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
28 April 1692 – Launch of HMS Cornwall , an 80-gun, third rate, ship of the line built for the Royal Navy in the 1690s.


HMS Cornwall was an 80-gun, third rate, ship of the line built for the Royal Navy in the 1690s. She served in the War of the Grand Alliance, and in her first year took part in the Battle of Barfleur and the action at La Hougue.






Description
Cornwall had a length at the gundeck of 156 feet 4 inches (47.7 m) and 129 feet 6 inches (39.5 m) at the keel. She had a beam of 41 feet 6 inches (12.6 m), and a depth of hold of 17 feet 3 inches (5.3 m). The ship's tonnage was 1,186 31⁄94 tons burthen. As built, the lower gundeck carried 24 broadside demi-cannon and a pair of chase culverins and the upper deck mounted 26 more culverins on the broadside and another pair as chase guns. On the quarterdeck were 16 six-pounder guns with 6 more on the forecastle. Above the quarterdeck, the poop deck carried 4 three-pounder guns. In 1703, Cornwall's armament was nominally revised to twenty-six 24-pounder guns on the lower gundeck and twenty-eight 12-pounder guns on the upper deck. The lighter guns were not changed, but it is uncertain if any changes were actually made to the ship's armament. The ship had a crew of 476–520 officers and ratings.


The Battle of Barfleur, 29 May 1692 by Richard Paton, painted 18th century.

Construction and career
Cornwall was the first ship in the Royal Navy to be named after the eponymous county.[5] Part of the 1691 Naval Programme, the ship was ordered on 12 March 1691 and contracted out to John Winter in Southampton. She was launched at Southampton on 28 April 1692.

She was rebuilt at Rotherhithe from 1705–1706. After this, she served in the Mediterranean where in the War of the Spanish Succession she was involved in the capture of a French convoy off Catalonia in May 1708.

On 16 January 1722 Cornwall was ordered to be taken to pieces and rebuilt at Deptford according to the 1719 Establishment. Remaining an 80-gun third rate, she was relaunched on 17 October 1726. After this, she served during peacetime in the Baltic and Mediterranean. She was not recommissioned until 1742, even though the War of the Austrian Succession had led to fighting between Great Britain and Spain in 1739. Cornwall initially served off Spain, but was later deployed to the West Indies where, in March 1748, she took part in the capture of Fort Saint Louis de Sud in the French colony of Haiti. In October 1749, Cornwall captured a 64-gun Spanish frigate during the defence of a convoy off Havana. She became a prison ship in 1755, ended her career in 1760 and was broken up in 1761.

HMS Cornwall (1692) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
28 April 1759 – Launch of HMS Tweed, a 32-gun sailing frigate of the fifth rate produced for the Royal Navy.
She was designed in 1757 by Sir Thomas Slade, based on the lines of the smaller sixth rate HMS Tartar, but with a 10-foot midsection inserted.


HMS Tweed was a 32-gun sailing frigate of the fifth rate produced for the Royal Navy. She was designed in 1757 by Sir Thomas Slade, based on the lines of the smaller sixth rate HMS Tartar, but with a 10-foot midsection inserted.



Tweed was commissioned in April 1759 under Captain William Paston. On 15 March 1761 Tweed captured the French privateer Hardi, off Cape Finisterre. Hardi, of Bayonne, was armed with 10 guns and had a crew of 125 men. She had been out 18 days but had not captured anything. Tweed took Hardi into Lisbon.

In 1763 command passed to Captain Charles Douglas until Tweed paid off into reserve in April 1765. In November 1766 she was recommissioned under Captain Thomas Collingwood. In 1770 command passed to Captain George Collier until the ship paid off into reserve again in 1771.

The design was not considered to be very successful and no further ships of this class were built, while the Tweed herself was sold in 1776 following a survey in 1771 that indicated that she would require a Middling Repairtaking £3,500 and nine months to complete.


Scale: 1:96. Plan showing the upper deck, lower deck, and aft platform for Tweed (1759), a 32-gun, Fifth Rate Frigate, as taken off/fitted at Portsmouth Dockyard. Signed by Thomas Bucknall [Master Shipwright, Portsmouth Dockyard, 1762-1772]




Scale: 1:48. A contemporary full hull model of a ‘Richmond’-class 32-gun frigate (circa 1757), built in the Georgian style. The model is decked. Taken from the model, the vessel measured 129 feet along the gun deck by 34 feet in the beam, displacing 660 tons burden. It was armed with twenty-six 12-pounders on the upper deck, four 6-pounders on the quarterdeck and two 6-pounders on the forecastle. This type of vessel, an early ‘true frigate’, is similar to SLR0496. Although not identified with a particular ship, the dimensions represented are very close to those of the ‘Tweed’ (1759), but that ship probably had a round bow. A noticeable feature is the new style of figurehead. The familiar lion, which had been the standard form of bow decoration for smaller warships since about 1600, began to disappear after about 1750. It was commonly replaced by a human figure in classical dress. Frigates were fifth- or sixth-rate ships and so not expected to lie in the line of battle. With the advantage of superior sailing qualities over the larger ships of the line, they were used with the fleet for such tasks as lookout or, in battle, as repeating ships to fly the admiral’s signals. They also cruised independently in search of privateers


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



Tartar was designed by Sir Thomas Slade, based on the prototype 28-gun frigate Lyme (launched in 1748), "with such alterations as may tend to the better stowing of men and carrying for guns". These alterations involved raising the headroom between decks. They were originally ordered as 24-gun ships with 160 men, but re-rated while under construction to 28 guns with the addition of 3-pounder guns on the quarterdeck and with their complement being raised to 180 men.


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

HMS Tweed (1759) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections.html#!csearch;searchTerm=Tweed_(1759
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Tartar_(1756)
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-352678;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=T

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
28 April 1778 – Launch of The first USS Alliance of the United States Navy, a 36-gun sailing frigate of the American Revolutionary War.


The first Alliance of the United States Navy was a 36-gun sailing frigate of the American Revolutionary War.



Originally named Hancock, she was laid down in 1777 on the Merrimack River at Amesbury, Massachusetts, by the partners and cousins, William and James K. Hackett, launched on 28 April 1778, and renamed Alliance on 29 May 1778 by resolution of the Continental Congress. Her first commanding officer was Capt. Pierre Landais, a former officer of the French Navy who had come to the New World hoping to become a naval counterpart of Lafayette. The frigate's first captain was widely accepted as such in America. Massachusetts made him an honorary citizen and the Continental Congress gave him command of Alliance, thought to be the finest warship built to that date on the western side of the Atlantic.

• Laid down as Hancock in 1777 at Salisbury, MA. by William and James K. Hackett
• Launched, 28 April 1778
• Renamed Alliance, 29 May 1778
• Placed under the command of CAPT. Pierre Landais
• Alliance departed Boston, 14 January 1779, bound for Brest, France with the Marquis de La Fayette as passenger to petition the French court for more support
• While at Brest assigned by Benjamin Franklin to a squadron to be commanded by CAPT. John Paul Jones
• CAPT. Landais refused to obey the orders of CAPT Jones and operated independent of the squadron
• During the encounter between Bonhomme Richard and HMS Serapis on 23 September 1779, Landais in Alliance, stood off until late in the battle and then actually fired into Bonhomme Richard
• Jones had relieved Landais of command of Alliance soon thereafter
• Landais returned to the ship while Jones was away in Paris and took command sailing the ship for home
• Landais was forcibly relieved of command as his behavior was that of an insane man
• Alliance, under the command of LT. James A. Degge, arrived at Boston, 19 August 1780
• The subsequent trials of Landais and Degge resulted in the ousting of both men from the service
• Alliance lay idle at Boston until the first week of February 1781 when she carried COL. John Laurens appointed envoy extraordinary to France
• During this voyage Alliance took the British privateer Alert
• Alliance departed France for the US escorting a old East Indiaman laden with supplies for the Continental Army
• Alliance took two privateers as prizes during the voyage and two sugar-laden Jamaicamen
• 10 days later Alliance defeated two British sloops-of-war HMS Atalanta and HMS Trepassey in May reaching Boston, 6 June with her prizes
• Alliance was again chosen to carry the Marquis de La Fayette home to France departing Boston, 24 December 1781 and arriving off L'Orient, 17 January 1782
• Alliance arrived back at new London, CT. 13 May 1782, after being chased into port by a Royal Navy ship of the line
• The ship sailed, 4 August in search of British shipping taking seven prizes in all before putting into Groiz Roads, France, 17 October
• Alliance departed France, 9 December 1782, for the West Indies where she escorted another American warship Due de Lauzun laden with funds for the new republic, the two ships chased by British warships made port in March
• Damage by grounding Alliance was sold in Philadelphia, 1 August 1785, converted to a merchantman sailing for China in June 1787
• Final Disposition, abandoned, near Philadelphia, date unknown, hulk destroyed in 1901 during a dredging operation

Photograph of a painting by Nowland Van Powell of USS Alliance underway under full sail. Courtesy of the Bruce Gallery, Memphis, TN.


USS Alliance under full sail.

Treasury Dept 1st Auditor letter of 4 January 1843, subject - Prize money claim, John Paul Jones crew, USS Alliance and USS Bonhomme Richard.

USS Alliance (1778) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/86/86323.htm

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
28 April 1778 – Launch of HMS Medea, a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy.


HMS Medea was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. Medea was first commissioned in May 1778 under the command of Captain William Cornwallis. She was sold for breaking up in 1805.



Career
In July 1778, Medea started to cruise in the North Sea and the Channel. Off Cape Finisterre on 20 October 1778, being in company with the ship-of-the-line Jupiter under Captain Francis Reynolds, she met Triton under Captain Comte de Ligondès, but Medea got so badly damaged that she was forced to break off the action with the loss of one man killed and three wounded. She later, with HM hired ship Countess of Scarborough, shared in the capture, on 17 June 1779, of the French privateers Compte de Maurepas and Due de la Vauguyon. Medea captured Due de la Vauguyon (or Duc de Lavaugnon) of Dunkirk, a cutter of 14 guns and 98 men, after a fight of an hour. The fight cost the French four men killed and ten wounded; Medea had no casualties. The Royal Navy took Duc de la Vauginon into service under her existing name.

Duc de la Vauguyon had captured and ransomed a lobster smack sailing from Norway to Britain. The master of the smack informed Captain James Montague of Medea that the privateer had had a consort. Medea's rigging was too cut up for her to pursue the consort, so Montague sent Countess of Scarborough, Captain Thomas Piercy, after her. Piercy caught up with Compte de Maurepas, of Dunkirk, after a few hours and the privateer struck without resistance. She was armed with fourteen 4-pounder guns and had a crew of 87 men.

On 5 May 1781 Medea assisted Roebuck in the capture off Sandy Hook of Protector, a 28-gun frigate of the Massachusetts State Navy. The prisoners were taken off to the prison hulk Jersey.

On 7 September 1781 Medea captured Belisarius, "a fast sailing frigate of 26 guns and 147 men, belonging to Salem". Medea captured her off the Delaware River. Amphitrite and Savage shared in the capture. The Royal Navy took her into service as the sixth rate HMS Belisarius, but then sold her in 1783, after the end of the war.

Medea made a number of other captures in summer 1781. These included the ship Phoenix (1 June), the ship Rover (20 June), the schooner Neptune (30 July; with Amphitrite and General Monk), and the brig Marianne(3 August).

From October 1781 to January 1784 Medea was commanded by Captain Erasmus Gower serving in the final stages of the American War of Independence being fought in India. Sailing in company with HMS Sceptre (1781) 64 guns near the Cape of Good Hope Medea captured a rich French store ship, La Concorde, after a brief engagement. After reaching Madagascar, Gower was forced to use Medea to tow his prize all the way to Madras, taking two months. Medea then came under the command of Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes

On 15 January 1782 Medea captured the French sloop Chaser, carrying dispatches which revealed that the French fleet under Admiral Pierre André de Suffren had returned to the Coromandel coast while Vice-Admiral Hughes was still refitting at Bombay. Chaser had been a British sloop, captured by the French and was now sent to Bombay under the command of Medea's Lieutenant Thomas Campbell to Bombay to advise Admiral Hughes.

Ten days later Medea cut out and captured a large Dutch ship - Vrijheid - from Cuddalore road after taking fire from a fort on the beach and the enemy ship. The Honorable East India Company (HEIC) offered Captain Gower a fortune for the hull and furniture of Vrijheid but he refused to sell, intending to have the ship converted to a 64 gun warship in the Royal Navy. Some months later the ship was lost in the surf at Madras while under attack by a French squadron.

When rumours of preliminary peace negotiations in Europe reached India in June 1783, Captain Gower was instructed to remove his guns from Medea and proceed under a flag of truce to Cuddalore to negotiate a cease fire with Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau and Admiral Suffren. Hostilities were soon concluded and it is probable this was the very last military action of the American War of Independence.

Captain Gower then sailed in Medea with dispatches for the Admiralty and, despite being dis-masted near the Azores, Medea returned to Spithead in only four months, where she was paid off in February 1784.


Scale: 1:48. A plan showing the inboard profile (incomplete) with figurehead and stern quarter decoration for 'Medea' (1778), a 28-gun Sixth Rate Frigate, as built at Bristol by Mr Hilhouse.


Scale: 1:48. A plan showing the framing profile (disposition) for 'Medea' (1778) and 'Crescent' (1779), both 28-gun Sixth Rate Frigates building at Bristol by Mr Hilhouse. Signed by John Williams [Surveyor of the Navy, 1765-1784]


A painting showing a model of the frigate 'Enterprise' in starboard-quarter view. It has been depicted fixed to a table base, with a label on the side that reads 'Enterprise 28 Guns 200 Men'. The finely detailed painting was part of a commission of twelve perspective paintings, each of a different class, ordered by King George III. Each was accompanied by a memorandum describing the improvements in design that had been introduced since 1745. The work of producing these perspectives from the original Navy Board plans of the ships was divided between two draughtsmen, Joseph Williams and J. Binmer, whilst Joseph Marshall painted all the pictures. Their task was completed in August 1775. The model of the 'Enterprise' is positioned in a corner of a room, implied by the decorated wall behind featuring classical figures, and a wall frieze. The painting is signed and dated 'J Marshall pt. 1777'


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Medea_(1778)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise-class_frigate
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections.html#!csearch;searchTerm=Medea_(1778
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-310573;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=E

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
28 April 1779 – Launch of french Hermione, a 12-pounder Concorde-class frigate of the French Navy.


Hermione was a 12-pounder Concorde-class frigate of the French Navy. She became famous when she ferried General Lafayette to the United States in 1780 for support to the Americans in the American Revolutionary War. She grounded and was wrecked in 1793.



In 1997, construction of a replica ship started in Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, France; the new ship is likewise named Hermione.


Hermione in the Naval battle of Louisbourg, by Auguste-Louis de Rossel de Cercy

Career

Hermione in action at the Naval battle of Louisbourg, 21 July 1781

Hermione was built in eleven months at Rochefort, by the shipwright Henri Chevillard as a light frigate, fast and maneuverable. Between May and December 1779 she underwent successful sea trials in the Gulf of Gascony under the command of Lieutenant de Latouche.

General La Fayette embarked at Rochefort on 11 March 1780 and arrived in Boston on 28 April carrying the secret news that he had secured French reinforcements (5,500 men and five frigates) for George Washington. After the dramatic failure of the Penobscot Expedition, a large military expedition to dislodge the British from their new stronghold at the confluence of the Bagaduce and the Penobscot River on the east bank of Penobscot Bay in Maine (an area later known as Castine), the revolutionary council of Massachusetts asked Latouche if he would be willing to sail to Penobscot Bay for a quick military intelligence-gathering cruise, checking on the strength of the British garrison at Fort George. Hermione then made the week-long voyage in mid-May, after which the frigate sailed to Rhode Island.[2] Next, she got underway again on 2 June and suffered serious damage in the fierce but indecisive Action of 7 June 1780 against the 32-gun HMS Iris, under James Hawker.

Hermione received the American Congress on board in May 1781. She fought several times in company with Astrée, commanded by Lapérouse, especially at the Naval battle of Louisbourg on 21 July 1781.

After the end of the American Revolutionary War, Hermione returned to France in February 1782. She then formed part of a squadron sent to India to help Suffren against the British. However, peace was declared and the ship returned to Rochefort in April 1784.

Fate
Again in service against the British, on 20 September 1793,[3] she ran aground off Le Croisic, and was then wrecked by heavy seas. The court-martial consecutive to the wreck found her pilot, Guillaume Guillemin du Conquet, responsible for her loss; her commanding officer, Captain Martin, was honourably acquitted.

Reconstruction
Main article: French frigate Hermione (2014)
In 1997 a reconstruction project started in Rochefort. The new ship is named L'Hermione.

On 18 April 2015, the full-size replica of Hermione started a return voyage to the United States from Rochefort, France. In June 2015 the frigate arrived safely on the American coast.


During the visit of the modelers event in Rochefort I had the chance to visit also the frigate Hermione in the docks of Rochefort. In the first post you can find a short description, following the photos I made during my visit....if questions, please do not hesitate to ask

photo by Uwe

See also my photoreport of my visit at
https://shipsofscale.com/sosforums/...nder-guns-dockyards-of-rochefort-france.2595/


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 - English / French / Italian or Spanish

https://ancre.fr/en/monograph/78-hermione-monographie-9782903179908.html

https://shipsofscale.com/sosforums/...in-scale-1-48-by-jc-lemineur.2727/#post-47495


Book Review:
L´HERMIONE / HERMIONE
Lafayette and La Touche-Treville, two men and a frigate serving American Independence
A study accompanied by historical documents from 1764 to 1793

by Patrick Villiers
with particpation of J.C. Lemineur
Translated by Francois Fougerat



https://ancre.fr/en/basic-books/79-hermione-historique-lafayette-9782903179854.html

https://shipsofscale.com/sosforums/...pendence-by-patrick-villiers.2733/#post-47710


The modeler Guy Tournier showed a 1:72 model of the L´HERMIONE, the 12pdr Frigate, based on drawings of Lemineur
https://ancre.fr/en/monograph/78-hermione-monographie-9782903179908.html

https://shipsofscale.com/sosforums/...-th-21-st-october-2018.2050/page-3#post-43053



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Hermione_(1779)

Concorde-class frigate - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://shipsofscale.com/sosforums/...nder-guns-dockyards-of-rochefort-france.2595/
https://shipsofscale.com/sosforums/...in-scale-1-48-by-jc-lemineur.2727/#post-47495
https://shipsofscale.com/sosforums/...pendence-by-patrick-villiers.2733/#post-47710
https://shipsofscale.com/sosforums/...-th-21-st-october-2018.2050/page-3#post-43053

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
28 April 1789 – Mutiny on the HMAV Bounty: Lieutenant William Bligh and 18 sailors are set adrift and the rebel crew returns to Tahiti briefly and then sets sail for Pitcairn Island.


The mutiny on the Royal Navy vessel HMS Bounty occurred in the south Pacific on 28 April 1789. Disaffected crewmen, led by Acting Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, seized control of the ship from their captain Lieutenant William Bligh and set him and 18 loyalists adrift in the ship's open launch. The mutineers variously settled on Tahiti or on Pitcairn Island. Bligh meanwhile completed a voyage of more than 3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) in the launch to reach safety, and began the process of bringing the mutineers to justice.


Fletcher Christian and the mutineers cast Lieutenant William Bligh and 18 others adrift; 1790 painting by Robert Dodd

Bounty had left England in 1787 on a mission to collect and transport breadfruit plants from Tahiti to the West Indies. A five-month layover in Tahiti, during which many of the men lived ashore and formed relationships with native Polynesians, proved harmful to discipline. Relations between Bligh and his crew deteriorated after he began handing out increasingly harsh punishments, criticism and abuse, Christian being a particular target. After three weeks back at sea, Christian and others forced Bligh from the ship. Twenty-five men remained on board afterwards, including loyalists held against their will and others for whom there was no room in the launch.





After Bligh reached England in April 1790, the Admiralty despatched HMS Pandora to apprehend the mutineers. Fourteen were captured in Tahiti and imprisoned on board Pandora, which then searched without success for Christian's party that had hidden on Pitcairn Island. After turning back towards England, Pandora ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef, with the loss of 31 crew and four prisoners from Bounty. The 10 surviving detainees reached England in June 1792 and were court martialled; four were acquitted, three were pardoned and three were hanged.

Christian's group remained undiscovered on Pitcairn until 1808, by which time only one mutineer, John Adams, remained alive. Almost all his fellow-mutineers, including Christian, had been killed, either by each other or by their Polynesian companions. No action was taken against Adams; descendants of the mutineers and their Tahitian captives live on Pitcairn into the 21st century. The generally accepted view of Bligh as an overbearing monster and Christian as a tragic victim of circumstances, as depicted in well-known film accounts, has been challenged by late 20th- and 21st-century historians from whom a more sympathetic picture of Bligh has emerged.

The True Story of Mutiny on the Bounty (Documentary)




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

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
28 April 1801 – Launch of HMS Constant, an Archer class gun-brig of the Royal Navy, built for service against the French during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.


HMS Constant was an Archer class gun-brig of the Royal Navy, built for service against the French during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. In service from 1801, she was variously stationed in English home waters, the Baltic, the Caribbean and off the coast of Spain, and was responsible for the capture of at least seven enemy vessels during her fifteen years at sea.

Constant was sold out of service at Chatham Dockyard in 1816.



Construction


Waterfront at Deptford, where Constant was constructed in 1801.

Constant was one of ten Archer-class gun-brigs ordered as a batch in December 1800 to a design by Navy Surveyor Sir William Rule. The gun-brigs were intended to bolster the Royal Navy's capacity to hunt small French privateers, and to act as anti-invasion craft should France attempt to land troops in the British Isles.

In keeping with her class, Constant was two-masted and brig-rigged, with an overall length of 80 ft 2 in (24.4 m) including bowsprit, a 65 ft 11 in (20.1 m) keel, and measuring 179 24⁄94 tons burthen. Her draft was 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m), sufficiently shallow to permit operations close to shore. She was also heavily armed relative to her size, with two 18 or 32-pounder bow carronades and ten 18-pounder carronades in side ports along her deck.

Constant's crew complement was 35, including a Navy Lieutenant, a sailing master, a surgeon's mate, midshipman, six petty officers and 25 able or ordinary seamen. The crew was supported by a detachment of 15 Royal Marines, bringing total on-board personnel to 50 men.


Lines (ZAZ4922)

Naval service
Constant was commissioned in May 1801 under Lieutenant James Bremer and stationed in English home ports for the following two years. In April 1803 she sailed to Leith in Scotland for patrols in the North Sea, including to hunt for privateers seeking to attack the British whaling fleet. She returned to Deptford at the conclusion of the whaling season, and in August 1803 her command was transferred to Lieutenant John Stokes who would remain with her for the next ten years.

Under Stokes' command Constant was initially stationed in the English Channel and off the Dutch coast. In 1806 she was active in pursuing and seizing Dutch merchant vessels, capturing at least five including a 75 ft 6 in (23.01 m) brig and a 68 ft 2 in (20.78 m) hoy. The captured vessels were auctioned for prize money at Great Yarmouth in November 1806 and February 1807, alongside their assorted cargoes of tallow, wine and herring.

Constant may also have recaptured the British merchant ship Fortune which had been seized by a French privateer in February 1807 during a voyage from Newcastle upon Tyne to Jamaica.

In 1808 Constant was assigned to convoy duty in the Baltic, returning to England for repairs and refitting at Northfleet in February and March 1809. After a further voyage to the Baltic, Constant was reassigned to Channel patrols.[3] On 5 September 1810 she was in company with the 38-gun HMS Surveillante off the Loire River in France, when their crews observed a French merchant convoy heading south towards the Gulf of Morbihan. The British vessels gave chase and forced a brig in the convoy to seek shelter close to shore where she was protected by two batteries of French cannons. The water was too shallow for Surveillante to engage the brig directly. Instead her ship's boats were lowered to assault and board the brig and bring her out to sea. Constant was also brought close to shore to support the attack, with Stokes' crew exchanging fire with French troops located on the beach and in caves. The brig was boarded and captured without British casualties, and Surveillante and Constant returned to open waters with their prize.

Constant's final victory at sea occurred on 21 April 1813. Briefly stationed in the Caribbean, she encountered and captured the 2-gun French privateer L'Olympe off the Îles des Saintes near Guadeloupe. Constant then returned to England.

In late 1813 she operated off the coast of Spain. In July–August, Constant was part of a squadron of some 17 vessels that participated in the siege of San Sebastián. Because of the shallowness of the water, only the smaller vessels could approach closely enough to bring their guns to bear on the town's defenses. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the clasp "St. Sebastian" to the Naval General Service Medal to all surviving naval participants at the siege.

On 13 October 1813 HMS Telegraph caused the destruction of the French 16-gun brig Flibustier (1810) in the mouth of the Adour. Flibustier had been in St Jean de Luz sheltering where shore batteries could protect her when she sought to escape because of the approach of Wellington's army. She started out during a "dark and stormy night", but Telegraph immediately pursued her. After an action lasting three-quarters of an hour, the French saw Challenger and Constant coming up to join the engagement. Flibustier's crew set her on fire and escaped ashore; she then blew up.

On 21 March 1814, Constant was in company with the frigate President and the brig-sloop Bacchus off Finisterre as they escorted a fleet from Cork to Portugal.

Constant was decommissioned at Chatham Dockyard, and Captain Stokes and his crew paid off to join other vessels.

Fate
After decommissioning, Constant was left tied up at Chatham with her guns and masts removed. She declared surplus to Navy requirements in 1815 when the Treaty of Paris formally brought the war with France to an end. She was sold at Chatham Dockyard on 15 February 1816 for a total sum of £600


Archer class (1801 batch)
As in 1797, the two Surveyors were asked to produce alternative designs for the next batch of gun-brigs, which were lengthened by 5 feet from the previous classes. Ten vessels were ordered at the close of 1800 to Sir William Rule's design. One, Charger, received an 8" brass mortar in 1809.







Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the inboard profile, upper deck, and lower deck for the 58 ships of the Archer class (1800), 12-gun Gunbrigs built by contract. Reverse is annotated with a list of the builders and the ships names


Archer class (1804 batch)
Most of the early gun-brigs were sold or broken up during the short-lived Peace of Amiens. Consequently, in the first half of 1804, the Admiralty ordered a further batch of forty-seven gun-brigs to the 1800 William Ruledesign - 25 on 9 January, seven on 22 March and 15 during June - with an additional one ordered from Halifax Dockard, Nova Scotia on 1 October. Many reused the names of gun-brigs that had been disposed of or lost before 1804.

HMS Constant (1801) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_gun-brigs_of_the_Royal_Navy#Archer_class_.281801_batch.29
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-292273;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=A

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
28 April 1810 - HMS Sylvia cutter (12), Lt. Augustus Vere Drury, captured Dutch gun-brig Echo (8) in Straits of Sundra


HMS Sylvia was an Adonis-class schooner of the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic War. She was built at Bermuda using Bermudan cedar and completed in 1806. She took part in one notable single-ship action in the East Indies in 1810. The Navy sold her in 1816 and she then became a merchantman. She was wrecked in 1823 on a voyage to West Africa.



Career
Sylvia was commissioned in March 1806 under the command of Lieutenant Lewis Krumpholtz. In 1807 Lieutenant Augustus Vere Drury took command and sailed her for the Channel station.

On 18 August Sylvia captured the Danish vessel Generalindo Waltersloff. Then on 7 September she was at the Battle of Copenhagen. From there Sylvia carried the British ambassador back to Britain.

Between 30 November 1807 and 6 March 1808 Sylvia was at Sheerness undergoing repairs. Drury then sailed on 7 May 1808 for the Cape of Good Hope.

Then on 8 April 1809 she sailed for the East Indies. One year later, in April 1810, Sylvia had a most demanding month. As she was proceeding through the Sunda Strait when near Krakatoa she had three times to deal with attacks by pirate proas.

The first attack occurred on 6 April. Sylvia drove the proa ashore and destroyed it after first removing the vessel's 6-pounder gun. She had had a crew of some 50 men.

The second attack took place the next day. Drury sent out a boat manned by volunteers and under the command of an officer, to harass the attacker. Eventually the British captured the proa, which was armed with two 6-pounder guns and had a crew of 30 men. Pirate casualties amounted to two men killed and one wounded; the British had no casualties.

The last attack occurred on 11 April. Sylvia sighted a lugger proa at anchor under Krakatoa that got under weigh as the British approached. Drury sent Sub-Lieutenant Chesnaye and another party of volunteers in the proa that Sylvia had captured on 7 April. As the British proa approached the lugger, the lugger took flight and both proas passed behind an island that shielded them from Sylvia's sight. When Sylvia finally caught up with the two, the British were about to board the pirate lugger proa, which was putting up a stiff resistance. Sylvia opened fire on the enemy until the lugger sank. She had been armed with three 18-pounders and had had a crew of 72 men; pirate casualties were unknown. The British suffered eight men severely wounded, one of whom later died.

However, Sylvia's greatest fight was yet to come. On 26 April she sighted three armed brigs and two lug sail vessels near Edam Island (now Damar Besam in Indonesia's Thousand Islands), making all haste towards Batavia. Sylvia was able to catch up with and bring to action the last-most brig, the Dutch navy brig Echo, of eight 6-pounder guns and 46 men, under the command of Lieutenant Christian Thaarup. Echo surrendered after a sharp engagement of 20 minutes duration. In the action, the Dutch lost three men killed and seven wounded; the British lost four men killed and three wounded.

As soon as she could return to the pursuit Sylvia did so, but the two Dutch brigs were able to escape to the shelter of the batteries on Onrust Island (now Kelor in the thousand Islands). Still, she was able to capture the two transports, each of which had a crew of 60 men and was armed with two 9-pounder guns. The two transports were 12 days out of Surabaya and were carrying "Artillery Equipage and valuable European Goods." Drury received promotion to commander for his victory, with a date of 2 May 1810. In 1847, the Admiralty awarded the Naval General service Medal with clasp "Sylvia 26 April 1810" to the single surviving claimant from the action.

In 1811 Lieutenant Richard Crawford replaced Drury. By 1812 Sylvia was on the Downs station under the command of Lieutenant Robert Palk. He commanded her at the siege of San Sebastián, which took place between 7 July and 8 September 1813. In January 1819 Parliament voted a grant to the crews of the vessels, including Sylvia, that had served under the command of Lord Viscount Keith in the Channel in 1813 and 1814. November 1822 saw the last (third) payment of the grant.

Between August 1814 and July 1815 Sylvia was at Portsmouth being fitted out as a dispatch vessel. In June 1815 Lieutenant Joseph Griffiths recommissioned her.

Disposal
In January 1816 the Admiralty put Sylvia up for sale at Plymouth. She was sold for £710 on 30 May 1816.

Merchantman
Mercantile interests purchased Sylvia. The supplemental pages to the 1816 Register of Shipping shows Sylvia, Bermuda-built in 1806, of 138 tons (bm), with W. Jewell, master, and Jewell, owner. Her voyage is Plymouth-London



On 10 January 1821, Sylvia, Hill, master, put into Plymouth. She had been sailing from Dublin to London but lost her mainmast and had sprung her foremast.

Sylvia was under the command of Captain Boxwell (or Boxell, or Buxall) when she wrecked on the Bissagoa Shoals, off the coast of Africa. She was on a voyage from London to Cape Coast Castle, Gold Coast.[12] Lloyd's List reported the loss on 3 February 1824, suggesting that Sylvia was lost in late 1823.


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


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

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



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

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

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

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
28 April 1814 - Capture of HMS Epervier


The capture of HMS Epervier was a naval action fought off the coast of Florida near Cape Canaveral on 28 April 1814, between the United States ship-rigged sloop-of-war USS Peacock, commanded by Master Commandant Lewis Warrington, and the British Cruizer-class brig-sloop Epervier under Commander Richard Wales. The Americans captured the British vessel after a one-sided cannonade, but the British merchant convoy escaped.




USS Peacock and HMS Epervier battle.

Prelude
USS Peacock was one of a class of three heavy sloops-of-war designed by William Doughty, and was named after the victory the previous year over the Royal Navy brig HMS Peacock. Peacock sortied from New York on 12 March 1814 and, having eluded the British blockade, delivered some stores to St. Marys, Georgia. Peacock was then supposed to rendezvous with the frigate USS President, but President had been unable to break out of New York. While waiting for President to appear, Warrington cruised around the Bahamas, hoping to intercept British merchant ships sailing from Jamaica.

Early on the morning of 28 April, several sail were sighted to windward. They belonged to a small convoy that had sailed from Havana on 23 April, escorted by Epervier. When the convoy sighted Peacock the merchant ships made all sail to escape, while Epervier prepared to engage.

The British vessel was more lightly armed than the American. Epervier carried sixteen 32-pounder carronades and two 18-pounder carronades as bow chasers. Peacock carried twenty 32-pounder carronades and two 12-pounder guns. The ratio of the vessels' broadsides was 256 pounds to 320.

Battle
As the two vessels made toward each other, the wind shifted to the southward, giving neither Peacock nor Epervier the advantage of the windward position. At about 10:20 in the morning, both ships fired their starboard broadsides on opposite tacks, aiming high to disable their opponent's rigging. Both vessels received damage aloft, after which Epervier turned downwind and engaged Peacock on a parallel course.

Peacock directed her fire against Epervier's hull with great effect. The British fire fell away rapidly, and Epervier probably scored no hits after the first broadside from the port battery. After 40 minutes, Epervier was badly damaged, with 45 shot holes in the hull, and 5 feet (1.5 m) of water in the hold.[2] Commander Wales summoned boarding parties to muster, intending to board and capture Peacock, but his crew refused. At 11:05, Epervier struck her colours. Epervier had eight men killed and 15 wounded (about 20 percent of the crew.)

Aftermath
The Americans repaired the damage to Peacock's rigging within an hour. Peacock's first lieutenant took charge of the prize and succeeded in preventing it from sinking; the prize crew had the brig ready to sail by nightfall. Epervier was found to be carrying $118,000 in specie, which was private rather than Government property.

The next day, The Americans sighted two British frigates. Peacock successfully decoyed them away from Epervier and also herself escaped, with the result that both vessels reached Savannah, Georgia, a few days later. The Americans repaired Epervier and took her into the United States Navy as USS Epervier. Warrington set out again in Peacock and made a successful raiding cruise in British waters, capturing 14 merchant vessels.

Results
The victory of Peacock over Epervier was one of the most one-sided of the War of 1812, even though the two opposing vessels were not grossly disparate in strength. It was stated that although Peacock's fire had dismounted some of Epervier's carronades, more of them fell from their mounts when they were fired. Wales had carried out little of the gunnery practice that would have revealed defects in the guns or carriages before it was too late to remedy them. Wales had also reported disaffection and unrest among his crew and, unusually for the Royal Navy in the War of 1812, they failed in their duty to fight to their utmost. The court martial (on 20 January 1815) revealed that Epervier had the worst crew of any vessel on her station. In particular, her crew consisted mostly of invalids from the hospital.


USS Peacock was a sloop-of-war in the United States Navy during the War of 1812.

The Peacock was authorized by Act of Congress 3 March 1813, laid down 9 July 1813, by Adam and Noah Brown[1] at the New York Navy Yard, and launched 19 September 1813. She served in the War of 1812, capturing twenty ships. Subsequently, she served in the Mediterranean Squadron, and in the "Mosquito Fleet" suppressing Caribbean piracy. She patrolled the South American coast during the colonial wars of independence. She was decommissioned in 1827 and broken up in 1828 to be rebuilt as the USS Peacock (1828), intended as an exploration ship. She sailed as part of the United States Exploring Expedition in 1838. The Peacock ran aground and broke up on the Columbia Bar without loss of life in 1841.




Peacock in Antarctic ice, by Alfred Thomas Agate, while she was on the United States Exploring Expedition


HMS Epervier was an 18-gun Cruizer-class brig-sloop of the Royal Navy built by Ross at Rochester, England, and launched on 2 December 1812. USS Peacock captured her in 1814 and took her into service. USS Epervier disappeared in 1815 while carrying dispatches reporting the signing of a treaty with the Dey of Algiers.




Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with stern board outline, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth for building Epervier (1812), an 18 gun Brig Sloop at Rochester by Mrs Ross. Signed by William Ruke [Surveyor of the Navy, 1793-1813] and Henry Peake [Surveyor of the Navy, 1806-1822



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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
28 April 1835 – Launch of HMS Cleopatra, a 26-gun Vestal-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy.


HMS Cleopatra was a 26-gun Vestal-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was built at Pembroke Dock and launched on 28 April 1835. She was to have been launched in July 1834 and fitted thereafter. Her complement was 152 officers and men, 33 boys, and 25 marines. She was broken up in February 1862.



Cleopatra was the second of three Vestal-class ships built between 1833 and 1836. The first was HMS Vestal and the third HMS Carysfort. She was acknowledged as a good handling fast boat during her early voyages.


Sister ship - HMS Vestal
His Majesty's Ship the Vestal frigate, commanded by Captain William Jones. Having their Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria on board, off Culver Cliffs on the 24th July 1833

Scale 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines and longitudinal half breadth for building Vestal (cancelled 1831), a 28-gun, Sixth Rate Frigate building at Chatham Dockyard. Signed Robert Seppings. (Surveyor of the Navy)

Scale 1:24. Plan showing the midship section illustrting bolts and iron knees for attaching the deck beams to the sides for building Vestal (cancelled 1831), a 28-gun, Sixth Rate Frigate for building at Chatham Dockyard. Signed Robert Seppings. (Surveyor of the Navy)

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
28 April 1885 – Launch of HMS Howe, an Admiral-class ironclad battleship built for the Royal Navy during the 1880s.


HMS Howe was an Admiral-class ironclad battleship built for the Royal Navy during the 1880s. The ship was assigned to the Channel Fleet in mid-1890 and was badly damaged when she ran aground in late 1892. After repairs were completed, Howe was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in late 1893. She returned home in late 1896 and became a guardship in Ireland. Howe remained there until late 1901 when she was assigned to the Reserve Fleet. The ship was paid off in three years later and then sold for scrap in 1910.



Design and description
The Admiral class was built in response to French ironclad battleships of the Hoche and Marceau classes. Howe and her sister ship, Rodney, were enlarged and improved versions of Collingwood with a more powerful armament. The sisters had a length between perpendiculars of 325 feet (99.1 m), a beam of 68 feet (20.7 m), and a draught of 27 feet 10 inches (8.5 m) at deep load. They displaced 10,300 long tons (10,500 t) at normal load, some 800 long tons (813 t) heavier than Collingwood, mainly due to the heavier armament, which also increased the draught by 18 inches (457 mm). The ships had a complement of 525–536 officers and ratings.

Howe was powered by two 3-cylinder inverted compound-expansion steam engines, each driving one propeller. The Humphreys engines produced a total of 7,500 indicated horsepower (5,600 kW) at normal draughtand 11,500 ihp (8,600 kW) with forced draught, using steam provided by a dozen cylindrical boilers. The sisters were designed to reach a speed of 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) at normal draught and Howe reached 16.9 knots (31.3 km/h; 19.4 mph) on her sea trials, using forced draught. The ships carried a maximum of 1,200 long tons (1,219 t) of coal that gave her a range of 7,200 nautical miles (13,300 km; 8,300 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

Armament and armour
Unlike Collingwood, the later four Admiral-class ships had a main armament of 30-calibre rifled breech-loading (BL) 13.5-inch (343 mm) Mk II guns, rather than the 12-inch (305 mm) guns in the earlier ship. The four guns were mounted in two twin-gun, pear-shaped barbettes, one forward and one aft of the superstructure. The barbettes were open, without hoods or gun shields, and the guns were fully exposed. The 1,250-pound (570 kg) shells fired by these guns were credited with the ability to penetrate 28 inches (711 mm) of wrought iron at 1,000 yards (910 m), using a charge of 630 pounds (290 kg) of smokeless brown cocoa (SBC). At maximum elevation, the guns had a range of around 11,950 yards (10,930 m) with SBC; later a charge of 187 pounds (85 kg) of cordite was substituted for the SBC which extended the range to about 12,620 yards (11,540 m). There were significant delays in the production of the heavy guns for this ship and her sisters, due to cracking in the innermost layer of the guns, that significantly delayed the delivery of these ships. Even as late as early 1890, Howe only had two of her guns installed.

The secondary armament of the Admirals consisted of six 26-calibre BL 6-inch (152 mm) Mk IV guns on single mounts positioned on the upper deck amidships, three on each broadside. They fired 100-pound (45 kg) shells that were credited with the ability to penetrate 10.5 inches (267 mm) of wrought iron at 1000 yards. They had a range of 8,830 yards (8,070 m) at an elevation of +15° using prismatic black powder. Beginning around 1895 all of these guns were converted into quick-firing guns (QF) with a much faster rate of fire. Using cordite extended their range to 9,275 yards (8,481 m).[8] For defence against torpedo boats the ships carried a dozen QF 6-pounder 2.2-inch (57 mm) Hotchkiss guns and 10 QF 3-pdr 1.9-inch (47 mm) Hotchkiss guns. They also mounted five 14-inch (356 mm) above-water torpedo tubes, one in the bow and four on the broadside.


Howe, at Queenstown harbour, Co. Cork

The armour scheme of Howe and Rodney was virtually identical to that of Collingwood. The waterline armour belt of compound armour extended across the middle of the ships between the rear of each barbette for a the length of 140 feet (42.7 m). It had a total height of 7 feet 6 inches (2.3 m) deep of which 6 feet 6 inches (2.0 m) was below water and 1 foot (0.3 m) above at normal load; at deep load, their draught increased by another 6 inches. The upper 4 feet (1.2 m) of the belt armour was 18 inches (457 mm) thick and the plates tapered to 8 inches (203 mm) at the bottom edge. Lateral bulkheads at the ends of the belt connected it to the barbettes; they were 16 inches (406 mm) thick at main deck level and 7 inches (178 mm) below.

The barbettes ranged in thickness from 11.5 to 10 inches (292 to 254 mm) with the main ammunition hoists protected by armoured tubes with walls 12 inches thick. The conning towers also had walls of that thickness as well as roofs 2 inches (51 mm) thick. The deck of the central armoured citadel had a thickness of 3 inches (76 mm) and the lower deck was 2.5 inches (64 mm) thick from the ends of the belt to the bow and stern.

Construction and career

A bow view of Howe at anchor

Howe, named after Admiral Richard Howe, was the fourth ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy. The ship was laid down at Pembroke Dockyard on 7 June 1882, launched on 28 April 1885 and was delivered at Portsmouth on 15 November 1885, complete except for her main armament, at a cost of £639,434. She was commissioned on 18 July 1889 to take part in fleet manoeuvres. Finally fully armed, she was assigned to the Channel Fleet in May 1890. On 2 November 1892, she ran aground on a shoal off Ferrol, Spain, due primarily to faulty charts, and was salvaged with great difficulty, being finally freed by HMS Seahorse on 30 March 1893. The ship paid off at Chatham Dockyard for repairs and an overhaul that cost £45,000.

In October of that year, Howe was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet where she remained until December 1896, when she became port guardship at Queenstown. Captain Henry Louis Fleet was in command from January 1900 until she was paid off at Devonport on 12 October 1901, when her entire crew was transferred to HMS Empress of India, which took over as the Queenstown guardship. The ship was then assigned to the Reserve Fleet and then fully decommissioned after her last manoeuvres in September 1904. Howe was sold to Thos W Ward for £25,100 on 11 October 1910 and towed to Briton Ferry, Wales, to be broken up in January 1912


A painting recording the towing of the battleship ‘Howe’ into Ferrol in April 1893 having run aground on Ferrol Rock on 2 November 1892 during service in the Mediterranean. The crew were transferred to the ‘Royal Sovereign’ as the ship was initially thought to be beyond repair. She was finally salvaged with great difficulty, which is the process shown in the painting with HMS ‘Seahorse’ on the far left pulling the ‘Howe’. The tow rope is clearly visible as they move towards the Spanish coastline. After running aground the ‘Howe’ was salvaged in order to be repaired. Water can be seen pouring out of the ship as the careful operation gets under way and small boats hover round the ship. The painting is signed ‘A. Sanz’ and is dated 1893


The British Royal Navy's ironclad Admiral-class battleships of the 1880s followed the pattern of the Devastation class in having the main armament on centreline mounts fore and aft of the superstructure. This pattern was followed by most following British designs until HMS Dreadnought in 1906. They were known as the Admiral class because with one exception, they were all named after British admirals, such as Admiral George Anson.






HMS Anson (circa 1897)


Starboard elevation and deck plan


interior views of Benbow


Right elevation of 16.25-inch gun mounting


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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
28 April 1888 – Launch of USS Vesuvius, the third ship of the United States Navy named for the Italian volcano, a unique vessel in the Navy inventory which marked a departure from more conventional forms of main battery armament.
She is considered a dynamite gun cruiser and was essentially an operational testbed for large dynamite guns.


USS Vesuvius, the third ship of the United States Navy named for the Italian volcano, was a unique vessel in the Navy inventory which marked a departure from more conventional forms of main battery armament. She is considered a dynamite gun cruiser and was essentially an operational testbed for large dynamite guns.


Vesuvius in 1891

Vesuvius was laid down in September 1887 at Philadelphia by William Cramp & Sons Ships and Engine Building Company, subcontracted from the Pneumatic Dynamite Gun Company of New York City. She was launched on 28 April 1888 sponsored by Miss Eleanor Breckinridge and commissioned on 2 June 1890 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard with Lieutenant Seaton Schroeder in command.


Dynamite guns


The three dynamite guns below deck on Vesuvius


Dynamite gun muzzles on Vesuvius

Vesuvius carried three 15-inch (38-cm) cast iron pneumatic guns, invented by D. M. Medford and developed by Edmund Zalinski, a retired officer of the United States Army. They were mounted forward side-by-side at a fixed elevation of 16 degrees. Gun barrels were 55 feet (17 meters) long with the muzzles extending 15 feet (4.6 meters) through the deck 37 feet (11 meters) abaft the bow. In order to train these weapons, the ship had to be aimed, like a gun, at its target. Compressed air from a 1000 psi (70 atm) reservoir projected the shells from the dynamite guns. Two air compressors were available to recharge the reservoir.

The shells fired from the guns were steel or brass casings 7 feet (2 meters) long with the explosive contained in the conical forward part of the casing and spiral vanes on the after part to rotate the projectile. The explosive used in the shells themselves was actually a "desensitized blasting gelatin" composed of nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin. It was less sensitive to shock than regular dynamite, but still sensitive enough that compressed air, rather than powder, had to be utilized as the propellant. Shells containing 550 pounds (250 kg) of explosive had a maximum range of 1 mile (1.6 km), but range could be extended to 4000 yards (3.7 km) by reducing projectile weight to 200 pounds (100 kg). Maximum muzzle velocity was 800 feet (250 meters) per second. Range could be reduced by releasing less compressed air from the reservoir. Ten shells per gun were carried on board, and 15 shells were fired in 16 minutes 50 seconds during an 1889 test. The shells employed an electrical fuze which could be either set to explode on contact or delayed to explode underwater.


Interior of the USS Vesuvius conning tower located behind the dynamite guns.

Service history
Shakedown cruise
Vesuvius sailed for New York shortly after commissioning and then joined the Fleet at Gardiner's Bay, New York, on 1 October 1890. She operated off the east coast with the North Atlantic Squadron into 1895. Highlights of this tour of duty included numerous port visits and participation in local observances of holidays and festivals, as well as gunnery practice and exercises. Experience showed that the ship's unique main battery had two major drawbacks: first, the range was too short; second, the method of aiming was crude and inaccurate.

Spanish–American War
Decommissioned on 25 April 1895 for major repairs, Vesuvius re-entered service on 12 January 1897 with Lieutenant Commander John E. bury in command. The ship got underway from Philadelphia Navy Yard, bound for Florida, and operated off the east coast through the spring of the following year, 1898. By this time, American relations with Spain were worsening. The American Fleet gathered in Florida waters, and Vesuvius hurried south from Newport, Rhode Island, and arrived at Key West, Florida, on 13 May. She remained there until 28 May, when she headed for blockade duty in Cuban coastal waters. Vesuvius performed special duties at the discretion of the Fleet Commander in Chief and served as a dispatch vessel between Cuba and Florida into July 1898.

On 13 June, Vesuvius conducted the first of eight shore bombardment missions against Santiago, Cuba. The cruiser stealthily closed the shore under cover of darkness, loosed a few rounds of her 15-inch dynamite charges, and then retired to sea. Psychologically, Vesuvius's bombardment caused great anxiety among the Spanish forces ashore, for her devastating shells came in without warning, unaccompanied by the roar of gunfire usually associated with a bombardment. Admiral Sampson wrote accordingly, that Vesuvius bombardments had "great effect." Although the dynamite guns were relatively quiet, detonation of their large high explosive shells sounded different from contemporary gunpowder-filled artillery shells; and soldiers observed the explosions "made holes like the cellar of a country house."



Post-war conversion
After hostilities with Spain ended later that summer, Vesuvius sailed north and called at Charleston, South Carolina, New York, and Newport, before reaching Boston, Massachusetts. Taken out of active service on 16 September 1898, Vesuvius remained at the Boston Navy Yard until 1904, when she began conversion to a torpedo-testing vessel. Vesuvius lost her unique main battery and acquired four torpedo tubes — three 18 inch (450 mm) and one 21-inch. Recommissioned on 21 June 1905, Vesuvius soon sailed for the Naval Torpedo Station in Newport, Rhode Island to begin her new career.

She conducted torpedo experiments at the station for two years until decommissioned on 27 November 1907 for repairs. Recommissioned again on 14 February 1910, Vesuvius remained at Newport for the next 11 years, on occasion serving as station ship, into 1921.

In May 1915, a torpedo fired from Vesuvius ran a circular course and punctured the hull of the ship. Damage control efforts by her crew and the quick judgment of her commanding officer, Chief Gunner Thomas Smith, prevented her from sinking before she was intentionally run aground on Prudence Island in Narragansett Bay.

She was decommissioned and ordered appraised for sale on 21 April 1922 to J. Lipsitz and Company of Chelsea, Massachusetts.

USS Vesuvius (1888) - Wikipedia

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
28 April 1906 – Launch of SMS Nürnberg, named after the Bavarian city of Nuremberg, a Königsberg-class light cruiser built for the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine).


SMS Nürnberg ("His Majesty's Ship Nürnberg"),[a] named after the Bavarian city of Nuremberg, was a Königsberg-class light cruiser built for the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine). Her sisters included Königsberg, Stettin, and Stuttgart. She was built by the Imperial Dockyard in Kiel, laid down in early 1906 and launched in April of that year. She was completed in April 1908. Nürnberg was armed with ten 4.1-inch (100 mm) guns, eight 5.2 cm (2.0 in) SK L/55 guns, and two submerged torpedo tubes. Her top speed was 23.4 knots (43.3 km/h; 26.9 mph).


SMS Nürnberg underway before the war

Nürnberg served with the fleet briefly, before being deployed overseas in 1910. She was assigned to the East Asia Squadron. At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, she was returning to the German naval base at Tsingtao from Mexican waters. She rejoined the rest of the Squadron, commanded by Vice Admiral Maximilian von Spee, which steamed across the Pacific Ocean and encountered a British squadron commanded by Rear Admiral Christopher Cradock. In the ensuing Battle of Coronel on 1 November, the British squadron was defeated; Nürnberg finished off the British cruiser HMS Monmouth. A month later, the Germans attempted to raid the British base in the Falkland Islands; a powerful British squadron that included a pair of battlecruisers was in port, commanded by Vice Admiral Doveton Sturdee. Sturdee's ships chased down and destroyed four of the five German cruisers; HMS Kent sank Nürnberg, with heavy loss of life.


Design

Line-drawing of the Königsberg class
Main article: Königsberg class cruiser (1905)

The Königsberg -class ships were designed to serve both as fleet scouts in home waters and in Germany's colonial empire. This was a result of budgetary constraints that prevented the Kaiserliche Marine from building more specialized cruisers suitable for both roles.

Nürnberg was 116.8 meters (383 ft) long overall and had a beam of 13.3 m (44 ft) and a draft of 5.24 m (17.2 ft) forward. She displaced 3,902 t (3,840 long tons; 4,301 short tons) at full combat load. Her propulsion system consisted of two 3-cylinder triple expansion engines powered by eleven coal-fired Marine-type boilers. These provided a top speed of 23.4 kn (43.3 km/h; 26.9 mph) and a range of approximately 4,120 nautical miles (7,630 km; 4,740 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph). Nürnberg had a crew of 14 officers and 308 enlisted men.

The ship was armed with ten 10.5 cm SK L/40 naval guns in single pedestal mounts. Two were placed side by side forward on the forecastle, six were located amidships, three on either side, and two were side by side aft. The guns had a maximum elevation of 30 degrees, which allowed them to engage targets out to 12,700 m (41,700 ft). They were supplied with 1,500 rounds of ammunition, for 150 shells per gun. The ship was also equipped with eight 5.2 cm SK L/55 guns with 4,000 rounds of ammunition. She was also equipped with a pair of 45 cm (18 in) torpedo tubes with five torpedoes submerged in the hull on the broadside. The ship was protected by an armored deck that was 80 mm (3.1 in) thick amidships. The conning towerhad 100 mm (3.9 in) thick sides.

Nürnberg was ordered under the contract name "Ersatz Blitz" and was laid down at the Imperial Dockyard in Kiel on 16 January 1906. At her launching on 28 August 1906, the mayor of her namesake, Dr. Georg von Schuh, christened Nürnberg, after which fitting-out work commenced. She was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet on 10 April 1908


The Königsberg class was a group of four light cruisers built for the German Imperial Navy. The class comprised four vessels: SMS Königsberg, the lead ship, SMS Nürnberg, SMS Stuttgart, and SMS Stettin. The ships were an improvement on the preceding Bremen class, being slightly larger and faster, and mounting the same armament of ten 10.5 cm SK L/40 guns and two 45 cm (18 in) torpedo tubes.




SMS Königsberg

The four ships saw extensive service during World War I. Königsberg conducted commerce warfare in the Indian Ocean before being trapped in the Rufiji River and sunk by British warships. Her guns nevertheless continued to see action as converted artillery pieces for the German Army in German East Africa. Nürnberg was part of the German East Asia Squadron, and participated in the Battles of Coronel and Falkland Islands. At the former, she sank the British armored cruiser HMS Monmouth, and at the latter, she was in turn sunk by the cruiser HMS Kent.

Stuttgart and Stettin remained in German waters during the war, and both saw action at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May and 1 June 1916. The two cruisers engaged in close-range night fighting with the British fleet, but neither was significantly damaged. Both ships were withdrawn from service later in the war, Stettin to serve as a training ship, and Stuttgart to be converted into a seaplane tender in 1918. They both survived the war, and were surrendered to Britain as war prizes; they were dismantled in the early 1920s.


Königsberg moored in harbor before the war


Stettin in the United States in 1912

SMS Nürnberg (1906) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Königsberg-class_cruiser_(1905)

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
28 April 1943 - the combination troop transport and hospital ship Kamakura Maru, while sailing from Manila to Singapore and carrying some 2,500 soldiers along with civilians, was torpedoed by the US submarine USS Gudgeon.
The ship was hit by two torpedoes and sank within 12 minutes. Four days later 465 survivors were rescued from the sea by Japanese ships with some 2,035 people being killed.


The Chichibu Maru (秩父丸) was a Japanese passenger ship which, renamed Kamakura Maru, was sunk during World World II, killing 2,035 soldiers and civilians on board.


Kamakura Maru arriving at Yokohama with the ashes of the four submariners killed in the attack on Sydney Harbour

The Chichibu Maru was built for the Nippon Yusen shipping company by the Yokohama Dock Company in 1930. She had a beam of 22.6 meters, a length of 178 meters and a tonnage of 17,498. Cruising speed was 19 knots, with a maximum of 21 knots. The ship could carry 817 passengers. She differed from her half-sisters, the Asama Maru and the Tatsuta Maru, in her propulsion system, and in having one (rather than two) funnels.

Before the war, the ship carried passengers between Yokohama and San Francisco. Prince Takamatsu and Princess Takamatsu also traveled on this ship. She had her name altered twice: first re-spelt Titibu Maru in 1938, following the adoption of Kunrei-shiki romanization; then - upon realizing the name's resemblance to "tit" (a vulgar English term for the female breast) - renamed Kamakura Maru in 1939.

In 1942 she was requisitioned by the Imperial Japanese Navy to serve as a troop transport ship, and also as hospital ship. On April 28, 1943, the Kamakura Maru, sailing from Manila to Singapore and carrying some 2,500 soldiers and civilians, was torpedoed by the US submarine USS Gudgeon. The ship was hit by two torpedoes and sank within 12 minutes. Four days later, 465 survivors were rescued from the sea by Japanese ships, meaning some 2,035 people were killed.








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

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
28 April 1944 - In a D-Day training exercise named Exercise Tiger, USS LST-531 was torpedoed and sunk by German E-boats. Of 926 troops and crew aboard, 636 were killed and 290 survived
Also USS LST-507 was hit by a torpedo. It partially floated till dawn and then the bow was sunk by fire from a British destroyer. It was the only LST (out of the three hit, of which two sank) to go up in flames. 424 US army and navy personnel were killed on board


Exercise Tiger, or Operation Tiger, was the code name for one in a series of large-scale rehearsals for the D-Day invasion of Normandy, which took place in April 1944 on Slapton Sands in Devon. Coordination and communication problems resulted in friendly fire deaths during the exercise, and an Allied convoy positioning itself for the landing was attacked by E-boats of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine, resulting in the deaths of at least 749 American servicemen. Because of the impending invasion of Normandy, the incident was under the strictest secrecy at the time and was only nominally reported afterwards.

World War II Americas Secret D Day Disaster 720p


Exercise
Landing Operations
In late 1943, as part of the build-up to D-day, the British government set up a training ground at Slapton Sands, Devon, to be used by Force "U", the American forces tasked with landing on Utah Beach. Slapton Beach was selected for its similarity to Utah Beach: a gravel beach, followed by a strip of land and then a lake. Approximately 3,000 local residents in the area of Slapton, now South Hams District of Devon, were evacuated. Some had never left their villages before being evacuated.

Landing exercises started in December 1943. Exercise Tiger was one of the larger exercises that took place in April and May 1944. The exercise was to last from 22 April until 30 April 1944, and covered all aspects of the invasion, culminating in a beach landing at Slapton Sands. On board nine large tank landing ships (LSTs), the 30,000 troops prepared for their mock landing, which also included a live-firing exercise.

Protection for the exercise area came from the Royal Navy. Two destroyers, three Motor Torpedo Boats and two Motor Gun Boats patrolled the entrance to Lyme Bay and Motor Torpedo Boats watched the Cherbourg area where German E-boats were based.

The first phase of the exercise focused on marshalling and embarkation drills, and lasted from 22 to 25 April. On the evening of 26 April the first wave of assault troops boarded their transports and set off, the plan being to simulate the Channel crossing by taking a roundabout route through Lyme Bay, in order to arrive off Slapton at first light on 27 April.

Friendly fire incident
The first practice assault took place on the morning of 27 April and was marred by an incident involving friendly fire. H-hour was set for 07:30, and was to include live ammunition to acclimatize the troops to the sights, sounds and even smells of a naval bombardment. During the landing itself, live rounds were to be fired over the heads of the incoming troops by forces on land, for the same reason. This followed an order made by General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander, who felt that the men must be hardened by exposure to real battle conditions. The exercise was to include naval bombardment by ships of Force U Bombardment Group fifty minutes prior to the landing.

Several of the landing ships for that morning were delayed, and the officer in charge, American Admiral Don P. Moon, decided to delay H-hour for 60 minutes, until 08:30.[8] Some of the landing craft did not receive word of the change. Landing on the beach at their original scheduled time, the second wave came under fire, suffering an unknown number of casualties. Rumours circulated along the fleet that as many as 450 men were killed.

Battle of Lyme Bay
On the day after the first practice assaults, early on the morning of 28 April, the exercise was blighted when Convoy T-4, consisting of eight LSTs carrying vehicles and combat engineers of the 1st Engineer Special Brigade, was attacked by nine German E-boats under the command of Korvettenkapitän Bernd Klug, in Lyme Bay.

Of the two ships assigned to protect the convoy, only one was present. HMS Azalea, a corvette, was leading the LSTs in a straight line, a formation that later drew criticism since it presented an easy target to the E-boats. The second ship that was supposed to be present, HMS Scimitar, a World War I destroyer, had been in a collision with an LST, suffered structural damage and left the convoy to be repaired at Plymouth. Because the LSTs and British naval headquarters were operating on different frequencies, the American forces did not know this. HMS Saladin was dispatched as a replacement, but did not arrive in time to help protect the convoy.

The E-boats had left Cherbourg on patrol the previous evening and did not encounter the Allied patrol lines off Cherbourg or in the English Channel. They spotted the convoy and attacked.

Casualties

• LST-289 was set on fire but eventually made it back to shore with the loss of 123 Navy personnel.
• LST-507 was torpedoed and sunk with the loss of 202 US Army/US Navy personnel.
• LST-511 was damaged by friendly fire.
• LST-531 sank within six minutes of being torpedoed with the loss of 424 Army and Navy personnel.

The remaining ships and their escort fired back and the E-boats made no more attacks. In total, 749 servicemen (551 United States Army and 198 United States Navy) were killed during Exercise Tiger. Many servicemen drowned or died of hypothermia in the cold sea while waiting to be rescued. Many had not been shown how to put on their lifebelt correctly, and placed it around their waist, the only available spot because of their large backpacks. In some cases this meant that when they jumped into the water, the weight of their combat packs flipped them upside down, dragging their heads under water and drowning them. Dale Rodman, who travelled on LST-507, commented: "The worst memory I have is setting off in the lifeboat away from the sinking ship and watching bodies float by." The 248 bodies that were recovered were sent to Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey on 29 April.



Aftermath
As a result of official embarrassment and concerns over potential leaks just prior to the real invasion, all survivors were sworn to secrecy by their superiors. Ten missing officers involved in the exercise had BIGOT-level clearance for D-Day, meaning that they knew the invasion plans and could have compromised the invasion should they have been captured alive. As a result, the invasion was nearly called off until the bodies of all ten victims were found As it was, the mere similarity between Slapton Sands and the Calvados coast caused Hitler to, correctly, suspect that the exercise was a practice for a landing in Normandy and to insist on the need to reinforce lower Normandy.

There is little information about exactly how individual soldiers and sailors died. The US Department of Defense stated in 1988 that record-keeping may have been inadequate aboard some of the ships, and the most pertinent log books were lost at sea. A ninth LST (LST-508) was scheduled to be in the convoy, but was damaged. Author Nigel Lewis speculates that some or all of its infantrymen may have been aboard LST 507when it went down. Various eyewitness accounts detail hasty treatment of casualties and rumours circulated of unmarked mass graves in Devon fields.

Several changes resulted from mistakes made in Exercise Tiger:

• Radio frequencies were standardised; the British escort vessels were late and out of position due to radio problems, and a signal of the E-boats' presence was not picked up by the LSTs.
• Better life vest training for landing troops
• New plans for small craft to pick up floating survivors on D-Day

Official histories contain little information about the tragedy. Some commentators have called it a cover-up, but the initial critical secrecy about Tiger may have merely resulted in longer-term quietude. In his book The Forgotten Dead: Why 946 American Servicemen Died Off The Coast Of Devon In 1944 – And The Man Who Discovered Their True Story, published in 1988, Ken Small declares that the event "was never covered up; it was 'conveniently forgotten'". The casualty statistics from Tiger were not released by Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) until August 1944, along with the casualties of the actual D-Day landings. This report stated that there were 442 army dead and 197 navy, for a total of 639. (However, Moon had reported on 30 April that there were 749 dead.) Charles B. MacDonald, author and former deputy chief historian at the U.S. Army Center of Military History, notes that information from the SHAEF press release appeared in the August issue of Stars and Stripes. MacDonald surmises that the press release went largely unnoticed in light of the larger events that were occurring at the time. The story was detailed in at least three books at the end of the war, including CaptainHarry C. Butcher's My Three Years With Eisenhower (1946), and in several publications and speeches. Gordon A. Harrison mentioned it in the official Army history Cross-Channel Attack (p. 270) and Samuel Eliot Morison discussed it in his official Navy history, US Naval Operations, vol. 11, p. 66.


USS LST-507 enroute to the European Theater from the US with a MK5 LCT loaded on her main deck, March 1944.

Der D-Day Skandal Doku deutsch HD
Wie konnte aus einer Übung an der britischen Küste für die Landung der Alliierten in der Normandie 1944 ein Blutbad entstehen, bei dem hunderte Soldaten ums Leben kamen? “Exercise Tiger” war das schlimmste Trainingsunglück der Alliierten im 20. Jahrhundert, entstanden aus eine Mischung aus Inkompetenz und feindlicher Spionage, die dreißig Jahre lang – bis 1984 – geheim gehalten wurde. Berichte von Überlebenden und Zeitzeugen, freigegebene Dokumente, Archivfilme und Unterwasseraufnahmen helfen, die kontroverse Geschichte zu rekonstruieren.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exercise_Tiger
http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/16/160507.htm
http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/16/16idx.htm

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
28 April 1947 – Thor Heyerdahl and five crew mates set out from Peru on the Kon-Tiki to demonstrate that Peruvian natives could have settled Polynesia.


The Kon-Tiki expedition was a 1947 journey by raft across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian islands, led by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl. The raft was named Kon-Tiki after the Incasun god, Viracocha, for whom "Kon-Tiki" was said to be an old name. Kon-Tiki is also the name of Heyerdahl's book, the Academy Award-winning documentary film chronicling his adventures, and the 2012 dramatized feature film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.


The Kon-Tiki raft exhibited at Oslo Museum

Heyerdahl believed that people from South America could have settled Polynesia in pre-Columbian times. His aim in mounting the Kon-Tiki expedition was to show, by using only the materials and technologies available to those people at the time, that there were no technical reasons to prevent them from having done so. Although the expedition carried some modern equipment, such as a radio, watches, charts, sextant, and metal knives, Heyerdahl argued they were incidental to the purpose of proving that the raft itself could make the journey.

The Kon-Tiki expedition was funded by private loans, along with donations of equipment from the United States Army. Heyerdahl and a small team went to Peru, where, with the help of dockyard facilities provided by the Peruvian authorities, they constructed the raft out of balsa logs and other native materials in an indigenous style as recorded in illustrations by Spanish conquistadores. The trip began on April 28, 1947. Heyerdahl and five companions sailed the raft for 101 days over 6,900 km (4,300 miles) across the Pacific Ocean before smashing into a reef at Raroia in the Tuamotus on August 7, 1947. The crew made successful landfall and all returned safely.

Thor Heyerdahl's book about his experience became a bestseller. It was published in Norwegian in 1948 as The Kon-Tiki Expedition: By Raft Across the South Seas, later reprinted as Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific in a Raft. It appeared with great success in English in 1950, also in many other languages. A documentary motion picture about the expedition, also called Kon-Tiki, was produced from a write-up and expansion of the crew's filmstrip notes and won an Academy Award in 1951. It was directed by Thor Heyerdahl and edited by Olle Nordemar. The voyage was also chronicled in the documentary TV-series The Kon-Tiki Man: The Life and Adventures of Thor Heyerdahl, directed by Bengt Jonson.

The original Kon-Tiki raft is now on display in the Kon-Tiki Museum at Bygdøy in Oslo.

Kon-Tiki (1950 Film) ORIGINAL VERSION
Kon-Tiki is a Norweigian-Swedish documentary film about the Kon-Tiki expedition led by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl in 1947, released in Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark in 1950, followed by the United States in 1951. The movie, which was directed by Thor Heyerdahl and edited by Olle Nordemar, received the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for 1951 at the 24th Academy Awards. The Oscar officially went to Olle Nordemar. The movie has an introduction explaining Heyerdahl's theory, then shows diagrams and images explaining the building of the raft and its launch from Peru. Thereafter it is a film of the crew on board, shot by themselves, with commentary written by Heyerdahl and translated. The whole film is black and white, shot on a single 16mm camera.


The voyage
Kon-Tiki left Callao, Peru, on the afternoon of April 28, 1947. To avoid coastal traffic it was initially towed 80 km (50 mi) out by the Fleet Tug Guardian Rios of the Peruvian Navy, then sailed roughly west carried along on the Humboldt Current.

The crew's first sight of land was the atoll of Puka-Puka on July 30. On August 4, the 97th day after departure, Kon-Tiki reached the Angatau atoll. The crew made brief contact with the inhabitants of Angatau Island, but were unable to land safely. Calculations made by Heyerdahl before the trip had indicated that 97 days was the minimum amount of time required to reach the Tuamotu islands, so the encounter with Angatau showed that they had made good time.

On August 7, the voyage came to an end when the raft struck a reef and was eventually beached on an uninhabited islet off Raroia atoll in the Tuamotu group. The team had travelled a distance of around 6,980 km (4,340 mi; 3,770 nmi) in 101 days, at an average speed of 1.5 knots (2.8 km/h; 1.7 mph).

After spending a number of days alone on the tiny islet, the crew was greeted by men from a village on a nearby island who arrived in canoes, having seen washed-up flotsam from the raft. The crew were taken back to the native village, where they were feted with traditional dances and other festivities. Finally the crew were taken off Raroia to Tahiti by the French schooner Tamara, with the salvaged Kon-Tiki in tow.



Crew
Kon-Tiki had a six-man crew, all of whom were Norwegian except for Bengt Danielsson, a Swede.

• Thor Heyerdahl (1914–2002) was the expedition leader. He was also the author of the book of the expedition and the narrator of the story. Heyerdahl had studied the ancient people of South America and Polynesia and believed that there was a link between the two.
• Erik Hesselberg (1914–1972) was the navigator and artist. He painted the large Kon-Tiki figure on the raft's sail. His children's book Kon-Tiki and I appeared in Norwegian in 1949 and has since been published in more than 15 languages.
• Bengt Danielsson (1921–1997) took on the role of steward, in charge of supplies and daily rations. Danielsson was a Swedish sociologist interested in human migration theory. He also served as translator, as he was the only member of the crew who spoke Spanish. He was also a voracious reader; his box aboard the raft contained many books.
• Knut Haugland (1917–2009) was a radio expert, decorated by the British in World War II for actions in the Norwegian heavy water sabotage that stalled what were believed to be Germany's plans to develop an atomic bomb. Haugland was the last surviving crew member; he died on Christmas Day, 2009 at the age of 92.[3]
• Torstein Raaby (1918–1964) was also in charge of radio transmissions. He gained radio experience while hiding behind German lines during WWII, spying on the German battleship Tirpitz. His secret radio transmissions eventually helped guide in Allied bombers to sink the ship.
• Herman Watzinger (1910–1986) was an engineer whose area of expertise was in technical measurements. He was the first to join Heyerdahl for the trip. He collected and recorded all sorts of data on the voyage. Much of what he recorded, such as weather data, was sent back to various people, since this area of the ocean was largely unstudied.

The expedition also carried a pet parrot named Lorita.

Construction
The main body of the float was composed of nine balsa tree trunks up to 14 m (45 ft) long, 60 cm (2 ft) in diameter, lashed together with 30 mm (1 1⁄4 in) hemp ropes. Cross-pieces of balsa logs 5.5 m (18 ft) long and 30 cm (1 ft) in diameter were lashed across the logs at 91 cm (3 ft) intervals to give lateral support. Pine splashboards clad the bow, and lengths of pine 25 mm (1 in) thick and 60 cm (2 ft) wide were wedged between the balsa logs and used as centreboards.

The main mast was made of lengths of mangrove wood lashed together to form an A-frame 8.8 m (29 ft) high. Behind the main-mast was a cabin of plaited bamboo 4.3 m (14 ft) long and 2.4 m (8 ft) wide was built about 1.2–1.5 m (4–5 ft) high, and roofed with banana leaf thatch. At the stern was a 5.8 m (19 ft) long steering oar of mangrove wood, with a blade of fir. The main sail was 4.6 by 5.5 m (15 by 18 ft) on a yard of bamboo stems lashed together. Photographs also show a top-sail above the main sail, and also a mizzen-sail, mounted at the stern.

The raft was partially decked in split bamboo. The main spars were a laminate of wood and reeds and Heyerdahl tested more than twenty different composites before settling on one that proved an effective compromise between bulk and torsional rigidity. No metal was used in the construction.



Supplies
Kon-Tiki carried 1,040 litres (275 US gal) of drinking water in 56 water cans, as well as a number of sealed bamboo rods. The purpose stated by Heyerdahl for carrying modern and ancient containers was to test the effectiveness of ancient water storage. For food Kon-Tiki carried 200 coconuts, sweet potatoes, bottle gourds and other assorted fruit and roots. The U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps provided field rations, tinned food and survival equipment. In return, the Kon-Tiki explorers reported on the quality and utility of the provisions. They also caught plentiful numbers of fish, particularly flying fish, "dolphin fish", yellowfin tuna, bonito and shark.

Communications

National NC-173 radio receiver used by the expedition.

The expedition carried an amateur radio station with the call sign of LI2B operated by former World War II Norwegian resistance radio operators Knut Haugland and Torstein Raaby. Haugland and Raaby maintained regular communication with a number of American, Canadian, and South American stations that relayed Kon Tiki's status to the Norwegian Embassy in Washington, D.C. On August 5, Haugland made contact with a station in Oslo, Norway, 16,000 kilometres (10,000 mi) away.

Kon Tiki's transmitters were powered by batteries and a hand-cranked generator and operated on the 40, 20, 10, and 6-meter bands. Each unit was water resistant, used 2E30 vacuum tubes, and provided approximately 6 watts of RF output; the equivalent of a small flashlight.[8] Two British 3-16 MHz Mark II transmitters were also carried on board, as was a VHF transmitter for communicating with aircraft and a hand-cranked Survival radio of the Gibson Girl type for 500 and 8280 kHz.

The radio receiver used throughout the voyage, a National Radio Company NC-173, once required a thorough drying out after being soaked when landing in Raratonga. The crew once used a hand-cranked emergency transmitter to send out an "all well, all well" message "just in time to head off a massive rescue attempt".

The call sign LI2B was used by Heyerdahl again in 1969–70, when he built a papyrus reed raft and sailed from Morocco to Barbados in an attempt to show a possible link between the civilization of ancient Egypt and the New World





https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor_Heyerdahl
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kon-Tiki_expedition

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 28 April


1668 – Launch of French Monarque 84 guns (designed and built by Laurent Coulomb, launched 28 April 1668 at Toulon) – broken up 1700


1749 – Launch of French Hermione, (one-off 26-gun design of 1748 by Pierre Morineau, with 26 x 12-pounder guns, launched 28 April 1749 at Rochefort) – captured by British Navy 1757, becoming HMS Unicorn's Prize.


1756 – Launch of French Diligente, (one-off 26-gun design of 1755 by Joseph-Louis Ollivier and Jacques-Luc Coulomb, with 26 x 8-pounder and 6 x 4-pounder guns, launched 28 April 1756 for the French East India Company, and purchased in April 1761 for the French Navy).


1758 HMS Tryton (24), Cptn. Thomas Manning, and HMS Bridgewater (24), Cptn. John Stanton, run ashore burnt on the Coromandel Coast to avoid capture by French Squadron under Comte d'Aché.

HMS Tryton (1745) was a 24-gun sixth-rate frigate launched in 1745 and burned on 28 April 1758 to avoid capture by the French.


Scale: 1:96. Plan showing the inboard profile and superimposed body plan sections for Prince (1750), a 90-gun Second Rate, three-decker. The plan also shows the inboard profile and superimposed body plan sections for Triton (1745), a 24-gun Sixth Rate. The plan includes two reference tables

HMS Bridgewater (1744) was a 24-gun sixth rate launched in 1744. She was run ashore and burnt in 1758 to avoid being captured by the French.

Anne Antoine, Comte d’Aché (23 January 1701, Marbeuf – 11 February 1780) was a French naval officer who rose to the rank of vice admiral. He is best known for his service off the coast of India during the Seven Years' War, when he led the French fleet at the Battle of Cuddalore and Battle of Pondicherry. He also failed to provide adequate naval support to French troops attempting to capture Madras in 1759. After he received rumours of a British attack on the major Indian Ocean naval base Mauritius he did not go to the aid of the French forces in Pondicherry which was being besieged by the British. Pondicherry, the French capital in India, subsequently surrendered leaving Britain dominant in the continent. After the war he retired to Brest where he died in 1780.

Anne Antoine, Comte d'Aché - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-355643;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=T

1778 – Launch of USS Hancock (1778), was a frigate launched 28 April 1778, and renamed USS Alliance (1778) by the Continental Congress to honor the entry of France into the war.


1820 – Launch of French Astrée, Pallas class (launched 28 April 1820 at Lorient).

(40-gun design of 1805 by Jacques-Noël Sané on basis of the Hortense class, with 28 x 18-pounder and 12 x 8-pounder guns). This was the 'standard' frigate design of the French First Empire, numerically outweighing all other types.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallas-class_frigate_(1808)


1863 – Launch of Regina Maria Pia was the lead ship of the Regina Maria Pia class of ironclad warships built in French shipyards for the Italian Regia Marina

Regina Maria Pia was the lead ship of the Regina Maria Pia class of ironclad warships built in French shipyards for the Italian Regia Marina in the 1860s. She and her three sister ships were broadside ironclads, mounting a battery of four 8-inch (203 mm) and twenty-two 164 mm (6.5 in) guns on the broadside. Regina Maria Pia was laid down in July 1862, was launched in April 1863, and was completed in April 1864.

Regina Maria Pia took part in the Battle of Lissa during the Third Italian War of Independence in 1866. She attacked the unarmored frigates in the Austrian second division, and damaged two vessels. Her career was limited after the war, owing to the emergence of more modern ironclads and a severe reduction in the Italian naval budget following their defeat at Lissa. She was rebuilt as a central battery ship some time after Lissa, and was modernized again in the late 1880s. Regina Maria Pia was eventually broken up for scrap in 1904.


Regina Maria Pia c. 1870

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


1891 – Launch of the second USS Monterey (BM‑6) was the sole Monterey-class monitor.

The second USS Monterey (BM‑6) was the sole Monterey-class monitor. Laid down by Union Iron Works, San Francisco, California, 20 December 1889, she was launched 28 April 1891, sponsored by Miss Kate C. Gunn. She was commissioned 13 February 1893, with Captain Lewis Kempff in command.


The USS Monterey at Mare Island Navy Yard.

Assigned to the Pacific Squadron for harbor defense, the Monterey operated out of Mare Island Navy Yard, making numerous voyages to ports on the West Coast on maneuvers and target practice during her first 5 years of naval service. Each spring the monitor would make a voyage down the California coast or a trip to Washington for target practice. From April to August 1895, she made an extended voyage down the South American coast to Callao, Peru, via Acapulco, Mazatlán, and Panama.


The USS Monterey at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, circa 1896. The USS Camanche is visible in the background.

With the outbreak of the Spanish–American War and Commodore George Dewey's great victory in Manila Bay 1 May 1898, the Monterey was ordered to sail for the Philippines to provide the Asiatic Squadron with big gun support against a possible attack by the Spanish 2nd Squadron, which included the battleship Pelayo and the large armored cruiser Emperador Carlos V.

Though not designed for extended ocean cruising, the big monitor departed San Diego, California, 11 June in company with the collier Brutus for Manila. Sailing via Honolulu and Apra, Guam, the ships made the 8,000‑mile voyage without mishap, arriving Cavite 13 August, and the Monterey remained in the Philippines, supporting the occupation of Luzon into 1899. On 18 September she commenced 5 days of operations in Subic Bay with the gunboats Charleston and Concord and the supply ship Zafiro, helping to destroy a large gun at the head of the bay on the 25th. She remained in the Philippines until 6 April 1900, then sailing for China, where she received new boilers at Hong Kong. The Monterey operating from July 1900 to September 1901 as station ship at Shanghai, voyaging upriver to Nankingfrom 25 to 31 July 1902 with Special Commissioner T. S. Sharretts on board for a diplomatic mission. The Monterey continued her operations along the coast of China from Chefoo to Hong Kong, and also served as station ship at Shanghai for short periods. She returned to Cavite in the spring of 1903 for repairs, and was decommissioned 15 December 1904.

The Monterey recommissioned in reserve at Olongapo Naval Station on 28 September 1907, but 8 1/2 months later was placed in ordinary on 7 May 1908. She remained at Olongapo, recommissioning in reserve through November 1911, and making brief voyages to Cavite, Manila, and Subic Bay for repairs and target practice. She was placed in full commission 9 November 1911 and two days later sailed for Amoy, China. The Monterey operated off the China coast to protect American interests at Foochow, Swatow, and Shanghai until, returning by Hong Kong to Cavite 16 November 1913. The Monterey returned to reserve at Olongapo 11 February 1913, and when World War I broke out in Europe moved to Cavite 11 August 1914. She returned to Olongapo in May 1915 and on 24 December sailed to cruise the Philippines, operating in the Manila‑Cavite area on drills, recruiting, and making an island patrol as far south as Zamboanga, Mindanao, returning to Cavite 29 June 1916.

The old monitor departed Cavite 13 November 1917, and was taken in tow by collier Ajax on the 15th. She proceeded by way of Guam to Pearl Harbor, arriving 19 December. Assigned as the station ship for Pearl Harbor Naval Station, the Monterey remained in service at the submarine base until she was decommissioned 27 August 1921. She was sold to A. Bercovich Co., Oakland, California in February, 1922, and towed across the Pacific to be scrapped.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Monterey_(BM-6)


1896 – Launch of HMS Hannibal was a Majestic-class pre-dreadnought battleship built for the Royal Navy, and the sixth ship to bear the name HMS Hannibal.

HMS Hannibal was a Majestic-class pre-dreadnought battleship built for the Royal Navy, and the sixth ship to bear the name HMS Hannibal. The ship was laid down at the Pembroke Dock in May 1894, she was launched in April 1896, and commissioned into the fleet in April 1898. She was armed with a main battery of four 12-inch (305 mm) guns and a secondary battery of twelve 6-inch (150 mm) guns. The ship had a top speed of 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph).





Hannibal served with the Channel Fleet (later reorganised to the Atlantic Fleet) after commissioning in 1898. In 1906 she underwent a refit, which included a conversion from a coal burner to using oil. She was placed in reserve from 1907, only to be mobilised in July 1914 as a precautionary measure prior to the outbreak of World War I. From August 1914 to February 1915 Hannibal was a guard ship at Scapa Flow. Later that year, her main armament was removed and she was converted to a troopship, serving in this capacity during the Dardanelles campaign. From November 1915 to the end of the war, she served as a depot ship based in Alexandria, Egypt. She was disposed of in 1920 and scrapped later that year.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Hannibal_(1896)

Majestic-class battleship - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...3;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=M;start=0


1907 - A U.S. Marine Corps detachment from the patrol gunboat Paducah serves ashore at Laguna, Honduras, to protect Americans during a war between Honduras and Nicaragua.


1942 - The U.S. Navys Task Force 99, which consists of USS Wasp, USS Tuscaloosa and USS Wichita, plus four destroyers, sail from the Royal Navy base at Scapa Flow, Orkney Islands, as part of the mixed U.S.-British force Distaff, to provide cover for Russian convoy at Iceland.


1944 - Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox dies. He expanded the Navy into a force capable of fighting in both the Atlantic and the Pacific during the early years of World War II.

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


1945 - USS Sennet (SS 408) sinks the Japanese cable layer Hatsushima off Kii Strait, south southeast of Miki Saki; USS Springer (SS 414) sinks the Japanese submarine chaser CH 17 west of Kyushu as she is escorting landing ship T.146, and USS Trepang (SS 412) sinks T.146 off Ose Saki, Japan.


1986 – The United States Navy aircraft carrier USS Enterprise becomes the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to transit the Suez Canal, navigating from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea to relieve the USS Coral Sea.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Enterprise_(CVN-65)

USS Coral Sea (CV-43) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
29 April 1587 - English fleet entered the Bay of Cádiz.


Singeing the King of Spain's Beard is the derisive name given to the attack in April and May 1587 in the Bay of Cádiz, by the English privateer Francis Drake against the Spanish naval forces assembling at Cádiz. Much of the Spanish fleet was destroyed, and substantial supplies were destroyed or captured. There followed a series of raiding parties against several forts along the Portuguese coast. A Spanish treasure ship, returning from the Indies, was also captured. The damage caused by the English delayed Spanish plans to invade England by more than a year, yet did not dispel them.


Drake's map of his attack on Cádiz.



Background
In the second half of the 16th century a series of economic, political and religious circumstances created tensions in the relations between England and Spain. Protestant England came into direct confrontation with Catholic Spain; Elizabeth I of England had been excommunicated by Pope Pius V in 1570 whilst in 1584 Philip II of Spain had signed the Treaty of Joinville with the French Catholic League with the aim of eradicating Protestantism.

The constant raids by English privateers against Spanish territories in the West Indies and against the Spanish treasure fleet, which carried the wealth that supported Madrid's finances, were considered by the Spanish as a threat to their economic interests. The support of the English for the United Provinces, who were at this time engaged in the Eighty Years' War against Spain with the intention of gaining their independence, was sealed by the Treaty of Nonsuch in 1585, whereby it was agreed to form an Anglo-Dutch military alliance against Spain. The English support for the pretender to the Portuguese throne, Dom António, was another source of contention.

The increasing power of the Spanish Empire, which in 1580 had entered a dynastic union with the kingdom of Portugal and its empire under Philip of Spain, was expanding in the Americas and had the support of the German Habsburgs as well as the Italian princes, was regarded by the English as a major threat to their security.

In 1585 the tension between the two countries erupted into the Anglo-Spanish War of 1585–1604. Philip II ordered the arming of a great military fleet, which was to become known as the Invincible Armada, and it was hastily assembled in the Spanish port of Cádiz and in the Portuguese port of Lisbonwith the objective of invading England.

Drake's expedition
Preparations


Francis Drake in an audience with Queen Elizabeth

Queen Elizabeth gave the English privateer, Sir Francis Drake, an outstanding leader of previous naval expeditions, the command of a fleet whose mission was to inspect the Spanish military preparations, intercept their supplies, attack the fleet and if possible the Spanish ports.[8] To that end, the Queen put at Drake's disposal four Royal Naval galleons: the Elizabeth Bonaventure, which was under Drake's own command; Golden Lion, captained by William Burroughs; Rainbow, under Captain Bellingham; and Dreadnought under Captain Thomas Fenner. A further twenty merchantmen and armed pinnaces joined forces with the expedition.[8][9] The cost of these boats was met by a group of London merchants, whose profits were to be calculated in the same proportions as their investment in the fleet; the Queen, as owner of the four Royal Naval vessels, was to receive 50% of the profits.[

On 12 April 1587 the English fleet set sail from Plymouth. Seven days after their departure, the Queen sent a counter-command to Drake with instructions not to commence hostilities against the Spanish Fleet or ports. Drake never received this order as the boat carrying it was forced back into port by headwinds before it was able to reach him. Queen Elizabeth had in fact never intended for this note to reach Drake in time and was part of the usual process in which Elizabeth could have plausible deniability over Drake's actions should they not go exactly to plan.

Raid on Cadiz

Sir Francis Drake

Off the coast of Galicia the fleet was dispersed by a storm that lasted several days, during which one of the pinnaces foundered. After the fleet regrouped, they met two Dutch ships from Middelburg, Zeeland, who informed them that plans were in readiness to sail a huge Spanish war fleet from Cádiz to Lisbon.

At dusk on 29 April the English fleet entered the Bay of Cádiz. There were at that precise moment sixty carracks(naus) and various smaller boats in the port. Further sightings revealed twenty French ships present in the bay, and other smaller vessels were seeking refuge in Puerto Real and El Puerto de Santa María, which were protected by sand banks that the larger carracks could not cross. Juan de Vega, Mayor of Cádiz, sent word to Alonso Pérez de Guzmán, who arrived from Sanlúcar de Barrameda that night to take over the defence of the main square. The Spanish galleons, who in the absence of the Governor of Castile were under the command of Pedro de Acuña, sailed out to meet the English fleet but were forced to retire back to Cádiz before the superiority of the English. Gun positions on the shore opened fire, shelling the English fleet from the coast with little effect, but they managed to repulse an attempted landing by launches at El Puntal. During the night of the 29th and all the following day and night the battle raged in the bay. At dawn on 1 May, the English withdrew having destroyed 27 or 37 Spanish ships, with a combined capacity of 10,000 tons. Furthermore, they had captured four other ships, laden with provisions.

Portugal

Don Álvaro de Bazán

After leaving Cadiz, Drake's fleet set course along the south-west coast of Spain and Portugal, destroying all the shipping they encountered, including fishing vessels. On 14 May, 1,000 men disembarked at Lagos in the Algarve and stormed the fortresses of Sagres, Baleeira, Beliche and Cape St. Vincent. From there the fleet sailed towards Lisbon where Álvaro de Bazán, 1st Marquis of Santa Cruz was supervising the preparations of the fleet that was to join the Cádiz fleet for the invasion of England. The English fleet stopped in Cascais, from where they proposed to Alvaro de Bazán an exchange of prisoners. Bazán responded that he was neither holding any English subject nor was he preparing for any action against England. There was an exchange of artillery fire between the English fleet and the Spanish-Portuguese shore batteries, producing minor damage and no casualties. Drake gave the order to weigh anchor and return to Sagres, where the English troops were supplied with water, whilst confronting the Spanish caravels that had pursued them from Cádiz. On 2 June the English sick and wounded were evacuated back to England. That same night a storm broke which prevented further sailing for three days.

Second in command Captain William Burroughs considered the decision to land in the Algarve as dangerous and unnecessary. Drake's plans to sail to the Isle of Terceiradrove Burroughs to contradict Drake's orders, prompting Drake to relieve him of his command and place him under arrest. Burroughs would be sent back to England, leaving Drake with only nine ships.

Capture of São Filipe off the Azores


Portuguese carracks unload cargo in Lissabon. Original engraving by Theodor de Bry, 1593, coloured at a later date.

On 8 June, Drake's fleet sighted a Portuguese carrack, the São Filipe, twenty leagues from the Island of São Miguel, returning from the Indies laden with treasure. After a brief exchange of fire it was captured, the first ship to be so on the return run from the Indies. Its enormous fortune of gold, spices and silk was valued at £108,000 (of which 10% was to go to Drake); the fleet returned to England, arriving on 6 July.

Conclusion
The expedition led by Francis Drake was a resounding military success: over one hundred Spanish vessels of different tonnages were destroyed or captured during the expedition. Economic and material losses caused to the Spanish fleet by the English attack ensured that Spanish plans for the invasion of England had to be postponed for over a year. It was not until August 1588 that the Armada was ready to leave for the British Isles.

Documents seized by the English with the São Filipe, which had details of the East Indies maritime traffic and the lucrative trade in the area, would years later be used as the basis for the founding of the East India Company.

Singeing the King of Spain's beard
Drake had already embarrassed King Philip with his actions in the West Indies, taking towns and ships at will from pre-eminent naval power of the time. With this expedition he had taken that affront to Philip's doorstep, raiding along the very coast of Spain, and laying up with impunity for three days in Spain's premier Atlantic port while he burned ships and stores. These actions gave heart to Spain's enemies and dismayed her friends. Drake compounded the insult by publicly boasting that he had "singed the King of Spain's beard"; yet privately he realized that his actions had only delayed a Spanish invasion, not prevented it altogether, and he wrote to Elizabeth urging her to "Prepare in England strongly, and mostly by sea. Stop him now and stop him forever".

Singeing the King of Spain's Beard - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
29 April 1676 – Death of Michiel de Ruyter, Dutch admiral (b. 1607)


Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter (IPA: [mɪˈxil ˈaːdrijaːnˌsoːn də ˈrœy̯tər]; 24 March 1607 – 29 April 1676) was one of the most skilled admirals in Dutch history, most famous for his role in the Anglo-Dutch Wars. He fought the English and French and scored several victories against them, with the Raid on the Medwayperhaps best known. The pious De Ruyter was very much loved by his sailors and soldiers; from them his most significant nickname derived: bestevaêr("grandfather").




Portrait of Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter, 1607–1676, Lieutenant-Admiral-General of the United Provinces


Battle council on the Zeven Provinciën, 10 June 1666 by Van de Velde the younger



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

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
29 April 1730 – Launch of French Le Fleuron 64 at Brest, designed by Blaise Olliviere and built by Joseph Ollivier – burnt at Brest 1745


Planset Review:
LE FLEURON
64-gun Ship by Joseph & Blaise OLLIVIER - 1729
by Gerard Delacroix and Jean Boudriot
in scale 1:48 / english translation by Gilles Korent



This monographie is available from ancre in different languages, which can be choosen - English / French / Italian or Spanish

https://ancre.fr/en/monograph/55-monographie-du-fleuron-vaisseau-de-64-canons-1729.html

SYNOPSIS:

This monograph is the first in the series to be devoted to a ship of the line. It is of particular interest since the ship we have chosen, the Fleuron - as it was conceived by Blaise Ollivier - is the first modern French ship. Moreover it represents a pure example of the French school of naval architecture. An exceptionally complete corpus of documentation includes a full description of the classification and characteristics of the ships, its creator's own drawings, original sketches of the ship's decoration and sculptures by Caffieri, and a complete set of information on the ship's rigging found in a manuscript of the period. Because of the catastrophic losses incurred in our archives, it is extremely rare for us to have been able to collect so much material from irrefutable historical sources.

Gérard Delacroix, who did the drawings for the monograph, is a professional draftsman and a talented ship's model builder. He assisted his mentor, Jean Boudriot, in developing and completing this study which we are particularly pleased to offer in our collection.

The distinguished features of the vessel will attract the attention of discerning model builders. Its superb hull, elegant timbers perfectly defined and described, oblique inner planking, iron knees, bronze and iron cannon, French riggings with round tops all make the construction of this model a formidable challenge. An alternative model of the rigging without timbers may also be built using the instructions at 1:72 scale.

The Fleuron was actively involved in very few combat operations but her career was an unusual one in that she cruised the Baltic Sea, where French squadrons rarely ventured, on three occasions. One of these expeditions affords us the opportunity to describe the preparation of a royal ship for a ball that was given on board.

MONOGRAPHIE DU FLEURON -Vaisseau de 64 canons 1729 - Ancre

64-gun Ship LE FLEURON Joseph & Blaise OLLIVIER Builders 1729 A Monograph including all drawings of the timber work New: 27 Plates of the Fleuron at 1/36

ancre.fr

https://shipsofscale.com/sosforums/...-delacroix-and-jean-boudriot.2885/#post-52202