Naval/Maritime History 25th of April - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
17 April 1798 – Launch of HMS Pheasant, an 18-gun Merlin class sloop of the Royal Navy


HMS Pheasant was an 18-gun Merlin class sloop of the Royal Navy.



French Revolutionary Wars
She was built in 1798 for the Royal Navy at a cost of £8,087 (equivalent to £836,200 in 2018).

From 1798 to 1803 she was based in Halifax, Nova Scotia.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth for Pheasant (1798), both 16-gun Ship Sloops building at Shoreham by Mr Edwards. Signed by John Henslow [Surveyor of the Navy, 1784-1806] and William Rule [Surveyor of the Navy, 1793-1813]

Napoleonic Wars
In 1805 she was based at the Leeward Island Station. In 1807 she was involved in the Battle of Montevideo (1807) in the Rio de la Plata. On 6 January 1807 Pheasant was in company with Leda and Leda at the capture of Ann, Denning, master.

In 1808 she was stationed with the Channel Fleet. On 8 May she captured the French privateer vessel Tropard, formerly Flying Fish. Then on 20 October 1808, Pheasant was in company when Brilliant captured and destroyed the French privateer Ponte du Jour.

On 4 November 1809 Pheasant recaptured Traveller.[5] On 16 November 1809 she re-captured the brig Trust, in company with Rhin.

Later on 3 February 1810, she captured the privateer lugger Comte De Hunebourg from St Malo. Pheasant, under the command of Captain John Palmer, lured the privateer close, with the privateer firing the first shot. The two vessels exchanged fire but it took a four-hour chase before Pheasant was able to make the capture. Comte De Hunebourg, of about 80 tons (bm), had been armed with 14 guns, which she threw overboard during the chase, and had a crew of 53 men. She was three days out of Isle of Bas on her second cruise, but had not yet captured anything.

In October Pheasant recaptured London, of London, which a French privateer had taken. London arrived in Plymouth on 19 October. Pheasant also recaptured Elizabeth, Aiken, master, which had been captured while sailing from Lisbon to Bristol. She arrived in Plymouth on 19 September.

On 17 June 1811, Pheasant captured Héros.

On 1 May 1812 Pheasant, with Semiramis and Scylla, was involved in the detention of the American ship Jenny.

Later in 1812 Pheasant was repaired and refitted in Plymouth at a cost of £11,587 (equivalent to £758,050 in 2018). As soon as she was seaworthy, she was back in action and on 14 December 1812 captured the American schooner Hope.

On 12 March 1813, Pheasant and Warspite captured the schooner William, a U.S. privateer. On 23 April she was in company with Whiting and Scylla. After a chase of over 100 miles, the British vessels captured the American 8-gun brig Fox, which threw two of her guns overboard during the chase. Fox and her 29-man crew was underway from Bordeaux to Philadelphia.

Post-war


Memorial to Lieutenant James Still in St Mary's Church, Nottingham. Still, of HMS Pheasant, died of yellow feverin 1821

From 1814 to 1818 Pheasant was based in the Channel Fleet. In 1819 she joined the Africa Station patrols off the coast of Africa near Sierra Leone. On 30 July she detained the Portuguese slave trader Nova Felicidade. On 6 October she stopped the Portuguese slave trader Vulcano. There were several deaths of crew due to an outbreak of yellow fever.

On 25 July 1821, with Myrmidon, she stopped the Portuguese slave vessel Adelaide, with 232 slaves on board.

Commanders

• Henry Carew 1800-1804
• Robert Paul 1804-1805
• Robert Henderson 1805-1806
• John Palmer 1806-1814
• Edmund Waller 1814-1818
• Benedictus Marwood Kelly 1818-1819
• Douglas Clavering 1821-1823

Fate
She was sold on 11 July 1827 for £1,250 (equivalent to £106,300 in 2018). to John Small Sedger, Rotherhithe for breaking.

An image of HMS Pheasant appears on a 10p postage stamp of the Ascension Islands.


sistership HMS Merlin on a stamp of 1949, celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of St. George's Caye


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the framing profile (disposition) for Merlin (1798) and Pheasant (1798), both 16-gun Ship Sloops building by contract in private yards.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the quarterdeck, forecastle, inboard profile and upper deck for Merlin (1798) and Pheasant (1798), both 16-gun Ship Sloops building by contract in private yards. The plan includes an annotation referring to the fitting of an iron tiller instead of wood to the Pheasant per Warrant dated 17 October 1818. The Pheasant was at Plymouth Dockyard for a Very Small Repair and fitted between September to December 1818


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the quarterdeck, forecastle, inboard profile and upper deck for Merlin (1798) and Pheasant (1798), both 16-gun Ship Sloops building by contract in private yards


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the stern board outline for Merlin (1796) and Pheasant (1798), both 16-gun Ship Sloop with a quarterdeck and forecastle. A copy was sent to Mr Dudman for the Merlin on 15 September 1795 and a copy to Mr Edwards for the Pheasant on 16 November 1795


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

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
17 April 1798 – HMS Recovery captures the French privateer Revanche


HMS Port Royal was a 10-gun schooner bought in Jamaica in 1796. The French captured her in 1797 and the British recaptured her later that year, when they renamed her HMS Recovery. She captured three privateers, one in a single-ship action, before she was sold in 1801.

Career
She was commissioned under Lieutenant Elias Mann (or Man). On 30 March 1797 he attempted to cut out a schooner on the northern coast of Hispaniola when Port Royal ran aground on the shore near Môle-Saint-Nicolas. People on the cliff above then began to fire down on Port Royal, fire that she could not return. Because she was filling with water and was under fire, Mann and his crew could not extricate her and he surrendered. The engagement cost Port Royal one man killed and two wounded. The French renamed her Perle.

Pelican recaptured her on 18 October. The Royal Navy recommissioned her in November, renamed her HMS Recovery, and armed her with ten 3-pounder guns.

Between 29 October 1797 and 12 March 1798, Recovery captured a small French privateer. However, her most significant capture occurred in April.

On 17 April 1798 she was under the command of Lieutenant William Ross when she encountered the French privateer schooner Revanche. After an engagement of 45 to 50 minutes, Revanche struck. She was pierced for 12 guns and had 10 mounted. She had a crew of 54 men under the command of Antoine Marin. During the engagement she lost three men killed and nine wounded, four of whom were not expected to recover; Recovery had no casualties. Revanche, of Cape François, had been an unusually successful privateer, having captured 10 vessels on her previous cruise, and 19 on the cruise before that. In his report, Ross remarked that his crew were

most of them young and inexperienced Boys and Lads, but it is with real Satisfaction that I assure you, that all of them displayed the greatest Cheerfulness and Firmness during the Action, and that their Conduct would do much honour to the most experienced Seamen.

Then on 29 April near Saint Ann's Bay, Jamaica, Recovery encountered the French privateer schooner Incrédule, which she captured after a chase of two hours. Incrédule was armed with two 6-pounder guns and four swivel guns, and had a crew of 33 men. She had captured a Danish vessel and a shallop with 20 hogsheads of sugar; a merchant vessel had retaken the shallop. Thirty years later, in July 1828, head money was paid for 84 men on the two prizes.

Fate
Recovery was sold in 1801.

Merchantman
Recovery may be the brig of 92 tons (bm), of French origin, and built in 1796 that enters Lloyd's Register in 1801. Her master is J. Hart, her owner J. Joseph, and her trade Bristol-Alderney. In May 1802 Recovery (of Plymouth), Hart, master, sprung a leak. Hart ran her ashore at Cleethorpes, on the Lincolnshire coast. She was later got off and put into Humber. She is last listed in 1809 with trade Hull-Coruna.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Port_Royal_(1796)

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
17 April 1802 – Launch of french Belle Poule, a Virginie-class frigate of the French Navy, which was built by the Crucy family's shipyard at Basse-Indre to a design by Jacques-Noël Sané


HMS Belle Poule was a Royal Navy fifth rate frigate, formerly Belle Poule, a Virginie-class frigate of the French Navy, which was built by the Crucy family's shipyard at Basse-Indre to a design by Jacques-Noël Sané. She was launched on 17 April 1802, and saw active service in the East, but in 1806 a British squadron under Sir John Borlase Warren captured her off La Palma in the Canary Islands. The Admiralty commissioned her into the Royal Navy as HMS Belle Poule. She was sold in 1816.






Capture of the 'Gypsy', 30 April 1812: left to right: HMS Belle Poule, Gypsy, and HMS Hermes, by Thomas Buttersworth

French Navy service
In March 1803, she joined the fleet of Rear-Admiral Charles-Alexandre Léon Durand Linois, whose mission was to re-take the colonies of the Indian Ocean, given to English at the peace of Amiens. The fleet included the 74-gun ship of the line Marengo, the frigates Atalante, Belle Poule and Sémillante, troop ships and cargoes with food and ammunition.

On 15 June 1803 Belle Poule landed troops at Pondichéry in India. The French fleet however, left the next day and the troops surrendered in September.

At the beginning of November, the division set sail for Batavia to protect the Dutch colonies. En route, Linois destroyed the English counters in Bencoolen, capturing five ships, and sailed for the South China Sea, where the China Fleet of the British East India Company was expected. The fleets met in the Battle of Pulo Aura, but the greater numbers and aggressive action of the British East Indiamen, some of whom flew Royal Navy flags, drove the French away. Linois returned to Batavia. He dispatched Atalante and Belle Poule to the Gulf of Bengal, where Belle Poule captured a few ships before returning to Ile de France. Among the ships was Althea, which Atalanta and Belle Poule captured on 17 April 1804.


HMS Amazon pursuing unnamed French vessel, possibly the Belle Poule, by Nicholas Pocock

In 1805 and 1806, Belle Poule and some other ships of the division cruised the African coast between the Red Sea and the Cape of Good Hope, capturing some ships. At the Action of 13 March 1806, Linois met with the division of Vice-Admiral Sir John Warren, with seven ships of the line (including the 108-gun London, the 82-gun Ramilles and Repulse, and the 80-gun Foudroyant), two frigates (including the 48-gun Amazon) and one corvette. After a fierce duel with London, Marengo struck her colours; Belle Poule battled against Amazon and later against Ramillies, and had to surrender as well.

At the time of her capture Belle Poule was armed with forty 18-pounder guns, had a crew of 320 men, and was under the command of Captain Brouillac. Marengo and Belle Poule had lost 65 men killed and 80 wounded. The British on London and Amazon had 13 officers and men killed and 26 officers and men wounded.

Royal Navy service
Adriatic

The capture in 1809 of Var by HMS Belle Poule at Valona harbour off Corfu

She entered service under the same name in 1808 under captain James Brisbane, joining the forces operating in the Adriatic campaign of 1807-1814 off Corfu, successfully blockading the island. In February 1809 Brisbane captured the storeship Var in a raid on the harbour at Valona. Var was anchored under the guns of two fortresses that nevertheless did not fire their guns, leaving Belle Poule free to concentrate her fire on the French vessel. Var was pierced for 32 guns but only had twenty-two 9-pounder guns and four 24-pounder carronades mounted. She had a crew of 200 men and was under the command of Capitaine de Frigate Palin, however Brisbane was unable to ascertain her losses as her crew abandoned her as she struck. She had been sailing from Corfu for any port in Italy that she could reach. The British then used Var as a storeship too.

Between 2 and 12 October of the same year Belle Poule was involved in the invasions of the Ionian Islands of Cerigo, Cephalonia, and Zante, and would share in the booty captured there.

On 10 March 1810 Belle Poule captured Charlotta.

Then a British force attacked the fortress of Santa Maura, which was a French strongpoint off Greece's west coast. Belle Poule's marines formed part of the assault on the enemy's lines; the fortress surrendered on 16 April 1810. Belle Poule had one man, Lieutenant Morrison, of the Royal Marines, wounded at this time. In all, during the siege of Santa Maura, from 31 March to 10 April, Belle Poule suffered six men wounded.

On 21 August 1810 Belle Poule captured Saint Nicholo. Then on 11 December, Belle Poule captured the brig Carlotta, pierced for 14 guns but with only 10 mounted. She had a crew of 100 men and when captured was sailing from Venice to Corfu. The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Carlotta. Montague and Acorn shared in the prize money for the hull. At around the same time Belle Poule also assisted at the capture of a French schooner on the Dalmatian Coast.

On 30 January 1811 Belle Poule, Leonidas, Victorious, and Imogen shared in the capture and destruction of the Italian man-of-war schooner Leoben. Leoben was sailing along the Albanian coast from Venice to Corfu with a cargo of ordnance stores when the British caught her. She was armed with ten guns and a crew of 60 men. Her own crew set her on fire and she subsequently blew up.

From 4–5 May 1811, Belle Poule participated with Alceste in an attack on Parenza (Istria). They chased a French 18-gun brig into the harbour but the ships could not close enough to bombard her. Instead, the two vessels landed 200 seamen and all their marines on an island nearby. They then landed two 9-pounders and two howitzers that they placed in one battery, and a field piece that they placed farther away. Eventually, they and the French in Parenza engaged in five hours of mutual bombardment, during which the British were able to sink the brig. They then returned men and cannons to their ships. In the action Belle Poule had one man killed and three wounded and Alcestehad two men killed; all casualties occurred onshore.

Belle Poule then returned to Britain to join the Channel Fleet. On 22 December 1811, Belle Poule and Medusa captured and destroyed two chasse marees.


Lines & Profile (ZAZ2722)

War of 1812
During 1812 Belle Poule patrolled the Western Approaches, capturing numerous American merchant vessels and privateers. On 27 January she detained and sent in the Spy from New York. Then she captured Prudentia on 31 January and Don Roderick on 16 February. At the capture of Don Roderick, Belle Poule was in company with Achates, Dryad and Lyra.

On 30 April 1812, Belle Poule and Hermes captured the American privateer schooner Gipsy or Gipsey, out of New York, in the middle of the Atlantic and after a three-day chase. Gipsey surrendered twice to Hermes and twice got away again before Belle Poule caught her. Gipsey was of 300 tons and was armed with twelve 18-pounder carronades and an 18-pounder gun on a pivot mount.

On 26 May, Belle Poule captured General Gates while in company with Dryad and Abercrombie. Armide shared by agreement. Three days later Armide captured Purse, and Belle Poule shared by agreement.

In September 1812 George Harris replaced Brisbane and over the next year Belle Poule captured several American vessels, including four privateers. Warspite and Belle Poule captured Mars and her cargo, on 26 February 1813. On 11 March, Belle Poule and the privateer Earl St Vincent captured the American ship John and Francis, of 220 tons, two guns and 16 men. She was sailing from Bordeaux to New York with a cargo of brandy and wine.

On 3 April 1813 Belle Poule took Grand Napoleon after a chase of nine hours. She was 29 days from New York, carrying a valuable cargo to Bordeaux. She was a new vessel of 305 tons, pierced for 22 guns but carrying only four, and had a crew of 43 men. Harris described her as "copper-fastened, and in every respect one of the finest vessels I ever saw." That same day Dispatch captured the Prussian vessel Enigheidt. Briton, Belle Poule and Royalist shared by agreement. Belle Poule also captured the American schooner Napoleon, which may have been a different vessel than the Grand Napoleon. With respect to the Napoleon, Belle Poule was in company with Briton and the hired armed cutter Fancy, with Dispatch and Royalist sharing by agreement.

Belle Poule and Pyramus on 20 April 1813 took the 10-gun letter of marque schooner Zebra and her crew of 38 men. Zebra was sailing from Bordeaux to New York. At the time of the capture Andromache was in sight. The navy took Zebra into service as Pictou

On 11 May Belle Poule took Revenge after a chase that lasted from 5 p.m. the previous evening until 2am. Revenge was a new vessel, sailing from Charleston to Bordeaux. She had a crew of 32 men and was pierced for 16 guns but carried only four long 9-pounders.

On 20 September Belle Poule captured two French chasse marees. the first was Rose, of 32 tons and five men, sailing from Bordeaux to Nantes. The second was Ambition, of 25 tons and three men, sailing from Bordeaux to Rochelle.

Lastly, on 14 December Belle Poule took the brig Squirrel, which was sailing from Arcasson, in the Gironde, to New York. The brig was of 169 tons, armed with two guns and had a crew of 17 men. Belle Poule was in company with Castilian and Tartarus.

In 1814 Belle Poule was under Captain Edward Williams. Then she entered the Gironde in Southern France. Before 9 April, a landing party of seamen and marines from Belle Poule, under Captain George Harris, marched 50 miles, successively entering and destroying the batteries of Pointe Coubre, Pointe Nègre, Royan, Soulac, and Mèche. In all, the landing party destroyed forty-seven 36-pounder guns and seventeen 13" mortars. On his return from this expedition, Harris organized the siege of the fortress at Blaye. Rear Admiral Penrose then had Belle Poule sail up the Gironde, "in advance of the advanced squadron".

Following a request from the Duke of Wellington, Belle Poule was commissioned as a troopship in June under Captain Francis Baker. She was fitted for that role in August and September. On 15 August she was in Plymouth, having come from Portsmouth with the 93d Regiment of Foot. On 17 September she embarked troops before sailing for Bermuda the next day and then on to New Orleans. The 93rd would then serve at the Battle of New Orleans, where they would take heavy casualties.

Belle Poule was part of the flotilla at the battle of New Orleans. In the run-up to that battle her boats participated in the Battle of Lake Borgne on 12–14 December 1814. Her only casualties were two men slightly wounded. Many years later her crew received a distribution of head-money arising from the capture of American gun-boats and sundry bales of cotton at the battle. In 1847, the Admiralty issued the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "14 Dec. Boat Service 1814" to all surviving claimants from the action.

Fate
Belle Poule returned to Portsmouth on 17 May 1815. A week later she sailed for Cork. She was converted to a prison hulk in 1815. She was sold on 11 June 1816 for ₤2,700.


No scale. Plan showing the starboard profile of the figurehead for Belle Poule (1806), a captured French Frigate, now a 32-gun, Fifth Rate Frigate Signed by Nicholas Diddams [Master Shipwright, Portsmouth Dockyard, 1802-1823]


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.

HMS Belle Poule (1806) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Virginie-class frigate - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-295415;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=B

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
17 April 1806 - HMS Sirius (36), Cptn. Prowse, took Bergere (18), Cptn. Chaney Duolvis, at Civita Vecchia.


HMS Sirius was a 36-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. Between 1797 and 1805, the Sirius was engaged in maintaining the blockade of Napoleonic Europe. She was lost in 1810 when her crew scuttled her after she grounded during the Battle of Grand Port.




The Sirius stranded on a coral shoal. Lithograph by A. Meyer (National Maritime Museum, London)

Design


Sirius general arrangement plan (National Maritime Museum, Greenwich)

The Admiralty ordered her construction on 30 April 1795, and the keel was laid at the Dudman's yard at Deptford Wharf in September of that year. She was launched on 12 April 1797. The Sirius class of 1795 was established following the taking of the HMS San Fiorenzo ex French Minerve, upon whose lines this frigate was based.

French Revolutionary Wars
Sirius was commissioned in May 1797 under the command of Captain Richard King. In her first action on 24 October 1798 Sirius took two Dutch ships, the Waakzaamheid and the Furie in the Texel. Waakzaamheid was under the command of Senior Captain Neirrop. She was armed with twenty-four 9-pounder guns on her main deck and two 6-pounders on her forecastle. She had 100 Dutch seamen aboard her, as well as 122 French troops, and was carrying 2000 stands of arms as well as other ordnance stores. Waakzaamheid put up no struggle. The sloop Kite shared in the capture.


Capture of the Furie & Waakzamheid, 23 October 1798 - Thomas Whitcombe, 1816.

Furie was armed with twenty-six 12-pounders on her main deck and ten 6-pounders on her quarter-deck and forecastle. She had a crew of 153 Dutch seamen, augmented with 165 French soldiers. She was carrying 4,000 stands of arms as well as other ordnance stores. Furie did exchange fire with Sirius for about half an hour. Sirius had only one man wounded. Furie had eight men killed and 14 wounded. The sloop Martin and the hired armed cutter Diligent shared in the proceeds of the capture.

Sirius was among the vessels that shared in the capture on 25 and 28 November of a French brig and sloop. The British vessels included Clyde, Fisguard, and Sylph, as well as the hired armed cutters Joseph, Fowey and Dolly.

Then on 6 January 1800 Sirius shared with Defiance, Unicorn, Indefatigable and Stag in the capture of the French brig Ursule.

On 12 June Sirius and Indefatigable captured the French privateer Vengeur. She was armed with six long 4-pounders and ten 18-pounder carronades, and carried a crew of 102 men. She was two days out of Bordeaux and sailing for the coast of Brazil. Vengeur was sailing in company with three letters of marque - a ship, a brig and a schooner - that were bound for Guadeloupe. On 11 June Vengeur had captured the Jersey-privateer lugger Snake.

On 3 July Sirius recaptured the brig Cultivator. Indefatigable and Boadicea were in company at the time of the capture. Cultivator, Smith, master, had been sailing from Demerara to London when the French privateer Minerve, of Bordeaux, had captured her.

The next day, Sirius and Indefatigable captured the French ship Favori. Eleven days later, Bordelais captured the French vessel Phoenix. Sirius was among the vessels sharing in the prize money by agreement. Sirius shared in the capture of the French privateer schooner Revanche on 28 July. The actual captor was Uranie. Revanche was armed with fourteen 6-pounder guns and had a crew of 80 men. She was 19 days out of Vigo and had already captured and sent in the English brig Marcus, a Portuguese ship, and a Spanish brig that had been a prize to Minerve.

On 11 December Sirius captured the Spanish merchant brig Melchora, some three miles off Sifarga (Illas Sisargas, some 20 miles west of A Coruña). The brig was 24 hours out of A Coruña on her way to Montevideo when Siriuscaptured her. Captain King reported the capture in order to draw attention to the fact that she was the only vessel to have left A Coruña since August. Diamond shared in the proceeds of the capture.

On 26 January 1801, the British frigate Oiseau encountered the French frigate Dédaigneuse and gave chase. Sirius and Amethyst joined the next day. On the 28th Oiseau and Sirius effected the capture while unfavorable winds kept Amethyst from joining the action. Dédaigneuse was brought into the Royal Navy as HMS Dedaigneuse. The next day Sirius was in company with Amethyst when they captured the Spanish letter of marque Charlotta of Ferol, 16 hours out of Ferol on her way to Curaçao. The capture took place about six or seven leagues from Cape Belem in Galicia. The hired armed cutter Earl of St Vincent shared in the capture.

On 29 January Atalante captured and destroyed the Spanish privateer Intrepido Cid. Sirius and Amethyst shared, by agreement, in the bounty-money.

Sirius shared by agreement in the proceeds of the capture of the Temeraire (30 May) and the Bien Aimé (23 July). In July Sirius was under the temporary command of Captain J.B. Edwards. In July Commander John Edwards took command temporarily.

In July–August 1802, Sirius was under the command of Captain King, who further had command of a small squadron on anti-smuggling duties. The other vessels in the squadron were Carysfort, Imogen, Rosario, and Peterell.

In August 1802, Captain William Prowse took command of Sirius.

Napoleonic Wars
After the resumption of hostilities with France, Sirius took part in the blockade of Brest.

On 18 May 1803, Sirius and Nemesis captured Mere de Familie. Ten days later Sirius captured the French ship Achille and then on 8 June Trois Freres. The capture of Aigle on 30 May resulted in a preliminary allotment to Sirius's crew of £6200 in prize money. Two days earlier Sirius had captured Zephyr. Sirius shared with Nemesis the proceeds of the capture of Trois Freres and Aigle.

Sirius then was among the vessels sharing in the salvage money from the recapture of Lord Nelson on 27 August. Similarly, Sirius shared in the salvage money for Perseverance, recaptured on 28 October.

On 15 February 1805, Sirius recaptured Spring. On 22 July Sirius participated in Calder's Action (Battle of Cape Finisterre (1805)). She shared in the prize money for the Spanish ships St. Raphael and Firme, and possibly other vessels as well.

Trafalgar
On 21 October, Sirius joined the British fleet under Vice Admiral Lord Nelson at Trafalgar. Entering battle to the north of the weather column, her station placed her only a few cable lengths from HMS Victory.

Parliament voted a grant of £300,000 to be distributed in September 1806 among the participants of the battle. Other distributions of prize money followed. In 1847 the Admiralty would issue surviving claimants from the battle the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Trafalgar".

On 25 November, Sirius, Prince and Swiftsure captured Nemesis.

Sirius vs. Bergère
In January 1806, Sirius and the 74-gun Polyphemus were escorting a convoy from Gibraltar when they encountered a French squadron under Admiral Willaumez. The French succeeded in capturing two of the merchant vessels and four of the French fleet unsuccessfully chased Sirius for two hours, but forcing her to separate from the convoy.

From then until 1808 Sirius served in the Mediterranean. On 17 April 1806 at 2pm Sirius was five or six leagues off Civitavecchia when Prowse received intelligence that a French force had sailed that morning for Naples. He immediately set out and succeeded in catching up with them just after sunset two leagues from the mouth of the Tiber River. The force consisted of a ship, three corvettes, and five heavy gun-vessels, and they were deployed in line of battle near a dangerous shoal, awaiting Sirius's attack. The action commenced at 7pm and lasted for two hours before the French ship leading the flotilla struck. The water had been calm so the French had been able to fire well and Sirius herself was too damaged to pursue when the remainder of the French flotilla withdrew; Prowse was also concerned about the risks of pursuit at night in water with shoals.

The captured vessel was the Bergère, which was under the command of capitaine de frégate Charles-Jacques-César Chaunay-Duclos, commodore of the flotilla and member of the Legion of Honor. She was armed with eighteen 12-pounder guns and one 36-pounder obusier, and had a crew of 189 men. Prowse described her as "remarkably fine Vessel, sails well, and is fit for His Majesty's Service." Prowse omitted mention of French casualties, but Sirius lost nine men killed, including Prowse's nephew, and 20 men wounded, nine dangerously so. This action too qualified the surviving claimants for the Naval General Service Medal, this time with the clasp "Sirius 17 April 1806".

Between April 1808 and January 1809 Sirius was at Chatham, undergoing repairs. In November 1808 Captain Samuel Pym assumed command of Sirius. On 24 February 1809 he sailed for the Cape of Good Hope and the Indian Ocean.

Indian Ocean
On 2 March 1809 Sirius captured the French schooner Mecontent, and her cargo. In August Sirius joined a squadron under Commodore Josias Rowley and on 21 September participated in an attack on Saint-Paul, Réunion.

Main article: Raid on Saint-Paul
Sirius and HMS Raisonnable captured the French frigate Caroline. She was taken into British service as HMS Bourbonaise, there already being an HMS Caroline. The British also recaptured several East Indiamen that Caroline had captured, and the East India Company's brig Grappler. The land attack succeeded in capturing a number of shore batteries and guns. Sirius suffered the loss of two marines killed, two marines wounded, and one sailor missing.

The summer of 1810 saw a campaign against the French Indian Ocean possessions. The British captured the Île Bourbon (Réunion) in July. In August, they turned their attention to Mauritius, where they attempted to land troops to destroy coastal batteries and signals around Grand Port; the attempt turned sour, however, when two French forty-gun frigates, Bellone and Minerve, the 18-gun corvette Victor, and two East Indiaman prizes entered the harbour and took up defensive positions at the head of the main entrance channel. The French also moved the channel markers to confuse the British approach.

Main article: Battle of Grand Port
On 23 August 1810 the British squadron entered the channel. Sirius was the first to run aground, followed by Magicienne and Néréide. Iphigenia prudently anchored in the channel some distance from the action. The French vessels concentrated all their gunfire first against Néréide and then against Magicienne.

The battle continued without interruption all night and on 24 August the French boarded the defenceless Néréide. Once the French flag was hoisted on what was left of the foremast of the Néréide, Magicienne and the Sirius began an intense cross fire against their enemies. Still, in the evening her crew had to abandon Magicienne, setting her on fire as they left her.

Loss


Scuttling of Sirius

Every effort to kedge Sirius off failed; she was firmly aground, making water, and unable to be freed. Pym ordered stores and provisions to be transferred to Iphigenia. When this was complete the men were removed with the last of the crew leaving on the morning of 25 August 1810. As they left they set fire to her; Sirius exploded at about eleven o'clock, with her hull then briefly drifting off the reef before sinking.

The Battle of Grand Port was an important victory for the French. With two English frigates taken (Iphigenia and Néréide), and two others destroyed (Sirius and Magicienne), as well as 1,600 prisoners taken against 150 French dead or wounded, this battle marks the only French naval victory of the Napoleonic Wars.

Post script
Today Sirius lies in some 20–25 metres of water. The wreck has been broken up, as much by salvors as by her scuttling. Still, the site is of archaeological interest and many of her cannon rest exposed.


St Fiorenzo and Piedmontaise March 9th 1808

HMS Sirius (1797) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_St_Fiorenzo_(1794)

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
17 April 1807 - hired vessel HMS Sally (14) engaged and attack landforces off Danzig.


Attack on French land forces
On the 17th, finding that, owing to the French having encamped on the Nehrung, or Holme, forming the western bank of the Vistula, the communication between the Fair Way and the garrison was completely cut off, Captain Chetham resolved upon making an attempt to re-open it. For this purpose he lightened his ship by sending all her heavy stores on board her consort, the Falcon; and on the same day, by the great exertions of her officers and crew, as well as of Captain Sanders and a portion of his officers and men, the Sally pushed through the shoal water of the sluice or mouth of the Vistula.

At 6h 30 m. p.m. the Sally, whose armament, we believe, consisted of 24-pounder carronades, commenced a close action with the French troops at the Great Hollands on the Nehrung, in number about 2000, assisted by three pieces of cannon, and by a small battery at Legan on the right or south-eastern bank of the river, and partially sheltered by the ruins of several houses which the garrison had found it necessary to destroy. The action continued within pistol-shot until 9 p.m.; when, having several of the gun-breechings on her larboard or engaged side shot and carried away, and being without any wind to enable her to maintain her position, the Sally attempted to bring her starboard broadside to bear. In this Captain Chetham was foiled by the strength of the current. The Sally then hauled down the stream, and resumed her position in Fair Water.

The loss on board the British ship, by this gallant though vain effort to relieve the Prussian garrison, was tolerably severe, her first-lieutenant (James Edward Eastman) and "nearly half" her crew being wounded by the incessant fire of musketry poured upon them. The mizenmast of the Sally was also shot through, her rigging and sails much cut, and upwards of 1000 musket-shot lodged in her hull. The loss on the part of the French, according to information received a day or two afterwards, amounted to upwards of 400 in killed and wounded.

British hired ship 'Sally' (1804)

British hired ship 'Sally' (1804). Dates of service, name changes, previous and next incarnations, dimensions, armament, commanders, officers and crewmen, actions, battles, sources

threedecks.org

https://archive.org/details/navalhistoryofg02jame

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
17 April 1809 – French Hautpoult, a Téméraire class 74-gun French Navy ship of the line, captured by her now-British sister ship, HMS Pompée, after a chase over three nights and two days by Pompée, Recruit, and Neptune.


Hautpoult was a Téméraire class 74-gun French Navy ship of the line.






Intrepid behaviour of Captain Charles Napier, in HM 18-gun Brig Recruit for which he was appointed to the Hautpoult. The 74 now pouring a broadside into her. April 15, 1809. Hautpoult can be seen in the background.


French service
On 16 February 1809 Captain Amand Leduc, Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur, commanded Hautpoult on her maiden voyage, a mission to Martinique with reinforcements and supplies, as flagship of a squadron of three 74-gun ships. (The others vessels were Courageux and Polonais), and two frigates, under the overall command of Commodore Amable Troude.) Learning of the capture of Martinique, Troude's squadron turned back but were pursued by the British.

Hautpoult was captured by her now-British sister ship, HMS Pompée, on 17 April 1809, after a chase over three nights and two days by Pompée, Recruit, and Neptune. Recruit hung on the tail of the French squadron and managed to cripple Hautpoult's mizzen mast, so Pompée could bring her to action and capture her after exchanging fire for 75 minutes. Between 80 and 90 men from Hautpoult were killed or wounded, including several officers.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, stern board outline with some detail, sheeer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth for Abercrombie (1809), a captured French Third Rate, as taken off at Portsmouth after having defects rectified. The plan illustrates the ship after her alterations to a British 74-gun Third Rate, two-decker. Signed by Nicholas Diddams [Master Shipwright, Portsmouth Dockyard, 1803-1823]

British service
Taken as a prize, she was renamed Abercrombie, and was briefly given to the commander of Recruit, Charles Napier, who was made post captain for his part in the action, as acting captain. Captain Sir William Fahie of Pompée, who had fallen ill after capturing her, then replaced Napier.

Abercrombie also participated in the capture of Guadeloupe in January and February 1810. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Guadaloupe" to all surviving participants of the campaign.

While she was at anchor in Basque Roads on 26 October 1811, lightning damaged her fore topmast and foremast.

On 17 July 1813 Abercrombie, under the command of Captain William Charles Fahie, shared the proceeds of the capture of Union with Dublin.

Fate
Abercrombie was sold in 1817.




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Hautpoult_(1807)

Troude's expedition to the Caribbean - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-288870;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=A

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
17 April 1810 – Launch of HMS Menelaus, a Royal Navy 38-gun fifth rate frigate, at Plymouth


HMS Menelaus was a Royal Navy 38-gun fifth rate frigate, launched in 1810 at Plymouth.




HMS Menelaus (ship in center) sailing with three other ships from a 19th century watercolor painting by artist, William Innes Pocock


Career
Menelaus entered service in 1810 under the command of Captain Peter Parker, and within weeks of commissioning was involved in the suppression of a mutiny aboard HMS Africaine. The notoriously brutal Captain Robert Corbet had been appointed to command Africaine and the crew had protested and refused to allow him to board. The Admiralty sent three popular officers to negotiate with the crew and ordered Menelaus to come alongside. If the crew of Africaine refused to agree with the appointment of Corbet, Parker had been ordered to fire on the ship until they submitted. The crew eventually agreed to allow Corbet aboard and Menelaus was not needed. In the summer of 1810, Parker was ordered to sail for the Indian Ocean to reinforce the squadron operating against Île de France and participated in the capture of the island in December 1810.

In 1812, Menelaus was part of the blockade of Toulon in the Mediterranean and operated against coastal harbours, shipping and privateers off the southern coast of France with some success. In 1813, Menelaus was transferred to the Atlantic for service convoying merchant ships to Canada in the War of 1812. On 23 March she captured Le Nouveau Phoenix.

Menelaus was subsequently employed in raiding American positions along the Maryland coastline, destroying a coastal convoy in September. In 1814, Parker was ordered to operate against French ships in the Atlantic and recaptured a valuable Spanish merchant ship in January.

Following the French surrender, Menelaus returned to service off the American seaboard. Menelaus 'was sent up the Chesapeake to divert the attention of the enemy in that quarter,' whilst General Ross's force was landed at Benedict. Thereafter, Peter Parker was killed at the Battle of Caulk's Field in Kent County, Maryland, on 30 August 1814. From 13 to 15 September, Menelaus was present at the Battle of Baltimore, with one of her complement, William Pritchard, being hospitalised after losing two fingers.

On 19 July 1815, Menelaus was in company with Havannah, Rhin, Sealark, Ferret and Fly when they captured the French vessels Fortune, Papillon, Marie Graty, Marie Victorine, Cannoniere, and Printemps. The attack took place at Corrijou (Koréjou, east of Abervrach on the coast of Brittany), and during the action Ferret was able to prevent the escape of a French man-of-war brig that she forced ashore. Apparently, this cutting out expedition was the last of the war.

Later career and fate
Following Parker's death, command passed to Edward Dix and he remained on the ship until she was laid up at Sheerness in 1818. In 1820 she moved to Chatham and in 1832 became a hospital ship, becoming the quarantine ship at Sandgate Street. She was eventually sold 87 years after her construction, in 1897.



HMS Macedonian (left) of the Lively class, painting of its engagement with USS United States, 1812, by Thomas Birch

The Lively class were a successful class of sixteen British Royal Navy 38-gun sailing frigates.



Origins
The Lively class were a series of sixteen ships built to a 1799 design by Sir William Rule, which served in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. The prototype and name ship of the class was HMS Lively of 1804. In contemporary usage the class was referred to as the 'Repeat Lively class'. As such the prototype ship was not considered to be part of the class at the time.

They were considered the most successful British frigate design of the period, much prized by the Navy Board; after the prototype was launched in 1804 (by which time four more frigates had already been ordered to the same design), a further eleven sister-ships were ordered to her design, although this was slightly modified (in 1805) to have the gangways between forecastle and quarterdeck more integrated into the upperworks, a step towards the final enclosure of the waist. This was reinforced in 1809 by the abandonment of breastworks at the break of the quarterdeck and forecastle and in 1810 by the narrowing of the waist by the addition of gratings inboard of the gangways. At the same date, 'top riders', angled reinforcing timbers for the upperworks, were discontinued.

Characteristics and performance
The captain's reports on the performance of this class were remarkable for their absence of serious criticism. The vessels of the class were fast, recording 13kts large and 10-11kts close-hauled, weatherly and manoeuvrable. They were excellent heavy-weather ships, perfectly able to cope with a "head sea." They stowed their provisions well; they were capable of stowing provisions and freshwater for up to six months of cruising. Indeed "riding light," after a substantial proportion of fresh water and provisions had been consumed, affected their sailing qualities adversely, so that most captains filled any emptied freshwater stowage capacity with seawater.

Lively class 38-gun fifth rates 1804-13, designed by William Rule.

• HMS Lively 1804
• HMS Resistance 1805
• HMS Apollo 1805
• HMS Hussar 1807
• HMS Statira 1807
• HMS Horatio 1807
• HMS Spartan 1806
• HMS Undaunted 1807
• HMS Menelaus 1810
• HMS Nisus 1810
• HMS Macedonian 1810
• HMS Crescent 1810
• HMS Bacchante 1811
• HMS Nymphe 1812
• HMS Sirius 1813
• HMS Laurel 1813

Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth for 'Leda' (1800), and later with alterations for 'Pomone' (1805), 'Shannon' (1806), 'Leonidas' (1807), 'Surprise' (1812), 'Lacedemonian' (1812), 'Tenedos' (1812), 'Lively' (1804), 'Trinocomalee' (1817), 'Amphitrite' (1816), 'Hebe' (1826), and 'Venus' (1820), all 38-gun Fifth Rate, Frigates. The draught was prepared from that of the captured French ship 'Hebe' (captured 1782). The plans for 'Amphitrite' and 'Trincomalee' were resent in 1813 on the 'Stirling Castle' after the capture of 'Java' by the US Frigate 'Constitution' in 1812. A duplicate set were dispatched on the Hon East India Company ship 'Tigris' in 1814. This plan was sent to Devonport, arriving on 20 January 1875. The plan was later sent to Chatham, arriving 8 July 1893, for making a half-model of 'Shannon' for the museum in the R. N. College, Greenwich



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Menelaus_(1810)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lively-class_frigate
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections.html#!csearch;searchTerm=Lively_(1804

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
17 April 1813 – Launch of HMS Cydnus, one of eight Royal Navy 38-gun Cydnus-class fifth-rates.


HMS Cydnus was one of eight Royal Navy 38-gun Cydnus-class (sub-class of Leda-class) fifth-rates. This frigate was built in 1813 at Blackwall Yard, London, and broken up in 1816.



Design, construction and armament
The entire class was a version of the Leda-class frigates, but built of red fir (pine), which was cheaper and more abundant than oak. Most importantly, it permitted noticeably faster construction, but at a cost of reduced durability.

To enable the new frigate to meet the American frigates on less unequal terms, Cydnus, and her sister Eurotas received medium 24-pounders and an increased complement of men. Cydnus's 24-pounders were of a design by General Sir Thomas Blomefield, 1st Baronet and measured 7 ft. 6 in. in length while weighing about 40 cwt. The 24-pounders on Eurotas were to a design by Colonel Congreve.

During December 1813 and January 1814, Cyndus and Eurotas actually temporarily exchanged six 24-pounders, presumably to enable both vessels to test the designs against each other. Ultimately, the Royal Navyadopted General Blomefield's design.

Service
Cydnus was commissioned in May 1813 under Captain Frederick W. Aylmer, but command passed later that month to Captain Frederick Langford. On 2 December, Briton captured Wolf's Cove, while Cydnus and a squadron were in company.

On 8 January 1814, Cydnus recaptured the English ship Rachael and Ann, of 14 guns, 226 tons, and 20 men. She had been sailing from Buenos Aires for London.

On 14 March 1814 Cydnus and Pomone captured the American privateer Bunker's Hill, of 14 guns and 86 men. Though Bunker's Hill had been known for her past successes, on this cruise she was eight days out of Morlaix without having captured anything. Bunker's Hill was the former Royal Navy cutter Linnet, which the French frigate Gloire had taken on 25 February 1813 near Madeira. Cydnus carried out convoy duties to the East Indies in 1814.

Cydnus served in the operations against New Orleans in 1814. Her boats participated in the British victory at the Battle of Lake Borgne. On 8 December 1814, two US gunboats fired on Sophie, Armide, and the sixth-rate frigate Seahorse while the British were passing the chain of small islands that runs parallel to the shore between Mobile and Lake Borgne.

Main article: Battle of Lake Borgne
Between 12 and 15 December 1814 Captain Lockyer of Sophie led a flotilla of some 50 boats, barges, gigs, and launches to attack the US gunboats. Lockyer drew his flotilla from the fleet that was massing against New Orleans, including the 74-gun Third Rate Tonnant, Armide, Cydnus, Seahorse, Manly, and Meteor.

Lockyer deployed the boats in three divisions, of which he led one. Captain Montresor of the gun-brig Manly commanded the second, and Captain Roberts of Meteor commanded the third. After rowing for 36 hours, the British met the Americans at St. Joseph's Island. On 13 December 1814, the British attacked the one-gun schooner USS Sea Horse. On the morning of the 14th, the British engaged the Americans in a short, violent battle.

The British captured or destroyed almost the entire American force, including the tender, USS Alligator, and five gunboats. The British lost 17 men killed and 77 wounded; Cydnus had four men wounded. Anaconda then evacuated the wounded. In 1821 the survivors of the flotilla shared in the distribution of head-money arising from the capture of the American gun-boats and sundry bales of cotton. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "14 Dec Boat Service 1814" to all surviving claimants from the action.

On 18 January 1815, Captain the Honourable William Henry Percy faced a court martial on board Cydnus, off Cat Island, Mississippi for the loss of his vessel, Hermes, during his unsuccessful attack at the Battle of Fort Bowyer in September 1814. The court acquitted him of all blame, finding that the attack was justified.

Langford died early in 1815 at Jamaica. Sir Alexander Cochrane appointed Captain Robert Cavendish Spencer, of the sloop Carron, to command Cydnus in 1815, for his efforts in Louisiana and Florida. Spencer then spent a month camped at Prospect Bluff on the Apalachicola River with Britain's Indian allies, charged with settling their claims and dismissing them from British service. Apparently he left them with some cannons as well. Lieutenant Colonel Edward Nicolls received orders to withdraw his troops from the fort at Prospect Bluff. In accordance with Cochrane's orders, the Cydnus was moored off Prospect Bluff, and embarked the Royal Marine detachment on 22 April, arriving at Bermuda on 13 June 1815, to allow the detachment to rejoin the 3rd Battalion as a supernumerary company. Thereafter Cydnus sailed to Halifax, arriving on 24 June 1815.

Fate
Cydnus was then paid off. The Napoleonic Wars had ended and as she was not durable, she was broken up at Portsmouth in February 1816.

Cydnus was among the ships and vessels under the command of-Admiral Lord Viscount Keith entitled to share in the Parliamentary grant for service in 1813 and 1814.


sistership





Scale 1:60. A contemporary full hull model of ‘Pomone’ (1805) a 38-gun frigate fifth-rate ship of the line. The model is decked, equipped and partially rigged, and represents a ship measuring 150 feet along the lower deck by 40 feet in the beam and a tonnage of 1076 builder’s old measurement. The upper deck was armed with twenty eight 18-pounder guns, eight 9-pounders on the quarterdeck and two 12-pounder guns on the forecastle. It was originally thought that this model depicted the French ‘Pomone’, a 44-gun frigate launched in 1785 and later captured by the British in 1794. However, at this scale, the beam is too great and it is doubtful as to whether any French frigate of this date would have had the rounded forecastle bulkhead. The model dimensions do fit almost exactly the British ‘Pomone’ that was built by Brindley of Frinsburg, Kent, and launched in 1805. This ship spent most of its career off the French Atlantic coast and is credited with the capture of the Neapolitan privateer ‘Lucien Charles’ in 1809, as well as taking part in the action in Rosas Bay in the same year. She was eventually wrecked off the Needles in 1811. This model is complete with a number of interesting features such as the full set of ship’s boats in the waist and on the stern davits, covered hammock netting on the bulwarks, and rather uniquely, the ship is shown ‘in ordinary’ or laid up with the topmasts and bowsprit struck and stored in their lowered position. The model was once in the possession of Sir Edward Reynell Anson (1902-51), 6th Baronet.

The Leda-class frigates, were a successful class of forty-seven British Royal Navy 38-gun sailing frigates constructed from 1805-1832. Based on a French design, the class came in five major groups, all with minor differences in their design. During their careers, they fought in the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. Forty-five of the 47 were eventually scrapped; two still exist.



Origins
The design of the name ship, Leda of 1800, was based on Sané's design for the French Hébé-class frigate. The British 44-gun fifth rate HMS Rainbow captured Hébé in 1782. (The British took Hébé into service as HMS Hebe but in 1805 renamed her HMS Blonde). The class of frigates built to the lines of Leda were in contemporary parlance called the 'Repeat Leda class'.

Pomone and Shannon, the second and third ship of the class respectively, was built using Josiah Brindley's patent method of construction which dispensed with 'lodging' and 'hanging knees', oak elements which had to be grown to shape. Oak suitable for shipbuilding had become increasingly difficult to obtain through the long period of warfare. Bindleys fastenings proved to be weak. Captain Philip Broke of the Shannon claimed her topsides were weak and "worked like a basket." Shannon was actually in such poor condition by 1813 that she almost missed her engagement with the USS Chesapeake.

Characteristics and performance
The vessels of the class were fast, most recording 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) large and 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) close-hauled. However, their French-style proportions made them unweatherly compared to frigates designed to British proportions (such as the Lively class). Many captains requested additions to the frigates' false keels to remedy this. The Leda class stood to their canvas well and liked a stiff gale, but were prone to excessive pitching in very heavy seas. All captains complained of the class's poor stowage capacity, the result of their fine French underwater lines, but stowage improved after the introduction of iron fresh-water tanks. Lastly, captains considered the class to be "wet", a result of lively rolling and pitching causing seams to loosen.

Ships of the class


HMS Pomone

The name Leda was taken from Greek mythology, as was common at the time; the Greek Leda was a woman whom Zeus seduced while he was masquerading as a swan. After Leda, the Admiralty had no more ships to this design for several years. Then with the resumption of war with France either looming or under way, the Admiralty ordered eight further ships to this design in 1802-09:


In 1812 the Admiralty ordered eight ships to be built of "fir" (actually, of red pine) instead of oak; these were sometimes called the Cydnus class:

• HMS Cydnus
• HMS Eurotas
• HMS Niger
• HMS Meander
• HMS Pactolus
• HMS Tiber
• HMS Araxes
• HMS Tanais

Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth for 'Leda' (1800), and later with alterations for 'Pomone' (1805),



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

Leda-class frigate - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-325568;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=L
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-339832;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=P

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
17 April 1813 - Cruizer class sloop HMS Mutine (1806 - 16) captured French Privateer 'L'Invincible Napoléon' (1813 - 16)
- in the following month she was three times recaptured by different ships


Invincible Napoleon (or Invincible Bonaparte, or Invincible) was a three-masted French privateer commissioned in Bayonne in Spring 1804. She made numerous cruises until 1813–1814 when the British and the Americans repeatedly captured her. In her brief career as an American privateer she captured some 14 vessels. She finally ending up in British hands and was taken to Halifax, Nova Scotia as a prize.





French privateer
Captain Martin Jorlis commissioned Invincible Napoleon in spring 1804.

She made another cruise in 1807 under Captain Michel Garat.

From November 1809 to March 1810 she was under the command of Captain François Dermit. Her owner was Maisonnave, Bayonne. She captured three prizes: Mary Anne, Marie Thérèse, and Huron. Invincible Napoleon captured Huron, Clarke, master, on 21 February 1810 at 41°N 34°W as Huron was sailing from Virginia to Cadiz. HMS Vestal recaptured Huron on 4 February; Huron arrived at Cowes on 16 February.

On 28 February 1810, Invincible Napoleon captured Bellona, Ross, master, at 36°N 35°W as Bellona was sailing from London to Amelia Island, Florida. The French set their prize on fire, scuttling her; Invincible Napoleon carried the crew into Bordeaux.

Later in 1810 Invincible Napoleon made another cruise under Captain Jorlis.

In January 1811, she took the name Invincible, and did several more cruises under Captain Jorlis between February 1811 and April 1813. Lloyd's List reported on 29 January 1811 that Invincible Napoleon had captured Hope, Orchard, master, as Hope was sailing from Newfoundland to Poole. However, HMS Armide recaptured Hope, which arrived at Plymouth on 23 January. On 25 January Invincible Bonaparte had captured Sir Sydney Smith, Lewis, master, at 25°N 47°W as Sir Sydney Smith was coming to England from Prince Edward Island. Invincible Bonaparte put on board Sir Sydney Smith the crews of three vessels that Invincible Bonaparte had captured and burnt:

• Priscilla, Connell, master, from Malta to London;
• Clyde, Norris, master, from St Michael; and
• Bolina, Atkins, master, from Plymouth to Boston.

Sir Sydney Smith arrived at Plymouth on 2 February. Also on 2 February Invincible Bonapart captured Packet, from Boston to Liverpool. HMS Fortunee recaptured Packet and sent her into Cork.

Also in February Invincible Napoleon captured the American vessel Sally, Webber, master, as Sally was sailing from Charleston to Liverpool. The sloop of war HMS Acteon recaptured Sally, which arrived at Plymouth on 13 February.

Captures and recaptures
Captured: On 17 April 1813, HMS Mutine captured Invincible, or Invincible Napoleon, off Spain. Mutine took her crew, some of whom were Americans, prisoner. Mutine had suffered only two men slightly wounded in the engagement. Mutine sent Invincible into Oporto.

Recaptured twice: The American privateer Alexander, of Salem, recaptured Invincible, or Invincible Napoleon, on 27 April 1813 at 47°46′N 18°00′W, or in the Channel. She had arrived within sight of Salem when the frigates Shannon and Tenedos on 16 May chased her on shore. She was out of range of the guns of the fort at Cape Ann and a few shots from the frigates dispersed the militia that had gathered. The frigates then sent their boats in and succeeded in recovering her. The British sent Invincible to Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Fourth capture: Invincible did not reach Halifax. The American privateer Young Teazer re-re-captured her and sent her into Portland, where she arrived around 1 June.

American privateer & fifth capture
Invincible became an American privateer based in Salem, Massachusetts under the command of Captain Peter Destebecho, or New York, under the command and ownership of Peter Destebecho, Jr. She was commissioned on 18 December. Consequently, there are references to "Invincible, of Salem", or "Invincible of New York". She captured 14 or 15 vessels, of which only five reached American ports, in part because she didn't bother to take as prizes a number of small vessels.

American records report that Invincible captured one ship sailing from Liverpool to Antigua in ballast that she sent into Wilmington. This may have been Lady Prevost, of London.

Lloyd's List reported on 5 April 1814 that in December the American privateer Invincible Napoleon had captured Prince Regent, Hewson, master, as Prince Regent was sailing from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Nassau, but had then given Prince Regent up. Prince Regentarrived at Nassau on 6 January 1814. Before sending Prince Regent on her way, Invincible took Prince Regent's armament.

Invincible captured other vessels as well:

• Nimble, carrying West Indian produce and sent into Teneriffe, where she was found not seaworthy and the cargo was disposed off;
• Cutter Lyon, with dry goods and hardware, divested and released;
• Brig Portsea, of eight guns;
• Brig Conway, of ten guns, carrying dry goods, and sent to Cambden, Maine, after having her cargo removed;
• Schooner Francis and Lucy, with fish, oil, and lumber, and converted into a cartel to repatriate the crews of vessels Invincible had captured; and,
• Brig Margaretta, carrying wine.

Invincible then put into Charleston, South Carolina, "full of valuable goods." After sailing from Charleston, Invincible captured six more British vessels before the British captured her:

• Brig Daniel, of Newfoundland;
• William, from St Andrews to Greenock;
• Vittorio, from Jersey to Newfoundland;
• Adventure, from Bermuda to Halifax;
• Wanderer, from Newfoundland to Corunna; and
• Helen, Holmes, master, from Havana to Greenock.

Armide captured Invincible on 16 August. Endymion and Pique were in company with Armide at the time.

Invincible arrived at Halifax on 21 August. Invincible had been sailing from Charleston to New York when the British captured her after a long chase during which she had thrown ten of her guns overboard.

HMS Wasp recaptured Helen, which then arrived at Halifax on 18 August. HMS Tenedos recaptured Wanderer and bought her into Halifax on 22 August. Lloyd's List further reported that Invincible gave up her other four prizes to their masters and crews.

The records of the Halifax Vice admiralty court report that Invincible was carrying 314 tierces and 103 hall tierces of rice, 77 boxes of sugar, and cargo from Helen.


sistership

Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with stern board outline, sheer lines with scroll figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for Cruiser (1797)

HMS Mutine was a Royal Navy 18-gun Cruizer class brig-sloop, built by Henry Tucker at Bideford and launched in 1806. During her career she was under fire in Danish waters, in the Bay of Biscay, and at Algiers. She also visited North America, South America, and the West Coast of Africa. She was sold in 1819.

Career
Danish waters
In August 1806 Commander Hew (or Hugh) Stewart (or Steuart) commissioned Mutine, which underwent fitting out at Plymouth for the North Sea and the Baltic Sea until February 1807. She then participated in Britain's attack on Copenhagen and the subsequent Gunboat War with Denmark.

Mutine's first duties involved escorting the King's German Legion to and from the island of Rügen. In preparation for the attack on Copenhagen. In August 1807, she covered the landings of British troops at Køge, south of Copenhagen, where they set up a battery north of Køge in preparation for laying siege to the Danish capital.

The Danish deployed gun-vessels in an attempted to disrupt the operations. The British countered with a flotilla consisting of Mutine, Hebe and Cruizer, and four bomb vessels, Thunder, Vesuvius, Aetna and Zebra. Captain Peter Puget of Goliath took command of the flotilla and deployed to protect the troops.

On 22 August a Danish flotilla of three praams, each carrying 20 guns, and over 30 gunboats, attacked the inshore squadron off the entrance to Copenhagen's harbour. Several floating batteries and block-ships added their support to the Danish flotilla by also firing on the British vessels. The battle lasted for four hours, but resulted in little damage and few casualties, thought the Danes did drive back the British.

Mutine and Bonetta were among the British vessels sharing in the prize money arising from the capture of the Hans and Jacob (17 August), Odifiord (4 September) and Benedicta (12 September).

On 2 October, the Juliana, out of Liverpool had encountered and driven off a French privateer 200 miles west of Scilly. The next day, Juliana spotted a brig, and after closing on her under a French flag, raised the English flag and boarded her. Suspicious because her captain was carrying several different sets of papers, Captain Bibby of the Juliana planned to take her into Liverpool. Mutine arrived on the scene in the evening, and after ascertaining the situation, Captain Stewart took over the prize vessel, by now identified as the Joannah, and put his own crew aboard her.

South America
By May 1808 command of the Mutine had passed to Commander Charles Montague Fabian. He sailed to Sierra Leone via Madeira and Gorée, to deliver the new governor of the colony, Thomas Perronet Thompson. Mutine then returned to Britain. Fabian sailed for Brazil on 8 November.

Mutine was part of the squadron under Rear Admiral Michael de Courcy when Agamemnon wrecked near the island of Gorita in the Rio de Plata on 20 June 1809. Her carpenter joined those of Agamemnon, Bedford, Elizabeth and Foudroyant in signing a document attesting that although Agamemnon might be righted, pumped out and somewhat repaired, she was effectively a total loss. Mutine remained on station, helping with the salvage operations, particularly of the cannons, 38 of which were rescued and landed at Gorita.

Mutine was anchored in the harbour of Buenos Aires on 25 May 1810 during May Week when the revolution broke out in the city. Captain Fabian broke out bunting and saluted the revolution with salvos of cannon. He also gave a rousing speech on liberty and revolution, praising the revolutionaries for having gained their freedom. By 7 August Mutine was back in Britain, reporting to Lord Wellesley on the revolution in Argentina.

Battle with the French
On 22 October 1810, Commander Frederick William Burgoyne briefly took command before passing it on 31 October to Commander Nevison de Courcy. In 1812 de Courcy sailed Mutine to Quebec, and then home.

When news of the outbreak of the War of 1812 reached Britain, the Royal Navy seized all American vessels then in British ports. Mutine was among the Royal Navy vessels then lying at Spithead or Portsmouth and so entitled to share in the grant for the American ships Belleville, Janus, Aeos, Ganges and Leonidas seized there on 31 July 1812.

In 1813, Mutine was operating in the Western Approaches. Whilst Mutine was cruising in the Bay of Biscay De Courcy spotted a strange sail on the morning of 17 April. Mutine gave chase and at about 2pm her quarry hoisted the French flag. She then opened fire on Mutine with her stern chasers. The fire damaged Mutine's rigging, slowing her and causing her to begin to fall behind. Still, Mutine managed to stay close enough to fire back for the next two hours. Eventually, shots from Mutine took away her quarry's main-top-gallant-mast and jibs, slowing her and allowing Mutine to catch up. Then, after a further 50 minutes of battering, the French vessel struck. She turned out to be the privateer Invincible, Martin Jortis, master. Her armament consisted of twelve French 18-pounder carronades and four 6-pounder guns, though she was pierced for four more cannon. Mutine took the crew of 86, some of whom were Americans, prisoner. Mutine had suffered only two men slightly wounded in the engagement.

The American privateer Alexander later recaptured Invincible, only to lose her to boats from Shannon and Tenedos on 16 May. The British then sent Invincible to Halifax.[14] Invincible did not reach Halifax. The American privateer Teazer re-re-captured her and sent her into Portland.

Alexander did not survive much longer; Rattler drove her ashore off Kenebank on 19 May. Alexander's crew escaped, whilst Rattler pulled off the ship herself and salvaged it with the assistance of the schooner Bream.

From 7 June 1814 Mutine sailed under Commander James Athill in the Leeward Islands. From 15 October her captain was Commander James Mould.

Later years, and at Algiers
She took part in Lord Exmouth's punitive expedition against the Dey of Algiers, and was present at the Bombardment of Algiers in 1816. During the bombardment she was anchored off the port bow of HMS Impregnable, whilst the other sloops kept under way. She suffered no casualties. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Algiers" to still living claimants who had been present on 27 August 1816.

In October Commander William Sargent took command for the Cork Station. Mutine spent most of her remaining years patrol between the south coast of England and Cork, Ireland.

Fate
The Navy offered Mutine for sale at Plymouth on 3 February 1819. She was sold on that day to G. Young for £1,310.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Mutine_(1806)

Invincible Napoleon (1804 ship) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

British sloop 'Mutine' (1806)

British sloop 'Mutine' (1806). Dates of service, name changes, previous and next incarnations, dimensions, armament, commanders, officers and crewmen, actions, battles, sources

threedecks.org

French Privateer 'L'Invincible Napoléon' (1813)

French Privateer 'L'Invincible Napoléon' (1813). Dates of service, name changes, previous and next incarnations, dimensions, armament and amendments, commanders, commissioned officer and other crewmen, actions and battles and other major events. Also has a list of sources.

threedecks.org

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
17 April 1837 - Texan schooner Independence was one of the four schooners of the First Texas Navy captured during the Battle of Brazos River


The Battle of the Brazos River was an engagement fought in the Brazos River on April 17, 1837, between the Mexican Navy and the Texas Navy.



Background
Despite Houston's victory over Santa Anna's army at San Jacinto, Texans continued to fight a naval war in hopes of persuading the Mexican Government to agree to the independence of Texas. In May 1837, Texas Navy ship Independence prepared for another cruise to take United States diplomat William H. Wharton to Texas from New Orleans. Independence had smooth sailing for about seven days when on April 17 she encountered the Mexican brigs Vencedor del Álamo under Francisco López and the Libertador, off the mouth of the Brazos River.

Battle
The initial sighting of the two Mexican brigs was at about 5:30 am. Outgunned and outmanned Independence fled up Brazos River for protection at the small riverside town of Velasco. The Mexican vessels pursued the Texans, eventually the two brigs came within cannons range several hours later at 9:30 am. Vincedor del Alamo of sixteen 8-pounder guns and 140 men, sailed with Libertador of 100 men, six 12-pounder guns and one 18-pounder. Independence of eight guns total, raised her colors followed by Libertador which then fired the first broadside that had no effect. Shortly afterward Independence fired a broadside with her weather battery of one 9-pounder gun, three 6-pounder guns, and one pivot gun. For two hours, Independence continued up Brazos River with the Mexican brigs in close pursuit, occasionally stopping to fire on each other. By 11:30 am the Texans had reached Velasco, Captain Wheelwright had no choice but to fight to the end, apparently not being able to continue up Brazos River any further. The final engagement took place right in front of the small Texan town and populace, including Texan Secretary of the Navy Samuel Rhoads Fisher.


Brazos River

The Mexicans not being far behind came within range and Captain Wheelwright ordered his men to engage once more. The shots managed to damage the main top-gallant mast of the Libertador and after another broadside in Libertador's direction, two Mexicans lay dead and a few more were wounded. More shots damaged Libertador' foremast and knocked out one of her 12-pounders. However, these broadsides did not slow the Mexican ships, Libertador approached Independence head on while Vincedor del Alamo maneuvered around to Independence's other side. The two brigs quickly came within pistol shots range and both fired a mixture of cannon projectiles. This is when a ball smashed through Independence' quarter gallery wall and into the Texan captain, taking off three of his fingers on his right hand. Severely wounded and taken below, command of the schooner passed to Lieutenant John W. Taylor who finished the last few moments of battle before receiving orders from Wheelwright to surrender. With this action the battle was over.

Aftermath
Immediately Independence was boarded, the officers and crew, as well as William Wharton and a half dozen other civilian passengers, were taken prisoner. The Texan fightingmen were barred away in Matamoros, all of the prisoners eventually escaped or were released by the Mexican government. That same day, Mexican President Anastasio Bustamante, in his inaugural address, pledges to reorganize his military to "preserve the rights of the nation," which includes the reconquest of Texas. After the capture of the Independence, the Mexican seamen found a long lost 8-pounder gun, which had been captured by the Texans at the Battle of San Jacinto a year earlier. Independence was commissioned into the Mexican Navy's Veracruz Squadron under the name La Independencia and continued to serve in the Gulf of Mexico against the Texans.


The Texan schooner Independence was one of the four schooners of the First Texas Navy (1836–1838). At the direction of Texas Governor Henry Smith, in 1936 Charles Hawkins took command of United States revenue cutter Ingham acquired by the Texas Navy and renamed Independence.

After the Texas victory at the Battle of San Jacinto in April, 1836, Independence carried the Texas President and his captive, General Santa Anna, to Velasco, where the Treaty of Velasco was negotiated and signed.

While being refitted in New Orleans in early 1837, her skipper died and a new captain was appointed. When next she sailed in April 1837, Independence was attacked and surrendered to a superior Mexican force and her officers and passengers were imprisoned. The ship was later commissioned in the Mexican Navy where she served against her former masters.



Service during the Texas Revolution
At the direction of Texas Governor Henry Smith, in 1936 Charles Hawkins took command of United States revenue cutter Ingham. It had been acquired by the Texas Navy and renamed Independence. Independence traveled from Matagorda to New Orleans in March 1836 for refitting, but quickly returned to block supplies to the Mexican Army. With the retreat of Sam Houston's army after the Texans' defeats at the siege of the Battle of the Alamo and Battle of Goliad, Hawkins was forced to move his ship up the Texas coast from Matagorda to Galveston. With the rebel government in disarray during the Runaway Scrape, Independence's mission was to defend Galveston from invasion and block resupply of Santa Anna's nearby army.


Lithograph of Independence as flagship of the Texas Navy

The Treaty of Velasco and after
Thereafter, Independence was involved in two important diplomatic missions, first in May 1836 carrying San Jacinto President David G. Burnet, with his cabinet, and Santa Anna to sign the Treaty of Velasco after the Battle of San Jacinto and then, in June, setting sail for New Orleans with commissioners Peter William Grayson and James W. Collinsworth on board. These men continued their journey to Washington, D.C., where they negotiated with the United States for the recognition of the independence of Texas.

In the summer of 1836, Independence was the only ship of the Texas Navy on duty in the Gulf of Mexico; Liberty having been sold to pay the cost of refurbishment and Invincible and Brutus in New York City for repairs. Mexican authorities had recently repudiated the Treaty of Velasco claiming that General Santa Anna did not have the capacity to bind Mexico to recognize Texas' independence. With rumors of an imminent invasion of Texas by Mexico, Independence carried out a screening and patrol action at Matamoros, which the Texans had ordered blockaded.

In the fall of 1836, Independence returned to New Orleans for refitting and while there Commodore Hawkins died of smallpox.[4] When Independence sailed from New Orleans on 10 April 1837, with Texas minister to the United States, William H. Wharton aboard, she was skippered by her new Captain, George W. Wheelwright, who had been left without a command after the forced sale of Liberty in May 1836.

Battle of Brazos River[
Main article: Battle of the Brazos River
On her next cruise, Independence had smooth sailing for about seven days when on 17 April she encountered the Mexican brigs-of-war Vencedor del Álamo and Libertador off the mouth of the Brazos River. The initial sighting of the two Mexican brigs was at about 5:30 am. Outgunned and outmanned, Independence fled up Brazos River for protection at the small riverside town of Velasco. The Mexican vessels pursued the Texans; eventually the two brigs came within cannon range several hours later at 9:30 am. Vincedor del Alamo of sixteen 8-pound guns and 140 men, sailed with Libertador of six 12-pound guns and one 18-pounder, crewed by about 100 men.

Independence of eight guns total, raised her colors followed by Libertador which then fired the first broadside that had no effect. Shortly afterward Independence fired a broadside with her weather battery of one 9-pound gun, three 6-pound guns, and one pivot gun. For two hours, Independence continued up Brazos River with the Mexican brigs in close pursuit, occasionally stopping to fire on each other. By 11:30 am the Texans had reached Velasco; Captain Wheelwright had no choice but to fight to the end, apparently not being able to continue up the Brazos River any further. The final engagement took place right in front of the small Texan town and populace, including the Texas Secretary of the Navy Samuel Rhoads Fisher. The Mexicans not being far behind came within range and Captain Wheelwright ordered his men to engage once more. The shots managed to damage the main top-gallant mast of the Libertador. After another broadside in Libertador's direction, two Mexicans lay dead and a few more were wounded aboard the brig-of-war. More shots damaged Libertador's foremast and knocked out one of her 12 pounders. However, these broadsides did not slow the Mexican ships; Libertador approached Independence head on while Vincedor del Alamo maneuvered around to Independence's other side. The two brigs quickly came within pistol shots range and both fired a mixture of cannon projectiles. This is when a ball smashed through Independence's quarter gallery wall and into the Texan captain, taking off three of his fingers on his right hand. Severely wounded and taken below, command of the schooner passed to Lieutenant John W. Taylor, who finished the last few moments of battle before receiving orders from Wheelwright to surrender. With this action, the battle was over.

Taylor surrendered the ship. Imprisoned in Matamoros, Independence's officers and Wharton eventually escaped or were released by the Mexican government. The ship was taken into service of the Mexican Navy under the new name La Independencia.



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

Action of April 17, 1837 - Wikipedia

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
17 April 1855 – Launch of HMS Sutlej, a Constance-class 50-gun fourth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy


HMS Sutlej was a Constance-class 50-gun fourth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy.




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

History
The class was designed by Sir William Symonds in 1843, and were the largest sailing frigates built for the Navy. Sutlej was ordered from Pembroke Dockyard on 26 March 1845, laid down in August 1847 and launched on 17 April 1855. She was then laid up in ordinary at Portsmouth, before being converted to a screw frigate between 1859 and 1860. She was undocked on 26 March 1860. She had a brief career as an active navy ship.


Gun deck on HMS Sutlej, circa. 1865-1868

The name Sutlej was chosen to commemorate the victory of East India Company forces over the Sikh Khalsa Army, in the Battle of Sobraon on the banks of the Sutlej. She was commanded from her commissioning by Captain Matthew Connolly, spending time with the Pacific Station, based at Esquimalt, in 1864 as the flagship of Rear-Admiral John Kingcome. She was commanded by Captain Trevenen Penrose Coode from 1867, and was the flagship of Rear-Admiral Joseph Denman. She then returned to Britain for paying off. Sutlej was broken up at Portsmouth in 1869.

Notable incidents
On 1 October 1863, Sutlej provoked a minor incident when she entered San Francisco on a windless day, with her ensign indiscernible due to the lack of a breeze. When Sutlejfailed to halt in response to a cannon signal, the commander of the federal fort at Alcatraz ordered a shot to be placed across her bow. The incident ended when Sutlej halted and fired a 21-gun salute.

In October 1864, the Sutlej participated in a raid of nine Ahousaht villages. The Ahousaht nation suffered 15 casualties and 11 prisoners taken, including the wife and child of Chief Cap-chah.

In 1865, when Sutlej again docked at San Francisco, one-third of her crew took the opportunity to desert.

sistership

Scale: 1:48. A contemporary full hull model of the sailing frigate HMS 'Constance’ (1846). The model is highly detailed both on deck including guns, spare spars, boats and shot garlands, as well as being fully rigged, including stun sail yards. The model, mounted on its original wooden baseboard, is said to have been made for Sir Francis Baring (afterwards Lord Northbrook), who was First Lord of the Admiralty from 1849–52. The ‘Constance’, designed by Sir William Symonds, was launched at the Royal Naval Dockyard Pembroke in 1846 and was among the last of the true sailing frigates. It was the largest of the ‘Vernon’ class measuring 180 feet in length by 52 feet in the beam and a tonnage of 2132 tons burden. With a crew of 500 men, the Constance’ was taken out to Valparaiso by Captain Sir Baldwin Walker, later Surveyor of the Navy, who praised the ship highly. Having battled through a hurricane and then rounded Cape Horn he was able to report the ‘Constance’ as ready at once to sail round the world if need be, a state of affairs confirmed by Captain G. W. Courtenay to whom it was handed over on arrival. In 1862, it was converted to screw propulsion and was one of the first ships in the Royal Navy to use compound engines, although they were not at that time sufficiently developed to be a complete success. Finally, the ‘Constance’ was paid off in 1868 and later scrapped in 1875

sistership

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


section, midship (NPA9208)


Scale: 1:48. A contemporary half block model of the 50-gun frigate HMS ‘Arethusa’ (1849). The hull is carved from wood and assembled in ‘bread and butter’ construction, painted in black and cream and complete with decks, the whole model is mounted on its original wooden backboard. There is also a plaque, which is inscribed ‘Arethusa 50 Guns, 2127 tons, built at Pembroke 1849 (278)’. This is one of a class of four frigates, the others being HMS ‘Constance’ (1846), HMS ‘Liffey’ (1856), HMS ‘Octavia’ (1849) and HMS ‘Sutlej’(1855)

sistership

This print depicts 'Arethusa' from her starboard stern quarter, with 'Albion' and 'Britannia' on the horizon to the right of the composition. All three served at the Siege of Sevastopol in 1854 and it is possible that this portrait was made to commemorate their service - and that of Captain Thomas Matthew Charles Symonds who commanded 'Arethusa' - there



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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
17 April 1866 – Launch of HMS Northumberland, the last of the three Minotaur-class armoured frigates built for the Royal Navy during the 1860s.
She had a different armour scheme and heavier armament than her sister ships, and was generally regarded as a half-sister to the other ships of the class.


HMS Northumberland was the last of the three Minotaur-class armoured frigates built for the Royal Navy during the 1860s. She had a different armour scheme and heavier armament than her sister ships, and was generally regarded as a half-sister to the other ships of the class. The ship spent her career with the Channel Squadron and occasionally served as a flagship. Northumberland was placed in reserve in 1890 and became a training ship in 1898. She was converted into a coal hulk in 1909 and sold in 1927, although the ship was not scrapped until 1935.


Northumberland in her original 5-masted configuration

Design and description
The Minotaur-class armoured frigates were essentially enlarged versions of the ironclad HMS Achilles with heavier armament, armour, and more powerful engines. They retained the broadside ironclad layout of their predecessor, but their sides were fully armoured to protect the 50 guns they were designed to carry. Their plough-shaped ram was also more prominent than that of Achilles.

Northumberland was 400 feet 4 inches (122.0 m) long between perpendiculars and had a beam of 58 feet 5 inches (17.8 m) and a draught of 27 feet 9 inches (8.5 m). The ship displaced 10,584 long tons (10,754 t) and had a tonnage of 6,621 tons burthen. Her hull was subdivided by 15 watertight transverse bulkheads and had a double bottom underneath the engine and boiler rooms. The ship was considered "a steady gun platform, able to maintain her speed in a seaway and satisfactory in manoeuvre". She was authorized a crew of 705 officers and enlisted men, but actually carried 800 men.

Propulsion


Model of her engines

Northumberland had a two-cylinder trunk steam engine, made by John Penn and Sons, driving a single propeller using steam provided by 10 rectangular fire-tube boilers. It produced a total of 6,558 indicated horsepower (4,890 kW) during the ship's sea trials on 15 September 1868 and Northumberland had a maximum speed of 14.1 knots (26.1 km/h; 16.2 mph). The ships normally carried 750 long tons (760 t) of coal, but had a maximum capacity of 1,400 long tons (1,400 t), enough to steam 2,825 nautical miles (5,232 km; 3,251 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

Originally designed with three masts, Northumberland was fitted with five masts until her 1875–79 refit when two were removed and she was re-rigged as a barque. Northumberland only made 7 knots (13 km/h; 8.1 mph) under sail, mainly because the ship's propeller could only be disconnected and not hoisted up into the stern of the ship to reduce drag, the worst speed of any ironclad of her era. Admiral George A. Ballard described the Minotaur-class ships as "the dullest performers under canvas of the whole masted fleet of their day, and no ships ever carried so much dress to so little purpose."

Armament

Northumberland's gun deck, showing her eight-inch guns

Unlike her half-sisters, Northumberland was armed with a mix of seven-inch (178 mm), eight-inch (203 mm), and nine-inch (229 mm) rifled muzzle-loading guns. All 4 nine-inch and 18 eight-inch were mounted on the main deck while 4 eight-inch guns were fitted on the upper deck as chase guns. Both seven-inch guns were mounted in the stern on the main deck, also as chase guns.

The nine-inch gun was credited with the ability to penetrate 11.3 inches (287 mm) of wrought iron armour at the muzzle. The eight-inch gun could penetrate 9.6-inch (244 mm) of armour and the seven-inch gun could penetrate 7.7 inches (196 mm).

Northumberland was partially rearmed in 1875 with an armament of 7 nine-inch guns, 4 on the main deck, 2 forward chase guns and 1 rear chase gun. Two eight-inch guns replaced the seven-inchers on the main deck at the stern; the other 18 eight-inch guns remained where they were. In 1886 two six inches (152 mm) breech-loading guns replaced two eight-inch guns. Six quick-firing (QF) 4.7-inch (120-mm) guns, 10 QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns, and six machine guns were later added.

Armour
Unlike her half-sisters, the entire side of Northumberland's hull was not covered with wrought iron armour. To compensate for the additional weight of her armament, only her battery was protected above the main deck. The ship was fitted with a complete waterline armour belt that tapered from 4.5 inches (114 mm) at the ends to 5.5 inches (140 mm) amidships. The armour extended 5 feet 9 inches (1.8 m) below the waterline. The sides of the battery were 184.5 feet (56.2 m) long and it was protected by 5.5-inch armour on all sides, including transverse bulkheads fore and aft of the guns. The two forward chase guns on the upper deck were also protected by armoured bulkheads, but the stern chase guns on that same deck were entirely unprotected. The armour was backed by 10 inches (254 mm) of teak. The ship also had a conning tower protected by 4.5-inch armour plates.

Construction and service
Northumberland, named after the ceremonial county, was ordered on 2 September 1861 from the Millwall Ironworks. She was laid down on 10 October 1861 at its shipyard in Millwall, London. She was altered while on the building slip after Sir Edward Reed succeeded Isaac Watts as Chief Constructor. Unlike her half-sisters, the ship spent five years on the stocks before she was ready to be launched, partially due to frequent changes in design, although Northumberland was much closer to completion. The additional weight caused her stick for an hour on the slipway before she slid halfway down with her stern only supported by air, threatening to buckle the ship. Efforts by hydraulic jacks and tugboats failed to get her into the water on the next spring tide failed, but the use of pontoons on 17 April 1866 proved successful. Her builders went into bankruptcy while the ship was being launched and the liquidators seized Northumberland as a company asset once she was in the water. Eight months passed before the Admiralty could take possession and begin fitting out the ship. She was commissioned in October 1868 and completed on 8 October for a cost a total of £444,256.


Northumberland in three-masted configuration, 1890

The ship's first posting was to the Channel Squadron, where she remained until 1873. Her first captain, Roderick Dew, had all of her yards painted black so that she could be visually distinguished from her half-sisters, whose yards were white. During this time she helped her half-sister Agincourt tow a floating drydock from England to Madeira where it would be picked up by Warrior and Black Prince and taken to Bermuda. The ships departed the Nore on 23 June 1869, loaded down with 500 long tons (510 t) of coal stowed in bags on their gun decks, and transferred the floating dock 11 days later after an uneventful voyage. She was anchored at Funchal, Madeira, on Christmas Day 1872, when a storm parted her anchor chain and the ship drifted onto the ram bow of the ironclad Hercules. Northumberland was seriously damaged below the waterline, with one compartment flooded, though she was able to steam to Malta for repairs.

While her half-sister Minotaur, normally flagship of the Channel Squadron, was refitting in 1873–75, Agincourt, normally the flagship of the fleet second-in-command, replaced her as flagship and Northumberland became flagship of the second-in-command until Minotaur's return to duty. She served as the flagship for Rear Admirals George Hancock and Lord John Hay. Northumberland received her own refit and rearmament from 1875–79 and rejoined the Channel Squadron upon its completion. The ship was paid off in 1885 for another refit and became the flagship of Vice Admirals Sir William Hewett and John Baird, successive commanders of the Channel Squadron, upon her completion in 1887.

Northumberland was assigned to the 1st Reserve Squadron at the Isle of Portland in 1890–91 and then at Devonport from 1891–98. She was hulked in 1898 as a stokers' training ship at the Nore and renamed Acheron on 1 January 1904. From 1909–27 the ship served as a coal hulk at Invergordon, renamed C.8 in 1909 and then C.68 in 1926. The ship was sold in 1927, but was then resold and renamed as Stedmound for service at Dakar until she was scrapped in 1935.

Relics
Two large 1870s half-scale models of the ship are at the Museum of London Docklands.


HMS Minotaur(1863); Warship; Broadside ironclad; Battleship (SLR0943)


HMS Minotaur flagship of Rear-Admiral F B P Seymour CB Channel Squadron (PAF8151)

The Minotaur-class armoured frigates were enlarged versions of HMS Achilles with heavier armament, thicker armour, and more powerful engines. The ships of this class were unique among ironclad warships in possessing on completion five masts, named fore-, second-, main-, fourth- and mizzen.


British ironclad HMS Minotaur as Channel Fleet flagship, after 1875.

History
They were originally intended to mount forty Armstrong 110-pounder breech-loading guns on the main deck, with ten more on pivot mountings on the upper deck. The failure of these guns in service led to a complete re-evaluation of their armament, with a concomitant delay in the arming of the whole class. The ships were armed with a combination of 9-inch muzzle-loading rifles (MLR) on metal carriages and 7-inch MLRs on rope-worked carriages. In a moderate swell these 7-inch guns were virtually unworkable, making the Minotaurs both the heaviest and the worst armed of the Victorian battleships.

The Minotaurs were poor sailors, never exceeding a speed under sail of about 9.5 knots (17.6 km/h; 10.9 mph) with all sail set and a favourable wind. They were, in spite of the number of masts they exhibited, the most sluggish of all British ironclads under sail. They were regarded as good sea-boats, and were considered to be among the steadiest ships in the battle-fleet. They were slow in manoeuvre under hand-steering, but were regarded as good after steam steering was fitted.



HMS Agincourt was a Minotaur-class armoured frigate built for the Royal Navy during the 1860s. She spent most of her career as the flagship of the Channel Squadron's second-in-command. During the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, she was one of the ironclads sent to Constantinople to forestall a Russian occupation of the Ottoman capital. Agincourt participated in Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee Fleet Review in 1887. The ship was placed in reserve two years later and served as a training ship from 1893 to 1909. That year she was converted into a coal hulk and renamed as C.109. Agincourt served at Sheerness until sold for scrap in 1960.


HMS Agincourt (British broadside ironclad, 1868) Photographed after the completion of her 1875-1877 refit, when alternate gunports were enlarged to accommodate larger muzzle-loading rifles.


HMS Minotaur was the lead ship of the Minotaur-class armoured frigates built for the Royal Navy during the 1860s. They were the longest single-screw warships ever built. Minotaur took nearly four years between her launching and commissioning because she was used for evaluations of her armament and different sailing rigs. The ship spent the bulk of her active career as flagship of the Channel Squadron, including during Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee Fleet Review in 1887. She became a training ship in 1893 and was then hulked in 1905 when she became part of the training school at Harwich. Minotaur was renamed several times before being sold for scrap in 1922 and broken up the following year.


Minotaur's deck in the late 1860s. A seven-inch muzzle-loading rifle on a wrought iron pivot gun carriage is at lower left.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Northumberland_(1866)

Minotaur-class ironclad - Wikipedia

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
17 April 1866 – Launch of the passenger clipper Sobraon by Alexander Hall & Co. built the ship in Scotland - she was the largest composite-hull sailing vessel ever built,
later HMAS Tingira, a training ship operated by the Royal Australia Navy (RAN) between 1911 and 1927.


HMAS Tingira was a training ship operated by the Royal Australia Navy (RAN) between 1911 and 1927. Alexander Hall & Co. built the ship in Scotland in 1866 as the passenger clipper Sobraon; she was the largest composite-hull sailing vessel ever built. She sailed on an annual migration run between England and Australia until 1891, when she was sold to the colonial government of New South Wales for use as a reformatory ship. The vessel was then sold to the federal government in 1911, and entered RAN service. Tingira was paid off in 1927, but despite efforts to preserve the ship, was broken up in 1941.


HMAS Tingira moored in Rose Bay, Sydney in 1912

Design and construction
Sobraon was designed as a combination steam-sail ship, but plans to integrate a steam-powered propulsion system were cancelled while the ship was being built. Under full sail, Sobraon could use up to 2 acres (0.81 ha) of sail, and could achieve 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph). The ship's hold was 27 feet (8.2 m), and there was provision for livestock. The hull was of composite construction - teak planking over an iron frame. Sobraon was the largest composite-hull sailing vessel ever built.

Allexander4 Hall & Sons built Sobraon at Aberdeen, Scotland. She was given the yard number 239. The ship, named after the Battle of Sobraon, was launched on 17 April 1866.

Operational history
Sobraon
The ship was built for Shaw, Lowther, Maxton & Co., but was initially operated by the firm Devitt and Moore, who purchased the vessel in 1870. Sobraon was used on the England to Australia migration route, and made one trip per year from England. Her maiden voyage departed London on 9 November and Plymouth 21 November 1866, reaching Australia on 4 February 1867. Initially, voyages ended in Sydney, but from 1872 onwards, Sobraon began sailing to Melbourne instead. The ship's high speed, along with onboard facilities like a water condenser, 3-tonne (3.0-long-ton; 3.3-short-ton) ice chamber, and fresh milk daily from onboard livestock, made Sobraon one of the more popular migration ships. On the first three return voyages, Sobraon would take on a cargo of Indian tea and race other ships back to England to deliver the first cargo. After the third voyage, the ship was instead loaded with cargoes of Australian wheat and wool for the return leg.


Sobraon in her original configuration as a passenger clipper

On 14 October 1890, Sobraon sailed on her final voyage to Australia. She reached Melbourne on 4 January 1891, was sold later that month to the New South Wales Government, then towed to Sydney. In the hands of the colony's government, Sobraon was assigned to the State Welfare Department and refitted for use as a reformatory ship, where delinquent boys were trained in the skills for a maritime career. Moored off Cockatoo Island and operated under the designation "Nautical School Ship Sobraon", over 4,000 boys were hosted and trained across a 20-year period.

HMAS Tingira
The Australian federal government purchased the ship in 1911 for use as a training ship for the fledgling Royal Australian Navy (RAN). She was refitted, commissioned into the RAN as HMAS Tingira (an aboriginal word for "open sea") on 25 April 1912, and moored in Rose Bay. Up to 250 boys between the ages of 14 1/2 and 16 could be trained at any time, although the trainee complement rarely exceeded 200.[5] Between 1912 and 1927, 3,158 boys were trained for naval service. As Tingira was immobilised, the steam yacht HMAS Sleuth was attached to the training ship as a tender, and used to provide seagoing experience to recruits.


Watercolor of Sobraon by Charles Collinson Rawson

Fate
Tingira was paid off on 30 June 1927, and laid up in Berry's Bay. In 1929, the ship was sold to a private owner, but he did not put her to any use before passing away in 1935. Tingira was then purchased by Major Friere (a retired British Army officer) in 1936, who was working with Louisa Ankin to preserve the ship as a national relic. Two years later, the ship was sold to a ship breaker by mortgagees; Friere and Ankin attempted to repurchase the ship, but were unsuccessful. Tingira was broken up in 1941.

Teenage trainees at the RAN's Junior Recruit Training Establishment (which operated at Fremantle naval base HMAS Leeuwin from 1960 to 1984) wore shoulder flashes bearing the name "Tingira" as a historical link with the training ship. Tingira Memorial Park, a small park on the Rose Bay waterfront, commemorates HMAS Tingira. The park was established in two phases; the first opening in 1962, the second completed in 1977.





https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMAS_Tingira
http://www.navy.gov.au/hmas-tingira

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
17 April 1877 – Launch of Fusō (扶桑), a central-battery ironclad built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in the 1870s.


Fusō (扶桑) was a central-battery ironclad built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in the 1870s. She was built in the United Kingdom because such ships could not yet be constructed in Japan. The ship participated in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–95 where she was damaged during the Battle of the Yalu River in 1894 and participated in the Battle of Weihaiwei in early 1895. She collided with two Japanese ships during a storm and sank in 1897. She was refloated the following year and repaired. Fusō played a minor role in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05 and was reclassified as a coast defense ship after the war. She was struck from the Navy List in 1908 and sold for scrap the following year.


Fusō as completed

Background
Tensions between Japan and China heightened after the former launched its punitive expedition against Taiwan in May 1874 in retaliation of the murder of a number of shipwrecked sailors by the Paiwan aborigines. China inquired into the possibility of buying ironclad warships from Great Britain and Japan was already negotiating with the Brazilian government about the purchase of the ironclad Independencia then under construction in Britain. The Japanese terminated the negotiations with the Brazilians in October after the ship was badly damaged upon launching and the expeditionary force was about to withdraw from Taiwan. The crisis illustrated the need to reinforce the IJN and a budget request was submitted that same month by Acting Navy Minister Kawamura Sumiyoshi for ¥3.9–4.2 million to purchase three warships from abroad. No Japanese shipyard was able to build ships of this size so they were ordered from Great Britain. This was rejected as too expensive and a revised request of ¥2.3 million was approved later that month. Nothing was done until March 1875 when Kawamura proposed to buy one ironclad for half of the money authorized and use the rest for shipbuilding and gun production at the Yokosuka Shipyard. No response was made by the Prime Minister's office before the proposal was revised to use all of the allocated money to buy three ships, one iron-hulled armored warship and two armored corvettes of composite construction to be designed by the prominent British naval architect Sir Edward Reed, formerly the Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy. Reed would also supervise the construction of the ships for an honorarium of five percent of the construction cost. The Prime Minister's office approved the revised proposal on 2 May and notified the Japanese consul, Ueno Kagenori, that navy officers would be visiting to negotiate the contract with Reed.

Commander Matsumura Junzō arrived in London on 21 July and gave Reed the specifications for the ships. Reed responded on 3 September with an offer, excluding armament, that exceeded the amount allocated in the budget. Ueno signed the contracts for all three ships on 24 September despite this problem because Reed was scheduled to depart for a trip to Russia and the matter had to be concluded before his departure. Ueno had informed the Navy Ministry about the costs before signing, but Kawamura's response to postpone the order for the armored frigate did not arrive until 8 October. The totals for all three contracts came to £433,850 or ¥2,231,563 and did not include the armament. These were ordered from Krupp with a 50 percent down payment of £24,978. The government struggled to provide the necessary money even though the additional expenses had been approved by the Prime Minister's office on 5 June 1876, especially as more money was necessary to fully equip the ships for sea and to provision them for the delivery voyage to Japan.

Description
The design of Fusō was based on a scaled-down version of HMS Iron Duke, an Audacious-class central-battery ironclad, familiar to the Japanese as the flagship of the Royal Navy China Station from 1871–75. The ship was 220 feet (67.1 m) long between perpendiculars and had a beam of 48 feet (14.6 m). She had a forward draft of 17 feet 9 inches (5.4 m) and drew 18 feet 5 inches (5.6 m) aft. She displaced 2,248 long tons (2,284 t) and had a crew of 26 officers and 269 enlisted men.

Propulsion
Fusō had a pair of two-cylinder, double-expansion trunk steam engines made by John Penn and Sons, each driving a two-bladed 15-foot-6-inch (4.7 m) propeller. Eight cylindrical boilers provided steam to the engine at a working pressure of 4.09 bar (409 kPa; 59 psi). The engines were designed to produce 3,500 indicated horsepower (2,600 kW) to give the ships a speed of 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph). During her sea trials on 3 January 1878, she reached a maximum speed of 13.16 knots (24.37 km/h; 15.14 mph) from 3,824 ihp (2,852 kW). The ship carried a maximum of 350 long tons (360 t) of coal, enough to steam 4,500 nautical miles(8,300 km; 5,200 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). The three-masted ironclad was barque-rigged and had a sail area of 17,000 square feet (1,579 m2). To reduce wind resistance while under sail alone, the funnel was semi-retractable.

The ship was modernized at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal beginning in 1891. Her masts were removed and the fore- and mizzenmasts were replaced by two military masts also fitted with fighting tops. Her funnel was fixed in height and she received four new cylindrical boilers. To offset the reduced number of boilers, the new ones were fitted with forced draught which increased their working pressure to 6.13 bar (613 kPa; 89 psi). The space made available by removal of the boilers was used to increase her coal storage by 36 long tons (37 t).

Armament and armor
Fusō was fitted with four 20-caliber 24-centimeter (9.4 in) Krupp rifled breech-loading (RBL) guns and two 22-caliber RBL 17-centimeter (6.7 in) Krupp guns. The 24 cm guns were mounted at the corners of the armored citadel on the main deck at an angle of 65 degrees to the centerline of the ship. Each gun could traverse 35 degrees to the left and right. Only the 60-degree arc at the bow and stern could not be fired upon. The two pivot-mounted 17-centimeter guns were positioned on the sides of the upper deck, each with three gun ports that allowed them to act as chase guns, firing fore and aft, as well as on the broadside. The ship also carried four long and two short 75-millimeter (3.0 in) guns, the latter intended for use ashore or mounted on the ship's boats.

The armor-piercing shell of the 24-centimeter gun weighed 352.7 pounds (160 kg). It had a muzzle velocity of 1,560 ft/s (475 m/s) and was credited with the ability to penetrate 15.5 inches (393 mm) of wrought iron armor at the muzzle. The 132.3-pound (60 kg) 17-centimeter shell had a muzzle velocity of 1,510–1,600 ft/s (460–487 m/s) and could penetrate 10.3–11.4 inches (262–290 mm) of armor. The only data available for the 75-millimeter guns is their muzzle velocities of 1,550 ft/s (473 m/s) and 960 ft/s (292 m/s) for the long and short-barreled guns respectively.

During the 1880s the armament of Fusō was augmented several times. In June 1883 seven quadruple-barreled 25.4-millimeter (1.0 in) Nordenfelt machine guns were added for defense against torpedo boats. Five were positioned on the upper deck and one each in the fighting tops. Three years later two quintuple-barreled 11-millimeter (0.4 in) Nordenfeldt machine guns were mounted in the fighting tops. Slightly earlier, Fusō became the first ship in the IJN to mount 356-millimeter (14.0 in) torpedo tubes for Schwartzkopff torpedoes when two above-water, traverseable tubes, one on each broadside, were added in late 1885. She first fired these weapons on 14 January 1886 although further testing revealed that the torpedoes were often damaged by the impact with the water. Upon the recommendation of the prominent French naval architect Louis-Émile Bertin, a "spoon" was added to the ends of the tubes to make the torpedoes strike the water horizontally which better distributed the shock of impact. The modifications were made and successful tests were conducted before the end of the year.

When the ship was being refitted from 1891–94, her anti-torpedo boat armament was reinforced by the replacement of three 25.4-millimeter Nordenfelt guns by a pair of 2.5-pounder Hotchkiss guns and a single 3-pounder Hotchkiss gun. Two additional 11-millimeter Nordenfelt guns in the fighting tops were also added at that time. After the Sino-Japanese War, a small poop deck was added in 1896 and a quick-firing (QF) 12-centimetre (4.7 in) gun was mounted there as the stern chase gun. Another such gun was mounted on the forecastle as the forward chase gun and the two 17-centimeter guns were replaced by another pair of 12-centimeter quick-firers. In addition twelve 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns were added and the 11-millimeter guns were replaced by 25.4-millimeter Nordenfelts. In March 1900 the 12-centimeter chase guns were superseded by two QF 15-centimetre (5.9 in) guns and the former chase guns were shifted to make room for them. The final change to Fusō's armament was made in July 1906 when her obsolete 24-centimeter guns were replaced by two QF 15-centimeter guns and two more 3-pounders were added.

Fusō had a wrought-iron waterline armor belt 9 inches (229 mm) thick amidships that tapered to 6.4 inches (162 mm) at the ends of the ship. The sides of the central battery were 9 inches thick and the transverse bulkheads were 8 inches (203 mm) thick.

Construction and career
Given a classical name for Japan, Fusō was built at the Samuda Brothers shipyard in Cubitt Town, London. Japanese sources universally give the date for Kongō's keel-laying as 24 September 1875—the same as that for the awarding of the contract—but historian Hans Langerer describes this as improbable, arguing that no shipyard would order enough material to begin construction without cash in hand. Fusō was launched on 14 April 1877 when Ueno Ikuko, wife of the Japanese consul, cut the retaining rope with a hammer and chisel. Completed in January 1878, the ship sailed for Japan before 22 March under the command of a British captain and with a British crew because the IJN was not yet ready for such a long voyage. While transiting the Suez Canal, she was lightly damaged when she ran aground on 27 April. She received temporary repairs at a local dockyard and arrived in Yokohama on 11 June. She was classified as a second-class warship while still in transit. She was transferred to Yokosuka Naval Arsenal on 17 June for permanent repairs. On 10 July a formal ceremony was held in Yokohama for the receipt of the ship that was attended by the Meiji Emperor and many senior government officials. The ship was then opened for tours by the nobility, their families and invited guests for three days after the ceremony. Beginning on 14 July, the general public was allowed to tour the ship for a week.

Fusō was assigned to the Tokai Naval District and the Standing Fleet in 1880. That same year she transported the Naval Lord, Enomoto Takeaki, on a tour of Hokkaido. On 10 August 1881 she departed with Emperor Meiji on a tour of Aomori Prefecture and Otaru, Hokkaido that lasted until 30 September. The ship was transferred to the Medium Fleet in 1882 and made port visits in Kyushu and Pusan, Korea the following year. Fusō visited Hong Kong and Shanghai, China in 1884. She hosted Empress Shōken for the launching ceremony of the corvette Musashi on 30 March 1886 and was transferred to the Small Standing Fleet in 1887. The ship made a lengthy cruise in the Western Pacific in 1888 and visited ports in Korea, Russia and China the following year. Fusō participated in the fleet maneuvers on 25 March 1880 and then hosted Emperor Meiji for his visits to Kure, Sasebo, and Etajima. From November 1891 to July 1894, Fusō was extensively refitted and partially modernized at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal.


Fusō at anchor after her reconstruction

During the Battle of the Yalu River on 17 September 1894, Fusō was assigned to the rear of the Japanese main body and was heavily engaged by the Chinese ships. Although hit many times by 6-inch (152 mm) shells, not one penetrated her armor; of her crew only five were killed and nine wounded. During the battle her crew fired twenty-nine 24 cm, thirty-two 17 cm, one hundred thirty-six 75 mm, one hundred sixty-four 2.5- and 3-pounder shells and over fifteen hundred shells from her machine guns. The ship was present during the Battle of Weihaiwei in January–February 1895, although she did not see any significant combat. On 29 October 1897, Fusō's anchorchain broke during a strong gale off Nagahama, Ehime and she collided with the ram of the protected cruiser Matsushima at 16:30. She then struck Matsushima's sister ship, Itsukushima, and sank at 16:57. Re-classed as a second-class battleship on 21 March 1898 and refloated on 7 July, Fusō was repaired at Kure Naval Arsenal and ran her trials on 8 April 1900.

Fusō served as the flagship of Rear Admiral Sukeuji Hosoya, Seventh Division, Third Squadron, during the Russo-Japanese War and was held in reserve south of Tsushima Island during the Battle of Tsushima in case the battle drifted her way. On 7 September 1904, her 15-centimeter guns were dismounted for use in the Siege of Port Arthur. They were replaced by guns transferred from the damaged Akashi at Maizuru Naval Arsenal on 28 December. She was reclassified as a coast defense ship in December 1905, and stricken on 1 April 1908. Relegated to the status of a "miscellaneous service craft", she was assigned to the Yokosuka Harbor Master until she was ordered to be sold on 15 February 1909. Yokosuka reported her sale on 30 November, but provided no information on the date of sale or the name of the winning bidder.

Japanese ironclad Fusō - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
17 April 1877 – Launch of Kongō (金剛 Kongō), the lead ship of the Kongō-class ironclad corvettes built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in the 1870s


Kongō (金剛 Kongō) was the lead ship of the Kongō-class ironclad corvettes built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in the 1870s. The class was built in the United Kingdom because such ships could not yet be constructed in Japan. Completed in 1878, Kongō briefly served with the Small Standing Fleet before becoming a training ship in 1887, thereafter making training cruises to the Mediterranean and to countries on the edge of the Pacific Ocean. The ship returned to active duty during the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–95 where she participated in the Battle of Weihaiwei. Kongō resumed her training duties after the war, though she also played a minor role in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05. The ship was reclassified as a survey ship in 1906 and was sold for scrap in 1910.



Design and description
During the brief Japanese occupation of Taiwan in 1874, tensions heightened between China and Japan, and the possibility of war impressed on the Japanese government the need to reinforce its navy. The following year the government placed an order for the armored frigate Fusō and the Kongō-class corvettes Kongō and Hiei—with British shipyards as no Japanese shipyard was able to build ships of this size. All three ships were designed by British naval architect Sir Edward Reed,

The contract for Kongō was awarded to Earle's Shipbuilding and Engineering Co. in Hull, England on 24 September 1875 for the price of £120,750, exclusive of armament. The vessel was named for Mount Kongō.

Kongō was 220 feet (67.1 m) long between perpendiculars and had a beam of 41 feet (12.5 m).[4] She had a forward draft of 18 feet (5.5 m) and drew 19 feet (5.8 m) aft. The ship displaced 2,248 long tons (2,284 t) and had a crew of 22 officers and 212 enlisted men. Her hull was of composite construction with an iron framework planked with wood.


A scale model of Japanese ironclad Kongō corvette, on display at Istanbul Naval Museum.

Propulsion
Kongō had a single two-cylinder double-expansion horizontal return connecting-rod steam engine, driving a single propeller using steam from six cylindrical boilers. The engine was designed to produce 2,500 indicated horsepower (1,900 kW) to give the Kongō-class ironclads a speed of 13.5 knots (25.0 km/h; 15.5 mph). During her sea trials on 7 December 1877, the ship reached a maximum speed of 13.73 knots (25.43 km/h; 15.80 mph) from 2,450 ihp (1,830 kW), enough to earn the builder a bonus of £300. She carried enough coal to steam 3,100 nautical miles (5,700 km; 3,600 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). The ironclad was barque-rigged and had a sail area of 14,036 square feet (1,304 m2). The ship was reboilered at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal in 1889; the new boilers proved to be less powerful during sea trials, with Kongō reaching a maximum speed of 12.46 knots (23.08 km/h; 14.34 mph) from 2,028 ihp (1,512 kW). Her topmasts were removed in 1895.

Armament and armor
Kongō was fitted with three 172-millimeter (6.8 in) Krupp rifled breech-loading (RBL) guns and six RBL 152-millimeter (6.0 in) Krupp guns. All of the 172-millimeter guns were positioned as chase guns, two forward and one aft. The 152-millimeter guns were mounted on the broadside. The ship also carried two short 75-millimeter (3.0 in) guns for use ashore or mounted on the ships' boats.

During the 1880s, the armament of the ship was reinforced with the addition of four quadruple-barreled 25-millimeter (1.0 in) Nordenfelt and two quintuple-barreled 11-millimeter (0.4 in) Nordenfelt machine guns for defense against torpedo boats. Around the same time she also received two 356-millimeter (14.0 in) torpedo tubes for Schwartzkopff torpedoes. The anti-torpedo boat armament was again reinforced in 1897 by the addition of a pair of 2.5-pounder Hotchkiss guns. After the end of the Russo-Japanese War, Kongō's armament was reduced to six ex-Russian 12-pounder guns and six 2.5-pounders.

The Kongō-class corvettes had a wrought-iron armor waterline belt 4.5 inches (114 mm) thick amidships that tapered to 3 inches (76 mm) at the ends of the ship.

History
Japanese sources universally give the date for Kongō's keel-laying as 24 September 1875—the same as that for the awarding of the contract—but historian Hans Langerer describes this as improbable, arguing that no shipyard would order enough material to begin construction without cash in hand. Kongō was launched on 17 April 1877; the wife of a secretary in the Japanese Legation cut the retaining rope with a hammer and chisel. Completed in January 1878, Kongō sailed for Japan on 18 February under the command of a British captain and with a British crew because the IJN was not yet ready for such a long voyage. She arrived in Yokohama on 26 April and was classified as a Third Class Warship on 4 May. On 10 July a formal ceremony was held in Yokohama for the receipt of the ship that was attended by the Meiji Emperor and many senior government officials. The ship was opened for tours by the nobility, their families and invited guests for three days after the ceremony. On 14 July, the general public was allowed to tour the ship for a week.


The Japanese Cruiser Kongō in Constantinople, 1891, by Luigi Acquarone (1800-1896).

Kongō hosted the Duke of Genoa when he visited Japan in late 1879. The ship was assigned to the Small Standing Fleet in 1885 and made port visits to Port Arthur and Chefoo in China and Jinsen in Korea the following year. She became a training ship in 1887 for the Kure Naval District. Together with her sister ship Hiei, Kongō sailed from Shinagawa, Tokyo on 13 August 1889 on a training cruise to the Mediterranean with cadets from the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy, returning on 2 February 1890. On 5 October, the sister ships departed Shinagawa for Kobe to pick up the 69 survivors of the wrecked Ottoman frigate Ertuğrul, transporting them to their homeland at Constantinople, Turkey, on 2 January 1891, after which the ships' officers were received by Sultan Abdul Hamid II. The ships also carried a class of naval cadets on this mission. On the return voyage, the two corvettes made port at Piraeus where they were visited by King George I of Greece and his son, Crown Prince Constantine. Making stops at Alexandria, Port Said, Aden, Colombo, Singapore and Hong Kong, the sister ships arrived at Shinagawa on 10 May where Kongō resumed her training duties.


A template on display at Istanbul Naval Museum beside Kongō and Hieimodels, memorizing Ottoman frigate Ertuğrul that sank in Japan following a typhoon off the coast of Wakayama Prefecture.

Kongō began another cadet cruise on 24 September 1892 and visited Vancouver and San Francisco. On her return voyage she stopped at Honolulu and was present during the Hawaiian Revolution of 1893. Though playing no part in the affair, she remained there to protect Japanese interests until relieved by the cruiser Naniwa and reached home on 22 April. Kongō began another cadet cruise on 19 April 1894, but on arrival at Honolulu, transferred her cadets to the cruiser Takachiho on 16 June and relieved Takachiho as the patrol ship. Kongō's tenure there was brief as she was recalled home on 5 July due to rising tensions ahead of the First Sino-Japanese War. She did not participate in the Battle of the Yalu River in September, but was present during the Battle of Weihaiwei in January–February 1895.

After the war, Kongō and Hiei alternated annual cadet training cruises, with Kongō making the 1896 cruise to China and Southeast Asia from 11 April to 16 September and the 1898 cruise to Australia from 17 March to 16 September. During the latter cruise, on 21 March 1898, she was re-designated as a 3rd-class coast defense ship, although she retained her training duties. Kongō made the 1900 cruise to Manila, Hong Kong and Australia from 21 February to 30 July and both ships made the 1902 cruise, their last, to Manila and Australia from 19 February to 25 August. Kongō played a minor role in the Russo-Japanese War before being reclassified as a survey ship in 1906. She was stricken from the Navy List on 20 July 1909 and sold on 20 May 1910 for scrap.



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

Kongō-class ironclad - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 17 April


1492 – Spain and Christopher Columbus sign the Capitulations of Santa Fe for his voyage to Asia to acquire spices.

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


1524 – Giovanni da Verrazzano reaches New York harbor.

Giovanni da Verrazzano (Italian: [dʒoˈvanni da verratˈtsaːno], sometimes also spelled Verrazano; 1485–1528) was an Italian explorer of North America, in the service of King Francis I of France.
He is renowned as the first European to explore the Atlantic coast of North America between Florida and New Brunswick in 1524, including New York Bay and Narragansett Bay.



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


1573 – The Battle of Flushing was a naval battle of the Eighty Years' War, fought on April 17, 1573 near the city of Flushing, Netherlands.

The Battle of Flushing was a naval battle of the Eighty Years' War, fought on April 17, 1573 near the city of Flushing, Netherlands. The Spanish fleet was led by Sancho d'Avila, the Dutch fleet by Lieven Keersmaker.
The Dutch fleet initially left Flushing, but returned when the Spanish fleet was hit by the city's cannons. Five Spanish ships were seized, but the remainder managed to reach the cities of Middelburg and Arnemuiden.


Die Schlacht bei Vlissingen, Gravur von Michiel Colijn, 1616

(Auf See ereignet sich die Schlacht bei Vlissingen im Achtzigjährigen Krieg. Eine Flotte der spanischen Armada bombardiert die Stadt Vlissingen. Den Niederländern gelingt es, fünf gegnerische Schiffe im Kampf zu versenken, was zum Rückzug der Spanier vom Vlissinger Kriegsschauplatz führt.)

Battle of Flushing - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schlacht_bei_Vlissingen


1796 - Boats of HMS Diamond (38), Cptn. Sir W. Sidney Smith, captured Le Vengeur at Havre de Grace, Seine estuary. The French cut the cable and unable to escape Sir Sidney and the crew were taken prisoner.

HMS Diamond (1794), a fifth-rate launched at Deptford in 1794 and broken up in 1812.


1808 - Napoleon Bonaparte issues the Bayonne Decree, which authorizes the French seizure of all United States ships entering all ports of the Hanseatic League. Napoleon argues the decree will help the United States enforce the Embargo Act signed by President Thomas Jefferson in December 1807.


1813 – Launch of HMS Bacchus was a British Royal Navy Cruizer-class brig-sloop launched in 1813 and expended as a breakwater in 1829.

HMS Bacchus was a British Royal Navy Cruizer-class brig-sloop launched in 1813 and expended as a breakwater in 1829. In between, she recaptured or captured a number of small merchant vessels.

HMS Bacchus (1813) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1848 – Launch of Charlotte Jane, one of the First Four Ships in 1850 to carry emigrants from England to the new colony of Canterbury in New Zealand.

Charlotte Jane was one of the First Four Ships in 1850 to carry emigrants from England to the new colony of Canterbury in New Zealand.
The ship is remembered in the name of a road, Charlotte Jane Quay, in the port town of Lyttelton.


Marble plaques in Cathedral Square

Charlotte Jane - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1863 – Launch of USS Shawmut was a 593-ton steamer acquired by the U.S. Navy and put to use by the Union during the American Civil War.

USS Shawmut was a 593-ton steamer acquired by the U.S. Navy and put to use by the Union during the American Civil War.
Shawmut served the Union Navy primarily as a gunboat with howitzers for bombardment, and various other rifles and cannon for use at sea in apprehending blockade runners attempting to "run" the Union blockade of the Confederate States of America.


USS Shawmut in the Potomac River

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Shawmut_(1863)


1878 – Launch of HMS Mercury was an Iris-class second class cruiser of the Royal Navy.

HMS Mercury was an Iris-class second class cruiser of the Royal Navy. The two ships of the class were the first all steel ships in the Royal Navy. She was distinguished from Iris by her straight bow, which gave her a slightly shorter length of 315 feet (96 m). The ship carried a complement of 275 officers and men.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Mercury_(1878)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iris-class_cruiser


1896 – Launch of French Lavoisier, a protected cruiser of the French Navy, named in honour of Antoine Lavoisier

Lavoisier was a protected cruiser of the French Navy, named in honour of Antoine Lavoisier.
Launched in Rochefort in April 1896, Lavoisier entered service in December 1897. She was then sent to Toulon as a replacement for the ageing Cosmao.
In 1903, she replaced the cruiser Isly as division chief at the station of Newfoundland.
During the First World War, Lavoisier patrolled the Atlantic and the English Channel, before being sent in Eastern Mediterranean in 1915.
In 1919, she was appointed to the station of Syria.
She was struck in 1920, and sold for scrap the next year.

French cruiser Lavoisier - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1917 - HMHS Lanfranc – On the evening of 17 April the hospital ship, while carrying wounded from Le Havre to Southampton, was torpedoed by SM UB-40. 22 British and 18 Germans were killed.

HMHS Lanfranc was an ocean liner requisitioned as a hospital ship in the First World War. On 17 April 1917 she was torpedoed by the German U-boat SM UB-40.
History
Lanfranc was built by the Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Company for the Booth Steamship Company, which ran passenger services between Liverpool and Manaus, 1,000 miles (1,600 km) up the Amazon River. With the outbreak of war she was requisitioned as a hospital ship.
Sinking
On the evening of 17 April the Lanfranc, while transporting wounded from Le Havre to Southampton, was torpedoed without warning. 22 British, including 2 officers, and 18 German other ranks were lost.



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


1917 - HMHS Donegal – On 17 April 1917 the British hospital ship was torpedoed by UC-21 19 nautical miles (35 km) south of the Dean lightship while en route from Le Havre for Southampton. 40 of those aboard were lost

SS Donegal was a Midland Railway passenger ferry that served in the First World War as an ambulance ship. She was completed in 1904 and sunk by enemy action in April 1917.



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


1944 - Minesweeper USS Swift (AM 122) and patrol craft USS PC 619 sink the German submarine, U 986, in the North Atlantic.

USS Swift (AM-122) was an Auk-class minesweeper acquired by the United States Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing.
The second U.S. Naval vessel to be so named, Swift was laid down on 27 June 1942 by John H. Mathis & Company, Camden, New Jersey. The ship launched on 5 December 1942, sponsored by Mrs. J. E. Sheedy, and commissioned on 29 December 1943, Lt. Comdr. R. K. Cockey, USNR, in command. Swift held her shakedown cruise at Little Creek, Virginia, and on 11 February 1944 entered the Norfolk, Virginia Navy Yard for alterations

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Swift_(AM-122)


1944 Take Ichi ('Bamboo No. 1') convoy left Shanghai

The Take-Ichi sendan (竹一船団 "Bamboo No. One" convoy) was a Japanese convoy of World War II. The convoy left Shanghai on 17 April 1944, carrying two infantry divisions to reinforce Japan's defensive positions in the Philippines and western New Guinea. United States Navy (USN) submarines attacked the convoy on 26 April and 6 May, sinking four transports and killing more than 4,000 soldiers. These losses caused the convoy to be diverted to Halmahera, where the surviving soldiers and their equipment were unloaded.

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


1947 - Sir Harvey Adamson SS was a British Passenger/Cargo Ship of 1,030 tons built in 1914. She went missing with 269 people on board. She left Rangoon on the 17th April 1947 intending to reach her destination the next day, but she ran into a south westerly gale. She was never seen again and it was presumed she had struck a mine and went down before a distress signal could be sent.

Read more at wrecksite: https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?30947

Screw Steamer SIR HARVEY ADAMSON built by A. & J. Inglis Ltd. in 1914 for British India Steam Navigation Co. Ltd., Glasgow, Passenger / Cargo

Screw Steamer SIR HARVEY ADAMSON built by A. & J. Inglis Ltd. in 1914 for British India Steam Navigation Co. Ltd., Glasgow, Passenger / Cargo Sailed from Rangoon on 18/04/1947 for Tavoy and due to arrive the following day. However she ran into a South Westerly gale and was never seen again. It...

www.clydeships.co.uk

Der britische Passagierdampfer Sir Harvey Adamson verschwindet spurlos auf einer Fahrt von Rangun nach Mergui. An Bord waren 269 Passagiere und Besatzungsmitglieder.

Sir Harvey Adamson (Schiff, 1914) – Wikipedia

de.wikipedia.org

1970 - On 17 April 1970, Iwo Jima was the flagship of Task Force 130 that waited for the Apollo 13 spaceship's astronauts after their memorable "successful failure" mission and splashdown near American Samoa. In the 1995 film Apollo 13, Iwo Jima was played by her sister ship, New Orleans (LPH-11). Iwo Jima's skipper, Captain Leland E. Kirkemo, is portrayed by the film's central protagonist, Captain Jim Lovell.

USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

2001 – Launch of The MV Karadeniz Powership Onur Sultan is a Liberia-flagged floating power plant, owned and operated by Karpowership.

The MV Karadeniz Powership Onur Sultan is a Liberia-flagged floating power plant, owned and operated by Karpowership. In 2016, she was solemnly sent off from the Sedef Shipyard in Tuzla, Istanbul, Turkey to Myanmar to supply electricity to the power grid. In 2018, she was commissioned to supply electricity to the power grid in Indonesia.

MV Karadeniz Powership Onur Sultan - Wikipedia

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[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
18 April 1698 – Launch of HMS Salisbury, a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Richard and James Herring at Baileys Hard (near Bucklers Hard) on the Beaulieu River in Hampshire, England


HMS Salisbury was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Richard and James Herring at Baileys Hard (near Bucklers Hard) on the Beaulieu River in Hampshire, England and launched on 18 April 1698.





Salisbury was commissioned in 1699 under her first commander, Captain Richard Lestock. The following year she joined Admiral George Rooke's fleet in the Baltic, and remained with Rooke off Dunkirk in 1701. Lestock was succeeded by Captain Richard Cotton, but while off Orford Ness on 10 April 1703 she encountered and was attacked by a squadron consisting of four French warships, including the Adroit, and three privateers. After an engagement which left 17 killed and 34 wounded, Salisbury was taken by the French. She served with the French under the name Salisbury, and for a time was part of Claude de Forbin's squadron.

On 1 May 1707, Salisbury very nearly fell back into English hands. Salisbury was part of the Dunkirk Squadron that attacked the English convoy commanded by Baron Wylde, during the Action of 2 May 1707. Captain George Clements lost his life in defence of HMS Hampton Court, but not before his crew so disabled Salisbury that she was left for a wreck, later recovered by the French who could not fit her out in time for their next warring exploit.

She was finally recaptured off Scotland on 15 March 1708 by HMS Leopard and other ships of Sir George Byng's squadron. She was renamed HMS Salisbury Prize, as a new HMS Salisbury had already been built. She was renamed HMS Preston on 2 January 1716.

On 8 May 1739 Preston was ordered to be taken to pieces and rebuilt at Plymouth according to the 1733 proposals of the 1719 Establishment, and was relaunched on 18 September 1742. From 1745 she was assigned to the Royal Navy's East Indies squadron which was based in the Dutch-held port of Trincomalee, Ceylon. In September 1748 she was declared unseaworthy and converted into a hulk. Over the following year she served as a storehouse for naval supplies and a support for the careening of other vessels, and was broken up in November 1749.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, stern board with soem details, inboard profile with alterations to the stem and head, and a basic longitudinal half-breadth for Preston (1742), a 1733 Establishment, 50-gun Fourth Rate, two-decker. Reverse: Scale: 1:48. A part elevation of the quarterdeck illustrating the bell and rail, and the layout of the platforms


Scale: 1:48. A block model of the ‘Preston’ (1742), a 50-gun, small two-decker. The ‘Preston’ was launched at Plymouth in 1742 and hulked in 1748. It was built to the 1733 Establishment. It was 134 feet long and 38½ feet in the beam, and weighed 853 tons burden. It carried a complement of 300 men. It had twenty-two 18-pound guns on its gun deck, twenty-six 12-pounders on its upper deck, fourteen 6-pounders on its quarterdeck, and four 6-pounders on its forecastle


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Salisbury_(1698)
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[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
18 April 1772 – Launch of HMS Monmouth, an Intrepid-class 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, at Plymouth.


HMS Monmouth was an Intrepid-class 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 18 April 1772 at Plymouth.

She was not immediately commissioned for service, but went on to serve during the American War of Independence in a number of theatres. She was initially in the Caribbean, where she fought at the Battle of Grenada, before returning to Britain to join a special expedition under Commodore George Johnstone, to capture the Dutch colony at the Cape of Good Hope. The expedition was surprised by a French fleet at the Battle of Porto Praya and though Johnstone was able to go on and capture several Dutch merchants in the Battle of Saldanha Bay, he did not attempt to attack the Cape. Monmouth, under her Captain James Alms, was sent on with several other warships to reinforce the East Indies station, and she went on to fight in a number of actions under Sir Edward Hughes against French fleets under the Bailli de Suffren. She returned to Britain on the conclusion of the wars and saw no further active service. Renamed Captivity and used as a prison ship from 1796, she served out the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and was broken up in 1818.



Construction and commissioning
Monmouth was ordered on 10 September 1767, one of the first batch of four ships of the Intrepid class, built to a design drawn up by Sir John Williams in 1765. The order was approved on 22 October 1767, and the name Monmouth assigned in November that year. She was laid down at Plymouth Dockyard in May 1768, under the supervision of Master Shipwright Israel Pownoll and launched from there on 18 April 1772. She was completed at the dockyard between October 1777 and 9 May 1778, after the outbreak of the American War of Independence. Expenditure on the ship by this stage came to £30,586.17.3d, with a further £7,426.15.1d. spent fitting her out.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth proposed (and approved) for building Monmouth (1772), a 64-gun Third Rate, two-decker. The plan includes a mast and yard dimension table. Signed by John Williams [Surveyor of the Navy, 1765-1784]


American waters
Her first commander, Captain Thomas Collingwood, commissioned her for service in January 1778, and after fitting out she sailed for the Leeward Islands in June 1778 with the squadron under Vice-Admiral John Byron. She came under the command of Captain Robert Fanshawe in 1779, and under him saw action at the Battle of Grenada on 6 July 1779. Monmouth was heavily involved in the fighting with the comte d'Estaing's fleet, and was ordered to Antigua to carry out repairs. She returned to Britain at the end of the year and was refitted and coppered at Portsmouth between December 1779 and December 1780. She recommissioned in late 1780 under the command of Captain James Alms, and was immediately assigned to the squadron under Commodore George Johnstone.

Expedition to South Africa and India
Johnstone's squadron was dispatched on a secret expedition to capture the Dutch colony at the Cape of Good Hope. Johnstone sailed on his expedition from Spithead on 13 March 1781 in command of 46 ships and 3,000 troops under General Sir William Medows. The French had learned of the expedition's intent through the services of the spy François Henri de la Motte, based in London, and quickly prepared an expedition under Admiral Pierre André de Suffren to foil Johnstone by beating him to the Cape and reinforcing it. Johnstone at first made for the Cape Verde Islands, anchoring at Porto Prayato take on fresh water.


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

He was surprised at anchor on 16 April by the unexpected arrival of Suffren's squadron, which had also not anticipated finding an enemy force at Porto Praya. The French launched an immediate attack, and it was sometime before the British could respond effectively, eventually driving the French off. Johnstone ordered a pursuit, but his damaged ships were unable to catch up with the French. Suffren sailed directly to the Cape, with Johnstone following after completing repairs. Finding the Dutch forewarned and reinforced on his arrival there, Johnstone did not attempt an attack, instead contenting himself with capturing several Dutch merchants in Saldanha Bay. Johnstone decided to return to Britain with his prizes, detaching the troops and supplies he was escorting for the East Indies station, and sending his best warships under Captain Alms of Monmouth to escort them.

East Indies service


Depiction of the Battle of Trincomalee by Dominic Serres

Alms struggled with adverse winds and high incidences of sickness, eventually forcing him to leave the troopships on the coast of Arabia to bring his warships to reach India in time for the campaigning season. The British fleet rendezvoused with Sir Edward Hughes at Madras on 11 February 1782, and Monmouth went on to be involved in a number of indecisive clashes between Hughes and the Bailli de Suffren; at Sadras on 17 February, Providien on 12 April, Negapatam on 6 July, and Trincomalee on 3 September 1782.

Monmouth had a particularly important part in the battle Providien, when she was the second ship in the line to Sir Edward's flagship. At one point in the action, Alms saw that Suffren had put up his helm with a view of boarding Hughes's ship, and brought Monmouth about to defend his commander, the ship receiving heavy fire as he did so. In this engagement, the Monmouth had seven guns dismounted,—the wheel twice cleared,—and two seamen only, besides the captain, left alive on the quarter-deck. Forty-five men were killed, and one hundred and two wounded. Alms himself received two splinter-wounds in the face, and two musket-balls went through his hat.

Prison ship and sale
Alms brought Monmouth back to Britain at the conclusion of the American War of Independence, and she was paid off in July 1784. She spent a number of years laid up, and was not returned to service on the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars. Instead she was renamed Captivity on 20 October 1796, while laid up at Portsmouth, and was fitted out as a prison ship. She continued in this role for over a decade, serving under a number of commanders, Lieutenant Samuel Blow from December 1796, until his replacement in 1800 by Lieutenant Emanuel Hungerford. She was thereafter commanded by Lieutenant Jacob Silver from September 1801, and then a Lieutenant McDonald from December 1805 until sometime in 1806. She was finally broken up at Portsmouth in January 1818.


sistership

HMS Diadem at the capture of the cape Good Hope

The Intrepid-class ships of the line were a class of fifteen 64-gun third rates, designed for the Royal Navy by Sir John Williams. His design, approved on 18 December 1765, was slightly smaller than Sir Thomas Slade's contemporary Worcester class design of the same year, against which it was evaluated competitively. Following the prototype, four more ships were ordered in 1767–69, and a further ten between 1771 and 1779.

Intrepid class (Williams)

• Intrepid 64 (1770) – sold for breaking 1828.
• Monmouth 64 (1772) – broken up 1818.
• Defiance 64 (1772) – sank 1780.
• Nonsuch 64 (1774) – broken up 1802.
• Ruby 64 (1776) – broken up 1821.
• Vigilant 64 (1774) – broken up 1816.
• Eagle 64 (1774) – broken up 1812.
• America 64 (1777) – broken up 1807.
• Anson 64 (1781) – razéed to 44-gun frigate 1794, wrecked 1807
• Polyphemus 64 (1782) – broken up 1827.
• Magnanime 64 (1780) – razéed to 44-gun frigate 1794, broken up 1813.
• Sampson 64 (1781) – sold for breaking 1832.
• Repulse 64 (1780) – wrecked 1800.
• Diadem 64 (1782) – broken up 1832.
• Standard 64 (1782) – broken up 1816.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Monmouth_(1772)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intrepid-class_ship_of_the_line
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[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
18 April 1775 – Launch of HMS Berwick, a 74-gun Elizabeth-class third rate of the Royal Navy, launched at Portsmouth Dockyard, to a design by Sir Thomas Slade.


HMS Berwick was a 74-gun Elizabeth-class third rate of the Royal Navy, launched at Portsmouth Dockyard on 18 April 1775, to a design by Sir Thomas Slade. She fought the French at the Battle of Ushant (1778) and the Dutch at the Battle of Dogger Bank (1781). The French captured her in the Action of 8 March 1795 during the French Revolutionary Wars and she served with them with some success then and at the start of the Napoleonic Wars until the British recaptured her at the Battle of Trafalgar. Berwick sank shortly thereafter in a storm.





Royal Navy service


Representation of the Distressed Situation of His Majesty's Ships Ruby, Hector, Berwick and Bristol when Dismasted in the Great Hurricane, 6 October 1780

As one of the newest ships of the line, she was commissioned in December 1777. On the entry of France into the American War of Independence in 1778 Berwick joined the Channel Fleet. In July, she took part in the Battle of Ushant under the command of Captain the Hon. Keith Stewart. She served with the Channel Fleet throughout 1779.

In 1780 she was sent out to the West Indies as part of a squadron under Commodore Walshingham that was sent out to reinforce the fleet under Sir George Rodney. But Walshingham's ships arrived too late for the battles of that year and she was then sent to Jamaica. The lieutenant on this trip was John Hunter, who later became an admiral and the second Governor of New South Wales.

While Berwick was on the Jamaica station, she received serious damage from the October 1780 West Indies hurricane, which completely dismasted her and drove her out to sea. The damage forced her to return across the Atlantic to England for repairs.

After repairs, Berwick sailed to the North Sea where Captain Stewart became commander in chief of the station. The North Sea was becoming an increasingly important convoy route because French and Spanish squadrons cruising in the Western Approaches to the Channel had made that route unsafe for British convoys.

In 1781 Berwick was under the command of Captain John Ferguson. On 17 April she, with Belle Poule, captured the privateer Callonne, under the command of Luke Ryan. Calonne was only two years old, a fast sailer, and well equipped for a voyage of three months. She had a crew of 200 men and was armed with twenty-two 9-pounder guns, six 4-pounder guns, and six 12-pounder carronades.

When the British Admiralty received news that the Dutch, who had joined the war at the beginning of 1781, were fitting out a squadron for service in the North Sea, it reinforced Berwick with a squadron under Vice-Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, who had hoisted his flag in Fortitude. Berwick also received two 68-pounder carronades for her poop deck.

On 15 August, while escorting a convoy of 700 merchantmen from Leith to the Baltic, Parker's squadron of seven ships of the line met a Dutch squadron under Rear-Admiral Johan Zoutman, also consisting of seven ships of the line, but also encumbered with a convoy. In the ensuing Battle of Dogger Bank, Berwick suffered a total of 16 killed and 58 wounded.

After the war, Berwick was paid off in 1783 and laid up in ordinary.

She was commissioned again on 1 January 1793 under Captain Sir John Collins. At the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars he sailed her out for the Mediterranean on 22 May to join the fleet under Admiral Lord Hood. Under Hood, Berwick participated in Toulon operations late in the year.

Collins died in March 1794. His successors were, in short order, Captains William Shield, George Campbell, George Henry Towry, and lastly, William Smith.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with sternboard decoration and name on the counter, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for Berwick (1775), a 74-gun Third Rate, two-decker, as built at Portsmouth Dockyard. The plan was later approved for Bombay Castle (1782), Powerful (1783), and Defiance (1783) of the same class. Signed by John Williams [Surveyor of the Navy, 1765-1784], and Edward Hunt [1778-1784]

Capture
Main article: Action of 8 March 1795
In early 1795 Berwick had been refitting in San Fiorenzo Bay, Corsica, when her lower masts, stripped of rigging, rolled over the side and were lost. A hasty court martial dismissed Smith, the First Lieutenant, and the Master from the ship. After fitting a jury rig, Berwick, under Captain Adam Littlejohn, sailed to join the British fleet at Leghorn, but ran into the French fleet. In the ensuing action the French captured Berwick.

At 11 am, close off Cap Corse, the French frigate Alceste passed to leeward and opened fire within musket-shot on Berwick's lee bow. Minerve and Vestale soon took their stations on Berwick's quarter. By noon, her rigging was cut to pieces and every sail was in ribbons. During the battle four sailors were wounded and a bar-shot decapitated Littlejohn; he was the only man killed. Command then devolved upon Lieutenant Nesbit Palmer, who consulted with the other officers. Palmer decided that Berwick was unable to escape in her disabled state and that all further resistance was useless; he then ordered that Berwick strike her colours.

The French towed her back to Toulon and subsequently commissioned her into the French Navy as Berwick, under Louis-Jean-Nicolas Lejoille.


The British artist Thomas Luny (1758-1837) is best known for his marine paintings, which, though often sombre, show great skill in technique and execution. The action referred to in this painting is a confrontation between a British convoy homeward bound from the Baltic and a Dutch convoy. The British commander Hyde Parker ordered the British merchantmen to continue their voyage home, whilst he ran down on the Dutch with his battle-ships. In the centre of the picture is the Dutch flagship, the ‘Admiral de Ruijter’, surrounded by British and Dutch ships. The artist has focused the spectator’s attention to the middle ground using the reflection of light on the surface of the water, keeping the foreground and the sides of the composition in the shade created by clouds in the sky. He thereby gives the image a sense of spatial dept

French Navy service
In September 1795, she sailed from Toulon for Newfoundland as part of a squadron of six ships of the line under Rear-Admiral de Richery. In October, Richery's squadron fell in with the British Smyrna convoy, taking 30 out of 31 ships, and retaking the 74-gun Censeur. The squadron then put into Cádiz, where it remained refitting for the remainder of the year.

On 4 August 1796, Richery finally set sail from Cádiz for North America with his seven ships of the line. His squadron was escorted out into the Atlantic by the Spanish Admiral Don Juan de Lángara, with 20 ships of the line. In September, Richery destroyed the British Newfoundland fishing fleet.

In November, Berwick returned to Rochefort with four of the other ships from Richery's squadron, before sailing on to Brest.

By 1803, Berwick was back in the Mediterranean at Toulon.

Napoleonic Wars
In March 1805, Berwick sailed for the West Indies as part of a fleet of 11 French ships of the line under Vice-Admiral Villeneuve. Off Cádiz, the fleet was joined by the 74-gun ship Aigle, and six Spanish ships of the line under Vice-Admiral Gravina. When the fleet reached the West Indies, Villeneuve sent Commodore Cosmao-Kerjulien with the Pluton and the Berwick to attack the British position on Diamond Rock, which surrendered on 2 June.

When Villeneuve heard that Nelson had followed him to the West Indies, he sailed for Europe. Sir Robert Calder, with 15 ships of the line, intercepted the French off Cape Finisterre. After a violent artillery exchange, the fleets separated in the fog. Exhausted after six months at sea, the French anchored in Ferrol before sailing to Cádiz to rest and refit. With his command under question and wanting to meet the British fleet to gain a decisive victory, Villeneuve left Cádiz to meet the British fleet near Cape Trafalgar.

Fate
On 21 October 1805, Berwick fought at the Battle of Trafalgar, where Achille re-captured her. Berwick sank near Sanlúcar in the tempest the following day after her French prisoners cut her cables. Although Donegal was nearby and quickly sent boats, many of the c.200 persons aboard Berwick lost their lives.



Capture of HMS Swiftsure by Indivisible and Dix-Août

The Elizabeth-class ships of the line were a class of eight 74-gun third rates, designed for the Royal Navy by Sir Thomas Slade.



Elizabeth class (Slade)

• Elizabeth 74 (1769) – broken up 1797
• Resolution 74 (1770) – broken up 1813
• Cumberland 74 (1774) – broken up 1804
• Berwick 74 (1775) – captured by France 1795, recaptured and wrecked, 1805
• Bombay Castle 74 (1782) – wrecked 1796
• Powerful 74 (1783) – broken up 1812
• Defiance 74 (1783) – broken up 1817
• Swiftsure 74 (1787) – captured by France 1801, same name, recaptured at the Battle of Trafalgar, 1805, renamed Irresistible 1805, broken up 1816

Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the inboard profile profile (and approved) for 'Elizabeth' (1769), and with alterations for 'Resolutio'n (1770), 'Cumberland' (1774), 'Berwick' (1775), 'Bombay Castle' (1782), 'Defiance' (1783), 'Powerful' (1783), all 74-gun Third Rate, two-deckers. The plan was further altered in 1784 for 'Swiftsure' (1787) of the same class


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the internal and external profile of works illustrating the knees, beams and external planking from the main wales and above for Berwick (1775), a 74-gun Third Rate, two-decker. It is unknown when this plan was drawn. Berwick (1775) was refitted at Plymouth Dockyard in 1781, and refitted at Sheerness Dockyard after the battle of Dogger Bank in August 1781. She underwent a small to middling repair at Portsmouth Dockyard in 1786-87, before being captured by the French in March 1795



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Berwick_(1775)

Elizabeth-class ship of the line - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
18 April 1802 – Launch of La République française, a first-rate 118-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, of the Océan class, designed by Jacques-Noël Sané and built by Pierre Rolland.


The République française was a first-rate 118-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, of the Océan type, designed by Jacques-Noël Sané and built by Pierre Rolland.




1/48 scale model of the Océan class 120-gun ship of the line Commerce de Marseille. On display at Marseille naval museum.

She was begun at Rochefort in 1794 as the Majesteux, but was given the name République française later that same year.
She resumed the name Majestueux in February 1803, prior to being completed in August 1803. She took part in Allemand's expedition of 1805. Scrapped in 1839.


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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


Dauphin Royal class (continued)

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



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_République_française_(1802)

Océan-class ship of the line - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org