland, became a sailor, and served as commander of several British merchant ships. After having killed one of his crew members with a sword, he fled to the Colony of Virginia and around 1775 joined the newly founded Continental Navy in their fight against Britain in the American Revolutionary War. He commanded U.S. Navy ships stationed in France and led several assaults on England and Ireland. Left without a command in 1787, he joined the Imperial Russian Navy and obtained the rank of rear admiral.


John Paul Jones's marble and bronze sarcophagus at the United States Naval Academy

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


1918 - The first USS Guinevere (SP-512) was a United States Navy patrol vessel wrecked

The first USS Guinevere (SP-512) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1918.
Guinevere was built in 1908 as a private steam and sail yacht of the same name by George Lawley & Son at Neponset, Massachusetts. On 10 June 1917, the U.S. Navy acquired her from her owner, Edgar Palmer of New York City, for use as a section patrol vessel during World War I. She was commissionedas USS Guinevere (SP-512) on 20 July 1917 with Lieutenant Guy Davis in command.
Guinevere departed Coaling Station Newport at Newport, Rhode Island, on 1 August 1917 bound for St. John's, Dominion of Newfoundland; the Azores; and Brest, France. Arriving at Brest on 29 August 1917, she commenced patrols of the French coast and began escorting convoys to Quiberon, Ushant, Lorient, and St. Nazaire, France.
Guinevere ran aground and was wrecked off the French coast on 26 January 1918 with no loss of life. Her wreck was sold for scrapping to the French firm Societe Americaine de Sauvetage on 30 June 1919.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Guinevere_(SP-512)


1943 - USS Wahoo (SS 238) sinks entire convoy of four Japanese supply ships north of New Guinea.

USS Wahoo (SS-238) was a Gato-class submarine, the first United States Navy ship to be named for the wahoo. Construction started before the U.S. entered World War II, and she was commissioned after entry. Wahoo was assigned to the Pacific theatre. She gained fame as an aggressive and highly successful submarine after Lieutenant Commander Dudley Walker "Mush" Morton became her skipper. She was sunk by Japanese aircraft in October 1943 while returning home from a patrol in the Sea of Japan.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Wahoo_(SS-238)


1944 - USS Skipjack (SS 184) sinks the Japanese destroyer Suzukaze and the aircraft ferry Okitsu Maru in the Caroline Islands area. Also on this date, USS Hake (SS 256) sinks the Japanese auxiliary netlayer Shuko Maru off Ambon and USS Crevalle (SS 291) sinks the Japanese gunboat Busho Maru 175 miles southeast of Cape St. Jacques, French Indochina.

USS Skipjack (SS-184), a Salmon-class submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named after the fish. Her keel was laid down by the Electric Boat Company in Groton, Connecticut, on 22 July 1936. She was launched on 23 October 1937 sponsored by Miss Frances Cuthbert Van Keuren, daughter of Captain Alexander H. Van Keuren, Superintending Constructor, New York Navy Yard. The boat was commissioned on 30 June 1938 with Lieutenant Herman Sall in command. She earned multiple battle stars during World War II and then was sunk, remarkably, by an atomic bomb during post-war testing. Among the most "thoroughly sunk" ships, she was refloated and then sunk a second time as a target ship two years later.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Skipjack_(SS-184)


1949 - USS Norton Sound (AVM-1), the first guided-missile ship, launched the first guided-missile, Loon.

USS Norton Sound (AV-11/AVM-1) was originally built as a Currituck-class seaplane tender by Los Angeles Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, San Pedro, California. She was named for Norton Sound, a large inlet in West Alaska, between the Seward Peninsula and the mouths of the Yukon, north-east of the Bering Sea.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Norton_Sound_(AVM-1)


1960 - Destroyer USS John S. McCain (DL-3) rescues the entire 41-man crew of the sinking Japanese freighter, Shinwa Maru, in the East China Sea.

USS John S. McCain (DL-3/DDG-36), originally designated DD-928 but reclassified in 1951 as a Destroyer Leader, was the second Mitcher-class destroyerin the United States Navy. The ship was launched by Bath Iron Works Corporation, Bath, Maine, on 12 July 1952. She was sponsored by Roberta McCain, the daughter-in-law of Admiral John S. McCain, Sr. (born 1884), and commissioned on 12 October 1953 at the Boston Naval Shipyard, with Commander E. R. King, USN, in command.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_John_S._McCain_(DL-3)

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
27 January 1663 – Birth of George Byng, 1st Viscount Torrington, Royal Navy admiral (d. 1733)


Admiral of the Fleet George Byng, 1st Viscount Torrington, KB, PC (27 January 1663 – 17 January 1733) of Southill Park in Bedfordshire, was a Royal Navy officer and statesman. While still a lieutenant, he delivered a letter from various captains to Prince William of Orange, who had just landed at Torbay, assuring the Prince of the captains' support; the Prince gave Byng a response which ultimately led to the Royal Navy switching allegiance to the Prince and the Glorious Revolution of November 1688.



As a captain, Byng saw action at the Battle of Vigo Bay, when the French fleet were defeated, during the War of the Spanish Succession. As a flag officer, he led the bombardment squadron while serving under Admiral Sir George Rooke at the Capture of Gibraltar and then took part in the Battle of Málaga at a later stage in the same war.

Byng was sent to the Mediterranean to thwart any attempt by the Spanish to take Sicily. He encountered the Spanish fleet at Naples and, after pursuing it down the Strait of Messina, sent ahead his fastest ships causing the Spanish fleet to split in two. In the ensuing action, known as the Battle of Cape Passaro, the Spanish fleet was devastated: 10 ships of the line were captured, four ships of the line sunk or burnt and four frigates were captured at this early and critical stage of the War of the Quadruple Alliance. He went on to be First Lord of the Admiralty during the reign of King George II.


Early career
Born the son of John Byng and Philadelphia Byng (née Johnson), Byng joined the Royal Navy as a King's Letter Boy in May 1678. He served initially in the fourth-rate HMS Swallow and then transferred to the fourth-rate HMS Reserve in November 1678 and to the fourth-rate HMS Mary Rose in June 1679.He sailed with the fifth-rate HMS Phoenix to Tangier in Summer 1680 and, after a short period of military service with the 2nd Tangier Regiment, he rejoined the Royal Navy as a lieutenant on 23 February 1684 and assigned to the fourth-rate HMS Oxford before returning to HMS Phoenix in which he sailed to the East Indies on a mission to put down a rebellion in Bombay. He transferred to the fourth-rate HMS Mordaunt in May 1688 and to the third-rate HMS Defiance in September 1688.


The first-rate HMS Britannia which Byng commanded as flag captain to Admiral Edward Russell

In October 1688 Byng, still a lieutenant, delivered a letter from various captains to Prince William of Orange, who had just landed at Torbay, assuring the Prince of the captains' support; the Prince gave Byng a response which ultimately led to the Royal Navy switching allegiance to the Prince and the Glorious Revolution of November 1688. Promoted to captain on 22 December 1688, he was given command of the fourth-rate HMS Constant Warwick before transferring to the command of the third-rate HMS Hope in May 1690 in which he saw action at the Battle of Beachy Head in July 1690 during the Nine Years' War. He transferred to the command of the second-rate HMS Duchess in September 1690 and to the third-rate HMS Royal Oak in January 1691 before becoming Flag Captain to Admiral Edward Russell in the first-rate HMS Britannia in December 1693.

Byng was given command of the third-rate HMS Nassau in June 1702 and saw action at the Battle of Vigo Bay, when the French fleet were defeated, in October 1702 during the War of the Spanish Succession.

Senior command
Promoted to rear admiral on 1 March 1703, Byng became third-in-command of the Mediterranean Fleet under Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell with his flag in the third-rate HMS Ranelagh later that month. He led the bombardment squadron while serving under Admiral Sir George Rooke at the Capture of Gibraltarin August 1704 and then took part in the Battle of Málaga in August 1704. Knighted on 22 October 1704 and promoted to vice admiral on 3 January 1705, he was elected Member of Parliament for Plymouth later that year.

Byng became Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, with his flag in the first-rate HMS Royal Anne, in late 1705 and then took part in the bombardment of Alicante in June 1706. After taking part in the British defeat at the Battle of Toulon in July 1707 and, while sailing aboard his flagship HMS Royal Anne, Byng was present during the great naval disaster off the Isles of Scilly in October 1707 when Shovell and four of his ships were lost, claiming the lives of nearly 2,000 sailors.

Promoted to full admiral on 26 January 1708, Byng became Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet in January 1709[4] and went on to join the Board of Admiralty led by the Earl of Orford in November 1709. Byng was advanced to Senior Naval Lord on the Admiralty Board in October 1710. He stood down from the Admiralty Board in January 1714 but was reappointed, as Senior Naval Lord again, on Orford's return to the Admiralty in October 1714.


The Battle of Cape Passaro at which Byng commanded the British fleet

Byng took part in the suppression of the Jacobite rising by cutting off the Old Pretender's supplies in 1715 and for this he was created a baronet on 15 November 1715. He was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 14 March 1718 and, with his flag in the second-rate HMS Barfleur, he was sent out as Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet to thwart any attempt by the Spanish to gain or to consolidate their position in Sicily. He encountered the Spanish fleet at Naples and, after pursuing it down the Strait of Messina, sent ahead his fastest ships causing the Spanish fleet to split in two. In the ensuing action on 11 August 1718, known as the Battle of Cape Passaro, the Spanish fleet was devastated: 10 ships of the line were captured, 4 ships of the line sunk or burnt and 4 frigates were captured at this early and critical stage of the War of the Quadruple Alliance.


George Byng, 1st Viscount Torrington by Godfrey Kneller circa 1700

Byng was then given power to negotiate with the various princes and states of Italy on behalf of the English crown. Following his return to England, Byng became both Treasurer of the Navy and Rear-Admiral of Great Britain on 21 October 1720. He was admitted to the Privy Council on 3 January 1721 and, having stepped down from the Admiralty Board in September 1721, was created Baron Byng of Southill in the county of Bedford, and 1st Viscount Torrington in Devon on 21 September 1721. He developed his estate at Southill Park in Bedfordshire in the 1720s.

Byng was installed as a Knight Companion of the Order of the Bath on 17 June 1725 and appointed First Lord of the Admiraltyduring the Walpole–Townshend Ministry in August 1727; in this role he was instrumental in the establishment of the Royal Naval College at Portsmouth

Death and burial
He died on 17 January 1733 and was eventually buried in a vault within the newly constructed Byng Mausoleum attached to the north side of the Church of All Saints in the parish of Southill, Bedfordshire, in which parish was situated his residence of Southill Park. The mausoleum was constructed for his burial, with licence granted by the Bishop of Lincoln in 1733. It is believed the architect was Isaac Ware, whom his 4th son Admiral John Byng employed in the building of Wrotham Park in Hertfordshire.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Byng,_1st_Viscount_Torrington

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
27 January 1695 - french Content (1686 - 66) and Trident (1688 - 52) captured by an English Squadron of six ships


On the 27th of January, a squadron of six frigates, commanded by Commodore James Killegrew, in the 60-gun ship Plymouth, being between Cape Bona, on the Barbary coast, and Pantellaria, discovered two large French ships, Which proved to be the Content, of sixty guns, Captain the Marquis du Chalard, and the Trident, fifty-two guns. Captain Count d'Aulnoy. The French, mistaking the frigates for merchant-ships, made sail towards them: but discovering their error, hauled to the wind and endeavoured to escape. Commodore Killegrew chased, and the Plymouth outsailing the other ships of the squadron, at 4h. p.m. got within gun-shot of the French ships, upon which she gallantly opened fire. For more than an hour this ship, unsupported, maintained a conflict with two powerful ships the wind being so light as to preclude the other ships from closing â€" during which time the brave commodore was killed by a cannonball The Falmouth, Captain Caleb Grantham, next got into action, but she also was alone for an hour. As soon as the four remaining frigates â€" Carlisle (Captain John Norris), Newcastle, Southampton (Captain Richard Kirby), and Adventure had arrived up, the French ships separated, but were pursued â€" the Content, by the Carlisle and Newcastle; and the Trident, by the Falmouth and Adventure. The French fought their ships well, and maintained a running fight throughout the night; but in the forenoon of the following day both surrendered, having lost many men, and being much disabled. The Trident, being leaky, was sent into Gorcjonti, and the Content was carried to Messina. The Plymouth suffered the most severely, having, in addition to the commodore, fourteen men killed and thirty wounded; besides being greatly damaged, and with the loss of her fore-topmast. The other five ships lost together about double that number. Commodore Killegrew was buried at Messina with military honours.




Content (1686 - 66), captured in 1695 by HMS Plymouth and taken into service as HMS Content and hulked in 1703.

Trident (1688 - 52), captured by HMS Plymouth in 1695 and taken in service as HMS Trydent. Later renamed Trident Prize, she was sunk as a breakwater in 1702 at Harwich.


The English ship ‘Plymouth’, 60 guns, was built in 1653 and rebuilt in 1705. The drawing is inscribed pleijmoud vergadt which identifies the ship. There is a drawing in the Boymans Museum in Rotterdam (MB1866.T331) of ‘de oude pleijmout daer Sr thomas/hallin mede naer konstantinoobelen was’ (The old ‘Plymouth’ in which Sir Thomas Allin went to Constantinople).

HMS Plymouth was a 52-gun third-rate frigate, built for the navy of the Commonwealth of England and launched at Wapping in 1653. By 1677 her armament had been increased to 60 guns.



Plymouth was rebuilt at Blackwall Yard in 1705 as a 60-gun fourth-rate ship of the line. She sunk later that year and was lost.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Plymouth_(1653)
https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_battle&id=223

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
27 January 1770 - HMS Jamaica, a 10-gun (14-gun from 1749) two-masted Hind-class sloop of the Royal Navy, wrecked


HMS Jamaica was a 10-gun (14-gun from 1749) two-masted Hind-class sloop of the Royal Navy, designed by Joseph Allin and built by him at Deptford Dockyard on the Thames River, England and launched on 17 July 1744. She and her sister Trial were the only sloops to be built in the Royal Dockyards between 1733 and 1748.



The term Brig-sloop is inappropriate here as it was not recognised as a rig description in the 1740s. She may have been snow rigged.

After more than 25 years service, she was wrecked off Cuba on 27 January 1770.


lines This plan relates to the new-builds which originally hads the names of the ships they replaced - esp. the Rupert's Prize and Pembroke's Prize.
Peregrina was launched as Merlin Galgo was launched as Swallow NMM, progress Book, volume 2, folio 542, states that 'Rupert Prize' was renamed 'Hind' per Admiralty Order dated April 1744. She was launched 19 April 1744, and fitted at Woolwich Dockyard between April and May 1744. The previous 'Rupert Prize' was sold in October 1743.
NMM, Progress Book volume 2, folio 540, states that 'Pembroke Prize' was renamed per Admiralty Order 'Vulture' on 18 April 1744. She was launched in May 1744, and surveyed afloat and refitted at Plymouth Dockyard, October-November 1744. The previous 'Pembroke Prize' was sold 13 March 1743.

The Hind class was a class of four sloops of wooden construction built for the Royal Navy between 1743 and 1746. Two were built by contract with commercial builders to a common design prepared by Joseph Allin, the Master Shipwright at Deptford Dockyard, and the other two were built in Deptford Dockyard itself.

The first two - Hind and Vulture - were ordered on 6 August 1743 to be built to replace two ex-Spanish vessels (the Rupert's Prize and Pembroke's Prize, captured in 1741 and 1742 respectively, and put into service by the British). Although initially armed with ten 6-pounder guns, this class was built with seven pairs of gunports on the upper deck, enabling them to be re-armed with fourteen 6-pounders later in their careers.

Two more vessels to the same design - Jamaica and Trial - were ordered ten days later, on 18 August 1743; these were built under Allin's supervision at Deptford Dockyard, and were the only wartime sloops of this era be built in a Royal Dockyard.




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Jamaica_(1744)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hind-class_sloop

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
27 January 1779 - Launch of french Terrible, a 110-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, lead ship of her class


The Terrible was a 110-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, lead ship of her class



Career
In 1793, she took part in a Franco-Spanish fleet assembled before Cádiz under Admiral d'Estaing, but the end of the American War of Independence occurred before it saw action.

She took part in the Bataille du 13 prairial an 2, where she was dismasted by HMS Royal Sovereign. She later took part in the campaign of Winter 1794-1795, and in the Cruise of Bruix.

She was decommissioned in 1802, condemned in May 1804, and eventually broken up in October.



First Rates ("vaisseaux de Premier Rang") of the Louis XVI era

110-gun three-decker group of 1780. Three different constructeurs designed these ships; the first two were by François-Guillaume Clairain-Deslauriers and Léon-Michel Guignace respectively, while the Toulon pair were by Joseph-Marie-Blaise Coulomb. Typically each carried 30 x 36pdr guns on the lower deck, 32 x 24pdr guns on the middle deck, 32 x 12pdr guns on the upper deck, and 16 x 8pdr guns on the gaillards, although this armament varied from time to time.

Invincible 110 (begun February 1779, launched 20 March 1780 and completed May 1780 at Rochefort) – condemned in 1806 and broken up in 1808.

Royal-Louis 110 (begun March 1779, launched 20 March 1780 and completed June 1780 at Brest) – renamed Républicain in September 1792, wrecked in storm December 1794.

Terrible 110 (begun July 1779, launched 27 January 1780 and completed May 1780 at Toulon) – condemned in 1804 and broken up.

Majestueux 110 (begun July 1780, launched 17 November 1780 and completed February 1781 at Toulon) – renamed Républicain in May 1797, condemned in 1808.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Terrible_(1779)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrible-class_ship_of_the_line

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
27 January 1785 – Launch of HMS Gorgon, a 44-gun fifth-rate two-decker ship of the Adventure class of 911 tons, launched at Blackwall Yard in 1785 and completed as a troopship.


HMS Gorgon was a 44-gun fifth-rate two-decker ship of the Adventure class of 911 tons, launched at Blackwall Yard in 1785 and completed as a troopship. She was subsequently converted to a storeship. She also served as a guardship and a hospital ship at various times before being broken up in 1817.



Troopship
Gorgon was fitted as a troopship at Portsmouth at a cost of £5,210, the work being completed on 15 December 1787. Lieutenant Charles Craven commissioned her in October 1787. She then was paid off one year later. One year after that, she was fitted for foreign service at an additional cost of £5,200 and recommissioned under Lieutenant William Harvey in October 1789.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with alterations to the head, longitudinal half-breadth proposed (and approved) for Woolwich (1785), and later used for Sheerness (1787), Severn (1786), Adventure (1784), Gorgon (1785), Chichester (1785), Dover (1786), and Expedition (1784), all 44-gun Fifth Rate, two-deckers. Signed by Edward Hunt [Surveyor of the Navy, 1778-1784]

New South Wales
Under Commander John Parker (c1749–1794), she went to New South Wales on 15 March 1791, along with the Third Fleet, arriving on 21 September 1791. She carried six months provisions for 900 people in the starving colony. She also carried about 30 convicts, and Philip Gidley King, who was returning to the colony to take up the post of lieutenant-governor of Norfolk Island. This voyage is described in a 1795 book by Mary Ann Parker, who travelled with her husband, the ship's captain.

On 18 December 1791 the Gorgon left Port Jackson, taking home the last company of the New South Wales Marine Corps, which had accompanied the First Fleet to guard the convicts and act as guard force for the new settlement. The marines leaving included Watkin Tench, Robert Ross, William Dawes, and Ralph Clark. Of the departure, Tench said, "we hailed it with rapture and exhilaration".

Gorgon also carried samples of animals, birds, and plants from New South Wales. At the Cape of Good Hope Gorgon took on board William Allen, Samuel Broom, Mary Bryant, her daughter Charlotte, Nathaniel Lillie, and James Martin, the survivors of a party of convicts who absconded from New South Wales in March 1791 and made it all the way to Kupang in West Timor. She also took on board ten of the mutineers from HMS Bounty that HMS Pandora had seized in Tahiti and who had survived the wreck of that vessel. During the voyage many of the children on board, including Charlotte Bryant, died of heat and illness. Gorgon arrived at Portsmouth on 18 June 1792, discharging her mixed passenger list of marines, escaped convicts, and mutineers.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the longitudinal half-breadth of the Gorgon (1785), a 44-gun Fifth Rate, two-decker, as fitted as a troopship, and with alterations for fitting the Charon (1783), a 44-gun Fifth Rate, two-decker, possibly as an Hospital Ship, at Plymouth Dockyard. According to the Progress Book, volume 5, folio 208, HMS Gorgon was fitted at Portsmouth Dockyard in 1790 for Foreign Service, suggesting that this plan was copied from the set for Gorgon, and altered for Charon.

French Revolutionary Wars
Between March and July 1793 Gorgon was fitted as a 20-gun storeship at Woolwhich, for a cost of £5,709.[2] She then was recommissioned under Commander Charles Patterson, who sailed her for the Mediterranean on 15 October 1793.

In February 1794 Gorgon was part of the fleet under Vice-Admiral Lord Samuel Hood at the taking of the Port of San Fiorenzo and Bastia, which eventually led to the capture of the island of Corsica by forces under Admiral Lord Nelson. Hood assigned Gorgon the task of protecting the convoy of transports carrying the troops and horses under the command of Lieutenant-General David Dundas.

At some point in 1794 Commander James Wallis replaced Patterson in command. However, in March 1795 Gorgon was paid off.

Commander Edward Tyrell recommissioned her in May 1795 and sailed her to the Mediterranean on 11 November 1795.

On 10 June 1796, Gorgon was in company with Courageaux and the hired armed cutter Fox. They were with the British fleet outside Toulon and were present when Southampton captured the French corvette Utile at Hyères Roads. Later that month Gorgon was at the evacuation of Leghorn.

In September 1796 Gilbert Elliot, the British viceroy of the Anglo-Corsican Kingdom, decided that it was necessary to clear out Capraja, which belonged to the Genoese and which served as a base for privateers. He sent Lord Nelson in Captain, together with Gorgon, Vanneau, the cutter Rose, and troops of the 51st Regiment of Foot to accomplish this task in September. On their way, Minerva joined them. The troops landed on 18 September and the island surrendered immediately.

In April 1797 Captain John W.T. Dixon took command. Captain John Williams replaced him in October 1797. Gorgon sailed for the Leeward Islands in January 1798.

On 13 January 1798 Gorgon was 70 leagues from Cape Finisterre when she caught up with and recaptured the brig Ann, of Dartmouth. Fifteen days earlier Ann had been sailing from Newfoundland to Lisbon when a French privateer had captured her. While Gorgon was exchanging people with the brig, another brig, this one exhibiting French colours, arrived. After Gorgon fired a few shots, the brig struck.

The newcomer turned out to be the French privateer Henri, from Nantes. She carried 14 guns, five of which she had thrown overboard. She also had a crew of 108 men. She had been cruising for five days but had taken nothing. Captain Richard Williams put a prize crew aboard and took her with him into Lisbon. The prize crew consisted mostly of men from Aigle, who had captured a prize and taken her to Lisbon.

Between 1799 and 1800 Gorgon continued to serve as a storeship under Commander Henry Hill. Then in 1801 Commander George Ross and Gorgon participated in the Egyptian campaign (8 March to 8 September 1801). Because Gorgon served in the campaign, her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal that the Admiralty issued in 1847 to all surviving claimants.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the framing profile (disposition) for Woolwich (1785), and later used for Sheerness (1787), Severn (1786), Adventure (1784), Gorgon (1785), Chichester (1785), Dover (1786), and Expedition (1784), all 44-gun Fifth Rate, two-deckers.

Napoleonic Wars
Commander William Wilkinson recommissioned Gorgon in May 1803 on the Irish station. In 1805, she served as a floating battery or guardship on the River Shannon. In October 1805 she was under Commander Francis Stanfell, with Commander Charles Ryder replacing him in May 1806.

Between November 1806 and July 1808 Gorgon was back in Woolwich, where she underwent a large repair and was fitted as a victualler. Commander Robert Brown Tom recommissioned her in May 1808 and sailed her to the Baltic where she again served as a storeship.

Even so, on 12 May 1809, she captured the Danish vessel the Petrena. Then on 21 May she was in company with the gun-brig Strenuous when they captured the Danish boat Helden.

By November 1809 she was a hospital ship under Commander Charles Webb. Still, on 24 October 1810, Gorgon, Victory, Alonzo, and the gun-brig Martial were present at the capture of the brig Hoppet.

Commander Alexander Milner had replaced Webb by April 1811. He sailed Gorgon to the Mediterranean on 10 March 1812. She came under the command of Commander Rowland Mainwaring in September. She then served as the flagship for Vice Admiral Francis Pickmore off Toulon. Commander Claude de Crespigny replaced Mainwaring at Port Mahon in 1813, but he died in July. Commander John Cornish replaced de Crespigny and in turn Commander Richard Booth Bowden replaced him in 1814.

War of 1812
Bowden then sailed Gorgon to America where she was part of the British fleet at the Battle of New Orleans. Before that battle her boats participated in the Battle of Lake Borgne on 14 December 1814. Gorgon had one master's mate slightly wounded. In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the issue of the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "14 Dec. Boat Service 1814" to all surviving claimants from the action.[16]

Fate
Gorgon was finally broken up in 1817.


The Adventure-class ship was a class of eight 44-gun sailing two-decker warships of the Royal Navy, classed as a fifth rate like a frigate, but carrying two complete decks of guns, a lower battery of 18-pounders and an upper battery of 12-pounders. This enabled the vessel to deliver a broadside of 318 pounds.

The class was designed in 1782 by Edward Hunt, Surveyor of the Navy, as a successor to the Roebuck class design of Sir Thomas Slade. The design saw a slight increase in breadth over the Roebuck class, but was otherwise very similar.

Like the Roebuck class, the Adventure class were not counted by the Admiralty as frigates; although sea officers sometimes casually described them and other small two-deckers as frigates, the Admiralty officially never referred to them as such. 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 Adventure-class ships were two-deckers with complete batteries on both decks, and hence not frigates.

Eight ships were ordered during 1782 and completed to this design, although none were ready to take part in the American War of Independence. Most were not brought into service until the outbreak of the French Revolutionary War, and survived to serve the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic War.

Adventure class 1784-87 (William Hunt)

• HMS Adventure 1784 - troopship 1799, hulked 1801, broken up 1816
• HMS Chichester 1785 - troopship 1787, storeship 1794, sold 1810
• HMS Expedition 1784 - troopship 1798, hulked 1810, broken up 1817
• HMS Gorgon 1785 - storeship 1793, floating battery 1805, broken up 1817
• HMS Woolwich 1785 - troopship 1793, storeship 1798, troopship 1813, wrecked 1813
• HMS Severn 1786 - wrecked 1804
• HMS Dover 1786 - transport 1795, accidentally burnt and then broken up 1806
• HMS Sheerness 1787 - completed as troopship, wrecked 1805

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Gorgon_(1785)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventure-class_ship
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...4;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=G;start=0

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
27 January 1799 - The Macau Incident was an inconclusive
encounter between a powerful squadron of French and Spanish warships and a British Royal Navy escort squadron in the Wanshan Archipelago (or Ladrones Archipelago) off Macau


The Macau Incident was an inconclusive encounter between a powerful squadron of French and Spanish warships and a British Royal Navy escort squadron in the Wanshan Archipelago (or Ladrones Archipelago) off Macau on 27 January 1799. The incident took place in the context of the East Indies campaign of the French Revolutionary Wars, the allied squadron attempting to disrupt a valuable British merchant convoy due to sail from Qing DynastyChina. This was the second such attempt in three years; at the Bali Strait Incident of 1797 a French frigate squadron had declined to engage six East Indiamen on their way to China. By early 1799 the French squadron had dispersed, with two remaining ships deployed to the Spanish Philippines. There the frigates had united with the Spanish Manila squadron and sailed to attack the British China convoy gathering at Macau.

The British commander in the East Indies, Rear-Admiral Peter Rainier was concerned about the vulnerability of the China convoy and sent reinforcements to support the lone Royal Navy escort, the ship of the line HMS Intrepid under Captain William Hargood. These reinforcements arrived on 21 January, only six days before the allied squadron arrived off Macau. Hargood sailed to meet the French and Spanish ships, and a chase ensued through the Wanshan Archipelago before contact was lost. Both sides subsequently claimed that the other had refused battle, although it was the allied squadron which withdrew, Hargood later successfully escorting the China convoy safely westwards.



Background
The East Indian trade was an essential component of the economy of Great Britain in the eighteenth century. Administered by the East India Company from British India, exotic trade goods were carried on large, well-armed merchant ships known as East Indiamen, which weighed between 500 and 1,200 long tons (510 and 1,220 t). Among the most valuable parts of the East India trade was an annual convoy from Canton, a port in Qing Dynasty China. Early each year, a large convoy of East Indiamen would assemble at Whampoa age in preparation for their six-month journey across the Indian Ocean and through the Atlantic to Britain. The value of the trade carried in this convoy, nicknamed the "China Fleet", was enormous: one convoy in 1804 was reported to be carrying goods worth over £8 million in contemporary values (the equivalent of £600,000,000 as of 2019).

British interests in the East Indies were protected by a large but scattered Royal Navy squadron under the overall command of Rear-Admiral Peter Rainier. By 1799, Rainier's command covered many thousands of square miles of ocean, including the strategically important ports of British India, Bombay, Madrasand Calcutta and the coast of British Ceylon, as well as bases in the Red Sea, at Penang and in the Dutch East Indies. He also had to maintain a watch on hostile warships, particularly a French force at the remote island base of Île de France (now Mauritius), the Dutch at Batavia (now Djakarta) and the Spanish at Manila. The French had been the greatest threat, with a powerful squadron assembled in 1796 under Contre-amiral Pierre César Charles de Serceymenacing British shipping in the East Indies in 1796 and 1797. On 28 January 1797, Sercey's force intercepted six East Indiamen in the Bali Strait on their way to China. In the ensuing Bali Strait Incident only quick thinking by the commodore, James Farquharson in Alfred, saved the Indiamen. In the poor visibility, the Indiamen imitated Royal Navy warships and dissuaded Sercey from pressing his attack.

Sercey's force had subsequently broken up as it proved too expensive to maintain as a cohesive force. By late 1798, Sercey was at anchor in Batavia with only two vessels, the 20-gun corvette Brûle-Gueule and the 40-gun frigate Preneuse, which had arrived in Batavia from a diplomatic mission to the Kingdom of Mysore in a state of near-mutiny; Captain Jean-Matthieu-Adrien Lhermitte had been forced to execute five men for disobedience en route. Sercey also learned that two additional frigates, Forte and Prudente would not be joining him: his orders had been countermanded by Governor Malartic on Île de France and these frigates were now cruising independently against British trade in the Indian Ocean. Sercey decided to augment his forces by uniting them with the allied Spanish squadron at Manila in the Spanish Philippines, his frigates arriving on 16 October 1798, although the admiral remained at Surabaya. The Spanish squadron had been severely damaged in a typhoon of April 1797 and repairs had taken nearly two years: when British frigates raided Manila in January 1798 not one Spanish ship was in a condition to oppose them.

Incident at Macau
of the junction of the French and Spanish squadrons reached Rainier soon afterwards. With the assembling merchant ships at Macau were the frigates HMS Fox and HMS Carysfort and the 64-gun ship of the line HMS Intrepid, the escort commanded by Captain William Hargood. However Fox and Carysfort were detached with a local convoy in November 1798, and Rainier, whose forces were largely committed to the Red Sea following the recent French invasion of Egypt, gave urgent orders for the frigates to be replaced by the 38-gun HMS Virginie and 74-gun HMS Arrogant. The reinforcements sailed through the Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea, arriving at Macau on 21 January 1799.

The Franco-Spanish squadron, comprising the 74-gun ships of the line Europa and Montañés, and the frigates Maria de la Cabeya and Luisa, accompanied by Preneuse and Brûle-Gueule, sailed from Manila on 6 January 1799, under the command of Rear-Admiral Ignacio Maria de Álava. Alava's squadron crossed the South China Sea in three weeks, arriving in the Wanshan Archipelago near Macau on 27 January 1799 with the intention of attacking shipping at Macau and in the mouth of the Pearl River. Alava had been informed of the presence of Intrepid by Danish merchants but was unaware of the arrival of Rainier's reinforcements.

Hargood immediately sailed to confront Alava, both squadrons initially forming lines of battle and steering towards one another, Virginie at the head of the British line. What followed has been the subject of dispute. Hargood reported that the Franco-Spanish squadron then turned and fled into the Wanshan Archipelago, where they anchored as darkness fell before withdrawing before dawn. He ascribes this to "their dread of a conflict that would in all probability have terminated in their disgrace". Alava however reported in the Manila Gazette that it was Hargood who had retreated into the Wanshan Archipelago, pursued closely by Europa. Alava claimed that he would have pressed the attack but for damage to the rigging on Montañés that allowed Hargood to escape. He does not explain why his squadron then subsequently withdrew without attacking the apparently unprotected assembled China Fleet anchored in Macau.

Aftermath
In historian C. Northcote Parkinson's assessment "It is perhaps fair to conclude that neither squadron was spoiling for a fight", although he describes Lhermitte's subsequent reaction as "disgust" and Sercey's as "fury". Richard Woodman considered that by this action the French threw "away at a stroke the chance not only of seizing a valuable convoy, but of establishing Franco-Spanish dominance in Indo-Chinese waters". Alava retired to Manila, the French ships departing for Batavia and subsequently returning to Île de France. There Preneuse was intercepted at the Action of 11 December 1799 by a blockade squadron made up of HMS Tremendous and HMS Adamant, driven on shore and destroyed. Sercey subsequently returned to France, retired from the French Navy and became a planter on Île de France.

Hargood sailed from Macau with the China Fleet on 7 February, passing unimpeded into the Indian Ocean. Alava did belatedly send Europa and frigate Fama back to Macau in May, but this achieved nothing. Rainier ensured that the 1800 China Fleet was well defended, but no further attacks were made on British shipping from China before the Peace of Amiens in 1802. Early in the Napoleonic Wars, in 1804, a powerful French squadron attacked the China Fleet at the Battle of Pulo Aura, but the East Indiamen succeeded in bluffing the French into withdrawing after a brief exchange of fire


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

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
27 January 1801 - HMS Concorde (36), Cptn. Barton, engaged Bravoure about 75 miles west of Cape Finisterre.


Concorde had a narrow escape from a French squadron under Rear-Admiral Honoré Joseph Antoine Ganteaume, which had sailed from Brest on 23 January 1801. The French sighted Concorde off Cape Finisterre on 27 January, and the 40-gun Bravoure was sent to chase her down. Concorde cast off a Swedish ship she was towing and drew the French frigate away from the main body of the fleet. Barton then turned and engaged her for forty minutes, silencing her guns. By now the main French fleet was fast approaching, and with his sails and rigging damaged, Barton did not attempt to take possession of Bravoure and instead made for a British port to report the encounter. Concorde had four men killed and 19 wounded in the engagement, while Bravoure had 10 killed and 24 wounded.

Concorde (originally Le Concorde) was a 32-gun frigate of the French Navy, lead ship of her class. Built in Rochefort in 1777, she entered service with the French early in the American War of Independence, and was soon in action, capturing HMS Minerva in the West Indies. She survived almost until the end of the war, but was captured by HMS Magnificent in 1783. Not immediately brought into service due to the draw-down in the navy after the end of the war, she underwent repairs and returned to active service under the White Ensign with the outbreak of war with France in 1793 as the fifth-rate HMS Concorde.



Initially part of squadrons cruising off the French coast, she played an important part in the Action of 23 April 1794, capturing the French frigate Engageante, and at a later engagement, where she helped to capture the French frigate Virginie. From 1797 until the early 19th century she had especial success against privateers, capturing a large number in the West Indies and in the Atlantic. She had a narrow escape from a superior French force in 1801, but was able to batter her pursuer, the 40-gun Bravoure into submission. She was prevented from capturing her by the arrival of French reinforcements. Her last years were spent on a variety of stations, including at the Cape of Good Hope and the East Indies. Laid up in 1807, she was sold for breaking up in 1811.





The Concorde class was a type of 32-gun frigate of the French Navy, designed by Henri Chevillard,[a][3] carrying 12-pounder long guns as their main armament. Three ships of this type were built between 1778 and 1779, and served during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary Wars.

The class is noteworthy for comprising a fourth unit, Hermione (2014), laid down in 1997 and launched in 2014; she is a replica ship of Hermione (1779), famous for ferrying General Lafayette and for her role in the Naval battle of Louisbourg under the command of Lieutenant de Latouche, who would rise to become Vice-admiral Latouche-Tréville.

Ships
Concorde class, (32-gun design by Henri Chevillard, with 26 x 12-pounder and 6 x 6-pounder guns).

• Concorde, (launched 3 September 1777 at Rochefort) – captured by British Navy 1783.
• Courageuse, (launched 28 February 1778 at Rochefort) – captured by British Navy 1799.
• Hermione, (launched 28 April 1779 at Rochefort) – wrecked 1793.

Planset Review of the ancre monographie you can find here:

Planset review - HERMIONE - 12-Pdr frigate of the American War of Independence 1779-1793" in scale 1:48 by JC Lemineur

PLanset Review: HERMIONE 12-Pdr frigate of the American War of Independence 1779-1793 in scale 1:48 by Jean Claude Lemineur with assistance by Patrick Villiers Translated by François Fougerat This monographie is available from ancre in different languages, which can be choosen -...

shipsofscale.com

The Bravoure ("Bravery") was a 40-gun Cocarde class frigate of the French Navy.

She was launched in November 1795 in Saint Servan. She took part in the Expédition d'Irlande, and later served in Ganteaume's squadron. On 28 January 1801, she fought an indecisive battle against HMS Concorde. In June of the same year, under commander Dordelin, she ferried artillery pieces from Toulon to Elba with Succès; on the way back, she encountered HMS Concorde again, but this time accompanied by two other frigates. She beached herself to avoid capture and became a total loss.[



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Concorde_(1783)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Bravoure_(1795)

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
27 January 1812 – Death of John Perkins, Anglo-Jamaican captain


Captain John Perkins (died 27 January 1812), nicknamed Jack Punch, was a British Royal Navy officer. Perkins was perhaps the first mulatto commissioned officer in the Royal Navy. He rose from obscurity to be one of the most successful ship captains of the Georgian navy. He captained a 10-gun schooner during the American War of Independence and in a two-year period captured at least 315 enemy ships.



Later in his career Perkins acted for the navy as a spy and undertook missions to Cuba and Saint-Domingue (modern day Haiti). At the start of the slave revolt in Saint-Domingue he was captured in Cap-Français and sentenced to death for supplying the rebel slave army with weapons.

After his rescue he was promoted commander in 1797 and then post-captain in 1800. Perkins went on to cause an international incident with the Daneswhen he fired on two of their ships during peacetime. Toward the end of his career he participated in capture of the islands of Saint Eustatia and Saba from the French. Perkins also attacked a 74-gun ship-of-the-line with a 32-gun frigate.


Battle of West Key 1801 courtesy of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Perkins_(Royal_Navy_officer)

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
27 January 1813 - HMS Daring (12), Lt. William R. Pascoe, was run ashore on Tamara (one of the Loss Islands, off Guinea) and burnt when threatened by two French frigates, Arethuse and Rubis.


HMS Daring was a 12-gun gun-brig of the Archer class of the British Royal Navy. She was launched in 1804 and in 1813 scuttled to avoid capture on the West Africa Station.



History
She was built under contract by Jabez Bailey, of Ipswich and launched in October 1804. Lieutenant Charles Ormsby commissioned her in November 1804. On 13 August 1805 Daring detained the Danish ship Venners Aventure. Vennerus Aventura, Neilson, master, was sailing from Amsterdam to Naples. Daring sent her into Cowes.

Lieutenant George Hayes took command in November 1805. serving in the Channel and the North Sea. On 8 April 1806 Daring shared with the Hardyand Moucheron in the capture of Minerva. Daring and Hardy also shared the capture of Anna Charlotta, Frederica de Liefde, and Pomona on 7, 8, and 9 April.[6] On the 9th, Daring sent Anna Charlotta, Smith, master, and Delesse, Ball, mster, from Bordeaux, into Plymouth. Daring also sent the brig Bachus, sailing from Baltimore to Hamburg, into Portsmouth. A few days later, Daring sent Josephine, which had been sailing from Bordeaux to Altona, into Portsmouth too. In mid-August, Daring sent into Portsmouth "Alexander, O'thman, master, which had been sailing from Bordeaux to Cherbourg."

About a year later, towards the end of August 1807, Daring sent into Portsmouth Slark, which had been sailing from Opotto to Tonningen. On 31 August Daring captured Odin. Oden, a galliot from Arundahl, came into Portsmouth on 4 September.

In August 1809, Daring served in the Walcheren Campaign, in the West Scheldt, being detached under Sir Home Popham to take soundings. Daring was at the siege of Flushing, and was instrumental in saving the brigs Reynard and Cracker after they had grounded within point-blank shot of the enemy.

In 22 November 1808 Daring and Encounter recaptured the schooner Hope. Hope, Allen, master, had been sailing from Plymouth to London when was first captured; she arrived at Portsmouth on the 23rd. That same day, Daring was in company with Coquette when they captured Espiegle.

On 29 April 1810, Daring was in company with Armide at the captured of the Aimable Betsie. On 6 November Daring escorted a convoy from Plymouth.[18] Hayes left Daring in November 1810.

In December 1810 she was under the command of Lieutenant Thomas Allen.

Lieutenant Campbell replace Allen in 1811, but Lieutenant William R. Pascoe replaced Campbell in June. He recommissioned her as she was fitting out at Sheerness before proceeding to the coast of West Africa. Pascoe and Daring sailed for West Africa in March 1812. Towards the later end of March, Daring had to put into Vigo. She was convoying three transport ships laden with Government stores for Africa, and one of them, Alfred, Chapman, master, had sprung a leak.

On 9 June Daring captured the ship Esperanza. Later, on 30 June, Daring captured the schooner Centinella. Then on 5 July Daring captured the brig St Carlos.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the inboard profile, upper deck, and hold with fore & aft platforms for Daring (1804), a 12-gun Gunboat, later Brig. As the plan is unassigned, it may relate to the rest of the Archer class (1800).

Fate
On 27 January 1813 Pascoe was forced to run the Daring aground on Tamara (one of the Iles de Los off Guinea), and burn her to avoid the French frigates Aréthuse and Rubis capturing her. Pascoe had approached a group of three ships believing them to be Brazilian slavers. When he discovered that the three were two French frigates and their prize, he attempted to flee, but was unable to do so and instead scuttled Daring. Pascoe and his crew then escaped to Sierra Leone in several small trading boats.

He arrived in the Sierra Leone River with the greater part of his crew on 28 January and reported to Captain Frederick Paul Irby of Amelia.

Main article: Action of 7 February 1813
Irby sent Pascoe back in a small schooner to reconnoitre. Pascoe reported back that the two frigates were unloading a Portuguese prize before preparing to sail to intercept British home-bound trade.

After Pascoe returned on 4 February he found that a cartel had arrived with the master and crew of Daring. Captain Irby, his crew depleted by sickness but reinforced by the men from Daring, sailed to attack the French vessels, hoping that on the way he might join up with any Royal Navy vessels in the area. He eventually engaged Aréthuse, which was anchored well to the north of the Rubis, and which came out to meet him. Rubis did not join the fight, having unbeknownst to Irby, struck a rock that had disabled her). Amelia engaged Aréthuse for four hours and suffered heavy casualties - 51 killed (including Lieutenant Pascoe), and 95 wounded. The two vessels then disengaged and Amelia sailed off.

Although she had been badly damaged, Amelia returned to Britain via Madeira. Aréthuse returned to the stranded Rubis. The French burnt her on 8 February when it turned out that they could not refloat her.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Daring_(1804)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_gun-brigs_of_the_Royal_Navy

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
27 January 1816 – Death of Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood, English admiral and politician (b. 1724)


Admiral Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood (12 December 1724 – 27 January 1816) was a Royal Navy officer. As a junior officer he saw action during the War of the Austrian Succession. While in temporary command of Antelope, he drove a French ship ashore in Audierne Bay, and captured two privateers in 1757 during the Seven Years' War. He held senior command as Commander-in-Chief, North American Station and then as Commander-in-Chief, Leeward Islands Station, leading the British fleet to victory at Battle of the Mona Passage in April 1782 during the American Revolutionary War. He went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, then First Naval Lord and, after briefly returning to the Portsmouth command, became Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet during the French Revolutionary Wars.


1784 portrait by James Northcote


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Hood,_1st_Viscount_Hood

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
27 January 1942 – Battle off Endau


The Battle off Endau was a Second World War battle that took place off Endau on 26–27 January 1942. Part of the Battle of Malaya, it was the first notable naval engagement since the sinking of the battleship Prince of Wales and the battlecruiser Repulse on 10 December 1941, and the last effort by the Royal Navy to intercept Japanese convoy shipping around the Malay Peninsula.



A Japanese convoy approaching Endau was detected by reconnaissance aircraft on 26 January and was ineffectually attacked multiple times by Alliedaircraft as it was landing its troops. The Allies suffered heavy casualties, while the Japanese lost only a single aircraft. The Royal Navy committed two destroyers later that day to break up the Japanese landings, despite the much larger Japanese escort force. Sailing under the cover of darkness, they were able to locate the convoy anchored there without being detected, but could not find the troopships in the darkness. The ships attempted to disengage, but were fired upon by the convoy's escorts and one destroyer was sunk in the early morning hours of 27 January.


HMAS Vampire, c. 1940, seen here before the application of wartime camouflage



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