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

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
18 April 1807 – Launch of french Bellone, a 44-gun Consolante-class frigate of the French Navy


Bellone was a 44-gun Consolante-class frigate of the French Navy.





French service
Bellone, under the command of Guy-Victor Duperré, departed Saint-Malo on 18 January 1809, bound for the Indian Ocean. She sailed from La Réunionfor a combat patrol in August. On 2 November she captured HMS Victor. Twenty days later, she captured the 48-gun Portuguese Minerva after a 2-hour battle. Bellone sailed back to La Réunion with her prize, arriving on 2 January 1810.

In April 1810, the squadron comprising Bellone, Minerve and Victor departed for another patrol, during which they fought the Action of 3 July 1810 and the Battle of Grand Port.

Bellone was surrendered to the British when Île de France fell, on 4 December 1810.


Bellone at the Battle of Grand Port.

British service
Bellone was recommissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Junon.

In June 1812, Junon escorted a convoy from Portsmouth to India.

On 8 February 1813, nine boats and 200 men of the squadron of which Junon was part captured the letter of marque schooner Lottery. Lottery was of 210 tons burthen (bm), copper-bottomed and fastened, and carried six 12-pounder carronades, though she was pierced for 16 cannon. Her crew put up a strong defense with the result that the British cutting out party suffered six men wounded, half severely or dangerously, one of whom died later; Junon herself suffered two men wounded. The Americans suffered 19 men wounded, including their captain, John Southcomb, before they struck. Southcomb died of his wounds and his body was taken ashore. Lottery had been carrying a cargo of coffee, sugar and lumber from Baltimore to Bordeaux. A week later Lottery convoyed several prizes to Bermuda. The Royal Navy took Lottery into service as HMS Canso.

In June, Bellone's boats raided the James River, and she sustained attack by US gunboats.

On 3 April 1814, as she sailed with HMS Tenedos, she encountered the USS Constitution, which fled at all sail, dropping drinking water and food overboard, and eventually making it to Marblehead harbour.



St Fiorenzo and Piedmontaise March 9th 1808 (PAD8625)

The Consolante class frigate carried a main battery consisting of 18-pounder long guns. The designers were François Pestel and Jacques-Noël Sané.

Consolante class, (40-gun design by François Pestel, with 28 x 18-pounder and 12 x 8-pounder guns).

• Consolante, (launched 22 July 1800 at Saint-Malo).
• Piémontaise, (launched 15 November 1804 at Saint-Servan).
• Italienne, (launched 15 August 1806 at Saint-Servan).
• Danaé, (launched 18 August 1807 at Genoa).
• Bellone, (launched February 1808 at Saint-Servan).
• Néréide, (launched December 1808 at Saint-Servan).
• Illyrienne, (launched 13 November 1811 at Saint-Servan).
• Galatée, (launched 5 May 1812 at Genoa).

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

Consolante-class frigate - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
18 April 1807 – Launch of French Pauline, a 44-gun Hortense-class frigate of the French Navy


Pauline was a 44-gun Hortense-class frigate of the French Navy.




Pomone, sister-ship of Pauline

Service history
On 27 February 1809, along Pénélope, she captured the 32-gun HMS Proserpine. In October 1809, she sailed from Toulon to escort a convoy bound for Barcelona. Chased by a British squadron under Admiral Collingwood, and sailing with Borée, she managed to repel and escape HMS Tigre and HMS Leviathan, and returned to Toulon after Amélie joined up.

Pauline was then used for convoy escort in the Mediterranean. She took part in the Action of 29 November 1811, fleeing the battle while frigate Pomoneand the smaller Persanne were captured by the British. Her commanding officer, Captain François-Gilles Montfort, was subsequently court-martialled and relieved of command.

On 11 April 1814, she was renamed Bellone. She took part in the landing at Sidi Ferruch during the Invasion of Algiers in 1830, and used as a ferry the following years.


Capture of HMS Proserpine by Pénélope and Pauline. Watercolour by Antoine Roux.




Model of Hortense, on display at Toulon naval museum

Jacques-Noël Sané designed the Hortense-class 40-gun frigates of the French Navy in 1802, a development of his 1793 design for the Virginie class. Eight frigates to this new design were ordered between 1801 and 1806, but two ordered on 18 April 1803 at Antwerp (Néréïde and Vénus) were cancelled unstarted in June 1803; the other six were built between 1803 and 1807. Of the six, one was wrecked at sea and the British Royal Navy captured three, taking two into service.

Hortense class, (40-gun design of 1802 by Jacques-Noël Sané, with 28 x 18-pounder and 12 x 8-pounder guns).

Hortense, (launched 3 July 1803 at Toulon) – broken up 1840.
Hermione, (launched 2 December 1804 at Toulon) – run aground near Brest and then burnt by the British Navy in 1808.
Pomone, (launched 10 February 1805 at Genoa) – captured by British Navy 1811, becoming HMS Ambuscade.
Manche, (launched 5 April 1806 at Cherbourg) – captured by British Navy 1810, but not added to RN.
Caroline, (launched 15 August 1806 at Antwerp) – captured by British Navy 1809, becoming HMS Bourbonnaise.
Pauline, (launched 18 April 1807 at Toulon) – renamed Bellone April 1814.
Corona, (also known as Couronne, launched 27 December 1807 at Venice) – captured by British Navy 1811, becoming HMS Daedalus.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Pauline_(1807)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hortense-class_frigate

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
18 April 1809 – Launch of French 38-gun Piémontaise-class frigate Néréide, built to a design by François Pestel. Later HMS Madagascar


HMS Madagascar was a 38-gun Piémontaise-class frigate originally of the French Navy. Her French name had been Néréide, and she had been built to a design by François Pestel.






Néréide as the Action of 20 May 1811 (rightmost ship)

In 1810 as Néréide, she sailed to Guadeloupe but was repelled by the blockade off Basse-Terre, and returned to Brest after a fight with HMS Rainbow and HMS Avon.

The British captured Néréide during the action of 20 May 1811, and commissioned her into the Royal Navy as HMS Madagascar.

She took part in the Peninsular War against France, and the War of 1812 with the United States.

Madagascar, Vengeur, and Lightning were in company on 6 March 1814 at the recapture of Diamond. Shortly thereafter, Captain Bentinck Cavendish Doyle of Lightning transferred to take command of Madagascar.

In June 1814, Madagascar served in a flotilla under the command of Admiral Lord Cochrane, and carried General William Miller and his troops from Bordeaux to the Chesapeake Bay to reinforce General Ross in the War of 1812.1

During the Battle of North Point, a supplementary body of Royal Marines, drawn from 15 ships of the fleet, were assigned to the 2nd Battalion of Royal Marines, under the command of brevet Lieutenant Colonel James Malcolm.[2] One of the two fatalities, Thomas Daw, was from HMS Ramillies.


Consolante class, (40-gun design by François Pestel, with 28 x 18-pounder and 12 x 8-pounder guns).

• Consolante, (launched 22 July 1800 at Saint-Malo).
• Piémontaise, (launched 15 November 1804 at Saint-Servan).
• Italienne, (launched 15 August 1806 at Saint-Servan).
• Danaé, (launched 18 August 1807 at Genoa).
• Bellone, (launched February 1808 at Saint-Servan).
• Néréide, (launched December 1808 at Saint-Servan).
• Illyrienne, (launched 13 November 1811 at Saint-Servan).
• Galatée, (launched 5 May 1812 at Genoa).

HMS Madagascar (1811) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
18 April 1862 - beginning of the Battle of Forts Jackson and St.Philip


The Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip (April 18–28, 1862) was the decisive battle for possession of New Orleans in the American Civil War. The two Confederate forts on the Mississippi River south of the city were attacked by a Union Navy fleet. As long as the forts could keep the Federal forces from moving on the city, it was safe, but if they were negated, there were no fall-back positions to impede the Union advance.



New Orleans, the largest city in the Confederacy, was already under threat of attack from the north when David Farragut moved his fleet into the river from the south. The Confederate Navy had already driven off the Union blockade fleet in the Battle of the Head of Passes the previous October. Although the Union threat from upriver was geographically more remote than that from the Gulf of Mexico, a series of losses in Kentucky and Tennessee had forced the War and Navy Departments in Richmond to strip the region of much of its defenses. Men and equipment had been withdrawn from the local defenses, so that by mid-April almost nothing remained to the south except the two forts and an assortment of gunboats of questionable worth.[2] Without reducing the pressure from the north, (Union) President Abraham Lincoln set in motion a combined Army-Navy operation to attack from the south. The Union Armyoffered 18,000 soldiers, led by the political general Benjamin F. Butler. The Navy contributed a large fraction of its West Gulf Blockading Squadron, which was commanded by Flag Officer David G. Farragut. The squadron was augmented by a semi-autonomous flotilla of mortar schooners and their support vessels under Commander David Dixon Porter.[3]


One of the "bummers", as they were known in the Union Navy. Mortar Schooner of Porter's Bombardment fleet, New Orleans, 1862. A crewman between the masts is leaning on the muzzle of the 13-inch seacoast mortar.(Peabody Museum of Salem)

The expedition assembled at Ship Island in the Gulf. Once they were ready, the naval contingent moved its ships into the river, an operation that was completed on April 14. They were then moved into position near the forts, and on April 18 the mortars opened the battle.

The ensuing battle can be divided into two parts: a mostly-ineffective bombardment of the Confederate-held forts by the raft-mounted mortars, and the successful passage of the forts by much of Farragut's fleet on the night of April 24. During the passage, one Federal warship was lost and three others turned back, while the Confederate gunboats were virtually obliterated. The subsequent capture of the city, achieved with no further significant opposition, was a serious, even fatal, blow from which the Confederacy never recovered. The forts remained after the fleet had passed, but the demoralized enlisted men in Fort Jackson mutinied and forced their surrender.


Attack of the Union fleet, April 24, 1862; Fort Jackson at left and Fort St. Philip is shown at right


Main deck of Union Navy mortar schooner showing mounting of 13-inch seacoast mortar and crew. (U.S. Army Military History Institute.)


Admiral Farragut's second division passes the forts.


Mosher pushes the fire raft against Hartford.

Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
18 April 1878 – Launch of HMS Curacoa, a Comus-class corvette of the Royal Navy, built by John Elder & Co., Govan,


HMS Curacoa was an Comus-class corvette of the Royal Navy, built by John Elder & Co., Govan, launched in 1878, and sold in 1904 to be broken up.[2]She served on the Cape of Good Hope and West Africa Station, the Australia Station and as a training cruiser in the Atlantic.


HMS Curacoa drydocked in Sydney Harbour c.1890.


Service history
HMS Curacoa was built by John Elder & Co., Govan, and launched on 18 April 1878.

The corvette commenced service on the Cape of Good Hope and West Africa Station before being transferred to the Australia Station arriving on 5 August 1890. She left the Australia Station in December 1894.

Recently discovered log books from descendants of Mr.(Cptn) J.P. Shipton, record the journey to Australia. Daily logs show Curacoa leaving port in the UK on 1 April 1889, with stops at Perth, Albany, Adelaide, Launceston, Melbourne, Sydney, Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch / Lyttleton, and the final entry shows 31 December 1890, in port at Lyttleton (near Christchurch), New Zealand.

Curacoa was sent to the Ellice Islands and between 9 and 16 October 1892 Captain Gibson visited each of the islands to make a formal declaration that the islands were to be a British Protectorate. In June 1893 Captain Gibson visited the southern Solomon islands and made the formal declaration of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate.

Her later years were spent as a training cruiser. In February–March 1900 she visited Madeira, Las Palmas and Sao Vicente, Cape Verde, Commander Herbert Lyon in command.

She was sold in May 1904 to King of Garston for breaking up.




The Comus class was a class of Royal Navy steam corvettes, re-classified as third-class cruisers in 1888. All were built between 1878 and 1881. The class exemplifies the transitional nature of the late Victorian navy. In design, materials, armament, and propulsion the class members resemble their wooden sailing antecedents, but blended with characteristics of the all-metal mastless steam cruisers which followed.

Despite their qualities they had relatively short commissions, as they soon were rendered superfluous by the "flood of warships" built under the Naval Defence Act of 1889. By the turn of the century all were in reserve, relegated to subsidiary duties, or being scrapped


HMS Curacoa at Sydney circa. 1890

Purpose
Great Britain had a worldwide empire, founded upon and sustained by seaborne commerce. To protect this trade and police its empire, Britain constructed many small and medium-sized cruisers, the latter typically armed with guns up to six inches in calibre. They were designed to serve long periods at sea, and therefore were equipped with sails. The nine Comus-class corvettes and their later derivatives — the two Calypso-class corvettes — were ships of this type.

Design
Planning for six metal-hulled corvettes began in 1876. These vessels, which became the Comus-class corvettes, were designed by Nathaniel Barnaby. Among the Royal Navy’s last sailing corvettes,[5] they supplemented an extensive sail rig with powerful engines. Unlike their French rivals, which built fast steamers and needed neither long range nor a full rig of sail, the Royal Navy required their cruisers to be capable of long voyages away from coaling stations. Their ships therefore had a beamy hull to handle their sails, making them slower under steam than their French counterparts.

The British vessels were similar in appearance and layout to the older wooden and composite-hulled small cruisers they were intended to replace, albeit larger and more powerfully armed. The vessels were among the first of the smaller cruisers to be given metal hulls, with frames of iron or steel. The forefoot was a ram forged from brass, a feature then in vogue. In common with older wooden vessels, their hulls had copper sheathing over timber beneath the waterline, but that timber simply served to separate the iron hull from the copper sheathing so as to prevent electrolytic corrosion. The timber extended to the upper deck; it was in two layers from the keel to 3 ft (.9 m) above the water line, and one layer above.

In an early case of a single builder taking responsibility for building an entire class, contracts for these first six vessels were all awarded to the John Elder & Company at Govan on the Clyde. They were all fitted with 3-cylinder compound engines, with one high-pressure cylinder of 46 inches diameter being flanked by two low-pressure cylinders of 64 inches diameter.

Two to three years later, the Admiralty ordered an additional three vessels to be built to the same design. Construction of these was awarded to the Royal Dockyards at Chatham and Portsmouth. This second group differed by carrying a barque rig instead of the ship rig of the first six ships. The compound engines in the new batch were of 4-cylinder type, with two high-pressure cylinders of 36 inches diameter and two low-pressure cylinders of 64 inches diameter.


Comus when built, showing ship rig

In the Comus class, the bow above the waterline was nearly straight, in contrast to that of wooden sailing ships. The corvettes had stern galleries, similar to older frigates, but the ports were false, and there were no quarter galleries. Boats were carried both amidships and at the stern. The ships flew a barque or ship rig of sail on three masts, including studding sails on fore and mainmasts. The masts were stayed by shrouds which were anchored to chainplates affixed to the inside of the gunwales, rather than the exterior as in wooden sailing ships. Their sailing rigs enabled them to serve in areas where coaling stations were rare, and to rely on their sails for propulsion.

The vessels had two complete decks, upper and lower, with partial decks at the forecastle and poop. The forecastle was used for the heads and working space for the cables. The poop deck contained cabins for the captain, first lieutenant, and navigating officer, with the double wheel sheltered under its forward end. Between these was the open quarterdeck on which the battery was located. Under the lower deck were spaces for water, provisions, coal, and magazines for shell and powder. Amidships were the engine and boiler rooms. These were covered by an armoured deck, 1.5 inches (38 mm) thick and approximately 100 ft (30 m) long. This armour was about 3 ft (90 cm) below the lower deck, and the space between could be used for additional coal bunkerage. The machinery spaces were flanked by coal bunkers, affording the machinery and magazines some protection from the sides. The lower deck was used for berthing of the ship's company; officers aft, warrant and petty officers forward, and ratings amidships, as was traditional. The tops of the coal bunkers, which projected above deck level, were used for seating at the mess tables. The living spaces were well-ventilated and an improvement over prior vessels.

There were some refinements in the design among class members, and the armament in particular changed during their careers. In 1881 an enlarged version of the design was drawn up by Barnaby, with the hull being lengthened by another 10 ft. Two ships were ordered to this later design, which became the Calypso class. The Comuses and Calypsos were sometimes called the "C class" of corvettes, an informal term rather than an official designation.

Armament
Comus was armed with two 7-inch muzzle-loading rifles, eight 64-pounder muzzle-loading rifles and four breech-loading 6-inch 80-pounder guns, but the breech loaders proved unsatisfactory. The rest of the class were provided with four more 64-pounders in place of the 6-inch breech loaders, except for Canada and Cordelia, which exchanged all the muzzle loaders for ten of the new 6-inch Mk II breech loading guns. A selection of light guns and Nordenfelt quick-firing guns, as well as a pair of torpedo carriages, were also carried. The large guns were in embrasures in the bulwarks of the upper deck; this was a common (and to some extent a differentiating) feature of steam corvettes, as most frigates carried their main armament one deck lower. The details of the main armament varied between the vessels, and during their careers, as all were rearmed after their first commissions.




Painting of Carysfort c. 1887


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Curacoa_(1878)

Comus-class corvette - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
18 April 1912 – The Cunard liner RMS Carpathia brings 705 survivors from the RMS Titanic to New York City.


RMS Carpathia was a Cunard Line transatlantic passenger steamship built by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson in their shipyard in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.



Carpathia made her maiden voyage in 1903 from Liverpool to Boston (Massachusetts), and continued on this route before being transferred to Mediterranean service in 1904. In April 1912, she became famous for rescuing the survivors of rival White Star Line's RMS Titanic after the latter struck an iceberg and sank with a loss of 1,517 lives in the North Atlantic Ocean. Carpathia braved dangerous ice fields and diverted all steam power to her engines in her rescue mission. She arrived only two hours after Titanic had sunk and rescued 705 survivors from the ship's lifeboats.

Carpathia herself was sunk on 17 July 1918 after being torpedoed by the German submarine SM U-55 off the southern Irish coast with a loss of five crew members.

The name of the ship comes from the mountain range of the Carpathians.




Titanic disaster


Arthur Rostron RD, RNR, as master of RMS Carpathia

Carpathia departed from New York City on 11 April 1912 bound for Fiume, Austria-Hungary (now Rijeka, Croatia). Among its passengers were the American painters Colin Campbell Cooper and his wife Emma, author Philip Mauro, journalists Lewis Palmer Skidmore and Carlos Fayette Hurd, with their wives, Emily Vinton Skidmore and Katherine Cordell Hurd, photographer Dr. Francis H. Blackmarr, and Charles H. Marshall, whose three nieces were travelling aboard Titanic. Also on board were Hope Brown Chapin, honeymooning youngest daughter of former governor of Rhode Island, Russell Brown, Pittsburgh architect Charles M. Hutchison and wife, Sue Eva Rule, sister of Judge Virgil Rule of the St. Louis court of appeals, as well as Louis Mansfield Ogden, Esq., with his wife, Augusta Davies Ogden, a granddaughter of Alexander H. Rice.

On the night of 14 April, Carpathia's wireless operator, Harold Cottam, had missed previous messages from the Titanic, as he was on the bridge at the time. After his shift ended at midnight, he continued listening to the transmitter before bed, and received messages from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, stating they had private traffic for Titanic. He thought he would be helpful and at 12:11 a.m. on 15 April sent a message to Titanic stating that Cape Cod had traffic for them. In reply he received Titanic's distress signal, stating that they had struck ice and were in need of immediate assistance.

Cottam took the message and coordinates to the bridge, where the officers on watch were sceptical about the seriousness of the distress call. Agitated, Cottam rushed down the ladder to the captain's cabin and awakened Captain Arthur Henry Rostron, who immediately sprang into action and "gave the order to turn the ship around", and then "asked the operator if he was absolutely sure it was a distress signal from the Titanic". The operator said that he had "received a distress signal from the Titanic, requiring immediate assistance", gave Titanic's position, and said that "he was absolutely certain of the message". Whilst dressing, Rostron set a course for Titanic, and sent for the chief engineer and told "him to call another watch of stokers and make all possible speed to the Titanic, as she was in trouble." Rostron later testified that the distance to Titanic was 58 nmi (67 mi; 107 km) and took Carpathia three and a half hours. At the same time, Rostron had Carpathia's crew prepare hot drinks and soup for the survivors, prepare the public rooms as dormitories, have doctors ready to treat any injured survivors, and to have oil ready to pour down the lavatories to calm the water on the sides of the ship should the sea become rough. Rated for 15.5 knots, and not having exceeded 14 since her shakedown cruise a decade earlier, Carpathia by some accounts reached as much as 17.5 knots (32.4 km/h) during her dash to rescue the survivors.

Rostron ordered the ship's heating and hot water cut off in order to make as much steam as possible available for the engines, and had extra lookouts on watch to spot ice. Cottam, meanwhile, messaged the Titanic that Carpathia was "coming as quickly as possible and expect to be there within four hours." Cottam refrained from sending more signals after this, trying to keep the air clear for Titanic's distress signals. Carpathia reached the edge of the ice field by 2:45 a.m., and for the next two hours dodged icebergs as small growlers of ice ground along the hull plates. The Carpathia arrived at the distress position at 4:00 a.m., approximately an hour and a half after the Titanic went down, claiming more than 1,500 lives. For the next four and a half hours, the ship took on the 705 survivors of the disaster from Titanic's 20 lifeboats. Survivors were given blankets and coffee, and then escorted by stewards to the dining rooms. Others went on deck to survey the ocean for any sign of their loved ones. Throughout the rescue, Carpathia's own passengers assisted in any way that they could. By 9:00, the last survivor had been picked up, and Rostron gave the order to get under way.


Medal awarded to a Carpathia crew member for their part in the rescue of Titanic survivors

After considering options for where to disembark the passengers, including the Azores (the destination with the least cost to the Cunard Line) and Halifax (the closest port, although along an ice-laden route), Rostron consulted with Bruce Ismay and decided to disembark the survivors in New York. of the Titanic disaster spread on shore, and the humble Carpathia became the center of intense media attention as she steamed westward towards New York at 14 knots. Hundreds of wireless messages were being sent from Cape Race and other shore stations addressed to Captain Rostron from relatives of Titanic passengers and journalists demanding details in exchange for money. Rostron ordered that no news stories would be transmitted directly to the press, deferring such responsibilities to the White Star offices as Cottam provided details to Titanic's sister ship, Olympic. On Wednesday, 17 April, the scout cruiser USS Chester began escorting Carpathia to New York. Cottam, by then assisted by Titanic's junior wireless operator Harold Bride, transmitted the names of third-class survivors to Chester. Slowed by storms and fog since the early morning of Tuesday 16 April, Carpathiafinally arrived in New York on the evening of Thursday 18 April 1912.

For their rescue work, the crew of Carpathia were awarded medals by the survivors. Crew members were awarded bronze medals, officers silver, and Captain Rostron a silver cup and a gold medal, presented by Margaret Brown. Rostron was knighted by King George V, and was later a guest of President Taft at the White House, where he was presented with a Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honour the United States Congress could confer.

RMS Carpathia - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
18 April 1942 - The Doolittle Raid begins
with 16 Army Air Force B-25 bombers launching earlier than expected from USS Hornet (CV 8), approximately 650 miles off Japan, after being spotted by enemy ships. It is the first attack by the U.S. of the Japanese mainland since Pearl Harbor. Most of the 16 B-25s, each with a five-man crew, attack the Tokyo area, with a few hitting Nagoya. Embarrassed, the Japanese revise plans and six weeks later attack the American carrier group near Midway sooner than expected.


The Doolittle Raid, also known as the Tokyo Raid, on Saturday, April 18, 1942, was an air raid by the United States on the Japanese capital Tokyo and other places on the island of Honshu during World War II, the first air operation to strike the Japanese Home Islands. It demonstrated that the Japanese mainland was vulnerable to American air attack, served as retaliation for the attack on Pearl Harbor, and provided an important boost to American morale. The raid was planned and led by Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle of the United States Army Air Forces.





Sixteen B-25B Mitchell medium bombers were launched without fighter escort from the U.S. Navy's aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-8) deep in the Western Pacific Ocean, each with a crew of five men. The plan called for them to bomb military targets in Japan, and to continue westward to land in China—landing a medium bomber on Hornet was impossible. The bombing raid killed about 50 people, including civilians, and injured 400. Fifteen aircraft reached China, but all crashed, while the 16th landed at Vladivostok in the Soviet Union. Of the 80 crew members, 77 initially survived the mission. Eight airmen were captured by the Japanese Army in China; three of those were later executed. The B-25 that landed in the Soviet Union was confiscated, with its crew interned for more than a year before being allowed to "escape" via Soviet-occupied Iran. Fourteen complete crews of five, except for one crewman who was killed in action, returned either to the United States, or to American forces.

After the raid, the Japanese Army conducted a massive sweep through the eastern coastal provinces of China, in an operation now known as the Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign, searching for the surviving American airmen and inflicting retribution on the Chinese who aided them, in an effort to prevent this part of China from being used again for an attack on Japan.

The raid caused negligible material damage to Japan, but it had major psychological effects. In the United States, it raised morale. In Japan, it raised doubt about the ability of military leaders to defend the home islands, but the bombing and strafing of civilians also steeled the resolve to gain retribution and was exploited for propaganda purposes. It also contributed to Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's decision to attack Midway Island in the Central Pacific—an attack that turned into a decisive strategic defeat of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) by the U.S. Navy in the Battle of Midway. The consequences were most severely felt in China, where Japanese reprisals cost an estimated 250,000 lives.

Doolittle, who initially believed that the loss of all his aircraft would lead to his court-martial, received the Medal of Honor and was promoted two ranks to brigadier general.











USS Hornet (CV-8), the seventh ship to carry the name Hornet, was a Yorktown-class aircraft carrier of the United States Navy. During World War II in the Pacific Theater, she launched the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo and participated in the Battle of Midway and the Buin-Faisi-Tonolai Raid. In the Solomon Islands campaign, she was involved in the capture and defense of Guadalcanal and the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands where she was irreparably damaged by enemy torpedo and dive bombers. Faced with an approaching Japanese surface force, Hornet was abandoned and later torpedoed and sunk by approaching Japanese destroyers. Hornetwas in service for a year and six days and was the last US fleet carrier ever sunk by enemy fire. For these actions, she was awarded four service stars, a citation for the Doolittle Raid in 1942, and her Torpedo Squadron 8 received a Presidential Unit Citation for extraordinary heroism for the Battle of Midway. Her wreck was located in late January 2019 near the Solomon Islands.


Hornet cruising off Hampton Roadsin October 1941



Service history
During the period before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hornet trained out of Norfolk. A hint of a future mission occurred on 2 February 1942, when Hornet departed Norfolk with two Army Air Forces B-25 Mitchell medium bombers on deck. Once at sea, the planes were launched to the surprise and amazement of Hornet's crew. Her men were unaware of the meaning of this experiment, as Hornet returned to Norfolk, prepared to leave for combat, and on 4 March sailed for the West Coast via the Panama Canal.

Doolittle Raid, April 1942
Main article: Doolittle Raid

A B-25 takes off from Hornet

Hornet arrived at Naval Air Station Alameda, California, on 20 March 1942. With her own planes on the hangar deck, by midafternoon on 1 April, she loaded 16 B-25s on the flight deck. Under the command of Lieutenant Colonel James H. Doolittle, 70 United States Army Air Corps officers and 64 enlisted men reported aboard. In company of her escort, Hornet departed Alameda on 2 April under sealed orders. That afternoon, Captain Mitscher informed his men of their mission: a bombing raid on Japan.

Eleven days later, Hornet joined the aircraft carrier Enterprise at Midway, and Task Force 16 turned toward Japan.[14] With Enterprise providing combat air patrol cover, Hornet was to steam deep into enemy waters. Originally, the task force intended to proceed to within 400 nmi (460 mi; 740 km) off the Japanese coast; however, on the morning of 18 April, a Japanese patrol boat, No. 23 Nitto Maru, sighted the American task force. Nashville sank the patrol boat. Amid concerns that the Japanese had been made aware of their presence, Doolittle and his raiders were forced to launch prematurely from 600 nmi (690 mi; 1,100 km) out instead of the planned 400 nmi (460 mi; 740 km). Because of this decision, none of the 16 planes made it to their designated landing strip in China. After the war, it was found that Tokyo received the Nitto Maru's message in a garbled form and that the Japanese ship was sunk before it could get a clear message through to the Japanese mainland.

As Hornet came about and prepared to launch the bombers, which had been readied for take-off the previous day, a gale of more than 40 kn (46 mph; 74 km/h) churned the sea with 30 ft (9.1 m) crests; heavy swells, which caused the ship to pitch violently, shipped sea and spray over the bow, wet the flight deck, and drenched the deck crews. The lead plane, commanded by Colonel Doolittle, had only 467 ft (142 m) of flight deck, while the last B-25 hung its twin rudders far out over the fantail. Doolittle, timing himself against the rise and fall of the ship's bow, lumbered down the flight deck, circled Hornet after take-off, and set course for Japan. By 09:20, all 16 were airborne, heading for the first American air strike against the Japanese home islands.

Hornet brought her own planes on deck as Task Force 16 steamed at full speed for Pearl Harbor. Intercepted broadcasts, both in Japanese and English, confirmed at 14:46 the success of the raids. Exactly one week to the hour after launching the B-25s, Hornet sailed into Pearl Harbor. That the Tokyo raid was the Hornet's mission was kept an official secret for a year; until then, President Roosevelt referred to the ship from which the bombers were launched only as "Shangri-La." Two years later, the Navy would give this name to an aircraft carrier.

Hornet steamed from Pearl Harbor on 30 April to aid Yorktown and Lexington at the Battle of the Coral Sea, but the battle ended before she reached the scene. On 4 May Task Force 16 crossed the equator, the first time ever for Hornet. After executing, with Enterprise, a feint towards Nauru and Banaba (Ocean) islands which caused the Japanese to cancel their operation to seize the two islands, she returned to Hawaii on 26 May,[20] and sailed two days later to help repulse an expected Japanese assault on Midway

Doolittle Raid - Wikipedia

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
18 April 1943 - World War II: Operation Vengeance
Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is killed when his aircraft is shot down by U.S. fighters over Bougainville Island.
U.S. Army Air Force P-38s off Bougainville, using signals intelligence, shoot down plane carrying Imperial Japanese Navy Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto, Commander in Chief of the Japanese Combined Fleet.



Operation Vengeance was the American military operation to kill Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto of the Imperial Japanese Navy on April 18, 1943, during the Solomon Islands campaign in the Pacific Theater of World War II. Isoroku Yamamoto, commander of the Combined Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy, was killed on Bougainville Island when his transport bomber aircraft was shot down by United States Army Air Forces fighter aircraft operating from Kukum Field on Guadalcanal.

The mission of the U.S. aircraft was specifically to kill Yamamoto and was based on United States Navy intelligence on Yamamoto's itinerary in the Solomon Islands area. The death of Yamamoto reportedly damaged the morale of Japanese naval personnel, raised the morale of the Allied forces, and was intended as revenge by U.S. leaders who blamed Yamamoto for the attack on Pearl Harbor that initiated the formal state of war between Imperial Japan and the United States.

The U.S. pilots claimed to have shot down three twin-engined bombers and two fighters during the mission, but Japanese sources show only two bombers were shot down. There is a controversy over which pilot shot down Yamamoto's plane.


Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, a few hours before his death, saluting Japanese naval pilots at Rabaul, April 18, 1943

Background
Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, commander of the Imperial Japanese Navy, scheduled an inspection tour of the Solomon Islands and New Guinea. He planned to inspect Japanese air units participating in Operation I-Go that had begun April 7, 1943; in addition, the tour would boost Japanese morale following the disastrous Guadalcanal Campaign and its subsequent evacuation during January and February. On April 14, the U.S. naval intelligence effort code-named "Magic" intercepted and decrypted orders alerting affected Japanese units of the tour.

The original message, NTF131755, addressed to the commanders of Base Unit No. 1, the 11th Air Flotilla, and the 26th Air Flotilla, was encoded in the Japanese Naval Cipher JN-25D, and was picked up by three stations of the "Magic" apparatus, including Fleet Radio Unit Pacific Fleet. The message was then deciphered by Navy cryptographers (among them future Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens); it contained time and location details of Yamamoto's itinerary, as well as the number and types of planes that would transport and accompany him on the journey.

Yamamoto, the decryption revealed, would be flying from Rabaul to Balalae Airfield, on an island near Bougainville in the Solomon Islands, on April 18. He and his staff would be flying in two medium bombers (Mitsubishi G4M Bettys of the Kōkūtai 705), escorted by six navy fighters (Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters of the Kōkūtai 204), to depart Rabaul at 06:00 and arrive at Balalae at 08:00, Tokyo time.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt may have authorized Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox to "get Yamamoto," however no official record of such an order exists and sources disagree whether he did so. Knox essentially let Admiral Chester W. Nimitz make the decision. Nimitz first consulted Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr., Commander, South Pacific, and then authorized the mission on April 17.

Interception

P-38G Lightnings were the aircraft chosen to carry out the mission.

To avoid detection by radar and Japanese personnel stationed in the Solomon Islands along a straight-line distance of about 400 miles (640 km) between U.S. forces and Bougainville, the mission entailed an over-water flight south and west of the Solomons. This roundabout approach flight was plotted and measured to be about 600 miles (970 km). The fighters would therefore travel 600 miles out to the target and 400 miles back. The 1,000-mile flight, with extra fuel allotted for combat, was beyond the range of the F4F Wildcat and F4U Corsair fighters then available to Navy and Marine squadrons based on Guadalcanal. The mission was instead assigned to the 339th Fighter Squadron, 347th Fighter Group, whose P-38G aircraft, equipped with drop tanks, had the range to intercept and engage.

In preparation for the mission, Marine Corps Lt. Col. Luther S. Moore had the P-38s fitted with a navy ship's compass to aid in navigation at the request of Major John W. Mitchell, commanding the 339th. The fighters each mounted a standard armament of a 20 mm cannon and four .50-caliber (12.7 mm) machine guns, and were equipped to carry two 165-US-gallon (620 L) drop tanks under their wings. A limited supply of 330-US-gallon (1,200 L) tanks were flown up from New Guinea, sufficient to provide each Lightning with one large tank to replace one of the small tanks. Despite the difference in size, the tanks were located close enough to the aircraft's center of gravity to avoid any performance problems.

Eighteen P-38s were assigned the mission. One flight of four was designated as the "killer" flight, while the remainder, which included two spares, would climb to 18,000 feet (5,500 m) to act as "top cover" for the expected reaction by Japanese fighters based at Kahili. A flight plan was prepared by the Command Operations Officer, Marine Major John Condon, but was discarded for one prepared by Mitchell. He calculated an intercept time of 09:35, based on the itinerary, to catch the bombers descending over Bougainville, 10 minutes before landing at Balalae. He worked backwards from that time and drew four precisely calculated legs, with a fifth leg added if Yamamoto did not take the most direct route. In addition to heading out over the Coral Sea, the 339th would "wave-hop" all the way to Bougainville at altitudes no greater than 50 feet (15 m), maintaining radio silence en route.

Although the 339th Fighter Squadron officially carried out the mission, 10 of the 18 pilots were drawn from the other two squadrons of the 347th Group. The Commander AirSols, Rear Admiral Marc A. Mitscher, selected four pilots to be designated as the "killer" flight:

• Capt. Thomas G. Lanphier, Jr.
• Lt. Rex T. Barber
• Lt. Jim McLanahan (dropped out with flat tire)
• Lt. Joe Moore (dropped out with faulty fuel feed)

The remaining pilots would act as reserves and provide air cover against any retaliatory attacks by local Japanese fighters:

• Maj. John Mitchell
• Lt. William Smith
• Lt. Gordon Whittiker
• Lt. Roger Ames
• Capt. Louis Kittel
• Lt. Lawrence Graebner
• Lt. Doug Canning
• Lt. Delton Goerke
• Lt. Julius Jacobson
• Lt. Eldon Stratton
• Lt. Albert Long
• Lt. Everett Anglin
• Lt. Besby F. Holmes (replaced McLanahan)
• Lt. Raymond K. Hine (replaced Moore)

A briefing included a cover story for the source of the intelligence stating that a coastwatcher had spotted an important high-ranking officer boarding an aircraft at Rabaul, but the pilots were not specifically briefed that their target was Admiral Yamamoto.

The specially fitted P-38s took off from Kukum Field on Guadalcanal beginning at 07:25 on April 18. Two of the Lightnings assigned to the killer flight dropped out of the mission at the start, one with a tire flattened during takeoff (McLanahan) and the second when its drop tanks would not feed fuel to the engines (Moore).

In Rabaul, despite urgings by local commanders to cancel the trip for fear of ambush, Yamamoto's airplanes took off as scheduled for the trip of 315 miles (507 km). They climbed to 6,500 feet (2,000 m), with their fighter escort at their 4 o'clock position and 1,500 feet (460 m) higher, split into two V-formations of three planes.

Mitchell's flight of four led the squadron at low altitude, with the killer flight, now consisting of Lanphier, Barber, and spares 1st Lt. Besby F. Holmes and 1st Lt. Raymond K. Hine, immediately behind. Mitchell, fighting off drowsiness, navigated by flight plan and a compass supplied by the navy. This was later claimed to be the Americans' longest-distance fighter-intercept mission of the war.[citation needed]

Mitchell and his force arrived at the intercept point one minute early, at 09:34, just as Yamamoto's aircraft descended into view in a light haze. The P-38s jettisoned the auxiliary tanks, turned to the right to parallel the bombers, and began a full power climb to intercept them.

The tanks on Holmes's P-38 did not detach and his element turned back toward the sea. Mitchell radioed Lanphier and Barber to engage, and they climbed toward the eight aircraft. The nearest escort fighters dropped their own tanks and dived toward the pair of P-38s. Lanphier, in a sound tactical move, immediately turned head-on and climbed towards the escorts while Barber chased the diving bomber transports. Barber banked steeply to turn in behind the bombers and momentarily lost sight of them, but when he regained contact, he was immediately behind one and began firing into its right engine, rear fuselage, and empennage. When Barber hit its left engine, the bomber began to trail heavy black smoke. The Betty rolled violently to the left and Barber narrowly avoided a mid-air collision. Looking back, he saw a column of black smoke and assumed the Betty had crashed into the jungle. Barber headed towards the coast at treetop level, searching for the second bomber, not knowing which one carried the targeted high-ranking officer.


The crashed remains of Yamamoto's Mitsubishi "Betty" bomber in a Bougainville jungle.

Barber spotted the second bomber, carrying Chief of Staff Vice Admiral Matome Ugaki and part of Yamamoto's staff, low over the water off Moila Point, trying to evade an attack by Holmes, whose wing tanks had finally come off. Holmes damaged the right engine of the Betty, which emitted a white vapor trail, but his closure speed carried him and his wingman Hine past the damaged bomber. Barber attacked the crippled bomber and his bullet strikes caused it to shed metal debris that damaged his own aircraft. The bomber descended and crash-landed in the water. Ugaki and two others survived the crash and were later rescued. Barber, Holmes and Hine were attacked by Zeros, Barber's P-38 receiving 104 hits. Holmes and Barber each claimed a Zero shot down during this melee, although Japanese records show that no Zeros were lost. The top cover briefly engaged reacting Zeros without making any kills. Mitchell observed the column of smoke from Yamamoto's crashed bomber. Hine's P-38 had disappeared by this point, presumably crashed into the water. Running close to minimum fuel levels for return to base, the P-38s broke off contact, with Holmes so short of fuel that he was forced to land in the Russell Islands. Hine was the only pilot who did not return. Lanphier's actions during the battle are unclear as his account was later disputed by other participants, including the Japanese fighter pilots. As he approached Henderson Field, Lanphier radioed the fighter director on Guadalcanal that "That son of a bitch will not be dictating any peace terms in the White House", breaching security. Immediately on landing (his plane was so short on fuel that one engine quit during the landing rollout) he put in a claim for shooting down Yamamoto.

One of the P-38s did not return, having been shot down by a Zero. The circumstances are described by Japanese fighter pilot Kenji Yanagiya:

I swore to revenge them immediately, and I flew towards the south east alone. Imperial Japanese Navy's Zero fighter had very long range of 1,929 mi [1,675 nm, 3,105 km] with external tank to fly over the sea. I knew their home base was at Guadalcanal, and I expected the returning P-38s might fly at a cruising speed at low altitude to save gas. I got my chance - I soon caught one P-38 flying at low speed at altitude 3,500 m [12,000 ft] over Kolombangara island. He didn't notice me. I climbed my Zero 1,000 m [3,300 ft] higher over him and swooped down to give exact bursts. My shells and rounds all hit that P-38. The P-38 went down to the sea with his fuel trailing in heavy white smoke like a long tail. I claimed the P-38 shot down because he was seriously damaged and couldn't go back to his base. I turned my Zero back and landed at Buin base. PO 2/C Yasushi Okazaki had engine troubles and had already landed at Ballale Island airstrip, neighboring Buin base. I've heard that the US official record confirmed that two Japanese Zeros were shot down that day, but it is not the fact. Okazaki fixed his Zero's engine trouble there and returned to Rabaul the next day.

Japanese-American involvement
Main article: Japanese-American service in World War II
The Military Intelligence Service (MIS) was made of mostly Nisei (second-generation Japanese Americans). They were trained in interpreting, interrogation, and translation with materials ranging from standard textbooks to captured documents, in the war against Japan.

A major MIS contribution in the Solomons campaign was the ambush of Yamamoto. MIS soldier Harold Fudenna intercepted a radio message indicating the whereabouts of Admiral Yamamoto. Although this message was first met with disbelief that the Japanese would be so careless, other MIS linguists in Alaska and Hawaii had also intercepted the same message, confirming its accuracy.

Aftermath


Yamamoto's ashes return to Japan at Kisarazu aboard battleship Musashi on May 23, 1943.

The crash site and body of Admiral Yamamoto were found on April 19, the day after the attack, by a Japanese search and rescue party led by army engineer Lieutenant Hamasuna. The crash site was located in the jungle north of the coastal site of the former Australian patrol post and Catholic mission of Buin (which was re-established, after the war, several kilometers inland).

Lieutenant Hamasuna noted Yamamoto had been thrown clear of the plane's wreckage, his white-gloved hand grasping the hilt of his katana sword, his body still upright in his seat under a tree. Hamasuna said Yamamoto was instantly recognizable, his head tilted down as if deep in thought. A post-mortem of Yamamoto's body indicated two bullet wounds, one to the back of his left shoulder, and a separate bullet wound to his left lower jaw, that appeared to exit above his right eye. The Japanese navy doctor examining Yamamoto's body determined the head wound killed Yamamoto. (These more violent details of Yamamoto's death were hidden from the Japanese public, and the medical report whitewashed, this secrecy "on orders from above" according to biographer Hiroyuki Agawa.)

In Japan, Yamamoto's killing became known as the "Navy kō incident"(ja:海軍甲事件). It raised morale in the United States and shocked the Japanese, who were officially told about the incident only on May 21, 1943. In the United States, in order to cover up the fact that the Allies were reading Japanese codes, American news agencies were given the same cover story used to brief the 339th Fighter Squadron—that civilian coastwatchers in the Solomons observed Yamamoto boarding a bomber and relayed the information by radio to American naval forces in the immediate area. This conveyed to the Japanese military that it was only through a stroke of luck that the Americans carried out the successful attack.


Isoroku Yamamoto (山本 五十六 Yamamoto Isoroku, April 4, 1884 – April 18, 1943) was a Japanese Fleet Admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy and the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet during World War II until his death.



Yamamoto held several important posts in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), and undertook many of its changes and reorganizations, especially its development of naval aviation. He was the commander-in-chief during the early years of the Pacific War and oversaw major engagements including the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Battle of Midway. He was killed when American code breakers identified his flight plans, enabling the United States Army Air Forces to shoot down his plane. His death was a major blow to Japanese military morale during World War II.

Operation Vengeance - Wikipedia

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isoroku_Yamamoto

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
18 April 1949 – The keel for the aircraft carrier USS United States is laid down at Newport Drydock and Shipbuilding.
However, construction is canceled five days later, resulting in the Revolt of the Admirals.


USS United States (CVA-58) was to be the lead ship of a new design of aircraft carrier. On 29 July 1948, President Harry Truman approved construction of five "supercarriers", for which funds had been provided in the Naval Appropriations Act of 1949. The keel of the first of the five planned postwar carriers was laid down on 18 April 1949 at Newport Drydock and Shipbuilding. The program was canceled, United States was not completed, and the other four planned carriers were never built.


Artist's rendering of the proposed USS United Stateshandling McDonnell FH-1 Phantom fighters and Lockheed P2V-3C Neptune twin-engine bombers

Design
The chief proponent for the new large carrier was Admiral Marc Mitscher. He wanted a carrier that would be able to handle the most effective weapons of the day. Early design discussions centered around developing a carrier that would be able to support combat missions using the new jet aircraft. These were faster, larger and significantly heavier than the aircraft the Essex and Midway-class carriers were handling at the end of the Second World War. It was thought that the aircraft carried would have to have longer range to allow the carrier to operate farther away from the target. The deck would have to be able to handle the weight of the heavy jet aircraft landing on the deck. The overall implication was that the ship's strength deck would have to be the flight deck rather than the hangar deck, as had been the case for earlier U.S. carriers. Armoring the flight deck would mean the ship would have a greater tendency to roll in rough weather, as a greater part of the ship's weight would be elevated higher above the waterline.


A preliminary design model undergoing seakeeping tests.

Based on the size of the aircraft that the new ship was to carry, the design of the carrier was to be flush decked, meaning that the ship would have no island control structure. This was done to create more space for large winged aircraft. The flush-deck design carried with it two major areas of concern. The first was concern over how smoke from the power plants would be diverted away from the flight deck. This had been a major issue with the US Navy's first aircraft carrier, USS Langley, in the 1920s when carrier development was first underway. The second was the placement of early warning radar equipment to allow the ship to detect incoming attacks. One solution was for a command ship to be close by which would carry the commander of the task force and the early detection radar. The command ship would radio electronic information and orders from its command center over to the carrier. A second was for the ship to carry aircraft that could fly the early warning radar. These would fly overhead and detect approaching aircraft. In truth, the ship as designed would not be able to safely operate by itself, but would need to operate in conjunction with traditional fleet carriers as a complementary bomber-carrier. In fact, the ship was being designed on the basis of the aircraft that it was thought it would carry, and these were based on projections of what aircraft would be in existence in the period 1952 to 1960.





Discussions included debate on the aircraft carrier's mission. One view was that it would carry a group of large bombers that would be secured to the flight deck, with no hangar for these aircraft, as they would be too large to move up and down in an elevator. Though they would be built to carry large, nuclear weapons, the total amount of space used for munition storage would be reduced as multiple strikes would not be likely. A small hangar deck would be available for a limited fighter escort and a small magazine for a small number of heavy nuclear weapons. Another plan was that it could be built with conventional attack capability with a large hangar deck for a large air wing and a large magazine. The nuclear attack supporters won in the initial design stage, but the design was modified to carry more fighters. The flush-deck United States was designed to launch and recover the 100,000 pound (45 t) aircraft required to carry early-model nuclear weapons, which weighed as much as five tons. The ship would have no permanently raised island or command tower structure. It would be equipped with four aircraft elevators located at the deck edges to avoid decreasing the structural strength of the flight deck. Four catapults would be used to launch aircraft, with two at the bow and two others on the outer edge of the deck staggered back. The carrier was designed so that it could land aircraft at the rear while at the same time launching aircraft from the catapults at the bow and forward area simultaneously. The construction cost of the new ship was estimated at US$189 million (equivalent to US$1.97 billion in 2018).

Proposed operations
USS United States was designed with the primary mission of carrying long-range bomber aircraft that could carry a heavy enough load to undertake nuclear bombardment missions. It would also carry long range escort fighters that would fly along and protect its bombers. The ship could also take on other roles, such as providing air support for amphibious forces and to conduct sea control operations, but it was primarily to be a "bomber carrier". It was thought it would operate in a task force coupled with traditional attack carriers, which would provide the air cover for the task force. That mission was virtually certain to make the ship a target of inter-service rivalries over missions and funding. The United States Air Force viewed United States as a challenge to their monopoly on strategic nuclear weapons delivery.

Keel laying; cancellation


Keelplate laid

Looking to cut the military budget and accepting without question the Air Force argument on nuclear deterrence by means of large, long-range bombers, Secretary of Defense Louis A. Johnson announced the cancellation of construction of United States, on 23 April 1949, five days after the ship's keel was laid. Secretary of the Navy John Sullivan immediately resigned, and Congress held an inquiry into the manner and wisdom of Johnson's decision. In the subsequent "Revolt of the Admirals" the Navy was unable to advance its case that large carriers would be essential to national defense.


Commencement of construction

Soon after Johnson and Francis P. Matthews, the man he advanced to be the new Secretary of the Navy, set about punishing those officers that let their opposition be known. Navy Admiral Louis Denfeld was forced to resign as Chief of Naval Operations, and a number of other admirals and lesser ranks were punished. The invasion of South Korea six months later resulted in an immediate need for a strong naval presence, and Matthews' position as Secretary of the Navy and Johnson's position as Secretary of Defense crumbled, both ultimately resigning.

The Navy soon found a means to carry nuclear weapons at sea, placed aboard the aircraft carrier USS Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1950. Thus the question of which service would have primary responsibility for strategic nuclear strikes was not answered with Johnson's cancellation of USS United States.

USS United States (CVA-58) - Wikipedia

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https://www.navsource.org/archives/02/58.htm

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
18 April 1988 - April 18 Operation Praying Mantis - In the largest US naval engagement since World War II, the U.S. Navy defeats Iranian naval forces in retaliation for the mining of the USS Samuel B. Roberts during a patrol mission.


Operation Praying Mantis was an attack on 18 April 1988, by U.S. forces within Iranian territorial waters in retaliation for the Iranian mining of the Persian Gulf during the Iran–Iraq War and the subsequent damage to an American warship.



On 14 April, the guided missile frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts struck a mine while deployed in the Persian Gulf as part of Operation Earnest Will, the 1987–88 convoy missions in which U.S. warships escorted reflagged Kuwaiti oil tankers to protect them from Iranian attacks. The explosion blew a 4.5 m (15-foot) hole in the Samuel B. Roberts's hull and nearly sank it. The crew saved their ship with no loss of life, and the Samuel B. Roberts was towed to Dubai, United Arab Emirates on 16 April. After the mining, U.S. Navy divers recovered other mines in the area. When the serial numbers were found to match those of mines seized along with the Iran Ajr the previous September, U.S. military officials planned a retaliatory operation against Iranian targets in the Persian Gulf.

According to Bradley Peniston, the attack by the U.S. helped pressure Iran to agree to a ceasefire with Iraq later that summer, ending the eight-year conflict between the Persian Gulf neighbors.

On 6 November 2003, the International Court of Justice ruled that "the actions of the United States of America against Iranian oil platforms on 19 October 1987 (Operation Nimble Archer) and 18 April 1988 (Operation Praying Mantis) cannot be justified as measures necessary to protect the essential security interests of the United States of America." However, the International Court of Justice dismissed Iran's claim that the attack by United States Navy was a breach of the 1955 Treaty of Amity between the two countries as it only pertained to vessels, not platforms.

This battle was the largest of the five major U.S. surface engagements since the Second World War, which also include the Battle of Chumonchin Chan during the Korean War, the Gulf of Tonkin incident and the Battle of Dong Hoi during the Vietnam War, and the Action in the Gulf of Sidra in 1986. It also marked the U.S. Navy's first exchange of anti-ship missiles with opposing ships and the only occasion since World War II on which the US Navy sank a major surface combatant.

By the end of the operation, U.S. air and surface units had sunk, or severely damaged, half of Iran's operational fleet.


The Iranian frigate Sahand attacked by aircraft of U.S. Navy Carrier Air Wing 11 after the guided missile frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts struck an Iranian mine

Battle
On 18 April, the U.S. Navy attacked with several groups of surface warships, plus aircraft from the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, and her cruiser escort, USS Truxtun. The action began with coordinated strikes by two surface groups.

One Surface Action Group, or SAG, consisting of the destroyers USS Merrill (including embarked LAMPS MK I Helicopter Detachment HSL-35 Det 1) and USS Lynde McCormick, plus the amphibious transport dock USS Trenton and its embarked Marine Air-Ground Task Force (Contingency MAGTF 2-88 from Camp LeJeune, NC) and the LAMPS (Light Airborne MultiPurpose System) Helicopter Detachment (HSL-44 Det 5) from USS Samuel B. Roberts, was ordered to destroy the guns and other military facilities on the Sassan oil platform. At 8am, the SAG commander, who was also the commander of Destroyer Squadron 9, ordered the Merrill to radio a warning to the occupants of the platform, telling them to abandon it. The SAG waited 20 minutes, then opened fire. The oil platform fired back with twin-barrelled 23 mm ZU-23 guns. The SAG's guns eventually disabled some of the ZU-23s, and platform occupants radioed a request for a cease-fire. The SAG complied. After a tug carrying more personnel had cleared the area, the ships resumed exchanging fire with the remaining ZU-23s, and ultimately disabled them. Cobra helicopters completed the destruction of enemy resistance. The Marines boarded the platform, and recovered a single wounded survivor (who was transported to Bahrain), some small arms, and intelligence. The Marines planted explosives, left the platform, and detonated them. The SAG was then ordered to proceed north to the Rakhsh oil platform to destroy it.


A starboard bow view of the Iranian destroyer escort ITS Faramarz (DE 74), redesignated as IRS Sahand (F 74)

As the SAG departed the Sassan oil field, two Iranian F-4s made an attack run, but broke off when Lynde McCormick locked its fire control radar on the aircraft. Halfway to the Rahksh oil platform, the attack was called off in an attempt to ease pressure on the Iranians and signal a desire for de-escalation.

The other group, which included guided missile cruiser USS Wainwright and frigates USS Simpson and USS Bagley , attacked the Sirri oil platform. Navy SEALs were assigned to capture, occupy and destroy the Sirri platform but due to heavy pre-assault damage from naval gunfire, it was determined that an assault was not required.

Iran responded by dispatching Boghammar speedboats to attack various targets in the Persian Gulf, including the American-flagged supply ship Willie Tide, the Panamanian-flagged oil rig Scan Bay and the British tanker York Marine. All of these vessels were damaged in different degrees. After the attacks, A-6E Intruder aircraft launched from USS Enterprise, were directed to the speedboats by an American frigate. The two VA-95, aircraft, piloted by "Lizards" Lieutenant Commander James Engler and Lieutenant Paul Webb, dropped Rockeye cluster bombs on the speedboats, sinking one and damaging several others, which then fled to the Iranian-controlled island of Abu Musa.


Combat Patch of Operation Praying Mantis

Action continued to escalate. Joshan, an Iranian Combattante II Kaman-class fast attack craft, challenged USS Wainwright and Surface Action Group Charlie. The commanding officer of Wainwright directed a final warning (of a series of warnings) stating that Joshan was to "stop your engines, abandon ship, I intend to sink you". Joshan responded by firing a Harpoon missile at them. The missile was successfully lured away by chaff. Simpson responded to the challenge by firing four Standard missiles, while Wainwright followed with one Standard missile.[8] All missiles hit and destroyed the Iranian ship's superstructure but did not immediately sink it, so Bagley fired a Harpoon of its own. The missile did not find the target. SAG Charlie closed on Joshan, with Simpson, then Bagley and Wainwright firing guns to sink the crippled Iranian ship.

Two Iranian F-4 Phantom fighters were orbiting about 48 km (26 nmi) away when Wainwright decided to drive them away. Wainwright fired two Extended Range Standard missiles, one of which detonated near an F-4, blowing off part of its wing and peppering the fuselage with shrapnel. The F-4s withdrew, and the Iranian pilot landed his damaged airplane at Bandar Abbas.

Fighting continued when the Iranian frigate Sahand departed Bandar Abbas and challenged elements of an American surface group. The frigate was spotted by two A-6Es from VA-95 while they were flying surface combat air patrol for USS Joseph Strauss.


The Iranian frigate Sahand burning from bow to stern on 18 April 1988 after being attacked.

Sahand fired missiles at the A-6Es, which replied with two Harpoon missiles and four laser-guided Skipper missiles. Joseph Strauss fired a Harpoon. Most, if not all of the shots scored hits, causing heavy damage and fires. Fires blazing on Sahand's decks eventually reached her munitions magazines, causing an explosion that sank her.

Late in the day, the Iranian frigate Sabalan departed from its berth and fired a surface-to-air missile at several A-6Es from VA-95. The A-6Es then dropped a Mark 82 laser-guided bomb into Sabalan's stack, crippling the ship and leaving it burning. The Iranian frigate, stern partially submerged, was taken in tow by an Iranian tug, and was repaired and eventually returned to service. VA-95's aircraft, as ordered, did not continue the attack. The A-6 pilot who crippled Sabalan, LCDR James Engler, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross by Admiral William J. Crowe, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, for the actions against the Sabalan and the Iranian gunboats.

In retaliation for the attacks, Iran fired Silkworm missiles (suspected to be the HY-4 version) from land bases against SAG Delta in the Strait of Hormuz and against USS Gary in the northern central Persian Gulf, but all missed due to the evasive maneuvers and use of decoys by the ships. A missile was probably shot down by Gary's 76 mm (3.0 in) gun. The Pentagon and the Reagan Administration later denied that any Silkworm missile attacks took place probably since it was the only way to keep the situation from escalating further as they had promised before publicly that any such attacks would merit retaliation against targets on Iranian soil.

Disengagement
Following the attack on Sabalan, U.S. naval forces were ordered to assume a de-escalatory posture, giving Iran a way out and avoiding further combat. Iran took the offer and combat ceased, though both sides remained on alert, and near-clashes occurred throughout the night and into the next day as the forces steamed within the Gulf. Two days after the battle, Lynde McCormick was directed to escort a U.S. oiler out through the Strait of Hormuz, while a Scandinavian-flagged merchant remained near, probably for protection. While the ships remained alert, no hostile indications were received, and the clash was over.

Aftermath
By the end of the operation, American Marines, ships and aircraft had destroyed Iranian naval and intelligence facilities on two inoperable oil platforms in the Persian Gulf, and sank at least three armed Iranian speedboats, one Iranian frigate and one fast attack gunboat. One other Iranian frigate was damaged in the battle. Sabalan was repaired in 1989 and has since been upgraded, and is still in service with the Iranian navy. The fires eventually burned themselves out but the damage to the infrastructure forced the demolition of the Sirri platforms after the war. The site was built up again for oil production by French and Russian oil companies, after buying the drilling rights from the Iranian government.

The U.S. side suffered two casualties, the crew of a Marine Corps AH-1T Sea Cobra helicopter gunship. The Cobra, attached to USS Trenton, was flying reconnaissance from Wainwright and crashed sometime after dark about 15 miles southwest of Abu Musa island. The bodies of the lost personnel were recovered by Navy divers in May, and the wreckage of the helicopter was raised later that month. Navy officials said it showed no sign of battle damage. In his recent book "Tanker War", author Lee Allen Zatarain indicates there was some indication they may have crashed while evading hostile fire from the island.

A month later, the guided missile cruiser USS Vincennes arrived, summoned in haste to protect the frigate Samuel B. Roberts as it was hauled back to the United States. On 3 July, Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655, killing all 290 crew and passengers. The U.S. government said the crew of Vincennes mistook the Iranian Airbus for an attacking F-14 fighter, despite it being a commercial airliner flying a scheduled route. The Iranian government alleged that Vincennes knowingly shot down a civilian aircraft.

International Court of Justice
On 6 November 2003 the International Court of Justice dismissed a claim by Iran and a counter claim by the United States' for reparations for breach of a 1955 'Treaty of Amity' between the two countries. In short the court rejected both claim and counter claim because the 1955 treaty protected only "freedom of trade and navigation between the territories of the parties" and because of the US trade embargo on Iran at the time, no direct trade or navigation between the two was affected by the conflict.

The court did state that "the actions of the United States of America against Iranian oil platforms on 19 October 1987 (Operation Nimble Archer) and 18 April 1988 (Operation Praying Mantis) cannot be justified as measures necessary to protect the essential security interests of the United States of America." The Court ruled that it "...cannot however uphold the submission of the Islamic Republic of Iran that those actions constitute a breach of the obligations of the United States of America under Article X, paragraph 1, of that Treaty, regarding freedom of commerce between the territories of the parties, and that, accordingly, the claim of the Islamic Republic of Iran for reparation also cannot be upheld;".

U.S. naval order of battle


Samuel B. Roberts is carried away aboard Mighty Servant 2 after hitting a mine in the Persian Gulf.

• Officer in Tactical Command: Commander Joint Task Force Middle East (aboard USS Coronado)
• Battle Group Commander: Commander, Cruiser/Destroyer Group Three (aboard USS Enterprise)

Surface Action Group Bravo

• On Scene Commander: Commander, Destroyer Squadron Nine (Embarked on Merrill)
• USS Merrill – destroyer
• USS Lynde McCormick – guided missile destroyer
• USS Trenton – amphibious transport dock
• Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) 2–88 (4 AH-1T, 2 UH-1, 2 CH-46)
• Helicopter AntiSubmarine Squadron 44 Detachment 5 – LAMPS Helicopter (SH-60B)

Surface Action Group Charlie

• OSC: CO, USS Wainwright
• USS Wainwright – guided missile cruiser
• USS Bagley – frigate
• USS Simpson – guided missile frigate
• SEAL platoon

Surface Action Group Delta

• OSC: Commander Destroyer Squadron Twenty Two (Embarked on Jack Williams)
• USS Jack Williams – guided missile frigate
• USS O'Brien – destroyer
• USS Joseph Strauss – guided missile destroyer

Air support

• Elements of Carrier Air Wing Eleven operating from aircraft carrier USS Enterprise
• A-6E & KA-6D Intruders of VA-95 operating from aircraft carrier USS Enterprise

Ship maintenance and support

• USS Samuel Gompers – destroyer tender – performed ship maintenance and repairs operating off the coast of Oman
• USS Wabash – fast attack oiler – provided underway replenishment of fuel, ammunition, and supplies to the USS Enterprise Battle Group

Operation Praying Mantis - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 18 April


1706 – Launch of HMS York was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Plymouth Dockyard

HMS York was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Plymouth Dockyard and launched on 18 April 1706.
York was lengthened in 1738, and remained in service until 1750, when she was sunk to form part of a breakwater.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_York_(1706)


1707 – Launch of French Gloire 38 at Lorient – captured by the British in 1709, became HMS Sweepstakes; broken up 1716


Scale: 1:48. A plan showing the body plan, basic sheer lines (no water lines), and longitudinal half-breadth for 'Sweepstakes' (1709), a captured French 40-gun Fifth Rate, two-decker



https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-351953;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=S
https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_ship&id=7016


1710 - Maltese defeat Algerines


1742 HMS Saltash (14) wrecked off the coast of Portugal.

HMS Saltash was an 8-gun two-masted sloop of the Royal Navy, built on speculation by Henry Bird at Deptford Wet Dock on the Thames River, England. She was purchased while building by the Navy Board at the end of August 1741 to replace the 1732-built sloop of the same name (which was sold on 24 August). The new sloop was launched on 3 September.

She was commissioned in 1741 under Commander Peter Toms, and sailed for the Straits of Gibraltar. In 1742 she was under Commander Arthur Upton; she grounded in the Gulf of Cadiz on 16 April 1742 while chasing a Spanish polacca and was burnt by her crew two days later to prevent capture by the Spanish.

HMS Saltash (1741) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1775 – Launch of HMS Actaeon was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Actaeon was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy.
The Actaeon was first commissioned in June 1775 under the command of Captain Christopher Atkins.
In August 1775, she was driven ashore at Lymington, Hampshire. She was refloated on 31 August and taken in to Portsmouth, Hampshire for repairs.

sistership Syren / Siren

Scale 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with stern board decoration and name on the stern counter, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, and longitudinal half breadth for Syren/Siren (1773), a 28-gun, Sixth Rate Frigate, as built by Henri at Chatham. The plan also includes pencil modifications for converting a troop ship for 300 troops and 105 ships company. This may not be for Siren (1773), could be for another member of the Enterprize Class. NMM, Progress Book, volume 5, folio 303, states that 'Syren' was launched at Hennicker's Yard, Chatham on 2 November, arriving at Chatham Dockyard on the same day. She was docked on 16 August 1775 and undocked on 8 September 1775,sailing on 5 October 1775 having been fitted for foreign service



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

Enterprise-class frigate - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-352164;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=S
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-310573;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=E


1775 – American Revolution: The British advancement by sea begins; Paul Revere and other riders warn the countryside of the troop movements.

The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. The battles were fought on April 19, 1775 in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy (present-day Arlington), and Cambridge. They marked the outbreak of armed conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and its thirteen colonies in America.

In late 1774, Colonial leaders adopted the Suffolk Resolves in resistance to the alterations made to the Massachusetts colonial government by the British parliament following the Boston Tea Party. The colonial assembly responded by forming a Patriot provisional government known as the Massachusetts Provincial Congress and calling for local militias to train for possible hostilities. The Colonial government exercised effective control of the colony outside of British-controlled Boston. In response, the British government in February 1775 declared Massachusetts to be in a state of rebellion.

About 700 British Army regulars in Boston, under Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith, were given secret orders to capture and destroy Colonial military supplies reportedly stored by the Massachusetts militia at Concord. Through effective intelligence gathering, Patriot leaders had received word weeks before the expedition that their supplies might be at risk and had moved most of them to other locations. On the night before the battle, warning of the British expedition had been rapidly sent from Boston to militias in the area by several riders, including Paul Revere and Samuel Prescott, with information about British plans. The initial mode of the Army's arrival by water was signaled from the Old North Church in Boston to Charlestown using lanterns to communicate "one if by land, two if by sea".

The first shots were fired just as the sun was rising at Lexington. Eight militiamen were killed, including Ensign Robert Munroe, their third in command. The British suffered only one casualty. The militia were outnumbered and fell back, and the regulars proceeded on to Concord, where they broke apart into companies to search for the supplies. At the North Bridge in Concord, approximately 400 militiamen engaged 100 regulars from three companies of the King's troops at about 11:00 am, resulting in casualties on both sides. The outnumbered regulars fell back from the bridge and rejoined the main body of British forces in Concord.

The British forces began their return march to Boston after completing their search for military supplies, and more militiamen continued to arrive from neighboring towns. Gunfire erupted again between the two sides and continued throughout the day as the regulars marched back towards Boston. Upon returning to Lexington, Lt. Col. Smith's expedition was rescued by reinforcements under Brigadier General Hugh Percy, a future duke of Northumberland styled at this time by the courtesy title Earl Percy. The combined force of about 1,700 men marched back to Boston under heavy fire in a tactical withdrawal and eventually reached the safety of Charlestown. The accumulated militias then blockaded the narrow land accesses to Charlestown and Boston, starting the Siege of Boston.

Ralph Waldo Emerson describes the first shot fired by the Patriots at the North Bridge in his "Concord Hymn" as the "shot heard round the world".

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


1787 – Launch of HMS Alligator was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth rate frigate of the Royal Navy.

HMS Alligator was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was originally ordered during the American War of Independence but was completed too late to see service during the conflict. Instead she had an active career during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

Commissioned during the last few years of peace prior to the outbreak of war with France, Alligator served in British waters, making trips as far afield as the Mediterranean and the North American coast. During the period of conflict that began in 1793, Alligator spent a considerable amount of time in the West Indies under a number of commanders, and was effective in anti-privateer operations. Despite this she was laid up for a period starting in 1795, and was reduced to a 16-gun troopship in 1800. Further service followed in the West Indies, supporting the fleet and army movements around the islands, and taking part in the capture of several French frigates. She was again laid up, and as the end of hostilities approached, was deemed surplus and was sold in 1814.

HMS Alligator (1787) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1787 – Launch of Orion, a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy

Orion was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.
She took part in fighting on the coast of Italy. In 1793, she was renamed Mucius Scævola, soon shortened to Mucius.
In 1794 she took part in the battle of the Glorious First of June (Combat du 13 prairial an II), helping the Impétueux battling HMS Marlborough, as well as in both the First Battle of Groix and the Battle of Groix in June 1795.
In December 1796 she took part in the Expédition d'Irlande, an attempt at landing an army in Ireland, before being struck and broken up in Brest.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Orion_(1787)


1814 / 1815 - Brillant was a Téméraire-class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. The British captured her while still on keel, ready for launch, at the fall of the city in 18 April 1814. She was completed for the Royal Navy, launched at 18.April 1815 and served as HMS Genoa until 1838

Brillant was a Téméraire-class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. The British captured her while still on keel, ready for launch, at the fall of the city in 1814. She was completed for the Royal Navy and served as HMS Genoa until 1838.
Genoa was present at the Battle of Navarino.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Brillant_(1815)


1814 – Sphinx (or Sphynx), was a French Sylphe-class brig launched at Genoa in 1813. She was handed over to naval suppliers at Genoa on 18 April 1814 when nearly completed as part-payment for debts. The next day the British occupied Genoa. Sphinx appears to have become the Royal Navy brig Regent, and then a Customs and Excise cruizer. Regent was sold in 1824, and then appears as the Colombian government vessel Victoria, which is no longer traceable in online resources after 1826


1848 - U.S. Navy expedition to explore the Dead Sea and the River Jordan, commanded by Lt. William F. Lynch, reaches the Dead Sea.

William F. Lynch - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1863 - Launch of Re d'Italia (King of Italy) was the lead ship of the Re d'Italia-class armored frigates built in the United States for the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) in the early 1860s



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_ironclad_Re_d'Italia


1865 - USS Fox was a captured Confederate schooner acquired by the Union Navy from the prize court during the American Civil War, captured by by Susquehanna

USS Fox (1859) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1906 - U.S. Navy assists in relief operations during the San Francisco earthquake and fire. Sailors and Marines fight fires and ships carry the homeless and injured to Vallejo, where medical personnel established emergency facilities.

The 1906 San Francisco earthquake struck the coast of Northern California at 5:12 a.m. on Wednesday, April 18 with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme). High intensity shaking was felt from Eureka on the North Coast to the Salinas Valley, an agricultural region to the south of the San Francisco Bay Area. Devastating fires soon broke out in the city and lasted for several days. Thousands of homes were dismantled. As a result, up to 3,000 people died and over 80% of the city of San Francisco was destroyed. The events are remembered as one of the worst and deadliest earthquakes in the history of the United States. The death toll remains the greatest loss of life from a natural disaster in California's history and high in the lists of American disasters.


Damaged houses and ruins in the vicinity of Post and Grant Avenue

1906 San Francisco earthquake - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1913 – Launch of HMS Nottingham was a Town-class light cruiser built for the Royal Navy just before World War I.

HMS Nottingham was a Town-class light cruiser built for the Royal Navy just before World War I. She was one of three ships of the Birmingham sub-class and was completed in early 1914. The ship was assigned to the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron (LCS) of the Home and Grand Fleets for her entire career. Nottingham participated in most of the early fleet actions, including the Battles of Heligoland Bight, Dogger Bank, and Jutland, helping to sink several German ships during the battles. The ship was sunk by the German submarine U-52 during the Action of 19 August 1916.

HMS Nottingham (1913) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1945 - USS Heerman (DD 532), USS McCord (DD 534), USS Mertz (DD 691), and USS Collett (DD 730), with assistance from destroyer USS Uhlmann (DD 687) and TBM Avenger aircraft (VT 47) from USS Bataan (CVL 29), sink the Japanese submarine I 56, 150 miles east of Okinawa.

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 April 1694 – Launch of HMS Ipswich, a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, at Harwich


HMS Ipswich was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Harwich on 19 April 1694.





She was rebuilt at Portsmouth according to the 1719 Establishment, relaunching on 30 October 1730. In 1743 she was part of a small three-vessel squadron sent to the Bay of Ajaccio under Vice-Admiral Thomas Mathews to investigate reports that a single Spanish ship of the line was anchored there for repairs. On reaching the Bay the squadron, comprising Ipswich, HMS Revenge and the fireship HMS Anne Galley, encountered and overwhelmed the 70-gun Spanish warship Isidoro. The Spanish vessel was set on fire by her crew to avoid her being captured, and sank in the Bay.

Ipswich was hulked in 1757, and broken up in 1764.






Scale: 1:60. A contemporary full hull model of the 'Ipswich' (1730), a 70-gun two-decker ship of the line, built plank on solid core in the Georgian style. Model is decked, fully planked, equipped and rigged. It is complete with its original rigging and is flying a red ensign and broad pennant; the whole model is mounted on an original baseboard. The 'Ipswich’ was a rebuild at Portsmouth from a previous ship of the same name. Measuring 151 along the gun deck by 42 feet in the beam, it had a tonnage of 1142. It spent most of its active career in the Mediterranean and the West Indies and was later re-rated as a 64-gun ship. During this period, the British 70-gun ships saw wide service but were soon outclassed by the French seventy-fours, which were developed in the late 1730s. The ‘Ipswich’ was eventually taken to pieces in 1764


Scale: 1:48. A plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, the arrangement of stern and lanterns, and the longitudinal half-breadth with deck detail for 'Ipswich' (1694) a 70-gun Third Rate, two-decker. The plan indicates the vessel having undergone a large repair at Woolwich Dockyard between August 1711 and November 1712. On the reverse: Scale: 1:48. The fore and aft platforms including the Fish Room and the Magazine for 'Ipswich' (1694). Plan includes a reconciling survey annotation on the side of the plan, and an identification table listing inboard details


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with stern board outline and some decoration, inboard profile, and longitudinal half-breadth with deck details for 'Ipswich' (1730), a 1719 Establishment 70-gun Third Rate, two-decker. On the reverse is a plan showing a half-breadth for the quarterdeck and forecastle, half-breadth for the upper deck, and full orlop deck, for 'Ipswich' (1730)


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, stern board outline, sheer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth for 'Ipswich' (1730), a 1719 Establishment 70-gun Third Rate, two-decker. Signed by Joseph Allin [Master Shipwright, Portsmouth Dockyard, 1726-1742] on 4 October 1727


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Ipswich_(1694)
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-321057;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=I
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-321059;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=I

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 April 1759 – Merlin-class sloop HMS Falcon wrecked on the Îles des Saintes, off Guadeloupe, West Indies


The Merlin class was a class of twenty-one sloops of wooden construction built for the Royal Navy between 1743 and 1746. They were all built by contract with commercial builders to a common design prepared by Jacob Acworth, the Surveyor of the Navy; however, there was a difference, with a platform deck being constructed in the hold in Swallow (i), Merlin, Raven and Swallow (ii), whereas the other seventeen had no platform and thus their depth in hold was nearly twice as much.




lines This plan relates to the new-builds which originally hads the names of the ships they replaced - esp. the Rupert's Prize and Pembroke's Prize. Peregrina was launched as Merlin Galgo was launched as Swallow NMM, progress Book, volume 2, folio 542, states that 'Rupert Prize' was renamed 'Hind' per Admiralty Order dated April 1744. She was launched 19 April 1744, and fitted at Woolwich Dockyard between April and May 1744. The previous 'Rupert Prize' was sold in October 1743. NMM, Progress Book volume 2, folio 540, states that 'Pembroke Prize' was renamed per Admiralty Order 'Vulture' on 18 April 1744. She was launched in May 1744, and surveyed afloat and refitted at Plymouth Dockyard, October-November 1744. The previous 'Pembroke Prize' was sold 13 March 1743

Although initially armed with ten 6-pounder guns, this class was built with seven pairs of gunports on the upper deck, enabling them to be re-armed with fourteen 6-pounders later in their careers.

The first two – Swallow and Merlin – were ordered on 7 July 1743 to be built to replace two ex-Spanish vessels (the Galgo and Peregrine's Prize, both captured in 1742, and put into service by the British). Two more vessels to the same design were ordered on 30 March 1744; another two were ordered five days later, four more followed on 23 May and three others were ordered later that year.

On 5 April 1745 five more were ordered – including a second Falcon (named to replace the first, captured in the same year) and a second Swallow(similarly to replace the first, wrecked in 1744) – and a single extra vessel was ordered on 11 April. A final pair were ordered on 9 January 1746.






Lines & Profile (ZAZ5029)


deck NMM, Progress Book, volume 2, folio 540, states that 'Peregrina' was launched as the 'Merlin', and that the 'Pembroke Prize' was launched as the 'Vulture'. The plan does not relate to the ex-Spanish ship 'Pembroke Prize' sold 13 March 1744

Merlin-class sloop - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-330768;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=M

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 April 1782 - The Battle of the Mona Passage was a naval engagement between a British fleet under Rear-Admiral Sir Samuel Hood, and a small French fleet.
French ships Jason (64), Caton (64), Aimable (32) and Ceres (18) captured


The Battle of the Mona Passage was a naval engagement on 19 April 1782 between a British fleet under Rear-Admiral Sir Samuel Hood, and a small French fleet. It took place in the Mona Passage, the strait separating Hispaniola and Puerto Rico, shortly after the British victory at the Battle of the Saintes. The British overtook and captured four ships, two of which were 64-gun ships of the line.



Battle and aftermath

Sir Samuel Hood

Between 9 April 1782 and 12 April 1782 a British fleet under Admiral George Brydges Rodney engaged and defeated a French fleet under the Comte de Grasse at the battle of the Saintes, thus frustrating French plans for an invasion of Jamaica. Rear-Admiral Sir Samuel Hood fought under Rodney during the battle, and was deeply critical of his commander for not pushing home his victory against the retreating enemy fleet. The British fleet made its way to Jamaica, from where Rodney ordered Hood to seek out any disabled or damaged French ships that had escaped the battle. Hood's division of thirteen ships set out toward Saint-Domingue.

The French 64-gun ship of the line Caton had been damaged in the initial encounter between the fleets on 9 April, and the Jason, also 64 guns, had been damaged on 10 April when it collided with the heavily-damaged Zélé.


The Capture of the French 64-gun ships Caton and Jason by the Valiant, 74 in the Mona Passage, 19 April, 1782

Both of these ships were in the Mona Passage, making sail for Cap-Français along with several smaller ships, when Hood's squadron spotted them. Hood chased down the French ships, the faster copper-sheathed British ships outpacing the damaged French ships. HMS Valiant captured both Jason and Caton at the cost of four men killed and six wounded, whilst HMS Magnificent captured the frigate Aimable at the cost of four killed and eight wounded. Champion captured the frigate Astrée, which however managed to escape with minimal damage.

The captured French ships were taken back to England for further use. Jason was renamed HMS Argonaut, while Caton was used as a prisoner of warhospital ship and moored off Saltash in Cornwall. She continued in this role well into the Napoleonic Wars. Aimable was renamed HMS Aimable and served in the Royal Navy until 1811. Cérès, a former British sloop by the same name, became HMS Raven; the French recaptured her in January 1783 and sold her in 1791.

Order of battle

Britain Barfleur (98) - Flagship of Sir Samuel Hood, Capt. John Knight Alfred (74) - Capt. Thomas Dumaresq Belliqueux (64) - Capt. Andrew Sutherland (mariner) Magnificent (74) - Capt. Robert Linzee Monarch (74) - Capt. Francis Reynolds Montagu (74) - Capt. George Bowen Prince William (64) - Capt. George Wilkinson Valiant (74) - Capt. Samuel Goodall Warrior (74) - Capt. James Wallace Yarmouth (60) - Capt. Anthony Parrey Champion (24) - Capt. Thomas West Alecto (12) - Fire ship

France Caton (64) - Capt. de Framond - Captured Jason (64) - Capt. de la Marthonie - Captured Astrée (36) - Escaped Aimable (32) - Cmdt. de Suzannet - Captured Ceres (18) - Cmdt. de Paroy - Captured

Le Caton was a 64-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, launched in 1777.





She was captured by the Royal Navy at the Battle of the Mona Passage on 19 April 1782, and commissioned as the third rate HMS Caton. She sailed with the fleet for England on 25 July 1782 but was said to have been lost later that year in a hurricane storm off Newfoundland on 16–17 September, along with the other captured French prize ships Ville de Paris, and Hector. In fact, she struggled to reach Halifax NS.

On January 26, 1783, a small British convoy of eight military transports sailed out of Halifax for England; accompanied by the captured French 64-gun man-of war Le Caton, and escorted by the veteran 36-gun frigate HMS Pallas.

Later she became a prison hospital ship at Plymouth and was placed on harbour service in 1798, and sold out of the service in 1815.


HMS Argonaut was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line, in Royal Navy service during the French Revolutionary Wars and the American Revolution. Launched in 1779 as the French ship Jason, she was captured by the British in 1782 and commissioned by them in the same year. After active service against the French, she was converted to a hospital ship in 1804 and permanently moored off Chatham Dockyard.

Argonaut was removed from navy service in 1828 and broken up in 1831.





French Revolutionary War
On 8 January 1795, while under the command of Captain Alexander John Ball she captured the French Republican warship Esperance on the North America Station. Esperance was armed with 22 guns (4 and 6-pounders), and had a crew of 130 men. She was under the command of Lieutenant de Vaisseau De St. Laurent and had been out 56 days from Rochfort, bound for the Chesapeake. Argonaut shared the prize money with Captain Robert Murray's HMS Oiseaux.

The French ambassador to the United States registered a complaint with the President of the United States that Argonaut, by entering Lynnhaven bay, either before she captured Esperance or shortly thereafter, had violated a treaty between France and the United States.[4] The French also accused the British of having brought Esperance into Lynnhaven for refitting for a cruise. The President passed the complaint to the Secretary of State, who forwarded the complaint to the Governor of Virginia. The Governor inquired into the matter of the British Consul at Virginia. The British Consul replied that the capture had taken place some 10 leagues off shore. The weather had forced Argonaut and her prize to shelter within the Chesapeake for some days, but that they had left as soon as practicable. Furthermore, Argonaut had paroled her French prisoners when she came into Lynnhaven and if had entered American territorial waters solely to parole her French prisoners no one would have thought that objectionable. The authorities in Virginia took a number of depositions but ultimately nothing further came from the matter.

Because she was captured in good order and sailed well, Rear Admiral George Murray, the British commander in chief of the North American station, put a British crew aboard and sent Esperance out on patrol with Lynx on 31 January.

On 3 August 1795, Argonaut captured the ship Anna.

Fate
Argonaut was placed on harbour service in 1797, and eventually broken up in 1831.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, stern board outline with decoration details, sheer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth for Argonaut (captured 1782), a captured French Third Rate, as fitted as a 64-gun Third Rate at Plymouth Dockyard. The ship was surveyed in early February 1783, and then underwent a small repair until July 1783. Reverse: Scale: 1:96. Plan showing the quarterdeck and forecastle, upoper deck, gun deck (lower deck), and orlop deck for Argonaut (captured 1782), a captured French Third Rate, as fitted as a 64-gun Third Rate


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the quarterdeck and forecastle, upper deck, lower deck, and orlop woith fore & aft platforms, and inboard profile to the waterline for Argonaut (captured 1782), a captured French Third Rate, as converted at Chatham Dockyard and fitted as an Hospital Ship. Tthe ship was fitted again as an Hospital Ship in 1804, and a note on the plan records a Warrant dated 2 July 1817 being sent to add Jalousies [louvres] to the ports for the comfort of the patients, on the recommendation of Rear Admiral Rowley. Signed by Edward Sison [Master Shipwright, Chatham Dockyard, 1795-1801]


HMS Ceres was an 18-gun sloop launched in 1777 for the British Royal Navy that the French captured in December 1778 off Saint Lucia. The French Navy took her into service as Cérès. The British recaptured her in 1782 and renamed her HMS Raven, only to have the French recapture her again early in 1783. The French returned her name to Cérès, and she then served in the French Navy until sold at Brest in 1791.


Ceres (1777) Scale: 1:48.


Aimable, (launched 20 July 1776 at Toulon) – captured by British Navy in the Battle of the Mona Passage 19 April 1782, becoming HMS Aimable.

Alcmène class (26-gun design of 1773 by Antoine Groignard, with 26 x 8-pounder guns – 6 x 4-pounder guns added later to the quarterdeck).
Alcmène, (launched 14 June 1774 at Toulon) – captured by British Navy 21 October 1779, becoming HMS Alcmene.
Aimable, (launched 20 July 1776 at Toulon) – captured by British Navy in the Battle of the Mona Passage 19 April 1782, becoming HMS Aimable.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Mona_Passage
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Caton_(1777)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Argonaut_(1782)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Ceres_(1777)
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-292464;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=A

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 April 1778 - The Frederica naval action was a naval battle during the American Revolutionary War in which three galleys of the Georgia State Navy defeated a British raiding party off the coast of Georgia

The Frederica naval action was a naval battle during the American Revolutionary War in which three galleys of the Georgia State Navy defeated a British raiding party off the coast of Georgia. The action occurred on April 19, 1778.



Background

Samuel Elbert

The state of Georgia had twice attempted, without success, to invade the British colony of East Florida. In 1778 a third attempt was launched, to be headed by Colonel Samuel Elbert. The catalyst for the invasion was the discovery, in April of that year, that four British ships were sailing in St. Simons Sound. Two of these, the sloop Rebecca and the watering brig Hatter, were private vessels under contract to the Royal Navy; the other two, the frigate HMS Galatea and sloop HMS Hinchinbrook, were Royal Navy ships.

For defense, Elbert had the galleys of the Georgia State Navy; four of these, Washington, Lee, Congress, and Bulloch, had been underwritten by the Continental Congress and constructed in Savannah between 1776 and 1777. All four were under the command of Commodore Oliver Bowen.


Georgia Navy vessels capturing the British squadron on Frederica River

Prelude
On April 15 Elbert received word that the Royal Navy had been spotted off the coast, and detailed around 360 men of the Georgia Continental battalions of Fort Howe to march to Darien; from here they were to embark upon three of the galleys, Washington, Bulloch, and Lee. The first was led by Captain John Hardee, the second by Captain Archibald Hatcher, and the third by Captain John Cutler Braddock.

By the middle of the afternoon on April 18, the flotilla had entered the Frederica River and anchored at Pikes Bluff, close to a mile and a half above Fort Frederica. Troops under Colonel Robert Rae and Major Daniel Roberts were the first to land, followed, under Elbert's orders, by Captain George Young and the artillery detachment. They set up the field piece on the island. Officers were chosen to command troops on the galleys. Colonel John White was assigned to Lee, Captain George Melvin to Washington, and Lieutenant Barnard Patty to Bulloch. Elbert ordered Rae to take 100 of his men and march them to the fort, where British prisoners were taken. Some of the men in the scouting party which had been landed escaped by boat, taking word to Galatea to alert Captain Thomas Jordan to the imminent American attack. Jordan responded by sending a ship loaded with soldiers to assist Hinchinbrook and Rebecca.

Elbert received some intelligence regarding the two British ships; he decided, however, that it was too late in the evening to initiate an attack, and ordered his men to rest for the night.

Battle
Early on the morning of April 19, Elbert took the galleys down the river to attack the British ships, which were already ranged in their order of battle. The galleys likely initiated the attack shortly after first light, around 5:30 that morning, beginning their assault on Hinchinbrook, Rebecca, and Hatter. Galleys are lightly built craft that are optimized for rowing. They are fragile and at a severe disadvantage against strongly built sailing vessels. However, galleys have a tactical advantage against pure sailing vessels in restricted waters or when there is no wind. Either by happenstance or by brilliant planning, the ebb tidecombined with the lack of wind to give the Americans the advantage; with no wind, the British ships were unable to sail forward to board and storm the galleys, and were forced to remain stationary. Consequently, the galleys began by firing a few random shots at the British vessels before anchoring a safe distance away and beginning a heavy cannonade.


Elbert's letter to General Howe was later published in several Southern newspapers

Hinchinbrook and Rebecca carried four-pounder guns that were no match for the heavier ordnance on the galleys, so they began dropping downriver, hoping to find a place to maneuver and possibly catch a breeze. They thought that the channel was deep, and sailed accordingly; however, at around 10 in the morning, Rebecca suddenly grounded at a place called "Raccoon Gut". Hinchinbrook and Hatter soon suffered the same fate. As the galleys were drawing nearer, the British made the decision to abandon ship. Most of the officers and men crowded into the ship's boats and rowed downriver to Galatea, which was still anchored in the sound. A few of Hinchinbrook's crew were left behind.

Aftermath
Although the battle was comparatively minor, it had a galvanizing effect on the people of Georgia, for it disabled two ships that had been capturing American merchant ships off the South Carolina and Georgia coasts. More importantly, it helped to delay by over eight months a British attempt to capture Fort Morris and the town of Sunbury. At the same time, it demonstrated the effectiveness of heavily armed galleys in confined waters.

Elbert, for his part, was deeply impressed with the victory, writing to General Robert Howe that

...you must imagine what my feelings were, to see our three little men of war going on to the attack of these three vessels who have spread terror on our coast, and who were drawn up in order of battle; but the weight of our metal soon damped the courage of these heroes, who soon took to their boats: and, as many as could, abandoned the vessels with everything on board, of which we immediately took possession. What is extraordinary, we have not one man hurt...

Fresh from the victory at Frederica, Elbert went on to lead the disastrous Third Florida Expedition later that year.

Order of battle
United States

• Washington (galley)
• Bulloch (galley)
• Lee (galley)

Great Britain

• HMS Galatea (frigate)
• HMS Hinchinbrook (brigantine) - Aground and captured
• Rebecca (sloop) - Aground and captured
• Hatter (brig) - Aground and captured

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

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 April 1783 – Launch of HMS Europa, a 50-gun fourth-rate of the Royal Navy, built by Woolwich Dockyard


HMS Europa was a 50-gun fourth-rate of the Royal Navy, built by Woolwich Dockyard in 1783. Europa was based out of Jamaica, and ran aground at Montego Bay in 1785, but was not seriously damaged. When reports of the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars reached the British posts in Jamaica, Europa was sent into action along with the entire British squadron based at Jamaica, which consisted of several 12-pounder frigates and a number of smaller vessels, under the command of Commodore John Ford.




Europa approaching Port Mahon, Minorca, by Anton Schranz

Service
In April 1793, when the Royal Navy station in Jamaica received word of the War of the First Coalition, the naval squadron based at Jamaica, under the command of Commodore John Ford, became active. Europa served as a troop transport, and also helped capture French merchant vessels, carrying produce and supplies. On 1 June 1794, Europa assisted HMS Belliqueux, HMS Penelope, and HMS Sceptre in attacking French fortifications during the capture of Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Europa, under the command of James Stephenson, served as a troopship during the British expedition to Egypt in 1801. There she participated in the landing at Aboukir Bay, an overwhelming attack that defeated the French and led to the British capture of Cairo. Because Europa served in the navy's Egyptian campaign between 8 March 1801 and 2 September, her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal, which the Admiralty issued in 1847 to all surviving claimants.

Fate
The Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy offered the "Europa, of 50 guns and 1047 tons", lying at Portsmouth, for sale on 11 August 1814. The buyer had to post a bond of £3,000, with two guarantors, that they would break up the vessel within a year of purchase. Europa was sold in 1814.[4]

Notable crew members

• Joseph Whidbey - Royal Navy officer, served on the Vancouver Expedition, namesake of Whidbey Island, Washington, Joseph Whidbey State Park, also in Washington State and Whidbey Reach, Gardner Canal, British Columbia.
• George Vancouver - Royal Navy officer, commanded the 1791-95 expedition along North America's Pacific Coast. Namesake of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Vancouver, Washington, Mount Vancouver, and Mount Vancouver (New Zealand).
• James Vashon - Royal Navy officer, served on the Vancouver Expedition, namesake of Vashon Island, Washington.
• Henry Digby - Senior Royal Navy officer, nephew of Admiral Robert Digby, notably saved the crew of HMS Boyne when it was accidentally set on fire at Spithead, Great Britain.
• Peter Puget - Royal Navy officer, namesake of the Puget Sound, which he explored. Also named after him is Puget Island, Washington State.
• Joseph Baker - Royal Navy officer, served on the Vancouver Expedition as a mapmaker and surveyor. Namesake of Mt. Baker.
• John Bligh - Royal Navy officer, served during the American War of Independence and the Napoleonic Wars.
• John Cooke - Royal Navy officer, served during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary Wars, and the Napoleonic Wars. Killed at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, in hand-to-hand combat.

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

​

Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the framing profile (disposition) for Hannibal (1779), Jupiter (1778), Leander (1780), Adamant (1780), and Europa (1783), all 50-gun Fourth Rate, two-deckers

HMS Europa (1783) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-311213;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=E

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 April 1784 - Launch of HMS Venerable, a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, at Blackwall Yard.


HMS Venerable was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 19 April 1784 at Blackwall Yard.


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



In 1795 the ship is known to have been under the command of Cpt. James Bissett.
In 1797, Venerable served as Admiral Duncan's flagship at the Battle of Camperdown.


Loss of His Majesty's Ship Venerable... Shipwreck on the Night of 24 November 1804 on the Rocks in Torbay, by Robert Dodd

Fate
She was wrecked on 24 November 1804, off Roundham Head near Torbay. Three of her crew were lost. Two days later, on 26 November, the hired armed ship Lady Warren sailed from Plymouth to Torbay with Growler, six gun-vessels and yard-lighters, and other craft, to save the stores, guns, etc. from the wreck of Venerable.



HMS Hannibal (left foreground) lies aground and dismasted at the Battle of Algeciras Bay.


The received title of this oil painting is the 'Launch of HMS Venerable at Blackwall'. The picture shows John Perry's (later Green's) yard at Blackwall on the north bank of the Thames, below Greenwich. 1784 was probably its greatest year under Perry when he had three 74-gun ships (two-deckers) and two 44s for the Navy on the stocks as well as an East Indiaman and a West Indiaman (possibly the vessel on the far right). All three 74s are visible here in the centre, with one of them, the 'Venerable', ready for launch and flying her launching flags just before that event on 19 April. A cutter-rigged Admiralty yacht in the foreground has lowered her mainsail to lose way so that a party of naval VIPs on board can inspect the scene. An official barge, presumably that of the Navy Board (since flying its flag at the bow), can be seen approaching on the far left and a Thames wherry under sail on the right carries a party of civilian onlookers.The vessel in the lower left corner appears to be a sand or gravel barge. Lying along its port gunwale is a long-handled scoop/ sieve attached to a small swing-out davit, for dredging up sand an gravel from the river bed and swinging it into the divided central hold. Here one part is full, the other less so, with a man standing in it with a shovel. The sternpost bears the Latin figures XXXV above XXV (35 and 25): this cannot be a depth measurement so is most likely to indicate the weight of sand or gravel in the barge, perhaps in tons, when loaded down to those marks. The stakes with apparently metal-shod points also being handled are probably temporary mooring posts, driven into the river bed to keep the barge stationary while the bed around it is being dredged for the and and gravel cargo. Above it towards the left of the picture is Blackwall Yard House, built in 1612 and taken down in 1873, which was the Perry and later the Green family home. This large picture relates to another of similar size by Holman (BHC1866) showing the yard later in the year, possibly with the launch of the 44-gun 'Adventure' on 19 July, and what may be 'Venerable' lying fully rigged on the far left. The other ships in both pictures remain to be conclusively identified. The present picture has been called 'style of Holman' (and more recently Holman) but closer examination suggests reasons it may be by someone he taught rather than himself personally. For a start, it is less accomplished than BHC1866. It is perhaps also unlikely - if both were done for John Perry - that he would have had two so close, both in subject and date, by the same artist and not least since we know Holman died aged 55 in November 1784. The passage boat in the bottom right also bears a clear inscription on its sail: 'T. Trigg / Woolwich', which might be the proprietor of the boat or a signature - though no artist of that name is so far known. That said, Henry Green and Robert Wigram in 'Chronicles of Blackwall Yard' (1881), p.32, mention two pictures of this multi-vessel-view type and date and showing the 'Venerable', one as being in possession of a descendant of John Perry (which could be member of the Green family) and the other owned by Money, Wigram & Sons, but without stating the artist in either case. The coincidence of the presence of 'Venerable' suggests that this and BHC1866 are those pictures but it cannot be regarded as certain. The 'Venerable' herself later served as Admiral Duncan's flagship at the Battle of Camperdown in 1797 and was lost in an accident in Tor Bay in 1804



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



Ships

• HMS Culloden

Builder: Deptford Dockyard
Ordered: 30 November 1769
Launched: 18 May 1776
Fate: Wrecked, 1781

• HMS Thunderer

Builder: Wells, Rotherhithe
Ordered: 23 August 1781
Launched: 13 November 1783
Fate: Broken up, 1814

• HMS Venerable

Builder: Perry, Wells & Green, Blackwall Yard
Ordered: 9 August 1781
Launched: 19 April 1784
Fate: Wrecked, 1804

• HMS Terrible

Builder: Wells, Rotherhithe
Ordered: 13 December 1781
Launched: 28 March 1785
Fate: Broken up, 1836

• HMS Victorious

Builder: Perry, Blackwall Yard
Ordered: 28 December 1781
Launched: 27 April 1785
Fate: Broken up, 1803

• HMS Ramillies

Builder: Randall, Rotherhithe
Ordered: 19 June 1782
Launched: 12 July 1785
Fate: Broken up, 1850

• HMS Hannibal

Builder: Perry, Blackwall Yard
Ordered: 19 June 1782
Launched: 15 April 1786
Fate: Captured, 1801

• HMS Theseus

Builder: Perry, Blackwall Yard
Ordered: 11 July 1780
Launched: 25 September 1786
Fate: Broken up, 1814


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


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the framing profile (disposition) for 'Venerable' (1784) and 'Victorious' (1785), both 74-gun Third Rate two-deckers building at blackwall by Mr John Perry & Co. Signed by John Williams [Surveyor of the Navy, 1765-1784], and Edward Hunt [Surveyor of the Navy, 1778-1784]


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Venerable_(1784)

Culloden-class ship of the line - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...7;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=V;start=0

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 April 1806 - HMS Colpoys (14), Thomas Usher, and HMS Attack (14) cut out chasse-marees Vincent Gabriel and the Murie Francaise and destroyed a battery and a signal station in the river Douillan coast of Brittany.


Cutting out of Prizes
On the 21st of March the Colpoys chased in to the port of Avillas, under the protection of a battery of six long 24-pounders, three Spanish luggers. Having a fine commanding breeze, the Colpoys stood in after them; when, just as she got within range of the battery, and before her carronades could be worked with effect, the wind died away.

Lieutenant Ussher immediately manned two boats, and stepping into one himself, dashed through a heavy fire of grape from the battery and of musketry from a party of soldiers that had been sent on board the vessels to defend them. His boat, containing, besides himself, only six men, soon out-pulled the other boat. Without waiting for the latter, Lieutenant Ussher gallantly boarded and carried the three luggers, the captains and crews, all but 13 men, leaping over on one side, as the lieutenant and his little party entered on the other.

The second boat then came up, and assisted in getting off the prizes; one, named Santa Buena-Yentura. of two guns, laden with flax and steel; the second, named San- Antonio, of the same force and lading; and the third, the San-Real in ballast. The latter was given up to the enemy, with 11 of the prisoners. Notwithstanding the heavy fire of the battery, this truly gallant exploit was effected with the loss of only two men wounded, one of them severely.

Destruction of a shore battery
On the 19th of April, as the Colpoys was standing along-shore between the Gronans and Isle Groix, in company with the gun-brig Attack, Lieutenant [Thomas Swaine], two chasse-marees were perceived at anchor at the entrance of the river Douillan; but which, on the approach of the two brigs, got under way and stood up the river.

Finding it necessary to silence a two-gun battery before the boats could get to the chasse-marees, Lieutenant Usher, with 12 men from each brig, landed, and, after a short skirmish, got possession of, and spiked, the two guns, which were long 12-pounders. Lieutenant Usher afterwards brought the vessels down the river, and destroyed the signal-post of Douillan; accomplishing the whole of this daring and important service without the slightest loss, or any greater damage to the two brigs than that done to their standing and running rigging, while engaged with the battery previously to its destruction by the two boats' crews. For his gallantry upon this and several previous occasions, Lieutenant Usher, on the 18th of the following October, was promoted to the rank of commander.




HMS Attack (1804) was a Archer-class gun-brig launched in 1804 and captured by Danish gunboats off Anholt in 1812.

British hired brig 'Colpoys' (1804)

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

threedecks.org

https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_ship&id=3182

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 April 1814 – The American privateer General Armstrong captures the British letter-of-marque Fanny


Fanny was launched in Norway in 1807 under an unknown name and was captured around 1810 during the Gunboat War. She entered English records in 1811 as an armed merchantman that sailed between Liverpool and South America. On 19 April 1814, the American privateer schooner General Armstrong captured her, though shortly thereafter the British Royal Navy recaptured her. The insurance and marine salvage issues involved gave rise to three notable court cases. Fanny returned to the West Indies trade in 1815 under new owners. She was last listed in 1833.

Career
Fanny was launched in Norway in 1807 and was captured by the British during the Gunboat War. She first appears in Lloyd's Register in 1811. She underwent coppering and a thorough repair that year. Her master was Huntley and her owner Harrison. Her trade was first Brazil and then Liverpool—Brazil.

In 1812, James Laughton replaced Huntley as Fanny's master. Also, W.Begg replaced Harrison as owner.

On 5 December 1812 Laughton acquired a letter of marque against America for Fanny.

Fanny sailed from Falmouth 26 August 1813 to Rio de Janeiro in convoy with about 30 other vessels and a Royal Navy escort.[6] For the return voyage, Laughton sought permission from the station admiral to return home without convoy. (Convoying reduced the sailing speed of the average vessel by 0.2 to 0.6 knots. Captains of faster vessels therefore had an incentive to sail outside the convoy system.) Laughton hired thirty additional men and took on board some additional arms. The station admiral thought Fanny was competent to defend herself and permitted the solo voyage. On 8 March 1814 Fannyleft Maranham for Liverpool.

Battle with General Armstrong
At about midday on 18 April, Fanny was near the Irish coast when General Armstrong, captain Guy R. Champlin, from New York City, sighted her. Due to squally weather, General Armstrong did not immediately engage, but shadowed Fanny until early the following day, when General Armstrong closed to pistol shot range and opened fire. The faster and better armed privateer inflicted significant damage on Fanny, the privateer's long 42-pounder gun being particularly devastating.

The musket fire from the schooner was so severe that it was impossible to maintain station on the quarter deck. Fanny returned fire and caused some damage to the American. However after about an hour of close combat, never out of pistol shot, Laughton struck her colours. One of the severely injured was one of Fanny's co-owners, John Begg, who later recovered from his injuries and continued his trade with South America.

Captain Champlin wrote in his log book:

April 19th. [1814] Lat. 51.58, captured the British ship Fanny, from Pernambuco bound to Liverpool with a valuable cargo of cotton, coffee and tallow, burthen 337 tons, 16 guns 9 and 12 pounders, and 45 men, manned and ordered her in. Engaged the Fanny forty minutes before she struck her colours; she had six men severely wounded and one killed; her hull rigging and sails were considerably cut up; the Armstrong received no damage.
Captain Laughton wrote to his employer:

She had scarcely a shroud left standing, nor one brace, the sails completely reduced, several gun carriages disabled, not a breeching left whole, one shot between wind and water, several others through different parts of her hull, the maintopsail and topgallant yards shot through, not a running rope but what was cut to pieces, a complete wreck on the quarter deck, the second mate, my brother, killed by my side, and six others wounded, five severely, one slightly.
Fanny's crew transferred to the General Armstrong and she put a prize crew on Fanny. Later that day the American schooner encountered Principe, Captain da Silva, a Portuguese vessel en route from Maranham to Liverpool. Champlin transferred 130 prisoners, including Laughton and his crew, to Principe. They arrived in Hoylake, England, on 23 April, when Principe ran on shore.

Subsequent events
Laughton sent a letter to James Brotherston describing the loss of Fanny. On 25 April, James Brotherston filed a claim for total loss with his insurers abandoning all interest in the ship to the insurers. Fanny was insured for £7,000 and the freight was insured on 22 April [sic] for £4,000

Sceptre recaptured Fanny on 12 May, and returned, arriving off Skelling Rock on the west coast of Ireland on 8 June. A Russian man-of-war ran afoul of Fanny in The Downs on 18 June, causing Fanny to lose a mast and suffer other damage. She arrived in Gravesend on 24 June. Fanny finally arrived in Liverpool on 26 September and the cargo of cotton, coffee and tallow was delivered to the consignee.

Return to service
The Register of Shipping for 1815 lists Fanny, prize, built in 1807, of 387 tons (bm), with W. Reay, master, Foreshaw, owner, and trade Liverpool—St Thomas. She then traded widely under different masters and owners. She underwent a good repair in 1829, and received a new bottom in 1831

Fate
Lloyd's Register does not list Fanny after 1833. (The Register of Shipping did not publish after 1833.)


General Armstrong was an American brig built for privateering in the Atlantic Ocean theater of the War of 1812. She was named for Brigadier GeneralJohn Armstrong, Sr. who fought in the American Revolutionary War.

Fanny (1811 ship) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
19 April 1854 – Launch of Champion of the Seas, the second largest clipper ship destined for the Liverpool, England - Melbourne, Australia passenger service.


Champion of the Seas was the second largest clipper ship destined for the Liverpool, England - Melbourne, Australia passenger service. Champion was ordered by James Baines of the Black Ball Line from Donald McKay. She was launched 19 April 1854 and was abandoned 3 January 1877, off Cape Horn.

Champion of the Seas set a record for the fastest day's run in 24 hours: 465 nautical miles (861 km) noon to noon 10–11 December 1854 under the command of Captain Alexander Newlands. This record stood until August 1984, nearly 130 years.


Champion of the Seas. Photo by Southworth & Hawesca.1854.

Construction
Champion of the Seas was "fuller aft than forward", and her strength of construction was an improvement over the Lightning, which Mackay had built the previous year. The frame was white oak, diagonally cross-braced with iron, planking and ceiling of hard pine, square fastened throughout. She had 3 decks.[4] Her sail area and spars were roughly the same as Lightning. Her working suit of sails required 12,500 yards of cotton, 18 inches wide.

Upon completion, Champion of the Seas was towed from Boston to New York by the steam tug R.B. Forbes.

Champion of the Seas's figurehead was the full figure of a sailor "with his hat in his right hand, and left hand extended ... It was certainly a most striking figurehead, the tall square-built mariner, with dark curly hair and bronze clean-shaven face." Her semi-elliptical stern was ornamented with the coat of arms of Australia. She was painted black on the outside, white on the inside, with blue waterways: the colors of the Black Ball Line.



History
James Baines ordered Champion of the Seas from Donald McKay of East Boston for the Black Ball Line of Liverpool. She was similar in appearance to McKay's other clippers, Lightning and James Baines, but set no sails above the royals. She set the record for the longest day's run, 465 nautical miles (861 km) on 10–11 December 1854 on her maiden voyage from Liverpool to Melbourne.

From her launching to 1868, Champion served in the passenger trade. During the Indian Mutiny of 1857, the British government chartered the three Black Ball clippers to carry troops to Calcutta. Before embarking about 1,000 troops, she and James Baines were reviewed by Queen Victoria. In 1868 she entered the general shipping trade. She remained in this trade until 3 January 1877 when she was abandoned, leaking badly, with a load of guano off Cape Horn.




around Cape Horn

Champion of the Seas - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org