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

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
11 March 1914 - HMS Boscawan, a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, renamed Wellesley, was destroyed by fire and sank at her moorings on the River Tyne at North Shields.


HMS
Boscawan
was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 3 April 1844 at Woolwich Dockyard. She was originally ordered and begun as a 74-gun ship, but an Admiralty order dated 3 March 1834 required that she be reworked to Sir William Symonds' design. She was named for Admiral Edward Boscawen.


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HMS Boscawen, 1904

In 1873, Boscawen replaced Wellesley – the former HMS Cornwall – as the training ship at Wellesley Nautical School and was herself renamed Wellesley.

On the afternoon of 11 March 1914, Wellesley was destroyed by fire and sank at her moorings on the River Tyne at North Shields. A total loss, she was broken up later in 1914.

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Wellesley burning at her moorings in the River Tyne at North Shields on the afternoon of 11 March 1914, photographed from South Shields.

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The wreck of Wellesley in 1914.

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Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with iron riders and some planking detail, sheer lines with inboard detail and midship framing, and longitudinal half-breadth for 'Boscawen' (1844), a 70-gun Third Rate, two-decker. Alterations in January 1839 to the gunports relate to 'Boscawen' (1844) and 'Cumberland' (1842).


 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
11 March 1915 - HMS Bayano – The naval auxiliary was with the 10th Cruiser Squadron when she was torpedoed by SM U-27 off Corsewall Point, near Stranraer, Schotland.
She sank within minutes killing 196 of its crew. Only 26 men survived.



HMS Bayano, built in 1913, was originally a banana boat for the Elders & Fyffes line. At the outbreak of World War I it was drafted into the Royal Navy on 21 November 1914 as an armed merchant auxiliary cruiser. On 11 March 1915, it was torpedoed by SM U-27 and sank within minutes killing around 200 of its crew. Twenty-six survivors were pulled from the water.

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Background
Once in the Royal Navy she was part of the 10th Cruiser Squadron.

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HMS Bayano with dazzle camouflage

Sinking
In the North Channel on her Glasgow to Liverpool route at 05:15 on 11 March 1915, HMS Bayano was attacked by the German submarine SM U-27 about ten miles west of Corsewall Lighthouse, Corsewall Point, Galloway, Scotland. The auxiliary cruiser sank in just five minutes and took the commander, Commander H. C. Carr, and 194 other crew members down with it. Most of the crew was asleep and only 26 men survived to be rescued by the British steamer Castlereagh. Bayano's Lieutenant Commander Guy described Captain Carr on the bridge, standing without fear waving goodbye while shouting "Good luck to you boys" before the ship disappeared under the waves.

Residents of the Isle of Man were greatly affected by the sinking as a number of bodies washed up on her shores. The funeral procession for the Bayano victims numbered in the thousands even though the victims were not from the island. Also hard hit was the Colony of Newfoundland, then a part of the British Empire. A dozen men from the Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve were lost on the Bayano.

Baralong incidents
Main article: Baralong incidents
SM U-27 (Germany) was attacked and sunk in the Western Approaches in position 50°43′N 07°22′W by gunfire from Q-ship HMS Baralong. Her entire crew, including Bernhard Wegener, was killed in the so-called Baralong incidents.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Bayano_(1913)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
11 March 1926 – Launch of HMS Cornwall, pennant number 56, was a County-class heavy cruiser of the Kent sub-class built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1920s.


HMS Cornwall
, pennant number 56, was a County-class heavy cruiser of the Kent sub-class built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1920s. The ship spent most of her pre-World War II career assigned to the China Station. Shortly after the war began in August 1939, she was assigned to search for German commerce raiders in the Indian Ocean. Cornwall was transferred to the South Atlantic in late 1939 where she escorted convoys before returning to the Indian Ocean in 1941. She then sank the German auxiliary cruiser Pinguin in May. After the start of the Pacific War in December 1941, she began escorting convoys until she was transferred to the Eastern Fleet in March 1942. The ship was sunk on 5 April by dive bombers from three Japanese aircraft carriers during the Indian Ocean Raid.

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Cornwall at anchor, 1929

Description
Cornwall displaced 9,850 long tons (10,010 t) at standard load and 13,520 long tons (13,740 t) at deep load. The ship had an overall length of 630 feet (192.0 m), a beam of 68 feet 5 inches (20.9 m) and a draught of 20 feet 6 inches (6.2 m). She was powered by Parsons geared steam turbines, driving four shafts, which developed a total of 80,000 shaft horsepower (60,000 kW) and gave a maximum speed of 31.5 knots (58.3 km/h; 36.2 mph). Steam for the turbines was provided by eight Admiralty 3-drum boilers. Cornwall carried a maximum of 3,425 long tons (3,480 t) of fuel oil that gave her a range of 13,300 nautical miles(24,600 km; 15,300 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph). The ship's complement was 784 officers and men.

The ship mounted eight 50-calibre 8-inch (203 mm) guns in four twin gun turrets. Her secondary armament consisted of four QF 4-inch (102 mm) Mk V anti-aircraft (AA) guns in single mounts. Cornwall mounted four single 2-pounder (40 mm) light AA guns ("pom-poms"). The ship carried two quadruple torpedo tube above-water mounts for 21-inch (533 mm) torpedoes.

Cornwall was only lightly protected with little more than a single inch of plating protecting vital machinery. Her magazines were the exception and were protected by 2–4.375 inches (50.8–111.1 mm) of armour. Space and weight was reserved for one aircraft catapult and its seaplane, but they were not fitted until after she was completed.

Construction and career
Cornwall, the fifth ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy, was named after the eponymous county. The ship was laid downat Devonport Dockyard on 9 October 1924 and was launched on 11 March 1926. Completed on 6 December 1927, she was assigned to the 5th Cruiser Squadron (CS) on the China Station and spent the bulk of the interbellum period there. In 1929–30 she received a High-Angle Control System, used to direct her anti-aircraft guns, and a catapult was fitted the following year. Two quadruple Vickers .50-calibre (12.7 mm) Mark III machine guns were added in 1934.

In July 1936, Cornwall returned home to begin a major refit, which included a 4.5-inch (114 mm) Krupp cemented armour belt abreast the engine and boiler rooms as well as the dynamo room and the fire control transmitting station. This belt extended 6 feet (1.8 m) down from the lower deck. Four inches of armour were also added to protect the sides of the boiler room fan compartments. A hangar for her aircraft was added and a new, more powerful catapult was installed. The ship's director was moved to the roof of the hangar and a new power-operated director-control tower was installed in its original location. Her single four-inch AA guns were replaced with twin-gun mounts for Mark XVI guns of the same calibre. Two octuple-barrel 2-pounder mounts were added abreast the searchlight tower and the original 2-pounder guns were removed. The changes raised the ship's displacement by 107 long tons (109 t) and cost an estimated £215,000. After the refit was completed in December 1937, the ship was assigned to the 2nd Cruiser Squadron before rejoining the 5th CS in 1939.

On 5 October 1939, a month after the start of World War II, she was assigned to Force I to hunt for German commerce raiders in the Indian Ocean and spent most of the rest of the year there. Cornwall was then transferred to the South Atlantic for convoy escort duties. On 13 September 1940, the ship rendezvoused with a convoy that was carrying troops intended to capture Dakar from the Vichy French, but was detached to intercept the Vichy French light cruiser Primauguet that was escorting an oil tanker to Libreville, French Equatorial Africa, five days later and forced them to return to Casablanca in French Morocco. She then returned to the Indian Ocean and sank the German commerce raider Pinguin on 8 May 1941. Cornwall rescued 3 officers, 57 ratings and 22 prisoners after the battle.

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Dorsetshire (background) and Cornwall under air attack by Japanese aircraft, 5 April 1942

After the start of the Pacific War on 7 December, the ship began escorting convoys across the Indian Ocean,[8] examples being Convoy JS.1 from Colombo, Ceylon, to the Dutch East Indies in late January–early February 1942[10] and the troop Convoy MS. 5 to Australia in early March. Later that month, she was assigned to the fast Force A of the Eastern Fleet. On 2 April, Cornwall and her half sister, Dorsetshire, were detached from the fleet, Dorsetshire to resume an interrupted refit and Cornwall to escort convoy SU-4 (composed of the U.S. Army transport USAT Willard A. Holbrook and Australian transport MV Duntroon) to Australia and the aircraft carrier Hermes to Trincomalee in Ceylon for repairs. On 4 April, the Japanese fleet was spotted and the two cruisers left harbour and, after a hurried refuelling at sea, set out for Addu Atollshortly after midnight. The following day, the two cruisers were sighted by a spotter plane from the Japanese cruiser Tone about 200 miles (370 km) south-west of Ceylon.

As part of the engagement known as the Easter Sunday Raid, a wave of Aichi D3A dive bombers took off from three Japanese carriers to attack Cornwall and Dorsetshire, 320 kilometres (170 nmi; 200 mi) south-west of Ceylon, and sank the two ships. British losses were 424 men killed; 1,122 survivors spent thirty hours in the water before being rescued by the light cruiser Enterprise and two destroyers.





 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
11 March 1935 – Launch of HNLMS De Ruyter (Dutch: Hr.Ms. De Ruyter), a unique light cruiser of the Royal Netherlands Navy.


HNLMS De Ruyter
(Dutch: Hr.Ms. De Ruyter) was a unique light cruiser of the Royal Netherlands Navy. She was originally designed as a 5,000-long-ton (5,100 t) ship with a lighter armament due to financial problems and the pacifist movement. Later in the design stage, an extra gun turret was added and the armor was improved. She was the seventh ship of the Dutch Navy to be named after Admiral Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter.

De Ruyter was laid down on 16 September 1933 at the Wilton-Fijenoord dockyard in Schiedam and commissioned on 3 October 1936, commanded by Captain A. C. van der Sande Lacoste. She was sunk in the Battle of the Java Sea in 1942.

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Design
De Ruyter was designed during the Great Depression, which, in addition to being a period of economical depression, was also a period in which pacifism was widespread in the Netherlands. For these reasons, the design was officially called a flottieljeleider(flotilla leader) instead of a cruiser, and every effort was made to cut costs.

Its function was to aid the two existing cruisers of the Java class in the defence of the Dutch East Indies; the idea was that with three cruisers, there would always be two cruisers available, even if one cruiser had to be repaired.

However, due to the cost-cutting policy that went into her design, De Ruyter was not quite up to her task. Her main battery (7 × 150 mm guns) was underpowered in comparison to other light cruisers of the time (for example the British Leander class), and the class had inadequate armour as well and lacked long range anti-aircraft guns. However, her fire control system was excellent.

Service history
During World War II, De Ruyter saw repeated action in the Dutch East Indies in fruitless attempts to ward off the Japanese invasion. She was damaged by air attack in the battle of Bali Sea on 4 February 1942, but not seriously. She fought in the battle of Badung Strait on 18 February.

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A port side view of De Ruyter at anchor, shortly before her loss in the Battle of the Java Sea.

In the Battle of the Java Sea on 27 February, De Ruyter was the flagship of the Dutch Rear-Admiral Karel Doorman, with his flag captain Eugène Lacomblé (who had previously served on board the ship as a lieutenant). Off the north coast off Java on the evening of the 27th the remains of the ABDA fleet was surprised by the Japanese heavy cruisers Nachiand Haguro. Several minutes after the Dutch cruiser Java had been torpedoed and sunk, De Ruyter was hit by a single Type 93 torpedo fired by Haguro at about 23:40 and was set on fire; the torpedo also disabled the ship's electrical systems and left the crew unable to combat the fire or the flooding. The De Ruyter sank at about 02:30 the next morning with the loss of 367 men, including Admiral Doorman and Captain Lacomblé.

Wreck
The wreck of De Ruyter was discovered by specialist wreck divers on 1 December 2002 and declared a war grave, with the ship's two bells—one now in the Kloosterkerk in the Hague—being recovered. The wreck of HNLMS Java, was also found the same day by the same divers. The same dive group then found HNLMS Kortenaer on 12 August 2004.

In 2016 it was discovered that the wrecks of De Ruyter and Java, and much of Kortenaer had disappeared from the seabed, although their imprints on the ocean floor remained. Over 100 ships and submarines of various countries sank during the war in the seas around Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia; many are designated as war graves. There is known to be illegal scavenging of these wrecks, often using explosives; the Netherlands Defence Ministry suggested that De Ruyter, Java, and Kortenaer may have been illegally salvaged. In February 2017 a report was issued confirming the salvaging of the three wrecks




 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
11 March 1942 - HMS Naiad was a Dido-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy which served in the Second World War.
She was sunk by the German submarine U-565 south of Crete in the Mediterranean Sea.


HMS
Naiad
was a Dido-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy which served in the Second World War. She was sunk in action on 11 March 1942 south of Crete in the Mediterranean Sea.

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The Royal Navy during the Second World War HMS Naiad, British Dido class cruiser, camouflaged and at anchor in the Firth of Forth. A drifter and a sailing boat are alongside.

History
She was built by Hawthorn Leslie and Company (Hebburn-on-Tyne, UK), her keel being laid down on 26 August 1937. She was launched on 3 February 1939, and commissioned 24 July 1940.

She initially joined the Home Fleet and was used for ocean trade protection duties. As part of the 15th Cruiser Squadron she took part in operations against German raiders following the sinking of the armed merchant cruiser Jervis Bay in November 1940. In December and January she escorted convoys to Freetown in Sierra Leone, but at the end of January 1941 was back in northern waters where she briefly sighted the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau south of Iceland as they were about to break out into the Atlantic (Operation Berlin). By May 1941 Naiad was with Force H in the Mediterranean on Malta convoy operations, and flagship of the 15th Cruiser Squadron. Naiad participated in the Crete operations, where she was badly damaged by German aircraft. She subsequently operated against Vichy French forces in Syria, where, together with the cruiser Leander, she engaged the French destroyer Guépard. For the remainder of her service, she was in the Mediterranean, mostly connected with the continual attempts to resupply Malta.

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HMS Naiad fires on enemy aircraft with her fore turrets during operations in the Mediterranean, March 1942

In March 1942 she sailed from Alexandria to attack an Italian cruiser that had been reported damaged. This report was false, and on the return, on 11 March 1942, Naiad was sunk by the German submarine U-565 south of Crete. 77 of her ship's company were lost.


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HMS Argonaut in wartime camouflage, November 1943 just after repairs at Philadelphia Navy yard

The Dido class was a class of sixteen (including five within the Bellona sub-class) light cruisers built for the British Royal Navy. The design was influenced by the inter-war Arethusa-class light cruisers. The first group of three ships were commissioned in 1940, the second group (six ships) and third group (two ships) were commissioned between 1941–1942. The Bellona subclass ships were commissioned between 1943 and 1944. Most members of the class were given names drawn from classical history and legend. Post war in the expanded 1951 programme of the Korean War Emergency a broad beam Bellona class armed with 4 twin Mk 6 4.5 guns was considered as a cruiser option along with the 1951 Minotaur class and the Tiger class completed with two Mk 24 6 inch turrets and 4 twin Mk 6 4.5. From the initial trials of the lead ship of the class, Bonaventure the new light cruisers were considered a significant advance, with the 5.25 turrets, far more modern in design than previous light cruiser turrets, and offering efficient loading up to 90 degrees to give some DP capability. While some damage was experienced initially in extreme North Atlantic conditions, modified handling avoided the problem. The fitting of the three turrets forward in A,B and Q position depended on some use of Aluminium in structure and the non availability of aluminium after Dunkirk was one of the reasons for only 4 turrets being fitted to the later ships.

The Dido class were designed as small trade protection cruisers and for action in the Mediterranean Sea, where they were surprisingly effective in protecting crucial convoys to Malta and managed to see off far larger ships of the Italian Royal Navy. The 5.25-inch (133 mm) gun was primarily a surface weapon, but it was intended to fire the heaviest shell suitable for anti-aircraft defence and accounted for around 23 aircraft and saw off far more. Four original Dido-class ships were lost during the war: HMS Bonaventure, HMS Charybdis, HMS Hermione, and HMS Naiad. The original ship of the class, HMS Dido, was mothballed in 1947 and decommissioned ten years later. HMS Euryalus was the last remaining in-service ship of the original class, being decommissioned in 1954 and scrapped in 1959.

The Bellona class (as well as four rebuilt Dido ships) were mainly intended as picket ships for amphibious warfare operations, in support of aircraft carriers of the Royal Navy and United States Navy in the Pacific. HMS Spartan was the only ship of the sub-class to be sunk, struck by a German Fritz X while supporting the Anzio landings. Post war modernisation proposals were limited by the tight war emergency design which offered inadequate space and weight for the fire control and magazines for four or five 3-inch twin 70 turrets combined with the fact the heavy to handle 5.25-inch shells[6] fitted when the cruisers were built had a large burst shock which made them a more effective high level AA weapon than post war RN 4.5-inch guns. HMS Royalist was somewhat different from the rest of the class, as it was modified to be a command ship of aircraft carrier and cruiser groups intended for action against German battlecruisers. It was later ordered to be rebuilt, by Winston Churchill, for potential action alongside HMS Vanguard against the post-war Soviet Sverdlov-class cruisers and Stalingrad-class battlecruisers. In 1956, Royalist was loaned to the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN), with whom it served until 1966. Despite being part of the RNZN, Royal Navy officers made up the majority of the senior command. During the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation, it was regarded not only as the last Dido-class ship but also the last cruiser of the Royal Navy. The ship was decommissioned in 1967.

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 11 March


1778 Continental frigate USS Boston (24), Cptn. Samuel Tucker, captured the British ship Martha in the North Atlantic

The second USS Boston was a 24-gun frigate, launched 3 June 1776 by Stephen and Ralph Cross, Newburyport, Massachusetts, and completed the following year. In American service she captured a number of British vessels. The British captured Boston at the fall of Charleston, South Carolina, renamed her HMS Charlestown (or Charles Town), and took her into service. She was engaged in one major fight with two French frigates, which she survived and which saved the convoy she was protecting. The British sold Charlestown in 1783, immediately after the end of the war.

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Continental frigates Hancock and Boston capturing British frigate Fox, 7 June 1777



1787 Horatio Nelson marries Frances Misbet at Nevis. Prince William Henry gave the bride away.

Island of Nevis and marriage

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Lady Nelson, Nelson's wife, formerly Frances "Fanny" Nisbet of the island of Nevis, West Indies. A painting of the British school; circa 1800, formerly attributed to Richard Cosway, from an earlier copy

Nelson visited France in late 1783, stayed with acquaintances at Saint-Omer, and briefly attempted to learn French. He returned to England in January 1784, and attended court as part of Lord Hood's entourage. Influenced by the factional politics of the time, he contemplated standing for Parliament as a supporter of William Pitt, but was unable to find a seat.

In 1784 he received command of the frigate HMS Boreas with the assignment to enforce the Navigation Acts in the vicinity of Antigua. The Acts were unpopular with both the Americans and the colonies. Nelson served on the station under Admiral Sir Richard Hughes, and often came into conflict with his superior officer over their differing interpretation of the Acts. The captains of the American vessels Nelson had seized sued him for illegal seizure. Because the merchants of the nearby island of Nevis supported the American claim, Nelson was in peril of imprisonment; he remained sequestered on Boreas for eight months, until the courts ruled in his favour.

In the interim, Nelson met Frances "Fanny" Nisbet, a young widow from a Nevis plantation family. Nelson developed an affection for her and her uncle, John Herbert, offered him a massive dowry and both uncle and niece hid the fact that the famed riches were a fiction, and that Fanny was infertile and also rather nervous. Once engaged, Herbert offered nowhere near the money he had promised. Breaking an engagement was dishonourable, so Nelson and Nisbet were married at Montpelier Estate on the island of Nevis on 11 March 1787, shortly before the end of his tour of duty in the Caribbean. The marriage was registered at Fig Tree Church in St John's Parish on Nevis. Nelson returned to England in July, with Fanny following later.

During the peace
Nelson remained with Boreas until she was paid off in November that year. He and Fanny then divided their time between Bath and London, occasionally visiting Nelson's relations in Norfolk. In 1788, they settled at Nelson's childhood home at Burnham Thorpe. Now in reserve on half pay, he attempted to persuade the Admiralty and other senior figures he was acquainted with, such as Hood, to provide him with a command. He was unsuccessful as there were too few ships in the peacetime navy and Hood did not intercede on his behalf. Nelson spent his time trying to find employment for former crew members, attending to family affairs, and cajoling contacts in the navy for a posting. In 1792 the French revolutionary government annexed the Austrian Netherlands (modern Belgium), which were traditionally preserved as a buffer state. The Admiralty recalled Nelson to service and gave him command of the 64-gun HMS Agamemnon in January 1793. On 1 February France declared war.



1794 – Launch of Ceres was launched at Whitby in 1794. She made two voyages for the British East India Company (EIC).

Ceres was launched at Whitby in 1794. She made two voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). Thereafter she remained a London-based transport. She was last listed in 1816.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceres_(1794_ship)


1814 - Argentines under William Brown attack Spanish under Romerate (details)


1823 – Launch of French La Vénus, (launched 11 March 1823 at Lorient) – deleted 1847.


Vestale class
(58-gun type, 1820 design by Paul Filhon, comprising 30 x 24-pounder and 2 x 18-pounder guns, and 26 x 36-pounder carronades):

Vestale, (launched 6 May 1822 at Rochefort) – deleted 26 May 1831.
Vénus, (launched 11 March 1823 at Lorient) – deleted 1847.
Atalante, (launched 2 April 1825 at Lorient) – deleted 28 December 1850.


1835 HMS Jackdaw (4), Lt. Cdr. Edward Barnett, wrecked on uncharted reef off Old Providence.

HMS Jackdaw
(1830), a schooner wrecked in 1835


1845 - George Bancroft takes office as the 17th Secretary of the Navy.
Although he serves in that position only 18 months, he establishes the Naval Academy at Annapolis and encourages the growth and importance of the Naval Observatory.

George Bancroft
(October 3, 1800 – January 17, 1891) was an American historian and statesman who was prominent in promoting secondary education both in his home state, at the national and international level. During his tenure as U.S. Secretary of the Navy, he established the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1845. He was a senior American diplomat in Europe. Among his best-known writings is the magisterial series, History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent.

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1846 HMS Osprey (18), Frederick Patten, wrecked off False Hoklanga, New Zealand.

HMS Osprey
(1844) was a 12-gun brig launched in 1844 and wrecked in 1846.

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The Experimental Brigs H.M.Brig Osprey 12 guns Constructed by Mr Blake (shows Mutine Pantaloon Espiegle) (Print) (PAF8104)

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Six two-masted naval brigs are depicted on different tacks. Central to the picture is the Mutine, starboard broadside on, with her lower courses reefed and upper sails spilling wind. Figures can be seen on the decks of the closest ships. To the left of the image, behind Mutine, the bows of the Daring can be seen. Espiegle, Osprey, Waterwich and Pantaloon are on the right of the picture. In the foreground, a small, gaff-rigged, single sail dinghy, on a starboard tack, is depicted in stern view. This experimental squadron was assembled in September 1844 to undergo trials against an older design of brig. The trial was rather inconclusive as the vessels excelled in different conditions.



1891 – Launch of HMS Hawke, launched in 1891, was the seventh British warship to be named Hawke. She was an Edgar-class protected cruiser.

HMS Hawke
, launched in 1891, was the seventh British warship to be named Hawke. She was an Edgar-class protected cruiser.

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Scale: 1:48. A half block model of the starboard side of the first class cruiser HMS Edgar (1890), made entirely in wood and painted pink-brown below the waterline, a narrow white stripe above and black above the waterline. Hull details include a ram bow; two rows of portholes; two gun placements fore and aft of amidships; and balanced rudder. Other features and fittings include wave deflector; observation deck or bridge; two guns mounted fore and aft and painted black; two stump funnels painted ochre; and stump foremast and mainmast. The model is displayed on a backboard painted off-white with a mahogany-stained frame. On plaque attached to top right-hand side of backboard ‘Edgar’.



1899 – Launch of HMS Implacable was a Formidable-class battleship of the British Royal Navy, the second ship of the name.

HMS Implacable was a Formidable-class battleship of the British Royal Navy, the second ship of the name. The Formidable-class ships were developments of earlier British battleships, featuring the same battery of four 12-inch (305 mm) guns—albeit more powerful 40-calibre versions—and top speed of 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) of the preceding Canopus class, while adopting heavier armour protection. The ship was laid down in July 1898, was launched in March 1899, and was completed in July 1901. Commissioned in September 1901, she was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet and served with the fleet until 1908. After a refit, she transferred to the Channel Fleet, then onto the Atlantic Fleet in May 1909. By now rendered obsolete by the emergence of the dreadnought class ships, she was assigned to the 5th Battle Squadron and attached to the Home Fleet in 1912.

Upon the outbreak of World War I, Implacable, along with the squadron was assigned to the Channel Fleet. After operations with the Dover Patrol, she served in the Dardanelles Campaign in support of the Allied landings at Gallipoli. She participated in the Landing at Cape Helles on 25–26 April and supported ANZAC forces ashore over the course of the following month. In late May 1915, she was withdrawn to reinforce the Italian fleet at the southern end of the Adriatic Sea after Italy joined the war on the side of the Allies. She remained in the Mediterranean until June 1917, apart from a brief return to Britain in March and April 1916 for a refit. After returning to England, she was laid up until March 1918, when she was converted for use as a depot ship for the Northern Patrol. After the war, she was decommissioned and eventually sold for scrap in 1921.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Implacable_(1899)


1941 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Act, which permits delivery of war materials to Allied Powers on credit or lease.


1942 - Lt. John Bulkeley, commander of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 3, helps Gen. Douglas MacArthur and Rear Adm. Francis W. Rockwell, as well as their families and others, escape the Philippines in motor torpedo boats PT 32, PT 34, PT 35, and PT 41.
For this action, along with other operations in the Philippines during the start of World War II, he receives the Medal of Honor.


1944 - french Redoutable, the lead ship of the Redoutable-class submarines of the French Navy launched in 1928 at Cherbourg, sunk by Allied aircraft.

Redoutable was the lead ship of the Redoutable-class submarines of the French Navy launched in 1928 at Cherbourg, France. It participated in the Second World War, first on the side of the Allies from 1939 to 1940, then on the side of the Axis for the rest of the war. She was scuttled by the French on 27 November 1942 to prevent her capture by the Germans during their advance on Toulon, but was then refloated by the Italians in 1943. On 11 March 1944 she was sunk by bombs from Allied aircraft.

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1945 - The US Navy begins use of LCVPs (Landing Craft, Personal Vehicles) to ferry troops across the Rhine River at Bad Neuenahr, Germany.
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
12 March 1734 – Launch of HMS Wager, a square-rigged sixth-rate Royal Navy ship of 28 guns.


HMS Wager
was a square-rigged sixth-rate Royal Navy ship of 28 guns. She was built as an East Indiaman in about 1734 and made two voyages to India for the East India Company before the Royal Navy purchased her in 1739. She formed part of a squadron under Commodore George Anson and was wrecked on the south coast of Chile on 14 May 1741. The wreck of the Wager became famous for the subsequent adventures of the survivors who found themselves marooned on a desolate island in the middle of a Patagonian winter, and in particular because of the Wager Mutiny that followed.

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Service in the East India Company
Wager was an East Indiaman, an armed trading vessel built mainly to accommodate large cargoes of goods from the Far East. As an Indiaman she carried 30 guns and had a crew of 98.

Under Captain Charles Raymond she sailed from the Downs on 13 February 1735, arriving in Madras on 18 July and returning to England via St Helena in July 1736. She made her second and final run for the Company to India in 1738, sailing via the Cape of Good Hope to Madras and Bengal, and returning to the Downs on 27 August 1739.

Purchase by the Royal Navy
The Admiralty purchased Wager from Mr J. Raymond on 21 November 1739, and rated her as a 28-gun sixth-rate. The Admiralty bought her to fill in a squadron under Commodore George Anson that would attack Spanish interests on the Pacific west coast of South America. Her role was to carry additional stores of small arms, ball and powder to arm shore raiding parties. It was apt that she carried the name of the principal sponsor of the voyage, Admiral Sir Charles Wager.

She was fitted for naval service at Deptford Dockyard between 23 November 1739 and 23 May 1740 at a cost of £7,096.2.4d, and was registered as a sixth-rate on 22 April 1740, being established with 120 men and 28 guns.

Anson's circumnavigation
Main article: George Anson's voyage around the world
Anson's expedition to the Pacific in August 1740 comprised six warships and two transports, all manned by 1854 men. The Navy commissioned Wager under Captain Dandy Kidd, who died before the ship reached Cape Horn; Lieutenant David Cheap was promoted to captain (acting). The squadron rounded Cape Horn in terrible weather, which scattered the ships of the squadron. Wager became separated and then needed to make her rendezvous. Unfortunately, she turned north before she had sailed sufficiently far to the west, and in foul weather closed the coast of modern-day Chile.

The wreck of the Wager
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The Wreck of the Wager, the frontispiece from John Byron's account

On 13 May 1741 at 9:00am, the carpenter went forward to inspect the chain plates. Whilst there he thought he caught a fleeting glimpse of land to the west. Lieutenant Baynes was also there but he saw nothing, and the sighting was not reported. Consequently, no one realised that Wagerhad entered a large, uncharted bay.

At 2:00pm land was positively sighted to the west and northwest and all hands were mustered to make sail and turn the ship to the southwest. During the operations that followed, Captain Cheap fell down the quarterdeck ladder, dislocated his shoulder, and was confined below. The ship's disabled and worn-out condition severely hampered efforts to get clear of the bay.

At 4:30am the next day the ship struck rocks repeatedly, broke her tiller, and although still afloat, was partially flooded. Invalids below who were too sick to get out of their hammocks drowned. The ship was steered with sail alone towards land, but later in the morning the ship struck again, and this time became hard aground.

Wager had struck the coast of what would subsequently be known as Wager Island in position 47°40′43″S 75°02′57″W in Guayaneco Archipelago. Some of the crew broke into the spirit room and got drunk, armed themselves and began looting, dressing up in officers' clothes and fighting. The other 140 men and officers took to the boats and made it safely on shore. On the following day, Friday 15 May, the ship bilged amidships and many of the drunken crew still on board drowned.

The Wager mutiny
Main article: Wager Mutiny
In the Royal Navy of 1741 officers' commissions were valid only for the ship to which they had been appointed; thus the loss of the ship implied the loss of any official authority. Seamen ceased to be paid on the loss of their ship. After the wreck of Wager these factors, combined with terrible conditions and murderous in-fighting between officers and men, caused discipline to break down. The party divided into two: 81 men under the gunner, Mr Bulkley, took to small boats with the aim of returning to England via the East coast of South America, and 20 men, including Captain Cheap, remained on Wager Island. After a series of disasters, over five years later six of Bulkley's group and four of Captain Cheap's group returned to England. Wager had left England with the best part of 300 men on board.

Spanish response and fate of the wreck site
See also: Coastal defence of colonial Chile
The British arrival caused great alarm among the Spanish who searched extensively the Patagonian archipelagoes to cleanse it from any possible British presence.[5][6] In the 1740s the viceroy of Peru and the governor of Chile converged in a project to advance the frontiers of the Spanish Empire in the Southeast Pacific and prevent the establishment of a British base. As result of this plan the Juan Fernández Islands were settled and the fort of Tenquehuen established in Chonos Archipelago near Taitao Peninsula. This last fort was manned for one and half year before being abandoned. After the Tenquehuen fort was dismantled the Marquis of the Ensenada, being briefed on local affairs, recommended the establishment of a fort in the Guaitecas Archipelago, but this never happened. For Governor Antonio Narciso de Santa María, Chiloé Island was the most important part of the Patagonian Archipelago recommending to concentrate on the defense of Chiloé.[5] It was following Narciso de Santa María's recommendations that the Spanish founded the "city-fort" of Ancud in 1767–1768.

Spanish charts of the mid-eighteenth century show the approximate location of the wreck, indicating that it was well-known to the local elite at the time. In late 2006, a Scientific Exploration Society expedition searched for the wreck of the Wager and found, in shallow water, a piece of a wooden hull with some of the frames and external planking. Carbon-14 dating indicated a date contemporary with the Wager. In 2007, the Transpatagonia Expedition visited the wreck site and saw more remains.

HMS Wager in fiction
The novel The Unknown Shore (pub. 1959) by Patrick O'Brian is based on the accounts of the survivors. One of the crew on Wager was Midshipman John Byron, later Vice-Admiral in the Royal Navy and grandfather of the famous poet George Byron. O'Brian's novel closely follows John Byron's account.


 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
12 March 1781 – Launch of HMS Assistance, a 50-gun Portland-class fourth rate of the Royal Navy.


HMS Assistance
was a 50-gun Portland-class fourth rate of the Royal Navy. She was launched during the American War of Independence and spent most of her career serving in American waters, particularly off Halifax and Newfoundland. Assistance was the flagship of several of the commanders of the station. She was in service at the beginning of the French Revolutionary Wars, and was wrecked off Dunkirk in 1801.

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Construction and commissioning
Assistance was ordered from the Liverpool yard of Peter Baker on 11 February 1778, laid down there on 4 July that year, and launched on 12 March 1781.[1][2] She was completed by 31 December 1781, having cost £10,908.3.3d. to build, and entered service in the English Channel under her first commander, Captain James Worth.

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Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth proposed (and approved) for Adamant (1780) to be built by contract, and probably for Assistance (1781). The plan was used for Europa (1783), and Bristol (1775), all 50-gun Fourth Rate, two-deckers. The Portland (1770) and Renown (1774) are listed on the reverse, but would have been completed before this plan was created. Signed by John Williams [Surveyor of the Navy, 1765-1784]

Career
She escorted a convoy to North America in May 1782, returning to Britain to be paid off in early 1783. Assistance was then refitted at Plymouth and returned to North America in October 1783 under the command of Captain William Bentinck and flying the broad pendant of Captain Sir Charles Douglas. Serving on Assistance at this time was Lieutenant Hamilton Douglas Halyburton, the son of Sholto Douglas, 15th Earl of Morton. He and a party of men were sent out in Assistance's barge to chase deserters, but, landing in the dark and in a snowstorm, they became trapped in mud. When the snowstorm cleared two days later, all 13 of the party had died from exposure. "Had they landed fifty yards on either side from the place they became stranded, the company would have escaped." A memorial was later erected by Lt Halyburton's mother, Katherine, Countess of Morton. Captain Nicholas Sawyer took command in January 1784, flying the broad pendant of Captain Herbert Sawyer.

Assistance returned to Britain in mid-1786 and was paid off. She underwent repairs at Chatham and was recommissioned in 1790 during the Spanish Armament under Captain Lord James Cranstoun. The easing of tensions led to Assistance being paid off in 1791, before recommissioning the following year under Captain John Samuel Smith in order to serve off North America again. She became the flagship of Rear-Admiral Sir Richard King on the Halifax station between August 1792 and January 1793. Captain Arthur Legge took command in February, being replaced by Captain Nathan Brunton in July for service cruising with the Channel Fleet. Captain Henry Mowatt was in command from May 1795, returning the Assistance to Halifax in March 1796, where he captured the 40-gun French frigate Elizabeth on 28 August 1796. Mowatt died in April 1798, and was succeeded in the command of Assistance by Captain John Oakes Hardy, and he from December 1799 by Captain Robert Hall. Hall took her home from Halifax to be repaired at Chatham between October 1800 and January 1801, whereupon she recommissioned under Captain Richard Lee for a return to Halifax.

Fate
On 29 March 1802, Assistance was en route from Dunkirk to Portsmouth when she ran aground on a sandbank near Gravelines. Efforts to free her were unsuccessful, and the impact of waves against her beached hull quickly rendered the vessel unserviceable. The beaching was visible from the Flemish shore, and a local pilot boat and several fishing boats put to sea to come to her aid. By late afternoon Captain Lee accepted that Assistance was stuck fast and unable to sail; he and the crew then abandoned ship. Two marines drowned while attempting to swim to one of the fishing boats, but the remainder of the crew were safely carried to shore in the Flemish craft. The surviving crew members then made their way to Dunkirk, where a ship was hired to return them to England.

A court martial was convened ten days later, to be held aboard HMS Brilliant. Blame for Assistance's loss was laid at the feet of her pilots, Watson Riches and Edmund Coleman, who were found to have acted negligently in not guiding the ship clear of the charted sandbanks off the Gravelines shore.[4] The two men were fined, and jailed for six months in Marshalsea Prison. For his part, Captain Lee was admonished for placing the too much trust in the pilots, and for not showing due regard for the safety of his ship. No formal penalty was imposed, though Lee was denied a new naval command for the following three years. He returned to active service in 1805, as captain of the 74-gun HMS Courageux.


Portland class (Williams)
  • Portland 50 (1770) – sold 1817
  • Bristol 50 (1775) – broken up 1810
  • Renown 50 (1774) – broken up 1794
  • Isis 50 (1774) – broken up 1810
  • Leopard 50 (1790) – wrecked 1814 near the Isle of Anacosti in the Saint Lawrence River due to the disobedience and neglect of the officer of the watch
  • Hannibal 50 (1779) – captured by France 1782
  • Jupiter 50 (1778) – wrecked 1808, with no loss of life, in Vigo Bay
  • Leander 50 (1780) – captured by France 1798, captured by Russia 1799, returned to Britain, converted to hospital ship 1806, renamed Hygeia 1813, sold 1817
  • Adamant 50 (1780) – broken up 1814
  • Assistance 50 (1781) – wrecked 1802 on the outer banks of the northern part of Dunkirk Dyke due to the ignorance of her pilot, but with no loss of life due to the help of a Flemish pilot boat
  • Europa 50 (1783) – sold 1814

Fourth rates of 50 guns (two-deckers)
Note that from 1756 onwards the 50-gun ships were no longer counted as ships of the line as the Navy no longer considered them powerful enough to stand in the line of battle.



A very good book showing in detail this class and expecially the HMS Leopard is
The 50-Gun ship by Rif Winfield

IMG_25621.jpg IMG_25631.jpg

You can find a Book Review in SOS:

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
12 March 1795 – Launch of French Impatiente, a Romaine class frigate of the French Navy.


The Impatiente was a Romaine class frigate of the French Navy.

She took part in the Expédition d'Irlande, where she was wrecked on 29 December 1796. Only 7 survived, and 420 were lost.

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Poursuivante, sister-ship of Impatiente

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The Romaine class was a class of nine frigates of the French Navy, designed in 1794 by Pierre-Alexandre Forfait. They were originally designated as "bomb-frigates" (Fr. frégate-bombarde) and were intended to carry a main armament of twenty 24-pounder guns and a 12-inch mortar mounted on a turntable in front of the mizzen mast. Experience quickly led to the mortars being removed (in most vessels they were never fitted), and the 24-pounders were replaced by 18-pounder guns. The ships also featured a shot furnace, but they proved impractical, dangerous to the ships themselves, and were later discarded. A further eleven ships ordered to this design in 1794 were not built, or were completed to altered designs.

Two vessels of the class became breakwaters in less than 15 years after their construction. The British Royal Navy captured three. One was lost at sea. None had long active duty careers. All-in-all, these ships do not appear to have been successful with the initially intended armament, but proved of adequate performance once their heavy mortar was removed and their 24-pounders replaced with 18-pounder long guns.

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lines & profile NMM, Progress Book, volume 5, folio 739, states that 'Desiree' (1800) arrived at Sheerness Dockyard on 12 July 1800, was docked on 23 August, and sailed on 10 November 1800 having been fitted. The work cost £10,258. She was sold to Mr Joseph Christie of Rotherhithe on 22 Agusut 1832 for £2,020.

Romaine class, (design by Pierre-Alexandre Forfait, initially given 20 x 24-pounder guns and a 12-inch mortar, although all those completed were later armed or re-armed with 18-pounder guns and no mortar).

Romaine, (launched 25 September 1794 at Le Havre).
Immortalité, (launched 7 January 1795 at Lorient) – captured by the British Navy 1798, becoming HMS Immortalite.
Impatiente, (launched 12 March 1795 at Lorient).
Incorruptible, (launched 20 May 1795 at Dieppe).
Revanche, (launched 31 August 1795 at Dieppe).
Libre, (launched 11 February 1796 at Le Havre).
Comète, (launched 11 March 1796 at Le Havre).
Désirée, (launched 23 April 1796 at Dunkirk) – captured by the British Navy 1800, becoming HMS Desiree.
Poursuivante, (launched 24 May 1796 at Dunkirk).

Twenty ships of this type were originally included in the shipbuilding programme placed between October 1794 and April 1794, but several appear not to have been begun. Apart from the nine listed above, a tenth vessel, Furieuse, was begun at Cherbourg in March 1795 to the same design but was completed as a vessel of Forfait's earlier Seine class. An eleventh, Pallas (originally named Première) was begun at Saint-Malo in November 1795 to a much modified design; a twelfth, Fatalité was also ordered in October 1793 at Saint-Malo, but was cancelled in 1796, as was a further vessel, Nouvelle, ordered in 1794 at Lorient. Another vessel, Guerrière, was begun at Cherbourg in 1796 to this design but was also completed to a modified design.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Impatiente_(1795)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
12 March 1809 - HMS Topaze (38), Cptn. A. J. Griffiths, engaged Danae and Flora.


The British presence in the Adriatic was greatly strengthened in 1809 with the arrival of the frigates HMS Amphion under William Hoste and HMS Belle Poule under James Brisbane. These reinforcements made an immediate impact with a series of raids in the Dalmatian and Ionian islands. In February Belle Poule captured the Var off Valona; the French responded by despatching the frigates Danaé and Flore from Toulon. HMS Topaze attacked these frigates as they arrived, but were able to reach Corfu before sailing north to augment French defences in the Adriatic.


The Adriatic campaign was a minor theatre of war during the Napoleonic Wars in which a succession of small British Royal Navysquadrons and independent cruisers harried the combined naval forces of the First French Empire, the Kingdom of Italy, the Illyrian Provinces and the Kingdom of Naples between 1807 and 1814 in the Adriatic Sea. Italy, Naples and Illyria were all controlled either directly or via proxy by the French Emperor Napoleon I, who had seized them at the Treaty of Pressburg in the aftermath of the War of the Third Coalition.

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Control of the Adriatic brought numerous advantages to the French Navy, allowing rapid transit of troops from Italy to the Balkans and Austria for campaigning in the east and giving France possession of numerous shipbuilding facilities, particularly the large naval yards of Venice. From 1807, when the Treaty of Tilsit precipitated a Russian withdrawal from the Septinsular Republic, the French Navy held naval supremacy in the region. The Treaty of Tilsit also contained a secret clause that guaranteed French assistance in any war fought between the Russians and the Ottoman Empire. To fulfil this clause, Napoleon would have to secure his supply lines to the east by developing the French armies in Illyria. This required control of the Adriatic against increasingly aggressive British raiders. The Royal Navy determined to stop these troop convoys from reaching Illyria and sought to break French hegemony in the region, resulting in a six-year naval campaign.

The campaign was not uniform in approach; British and French forces were limited by the dictates of the wider Mediterranean and global conflict, and consequently ship numbers fluctuated. Although numerous commanders held commands in the region, the two most important personalities were those of William Hoste and Bernard Dubourdieu, whose exploits were celebrated in their respective national newspapers during 1810 and 1811. The campaign between the two officers reached a climax at the Battle of Lissa in March 1811, when Dubourdieu was killed and his squadron defeated by Hoste in a celebrated action.

The events of 1811 gave the British dominance in the Adriatic for the remainder of the war. British and Greek expeditionary forces steadily captured fortified French islands and British raiding parties devastated the local trade across the region. As a result, French plans against the Ottoman Empire were cancelled, La Grande Armée turning towards Russia. British forces continued operations until the advancing armies of the Sixth Coalition drove the French from the shores of the Adriatic in early 1814, British troops and marines assisting in the capture of several important French cities, including Fiume and Trieste.


HMS Topaze was a Royal Navy 32-gun frigate, originally completed in 1791 as a French Magicienne-class frigate. In 1793 Lord Hood's fleet captured her at Toulon. The Royal Navy took her into service under her existing name. She was broken up in 1814.

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lines 38 guns, Fifth Rate. NMM, Progress Book, volume 5, folio 275 states that 'Topaze' (1793) arrived at Portsmouth Dockyard in December 1794 and was docked in July 1795 where her copper was replaced. She was launched on 16 July 1795 and sailed on 17 November having been fitted.


The Danaé was a 44-gun Consolante-class frigate of the French Navy.
On 12 March 1811, she was part of Bernard Dubourdieu's squadron sailing to raid the British commerce raider base of the island of Lissa. The squadron encountered William Hoste's frigate squadron, leading to the Battle of Lissa.
Danaé was damaged by HMS Volage and had to retreat to Lesina for repairs.
In the night of 4 September 1812, she exploded in the harbour of Trieste.


Flore was a 44-gun Armide-class frigate of the French Navy.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Topaze_(1793)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
12 March 1835 - George III was a British penal transportation convict ship that was shipwrecked with heavy loss of life during its last voyage when she was transporting convicts from England to the Australian Colonies.


George III was a British penal transportation convict ship that was shipwrecked with heavy loss of life during its last voyage when she was transporting convicts from England to the Australian Colonies. She was a full rigged ship of 394 tons on measurements of 114 feet length, 28 feet 3 inches beam, built at Deptford in 1810. The ship was acquired by J. Heathorn and J. Poore in the mid-1830s. She was registered at the Port of London.

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The Wreck of HMS George III, by Knud Bull

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Last voyage
George III sailed from Woolwich on 14 December 1834 for Hobart Town, Van Diemen's Land under the command of Captain William Hall-Moxey with a total of 308 persons on board. There were 220 male convicts, plus guards, their families and crew. On 27 January 1835, a fire broke out on board while the ship was nearing the equator. It was extinguished with only great difficulty and all on board were put on reduced rations as the fire had destroyed part of the ship's stores. An unbalanced diet caused an outbreak of scurvy and fourteen convicts died before the ship reached the coast of Van Diemen's Land on the morning of 12 March 1835.

In order to avoid being blown offshore and thus delaying arriving in Hobart Town, the master decided to enter the torturous D'Entrecasteaux Channel between Bruny Island and the Tasmanian mainland. At about 9.15 pm that evening George III hit a rock and over a period of several hours broke up in the heavy swell. The convicts were kept below to allow the women and children to be safely evacuated by the ship's boats. The guards fired their guns in order to quell rising panic; this gunfire is believed to have killed between one and three of the convicts. Many others drowned below decks, including many of the sick in their beds. In all, 133 lives were lost in the disaster, of whom 128 were convicts.

Inquiry
An inquiry refused to ascribe blame for the disaster. The disaster did, however, result in renewed efforts to accurately prepare nautical charts of the Tasmanian coast so that mariners were warned of its many hazards to shipping, and the tightening up of regulations concerning provisions for the transport of convicts.

Legend
Local beliefs are that convicts were released into the sea and shot by the ship's officers, "A ten-year-old cabin boy was saved by the captain's wife who hid him under her dress. He was the only convict who survived the wreck." It seems this story is a verbal history artefact conflating various elements such as a lithograph of the wreck. Many former convicts settled in this part of Tasmania and the local legend would have been coloured by their attitudes.

"Forty Juveniles were among the 220 convicts, but the Captain's wife was not on board the ship." More than likely this part of the legend relates to a painting by H. E. Dawes, which was also produced as a lithograph, depicting a soldier's wife, Mrs Martin, heroically described:

"She contrived to secure herself on the forechannel of the ship among the Laniards and although the sea ran mountains high with frost and rain the poor creature was exposed for 48 hours to the weather with two babes suckling at her bosoms and her elder child held between her knees."
The lithograph is also inaccurate in that all the survivors had been rescued by the next morning, rather than "48 hours". George III had been anchored after it hit a submerged rock, the ship was lying on its side in shallow water with the survivors perched on the high side. The ship's longboat made two trips to shore and the schooner Louisa arrived from Hobart Town, alerted by the ship's cutter which had been sent by Captain Moxey to get help. The lithograph, too, is a verbal history artefact with typical melodrama.

Memorial
A memorial plaque is dedicated to George III at the Tasmanian Seafarers' Memorial at Triabunna on the east coast of Tasmania, approximately 80 kilometres (50 mi) north-east of Hobart.

The plaque contains the following text:

George III
Convict ship of 308 tons left England
14/12/1834 with 34 crew, 200 convicts
and 29 soldiers of the 50th Regiment.
After 118 days, 16 dead, 60 had scurvy.
Then 10.4.1835 struck submerged rocks
in D'Entrecasteaux Channel, V.D.L.
resulting in the loss of 134 souls.
There is also a tourist sign at Southport which has recently been updated as an Australian Government initiative. Previously a sign here alleged a massacre of convicts by ships officers. The new sign states: "Despite much public disquiet and allegations in the press, an enquiry into the circumstances of the wreck and the alleged shootings failed to prove any wrong-doing".

Another monument is to be found at Southport Bluff, accessible by Ida Bay railway and then a walking path (three hours return). Due to conservation concerns this monument can not currently be visited.




 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
12 March 1846 – Launch of HMS Constance, a 50-gun fourth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy


HMS Constance
was a 50-gun Constance-class fourth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy launched in 1846. She had a tonnage of 2,132 and was designed with a V-shaped hull by Sir William Symonds. She was also one of the last class of frigates designed by him.

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NMM holds the original watercolour by Henry Andrews Luscombe on which this lithograph by Thomas Goldsworth Dutton is based. See PAG9795. The print is inscribed: "HMS Constance, 50 guns. To Captain Sir Baldwin W Walker, KCB, & the Officers of the Ship, this print of the 'Constance' joining the Experimental Squadron, is by permission, respectfully dedicated by their obliged Servant, Henry Andrews Luscombe." The 'Albion' and 'Hibernia' are shown ahead of 'Constance'; and 'St Vincent', 'Rodney', 'Queen', 'Vanguard' and 'Canopus' are shown in the distance, astern of the 'Constance'. Sir Baldwin W Walker KCB was captain of the 'Constance' until August 1847; James Wainwright remained a lieutenant aboard her until the first months of 1849.

On her shakedown voyage from England to Valparaiso she rounded Cape Horn in good trim, her captain for this voyage being Sir Baldwin Wake Walker, who commented "I think her a good sea boat, and a fine man of war". On the voyage she encountered a Hurricane at 62o south. Walker wrote that "nothing could have exceeded the way she went over it, not even straining a rope yarn". In August 1848 her captain George William Courtenay, for whom the town of Courtenay was named, led 250 sailors and marines from Fort Victoria to try to intimidate the Indians. Her crew and officers were quarantined aboard whilst berthed at Port Royal on 26 October 1867 during an outbreak of Yellow Fever In 1848 she became the first Royal Naval vessel to use Esquimalt as her base.

In 1862 she was converted to screw propulsion using a compound steam engine designed by Randolph & Elder.[9] She was the first Royal Naval ship to be fitted with this class of engine, and won a race against two frigates from Plymouth to Madeira in 1865.

sistership
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Sutlej's officers in the late 1860s while flagship Pacific. Photography by Frederick Dally.


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Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with half sternboard outline, sheer lines with alterations, and a longitudinal half-breadth for building Constance (1846), a 50-gun Large Frigate. The alterations include the mast and an addition of a false keel. Signed by William Symonds [Surveyor of the Navy, 1832-1848].

Constance class 50-gun fourth rates 1846

The class was designed by Sir William Symonds in 1843, and were the largest sailing frigates built for the Navy. She had a tonnage of 2,132 and was designed with a V-shaped hull .

sistership
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Gun deck on HMS Sutlej, circa. 1865-1868

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section, midship (NPA9208)

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Scale: 1:48. A contemporary full hull rigged model of HMS Constance(1846), a frigate of 50 guns. The hull is carved from wood and painted a copper colour below the waterline to indicate sheathing, with the topsides in black with a white band along the level of the gun deck. The model is ship rigged on all three masts and all the standing and running rigging is realistically depicted as well as the bowsprit. At the bow is a finely carved female figurehead in gold with white trailboards. Deck mounted fittings include 22 guns on wooden carriages, spare spars, a stove pipe, a capstan with no bars, a double ship's wheel, shot garlands, and an elongated octagonal skylight. There are a nest of five boats of varying sizes nested on the deck, two boats stowed on davits at the port and starboard stern quarters, and a further boat stowed from stern davits. All the depicted boats have black painted hulls and green internal features, and are equipped with full sets of oars. The stern is complete with glazed galleries with decorated hanging garlands and the name on the lower counter: 'Constance'. The model is displayed on three short pillar supports mounted inline along the keel, all with square tops and bottoms with turned centre pieces. The supports are fixed to a rectangular mahogany baseboard with bevelled edges, the whole sitting on four squat bun feet (one missing).



 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
12 March 1864 - During the Civil War, Union screw gunboat USS Aroostook captures the schooner Marion near Velasco, Texas and the screw steamer USS Massachusetts captures the sloop Parsis in Wassaw Sound, Ga.


USS Aroostook
was a Unadilla-class gunboat built for the Union Navy during the American Civil War. Aroostook was used by the Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries.

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USS Aroostook in Chinese waters, circa 1867-69.


USS Massachusetts (1860) was a large steamer acquired by the U.S. Navy prior to the American Civil War.

She was used by the Union Navy as a gunboat in the blockade of Confederate ports. At war's end, she was outfitted as a cargo ship and served in that capacity until finally decommissioned.

Massachusetts, an iron-screw steamer built in 1860 at Boston, Massachusetts, was purchased by the Union Navy on May 3, 1861, from the Boston & Southern Steamship Company. The ship was commissioned three weeks later, at Boston Harbor, under the command of Melancton Smith.




 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
12 March 1872 – Launch of HMS Rupert, a breastwork monitor of the Victorian Royal Navy, whose principal weapon was designed to be her ram.


HMS Rupert
was a battleship of the Victorian Royal Navy, whose principal weapon was designed to be her ram.

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The breastwork monitor HMS Rupert, launched in 1872

Design

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Right elevation and plan as depicted in Brassey's Naval Annual1888

She was similar in design to HMS Hotspur, but unlike her carried a revolving turret similar to that carried in HMS Glatton. For reasons not recorded, it would appear that the belief prevalent at the time of the design of Hotspur that a ramming attack would damage the turret mechanism no longer held sway when Rupert was proposed.

As was Hotspur, she was designed at a time, shortly after the 1866 battle of Lissa, when it was believed that ramming attacks would, in the event of naval conflict, be the most effective form of offensive action. Artillery power was therefore given second priority to handiness and to frontal armour, including a prolongation of the belt armour to reinforce the ram. She carried two guns in her single turret, as against the single piece in Hotspur, but there was no intention or expectation of achieving all-round fire. The guns would bear from the bow to just abaft the beam on either side, except for the obstruction of the foremast and associated shrouds.

The ship was fitted with a fore-and-aft rig on her two masts, which had been designed to allow progress in the event of engine failure. Her sail effort was, however, described by her first Captain as "not worth the inconvenience of keeping them up".

As the ram had only been seen to be effective against stationary targets, as at the battle of Lissa, and against friendly ships in the course of accidental collision, the high reputation it enjoyed is not wholly understandable. A report by Capt. W.E. Gordon, submitted to the Board of Admiralty in February 1878 and referring to Rupert says: "she is a comparatively simple weapon within the capacity of an ordinary man to make the best use of, whereas the Captain of the Alexandra or Temeraire in action would be like a man armed with sword, rapier, rifle and pistol, trying to use them all at the same time. No man's faculties are equal to making the best use of such complicated machines." The unattributed comments to this report include the phrase "good in theory but not practicable supposing enemy has 14-15 knots and Rupert 11-12".

Unlike every other battleship, Rupert did not have a centre-line conning tower. Uniquely, she possessed two armoured pilot towers, one on either side just abaft the waist. These gave a good view on the beam, but very limited view over the bow, and her first captain described them as "almost useless".

Service history
She was commissioned at Devonport Dockyard for the Mediterranean, and served there from 1876 to 1880. She was thereafter held in reserve at Portsmouth until being assigned to service in the Particular Service Squadron during the Russian war scare of April to August; 1885. She was then assigned as guard ship at Hull until 1890. After reconstruction and re-armament between 1891 and 1893 she was guardship at Pembroke until 1895. She was port guard ship at Gibraltar from 1895, then at Port Said until late April 1902, when she returned home. Commander Algernon B Granville Grenfell was appointed in command in May 1898. She arrived at Plymouth in early May 1902, and paid off at Devonport on 28 May. She was in Fleet Reserve until 1904, from when she served finally as guard ship at Bermuda[4] until her sale there in 1907.




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Scale: 1:48. A contemporary builder’s full hull model of the ironclad ram Rupert (1872). It is fully rigged and includes a full set of boats stowed on the bridge deck as well rigged to the davits. Main deck fittings include a full set of anchors and their operating gear, scuttles for loading coal for the engines and skylights and ventilators for providing light and fresh air below decks. "Rupert" inscribed on port/starboard bridge.



 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
12 March 1898 – Launch of SMS Hansa, a protected cruiser of the Victoria Louise class, built for the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) in the 1890s, along with her sister ships Victoria Louise, Hertha, Vineta, and Freya.


SMS Hansa
was a protected cruiser of the Victoria Louise class, built for the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) in the 1890s, along with her sister ships Victoria Louise, Hertha, Vineta, and Freya. Hansa was laid down at the AG Vulcan shipyard in Stettin in 1896, launched in March 1898, and commissioned into the Navy in April 1899. The ship was armed with a battery of two 21 cm guns and eight 15 cm guns and had a top speed of 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph).

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Hansa served abroad in the German East Asia Squadron for the first six years of her career. She contributed a landing party to the force that captured the Taku Forts during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900. In August 1904, she participated in the internment of the Russian battleship Tsesarevich after the Battle of the Yellow Sea during the Russo-Japanese War. After returning to Germany in 1906, she was modernized and used as a training ship in 1909, following the completion of the refit. At the outbreak of World War I, Hansa was mobilized into the 5th Scouting Group, but served in front-line duty only briefly. She was used as a barracks ship after 1915, and ultimately sold for scrapping in 1920.


Design
Main article: Victoria Louise class cruiser

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Line-drawing of the Victoria Louise class

Hansa was 110.6 meters (363 ft) long overall and had a beam of 17.4 m (57 ft) and a draftof 6.58 m (21.6 ft) forward. She displaced 6,491 t (6,388 long tons; 7,155 short tons) at full combat load. Her propulsion system consisted of three vertical 4-cylinder triple expansion engines powered by twelve coal-fired Dürr boilers. Her engines provided a top speed of 19 kn (35 km/h; 22 mph) and a range of approximately 3,412 nautical miles (6,319 km; 3,926 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph). She had a crew of 31 officers and 446 enlisted men.

The ship was armed with two 21 cm SK L/40 guns in single turrets, one forward and one aft. The guns were supplied with 58 rounds of ammunition each. They had a range of 16,300 m (53,500 ft). Hansa also carried eight 15 cm SK L/40 guns. Four were mounted in turrets amidships and the other four were placed in casemates. These guns had a range of 13,700 m (44,900 ft). She also carried ten 8.8 cm SK L/35 naval guns. The gun armament was rounded out by machine guns. She was also equipped with three 45 cm (18 in) torpedo tubes with eight torpedoes, two launchers were mounted on the broadside and the third was in the bow, all below the waterline.

Service history

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Hansa in drydock at AG Vulcan

Hansa was ordered under the contract name "N" and was laid down at the AG Vulcan shipyard in Stettin in 1896. She was launched on 12 March 1898, after which fitting-out work commenced. She was commissioned into the German navy on 20 April 1899.

Following her commissioning in 1899, Hansa was deployed to Germany's overseas possessions. Hansa's first commander on the China station was Hugo von Pohl, who went on to command the High Seas Fleet during World War I.[5] As part of the East Asia Squadron during the Boxer Rebellion, the ship made a noteworthy contribution in the Battle of the Taku Forts. In June 1900, Hansa, along with Hertha, Gefion, and Irene landed detachments of Seebataillone (marines) to seize the Taku Forts. The marines joined detachments sent from warships of several other countries. A total of around 450 German troops were contributed to the multi-national force, which totaled around 2,200 officers and men.

On 11 July 1903, the ship steamed into the British naval base at Weihaiwei, along with the Chinese cruiser Hai Chi. Hansa left the port two days later. On 16 January 1904, Hansa visited Mirs Bay outside of Hong Kong and departed after two days in the harbor.[8] In February, the Russo-Japanese War broke out; Hansa was sent from Che Foo for Port Arthur, which was under attack by Japanese forces. Hansa evacuated the German civilians in the port.[9] In early March, she was again in Hong Kong, and was joined there by the flagship of the East Asia Squadron, Fürst Bismarck on the 8th. In August, the badly damaged Russian battleship Tsesarevich and three destroyers sought refuge in the German naval base at Tsingtao following the Russian defeat in the Battle of the Yellow Sea. As Germany was neutral, the East Asia Squadron interned Tsesarevich and the destroyers. On 13 August, the Russian ships restocked their coal supplies from three British steamers, but Hansa and Fürst Bismarck cleared for action to prevent them from leaving the port. The two cruisers were joined by Hertha, Geier, and the gunboats Luchs and Tiger.

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Painting of Hansa in 1902

Hansa returned to Germany in 1906. The following year, she went to dry dock at the Imperial Dockyard in Danzig for a refit, during which she was re-boilered. Hertha originally had three stacks, and during the modernization they were trunked into two funnels. The refit was finished by 1909, at which point Hansa became a cadet training ship. From 1911 to 1912, Günther Lütjens served aboard Hansa as commander of the naval cadets that trained on the ship. Lütjens went on to command the task force composed of Bismarck and Prinz Eugen in World War II. In early January, Hansa cruised into the Atlantic and visited Bermuda.

Hansa had a short career during World War I. At the outbreak of hostilities, she was briefly mobilized into the 5th Scouting Group, which was tasked with training cadets in the Baltic Sea. By the end of 1914, however, the ships were again removed from service. She was then put into service as a coastal defense ship. After 1915, she was withdrawn from front-line duty again and employed as a barracks ship for the Imperial Dockyard in Kiel. She was stricken from the naval register on 6 December 1919 and sold to ship-breakers in Audorf-Rendsburg. She was scrapped the following year.



 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
12 March 1902 – Launch of French cruiser Condé, one of five Gloire-class armored cruisers built for the French Navy


The French cruiser Condé was one of five Gloire-class armored cruisers built for the French Navy in the early 1900s.

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Sister ship Gloire in 1913

Design and description
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Right elevation and plan of the Gloire-class armored cruisers

The Gloire-class ships were designed as enlarged and improved versions of the Gueydon-class armored cruisers by Emile Bertin. The ship measured 139.8 meters (458 ft 8 in) overall, with a beam of 20.2 meters (66 ft 3 in). Condé had a draft of 7.7 meters (25 ft 3 in) and displaced 10,223 metric tons (10,062 long tons).

The ship had three vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one propeller shaft. The engines were rated at a total of 20,500 indicated horsepower (15,300 kW), using steam provided by 28 Niclausse boilers. She had a designed speed of 21.5 knots (39.8 km/h; 24.7 mph). She carried up to 1,590 long tons (1,620 t) of coal[1] and could steam for 12,000 nautical miles (22,000 km; 14,000 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

Condé's main armament consisted of two 194 mm (7.6 in) guns mounted in single-gun turrets fore and aft. Her intermediate armament was eight 164 mm (6.5 in) guns. Four of these were in single gun turrets on the sides of the ship and the other four were in casemates. For anti-torpedo boat defense, she carried six 100 mm (3.9 in) guns in casemates and eighteen 47 mm (1.9 in) Hotchkiss guns. She was also armed with five 450-millimeter (17.7 in) torpedo tubes; two of these were submerged and the others were above water.

The waterline armored belt of the Gloire-class ships was 170 millimeters (6.7 in) thick amidships and tapered to 106 millimeters (4.2 in) towards the bow and stern. Above the main belt was a thinner strake of armor, 127 millimeters (5 in) thick that also tapered to 106 mm at the ends of the ship. The conning tower had armored sides 150 millimeters (5.9 in) thick. The main gun turrets were protected by 173 millimeters (6.8 in) of armor and the intermediate turrets by 120 millimeters (4.7 in). The flat part of the lower armored deck was 45 millimeters (1.8 in), but increased to 64 millimeters (2.5 in) as it sloped down to the sides of the ship.

Construction and career
Condé, named after Louis, Grand Condé was laid down at the Arsenal de Lorient on 20 March 1901, and was launched on 12 March 1902, having been less than a year on the stocks.[6] She was completed on 12 August 1904.

In 1914 she was in the Gulf of Mexico, during the United States occupation of Veracruz. She was hulked at Lorient in 1933, and captured by the Germans in 1940, who used her as a submarine depot ship. She was sunk by aircraft in 1944.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_cruiser_Condé
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
12 March 1907 - Iéna – On 12 March 1907, while in drydock in the Missiessy Basin at Toulon, the French battleship suffered a series of internal explosions in her magazine.
The first explosion was caused by Powder B, a nitrocellulose-based propellant in the ammunition, which tended to become unstable with age, and self-ignite. The explosion killed 120 people including two civilians hit by fragments in the suburb of Le Pont Du Las.



Iéna was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the French Navy. The ship's keel was laid in 1898 and she was completed four years later. Her design was derived from the preceding Charlemagne-class battleships with a heavier secondary battery and thicker armour. She retained the tumblehome characteristic of all large French warships of this period that caused stability issues. Upon completion Iena was assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron and remained there for the duration of her career. She participated in the annual fleet manoeuvers and made many visits to French ports in the Mediterranean.

While docked for repairs, Iéna was gutted on 12 March 1907 by a magazine explosion caused by the decomposition of well-aged Poudre B propellant. While it was possible to repair her, the ship was not thought worth the time or expense. Her hulk was used as a gunnery target before it was sold for scrap in 1912.

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Design
Iéna was designed at the request of the Board of Construction (French: Conseil des travaux) to follow the Charlemagne-class ships, whose seakeeping qualities were not entirely satisfactory. But Constructor Thibaudier just modified the Charlemagne's design with a heavier secondary battery and thicker armour, distributed in a slightly different manner. This increased her displacement by 700 tonnes (690 long tons) in comparison to the older ships and she retained the pronounced tumblehome that was the cause of the stability problems.

General characteristics[edit]
Iéna was longer than her predecessors, at 122.35 metres (401 ft 5 in) overall. She had a beam of 20.83 metres (68 ft 4 in) and, at deep load, a draught of 7.45 metres (24 ft 5 in) forward and 8.45 metres (27.7 ft) aft. She was only slightly heavier than the Charlemagne class and displaced 11,688 metric tons (11,503 long tons) normally, and 12,105 metric tons (11,910 long tons) at full load, 700 metric tons more than the earlier ships.

Iéna was fitted with large bilge keels, but was reported to roll considerably and pitch heavily, although this is contradicted by the ship's captain's report of November 1905: "From the sea-keeping point of view the Iéna is an excellent ship. Pitching and rolling movements are gentle and the ship rides the waves well."

Propulsion
Iéna used three vertical triple expansion steam engines built by Les Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée, one engine per shaft. Each shaft drove a three-bladed propeller that was 4.5 metres (14 ft 9 in) in diameter on the wing shafts and 4.4 metres (14 ft 5 in) in diameter on the center shaft. The engines were powered by twenty Belleville water-tube boilers at a working pressure of 18 kg/cm2 (1,765 kPa; 256 psi). The engines were rated at a total of 16,500 indicated horsepower (12,300 kW) and produced 16,590 ihp (12,370 kW) during the ship's sea trials. Iena reached a top speed of 18.11 knots (33.54 km/h; 20.84 mph) on her trials. She carried a maximum of 1,165 tonnes (1,147 long tons) of coal which allowed her to steam for 4,500 nautical miles (8,300 km; 5,200 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). The ship's 80-volt electrical power was provided by 600-ampere and 1200-ampere dynamos.

Armament
Like the Charlemagne class which preceded her, Iéna carried her main armament of four 305 mm (12 in), 40-calibre Canon de 305 mm Modèle 1893/96 guns in two twin-gun turrets, one each fore and aft. The guns fired 340-kilogram (750 lb) projectiles at the rate of 1 round per minute at a muzzle velocity of 780 m/s (2,600 ft/s). This gave a range of 12,000 metres (13,000 yd) at the maximum elevation of 15°. The magazines stored 180 shells per gun, enough for three hours of fighting.

The ship's secondary armament consisted of eight 45-calibre Canon de 164 mm Modèle 1893 guns, which were mounted in individual casemates. The guns fired 164.7 mm (6.48 in), 52-kilogram (115 lb) shells at a muzzle velocity of 865 m/s (2,840 ft/s) to a maximum range of 9,000 metres (9,800 yd). A total of 1606 rounds were carried, enough for three hours of fighting at the practical 1–2 rounds per minute per gun. Iéna also carried eight 100 mm (3.9 in), 45-calibre Canon de 100 mm Modèle 1893 guns in shielded mounts on the shelter deck. These guns fired a 12-kilogram (26 lb) projectile at 710 m/s (2,300 ft/s), which could be trained up to 20° for a maximum range of 9,500 metres (10,400 yd). Their theoretical maximum rate of fire was six rounds per minute, but only three rounds per minute could be sustained. 2074 shells were carried to ensure three hours of fire. The guns were 6.26 metres (20 ft 6 in) above the waterline.

Iena's anti-torpedo boat defences consisted of 16 47 mm (1.9 in) 40-calibre Canon de 47 mm Modèle 1885 Hotchkiss guns, fitted in platforms on both masts and on the superstructure. They fired a 1.49-kilogram (3.3 lb) projectile at 610 m/s (2,000 ft/s) to a maximum range of 4,000 metres (4,400 yd). Their theoretical maximum rate of fire was fifteen rounds per minute, but only seven rounds per minute sustained. 15,000 shells were kept in the magazines.[4] Admiral Marquis criticized the arrangements for the 47 mm guns in a 1903 report:

The number of ready-use rounds is insufficient and the hoists are desperately slow. The 47 mm guns, much more so than the large and medium-calibre guns, will have to fight at night; yet these are the only guns without a fire-control system designed for night operations. This is a deficiency which needs to be corrected as soon as possible.
Iena mounted four 450-millimetre (18 in) torpedo tubes. Two tubes were submerged and the other two were above the waterline. Twelve Modèle 1889 torpedoes were carried, of which four were training models.

Armour
Iéna had a complete waterline armour belt of Harvey armour that was 2.4 metres (7 ft 10 in) high and tapered from the maximum thickness of 320 mm (12.6 in) that covered 84 metres (275 ft 7 in) amidships to 230 mm (9.1 in) at the ship's ends. The lower edge of this belt was a uniform 120 mm (4.7 in) in thickness. The upper armour belt was in two strakes, the lower 120 mm thick and the upper 80 mm (3.1 in). Their combined height was 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) amidships. The maximum thickness of the armoured deck was 80 mm and the fore and aft armoured transverse bulkheads were 90 mm (3.5 in) thick. The main turret armour ranged from 278–318 mm (10.9–12.5 in) in thickness with a 50 mm (2.0 in) roof and the ammunition shafts were protected by 250 mm (9.8 in) of armour. The casemates for the 164 mm guns were 90 mm thick and their ammunition tubes had 200 mm (7.9 in) of armour.

The conning tower face had 298 mm (11.7 in) of armour and its sides were 250 mm thick. Its roof was protected by two layers of armour, each 25 mm (0.98 in) thick. The communications tube was protected by 200 mm of armour.

History

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A postcard of Iena at speed in a calm sea

Iéna was laid down at Brest on 15 January 1898 after being authorized on 3 April 1897. She was launched on 1 September 1898, but did not enter service until 14 April 1902. Iéna was assigned to the Second Division of the Mediterranean Squadron and sailed for Toulon five days later. En route, the ship suffered from a number of problems with her rudder and had to be docked for repairs once she arrived at her destination. After the completion of the repairs the ship began a series of port visits in France and French North Africa which would be repeated for most of her career. Iena participated in the fleet review off Naples in April–May 1904 on the occasion of the visit of the President of Francewith King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy. Afterwards, the Mediterranean Squadron cruised the Levant, calling in Beirut, Suda Bay, Smyrna, Mytilene, Salonika and Piraeus. In April 1906, she was dispatched to provide assistance to Naples after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

Loss
On 4 March 1907 Iéna was moved into dry dock No. 2 in the Missiessy Basin at Toulon to undergo maintenance of her hull as well as inspection of her rudder shaft. Eight days later, beginning at 1:35 a.m. and continuing until 2:45, a series of explosions began in the port No. 5 100-millimetre magazine of Iéna which devastated the ship and the surrounding area. Because the ship was in a dry dock it was initially impossible to flood the magazines. The commanding officer of the battleship Patrie, which was moored nearby, fired a shell into the gate of the dry dock in an attempt to flood it, but the shell ricocheted without holing the gate. The dock was finally flooded when Ensign de Vaisseau Roux (who was killed shortly afterward by fragments from the ship) managed to open the sluice gates. The French battleship Suffren, moored in the No. 1 dock beside Iéna, almost capsized under the strength of the blasts.

The origin of the first explosion was traced to Poudre B, a nitrocellulose-based propellant used in the ammunition, which tended to become unstable with age, and self-ignite. It was estimated that 80% of the contents of the ship's magazines were the suspect powder at the time of the accident. The explosion and loss of 120 lives, including two civilians killed by fragments in the suburb of Le Pont Du Las, triggered a major scandal, dubbed "the gunpowder scandal" (French: l'affaire des poudres). As a result, Gaston Thomson, the Navy Minister, was forced to resign. A similar accident later caused the loss of the French battleship Liberté in 1911.[12] Paul Painlevé, president of the navy committee, appointed a commission of inquiry after the explosion of the battleship Iéna was followed by that of Liberté. Captain Antoine Schwerer was a member of the commission of inquiry and wrote a "Report on Naval Powders" (1912).

Disposal
The multiple explosions gutted the superstructure between the mainmast and the rear funnel and collapsed the superstructure surrounding the mainmast. The ship's side between Frames 74 and 84 was ripped open down to the lower edge of the armour belt and all the machinery in this area was destroyed. After it was estimated that it would take seven million francs and two years to fully repair Iéna it was decided to decommission the ship and use her as a target ship. All useful equipment was removed and she was towed to a mooring off the Île des Porquerolles where she was used as a target to test the effectiveness of the latest design of armour-piercing shells beginning on 9 August 1909. After the completion of numerous tests, and with Iéna close to foundering, she was towed to deeper water. While under tow Iéna capsized and sank on 2 December 1909. The rights to the wreck were sold and she was subsequently broken up and salvaged between 1912 and 1927.


 
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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
12 March 1910 – Launch of Georgios Averof (Greek: Θ/Κ Γεώργιος Αβέρωφ), a modified Pisa-class armored cruiser built in Italy for the Royal Hellenic Navy in the first decade of the 20th century.


Georgios Averof (Greek: Θ/Κ Γεώργιος Αβέρωφ) is a modified Pisa-class armored cruiser built in Italy for the Royal Hellenic Navyin the first decade of the 20th century. The ship served as the Greek flagship during most of the first half of the century. Although popularly known as a battleship (θωρηκτό) in Greek, she is in fact an armored cruiser (θωρακισμένο καταδρομικό), the only ship of this type still in existence.

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Georgios Averof as a floating museum in Palaio Faliro, Athens


The ship was initially ordered by the Italian Regia Marina, but budgetary constraints led Italy to offer it for sale to international customers. With the bequest of the wealthy benefactor George Averoff as down payment, Greece acquired the ship in 1909. Launched in 1910, Averof arrived in Greece in September 1911. The most modern warship in the Aegean at the time, she served as the flagship of admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis in the First Balkan War, and played a major role in the establishment of Greek predominance over the Ottoman Navy and the incorporation of many Aegean islands to Greece.

The ship continued to serve in World War I, the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, and the interwar period, receiving a modernization in France in 1925 to 1927. Following the German invasion of Greece in April 1941, Averof participated in the exodus of the Greek fleet to Egypt. Hopelessly obsolete and prone to mechanical breakdowns, she nevertheless spent the next three years as a convoy escort and guard ship in the Indian Ocean and at the Suez Canal. In October 1944, she carried the Greek government in exile back to liberated Athens, after the withdrawal of the German army.

In 1952, she was decommissioned, before being moved to Poros, where she was berthed from 1956 to 1983. From 1984 until today, she has been reinstated on active duty as museum ship in the Naval Tradition Park in Faliro. After maintenance in late 2017, she achieved seaworthiness state once again, allowing the ship to sail (towed) accompanied by Greek frigate Kountouriotis (F-462) (Φ/Γ Κουντουριώτης) to Thessaloniki Greece where she received more than 130,000 visitors over her 53-day stay.


History
Construction and arrival in Greece

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Right elevation and plan drawing of Georgios Averof from Brassey's Naval Annual 1915

At the beginning of the 20th century, Greece decided to reinforce its fleet, whose ships were fast becoming obsolete due to the rapidly advancing naval technology of the era. The navy procured eight destroyers (then a relatively new type of ship) between 1905–1907, but the most important addition was the armored cruiser, Georgios Averof. Like her Italian sisters, Amalfi, and Pisa, she was a Pisa-class cruiser being built at Orlando Shipyards, Livorno, Italy. When the Italian government cancelled the third ship of the class due to budgetary concerns, the Greek government immediately stepped in and bought her with a one-third downpayment (ca. 300,000 gold pound sterling), the bequest of a wealthy Greek benefactor, Georgios Averof, whose name she consequently received.

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Launching of Averof, 12 March 1910

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Averof fitting out, summer 1910, in Livorno, Italy

The Averof was fitted with a combination of Italian engines, French boilers, British artillery, and German generators. The most discernible difference between the cruiser and her Italian sisters was the shape of her six gun turrets. The Averof encased her British-built guns in rounded pillbox-form housings with convex roof plates. She was also fitted with a foremast, which her sister-ships did not receive until after the start of the First World War. Such was the urgency of the Greek Navy to see the ship in service, that they accepted her with a gouge inside one of the 7.5-inch (191 mm) gun barrels. This had been caused by the slip of a rifling tool, but Armstrong Whitworth's chief ordnance engineer correctly judged the defect as inconsequential to the weapon's performance and safety.

The Averof was launched on 12 March 1910. She would be the last commissioned armored cruiser in the world, a class of warship that had already been rendered obsolete by the battlecruiser. Her first captain, Ioannis Damianos, took command on 16 May 1911, and the Averof immediately sailed to England for the Coronation Naval Review of King George V. While there, she would also receive the first load of ammunition for her British-built guns. The stay in England was troubled by running aground at Spithead on 19 June, which forced her into drydock. While waiting for repairs, her crew was involved in a large brawl with the locals, caused by their unfamiliarity with the mould found on edible blue cheese. Captain Damianos was deemed inadequate to maintain discipline, and replaced by the esteemed taskmaster, Pavlos Kountouriotis. During the journey home, Captain Kountouriotis thoroughly trained his crew, with the exception of gunnery practice, as ammunition was limited to special deliveries from Britain. The Averof finally reached Faliro Bay, near Athens, on 1 September 1911. At that time, she was the most modern and powerful warship in the navies of the Balkan League or the Ottoman Empire.

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Averof as a floating museum
In 1984 the Navy decided to restore her as a museum ship, and in the same year she was towed to Palaio Faliro, where she is anchored as a functioning floating museum, seeking to promote the historical consolidation and upkeep of the Greek naval tradition. Free guided tours are provided to visiting schools and on holidays. In 2016 she has been retrofitted with an internal elevator allowing access to most decks by visitors with movement disabilities. She is berthed at Trocadero quay, as part of the Naval Tradition Park.

The ship is crewed and regarded as in active service, carrying the Rear Admiral's rank flag a square blue flag with white cross, like the Greek jack, with two white stars in each of the two squares on the flagstaff side atop the mainmast with the masthead pennant (a long triangular blue flag with a white orthogonal Greek cross) displaced downward. Every Hellenic Navy ship entering or sailing in Faliro Bay honours Averof while passing. The crew are ordered to attention (with the "Still to" order) and from the relevant boatswain's pipe (or bugle call) every man on decks stands to attention, officers saluting, looking to the side where Averof is in sight until "Continue" is ordered.

In June 2010 the ship was involved in a scandal after being used as the stage for a lavish wedding party by Greek shipowner Leo Patitsas and TV persona Marietta Chrousala. The publication of photos from the party by the Proto Thema tabloid caused major political uproar, resulting in the dismissal of her commander, Commodore Evangelos Gavalas.

On 26 April 2017, the Averof was towed from her museum dock at Palaio Faliro to the Skaramangas Shipyard, in Elefsis. Two commercial tugs and a pilot craft maneuvered the cruiser under the command of the Commodore Sotirios Charalampopoulos. A Greek Navy tug and a helicopter also assisted the operation. At the shipyard, the Averof underwent two months of maintenance and repairs, partially funded by Greek shipping magnate and philanthropist, Alexandros Goulandris. In May 2017, Goulandris, together with Hydra Ecologists Club, and several retired Hellenic Navy officers, announced their intention to begin a thorough review of the mechanical parts that would need to be newly machined or refurbished, so that the ship might eventually sail the Aegean under steam power. If realised, it would make the Averof the oldest operational steel navy warship in the world. Goulandris died on 25 May 2017, three weeks after the announcement.

Averof sails, again
The cruiser's two months of dry dock inspection and hull maintenance were a prelude to the vessel's first voyage in 72 years. On 5 October 2017, the Averof left her long-time berth at Palaio Faliro, and was towed 250 miles across the open sea to a 50-day exhibition-docking on Thessaloniki's urban waterfront. The vessel was escorted by up to six large tugs and a pilot craft from Zouros Salvage & Towage. A Hellenic Navy tugboat also accompanied them. On 7 October, the group approached the Thessaloniki dock with horns and sirens blaring, their fire-fighting nozzles shooting great plumes of water skywards. An honor guard of Greek sailors and a Hellenic Navy band were arrayed along the dock to meet the ship. After 7 weeks of heavy visitation (over 130,000 visitors in 53 days) by the general public, the Averof returned to her Palaio Faliro museum dock on 13 December.



 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
12 March 1934 - The Tomozuru Incident - torpedo boat capsized in a storm, shortly after its completion. 100 of the 113 man on board died


Tomozuru (友鶴) was one of four Chidori-class torpedo boats of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). It capsized in a storm on 12 March 1934, shortly after its completion. This incident forced the IJN to review the stability of all recently completed, under construction and planned ships. It was salvaged and put back into service after extensive modifications. During World War II, the Tomozuru fought in the Battle of the Philippines and in the Dutch East Indies campaign as an escort, and it continued to play that role for the rest of the war.

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The Tomozuru Incident
In February 1934, Tomozuru joined the 21st Torpedo Flotilla at Sasebo.
  • 01:00, 12 March 1934, Tomozuru departed from Sasebo for a night torpedo exercise with the light cruiser Tatsuta and torpedo boat Chidori (千鳥).
  • 03:25, because of stormy weather, Tatsuta ordered the other two boats to return to base.
  • 03:58, radio contact lost with Tomozuru. Loss of power?
  • 04:12, Tomozuru's lights disappeared, presumably this is when it capsized.
  • 14:05, a rescue plane discovered the capsized Tomozuru drifting.
  • 07:00, 13 March 1934, Tomozuru was towed by Tatsuta back to Sasebo. 100 crew were lost.
The instability of the Chidoris arose from Japanese efforts to circumvent the various naval treaties. They had designed small vessels of around 600 tons, but with the weaponry of a destroyer of twice the displacement. Weight had been saved by lighter construction but gun systems remained complex and heavy. After the launch of the lead ship, its high centre of gravity - even higher than feared - had been noted and efforts made to remedy this. High-speed sea trials showed it to be unstable, however, and further efforts were made to rectify the problem by adding bulges to the hull. Eventually Chidori satisfied the examiners and it was commissioned and the construction of the class, including Tomozuru, proceeded. At the time of its loss, Tomozuru was low on consumables such as fuel or water that would have ballasted it and lowered its centre of gravity. On the other hand, munitions were fully loaded, so the situation was significantly worse than on its sea trials.

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sistership
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Chidori on trial run off Maizuru, after 1934 refit

Consequences
The cause of Tomozuru capsizing was a low metacentric height. The IJN established a committee and inspected the stability of all vessels. As a result of the inspection, the IJN discovered a lack of rolling performance, among others, in the following vessels:
The significance of this incident is that it severely challenged Japanese assumptions over the stability of their warships and prompted a major review of the design of all Japanese warships. Existing vessels had their superstructures reduced and ships planned and under construction were redesigned during 1934-35. In particular the Mogami-class cruisers were significantly altered.

Service
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The last moment of Tomozuru in 1945

The ship was later repaired and saw service against China and in World War II. It was part of the naval support force for the invasion of Netherlands New Guinea in April 1942 and was present in the Banda Straits in July 1942.

During the war the rear gun was landed and replaced with Type 96 25mm AA guns. A total of ten of these were carried by the end of the war. The number of depth charges carried was also increased over the course of the war to 48.

Tomozuru was sunk at Okinawa on 24 March 1945 by U.S. carrier-based aircraft.


 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 12 March


1672 - The Action of 12 March 1672
was a naval battle in the third Anglo-Dutch War of 1672-1674. It was an attempt to support Louis XIV's invasion of The Netherlands during the Franco-Dutch War.


From 12 March 1672 (Old Style), Admiral Robert Holmes attacked the Dutch Smyrna merchant convoy in the English Channel, but was beaten back by Cornelis Evertsen the Youngest, capturing a limited number of prizes.

Among the preparations for provoking the Dutch into yet another war, was the appointment of Holmes as senior officer in Portsmouth, commanding a powerful squadron and the flagship St Michael, a first-rate of 90 guns. Holmes immediately pressed for the capture of a large number of Dutch ships, using English harbours under foreign colours; but the government procrastinated until the opportunity was gone. On 23 March 1672, he finally got permission to attack the homeward-bound Dutch Smyrna convoy. For two days, the English squadron fought a veritable battle with the armed merchantmen and their escorts, suffering damage out of proportion to their gains, half a dozen prizes only one of which seems to have been one of the rich Smyrna ships. Accidentally, Sir Edward Spragge's squadron, returning from the Mediterranean, had passed the scene immediately before the engagement. For unknown reasons, Spragge did not join the attack nor was invited by Holmes to do so, which gave rise to new mutual suspicions. A few days after the fight war was declared and flags handed out. Holmes did not receive one, which may have had to do with the limited number of posts available due to the white squadron this time consisting of the French fleet. Accordingly, Holmes fought in the ensuing Battle of Solebay as a mere captain in the Duke of York's squadron. The battle, the fiercest in De Ruyter's memory, claimed the lives of Holmes's friends Holles and Sandwich, and forced the Lord High Admiral to transfer his flag twice, from Prince to Holmes's St Michael and from that to London. With Sandwich dead, a new flag officer had to be appointed, but Holmes's legitimate claims were again disregarded - for the last time. After the end of the 1672 campaign, Holmes did not get another command, notwithstanding the constant intercession on his behalf of the new commander-in-chief, his stout friend Prince Rupert. Obviously, the King himself had no desire to re-employ him. Holmes's naval career had very abruptly ended.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_12_March_1672


1704 British squadron of HMS Kent (70), HMS Bedford (70), Sir Thomas Hardy, and HMS Antelope (50), Cptn. Thomas Legge, under Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Dilkes engaged and captured three Spanish ships Porto Coeli (60), Santa Teresa (60) and the merchant frigate San Nicolas (24)

The following year, with Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Dilkes flag still in the Kent, he sailed with Sir Cloudesley Shovell to join Sir George Rooke's fleet off Lisbon. Operating with this fleet, on 12 March, he led the Kent, Bedford and Antelope in the pursuit and capture of three Spanish warships: Porta Cœli, Santa Theresa and St. Nicholas. He was not present at the capture of Gibraltar, but soon afterwards took a prominent part in the battle of Málaga as rear-admiral of the white squadron, in acknowledgment of which he was knighted by the Queen on 22 October shortly after his return to England.

HMS Kent was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Blackwall Yard in 1679. She was the second ship of the name.

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Battle between the Spanish 70-gun Princesa and HMS Lenox, Oxford and Kent, 8 April 1740

Her first action was as part of the Anglo-Dutch fleet at the Battle of Barfleur, it was the start of a very successful career. She gained four Battle Honours fighting the French and Spanish in the Mediterranean in more celebrated victories than any other ship of the same name to date. She was at the Battle of Vigo in 1702, which ended in a decisive victory, wiping out a fleet of 17 French and 17 Spanish ships. She fought at the Battle of Vélez-Málaga to defend Gibraltar in 1704, in what turned out to be an expensive victory. In 1718, she was part of the Viscount Torrington's fleet in the defence of Sicily. Her last action was in 1744, when she bombarded the Spanish at Santiago da Cuba in the West Indies.

She underwent her first rebuild at Rotherhithe in 1699, retaining her armament of 70 guns.[2] On 16 February 1722 she was ordered to be taken to pieces and rebuilt at Woolwich Dockyard as a 70-gun third rate to the 1719 Establishment. She was relaunched on 19 September 1724.

Kent was broken up in 1744.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Dilkes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Kent_(1679)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Bedford_(1698)


1766 – Launch of French Sincère, (launched 12 March 1766 at Le Havre) - was in need of a great repair/rebuild and sold at Brest to private investors in the end of 1777.

Infidèle class
(32-gun design by Jean-Joseph Ginoux, with 26 x 12-pounder and 6 x 6-pounder guns).

Infidèle, (launched June 1765 at Le Havre) - hulked 1777 at Brest and taken apart in 1783.
Légère, (launched June 1765 at Le Havre) - found unfit for service at Brest and deleted in 1777 but refitted as a privateer (or a transport?) in 1780, run aground by a British ship and destroyed in the same year.
Sincère, (launched 12 March 1766 at Le Havre) - was in need of a great repair/rebuild and sold at Brest to private investors in the end of 1777.
Inconstante, (launched 26 March 1766 at Le Havre) - sheathed with copper in 1780, accidentally caught fire and exploded near the Île à Vache, off the south-west coast of Haiti in 1781.
Blanche, (launched 20 October 1766 at Le Havre) - captured by the British Navy in 1779 and incorporated as HMS Blanche.
Enjouée, (launched 4 November 1766 at Le Havre) - hulked at Brest in 1777 and dismantled in 1783.


1810 – Launch of Sarah was launched at Bristol as a West Indiaman.

Sarah was launched at Bristol as a West Indiaman. From 1818, after repairs to damage from a fire in 1817, she sailed as an East Indiaman until she wrecked at the Cape of Good Hope in 1822.

Career
Sarah entered Lloyd's Register in 1810 with J. Baker, master, P.J.Miles, owner, and trade Bristol–Saint Croix. Captain James Baker acquired a letter of marque on 21 March 1810. Sarah made annual West Indian voyages until the end of 1817.

On 7 August 1812 Betsey, of Dublin, Nixon, master, developed a leak. The next day her crew and ten passengers abandoned her in the Atlantic Ocean at (44°27′N 41°09′W). Sarah was returning from Jamaica when she encountered the survivors. She took them aboard and brought them to Bristol.

On 20 November 1817 Sarah, Baker, master, was bound for Jamaica when she caught fire in the Float (North Docks) at Bristol. She sustained considerable damage and by the next day was full of water.

In March 1818, Sarah was advertised for sale "... as she now lies (in consequence of having one side much injured by fire)." Her buyer was a London merchant (given variously in advertisements as Edmund Read or Edward Reed). She then underwent repairs. In its 1819 volume, Lloyd's Register gave her her owner and master as Norton, and her trade as Bristol–India.

On 19 April 1819, Sarah, James Norton, master, "late of the Company's service" sailed for Bombay, via Madeira, Cape of Good Hope and the Île de France. Lloyd's Register' list of ships sailing under a license from the EIC gave her owner's name as E. Read, and her destination as Fort St George (Madras.

Fate
On 10 July 1822 Sarah, Norton, master, was at anchor at the Cape while sailing from Bombay to London. A gale came up and filled her. Norton cut her from her anchors in the hope of running her ashore and saving the cargo. However, she was unmanageable and she drifted to the head of the bay; morning revealed that she was a total wreck. Much of her cargo had floated ashore



1814 - HMS Primrose (18), Charles Phillott, engaged by mistake a British brig packet Duke of Marlborough, Cptn. Bull, off Cape Finisterre.


1864 – American Civil War: The Red River Campaign begins as a US Navy fleet of 13 Ironclads and 7 Gunboats and other support ships enter the Red River.


The Red River Campaign or Red River Expedition comprised a series of battles fought along the Red River in Louisiana during the American Civil War from March 10 to May 22, 1864. The campaign was a Union initiative, fought between approximately 30,000 Union troops under the command of Major General Nathaniel P. Banks, and Confederate troops under the command of Lieutenant General Richard Taylor, whose strength varied from 6,000 to 15,000.

The campaign was primarily the plan of Union General-in-Chief Henry W. Halleck, and a diversion from Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant's plan to surround the main Confederate armies by using Banks's Army of the Gulf to capture Mobile, Alabama. It was a Union failure, characterized by poor planning and mismanagement, in which not a single objective was fully accomplished. Taylor successfully defended the Red River Valley with a smaller force. However, the decision of Taylor's immediate superior, General Edmund Kirby Smith, to send half of Taylor's force north to Arkansas rather than south in pursuit of the retreating Banks after the Battle of Mansfield and the Battle of Pleasant Hill, led to bitter enmity between Taylor and Smith.

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Mississippi River Squadron on Red River

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


1904 - The Marine detachment from USS Cincinnati (C 7) provides protection and assistance during the evacuation of Americans from Chemuplo (Inchon) and Seoul, Korea, when they are endangered by the Russo-Japanese War.

USS Cincinnati (C-7) was a protected cruiser and the lead ship of the Cincinnati-class cruiser for the United States Navy. She was launched on 10 November 1892 by New York Navy Yard; sponsored by Miss S. Mosby; and commissioned on 16 June 1894, Captain Henry Glass in command.[3] She was the second ship to be named after Cincinnati, Ohio.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Cincinnati_(C-7)


1943 - USS Champlin (DD-601) sinks German submarine U-130, which had previously sunk 25 Allied vessels, including three US Navy ships during Operation Torch.

USS Champlin (DD-601) was a Benson-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. She was the second ship named for Stephen Champlin.

Champlin was launched 25 July 1942 by Bethlehem Steel Company, Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts; sponsored by Mrs. A. C. Brendel; and commissioned 12 September 1942, Lieutenant Commander C. L. Melson in command.

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