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

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
6 March 1874 – Launch of The corbeta (corvette) ARA Uruguay, built in England, is the largest ship afloat of its age in the Armada de la República Argentina (Argentine Navy)


The corbeta (corvette) ARA Uruguay, built in England, is the largest ship afloat of its age in the Armada de la República Argentina (Argentine Navy), with more than 140 years passed since its commissioning in September 1874. The last of the legendary squadron of President Sarmiento, the Uruguay took part in revolutions, ransoms, expeditions, rescues, and was even floating headquarters of the Navy School. During its operational history 1874–1926 the Uruguay has served as a gunboat, school ship, expedition support ship, Antarctic rescue ship, fisheries base supply ship, and hydrographic survey vessel, and is now a museum ship in Buenos Aires. This ship may be the oldest in South America having been built in 1874 at Laird Bros. (now Cammell Laird) shipyard of Birkenhead, England, at a cost of £32,000. This ship is rigged to a barque sailplan (three masts, two of which have cross spars). The ship's steel hull is lined in teak.

The ship's namesake is an earlier Argentine Navy schooner, a seven-gun combatant in the Battle of Juncal, 1827.


Uruguay moored at Puerto Madero, Buenos Aires

History
Gunboat and training ship (1874–1887)
Originally built as a gunboat, the ship was soon to be used as a training ship.

Naval training headquarters ship (1887)
After an episode known as the "Mutiny of the Overcoats" ("el Motín de los Gabanes" de Zárate) affected the continuity of studies in the emerging Naval Academy, the ship became a floating headquarters for naval training. In 1879, the gunboat, anchored in Buenos Aires, witnessed the graduation of the academy's first class of Naval Officers.[4]

Asserting Argentina's sovereignty claim to Patagonia (1878)
In 1878 it became part of the expedition of Commodore Louis Py to Patagonia, south of the Santa Cruz River, along with the monitor Los Andes and the gunboat Constitución, with the goal of asserting Argentina's sovereignty claim on that region, threatened by Chile.

First scientific expedition (1884)
In 1884 it transported foreign scientific committees who came to observe a Transit of Venus (the passage of the disk of Venus across the Sun).[6][7][8]

Configured for expedition support (1887-1903)


ARA Uruguay near 1903 in Buenos Aires.

In 1887 the ship was removed from its training assignment and fitted for expedition support.

Rebuilt for Antarctic rescue (1903)
In 1903 the ship was extensively refitted specifically as a steam rescue ship with auxiliary sail propulsion.[10] The original horizontal reciprocating engine[11] was replaced with a more compact yet more powerful engine and boilers salvaged from a wreck, allowing addition of more water storage, coal bunkering and fuel oil for heating. Additional bulkheads to create a total of eight compartments and hull reinforcement were added. The bilge keels were removed to facilitate damage-free passage through ice. Hard shell above deck storm and wave protection for crew was added fore and aft. Additional insulations of cork and sawdust were added.[2]

Rescue of the Swedish Antarctic Expedition (October 1903)

Capitán de Corbeta (Lieutenant Commander) ARA Julián Irízar

The ship's most notable action was carried out in 1901–1903 when the Uruguay supported and then later rescued the Swedish Antarctic Expedition led by Otto Nordenskiöld, their ship, the Antarctic, having been destroyed by ice. The rescue effort was led by Lieutenant Commander Julián Irízar who returned from his London diplomatic post of Naval Attache.

A special crew of eight officers and nineteen men was selected based upon experience, courage, and ability to withstand the severe polar conditions. With all of the expedition members rescued successfully, the ship returned through a severe storm in a thoroughly battered condition, having been rolled up to 40 degrees and now partially dismasted. Arriving first at Puerto Santa Cruz, they telegraphed their success to headquarters. On December 2, 1903, they arrived at home port to a great rejoicing by the citizens of Buenos Aires, with all participants receiving a hero's welcome from one hundred thousand dockside greeters, to be followed by many days of receptions and parades.

Support of Charcot expedition (1904–1906)
The Third French Antarctic Expedition, led by Jean-Baptiste Charcot, was supported by the Uruguay.

Base support and hydrography (1904–1922)
The ship operated through the Drake Passage, around Cape Horn, and resupplied a base in the South Orkney Islands (called by the Argentines Órcadas) with trips to South Georgia (called by the Argentines San Pedro Island) and supporting the Argentinean Fisheries Association (Sociedad Argentina de Pesca) whaling station with coal and food supplies. During this time ship was engaged in performing hydrographic and geographic surveys for the preparation of maritime navigation charts.

Out of service (1926)
She was dismissed from service in 1926 (with 52 years of naval service), to become a floating ammunition dump.

Restoration for use as a naval museum ship (1954)
In 1954 the Uruguay was rebuilt in the Río Santiago Shipyard. It was moored two years later at the pier of the Naval School, now officially designated as a museum ship.

Public museum ship and historic monument (1967–present)
Removed from naval service in 1962, the Uruguay was in 1967 declared a National Historic Landmark. Currently integrated since 1967 as a museum ship with the frigate ARA Presidente Sarmiento in the Museum of Sea and Navigation.[20] It is moored at Puerto Madero in the city of Buenos Aires, in the dock area No. 3, a short distance from the Sarmiento.








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

ArmadaArgentina

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
6 March 1938 - spanish Canarias-class heavy cruiser Baleares sunk by the Lepanto - 765 seamen died.


Baleares was a Canarias-class heavy cruiser of the Spanish Navy. The two ships of the class were built upon a British design and were a modified version of the Royal Navy′s County class. Baleares was constructed in Spain by the Vickers-Armstrongs subsidiary Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval, and saw service during the Spanish Civil War, when she was torpedoed and sunk by destroyers of the Spanish Republican Navy during the Battle of Cape Palos.



History
In December 1936, Baleares was commissioned in an incomplete state, not mounting the fourth turret. The turret was installed by June 1937.

Spanish Civil War
On 12 July 1937, Baleares encountered six Republican destroyers escorting two merchant vessels near Valencia. After a brief exchange of fire, the Republican ships escaped.

In the afternoon of 7 September 1937, Baleares encountered four Republican merchant ships escorted by the cruisers Libertadand Méndez Núñez and six destroyers off Algeria in what became known as the Battle of Cape Cherchell. While the destroyers and merchants broke off the engagement, Libertad and Méndez Núñez engaged Baleares. The cruiser was damaged by several hits from Libertad in critical areas and a fire in the 120 mm (4.7 in) ammunition storeroom, but she limped away successfully. Two Republican freighters changed course to the south during the engagement and ran aground near Cape Cherchell. One of them was lost while the other was salvaged and interned by French authorities.

In March 1938, Baleares—along with fellow Nationalist cruisers Canarias and Almirante Cervera—engaged the Republicancruisers Libertad and Méndez Núñez, accompanied by five destroyers, off Cartagena, in the Battle of Cape Palos. At around 02:15 am on 6 March, the Nationalist and Republican cruisers engaged in an ineffective gunnery duel. During this gunnery duel, the Republican destroyers Sánchez Barcáiztegui, Lepanto, and Almirante Antequera all fired their torpedoes. Two or three torpedoes from Lepanto hit Baleares between "A" and "B" turrets, detonating her forward magazine and sinking her. Out of her crew of 1,206, she had 765 seamen killed or missing, among them Vice-Admiral Manuel Vierna Belando, commander of the cruiser division.

The British destroyers Boreas and Kempenfelt rescued part of the survivors, although a Republican air attack interrupted the rescue and caused one British fatality.


Monument to the cruiser Balearesin Palma de Mallorca

A monument to the crew killed in the sinking of Baleares has been erected in Palma de Mallorca. In the Basque town of Ondárroa, from which many of the crew members came, there are two monuments honoring Baleares, in the port and the cemetery.

sistership

Spanish heavy cruiser Canarias during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939).


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

Canarias-class cruiser - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
6 March 1940 – Launch of French Jean Bart, a French battleship of World War II, named for the 17th-century seaman, privateer, and corsair Jean Bart.


Jean Bart was a French battleship of World War II, named for the 17th-century seaman, privateer, and corsair Jean Bart. She was the second Richelieu-class battleship. Derived from the Dunkerque class, Jean Bart (and her sister ship Richelieu) were designed to fight the new battleships of the Italian Navy. Their speed, shielding, armament, and overall technology were state of the art, but they had a rather unusual main battery armament arrangement, with two 4-gun turrets forward and none aft.

Jean Bart was incomplete when France surrendered to Germany in June 1940. She sailed from Saint-Nazaire to Casablanca just before the Armistice. She was sunk in harbour in 1942. After the war she was re-floated, completed with an updated anti-aircraft battery, and entered service in 1955. She had a very short career: Jean Bart was put into reserve in 1957, decommissioned in 1961, and scrapped in 1969.



Jean Bart in the harbor of Casablanca, photographed by a plane from USS Ranger. Turret number two was not yet operational.

Design
The Richelieu class was designed in response to the Italian Littorio-class battleships laid down in 1934, with Richelieu being laid down in 1935. When Germany laid down the two Bismarck-class battleships in November 1935 and June 1936, France ordered the second Richelieu, Jean Bart.

Jean Bart was intended to be the exact sister ship of Richelieu, with the same 35,000-long-ton (35,562 t) tons standard displacement, same hull dimensions (length : 247.85 m (813 ft), beam : 33.00 m (108 ft), draught : 9.22 m (30.2 ft)), same armament, protection, and propulsion.

Her general layout, with two four-gun turrets forward, originated with the Dunkerque battleship class. The quadruple turret had first been proposed for France's last pre-World War I battleship projects, the Normandie,[4] and Lyon-class battleships. The quad turret was also featured on nearly all the French battleship projects in the 1920s,. The "all forward" main battery arrangement was influenced by pre-1921 British battlecruiser projects[8][9] and the Nelson-class battleships.

The Richelieu-class battleships had, with 380 mm (14.96 in) calibre guns, and 327 mm (12.9 in) thick belt armor covering approximately 60% of total length, the same hitting and staying power as contemporary battleships built within the limit of 35,000 tons displacement in the Washington Naval Treaty. The 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph) maximum speed was surpassed only by the U.S. Iowa-class battleships.

sistership


Construction
Jean Bart was laid down in December 1936; she was built in the large Caquot dock in Penhoët, commonly known as the "Jean Bart-dock". She was floated out on 6 March 1940, and transferred from the building basin to the nearby fitting-out basin. She was expected to leave in October 1940. In May 1940, it was decided that the uncompleted battleship had to be sent to a safer place in Britain or in French Africa, beyond the Luftwaffe's range. However, the fitting-out basin, where the ship was afloat, was separated from the navigational channel by an earth dam. In late May, when it appeared that Germany would win the Battle of France, the Navy began dredging the earth dam, so Jean Bart could leave at high tide on 20 June. Half the propulsion machinery (boilers and turbines) was installed, to be used when necessary. On 18 June, as German troops were approaching, her captain was ordered to prepare to sail immediately or to scuttle the ship. The dredging work was finished the middle of the next night, with very narrow margins for the battleship to pass through, and in the early hours of 19 June, nearly in view of the German vanguard, Jean Bart – barely 75% completed, her steam engines never having been worked before, and under the threat of German bombers – was taken out of the Saint Nazaire docks by four tugs. She reached Casablanca under her own steam on 22 June; the average speed on the journey's final leg was 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph).

French battleship Jean Bart (1940) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Richelieu-class battleship - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
6 March 1943 - Battle of Blackett Strait - an American task force intercepts 2 Japanese destroyers and sinks them both.


The Battle of Blackett Strait (Japanese: ビラ・スタンモーア夜戦 Battle of Vila-Stanmore) was a naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on 6 March 1943 in the Blackett Strait, between Kolombangara islands and Arundel Island in the Solomon Islands.


The U.S. Navy Cruiser Divison 12 in Havannah harbor at Éfaté Island in 1943, in colonial New Hebrides (present day Vanuatu). CRUDIV 12 consisted of the Clevland-class light cruisers USS Cleveland (CL-55), USS Columbia (CL-56), USS Montpelier (CL-57), flagship, and USS Denver (CL-58).

Background
After the American victory in the Guadalcanal campaign, operations in the Solomon Islands shifted to the west, where the Japanese maintained a substantial garrison on Kolombangara. On the night of 5 March 1943, the Japanese destroyers Murasame and Minegumo—commanded by Sho-sa (Lieutenant Commander) Yōji Tanegashima—took supplies to the Japanese base at Vila, on Kolombangara.



Battle
As they withdrew after landing their cargo, the two Japanese ships encountered Task Force 68 (TF 68), consisting of three light cruisers (USS Montpelier, Cleveland, and Denver) and three destroyers (USS Conway, Cony, and Waller) commanded by Rear Admiral Aaron S. Merrill, that had been bombarding Japanese positions at Vila.

In a short battle, both Japanese destroyers were sunk. Fifty-three survivors from Murasame and 122 survivors from Minegumo managed to reach Japanese lines. Two other survivors from Minegumo were later captured by U.S. forces.

Aftermath
On 7 May, the minelayers USS Gamble, Breese, and Preble laid mines across Blackett Strait in an attempt to interdict Japanese ship movements traveling through the strait. The next day, Japanese destroyers Oyashio, Kagero, and Kuroshio all hit mines in that area. Kuroshio sank immediately. Kagero and Oyashio sank later that day after being attacked and further damaged by U.S. aircraft from Henderson Field.

PT-109
Another engagement occurred in Blackett Strait when a force of 15 PT boats, including LTJG John F. Kennedy's PT-109 were sent to intercept the "Tokyo Express" supply convoy on 2 August. In what National Geographic called a "poorly planned and badly coordinated" attack, 15 boats with 60 available torpedoes went into action. However, of the 30 torpedoes fired by PT boats from four sections, not a single hit was scored.

In the battle, only four PT boats (the section leaders) had radar, and they were ordered to return to base after firing their torpedoes on radar bearings. When they left, the remaining boats were virtually blind and without verbal orders, thus leading to more confusion.

Patrolling just after the section leader had departed for home, PT-109 was run down on a dark moonless night by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri, returning from the supply mission. The PT boat had her engines at idle to hide her wake from seaplanes. Conflicting statements have been made as to whether the destroyer captain spotted and steered towards the boat. Members of the destroyer crew believed the collision was not an accident, though other reports suggest Amagiri's captain never realized what happened till after the fact. The captain of PT-109 was future U.S. President John F. Kennedy. His crew was assumed lost by the U.S. Navy, but were found later by Solomon Islander scouts Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana in a dugout canoe.

Battle of Blackett Strait - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
6 March 1987 – The British ferry MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes in about 90 seconds, killing 193.


MS Herald of Free Enterprise was a roll-on/roll-off (RORO) ferry which capsized moments after leaving the Belgian port of Zeebrugge on the night of 6 March 1987, killing 193 passengers and crew.


Herald of Free Enterprise - Eastern Docks - Dover - GB

The eight-deck car and passenger ferry was owned by Townsend Thoresen, designed for rapid loading and unloading on the competitive cross-channel route, and there were no watertight compartments. The ship left harbour with her bow-door open, and the sea immediately flooded the decks; within minutes, she was lying on her side in shallow water. The immediate cause of the sinking was found to be negligence by the assistant boatswain, who was asleep in his cabin when he should have been closing the bow-door. However, the official inquiry placed more blame on his supervisors and a general culture of poor communication in Townsend Thoresen. The vessel was salvaged, put up for sale, and sold to Naviera SA Kingstown on 30 September 1987, renamed Flushing Range. It was taken to Taiwan on 22 March 1988 to be dismantled.

Since the disaster, improvements have been made to the design of RORO vessels, with watertight ramps, indicators showing the position of the bow doors, and banning of undivided decks.


Capsizing
Background
On the day the ferry capsized, Herald of Free Enterprise was working the route between Dover and the Belgian port of Zeebrugge. This was not her normal route and the linkspan at Zeebrugge had not been designed specifically for the Spirit-class vessels: she used a single deck, preventing the simultaneous loading of both E and G decks, and the ramp could not be raised high enough to reach E deck. To compensate for this, the vessel's bow ballast tanks were filled. The ship's natural trim was not restored after loading. Had Herald of Free Enterprise survived, she would have been modified to remove the need for this procedure.

Owing to a cut-price ticket deal, the ferry was operating at full capacity, which made it more difficult to depart on time. The captain and first officer would be reprimanded by their bosses if the ferry arrived even just a few minutes late.

It was normal practice for the assistant boatswain to close the doors before moorings were dropped. However, the assistant boatswain, Mark Stanley, had returned to his cabin for a short break after cleaning the car deck upon arrival, and was still asleep when the harbour-stations call sounded and the ship dropped her moorings. The first officer, Leslie Sabel, was required to stay on deck to make sure the doors were closed. Sabel said he thought he saw Stanley approaching. He was seriously injured in the disaster and the court concluded that his evidence was inaccurate. It is believed that, under pressure to get to his harbour station on the bridge, he had left G deck with the bow doors open in the expectation that Stanley would arrive shortly.

The court also described the attitude of boatswain Terence Ayling, believed to have been the last person on G deck. Asked why he did not close the doors given there was no one else there to do it, he said it was not his duty. The court nevertheless praised his work in the rescue.

Captain David Lewry assumed that the doors had been closed since he could not see them from the wheelhouse owing to the ship's design, and had no indicator lights in the wheelhouse.

Sinking

The ship on her side half-submerged

The ship left her berth in Zeebrugge inner harbour at 18:05 (GMT) with a crew of 80 and carrying 459 passengers, 81 cars, three buses and 47 trucks. She passed the outer mole at 18:24 (GMT) and capsized about four minutes later. When the ferry reached 18.9 knots(35.0 km/h; 21.7 mph) 90 seconds after leaving the harbour, water began to enter the car deck in large quantities. The resulting free surface effect destroyed her stability. In a matter of seconds, the ship began to list 30 degrees to port. The ship briefly righted herself before listing to port once more, this time capsizing. The entire event took place within 90 seconds. The water quickly reached the ship's electrical systems, destroying both main and emergency power and leaving the ship in darkness. The ship ended on her side half-submerged in shallow water 1 kilometre (0.5 nmi; 0.6 mi) from the shore. Only a fortuitous turn to starboard in her last moments, and then capsizing on a sandbar, prevented the ship from sinking entirely in much deeper water.

Crew aboard a nearby dredger noticed Herald of Free Enterprise's lights disappear, and notified the port authorities. They also reported that the bow doors appeared to be wide open. The alarm was raised at 19:37 local time (18:37 GMT). Rescue helicopters were quickly dispatched, shortly followed by assistance from the Belgian Navy, who were undertaking an exercise in the area. Wolfgang Schröder [de], the German captain of a nearby ferry, was commended by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and received a medal from King Baudouin of Belgium for his heroic efforts in rescuing passengers.

The disaster resulted in the deaths of 193 people. Many of those on board had taken advantage of a promotion in The Sun newspaper offering cheap trips to the continent. Most of the victims were trapped inside the ship and succumbed to hypothermia because of the frigid water. The rescue efforts of the Belgian Navy limited the death toll. Recoverable bodies were removed in the days following the accident. During the rescue the tide started to rise and the rescue team was forced to stop all efforts until morning. The last of the people left on board died of hypothermia.


MS Herald of Free Enterprise towed into the harbour at Vlissingen after salvage, May 1987

in english

in german

the salvage operation

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

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 6 March


1466 – Death of Alvise Loredan, Venetian admiral and statesman (b. 1393)

Alvise Loredan (1393 – 6 March 1466) was a Venetian nobleman of the Loredan family. At a young age he became a galley captain, and served with distinction as a military commander, with a long record of battles against the Ottomans, from the naval expeditions to aid Thessalonica, to the Crusade of Varna, and the opening stages of the Ottoman–Venetian War of 1463–1479, as well as the Wars in Lombardy against the Duchy of Milan. He also served in a number of high government positions, as provincial governor, savio del consiglio, and Procuratore de Supra of Saint Mark's Basilica.

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


1695 – Launch of HMS Chichester was an 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Chatham Dockyard on 6 March 1695

HMS Chichester was an 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Chatham Dockyard on 6 March 1695.[1]
She underwent a rebuild in 1706 at Woolwich Dockyard. Chichester served until 1749, when she was broken up.[2]
Tobias Smollett, later to become a well-known writer, served as a naval surgeon on the Chichester.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Chichester_(1695)


1706 – Birth of George Pocock, English admiral (d. 1792)

Admiral Sir George Pocock, KB (6 March 1706 – 3 April 1792) was a British officer of the Royal Navy.



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


1740 British squadron, under Vice Admiral Edward Vernon, commences 4 day bombardment of Cartagena.

Admiral Edward Vernon (12 November 1684 – 30 October 1757) was a British naval officer. He had a long and distinguished career, rising to the rank of admiral after 46 years service. As a vice admiral during the War of Jenkins' Ear, in 1739 he was responsible for the capture of Porto Bello, seen as expunging the failure of Admiral Hosier there in a previous conflict. However, his later amphibious operation against Cartagena de Indias suffered a severe defeat. Vernon also served as a Member of Parliament (MP) on three occasions and was out-spoken on naval matters in Parliament, making him a controversial figure.

The origin of the name "grog" for rum diluted with water is attributed to Vernon. He was known for wearing coats made of grogramcloth, earning him the nickname of "Old Grog", which in turn came to mean the diluted rum that he first introduced into his naval squadron.



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


1754 – Launch of French Défenseur 74 (launched 6 March 1754 at Brest, designed by Pierre Salinoc)


1788 – The First Fleet arrives at Norfolk Island in order to found a convict settlement.

First Fleet - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1811 HMS Thistle (8), Lt. George M'Pherson, wrecked near New York

HMS Thistle (1808) was a 10-gun schooner launched in 1808 and wrecked on 6 March 1811 on Maransquam Beach, 30 miles south of Sandy Hook, due to an inaccurate chart. Her crew was saved, except for four small boys


1822 USS Enterprise captures four pirate ships in Gulf of Mexico

The schooner Enterprise captures four pirate ships in the Gulf of Mexico. During her time in the Gulf, Enterprise takes 13 vessels while suppressing pirates, smugglers, and slaves.


Enterprise capturing Tripolitan Corsair. 1801

The third US ship to be named Enterprise was a schooner, built by Henry Spencer at Baltimore, Maryland, in 1799. Her first commander thought that she was too lightly built and that her quarters, in particular, should be bulletproofed. Enterprise was overhauled and rebuilt several times, effectively changing from a twelve-gun schooner to a fourteen-gun topsail schooner and eventually to a brig. Enterprise saw action in the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, and the Caribbean again, capturing numerous prizes. She wrecked in July 1823.

USS Enterprise (1799) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1862 USS Monitor departs New York for Hampton Roads, VA

USS Monitor was an iron-hulled steamship. Built during the American Civil War, she was the first ironclad warship commissioned by the Union Navy.[a] Monitor is most famous for her central role in the Battle of Hampton Roads on 9 March 1862, where, under the command of Lieutenant John Worden, she fought the casemate ironclad CSS Virginia (built on the hull of the former steam frigate USS Merrimack) to a standstill. The unique design of the ship, distinguished by its revolving turret which was designed by American inventor Theodore Timby, was quickly duplicated and established the monitor type of warship.


USS Monitor engaging CSS Virginia, 9 March 1862

Service
On 6 March 1862, the ship departed New York bound for Fort Monroe, Virginia, towed by the ocean-going tug Seth Low and accompanied by the gunboats Currituck and Sachem. Worden, not trusting the seal between the turret and the hull, and ignoring Ericsson's advice, wedged the former in the up position and stuffed oakum and sail cloth in the gap. Rising seas that night washed the oakum away and water poured underneath the turret, as well as through the hawsepipe, various hatches, ventilation pipes, and the two funnels, so that the belts for the ventilation and boiler fans loosened and fell off and the fires in the boilers were nearly extinguished over the course of the next day; this created a toxic atmosphere in the engine room that knocked out most of the engine-room crew. First Assistant Engineer Isaac Newton ordered the engine room abandoned and had the able-bodied crew drag the afflicted engine room hands to the top of the turret where the fresh air could revive them. Both Newton and Stimers worked desperately to get the blowers to work, but they too succumbed to the noxious fumes and were taken above. One fireman was able to punch a hole in the fan box, drain the water, and restart the fan. Later that night, the wheel ropes controlling the ship's rudder jammed, making it nearly impossible to control the ship's heading in the rough seas. Monitor was now in danger of foundering, so Worden signaled Seth Low for help and had Monitor towed to calmer waters closer to shore so she was able to restart her engines later that evening. She rounded Cape Charles around 3:00 pm on 8 March and entered Chesapeake Bay, reaching Hampton Roads at 9:00 pm, well after the first day's fighting in the Battle of Hampton Roads had concluded.

USS Monitor - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1878 – Launch of The SS City of Rio de Janeiro was an iron-hulled steam-powered passenger ship,

The SS City of Rio de Janeiro was an iron-hulled steam-powered passenger ship, launched in 1878, which sailed between San Francisco and various Asian Pacific ports. On 22 February 1901, the vessel sank after striking a submerged reef at the entry to San Francisco Bay while inward bound from Hong Kong. Of the approximately 220 passengers and crew on board, fewer than 85 people survived the sinking, while 135 others were killed in the catastrophe. The wreck lies in 287 feet (87 m) of water just off the Golden Gate and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as nationally significant

City of Rio de Janeiro was one of many ships that were lost due to challenging navigational conditions in this area.

SS City of Rio de Janeiro - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1943 - March 6–9 Convoy SC 121 - 7 ships sunk in North Atlantic

Convoy SC 121 was the 121st of the numbered series of World War II Slow Convoys of merchant ships from Sydney, Cape Breton Island to Liverpool. The ships departed New York City 23 February 1943; and were met by the Mid-Ocean Escort Force Group A-3 consisting of the United States Coast Guard (USCG) Treasury-class cutter USCGC Spencer, the American Wickes-class destroyer USS Greer, the British and Canadian Flower-class corvettes HMS Dianthus, HMCS Rosthern, HMCS Trillium and HMCS Dauphin and the convoy rescue ship Melrose Abbey. Three of the escorts had defective sonar and three had unserviceable radar.

Convoy SC 121 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
7 March 1665 - HMS London (76) blew up in an accident and sank in the Thames estuary.


London was a 76-gun second-rate ship of the line in the Navy of the Commonwealth of England, originally built at Chatham Dockyard by shipwright John Taylor, and launched in June 1656. She gained fame as one of the ships that escorted Charles IIfrom Holland back to England during the English Restoration, carrying Charles' younger brother James Duke of York, and commanded by Captain John Lawson.

London was accidentally blown up in 1665 and sank in the Thames Estuary.[2] According to Samuel Pepys 300 of her crew were killed, 24 were blown clear and survived, including one woman. Lawson was not aboard at the time of the explosion but many of his relatives were killed.


The wreck of London



Active service
London was launched from Chatham Dockyard in June 1656. She was commissioned in 1657 under the authority of Rear-Admiral Richard Staynerand first put to sea in 1658 under the command of Captain William Whitehorne as acting commander-in-chief of Commonwealth forces in The Downs. Stayner resumed direct command of London in 1659, remaining in The Downs.

The vessel passed bloodlessly back to Royalist hands on the Restoration of the English monarchy in 1660. Nominal command was vested in Captain and later Vice-Admiral John Lawson from 1660 to 1664. Thereafter, London was the flagship of Admiral Edward Montagu and directly commanded by flag-captain Jonas Poole.

The ship was lost on 7 March 1665. She had been briefly transferred back to John Lawson's command for the purpose of bringing her from Chatham to the Thames, when her powder magazine was accidentally ignited. The subsequent explosion caused immense damage, leaving little but wreckage on the surface of the river. On hearing of the loss, Samuel Pepys wrote on 8 March 1665 that:

This morning is brought me to the office the sad newes of the London, in which Sir J(ohn) Lawson’s men were all bringing her from Chatham to the Hope, and thence he was to go to sea in her; but a little a’this side the buoy of the Nower, she suddenly blew up. About 24 [men] and a woman that were in the round-house and coach saved; the rest, being above 300, drowned: the ship breaking all in pieces, with 80 pieces of brass ordnance. She lies sunk, with her round- house above water. Sir J(ohn) Lawson hath a great loss in this of so many good chosen men, and many relations among them. I went to the ‘Change, where the news taken very much to heart."

The precise cause of the explosion is unknown. Another letter, this time to Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington, passed on coffee-house gossip which blamed the easy availability of gunpowder ’20s a barrel cheaper than in London’ and therefore by implication suspect in provenance and quality. On 9 March, John Evelyn, the other famous diarist of the period, ‘went to receive the poor creatures that were saved out of the London frigate, blown up by accident, with above 200 men,’ for he had been appointed one of the Commissioners for sick and wounded seamen by Charles II.

On 11 March Pepys also recorded the results of an inspection of the wreck by Sir William Batten and Sir John Mennes: "out of which they say, the guns may be got, but the hull of her will be wholly lost." Those guns continued to be the focus of administrative attention for 30 years afterwards: recoveries made in 1679 caused controversy when the salvor attempted to leverage their return as payment of an unrelated debt.


Portrait of the ‘London’. Second rate. Built in 1656, 76 guns. She was accidentally blown up in 1665. She is viewed from before the port beam. The jack has been drawn on a piece of paper pasted on the left, but there is no reason to doubt the authenticity of this part on account of the Irish saltire in the Union, as there are other examples of this in drawings made by Van de Velde about 1660. It is rubbed on the back and perhaps a weak offset well worked up with pencil and wash; probably not in reverse as the entering port is shown, and a ship the size of the ‘London’ is unlikely to have had an entering port on the starboard side. There is a drawing of the ‘London’ viewed from the port quarter in the Atlas van Stolk, Rotterdam; it was drawn at the same time.

Rediscovery of wreck
The wreck of London was rediscovered in 2005, resulting in port authorities changing the route of the shipping channel to prevent further damage and to allow archaeologists from Wessex Archaeology led by Frank Pope to investigate. The site where the remains lie was designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 on 24 October 2008. The wreck is considered important partly for its historical references and partly for its insight into an important period in British naval history. Although the Port of London Authority had voluntarily taken action to reduce the risk of damage to shipping, the removal of bronze cannon from the site without any archaeological investigations being carried out showed that the site was at risk of destruction through looting and hence required immediate protection.

On 12 August 2015, a gun carriage was lifted from the seabed off Southend-on-Sea. Alison James, Historic England’s maritime archaeologist, described the gun carriage as being in near-perfect condition, and important to England's knowledge of its social and naval history.

English ship London (1656) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Collections - National Maritime Museum

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
7 March 1749 – Launch of French Magnifique, the lead ship of the 3-ship Magnifique class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.


Magnifique was the lead ship of the 3-ship Magnifique class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.

On 15 August 1782, Magnifique was wrecked along the rocky shore of Lovells Island, in Boston Harbor, MA, USA. She was rumoured to have been carrying "long-lost treasure." According to a US National Park Service Guide, the submerged vessel is still visible from N 42° 19.902’ W 070° 55.818’ during periods of calm.

On 3 September 1782 the Continental Congress decided to present the ship of the line America to King Louis XVI of France to replace Magnifique. The gift was to symbolize the new nation's appreciation for France's service to and sacrifices in behalf of the cause of the American patriots.




The Magnifique class was a type of three 74-gun ships of the line.

• Magnifique

Launched: 1750
Fate: 1782, Grounded on sandbar off Lovells Island, Boston, MA, USA

• Entreprenant
• Guerrier

Builder: Toulon
Ordered: 18 September 1750
Launched: 9 September 1753
Fate: Burnt by the British after the Battle of the Nile, 2 August 1798



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Magnifique_(1750)

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
7 March 1757 – Launch of HMS Princess Amelia, an 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy


HMS Princess Amelia was an 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Woolwich Dockyard to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment, and launched on 7 March 1757.

She participated in the 1781 Battle of Dogger Bank under the command of Captain Macartney with reduced masts and guns.

Princess Amelia was lent to the Board of Customs in November 1788, and thereby deleted from the Navy List. She arrived at Sheerness on 24 March 1818 from Stangate Creek. The Admiralty then sold her on 11 June 1818 to a Mr. Snooks for £2,610.





Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with some inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth for a new 1745 Establishment of 80-gun Third Rate, three-deckers. With certain alterations dated 1751 shown on the plan, but retaining the dimensions, this was used for the Princess Amelia (1757), an 80-gun Third Rate, three-decker. Signed by Joseph Allin [Master Shipwright, Deptford Dockyard, 1742-1746], Peirson Lock [Master Shipwright, Portsmouth Dockyard, 1742-1755 (died)], John Ward [Master Shipwright, Chatham, Dockyard, 1732-1752], John Holland [Master Shipwright, Woolwich Dockyard, 1742-1746], and John Pook [Master Shipwright, Sheerness Dockyard, 1742-1751 (died)].



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Princess_Amelia_(1757)

Collections - National Maritime Museum

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
7 March 1765 – Launch of The San Zaccharia, a 64-gun ship of the line of the Navy of the Order of Saint John of Malta, later brought into French service as the Dégo.


The San Zaccharia was a 64-gun ship of the line of the Navy of the Order of Saint John of Malta, later brought into French service as the Dégo.


A model of an 18th-century third-rate of the Order of Saint John, similar to the San Zaccharia

Construction of San Zaccharia began in 1763 at Senglea Dockyard, Malta under the supervision of Master Shipwrights Agostino and Giuseppe Scolaro. She was launched two years later on 7 March 1765 and had been completed by 21 July 1765. She served with the Maltese Navy until the French invaded Malta on 11 June 1798, as part of the Mediterranean campaign of 1798. Her name was first gallicised into Zacharie, but she was promptly renamed Dégo upon request by Napoleon Bonaparte.

Dégo was blockaded in Valletta harbour during the Siege of Malta by the British, and was used as a prison hulk in Valletta harbour, being steadily stripped for firewood. She was eventually captured when the island surrendered on 4 September 1800, but the British considered her too worn out to take into service. She probably continued in use as a prison hulk, until she was sold for breaking up in 1803.

French ship Dégo (1798) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
7 March 1778 - Continental frigate USS Randolph (32) explodes while attacking HMS Yarmouth (64) off the coast of Barbados, killing all but four of her 315 crew.


On the afternoon of 7 March, Randolph's lookouts spotted sail on the horizon. At 21:00 that evening, that ship, now flying British colors, came up on the Randolph as the largest ship in the convoy, and demanded they hoist their colors. The Randolph then hoisted American colors and fired a broadside into the British ship, mistakenly believing the ship to be a large sloop. The stranger turned out to be the British 64-gun ship of the line, HMS Yarmouth.

As a 64-gun, two-deck line-of-battle ship, Yarmouth had double the number of guns as Randolph. Yarmouth's guns were also significantly heavier, mounting 32 pound cannons on her main deck, 18 pounder guns on her upper deck and 9 pounder guns on her quarterdeck and forecastle, giving her almost five times the weight of shot that Randolph could fire. The Randolph and General Moultrie engaged Yarmouth until the Randolph's magazine exploded with a blinding flash. The Yarmouth was struck with burning debris up to six feet long, which significantly damaged her sails and rigging as well as killing five, and wounding twelve.

The damage caused to Yarmouth's sails and rigging prevented her from pursuing the remaining South Carolina ships which slipped away in the darkness.

The loss of the Randolph resulted in the deaths of 311 of her crew, including Capt. Nicholas Biddle, with 4 survivors.



The first USS Randolph was a 32-gun frigate in the Continental Navy named for Peyton Randolph.



Construction
Construction of the first Randolph was authorized by the Continental Congress on 13 December 1775. The frigate, designed by Joshua Humphreys, was launched on 10 July 1776, by Wharton and Humphreys at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Captain Nicholas Biddle was appointed commander of the Randolph on 11 July, and he took charge of the frigate in mid-October.



Maiden Voyage
Seamen were scarce and recruiting was slow, delaying the ship's maiden voyage. Captured British seamen were "dragged" from jail in Philadelphia; the resulting riot required the soldiers appointed to carry the men to the ship to fire into the prison windows. Finally manned, Randolph sailed down the Delaware River on 3 February 1777, and three days later rounded Cape Henlopen, escorting a large group of American merchantmen to sea. On the 15th, the convoy separated, with some of Randolph's charges heading for France and the rest setting course for the West Indies.

The frigate herself turned northward, hoping to encounter HMS Milford, a British frigate which had been capturing New England shipping. Before long, she boarded a ship which proved to be French and was set free. Then, as she continued the search, Randolph sprung her foremast. While the crew labored to rig a spar as a jury mast, the ship's mainmast broke and toppled into the sea.

Continuing the hunt was out of the question. Now seeking to avoid the Royal Navy's warships, Biddle ordered the ship south toward the Carolina coast.

Fever broke out as the Randolph painfully made her way, and many members of the crew were buried at sea. A mutiny of the captured British seamen had to be put down[1] before the ship could reach Charleston, South Carolina, on the afternoon of 11 March.

Voyage to Philadelphia
Twice, after her repairs had been completed and as she was about to get underway, the frigate was kept in port by lightning-splintered mainmasts. Meanwhile, the ship, undermanned when she left Philadelphia, was losing more of her men from sickness, death, and desertion.

Recruiting was stimulated by bounty, and Randolph was finally readied for sea - this time with her masts protected by lightning rods. She departed Charleston on 16 August and entered Rebellion Road to await favorable winds to put to sea. Two days later, a party from the frigate boarded merchantman Fair American, and impressed two seamen who earlier had been lured away from Biddle's ship.

Inshore winds kept Randolph in the roadstead until the breeze shifted on 1 September, wafting the frigate across Charleston Bar. At dusk, on the 3rd, a lookout spotted five vessels: two ships, two brigs, and a sloop. After a nightlong chase, she caught up with her quarry the next morning and took four prizes: a 20-gun privateer, True Briton, laden with rum, for the British troops at New York; Severn, the second prize, had been recaptured by True Briton from a North Carolina privateer while sailing from Jamaica to London with a cargo of sugar, rum, ginger, and logwood; the two brigs, Charming Peggy, a French privateer, and L’Assomption, laden with salt, had also been captured by True Briton while plying their way from Martinique to Charleston.

Randolph and her rich prizes reached Charleston on the morning of 6 September. While the frigate was in port having her hull scraped, the president of South Carolina's General Assembly, John Rutledge, suggested to Biddle that Randolph, aided by a number of State Navy ships, might be able to break the blockade which was then bottling up a goodly number of American merchantmen in Charleston Harbor. Biddle accepted command of the task force, which, besides Randolph, included General Moultrie, Notre Dame, Fair American, and Polly.

The American ships sailed on 14 February 1778. When they crossed the bar, Biddle's ships found no British cruisers. After seeing a number of merchantmen to a good offing, the ships proceeded to the West Indies hoping to intercept British merchantmen. After two days, they took and burned a dismasted New England ship which had been captured by a British privateer while headed for St. Augustine, Florida. Thereafter, game was scarce. They encountered only neutral ships until Polly took a small schooner on 4 March bound from New York to Grenada. Biddle manned the prize as a tender.


HMS Yarmouth was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Deptford Dockyard. She was previously ordered to the dimensions specified in the 1741 proposals for modifications to the 1719 Establishment, but the Admiralty had very quickly concluded that these were too small, and as an experiment in 1742 authorised an addition of 6ft to the planned length, and the Yarmouth was re-ordered to the enlarged design in June 1742. She was built at Deptford, where the Admiralty felt they could best observe the effectiveness of the added size, and launched on 8 March 1745.



Commissioned in February 1745 under Captain Roger Martin. In 1747 under Captain Piercy Brett she was one of George Anson's squadron at the First Battle of Cape Finisterre. In 1781, Yarmouth was reduced in armament to become a 60-gun ship. She remained in this role until 1811, when she was broken up.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, stern board outline, sheer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth for 'Yarmouth' (1745), a modified 1741 Establishment 70-gun Third Rate, two-decker. The forward lines on the body plan and half-breadth have been altered at an unknown date. It is unclear whether these were proposed or acted upon. Reverse: scale: 1:48 and dated 29 April 1756, showing the body plan, inboard profile, and longitudinal half-breadth (no waterlines) for 'Guadeloupe' (1763), a 28-gun Sixth Rate Frigate.

Destroying USS Randolph
On 7 March 1778 Yarmouth was attacked by the American frigate Randolph with half the guns and likely less than a quarter the firepower. The frigate managed to cause some minor damage to two of Yarmouth's topmasts and a portion of her bowsprit, then attempted to rake (fire through the length of) the ship; Randolph was firing 3 broadsides to Yarmouth's one, however the 12 lb shot would have struggled to penetrate Yarmouth's hull, while Yarmouth's 18 and 32-pounder guns would have been able to penetrate any part of her comparatively lightly armored opponent. Randolph exploded during the engagement, likely due to a shot penetrating her magazine, killing all but four of her crew. Part of her wreckage landed on Yarmouth's decks, including Randolph's ensign. Yarmouth had to repair two damaged topmasts but suffered no significant damage and no fatalities or serious injuries.






Scale: 1:60. A full hull model of the Yarmouth, a 70-gun, two-decker ship of the line (1745), built plank on frame in the Navy Board style. The model is decked, equipped and rigged. The standing rigging is original.




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Randolph_(1776)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Yarmouth_(1745)

Collections - National Maritime Museum

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
7 March 1780 – Launch of HMS Inflexible, a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy,


HMS Inflexible was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 7 March 1780 at Harwich.



In 1783, she fought in the Battle of Cuddalore.

Because Inflexible served in the navy's Egyptian campaign (8 March to 8 September 1801), her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal that the Admiralty authorized in 1850 to all surviving claimants.

In 1807 she was present at the Battle of Copenhagen, joining on 7 August off Helsingor (Captain Joshua Rowley Watson).

Inflexible became a storeship in 1793, and was eventually broken up in 1820.



Scale: 1: 48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth for building Inflexible (1780), a 64-gun Third Rate, at Harwich by Mr John Barnard. Signed by John Williams [Surveyor of the Navy, 1765-1784].

The Inflexible-class ships of the line were a class of four 64-gun third rates, designed for the Royal Navy by Sir Thomas Slade. The lines of this class were based heavily on Slade's earlier 74-gun Albion-class.

Ships

• HMS Inflexible

Builder: Barnard, Harwich
Ordered: 26 February 1777
Launched: 7 March 1780
Fate: Broken up, 1820

• HMS Africa

Builder: Barnard, Deptford
Ordered: 11 February 1778
Launched: 11 April 1781
Fate: Broken up, 1814

• HMS Dictator

Builder: Batson, Limehouse
Ordered: 21 October 1778
Launched: 6 January 1783
Fate: Broken up, 1817

• HMS Sceptre

Builder: Randall, Rotherhithe
Ordered: 16 January 1779
Launched: 8 June 1781
Fate: Wrecked, 1799



Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the framing profile (disposition) for Inflexible (1780), and later for Africa (1781), Dictator (1783), and Sceptre (1781), all 64-gun Third Rate, two-deckers.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Inflexible_(1780)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflexible-class_ship_of_the_line

Collections - National Maritime Museum

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
7 March 1810 - Death of Cuthbert Collingwood


Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood (26 September 1748 – 7 March 1810) was an admiral of the Royal Navy, notable as a partner with Lord Nelson in several of the British victories of the Napoleonic Wars, and frequently as Nelson's successor in commands



Early years
Collingwood was born in Newcastle upon Tyne. His early education was at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle. At the age of twelve, he went to sea as a volunteer on board the frigateHMS Shannon under the command of his cousin Captain Richard Brathwaite (or Braithwaite), who took charge of his nautical education. He spent a total of only three years on dry land after joining the navy as a teenager. After several years of service under Captain Brathwaite and a short period attached to HMS Lenox, a guardship at Portsmouth commanded by Captain Robert Roddam, Collingwood sailed to Boston in 1774 with Admiral Samuel Graves on board HMS Preston, where he fought in the British naval brigade at the battle of Bunker Hill (June 1775), and was afterwards commissioned as a Lieutenant (17 June 1775).

In 1777, Collingwood first met Horatio Nelson when both served on the frigate HMS Lowestoffe. Two years later, Collingwood succeeded Nelson as Commander (20 June 1779) of the brig HMS Badger, and the next year he again succeeded Nelson as Post-Captain (22 March 1780) of HMS Hinchinbrook, a small frigate. Nelson had been the leader of a failed expedition to cross Central America from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean by navigating boats along the San Juan River, Lake Nicaragua and Lake Leon. Nelson was debilitated by disease and had to recover before being promoted to a larger vessel, and Collingwood succeeded him in command of the Hinchinbrook and brought the remainder of the expedition back to Jamaica.



First major command
After commanding in another small frigate, HMS Pelican, in which he was shipwrecked by a hurricane in 1781, Collingwood was promoted to 64 gun ship of the line HMS Sampson, and in 1783 he was appointed to HMS Mediator and posted to the West Indies, where he remained until the end of 1786, again, together with Nelson and this time his brother, Captain Wilfred Collingwood, preventing American ships from trading with the West Indies.

In 1786 Collingwood returned to England, where, with the exception of a voyage to the West Indies, he remained until 1793. In that year, he was appointed captain of HMS Prince, the flagshipof Rear Admiral George Bowyer in the Channel Fleet. On 16 June 1791, Collingwood married Sarah Blackett, daughter of the Newcastle merchant and politician John Erasmus Blackett and granddaughter of Robert Roddam (1711–1744) of Hethpoole and Caldburne (not to be confused with his former commander, Robert Roddam).

As captain of Barfleur, Collingwood was present at the Glorious First of June. On board the Excellent he participated in the victory of the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1797, establishing a good reputation in the fleet for his conduct during the battle. After blockading Cadiz, he returned for a few weeks to Portsmouth to repair. At the beginning of 1799 Collingwood was raised to the rank of Rear-Admiral (of the White 14 February 1799; of the Red 1 January 1801) and, hoisting his flag in the Triumph, joined the Channel Fleet and sailed to the Mediterranean where the principal naval forces of France and Spain were assembled. Collingwood continued to be actively employed in blockading the enemy until the peace of Amiens allowed him to return to England.

With the resumption of hostilities with France in the spring of 1803 he left home, never to return. First he blockaded the French fleet off Brest. In 1804 he was promoted to Vice-Admiral (of the Blue 23 April 1804; of the Red 9 November 1805). Nearly two years were spent here but with Napoleon planning and equipping his armed forces for an invasion of Britain, the campaign which was to decide the fate of Europe and the command of the sea was starting. The French fleet having sailed from Toulon, Admiral Collingwood was appointed to command a squadron, with orders to pursue them. The combined fleets of France and Spain, after sailing to the West Indies, returned to Cadiz. On their way they encountered Collingwood's small squadron off Cadiz. He only had three ships with him; but he succeeded in avoiding the pursuit, although chased by sixteen ships of the line. Before half of the enemy's force had entered the harbour he resumed the blockade, using false signals to disguise the small size of his squadron. He was shortly joined by Nelson who hoped to lure the combined fleet into a major engagement.

Battle of Trafalgar
Main article: Battle of Trafalgar
The combined fleet sailed from Cadiz in October 1805. The Battle of Trafalgar immediately followed. Villeneuve, the French admiral, drew up his fleet in the form of a crescent. The British fleet bore down in two separate lines, the one led by Nelson in the Victory, and the other by Collingwood in the Royal Sovereign. The Royal Sovereign was the swifter sailer, mainly because its hull had been given a new layer of copper which lacked the friction of old, well used copper and thus was much faster. Having drawn considerably ahead of the rest of the fleet, it was the first engaged. "See", said Nelson, pointing to the Royal Sovereign as she penetrated the centre of the enemy's line, "see how that noble fellow Collingwood carries his ship into action!" Probably it was at the same moment that Collingwood, as if in response to the observation of his great commander, remarked to his captain, "What would Nelson give to be here?"

The Royal Sovereign closed with the Spanish admiral's ship and fired her broadsides with such rapidity and precision at the Santa Ana that the Spanish ship was on the verge of sinking almost before another British ship had fired a gun. Several other vessels came to Santa Ana's assistance and hemmed in the Royal Sovereign on all sides; the latter, after being severely damaged, was relieved by the arrival of the rest of the British squadron, but was left unable to manoeuvre. Not long afterwards the Santa Ana struck her colours. On the death of Nelson, Collingwood assumed the command-in-chief, transferring his flag to the frigate Euryalus. Knowing that a severe storm was in the offing, Nelson had intended that the fleet should anchor after the battle, but Collingwood chose not to issue such an order: many of the British ships and prizes were so damaged that they were unable to anchor, and Collingwood concentrated efforts on taking damaged vessels in tow. In the ensuing gale, many of the prizes were wrecked on the rocky shore and others were destroyed to prevent their recapture, though no British ship was lost.

On 9 November 1805 Collingwood was promoted Vice-Admiral of the Red and raised to the peerage as Baron Collingwood, of Caldburne and Hethpool in the County of Northumberland. He also received the thanks of both Houses of Parliament and was awarded a pension of £2000 per annum. Together with all the other captains and admirals, he also received a Naval Gold Medal, his third, after those for the Glorious First of June and the Cape St Vincent. Only Nelson and Sir Edward Berry share the distinction of three gold medals for service during the wars against France.

When not at sea he resided at Collingwood House in the town of Morpeth which lies some 15 miles north of Newcastle upon Tyne and Chirton Hall in Chirton, now a western suburb of North Shields. He is known to have remarked, "whenever I think how I am to be happy again, my thoughts carry me back to Morpeth."

Later career
From Trafalgar until his death no great naval action was fought and, although several small French fleets would attempt to run the blockade, and one successfully landed troops in the Caribbean two months after Trafalgar, the majority were hunted down and overwhelmed in battle. Collingwood was occupied in important political and diplomatic transactions in the Mediterranean, in which he displayed tact and judgement. In 1805 he was appointed to the Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet. He requested to be relieved of his command that he might return home, however the government urgently required an admiral with the experience and skill of Collingwood to remain, on the grounds that his country could not dispense with his services in the face on the still potent threat that the French and their allies could pose. His health began to decline alarmingly in 1809 and he was forced to again request the Admiralty to allow him to return home, which was finally granted. Collingwood died as a result of cancer on board the Ville de Paris, off Port Mahon as he sailed for England, on 7 March 1810. He was laid to rest beside Nelson in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral.

Evaluation

Nelson and Collingwood met as lieutenants serving in the West Indies. Although Collingwood did not have the advantages that Nelson's family influence initially gave him in the Navy, they became firm friends. These are 19th-century reproductions of two simple portraits they made of each other in 1785 (PAJ3941, 3942): Collingwood’s drawing of Nelson is on the left, Nelson’s silhouette of Collingwood on the right. Promotion came Collingwood’s way eventually and he was Nelson's second in command at the Battle of Trafalgar.

Collingwood's merits as a naval officer were in many respects of the first order. His political judgement was remarkable and he was consulted on questions of general policy, of regulation, and even of trade. He was opposed to impressment and to flogging and was considered so kind and generous that he was called "father" by the common sailors. Nelson and Collingwood enjoyed a close friendship, from their first acquaintance in early life until Nelson's death at Trafalgar; and they are both entombed in St Paul's Cathedral. As Collingwood died without male issue, his barony became extinct at his death.

Thackeray held that there was no better example of a virtuous Christian Knight than Collingwood. Dudley Pope relates an aspect of Collingwood at the beginning of chapter three of his Life in Nelson's Navy: "Captain Cuthbert Collingwood, later to become an admiral and Nelson's second in command at Trafalgar, had his home at Morpeth, in Northumberland, and when he was there on half pay or on leave he loved to walk over the hills with his dog Bounce. He always started off with a handful of acorns in his pockets, and as he walked he would press an acorn into the soil whenever he saw a good place for an oak tree to grow. Some of the oaks he planted are probably still growing more than a century and a half later ready to be cut to build ships of the line at a time when nuclear submarines are patrolling the seas, because Collingwood's purpose was to make sure that the Navy would never want for oaks to build the fighting ships upon which the country's safety depended." Collingwood once wrote to his wife that he'd rather his body be added to Britain's sea defences rather than given the pomp of a ceremonial burial.

Sailor Robert Hay who served with Collingwood wrote that: "He and his dog Bounce were known to every member of the crew. How attentive he was to the health and comfort and happiness of his crew! A man who could not be happy under him, could have been happy nowhere; a look of displeasure from him was as bad as a dozen at the gangway from another man". and that: "a better seaman, a better friend to seamen - a more zealous defender of the country's rights and honour, never trod the quarterdeck."




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuthbert_Collingwood,_1st_Baron_Collingwood
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Ville_de_Paris

Collections - National Maritime Museum

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
7 March 1810 – Launches of HMS Cressy and HMS Egmont, both 74-gun third rate Vengeur-class ship of the line of the Royal Navy


HMS Cressy was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 7 March 1810 at Frindsbury.



Service
On 24 December 1811 Cressy was off the west coast of Jutland, Denmark, in the company of St George, under Rear-admiral Robert Carthew Reynolds, and Defence, when a hurricane and heavy seas came up. St George was jury-rigged and so Captain Atkins of Defence refused to leave her without the Admiral's permission. As a result, both were wrecked near Ringkøbing. Cressy did not ask for permission and so avoided wrecking.

Both St George and Defence lost almost all their crews, including the Admiral. Most of the bodies that came ashore were buried in the sand dunes of Thorsminde, which have been known ever since as "Dead Mens Dunes".

Shortly after the outbreak of the War of 1812, on 12 August, Cressy shared in the seizure of several American vessels: Cuba, Caliban, Edward, Galen, Halcyon, and Cygne


HMS Egmont was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 7 March 1810 at Northfleet.



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

She was converted to serve as a storeship in 1862, and was sold out of the Navy in 1875.



Scale: 1:48. Contemporary copy of a plan showing the body plan, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth for 'Conquestadore' (1810), 'Armada' (1810), 'Vigo' (1810), 'Cressey' (1810), 'La Hogue' (1811), 'Vindictive' (1813), 'Poictiers' (1809), 'Vengeur' (1810), 'Edinburgh' (1811), 'Dublin' (1812), 'Duncan' (1811), 'Indus' (1812), 'Rodney' (1809), 'Cornwall' (1812), 'Redoutable' (1815), 'Anson' (1812), 'Agincourt' (1817), 'Ajax' (1809), 'America' (1810), 'Barham' (1811), 'Benbow' (1813), 'Berwick' (1809), 'Blenheim' (1813), 'Clarence' (1812), 'Defence' (1815), 'Devonshire' (1812), 'Egmont' (1810), 'Hercules' (1815), 'Medway' (1812), 'Pembroke' (1812), 'Pitt' (1816), 'Russell' (1822), 'Scarborough' (1812), 'Stirling Castle' (1811), 'Wellington' (1816), 'Mulgrave' (1812), 'Gloucester' (1812), all 74-gun Third Rate, two-deckers. The plan includes alterations for a rounded bow and circular stern.


The Vengeur-class ships of the line were a class of forty 74-gun third rates, designed for the Royal Navy as a joint effort between the Surveyors of the Navy at the time. The Vengeur Class, sometimes referred to as the Surveyors' class of third rates, amongst other names, was the most numerous class of ships of the line ever built for the Royal Navy - forty ships being completed to this design. Due to some dubious practices, primarily in the commercial dockyards used for construction, this class of ships earned itself the nickname of 'Forty Thieves.'



Between 1826 and 1832, ten of these ships were cut down by one deck (raséed) to produce 50-gun "frigates". These were the Barham, Dublin, Alfred, Cornwall, America, Conquestador, Rodney (renamed Greenwich), Vindictive, Eagle and Gloucester. Planned similar conversions of the Clarence (renamed Centurion) and Cressy around this time were cancelled, but the Warspite was additionally converted along the same lines in 1837-1840.

Around 1845 four of these ships were converted into 'blockships', the then-current term for floating batteries, equipped with a steam/screw propulsion system and re-armed with 60 guns. In this guise some of them saw action during the Crimean War. The four were the Blenheim, Ajax, La Hogue and Edinburgh. About ten years later, a further batch of five ships was similarly converted - this included the Russell, Cornwallis and Pembroke of this class (as well as the Hawke and Hastings of other designs).

Armada or Vengeur class. The most numerous class of British capital ships ever built, with forty vessels being completed to this design (they were popularly known as the "Forty Thieves").

• Armada 74 (1810) – sold 1863
• Cressy 74 (1810) – 1827 planned to be converted to 50-gun frigate but instead broken up 1832
• Vigo 74 (1810) – hulked at receiving ship Plymouth, broken up 1865
• Vengeur 74 (1810) – hulked as receiving ship 1824, broken up 1843
• Ajax 74 (1809) – converted to 60-gun screw blockship, 1847, broken up 1864
• Conquestador 74 (1810) – cut down to 50 gun frigate 1831, hulked War Office powder depot at Purfleet 1856, powder depot Plymouth 1863, sold 1897
• Poictiers 74 (1809) – broken up 1857
• Berwick 74 (1809) – broken up 1821
• Egmont 74 (1810) – hulked as storeship Rio de Janeiro 1863, sold 1875
• Clarence 74 (1812) – renamed Centurion 1826 and planned to be converted to 50-gun frigate but instead broken up 1828
• Edinburgh 74 (1811) – converted to 60-gun screw blockship 1852, sold 1866
• America 74 (1810) – cut down to 50-gun frigate 1835, hulked 1864, broken up 1867
• Scarborough 74 (1812) – sold 1836
• Asia 74 (1811) – renamed Alfred, cut down to 50-gun frigate 1828, hulked as gunnery trials ship Portsmouth 1858, broken up 1865
• Mulgrave 74 (1812) – hulked as a lazaretto Pembroke 1836, powder ship 1844, broken up 1854
• Anson 74 (1812) – hulked as temporary lazaretto Portsmouth 1831, by 1843 to Chatham and then to Tasmania as a convict ship, broken up 1851
• Gloucester 74 (1812) – cut down to 50-gun frigate 1835, hulked as receiving ship Chatham 1861, sold 1884
• Rodney 74 (1809) – renamed Greenwich 1827 and cut down to 50-gun frigate, but conversion probably never completed, sold 1836
• La Hogue 74 (1811) – converted to 60-gun screw blockship 1848, broken up 1865
• Dublin 74 (1812) – cut down to 50-gun frigate 1836, laid up 1845, sold 1885
• Barham 74 (1811) – cut down to 50-gun frigate 1836, broken up 1840
• Benbow 74 (1813) – hulked as marine barracks Sheerness 1848, prison ship for Russians 1854, coal deport 1859, sold for breaking 1894
• Stirling Castle 74 (1811) – hulked as convict ship Plymouth 1839, to Portsmouth 1844, broken up 1861
• Vindictive 74 (1813) – cut down to 50-gun frigate 1833, hulked as depot ship Fernando Po 1862, sold 1871
• Blenheim 74 (1813) – converted to 60-gun screw blockship 1847, hulked at Portsmouth, broken up 1865
• Duncan 74 (1811) – hulked as lazaretto Portsmouth 1826, to Sheerness 1831, broken up 1863
• Rippon 74 (1812) – broken up 1821
• Medway 74 (1812) – hulked as convict ship Bermuda 1847, sold 1865
• Cornwall 74 (1812) – cut down to 50-gun frigate 1830, hulked and lent to London School Ship Society as reformatory 1859, to the Tyne as Wellesley hulk 1868, broken up 1875
• Pembroke 74 (1812) – converted to 60-gun screw blockship 1855, hulked as base ship Chatham 1873, renamed Forte 1890 as receiving hulk, then Pembroke again 1891, sold 1905
• Indus 74 (1812) – renamed Bellona 1818, hulked as receiving ship Plymouth 1842, broken up 1868
• Redoubtable 74 (1815) – broken up 1841
• Devonshire 74 (1812) – hulked and lent to Greenwich Seamen's Hospital as temporary hospital ship 1849, to Sheerness as prison ship for Russians 1854, school ship in Queensborough Swale 1860, broken up 1869
• Defence 74 (1815) – hulked as convict ship Woolwich 1848, burnt and broken up 1857
• Hercules 74 (1815) – troopship 1838, emigrant ship 1852, hulked as army depot ship Hong Kong after 1853, sold 1865
• Agincourt 74 (1817) – hulked as training ship at Plymouth after 1848, renamed Vigo 1865, cholera hospital ship 1866, receiving ship at Plymouth 1870, sold 1884, broken up 1885
• Pitt 74 (1816) – hulked as coal deport and receiving ship at Plymouth 1853, to Portland 1860, later back to Portsmouth, broken up 1877
• Wellington 74 (1816) – ex-Hero, hulked as receiving and depot ship Sheerness 1848, to Coastguard Sheerness 1857, to Liverpool Juvenile Reformatory Association Ltd as training ship and renamed Akbar, sold for breaking 1908
• Russell 74 (1822) – converted to 60-gun screw blockship 1854–55, coastguard ship Sheerness 1858, broken up 1865
• Akbar 74 (-) – keel laid 4 April 1807, cancelled 12 October 1809. Uncertain whether she was of this class

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Cressy_(1810)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Egmont_(1810)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vengeur-class_ship_of_the_line

Collections - National Maritime Museum

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
7 March 1860 – Launch of HMS Howe, a 121-gun screw first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy.


HMS Howe was built as a 121-gun screw first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She and her sister HMS Victoria were the first and only British three-decker ships of the line to be designed from the start for screw propulsion, but the Howe was never completed for sea service (and never served under her original name). During the 1860s, the first ironclad battleships gradually made unarmoured two- and three-deckers obsolete.


The former HMS Howe as the school ship HMS Impregnable in the 1890s.

The highest number of guns she ever actually carried was 12, when she finally entered service as the training ship Bulwark in 1885.

Howe was named after Admiral Richard Howe. She was renamed a second time to Impregnable on 27 September 1886, but reverted to Bulwark in 1919 shortly before being sold for breaking up in 1921. The timbers were used to refurbish in the Tudor revivalist style the interior and fascia of the Liberty Store in London.






Scale: 1:48. A contemporary full hull model of the 120-gun three-decked ship HMS ‘Howe’ (1860) mounted on its original wooden baseboard. It is complete with stump masts and bowsprit, two shortened funnels, a full set of guns mounted through their ports and a half bust gold-painted figurehead on the bow. The hull is finished in the traditional black and white striped colour scheme, with a coppered bottom, and a single screw mounted at the stern.




Scale: 1:48. A contemporary half block model of HMS Victoria (1859), a first rate, 121 gun three-decked steam line-of-battle ship. Plaque inscribed "234 Victoria - 121 guns - 1859. Built at Portsmouth. Sold in 1891. Dimensions: - Length 260ft. Beam 60ft 1in. Speed 12 knots". Number "(13)" on backboard.


HMS Victoria was the last British wooden first-rate three-decked ship of the line commissioned for sea service.

With a displacement of 6,959 tons, she was the largest wooden battleship which ever entered service. She was also the world's largest warship until the completion of HMS Warrior, Britain's first ironclad battleship, in 1861.


HMS Victoria, painting by William Frederick Mitchell, 1898

Victoria's hull was 79.2 metres (260 ft) long and 18.3 metres (60 ft) wide. She had a medium draught of 8.4 metres (27.5 ft). Her hull was heavily strapped with diagonal iron riders for extra stability. Victoria was the first British battleship with two funnels.

She was armed with a total of 121 guns (32 8-inch smooth-bore muzzle-loading guns on the lower gun deck, 30 8-inch (200 mm) guns on the central gun deck, 32 32-pounders on the upper gun deck, 26 32-pounders and one 68-pounder on the upper deck).

Victoria was ordered on 6 January 1855, laid down on 1 April 1856 at Portsmouth, and launched on 12 November 1859. She cost a total of £150,578 (equivalent to £11,764,000 in 2010) and had a complement of 1,000.



During trials in Stokes Bay on 5 July 1860 Victoria reached a top speed of 11.797 knots (21.848 km/h), making her the fastest three decker worldwide, along with the French Bretagne. Her Maudslay engine was powered by 8 boilers and developed 4,403 ihp.

After completion Victoria was laid up as part of the reserve fleet at Portsmouth from 1860 to 1864.

She first entered active service on 2 November 1864, when she became Flagship of the Mediterranean fleet under Vice-Admiral Robert Smart and Captain James Graham Goodenough (from 1865: Rear-Admiral Lord Clarence Paget, Captain Alan Henry Gardner). Victoria was based in Malta until 1867 when she returned home. Her armament had been reduced to 102 guns.

Her last public appearance came at the 1867 Spithead Review and she was paid off on 7 August 1867. She became part of the reserve fleet at Portsmouth again, eventually had her armament reduced to 12 guns, and was sold for scrapping on 31 May 1893 without ever having entered service again.

Victoria's slightly enlarged sister ship, HMS Howe, was launched on 7 March 1860, and achieved 13.565 knots (25.122 km/h) on her sea trials on 1 June 1861 (not masted or stored) for an engine power of 4,564 ihp, but was never completed for sea as a line-of-battle ship. She first entered service in 1885 as a training ship at Plymouth, renamed Bulwark (6,557 tons, 12 Guns). She was moved to Devonport and renamed Impregnable in 1886. Renamed Bulwark again in 1919, she was finally sold for scrap in 1921.

HMS Howe (1860) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Collections - National Maritime Museum

HMS Victoria (1859) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Collections - National Maritime Museum

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
7 March 1864 – Launch of HMS Zealous, one of the three ships (the others being HMS Royal Alfred and HMS Repulse) forming the second group of wooden steam battleships selected in 1860 for conversion to ironclads


HMS Zealous was one of the three ships (the others being HMS Royal Alfred and HMS Repulse) forming the second group of wooden steam battleships selected in 1860 for conversion to ironclads. This was done in response to the perceived threat to Britain offered by the large French ironclad building programme. The ship was ordered to the West Coast of Canada after she was completed to represent British interests in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Zealous became the flagship for the Pacific Station for six years until she was relieved in 1872. She was refitted upon her arrival and subsequently became the guard ship at Southampton until she was paid off in 1875. The ship was in reserve until she was sold for scrap in 1886.


HMS Zealous at Esquimalt with her sails set.

Design and description
HMS Zealous was given a straight stem and a rounded stern, but her hull was otherwise unmodified from her original form; it had been found that lengthening the hull, as was done in the earlier Prince Consort class, led to longitudinal weakness. Her conversion to a central battery ironclad therefore cost less than that of any of her contemporaries, though this was offset with a shorter battery and therefore a less effective broadside. She also carried less armour than the earlier class, and was nearly a knot slower; however, as she was built to serve in distant waters, and not expected to face opposing ships of significant force, these shortcomings were thought acceptable

Zealous was 252 feet (76.8 m) long between perpendiculars and had a beam of 58 feet 7 inches (17.9 m). The ship had a draught of 25 feet (7.6 m) forward and 25 feet 9 inches (7.8 m) aft. She displaced 6,096 long tons (6,194 t).

Propulsion
Zealous had a simple horizontal 2-cylinder horizontal return connecting-rod steam engine driving a single four-bladed, 19-foot-1-inch (5.8 m) propeller. Steam was provided by eight rectangular boilers at a working pressure of 22 psi (152 kPa; 2 kgf/cm2). The engine produced 3,623 indicated horsepower (2,702 kW) during the ship's sea trials in November 1866 which gave the ship a maximum speed of 11.7 knots (21.7 km/h; 13.5 mph). Zealous carried a maximum of 660 long tons (670 t) of coal. She was ship rigged with three masts and had a sail area of 29,200 square feet (2,710 m2). Her best speed with the propeller disconnected and under sail alone was 10.5 knots (19.4 km/h; 12.1 mph).

Armament
All of the available 9-inch (229 mm) and 8-inch (203 mm) guns had already been earmarked for other, more powerful ships. Zealous therefore received an armament of 7-inch (178 mm) guns, which were deemed adequate for her expected service activity, and which, indeed, she retained for the whole of her active career. She was the only battleship ever to have a uniform armament of this calibre, and she, and her half sister HMS Repulse, were the only Victorian ironclads to retain their original armament unchanged through their entire active careers.

Zealous was armed with twenty 7-inch rifled muzzle-loading guns. Four of these guns were mounted on the upper deck as chase guns, two each fore and aft.[8] The 16-calibre 7-inch gunweighed 6.5 long tons (6.6 t) and fired a 112-pound (50.8 kg) shell. It was credited with the nominal ability to penetrate 7.7-inch (196 mm) armour.

Armour
Zealous had a complete waterline belt of wrought iron that was 4.5 inches (114 mm) thick amidships and tapered to 2.5 inches (64 mm) thick at the bow and stern. From the level of the main deck, it reached 6 feet (1.8 m) below the waterline. The guns on the main deck amidships were protected by a section of 4.5-inch armour, 103 feet (31.4 m) long, with 4.5-inch transverse bulkheads at each end which left the chase guns unprotected. The armour was backed by the sides of the ship which consisted of 30.5 inches (770 mm) of teak. The total weight of her armour was 790 long tons (800 t).[10]


British central battery ironclad HMS Zealous with her funnel lowered

Service history
HMS Zealous was laid down on 26 October 1859 as a wooden two-deck, 90-gun ship of the line by Pembroke Royal Dockyard, but her construction was suspended pending experience with the conversion of her half-sisters of the Prince Consort class to broadside ironclads. The Admiralty ordered on 2 July 1862 that she be cut down one deck and converted to an armoured frigate for the price of £239,258. The ship was launched on 7 March 1864 and commissioned in September 1866, but was not completed until 4 October 1866.

In order to match the French deployment of armored corvettes of the Belliqueuse and Alma classes in the Pacific Ocean the Admiralty ordered Zealous to sail for the west coast of Canada shortly after she was completed. Upon her arrival the ship became the flagship, and reached her operational base at Esquimalt in July 1867 (Esquimalt was the headquarters of the Pacific Station); she remained moored there, at the end of a telegraph link with Britain, until April 1869. During this time her only sea service was for gunnery practice on two days every quarter. In January 1870 she picked up a fresh crew at Panama brought out by the two-decker HMS Revenge. After six years on station she was relieved by Revenge as flagship and started for home. Her bottom had not been cleaned since she had left Great Britain and she could only make a maximum of 7 knots (13 km/h; 8.1 mph) under sail or steam so her return voyage took five months. Zealous struck a rock while sailing through the English Narrows in the southwestern coast of Chile, but was only slightly damaged. She was refitted in Plymouth in April 1873 and then became guard ship at Southampton until 1875, when she was paid off. The ship was placed in reserve in Portsmouth until sold for scrap in September 1886.

As coal was extremely expensive on the West Coast of the Americas, HMS Zealous generally used her sails and covered more miles under sail than any of the other Victorian sailing ironclads, and in her whole career never once travelled in company with another ironclad. She was also the first British ironclad to sail further from Britain than the Mediterranean.


Gun room group on the deck of HMS Zealous. Probably at Esquimalt, British Columbia, Canada



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Zealous_(1864)

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
7 March 1901 – Launch of Duchesse Anne (formerly called Großherzogin Elisabeth), the last remaining full-rigged ship under French flag.


Duchesse Anne (formerly called Großherzogin Elisabeth) is the last remaining full-rigged ship under French flag. She was built in 1901 with a steel hull by the yard of Joh. C. Tecklenborg of Bremerhaven-Geestemünde (Germany) according to plans drawn by Georg W. Claussen. The mainmast is 48 m tall and 25 sails were rigged. She was used as a training ship for young aspiring sailors in the German merchant marine.


Sailing as Großherzogin Elisabethin 1913

The ship was handed over to France as war reparations after World War II and renamed Duchesse Anne. The ship has been classified a historical monument since 5 November 1982.



Several other training windjammers of the German "Deutscher Schulschiff-Verein" also survive to this day:

• Dar Pomorza (originally Prinzess Eitel Friedrich)
• Schulschiff Deutschland
• Statsraad Lehmkuhl (originally Großherzog Friedrich August)

Duchesse Anne permanently moored in Dunkirk





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

Category:Duchesse Anne (ship, 1901) - Wikimedia Commons

commons.wikimedia.org

Großsegler: Das Vollschiff 'Duchese Anne'

Großsegler: Das Vollschiff 'Duchese Anne'

esys.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
7 March 1907 – Launch of SMS Stettin, a Königsberg-class light cruiser of the Kaiserliche Marine.


SMS Stettin ("His Majesty's Ship Stettin") was a Königsberg-class light cruiser of the Kaiserliche Marine. She had three sister ships: Königsberg, Nürnberg, and Stuttgart. Laid down at AG Vulcan Stettin shipyard in 1906, Stettin was launched in March 1907 and commissioned into the High Seas Fleet seven months later in October. Like her sisters, Stettin was armed with a main battery of ten 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns and a pair of 45 cm (18 in) torpedo tubes, and was capable of a top speed in excess of 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph).


The German light cruiser SMS Stettin during the visit of a German navy squadron (battlecruiser SMS Moltke, light cruisers SMS Bremen and SMS Stettin) to the U.S. in 1912. The cage masts visible aft belong to a U.S. ship anchored behind Stettin.

In 1912, Stettin joined the battlecruiser Moltke and cruiser Bremen for a goodwill visit to the United States. After the outbreak of World War I, Stettin served in the reconnaissance forces of the German fleet. She saw heavy service for the first three years of the war, including at the Battle of Heligoland Bight in August 1914 and the Battle of Jutland in May – June 1916, along with other smaller operations in the North and Baltic Seas. In 1917, she was withdrawn from frontline service and used as a training ship until the end of the war. In the aftermath of Germany's defeat, Stettin was surrendered to the Allies and broke up for scrap in 1921–1923.


Line-drawing of the Königsbergclass


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

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

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


SMS Königsberg


Königsberg moored in harbor before the war

SMS Stettin - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Königsberg-class cruiser (1905) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
7 March 1908 – Launch of SMS Nassau, the first dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial German Navy,


SMS Nassau was the first dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial German Navy, a response to the launching of the British battleship HMS Dreadnought. Nassau was laid down on 22 July 1907 at the Kaiserliche Werft in Wilhelmshaven, and launched less than a year later on 7 March 1908, approximately 25 months after Dreadnought. She was the lead ship of her classof four battleships, which included Posen, Rheinland, and Westfalen.


Nassau, very early in her career

Nassau saw service in the North Sea at the beginning of World War I, in the II Division of the I Battle Squadron of the German High Seas Fleet. In August 1915, she entered the Baltic Seaand participated in the Battle of the Gulf of Riga, where she engaged the Russian battleship Slava. Following her return to the North Sea, Nassau and her sister ships took part in the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916. During the battle, Nassau collided with the British destroyer HMS Spitfire. Nassau suffered a total of 11 killed and 16 injured during the engagement.

After World War I, the bulk of the High Seas Fleet was interned in Scapa Flow. As they were the oldest German dreadnoughts, the Nassau-class ships were for the time permitted to remain in German ports. After the German fleet was scuttled, Nassau and her three sisters were surrendered to the victorious Allied powers as replacements for the sunken ships. Nassau was ceded to Japan in April 1920. With no use for the ship, Japan sold her to a British wrecking firm which then scrapped her in Dordrecht, Netherlands.


Description
Main article: Nassau-class battleship

Line drawing of a Nassau-class battleship showing the disposition of the main battery

Nassau was 146.1 m (479 ft 4 in) long, 26.9 m (88 ft 3 in) wide, and had a draft of 8.9 m (29 ft 2 in). She displaced 18,873 t (18,575 long tons) with a normal load, and 20,535 t (20,211 long tons) fully laden. The ship had a crew of 40 officers and 968 enlisted men. Nassau retained three-shafted triple expansion engines with coal-fired boilers instead of more advanced turbine engines. Her propulsion system was rated at 21,699 ihp (16,181 kW) and provided a top speed of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph). She had a cruising radius of 8,300 nautical miles (15,400 km; 9,600 mi) at a speed of 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph). This type of machinery was chosen at the request of both Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz and the Navy's construction department; the latter stated in 1905 that the "use of turbines in heavy warships does not recommend itself." This decision was based solely on cost: at the time, Parsons held a monopoly on steam turbines and required a 1 million gold mark royalty fee for every turbine engine made. German firms were not ready to begin production of turbines on a large scale until 1910.

Nassau carried twelve 28 cm (11 in) SK L/45 guns in an unusual hexagonal configuration. Her secondary armament consisted of twelve 15 cm (6 in) SK L/45 guns and sixteen 8.8 cm (3 in) SK L/45 guns, all of which were mounted in casemates. The ship was also armed with six 45 cm (18 in) submerged torpedo tubes. One tube was mounted in the bow, another in the stern, and two on each broadside, on either ends of the torpedo bulkhead. The ship's belt armor was 270 mm (11 in) thick in the central portion of the hull, and the armored deck was 80 mm (3 in) thick. The main battery turrets had 280 mm (11 in) thick sides, and the conning tower was protected with 400 mm (16 in) of armor plating.


Nassau early in her career, c. 1909–1910


Nassau and the rest of the I Battle Squadron in Kiel before the war



The Nassau class were a group of four German dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Navy. They were the German response to the introduction of the "all big gun" British HMS Dreadnought. The class was composed of Nassau, Rheinland, Posen, and Westfalen. All four ships were laid down in mid-1907, and completed between May and September 1910. Compared to their British contemporaries, the Nassau-class ships were lighter and had a wider beam. They were two knots slower, because the German ships retained vertical triple-expansion engines as opposed to the high-power turbine engines adopted by the British. The ships also carried smaller main guns—11-inch (280 mm) guns rather than the 12-inch (305 mm) guns mounted on the British ships.

After their commissioning into the German fleet, all four ships served as a unit: the II Division of I Battle Squadron. Two of the ships, Nassau and Posen, took part in the inconclusive Battle of the Gulf of Riga in 1915, during which they engaged the Russian pre-dreadnought Slava. The Nassau-class ships took part in the Battle of Jutland on 31 May and 1 June 1916 as the II Battle Squadron; they suffered only a handful of secondary battery hits and limited casualties. At the end of the First World War, the four ships were seized as war prizes by the victorious Allied powers and sold for scrapping.

SMS Nassau - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Nassau-class battleship - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
7 March 1941 – Günther Prien and the crew of German submarine U-47, one of the most successful U-boats of World War II, disappear without a trace.


German submarine U-47 was a Type VIIB U-boat of Germany's navy (Kriegsmarine) during World War II. She was laid down on 25 February 1937 at Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerftin Kiel as yard number 582 and went into service on 17 December 1938 under the command of Günther Prien.

During U-47's career, she sank a total of 31 enemy vessels and damaged eight more, including the British battleship HMS Royal Oak on 14 October 1939. U-47 ranks as one of the most successful German U-boats of World War II.


A model of U-47 viewed from the side

Disappearance
U-47 departed Lorient on her tenth and last patrol on 20 February 1941. She went missing on 7 March 1941 and was believed at the time to have been sunk by the British destroyer HMS Wolverine west of Ireland, when a submarine was attacked by Wolverine and HMS Verity. Postwar assessment showed that the boat attacked there was UA which was only damaged. To date, there is no official record of what happened to U-47, although a variety of possibilities exist, including mines, a mechanical failure, a victim of her own torpedoes, or possibly a later attack that did not confirm any claims by the corvette team of HMS Camellia and HMS Arbutus. U-47 had a crew of 45 officers and men during her last North Atlantic patrol in early 1941, all of whom were presumed to have died.


Kriegsmarine U-boat commander Günther Prien

German submarine U-47 (1938) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

U 47 – Kapitänleutnant Prien - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org