Naval/Maritime History 24th of April - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
16 April 1767 - Birth of Richard Parker, later President of the "Floating Republic" at the Nore,


Richard Parker (16 April 1767 – 30 June 1797) was an English sailor executed for his role as president of the so-called "Floating Republic", a naval mutiny in the Royal Navy which took place at the Nore between 12 May and 16 June 1797.


Richard Parker about to be hanged for mutiny




Early life and career
He was born in Exeter, the son of a successful baker, and was apprenticed as a navigator in 1779. From 1782 until 1793 he served on various ships of the Royal Navy mainly in the Mediterranean and India service, achieving the rank of master's mate and a probationary period as lieutenant. In December 1793 he was serving as a midshipman aboard HMS Assurance when he refused an order to clear away his hammock at daybreak. The clearing of hammocks was a common obligation of ordinary seamen but was less routinely demanded of petty officers. Parker's refusal to follow the order led to a court martial for insubordination and a reduction to the rank of seaman. He was eventually discharged from the Navy in November 1794.

Parker returned to Exeter to reunite with his wife Anne. He struggled to earn a living and was jailed for outstanding debts in early 1797. After three weeks in jail, he accepted a quota of £20 in return for reenlistment in the navy, his despair at the prospect such that he attempted suicide on the way to the embarkation point at Sheerness by flinging himself overboard.

The Nore mutiny
Upon his arrival at the Nore, one of the bases of the North Sea fleet, Parker was assigned to the ship HMS Sandwich which was widely regarded[by whom?] as one of the worst in terms of its squalid and overcrowded conditions. It was on the Sandwich, on 12 May, that the Nore mutiny broke out; Parker played no role in organizing the mutiny, but he was soon invited by the mutineers to join their ranks, and was subsequently appointed "President of the Delegates of the Fleet" due to his obvious intelligence, education, and empathy with the suffering of the sailors.

His degree of control over the direction of the mutiny was limited; his role as President was largely symbolic, mainly involving supervision of the processions of delegates in boats that plied between the involved ships for communication and morale purposes. Despite the chaotic nature of the mutiny and his ill-defined powers, Parker did manage to exert control, as on 2 June when the sloop HMS Hound arrived at the Nore and was boarded by a party of delegates. The Hound's crew and commander violently resisted this intrusion, but Parker’s arrival and display of authority quickly convinced the Captain to submit and join the mutiny. During the mutineers' blockade of the Thames, only ships bearing a pass signed by Parker were allowed to pass without being stopped and searched.

Crisis and collapse
On 6 June he organized a meeting of the delegates with Lord Northesk to whom he handed a petition and a form of ultimatum that their grievances be addressed within a period of 54 hours, after which he warned "such steps by the Fleet will be taken as will astonish their dear countrymen". The increasing tension led to the desertion of the mutiny by several ships and even some of the radical delegates began to sense the end and fled abroad. The fear that the by now thoroughly demonized Parker would also escape led to a reward of £500 (equivalent to £50,000 in present-day terms) being posted for his arrest.

When the delegates' deadline passed without reply, Parker ordered that the fleet sail for Texel on the morning of 9 June. However, no ship moved when the signal to sail was given and the mutiny was effectively over. Parker was arrested on 13 June, brought briefly to Sheerness under heavy guard, then taken to HMS Neptune the flag ship of Commodore Sir Erasmus Gower where he was court-martialled, found guilty of treason and piracy and sentenced to death. He was executed on board the Sandwich amid much ceremony on 30 June 1797.

His body was not publicly gibbetted after death, contrary to the wishes of King George III.[citation needed] Parker's wife Anne, who had worked tirelessly to prevent his execution, later rescued his body from an unconsecrated burial ground and smuggled it into London, where crowds gathered to see it. After receiving Christian rites, it was buried in the grounds of St Mary Matfelon Church, Whitechapel.. His death mask was thought to be at Sir John Soane's Museum in London, but it is actually the death mask of Oliver Cromwell.

A song entitled "The Death of Parker" was collected at St Merryn, Cornwall, in 1905.

Popular culture
Parker's story was the subject of the folk-punk song "The Colours" by The Men They Couldn't Hang. The song is sung from Parker's point of view, exploring his last thoughts as he is led to the scaffold.

Richard Parker - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
16 April 1781 - Battle of Porto Praya
British squadron under Commodore George Johnstone at anchor in Porto Praya Bay, Cape de Verd Islands, attacked by French squadron under Admiral Suffren


The Battle of Porto Praya was a naval battle that took place during the American Revolutionary War on 16 April 1781 between a British squadron under Commodore George Johnstone and a French squadron under the Bailli de Suffren.

Both squadrons were en route to the Cape of Good Hope, the British to take it from the Dutch, the French aiming to help defend it and French possessions in the Indian Ocean. The British convoy and its escorting squadron had anchored at Porto Praya (now Praia) in the Cape Verde Islands to take on water, when the French squadron arrived and attacked them at anchor.

Due to the unexpected nature of the encounter, neither fleet was prepared to do battle, and in the inconclusive battle the French fleet sustained more damage than the British, though no ships were lost. Johnstone tried to pursue the French, but was forced to call it off in order to repair the damage his ships had taken.

The French gained a strategic victory, because Suffren beat Johnstone to the Cape and reinforced the Dutch garrison before continuing on his journey to the Île de France (now Mauritius).




Combat de la baie de la Praia dans l'île de Santiago au Cap Vert, le 16 avril 1781, by Pierre-Julien Gilbert(1783–1860)

Background
France had entered the American Revolutionary War in 1778, and Britain declared war on the Dutch Republic in late 1780, when the Dutch refused to stop trading with the French and the Americans. Johnstone was ordered to lead an expedition to capture the Dutch colony at the Cape of Good Hope.

On 13 March 1781 Johnstone sailed from Spithead with a fleet of 37 ships, including five ships of the line, three frigates, and a large number of troop convoy ships. In early April the fleet anchored in the neutral harbour of Porto Praya in the Portuguese-controlled Cape Verde Islands to take on water and supplies.

Suffren had been dispatched on a mission to provide military assistance to French and Dutch colonies in India, leading a fleet of five ships of the line, seven transports, and a corvette to escort the transports. On 22 March he had sailed in the company of a fleet destined for North America under Admiral de Grasse, with word of Johnstone's mission and an objective to reach the Cape first.

One of Suffren's ships, the Artésien, had originally been destined for America, and was in need of water, so the French fleet paused when it approached Santiago on 16 April, and Suffren ordered the Artésien to the harbour.

Battle


A map of the battle with the major vessel movements

When the Artésien reached the mouth of the harbour, she spotted the British fleet at anchor, and signalled Suffren that the enemy was in sight. Suffren, assuming (correctly) that the fleet had men ashore and would be in some disarray, immediately gave orders to attack, leading the way with his flagship, the Héros. Johnstone, who was in the process of ordering ship manoeuvres to separate ships that had drifted too close to one another when the French squadron was spotted, had to scramble to prepare the fleet for battle.

Suffren's orders were for his line to anchor before the British fleet and open fire. This he did with Héros, taking on Hero and Monmouth, the two largest British ships. Annibal soon came to his aid, and eventually drew most of the fire. Artésien, whose captain was killed early in the engagement, captured the East Indiaman Hinchinbrook in the confusion, and then a breeze blew her away from the action. The Vengeur passed along the anchored British fleet exchanging broadsides but never anchored herself and passed out of the action, while the Sphinx also failed to anchor, and only contributed minimally to the action.

Suffren, with the advantage of surprise, maintained the action with the two anchored ships for ninety minutes until damage (Annibal lost two of three masts) led him to signal a retreat while maintaining fire. Annibal lost her third mast on her way out of the harbour, and was slow to follow Héros.

The French captured the East Indiamen Hinchinbrook and Fortitude, and the victualer Edward. The British recaptured Fortitude the next day.

Aftermath
Suffren gathered his fleet together outside the harbour to assess damage and make repairs. Terror and Infernal had gotten out to sea and the French fired on them. Despite being set on fire, Terror escaped and her crew extinguished the flames. The French captured Infernal, and took out Captain Henry Darby and some sailors and soldiers.

Johnstone got his squadron ready and came out of the harbour in pursuit about three hours later. Suffren adopted an aggressive line, and Johnstone, some of whose ships — especially Isis — had suffered significant damage, chose not to renew the battle, and returned to the harbour to effect repairs. However, before he returned, he succeeded in recovering Infernal. Her remaining crew had recaptured her while the prize crew were off their guard. Alternatively, her prize crew abandoned her at the approach of the British squadron. Their prize crews also abandoned Hinchinbrook and Edward, and the British recovered the vessels a few days later.

Suffren's squadron reached the Cape of Good Hope on 21 June, with the troop convoys arriving nine days later. After spending a month there for repair and refit, he left 500 men for the defence of the Dutch colony and proceeded on to Ile de France. Johnstone, however, still headed for the Cape and arrived in July and at Saldanha Bay took five Dutch East Indies vessels as prizes. He then made his way back to England.

Order of battle
French fleet

• Annibal (74)
• Héros (74)
• Artésien (64)
• Vengeur (64)
• Sphinx, 64
• Three frigates
• Fortune - corvette

Armed transports

• Lord Townsend
• Manilla
• Pondicherry
• Porpoise
• Royal Charlotte
• San Carlos

British fleet

• HMS Hero (74)
• HMS Monmouth (64)
• HMS Isis (50)
• HMS Jupiter (50)
• HMS Romney (50)
• HMS Apollo (38)
• HMS Jason (36)
• HMS Active (32)
• HMS Diana (28)
• HMS Lark (16; cutter converted to sloop)
• HMS Infernal (fireship)
• HMS Terror (bomb vessel)

East Indiamen

• Asia
• Chapman
• Essex
• Fortitude
• Hastings
• Hinchinbrook
• Latham
• Locko
• Lord North
• Osterley
• Queen
• Southampton
• Valentine

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

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
16 April 1797 - Spithead Mutiny starts

The mutiny at Spithead (an anchorage near Portsmouth) lasted from 16 April to 15 May 1797. Sailors on 16 ships in the Channel Fleet, commanded by Admiral Lord Bridport, protested against the living conditions aboard Royal Navy vessels and demanded a pay rise, better victualling, increased shore leave, and compensation for sickness and injury. On 26 April a supportive mutiny broke out on 15 ships in Plymouth, who sent delegates to Spithead to take part in negotiations.


The Spithead and Nore mutinies were two major mutinies by sailors of the Royal Navy in 1797. They were the first outbreaks of a significant increase in maritime radicalism in the Atlantic World. Despite their temporal proximity, the mutinies differed in character: while the Spithead mutiny was essentially a strike action, articulating economic grievances, the Nore mutiny was more radical, articulating political ideals as well.

The mutinies were extremely concerning for Britain, because at the time the country was at war with Revolutionary France, and the Navy was the most significant component of the war effort. There were also concerns among the government that the mutinies might be part of wider attempts at revolutionary sedition instigated by societies such as the London Corresponding Society and the United Irishmen.


The Delegates in Council, or beggars on horseback, a contemporaneous caricature

Spithead
The mutiny at Spithead (an anchorage near Portsmouth) lasted from 16 April to 15 May 1797. Sailors on 16 ships in the Channel Fleet, commanded by Admiral Lord Bridport, protested against the living conditions aboard Royal Navy vessels and demanded a pay rise, better victualling, increased shore leave, and compensation for sickness and injury. On 26 April a supportive mutiny broke out on 15 ships in Plymouth, who sent delegates to Spithead to take part in negotiations.

Seamen's pay rates had been established in 1658, and because of the stability of wages and prices, they were still reasonable as recently as the 1756–1763 Seven Years' War; however, high inflation during the last decades of the 18th century had severely eroded the real value of the pay. In recent years, pay raises had also been granted to the army, militia, and naval officers. At the same time, the practice of coppering the submerged part of hulls, which had started in 1761, meant that British warships no longer had to return to port frequently to have their hulls scraped, and the additional time at sea significantly altered the rhythm and difficulty of seamen's work. The Royal Navy had not made adjustments for any of these changes, and was slow to understand their effects on its crews. Finally, the new wartime quota system meant that crews had many landsmen from inshore who did not mix well with the career seamen, leading to discontented ships' companies.

The mutineers were led by elected delegates and tried to negotiate with the Admiralty for two weeks, focusing their demands on better pay, the abolition of the 14-ounce "purser's pound" (the ship's purser was allowed to keep two ounces of every true pound—16 ounces—of meat as a perquisite), and the removal of a handful of unpopular officers; neither flogging nor impressment was mentioned in the mutineers' demands. The mutineers maintained regular naval routine and discipline aboard their ships (mostly with their regular officers), allowed some ships to leave for convoy escort duty or patrols, and promised to suspend the mutiny and go to sea immediately if French ships were spotted heading for English shores.

Because of mistrust, especially over pardons for the mutineers, the negotiations broke down, and minor incidents broke out, with several unpopular officers sent to shore and others treated with signs of deliberate disrespect. When the situation calmed, Admiral Lord Howe intervened to negotiate an agreement that saw a royal pardon for all crews, reassignment of some of the unpopular officers, a pay raise and abolition of the purser's pound. Afterwards, the mutiny was to become nicknamed the "breeze at Spithead".

The Nore


Richard Parker about to be hanged for mutiny (image from The Newgate Calendar)

Inspired by the example of their comrades at Spithead, the sailors at the Nore (an anchorage in the Thames Estuary) also mutinied, on 12 May 1797, when the crew of Sandwich seized control of the ship. Several other ships in the same location followed this example, though others slipped away and continued to slip away during the mutiny, despite gunfire from the ships that remained (which attempted to use force to hold the mutiny together). The mutineers had been unable to organise easily because the ships were scattered along the Nore (and were not all part of a unified fleet, as at Spithead), but quickly elected delegates for each ship.

Richard Parker was elected "President of the Delegates of the Fleet". According to him, he was nominated and elected without his knowledge. Parker was a former master's mate who was dis-rated and court-martialed in December 1793 and re-enlisted in the Navy as a seaman in early 1797, where he came to serve aboard the brig-sloop Hound. Demands were formulated and on 20 May 1797, a list of eight demands was presented to Admiral Charles Buckner, which mainly involved pardons, increased pay and modification of the Articles of War, eventually expanding to a demand that the King dissolve Parliament and make immediate peace with France. These demands infuriated the Admiralty, which offered nothing except a pardon (and the concessions already made at Spithead) in return for an immediate return to duty.

Captain Sir Erasmus Gower commissioned HMS Neptune (98 guns) in the upper Thames and put together a flotilla of fifty loyal ships to prevent the mutineers moving on the city of London. It was largely fear of this blockade moving down river which made the mutineers reconsider their actions and begin to waver.

The mutineers expanded their initial grievances[further explanation needed] and blockaded London, preventing merchant vessels from entering the port, and the principals made plans to sail their ships to France, alienating the regular English sailors and losing more and more ships as the mutiny progressed. On 5 June Parker issued an order that merchant ships be allowed to pass the blockade, and only Royal Navy victualling (i.e., supply) ships be detained; the ostensible reason provided in the order was that "the release of the merchant vessels would create a favourable impression on shore", although this decision may actually have been perhaps more due to the complexities involved in such a wide undertaking as interdicting all the merchant traffic on the busy Thames. After the successful resolution of the Spithead mutiny, the government and the Admiralty were not inclined to make further concessions, particularly as they felt some leaders of the Nore mutiny had political aims beyond improving pay and living conditions.

The mutineers were denied food and water, and when Parker hoisted the signal for the ships to sail to France, all of the remaining ships refused to follow.

Meanwhile, Captain Charles Cunningham of HMS Clyde, which was there for a refit, persuaded his crew to return to duty and slipped off to Sheerness. This was seen as a signal to others to do likewise, and eventually, most ships slipped their anchors and deserted (some under fire from the mutineers), and the mutiny failed. Parker was quickly convicted of treason and piracy and hanged from the yardarm of Sandwich, the vessel where the mutiny had started. In the reprisals which followed, 29 were hanged, 29 were imprisoned, and nine were flogged, while others were sentenced to transportation to Australia. One such was surgeon's mate William Redfern who became a respected surgeon and landowner in New South Wales. The majority of men involved in the mutiny were not punished at all, which was lenient by the standards of the time.

After the Nore mutiny, Royal Navy vessels no longer rang five bells in the last dog watch, as that had been the signal to begin the mutiny.

Mutinies and discontent following
In September 1797, the crew of Hermione mutinied in the West Indies, killing almost all the officers in revenge for a number of grievances including the throwing into the sea of the bodies of three men who had been killed in falling from the rigging in a desperate scramble to avoid flogging for being last man down on deck. The Hermione was taken by the crew to the Spanish port of La Guaira.

On 27 December, the crew of Marie Antoinette murdered their officers and took their ship into a French port in the West Indies.

Other mutinies took place off the coast of Ireland and at the Cape of Good Hope and spread to the fleet under Admiral Jervis off the coast of Spain.

In the years following Spithead and the Nore, there was a significant increase in mutinies among European navies and merchant companies, approximately 50%. Scholars have linked it to the radical political ideologies developing in the transnational space of the Atlantic World, as well as to the development of working class consciousness among sailors. Both explanations have been the subject of extensive academic investigation. Political analyses often emphasize the radical discourse and conduct of the Nore mutineers as evidence of their ideological motivation. Class analyses often emphasize the discipline and solely economic grievances of the Spithead mutineers as pointing to "class solidarity". Recent attempts have been made to unify these approaches under a framework of masculine identity, arguing that different interpretations of what it meant to be a man to the sailors were the cause of the political/ideological/economic differences between the two mutinies.

In the arts

• The father of the protagonist in Frederick Marryat's The King's Own (1830) was hanged for his part in the Nore mutiny.
• Herman Melville's novel Billy Budd (1924), and the 1951 opera based on it by Benjamin Britten, are set immediately after the main mutinies.
• The Floating Republic – An account of the Mutinies at Spithead and The Nore in 1797, by G. E. Manwaring and Bonamy Dobrée published by Frank Cass & Co. 1935 is a history of these mutinies. In 1982, BBC Radio 4's Saturday Night Theatre broadcast a dramatised account of the book called The Floating Republic.
• The 1962 film H.M.S. Defiant (released in the U.S. as Damn the Defiant!) and the 1958 novel Mutiny by Frank Tilsley is a fictional account of a ship's crew undertaking a mutiny at sea at the time of the Spithead mutiny, the result of which is part of the plot.
• Ramage and the Freebooters (1969) by British novelist Dudley Pope begins when Lieutenant Ramage is given command of a ship anchored at Spithead during the Mutiny, and must convince the crew to sail so that he may carry out his orders.
• The Men They Couldn't Hang, an English folk-punk group, commemorated the executed leaders of the mutiny in the ballad "The Colours" (1988).
• In William Kinsolving's 1996 novel Mister Christian, Fletcher Christian returns from the South Seas and witnesses the Nore mutiny.
• Much of the Dewey Lambdin 2000 novel A King's Captain is set during the Nore Mutiny as seen by the protagonist, Alan Lewrie.
• Mutiny (2004) by Julian Stockwin is a fictional account of the Nore mutiny.

Spithead and Nore mutinies - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
16 April 1797 – The Battle of Jean-Rabel consisted of two connected minor naval engagements of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Haitian Revolution
French Harmonie (44) beached and set on fire at St. Domigue to avoid capture by HMS Thunderer (74) and HMS Valiant


The Battle of Jean-Rabel consisted of two connected minor naval engagements of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Haitian Revolution. The first engagement saw an overwhelming British Royal Navy force consisting of two ships of the line attack and destroy a French Navy frigate in Moustique Inlet near the town of Jean-Rabel on the Northern coast of the French colony of Saint-Domingue (which later gained independence as Haiti). The second engagement took place four days later when a force of boats launched from a British frigate squadron attacked the town of Jean-Rabel itself, capturing a large number of merchant ships in the harbour that had been seized by French privateers.

The engagements came during a campaign for supremacy in the Caribbean Sea as warships and privateers launched from French colonies sought to disrupt the lucrative trade between Britain and the British colonies in the West Indies. In the spring of 1797, most British forces in the region were deployed in the Leeward Islands against the colonies of Spain, which had recently entered the war on the French side. As a result, the waters of the Northern Caribbean were lightly defended, resulting in an increase in the activity of French privateers.

The destruction of Harmonie and the elimination of the privateer base at Jean-Rabel contributed towards a reduction in privateer activity in the region and cemented British control of the Northern Caribbean sea lanes, although British forces were unable to make an impact on French control of Saint-Domingue itself, and withdrew from the island later in the year.



Background
During the French Revolutionary Wars British and French rivalry in the Caribbean Sea, where both nations maintained extensive and lucrative colonies, was an important theatre of conflict. Although by 1797, Britain maintained a measure of regional maritime supremacy, the French colonies were strongly held and provided numerous and well defended harbours from which warships and privateers could launch attacks against British trade convoys. British attacks against the French colonies had resulted in few successes: one such was the occupation of the port of Môle-Saint-Nicolas on the North-Western tip of the French colony of Saint-Domingue in 1793. From here Royal Navy warships could control the Windward Passage, a vital artery for the Jamaican trade.

The rest of the Northern coast of Saint-Domingue was still in French hands however, and in the autumn of 1796 the balance of power in the Caribbean shifted with the declaration of the Treaty of San Ildefonso, in which Spain, which also maintained substantial Caribbean colonies, declared war on Britain. In response, British forces in the Caribbean were split, with the majority attached to a fleet under Rear-Admiral Henry Harvey, which captured Trinidad in February 1797 before unsuccessfully attacking Puerto Rico. With British forces distracted, the French privateer fleets were able to launch a series of attacks against commerce in the Northern Caribbean, capturing numerous American vessels trading with British colonies.

The privateers took many of these captured ships to small harbours along the northern coast of Saint-Domingue. There the privateers thought they and their prizes would be safe from the British squadron under Rear-Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, which based at Môle-Saint-Nicolas. In early April 1797, the French civilian governors at the capital of Cap-Français on the Northeastern coast insisted that these vessels come to the capital; the governors ordered the French frigate Harmonie, based in the port, to sail to Port-de-Paix and back, collecting all prize vessels that lay in harbour there and at the nearby town of Jean-Rabel.

Destruction of Harmonie
The officers of Harmonie objected to their orders, considering that the journey was too dangerous given the proximity of Parker's squadron. However they were overruled and she sailed in mid-April 1797. Shortly after Harmonie departed Cap-Français, a cruising British frigate, the 32-gun HMS Janus under Captain James Bissett, spotted her. Although Janus was significantly smaller than Harmonie, the French ship did not offer battle but instead turned for the port of Marégot. Bissett meanwhile sailed westwards until he encountered Parker's squadron off Môle-Saint-Nicolas on 15 April. Parker had three ships of the line at his disposal, his own flagship HMS Queen, HMS Thunderer under Captain William Ogilvy and HMS Valiant under Captain Edward Crawley, and he despatched the latter ships to Marégot in search of Harmonie, while his flagship put into port for fresh provisions.

On the afternoon of 15 April, Thunderer discovered Harmonie sailing through the Tortuga Channel between the Northern coast of Saint-Domingue and the small island of Tortuga. Giving chase, the large warship pursued the frigate to Mostique Inlet near Jean-Rabel, where Harmonie anchored in shallow water off the rocky shoreline. Ogilvy relayed the frigate's location to Parker and was ordered to enter the inlet with Thunderer and Valiant and capture or destroy the French ship. At 16:15 the British warships examined the mouth of the inlet, straying into dangerously shallow water in their efforts to close with Harmonie. The wind was strengthening however and Ogilvy eventually decided that it was too dangerous to risk wrecking his ships on the shore in the conditions. At 17:00 both British ships were able to fire several broadsides at the French frigate without response, but there was no noticeable damage and the wind remained strong and so Ogilvy retired for the night to a safe distance.

On the morning of 16 April, Thunderer and Valiant returned, both ships opening fire on Harmonie in the calmer weather. Recognising that their ship could not escape and faced impossible odds, the French officers took the only available option and deliberately drove their ship onshore at 07:00, setting the vessel on fire as they evacuated. Harmonie's ammunition stores detonated at 08:47, destroying the ship completely as Thunderer and Valiant retired. French casualties are unknown, while both British ships escaped without loss and only minor damage.

Raid on Jean-Rabel
Alerted to the presence of the large number of prize ships at Jean-Rabel by Harmonie's unsuccessful cruise, Parker ordered Captain Hugh Pigot, commander of the British frigate HMS Hermione, to recapture them. Pigot was commander of a frigate squadron consisting of HMS Quebec under Captain John Cooke and HMS Mermaid under Captain Robert Otway and two smaller vessels the brig Drake and cutter Penelope. Pigot had a reputation as a successful coastal raider: on 22 March, Hermione had attacked and destroyed a number of small French vessels off Puerto Rico. Having gathered the squadron, Pigot brought his ships to Jean-Rabel at 15:00 on 20 April to repeat this earlier victory. Remaining out of sight to the northwest until night fell, the crews began preparations for a cutting out expedition, in which parties of sailors in ship's boats of the squadron would row into the fortified bay under cover of darkness and attempt to board and capture the vessels in the harbour before sailing them out to the waiting squadron.

During the evening of 20 April the sea was calm with a strong easterly current, which enabled Pigot's squadron to close within 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) of the port of Jean-Rabel unobserved. The squadron's boats, commanded by the ships' junior officers, then approached the shore silently. To distract any watchers on the shore, Pigot brought his ships across the entrance to the inlet, attracting the defenders' attention away from the harbour. This enabled the boats to come alongside the shipping in the port undetected, each vessel keeping to the shallows close inshore until they reached their targets. At 01:00 on 21 April the attack commenced with a heavy volley of musketry from the boats as British sailors swarmed onto the captured merchant vessels. Fighting was brief, although the gunfire had alerted the cannon batteries overlooking the port. Unable to determine friend from foe in the harbour, the guns instead fired on the frigates in the bay, Pigot ordering his ships to return fire.

By 04:00, the ship Polly; brigs Two Sisters, Abiona and Sally; schooners Columbia, Juno and Citizen Snow Hill and sloops Industry and a second unnamed were in British hands, their captors sailing the nine prizes out of the port and towards Pigot's waiting ships. All that remained of the prizes in Jean-Rabel harbour were two rowing boats, which had been dragged up the beach before the attack began. All these vessels were American-flagged ships, although their papers of ownership had in most cases been sent to Cap-Français. French casualties in the operation were not reported, although the British assault force did not lose a single man.

Aftermath
These operations firmly established British control of the waters around Saint-Domingue, eliminating a significant opponent in the French Harmonie and destroying a port used frequently by privateers to store their prizes. It was not enough however to solidify the British presence in Saint-Domingue and but the end of 1797, British forces had withdrawn entirely from the colony. Pigot, Ogilvy and Parker all sent despatches to the Admiralty recounting the action, although historian William James notes that Pigot neglected to give credit by name to the junior officers who participated in the operation. Pigot was a notoriously unpopular officer – six months later he would be beaten and stabbed to death by his own crew in the infamous Hermione mutiny.

Battle of Jean-Rabel - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Harmonie_(1796)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Thunderer_(1783)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Valiant_(1759)

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
16 April 1797 – The Battle of Jean-Rabel consisted of two connected minor naval engagements of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Haitian Revolution
French Harmonie (44) beached and set on fire at St. Domigue to avoid capture by HMS Thunderer (74) and HMS Valiant
Part II - The Ships


The French
Harmonie was a 40-gun Virginie-class frigate of the French Navy. Her crew scuttled her on 17 March 1797 to avoid having the Royal Navy capture her.



Career
On 7 June 1796, Harmonie departed Rochefort to ferry weapons and ammunition to Cap-Français, under Captain Joshua Barney. She then cruised in the Caribbean between Havana and Chesapeake Bay, returning to Cap-Français on 17 October. Lieutenant Simon Billiette took command of Harmonie on 19 August 1796; he was promoted to Commander on 22 September.

In April 1797, Harmonie was ordered to escort a convoy of merchantmen waiting in Jean-Rabel. She departed Cap Français but on 16 April the ships of the line HMS Thunderer and HMS Valiant intercepted her. In the ensuing Battle of Jean-Rabel, Harmonie sought refugee in the shallow waters off le Marigot, and the ships of the line departed after firing on her with little effect for several hours. The next day, however, the ships returned, and the crew of Harmonie, seeing her hopelessly cornered, scuttled her by fire. Billiette sustained two wounds at the left leg.

On 20 April, the British ships captured most of the convoy that Harmonie had been tasked to escort. Billiette was court-martialled for the destruction of his frigate, and on 26 April 1798 found innocent of the loss of the ship.

sistership Virginie

Lines & Profile (ZAZ2317)

The Virginie class was a class of ten 40-gun frigates of the French Navy, designed in 1793 by Jacques-Noël Sané. An eleventh vessel (Zephyr) begun in 1794 was never completed.



Virginie class, (40-gun design by Jacques-Noël Sané, with 28 x 18-pounder and 12 x 8-pounder guns, plus 4 x 36-pounder obusiers).

• Virginie, (launched 1794 at Brest) – captured by British Navy 1795, becoming HMS Virginie.
• Courageuse, (launched 1794 at Brest) – renamed Justice in April 1795 – captured by British Navy 1801, then handed over to Turks.
• Harmonie, (launched 1796 at Bordeaux).
• Volontaire, (launched 1796 at Bordeaux) – captured by British Navy 1806, becoming HMS Volontaire.
• Cornélie, (launched 1797 at Brest) – captured by Spanish Navy 1808.
• Didon, (launched 1799 at St Malo) – captured by British Navy 1805, becoming HMS Didon.
• Rhin, (launched 1802 at Toulon) – captured by British Navy 1806, becoming HMS Rhin.
• Belle Poule, (launched 1802 at Basse-Indre) – captured by British Navy 1806, becoming HMS Belle Poule.
• Surveillante, (launched 1802 at Basse-Indre) – captured by British Navy 1803, becoming HMS Surveillante.
• Atalante, (launched 1802 at St Malo) – burnt 1805.

The British
HMS Thunderer was a ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built in 1783. It carried 74-guns, being classified as a third rate. During its service it took part in several prominent naval battles of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars; including the Glorious First of June, the Battle of Cape Finisterre and the Battle of Trafalgar.



History
Thunderer was built by the Wells brother's shipyard in Rotherhithe and launched on 13 November 1783. After completion, she was laid up until 1792, when she underwent a 'Middling Repair' to bring her into service in 1793.

In 1794 she fought at the Glorious First of June under Captain Albemarle Bertie, and from 1796 to 1801 served in the West Indies, under a succession of captains. During this period, under Captain Pierre Flasse, Thunderer fought at the Battle of Jean-Rabel in which she and HMS Valiant forced the crew of the French frigate Harmonie to scuttle their vessel to prevent her capture.

On 15 October, Melampus and Latona, and later Orion and Thalia, and later still Pomone and Concorde, chased two French frigates, the Tartu and Néréide, 50-gun frigate Forte and the brig-aviso (or corvette) Éveillé. The British ships had to give up on the frigates due to the closeness of the shore. However, Pomone and Thunderer, which had joined the chase, were able to take the Eveillé, of 18 guns, and 100 men. The French force had been out for 60 days and had captured 12 West Indiamen, two of which, Kent and Albion, the British had already recaptured. Pomone and her squadron had recaptured Kent on 9 October. Orion recaptured Albion. Warren's squadron returned to England in December with the remnants of the expedition to Quiberon Bay.

In mid-1799 Thunderer was part of a British squadron that detained the schooner Pegasus. Pegasus had been flying an American flag and was carrying 68 slaves from Jamaica to Havana. Her captors sent Pegasus into the Bahamas where they were sold in late June and early July. The advertisements for the sales gave the origins of the slaves as Martinique, suggesting that Pegasus had been carrying false papers.

On 10 October 1800, Thunderer rescued the crew of Diligence which had struck a reef off the north coast of Cuba. The British set fire to Diligence as they left. It turned out that she had hit an uncharted shoal near Rio Puercos.

Thunderer was recommissioned in 1803, and in 1805 she fought in Admiral Calder's fleet at the Battle of Cape Finisterre. Her captain, William Lechmere, returned to England to attend a court-martial as a witness to the events of Admiral Calder's action off Cape Finisterre at the time of the battle.

Later that year she fought at the Battle of Trafalgar under the command of her First Lieutenant, John Stockham. The surgeon on board was Scotsman James Marr Brydone, who was the first of the main British battle fleet to sight the Franco-Spanish fleet. Thunderer signalled the Victory and three minutes later battle orders were signalled to the British fleet beginning the Battle of Trafalgar.

On 25 November, Thunderer detained the Ragusan ship Nemesis, of 350 tons (bm), four guns and 18 men, Poulovich, master. Nemesis was sailing from Isle de France to Leghorn, Italy, with a cargo of spice, indigo dye, and other goods. Thunderer shared the prize money with ten other British warships.

In 1807, Thunderer served in the Dardanelles Operation as part of a squadron under Admiral Sir John Duckworth and was badly damaged when the squadron withdrew from the area. However, she accompanied Duckworth on the Alexandria expedition of 1807, and in May left Alexandria for Malta, where she was provisioned and repaired over a period of 30 days.

She was decommissioned in November 1808 and broken up in March 1814.

It is reputed that some of her timbers were re-used to build Christ Church, Totland on the Isle of Wight, whilst others were used in the construction of the lych gate at St. Nicolas' Church at North Stoneham near Eastleigh


Scale 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth for 'Thunderer' (1783), 'Terrible' (1785), 'Venerable' (1784), 'Victorious' (1785), 'Theseus' (1786), 'Ramillies' (1785), and 'Hannibal' (1786), all 74-gun Third Rate, two-deckers. The plan also records alterations dated January 1813 for cutting down 74-gun Third Rates to Frigates, relating specifically to 'Majestic' (1785), 'Resolution' (1770), and 'Culloden' (1783), all 74-gun Third Rate, two-deckers. Only the 'Majestic' was cut down to a 58-gun Fourth Rate, as the other two were broken up in 1813

sistership Venerable

The Battle of Camperdown, 11 October 1797 by Thomas Whitcombe, painted 1798, showing the British flagship Venerable (flying the Blue Ensign from her stern) engaged with the Dutch flagship Vrijheid.


The Culloden-class ships of the line were a class of eight 74-gun third rates, designed for the Royal Navy by Sir Thomas Slade. The Cullodens were the last class of 74s which Slade designed before his death in 1771.



Culloden class (Slade)

• Culloden 74 (1776) – wrecked 1781
• Thunderer 74 (1783) – broken up 1814
• Venerable 74 (1784) – wrecked 1804
• Victorious 74 (1785) – broken up 1803
• Ramillies 74 (1785) – broken up 1850
• Terrible 74 (1785) – broken up 1836
• Hannibal 74 (1786) – captured by France 1801
• Theseus 74 (1786) – broken up 1814

HMS Valiant was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, modelled on the captured French ship Invincible and launched on 10 August 1759 at Chatham Dockyard. Her construction, launch and fitting-out are the theme of the 'Wooden Walls' visitor experience at Chatham Historic Dockyard. She served under Augustus Keppel during the Seven Years' War, and under George Rodney at the Battle of the Saintes. Valiant also served under Admiral Prince William in 1789 and fought at the Glorious First of June in 1794. In 1799 she was placed on harbour service, and was eventually broken up in 1826.





Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the sheer lines proposed (and approved) for repairing the Valiant (1759), a 74-gun Third Rate, two-decker. The plan indicates her 'as built' in ticked lines. Signed by John Williams [Surveyor of the Navy, 1765-1784]. NMM, Progress Book, volume 5, folio 83 states that 'Valiant' (1759) was docked at Portsmouth Dockyard on 8 October 1771 and undocked on 1 April 1775 having undergone a "large repair" costing £36,279.10.10

The Valiant-class ships of the line were a class of two 74-gun third rates of the Royal Navy.



Design
The draught for the two Valiant-class ships was a copy of the lines of the captured French ship Invincible, which had been captured during the First Battle of Cape Finisterre. They were slightly longer than other British74s of the time, and carried a significantly heavier armament (thirty 24-pounders on their upper gun decks as opposed to the twenty-eight 18-pounders found on the upper gun decks of all other British 74s at the time). The second of the two ships was launched in 1764, and there would not be another 'large' type 74 until the Mars-class, the first of which was launched in 1794.

Ships

• HMS Valiant

Builder: Chatham Dockyard
Ordered: 21 May 1757
Launched: 10 August 1759
Fate: Broken up, 1826

• HMS Triumph

Builder: Woolwich Dockyard
Ordered: 21 May 1757
Launched: 3 March 1764
Fate: Broken up, 1850


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for a proposed 74-gun Third Rate, two-decker, based on the design for 'Triumph' (1764). The plan is annoted in detail with the proposed alterations in construction, which continues on the reverse of the plan. It seems that no vessel was built to this proposal.

Battle of Jean-Rabel - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Harmonie_(1796)
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-358102;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=V
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Thunderer_(1783)
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-354109;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=T
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Valiant_(1759)
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-356802;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=V

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
16 April 1798 - Launch of HMS Achille, a 74-gun Pompée-class third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy.
She was built by Cleverley Bros., a private shipyard at Gravesend,


HMS Achille was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was built by Cleverley Bros., a private shipyard at Gravesend, and launched on 16 April 1798. Her design was based on the lines of the captured French ship Pompée. She was the fourth Royal Navy ship to be named after the Greek hero Achilles in the French style.



Achille at Trafalgar
On 21 October 1805, under the command of Captain Richard King, Achille was in Admiral Collingwood's column at the Battle of Trafalgar, seventh in the line, between Colossus and Revenge. Achille opened fire on the rear of the French and Spanish fleet at 12.15, engaging the 74-gun Montanes, for fifteen minutes, before sailing on to meet Argonauta of 80 guns, which had already been battling with other British ships. After hours of fierce fighting, Argonauta fell silent and closed her gunports, but before Achille could accept her surrender, her French namesake Achille of 74 guns, moved in to engage the British ship. After exchanging broadsides, the French ship sailed on and was replaced on the starboard side by the 74-gun French ship Berwick, and for the next hour and a quarter she lay close alongside Achille, receiving a pounding that eventually forced her to surrender with over 250 casualties – almost half her crew. Achille took possession, and transferred some of her crew back on board as prisoners. Achille suffered 13 killed and 59 wounded in the battle, in stark comparison to the heavy losses she inflicted on her French and Spanish adversaries.

On 17 July 1812, boats from Achille and Cerberus captured or destroyed 12 enemy trabaccolos off Venice.

She continued in active service until 1815, when she was decommissioned at Chatham, and laid up at Sheerness. She survived in this state until 1865, when she was sold for £3,600 to be broken up.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with modified stem and head (scroll figurehead), and longitudinal half-breadth for building 'Achille' (1798) and 'Superb' (1798), both 74-gun Third Rate, two-deckers, based on the 'Pompee' (1793), a captured French Third Rate


The Pompée-class ships of the line were a class of two 74-gun third rates. They were built for the Royal Navy to the lines of the French ship Pompée, a Téméraire-class ship of the line which had been captured by Britain in 1793.



Ships

• HMS Superb

Builder: Pitcher, Northfleet
Ordered: 10 June 1795
Launched: 19 March 1798
Fate: Broken up, 1826

• HMS Achilles

Builder: Cleverley, Gravesend
Ordered: 10 June 1795
Launched: 16 April 1798
Fate: Sold out of the service, 1865












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

Pompée-class ship of the line - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...8;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=A;start=0

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
16 April 1854 - emigrant ship transport Powhattan sank off the coast of New Jersey in a severe storm, with no survivors.
The loss of life was estimated by various sources to be between 250 and 365 people


The Powhattan or Powhatan was a United States ship that is best remembered as one of the New Jersey shipwrecks with the greatest loss of life. The number of victims varies, according to sources, between 200 and 365.



The Powhattan was an emigrant ship transport of 598 tons gross. It was registered as a new vessel on February 2, 1837, with W. Graham as owner and D. Griffith as master (captain). The ship was built in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1836–1837 and made several trips across the Atlantic from England, France and the Netherlands to the ports of Baltimore and New York.

About the first of March 1854, the Powhattan sailed from the port of Le Havre, France, destined for New York City. It was carrying more than 200 German emigrants. After encountering a storm off the New Jersey coast it went aground about 5:00 p.m. on April 15, 1854, on the shoals near Harvey Cedars, New Jersey (latitude 39 33 00 North −74 13 00 West ), about six miles south of the Harvey Cedars Lifesaving Station. The ship remained afloat until the following day, April 16, 1854, whereupon it broke apart resulting in the deaths of the entire crew and passengers. At the time of the accident, the ship was commanded by Captain James Meyers (or Myers) of Baltimore. The victims washed onto the beach as far south as Atlantic City, where they were buried in three cemeteries. Fifty-four were interred in a mass grave at Smithville Methodist Church and 45 were buried in Absecon. The majority of the bodies, about 140, washed ashore at Peahala on Long Beach Island. These victims were buried in pauper's graves in the Baptist cemetery in nearby Manahawkin. The cemetery now includes "The Unknown from the Sea" monument erected by the State of New Jersey in 1904 honoring all the victims of the Powhattan shipwreck. The Powhattan disaster served as an impetus for the purchase of the site for the Absecon Lighthouse later in 1854.


Book:
The Deadly Shipwrecks of the Powhattan & New Era on the Jersey Shore
By (author) Timothy R. Dring , By (author) Robert F. Bennett , By (author) Susan Leigh Bennett



In 1854, two horrendous shipwrecks took place off the New Jersey coast. The Powhattan and the New Era were both American-flag sailing packet ships carrying hopeful European immigrants to new lives in America. The ships ran aground on the offshore sandbars along the shoreline between Sandy Hook and Little Egg Inlet, claiming the lives of many passengers and crew. The staggering casualties finally prompted calls from the public and politicians for reforms to the system for rescues that the federal government had in place. The tragedies ultimately resulted in changes that prevented countless similar deaths. This unique and gripping account offers minute-by-minute details of the deadly wrecks, their

Powhattan (1837) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://www.maritimeheritage.org/passengers/Powhattan-April-1854.html
http://mikethehistoryguy.blogspot.com/2012/08/abondon-ship-powhattan-sinking.html

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
16 April 1885 – Launch of Formidable, an Amiral Baudin-class ironclad battleship of the Marine nationale (French Navy)


Formidable was an Amiral Baudin-class ironclad battleship of the Marine nationale (French Navy).



In 1890, Formidable was used to experiment captive balloons usage in the Navy. In May 1891, she became the flagship of the Mediterranean squadron. In 1898, she was transferred to the Atlantic squadron, based in Brest.







The Amiral Baudin class was a type of ironclad battleship of the French Navy. The class comprised two ships; Amiral Baudin and Formidable.

Design and history


Right elevation, deck plan and hull section of the Amiral Baudin class as depicted in Brassey's Naval Annual 1896

The two ships of the class were built to a design similar to that of Amiral Duperré, enlarged and designed from the start to use steam propulsion only. They were upgraded with armoured masts carrying small guns.

Ships

• Amiral Baudin

Builder: Brest
Ordered:
Launched: 5 June 1883
Fate: Broken up in 1910

• Formidable

Builder: Lorient
Ordered: 13 December 1878
Launched: 16 April 1885
Fate: Broken up 1910




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

Amiral Baudin-class ironclad - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
16 April 1927 – Launch of Myōkō (妙高), the lead ship of the four-member Myōkō class of heavy cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN),


Myōkō (妙高) was the lead ship of the four-member Myōkō class of heavy cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), which were active in World War II. She was named after Mount Myōkō in Niigata Prefecture. The other ships of the class were Nachi, Ashigara, and Haguro.


Myōkō in Singapore at the end of World War II

Background
Myōkō was approved under the 1922-1929 Fleet Modernization Program as the first heavy cruiser to be built by Japan within the design constraints imposed by the Washington Naval Treaty, and was the first of the "10,000 ton" cruisers built by any nation. Naval architect Vice-admiral Yuzuru Hiraga was able to keep the design from becoming dangerously top-heavy in its early years by continually rejecting demands from the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff for additional equipment to the upper decks. However, during modifications and rebuildings in the 1930s, the final displacement rose to 15,933 tons, well over the treaty limits.

Design


Launch of Myōkō, April 16, 1927.

The Myōkō class displaced 13,500 t (13,300 long tons), with a hull design based on an enlarged version of the Aoba-class cruiser. Myōkō was 203.8 metres (669 ft) long, with a beam of 19.5 metres (64 ft), draft of 6.36 metres (20.9 ft) and were capable of 35.5 knots (65.7 km/h; 40.9 mph). Propulsion was by 12 Kampon boilers driving four sets of single-impulse geared turbine engines, with four shafts turning three-bladed propellers. The ship was armored with a 102 mm (4 in) side belt, and 35 mm (1 in) armored deck; however, the bridge was not armored.

Myōkō’s main battery was ten 20 cm/50 3rd Year Type naval guns, the heaviest armament of any heavy cruiser in the world at the time, mounted in five twin turrets.[5] Her secondary armament included eight 12.7 cm/40 Type 89 naval guns in four twin mounts on each side, and 12 Type 93 Long Lance torpedoes in four triple launchers positioned below the aircraft deck. Myōkō was also equipped with an aircraft catapult and carried up to three floatplanes for scouting purposes.

Myōkō was laid down at the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal on 25 October 1924, launched and named on 16 April 1927 in a ceremony attended by Emperor Hirohito, and was commissioned into the Imperial Japanese Navy on 31 July 1929. Although the first ship in her class to be laid down, she was the third to be completed.

Myōkō was repeatedly modernized and upgraded throughout her career in order to counter the growing threat of air strikes. She eventually mounted 52 Type 96 25 mm AT/AA Gun guns and two 13.2 mm (0.52 in) AA guns after her final upgrade.



Japanese heavy cruiser Myōkō on trials after second modernization.

The four Myōkō-class cruisers (妙高型巡洋艦 Myōkō-gata jun'yōkan) were built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the late 1920s. Three were lost during World War II.

The ships of this class displaced 11,633 tons (standard), were 201 metres (659 ft) long, and were capable of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph). They carried two aircraft and their main armament was ten 20.3-centimetre (8 in) guns in five twin turrets. At the time, this was the heaviest armament of any cruiser class in the world. They were also the first cruisers the Japanese Navy constructed that exceeded the (10,000 ton) limit set by the Washington Naval Treaty.

Design

Myōkō at anchor, 1931.

The Myōkō class displaced 13,500 t (13,300 long tons), with a hull design similar to the preceeding Aoba-class cruiser. The displacement was a lot more than the designed 2/3 trial displacement of 11,850 t (11,660 long tons), a consequence of the demand to put as much as possible on a hull limited by the Washington Naval Treaty, and were likely unintentional as it adversely affected the seekeeping qualities and endurance of the class. They were 203.8 metres (669 ft) long with a beam of 19.5 metres (64 ft), and a draftof 6.36 metres (20.9 ft).[3] Propulsion was by 12 Kampon boilers driving four sets of single-impulse geared turbine engines, with four shafts turning three-bladed propellers propelling the ship to 35.5 knots (65.7 km/h; 40.9 mph). Design endurance was 8,000 nautical miles but weight issues dropped it to 7,000.

Protection was superior to the preceeding Aoba-class and accounted for about 16 percent of trial displacement. A 102 mm (4 in) side belt that ran along 123 m (404 ft) of the ship's length and 35 mm (1.4 in) armored deck protected the magazine and machinery spaces and 76 mm (3 in) protected the turret barbettes; however, the turrets only had 25mm splinter protection and the bridge was not armored. Following innovations pioneered in Yubari, the armor belt was made an integral part of the hull structure to reduce weight. A torpedo bulkhead consisting of two 29 mm (1.1 in) plates with a total thickness of 58 mm (2.3 in) extended inwards from the bottom of the armor belt and curved to meet the bottom of the double hull. It was calculated that it was sufficient to withstand an explosion of 200 kg (441 lb) of TNT.

As originally constructed, the class was armed with a main battery of ten 200 mm (7.9 in) 20 cm/50 3rd Year Type naval guns mounted in 5 twin turrets, the heaviest armament of any heavy cruiser in the world at the time.[3] Secondary armament initially were 12 cm/45 10th Year Type dual purpose guns in six single mounts. Short-range Anti-aircraft defense was provided by two 7.7mm machine guns. Torpedo armament was unusually heavy compared to the cruisers of other nations at the time, with 12 carried in fixed single launchers inside the hull. They were also equipped with a single aircraft catapult and aircraft for scouting purposes.

Modernizations
The class was modernized two times before the outbreak of the Pacific War. The first modernization program, carried out between 1934-36, was the most extensive. The main armament was upgraded to the 203 mm (8 in) 2 GÔ versions and the 120mm guns replaced with eight 12.7 cm/40 Type 89 dual purpose guns in twin mounts. The single catapult was replaced with an aircraft deck that could accommodate three aircraft and two catapults. The fixed torpedo tubes in the hull were removed and two quadruple launchers carrying the Type 93 Long Lance torpedo were installed under the aircraft deck. The torpedo bulges were extended to increase stability. The modifications added 680 tons of displacement and reduced speed to 34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph). Anti-aircraft protection was increased to eight 13mm machine guns in two quadruple mounts.

The second modernization in 1939 added an additional two quadruple torpedo launchers and enhanced light anti-aircraft armament with the introduction of the Type 96 25mm gun. The aircraft catapults were upgraded to handle heavier floatplanes and the torpedo bulges were enlarged to increase stability.

The class would receive upgrades during the Second World War to reflect the growing threat of aircraft in the form of numerous Type 96 25mm gun and air and surface search radar, Myōkō eventually receiving 52 25mm autocannons in various single, double, and triple mounts. The two aft quadruple torpedo mounts were removed in 1944 to allow for the growing number of anti-aircraft armament

Japanese cruiser Myōkō - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myōkō-class_cruiser

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
16 April 1941– Battle of the Tarigo Convoy
The Italian-German Tarigo convoy is attacked and destroyed by British ships - italian Lampo, Tarigo and Baleno are sunk, as well as HMS Mohawk


The Battle of the Tarigo Convoy (sometimes referred to as the Action off Sfax) was a naval battle of World War II, part of the Battle of the Mediterranean. It was fought on 16 April 1941, between four British and three Italian destroyers, near the Kerkennah Islands off Sfax, in the Tunisian coast. The battle was named after the Italian flagship, the destroyer Luca Tarigo.

Control of the sea between Italy and Libya was heavily disputed as both sides sought to safeguard their own convoys while interdicting those of their opponent. Axis convoys to North Africa supplied the German and Italian armies there, and British attacks were based on Malta, itself dependent upon convoys.



The battle
In mid-April, 1941, a five ship Axis convoy sailed from Naples, en route to Tripoli. It consisted of four German troopships (Adana, Arta, Aegina and Iserlohn) and an Italian ammunition ship (Sabaudia). The convoy was escorted by a Navigatori-class destroyer Luca Tarigo (flagship) and two Folgore-class destroyers, Baleno and Lampo, all commanded by Commander Pietro de Cristofaro. The convoy was delayed by bad weather, sailing in the evening of 13 April.

The British had been alerted to the convoy's sailing by intercepted radio messages. On 15 April, a British Maryland reconnaissance plane sighted and shadowed the convoy. Two Italian SM.79s that were ordered to provide air cover did not arrive, due to the continuing bad weather. During the night of 15–16 April, the convoy was intercepted by the British 14th Destroyer Flotilla (HMS Jervis (flagship), HMS Janus, HMS Nubian, and HMS Mohawk, commanded by Captain Philip Mack). At least three of these destroyers were equipped with radar. The encounter took place as the Italian convoy maneuvered around the shallow waters surrounding the Kerkennah Islands.

By the use of the radar, the British force ambushed the Axis convoy in the dark. As the convoy passed a buoy marking sandbanks, the British opened fire at 2,000 yards (1,800 m) and closed to as near as 50 yards (46 m). Three of the Axis transports were sunk, and the other two beached on the sandbar and became a total loss. Lampo was run aground and later salvaged, while Baleno sank in shallow waters. The flotilla commander, Commander de Cristofaro, on board Tarigo, had his leg shot off and later died of his wounds; he was posthumously awarded the Medaglia d'Oro (the highest Italian military decoration). While listing to port and sinking, Tarigo (now under the command of the only surviving officer, Ensign Ettore Bisagno) launched two torpedoes which hit HMS Mohawk. Mohawk was subsequently scuttled by HMS Jervis, and settled on the sandy bottom at a depth of 12 metres (39 ft). The outcome of the battle marked the end of the relatively unopposed Axis transport to Libya, which they had enjoyed since June 1940.


Destroyer Lampo, sunk in the battle and later salvaged by the Italian Navy

Aftermath
The Italian maritime command in Libya immediately organised a rescue operation which involved the destroyers Malocello, Da Noli, Vivaldi, and Dardo, torpedo boats Centauro, Clio, Partenope, Perseus, and Sirtori, seaplane carrier Orlando, hospital ship Arno, and merchant ships Antonietta Lauro and Capacitas. A total of 1,271 survivors were recovered of about 3,000 men on board.

During April, May, and June 1941, Italian divers, disguised as local fishermen, retrieved documents and other material from the wreck of Mohawk. In 1998, researchers asserted that documents recovered were essential to the later, successful Italian attack on Alexandria.

The destroyer Lampo was salvaged from the shallow water after a four-month effort, and repaired by May 1942. She was sunk again on 30 April 1943. Adana sank several hours after the engagement, while the wreck of Arta was destroyed with explosive charges by the crew of the submarine HMS Upholder on the night of 26 April 1941.

Axis casualties are variously reported as 350, 700, or 1,800 men; British losses were 43.


HMS Mohawk was one of 27 Tribal-class destroyers, of which 16 were built for the British Royal Navy (RN) during the late 1930s.



Description
The Tribals were intended to counter the large destroyers being built abroad and to lend gun support to the existing destroyer flotillas and were thus significantly larger and more heavily armed than the preceding I class. The ships displaced 1,891 long tons (1,921 t) at standard load and 2,519 long tons (2,559 t) at deep load. They had an overall length of 377 feet (114.9 m), a beam of 36 feet 6 inches (11.1 m) and a draughtof 11 feet 3 inches (3.4 m). The destroyers were powered by two Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by three Admiralty three-drum boilers. The turbines developed a total of 44,000 shaft horsepower (33,000 kW) and gave a maximum speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph). The ships carried a maximum of 521 long tons (529 t) of fuel oil which was intended to give them a range of 5,700 nautical miles (10,600 km; 6,600 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). The ships' complement consisted of 190 officers and ratings, although the flotilla leaders carried an extra 20 officers and men for the Captain (D) and his staff.

The primary armament of the Tribal-class destroyers was eight 4.7-inch (120 mm) Mark XII guns in four twin-gun mounts, designated 'A', 'B', 'X', and 'Y' from front to rear. For anti-aircraft (AA) defence, they carried a single quadruple mount for the 40-millimetre (1.6 in) QF two-pounder Mk II "pom-pom" AA gun and two quadruple mounts for the 0.5-inch (12.7 mm) Mark III machine gun. The ships were fitted with a single above-water quadruple mount for 21-inch (533 mm) torpedoes. The Tribals were not intended as anti-submarine ships, but they were provided with ASDIC, one depth charge rack and two throwers for self-defence, although the throwers were not mounted in all ships; Twenty depth charges were the peacetime allotment, but this increased to 30 during wartime.

Wartime modifications
Heavy losses to German air attack during the Norwegian Campaign demonstrated the ineffectiveness of the Tribals' anti-aircraft suite and the RN decided in May 1940 to replace 'X' mount with two QF 4-inch (102 mm) Mark XVI dual-purpose guns in a twin-gun mount. To better control the guns, the existing rangefinder/director was modified to accept a Type 285 gunnery radar as they became available. The number of depth charges was increased to 46 early in the war, and still more were added later. To increase the firing arcs of the AA guns, the rear funnel was shortened and the mainmast was reduced to a short pole mast.

Construction and career
Mohawk was laid down by John I. Thornycroft and Company at Woolston, Hampshire on 16 July 1936, launched on 5 October 1937 and commissioned on 7 September 1938. Mohawk served on convoy duties in the North Sea, and with the 14th Destroyer Flotilla in the Mediterranean where she participated in the Battle of Calabria in July 1940 and the Battle of Cape Matapan in March 1941. Mohawk was struck by two torpedoes fired by the Italian Navigatori-class destroyer Tarigo as she attacked an Italian convoy and sank off the Kerkennah Islands in eastern Tunisia on the early hours of 16 April 1941, with the loss of 43 of her crew.


Lampo – On 16 April 1941 the Italian destroyer Lampo was disabled and grounded during the Battle of the Tarigo Convoy. 141 of her 205 crew were killed. The ship was later refloated and repaired, only to be sunk by aircraft on 30 April 1943.




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Tarigo_Convoy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Mohawk_(F31)
https://web.archive.org/web/20060910011054/http://regiamarina.net/engagements/tarigo/tarigo_us.htm

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
16 April 1943 - Battle of the Cigno Convoy


The Battle of the Cigno Convoy was a naval engagement between two British Royal Navy destroyers and two Italian Regia Marina torpedo boats which took place southeast of Marettimo island, on the early hours of 16 April 1943. The Italian units were escorting the transport ship Belluno, of 4,200 long tons (4,300 t). The convoy also involved the delivery of aviation fuel to Tunisia by one of the close escorts, the torpedo boat Tifone. The British force was fought off by the Italian units, at the cost of one torpedo boat. One of the British destroyers, disabled by Italian gunfire, had to be scuttled after the action.




Italian torpedo boat Cassiopea

Background
The battle was part of the daily aerial, naval and submarine campaign mounted by the Allies against Axis forces, in the spring of 1943, in order to achieve a complete naval and air supremacy around North Africa and Sicily. Their aim was to isolate and defeat the bulk of the German Afrika Corps and the Regio Esercito (Italian Royal Army) in Tunis by strangling their supply lines. The struggle was so fiercely contested that the maritime area between Italy and Africa was dubbed the "route of death".

By April, Axis merchant ship losses reached an average of 3.3 per day. The huge extension of minefields planted by both sides made surface trips against Axis shipping more unlikely than during the Libyan campaign. The supply route for the Regia Marina (Italian Royal Navy) was also shorter but the Allied air supremacy and the attrition of the war made it almost impossible to assemble large convoys. This along with a shortage of fuel, forced the Italians to use small and fast destroyers or torpedo boats to escort their cargo ships heading to Africa. The convoys were only capable of making 8–10 kn (9.2–11.5 mph; 15–19 km/h) in practice, due to the loss of the main high-speed cargo ships by 1943.

The action


The Belluno (former liner Fort de France) in a pre-war photo

One of these small convoys – comprising two Italian Spica-class torpedo boats Cigno and Cassiopea escorting the 4,200 long tons (4,300 t) transport Belluno – sailed from Trapani with munitions bound for Tunis on 15 April. A rearguard escorting force composed of the Ciclone-class torpedo boat Tifone and the Spica-class Climene was scheduled to depart a couple of hours later from Palermo to reinforce the convoy. Additionally, Tifone had the secondary mission of delivering aviation fuel to Bizerte. The fuel was pumped right into her fuel bunkers.

At 02:38 on the 16th, the forward escort spotted two British destroyers approaching – Pakenham and Paladin. This was one of the few night engagements in the Mediterranean in which the British failed to take their opponents by surprise, owing to the full moon. At 2:42 Pakenham's radar picked up the Italian flotilla at a range of 7,200 yards. Aware of the incoming battle, Cigno made light signals to Tifone, whose commander ordered the convoy to reverse course. Belluno turned back to the northeast under the protection of the rear escorting force.

The exchange of fire began at 2:48. The first ship to be hit was Cigno, which was badly damaged but continued firing until sunk at 03:00 by a torpedo launched by Paladin, with the loss of 103 seamen. Pakenham had initially engaged Cigno, which was later fired at by Paladin, while Pakenham turned her attention to Cassiopea.

Cassiopea launched a torpedo at Paladin while attacking Pakenham with gunfire. Paladin successfully evaded the torpedo, but Pakenham's port side took six hits. The destroyer's engine room was seriously damaged and flooded, its pom-pom and searchlight put out of action, and a fire started in the aft section. Several of her crew were scalded by the explosion of a boiler. Nine men were killed, another died of his wounds two days later. Paladin was also damaged by shell splinters. Cassiopea, almost disabled by return fire and in flames, was assisted by her sister ship Climene, which towed her back to Trapani and later to Taranto for repairs.

After trying to reach Malta with an auxiliary engine, Pakenham broke down off Sicily and then Paladin, unable to take her in tow, scuttled her sister ship with a torpedo at 06:30 at the position 37°26′N 12°30′E. The transport Bellunoreached her destination safely some hours later, while Tifone unloaded her precious cargo at Bizerte.


Torpedo boat Cigno


Cigno – An Italian torpedo boat sunk by HMS Paladin and HMS Pakenham on 16 April 1943 in the Battle of the Cigno Convoy. 103 of her crew were killed.

Battle of the Cigno Convoy - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
16 April 1945 - The German Navy's transport ship MV Goya was torpedoed and sunk by the Soviet submarine L-3 on 16 April 1945.
An estimated 6,000-7,000 civilians and German troops died, only 183 were rescued.


Goya was a Norwegian motor freighter. Completed in 1940 for Johan Ludwig Mowinckel Rederi company, she was named after Francisco de Goya. Following the invasion of Norway she was seized by Germany and pressed into service of the Kriegsmarine as a troop transport.

Near the end of the Second World War, the ship took part in Operation Hannibal, the evacuation of German military personnel and civilians from German-held pockets along the Baltic Sea. Loaded with thousands of refugees and Wehrmacht soldiers, the ship was sunk on 16 April 1945 by the Soviet submarine L-3.

Most of the crew and passengers died. The sinking of Goya was one of the biggest single-incident maritime losses of life of the war, and as such one of the largest maritime losses of life in history, with just 183 survivors among roughly 6,700 passengers and crew.


Goya in Akers shipyard in Oslo, shortly before completion

History of the ship
Early service
Goya was originally built as a freighter by the Akers Mekaniske Verksted shipyard in Oslo in 1940. The ship was 146 m (475.72 feet) long and 17.4 m (57.08 feet) wide, had a capacity of 5,230 GRT, and a top speed of 18 knots. Following the German occupation of Norway, the ship was seized by Germany and in 1942 refitted as an auxiliary transport for German U-boats. In 1943 she was turned into a depot ship, but the following year she was moved to Memel (modern Klaipėda), where she was used as a target ship for torpedo practice by the 24th U-boat Flotilla.

In 1945, during Operation Hannibal, Goya was used as both an evacuation ship and Wehrmacht troop transport, moving people from the eastern and southern Baltic to the west. Her commanding officer was Captain Plünnecke. Contrary to popular belief, Goya was not a hospital ship but rather an ordinary troop transport.

Sinking
On 16 April 1945, Goya was sailing from Gotenhafen (Gdynia), around the Hel Peninsula and across the Baltic Sea to Kiel in western Germany. The convoy included Goya, as well as two smaller vessels (Kronenfels and a steam tug Aegir) and two minesweepers as convoy escort: M-256 and M-328. In accordance to Operation Hannibal, organised by the Führer and the head of the Kriegsmarine Karl Dönitz, the Goya was one of more than 1,000 ships commissioned to participate in the evacuation. The ship which was meant to accommodate only 850 crew members but was overcrowded with more than 7,000 eastern European refugees, including 200 men of the 25th Panzer Regiment (part of 7th Panzer Division).

Four hours after leaving the port, close to the southern tip of Hel Peninsula, the convoy was attacked by Soviet bombers. During the air raids one of the bombs hit Goya, but damage was minimal. After rounding the Hel Peninsula and leaving Danzig Bay, several miles north of Cape Rixhöft (Cape Rozewie), the convoy was sighted by the Soviet minelayer submarine L-3, which also carried torpedoes. While Goya was faster than submarines, the convoy was slowed down by the engine problems of the Kronenfels, which also required a 20-minute stop for repairs. At precisely 4 minutes before midnight (local time), the commander of L-3, Captain Vladimir Konovalov, gave the order to fire a spread of four torpedoes. Two of them hit Goya; one struck amidships, the second exploded in the stern, sending an immense plume of fire and smoke bursting into the sky. The impact of the torpedoes was so great that the ship's masts collapsed upon the refugees sleeping on the top deck. Within moments, the ship broke in two and while fire consumed the upper portions of the Goya, it sank in less than four minutes, drowning thousands in their sleep, shortly after midnight.

Casualties
Goya, a freighter without the safety features of a passenger ship or a proper troop transport, sank to a depth of approximately 76 metres (249 ft). As the ship sank in under four minutes, most passengers either went down with her or died of hypothermia in the icy waters of the Baltic Sea.

The exact death toll is difficult to estimate. Authors cite the total number of passengers as "over 6000", 6700, or 7200, although the exact number might never be known, as the evacuated military personnel and civilians boarded the ships in chaotic circumstances and often occupied all available space on ships leaving the German enclaves in East Prussia and occupied Poland. In any case, the death toll exceeded 6000 and most likely reached 7,000, making the sinking one of the worst maritime disasters by number of casualties, exceeded only by Wilhelm Gustloff.

The exact number of survivors is also a matter of dispute. Most place it at around 182 people saved (176 soldiers and 4 civilians), of whom 9 died shortly afterwards. However, other figures are also used, notably 172 and 183.

Discovery of the wreck
The position of the wreck has been known to Polish fishermen for a long time; however, it was not identified and was referred to as "Wreck No. 88" on Polish Navy maps. On 26 August 2002, the wreck was discovered by Polish technical divers Grzegorz Dominik, Michał Porada and Marek Jagodziński, who also salvaged the ship's compass.

Exactly 58 years after the sinking of Goya, the wreck was located on 16 April 2003 by an international expedition under the direction of Ulrich Restemeyer with the help of 3D-Sonar scanning. The position records of Goya's accompanying ships were found to be incorrect, probably made during a hasty escape. During the rediscovery another, smaller, ship had been seen above the wreck, which at first was thought to carry fishermen, but when Restemeyer's Fritz Reuter came close, the ship, seemingly carrying divers, left.

The wreck lies at a depth of 76 meters (249 feet) below the surface of the Baltic Sea and is in remarkably good condition, though covered with nets. Survivors have mourned the tragedy by laying wreaths at the surface to show condolences to the 7,000 people who were killed here.

Shortly after the discovery, the wreck was officially declared a war grave by the Polish Maritime Office in Gdynia. In 2006 the decision was published in an official government gazette of the Pomeranian Voivodeship and thus it is illegal to dive to within 500 metres of the wreck

Operation Hannibal was a German naval operation involving the evacuation by sea of German troops and civilians from Courland, East Prussia, and the Polish Corridor from mid-January to May 1945 as the Red Army advanced during the East Prussian and East Pomeranian Offensives and subsidiary operations.

The Soviet East Prussian Offensive by the Red Army's 3rd Belarusian Front under General Ivan Chernyakhovsky commenced on January 13, 1945 and, with Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky's 2nd Belorussian Front, subsequently cut off East Prussia between January 23 and February 10, 1945. German Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz ordered General Admiral Oskar Kummetz, as Naval High Commander, Baltic, and Rear Admiral Konrad Engelhardt, head of the Kriegsmarine's shipping department, to plan and execute the Rettungsaktion (evacuation operation). Dönitz radioed a message to Gdynia in occupied Poland on January 23, 1945, to begin evacuations to ports outside of the Soviet area of operations. The operation was codenamed Hannibal. Dönitz stated in his post-war memoirs that his aim had been to evacuate as many people as possible away from the Soviets.

Right up until his suicide, Adolf Hitler insisted that the war go on. The flood of military personnel and German civilians eventually turned the operation into one of the largest evacuations by sea in history. Over a period of 15 weeks, somewhere between 494 and 1,080 merchant vessels of all types, including fishing boats and other craft, and utilizing Germany's largest remaining naval units, carried between 800,000 and 900,000 German civilians and 350,000 soldiers across the Baltic Sea to Germany and German-occupied Denmark. This was more than three times the number of people evacuated in the nine-day operation at Dunkirk.


Evacuation boats crossing the Baltic Sea

Operations
Operations commenced on January 23, 1945. On January 30, Wilhelm Gustloff, Hansa, and the whaling factory ship Walter Rau left the harbor at Gdynia in occupied Poland, bound for Kiel. Hansa was forced to return to port with mechanical trouble, but the Gustloff, with more than 10,000 civilians and military personnel aboard, continued. She was torpedoed and sunk by the Soviet submarine S-13 off the Pomeranian coast, with possibly as many as 9,500 fatalities. Those on Walter Rau eventually made it to Eckernförde.

On February 9, Steuben sailed from Pillau with between 3,000 and 4,000 mostly military personnel on board, heading for Swinemünde. She was also sunk by S-13, just after midnight; only 300 survived.

In early March, a task force composed of the heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer accompanied by three destroyers and the Elbing-class torpedo boat T36 were giving cover to a German bridgehead near Wollin. During that operation, naval small craft evacuated over 75,000 soldiers and civilians who had been isolated in that area. They were taken to larger warships and other transports lying offshore. While a number of these transports were sunk, large liners such as Deutschland got through and carried up to 11,000 soldiers and civilians each.

During the night of April 4–5, a flotilla of small boats and landing craft evacuated over 30,000 soldiers and civilians from Oxhöfter Kämpe and took them to Hela. It is estimated that nearly 265,000 people were evacuated from Danzig (modern Gdańsk) to Hela during the month of April alone.

On April 15, another large convoy consisting of four liners and other transports left Hela with over 20,000 soldiers and civilians. On April 16, the Goya was torpedoed and sunk by L-3, with the loss of over 6,000 lives; 183 survived.


Evacuees arriving at a western harbor, already occupied by British troops

Initially, on his becoming Reich President on May 1, Karl Dönitz was determined to continue the war, going so far as to instruct Colonel General Carl Hilpert that combat troops would have priority in evacuation to Germany from the Courland Pocket. It wasn't until the afternoon of May 6, with British troops practically on his doorstep, that he gave up on that plan.

From May 1 to May 8, over 150,000 people were evacuated from the beaches of Hela. At 21:00 on May 8, 1945, the last day of the war, a convoy consisting of 92 large and small vessels left the Latvian city of Liepāja (German: Libau) with 18,000 soldiers and civilians. While several hundred of those who had boarded small ships on the last day of the war or after were captured by Soviet MTBs, evacuations to the west continued for at least a week after all such movements were prohibited by the terms of the German surrender.

Shortages
Shortages plagued the Operation with food and medicine being seen as primary issues for the Nazi administration, causing a trend of elderly and very young children to die on board the rescue ships. Other shortages included only a three-week supply of coal remaining for the sea transport tasks and only a ten-day supply for rail transports to move troops to the front, with fuel being at its lowest levels since the war began.

Losses
In addition to the Goya, Wilhelm Gustloff, and General von Steuben, 158 other merchant vessels were lost during the 15-week course of Operation Hannibal (January 23 – May 8, 1945).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJLXPVCHMOU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_qdQHKa-Pw



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Goya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_qdQHKa-Pw

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
16 April 1947 - the French-registered Liberty ship Grandcamp caught fire and exploded dockside while being loaded with ammonium nitrate at Texas City, Texas.
In what came to be called the Texas City Disaster an estimated 581 people, including all of the ship's crew and 28 firefighters, were lost and about 5,000 injured.


The Texas City disaster was an industrial accident that occurred April 16, 1947 in the Port of Texas City, Texas. It was the deadliest industrial accident in U.S. history, and one of history's largest non-nuclear explosions. Originating with a mid-morning fire on board the French-registered vessel SS Grandcamp (docked in the port), her cargo of approximately 2,200 tons (approximately 2,100 metric tons) of ammonium nitrate detonated, initiating a subsequent chain-reaction of additional fires and explosions in other ships and nearby oil-storage facilities. It killed at least 581 people, including all but one member of the Texas City fire department. The disaster triggered the first ever class action lawsuit against the United States government, under the then-recently enacted Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), on behalf of 8,485 victims.


The SS Wilson B. Keene, destroyed in the disaster's second explosion

Ships
The Grandcamp was a recently re-activated 437-foot-long (133 m) Liberty ship. Originally named the SS Benjamin R. Curtis in Los Angeles in 1942, the ship served in the Pacific theatre and was mothballed in Philadelphia after World War II. In a Cold War gesture, the ship was assigned to the French Line to assist in the rebuilding of Europe. Along with ammonium nitrate—a very common cargo on the high seas—it was carrying small arms ammunition, machinery, and bales of sisal twine on the deck. Another ship in the harbor, the SS High Flyer, was docked about 600 feet (200 m) away from the SS Grandcamp. The High Flyer contained an additional 961 short tons (872 metric tons) of ammonium nitrate and 1,800 short tons (1,600 metric tons) of sulfur. The ammonium nitrate in the two ships and fertilizer in the adjacent warehouse was on its way to farmers in Europe. The Grandcamp had arrived from Houston, where the port authority did not permit loading of ammonium nitrate.

s
The ammonium nitrate, needed either as fertilizer or an explosive, was manufactured in Nebraska and Iowa and shipped to Texas City by rail before being loaded on the Grandcamp. It was manufactured in a patented process, mixed with clay, petrolatum, rosin and paraffin wax to avoid moisture caking. It was also packaged in paper sacks, then transported and stored at temperatures that increased its chemical activity. Longshoremen reported the bags were warm to the touch before loading.

On April 16, 1947, around 8:00 a.m. smoke was spotted in the cargo hold of the Grandcamp while she was still moored. Over the next hour, attempts to extinguish the fire or bring it under control failed as a red glow returned after each effort to douse the fire.

Shortly before 9:00 a.m., the captain ordered his men to steam the hold, a firefighting method where steam is piped in to extinguish fires, to preserve the cargo. This was unlikely to be effective, as ammonium nitrate produces its own oxygen, thus neutralizing the extinguishing properties of steam. The steam may have contributed to the fire by converting the ammonium nitrate to nitrous oxide, while augmenting the already intense heat in the ship's hold.

The fire attracted spectators along the shoreline, who believed they were at a safe distance. Eventually, the steam pressure inside the ship blew the hatches open, and yellow-orange smoke billowed out. This color is typical for nitrogen dioxide fumes. The unusual color of the smoke attracted more spectators. Spectators also noted that the water around the docked ship was boiling from the heat, and the splashing water touching the hull was being vaporized into steam. The cargo hold and deck began to bulge as the pressure of the steam increased inside.

At 9:12 a.m., the ammonium nitrate reached an explosive threshold from the combination of heat and pressure. The vessel then detonated, causing great destruction and damage throughout the port. The tremendous blast sent a 15-foot (4.5 m) wave that was detectable nearly 100 miles (160 km) off the Texas shoreline. The blast leveled nearly 1,000 buildings on land. The Grandcamp explosion destroyed the Monsanto Chemical Company plant and resulted in ignition of refineries and chemical tanks on the waterfront. Falling bales of burning twine from the ship's cargo added to the damage while the Grandcamp's anchor was hurled across the city. Two sightseeing airplanes flying nearby had their wings shorn off,[5] forcing them out of the sky. 10 miles (16 km) away, half of the windows in Galveston were shattered.[6] The explosion blew almost 6,350 short tons (5,760 metric tons) of the ship's steel into the air, some at supersonic speed. Official casualty estimates came to a total of 567, including all the crewmen who remained aboard the Grandcamp. All but one member of the 28-man Texas City volunteer fire department were killed in the initial explosion on the docks while fighting the shipboard fire. With fires raging throughout Texas City, first responders from other areas were initially unable to reach the site of the disaster.

The first explosion ignited ammonium nitrate in the nearby cargo ship High Flyer. The crews spent hours attempting to cut the High Flyer free from her anchor and other obstacles, without success. After smoke had been pouring from the hold for over five hours, and about 15 hours after the explosions aboard the Grandcamp, the High Flyer exploded, demolishing the nearby SS Wilson B. Keene, killing at least two more and increasing the damage to the port and other ships with more shrapnel and burning material. One of the propellers on the High Flyer was blown off and subsequently found nearly a mile inland. It is now part of a memorial park and sits near the anchor of the Grandcamp. The propeller is cracked in several places, and one blade has a large piece missing.

The cause of the initial fire on board the Grandcamp was never determined, but it may have been started by a cigarette discarded the previous day, meaning the ship's cargo had been smouldering throughout the night when it was discovered on the morning of the day of the explosion.


One of Grandcamp's anchors in Texas City Memorial Park

Scale of the disaster
The Texas City disaster is generally considered the worst industrial accident in American history. Witnesses compared the scene to the fairly recent images of the 1943 air raid on Bari and the much larger devastation at Nagasaki. Of the dead, 405 were identified and 63 have never been identified. These were placed in a memorial cemetery in the north part of Texas City near Moses Lake. An additional 113 people were classified as missing, for no identifiable parts were ever found. This figure includes firefighters who were aboard Grandcamp when she exploded. There is some speculation that there may have been hundreds more killed but uncounted, including visiting seamen, non-census laborers and their families, and an untold number of travelers. However, there were some survivors as close as 70 feet (21 m) from the dock. The victims' bodies quickly filled the local morgue, and several bodies were laid out in the local high school's gymnasium for identification by loved ones.


Parking lot 1⁄4 mile (0.40 km) away from the explosion

More than 5,000 people were injured, with 1,784 admitted to 21 area hospitals. More than 500 homes were destroyed and hundreds damaged, leaving 2,000 homeless. The seaport was destroyed, and many businesses were flattened or burned. Over 1,100 vehicles were damaged and 362 freight cars were obliterated—the property damage was estimated at $100 million (equivalent to $1,100,000,000 in 2018).

A 2-short-ton (1.8-metric-ton) anchor of Grandcamp was hurled 1.62 miles (2.61 km) and found in a 10-foot (3 m) crater. It now rests in a memorial park. The other main 5-short-ton (4.5-metric-ton) anchor was hurled 1⁄2mile (800 m) to the entrance of the Texas City Dike, and rests on a "Texas-shaped" memorial at the entrance. Burning wreckage ignited everything within miles, including dozens of oil storage tanks and chemical tanks. The nearby city of Galveston, Texas, was covered with an oily fog which left deposits over every exposed outdoor surface.

Firefighting casualties

Firefighters Memorial

Some of the deaths and damage in Texas City were due to the destruction and subsequent burning of several chemical plants (including Monsanto and Union Carbide), oil storage, and other facilities near the explosions. 27 of the 28 members of Texas City's volunteer fire department and 3 of 4 members of the Texas City Heights Volunteer Fire Department who were on the docks near the burning ship were killed. One firefighter, Fred Dowdy, who had not responded to the initial call, coordinated other firefighters arriving from communities up to 60 miles (100 km) away. Alvin Fussell, sole survivor of the Heights Volunteer fire fighters, was driving to work in Alvin when he heard of the fire on the radio. Eventually 200 firefighters arrived, from as far away as Los Angeles. Fires resulting from the cataclysmic events were still burning a week after the disaster, and the process of body recovery took nearly a month. All four fire engines of Texas City were twisted and burned hulks.

Reactions and rebuilding
The disaster gained attention from the national media. Offers of assistance came in from all over the country. Several funds were established to handle donations, particularly the Texas City Relief Fund, created by the city's mayor Curtis Trahan. One of the largest fundraising efforts for the city and the victims of the disaster was organized by Sam Maceo, one of the two brothers who ran organized crime in Galveston at the time. Maceo organized a large-scale benefit on the island featuring some of the most famous entertainers of the time including Phil Harris, Frank Sinatra, and Ann Sheridan. In the end, the Texas City Relief Fund raised more than $1 million ($11.9 million in today's terms). Payouts for fire insurance claims reached nearly $4 million ($44.4 million in today's terms).

Within days after the disaster, major companies that had lost facilities in the explosions announced plans to rebuild in Texas City and even expand their operations. Some companies implemented policies of retaining all of the hourly workers who had previously worked at destroyed facilities with plans to utilize them in the rebuilding. In all, the expenditures for industrial reconstruction were estimated to have been approximately $100 million ($1.12 billion in today's terms).

Legal case
Hundreds of lawsuits were filed as a result of the disaster. Many of them were combined into Elizabeth Dalehite, et al. v. United States, under the recently enacted Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). On April 13, 1950, the district court found the United States responsible for a litany of negligent acts of omission and commission by 168 named agencies and their representatives in the manufacture, packaging, and labeling of ammonium nitrate, further compounded by errors in transport, storage, loading, fire prevention, and fire suppression, all of which led to the explosions and the subsequent carnage. On June 10, 1952, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned this decision, finding that the United States maintained the right to exercise its own "discretion" in vital national matters. The Supreme Court affirmed that decision (346 U.S. 15, June 8, 1953), in a 4-to-3 opinion, noting that the district court had no jurisdiction under the federal statute to find the U.S. government liable for "negligent planning decisions" which were properly delegated to various departments and agencies. In short, the FTCA clearly exempts "failure to exercise or perform a discretionary function or duty", and the court found that all of the alleged acts in this case were discretionary in nature.

In its dissent, the three justices argued that, under the FTCA, "Congress has defined the tort liability of the government as analogous to that of a private person," i.e., when carrying out duties unrelated to governing. In this case, "a policy adopted in the exercise of an immune discretion was carried out carelessly by those in charge of detail," and that a private person would certainly be held liable for such acts. It should also be noted that a private person is held to a higher standard of care when carrying out "inherently dangerous" acts such as transportation and storage of explosives.

According to Melvin Belli in his book Ready for the Plaintiff! (1965), Congress acted to provide some compensation after the courts refused to do so. The Dalehite decision was eventually "appealed" to Congress, where relief was granted by means of legislation (Public Law 378, 69 Stat. 707 (1955)). When the last claim had been processed in 1957, 1,394 awards, totaling nearly $17,000,000, had been made.

Texas City disaster - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

http://www.local1259iaff.org/disaster.html
https://digital.lib.uh.edu/collection/p15195coll4

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
16 April 1951 - Amphion-class submarine HMS Affray disappeared on a training exercise in the English Channel, killing all 75 crew.
She is the last Royal Navy submarine to have been lost at sea.


HMS Affray, a British Amphion-class submarine, was the last Royal Navy submarine to be lost at sea, on 16 April 1951, with the loss of 75 lives. All vessels of her class were given names beginning with the letter A; she was the only ship of the Royal Navy to be named after a particularly noisy and disorderly fight.

Affray was built in the closing stages of the Second World War. She was one of 16 submarines of her class which were originally designed for use in the Pacific Ocean against Japan.


Affray, last Royal Navy submarine to be lost at sea.

History
Early history
She was laid down at the Cammell Laird yard in Birkenhead on 16 January 1944, launched on 12 April and commissioned on 25 November 1945. Affray and her sisters were state-of-the-art submarines at the time of their launching. They were the culmination of a rapid submarine development driven by the Second World War. Some elements of her design were taken from captured Nazi German U-boats. Her modular style of manufacture and all-welded hull were unique at the time. For work in the Far East she was equipped with refrigeration and two huge air conditioners, and all her accommodation was placed as far away from the engine room as possible. She also had ten torpedo tubes which made her and her class some of the most formidable submarines in the world at that time.

She was sent to the submarine tender HMS Montclare at Rothesay, as part of the 3rd Submarine Flotilla, before joining her sisters HMS Amphion, Astute, Auriga, Aurochs and the submarine tender HMS Adamant in the British Pacific Fleet. The following four years Affray was on travel and took part in exercises all over the globe, visiting such places as Australia, Singapore, Japan, Morocco, South Africa, Pearl Harbor and Bergen.

Modification
On 11 March 1949 she was transferred to the 5th Submarine Flotilla reserve and entered drydock to be retrofitted with a snort mast (snorkel device)—a pneumatically raised and lowered steel tube which, when in the vertical position, worked as an air induction/exhaust emission device. Once vertical it was self-locking and drew air into the submarine at periscope depth, permitting the submarine to charge batteries and run diesels for propulsion below the surface, allowing the sub to remain underwater. At the point where the air intake entered the pressure hull of the submarine there was a bulbous casting—set about half a metre above the hull, this housed the main induction valve. This very important casing was totally concealed and protected by the free flooding hull. The snort mast on the Affray was designed for both air intake and exhaust venting; this was later changed so the snort mast was an air intake only and the exhaust was moved to the rear of the conning tower. The snort mast had a float valve that would close automatically if the submarine dropped below periscope depth. In December of that same year Affray was sent to the Mediterranean; it was recorded during deep dives in this sea that she began "leaking like a sieve" and that the Admiralty class diesels started leaking oil.

In January 1951 Affray was transferred to Portsmouth Naval base to join Reserve group "G". In March she was brought out of reserve and Lieutenant John Blackburn DSC was appointed CO and given the task of bringing her and the new crew up to operational status.


Crew of HMS Affray. Lieutenant John Blackburn (far right) was in command and died in the disaster

Loss
On 16 April 1951, Affray set out on a simulated war mission called Exercise Spring Train with a reduced crew of 50 from 61. They were joined by one sergeant, one corporal, and two marines from the Special Boat Service; a commander (Engineer), a naval instructor, seven lieutenants in the engineering branch, and 13 sub-lieutenants. The last two groups were undergoing essential submarine officer training. This made her complement 75 in total. Her captain's orders were unusually flexible: the Marines were to be dropped off somewhere along the south west coast of England—the captain told the Admiralty he had chosen an isolated beach in Cornwall—come ashore and return under the cover of darkness. The exercise was expected to continue until Affray was due to return to base on 23 April for essential defect repairs including a leak in a battery tank. Affray left her home base at about 1600 hrs, and made normal contact to confirm position, course, speed etc at 2100 hrs, and indicated she was preparing to dive. The last ship to see her on the surface was the 'Co' Class destroyer HMS Contest returning to Portsmouth that evening. As they passed each other, both vessels piped the side. When she missed her 0800 report due the next day she was declared missing and an immediate search began.

The search
Shore stations called Affray all day and HMS Agincourt led a fleet of search vessels which eventually totalled 24 ships from four nations. The Portland 2nd Training Flotilla which included HMS Tintagel Castle, Flint Castle, Hedingham Castle, and ASDIC (sonar) trials vessel Helmsdale, left Portland. Also out of Portland, they were joined by the submarines HMS Scorcher, Scythian, and Sirdar all flying large white flags to distinguish them from the missing Affray. Sirdar later sat on the bottom for six hours while the ASDIC boats familiarised themselves with the identification of a submarine sitting on the bottom. The codeword 'SUBMISS' was sent to all ships in the NATO navies to notify them of the fact the Affray was missing and all other Amphion-class boats were confined to port pending investigation as to what happened to their missing sister. At the time Affray went missing it was such big news in Britain it relegated the first events that culminated in the Suez Crisis to page two of the national newspapers. There was some urgency in the initial 48 hours of the search as it was estimated the crew would not survive much longer than this if they had survived whatever had sunk the submarine in the first place. During the search a Morse code signal (via tapping on the submarine hull) had been received by two of the searching ships, reading "We are trapped on the bottom", but this did not help in locating the sub. After three days the search was slowed down and fewer ships were used to locate Affray. In Britain, the missing submarine was getting a lot of publicity. Rumours abounded of mutiny, and even seizure by the Russians. Meanwhile the Royal Navy continued its search. During the search many strange things happened. The strangest was a massive object found on the bottom by sonar; the search vessel, realising it could not have been Affray owing to its size, continued on—when it returned several days later to establish what it was, it had gone. Another strange event was that the wife of a skipper of one of Affray's sister submarines claiming to have seen a ghost in a dripping wet submarine officer's uniform telling her the location of the sunken sub (this position later turned out to be correct)— she recognised him as an officer who had died during the Second World War, not a crew member of Affray. As there were so many shipwrecks littering the English Channel (161 were found, most of them sunk during the Second World War), it was almost two months before Affray was located.

Discovery
On 14 June the primary search vessel HMS Loch Insh made a sonar contact near Hurds Deep, a deep underwater valley in the English Channel. It was the same location where an oil slick had been sighted at the same time Affray vanished and was in an area that had been searched before. HMS Reclaim arrived several hours later after an excited call from the Captain of Loch Insh who, as an ex-submariner, was convinced this was Affray. A dive was made down to the contact and the diver reported seeing a long white handrail before being dragged along with the flow of the current. Due to the weather being worse than usual the crew decided to use the underwater camera that they had previously been skeptical of. As soon as it was sent down the very first thing the camera picked up were the letters "YARFFA"—Affray backwards. At last she had been found. She was 17 miles (27 km) northwest of Alderney, a lot closer to France than England. She lay slightly to port facing northeast in 86 metres of water, and during the next few months she slid a little more to port where she appears to have rested on a roughly 50 degree angle. Divers could find no evidence of collision or damage to the hull, casing or bridge and it was noted that the search periscope and ANF radar mast were extended, indicating she had been at periscope depth when she foundered. However the snort mast had been broken and lay next to the sub attached by only a thin shred of metal. The hatches and torpedo doors were all shut and the two emergency buoys were still located within the casing, although the after one could not have been released as the hinged wooden gratings retaining it had been wired shut (sadly, it was later discovered that it had been wired shut because it often broke free whilst the sub was underway). It was obvious that no attempt to escape had been made. The only external clue that the crew had done anything to rectify their dilemma was the bow hydroplanes being set to hard arise; the bridge telegraphs also were in the stop position. The snort mast was the only part of the submarine that was recovered, and it was later found to be of faulty manufacture. This may have contributed to the sinking of Affray (see below).

Cause of loss
There have been many reasons put forward as to what caused the submarine to sink. The snort mast was broken and lay next to the hull so initially it was thought that this had broken and flooded the submarine. After a detailed inspection of the snort mast itself, which showed no sign of being struck, it was thought that it was more likely that it had been broken when the sub hit the bottom (the snort mast was later tested and although it was found to be of faulty manufacture, tests indicated it should still have stood up to normal use). A battery explosion has also been suggested as a possibility. The Royal Navy had tried to scan the interior when Affray was first discovered using a primitive radioactive device. This yielded minimal information about the internal condition of the submarine, but it did seem to show that the internal valve for the snort mast was in the open position, which would indicate that at least one compartment flooded and some of the crew had drowned when she first hit the bottom (see USS Squalus for a similar situation). During this attempt one of the (pea-sized) X-ray pods was accidentally lost near the sub and the Admiralty decided against further attempts to establish why Affray sank, mostly due to the various dangers to any divers (one Royal Navy diver lost his life attempting to identify another sunken submarine during the search). A more recent theory put forward by a few experts is that the snort mast dropped below the surface and the float valve (described above) jammed or somehow failed to stop the water entering the sub. With up to 13 tons of water per minute entering the submarine this could have caused her to drop rapidly to the bottom. With a reduced crew and the trainees in the way hampering activities, there would have been a delay in stopping the inflow of water. By the time the valve was shut or the flooding compartment that contained the valve sealed off, there would have been so much water aboard that even blowing all her ballast would not have been sufficient to get her to the surface. Or if the flooded compartment/s included the control room, there would have been no one alive to blow ballast. It is also possible, with trainees on board possibly operating systems, that a problem with the clutch caused the Affray to accelerate into the sea bottom disabling some parts of the submarine that would have helped her rise to the surface.

Re-visited
Almost half a century after the loss, Innes McCartney, an experienced trimix diver with a passion for sunken submarines, obtained the position of Affray from the Ministry of Defence and dived to the sunken submarine. He reported:

As we descended down the shotline, a large dark shape emerged from the gloom. Little ambient light penetrates to 83 metres even on a good day on the edge of Hurd Deep and it was a while before we recognised the unmistakable shape of a submarine. She is a hugely impressive sight, sitting almost totally clear of a hard seabed, offering in excess of 10 metres of relief in places. Our lighting showed that she is now covered with sponges and anemones, offering some welcome colour in the darkness. The first thing that struck me about the wreck was her sheer size. She is one of the largest submarine wrecks in the Channel and a diver is hard pushed to swim all the way around her on a single dive. She lies slightly over on her port side, with her bows pointing Northeast. She is not very heavily netted with only a few craypots caught up around the hull. The wreck is in a very good state of preservation considering the 47 years she has been on the seabed. Her bridge is completely intact with speaking tubes, the projector binnacle and radio aerials all in evidence. On the side of the conning tower her navigation lights are present and the conning tower ladder is still in place. Her periscope shafts stand proudly upright and even the cables that ran between them are still there. Forward of the tower the foredeck is intact with the gun layers hatch clearly visible. I was keen to find the cradle in which the snort mast was located when in use. This was on the port side, aft of the tower and on our second dive on the wreck I found it. The base of the snort mast was still in place, with the area where the mast broke off clearly visible. On a later visit to the Royal Navy Submarine Museum, I saw the base of the section of the mast that was raised. They would still fit together perfectly. The fore and aft hydroplanes are still in position and the external torpedo tubes on the bow are a very impressive sight. Aft of the conning tower, there is evidence of the salvage attempts made by the Royal Navy in 1951. The diving team discovered no other damage to the wreck apart from the missing snort mast. This is in accordance with the findings of the Royal Navy's investigation. She remains a significant and salutary reminder of our naval heritage. Very few divers in the UK have the experience and capability to undertake such a dive. This should ensure that the Affray remains undisturbed for posterity. She is a war grave and the final resting place of 75 naval personnel and this should be respected.

To this day, the crew are entombed in the submarine on the northern edge of Hurd's Deep. As of 2001, under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986, Affray was made a controlled site, making it illegal to dive her without a permit from the Ministry of Defence.


Plaque in Gosport for the submarine Affray, 2012

HMS Affray (P421) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
16 April 1953 – Launch of Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia, also known as the Royal Yacht Britannia, is the former royal yacht of the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, in service from 1954 until 1997.


Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia, also known as the Royal Yacht Britannia, is the former royal yacht of the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, in service from 1954 until 1997. She was the 83rd such vessel since King Charles II acceded to the throne in 1660, and is the second royal yacht to bear the name, the first being the racing cutter built for the Prince of Wales in 1893. During her 43-year career, the yacht travelled more than a million nautical miles around the globe. Now retired from royal service, Britannia is permanently berthed at Ocean Terminal, Leith in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is a popular visitor attraction with over 300,000 visits each year.



Construction
HMY Britannia was built at the shipyard of John Brown & Co. Ltd in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire. She was launched by Queen Elizabeth II on 16 April 1953, and commissioned on 11 January 1954. The ship was designed with three masts: a 133-foot (41 m) foremast, a 139-foot (42 m) mainmast, and a 118-foot (36 m) mizzenmast. The top aerial on the foremast and the top 20 feet (6.1 m) of the mainmast were hinged to allow the ship to pass under bridges.

Britannia was designed to be converted into a hospital ship in time of war,[3] although this capability was never used. In the event of nuclear war, it was intended for the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh to take refuge aboard Britannia off the north-west coast of Scotland.

Crew
The crew of Royal Yachtsmen were volunteers from the general service of the Royal Navy. Officers were appointed for up to two years, while the "yachtsmen" were volunteers and after 365 days' service could be admitted to "The Permanent Royal Yacht Service" as Royal Yachtsmen and served until they chose to leave the Royal Yacht Service or were dismissed for medical or disciplinary reasons. As a result, some served for 20 years or more. The ship also carried a troop of Royal Marines when members of the Royal Family were on board.

History
Britannia sailed on her maiden voyage from Portsmouth to Grand Harbour, Malta, departing on 14 April and arriving on 22 April 1954. She carried Princess Anne and Prince Charles to Malta in order for them to meet the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in Tobruk at the end of the royal couple's Commonwealth Tour. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh embarked on Britannia for the first time in Tobruk on 1 May 1954.


HMY Britannia on the Welland Canal en route to Chicago, 1959

On 20 July 1959, Britannia sailed the newly opened Saint Lawrence Seaway en route to Chicago, where she docked, making the Queen the first Canadian monarch to visit the city. US President Dwight D. Eisenhower was aboard Britannia for part of this cruise; Presidents Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton were welcomed aboard in later years. Charles and Diana, the Prince and Princess of Wales, took their honeymoon cruise on Britannia in 1981. The ship evacuated over 1,000 refugees from the civil war in Aden in 1986.[6] The vessel sailed to Canada in 1991 and made a port of call in Toronto and Kingston, Ontario.

HMY Britannia, when on royal duties, was escorted by a Royal Navy warship. The yacht was a regular sight at Cowes Week in early August and, usually, for the remainder of the month, was home to the Queen and her family for an annual cruise around the islands off the west coast of Scotland (known as the "Western Isles Tour").

During her career as Royal Yacht, Britannia conveyed the Queen, other members of the Royal Family and various dignitaries on 696 foreign visits and 272 visits in British waters. In this time, Britannia steamed 1,087,623 nautical miles (2,014,278 km).

Decommissioning


London, 1997

In 1997, the Conservative government committed itself to replacing the Royal Yacht if re-elected, while the Labour Party refused to disclose its plans for the vessel. After Labour won the general election in May 1997, it announced the vessel was to be retired and no replacement would be built. The previous government had argued that the cost was justified by its role in foreign policy and promoting British interests abroad, particularly through conferences held by British Invisibles, formerly the Committee on Invisible Exports.

It was estimated by the Overseas Trade Board that events held on board the yacht helped raise £3 billion for the treasury between 1991 and 1995 alone.[8] The new government said the expenditure could not be justified given other pressures on the defence budget, from which a replacement vessel would have been funded and maintained. Proposals for the construction of a new royal yacht, perhaps financed through a loan or by the Queen's own funds, have made little headway.

The Royal Yacht's last foreign mission was to convey the last governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten, and the Prince of Wales back from Hong Kong after its handover to the People's Republic of China on 1 July 1997. Britannia was decommissioned on 11 December 1997. The Queen, normally stoic, is reported to have shed a tear at the decommissioning ceremony that was attended by most of the senior members of the Royal Family.



Retirement
Listed as part of the National Historic Fleet, Britannia is a visitor attraction moored in the historic Port of Leith in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is cared for by the Royal Yacht Britannia Trust, a registered charity. There was some controversy over the siting of the ship, with some arguing that she would be better moored on the River Clyde, where she was built, than in Edinburgh, with which the yacht had few links. Her positioning in Leith coincided with a redevelopment of the harbour area, and the advent of Scottish devolution.

Entrance to the yacht is via the Ocean Terminal development, and over 300,000 people visit the Royal Yacht Britannia every year. She is also one of the UK's top evening events venues. On 18 May 2006, the Swiss-born Hollywood actress and first Bond girl, Ursula Andress, celebrated her 70th birthday on board the former royal yacht. On 29 July 2011, a drinks reception was held on board Britannia for Queen Elizabeth's granddaughter Zara Phillips and her husband Mike Tindall to celebrate their upcoming wedding.

A retired Rolls-Royce Phantom V state car, used by the Queen from the early 1960s until 2002, is on display in the purpose-built garage aboard Britannia. The tour of the five decks open to the public includes the Queen's Bedroom, which can be viewed behind a glass wall, and the State Dining and Drawing Rooms, which hosted grand receptions for kings and queens, presidents and prime ministers throughout the world. The Royal Deck Tea Room was added in 2009.

The 1936 racing yacht Bloodhound, once owned by the Queen and Prince Philip, is now berthed alongside Britannia. Bloodhound was one of the most successful ocean-racing yachts ever built and was also the yacht on which both the Prince of Wales and Princess Royal learned to sail. The Royal Yacht Britannia Trust bought Bloodhound in early 2010 and she is the centrepiece of an exhibition focusing on the Royal Family's passion for sailing. Visitors can view Bloodhound from a specially built pontoon when the racing yacht is in port. During July and August, she is berthed in Oban Marina and is available for private charter, as she sails around the islands once visited by the royal family during their annual two-week holiday in the Western Isles of Scotland. During this period, Royal Yachtsmen (Yotties) from Britannia's original crew sail the yacht for the Britannia Trust.

HMY Britannia - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 16 April


1656 – Launch of Cheriton – launched 16 April 1656, renamed HMS Speedwell in 1660


1695 Capture of HMS Hope (70), Cptn. Henry Robinson, by French squadron under Duguay-Trouin in the Channel.

HMS Hope was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the English Royal Navy, launched at Deptford Dockyard in 1678.[1]
Hope was captured in 1695.

A depiction of part of the head and bulkhead of a ship’s head, taken from the starboard side showing the figurehead of a crowned lion with a small figure on its back. On the verso is a very faint offset showing a royal yacht, possibly the ‘Charlotte’, viewed from close on the starboard bow. Inscribed ‘sanwits’ the ship depicted on the recto was named Sandwich on her launching in 1678, built by contract in William Castle's private yard at Deptford in 1678 as a part of the "Thirty Ships" programme of 1677. Van de Velde the Younger made several drawings inscribed with that name. This is an unsigned pencil drawing, rapidly drawn in thick pencil. The king soon realised, however, that it was a possible faux-pas to name only a third-rate after the deceased Earl of Sandwich when two of the new second-rates had been named after other naval and military officers Albemarle and Ossory. Sandwich was therefore reserved as a name for another new second-rate, and this third-rate renamed ‘Hope’.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Hope_(1678)

René Duguay-Trouin - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1707 – Launch of french Amazone 40–42 (launched 16 April 1707 at Brest) – hulked 1741, broken up 1748


1764 – French Saint François de Paule 64 - renamed Aventurier on 16 April 1764. Condemned 1770 and sold 1772.

Sainte Anne class. Four ships built for Genoa in 1956-59 by Ange-Marie Rati, and purchased by France in 1760.
Sainte Anne 64 – captured by the British in 1761 and added to the RN as HMS Sainte Anne, sold in October 1784.
Notre Dame du Rosaire 64 - renamed Hazard on 24 June 1762. Hulked 1771.
Vierge de Santé 64 - renamed Rencontre on 24 June 1762. Condemned 1769 and taken to pieces.
Saint François de Paule 64 - renamed Aventurier on 16 April 1764. Condemned 1770 and sold 1772.


1793 HMS Penelope (36) Cptn, Bartholomew Samuel Rowley, captures the French Goéland (14), Lt. Leissègues de Pennenyum, off Jérémie

The second HMS Penelope (1783) was a 32-gun fifth rate launched in 1783 and broken up 1797.


1801 – Launch of HMS Bold was a 14-gun Archer-class gun-brig of the Royal Navy built at Blackwall Yard

HMS Bold was a 14-gun Archer-class gun-brig of the Royal Navy built at Blackwall Yard. She took part in several minor actions and captured some prizes before she grounded in 1811 and was broken up shortly thereafter.

HMS Bold (1801) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1812 Capture of 9 coasting vessels by HMS Pilot (18), Cptn. John Toup Nicolas, and boats at Policastro.

HMS Pilot (1807) was an 18-gun Cruizer-class brig-sloop launched in 1807 and sold in 1828. She became a whaler, making five whale fishing voyages between 1830 and 1842; she was last listed in 1844.


1850 – Launch of The first USS San Jacinto was an early screw frigate in the United States Navy during the mid-19th century.

The first USS San Jacinto was an early screw frigate in the United States Navy during the mid-19th century. She was named for the San Jacinto River, site of the Battle of San Jacinto during the Texas Revolution. She is perhaps best known for her role in the Trent Affair of 1861.
San Jacinto was laid down by the New York Navy Yard in August 1847, and launched on 16 April 1850. She was sponsored by Commander Charles H. Bell, Executive Officer of the New York Navy Yard.


The San Jacinto (right) stops the RMS Trent

USS San Jacinto (1850) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1863 – American Civil War: During the Vicksburg Campaign, gunboats commanded by acting Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter run downriver past Confederate artillery batteries at Vicksburg.

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


1869 – Launch of Germania, was a German schooner built in Geestemünde, Bremerhaven, in 1869

The Germania was a German schooner built in Geestemünde, Bremerhaven, in 1869.
Fitted with an auxiliary steam engine, it was especially built as the main research ship of the Second German North Polar Expedition (1869/70) that explored Northeastern Greenland. The captain of the ship was Carl Koldewey, leader of the expedition. Emperor Wilhelm I was present at the ship launching ceremony on 16 April 1869. The smaller schooner Hansa —not fitted with an auxiliary engine— was the convoy and supply ship of the Germania during the expedition.

During the wintering period the Hansa was crushed by pack ice and sank. However, the Germania managed to force its way through the ice, returning to Bremerhaven on 11 September 1870.

Germania took part in a further two Arctic expeditions, being refitted as a whaler in 1884. This former research ship ended its career after it ran aground during a hurricane on 2 October 1891.

Germania (ship) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1916 - HS Tirol – the Austrio-Hungarian hospital ship struck a mine off Durazzo killing 40. The ship was repaired and returned to service on 7 October 1916


1942 - USS Tambor (SS 198) sinks the Japanese stores ship Kitami Maru 50 miles southeast of Kavieng, New Ireland.


1944 - USS Gandy (DE 764) intentionally rams German submarine U 550 off Nantucket Shoals in Atlantic Ocean. USS Joyce (DE 317) and USS Peterson (DE 152) join Gandy and deploy depth charges and gunfire to sink the submarine.


1944 - USS Wisconsin (BB 64) is commissioned and joins the Pacific Fleet, providing gunfire support for the Battle for Iwo Jima and the Okinawa Campaign.


1945 - After three days of US naval and aerial bombardment and Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) beach reconnaissance during the Okinawa Campaign, the 77th Army Division lands on Ie Shima.
Kamikaza attacks take their toll on Navy ships, sinking USS Pringle (DD-477) and damaging 10 other ships.


USS Pringle (DD-477) December 1942, with unique catapult and aircraft, and 5 inch (127 mm) guns trained to port.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Pringle_(DD-477)


1991 16. April 1991 - Griechenland: Auf der griechischen Fähre "Rhodos" bricht auf der Fahrt vom Athener Hafen zur Insel Rhodos im Maschinenraum ein Feuer aus. Die 641 Passagiere und ein Teil der 99 Besatzungsmitglieder werden von anderen Schiffen aufgenommen.


2002 16. April 2002 - Ärmelkanal, zwischen Frankreich und Großbritannien: am Morgen des 16.2. brach auf der englischen 16,947 Brutto-Register-Tonnen Fähre "Southern Carrier", unterwegs vom südenglischen Hafen Southhampton nach Vigo in Nordwestspanien, ein Feuer im Maschinenraum aus. Wenig später trieb der Autotransporter antriebslos und manövrierunfähig im dicht befahrenen Seegebiet. zwischen England und Frankreich zu treiben begann. Einem französischen Schlepper gelang es Stunden nach der Havarie, die in Brand geratene RoRo-Fähre "Southern Carrier" in Schlepp zu nehmen und in den Hafen von Brest zu bringen. Menschen kamen bei dem Feuer nicht zu Schaden.


2003 - 361 - On 16 April 2003 the entire crew of 70 on the Chinese submarine 361 were killed when the diesel engine failed to shut down while the boat was submerged and used up all the oxygen on board during a training exercise.

The submarine hull number No. 361 named The Great Wall #61 (长城61号) was a Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy Type-035AIP (ES5E variant) (NATO reporting name Ming III) conventional diesel/electric submarine. In April 2003, during an exercise in the Yellow Sea between North Korea and China's Shandong Province, the vessel suffered a mechanical failure that killed all 70 crew members on board. It was one of China's worst peacetime military disasters. The PLA Navy's Commander Shi Yunsheng and Political Commissar Yang Huaiqing were both dismissed as a result of the accident.

Chinese submarine 361 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

2014 - Sewol – The South Korean ferry capsized on 16 April 2014. It was carrying 476 people, mostly secondary school students from Ansan's Danwon High School who were travelling from Incheon to Jeju.

MV Sewol (Hangul: 세월호, Hanja:世越號, Beyond the World) was a South Korean vehicle-passenger ferry, built and previously operated in Japan. It operated between Incheon and Jeju. On 16 April 2014, Sewol capsized and sank with the loss of 304 passengers and crew.


MV Sewol at Incheon in March 2014

MV Sewol - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
17 April 1683 – Launch of HMS Neptune, a 90-gun second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy.
She was built under the 1677 "Thirty Great Ships" Programme at Deptford Dockyard.
One of the old ladies - with 2 Re-launches she served more than 100 years


HMS Neptune was a 90-gun second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was built under the 1677 "Thirty Great Ships" Programme and launched in 1683 at Deptford Dockyard.






Action of 18 October 1782 between HMS Torbay and London, and the 74-gun Scipion. Torbay is behind London

Naval career
She was first commissioned in 1690 under Captain Thomas Gardiner, as the flagship of Vice-Admiral George Rooke. In that capacity she took part in the Battle of Barfleur in May 1692.

She underwent her first rebuild at William Johnson's yard at Blackwall Yard, from where she was relaunched on 6 May 1710 as a 90-gun second-rate built to the 1706 Establishment. She was recommissioned on 3 February 1711 under Capt. Francis Wyvell, but paid off into reserve in July of that year and saw no service.

On 18 August 1724 Neptune was ordered to be taken to pieces and rebuilt as a 90-gun second-rate to the 1719 Establishment at Woolwich Dockyard, from where she was relaunched on 15 October 1730. She was cut down to a 74-gun third rate at Chatham Dockyard from 1747 to April 1749, and was renamed HMS Torbay on 23 August 1750, the previous ship bearing this name having been broken up in 1749.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth for Torbay (1750), as cut down to a 74-gun Third Rate, from a 90-gun Second Rate, three-decker after her 'Great Repair' at Chatham Dockyard. Torbay, when a 90-gun ship, was originally named 'Neptune' (1730), but after being razeed was renamed on 23 August 1750


Capture of Le Roche
On 28 November 1756, Torbay engaged and defeated the 22-gun French privateer La Roche off the southwest coast of Wales. All but two of the French crew were brought aboard the British vessel as prisoners; the remaining two men were left on La Roche with eight of Torbay's crew to help sail her into an English port as a prize. Torbay and La Roche then parted company, with the prize vessel heading for the port city of Milford Haven. On the second night of that voyage the two Frenchmen broke out of their cabin and attacked the British sailors, killing one and wounding the others. The seven surviving British men surrendered and were imprisoned on the steerage deck while the French attempted to turn the vessel back towards the French coast.

By the following morning the British had developed a plan for escape; with some effort a hole was made in the hull and one sailor climbed the outside of the ship, re-entering at the gundeck. Obtaining a musket, he shot dead one of the French; the other leapt overboard but was persuaded to return to the vessel on a promise of being spared. Again in command of the vessel, the Torbay crewmembers then reset course for Milford Haven. On 3 December they fell in with HMS Lyme, whose crew assisted in bringing the captured ship into port ten days later.

Fate
Torbay was sold at Portsmouth to be taken to pieces on 17 August 1784.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Neptune_(1683)
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-354804;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=T

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
17 April 1690 – Launch of HMS Roebuck, a fifth-rate warship in the Royal Navy which, under the command of William Dampier, carried the first English scientific expedition to Australia in 1699


HMS Roebuck was a fifth-rate warship in the Royal Navy which, under the command of William Dampier, carried the first English scientific expedition to Australia in 1699. The wreck of the ship has since been located by a team from the Western Australian Maritime Museum at a site on the coast of Ascension Island where it foundered more than 300 years ago.





Construction and early service
Roebuck was built by Snellgrove at Wapping, East London, and launched on 17 April 1690 during the reign of William III and Mary II as one of 12 purpose-built fireships. It carried 8 guns, was 292 tons (builder's measure), 96 ft (29 m) long, and 25.5 ft (8 m) wide. In June 1690 Roebuck was present at the Battle of Beachy Head.

Around 1695 the ship was upgraded and listed as a 26-gun fifth-rate. Though plans and models of similar ships survive, being a relatively lowly vessel at its time of construction, no contemporary plans of Roebuck itself have been found. This lack of detail has resulted in considerable disagreement until recently about the vessel's appearance. As a result, only notional images have appeared in artwork and on postage stamps.

Voyage of discovery

William Dampier, Roebuck's captain, tasked with surveying the coast of New Holland, by Thomas Murray. National Portrait Gallery, London.

After a period of relative obscurity, Roebuck was placed under the command of William Dampier in July 1698. This anomalous appointment of a former buccaneer to the command of one of King William's ships is explained by Dampier’s growing reputation as he travelled widely and exhibited the famous tattooed Prince Jeoly and his mother. Purchased during his first circumnavigation, they had been described in a broadsheet from 1691–1692 as a "just wonder of the age". This popularity translated into greater recognition among academics, seafarers, politicians and royalty following publication of his remarkable travelogue, A New Voyage Round the World, in 1697.

His acquaintance with influential men such as the recently retired naval administrator Samuel Pepys is evident from the following entry of the diarist John Evelyn on 16 August 1698: "I dined with Mr Pepys, where was Captain Dampier, who had been a famous buccaneer, had brought hither the painted prince Job [Jeoly], and printed a relation of his very strange adventure. ... He was now going abroad again by the king’s encouragement, who furnished a ship of 290 tons. He seemed a more modest man than one would imagine by relation of the crew he had associated with". Roebuck, the naval ship referred to here, was a replacement for Jolly Prize which Dampier found totally unsuited for his plans to search for Terra Australis and to examine the then uncharted eastern coast of New Holland (Australia) via Cape Horn, a notoriously difficult and dangerous route.

Outbound to Terra Australis


Map of discoveries made on Roebuck's voyage in 1699 includes the island of Nova Britannia

Having made Roebuck ready too late in the season to take his preferred route via Cape Horn, Dampier sailed from England on 14 January 1699 for the Cape of Good Hope. Trouble, centring on acrimony between Dampier and his first lieutenant, George Fisher, divided the ship. They were apparently "behaving equally as boors without a spark of dignity or self-respect ... alternately drinking together, back-biting one another to their confidants, and breaking into personal abuse and even fisticuffs in presence of the crew". A state of indiscipline ensued, and en route Fisher was caned by Dampier, clapped in irons and confined to his quarters. The crew was divided on the matter and, concerned at the possibility of mutiny, Dampier had Fisher sent ashore at Bahia in Brazil, where he was imprisoned for a time before making his way home.

At the Cape of Good Hope, Dampier found the variation in compass readings there anomalous, stating in his journal "These things, I confess, did puzzle me—indeed were most shocking to me." Admiral William Henry Smyth, subsequently made the comment that, "though the local magnetic attraction in ships had fallen under the notice of seamen, he [Dampier] was among the first to lead the way to its investigation, since the facts that 'stumbled' him at the Cape of Good Hope, respecting the variations of the compass, excited the mind of [Matthew] Flinders, his ardent admirer, to study the anomaly."

Continuing on after leaving the Cape of Good Hope, Dampier first made landfall in August 1699 on the Australian continent at the place he subsequently named Shark Bay in Western Australia. There and at places further north such as Lagrange Bay, just south of what is now known as Broome in Roebuck Bay, he described and collected many specimens, including shells, subsequently earning the title "Australia's first natural historian". After calling in to Timor in November, Dampier sailed to the north-west cape of New Guinea in the vicinity of present-day Selat Dampier, West Papua. There he sent his men ashore at a "small woody island" he called Cockle Island. His men brought back many giant clam shells. They then sailed around the northern part of New Guinea, naming Nova Britannia. The passage between those two islands, Dampier Strait, was subsequently named after him.

Return voyage and shipwreck

Ascension Island, as Dampier would have seen it, approaching from the south in Roebuck

Concerned at the condition of his vessel, which was being eaten away by shipworms, Dampier abandoned his plan to proceed further south to explore the eastern Australian coast in March 1700, leaving its exploration to Lieutenant James Cook over half a century later. After sailing back into the Indian Ocean, Dampier headed off south in search of the elusive Tryal Rocks, scene of the loss of the English East India Company ship Tryall in 1622, the first known European ship to be lost on the Australian coast. Leaking badly and unable to continue in the search, Roebuck headed to Batavia, the headquarters of the Dutch East India Company and the centre of a vast trading network with China, Japan, India and Europe. After effecting some repairs, they left Batavia, arriving back at the Cape of Good Hope by the end of December.

In mid-January 1701 they left, and after staying at St Helena until 13 February, they proceeded to Ascension Island, which they sighted on 21 February. While there, the ship sprang a very serious leak in the fourth row of planking from the keel, which proved impossible to stem. When a sea breeze began to blow, they ran in toward the shore but were forced to anchor in 7 fathoms or 42 ft (13 m) when the breeze died. After carrying a small anchor ashore on the night of 23 February, the crew warped the vessel in until it grounded in 3.5 fathoms or 21 ft (6 m) of water. The crew then left the ship after saving some items, including Dampier’s journals and various specimens. After finding a spring of fresh water inland, they remained alive, though suffering many privations.

On 8 April four East India Company ships entered the bay in which Roebuck was lost and took them on board. One of the vessels, Hastings, elected to recover an anchor and cable, apparently the one used to warp Roebuck ashore. This proved successful, but a grappling anchor was lost. The ships then transported Dampier and his crew home, where he published an account of the voyage in 1703 entitled A Voyage to New Holland—again to great acclaim. Though this further cemented his reputation as an explorer, at the court martial into the loss of his ship Dampier was roundly criticised for his treatment of Fisher, destroying any further attempt at official patronage. He later gave the plant collections he saved from the wreck to the Royal Society, and they eventually found their way to the University of Oxford.

Search for the wreck
Though made famous by its association with Dampier, the position of the wreck became lost over time, in part because early documents provided conflicting evidence as to its whereabouts. Dampier himself added to the confusion when he wrote to the Earl of Pembroke, Lord President of the Council, indicating that his ship may have drifted back out to sea: "The world is apt to judge of every thing by the success; and whoever has ill fortune will hardly be allowed a good name. This, my Lord, was my unhappiness in my late expedition in Roebuck, which foundered through perfect age near the island of Ascension". Many expeditions went in search of the wreck after the advent of SCUBA diving, but all proved unsuccessful.

Wreck site located

Clarence Bay, Ascension Island, where the wreck of Roebuck was discovered in 2001

In 2000 the Western Australian Maritime Museum in Fremantle commissioned a search of the primary sources in England. The many sources located and copied for the museum suggested that the wreck of Roebuck lay in the shallows of Clarence Bay on the north-west coast of Ascension Island. Others had already searched in that location but had been stymied by the size of the bay and an extensive cover of sand.

By March 2001, based on their extensive study, the museum team believed they had a fair idea of Roebuck's position in February 1701 when the ship sank. Arriving at the island, and anchoring over the approximate position in the bay where they believed the grounding site to be, they experienced the same unusually sustained sea breeze that Dampier had described some 300 years earlier. When they examined the seabed, they discovered that a large and very recent movement of sand from the bay had exposed rock and other formations not seen by local divers in the 40 years since diving first began on the island.

Conducting a search from the beach out to the 3.5 fathoms of water described by Dampier, divers soon located an exposed bell. They then located a large clam shell in a cleft in the reef on the seabed south of the bell, and a heavily concreted grapnel anchor in shallower water about 328 ft (100 m) south of the bell and 26 ft (8 m) from shore. In a very turbulent location, two slightly tapering iron objects very similar to the remains of heavily eroded cannon were seen. These lay in the wave line, and were firmly wedged amongst the rocks. All were left in situ.

Being loose and potentially endangered objects, the island's administrator subsequently requested that the museum team remove the clam and the bell in association with the Ascension Island and Royal Air Force dive clubs. On retrieval, the bell was found to carry a broad arrow, confirming its Royal Navy origin. Of all the naval vessels lost on the Island, only Roebuck had not been found up to that time. Sent to the Mary Rose Laboratories in Portsmouth for treatment and replication, the original objects were returned to the island for exhibition. The replicas were made for display at the Western Australian Maritime Museum.

Finds analyzed

Giant clam shell of the same genus native to the Indo-Pacific found by divers at the Roebuck wreck site

Soon after the bell and clam were found, a long-time island resident and diver showed the Australian museum team an ornate blue-and-white ceramic lid and an intact brown earthenware pot that he had found several weeks earlier projecting from the seabed. These have since proved consistent with Roebuck's time and travels, with the jar probably produced at kilns in Guangdong Province, China. The blue-and-white jar lid and the shards are products of the Jingdezhen kilns, Jiangxi Province, China, with Batavia (now Jakarta) being the most likely trade source. The clam was of the genus Tridacna and possibly the species Tridacna squamosa from the tropical and sub-tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific as far south as Shark Bay. A few weeks after the team left, Clarence Bay began to return to its normal configuration, and within a few months the site was again totally covered by sand.

A maritime historian assisted the museum in producing a detailed analysis of Roebuck, including line drawings and descriptions. Crucial to this process was the location of the long-lost contract for the building of the ship at the National Archives (United Kingdom). Based on that study, an experienced model-maker constructed a 1:24 scale model, which was donated to the Western Australian Museum and put on display in Fremantle with a backdrop of the vessel’s sail-plan.

HMS Roebuck (1690) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://www.academia.edu/15763594/His_Majestys_Ship_Roebuck_1690-1701_

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
17 April 1780 - The Battle of Martinique, also known as the Combat de la Dominique, took place on 17 April 1780 during the American Revolutionary War in the West Indies between the British Royal Navy and the French Navy


The Battle of Martinique, also known as the Combat de la Dominique, took place on 17 April 1780 during the American Revolutionary War in the West Indies between the British Royal Navy and the French Navy.




Combat de la Dominique, 17 Avril 1780, by Auguste Louis de Rossel de Cercy (1736–1804)

Origins
In January 1780, the Comte de Guichen was sent to the French base at Martinique in the West Indies with a large squadron. He was opposed by the British admiral Sir George Rodney, who reached the British base at St. Lucia in late March.

Guichen sailed from Martinique on 13 April 1780, with a fleet of 23 ships of the line and 3,000 troops. His objective was to draw Rodney out, and then withdraw and make an attack on either St. Lucia or the British base at Barbados. Rodney sailed out at once upon being informed that Guichen had sailed. On 16 April, his sentinels spotted Guichen on the leeward side of Martinique, beating against the wind. Rodney gave chase, but was unable to close in time for battle that day. Rodney maintained contact with Guichen and held his line throughout the night.

Battle
The fleets began manoeuvring for the advantage of the weather gage on the morning of 17 April. By 8:45, Rodney had reached a position to the windward of Guichen, in a relatively close formation. To escape the danger to his rear, Guichen ordered his line to wear and sail to the north, stringing out the line in the process. This forced Rodney to go through another series of manoeuvres to regain his position, which he did by late morning. At this point, he hoped to engage the rear and centre of Guichen's elongated line, concentrating his power to maximize damage there before Guichen's van could join the action. The signal that Rodney issued was for each ship to engage the appropriate ship it was paired with according to the disposition of the two fleets. He issued this signal with the understanding that his captains would execute it in the context of signals given earlier in the day that the enemy's rear was the target of the attack.

Unfortunately for the British, Robert Carkett (the commander of the lead ship HMS Stirling Castle) either misunderstood the signal or had forgotten the earlier one, and moved ahead to engage Guichen's van; he was followed by the rest of Rodney's fleet, and the two lines ended up engaging ship to ship.


View of the battle by Thomas Luny.

Thanks to the orderly fashion in which De Guichen's subordinate squadron-commanders dealt with the crisis, especially the third-in-command Comte de Grasse's rapid closing-up of the battle-line, Guichen managed to extricate himself from a difficult situation and instead turn a narrow defeat to a drawn battle, although his and Marquis de Bouillé's objective to attack and seize Jamaica was thwarted.

During the battle, both Rodney's Sandwich and Guichen's Couronne were temporarily cut off from their respective fleets and bore the brunt of the battle.

Aftermath
Rodney felt that the failure to properly attack the French rear cost the British an opportunity for a significant victory, and assessed blame to Carkett and others who did not properly follow his signals. Others assigned the blame to Rodney, for failing to inform his captains in advance of his intended tactics.

David Hannay, the author of the biography on the Comte de Guichen in the 11th edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, stated that Guichen had shown himself very skillful in handling a fleet throughout the campaign, and although there was no marked success, he had at least prevented the British admiral from doing any harm to the French islands in the Antilles.

Both fleets avoided further action prior to the hurricane season. Guichen returned to France with many of his damaged ships in August, and Rodney sailed for New York.




Scale: 1:48. A contemporary full hull model of the ‘Centurion’ (1774), a 50-gun small two-decker. The model is decked and rests on a slipway. It has the name ‘Centurion’ painted on the stern. The figurehead depicts a centurion wearing a helmet. The ‘Centurion’ was built at Woolwich by Barnard & Co. and designed by Sir T. Slade. It measured 146 feet along the gun deck by 40 feet in the beam. Between 1775 and 1780, it served in the Caribbean taking part in the Battle of Martinique (1780). It then returned home and had its hull coppered – a relatively new technique employed to protect the underwater hull from the attack of marine boring worms, molluscs and weed growth. Between 1795 and 1805 the ‘Centurion’ served in the East Indies taking part in the Capture of Ceylon (1795) and was involved in Red Sea operations around Suez (1799–1800). It was broken up at Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1825 having been a receiving ship there since 1809.

Order of battle

British fleet


French fleet




A French ship of the line at the Battle of Martinique


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Martinique_(1780)

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
17 April 1797 – Sir Ralph Abercromby attacks San Juan, Puerto Rico, in what would be one of the largest invasions of the Spanish territories in the Americas.


The Battle of San Juan was a 1797 ill-fated British assault on the Spanish colonial port city of San Juan in Puerto Rico. The attack was carried out facing the historic town of Miramar.




The Fortín de San Gerónimo was key to the defense of San Juan.

Background
Spain aligned herself with France by signing the Second Treaty of San Ildefonso in 1796. Britain then targeted both country's Caribbean colonies. Admiral Sir Henry Harvey's fleet picked up Sir Ralph Abercromby's army in Barbados. Together, they captured Trinidad from the Spanish, before heading for San Juan.

Battle
On 17 April 1797, Lieutenant-General Sir Ralph Abercromby fleet of 68 vessels appeared offshore Puerto Rico with a force of 7,000, which included German auxiliaries and French émigrés. Two frigates then blocked San Juan harbor.

The governor, Field Marshal Don Ramón de Castro y Gutiérrez, had already mobilized his 4000 militia and 200 Spanish garrison troops, which combined with 300 French privateers, 2000 armed peasantry, and paroled prisoners, brought his troop strength almost equal to the British. He also had 376 cannon, 35 mortars, 4 howitzers and 3 swivel guns amongst the island's defenses.

Abercromby landed 3000 troops on 18 April and took control of Cangrejos. Castro moved his forces to Escambrón and the Spanish First Line of Defense.

On 21 April, the British started a 7-day artillery duel with Spanish forts of San Gerónimo and San Antonio, located at the Boquerón Inlet. At the same time, the puertorriqueños put pressure on the British positions, the Spanish recaptured Martín Peña Bridge, while militia Sergeant Francisco Díaz raided behind British lines, bringing back prisoners. Then, on the 29th and 30th, the Spanish crossed the Boquerón Inlet, and forced the British to pull back.

Aftermath
On 1 May, the Spanish learned the British were gone, leaving behind arms, stores and ammunition.


San Gerónimo

Sir Ralph Abercromby KB (sometimes spelt Abercrombie) (7 October 1734 – 28 March 1801) was a Scottish soldier and politician. He rose to the rank of lieutenant-general in the British Army, was noted for his services during the Napoleonic Wars, and served as Commander-in-Chief, Ireland.

Abercromby twice served as MP for Clackmannanshire, and he was appointed Governor of Trinidad.





https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_San_Juan_(1797)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Abercromby