Naval/Maritime History 18th of April - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
28 February 1814 - HMS Anacreon Sloop (16), John Davies, foundered in the Channel.


HMS Anacreon had an extremely brief career. she was commissioned in early 1813 and was lost within a year.



Career: Commander John Davies supposedly commissioned her in May 1813, but she had apparently already been in service by then. On 9 April 1813 Eleanor Wilhelmina arrived at Yarmouth. Anacreon had detained Eleanor Wilhelmina as she was sailing from North Bergen. Davies then sailed Anacreon for Lisbon on 3 August.

On 1 February 1814 she recaptured the Spanish ship Nostra Senora del Carmen la Sirena. Late in January the French privateer Lion had captured three ships in all and plundered two, which she had permitted to go on to Lisbon. Anacreon had recaptured the third, Nostra Senora..., and then had set off in pursuit of the privateer.

Loss: Anacreon foundered in the Channel on 28 February 1814 during a storm as she was returning from Lisbon. All aboard were lost.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with inboard detail and midship framing, and longitudinal half-breadth for Jalouse (1809), Sabrina (1806), Hyacinth (1806), Herald (1806), Anacreon (1813), Dauntless (1808), Serpent (cancelled 1810) and Cormorant (1794), all 16-gun Ship Sloops. The plan includes alteration in black in for the timber spacings and in red ink for the frames. The alterations in green in relating to the quarterdeck gun ports refer to Jalouse, Dauntless and Serpent only. The reverse of the plan states that the plan was based on the captured French sloop Amazon (captured 1745).


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the inboard profile for building the Anacreon (1813), a 16-gun (later 22-gun) Ship Sloop. Initialled by William Rule [Surveyor of the Navy, 1793-1813] and John Henslow [Surveyor of the Navy, 1784-1806].


Scale: 1:24. Plan showing the section and plans illustrating the method of attaching the upper deck and lower deck beams to the sides of the Anacreon (1813), a 16 (later 22-gun) Ship Sloop building at Plymouth Dockyard. Signed by William Rule [Surveyor of the Navy, 1793-1813] and Henry Peake [Surveyor of the Navy, 1806-1822].


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

Cormorant-class ship-sloop - Wikipedia

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
28 February 1844 - An experimental 12-inch gun explodes on board USS Princeton, killing Secretary of State (former Secretary of the Navy) Abel P. Upshur, Secretary of the Navy Thomas W. Gilmer, and five other dignitaries and injuring 20 people.


The first USS Princeton was a screw steam warship in the United States Navy. Commanded by Captain Robert F. Stockton, Princeton was launched on September 5, 1843.


Lithograph of Princeton, by Nathaniel Currier, 1844

The ship's reputation in the Navy never recovered from a devastating incident early in her service. On February 28, 1844, during a Potomac River pleasure cruise for dignitaries that included a demonstration of her two heavy guns, one gun exploded killing six people, including Secretary of State Abel P. Upshur, Secretary of the Navy Thomas Walker Gilmer, and other high-ranking federal officials. President John Tyler, who was aboard but below decks, was not injured.


Princeton was laid down on October 20, 1842, at the Philadelphia Navy Yard as a 700 long tons (710 t) corvette. The designer of the ship and main supervisor of construction was the Swedish inventor John Ericsson, who later designed the USS Monitor. The construction was partly supervised by Captain Stockton who had secured the political support for the construction of the ship. The ship was named after Princeton, New Jersey, site of an American victory in the Revolutionary War and hometown of the prominent Stockton family. The ship was christened with a bottle of American whiskey and launched on September 5, 1843. It was ordered commissioned on September 9, 1843, with Captain Stockton in command.

1844 Peacemaker accident

Contemporary Currier & Ives lithograph depicting the explosion

President Tyler hosted a public reception for Stockton in the East Room of the White House on February 27, 1844. On February 28, USS Princeton departed Alexandria, Virginia, on a pleasure and demonstration cruise down the Potomac with President John Tyler, members of his Cabinet, former First Lady Dolley Madison, Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri, and approximately four hundred guests on board. Captain Stockton decided to fire the larger of her two long guns, Peacemaker, to impress his guests. Peacemaker was fired three times on the trip downriver and was loaded to fire a salute to George Washington as the ship passed Mount Vernon on the return trip. The guests aboard viewed the first set of firings and then retired below decks for lunch and refreshments.

Secretary Gilmer urged those aboard to view a final shot with the Peacemaker. When Captain Stockton pulled the firing lanyard, the gun burst. Its left side had failed, spraying hot metal across the deck and shrapnel into the crowd. Instantly killed were Navy Secretary Gilmer; Secretary of State Upshur; Captain Beverley Kennon, who was Chief of the Bureau of Construction, Equipment and Repairs; Virgil Maxcy, a Maryland attorney with decades of experience as a state and federal officeholder;[c] David Gardiner, a New York lawyer and politician; and the President's valet, a black slave named Armistead. Another sixteen to twenty people were injured, including several members of the ship's crew, Senator Benton, and Captain Stockton. The President was below decks and not injured.

Aftermath
Rather than ascribe responsibility for the explosion to individuals, Tyler wrote to Congress the next day that the disaster "must be set down as one of the casualties which, to a greater or lesser degree, attend upon every service, and which are invariably incident to the temporal affairs of mankind".[18] He said it should not be allowed to impact their positive assessment of Stockton and his improvements in ship construction.

Capt. Robert Stockton

President John Tyler

First Lady Julia Tyler

Plans to construct more ships modeled on the Princeton were promptly scrapped, but Tyler won Congressional approval for the construction of a single gun on the dimensions of the Peacemaker, which was fired once and never mounted. A Court of Inquiry investigated the cause of the explosion and found that all those involved had taken appropriate precautions. At Stockton's request, the Committee on Science and Arts of the Franklin Institute conducted its own inquiry, which criticized many details of the manufacturing process, as well as the use of welded band for reinforcement rather than the shrinking technique used on the Oregon. Ericsson, whom Stockton had originally paid $1,150 for designing and outfitting the Princeton, sought another $15,000 for his additional efforts and expertise. He sued Stockton for payment and won in court, but the funds were never appropriated. Stockton went on to serve as Military Governor of California and a United States Senator from New Jersey. Ericsson had a distinguished career in naval design and is best known for his work on the USS Monitor, the U.S. Navy's first ironclad warship.

To succeed Gilmer as Secretary of the Navy, Tyler appointed John Y. Mason, another Virginian. As his new Secretary of State, Tyler named John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, like his predecessor an advocate of states rights, nullification of federal law by states, the annexation of Texas, and its admission into the union as a slave state. But where Gilmer and Upshur had supported annexation as a national cause, Calhoun recast the political discussion. To Tyler's frustration, he promoted the annexation of Texas while "directly, unambiguously, and full-throatedly celebrating slavery and celebrating sectional advantage", that is, the importance of Texas to the longterm survival of slavery in the United States. Upshur was about to win Senate approval of a treaty annexing Texas when he died. Under Calhoun annexation was delayed and became a principal issue in the presidential election of 1844.

Julia Gardiner, who was below deck on the Princeton when her father David died in the Peacemaker explosion, became First Lady of the United States four months later. She had declined President Tyler's marriage proposal a year earlier, and sometime in 1843 they agreed they would marry but set no date. The President had lost his first wife in September 1842, and at the time of the explosion he was almost 54. Julia was not yet 24. She later explained that her father's death changed her feelings for the President: "After I lost my father I felt differently toward the President. He seemed to fill the place and to be more agreeable in every way than any younger man ever was or could be." Because he had been widowed less than two years and her father had died so recently, they married in the presence of just a few family members in New York City on June 26, 1844. A public announcement followed the ceremony. They had seven children before Tyler died in 1862, and his wife never remarried. In 1888, Julia Gardiner told journalist Nelly Bly that at the moment of the Peacemaker explosion "I fainted and did not revive until someone was carrying me off the boat, and I struggled so that I almost knocked us both off the gangplank". She said she later learned that President Tyler was her rescuer. Some historians question her account.

The Peacemaker disaster prompted a reexamination of the process used to manufacture cannons. This led to the development of new techniques that produced cannons that were stronger and more structurally sound, such as the system pioneered by Thomas Rodman.





https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Princeton_(1843)

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
28 February 1854 - Launch of French Louis XIV, an Océan-class 118-gun ship of the line of the French Navy

Louis XIV was an Océan-class 118-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.



Laid down as Tonnant in 1811 at Rochefort, she was renamed Louis-XIV in 1828, still on keel. She was launched only in 1854, and was put in the reserve the next year.


Engraving by Lebreton showing Louis XIV as a naval school

On 28 January 1855, she departed Toulon to take part in the Siege of Sevastopol as a transport ship. From September 1856 to 1857, she was converted to combined sail/steam propulsion in Brest harbour, using machinery supplied by Robert Napier of Glasgow, to reenter service on 25 October 1857.

Louis XIV was decommissioned between 1858 and 1861, and was affected to the École Navale as a gunnery training ship from 1861 to 1865. That year, she was sent to Toulon. In 1870, her crew was sent to Paris to defend the city against the advancing Prussian armies. Training resumed in November 1870.

In 1873, Louis XIV was decommissioned again. She was struck on 3 May 1880, and sold for scrap in 1882.





The Océan-class ships of the line were a series of 118-gun three-decker ships of the line of the French Navy, designed by engineer Jacques-Noël Sané. Fifteen were completed from 1788 on, with the last one entering service in 1854; a sixteenth was never completed, and four more were never laid down.

The first two of the series were Commerce de Marseille and États de Bourgogne in the late 1780s. Three ships to the same design followed during the 1790s (a further four ordered in 1793–94 were never built). A second group of eleven were ordered during the First Empire; sometimes described as the Austerlitz class after the first to be ordered, some of the later ships were not launched until after the end of the Napoleonic era, and one was not completed but broken up on the stocks. A 'reduced' (i.e. shortened) version of this design, called the Commerce de Paris class, with only 110 guns, was produced later, of which two examples were completed.


1/48 scale model of the Océan class 120-gun ship of the line Commerce de Marseille, on display at Marseille naval museum; and Half-hull of a 120-gun ship of the line on display at Brest naval museum.

The 5,095-ton 118-gun type was the largest type of ship built up to then, besting the Spanish ship Santísima Trinidad. Up to 1790 Great Britain, the largest of the battle fleet nations, had not built especially large battleships because the need for large numbers of ships had influenced its battleship policy. The French initiated a new phase in battleship competition when they laid down a large number of three-deckers of over 5,000 tons.

Along with the 74-gun of the Téméraire type and the 80-gun of the Tonnant type, the Océan 120-gun type was to become one of the three French standard types of battleships during the war period 1793 to 1815.

These were the most powerful ships of the Napoleonic Wars and a total of ten served during that time. These ships, however, were quite expensive in terms of building materials, artillery and manpower and so were reserved for admirals as their fleet flagships.

Some of the ships spent 40 years on the stocks and were still in service in 1860, three of them having been equipped with auxiliary steam engines in the 1850s.

Design
The design for the first 118-gun three-decker warships originated in 1782 with a design prepared by the shipwright Antoine Groignard. Carrying an extra pair of cannon on each deck (including the quarterdeck), this raised the firepower of these capital ships from 110 to 118 guns, including an unprecedented thirty-two 36-pounder guns in the lowest tier. The French Navy ordered two of these, to be built at Toulon and at Brest, the shipwright entrusted with the construction of the latter ship being Jacques-Noël Sané. However, with the onset of peace following the conclusion of the American War of Independence, these two ships were cancelled in 1783, along with several others. The concept was revived in 1785 when Sané, in conjunction with Jean-Charles de Borda, developed the design of the Commerce de Marseille, marking a leap in the evolution of ship of the line design, when the first two ships were re-ordered at Toulon and Brest. The hull was simple with straight horizontal lines, minimal ornaments, and tumblehome. The poop deck was almost integral the gunwale, and the forecastle was minimal.


Scale model of an Océan-class ship, including the inner disposition of the lower decks, on display at the Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne.

They were highly successful as gun platforms and sailers, a fact which indicates that great improvements had been made in warship design since the late 17th century when battleships of less than half their size were regarded as unwieldy giants which ought to be brought into harbour before the September gales began. However, at least the first two of this class appear to have had less strength than necessary - one (Commerce de Marseille) which was taken by the British in 1793, was never used by them, and the other (by now renamed Ocean) had to be extensively rebuilt after a decade. This indicates that the growth in size of wooden warships caused structural problems which only gradually were solved.

Although these ships were costly, their design changed to become even larger in terms of overall tonnage with the introduction of a second (modified) group in 1806. Mounting 18-pounder cannon on her third gun deck (unheard of in French three-decked ships of the period), the Austerlitz set the example for all of the French 118 gun ships to follow.


Montebello, circa 1850

Océan class (sometimes called "États de Bourgogne class" or "Dauphin Royal class") – Three-deckers of 118 guns (usually called 120-gun), designed by Jacques-Noël Sané. Each carried 32 x 36pdr guns on the lower deck, 34 x 24pdr guns on the middle deck, 34 x 12pdr guns on the upper deck, and 18 x 8pdr guns on the gaillards.

• Commerce de Marseille 118 (begun April 1787, launched 7 August 1788 and completed October 1790 at Toulon) – captured by the British at Toulon in August 1793 and added to the RN under the same name, BU 1802
• États de Bourgogne 118 (begun August 1786, launched 8 November 1790 and completed December 1790 at Brest) – renamed Cote d'Or 1793, renamed Montagne 1793, renamed Peuple 1795, renamed Océan 1795, BU 1856
• Dauphin-Royal 118 (begun May 1790, launched 20 July 1791 and completed August 1793 at Toulon) – renamed Sans Culotte 1792 – captured by the British at Toulon in August 1793, retaken there by the French in December 1793, renamed Orient 1795, blown up by the British in the Battle of the Nile in August 1798

Sub-class Dauphin Royal class

• République Française 118 (launched 18 April 1802 at Rochefort) – renamed Majesteux in February 1803. Broken up 1839
• Vengeur 118 (launched 1 October 1803 at Brest) – renamed Impérial in March 1805. Ran ashore and burnt in February 1806.

Later Dauphin Royal class (118-gun ships, continued)

• Austerlitz 118 (launched 15 August 1808 at Toulon) – Condemned 8 March 1837 at Brest.
• Wagram 118 (launched 1 July 1810 at Toulon) – Condemned 15 October 1836 at Brest.
• Impérial 118 (launched 1 December 1811 at Toulon) – Renamed Royal Louis April 1814, renamed Impérial March 1815, renamed Royal Louis July 1815, condemned 31 March 1825 at Toulon.
• Montebello 118 (launched 6 December 1812 at Toulon) – Rebuilt 1851–52 as steam battleship, stricken 1867, BU 1889 at Toulon.
• Héros 118 (launched 15 August 1813 at Toulon) – Condemned 10 March 1828 at Toulon.
• Roi de Rome 118 (building at Brest, never completed and broken up on the slip after 1815)

Océan-class ships of the line
Two further units of the Océan class were built to an altered design, with a thumblehome reduced by 20 centimetres, increasing space available on the upper decks. The design later inspired an aborted Bretagne class which, furthered altered to incorporate the "swift battleship" concept of the Napoléon class, would yield the 130-gun Bretagne, the ultimate wooden capital ship of the French Navy.

• Ville de Paris 114 (launched 5 October 1850 at Rochefort) – Laid down as Marengo, renamed Ville de Vienne 1814, renamed Comte d'Artois 1830. Rebuilt 1858, stricken 1882, BU 1898
• Louis XIV 114 (launched 28 February 1854 at Rochefort) – Laid down in April 1811 as Tonnant, renamed Louis XIV in December 1828. Stricken 1880, BU 1882

Tourville class ships of the line
The Tourville class was built along the line of razeed Océan-class three-deckers, giving them good stability and carrying capacity, but poor manoeuvrability for their size.

• Tourville 80 (launched 31 October 1853 at Brest) – Stricken 1872
• Duquesne 80 (launched 2 December 1853 at Brest) – Hulked 1867

Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with sternboard decoration, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for Commerce de Marseilles (captured 1793), a captured French First Rate. The plan illustrates the ship as taken off at Plymouth Dockyard, prior to being fitted as a 120-gun First Rate, three-decker. Signed by John Marshall [Master Shipwright, Plymouth Dockyard, 1795-1802].


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Louis-XIV_(1854)

Océan-class ship of the line - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
28 February 1890 - British-India Steam Navigation Company ship RMS Quetta on a regular route between Great Britain, India and the Far East.
She was wrecked on the Far North Queensland coast on 28 February 1890. Of 292 people aboard, 134 were lost.


RMS Quetta was a Royal Mail Ship that was wrecked on the Far North Queensland coast of Australia on 28 February 1890. Quetta's sinking killed 134 of the 292 people on board, making it one of Queensland's biggest maritime catastrophes.


RMS Quetta in 1884 near Gravesend on the River Thames

Background
RMS Quetta was a British-India Steam Navigation Company liner that travelled between England, India and the Far East. The Queensland Government negotiated to have a service between the United Kingdom and Brisbane, to ease the passage of people and mail. Quetta was specifically built for the Australia run, with refrigeration capacity for the frozen meat trade. The ship was launched in March 1881 and made her first voyage to Brisbane in 1883. The designation RMS indicated the ship's role within the Queensland Royal Mail Line. Her sister ships were Manora and Merkara.

The ship was initially designed for 72 saloon (first class) and 32 steerage (second class) passengers, although this was later altered to favour steerage class due to the large number of migrants using the service. In five-and-a-half years service Quettamade 11 London-Brisbane round trips; the twelfth would be her final attempt.

Disaster

Drawing of 'Quetta' sinking

On the night of 28 February 1890 the ship's master was Captain Sanders, with Captain Keatinge aboard piloting the ship through the Torres Strait. Destined for Thursday Island, the ship turned into the Adolphus Channel to round the Cape York Peninsula. The pilot was experienced, the weather fine and visibility good, but at 9:14pm the ship struck an uncharted rock in the middle of the channel near Albany Island.

The rock ripped a hole through the plates from the bow to the engine room amidships, four to 12 feet wide, sinking Quetta in 5 minutes and sending 134 of her passengers to their deaths. At the time, the Quetta's loss was thought to be the worst maritime disaster of Queensland.

At the time of the disaster Quetta had 292 people aboard: a crew of 121, comprising 15 European officers, 14 from other trades and 92 lascarsfrom India; 70 Javanese in temporary deck houses, travelling to Batavia after working in the cane fields; and 101 other passengers.



The ship's cutter floated clear of the wreck and capsized, surrounded by a large group of Javanese and lascar seamen. Quartermaster James Oates organised the baling of the cutter and it headed towards shore. Only one of the ship's lifeboatssurvived: Number 1 starboard lifeboat controlled by third officer Thomas Babb. It was damaged and largely awash. As it headed toward shore it picked up more survivors including Captain Sanders. Around midnight the two boats came together and those aboard were placed on the nearest island. Captain Sanders then ordered the cutter to search for more survivors.

After spending a night and day without food and water on Little Adolphus Island the main group of ninety-eight survivors were rescued by the Albatross, that along with the Merrie England had been dispatched from Thursday Island's Port Kennedy.

The Albatross took soundings and located the rock thought responsible for the disaster, about half a mile from where Quetta lay. Relics raised during salvage attempts months after the disaster, and later, can be found in the Quetta Memorial Church on Thursday Island, which was consecrated in 1893.

She now lies on her port side in 18 metres (59 ft) of water and is a protected historic shipwreck under Australia's Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976.

Memorials
As a memorial to the lives lost on the Quetta, the Quetta Memorial Precinct was established on Thursday Island, comprising a church (later a cathedral), a rectory and a church hall.



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

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
28 February 1893 – Launch of the USS Indiana, the lead ship of her class and the first battleship in the United States Navy comparable to foreign battleships of the time


USS Indiana (BB-1) was the lead ship of her class and the first battleship in the United States Navy comparable to foreign battleships of the time. Authorized in 1890 and commissioned five years later, she was a small battleship, though with heavy armor and ordnance. The ship also pioneered the use of an intermediate battery. She was designed for coastal defense and as a result, her decks were not safe from high waves on the open ocean.



Indiana served in the Spanish–American War (1898) as part of the North Atlantic Squadron. She took part in both the blockade of Santiago de Cuba and the battle of Santiago de Cuba, which occurred when the Spanish fleet attempted to break through the blockade. Although unable to join the chase of the escaping Spanish cruisers, she was partly responsible for the destruction of the Spanish destroyers Plutón and Furor. After the war she quickly became obsolete—despite several modernizations—and spent most of her time in commission as a training ship or in the reserve fleet, with her last commission during World War I as a training ship for gun crews. She was decommissioned for the third and final time in January 1919 and was shortly after reclassified Coast Battleship Number 1 so that the name Indiana could be reused. She was sunk in shallow water as a target in aerial bombing tests in 1920 and her hull was sold for scrap in 1924


USS Indiana – the lead ship of the class

Design and construction
Main article: Indiana-class battleship
Indiana was constructed from a modified version of a design drawn up by a US navy policy board in 1889 for a short-range battleship. The original design was part of an ambitious naval construction plan to build 33 battleships and 167 smaller ships. The United States Congress saw the plan as an attempt to end the U.S. policy of isolationism and did not approve it, but a year later the United States House of Representatives approved funding for three coast defense battleships, which would become Indiana and her sister ships Massachusetts and Oregon. The "coast defense" designation was reflected in Indiana's moderate endurance, relatively small displacement and low freeboard which limited seagoing capability. She was however heavily armed and armored; Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships describes her design as "attempting too much on a very limited displacement."

Construction of the ships was authorized on 30 June 1890 and the contract for Indiana—not including guns and armor—was awarded to William Cramp & Sons in Philadelphia, who offered to build it for $3,020,000. The total cost of the ship was almost twice as high, approximately $6,000,000. The contract specified the ship had to be built in three years, but slow delivery of armor plates caused a two-year delay. Indiana's keel was laid down on 7 May 1891 and she was launched on 28 February 1893, attended by around 10,000 people, including President Benjamin Harrison, several members of his cabinet and the two senators from Indiana. During her fitting-out in early March 1894, the ship undertook a preliminary sea trial to test her speed and machinery. At this point her side armor, guns, turrets and conning tower had not yet been fitted, and her official trials would not take place until October 1895 due to the delays in armor deliveries.


The wreck of the Indiana in the shallow waters of Chesapeake Bay. In the background the remains of San Marcos ex-Texas are visible.


The Indiana-class was a class of three coastal defense battleships launched in 1893. They were the first battleships built by the United States Navy comparable to contemporary European ships, such as the British HMS Hood. Authorized in 1890 and commissioned between November 1895 and April 1896, they were relatively small battleships with heavy armor and ordnance that pioneered the use of an intermediate battery. Specifically intended for coastal defense, their freeboard was insufficient to deal well with the waves of the open ocean. Their turrets lacked counterweights, and the main belt armor was placed too low to be effective under most conditions.


Outboard profile of Oregon, with position and arc of fire of the armament

The ships were named Indiana, Massachusetts, and Oregon and were designated Battleship Number 1 through 3. All three served in the Spanish–American War, although Oregon—which was stationed on the West Coast—had to cruise 14,000 nautical miles(26,000 km; 16,000 mi) around South America to the East Coast first. After the war, Oregon returned to the Pacific and participated in the Philippine–American War and Boxer Rebellion, while her sister ships were restricted to training missions in the Atlantic Ocean. After 1903, the obsolete battleships were de- and recommissioned several times, the last time during World War I when Indiana and Massachusetts served as training ships, while Oregon was a transport escort for the Siberian Intervention.

In 1919, all three ships were decommissioned for the final time. Indiana was sunk in shallow water as an explosives test target a year later and sold for scrap in 1924. Massachusetts was scuttled off the coast of Pensacola in 1920 and used as an artillery target. The wreck was never scrapped and is now a Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserve. Oregon was initially preserved as a museum, but was sold for scrap during World War II. The scrapping was later halted and the stripped hulk was used as an ammunition barge during the battle of Guam. The hulk was finally sold for scrap in 1956.




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Indiana_(BB-1)

Indiana-class battleship - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
28 February 1942 – The Battle of Sunda Strait
The heavy cruiser USS Houston is sunk in the Battle of Sunda Strait with 693 crew members killed, along with HMAS Perth which lost 375 men.


The Battle of Sunda Strait was a naval battle which occurred during World War II in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java, and Sumatra. On the night of 28 February – 1 March 1942, the Australian light cruiser HMAS Perth and the American heavy cruiserUSS Houston faced a major Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) task force. After a fierce battle of several hours duration, both Alliedships were sunk. Five Japanese ships were sunk, three of them by friendly fire.



Background
Main article: Battle of the Java Sea
In late February 1942, Japanese amphibious forces were preparing to invade Java, in the Dutch East Indies. On 27 February, the main American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDACOM) naval force, under Admiral Karel Doorman–a Dutch officer–steamed northeast from Surabaya to intercept an imperial Japanese navy invasion fleet. This part of the ABDA force consisted of two heavy cruisers, including USS Houston under the command of Captain Albert H. Rooks, three light cruisers, including HMAS Perth under Captain Hector Waller, and nine destroyers. Only six out of nine of USS Houston's 8-inch (203-millimeter) heavy guns were operational because her aft gun turret had been knocked out in an earlier Japanese air raid. The ABDA force engaged the Japanese force in the Java Sea. The Allied ships were all sunk or dispersed. Houston and Perth both retreated to Tanjung Priok, Java, the main port of Batavia, Dutch East Indies, where they arrived at 13:30 on 28 February.

Battle
Later on 28 February, USS Houston and HMAS Perth received orders to sail through Sunda Strait to Tjilatjap, on the south coast of Java. The Dutch destroyer HNLMS Evertsen, which intended to accompany them, was not ready and remained in Tanjung Priok. Houston and Perth left at 19:00, while Evertsen followed an hour later. Waller, who had seniority over Rooks, was in command. The only ships they expected to encounter were Australian corvettes on patrol in and around the strait.

By chance, just after 22:00, the IJA 16th Army's Western Java Invasion Convoy — over 50 transports, and including the Army's commander, Lieutenant General Hitoshi Imamura — was entering Bantam Bay, near the northwest tip of Java. The Japanese troop transports were escorted by the 5th Destroyer Flotilla, led by Rear Admiral Kenzaburo Hara[1] and the 7th Cruiser Division, under Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita. Rear Admiral Hara's light cruiser Natori—with the destroyers Harukaze, Hatakaze, Asakaze, Fubuki, Hatsuyuki, Shirayuki, Shirakumo, and Murakumo—were closest to the convoy. Flanking the bay to the north was Vice Admiral Kurita's cruisers Mogami and Mikuma — and the destroyer Shikinami.

Slightly further north, though not involved in the action, was the aircraft carrier Ryūjō, with Kurita's Suzuya and Kumano — along with the seaplane carrier Chiyoda, and the destroyers Isonami, Shikinami and Uranami.

Some time around 23:15, the Allied ships were sighted by the patrolling Fubuki, which followed them surreptitiously. At 23:06, when they were about halfway across the mouth of Bantam Bay, Perth sighted a ship about 5 mi (4.3 nmi; 8.0 km) ahead, near Saint Nicolaas Point. It was thought at first that the ship was an Australian corvette, but when challenged, she made an unintelligible reply, with a lamp which was the wrong color, fired her nine Long Lance (Type 93) torpedoes from about 3,000 yards (2,700 m) and then turned away, making smoke. The ship was soon identified as a Japanese destroyer (probably Harukaze). Waller reported the contact and ordered his forward turrets to open fire.

In a ferocious night action that ended after midnight, the two Allied cruisers were sunk. Two Japanese transports and a minesweeper were sunk by friendly torpedoes. Two other transports — one of which was Ryujo Maru, on which Lt. Gen. Hitoshi Imamura was aboard — were also sunk but later refloated. After Imamura's ship was fatally hit and sank, he had to jump overboard. However, a small boat rescued him and brought him ashore.

Aftermath

Commemorative plaque for HMAS Perth and USS Houston at Rockingham Naval Memorial Park in Rockingham, Western Australia

696 men on board the Houston were killed, while 368 others were saved. Perth lost 375 men, with 307 others saved. The captains of both cruisers were also killed. Rooks was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions.

The cruiser Mikuma lost six men and eleven wounded as a result of damage caused by Houston.[8] The destroyer Shirayuki suffered a direct shell hit to her bridge, killing one crewman and injuring eleven others, while Harukaze suffered hits to her bridge, engine room and rudder, killing three crewmen and over 15 injured.[4]

Both Houston and Perth were still engaging the Japanese convoy by the time the Dutch destroyer HNLMS Evertsen arrived. She was trying to catch up with the two cruisers when she saw tracers and intense shellfire ahead. In an attempt to avoid the battle, Evertsen sailed around them and through Sunda Strait. All went well until she encountered the destroyers Murakumo and Shirakumo protecting the southern flank of Bantam Bay, which immediately fired on her. Evertsen altered course and managed to escape, but after re-entering Sunda Strait, she encountered them again. She again managed to escape under a smokescreen, but by then her stern was on fire. Still taking fire from the destroyers, Evertsen attempted to beach on a coastal reef. Firing all her torpedoes, the crew escaped before the fire reached the aft magazine, causing an explosion which blew off most of the stern. The majority of Evertsen's crew was taken prisoner on 9–10 March 1942 and were held by the Japanese for three and a half years.

Battle of Sunda Strait - Wikipedia

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Houston_(CA-30)

HMAS Perth (D29) - Wikipedia

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
28 February 1942 – The Battle of Sunda Strait - the sunken ships USS Houston and HMAS Perth


USS Houston (CL/CA-30), was a Northampton-class cruiser of the United States Navy. She was the second Navy ship to bear the name "Houston".

She was launched by Newport Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, Newport , Virginia on 7 September 1929, sponsored by Elizabeth Holcombe (daughter of Oscar Holcombe, then-mayor of Houston, Texas), and commissioned on 17 June 1930, Captain Jesse Bishop Gay commanding.


USS Houston (CA 30), off San Diego, California, in October 1935, with President Franklin D. Roosevelt on board. She is flying an admiral's four-star flag at her foremast peak, and the Presidential flag at her mainmast peak.

The ship was originally classified as a light cruiser (hull number CL-30) because of her thin armor. Houston was redesignated a heavy cruiser (CA-30) on 1 July 1931, as the provisions of the 1930 London Naval Treaty considered ships with 8-inch main guns to be heavy cruisers.

Battle of Sunda Strait
Houston and Perth reached Tanjong Priok on 28 February, where they attempted to resupply, but were met with fuel shortages and no available ammunition. The two cruisers were ordered to sail to Tjilatjap with Dutch destroyer Evertsen, but departed at 17:00 without Evertsen, which was delayed. The Allies believed that Sunda Strait was free of enemy vessels, with the last intelligence reports indicating that Japanese warships were no closer than 50 miles (43 nmi; 80 km), but a large Japanese force had assembled at Bantam Bay. At 23:06, the two cruisers were off St. Nicholas Point when lookouts on Perth sighted an unidentified ship; when it was realized that she was a Japanese destroyer, Perth engaged. However, as this happened, multiple Japanese warships appeared and surrounded the two Allied ships.

The two cruisers evaded the nine torpedoes launched by the destroyer Fubuki. According to ABDA post-battle reports, the cruisers then reportedly sank one transport and forced three others to beach, but were blocked from passing through Sunda Strait by a destroyer squadron, and had to contend with the heavy cruisers Mogami and Mikuma in close proximity. At midnight, Perth attempted to force a way through the destroyers, but was hit by four torpedoes in the space of a few minutes, then subject to close-range gunfire until sinking at 00:25 on 1 March

On board Houston, shells were in short supply in the forward turrets, so the crew manhandled shells from the disabled number three turret to the forward turrets. Houston was struck by a torpedo shortly after midnight, and began to lose headway. Houston's gunners had scored hits on three different destroyers and sunk a minesweeper, but she was struck by three more torpedoes in quick succession. Captain Albert Rooks was killed by a bursting shell at 00:30, and as the ship came to a stop, Japanese destroyers moved in, machine-gunning the decks. A few minutes later, Houston rolled over and sank. Of the 1,061 aboard, 368 survived, including 24 of the 74-man Marine Detachment, only to be captured by the Japanese and interned in prison camps. Of 368 Navy and Marine Corps personnel taken prisoner, 77 (21%) died in captivity.


Captain Albert H. Rooks, commanding officer of Houston, c. 1940–1942.

Aftermath

George S. Rentz, Chaplain of Houston 1940–1942.

Houston's fate was not fully known by the world for almost nine months, and the full story of her last fight was not told until the survivors were liberated from prison camps at the end of the war. Before then, on 30 May 1942, 1,000 new recruits for the Navy, known as the Houston Volunteers, were sworn in at a dedication ceremony in downtown Houston, to replace those believed lost on Houston. On 12 October 1942 the light cruiser Vicksburg(CL-81), then under construction, was renamed Houston in honor of the old ship, President Roosevelt declaring:

Our enemies have given us the chance to prove that there will be another USS Houston, and yet another USS Houston if that becomes necessary, and still another USS Houston as long as American ideals are in jeopardy.

Captain Rooks received posthumously the Medal of Honor for his actions.[5] Chaplain George S. Rentz, who had surrendered his life jacket to a younger sailor after finding himself in the water, was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross. He was the only Navy Chaplain to be so honored during World War II.

The crew of Houston is honored alongside that of Perth at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, and in St John's Anglican Church, Fremantle.

The Wreck
In a training evolution conducted as part of the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) 2014 exercise series, U.S. Navy divers, assisted by personnel from the Indonesian Navy, surveyed what they believed to be the wreck of Houston in June 2014. The purpose of the mission was to determine the vessel's condition and provide real-world training to rescue and salvage divers in maneuvering around a sunken ship. The formal report was released in August 2014 and confirmed that the wreck is indeed that of Houston. The report also stated that the wreck had suffered illegal salvage over the years, including removal of rivets and a steel plate from the hull. The investigation also recorded active oil seepage from the ship's fuel tanks. Another survey of Houston occurred in October 2015, with United States Navy and Indonesian Navy divers embarked aboard USNS Safeguard for a nine-day survey of Houston and Perth (which had also been subject to unauthorized salvaging). Divers documented the condition of the two shipwrecks, with this data presented to a conference in Jakarta on preserving and preventing the illegal salvage of wartime shipwrecks in the Java Sea.



HMAS Perth was a modified Leander-class light cruiser operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during the early part of World War II. She was constructed for the Royal Navy, where she was commissioned as HMS Amphion in 1936. After several years on the North America and West Indies Station, the cruiser was transferred to the RAN in 1939 and recommissioned as HMAS Perth.


HMAS Perth in 1940

At the start of World War II, Perth was used to patrol Western Atlantic and then Australian waters, before she was sent to the Mediterranean Sea at the end of 1940. There, Perth was involved in the Battle of Greece and the Battle of Crete, and the Syria-Lebanon Campaign before returning to Australian waters in late 1941.

In February 1942, Perth survived the Allied defeat at the Battle of the Java Sea, only then to be torpedoed and sunk by the Imperial Japanese Navy at the Battle of Sunda Strait. Of the 681 sailors aboard, 353 were killed in battle. All but four of the 328 survivors were captured as prisoners of war: 106 died in captivity, and the surviving 218 were returned home to Australia after the war.

In late 2013, divers found that the wreck of Perth had been partially stripped by Indonesian marine salvagers.



Loss
Main article: Battle of Sunda Strait
Perth and Houston sailed at 19:00 (Evertsen was delayed), with Perth leading. The Allies believed that Sunda Strait was free of enemy vessels, but a large Japanese force had assembled at Bantam Bay. At 23:06, the two cruisers were off St. Nicholas Point when lookouts on Perth sighted an unidentified ship; when it was realised that she was a Japanese destroyer, Perth engaged. However, as this happened, multiple Japanese warships appeared and surrounded the two Allied ships.

At midnight, with ammunition running low, Captain Hector Waller ordered his ship to try to force a way through. Just as Perth settled on a new heading, four Japanese torpedoes hit the cruiser in the space of a few minutes. The first hit on the starboard side and damaged the forward engine room, the second caused a hull breach near the bridge, the third impacted in the starboard aft area, and the fourth struck on the port side.

Waller gave the order to abandon ship after the second torpedo impact. After some further close-range fire from the destroyers, Perth heeled to port and sank at 00:25 on 1 March 1942, with 353 killed: 342 RAN (including Waller), five Royal Navy, three Royal Australian Air Force, three civilian canteen workers, and the ship's mascot – a black cat called Red Lead. Houston was torpedoed and sank about 20 minutes later. Of the 328 survivors, four died after reaching shore, while the rest were captured as prisoners of war. 106 died during their internment: 105 naval and 1 RAAF, including 38 killed by Allied attacks on Japanese "hell ships". The surviving 218 were repatriated after the war

Battle of Sunda Strait - Wikipedia

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USS Houston (CA-30) - Wikipedia

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HMAS Perth (D29) - Wikipedia

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


1670 – Launch of French Madame 70, later 74 guns (designed and built by Jean Guéouard, launched 28 February 1670 at Toulon) – renamed Pompeux in June 1671; hulked 1696, sold 1709


1771 – Launch of French Alexandre 64 (launched 28 February 1771 at Brest) – captured 1782

Artésien class of five ships to design by Joseph-Louis Ollivier.
Artésien 64 (launched 7 March 1765 at Brest)
Roland 64 (launched 14 February 1771 at Brest)
Alexandre 64 (launched 28 February 1771 at Brest) – captured 1782
Protée 64 (launched 10 November 1772 at Brest) – captured by the British in February 1780 and added to the RN as HMS Prothee, BU 1815
Éveillé 64 (launched 10 December 1772 at Brest)


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with stern board decoration and name, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for 'Prothee' (1780), a captured French Third Rate, as fitted as a 64-gun Third Rate, two-decker. Signed by George White [Master Shipwright, Portsmouth Dockyard, 1779-1793].


1804 – Launch of HMS Aeolus was a 32-gun Amphion-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy.

HMS Aeolus was a 32-gun Amphion-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1801 and served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and the War of 1812.
Ordered during the last years of the French Revolutionary Wars, Aeolus was at first engaged in convoy work, before being sent out to the West Indies, where she took part in operations off Saint-Domingue and blockaded the French ships in the harbours. She was involved in the chase of the 74-gun Duquesne after she put to sea, and assisted in her capture. Aeolus returned to operate off the British coast, and was part of Sir Richard Strachan's squadron in late 1805. The squadron encountered part of the fleeing Franco-Spanish fleet that Nelson had decisively defeated two weeks previously at the Battle of Trafalgar, and after bringing them to battle, captured the entire force.
After spending time off Ireland and North America, Aeolus was in the Caribbean in 1809, and took part in the capture of Martinique. Deployed with Captain Philip Broke's squadron after the outbreak of the War of 1812 Aeolus took part in the capture of USS Nautilus, the first ship either side lost in the war, the pursuit of USS Constitution and the capture of the American privateer Snapper. Aeolus was used as a storeship at Quebec after the end of the war, and after returning to Britain was laid up as the Napoleonic Wars drew to a close. She was finally sold in 1817.


One of a pair of paintings showing an incident from the Napoleonic War, 1803-15. After their defeat at Trafalgar in 1805, the remnants of the Franco-Spanish fleet dispersed and sought safety to seaward. Off Cape Ortegal, north-west Spain, was a squadron of British ships under the command of Sir Richard Strachan with four ships of the line 'Caesar', 80 guns, 'Courageux', 74 guns, 'Hero', 74 guns, 'Namur', 74 guns, and four frigates; 'Revolutionnaire', 38 guns, 'Phoenix', 36 guns, 'Santa Margarita', 36 guns, and 'Aeolus', 32 guns.

HMS Aeolus (1801) - Wikipedia

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1849 – Regular steamship service from the east to the west coast of the United States begins with the arrival of the SS California in San Francisco Bay, four months 22 days after leaving New York Harbor.

SS California was one of the first steamships to steam in the Pacific Ocean and the first steamship to travel from Central America to North America. She was built for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company which was founded April 18, 1848 as a joint stock company in the State of New York by a group of New York City merchants: William H. Aspinwall, Edwin Bartlett, Henry Chauncey, Mr. Alsop, G.G. Howland and S.S. Howland. She was the first of three steamboats specified in a government mail contract to provide mail, passenger, and freight service from Panama to and from San Francisco and Oregon.


SS California, Pacific Mail's first ship on the Panama City to San Francisco route.

SS California (1848) - Wikipedia

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1860 Nimrod – On 28 February 1860 the paddle steamer Nimrod was driven aground at St David's Head during a gale. The ship broke apart and sunk with the loss of all on board.

PS Nimrod was an Irish passenger-carrying paddle steamer. Built in 1843, it took passengers from Cork in the south of Ireland to the ports of Liverpool, the first leg for immigrants wishing to start a new life in the United States. It operated for 17 years, until it ran aground at St David's Head in 1860. It smashed into three pieces and sank, with the loss of 45 lives.

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


1896 – Launch of Japanese Yashima (八島 Yashima) was a Fuji-class pre-dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN)

Yashima (八島 Yashima) was a Fuji-class pre-dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in the 1890s. As Japan lacked the industrial capacity to build such warships, the ship was designed and built in the United Kingdom. She participated in the early stages of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, including the Battle of Port Arthur on the second day of the war. She was involved in subsequent operations until she struck two mines off Port Arthur in May 1904. She did not sink immediately, but capsized while under tow a number of hours later. The Japanese were able to keep her loss a secret from the Russians for over a year so they did not try to take advantage of her loss.

Japanese battleship Yashima - Wikipedia

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1940 – Launch of HMS Duke of York was a King George V-class battleship of the Royal Navy.

HMS Duke of York was a King George V-class battleship of the Royal Navy. Laid down in May 1937, the ship was constructed by John Brown and Company at Clydebank, Scotland, and commissioned into the Royal Navy on 4 November 1941, subsequently seeing combat service during the Second World War.



In mid-December 1941, Duke of York transported Prime Minister Winston Churchill to the United States to meet President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Between March and September 1942 Duke of York was involved with convoy escort duties, but in October she was dispatched to Gibraltar where she became the flagship of Force H.

In October 1942, Duke of York was involved in the Allied invasion of North Africa, but saw little action as her role only required her to protect the accompanying aircraft carriers. HMS Duke of York stopped the Portuguese vessel Gil Eannes on 1 November 1942 and a commando arrested Gastão de Freitas Ferraz. The British had picked up radio traffic indicating naval espionage, possibly compromising the secrecy of the upcoming Operation Torch.

After Operation Torch, Duke of York was involved in Operations Camera and Governor, which were diversionary operations designed to draw the Germans' attention away from Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily. On 4 October, Duke of York operated with her sister ship Anson in covering a force of Allied cruisers and destroyers and the American carrier Ranger, during Operation Leader, which raided German shipping off Norway. The attack sank four merchant ships and badly damaged a further seven.

On 26 December 1943 Duke of York was part of a task force which encountered the German battleship Scharnhorst off the North Cape of Norway. During the engagement that followed, Scharnhorst hit Duke of York twice with little effect, but was herself hit by several of Duke of York's 14-inch shells, silencing one of her turrets and hitting a boiler room. After temporarily escaping from Duke of York's heavy fire, Scharnhorst was struck several times by torpedoes, allowing Duke of York to again open fire, contributing to the eventual sinking of Scharnhorst after a running action lasting ten-and-a-half hours.

In 1945 Duke of York was assigned to the British Pacific Fleet as its flagship, but suffered mechanical problems in Malta which prevented her arriving in time to see any action before Japan surrendered.

After the war, Duke of York remained active until she was laid up in November 1951. She was eventually scrapped in 1957.

HMS Duke of York (17) - Wikipedia

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1942 - USS Jacob Jones (DE 130) is sunk by German submarine U 578 off the Delaware capes.

USS Jacob Jones (DE-130) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. She served in the Atlantic Ocean and provided destroyer escort service against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys.
She was named after Captain Jacob Jones, who assumed command of the Mediterranean Squadron in 1821. She was laid down 26 June 1942 by the Consolidated Steel Corp., Ltd., Orange, Texas; launched 1 November 1942; sponsored by Mrs. L. W. Hesselman; and commissioned 29 April 1943, Lt. Comdr. Walton B. Hinds, in command.

USS Jacob Jones (DE-130) - Wikipedia

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1944 - USS Balao (SS 285) and USS Sand Lance (SS 381) sink Japanese army cargo ship Akiura Maru, transport Shoho Maru about 90 miles northwest of Manokawari, New Guinea and transport Kaiko Maru just east of Musashi Wan, off Paramushir, Kurils.

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
29 February 1828 – Launch of Emma, a River Flat along the Mersey and Irwell Navigation, in Manchester.


The Emma was a River Flat launched on 29 February 1828 along the Mersey and Irwell Navigation, in Manchester. Built by the New Quay Company, it was one of the largest cargo vessels to be built alongside the Irwell. The vessel capsized shortly after its launch, causing the deaths of as many as 47 of its estimated 200 passengers. Many others were rescued by bystanders, and treated by surgeons along the river banks. The Emma was eventually righted, and spent the rest of its life working along the River Weaver.

History
The New Quay Company, established in 1822, used boats to transport goods and passengers between Manchester and Liverpool. The Emma was a new vessel and was to be launched with an opening ceremony at the company's premises on the east bank of the Irwell. On the day of the launch, 29 February 1828, a large crowd gathered to watch the ceremony, entertained by a band of the ninth regiment[4] accompanied by the sound of cannons. Flags and streamers were placed both on nearby vessels, and along the Quay

A bottle of wine was broken over the ship's bow by two daughters of the company's manager, William Brereton Grime. Including his daughters, 200 passengers boarded the vessel before it was released from its stocks. Following its launch the fully rigged vessel[5] listed slightly to one side before continuing across the river and hitting the opposite bank. The Emma then capsized, throwing many of its passengers into the river.

As the boat hit the bank, a boy, James Haslam, was forced by the weight of the crowd behind him into the river. Huitson Dearman, a dyer from Salford, rescued three people from the river, but died while attempting to rescue a fourth. A fishmonger who had also entered the river to rescue survivors after several hours returned to find his clothes had been stolen. He subsequently suffered from the exposure to the cold, and died several months later. A number of smaller boats were launched to rescue the passengers, some of whom remained in the water to rescue the others. One of the boats was so overwhelmed by survivors that it almost sank. Some of the passengers were dragged under the surface by other passengers. Those passengers removed from the Manchester bank of the river were taken to a warehouse belonging to the New Quay Company, and those taken onto the Salford bank were taken to the Britannia Inn and the Kings Arms. Two more, who later survived, were also taken to the Lying-in Hospital at Salford's New Bailey Prison. William Grime's two daughters were among the survivors


Sir James Phillips Kay-Shuttleworth was one of the doctors who helped resuscitate passengers pulled from the river

Several surgeons were called to the scene of the accident, including Kinder Wood, Joseph Jordan, and the politician and educationalist James Phillips Kay. His attempts to resuscitate some of the passengers included the use of a hot-bath[clarification needed], and then the use of a pair of bellows into an incision he had made into the wind-pipe; in two instances this proved successful. He also gave transfusions to some passengers, using blood from men and, as a last resort, a dog.

Initially, 34 bodies were pulled from the river. The body of a young girl, trapped underneath the vessel, was recovered when at about 5 pm it was righted. As news of the accident spread throughout the town, relatives and friends of the passengers arrived and frantically began asking of their whereabouts. One man, on discovering his dead wife at the New Quay warehouse, was reported to have tried repeatedly to revive her.

Aftermath
Inquests were held at the New Quay and two public houses on Oldfield Lane in Salford, each returning verdicts of "Accidentally Drowned". The victims were buried in a variety of locations, including Christ Church in Hulme, and the former St John's Church on Byrom Street. Accounts vary but as many as 47 bodies may have been retrieved from the water. Some sources state that a cause of the many deaths may well have been the river pollution from a nearby gasworks.

The New Quay Company publicly acknowledged the efforts of many of those involved in the rescue of its passengers, and the work of the surgeons on the day. The incident features in the novel by Mrs G Linnaeus Banks, 'The Manchester Man'. As well as Huitson Dearman, Richard Fogg (a clerk at the company) was congratulated for aiding about 30 passengers. A fund was established for the bereaved families and the reward of the rescuers. The Emma was recovered and reportedly spent its working life transporting salt on the River Weaver.

Through marriage, one of William Grime's daughters later became Elizabeth Salisbury Heywood, and presented Manchester with a statue of Oliver Cromwell.

Emma (1828 ship) - Wikipedia

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[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
29 February 1916 - During the Action German merchant raider SMS Greif (1914) and British armed merchant cruiser RMS Alcantara (1913) sank each other northeast of Shetland.
An estimated 187 Germans perished along with 72 Britons.


The Action of 29 February 1916 was a naval engagement fought during the First World War between the United Kingdom and the German Empire. SMS Greif a German commerce raider, broke out into the North Sea and Admiral Sir John Jellicoe dispatched Royal Navy warships to intercept the raider. Four British vessels made contact with the Greif and in the ensuing encounter, the commerce raider and the armed merchant cruiser HMS Alcantara were sunk.

Background
In April 1915 the Admiralty requisitioned Alcantara and the other "A-series" ships Avon, Arlanza and Andes as armed merchant cruisers. Alcantara was armed with six 6 in (150 mm) guns, anti-aircraft guns and depth charges. On 17 April at Liverpool she was commissioned into the Royal Navy's 10th Cruiser Squadron as HMS Alcantara. Arlanza and Andes were also commissioned into the 10th Cruiser Squadron, which joined the Northern Patrol, part of the Blockade of Germany. The Squadron patrolled about 200,000 square miles (520,000 km2) of the North Sea, Norwegian Sea and Arctic Ocean to prevent German ships from sailing to or leaving the North Atlantic.

Converted and renamed from the Guben, the 4,963 long tons (5,043 t) auxiliary cruiser SMS Greif was armed with four hidden 150 mm (5.9 in) guns, one concealed 105 mm (4.1 in) gun and two torpedo tubes. Greif was crewed by about 360 officers and men and had orders to sail around the north of Iceland into the Atlantic to operate as a commerce raider and then make for German East Africa, if it could not return to Germany

Prelude
Greif departed its home port of Hamburg into the North Sea on 27 February; at noon on 28 February, the Admiralty warned Jellicoe that a ship, escorted by the submarine SM U-70 40 nautical miles (74 km; 46 mi) ahead until Lat. 59° 20' N, had left the Elbe.[6]Admiral Sir John Jellicoe ordered two cruisers and four destroyers from Rosyth into the North Sea, to block the path of the ship if it sailed west and the light cruisers HMS Comus (Captain Alan Geoffrey Hotham), Calliope and Blanche with the destroyer HMS Munster, from Scapa Flow (Scapa), to sweep the Norwegian coast in case it sailed north. Just after midnight, British wireless direction-finders identified a German ship off Egersund on the south-west coast of Norway and the light cruisers from Scapa were ordered to search an arc radiating from Egersund. Columbella and Patia of the 10th Cruiser Squadron, part of the Northern Patrol, were sent to search from the north end of the Shetland Isles to the north-east.

The auxiliary cruiser HMS Andes (Captain G. B. W. Young) was already there, having arrived to relieve HMS Alcantara (Captain Thomas Erskine Wardle), which was due to sail to Liverpool to re-coal. Wardle had arranged to meet the relief 60 nautical miles (69 mi; 110 km) east of the Shetlands and was close to the meeting-point at 08:00, when a signal arrived ordering the Alcantara to remain, because a disguised German auxiliary cruiser was expected to sail through the patrol line that day from the south.

Action
At about 08:45 on 19 February, Alcantara was steaming north-north-east up its patrol line, lookouts spotted smoke off the port beam and Wardle manoeuvred closer to identify the source of the smoke. Unbeknownst to them, the smoke was from SMS Greif. A few minutes later Andes signalled "Enemy in sight north-east 15 knots" [17 mph (27 km/h)]. Wardle ordered Alcantara to turn north at maximum speed and soon sighted a ship with one funnel, flying Norwegian flags. Another message from Andes described a two-funnelled ship and the identity of the ship in sight remained doubtful. A few minutes later, Andes was seen to starboard seeming to be steaming north-east at speed, as if in pursuit. Before joining the chase, Wardle decided to examine the unknown ship and fired two blanks to force it heave to, going to action stations. By 09:20, Wardle was signalled by Andes that it had altered course to the south-east, which only added to the ambiguity, because the ship hove to could not be the one being pursued. The lookouts on the Alcantara could see the Norwegian name Rena on the stern and that the ship looked authentic.

A boat was lowered from Alcantara when it was about 1,000 yards (910 m) astern to check the ship's particulars, as the voyage of the Rena had been notified to the Admiralty. Wardle signalled the Andes of developments and Young replied with "This is the suspicious ship". As the message was being read, a gun at the stern of the "Rena" was unmasked and flaps fell down along the sides, revealing more guns. The Greif opened fire, hitting the boat containing the boarding party and damaged Alcantara's telemotor steering gear before the British ship could reply. Alcantara's gunners opened fire and the ship closed with the raider as it began to move and for about fifteen minutes the ships exchanged fire and Andesbegan to fire as it arrived and Greif began to disappear in smoke. The German gunners ceased fire and boats full of survivors were seen pulling away from the smoke. Alcantara was badly damaged and also ceased fire, apparently torpedoed and listing to port; Wardle ordered abandon ship and by 11:00 the list had put Alcantara on its beam ends and it sank with 69 members of the crew.

Hotham in the Comus, the most northern of the cruisers from Scapa, had seen the signals from Andes and sailed south in company with the destroyer Munster and arrived as the action ended, beginning rescue work with the crew of the Alcantara as it sank. The Andes had reported a submarine between it and the lifeboats and could not close and after several submarine alarms, Comus and Andes moved closer to the wreck of the Greif and sank it with gunfire; about 220 men of the crew of 360 were rescued.

Aftermath
Analysis
Four British warships had encountered Greif, Alcantara and Greif had been sunk and Wardle was later criticised for manoeuvring too close to the raider, before properly identifying the ship, which out-gunned the Alcantara. The mistake cost Wardle his vessel and several casualties but he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and eventually reached the rank of rear admiral. The swift end to the voyage of the Greif led to the German Admiralty suspending commerce raiding and renewed emphasis on submarine warfare.

Order of battle


HMS Alcantara (left) and SMS Greif(right) duelling at close range

Royal Navy:

• HMS Comus, light cruiser
• HMS Alcantara, auxiliary cruiser, flagship
• HMS Andes, auxiliary cruiser
• HMS Munster, destroyer

German Navy:

• SMS Greif, auxiliary cruiser

SMS Greif was a German cargo steamship that was converted into a merchant raider for the Imperial German Navy.

Built as Guben, she was a 4,962 GRT steel-hulled ship owned by the German-Australian Line (DADG), Hamburg. She was converted for naval service at Kaiserliche Werft Kiel in 1915 and commissioned as Greif on 23 January 1916. She sailed from the Elbe port of Cuxhaven on 27 February 1916 under the command of Fregattenkapitän Rudolf Tietze (born 13 September 1874). The Royal Navy had learned of Greif's sailing and was waiting in the North Sea.



Greif was disguised as the Norwegian Rena bound for Tønsberg, Norway when intercepted by the 15,620 GRT armed merchant cruiser Alcantara on the morning of 29 February 1916. Alcantara closed to 2000 yards and slowed to lower a boarding cutter when Greif hoisted the German battle ensign, increased speed, and opened fire. Alcantara returned fire with her six 6-inch (150 mm) guns and two 3-pounders. Range was never more than 3000 yards.

Alcantara was hit by a torpedo amidships on her port side, and one of Alcantaras shells exploded the ready ammunition for Greifs after gun. Both ships lost speed. Greifs crew abandoned ship 40 minutes after opening fire. Alcantara sank first. The C-class light cruiser Comus and M-class destroyer Munster then arrived to sink the stationary Greif[4] and rescue 120 German survivors. An estimated 187 Germans perished along with 72 Britons.



SS Alcantara was an ocean liner that went into service just weeks before the start of World War I, was converted to an armed merchant cruiser in 1915, and was sunk in combat with the German armed merchant cruiser SMS Greif in 1916.



Ocean liner
Harland and Wolff in Govan built Alcantara for the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. She was one of the later members of RMSP's "A-series" of liners, which had begun with RMS Aragon launched in 1905. In common with all of the last four "A-series" ships, Alcantara had three screws. A pair of four-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines drove her port and starboard screws, and a Parsons low-pressure steam turbine drove her middle screw.

Alcantara was launched on 30 October 1913 and made her maiden voyage in June 1914 on RMSP's route from Southampton to Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo and Buenos Aires.

Technically any ship while carrying Royal Mail could use the prefix RMS (Royal Mail Ship); in practice this prefix, rather than SS or MS, was always used for RMSP (and later RML) vessels.

HMS Alcantara
In April 1915 the Admiralty requisitioned Alcantara and her "A-series" sisters Avon, Arlanza and Andes to be armed merchant cruisers. She was armed with six 6 in (150 mm) guns, anti-aircraft guns and depth charges. On 17 April at Liverpool she was commissioned into the Royal Navy's 10th Cruiser Squadron as HMS Alcantara. Arlanza and Andes were also commissioned into the 10th Cruiser Squadron, which joined the Northern Patrol that was part of the First World War Allied naval blockade of the Central Powers. The Squadron patrolled about 200,000 square miles (520,000 km2) of the North Sea, Norwegian Sea and Arctic Ocean to prevent German access to or from the North Atlantic.

German submarine attacks on ships voyaging to and from Archangelsk created a suspicion that the Imperial German Navy had established a submarine base somewhere in the Arctic. In the summer of 1915 Alcantara was sent to Jan Mayen Island to investigate. She arrived on 3 July and sent a landing party ashore. It found no evidence of enemy activity; only the remains of the Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition base built in 1882 and three Arctic fox cubs, which for a short time were taken aboard as pets.




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_29_February_1916
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Greif_(1914)

RMS Alcantara (1913) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 29 February


1812 - HMS Fly (16), Henry Higman, wrecked on the Knobber reef at the eastern end of Anholt Is. in the Kattegat

HMS Fly (1805) was a 16-gun brig-sloop launched in 1805. Due to the pilot's error of judgment she wrecked on 28 February 1812 on the Knobber Reef, a narrow spit of sand and large boulders that extends 4.4 miles (7.1 km) from the eastern end of Anholt Island. Boats from the Baltic Fleet rescued her crew.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with scroll figurehead and longitudinal half-breadth for Goshawk (1805) and Challenger (1806), both fir-built 16-gun Brig Sloops. The plan also relates to Kite (1805), Raven (1805), Fly (1805), Fly (1805), Wizard (1805) and Sparrow (1805), all 16-gun Brig Sloops. All the ships were built to the alterations on the plan. Additional alterations in ticked lines relate to the two fir-built ships.

Collections - National Maritime Museum

1944 - The Japanese troopship Sakito Maru, bound for Guam, was torpedoed and sunk in the East China Sea by USS Trout

Sakito Maru (崎戸丸) was a 7,126-ton Japanese troop transport during World War II, which sank on 1 March 1944 with great loss of life.

Sakito Maru was built in 1939 by the Mitsubishi Zosen Kaisha in Nagasaki for the Nippon Yusen shipping company.

On 29 February 1944, Sakito Maru was carrying the Japanese 18th Infantry Regiment. as part of convoy MATSU-01 which transported the 29th Infantry Division of the Kwantung Army from Manchuria to Guam. Matsu No. 1 consisted of four large transports escorted by three Yūgumo-class destroyers of Destroyer Division 31: Asashimo, Kishinami, and Okinami.

The convoy was attacked by the American submarine USS Trout about 625 miles east of Taiwan. The submarine badly damaged the large passenger-cargo Aki Maru and sank Sakito Maru. Sakito Maru was hit around 17:56 by two torpedoes and caught fire. She sank at 04:00 killing 2,358 soldiers, 65 ship's gunners and 52 crewmen of the 3,500 men on board. Also lost were several light tanks and most of the regiment's equipment.


USS Trout (SS-202)

Asashimo detected the submarine USS Trout and dropped 19 depth charges. Oil and debris came to the surface and the destroyer dropped a final depth charge on that spot, sinking the American submarine at the position 22°40′N 131°45′ECoordinates:

22°40′N 131°45′E.

Sakito Maru - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

2008 Shourav - On 29 February 2008 the ferry Shourav capsized and sank after being rammed by another ferry on the Buriganga River, Bangladesh. killing at least 39 people.

MV Shourav - Wikipedia

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
1 March 1579 - Sir Francis Drake on Golden Hind captures the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de la Concepción - nickname Cacafuego ("fireshitter")


Nuestra Señora de la Concepción (Spanish: "Our Lady of the (Immaculate) Conception") was a 120-ton Spanish galleon that sailed the Peru–Panama trading route during the 16th century. This ship has earned a place in maritime history not only by virtue of being Sir Francis Drake's most famous prize, but also because of her colourful nickname, Cacafuego ("fireshitter").





Capture by Sir Francis Drake
At the helm of his ship Golden Hind, Sir Francis Drake had slipped into the Pacific Ocean via the strait of Magellan in 1578 without the knowledge of the Spanish authorities in South America. Privateers and pirates were common during the 16th century throughout the Spanish Main but were unheard of in the Pacific. Accordingly, the South American settlements were not prepared for the attack of "el Draque" (Spanish pronunciation of Sir Francis' last name), as Drake was to be known to his Spanish victims. During this trip, Drake pillaged El Callao (Peru's main port) and was able to gather information regarding the treasure ship Cacafuego, which was sailing toward Panama laden with silver and jewels.

Golden Hind caught up with Cacafuego on 1 March 1579, in the vicinity of Esmeraldas, Ecuador. Since it was the middle of the day and Drake did not want to arouse suspicions by reducing sails, he trailed some wine caskets behind Golden Hind to slow her progress and allow enough time for night to fall. In the early evening, after disguising Golden Hind as a merchantman, Drake finally came alongside his target and, when the Spanish captain San Juan de Antón refused to surrender, opened fire.

Golden Hind's first broadside took off Cacafuego's mizzenmast. When the English sailors opened fire with muskets and crossbows, Golden Hind came alongside with a boarding party. Since they were not expecting English ships to be in the Pacific, Cacafuego's crew was taken completely by surprise and surrendered quickly and without much resistance. Once in control of the galleon, Drake brought both ships to a secluded stretch of coastline and over the course of the next six days unloaded the treasure.

Drake was pleased at his good luck in capturing the galleon, and he showed it by dining with Cacafuego's officers and gentleman passengers. He offloaded his captives a short time later, and gave each one gifts appropriate to their rank, as well as a letter of safe conduct. Laden with the treasure from Cacafuego, Golden Hind continued its voyage westward, completing the second circumnavigation of the earth by returning to Plymouth, England, on 26 September 1580.

Wrecking
The vessel was wrecked in 1638 in severe weather off the island of Saipan while traveling from Manila to Acapulco laden with Cambodian ivory, Chinese silks and rugs, cotton from India, camphor from Borneo, spices from the Spice Islands, and precious jewels from Siam, Burma, and Ceylon. All of the 400 souls aboard her perished, and her ballast and treasures were lost to the sea.

On August 10, 1638 the Manila Galleon Nuestra Señora de la Concepcion left Manila Bay during the typhoon season. Concepcion was caring one of the largest cargos ever loaded. Juan Francisco de Corcuera, the young nephew of the Governor of the Philippines, was the captain. A typhoon blew the Concepcion off course. With its masts destroyed, it was driven onto the rocks at Agingan Point, Saipan. Many of the Spaniards, Mexicans, and Filipinos. were saved. Some were picked up by passing galleons in later years. Other survivors lived on the island for the rest of their lives. Six men from the Concepcion were saved by a Maga 'lahi of Tinian named Taga. After the rescue, Taga had a vision of a woman holding a baby. Esteban Ramos, who was on the Concepcion, wrote:

...this Indio came out one day quite exhilarated. "Oy, Oy. What can this be?" he said. "Much fire, much light, a young woman with a child in her arms surrounded by light, and she has told me that you are good people; to help you return to your country, so that you may bring us priests, who will teach us..."

The ship's nickname of "Cacafuego"
Nuestra Señora de la Concepción was reportedly nicknamed Cacafuego, meaning "shitfire" (or "fireshitter"), by her crew. The Early Modern Spanish verb caca "defecate" was derived from the Latin cacare. (Caca mutated into caga in modern Spanish and the formation "shitfire" into "cagafuego".)

There was a contemporaneous cognate in the Florentine Italian dialect: cacafuoco, meaning "handgun". From about 1600, the word spitfire was used in English, initially as an alternative term for "cannon". Spitfire may have originated as a minced calque of cacafuoco, although a folk etymology has long claimed that it originated as cacafuego, in reference to Nuestra Señora de la Concepción. In the 1670s, spitfire acquired the additional meaning of an "irascible, passionate person". In 1776, the British Royal Navy commissioned the first of more than 10 vessels named HMS Spitfire. Since the late 1930s, however, the word has been more famously associated with the Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft and the Mexican Spitfire film series, starring Lupe Vélez.


Golden Hind was an English galleon best known for her privateering circumnavigation of the globe between 1577 and 1580, captained by Sir Francis Drake. She was originally known as Pelican, but was renamed by Drake mid-voyage in 1578, in honour of his patron, Sir Christopher Hatton, whose crest was a golden 'hind' (a female red deer). Hatton was one of the principal sponsors of Drake's world voyage. One full-sized, still sailable reconstruction containing original pieces of the galleon exists in London, on the south bank of the Thames.


Golden Hind at sea, stern view (Print) (PAF7917)


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

Nuestra Señora de la Concepción - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
1 March 1805 - HMS Imogene (18) foundered on passage from the Leeward Islands.


HMS Imogen (or Imogene) was the French privateer Diable á Quatre, built at Bordeaux in 1792, that Thames and Immortalite captured in 1800. The Royal Navy took her into service in 1801 as HMS Imogen. She foundered in 1805.



Origins and capture
Diable à Quatre was believed to have been built in 1792. She was commissioned as a privateer corvette at Bordeaux in October 1799, under the command of a Le Mestre or Le Maître.

On 26 October 1800 Thames encountered a French privateer at about 9:30 in the morning. Thames pursued her quarry for five hours. During the pursuit they came upon Immortalite, which joined in. The two British vessels finally captured Diable à Quatresome 36 leagues from the Cordouan lighthouse. She was armed with sixteen 6 and 12-pounder guns and had a crew of 150 men. She was only one day out of Bordeaux. Captain William Lukin of Thames described Diable a Quatre as "a fast Sailer, and is extremely well found".[ Beaulieu shared in the prize money for Diable à Quatre.

The Royal Navy took her into service as Imogen. The Naval Chronicle reported that on 6 March 1801, "that beautiful corvette La Diable Quatre, of 22 guns, was this day taken into Government service, at the price of £2,500, exclusive of her apparel, guns, and furniture."

Career
The Royal Navy renamed Diable Imogen. Between May and August 1801, Imogen was at Plymouth, fitting out. There, in June Commander Richard Prater commissioned her. The new name apparently took some time to take.

The Naval Chronicle reported that on 28 October "Diable in Quatre" and Rosario had come into Plymouth Sound. Then on 15 November, Diable à Quatre was reported coming into Plymouth from a cruise. Finally, the Naval Chronicle reported that on 31 December, Imogene had come into Plymouth Sound from a cruise.

In November 1801, Commander Henry Vaughn replaced Prater.

After the signing of the Treaty of Amiens, ending the French Revolutionary Wars, on 14 April 1802 Imogene was one of several naval vessels transporting to Wexford, Waterford, Dublin, and Belfast Irish seamen who had been paid off at war's end. The Naval Chronicle opined that "this measure saves the gallant tars much expense, and reflects the highest credit on the Board of Admiralty."

During the Peace of Amiens Imogen participated in July-August 1802 in a small anti-smuggling squadron under the command of Captain King of Sirius. The other vessels in the squadron were Carysfort, Rosario, and Peterell. Imogene conducted at least one anti-smuggling patrol. She arrived at Cawsand Bay to victual on 19 July, and then returned on 8 August.

Vaughn recommissioned Imogene in October. Although Imogene had been paid off about three weeks earlier, by 23 October she had an almost full crew of volunteers. On the evening of the 27th, orders arrived directing Vaughn to prepare her as soon as the dispatches she was to carry had arrived. Mr. Thompson, her purser, was at the Victualling Office by 4 p.m., with the office carrying out the instructions with alacrity. Four days later Imogene sailed with dispatches for the Cape of Good Hope.

By March 1804 Imogen was serving with Commodore Hood's squadron in the Caribbean when she recaptured an English ship carrying a valuable cargo.

Fate
Imogen sailed from Surinam on 27 January 1805 and St Kitts on 8 February as escort to a homebound fleet of some 30 vessels. On 11 February a leak developed. Initial efforts to pump her dry worked, but only briefly. Leaking worsened, with no clear source. The crew spread a sail under the hull, and that helped, again temporarily. The crew also threw guns and stores overboard to lighten her. Still, on 12 March her crew had to abandon Imogen. Her last known position was 42°46′N 28°07′W. Lord Forbes, bound for London, and other vessels in the fleet took aboard Imogen's officers and crew.

HMS Imogen (1800) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
1 March 1805 – Launch of Topaze, a Gloire-class 44-gun frigate of the French Navy.


Topaze was a Gloire-class 44-gun frigate of the French Navy. The British captured her in 1809 and she the served with the Royal Navy under the name Jewel, and later Alcmene until she was broken up in 1816.



French service
She was built in Nantes in 1803 on plans by Pierre-Alexandre-Laurent Forfait and launched on 1 March 1805. She was put into service in September.

She departed from Nantes in June 1805 for Fort-de-France to carry new instructions to Admiral Villeneuve, but failed to reach him as the fleet was already heading for Europe. On 19 July she was the lead vessel of a squadron of four vessels that captured HMS Blanche. The other three were the 22-gun corvette Départment des Landes, the 18-gun Torche, and the 16-gun brig-corvette Faune.

On 14 August, a British squadron comprising the 74-gun Goliath, HMS Camilla and HMS Raisonnable captured Faune, which was trailing. Two days later, the British caught up with the three remaining ships, and Baudin had to abandon Torche, which surrendered after a token resistance against Goliath.

Raissonable chased Topaze, which she engaged in the morning of 17 August. The two ships were becalmed at first and unable to manoeuver, until Topaze caught some breeze. Baudin prepared to board Raisonnable, but abandoned the project after considering that his frigate was ferrying the crew of Blanche; he later told Captain Mudge to testify that Raisonnable would have been taken, had it not been for Mudge's presence on Topaze.

On 13 January 1803, Topaze, Pierre-Nicolas Lahalle, approached Cayenne. She was carrying flour and was under orders to avoid combat. At the time, the sloop HMS Confiance was at Cayenne, supporting the Portuguese conquest of French Guiana. However, three-quarters of her crew, as well as her captain, James Lucas Yeo, were ashore, attacking the French defenders. Midshipman G. Yeo, Yeo's younger brother, another midshipman, the remaining 25 men of the crew, and 20 local Negroes that the two midshipmen induced to join them, set sail towards Topaze. Topaze, judging from the sloop's boldness that she had company that would be forthcoming, turned away.

A little over a week later, Topaze met HMS Cleopatra, which captured Topaze in the subsequent action of 22 January 1809. The British took her into the Royal Navy as HMS Jewel.

sistership



Scale: unknown. A contemporary full hull model of the French 40-gun frigate ‘La Gloire’ built plank on frame and mounted on its original wooden marquetry baseboard. This model is a fine example of French craftsmanship and it combines the use of both wood and bone or ivory. The ornately decorated stern galleries are typical of the French ‘horseshoe’ design with the ship’s name carved on a raised plaque on the counter. During the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1793–1815), large numbers of French prisoners were housed in open prisons throughout Britain. Their daily food ration included half a pound of beef or mutton on the bone. Subsequently, the bone became a readily available source of raw material from which a variety of objects were crafted. Other materials were also used including wood, horn, brass, silk, straw and glass. Typically, the models were not made to scale as accurate scale plans were not available and tools were limited. To realize a good price at market, the models were often named after famous ships of the time, whilst some models included spring-loaded guns operated by cords. The ‘Gloire’ was built in France and captured by the British in 1803. Measuring 158 feet along the gun deck by 41 feet in the beam, she was added to the Royal Navy and subsequently broken up in 1812.

British service
After the loss of Alcmene in 1809, Jewel was renamed Alcmene later that year.

On 5 October 1809 Alcmene was in company with Wanderer and Pelter and all three shared in proceeds of the capture of George. Prize money was forwarded in 1815 from the Vice admiralty court in Antigua.

On 23 December 1813, Alcmene captured the Cerf-class schooner Fleche between Corsica and Cape Delle Molle. Fleche was armed with 12 guns, and carried a crew of 99 men and 24 soldiers. She was carrying the soldiers from Toulon to Corsica. French records place the capture off Vintimilles, and add the Fleche was escorting the storeships Lybio and Baleine, which were also carrying troops for Ajaccio, Corsica. That same day Euryalus drove Baleine, ashore near Calvi, where she bilged on the rocks. Baleine was armed with 22 guns and carried a crew of 120 men.

Alcmene was in company with Pembroke and Aigle on 11 April 1814 when they captured Fortune, Notre Dame de Leusainte, and a settee of unknown name.

On 13 May 1815 Alcmene, with Captain Jeremiah Coghlan in command, was present at the surrender of Naples during the Neapolitan War. A British squadron, consisting of Alcmene, and more importantly the 74-gun Tremendous, the sloop Partridge, and the brig-sloop Grasshopper blockaded the port and destroyed all the gunboats there. Parliament voted a grant of £150,000 to the officers and men of the squadron for the property captured at the time, with the money being paid in May 1819.

On 6 July, Alcmene captured the French naval schooner Antelope (Antilope) off Sardinia. Antilope was a Cerf-class schooner armed with two chase guns of 6 or 8-pounds, and two 24-pounder carronades. She had a complement of 86 men and displaced 273 tons (French).

Fate
The Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy offered the "Topaze, of 38 guns and 917 tons", lying at Portsmouth, for sale on 11 August 1814. The buyer had to post a bond of £3,000, with two guarantors, that they would break up the vessel within a year of purchase. Topaze did not sell immediately and was not broken up until February 1816.

sistership

Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth for President (captured 1806), a captured French Frigate, as fitted as a 36-gun Frigate for service off the Irish Coast. Signed by George Parkin [Master Shipwright, Chatham Dockyard, 1813-1830].


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, stern board outline with some decoration detail, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for President (captured 1806), a captured French Frigate, as fitted as a 36-gun Frigate for service off the Cape of Good Hope. The plan illustrates the movement of the foremast further forward per Navy Board Order dated 4 September 1810. The plan was used as the basis for the 'Seringapatam' class of 1813. Signed by Joseph Tucker [Master Shipwright, Plymouth Dockyard, 1802-1813]

The Gloire-class frigate was a type of 18-pounder 40-gun frigate, designed by Pierre-Alexandre Forfait in 1802. They were built on the specifications of the Seine-class frigate Pensée (sometimes also called Junon class)

Gloire class, (40-gun design of 1802 by Pierre-Alexandre Forfait, with 28 x 18-pounder and 12 x 8-pounder guns).

• Gloire, (launched 20 July 1803 at Basse-Indre) – captured by the British Navy 1806, becoming HMS Gloire.
• Président, (launched 4 June 1804 at Basse-Indre) – captured by the British Navy 1806, becoming HMS President.
• Topaze, (launched 1 March 1805 at Basse-Indre) – captured by the British Navy 1809, becoming HMS Alcmene.
• Vénus, (launched 5 April 1806 at Le Havre) – captured by the British Navy 1810, becoming HMS Nereide.
• Junon, (launched 16 August 1806 at Le Havre) – captured by the British Navy 1809, becoming HMS Junon.
• Calypso, (launched 9 January 1807 at Lorient) – severely damaged 1809, sold 1813 or 1814.
• Amazone, (launched 20 July 1807 at Le Havre) – burnt by the British Navy 1811.

Scale: 1:96. Plan showing the quarterdeck and forecastle, upper deck, lower deck, and fore, middle and after platforms for President (captured 1806), a captured French Frigate, as fitted as a 36-gun Frigate for service off the Cape of Good Hope. The plan illustrates the movement of the foremast further forward per Navy Board Order dated 4 September 1810. Signed by Joseph Tucker [Master Shipwright, Plymouth Dockyard, 1802-1813]


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Topaze_(1805)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloire-class_frigate

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
1 March 1819 – Launch of USS Columbus, a 90-gun ship of the line in the United States Navy.


USS Columbus was a 90-gun ship of the line in the United States Navy. She was launched on 1 March 1819 by Washington Navy Yard and commissioned on 7 September 1819, Master Commandant J. H. Elton in command.



History
Clearing Norfolk, Virginia on 28 April 1820, Columbus served as flagship for Commodore William Bainbridge in the Mediterraneanuntil returning to Boston on 23 July 1821. Serving as a receiving ship after 1833, she remained at Boston in ordinary until sailing to the Mediterranean on 29 August 1842, as flagship for Commodore Charles W. Morgan. On 24 February 1843, she sailed from Genoa, Italy, and reached Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 29 July to become flagship of the Brazil Squadron, Commodore Daniel Turner. She returned to New York City on 27 May 1844 for repairs.


The USS Columbus (1819) and a crewman in Edo Bay in 1846.

After embarking Commodore James Biddle, Commander, East India Squadron, she sailed on 4 June 1845 for Canton, China, where on 31 December Commodore Biddle exchanged ratified copies of the first American commercial treaty with China. Columbus remained there until April 1846, when she sailed for Japan to attempt opening that country to American commerce. She raised Uraga Channel on 19 July in company with Vincennes, but achieved no success. Recalled at the outbreak of the Mexican–American War Columbus reached Valparaíso, Chile, in December and arrived off Monterey, California, 2 March 1847. Too large to be useful in the California operations, the ship sailed from San Francisco on 25 July for Norfolk, arriving on 3 March 1848.

In 1845 the writer, Charles Nordhoff joined the ship as a boy (aged 15), and served for 3 years. He would write later of his adventure in his book. Man-of-War Life: a Boy's Experience in the U. S. Navy, largely autobiographical (Cincinnati, 1855).

At Norfolk Navy Yard, Columbus lay in ordinary until 20 April 1861, when she was sunk by withdrawing Union forces to prevent her falling into Confederate hands.


Sailmaker's plan of USS Columbus


An 1847 illustration of men manning the yards aboard USS Columbus

USS Columbus (1819) - Wikipedia

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
1 March 1865 - Side-wheel steamship USS Harvest Moon, while underway near Georgetown, S.C., with Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren on board, hits a Confederate mine (or "torpedo" in contemporary terms) and sinks with the loss of one of her crew.


The USS Harvest Moon was a steam operated gunboat acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries.


USS Harvest Moon in 1864-1865

Constructed in Portland, Maine
Harvest Moon, a side-wheel steamer, was built in 1863 at Portland, Maine, and was purchased by Commodore Montgomery from Charles Spear at Boston, Massachusetts, 16 November 1863. She was fitted out for blockade duty at Boston Navy Yard and commissioned 12 February 1864, Acting Lieutenant J. D. Warren in command.



Civil War Service
Operating with the South Atlantic Blockade
Assigned to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, Harvest Moon departed Boston 18 February and arrived off Charleston, South Carolina, 25 February 1864. Next day Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren made the steamer his flagship. After putting into Washington Navy Yard for repairs. Harvest Moon began her regular blockading duties 7 June 1864 off Charleston.

For the next nine months the steamer served off Tybee Island, Georgia, the North Edisto River, and Charleston harbor. During this period she also acted as a picket and dispatch vessel as well as Admiral Dahlgren's flagship.

Sinking
While proceeding in company with tug USS Clover shortly after 0800 on 1 March 1865 Harvest Moon struck a torpedo (mine) in Winyah Bay, South Carolina. Admiral Dahlgren, awaiting breakfast in his cabin, saw the bulkhead shatter and explode toward him.


SCUBA Divers use rods to probe the area of the Harvest Moon’s wreck, circa 1963. Note the remains of her smokestack nearby.

The explosion blew a large hole in the ship's hull aft and she sank in 2½ fathoms of water. One man was killed. The admiral and the crew were taken on board USS Nipsic. Harvest Moon was stripped of her valuable machinery and abandoned 21 April 1865.

Attempts to raise Harvest Moon a century later
In 1963, nearly 100 years later, a project was initiated to raise Harvest Moon from the mud at the bottom of Winyah Bay and to restore the ship, but has made little headway.

USS Harvest Moon - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Miscellaneous Photo Index

History: Sunken Union flagship marks 150 years :: South Carolina Maritime Museum :: Georgetown, SC :: Keeping our Maritime Heritage Alive

History: Sunken Union flagship marks 150 years - Located in the beautiful port city of Georgetown, SC, the South Carolina Maritime Museum is the result of a dream that started over two decades ago. Now, the dream is becoming a reality!

scmaritimemuseum.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
1 March 1873 – Launch of HMS Raleigh, an unarmoured iron or "sheathed" masted frigate completed in 1874


HMS Raleigh was an unarmoured iron or "sheathed" masted frigate completed in 1874. She was one of a series of three designed by Sir Edward Reed. The other two iron-hulled frigates (the three were not sisters) were HMS Inconstant and HMS Shah. The Controller originally intended to build six of these big frigates, but only three were ordered in view of their high cost. They retained the traditional broadside layout of armament, with a full rig of masts and sails. Although widely believed to be named after Sir Walter Raleigh, the ship was in fact named for George of Raleigh.



Building Programme
The following table gives the build details and purchase cost of the Raleigh and the other two iron frigates. Standard British practice at that time was for these costs to exclude armament and stores. (Note that costs quoted by J.W. King were in US dollars.)



Design
Raleigh displaced 5,200 tons and was 298 feet long (between perpendiculars) by 49 feet wide, and drew 24 feet 7 inches. She was designed as a sailing vessel with an auxiliary steam engine. Under favourable sailing conditions she could make 13 knots (24 km/h). With 9 boilers operating at 30 pounds per square inch, her 1-shaft horizontal single expansion engine developed 5,639 horsepower (4,205 kW) and moved her along at 16.2 knots (30.0 km/h), an unprecedented speed at the time.

Two 9-inch muzzle-loading rifle (MLR) guns and fourteen 7-inch 90 cwt MLR guns formed the main armament, supplemented by six 64-pounder MLRs. The 9-inch guns were chase weapons, mounted at front and back. The fourteen 7-inch guns were the main deck broadside battery.

These ships were constructed in response to the fast, wooden American Wampanoag-class frigates, and their iron hulls were clad from keel to bulwarks with a double layer of 3-inch timber. Raleigh was copper bottomed. All three had a great range and were designed for use in far seas.

The ship was intended as a successor to the wooden steam-frigates such as Immortalite and Ariadne. Inconstant and Shah had been considered by some too large and too expensive, so Raleigh was designed slightly smaller. The design was a compromise between steam power and a desire to retain good sailing properties. The propeller was damaged during steam trials, breaking one blade and cracking the other, but she proceeded to sailing trials around Ireland before repairs were made. George Tryon, appointed her first captain, made a number of minor alterations to her design details as she was completing building.[5]

Raleigh had a normal crew of 530 men. In 1884, she was partially rearmed, retaining eight 7-inch MLR guns on broadside, but gaining eight more modern 6-inch breech-loading rifled (BLR) guns and eight 5-inch BLR guns. Four modern light guns were added as well as 12 machine guns and two torpedo carriages.


Raleigh with HMS Serapis, during the visit of the Prince of Wales to Bombay in 1875

HMS Raleigh (1873) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
1 March 1881 – Launch of SS Servia, also known as RMS Servia, a successful transatlantic passenger and mail steamer of revolutionary design


SS Servia, also known as RMS Servia, was a successful transatlantic passenger and mail steamer of revolutionary design, built by J & G Thomson of Clydebank (later John Brown & Company) and launched in 1881. She was the first large ocean liner to be built of steel instead of iron, and the first Cunard ship to have an electric lighting installation. For these and other reasons, maritime historians often consider Servia to be the first "modern" ocean liner.

Background

Servia underway

In 1878, Samuel Cunard's British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company was reorganised into limited company and officially named Cunard. This capitalisation allowed it to use shareholder money to build larger, more expensive ships. A new policy to this end was put into effect by Cunard's new chairman, John Burns, and announced in the London Times.

Launched on 1 March 1881, Servia was the first of Cunard's new breed of ocean liners. She was the second largest ship in the world at 515 feet long and 52.1 feet wide,[2]surpassed only by Brunel's SS Great Eastern. With her design and construction guided by admirality specifications, Servia had many features that satisfied the requirements for her to be placed high on the admiralty's reserve list of the armed auxiliary cruisers, where she could be called into service in times of war. It was named after historical English name for country Serbia.

Power plant
Servia’s engine was similar to the one installed on the Guion Line’s crack passenger liner SS Alaska of 1881. It was a triple-crank compound steam engine with one 72 in high-pressure cylinder, and two 100 in low-pressure cylinders, and a stroke of 6.5 ft (2.0 m). The steam was supplied at 90 lbf by seven Scotch boilers, each of which were 18 ft (5.5 m) in diameter and contained six furnaces. Six of these boilers were double-ended, while the seventh was single-ended and contained three furnaces. The power developed was 10,300 ihp, driving a single four-bladed screw. Servia's maximum recorded speed during her trials was 17.85 knots, and her average speed during a crossing was around 16 knots. Although Servia did not achieve any speed records, she was a competitive liner that performed well, and in 1884 she managed to make a crossing in less than seven days, averaging at 16.7 knots.



Notable features
Servia differed from earlier Atlantic liners in a number of significant ways, but most notably, she was the first liner to specialise in passenger transportation, due to her cargo space being sacrificed for her large power-plant. This sacrifice was viable because at that time, tramp steamers had taken over much of the freight across the Atlantic, while the demand for passenger transportation had increased. Because of her passenger specialisation, Servia is considered to be first liner of what became known as the Express Transatlantic Service. Servia also had a number of innovative technical features which are noteworthy in the history of ocean-going liners. The following list is a summary of those features:

Construction and design
Servia was the first major ocean liner to be built of steel, which gave her large hull the advantage of additional strength while at the same time making her lighter. She was also the first liner to re-introduce the cellular double-bottom design which Brunel had invented 20 years earlier for the Great Eastern. The double-bottom was 4' 8" deep, and could be flooded with 800 tons of water ballast. Because Servia was built to admirality specifications, she incorporated several safety features, the most notable being the sub-division of her hull into 12 transverse water-tight compartments, fitted with water-tight doors. She could remain afloat with any two of these compartments flooded. The water-tight doors between the boiler and engine room were fail-safe and could be closed from any deck.

Electric lighting
Servia was the first Cunarder to introduce electric lighting, using Edison's recently invented incandescent lamp, which had been proven successful on ship usage by its first commercial installation on board the American passenger liner Columbia. The lamps were installed in the public rooms and engineering spaces. (A small but practical electric lighting installation had been made on the smaller Inman liner SS City of Berlin a year so earlier.) Servia was also fitted with a new type of compass and deep-sea sounding device.

Passenger accommodation
Servia had public rooms of a scale and luxury greater than previously known. Of the three decks, the upper deck consisted of deck-houses that included a first-class smoking room, and a luxuriously fitted ladies drawing room and a music room. The entrance and grand staircase was the largest that had ever appeared on a liner, and was panelled in polished maple and ash. It led down to the a landing on the main deck which featured a library. Twenty-four first-class state-rooms were situated aft of this landing, while the first-class dining salon was situated forward. The dining salon could sit 220 of Servia's 480 first-class passengers on five long tables, and was richly decorated with carved panels and carpets. In the centre was an open well that rose 17 ft to a skylight. Forward of the dining salon were a further 58 staterooms, followed by crew accommodation areas.

On the lower deck was a servants dining room and a further 82 first-class staterooms. The forward section of this deck was reserved for 730 steerage passengers. This section was a large area of about 150 feet long, and included a dining area. The berths were grouped into separate male and female areas.

Fate
With the appearance of the crack Cunard liners RMS Campania and RMS Lucania in 1893, Servia was relegated to intermediate service. She was later used to transport troops to South Africa during the Boer war. She was broken up in 1902 by Thos W Ward.


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

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
1 March 1892 – Launch of HMS Ramillies, a Royal Sovereign-class pre-dreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy,


HMS Ramillies was a Royal Sovereign-class pre-dreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy, named after the Battle of Ramillies. The ship was built by J. & G. Thompson at Clydebank, starting with her keel laying in August 1890. She was launched in March 1892 and commissioned into the Mediterranean Fleet as flagship the following October. She was armed with a main battery of four 13.5-inch guns and a secondary battery of ten 6-inch guns. The ship had a top speed of 16.5 knots.



Ramillies served as flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet up to 1899, and again from 1900 to 1902. After taking part in manoeuvres off the coast of Portugal, she returned to England for a refit in 1903. Upon completion, she was commissioned into the Reserve in 1905. She suffered damage while participating in combined manoeuvres the following year, and was recommissioned into the Special Service Division of the Home Fleet in 1907, becoming the Parent Ship of the 4th Division of the Home Fleet in 1910. She was relieved of that role a year later, before being reduced to material reserve at Devonport in August 1911, and stripped and laid up at Motherbank for disposal in July 1913. She was sold for scrap in October 1913 and towed to Italy to be broken up the following month.




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Ramillies_(1892)

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
1 March 1913 – Launch of SMS König, the first of four König-class dreadnought battleships of the Imperial German Navy


SMS König was the first of four König-class dreadnought battleships of the Imperial German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) during World War I. König (Eng: "King") was named in honor of King William II of Württemberg. Laid down in October 1911, the ship was launched on 1 March 1913. Final construction on König was completed shortly after the outbreak of World War I; she was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet on 9 August 1914.



Along with her three sister ships, Grosser Kurfürst, Markgraf, and Kronprinz, König took part in most of the fleet actions during the war. As the leading ship in the German line on 31 May 1916 in the Battle of Jutland, König was heavily engaged by several British battleships and suffered ten large-caliber shell hits. In October 1917, she forced the Russian pre-dreadnought battleship Slava to scuttle herself in the Battle of Moon Sound, which followed Germany's successful Operation Albion.

König was interned, along with the majority of the High Seas Fleet, at Scapa Flow in November 1918 following the Armistice. On 21 June 1919, Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter gave the order to scuttle the fleet, including König, while the British guard ships were out of the harbor on exercises. Unlike most of the scuttled ships, König was never raised for scrapping; the wreck is still on the bottom of the bay.


Design
Main article: König-class battleship


Plan and elevation view of a ship of the König class, from Jane's Fighting Ships 1919

The four König-class battleships were ordered as part of the Anglo-German naval arms race; they were the fourth generation of German dreadnought battleships, and they were built in response to the British Orion class that had been ordered in 1909. The Königs represented a development of the earlier Kaiser class, with the primary improvement being a more efficient arrangement of the main battery. The ships had also been intended to use a diesel engine on the center propeller shaft to increase their cruising range, but development of the diesels proved to be more complicated than expected, so an all-steam turbine powerplant was retained.

König displaced 25,796 t (25,389 long tons) as built and 28,600 t (28,100 long tons) fully loaded, with a length of 175.4 m (575 ft 6 in), a beam of 29.5 m (96 ft 9 in) and a draft of 9.19 m (30 ft 2 in). She was powered by three Parsons steam turbines, with steam provided by three oil-fired and twelve coal-fired Schulz-Thornycroft water-tube boilers, which developed a total of 42,708 shaft horsepower (31,847 kW) and yielded a maximum speed of 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph). The ship had a range of 8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km; 9,200 mi) at a cruising speed of 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph). Her crew numbered 41 officers and 1,095 enlisted men.

She was armed with ten 30.5 cm (12.0 in) SK L/50 guns arranged in five twin gun turrets: two superfiring turrets each fore and aft and one turret amidships between the two funnels. König was the first German battleship to mount all of her main battery artillery on the centerline. Like the earlier Kaiser-class battleships, König could bring all of her main guns to bear on either side, but the newer vessel enjoyed a wider arc of fire due to the all-centerline arrangement. Her secondary armament consisted of fourteen 15 cm (5.9 in) SK L/45 quick-firing guns and six 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/45 quick-firing guns, all mounted singly in casemates. As was customary for capital ships of the period, she was also armed with five 50 cm (20 in) underwater torpedo tubes, one in the bow and two on each beam.

The ship's armored belt consisted of Krupp cemented steel that was 35 cm (14 in) thick in the central portion that protected the propulsion machinery spaces and the ammunition magazines, and was reduced to 18 cm (7.1 in) forward and 12 cm (4.7 in) aft. In the central portion of the ship, horizontal protection consisted of a 10 cm (3.9 in) deck, which was reduced to 4 cm (1.6 in) on the bow and stern. The main battery turrets had 30 cm (12 in) of armor plate on the sides and 11 cm (4.3 in) on the roofs, while the casemate guns had 15 cm (5.9 in) of armor protection. The sides of the forward conning tower were also 30 cm thick.


The König class was a group of four battleships built for the German Kaiserliche Marine on the eve of World War I. The class was composed of König, Grosser Kurfürst, Markgraf, and Kronprinz. The most powerful warships of the German High Seas Fleet at the outbreak of war in 1914, the class operated as a unit throughout World War I—the V Division of the III Battle Squadron. The ships took part in a number of fleet operations during the war, including the Battle of Jutland, where they acted as the vanguard of the German line. They survived the war and were interned at Scapa Flow in November 1918. All four ships were scuttled on 21 June 1919 when Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter ordered the sinking of the entire High Seas Fleet. Three remain on the seafloor there; the Grosser Kurfürst was raised, towed off, and broken up for scrap.

The Königs were an improvement over the preceding Kaiser class; one of the primary changes being in the disposition of the main gun battery. The Kaiser-class ships mounted ten 30.5 cm (12 in) SK L/50 guns in five twin turrets; one turret was mounted fore, two aft in a superfiring arrangement, and the other two as wing turrets in a zig-zag "echelon" configuration amidships. For the Königclass, the use of main-gun wing turrets was abandoned. Instead, a second turret was moved forward and placed in a superfiring arrangement, and a single rear-facing turret was mounted centerline amidships; with a traverse allowing for broadsides but not forward-fire. The two superfiring aft turrets remained. This allowed for a wider angle of fire on the broadside, as all 10 guns could fire in a large arc.[a] It did, however, reduce the ship's forward-fire capabilities; from six guns with only limited traverse on the two wing turrets, to four guns with full traverse.





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

König-class battleship - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org