Naval/Maritime History 22nd of April - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
23 April 1791 – Launch of HMS Providence, a sloop of the Royal Navy, famous for being commanded by William Bligh on his second breadfruit voyage between 1791 and 1794


HMS Providence was a sloop of the Royal Navy, famous for being commanded by William Bligh on his second breadfruit voyage between 1791 and 1794.

The Admiralty purchased Providence on the stocks from Perry & Co, Blackwall Yard in February 1791. She was launched on 23 April 1791 and commissioned under Bligh that month. She was coppered at Woolwich for the sum of £1,267, and then again at Deptford for £3,981.



Second Breadfruit Voyage
Rated as a sixth rate, she sailed for the Pacific on 2 August 1791 on Bligh's Second Breadfruit Voyage. Bligh completed a mission to collect breadfruit trees and other botanical specimens from the Pacific, which he transported to the West Indies. Specimens were given to the Royal Botanic Gardens in St. Vincent. Providence returned to Britain in August 1793, having been re-rated as a sloop on 30 September 1793.

Vancouver Expedition
She underwent another refit at Woolwich and was recommissioned in October 1793 under the command of Commander William Robert Broughton. Broughton was ordered to rejoin the Vancouver Expedition and departed Britain on 15 February 1795. Reaching Monterrey long after the expedition made its final departure, Broughton decided (correctly) that Vancouver would not have left his surveying task unfinished and departed to chart the coast of east Asia.

In the course of his explorations, he named Caroline Island Carolina (which later became "Caroline") "in compliment to the daughter of Sir Philip Stephens of the Admiralty." This name superseded that given by Pedro Fernández de Quirós, a Portuguese explorer sailing on behalf of Spain; his account names the island "San Bernardo."

Providence voyaged to Asia as the crew surveyed the coast of Hokkaidō before wintering at Macau. There Broughton purchased a small schooner which proved providential when, on 16 May 1797 Providence was wrecked when she struck a coral reef at Miyako-jima, south of Okinawa. The wreck is described by the Ship's Astronomer John Crosley in a passage copied from the ship's log book. Broughton and his crew continued the mission in the schooner, exploring northeast Asia, and returned home in February 1799


An idealized print of the imagined circumstances of the foundation of Sydney in 1789, with the town already established in the background. It lays emphasis on the natural resources of the land and its amenability to rearing European stock; the directive role of the Navy and military personnel involved; the presence of a gentlemanly civilian element among early arrivals (the man shooting on the left); British dominance over the Abroriginal population and the convict-colonists, with the latter being reformed by the redemptive qualities of labour. Gosse did a similar print, apparently as a pair to this and dated 1796, commemorating William Bligh's 'Transplanting of the Bread-Fruit Trees from Otaheite'. This shows the plants being loaded there into a boat and probably alludes to his second voyage in the 'Providence' and 'Assistant' (1791-93), which successfully took the plants to the West Indies, rather than the previous 'Bounty' voyage which ended in the mutiny of 1789

HMS Providence (1791) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
23 April 1794 - The Action of 23 April 1794 took place between a British squadron of five frigates, three were captured
HMS Arethusa (38) and HMS Flora (36) captured French Pomone (44) and Babet (22) off Guernsey.
The rest of the squadron, HMS Melampus (36), HMS Nymphe (36),and HMS Concorde (36) captured Engageante (38) but Résolue escaped.


The Action of 23 April 1794 took place between a British squadron of five frigates under the command of Sir John Borlase Warren and three frigates and a corvette under the command of Chef d'escadre F. Desgarceaux during the French Revolutionary Wars. Three of the French ships were captured.


Capture of La Pomone L' Engageante & La Babet April 23rd 1794 (PAD5471)

The battle
On 21 April the frigate Minerva sighted four distant ships in the English Channel. The next morning Minerva met Warren's squadron, and passed this information on. Warren promptly set off in pursuit, and at dawn the next day, around 4 a.m., sighted three frigates and a corvette about seven or eight leagues (24.5–28 nautical miles) south-west of Guernsey. The French formed a line of battle, and Warren signalled his squadron to engage, with his own flagship Flora in the lead, supported by Arethusa. Taking advantage of the weather gage the British were able to force the French into a close action which lasted for nearly three hours, before the Pomone and Babet surrendered at around 11 a.m.

The Engageante and Résolue attempted to escape, and Warren ordered Concorde, Melampus and Nymphe to pursue, as Flora was in no condition to do so. After an hour Concorde caught up with Engageante and attempted to disable her, intending to then attack the Résolue, leaving Engageante to Melampus and Nymphe, which were following.

However, while Concorde was engaged with Engageante, the Résolue dropped back and laid herself across Concorde's bows, badly damaging her sails and rigging to the point where she was disabled. Having made hasty repairs Concorde came up again to re-engage the Engageante, which eventually surrendered at about 1.45 p.m. Résolue fired a few shots and then made off, pursued by Melampus and Nymphe, who chased her into Morlaix, before returning to assist Concorde which was towing the crippled Engageante to port.


An exact Representation of the Engagement and Capture of the Pomone Babet and L' Engageante French Frigates, by Sir J.B. Warren and Sir R Strachan (PAD5474)

Ships
Britain

• Flora, (36) Sir John Borlase Warren, flagship
• Arethusa, (38) Sir Edward Pellew
• Melampus, (36) Thomas Wells
• Concorde, (32) Sir Richard Strachan
• Nymphe, (36) George Murray

France

• Engageante, (26) F. Desgarceaux, flagship - captured by Concorde
• Pomone, (44) Étienne Pévrieu - captured by Arethusa
• Résolue, (36) Antoine-Marie-François Montalan - escaped
• Babet, (22) Pierre-Joseph-Paul Belhomme - captured by Arethusa

Pomone was a 40-gun frigate of the French Navy, launched in 1785. The British captured her off the Île de Batz in April 1794 and incorporated her into the Royal Navy. Pomone subsequently had a relatively brief but active career in the British Navy off the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts of France before suffering sufficient damage from hitting a rock to warrant being taken out of service and then broken up in 1803.


Scale: Unknown. A contemporary full hull model of the La Pomone (1794), a French frigate. Built plank on frame in the style of Prisoner of war work, the model is decked and equipped. Requires masting, re-rigging and restoration of hull and deck fittings


Engageante was a 26-gun frigate of the French Navy, only ship of her class, built to a design by Jean-François Etienne. The British captured her in 1794 and converted her to a hospital ship. She served as a hospital ship until she was broken up in 1811.

HMS Babet was a 20-gun sixth-rate post ship of the British Royal Navy. She had previously been a corvette of the French Navy under the name Babet, until her capture in 1794, during the French Revolutionary Wars. She served with the British, capturing several privateers and other vessels, and was at the Battle of Groix. She disappeared in the Caribbean in 1801, presumably having foundered.

Résolue was an Iphigénie-class 32-gun frigate of the French Navy. The British captured her twice, once in November 1791 during peacetime, and again in 1798. The Royal Navy hulked her in 1799 and she was broken up in 1811.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_23_April_1794

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Engageante_(1766)

French frigate Pomone (1785) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Babet_(1794)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Résolue_(1778)
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[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
23 April 1796 – Launch of French Désirée, a Romaine-class frigate of the French Navy.


Désirée was a Romaine-class frigate of the French Navy. The British Royal Navy captured her in 1800 and took her into service under her existing name. she was laid up in 1815, converted to a slop ship in 1823, and sold in 1832.






Capture
HMS Dart, under Patrick Campbell, captured Désirée on 8 July 1800 in the Raid on Dunkirk. Many British vessels shared in the proceeds of the capture.


The plate represents the sloop 'Dart', commanded by Captain P. Campbell in the act of boarding and taking the French frigate 'La Desiree'. 'Dart' is in the centre of the picture. Inscribed: "Capture of La Desiree - July 7th 1800."

British career
On 7 May 1813, she was under the command of Captain Arthur Farquarh when she captured the American schooner Decatur.

On 17 July 1813 she captured the French privateer Esperance.

Fate
Desiree was laid up at Sheerness in August 1815. Between January and November 1823 she was fitted as a slop ship. She was sold for £2,020 on 22 August 1832 to Joseph Christie at Rotherhithe.


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

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

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

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

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Désirée_(1796)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romaine-class_frigate
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[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
23 April 1796 – Launch of HMS Monmouth, a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, at Rotherhithe.


HMS Monmouth was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 23 April 1796 at Rotherhithe. She had been designed and laid down for the East India Company, but the Navy purchased her after the start of the French Revolutionary War. She served at the Battle of Camperdown and during the Napoleonic Wars. Hulked in 1815, she was broken up in 1834.



Construction and commissioning
Monmouth was originally being built as an East Indiaman for the East India Company under the name Belmont. In 1796 the Navy purchased five ships being built or serviced in commercial dockyards along the River Thames and had them completed as warships. Alongside Belmont, then being built at Rotherhithe by Randall & Company, the Navy acquired the merchantmen Royal Admiral, Princess Royal, Earl Talbot and Pigot; they became HMS York, HMS Ardent, HMS Agincourt and HMS Lancaster respectively. Belmont was registered and named Monmouth on 14 July 1795 and was launched on 23 April 1796, being completed by 31 October 1796 at Deptford Dockyard.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the inboard profile with some external details for Lancaster (1796) and Monmouth (1796), both East India Company ships on the stocks at Randall's Yard, Rotherhithe. The plan includes alterations to the ships to convert them to 64-gun Third Rate, two-deckers. Note that the plan refers to the two ships under their original names of Pigot and Belmont

French Revolutionary Wars
HMS Monmouth was commissioned in September 1796 under the command of the Captain William Carnegie, Earl of Northesk. She was initially assigned to serve in the North Sea, and in May 1797 was one of the ships involved in the Nore mutiny. The crew took her first lieutenant, Charles Bullen, prisoner and threatened to execute him. Northesk intervened and Bullen was able to carry messages from the crew that are said to have helped end the mutiny. After the mutiny Northesk resigned his commission. Order was restored in a matter of weeks, and Monmouth was placed under Commander James Walker, in an acting captaincy. Walker had been planning to attack the mutinous ships at anchor with a squadron of gunboats only a few weeks previously.

Walker commanded Monmouth at the Battle of Camperdown in October 1797. Admiral Adam Duncan led the fleet to meet the Dutch.

Main article: Battle of Camperdown
Before the battle Walker addressed his crew, saying:

"Now, my lads, you see your enemy before you. I shall lay you close on board, and thus give you an opportunity of washing the stain off your characters with the blood of your foes. Go to your quarters, and do your duty."

Monmouth engaged in heavy combat with the Dutch ships Delft and Alkmaar, capturing both, although Delft sank on the way back. In the battle Monmouth had five men killed and 22 wounded. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Camperdown" to all surviving claimants from the action.

In March 1798, Robert Deans became captain. Monmouth was among the seven vessels of Lord Duncan's fleet that shared in the prize money for the privateer Jupiter, captured on 27 April.

In January 1799 Vice-Admiral Archibald Dickson raised his flag in her, but she then went into Sheerness in March for repairs. Next month, Captain George Hart, who retained the command until 1805, replaced Deans. Then Monmouth was among the vessels sharing in the prize money from sundry Dutch doggers, schuyts, and fishing vessels, taken in April and May. Monarch was also part of a squadron that in May captured Roose (12 May), Genet, Polly, American, Forsigtigheid, and Bergen (all 14 May), Des Finch (21 May), and Vrow Dorothea (30 May).

That summer, Monmouth took part in the Helder expedition, a joint Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland under the command of Vice-Admiral Andrew Mitchell. At the Neiuw Diep the British captured seven warships and 13 Indiamen and transports. Then Mitchell obtained the surrender of a squadron of the navy of the Batavian Republic in the Vlieter Incident. The Dutch surrendered twelve vessels ranging down in size from the 74-gun Washington to the 16-gun brig Galathea. Next, Monmouth was among the vessels sharing in the capture on 17 August of the Adelarde. On 15 September Monmouth, several other British vessels and two Russian, arrived at Sheerness as escort to five Dutch ships of the line, three frigates and one sloop.

Monmouth sailed for the Mediterranean in June 1801. She therefore came to share in the proceeds of the capture of the Almas di Purgatoria off Alexandria on 28 July.[20] Because Monmouth served in the navy's Egyptian campaign (8 March to 8 September 1801), her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal that the Admiralty authorised in 1850 for all surviving claimants.

Napoleonic Wars
In 1803 Monmouth, still under Hart's command, was at Gibraltar. There Hart received the report of Captain John Gore of Medusa of his capture of one French felucca-rigged privateer, in the Strait, the Esperance, and the destruction of another, the Sorcier. In July Monmouth was with the Mediterranean squadron blockading Toulon. After his promotion to Rear Admiral in April 1804 Thomas McNamara Russell raised his flag in Monmouth for the North Sea.

Captain Edward Durnford King commissioned Monmouth again in March 1807. Rear-Admiral William O'Bryen Drury raised his flag in her on 7 September and then eight days later sailed her with a convoy of nine Indiamen to the East Indies, seven for the coast and two for Bombay. The convoy was reported well on 28 November at 30°10′S 5°20′W. The vessels she was convoying included Northampton, Sarah Christiana, Ann, Union, Diana, Sir William Pulteney, and Glory.

During the voyage, on 25 January 1808 she captured the Danish ship Nancy. Then on 12 February she arrived off the Danish possession of Tranquebar just in time to observe the landing of troops of the 14th Regiment of Foot and the Honourable East India Company's artillery by Russell. The British immediately went on to capture the settlement and fort, which capitulated without resistance. Monmouth returned to Britain in September 1808, having escorted another convoy of Indiamen. She was put out of commission on 24 September.

In August 1809 Monmouth was at the Walcheren Expedition, the aim of which was to demolish the dockyards and arsenals at Antwerp, Terneuzen, and Flushing. In August Admiral Sir Richard Strachan sent her back to England for water. In October she was commissioned again under Commander Michael Dod, but as a victualing ship in the Downs.

His successor on 7 November 1810 was Captain Francis Beauman. At the time Monmouth was the flagship of Vice-Admiral George Campbell, Commander-in-Chief of the Downs station. In March Beauman presented a sword (worth 100 guineas) to Campbell on behalf of all the captains and commanders on the Downs station on the occasion of Campbell's being relieved of his command. In April 1811 Captain Hyde Parker took command of Monmouth.

From 1812 to 1813 she was under the command of Captain William Nowell. His successor was Captain William Wilkinson. Throughout this time she was also the flagship for Vice-Admiral Thomas Foley, Campbell's successor.

She received payment for smuggled goods seized on 1 March 1814.

Fate
Monmouth was laid up in ordinary at Woolwich in 1815. She then was hulked, becoming a sheer hulk at Deptford dockyard. She was broken up in 1834.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the roundhouse, quarterdeck and forecastle with covered waist (spar deck), upper deck, gun deck (lower deck), orlop deck with fore & aft platforms, and inboard profile for Monmouth (1797), a purchased East India Company ship, converted a 64-gun Third Rate, and later fitted as a Victualling vessel in 1809. Part of the lower left area of the plan is missing, affecting the stern area of the inboard profile. Signed by Nicholas Diddams [Master Shipwright, Portsmouth Dockyard, 1803-1823


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the midship section illustrating the proposed risers and approved alterations for fitting Lancaster (1796) and Monmouth (1796), East India Company ships as 64-gun Third Rate, two-deckers. The two ships were converted on the stocks at Randall's yard. Note that the plan refers to the two ships under their original names of Pigot and Belmont. A copy was sent to Messrs Barnard & Co for the conversion of the East India Company ship York (1796) to a 64-gun Third Rate, two-decker



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

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[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
23 April 1803 – Launch of HMS Colossus, a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched from Deptford Dockyard


HMS Colossus was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched from Deptford Dockyard on 23 April 1803. She was designed by Sir John Henslow as one of the large class 74s, and was the name ship of her class, the other being Warspite. As a large 74, she carried 24 pdrs on her upper gun deck, as opposed to the 18 pdrs found on the middling and common class 74s. She took part in the Battle of Trafalgar, and was broken up in 1826




Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines, longitudinal half-breadth for HM Ships Warspite (1807) and Colossus (1803), both 74-gun Third Rate, two-deckers.

Napoleonic Wars
On 27 August 1803 Colossus recaptured the East Indiaman Lord Nelson, which the French privateer Belone had captured two weeks before and which Seagull had fought to the point of surrender.

Trafalgar
Colossus fought at Trafalgar under Captain James Nicoll Morris, in Collingwood's lee column. After sustaining fire from the enemy fleet, she eventually ran by the French Swiftsure, 74, and became entangled with Argonaute, 74. Towards the end of the exchange of fire between the two ships, Captain Morris was hit by a shot from one of Argonaute's guns, just above the knee. Argonaute broke free from Colossus after this, whilst the British ship was engaging both Swiftsure and the Spanish Bahama, 74, on her other side. Bahama surrendered when Colossus brought down her main mast, and Swiftsure did likewise after combined fire from Colossus and Orion brought down her main and mizzen masts.

War of 1812
On 24 March 1812 Colossus in company with Tonnant, Hogue, Poictiers and Bulwark captured the Emilie.

On 5 January 1813 Colossus, the frigate Rhin and the brig Goldfinch captured the American ship Dolphin. A little over a month later, on 11 February, Rhin and Colossus captured the American ship Print.

Fate
In 1815 Colossus was placed in ordinary at Chatham. She was eventually broken up in 1826


Scale 1:48. Plan showing the framing profile (disposition) for building 'Warspite' (1807), a 74-gun, Third Rate, two decker. Signed by John Henslow [Surveyor of the Navy, 1784-1806] and William Rule [Surveyor of the Navy, 1793-1813]


No. 37 of 73 (PAI0889 - PAI0961) Inscribed (from left to right) 'Asia/ Volage Warspite Pyramus Dockyard Portsmouth – Sepr 6/1825.' HMS 'Warspite', 76 guns, in the centre of the drawing, was launched at Chatham Dockyard on 16 November 1807. HMS 'Pyramus', 50 guns, on the right, was launched at Portsmouth Dockyard on 22 January 1810


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Colossus_(1803)
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-303895;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=C
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Warspite_(1807)
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[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
23 April 1807 – Launch of HMS Bulwark, a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, at Portsmouth


HMS Bulwark was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 23 April 1807 at Portsmouth. She was designed by Sir William Rule as one of the large class 74s, and was the only ship built to her draught. As a large 74, she carried 24-pounder guns on her upper gun deck instead of the 18-pounders found on the middling and common class 74s.




Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, stern board outline, sheer lines with scoll figurehead and 1811 alterations, and longitudinal half-breadth proposed (and approved) for 'Bulwark' (1807), a 74-gun Third Rate, two-decker. 'Bulwark' was at Plymouth Dockyard between May 1811 and January 1812 for middling to large repairs. Signed by John Henslow [Surveyor of the Navy, 1784-1806] and William Rule [Surveyor of the Navy, 1793-1813]

On 24 March 1812, Bulwark was in company with Tonnant, Hogue, Colossus and Poictiers when they captured Emilie.

On 22 May 1814, Bulwark recaptured Tiger, Cowan, master. The American privateer Yankee had captured Tiger as Tiger was sailing from Malaga to London. Tiger arrived at Halifax on 28 July. The records of the Vice admiralty court at Halifax show that Tyger, Henry Davidson, master, had been sailing from Malaga to Stettin, and that Bulwark had recaptured her on 24 July.

On 23 October 1814 Bulwark captured the American privateer schooner Harlequin, of 330 tons (bm), ten 12-pounder guns, and 115 men. She had been out only four days when captured.

On 22 January 1815, Bulwark captured the American privateer schooner Tomahawk, of Baltimore. She was o f 210 tons (bm), had a crew of 84 men under the command of Philip Besson, and was armed with nine guns, one of them a 24-pounder on a circular carriage. She was two days out of Boston and had not captured anything.

Fate
Bulwark was broken up at Portsmouth on 26 September 1826



Scale: 1:48. A half block model of the Bulwark (1807), a 74 gun two-decker ship of the line made entirely in wood and constructed in bread and butter fashion. The hull has been hollowed out internally and is painted a copper colour below the waterline with the upperworks and bulwarks painted black and divided by a thin white line. The gun decks are highlighted by a pair of thick, horizontal bands painted creamy-yellow, with the gunports finished in grey. The model is complete with a square stern gallery, a curved quarter gallery, a rudder with its gudgeons and pintles and, at the bow, a set of drif trails, heads, and a plain, scroll figurehead. The decks have been finished flush to the bulwarks and painted a light brown-cream colour. There are three stump masts and a bowsprit of the same colour. The model is mounted on a wooden backboard painted creamy-white with a mahogany stained edging


HMS Bulwark (centre left) as a hulk in Portsmouth in 1826
Sketch in a book entitled 'The Marine sketch book by H. Moses 1826', the sketch is the 25th one in the series The sketch is signed by the artist. It shows two ships laid up at Portsmouth, one of which is the Bulwark (1807). Smaller and unnamed rowing vessels are depicted in the foreground


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Bulwark_(1807)
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[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
23 April 1807 – Launch of HMS Horatio and also of HMS Hussar, both Royal Navy 38-gun fifth-rate Lively-class frigates, built out of fir timbers at the yard of George Parsons in Bursledon.
Hussar was built at Balthasar & Edward Adams, Bucklers Hard.




HMS Horatio was a Royal Navy 38-gun fifth-rate Lively-class frigate, built out of fir timbers at the yard of George Parsons in Bursledon.



Construction
It was launched on 23 April 1807 and fitting out was completed at Portsmouth Dockyard by 4 August 1807. Captain George Scott was given charge of the ship in June 1807.


Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the framing profile (disposition) for Horatio (1807), a 38-gun Fifth Rate Frigate, after her Large Repair at Deptford Dockyard between 1817 and 1819. The plan records the various frames replaced with foreign timbers or old timbers from other ships. Signed by William Stone [Master Shipwright, Deptford Dockyard, 1813-1830]

Napoleonic Wars
Horatio was soon deployed to take part in the West Indies Campaign as part of the ongoing Napoleonic Wars.

Capture of the Junon
Main article: Action of 10 February 1809
On the morning of 10 February 1809, Horatio along with the sloop HMS Driver came upon the French frigate Junon pursuing a British brig-of-war (the HMS Superieure) about 115 mi (185 km) north of Anguilla. Under the command of George Scott, the Horatio engaged in battle the 44-gun Junon, commanded by Augustin Rousseau. The French frigate aimed above the Horatio's decks, destroying its masts and rigging and causing many injuries, including to Captain Scott, who was incapacitated by a grape-shot blast to the shoulder, and to his first lieutenant, Manley Hall Dixon. Lieutenant George Douglas took over command for the rest of the 95-minute battle, at which point the badly damaged La Junon attempted to flee.

At this point the brig Superieure and frigate Latona arrived in the area and joined the battle. After a short exchange of fire with the Latona, the Junon surrendered. In the engagement seven sailors on the Horatio were killed and 26 wounded (17 of them seriously). On the Latona there were six minor injuries. Thomas Colville, a seaman on the Driver, was also badly injured. Scott described the British loss as "by no means Considerable" in relation to the "dreadful loss of the Enemy" suffered by the 323-man crew of the Junon. He counted 130 French sailors killed and wounded, including Rousseau, who died shortly afterwards.

The hull of the Horatio suffered only minor damage, but the masts and rigging were essentially destroyed. In contrast, the hull of the Junon was "most wonderfully cut up" and took on a great deal of water until the shot holes were patched.

The heroism of the crew of the Horatio was recognized in 1847 when the Navy issued as clasp to the Naval General Service Medal inscribed "Horatio 10 Feby. 1809". 13 surviving crew members from Horatio received this clasp.

Later action during the Napoleonic Wars
A year later, on 21 February 1810, still apparently under Scott's command, the Horatio gave chase to the Necessité, followed by an hour's "running action" resulting in the capture of the French ship without injuries on either side. The Necessité, which was built as a 40-gun ship but only carried 28 guns at the time, had a crew of 186 men and was carrying a cargo of naval stores and provisions from Brest to Mauritius.

Scott later went on to become captain of HMS Asia, but was forced to resign in 1814 due to pain from the injuries he received during the battle with Junon.

War of 1812
By 1812, the Horatio was under the command of Captain Lord George Stuart. On 2 August, boats from the frigate captured two Danish vessels, under the command of Lieutenant Hans Buderhof, and their prize, an American vessel of about 400 tons burthen (bm). The two Danish vessels were schooner No. 114 (with six 6-pounders and 30 men), and cutter No. 97 (with four 6-pounders and 22 men). Nine men from the Horatio were killed and 16 wounded, of whom two died later; the Danes lost ten men killed and 13 wounded.

In 1813, the Horatio was in Buenos Aires under the command of Captain Joshua Percy, the younger son of the Duke of Northumberland. This is where George Pegler, an English boy of about 14 joined the crew, having escaped from the crew of a merchant ship. Leaving, Buenos Aires, the Horatio anchored for a while off the coast of Montevideo, near Isla de Flores, which the crew named Seal Island for the vast numbers of South American fur seals. Parties of 100 or more sailors from the Horatio would land on the island every day to hunt the seals. After this, the frigate sailed for Rio de Janeiro and Portsmouth.

On 19 May 1814, the Horatio arrived in Barbados from Bermuda along with a squadron of seven other British warships. On 2 June, it was in Halifax, Nova Scotia, having reportedly arrived from Cork and Newfoundland.

The ship's voyages in the period from 12 August 1814 to 10 January 1816 are known in some detail due to the discovery of the illustrated logbook of midshipman John Smith Gould. During this period the Horatio travelled to and painted Funchal, Madeira, the Ascension Islands, St. Helena, the Cape of Good Hope, Madras, Malacca, Singapore, Manilla, Macao, Ansons Bay and Rio de Janeiro. The log contains watercolours of icebergs that Gould called "ice islands" and pre- and post-eruption views of a volcano.

Later service

Drawing of the iron mast step (support) fitted to former frigates Horatio and Eurotas as part of their conversion to steam-powered guard-ships in 1845–46.

The ship spent 1816 in the East Indies, with calls at ports in India and China. At the end of 1816, the Horatio was ordered home, and paid off at the beginning of 1817. The following year, the ship remained out of commission at Deptford.

The Horatio underwent major repairs at Deptford Dockyard between 1817 and 1819, under the direction of the yard's master shipwright, William Stone. Many frames were replaced with new timber or reused timbers taken from other ships.

In late 1845 and early 1846, plans were drawn up to convert the Horatio and the Eurotas to become steam-powered screw-driven guard ships. Some sources suggest that the actual conversion work was performed at Chatham Dockyard in 1850, with the Horatio being the first screw-driven frigate launched from that yard. After its conversion the Horatio was posted to Sheerness.

Following the outbreak of the Crimean War in 1854, the navy revived the concept of the bomb vessel. As well as powered and unpowered newly-built craft, in 1855 the navy earmarked four old sailing frigates that had recently been converted to screw propulsion to also be fitted with mortars: Horatio and Eurotas, plus the later frigates Seahorse and Forth. However, only the work on the Horatio was completed; the other conversions were cancelled.

After 54 years of service, the Horatio was apparently sold for breaking up at Charlton, London in 1861. Other reports give a sale date of 1865.


Scale: 1:24. Plan showing the side elevation of the propeller and frame, and elevation and plan of the propeller for Horatio (1807), a 38-gun Fifth Rate Frigate, converted to a screw Frigate between 1845 and 1850; and Eurotas (1829), a 38-gun Fifth Rate Frigate, converted to a screw Frigate between 1845 and 1855. The two-bladed propeller was 12ft diameter


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

Lively-class frigate - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-319477;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=H

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
23 April 1838 – Launch of French Cléopâtre, a 50-gun frigate of the Artémise class that served in the French Navy.


Cléopâtre was a 50-gun frigate of the Artémise class that served in the French Navy. Launched in 1838 after an almost 11-year period of construction she was in commission for only three months during her transfer from Saint Servan to Brest. She was recommissioned in 1842. In 1843 the Cléopâtre rescued all 34 people aboard the Regular East Indiaman that had been abandoned during a voyage from London to Bombay. She sailed to Japan in 1846 in an attempt to open up trade with that country and served as a transport during the Crimean War of 1853–1856. She was used as a storage hulk after 1864 and broken up in 1869.



Construction
The Artémise class of (largely) 52-gun frigates were design by Jean-Baptiste Hubert with the first vessel, Artémise launched in 1828 and the last Flore in 1869. The first vessels were sail-powered with later vessels steam-driven. The sail-powered Cléopâtre was constructed at Saint Servan by Charles Alexandre (with assistance from Joseph Daviel and Georges Allix from 1835). The keel was laid on 1 September 1827 and she was launched on 23 April 1838.

The Cléopâtre was commissioned on 24 April and completed in June. She sailed to Brest under tow from the steam corvette Tonnerre and was decommissioned on 1 July. The Cléopâtre recommissioned on 21 July 1842 at which point she was armed with 28 30-pounder long guns on her upper deck and 18 30-pounder carronades and 4 16cm shell-firing guns on her lower deck.

Rescue of the Regular
On 12 July 1843 Cléopâtre rescued all 34 people from the Regular, a full-rigged East Indiaman that was forced to be abandoned whilst travelling between London and Bombay. The Regular had recently been lengthened by 14 feet and this alteration affected her structure, leading to her taking on large quantities of water in rough seas on her first voyage. She was caught in a storm on 7 July and hit by a freak wave the next day that tore off her starboard bulwarks. Despite constant manning of the pumps, water began filling the ship. The cargo was jettisoned but it proved impossible to save the vessel and those aboard abandoned ship into its pinnace, captain's gig and launch. A resurgence of bad weather washed almost all of the supplies out of the boats, the gig had to be abandoned, and the two remaining boats lost sight of each other. On 14 July a sail was sighted from the launch and a lady's shawl was hoisted as a signal of distress. The ship proved to be the Cléopâtre, travelling in company with the 20-gun Alcmène. The Cléopâtre responded to the distress signal and rescued those aboard the launch through her gunports, by hoisting them individually up her side and by hoisting the entire boat aboard. Commodore Roy, commanding on Cléopâtre directed the Alcmène to search for the missing pinnace, which she found and rescued all aboard. Commodore Roy provided clothing and food to the Regular's crew and passengers and diverted to Mauritius from his intended destination of the Isle of Bourbon (now Réunion) to allow them to be landed on British territory.

Later career
She sailed to the Ryukyu Islands with two corvettes under Admiral Cécille in June 1846 and thence to Nagasaki where she arrived on 29 July as part of an attempt to open up trade relations with Japan. During the Crimean War (1853-56) Cléopâtre was temporarily reduced to 2 guns when configured en flûte for use as a transport vessel. She was struck from the navy list on 31 December 1864 and thereafter used as a storage hulk in Cherbourg. The vessel was broken up in 1869.

sistership

Portrait of Artémise by François Roux

Artémise class (52-gun type, 1826 design by Jean-Baptiste Hubert):

Artémise, (launched 1828 at Lorient) – deleted 3 October 1840.
Andromède, (launched 5 April 1833 at Lorient) – deleted 24 October 1860.
Néréide, (launched 17 February 1836 at Lorient) – deleted 30 December 1887.
Gloire, (launched 1837 at Rochefort) – wrecked 10 August 1847 off Korea.
Cléopâtre, (launched 23 April 1838 at Saint-Servan) – deleted 31 December 1864.
Danaé, (launched 23 May 1838 at Saint-Servan) – fitted as steam frigate 1857 – deleted 18 January 1878.
Virginie, (launched 25 April 1842 at Rochefort) – deleted 13 May 1881.
Circé, (launched 15 October 1860 at Rochefort as a steam frigate) – deleted 22 July 1872.
Hermione, (launched 16 August 1860 at Brest as a steam frigate) – deleted 11 May 1877.
Junon, (launched 28 January 1861 at Brest as a steam frigate) – deleted 24 March 1872.
Flore, (launched 27 February 1869 at Rochefort as a steam frigate) – deleted 18 October 1886.






Diorama of Artémise carreening, on display at the Musée national de la Marine



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Cléopâtre_(1838)
sistership https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Artémise_(1829)

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
23 April 1838 - with the arrival of SS Sirius and SS Great Western in New York on the same day, the time of transatlantic passenger services is reduced extremely


SS Great Western of 1838, was an oak-hulled paddle-wheel steamship, the first steamship purpose-built for crossing the Atlantic, and the initial unit of the Great Western Steamship Company. She was the largest passenger ship in the world from 1837 to 1839. Designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Great Western proved satisfactory in service and was the model for all successful wooden Atlantic paddle-steamers. She was capable of making record Blue Riband voyages as late as 1843. Great Western worked to New York for 8 years until her owners went out of business. She was sold to the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company and was scrapped in 1856 after serving as a troop ship during the Crimean War


PS Great Western in 1838

Development and design
In 1836, Isambard Brunel, his friend Thomas Guppy and a group of Bristol investors formed the Great Western Steamship Company to build a line of steamships for the Bristol-New York route. The idea of regular scheduled transatlantic service was under discussion by several groups and the rival British and American Steam Navigation Company was established at the same time. Great Western's design sparked controversy from critics that contended that she was too big. The principle that Brunel understood was that the carrying capacity of a ship increases as the cube of its dimensions, whilst the water resistance only increases as the square of its dimensions. This meant that large ships were more fuel efficient, something very important for long voyages across the Atlantic.

Great Western was an iron-strapped, wooden, side-wheel paddle steamer, with four masts to hoist the auxiliary sails. The sails were not just to provide auxiliary propulsion, but also were used in rough seas to keep the ship on an even keel and ensure that both paddle wheels remained in the water, driving the ship in a straight line. The hull was built of oak by traditional methods. She was the largest steamship for one year, until the British and American's British Queen went into service. Built at the shipyard of Patterson & Mercer in Bristol, Great Western was launched on 19 July 1837 and then sailed to London, where she was fitted with two side-lever steam engines from the firm of Maudslay, Sons & Field, producing 750 indicated horsepower between them.

Service history

The Great-Western Steam Ship in 1838, engraved by H. Papprill after a painting by J.S. Coteman

On 31 March 1838, Great Western sailed for Avonmouth (Bristol) to start her maiden voyage to New York. Before reaching Avonmouth, a fire broke out in the engine room. During the confusion Brunel fell 20 feet (6.1 m), and was injured. The fire was extinguished, and the damages to the ship were minimal, but Brunel had to be put ashore at Canvey Island. As a result of the accident, more than 50 passengers cancelled their bookings for the Bristol-New York voyage and when Great Western finally departed Avonmouth, only 7 passengers were aboard.

Construction of the rival British and American's first ship was delayed, and the company chartered Sirius to beat Great Western to New York. Sirius was a 700 GRT Irish Sea steam packet on the London – Cork route, and had part of her passenger accommodation removed to make room for extra coal bunkers. She left London three days before Great Western, refuelled at Cork, and departed for New York on 4 April. Great Western was delayed in Bristol because of the fire and did not depart until 8 April.

Even with a four-day head start, Sirius only narrowly beat Great Western, arriving on 22 April. When coal ran low, the crew burned 5 drums of resin. Great Western arrived the following day, with 200 tons of coal still aboard. Although the term Blue Riband was not coined until years later, Sirius is often credited as the first winner at 8.03 knots (14.87 km/h). However, Sirius only held the record for a day because Great Western's voyage was faster at 8.66 knots (16.04 km/h).

Great Western proved completely satisfactory in service and influenced the design of other Atlantic paddlers. Even Cunard's Britannia was a reduced version of Great Western. During 1838–1840, Great Western averaged 16 days, 0 hours (7.95 knots) westward to New York and 13 days, 9 hours (9.55 knots) home. In 1838, the company paid a 9% dividend, but that was to be the firm's only dividend because of the expense of building the company's next ship. After the collapse of British and American, Great Western alternated between Avonmouth and Liverpool, before abandoning Avonmouth entirely in 1843. The ship remained profitable even though she lacked a running mate because of the protracted construction on Great Britain. In 1843, Great Western's receipts were GB£33,400 against expenditures of GB£25,600.

The company's fortunes improved in 1845 when Great Britain entered service. However, in September 1846 Great Britain ran ashore because of a navigational error and was not expected to survive the winter. The directors suspended all sailings of Great Western and went out of business. Great Western had completed 45 crossings for her owners in eight years. In 1847 she was sold to the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company and used on the West Indies run. In November 1851 she ran aground at Liverpool at the end of a voyage from New York, United States and was damaged. She was refloated on 23 November and was found to have damaged her keelson. Later, after serving as a troopship in the Crimean War, in 1856 she was broken up at Castles' Yard, Millbank on the Thames.


SS Sirius was a wooden-hulled sidewheel steamship built in 1837 for the London-Cork route operated by the Saint George Steam Packet Company. The next year, she opened transatlantic steam passenger service when she was chartered for two voyages by the British and American Steam Navigation Company. By arriving in New York a day ahead of the Great Western, she is usually listed as the first holder of the Blue Riband, although the term was not used until decades later.



Description
Sirius was 178 feet 4 inches (54.4 m) long from stem to stern and a depth of hold of 18 feet 3 inches (5.6 m). She had a beam of 25 feet 8 inches (7.8 m) and a draught of 15 feet (4.6 m). The ship had a burthen of 412 tons and a gross tonnage of 703.

The ship had a two-cylinder steam engine built by Wingate & Co. driving two paddlewheels. Her boilers provided steam to the engine at a working pressure of about 5 psi (34 kPa; 0 kgf/cm2). The engine produced a total of 500 indicated horsepower (370 kW) and the ship had a maximum speed of 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph). The ship could carry a maximum of 450 long tons (460 t) of coal, enough to steam 2,897 nautical miles(5,365 km; 3,334 mi) at an average speed of 6.7 knots (12.4 km/h; 7.7 mph).

Sirius was one of the first steamships built with a condenser that enabled her to use fresh water, avoiding the need to periodically shut down her boilers at sea for cleaning. Unfortunately, this also resulted in high coal consumption.

Service
Sirius, the largest of the St George company's steamers, was designed for their prestige Cork-London service, on which she began in August 1837.

At the time Sirius was completed, two other companies were building steamships for proposed transatlantic passenger services. British and American's British Queen fell behind when the firm building her engines went bankrupt. Construction on the rival Great Western continued without interruption and she was ready for her first voyage by April 1838. One of British and American's directors suggested the company charter Sirius to beat Great Western. Overloaded with coal and with 45 passengers, Sirius left Cork, Ireland on 4 April and arrived in New York after a voyage of 18 days, 4 hours and 22 minutes (8.03) knots. The normal westbound passage by sailing packet was 40 days. When coal ran low, the crew were alleged by the newspapers to have been forced to burn cabin furniture, spare yards and one mast, inspiring the similar sequence in Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days. However, in reality the crew were able to manage and conserve the stocks of coal by burning four barrels of resin instead, and still had 15 tons of coal left on arrival in New York. Great Western departed Avonmouth four days after Sirius and still came within a day of overtaking her. Because Sirius was clearly too small for the Cork-New York crossing, she completed only one additional round trip before she was returned to her owners and, after a voyage to Saint Petersburg, resumed her regular St George company service, though on the Cork-Glasgow route.

In 1839, the British Admiralty released bids for transatlantic mail service to Halifax. The St. George Steam Packet Company bid 45,000 pounds for a monthly Cork-Halifax service including Sirius and 65,000 pounds for a monthly Cork-Halifax-New York service. Great Western also bid a monthly Bristol-Halifax-New York service. However, the Admiralty rejected both bids because neither company offered fortnightly service in their bid response and the contract was finally awarded to Cunard.

In late 1840 Sirius was sent to Gibson's Dry Dock at Hull for new boilers, but remained there over two years as the dry dock had to be specially lengthened. In the face of financial difficulties, the St George company was refinanced in 1844 and took the style City of Cork Steam Ship Company, with which Sirius continued her regular employment on the Irish Sea.


Figurehead of the Sirius (dogstar) salvaged from the wreck and now in Hull Maritime Museum

Loss
Sirius was wrecked in 1847. On 16 January, on a voyage to Cork from Glasgow via Dublin with cargo and passengers, she struck rocks in dense fog in Ballycotton Bay, Ireland. Despite being refloated, she was found to be leaking badly and, in steaming for the shore, was wrecked on Smith's Rocks, half a mile from Ballycotton. The only lifeboat launched was heavily overloaded; swamped by heavy seas, the twelve passengers and two crew were drowned. Most of the 91 on board were rescued by rope passed to the shore, though twenty lives in all were lost. In response to the loss of Sirius, the need for a lighthouse between Old Head Kinsale and Hook Head on Ireland's southern coast was recognised. Ballycotton Lighthouse, on Ballycotton Island, was constructed over the following years and lit in 1851




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Sirius_(1837)

SS Great Western - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
23 April 1853 – Launch of HMS James Watt, a 91-gun steam and sail-powered second rate ship of the line.


HMS James Watt was a 91-gun steam and sail-powered second rate ship of the line. She had originally been ordered as one of a two ship class, with her sister HMS Cressy, under the name HMS Audacious. She was renamed on 18 November 1847 in honour of James Watt, the inventor of the steam engine. She was the only Royal Navy ship to bear this name. Both ships were reordered as screw propelled ships, James Watt in 1849, and Cressy in 1852. James Watt became one of the four-ship Agamemnon-class of ships of the line. They were initially planned as 80-gun ships, but the first two ships built to the design, HMS Agamemnon and James Watt, were rerated on 26 March 1851 to 91 guns ships, later followed by the remainder of the class.




A port-broadside view of the James Watt stationary in Naples Bay. In the foreground on the right are three men rowing in a boat. Buildings can be seen in the left background with two ships in front of them. In the right background can be seen a brigantine and another ship that is similar to the James Watt in appearance; mountains serve as their background. The painting is signed and dated by the artist


The ship had an overall length of 265 feet 3 inches, length between perpendiculars of 230 feet, and beam of 55 feet 5 inches. Her displacement was 3083 tons and her screw was driven by a 600 hp engine. She was built at the Royal Dockyard, Pembroke Dock, launched on 23 April 1853 and commissioned at Plymouth in January 1854 by Captain George Elliot. She served in the Baltic campaigns of 1854 and 1855, despite the poor performance of the ship, and the dissatisfaction of Vice-Admiral Charles Napier. Her machinery, taken second hand from the iron frigate HMS Vulcan, was found to be unsatisfactory. By 1856 alterations to the machinery had cost £5,706, and from 1856 to 1857 she was commanded by Captain Talavera Anson. She was sold for breaking up to Castle, of Charlton in January 1875


The Queen's Birthday in 1856. James Watt with colours Flying and Manned at the Yards


Scale: 1:24. A sectional model depicting elliptical stern of HMS 'James Watt' (1853), a second rate 91-gun ship. The model is largely constructed of wood with the outboard hull painted black, with two white stripes for the gun decks, and then black topsides. There are 16 gun ports, the insides of which are painted red. Internally the model is finished in a creamy white colour overall, including deck beams and shelves, with the three decks scored with their deck planking, which are stained and varnished. The stern galleries are finished in a black with four dummy windows at the stern, and unglazed quarter galleries, all of which are surrounded by a stern walk with a gallery rail. There is an original metal display label painted black, attached above the stern galleries ion the centre inscribed "Elliptical stern of HMS James Watt 1853"

HMS James Watt - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
23 April 1864 – Launch of The USS New Hampshire (1864), a 2,633 ton ship originally designed to be the 74-gun ship of the line Alabama, but she remained on the stocks for nearly 40 years, well into the age of steam, before being renamed and launched as a storeship and depot ship during the American Civil War.
She was later renamed to USS Granite State.


The USS New Hampshire (1864) was a 2,633 ton ship originally designed to be the 74-gun ship of the line Alabama, but she remained on the stocks for nearly 40 years, well into the age of steam, before being renamed and launched as a storeship and depot ship during the American Civil War. She was later renamed to USS Granite State.



As Alabama, she was one of "nine ships to rate not less than 74 guns each" authorized by Congress on 29 April 1816, and was laid down by the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Maine, in June 1819, the year the State of Alabama was admitted to the Union. Though ready for launch by 1825, she remained on the stocks for preservation; an economical measure that avoided the expense of manning and maintaining a ship of the line.



Launched for duty in the Civil War
Renamed New Hampshire on 28 October 1863, she was launched on 23 April 1864, fitted out as a storeship and depot ship of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, and commissioned on 13 May 1864, Commodore Henry K. Thatcher in command.


Powder monkey Aspinwall Fuller {1851-1883} by gun of U.S.S. New Hampshire off Charleston, S.C

New Hampshire sailed from Portsmouth, New Hampshire on 15 June and relieved sister ship Vermont on 29 July 1864 as store and depot ship at Port Royal, South Carolina, and served there through the end of the Civil War.

Post–Civil War service

USS New Hampshire between 1890 and 1901

She returned to Norfolk, Virginia on 8 June 1866, serving as a receiving ship there until 10 May 1876, when she sailed back to Port Royal. She resumed duty at Norfolk in 1881 but soon shifted to Newport, Rhode Island. She became flagship of Commodore Stephen B. Luce's newly formed Apprentice Training Squadron, marking the commencement of an effective apprentice training program for the Navy. Four of New Hampshire's crewmen earned the Medal of Honor for jumping overboard to rescue fellow sailors from drowning in two separate 1882 incidents: Quartermaster Henry J. Manning and Ship's Printer John McCarton on 4 January 1882, and Boatswain's Mate James F. Sullivan and Chief Boatswain's Mate Jeremiah Troy on 21 April 1882.

The New Hampshire was towed from Newport to New London, Connecticut in 1891 and was receiving ship there until decommissioned on 5 June 1892. The following year she was loaned as a training ship for the New York Naval Militia, which was to furnish nearly a thousand officers and men to the Navy during the Spanish–American War.


New York Naval Militia conducting bayonet drill on the dock near the decommissioned USS New Hampshire, sometime between 1893 and 1904, location unknown.

Renamed Granite State
New Hampshire was renamed Granite State on 30 November 1904 to free the name "New Hampshire" for a newly authorized battleship New Hampshire (BB-25).

Stationed in the Hudson River, Granite State continued training service throughout the years leading to World War I when State naval militia were practically the only trained and equipped men available to the Navy for immediate service. They were mustered into the Navy as National Naval Volunteers. Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels wrote in his Our Navy at War:

Never again will men dare ridicule the Volunteer, the Reservist, the man who in a national crisis lays aside civilian duty to become a soldier or sailor—they fought well. They died well. They have left in deeds and words a record that will be an inspiration to unborn generations.

Granite State sunk and listing after burning at her pier in the Hudson River on 23 May 1921

Sinking
Granite State served the New York State Militia until she caught fire and sank at her pier in the Hudson River on 23 May 1921. Her hull was sold for salvage on 19 August to the Mulholland Machinery Corporation. Refloated in July 1922, she was taken in tow headed for the Bay of Fundy. The towline parted during a storm, she again caught fire and sank off Half Way Rock near Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts on 26 July.

The shipwreck is in 30 ft (9.1 m) of water, and is an easy scuba dive. Although the hull is mostly buried in the sand, small artifacts and copper spikes may still be found. The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places on 29 October 1976, reference number 76000261.

USS New Hampshire (1864) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/86/86157.htm

 

[DocBlake]

Busy day in history, Uwe! Thanks for posting!

 

[Uwek]

Busy day in history, Uwe! Thanks for posting!

Many thanks for your interest - YES - and still not finished for today - and I have to prepare also tomorrow - Puh

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
23 April 1890 – Launch of Skomvær, the name of a steel-hulled barque built in 1890 for J. C. & G. Knudsen in Porsgrunn, Telemark, Norway


Skomvær was the name of a steel-hulled barque built in 1890 for J. C. & G. Knudsen in Porsgrunn, Telemark, Norway. The ship, which was designed by naval architect Randulf Hansen and constructed at Laxevaags Maskin- og Jernskibsbyggeri in Bergen, was the first sailing ship constructed with steel in Norway and for a time the largest Norwegian sailing vessel ever built. However, the ship struggled to compete in the 20th century with the advent of the steamship, and in 1924 she was decommissioned and sold for scrap.

Skomvær entered the public eye once again in 1960, when musician Erik Bye wrote the song "Skomværsvalsen" as a tribute to the ship and her crew. A fundraising effort by the artist led to the construction of the Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue boat Skomvær II that same year, and in 1986 the organization named another of its boats, Skomvær III, after the ship.



History
Christen Knudsen moved from his hometown of Saltrød, near Arendal, to Porsgrunn in 1855. There he became a very successful ship-owner, and built a shipyard on the former site of the Frednes farm at the mouth of the Porsgrunn River. In his older years, Christen Knudsen decided to gradually hand over control of his shipping company to his two sons, Jørgen Christian Knudsen and Gunnar Knudsen. These men would both go on to become successful politicians in addition to their shipping trade. Jørgen Christian Knudsen, who built the house on Øvre Frednes, was the mayor of Porsgrunn in 1893 as well as a long-running Conservative Partyrepresentative in Stortinget for Porsgrunn. He was a polarizing figure in both national and local politics—he argued in Stortinget to continue the union between Sweden and Norway and was the only vote in Porsgrunn City Council against the construction of a bridge across the Porsgrunn River, opting for a steam-powered ferry instead. Gunnar Knudsen was a Liberal Party politician who was Prime Minister of Norway from 1908 to 1910 and from 1913 to 1920, and was pivotal in the creation of the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate as well as SKK, the precursor to Skagerak Energi. The two men also both had close descendantsthat worked in politics—Jørgen Christian Knudsen's son, Christen Knudsen, was the Nasjonal Samling representative for Telemark during World War II, and his grandson, Harald Franklin Knudsen, was Vidkun Quisling's private secretary. Gunnar Knudsen's son, Knut Andreas Knudsen, was a deputy representative in Stortinget for Telemark.

The two brothers started the firm J. C. & G. Knudsen in 1872 to manage their father's assets. In 1879, their father's shipyard on Frednes was closed, but the men continued to have success trading with their existing fleet of merchant ships. When steel began to supplant cast iron as a sturdy shipbuilding material, the men asked Randulf Hansen, a naval architect from Bergen who had studied under the likes of Ananias Dekke and Jens Gran, to design a grand new steel sailing ship for their fleet.

Construction
Hansen, who was known for his use of clipper-style bows and soft lines, drew up a plan for the ship, to which Gunnar Knudsen made a few alterations to increase the carrying capacity by 50 register tons. The ship's hull was to be built with steel plates with a controlled carbon content, which was advanced technology at the time, and would have a barque sail-plan, with three masts carrying a total of 26 sails, including topsails, staysails, headsails and gaff-rigged sails. Construction took place at the shipyard Laxevaags Maskin- og Jernskibsbyggeri in Laksevåg, Bergen, and the ship was launched on 23 April 1890, costing 284,995 kroner in all. The speech for the handing over of the ship was given by the shipping magnate Christian Michelsen, who was chairman of the Bergen company at the time and went on to become Norway's first Prime Ministerafter the dissolution of the Norwegian-Swedish union. The ship was christened by Augusta Rafn, the young daughter of the ship's first captain, Hans Christian Rafn. The ship was named Skomvær, after the newly built Skomvær Lighthouse southwest of Røstlandet, and launched in September of that year with a crew of 23 men.

Unfortunately, Gunnar Knudsen was not able to see the project to completion, as J. C. & G. Knudsen had been dissolved the year before. The assets were divided in an equal arrangement between the brothers, leaving Jørgen Christian Knudsen with Skomvær. Gunnar Knudsen started a new company, Aktieselskabet Borgestad, to manage his assets, and the company still exists today as a shipping, industry, and real estatefirm. The Det Norske Veritas merchant vessels registry from 1907 showed that Jørgen Christian Knudsen owned four ships, the steamships Frednæs and Taormina along with the sailing ships Korsvei and Skomvær, and his son Finn Christian Knudsen's company Langesundsfjordens Bugser-D/S owned a single sailing ship, Storegut. Gunnar Knudsen had a bigger operation, owning the sailing ship Gjendin along with five steamships managed by his company: Borgestad, Brand, Breid, Britannic, and Christen Knudsen (Breid and Christen Knudsen were later sunk by Kaiserliche Marine subs during World War I). Whereas Gunnar Knudsen's ships had a total carrying capacity of 8898 net register tons between them, Jørgen Christian Knudsen and his son's ships had a capacity of only 3885 net register tons altogether.


Skomvær heeling significantly at a speed of 14.5 knots on her way to Australia in 1897. Photo signed "Jörgen C. Knudsen."

Operation
Although steamships had already begun to dominate the shipping trade, Skomvær still did good business in the first few decades of the 20th century due to her high storage capacity and advanced construction. To stay profitable the ship took whatever jobs were available, carrying a variety of cargo over long distances. On 6 June 1908, the ship began one of many such voyages, departing from Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia with coal for delivery to Valparaíso in Chile. However, disaster struck on 3 July, when a strong gust of wind caused the ship to heel and the cargo to shift, resulting in her sailing with an unsafe angle of list. The crewmen were forced to cut down parts of the rig to keep the ship upright. The situation worsened as the winds picked up and more of the rig broke down, making maneuvering difficult. Though the ship sustained heavy damages, the crew trimmed some of the cargo and continued the journey. On 17 July the ship was offered assistance by the crew of the British steamship Frankby, but refused. Skomvær arrived in Valparaíso as a wreck on 25 August, where she was unloaded and underwent heavy repairs. The repairs were finally completed on 25 January 1909.

The first captain of Skomvær was Hans Christian Rafn from Porsgrunn, whose son, Robert Rafn, married one of Jørgen Christian Knudsen's daughters. Hans Christian Rafn served as captain up until his death on 26 June 1899 in New York City. He was succeeded by Niels Eriksen from Fredrikstad from 1899 to 1919, who was himself replaced by Jørgens Sørensen Berg from Larvik who held the position for just a few months in 1919. Herman Johnsen from Høvåg took over the position from 1920 to 1921, and Mathias Andreas Mollø from Grimstad served as the ship's final captain from 1921 to 1924.

In August 1915, Skomvær was sold to Ole Christian Axelsen, a wealthy businessman and member of the Order of St. Olav from the town of Bakke in Flekkefjord. He sold the ship in July 1917 to A/S Christianssand, who in 1923 sold her to A/S Norsk Rutefart, both companies managed by Sven Olaus Stray of Kristiansand. On 9 November 1922, Skomvær was laid up near Kristiansand, never to see service again. By the time she was decommissioned, the ship had transported many types of goods all across the world, including grain from Australia, coal from England, lumber from Sweden, saltpeter from Chile, cognac from Marseille, and break bulk cargo from Spain. She had also made a total of 31 trips on the turbulent seas around Cape Horn. In February 1924, the ship was sold to Stavanger Ophugningskompani, a wrecking yard in Stavanger, who dismantled her for scrap.

Legacy
In 1960, Skomvær was given a new lease of life when Norwegian folk singer and television and radio presenter Erik Bye released his first studio album, Vi går ombord. The sixth track on the album, "Skomværsvalsen" (English: The Skomvær Waltz), which was co-written with Bjarne Amdahl, became one of Bye's biggest hits and received heavy rotation on the NRK radio show Ønskekonserten. The track gained additional popularity from being featured on the annual NRK Christmas broadcast "Vi går ombord," where the song was performed by the Norwegian Seamen's Choir. The song was recorded as a tribute to Skomvær and her crew, with its well-known opening line "And the ship was named Skomvær in Porsgrunn city."

Bye was also involved with the Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue (NSSR), and during a radio broadcast on Christmas Eve in 1959, he had initiated fundraising for a new rescue boat to be donated to the organization. The original plan was to build a 55-foot-long vessel, but fundraising went so well that they pushed up the fundraising target to fund an 87-foot boat identical to the rescue boat Haakon VII. The method of funding was selling shares of the boat for five kroner per piece as well as ten kroner shares that entitled the owner to ride on the boat during the official launch. The contract to build the boat was signed with the Stord-based firm AS Stord Verft by NRK director-general and later Labor Party politician Kaare Fostervoll. The boat cost 1.55 million kroner and had a 525-horsepower Bergen Marinediesel engine that could achieve speeds of up to 11 knots. She was delivered to the NSSR on 11 June 1960. The boat, which was named Skomvær II in honor of the original merchant ship, was christened by Augusta Rafn, then aged 90, who had also christened the original Skomvær.


Skomvær at port, her sails furled.

In 1986, the NSSR spent 5.3 million kroner on a new rescue boat, Skomvær III, with two 625-horsepower MAN Diesel engines giving her a top speed of 25 knots. They sold Skomvær II that same year for 1.6 million kroner to the Swedish Sea Rescue Society, who renamed the boat Hans Hansson. The boat has since been bought by Gordon Fitton, an English geophysicist residing in Alderney in the Channel Islands, who undertook a complete restoration of the boat and named her Skomvær II once again. Skomvær III is still in operation as a rescue ship and is stationed in Lofoten near her namesake, Skomvær Lighthouse.

In 2005, the Norwegian brand Toro announced a new product, Skomvær Fish Soup, that would donate one kroner of every sale to the NSSR. The Bergen-based company chose the name because of their proximity to the former site of Laxevaags Maskin- og Jernskibsbyggeri, who built the first Skomvær. By 2007 they had raised 740,000 kroner for the organization.

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
23 April 1891 – Launch of Umbria and Etruria, both protected Regioni-class cruisers of the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) built in the 1890s


The Regioni class was a group of six protected cruisers built for the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) in the late 1880s through the early 1900s. The class comprised Umbria, Lombardia, Etruria, Liguria, Elba, and Puglia, all of which were named for regions of Italy with the exception of Elba, which was named for the island. The class is sometimes referred as the Umbria class, for the first ship to be laid down. The ships, built by four different shipyards, varied slightly in their size, speed, and armament, but all could steam at about 18 kn (33 km/h; 21 mph) and their main armament consisted of four 15-centimeter (5.9 in) guns and six 12 cm (4.7 in) guns.


Etruria in 1909

The ships served in a variety of roles throughout their careers, including scouts for the main fleet, colonial cruisers, and representatives of Italy at major foreign events. Elba observed the Russo-Japanese War, including the Battle of Chemulpo Bay in 1904, where she picked up Russian survivors. Lombardia was converted into a depot ship for submarines in 1906. Elba and Liguria were equipped with observation balloons in 1907–1908. In 1910, Umbria was sold to Haiti and renamed Consul Gostrück, though she quickly sank under the care of her inexperienced crew. The remaining ships, except for Lombardia, took part in the Italo-Turkish War in 1911–12, where they provided gunfire support to Italian troops, bombarded Ottoman ports, and instituted a blockade in the Red Sea.

By World War I, most of the ships had been withdrawn to secondary roles, with Elba having been converted into a seaplane tender. Puglia was the only member of the class to take an active role, based out of Durazzo. Etruria was deliberately blown up by the Regia Marina as a deception operation against Austria-Hungary. The remaining ships were broken up for scrap in the early 1920s, though the bow section of Puglia was preserved at the Vittoriale degli italiani museum.



Design
The design for the Regioni class, sometimes referred to as the Umbria class after the lead ship, was prepared by the naval architect Edoardo Masdea, and it was the first protected cruiser designed in Italy. All previous ships of the type had been designed in Britain, or in the case of the Etna class, enlarged copies of the British-designed Giovanni Bausan. As a first attempt, the ships of the Regioni class proved to be a disappointment, owing to their slow speed and insufficient armor protection.

General characteristics
All six ships varied slightly in their dimensions. The ships were 80 to 83.2 meters (262 to 273 ft) long at the waterline and 88.25 m (289.5 ft) long overall. They had a beam of 12.03 to 12.72 m (39.5 to 41.7 ft) and a draftof 4.67 to 5.35 m (15.3 to 17.6 ft). The ships displaced 2,245 to 2,689 long tons (2,281 to 2,732 t) normally and 2,411 to 3,110 long tons (2,450 to 3,160 t) at full load. The ships were originally designed with a fore and aft sailing rig, though this was quickly removed. Instead, they were fitted with two pole masts equipped with spotting tops. They had a crew of between 213–78.

Machinery
The ships' propulsion system consisted of a pair of horizontal triple-expansion engines, with steam supplied by four cylindrical water-tube boilers. The boilers were trunked into a pair of funnels on the centerline.[3] On her speed trials, Umbria reached a maximum of 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) at 7,400 indicated horsepower (5,500 kW). Lombardia made 18.4 kn (34.1 km/h; 21.2 mph) at 6,010 ihp (4,480 kW), while Etruria reached 18.3 kn (33.9 km/h; 21.1 mph) at 7,018 ihp (5,233 kW). Liguria made 18.1 kn (33.5 km/h; 20.8 mph) at 5,536 ihp (4,128 kW) and Elba, the slowest member of the class, made 17.9 kn (33.2 km/h; 20.6 mph) at 7,471 ihp (5,571 kW) Puglia was by far the fastest, capable of steaming at a speed of 20 kn (37 km/h; 23 mph). The ships had a cruising radius of about 2,100 nautical miles (3,900 km; 2,400 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

Armament and armor

One of Puglia's light guns

All six ships were armed with a main battery of four 15 cm (5.9 in) L/40 guns mounted singly, with two side by side forward and two side by side aft. Six 12 cm (4.7 in) L/40 guns were placed between them, with three on each broadside. The ships' light armament varied. All of the ships save Lombardia were equipped with eight 57 mm (2.2 in) guns, which had an additional two of these guns. Umbria was also equipped with one 75 mm (3.0 in) gun and nine 37 mm (1.5 in) guns, while Puglia had eight of the 37 mm guns and Elba had six of them. Liguria and Etruria only had two 37 mm guns, and Lombardia had none. All six ships had a pair of machine guns and two 45 cm (18 in) torpedo tubes.

The ships all had their armament repeatedly revised throughout their careers. By 1905, each ship had had two of the 15 cm guns replaced with two additional 12 cm guns, and their secondary battery was standardized at eight 57 mm guns and eight 37 mm guns, with the exception of Puglia, which had six and two guns, respectively. Puglia had also had her two torpedo tubes removed by this point. In 1914, Liguria had all of her 15 cm guns removed, along with six of the 37 mm guns. Her armament was reduced further in 1917 when she was refitted as a minelayer; at this point, she mounted only six 12 cm guns and two 37 mm guns. Starting in 1915, Etruria and Lombardia were equipped with only six 12 cm guns, six 57 mm guns for Etruria and eight for Lombardia, two 37 mm guns, and their torpedo tubes. At the same time, Elba was rearmed with six 12 cm guns, two 37 cm guns, and one machine gun; she retained her torpedo tubes.

The first five ships were protected by a 50 mm (2.0 in) thick deck, and their conning tower had 50 mm thick sides. Puglia had a deck that was only 25 mm (0.98 in) thick, though she had the same thickness of armor on her conning tower.



Service history


The bow of Puglia, preserved at the Vittoriale degli italiani museum

The ships of the Regioni class served in a variety of roles throughout their careers. Their first decade in service was marked by frequent deployments abroad, interspersed between stints in the main Italian fleet, where they served as scouts for the battleships. In 1895, Etruria and much of the main fleet visited Germany for the opening ceremonies for the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal. Lombardia was stationed in South America in 1896, when an outbreak of yellow fever killed half of her crew while she was in Rio de Janeiro. In 1897, Umbria and Liguria were assigned to the Cruiser Squadron of the main fleet. Lombardia was deployed to China in 1901, where she replaced Elba, and to Italian Somaliland in 1903. There, she briefly skirmished with Somali rebels.[

Elba was present in Korea during the Russo-Japanese War, which took place primarily in neighboring Manchuria. She witnessed the Battle of Chemulpo Bay in February 1904 and rescued Russian survivors along with British and French cruisers. In 1905, Umbria represented Italy at the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition in Portland, Oregon. Lombardia was converted into a depot ship for submarines in 1906–08. Etruria visited the United States twice for major events, the Jamestown Exposition in 1907 and the Hudson-Fulton Celebration in 1909. Elba and Liguria were modified to operate an observation balloon to assist in spotting naval mines, which could be more easily seen from the air. In December 1910, Umbria was sold to the Haitian Navy and renamed Consul Gostrück, though she sank shortly after the transfer due to her new crew's inexperience.

All of the remaining ships participated in the Italo-Turkish War of 1911–1912, with the exception of Lombardia which was stationed in the Adriatic. Etruria and Liguria took part in the assault on Benghazi and thereafter provided gunfire support to Italian forces in North Africa. Puglia was stationed in East Africa for the duration of the war, and frequently bombarded Ottoman ports. These included a diversionary attack that helped the cruiser Piemonte and two destroyers sink or force aground a flotilla of seven Ottoman gunboats in the Battle of Kunfuda Bay. In January 1912 Liguria and Elba joined the fleet in the Red Sea, where they imposed a blockade on Ottoman ports in the region, coupled with frequent bombardments of Ottoman positions.

In 1914 Elba was converted into the first dedicated seaplane tender in the Italian fleet. She was nevertheless too small to be of real use, and she remained in service for only two years. Puglia was the only ship of the class to take an active role in the First World War; in 1915, while patrolling off Durazzo she briefly encountered the Austro-Hungarian cruiser SMS Novara, which retreated before either ship could open fire. She covered the withdrawal of elements of the Serbian Army from Durazzo and shelled the pursuing Austro-Hungarian Army. Etruria was deliberately blown up in Livorno on 13 August 1918 to fool Austria-Hungary into believing its espionage network, which had been thoroughly compromised, was still operational. Elba was sold for scrapping in January 1920, followed by her sister Lombardia in July. That month, Puglia became involved in the civil unrest in Split, and the ship's captain and another sailor were murdered by a group of Croat nationalists. Liguria was sold in May 1921 and broken up. The Navy sold Puglia in March 1923, but while she was being dismantled Benito Mussolini donated her bow section to the Vittoriale degli italiani museum.


Umbria was a protected cruiser of the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) built in the 1890s. She was the lead ship of the Regioni class, which included five other vessels. All of the ships were named for current or former regions of Italy. The ship was equipped with a main armament of four 15 cm (5.9 in) and six 12 cm (4.7 in) guns, and she could steam at a speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph). Umbria spent much of her career abroad, including several years in American waters. In service during a period of relative peace, Umbria never saw combat. In 1911, she was sold to Haiti and renamed Consul Gostrück, though she did not serve for very long under the Haitian flag. Her crew was too inexperienced to operate the ship, and she foundered shortly after being transferred to the Haitian Navy.


Etruria was a protected cruiser of the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) built in the 1891 by Cantiere navale fratelli Orlando Livorno. She was the third of six vessels of the Regioni class, all of which were named for current, or in the case of Etruria, former regions of Italy. The ship was equipped with a main armament of four 15 cm (5.9 in) and six 12 cm (4.7 in) guns, and she could steam at a speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph).



Etruria spent her early career with the main fleet in the Mediterranean Sea. In the early 1900s, she spent much of her time in North and South American waters; she visited the United States for the Jamestown Exposition and the Hudson-Fulton Celebration in 1907 and 1909. The ship took part in the Italo-Turkish War of 1911–12, primarily by providing gunfire support to Italian troops in North Africa. Reduced to a training shipby World War I, Etruria was deliberately sunk by the Regia Marina in Livorno to convince Austria-Hungary that its espionage network had not been compromised by double agents.


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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
23 April 1902 – Launch of Francesco Ferruccio, a Giuseppe Garibaldi-class armored cruiser built for the Royal Italian Navy (Regia Marina) in the first decade of the 20th century


Francesco Ferruccio was a Giuseppe Garibaldi-class armored cruiser built for the Royal Italian Navy (Regia Marina) in the first decade of the 20th century. The ship made several deployments to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant during her career. At the beginning of the Italo-Turkish War of 1911–12 she bombarded Tripoli and then Beirut in early 1912 before being transferred to Libya. During World War I, Francesco Ferruccio's activities were limited by the threat of Austro-Hungarian submarines and she became a training ship in 1919. The ship was struck from the naval register in 1930 and subsequently scrapped.



The Giuseppe Garibaldi-class cruisers were a class of ten armoured cruisers built in Italy in the 1890s and the first decade of the 20th century. The ships were built for both the Royal Italian Navy (Regia Marina) and for export.


Colorized photo of Nisshin at anchor at Kure, 24 June 1905

Design and description

Right elevation and deck plan as depicted in Brassey's Naval Annual 1902

The design of the Giuseppe Garibaldi-class cruiser was derived by the naval architect Edoardo Masdea from his earlier Vettor Pisani-class design. The Garibaldis were slightly larger and about a knot faster than their predecessors, but the primary improvement was the addition of two gun turrets, one each fore and aft of the superstructure. These remedied a major weakness of the older ships in that their primary armament, being on the broadside, could not engage targets that were directly in front or behind. The design was so popular that ten cruisers were purchased by four different countries; the Royal Italian Navy, the Argentine Navy, the Imperial Japanese Navy, and the Spanish Navy. As might be expected over a group of ships that was built from 1892 to 1903, design improvements and more modern equipment were incorporated over time so that only the three ships actually accepted by Italy were true sisters.

The first five ships were built to the same measurements, and form the Garibaldi sub-class, but the last five were stretched by six frames amidships, and comprise the Giuseppe Garibaldi sub-class. The ships of the first group had an overall length of 106.94 meters (350 ft 10 in), a beam of 18.2 meters (59 ft 9 in) and a deep draft (ship) of 7.1 meters (23 ft 4 in). They displaced 6,840 metric tons (6,730 long tons) at normal load. The second ship purchased by Argentina, General Belgrano, is reported by some sources to have had a beam of 18.8 meters (61 ft 8 in) and therefore displaced some 300–400 metric tons (300–390 long tons) more than the others.

The class was unusual in that they did not have a uniform main armament. Some had single 10-inch (254 mm) Elswick Pattern R guns in gun turrets fore and aft; others (including Kasuga) had a mixed armament of a single 10-inch (254 mm) gun in one turret and another turret with twin 8-inch (203 mm) guns. A third variation (including Nisshin) was a uniform armament of four 8-inch (203 mm) guns in twin gun turrets fore and aft. Cristobal Colon was fitted with defective 10-inch guns which were removed before it was committed to combat. Therefore, it only went to battle with 10 smokeless powder Armstrong six inch guns mounted in the hull (5 on each side).






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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
23 April 1913 – Launch of HMS Lowestoft, a Town-class light cruiser built for the Royal Navy in the 1910s.


HMS Lowestoft was a Town-class light cruiser built for the Royal Navy in the 1910s. She was a member of the Birmingham sub-class of the Town class. She survived World War I and was sold for scrap in 1931.



Design and description
The Birmingham sub-class were slightly larger and improved versions of the preceding Chatham sub-class. They were 457 feet (139.3 m) long overall, with a beam of 50 feet (15.2 m) and a draught of 16 feet (4.9 m). Displacement was 5,440 long tons (5,530 t) normal and 6,040 long tons (6,140 t) at full load. Twelve Yarrow boilers fed Lowestoft's Parsons steam turbines, driving four propeller shafts, that were rated at 25,000 shaft horsepower (19,000 kW) for a design speed of 25.5 knots (47.2 km/h; 29.3 mph). The ship reached 25.4 knots (47.0 km/h; 29.2 mph) during her sea trials from 23,620 shp (17,610 kW). The boilers used both fuel oil and coal, with 1,165 long tons (1,184 t) of coal and 235 long tons (239 t) tons of oil carried, which gave a range of 4,140 nautical miles (7,670 km; 4,760 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

The primary improvement of the Birminghams over the Chathams was the introduction of lighter, easier to work, BL 6-inch (152 mm) Mk XII guns. The lighter guns allowed the addition of another weapon forward of the superstructure. One of these guns was mounted on the centreline aft of the superstructure and two more were mounted on the forecastle deck abreast the bridge. The remaining four guns positioned amidships, two on each broadside. All these guns were fitted with gun shields. Four Vickers 3-pounder (47 mm) saluting guns were also fitted. The armament was completed by two submerged 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes.

Construction and career
The ship was laid down on 27 July 1912 by Chatham Royal Dockyard and launched on 28 April 1914. Upon completion in April 1914, Lowestoft was assigned to the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron of the Grand Fleet, and in August 1914 she sank a German merchant ship. On 28 August 1914, she participated in the Battle of Heligoland Bight, and on 24 January 1915 Lowestoft took part in the Battle of Dogger Bank. In February 1915, she was reassigned to the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron, and in 1916 reassigned again to the 8th Light Cruiser Squadron, operating in the Mediterranean. She survived the war and was sold for scrap on 8 January 1931 to Thos W Ward, of Milford Haven


The Town class was a group of twenty-one light cruisers built for the Royal Navy (RN) and Royal Australian Navy (RAN). These vessels were long-range cruisers, suitable for patrolling the vast expanse covered by the British Empire. These ships, initially rated as second class cruisers, were built to a series of designs, known as the Bristol (five ships), Weymouth (four ships), Chatham (three RN ships, plus three RAN ships), Birmingham (three ships, plus one similar RAN ship) and Birkenhead (two ships) classes – all having the names of British towns except for the RAN ships, which were named after Australian cities.


Gloucester at anchor, 1918


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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
23 April 1918 - Advance of 23 April 1918


In late 1917, light forces of the High Seas Fleet began interdicting British convoys to Norway. On 17 October the light cruisers Brummer and Bremse intercepted one of the convoys, sinking nine of the twelve cargo ships and the two escorting destroyers—Mary Rose and Strongbow—before turning back to Germany. On 12 December, four German destroyers ambushed a second British convoy of five cargo vessels and two British destroyers. All five transports were sunk, as was one of the destroyers. Following these two raids, Admiral David Beatty, the commander of the Grand Fleet, detached battleships from the battle fleet to protect the convoys. The German navy was now presented with an opportunity for which it had been waiting the entire war: a portion of the numerically stronger Grand Fleet was separated and could be isolated and destroyed. Vice Admiral Franz von Hipper planned the operation: the battlecruisers of the I Scouting Group, along with light cruisers and destroyers, would attack one of the large convoys, while the rest of the High Seas Fleet would stand by, ready to attack the British dreadnought battleship squadron.

At 05:00 on 23 April 1918, the German fleet, with SMS Hindenburg in the lead, departed from the Schillig roadstead. Hipper ordered wireless transmissions be kept to a minimum, to prevent British intelligence from receiving radio intercepts. At 06:10 the German battlecruisers had reached a position approximately 60 kilometers southwest of Bergen, when SMS Moltke lost her inner starboard propeller. Without resistance from the water, the propeller-less shaft began spinning faster and faster, until one of the engine gears flew apart. Shrapnel from the broken machinery damaged several boilers and tore a hole in the hull; the ship was dead in the water. The ship's crew effected temporary repairs, which allowed the ship to steam at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph). However, it was decided to take the ship under tow by the battleship SMS Oldenburg. Despite this setback, Hipper continued northward. By 14:00, Hipper's force had crossed the convoy route several times but had found nothing. At 14:10, Hipper turned his ships southward. By 18:37, the German fleet had made it back to the defensive minefields surrounding their bases. It was later discovered that the convoy had left port a day later than expected by the German planning staff.


Hindenburg steams to Scapa Flow


SMS Moltke underway


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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
23 April 1918 – The Zeebrugge Raid (Dutch: Aanval op de haven van Zeebrugge; French: Raid sur Zeebruges) on 23 April 1918, was an attempt by the Royal Navy to block the Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge.
The British Royal Navy makes a raid in an attempt to neutralise the Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge.


The Zeebrugge Raid (Dutch: Aanval op de haven van Zeebrugge; French: Raid sur Zeebruges) on 23 April 1918, was an attempt by the Royal Navy to block the Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge. The British intended to sink obsolete ships in the canal entrance, to prevent German vessels from leaving port. The port was used by the Imperial German Navy as a base for U-boats and light shipping, which were a threat to Allied control of the English Channel and southern North Sea. Several attempts to close the Flanders ports by bombardment failed and Operation Hush, a 1917 plan to advance up the coast, proved abortive. As sinkings by U-boats increased, finding a way to close the ports became urgent and the Admiralty became more willing to consider a raid.

An attempt to raid Zeebrugge was made on 2 April 1918 but was cancelled at the last moment, after the wind direction changed and made it impossible to lay a smokescreen to cover the ships. Another attempt was made on 23 April, with a concurrent attack on Ostend. Two of three blockships were scuttled in the narrowest part of the Bruges Canal and one of two submarines rammed the viaduct linking the shore and the mole, to trap the German garrison. The blockships were sunk in the wrong place and after a few days the Germans had opened the canal to submarines at high tide. The British suffered 583 casualties and the Germans 24.


Charles John De Lacy - HMS Vindictive at Zeebrugge, 23 April 1918

Prelude
German defences
By 1917 the German defences on the Flanders coast included Kaiser Wilhelm II, a heavy artillery battery at Knocke, east of the Bruges Canal, of four 12 in (300 mm) guns, with a range of 41,000 yd (23 mi; 37 km) and the Tirpitz battery of four 11 in (280 mm) guns, with a range of 35,000 yd (32,000 m), 1.5 mi (2.4 km) west of Ostend. Two more batteries were being built in early 1917 and between the main defences were many mobile guns, entrenchments and machine-gun nests. The only vulnerable part of the German defensive system was the lock gates at Zeebrugge, the destruction of which would make the canal to Bruges tidal and drastically reduce the number of ships and submarines that could pass along it.

British preparations
An appeal was made to the Grand Fleet for volunteers for special service on 23 February 1918. Very few of the participants were aware of the objective. The cruisers involved in the blockade, including HMS Vindictive, were equipped in Chatham by over 2,000 workers for the special fitting out or (in the case of the ships to be sunk) stripping out of unnecessary equipment, including their masts. Iris, Daffodil and the submarines were converted in Portsmouth. The fleet made its rendezvous at Swin Deep, about 8 mi (7.0 nmi; 13 km) south of Clacton. The first opportunity for the raid was early April 1918 and on 2 April the fleet sailed and Zeebrugge was bombed by 65 Squadron from Dunkirk. The success of the raid depended upon smokescreens to protect the British ships from the fire of German coastal artillery but the wind direction was unfavourable and the attack was called off. Zeebrugge was visible to the fleet and the fleet to the Germans in Zeebrugge; seventy-seven ships of all sizes, some with their lights already switched off, had to make a sharp turn to the west to return to their bases.

Raid


The blocking of Zeebrugge

On 23 April a second attempt was made, in conjunction with a raid on the neighbouring harbour of Ostend. The raid began with a diversion against the mile-long Zeebrugge mole. The attack was led by an old cruiser, Vindictive, with two Mersey ferries, Daffodil and Iris II. The three ships were accompanied by two old submarines, which were filled with explosives to blow up the viaduct connecting the mole to the shore. Vindictive was to land a force of 200 sailors and a battalion of Royal Marines at the entrance to the Bruges Canal, to destroy German gun positions. At the time of the landing the wind changed and the smokescreen to cover the ship was blown offshore. The marines immediately came under heavy fire and suffered many casualties. Vindictive was spotted by German gun positions and forced to land in the wrong location, resulting in the loss of the marines' heavy gun support. Eventually the submarine HMS C3 commanded by Lt. R. D. Sandford, destroyed the viaduct with an explosion. Sandford was awarded the Victoria Cross for this action.

The attempt to sink three old cruisers, to block the flow of traffic in and out of the Port of Bruges-Zeebrugge failed. The failure of the attack on the Zeebrugge mole resulted in the Germans concentrating their fire on the three blocking ships, HMS Thetis, Intrepid and Iphigenia, which were filled with concrete. Thetis did not make it to the canal entrance, after it hit an obstruction and was scuttled prematurely. The two other ships were sunk at the narrowest point of the canal. The submarines C1 under Lieutenant A. C. Newbold and C3 under Sandford were old, each with a volunteer crew of one other officer and four ratings. They had five tons of amatol packed into their fore-ends and were to be driven into the viaduct and then blown up, to prevent reinforcement of the German garrison on the mole. The crews were to abandon their submarines shortly before the collision with the viaduct, leaving the submarines to steer themselves automatically. During the passage from Dover, C1 parted with its tow and arrived too late to take part in the operation. Sandford, in command of C3, elected to steer his ship into the viaduct manually instead of depending on the automatic system.

Aftermath
Analysis

Channel obstructed after the raid; (Left to right) HMS Intrepid, HMS Iphigenia and HMS Thetis. The obstruction is not enough to prevent U-boats from sailing out at high tide.

In 1931, the official historian, Sir Henry Newbolt, wrote that before the raid, two submarines entered or left the Flanders bases each day and continued at that rate during the week after the raid. The block ships were sunk in the wrong position and the canal was only obstructed for a few days. The Germans removed two piers in the western bank of the canal near the block ships and dredged a channel through the silt near their sterns. At high tide, U-boats could move along the new channel past the block ships.

The average number of passages was maintained until June, when the rate fell to about one submarine per day, to an extent due to a bombardment of Zeebrugge on 9 June. After the damage was repaired, the rate of U-boat traffic did not return to the pre-raid level. Newbolt considered that the reduced traffic was caused by the recall of some U-boats to Germany in June, after reports that operations in the Dover Straits had become too dangerous. The usual remedy of increased destroyer raids was not possible, because of the difficulty in using Zeebrugge as a harbour.

Newbolt wrote that the raid on Zeebrugge was part of an anti-submarine campaign which had lasted for five months, using patrols and minefields to close the straits and which continued despite the most destructive sortie achieved by the Germans during the war. The British anti-submarine measures inflicted a steady attrition on the Flanders U-boats and the attack on Zeebrugge came when the German blockade of Britain was supposed to have reduced drastically the resources and endurance of the British Empire. of the raid was skilfully exploited to raise Allied morale and to foreshadow victory Possunt quia posse videntur ("They can because they think they can"). Bacon wrote in 1931 that he was a seagoing commander with intimate knowledge of the tidal and navigational conditions in the Ostend and Zeebrugge areas; operational failures were due in part to the appointment of Keyes (an Admiralty man) and his changes to plans Bacon had laid.

Casualties
Of the 1,700 men involved in the operation, S. F. Wise recorded in 1981 that 300 were wounded and more than 200 killed. Kendall gave figures of 227 dead and 356 wounded. The destroyer, HMS North Star was sunk. Among the dead was Wing Commander Frank Brock, the man who devised and commanded the smoke screen. Most of the casualties were buried in England either because they died of their wounds en route or because the survivors recovered their bodies to repatriate them. The Zeebrugge plot of St James's Cemetery, Dover has nine unidentified men and fifty named men who died on 23 April 1918 but most fatalities were returned to their families for local burials. German casualties were eight dead and sixteen wounded.

Victoria Cross
The Zeebrugge Raid was promoted by Allied propaganda as a British victory and resulted in the awarding of eight Victoria Crosses.[38] Of particular interest is the fact that the entire 4th Battalion Royal Marines was awarded the Victoria Cross for the action, triggering Rule 13 of the Victoria Cross warrant stipulating that a ballot must be drawn to select the recipients. Although the Victoria Cross rules specify that four Victoria Crosses should be awarded this way (one to an Officer, one to an NCO, and two to other ranks) they were not observed and only two Victoria Crosses were awarded. This was the last time that Victoria Crosses were awarded by ballot, although the rule still exists within the Victoria Cross warrant. In a mark of respect to those involved in the raid the Royal Marines have never raised another 4th Battalion.

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
23 April 1918 - The First Ostend Raid (part of Operation ZO) was the first of two attacks by the Royal Navy on the German-held port of Ostend during the late spring of 1918 during the First World War


The First Ostend Raid (part of Operation ZO) was the first of two attacks by the Royal Navy on the German-held port of Ostend during the late spring of 1918 during the First World War. Ostend was attacked in conjunction with the neighbouring harbour of Zeebrugge on 23 April in order to block the vital strategic port of Bruges, situated 6 mi (5.2 nmi; 9.7 km) inland and ideally sited to conduct raiding operations on the British coastline and shipping lanes. Bruges and its satellite ports were a vital part of the German plans in their war on Allied commerce (Handelskrieg) because Bruges was close to the troopship lanes across the English Channel and allowed much quicker access to the Western Approaches for the U-boat fleet than their bases in Germany.

The plan of attack was for the British raiding force to sink two obsolete cruisers in the canal mouth at Ostend and three at Zeebrugge, thus preventing raiding ships leaving Bruges. The Ostend canal was the smaller and narrower of the two channels giving access to Bruges and so was considered a secondary target behind the Zeebrugge Raid. Consequently, fewer resources were provided to the force assaulting Ostend. While the attack at Zeebrugge garnered some limited success, the assault on Ostend was a complete failure. The German marines who defended the port had taken careful preparations and drove the British assault ships astray, forcing the abortion of the operation at the final stage.

Three weeks after the failure of the operation, a second attack was launched which proved more successful in sinking a blockship at the entrance to the canal but ultimately did not close off Bruges completely. Further plans to attack Ostend came to nothing during the summer of 1918, and the threat from Bruges would not be finally stopped until the last days of the war, when the town was liberated by Allied land forces.


Planning

Admiral Roger Keyes

To block Bruges, Keyes and Lynes decided to conduct two raids on the ports through which Bruges had access to the sea. Zeebrugge was to be attacked by a large force consisting of three blockships and numerous supporting warships. Ostend was faced by a similar but smaller force under immediate command of Lynes. The plan was for two obsolete cruisers—HMS Sirius and Brilliant—to be expended in blocking the canalwhich emptied at Ostend. These ships would be stripped to essential fittings and their lower holds and ballast filled with rubble and concrete. This would make them ideal barriers to access if sunk in the correct channel at the correct angle.

When the weather was right, the force would cross the English Channel in darkness and attack shortly after midnight to coincide with the Zeebrugge Raid a few miles up the coast. By co-ordinating their operations, the assault forces would stretch the German defenders and hopefully gain the element of surprise. Covering the Inshore Squadron would be heavy bombardment from an offshore squadron of monitors and destroyers as well as artillery support from Royal Marine artillery near Ypres in Allied-held Flanders. Closer support would be offered by several flotillas of motor launches, small torpedo boats and Coastal Motor Boats which would lay smoke screens to obscure the advancing blockships as well as evacuate the crews of the cruisers after they had blocked the channel.

British order of battle
Offshore Squadron

• Lord Clive-class monitors with 12 in (300 mm) guns:
  • HMS Marshal Soult, Lord Clive, Prince Eugene and General Crauford
• M15 class monitors with 7.5 in (190 mm) guns:
  • HMS M24, M26, M21
• Destroyers:
  • HMS Mentor, Lightfoot and Zubian
  • French Navy Mécanicien Principal Lestin, Enseigne Roux and Bouclier
• Light craft:
  • 4 torpedo boats, 4 French motor launches

Inshore Squadron

• Blockships:
  • HMS Sirius, Brilliant
• Destroyers:
  • HMS Swift, Faulknor (destroyer leader), Matchless,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Ostend_Raid#cite_note-10 Mastiff, Afridi, Tempest, Tetrarch
• Light craft:
  • 18 Motor Launches, 8 Coastal Motor Boats

Artillery support was also provided by Royal Marine heavy artillery in Allied-held Flanders. The force was covered in the English Channel by seven light cruisers and 16 destroyers, none of which saw action.

Attack on Ostend
The assaults on Zeebrugge and Ostend were eventually launched on 23 April, after twice being delayed by poor weather. The Ostend force arrived off the port shortly before midnight and made final preparations; the monitors took up position offshore and the small craft moved forward to begin laying smoke. Covering the approach, the monitors opened fire on German shore defences, including the powerful "Tirpitz" battery, which carried 11 in (280 mm) guns. As a long range artillery duel developed, the cruisers began their advance towards the harbour mouth, searching for the marker buoys which indicated the correct passage through the diverse sandbanks which made navigation difficult along the Belgian coast.

It was at this stage that the attack began to go seriously wrong. Strong winds blowing off the land swept the smoke screen into the face of the advancing cruisers, blinding their commanders who attempted to navigate by dead reckoning. The same wind disclosed the Inshore Squadron to the German defenders who immediately opened up a withering fire on the blockships. With their volunteer crews suffering heavy casualties, the commanders increased speed despite the poor visibility and continued groping through the narrow channels inshore, searching for the Stroom Bank buoy which directed shipping into the canal.

Commander Alfred Godsal led the assault in HMS Brilliant and it was he who stumbled into the most effective German counter-measure first. As Brilliant staggered through the murk, the lookout spotted the buoy ahead and Godsal headed directly for it, coming under even heavier fire as he did so. Passing the navigation marker at speed, the cruiser was suddenly brought to a halt with a juddering lurch, throwing men to the decks and sticking fast in deep mud well outside the harbour mouth. Before warnings could be relayed to the Sirius following up close behind, she too passed the buoy and her captain Lieutenant-Commander Henry Hardy was shocked to see Brilliant dead ahead. With no time to manoeuvre, Sirius ploughed into the port quarter of Brilliant, the blockships settling into the mud in a tangle of wreckage.

Artillery and long-range machine gun fire continued to riddle the wrecks and the combined crews were ordered to evacuate as the officers set the scuttling charges which would sink the blockships in their current, useless locations. As men scrambled down the side of the cruisers into Coastal Motor Boats which would relay them to the Offshore Squadron, destroyers moved closer to Ostend to cover the retreat and the monitors continued their heavy fire. Godsal was the last to leave, picked up by launch ML276 commanded by Lieutenant Rowley Bourke. With the main assault a complete failure, the blockading forces returned to Dover and Dunkirk to assess the disaster.

"Their Lordships will share our disappointment at the defeat of our plans by the legitimate ruse of the enemy."

Admiral Keyes' report to the Admiralty.

When the forces had reassembled and the commanders conferred, the full facts of the failed operation were revealed. The German commander of Ostend had been better prepared than his counterpart at Zeebrugge and had recognised that without the navigation buoy no night attack on Ostend could be successful without a strong familiarity with the port, which none of the British navigators possessed. However, rather than simply remove the buoy, the German commander had ordered it moved 2,400 yd (2,200 m) east of the canal mouth into the centre of a wide expanse of sandbanks, acting as a fatal decoy for any assault force.

Aftermath
The assault at Zeebrugge a few miles away from Ostend was more successful and the blocking of the major channel did cause some consternation amongst the German forces in Bruges. The larger raiders could no longer leave the port, but smaller ships, including most submarines, were still able to traverse via Ostend. In addition, within hours a narrow channel had also been carved through Zeebrugge too, although British intelligence did not realise this for several weeks. The defeat at Ostend did not entirely dampen the exuberant British media and public reaction to Zeebrugge, but in the Admiralty and particularly in the Allied Naval and Marine Forces the failure to completely neutralise Bruges rankled.

A second operation was planned for 10 May using the cruiser HMS Vindictive and proved more successful, but ultimately it also failed to completely close off Bruges. A third planned operation was never conducted as it rapidly became clear that the new channel carved at Zeebrugge was enough to allow access for U-boats, thus calling for an even larger double assault, which would stretch the resources of the Allied Naval and Marine Forces too far. British losses in the three futile attempts to close Bruges cost over 600 casualties and the loss of several ships but Bruges would remain an active raiding base for the German Navy until October 1918.

First Ostend Raid - Wikipedia

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