Naval/Maritime History 15th of April - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

28th of March

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Naval/Maritime History - 28th of March - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 27 March 1666 – Launch of HMS Defiance, a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the English Royal Navy, HMS Defiance was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the English Royal Navy, ordered on 26 October 1664 under the new...

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1599 – Birth of Witte Corneliszoon de With (28 March 1599 – 8 November 1658), a famous Dutch naval officer of the 17th century



1693 – Launch of HMS Portland, a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, at Woolwich Dockyard
She was rebuilt according to the 1719 Establishment at Portsmouth, and was relaunched on 25 February 1723.
She was present at Wager's Action a naval confrontation on 8 June 1708 N.S (28 May O.S.), between a British squadron under Charles Wager and the Spanish treasure fleet, as part of the War of Spanish Succession.

Wager's Action off Cartagena, 28 May 1708


1693 – Launch of HMS Norfolk, an 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, at Southampton
HMS Norfolk was an 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was built at Southampton and launched on 28 March 1693, and was the first ship to bear the name. She was rebuilt at Plymouth according to the 1719 Establishment, and was re-launched on 21 September 1728. Instead of carrying her armament on two decks as she had done originally, she now carried them on three gundecks, though she continued to be rated a third rate.

1777 – The Battle off Yarmouth took place on 28 March 1777 during the American Revolutionary War off the coast of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.
The Battle off Yarmouth took place on 28 March 1777 during the American Revolutionary War off the coast of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. The battle is the first American armed vessel to engage the British Navy. The British vessel HMS Milford forced the American USS Cabot aground and the American crew escaped among the inhabitants of Yarmouth.


1785 – Launch of HMS Terrible, a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, at Rotherhithe.
In December 1813 she was paid off and placed in ordinary at Sheerness Dockyard. She remained out of service until 1829, other than a nine-month period between August 1822 and May 1823 when she acted as a receiving ship for volunteers and pressed men. From 1829 to 1836 she served as a coal depot for Navy steamships. Declared surplus even to this limited requirement, she was brought to Deptford Dockyard and broken up in March 1836.

1806 - HMS Niobe (38), Cptn. J. W. Loring, captured French corvette Nearque (16) off L'Orient
The French brig Néarque was an Abeille-class brig launched at Lorient in 1804. She made a voyage to the Caribbean in 1805. After the frigate HMS Niobe captured her in March 1806, the Royal Navy took her into Plymouth, but apparently laid her up in ordinary. She then disappears from the records until her sale in 1814.

From ancre is a beautiful monographie of the Cygne 1804 Jean BOUDRIOT & Hubert BERTI available


1814 – War of 1812: In the Battle of Valparaíso, two American naval vessels are captured by two Royal Navy vessels of equal strength.
HMS Phoebe (36) and HMS Cherub (18) under Cptn. James Hillyar capture USS Essex (46), Cptn. David Porter, off Valparaiso, Chile.
The Battle of Valparaíso, also called the Capture of USS Essex, was a naval action fought during the War of 1812. It took place off Valparaíso, Chile on March 28, 1814 between the frigate USS Essex and the sloop USS Essex Junior of the United States Navyand the frigate HMS Phoebe and sloop HMS Cherub of the Royal Navy. The British ships won the battle, and the American vessels were captured.

1815 – Launch of HMS Howe, a 120-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, at Chatham.
Howe was broken up in 1854.

1861 – Launch of French ironclad Couronne ("Crown"), the first iron-hulled ironclad warship built for the French Navy in 1859–62.
She was the first such ship to be laid down, although the British armoured frigate HMS Warrior was completed first.
The French ironclad Couronne ("Crown") was the first iron-hulled ironclad warship built for the French Navy in 1859–62. She was the first such ship to be laid down, although the British armoured frigate HMS Warrior was completed first. The ship participated in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, but saw no combat. She was served as a gunnery training ship from 1885 to 1908 before she was hulked the following year and became a barracks ship in Toulon. Couronne was scrapped in 1934, over 70 years after she was completed.

1896 – Launch of USS Iowa (BB-4), a United States Navy battleship
USS Iowa (BB-4) was a United States Navy battleship. Launched in 1896, it was the first ship commissioned in honor of Iowa and was America's first seagoing battleship. Iowa saw substantial action in the Spanish–American War. While she was an improvement over the Indiana class because of a superior design, the warship became obsolete quickly in the first quarter of the 20th century and was used for target practice and sunk on 23 March 1923 in Panama Bay by a salvo of 14-inch shells

1914 – Launch of Fusō (扶桑, a classical name for Japan), the lead ship of the two Fusō-class dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy.
Fusō (扶桑, a classical name for Japan) was the lead ship of the two Fusō-class dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Launched in 1914 and commissioned in 1915, she initially patrolled off the coast of China, playing no part in World War I. In 1923, she assisted survivors of the Great Kantō earthquake.

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

29th of March

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Naval/Maritime History - 29th of March - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 28 March 1815 – Launch of HMS Howe, a 120-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, at Chatham. HMS Howe was a 120-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 28 March 1815 at Chatham. Howe was broken up...

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1668 – Launch of french Dauphin Royal, a 104-gun ship of the line of the French Royal Navy.
Dauphin Royal was a 104-gun ship of the line of the French Royal Navy. She was built at Toulon Dockyard, designed and constructed by François Pomet. She took part in the Battle of Beachy Head on 10 July 1690 (N.S.) and the Battle of Lagos on 28 June 1693, both times as flagship of Lieutenant-Général Louis-François de Rousselet, Comte de Châteaurenault, under Vice-Admiral Tourville. She was decommissioned in 1698 or 1699, and broken up in 1700.

Stern of Dauphin Royal, access number 11 MG 2. Photographie de la maquette du navire réalisé en 1751 pour l'éducation du Dauphin. Modèle réduit du Musée de Rochefort, sans rapport avec le Dauphin Royal construit en 1668. Photograph of the model of the ship made in 1751. Museum of Rochefort, unrelated Dauphin Royal ship built in 1668.


1691 – Launch of French Orgueilleux, a First Rank three-decker ship of the line of the French Royal Navy.
The Orgueilleux was a First Rank three-decker ship of the line of the French Royal Navy. She was initially armed with 88 guns, comprising twenty-eight 36-pounder guns on the lower deck, thirty 18-pounder guns on the middle deck, and twenty-four 8-pounder guns on the upper deck, with six 6-pounder guns on the quarterdeck , but an extra pair of 8-pounders was added soon after completion. By 1706 one pair of 36-pounders had been removed and an extra pair of 6-pounders added on the quarterdeck to maintain the 90-gun rating.
Designed and constructed by Laurent Coulomb, she was begun at Lorient Dockyard in June 1690 and launched on 29 March of the following year. She was completed in May 1691 and took part in the Battle of Barfleur on 29 May 1692, in the Battle of Lagos on 28 June 1693, and in the Battle of Velez-Malaga on 24 August 1704.
The Orgueilleux was among the fifty warships scuttled at Toulon on Louis XIV's orders during the Siege of Toulon in July 1707, but was subsequently refloated. She was condemned at Toulon on 11 March 1713, and by Order of 1 December 1715 she was taken to pieces - the work being completed by August 1716.

1705 – Launch of HMS Northumberland, a 70-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Deptford Dockyard
She was rebuilt twice during her career, firstly at Woolwich Dockyard, where she was reconstructed according to the 1719 Establishment and relaunched on 13 July 1721. Her second rebuild was also carried out at Woolwich Dockyard, where she was reconstructed as a 64-gun third rate according to the 1741 proposals of the 1719 Establishment, and relaunched on 17 October 1743.
Northumberland was captured during the action of 8 May 1744 by the French ship Content (commanded by Hubert de Brienne, Comte de Conflans). She was subsequently taken into the French navy as Northumberland, before being renamed Atlas in 1766.

1750 – Launch of HMS Grafton, a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Portsmouth Dockyard to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment,
HMS Grafton was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Portsmouth Dockyard to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment, and launched on 29 March 1750. The ship served in the failed Louisbourg Expedition (1757).
Grafton was commissioned in February 1755 under Captain Charles Holmes, in the months immediately before the commencement of the Seven Years' War between Britain and France. On 11 May 1755 she was assigned as a reinforcement for the British fleet commanded by Admiral Edward Boscawen, and sailed for North America when war was formally declared in 1756.
Grafton served until 1767, when she was sold out of the Navy.

HMS Grafton, commanded by Commodore Charles Holmes, is depicted sailing home to England with a jury rudder, which was constructed in place of the rudder that she had lost in a storm off Louisbourgh.


1774 – Launch of HMS Cumberland, a 74-gun Elizabeth-class third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, at Deptford Dockyard.
HMS Cumberland was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 29 March 1774 at Deptford Dockyard.
She participated in the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1780. She captured the French 18-gun privateer ship-sloop Duc de Chartres in c. February 1781. The Royal Navy took the privateer into service as HMS Duc de Chartres.
Cumberland then sailed to the East Indies, where she participated in the Battle of Cuddalore in 1783.

1795 - HMS Cerberus (32), Cptn. J. Drew, captured french 20-gun corvette Jean Bart.


1802 - HMS Assistance (50), Cptn. Richard Lee, wrecked between Dunkerque and Gravelines.
HMS Assistance was a 50-gun Portland-class fourth rate of the Royal Navy. She was launched during the American War of Independence and spent most of her career serving in American waters, particularly off Halifax and Newfoundland. Assistance was the flagship of several of the commanders of the station. She was in service at the beginning of the French Revolutionary Wars, and was wrecked off Dunkirk in 1801.

1805 - French fleet under Pierre-Charles Villeneuve sails from Toulon


1821 – Launch of HMS Alligator, a 28-gun Atholl-class sixth rate of the Royal Navy. She was launched at Cochin, British India
HMS Alligator was a 28-gun Atholl-class sixth rate of the Royal Navy. She was launched at Cochin, British India on 29 March 1821.

1854 – Launch of Ocean Telegraph, an American clipper ship.
Built in 1854 for the run between New York and San Francisco, she was later sold and renamed Light Brigade in 1863.
For the next 12 years she was used predominantly to transport cargo and immigrants between London and Australia and New Zealand.
Ocean Telegraph was an American clipper ship. Built in 1854 for the run between New York and San Francisco, she was later sold and renamed Light Brigade in 1863. For the next 12 years she was used predominantly to transport cargo and immigrants between London and Australia and New Zealand.

1854 – Launch of French Duguay-Trouin, a late 100-gun Hercule-class ship of the line of the French Navy, transformed into a Sail and Steam ship
Duguay-Trouin was a late 100-gun Hercule-class ship of the line of the French Navy, transformed into a Sail and Steam ship.
Started in 1827 as a 100-gun sailing ship, Duguay-Trouin, still unfinished, was transformed on keel from 1856. In 1860 she sailed to New Caledonia and became the first steam ship to cross Cape Horn.
From 1863, she was decommissioned and served as hospital from 1867 before becoming a prison hulk for prisoners of the Paris Commune. She was renamed Vétéran in the 1870s, and was broken up around 1877.

1/40th-scale model of the 100-gun Hercule, lead ship of Duguay-Trouin ' class, on display at the Musée national de la Marine.


1883 - Norman Court was a composite built clipper ship, designed by William Rennie.
On the night of 29 March 1883 in a strong gale she was driven ashore and wrecked in Cymyran Bay, between Rhoscolyn and Rhosneigr, Anglesey.
Norman Court was a composite built clipper ship, designed by William Rennie, measuring 197.4 ft x 33 ft x 20 ft, of 833.87 tons net. The ship was built in 1869 by A. & J. Inglis of Glasgow.

The Clipper Ship Norman Court outward? bound (before letters) (PAH8582)

1897 – Launch of SMS Victoria Louise, the lead ship of her class of protected cruisers, built for the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) in the late 1890s
SMS Victoria Louise was the lead ship of her class of protected cruisers, built for the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) in the late 1890s. She was laid down at the AG Weser shipyard in 1895, launched in March 1897, and commissioned into the German fleet in February 1899. She was named after Princess Victoria Louise, the daughter of Kaiser Wilhelm II. The ship was armed with a battery of two 21 cm guns and eight 15 cm guns and had a top speed of 19.2 knots (35.6 km/h; 22.1 mph).

Victoria Louise during visit to US in 1909


1941 – World War II: British Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy forces defeat those of the Italian Regia Marina off the Peloponnesian coast of Greece in the Battle of Cape Matapan.
Fiume – On 29 March 1941, in the Battle of Cape Matapan, the Italian cruiser was sunk by the Royal Navy. Of the 1,083 aboard 814 were killed.
Zara – On 29 March 1941, in the Battle of Cape Matapan, the Italian cruiser Zara was torpedoed, shelled and sunk by British naval forces. Of 1,086 crew, 799 were killed.
Pola – On 29 March 1941, in the Battle of Matapan, the Italian cruiser Pola was disabled by an aerial torpedo and then sunk by British naval forces. Of the 1,024 crew aboard 336 were killed.
The Battle of Cape Matapan (Greek: Ναυμαχία του Ταινάρου) was a Second World War naval engagement between British Imperial and Axis forces, fought from 27–29 March 1941. The cape is on the south-west coast of the Peloponnesian peninsula of Greece. Following the interception of Italian signals by the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park, ships of the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy, under the command of the Royal Navy's Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham, intercepted and sank or severely damaged several ships of the Italian Regia Marina under Squadron-Vice-Admiral Angelo Iachino. The opening actions of the battle are also known in Italy as the Battle of Gaudo.

Fiume (right) along with Zara and Pola in Naples

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

30th of March

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Naval/Maritime History - 30th of March - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 29 March 1897 – Launch of SMS Victoria Louise, the lead ship of her class of protected cruisers, built for the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) in the late 1890s SMS Victoria Louise was the lead ship of her class of protected...

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1693 – Launch of HMS Humber, an 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Hull
She was rebuilt according to the 1706 Establishment at Deptford in 1708. Her guns, previously being mounted on two gundecks, were now mounted on three, though she remained classified as a third rate. On 30 October 1723 Humber was ordered to be taken to pieces and rebuilt to the 1719 Establishment at Portsmouth.
She was renamed HMS Princess Amelia, and relaunched on 4 October 1726.
Princess Amelia was broken up in 1752.

1782 – Launch of HMS Mediator, a Roebuck-class 44-gun fifth rate of the Royal Navy.
MS Mediator was a Roebuck-class 44-gun fifth rate of the Royal Navy. She was built and served during the American War of Independence, but was reduced to a storeship and renamed HMS Camel in 1788. She spent the French Revolutionary and part of the Napoleonic Wars in this capacity before being broken up in 1810.

On the night of 11–12 December 1782, the British ship ‘Mediator’, commanded by Captain the Honourable James Luttrell, was waiting off Ferrol to intercept an American frigate lying there.


1782 - Launch of HMS Ganges, a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, at Rotherhithe.
HMS Ganges was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched in 1782 at Rotherhithe. She was the first ship of the Navy to bear the name, and was the name ship of her class. She saw active service from 1782 to 1811, in Europe and the West Indies.
The British East India Company had Randall build a 74-gun ship under the name Bengal. They then presented (donated) her to the Royal Navy, which renamed her HMS Ganges.
The Royal Navy commissioned Ganges in February 1782 under the command of Captain Charles Fielding. She was paid-off in March, but immediately recommissioned under Captain J. Lutterell as a guardship at Portsmouth. Between 1784 and 1787, she was under the command of Captain Sir Roger Curtis. In October 1787 she became the flagship of Rear-Admiral Sir Francis Drake. She was recommissioned in December 1790 under Captain Anthony Molloy.

1816 – Launch of HMS Black Prince, a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Black Prince class of the Royal Navy,
HMS Black Prince was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Black Prince class of the Royal Navy, launched on 30 March 1816 at Woolwich Dockyard.
In 1848 Black Prince became a prison ship at Chatham, and she was broken up in 1855.

HMS Melville (sistership) off the volcanic Graham Island, 1831.


1824 – Launch of HMS Unicorn, a surviving sailing frigate of the successful Leda class,
HMS Unicorn is a surviving sailing frigate of the successful Leda class, although the original design had been modified by the time that the Unicorn was built, to incorporate a circular stern and "small-timber" system of construction. Listed as part of the National Historic Fleet,
Unicorn is now a museum ship in Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom.

1854 – Launch of French Tilsitt, a 90-gun Ship of the line of the French Navy.
The Tilsitt was a 90-gun Ship of the line of the French Navy. She was the second ship in French service named in honour of the Treaties of Tilsit.

1892 – Launch of HMS Crescent was a first class cruiser of the Edgar class.
Crescent, and her sister ship Royal Arthur, were built to a slightly modified design and are sometimes considered a separate class
HMS Crescent was a first class cruiser of the Edgar class. Crescent, and her sister ship Royal Arthur, were built to a slightly modified design and are sometimes considered a separate class. She was launched in 1892, saw early service at the Australia Station and the North America and West Indies Station, served in the First World War, and was sold for breaking up in 1921.

1896 – Launch of HMS Mars, a Royal Navy pre-dreadnought battleship of the Majestic class, the seventh member of a class of nine ships.
HMS Mars was a Royal Navy pre-dreadnought battleship of the Majestic class, the seventh member of a class of nine ships. The ship was laid down in the Laird Brothers shipyard in June 1894, she was launched in March 1896, and she was commissioned into the fleet in June 1897. She was armed with a main battery of four 12-inch (305 mm) guns and a secondary battery of twelve 6-inch (150 mm) guns. The ship had a top speed of 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph).

1899 - Great Britain, Channel Islands, The Casquets:
the 1,000 ton steamer "SS Stella", owned by London and South Western Railway company crashed into the rocks in heavy fog; 112 people (24 crew, 88 passengers) died
SS Stella was a passenger ferry in service with the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) that was wrecked on 30 March 1899 off the Casquets during a crossing from Southampton, to Guernsey.

1901 – Launch of SS Kronprinz Wilhelm, a German passenger liner built for the Norddeutscher Lloyd, a former shipping company now part of Hapag-Lloyd, by the AG Vulcan shipyard in Stettin, Germany (now Szczecin, Poland), in 1901.
SS Kronprinz Wilhelm was a German passenger liner built for the Norddeutscher Lloyd, a former shipping company now part of Hapag-Lloyd, by the AG Vulcan shipyard in Stettin, Germany (now Szczecin, Poland), in 1901. She took her name from Crown Prince Wilhelm, son of the German Emperor Wilhelm II, and was a sister ship of SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse.

Von Steuben arriving at New York on 1 September 1919, bringing home from France soldiers of the First Division Headquarters


1913 – Launch of Andrea Doria, the lead ship of her class of battleships built by the Regia Marina (Royal Navy). The class included only one sister ship, Caio Duilio.
Andrea Doria was the lead ship of her class of battleships built by the Regia Marina (Royal Navy). The class included only one sister ship, Caio Duilio. Andrea Doria was named after the 16th century Genoese admiral of the same name. Laid down in March 1912, the battleship was launched a year later in March 1913, and completed in March 1916. She was armed with a main battery of thirteen 305 mm (12.0 in) guns and had a top speed of 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph).

1916 - the Russian hospital ship HS Portugal was towing a string of small flat-bottomed boats to ferry wounded from the shore.
Off Rizeh, on the Turkish Black Sea coast she had stopped as one of the small boats was sinking and being repaired. U-33 fired a torpedo that missed, and then a torpedo at a depth of 30 feet, that hit near Portugal's engine room, breaking her in two. 90 of those aboard were lost.
The SS Portugal (Russian: госпитальное судно "Португаль") was a steam ship originally built by a French shipping company, but requisitioned for use as a Russian hospital ship during the First World War. On March 30 [O.S. March 17] 1916 she was sunk by a torpedo from the German U-boat U-33.

1993 – Launch of Italia, a brigantine, active as a sail training vessel for the Italian Navy
Italia is a brigantine, active as a sail training vessel for the Italian Navy.
It is owned by Fondazione tender to nave Italia, a non-profit foundation for maritime contest development,[clarification needed] with property shared by Italian Navy and Yacht Club Italiano.

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

31st of March

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Naval/Maritime History - 31st of March - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 29 March 1897 – Launch of SMS Victoria Louise, the lead ship of her class of protected cruisers, built for the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) in the late 1890s SMS Victoria Louise was the lead ship of her class of protected...

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1671 - HMS Sapphire (36), Cptn. John Pearce, run ashore at the Isles of Scilly by Cptn. and 1st Lt. to avoid capture when 4 sail sighted and was wrecked.
They proved to be friendly and the officers were subsequently sentenced to be shot for cowardice.
HMS Sapphire was a 38-gun fourth-rate frigate of the English Royal Navy, originally built for the navy of the Commonwealth of England by Peter Pett I at Ratcliffe, and launched in 1651.

1671 - Launch of HMS Royal James, a 102-gun first rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Anthony Deane at Portsmouth Dockyard
HMS Royal James was a 102-gun first rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Anthony Deane at Portsmouth Dockyard at a cost of £24,000, and launched on 31 March 1671.

The Burning of the Royal James at the Battle of Solebay, 7 June 1672 by Willem van de Velde the younger. De Ruyter's flagship De Zeven Provinciën is shown in the left background in close combat with the Vice-Admiral of the Blue, Sir Joseph Jordan on Royal Sovereign. The ship to the right of the burning Royal James is that of Vice-Admiral Johan de Liefde.

1736 - Launch of HMS Weymouth, a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, and in service during the War of the Austrian Succession.
HMS Weymouth was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched in 1736 and in service during the War of the Austrian Succession. Initially stationed in the Mediterranean, she was assigned to the Navy's Caribbean fleet in 1740 and participated in Battle of Cartagena de Indias in 1741. Decommissioned later that year, she was restored to active service in the Caribbean in 1744. A navigational error on 16 February 1745 brought her too close to the shore of Antigua, where she was wrecked upon a submerged reef. Three of Weymouth's officers were subsequently found guilty of negligence, with two required to pay substantial fines and the third sentenced to a two-year jail term.

1763 - Launch of HMS Defence, a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, at Plymouth Dockyard.
HMS Defence was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 31 March 1763 at Plymouth Dockyard. She was one of the most famous ships of the period, taking part in several of the most important naval battles of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. In 1811 she was wrecked off the coast of Jutland with the loss of almost her entire crew.

1798 - Launch of HMS Foudroyant, an 80-gun third rate of the Royal Navy, one of only two British-built 80-gun ships of the period (the other was HMS Caesar)
HMS Foudroyant was an 80-gun third rate of the Royal Navy, one of only two British-built 80-gun ships of the period (the other was HMS Caesar.) Foudroyant was built in the dockyard at Plymouth Dock (a.k.a. Devonport) and launched on 31 March 1798. Foudroyant served Nelson as his flagship from 6 June 1799 until the end of June 1801.

1800 - The Action of 31 March 1800 was a naval engagement of the French Revolutionary Wars fought between a Royal Navy squadron and a French Navy ship of the line off Malta in the Mediterranean Sea.
HMS Penelope (36), Cptn. Blackwood, HMS Lion (64), Cptn. Manley Dixon, and HMS Foudroyant (80), Cptn. Sir Edward Berry, captured french Guillaume Tell (86) off Malta.
The Action of 31 March 1800 was a naval engagement of the French Revolutionary Wars fought between a Royal Navy squadron and a French Navy ship of the line off Malta in the Mediterranean Sea. By March 1800 Valletta, the Maltese capital, had been under siege for eighteen months and food supplies were severely depleted, a problem exacerbated by the interception and defeat of a French replenishment convoy in mid-February. In an effort to simultaneously obtain help from France and reduce the number of personnel maintained in the city, the naval commander on the island, Contre-amiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, ordered his subordinate Contre-amiral Denis Decrès to put to sea with the large ship of the line Guillaume Tell, which had arrived in the port shortly before the siege began in September 1798. Over 900 men were carried aboard the ship, which was to sail for Toulon under cover of darkness on 30 March.

A painting detailing the capture of the ‘Guillaume Tell’.


1809 – Launch of French Triomphant, a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy (of the Duquesne sub-class).
Triomphant was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy (of the Duquesne sub-class). Built in Rochefort in 1804, she was launched in 1809. She was converted to a hulk in 1828.
She served as the canonical 74-gun ship of the line in the Trianon model collection.

1898 – Launch of SMS Gazelle, the lead ship of the ten-vessel light cruiser Gazelle class, built by the Imperial German Navy.
SMS Gazelle was the lead ship of the ten-vessel light cruiser Gazelle class, built by the Imperial German Navy. She was built by the Germania werft shipyard in Kiel, laid down in 1897, launched in March 1898, and commissioned into the High Seas Fleet in June 1901. Armed with a main battery of ten 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns and two 45 cm (18 in) torpedo tubes, Gazelle was capable of a top speed of 19.5 knots (36.1 km/h; 22.4 mph).

1904 - in the Russo-Japanese War, the Russian battleship Petropavlovsk was sunk after striking two mines near the Port Arthur naval base. A total of 18 officers, including an Imperial vice admiral and 620 men were lost.
Petropavlovsk (Russian: Петропавловск) was the lead ship of her class of three pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Russian Navy during the last decade of the 19th century. The ship was sent to the Far East almost immediately after entering service in 1899, where she participated in the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion the next year and was the flagship of the First Pacific Squadron.

1914 - Newfoundland Sealing Disaster - two ships lost
SS Southern Cross – Lost with all 173 hands in a storm between 31 March and 3 April 1914. Believed to be near Cape Pine, Newfoundland.
SS Newfoundland - Of the 132 men aboard Newfoundland, 78 died, and many more were seriously injured.
SS Southern Cross was a steam-powered sealing vessel that operated primarily in Norway and Newfoundland and Labrador.
She was lost at sea returning from the seal hunt on March 31, 1914, killing all 174 men aboard in the same storm that killed 78 crewmen from the SS Newfoundland, a collective tragedy that became known as the "1914 Newfoundland Sealing Disaster".

1941 - HMS Bonaventure – while escorting a convoy from Greece to Alexandria, the British cruiser was torpedoed and sunk by the Italian submarine Ambra. 139 of her complement were killed and 310 rescued.
HMS Bonaventure was a Dido-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy. Bonaventure participated as an escort vessel in Operation Fish, the World War II evacuation of British wealth from the UK to Canada. It was the largest movement of wealth in history.
On 10 January 1941 she, along with HMS Southampton and/or HMS Hereward, shelled and sank the Italian torpedo boat Vega off Cape Bon, Tunisia, Operation "Excess". Two members of her crew were killed by return fire.
On 31 March 1941 she was torpedoed and sunk south of Crete (33°20′N 26°35′E) by the Italian submarine Ambra with the loss of 139 of her 480 crew. 310 survivors rescued by HMS Hereward and HMAS Stuart.

1992 – The USS Missouri, the last active United States Navy battleship, is decommissioned in Long Beach, California.
USS Missouri (BB-63) ("Mighty Mo" or "Big Mo") is an Iowa-class battleship and was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named after the U.S. state of Missouri. Missouri was the last battleship commissioned by the United States and is best remembered as the site of the surrender of the Empire of Japan which ended World War II.

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

1st of April

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Naval/Maritime History - 1st of April - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 31 March 1736 - Launch of HMS Weymouth, a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, and in service during the War of the Austrian Succession. HMS Weymouth was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy...

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1572 – In the Eighty Years' War, the Watergeuzen capture Brielle from the Seventeen Provinces, gaining the first foothold on land for what would become the Dutch Republic.
The Capture of Brielle by the Watergeuzen, on 1 April 1572 marked a turning point in the uprising of the Low Countries against Spain in the Eighty Years' War. Militarily the success was minor as the port of Brielle was undefended, but it provided the first foothold on land for the rebels at a time when the rebellion was all but crushed, and it offered the sign for a new revolt throughout the Netherlands which led to the formation of the Dutch Republic.

Depiction of the capture of Den Briel. Jan Luyken, 1679


1625 – A combined Spanish and Portuguese fleet of 52 ships commences the recapture of Bahia from the Dutch during the Dutch–Portuguese War.
The recapture of Bahia (Spanish: Jornada del Brasil; Portuguese: Jornada dos Vassalos) was a Spanish-Portuguese military expedition in 1625 to retake the city of Salvador da Bahia in Brazil from the forces of the Dutch West India Company (WIC).

1724 - Launch of french 50 gun ship of the line Jason at Le Havre, designed and built by Jacques Poirier
Jason 50, later 52 guns (launched 1 April 1724 at Le Havre, designed and built by Jacques Poirier) – Captured by the British in the First Battle of Cape Finisterre in May 1747 and added to the RN under the same name, sold 1763.
HMS Jason (1747) was a 44-gun fifth rate captured from the French in 1747 and sold in 1763.

The vessels portrayed in this print are 'Diamond' (1747), 'Jason' (1747) and 'Ruby' (1745). The British fleet was under the command of Lord Anson and Sir Peter Warren.

No scale. Plan showing the stern board outline with decoration detail, the starboard stern quarter gallery with decoration detail, and the starboard profile of the figurehead for Jason (1747), a captured French two-decker, possibly prior to fitting as a 44 gun Fifth Rate, two-decker.


1761 - HMS Isis (50) took French Oriflamme (56).
Oriflamme was not brought into the Royal Navy, but was instead sold into spanish mercantile service.


1797 - HMS Tartar, a 28-gun Lowestoffe-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy, wrecked off Saint-Domingue

Scale 1:48. Plan showing sheer lines and only one water line for Tartar (1757), a 28-gun, Sixth Rate Frigate, as being altered during repairs at Chatham by Mr Nicholson's Yard. The decks were raised, as shown by the ticked red lines. Annotation: top right: "A Copy was sent to Mr Belshar the Overseer 2nd December 1790."


1809 – Launch of HMS Milford, a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, at Milford Haven.
HMS Milford was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 1 April 1809 at Milford Haven. She was designed by Jean-Louis Barrallier as a large class 74, and was the only ship built to her draught. As a large 74, she carried 24 pdrs on her upper gun deck, instead of the 18 pdrs found on the middling and common class 74s.
Milford was placed on harbour service in 1825, and was broken up in 1846

Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for 'Milford' (1809), a 74-gun Third Rate, two-decker. The plan may represent her as fitted at Plymouth Dockyard after launch in 1809


1873 - RMS Atlantic – On the ship's 19th voyage, on 1 April 1873, she ran onto rocks and sank off the coast of Nova Scotia, 560 people died, 415 survived
RMS Atlantic was a transatlantic ocean liner of the White Star Line that operated between Liverpool, United Kingdom, and New York City, United States. During the ship's 19th voyage, on 1 April 1873, she struck rocks and sank off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, killing at least 535 people. It remained the deadliest civilian maritime disaster in the North Atlantic Ocean until the sinking of SS La Bourgogne on 2 July 1898 and the greatest disaster for the White Star Line prior to the loss of Titanic in April 1912.

Wreck of Atlantic during body and cargo recovery, April 1873


1901 – Launch of SMS Panther, one of six Iltis-class gunboats of the Kaiserliche Marine and, like its sister ships, served in Germany's overseas colonies.
SMS Panther was one of six Iltis-class gunboats of the Kaiserliche Marine and, like its sister ships, served in Germany's overseas colonies. The ship was launched on 1 April 1901 in the Kaiserliche Werft, Danzig. It had a crew of 9 officers and 121 men.

1933 – Launch of Admiral Scheer, a Deutschland-class heavy cruiser (often termed a pocket battleship) which served with the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany during World War II.
Admiral Scheer was a Deutschland-class heavy cruiser (often termed a pocket battleship) which served with the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany during World War II. The vessel was named after Admiral Reinhard Scheer, German commander in the Battle of Jutland. She was laid down at the Reichsmarinewerft shipyard in Wilhelmshaven in June 1931 and completed by November 1934. Originally classified as an armored ship (Panzerschiff) by the Reichsmarine, in February 1940 the Germans reclassified the remaining two ships of this class as heavy cruisers.

1939 – Launch of Tirpitz, the second of two Bismarck-class battleships built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine (navy)
Tirpitz was the second of two Bismarck-class battleships built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine (navy) during World War II. Named after Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, the architect of the Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy), the ship was laid down at the Kriegsmarinewerft Wilhelmshaven in November 1936 and her hull was launched two and a half years later. Work was completed in February 1941, when she was commissioned into the German fleet. Like her sister ship Bismarck, Tirpitz was armed with a main battery of eight 38-centimetre (15 in) guns in four twin turrets. After a series of wartime modifications she was 2000 tonnes heavier than Bismarck, making her the heaviest battleship ever built by a European navy.

1942 - Italian cruiser Giovanni delle Bande Nere en route to La Spezia to repair storm damage, was hit by two torpedoes from the submarine HMS Urge.
She broke in two and sank with the loss of 381 men; 391 men were saved.
Giovanni dalle Bande Nere was an Italian light cruiser of the Giussano class, which served in the Regia Marina during World War II. She was named after the eponymous 16th-century condottiero and member of the Medici family. Her keel was laid down in 1928 at Cantieri Navali di Castellammare di Stabia, Castellammare di Stabia; she was launched on 27 April 1930, and her construction was completed in 1931. Unlike her three sisters, the finish and workmanship on the vessel were not rated highly. She was sunk on 1 April 1942 by the British submarine HMS Urge.
The Giussano type of cruiser sacrificed protection for high speed and weaponry, as a counter to new French large destroyers.

1945 - Awa Maru – the cargo and passenger ship was intercepted and sunk in the Taiwan Strait by the U.S. submarine USS Queenfish which mistook her for a destroyer.
Only One person of the 2,004 aboard survived - "Titanic of Japan"
The Awa Maru (阿波丸) was a Japanese ocean liner owned by Nippon Yusen Kaisha. The ship was built in 1941–1943 by Mitsubishi Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. at Nagasaki, Japan. The vessel was designed for passenger service, but the onset of war by the time work was completed changed requirements, and she was requisitioned by the Japanese Navy.
While sailing as a hospital ship under the protection of the Red Cross in 1945, she was torpedoed by USS Queenfish (SS-393), killing all but one of 2,004 people aboard.
The ship's name came in part from the ancient province of Awa on the island of eastern Shikoku in the modern prefecture of Tokushima. This mid-century Awa Maru was the second NYK vessel to bear this name. A 6,309-ton Awa Maru was completed in 1899 and taken out of service in 1930.

This is an aerial photo of Awa Maru


1945 - April 1 - June 22 - Beginning of the Battle of Okinawa -
The Japanese lose their last significant naval force, including the battleship Yamato.
The Battle of Okinawa (Japanese: 沖縄戦 Hepburn: Okinawa-sen) (Okinawan: 沖縄戦, translit. Uchinaa ikusa), codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Marine and Army forces against the Imperial Japanese Army. The initial invasion of Okinawa on April 1, 1945, was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific Theater of World War II. The 82-day battle lasted from April 1 until June 22, 1945. After a long campaign of island hopping, the Allies were planning to use Kadena Air Base on the large island of Okinawa as a base for Operation Downfall, the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands, 340 mi (550 km) away.

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

2nd of April

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 1 April 1813 - USS Gallatin (1807), a post-Revolutionary War sailing vessel that the U.S. Department of the Treasury purchased at Norfolk, Virginia, for the Revenue Cutter Service was destroyed by an explosion on board USS Gallatin...

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1798 – Launch of HMS Dragon, a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, at Rotherhithe.
HMS Dragon was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 2 April 1798 at Rotherhithe. She was designed by Sir William Rule, and was the only ship built to her draught.

HMS Dragon by Antoine Roux


1801 - The Battle of Copenhagen of 1801 (Danish: Slaget på Reden) was a naval battle in which a British fleet fought a large force of the Dano-Norwegian Navy anchored near Copenhagen on 2 April 1801.
British under Vice Ad. Nelson destroy moored Danish ships under Cptn. Johan Olfert Fischer.
The Battle of Copenhagen of 1801 (Danish: Slaget på Reden) was a naval battle in which a British fleet fought a large force of the Dano-Norwegian Navy anchored near Copenhagen on 2 April 1801.

1804 - HMS Apollo (36), Cptn. John William Taylor Dixon, wrecked running on shore in Mondego Bay, Portugal.
HMS Apollo, the fourth ship of the Royal Navy to be named for the Greek god Apollo, was a fifth-rate frigate of a nominal 36 guns. She was the name ship of the Apollo-class frigates. Apollo was launched in 1799, and wrecked with heavy loss of life in 1804.

1804 - HMS Hindostan (54), Cptn. John Le Gros, caught fire off the coast of Spain and blew up after the crew got ashore.
HMS Hindostan (later variously Hindustan) was a 56-gun fourth-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was originally the East Indiaman Hindostan, launched in 1789, that the Admiralty bought in 1795. She is known for two events, her voyage to China between 1792 and 1794 when she carried Lord George Macartney on a special embassy to China, and her loss in a fire at sea in 1804.

The East Indiaman Hindostan, by Thomas Luny, National Maritime Museum


1828 – HMS Black Joke captures Providentia (14)
The third HMS Black Joke was probably built in Baltimore in 1824, becoming the Brazilian slave ship Henriquetta. The Royal Navy captured her in September 1827 and purchased her into the service. The Navy re-named her Black Joke, after an English song of the same name, and assigned her to the West Africa Squadron (or Preventative Squadron). Her role was to chase down slave ships, and over her five-year career she freed many hundreds of slaves. The Navy deliberately burnt her in May 1832 because her timbers had rotted to the point that she was no longer fit for active service.

1833 - Launch of HMS Royal William, a 120-gun first rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, at Pembroke Dock.
Royal William was fitted with screw propulsion in 1860. She later was lent to the Liverpool Roman Catholic Reformatory Society, who renamed her Clarence. Clarence was destroyed by arson on 26 July 1899 on the River Mersey near New Ferry on the Wirral Peninsula in England.
The figurehead of Royal William (in its original state) was for many years placed beside the historic 1775 Mutton Cove "covered slip number 1" in Plymouth harbour. In the 1990s it was replaced by a fiberglass copy, the wooden original is now preserved in Devonport dockyard.

1836 – Launch of French Jemmapes, a late 100-gun Hercule-class ship of the line of the French Navy.
Ordered in 1824 as Indomptable and soon renamed Royal Charles, Jemmapes was laid down in 1825 but not completed before 1840. She took her definitive name after the July Revolution, on 9 August 1830.
In 1844, Jemmapes took part in the Bombardment of Mogador in Joinville's squadron. In October or November 1848, she was driven ashore at Civitavecchia, Papal States. Deactivated in 1851, she took part in the Crimean War, first in the Baltic Sea in 1854, and in the Black Sea the next year.
Decommissioned in 1864, Jemmapes was first used as a transport, and then hulked, before being scrapped in 1890

1844 – Launch of HMS Daring, a 12 gun-brig of the Royal Navy which became part of the Experimental Squadrons of both 1844 and 1845
HMS Daring was a 12 gun-brig of the Royal Navy which became part of the Experimental Squadrons of both 1844 and 1845, and later served in the West Indies. She was sold in 1864.

1863 - The USS Alligator, the fourth United States Navy ship of that name, is the first known U.S. Navy submarine, foundered
The USS Alligator, the fourth United States Navy ship of that name, is the first known U.S. Navy submarine, and was active during the American Civil War. The first American submarine, built during the Revolutionary War, was Turtle, which the civilian David Bushnell designed and built, and Sergeant Ezra Lee of the Continental Army operated.

1901 – Launch of Gauss, a ship built in Germany specially for polar exploration, named after the mathematician and physical scientist Carl Friedrich Gauss.
Gauss was a ship built in Germany specially for polar exploration, named after the mathematician and physical scientist Carl Friedrich Gauss. Purchased by Canada in 1904, the vessel was renamed CGS Arctic. As Arctic, the vessel made annual trips to the Canadian Arctic until 1925. The ship's fate is disputed among the sources, but all claim that by the mid-1920s, the vessel was out of service.

CGS Arctic at anchor at Pond Inlet in 1923


1921 – Launch of SS Delphine, a yacht commissioned by Horace Dodge, co-founder of Dodge Brothers.
SS Delphine is a yacht commissioned by Horace Dodge, co-founder of Dodge Brothers. The yacht was launched on 2 April 1921, and spans 258 feet (79 m). Power was originally supplied from three Babcock & Wilcox boilers powering two 1,500-horsepower (1,100 kW) quadruple-expansion engines. In her 2003 refit Delphine was re-equipped with two modern water-tube boilers operating at 20 bars (290 psi), the larger of which has an evaporation capacity of 14 metric tons (31,000 lb) of steam per hour while the smaller can evaporate 4 metric tons (8,800 lb) per hour; these new boilers supply the original quadruple-expansion engines. "Of all the large American-built steam yachts built between 1893 and 1930, the Delphine is the only one left in her original condition with her original steam engines still in service."

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

3rd of April

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 2 April 1844 – Launch of HMS Daring, a 12 gun-brig of the Royal Navy which became part of the Experimental Squadrons of both 1844 and 1845 HMS Daring was a 12 gun-brig of the Royal Navy which became part of the Experimental Squadrons...

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1694 – Launch of HMS Lancaster, an 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, at Bursledon
HMS Lancaster was an 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Bursledon on 3 April 1694.
She was rebuilt according to the 1719 Establishment at Portsmouth, from where she was relaunched on 1 September 1722. After this time, her armament of 80 guns, previously carried on two gundecks, was carried on three, though she continued to be classified as a third rate. On 15 February 1743 she was ordered to be taken to pieces and rebuilt at Woolwich Dockyard as a 66-gun third rate according to the 1741 proposals of the 1719 Establishment. This rebuild returned her to a two-decker, and she was relaunched on 22 April 1749.
Lancaster was broken up in 1773.

1701 - Relaunch of HMS St George, ex HMS Charles (1668)
HMS Charles was a 96-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Christopher Pett at Deptford Dockyard until his death in March 1668, then completed by Jonas Shish after being launched in the same month. Her name was formally Charles the Second, but she was known simply as Charles, particularly after 1673 when the contemporary Royal Charles was launched.

1756 – Launch of HMS Tartar, a 28-gun sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy.

1783 – Launch of HMS Powerful, a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, at Blackwall Yard, London.

1792 – Death of George Pocock, English admiral (b. 1706)
Admiral Sir George Pocock, KB (6 March 1706 – 3 April 1792) was a British officer of the Royal Navy.



1794 – Launch of HMS Peterel (or Peterell), a 16-gun Pylades-class ship-sloop of the Royal Navy.
HMS Peterel (or Peterell) was a 16-gun Pylades-class ship-sloop of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1794 and was in active service until 1811. Her most famous action was the capture of the French brig Ligurienne when shortly after Peterel captured two merchant ships and sent them off with prize crews, three French ships attacked her. She drove two on shore and captured the largest, the 14-gun Ligurienne. The Navy converted Peterel to a receiving ship at Plymouth in 1811 and sold her in 1827.

Battle between Ligurienne and HMS Peterel, 30 Ventôse an VIII (21 March 1800). Aquatint by Antoine Roux.


1794 – Launch of HMS Jason, a 38-gun Artois-class fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy
HMS Jason was a 38-gun Artois-class fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She served during the French Revolutionary Wars, but her career came to an end after just four years in service when she struck an uncharted rock off Brest and sank on 13 October 1798. She had already had an eventful career, and was involved in several engagements with French vessels.

1836 – Texas schooner Invincible sinks the Mexican schooner Montezuma in the Battle of Matamoros, a naval engagement during the Texas Revolution
The Battle of Matamoros was a naval engagement during the Texas Revolution on April 3, 1836, between the brig Montezuma of the Mexican Navy and the schooner Invincible of the Texas Navy. The Mexican ship was outmaneuvered and repeatedly hit before running aground and being abandoned. The Port of Matamoros, also known as Los Brazos de Santiago, was the Mexican army's primary resupply base for the operations of General Santa Anna, who was finally defeated on April 21, 1836, outside Houston at the battle of San Jacinto.


1895 – Launch of SMS Ägir, the second and final member of the Odin class of coastal defense ships (Küstenpanzerschiffe) built for the Imperial German Navy.
SMS Ägir was the second and final member of the Odin class of coastal defense ships (Küstenpanzerschiffe) built for the Imperial German Navy. She had one sister ship, Odin. Ägir was named for the norse god, and was built by the Kaiserliche Werft Danzig shipyard between 1893 and 1896. She was armed with a main battery of three 24-centimeter (9.4 in) guns. She served in the German fleet throughout the 1890s and was rebuilt in 1901–1903. She served in the VI Battle Squadron after the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, but saw no action. Ägirwas demobilized in 1915 and used as a tender thereafter. After the war, she was rebuilt as a merchant ship and served in this capacity until December 1929, when she was wrecked on the island of Gotland.

Ägir sometime before 1904


1913 - Launch of SS Leviathan, originally built as Vaterland (meaning "Fatherland" in German), an ocean liner which regularly crossed the North Atlantic from 1914 to 1934
SS Leviathan, originally built as Vaterland (meaning "Fatherland" in German), was an ocean liner which regularly crossed the North Atlantic from 1914 to 1934. The second of three sister ships built for Germany's Hamburg America Line for their transatlantic passenger service, she sailed as Vaterland for less than a year before her early career was halted by the start of World War I. In 1917, she was seized by the U.S. government and renamed Leviathan. She would become known by this name for the majority of her career, both as a troopship during World War I and later as the flagship of the United States Lines.

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

4th of April

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Naval/Maritime History - 4th of April - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 2 April 1844 – Launch of HMS Daring, a 12 gun-brig of the Royal Navy which became part of the Experimental Squadrons of both 1844 and 1845 HMS Daring was a 12 gun-brig of the Royal Navy which became part of the Experimental Squadrons...

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1744 - Médée, a French frégate du deuxième ordre, a 26-gun frigate, was captured in the English Channel by HMS Dreadnought
Médée was a French frégate du deuxième ordre, or 26-gun frigate, built in 1740. She is widely considered to be the inspiration for a long line of similar sailing frigates, and was the first ship captured by the British Royal Navy in the War of the Austrian Succession. She became a privateer and was wrecked at St Ives, Cornwall, following a succession of gales in November 1745.
Médée was captured in the English Channel by HMS Dreadnought on 4 April 1744 (Julian calendar date) and briefly served as HMS Medea in the British Royal Navy. She was sold in March 1745, becoming the privateer Boscawen; named after Edward Boscawen, the Captain of Dreadnought. Although the Navy Board had the opportunity to purchase her, they decided not to retain her, in spite of her innovative design qualities; many French ships of the time were not designed for durability and she was not as strongly built as British frigates of that time. Despite this the number of guns she carried was increased, and when Boscawen encountered a series of gales after leaving the Azores on 5 October 1745 she sprung several leaks. She was further weakened when, through negligence, the mainyard parted and dropped onto the ship, straining the already weakened hull. In response to a near-mutinous crew, Commodore George Walker set a course for the Lizard and having been swept northwards she was a floating wreck when Land's End was sighted on 24 November. The ship finally hove to in St Ives Bayon the north Cornish coast. Her anchors had been ditched days before and she broke in two on rocks at St Ives with the townsfolk wading into the sea to save the crew. Only four crew were lost, Commodore Walker being the last man to leave the wreck.
Her speed and size provided the Bedford Board of Admiralty with the arguments needed to change British frigate design.

A View and Plan of the Hampton Court & Dreadnought Chaceing two French Ships of War, Jany the 7th 1744/5 (PAD5220)


1759 - HMS Achilles (60), Cptn. Hon. Samuel Barrington, took French privateer Le Comte de St. Florentine (60), Cptn. Sieur de Montay, off Cape Finisterre.
St Florentine was a 60-gun coast guard vessel in service in support of the French Navy during the early days of the Seven Years' War, before being captured by Britain in 1759 and commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS St Florentine.

The Capture of the Comte de St Florentine by HMS Achilles, 4 April 1759 (BHC0390)


1808 - The Action of 4 April 1808 was a naval engagement off the coast off Rota near Cadiz, Spain where Royal Naval frigates intercepted a large Spanish convoy protected by twenty gunboats and a train of batteries close to shore.
HMS Alceste (38), Cptn. Murray Maxwell, HMS Mercury (28), Cptn. James Alexander Gordon, and HMS Grasshopper (18), Thomas Searle, took 7 vessels and drove many others ashore at Rota.

HMS Mercury cutting out a French gunboat from Rovigno, 1 April 1809


1809 – Launch of HMS Aid, a Royal Navy transport ship, at Kings Lynn.
She was the name ship of a six-vessel class of purpose built storeships, the only vessels built as such during the Napoleonic Wars.
HMS Aid was a Royal Navy transport ship launched in 1809 at Kings Lynn. She was the name ship of a six-vessel class of purpose built storeships, the only vessels built as such during the Napoleonic Wars.
Ordered in 1808, she was built by Mr Thomas Brindley at King's Lynn, Norfolk.
She was converted to a survey ship between December 1816 and March 1817 at Sheerness. Commander William Henry Smyth commissioned her in January 1817.
On 14 September 1817, while under Smyth's command, she was at Lebida (Leptis Magna), together with HMS Weymouth. There they loaded columns, marbles, and other antiquities to bring back to England.
Aid renamed HMS Adventure in 1821.
As HMS Adventure the ship was deployed for five years between 1826 and 1830 in a survey of Patagonia, under the command of Captain Phillip King. The ship was accompanied by HMS Beagle, a slightly smaller vessel (90.3 ft in length), who was on her first of three major voyages. Adventure was sold in Plymouth by the Admiralty on 19 May 1853 for £750.

1810 - HMS Cuckoo Brig (4), Lt. Sam. Nisbett, wrecked on Haaks, off Texel.
HMS Cuckoo was a Royal Navy Cuckoo-class schooner of four 12-pounder carronades and a crew of 20. She was built by James Lovewell at Great Yarmouth and launched in 1806. Like many of her class and the related Ballahoo-class schooners, she succumbed to the perils of the sea relatively early in her career.

1814 – Launch of HMS Fury, a Hecla-class bomb vessel of the British Royal Navy.

Image depicting the Hecla along with the Fury, by Arthur Parsey, 1823

Inboard profile plan (ZAZ5688)


1840 – Launch of French Friedland, an Océan class 118-gun ship of the line of the French Navy

Launch of Friedland, by Antoine Chazal.


1848 – Launch of HMS Aboukir, a 90-gun Albion-class second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy
HMS Aboukir was a 90-gun second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy launched in 1848. The navy refitted her with screw propulsion in 1858 and sold her in 1877. A monument on Southsea seafront commemorates an outbreak of Yellow Fever between 1873 and 1874.

Scale: 1:48. A plan showing the half-stern elevation, stern-quarter elevation, and stern-quarter longitudinal half-breadth showing the disposition of the stern for 'Aboukir' (1848), a 90-gun Second Rate, two-decker; and 'Exmouth' (1854), prior to conversion to screw; and 'Princess Royal' (cancelled 1847), 'Algiers' (cancelled 1847), and 'Hannibal' (cancelled 1847) prior to being cancelled, all 90-gun Second Rates


1918 - The Action of 4 April 1918 was a naval action fought somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean during World War I.
An unidentified Kaiserliche Marine U-boat attacked three armed transports of the United States Army and Navy, but failed to damage the American ships before she was sunk.

1936 - Launch of USS Yorktown (CV-5), an aircraft carrier commissioned in the United States Navy from 1937 until she was sunk at the Battle of Midway in June 1942
USS Yorktown (CV-5) was an aircraft carrier commissioned in the United States Navy from 1937 until she was sunk at the Battle of Midway in June 1942. She was named after the Battle of Yorktown in 1781 and the lead ship of the Yorktown class which was designed after lessons learned from operations with the large converted battlecruiser Lexington class and the smaller purpose-built USS Ranger. She was sunk by Japanese submarine I-68 on 6 June 1942 during the Battle of Midway.

1939 – Launch of USS Wasp (CV-7), a United States Navy aircraft carrier commissioned in 1940 and lost in action in 1942
USS Wasp (CV-7) was a United States Navy aircraft carrier commissioned in 1940 and lost in action in 1942. She was the eighth ship named USS Wasp, and the sole ship of a class built to use up the remaining tonnage allowed to the U.S. for aircraft carriers under the treaties of the time. As a reduced-size version of the Yorktown-class aircraft carrier hull, Wasp was more vulnerable than other United States aircraft carriers available at the opening of hostilities. Wasp was initially employed in the Atlantic campaign, where Axis naval forces were perceived as less capable of inflicting decisive damage. After supporting the occupation of Iceland in 1941, Wasp joined the British Home Fleet in April 1942 and twice ferried British fighter aircraft to Malta.

Wasp was the first carrier fitted with a deck-edge elevator.


1941 - German auxiliary cruiser Thor sinks British armed merchant cruiser HMS Voltaire in an engagement 1,200 kilometres (650 nmi) off the Cape Verde islands.
The Action of 4 April 1941 was a naval battle fought during the Atlantic Campaign of the Second World War. A German commerce raider encountered a British auxiliary cruiser and sank her with heavy losses after an hour of fighting.

1953 - TCG Dumlupınar – the submarine sank with all hands after colliding with the Swedish freighter Naboland in the Dardanelles.
USS Blower (SS-325), a Balao-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy that was later transferred to the Turkish Naval Forces in 1950 under the Mutual Defense Assistance Program, where she was recommissioned as the second TCG Dumlupınar. She sank after an accident off the coast of Turkey following a joint NATO training exercise on April 4, 1953.

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

5th of April

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Naval/Maritime History - 5th of April - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 4 April 1809 – Launch of HMS Aid, a Royal Navy transport ship, at Kings Lynn. She was the name ship of a six-vessel class of purpose built storeships, the only vessels built as such during the Napoleonic Wars. HMS Aid was a Royal...

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1769 – Birth of Sir Thomas Hardy, 1st Baronet, English admiral (d. 1839)
Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy, 1st Baronet, GCB (5 April 1769 – 20 September 1839) was a Royal Navy officer. He took part in the Battle of Cape St Vincent in February 1797, the Battle of the Nile in August 1798 and the Battle of Copenhagen in April 1801 during the French Revolutionary Wars. He served as flag captain to Admiral Lord Nelson, and commanded HMS Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805 during the Napoleonic Wars. Nelson was shot as he paced the decks with Hardy, and as he lay dying, Nelson's famous remark of "Kiss me, Hardy" was directed at him. Hardy went on to become First Naval Lord in November 1830 and in that capacity refused to become a Member of Parliament and encouraged the introduction of steam warships.



1797 – Launch of HMS Crash, a 12-gun Acute-class gun-brig. She was launched as GB No. 15 and received the name Crash in August
HMS Crash was a 12-gun Acute-class gun-brig. She was launched in April 1797 as GB No. 15 and received the name Crash in August. She served against the French and Dutch in the Napoleonic Wars, though after her capture in 1798 she spent a year in the service of the Batavian republic before the British recaptured her. She was sold in 1802.

1806 – Launch of French La Vénus, a Junon-class frigate of the French Navy. She was captured in 1810 by the Royal Navy and taken into British service as HMS Nereide

1806 – Launch of French Manche, a 40-gun Hortense-class frigate of the French Navy, originally named Département de la Manche, but the name was immediately shortened to Manche around the time of her launch in April 1806.
Manche was a 40-gun Hortense-class frigate of the French Navy, originally named Département de la Manche, but the name was immediately shortened to Manche around the time of her launch in April 1806.
She took part in operations in the Mauritius campaign of 1809–1811 under Captain François-Désiré Breton.

Hortense, sister-ship of Manche


1814 – Launch of HMS Menai, a Conway class sailing sixth rates were a series of ten Royal Navy post ships built to an 1812 design by Sir William Rule.
The Conway class sailing sixth rates were a series of ten Royal Navy post ships built to an 1812 design by Sir William Rule. All ten were ordered on 18 January 1812, and nine of these were launched during 1814, at the end of the Napoleonic War; the last (Tees) was delayed and was launched in 1817.
These ships were originally designated as "sloops", but were nominally rated as sixth rates of 20 guns when built, as their 12-pounder carronades were not included in the official rating. When this changed in February 1817, they were rated at 28 guns.

1848 – Launch of HMS Enterprise, an Arctic discovery ship laid down as a merchant vessel and purchased in 1848 before launch to search for Sir John Franklin's lost expedition
HMS Enterprise was an Arctic discovery ship laid down as a merchant vessel and purchased in 1848 before launch to search for Sir John Franklin's lost expedition. She made two Arctic voyages before becoming a coal depot, and was finally sold in 1903. She was the tenth Enterprise (or Enterprize) to serve in the Royal Navy.

HMS Enterprise (left) and HMS Investigator (right)


1848 – Launch of HMS Arrogant, an early wood screw frigate of the Royal Navy, launched in 1848 and sold in 1867.
HMS Arrogant was an early wood screw frigate of the Royal Navy, launched in 1848 and sold in 1867. During the period of 1848–1850 she was commanded by Captain Robert FitzRoy.

1851 - Launch of Witch of the Wave, a long-lived extreme clipper in the California trade,
Witch of the Wave was a long-lived extreme clipper in the California trade, with a sailing life of over 34 years. She held the record passage from Calcutta to Boston.

1939 – Launch of HMS Illustrious, the lead ship of her class of aircraft carriers built for the Royal Navy before World War II.
HMS Illustrious was the lead ship of her class of aircraft carriers built for the Royal Navy before World War II. Her first assignment after completion and working up was with the Mediterranean Fleet, in which her aircraft's most notable achievement was sinking one Italian battleship and badly damaging two others during the Battle of Taranto in late 1940. Two months later the carrier was crippled by German dive bombers and was repaired in the United States. After sustaining damage on the voyage home in late 1941 by a collision with her sister ship Formidable, Illustrious was sent to the Indian Ocean in early 1942 to support the invasion of Vichy French Madagascar (Operation Ironclad). After returning home in early 1943, the ship was given a lengthy refit and briefly assigned to the Home Fleet. She was transferred to Force H for the Battle of Salerno in mid-1943 and then rejoined the Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean at the beginning of 1944. Her aircraft attacked several targets in the Japanese-occupied Dutch East Indies over the following year before Illustrious was transferred to the newly formed British Pacific Fleet (BPF). The carrier participated in the early stages of the Battle of Okinawa until mechanical defects arising from accumulated battle damage became so severe that she was ordered home early for repairs in May 1945.

1942 – World War II: The Imperial Japanese Navy launches a carrier-based air attack on Colombo, Ceylon during the Indian Ocean raid.
Port and civilian facilities are damaged and the Royal Navy cruisers HMS Cornwall and HMS Dorsetshire are sunk southwest of the island.
The Easter Sunday Raid (or Battle of Ceylon) was an air attack by carrier-based aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy against Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), on Easter Sunday, 5 April 1942, during the South-East Asian theatre of World War II. This attack was part of the Indian Ocean Raid, and was followed a few days later by a similar attack on Trincomalee. The targets were British warships, harbour installations, and air bases; the object was to disrupt the war effort of British Commonwealth nations and force the British Eastern Fleet to leave Asian waters.

1958 - The top of Ripple Rock, an underwater mountain that had two peaks (9 feet and 21 feet below the surface) in the Seymour Narrows of the Discovery Passage in British Columbia, Canada, was removed by a planned explosion
This is a National Historic Event in Canada.
Ripple Rock is an underwater mountain that had two peaks (9 feet and 21 feet below the surface) in the Seymour Narrows of the Discovery Passage in British Columbia, Canada, a part of the marine trade route from Vancouver and coastal points north. The nearest town is Campbell River. Only 2.7 metres (9 feet) underwater at low tide, it was a marine hazard in what the explorer George Vancouver described as "one of the vilest stretches of water in the world." The hazard was not only hitting the rock but also big, dangerous eddies caused by tidal currents round the rock. Ships using the strait preferred to wait until slack tide.

The moment of the explosion from a hilltop.

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

6th of April

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Naval/Maritime History - 6th of April - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 5 April 1939 – Launch of HMS Illustrious, the lead ship of her class of aircraft carriers built for the Royal Navy before World War II. HMS Illustrious was the lead ship of her class of aircraft carriers built for the Royal Navy...

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1707 - Death of Willem van de Velde the Younger
Willem van de Velde the Younger (bapt. 18 December 1633; died 6 April 1707) was a Dutch marine painter.
Willem van de Velde was baptised on 18 December 1633 in Leiden, Holland, Dutch Republic.
A son of Willem van de Velde the Elder, also a painter of sea-pieces, Willem van de Velde, the younger, was instructed by his father, and afterwards by Simon de Vlieger, a marine painter of repute at the time, and had achieved great celebrity by his art before he came to London. By 1673 he had moved to England, where he was engaged by Charles II, at a salary of £100, to aid his father in "taking and making draughts of sea-fights", his part of the work being to reproduce in color the drawings of the elder Van de Velde. He was also patronized by the Duke of York and by various members of the nobility.
He died on 6 April 1707 in London, England, and was buried at St James's Church, Piccadilly. A memorial to him and his father lies within the church.

1716 – Re-Launch of HMS Panther, a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Deptford Dockyard and originally launched on 15 March 1703

1776 - The Battle of Block Island was a naval skirmish which took place in the waters off Rhode Island during the American Revolutionary War.
The Continental Navy Squadron, commanded by Commodore Esek Hopkins, is attacked by the British frigate HMS Glasgow and her tender while entering Long Island Sound.
The Battle of Block Island was a naval skirmish which took place in the waters off Rhode Island during the American Revolutionary War. The Continental Navy under the command of Commodore Esek Hopkins was returning from a successful raid on Nassau when it encountered HMS Glasgow, a Royal Navy dispatch boat.
Glasgow escaped from the fleet of seven ships, although it sustained significant damage, and the battle is considered a victory for the British. Several captains of the Continental fleet were criticized for their actions during the battle, and one was eventually dismissed as a result. Commodore Hopkins was criticized for other actions pertaining to the cruise, including the distribution of seized goods, and was also dismissed.

1799 – Launch of French Infatigable, a 40-gun Valeureuse-class frigate of the French Navy, at Le Havre
Infatigable was a 40-gun Valeureuse-class frigate of the French Navy, launched at Le Havre in 1799. She took part in Allemand's expedition of 1805. The British Royal Navy captured her in 1806. She was taken into the Royal Navy but never used and she was broken up in 1811.

1814 – Launch of HMS Alpheus, a Scamander class sailing frigates were a series of ten 36-gun ships, all built by contract with private shipbuilders to an 1812 design by Sir William Rule
The Scamander class sailing frigates were a series of ten 36-gun ships, all built by contract with private shipbuilders to an 1812 design by Sir William Rule, which served in the Royal Navy during the late Napoleonic War and War of 1812.
They were all built of "fir" (actually, pine), selected as a stop-gap measure because of the urgent need to build ships quickly, with the Navy Board supplying red pine timber to the contractors from dockyard stocks for the first seven ships. The last three were built of yellow pine. While quick to build, the material was not expected to last as long as oak-built ships, and indeed all were deleted by 1819, except the Tagus which lasted to 1822.

1827 - April 6 and 7 Monte Santiago - Brazilian fleet defeat Argentine navy under William Brown south of Buenos Aires
The naval Battle of Monte Santiago was fought on 7–8 April 1827, between the Argentine Navy and Brazilian Imperial Navy, during the Cisplatine War. It was a decisive Brazilian victory, with the allied forces losing its best ships. The battle is highlighted by Argentine historians as one of the most courageous and ferocious naval encounters in the country's history. On that day, Sgt. Mayor Francis Drummond (engaged to Admiral Brown's daughter Elisa) died on deck, firing his marooned ship's cannons instead of retreating.
Despite the balanced result of the battle, and the fact that it did not change the status quo in the River Plate, it still represented a severe setback for the smaller Argentine Navy. From that moment on, only corsair raids against commerce ships could be undertaken by the Argentine Navy; and the Naval blockade posed grave problems to the export oriented Argentine economy.

Batalla de Monte Santiago (Guerra del Brasil)


1833 – Launch of HMS Vestal, a 26-gun Vestal-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was built to a design by Sir William Symonds and was launched in 1833.
On her maiden voyage she departed for the West Indies on 19 October 1833 and arrived in Barbados on 3 December of that year. In October 1835 Vestal seized the Spanish slave ship Amalia. This was to a regular part of her Caribbean duties. During 1838 and 1839 she was in Havana protecting British interests off the coast of Mexico. During the following years she visited Canada, Jamaica, the United States, Argentina and Tasmania.
On 26 August 1852, Vestal ran aground on the Hemstead Ledge, west of The Needles, Isle of Wight whilst on a voyage from Portsmouth, Hampshire]] to the West Indies. After throwing her guns overboard, she was refloated and taken back to Portsmouth for inspection and repair. She was decommissioned in 1860; and broken up in 1862.

1871 – Launch of Livonia was the second, unsuccessful, challenger attempting to lift the America's Cup from the New York Yacht Club.
Livonia was the second, unsuccessful, challenger attempting to lift the America's Cup from the New York Yacht Club.

1917 - SMS Geier, an unprotected cruiser of the Bussard class built for the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine), seized by US Navy in Honolulu after USA entered into the war.
SMS Geier ("His Majesty's Ship Vulture") was an unprotected cruiser of the Bussard class built for the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine). She was laid down in 1893 at the Imperial Dockyard in Wilhelmshaven, launched in October 1894, and commissioned into the fleet a year later in October 1895. Designed for service in Germany's overseas colonies, the ship required the comparatively heavy armament of eight 10.5 cm (4.1 in) SK L/35 guns and a long cruising radius. She had a top speed of 15.5 kn (28.7 km/h; 17.8 mph).

1919 - SMS Vulkan, a U-boat salvage tug in the Kaiserliche Marine laid down in 1907 and commissioned 1908, sunk
SMS Vulkan was a U-boat salvage tug in the Kaiserliche Marine laid down in 1907 and commissioned 1908. The ship displaced 1595 tons and had a top speed of 12 knots.

Vulkan during construction

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

7th of April

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Naval/Maritime History - 7th of April - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 5 April 1939 – Launch of HMS Illustrious, the lead ship of her class of aircraft carriers built for the Royal Navy before World War II. HMS Illustrious was the lead ship of her class of aircraft carriers built for the Royal Navy...

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1694 - the French privateer Entreprenante, commissioned in 1693 at Brest, was captured by HMS Ruby and that the British Royal Navy named Ruby Prize (or Ruby's Prize)
Ruby Prize was the French privateer Entreprenante, commissioned in 1693 at Brest, that HMS Ruby captured in 1694 and that the British Royal Navy named Ruby Prize (or Ruby's Prize), and sold in 1698. Her new owners renamed her Ruby and she left the Downs in 1699 on a voyage to Persia for the EIC. She was lost with all hands later that year at Mayota.


1757 – Launch of HMS Lizard, a 28-gun Coventry-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy, in service from 1757 to 1828. Named after the Lizard, a peninsula in southern Cornwall,
HMS Lizard was a 28-gun Coventry-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy, in service from 1757 to 1828. Named after the Lizard, a peninsula in southern Cornwall, she was a broad-beamed and sturdy vessel designed for lengthy periods at sea. Her crewing complement was 200 and, when fully equipped, she was armed with 24 nine-pounder cannons, supported by four three-pounders and twelve 1⁄2-pounder swivel guns. Despite her sturdy build, she was plagued with maintenance problems and had to be repeatedly removed from service for repair.

1765 - Launch of Artésien (“Artesian”) was a 64-gun ship of the line
Artésien (“Artesian”) was a 64-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, lead ship of her class. She was funded by a don des vaisseaux donation from the Estates of Artois.
From ancre is a wonderful monographie available, written by Jacques FICHANT
https://ancre.fr/en/monograph/48-monographie-de-l-artesien-vaisseau-64-canons-1764.html

1776 - The Continental brig USS Lexington, commanded by John Barry, captures the British sloop tender Edward near the Virginia Capes after a fierce fight that takes nearly an hour.

1814 - Régulus, a Téméraire-class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, was scuttled by fire near Meschers-sur-Gironde to avoid capture by the British vessels HMS Egmont and HMS Centaur.

The French Régulus under attack by British fireships, during the evening of 11 August 1809. Drawing by Louis-Philippe Crépin.


1875 – Launch of HMS Alexandra, a central battery ironclad of the Victorian Royal Navy, whose seagoing career was from 1877 to 1900.
HMS Alexandra was a central battery ironclad of the Victorian Royal Navy, whose seagoing career was from 1877 to 1900. She spent much of her career as a flagship, and took part in operations to deter Russian aggression against Turkey in 1878 and the bombardment of Alexandria in 1882.

1898 – Launch of HMS Hermes, a Highflyer-class protected cruiser built for the Royal Navy in the 1890s
HMS Hermes was a Highflyer-class protected cruiser built for the Royal Navy in the 1890s. She spent much of her early career as flagship for various foreign stations before returning home in 1913 to be assigned to the reserve Third Fleet. The ship was modified later that year as the first experimental seaplane carrier in the Royal Navy. In that year's annual fleet manoeuvers, she was used to evaluate how aircraft could cooperate with the fleet and if aircraft could be operated successfully at sea for an extended time. The trials were a success and Hermes was paid off in December at their conclusion. She was recommissioned at the beginning of World War I in August 1914 for service as an aircraft ferry and depot ship for the Royal Naval Air Service. She was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine in the Straits of Dover that October, with the loss of 44 lives.

1910 – Launch of SMS Moltke, the lead ship of the Moltke-class battlecruisers of the German Imperial Navy, named after the 19th-century German Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke.
SMS Moltke was the lead ship of the Moltke-class battlecruisers of the German Imperial Navy, named after the 19th-century German Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke. Commissioned on 30 September 1911, the ship was the second battlecruiser commissioned into the Imperial Navy.

Moltke visiting Hampton Roads, Virginia in 1912


1945 - Fast Carrier Task Force 58 aircraft attack the Japanese First Diversion Attack Force, sinking Japanese battleship Yamato and light cruiser Yahagi west-southwest of Kagoshima, Japan, as well as sinking four Japanese destroyers and damaging four others in the East China Sea.
Operation Ten-Go (天號作戰 (Kyūjitai) or 天号作戦 (Shinjitai) Ten-gō Sakusen) was a Japanese naval operation plan in 1945, consisting of four likely scenarios. Its first scenario, Operation Heaven One (or Ten-ichi-gō 天一号) became the last major Japanese naval operation in the Pacific Theater of World War II. The resulting engagement is also known as the Battle of the East China Sea.
In April 1945, the Japanese battleship Yamato (the largest battleship in the world), along with nine other Japanese warships, embarked from Japan on a deliberate suicide attack upon Allied forces engaged in the Battle of Okinawa. The Japanese force was attacked, stopped, and almost destroyed by United States carrier-borne aircraft before reaching Okinawa. Yamato and five other Japanese warships were sunk.
The battle demonstrated U.S. air supremacy in the Pacific theater by this stage in the war and the vulnerability of surface ships without air cover to aerial attack. The battle also exhibited Japan's willingness to sacrifice entire ships, even the pride of its fleet, in desperate kamikaze attacks aimed at slowing the Allied advance on the Japanese home islands.

Yamato moments after exploding.


1945 - Yamato, the largest battleship ever built, was sunk by torpedo planes from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet and others.
280 of Yamato's 2,778 crew were rescued.
This was the greatest loss of life in a single warship in World War II.
Yamato (大和) was the lead ship of her class of battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) shortly before World War II. She and her sister ship, Musashi, were the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleships ever constructed, displacing 72,800 tonnes at full load and armed with nine 46 cm (18.1 in) Type 94 main guns, which were the largest guns ever mounted on a warship.
Named after the ancient Japanese Yamato Province, Yamato was designed to counter the numerically superior battleship fleet of the United States, Japan's main rival in the Pacific. She was laid down in 1937 and formally commissioned a week after the Pearl Harbor attack in late 1941. Throughout 1942, she served as the flagship of the Combined Fleet, and in June 1942 Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto directed the fleet from her bridge during the Battle of Midway, a disastrous defeat for Japan. Musashi took over as the Combined Fleet flagship in early 1943, and Yamato spent the rest of the year, and much of 1944, moving between the major Japanese naval bases of Truk and Kure in response to American threats. Although present at the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June 1944, she played no part in the battle.
The only time Yamato fired her main guns at enemy surface targets was in October 1944, when she was sent to engage American forces invading the Philippines during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. On the verge of success, the Japanese force turned back, believing they were engaging an entire US carrier fleet rather than a light escort carrier group that was all which stood between the battleship and vulnerable troop transports.
During 1944, the balance of naval power in the Pacific decisively turned against Japan, and by early 1945, its fleet was much depleted and badly hobbled by critical fuel shortages in the home islands. In a desperate attempt to slow the Allied advance, Yamato was dispatched on a one-way mission to Okinawa in April 1945, with orders to beach herself and fight until destroyed protecting the island. The task force was spotted south of Kyushu by US submarines and aircraft, and on 7 April 1945 she was sunk by American carrier-based bombers and torpedo bombers with the loss of most of her crew.

Yamato running machinery trials off Bungo Strait (outside Sukumo Bay) on 20 October 1941

1989 - K-278 Komsomolets - the Soviet Mike-class nuclear submarine sank in the Barents Sea with the loss of 42 of her 67 crew following an onboard fire.
K-278 Komsomolets was the only Project 685 Plavnik (Плавник, meaning "fin", also known by its NATO reporting name of "Mike"-class) nuclear-powered attack submarine of the Soviet Navy. On 4 August 1984 K-278 reached a record submergence depth of 1,020 metres (3,350 feet) in the Norwegian Sea. The boat sank in 1989 and is currently resting on the floor of the Barents Sea, one mile deep, with its nuclear reactor and two nuclear warheads still on board. The single Project 685 was developed to test technologies for Soviet 4th generation nuclear submarines. Although primarily intended as a developmental model, it was fully combat capable, but sank after a fire broke out in the aft engineering compartment on its first operational patrol.
The Komsomolets was able to surface after the fire started and remained afloat for approximately 5 hours before sinking. Of the 42 crewmembers who died, only 4 were killed by the fire and smoke, while 34 died of hypothermia and drowning in the frigid waters while awaiting rescue that did not arrive in time. Because of this shocking loss of life a very public enquiry was conducted and, as a result, many formerly classified details were revealed by the Soviet news media.

1990 – A fire breaks out on the passenger ferry Scandinavian Star, killing 159 people.
MS Scandinavian Star, originally named MS Massalia, was a car and passenger ferry built in France in 1971. The ship was set on fire in April 1990, killing 159 people, and the official investigation blamed the fires on a convicted arsonist, who died in the fire. This finding has since been disputed.

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

8th of April

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Naval/Maritime History - 8th of April - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 7 April 1765 - Launch of Artésien (“Artesian”) was a 64-gun ship of the line Artésien (“Artesian”) was a 64-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, lead ship of her class. She was funded by a...

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1681 - HMS Nonsuch (42) and HMS Adventure (34), Cptn. William Booth, capture Algerine warship Golden Horse (46).
HMS Nonsuch was a 36-gun fifth rate of the Royal Navy. She was an experimental fast-sailing design, built by the renowned shipwright Anthony Deane according to proposals by the Dutch naval officer Laurens van Heemskirk, who became her first captain. She was launched in December 1668, and commissioned the same day under van Heemskirk. In 1669 she was reclassed as a 42-gun Fourth rate, being commanded from 9 April by Captain Sir John Holmes. She was to spend most of her career in the Mediterranean. She was for a time based on Tangier, and was commanded by a succession of accomplished commanders who subsequently rose to flag rank in the Navy, including George Rooke from 1677 to 1680, then briefly under Cloudesley Shovell, and then Francis Wheler from 1680 to 1681. Under Wheler's command, she participated on 9 April 1681 in the capture of the Algerine 46-gun Golden Horse, along with the Fourth rate Adventure.

1697 – Death of Niels Juel, Norwegian-Danish admiral (b. 1629)
Niels Juel (8 May 1629 – 8 April 1697) was a Danish-Norwegian admiral and a Danish naval hero. He served as supreme command of the Royal Danish Navy during the late 17th century and oversaw development of the Danish Navy



1740 - The Action of 8 April 1740
British squadron of HMS Lennox (70), Cptn. Colvill Mayne, HMS Kent (70), Cptn. Durell, and HMS Orford (70), Cptn. Lord Augustus FitzRoy, captured Spanish Princesa (64), Don Parlo Augustino de Gera, off Cape Finisterre
The Action of 8 April 1740 was a battle between the Spanish third rate Princesa (nominally rated at 70 guns, but carrying 64) under the command of Don Parlo Augustino de Gera, and a squadron consisting of three British 70-gun third rates; HMS Kent, HMS Lenox and HMS Orford, under the command of Captain Colvill Mayne of Lenox. The Spanish ship was chased down and captured by the three British ships, after which she was acquired for service by the Royal Navy.

The 70-gun Spanish ship of the line Princesa in battle with HMS Lenox, Kent and Oxford, 8 April 1740 Museo Naval de Madrid


1758 - Launch of HMS Warspite at Deptford And Launch of HMS Lenox at Chatham Dockyard,
both 74-gun Dublin class third rate ship of the line
HMS Warspite was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line (a new class of two-decker that formed the backbone of British fleets) of the Royal Navy, launched on 8 April 1758 at Deptford.
Her first service in the Seven Years' War against France was as one of Admiral Edward Boscawen's 14 ships in the Mediterranean, and on 19 August 1759 she took part in the Battle of Lagos, where she captured the French Téméraire. Warspite also participated in the Battle of Quiberon Bay under Admiral Sir Edward Hawke.
After the signing of the Treaty of Paris she was paid off on 5 May 1763, reappearing as a hospital ship during the American Revolutionary War (1775–83).
She was employed on harbour service from 1778. She was renamed Arundel in March 1800, and was eventually broken up at Portsmouth Dockyard in November 1801.

1777 – Launch of HMS Zebra, the first ship to bear the name in the British Navy. She was a 14 gun ship sloop of the Swan class,
HMS Zebra was the first ship to bear the name in the British Navy. She was a 14 gun ship sloop of the Swan class, launched on 8 April 1777. She was abandoned and blown up after going aground on 22 October 1778 at Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey, during the American Revolutionary War after only one year in service.

1782 - The Battle of Delaware Bay, or the Battle of Cape May,
was a naval engagement fought between the Kingdom of Great Britain and United States during the American Revolutionary War.
Pennsylvania privateer Hyder Ally captures HMS General Monk
The Battle of Delaware Bay, or the Battle of Cape May, was a naval engagement fought between the Kingdom of Great Britain and United States during the American Revolutionary War. A British squadron of three vessels attacked three American privateers, that were escorting a fleet of merchantmen. The ensuing combat in Delaware Bay, near Cape May, ended with an American victory over a superior British force.

1789 – Launch of spanish Descubierta and Atrevida, twin corvettes of the Spanish Navy, custom-designed as identical special exploration and scientific research vessels .
The Descubierta and Atrevida were twin corvettes of the Spanish Navy, custom-designed as identical special exploration and scientific research vessels . Both ships were built at the same time for the Malaspina Expedition. Under the command of Alessandro Malaspina (Descubierta) and José de Bustamante y Guerra (Atrevida) the two vessels sailed from Spain to the Pacific Ocean, conducting a thorough examination of the internal politics of the American Spanish Empire and the Philippines. They explored the coast of Alaska and worked to reinforce Spain's claim to the Pacific Northwest in the aftermath of the Nootka Crisis. After crossing the Pacific Ocean, the government in the Philippines examined. Exploration and diplomatic reconnaissance followed, with stops in China, New Zealand, Australia, and Tonga.

1807 – Launch of Charlemagne, a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, part of the shorter Borée subtype.
Charlemagne was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, part of the shorter Borée subtype.

Launch of Charlemagne before Napoléon.


1822 – Launch of HMS Bramble, a 161-ton, 10-gun cutter, from Plymouth Dockyard.
HMS Bramble was a 161-ton, 10-gun cutter launched on 8 April 1822 from Plymouth Dockyard.

1909 - SS Mahratta, a steamship owned by Brocklebank Line which was launched in 1891, ran aground on the Goodwin Sands in 1909. One member of the crew committed suicide.
SS Mahratta was a steamship owned by Brocklebank Line which was launched in 1891 and ran aground on the Goodwin Sands in 1909. One member of the crew committed suicide.
SS Mahratta was launched on 19 November 1891. Its name is an old spelling of Maratha. In 1900 she served as a troopship in connection with the Boer War.

1940 - the German troopship Rio de Janeiro was torpedoed and sunk by the Polish submarine ORP Orzeł off Lillesand. About 180 survived the sinking with roughly 200 being killed.
MS Rio de Janeiro was a German steam ship and a cargo ship, owned by the shipping company Hamburg Süd and home ported in Stettin. She was launched on 3 April 1914 as Santa Ines and later renamed Rio de Janeiro. Before World War II she carried passengers and freight between Germany and South America.
She was requisitioned by Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine for transportation of troops on 7 March 1940, before Operation Weserübung, the invasion of Norway and Denmark, began on 9 April 1940

1961 - Persian Gulf: British Oceanliner "Dora" exploded; 236 people died
The MV Dara was a Dubai-based passenger liner, built by a shipyard in Glasgow, Scotland in 1948. The 120 metre, four-decked vessel travelled mostly between the Persian Gulf and the Indian subcontinent, carrying expatriate passengers who were employed in the Gulf.
Dara sank in the Persian Gulf on 8 April 1961, as a result of a powerful explosion that caused the deaths of 238 of the 819 persons on board at the time of the voyage, including 19 officers and 113 crew. Another 565 persons were rescued during an operation by a British Army tank landing craft, a number of ships of the Royal Navy, and several British and foreign merchant ships.

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

9th of April

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Naval/Maritime History - 9th of April - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 8 April 1807 – Launch of Charlemagne, a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, part of the shorter Borée subtype. Charlemagne was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, part of the shorter...

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1782 - The Battle of the Saintes (known to the French as the Bataille de la Dominique), or Battle of Dominica,
was an important naval battle in the Caribbean between the British and the French that took place 9 April 1782 – 12 April 1782, during the American Revolutionary War.
British under Rodney decisively defeat French under de Grasse in the West Indies

The Battle of the Saintes (known to the French as the Bataille de la Dominique), or Battle of Dominica, was an important naval battle in the Caribbean between the British and the French that took place 9 April 1782 – 12 April 1782, during the American Revolutionary War.[1] The British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney defeated a French fleet under the Comte de Grasse, forcing the French and Spanish to abandon a planned invasion of Jamaica.[5]
The battle is named after the Saintes (or Saints), a group of islands between Guadeloupe and Dominica in the West Indies. The French fleet had the year before blockaded the British Army at Chesapeake Bay during the Siege of Yorktown and supported the eventual American victory in their revolution.
The French suffered heavy casualties at the Saintes and many were taken prisoner, including the admiral, Comte de Grasse. Four French ships of the line were captured (including the flagship) and one was destroyed. Rodney was credited with pioneering the tactic of "breaking the line" in the battle, though this is disputed.

The end of the César, by François Aimé Louis Dumoulin

The view from Lady Juliana on the morning after the hurricane, featuring Glorieux along with HMS Centaur and HMS Ville de Paris


1796 – Launch of HMS Ardent, a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, at Northfleet.
HMS Ardent was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 9 April 1796 at Northfleet. She had been designed and laid down for the British East India Company who was going to name her Princess Royal, but the Navy purchased her before launching, for service as a warship in the French Revolutionary War.

1799 - HMS San Fiorenzo (38), and HMS Amelia (38), engaged three French frigates, Cornelie, Vengeance and Semillante, off Belle Isle.
On 9 April 1799, after reconnoitering two French frigates in L'Orient, St Fiorenzo and HMS Amelia sailed towards Belle Île. Conditions were hazy and although Neale had sighted some vessels, it was only when he had passed the island that he discovered three French frigates and a large gun vessel. At that instant a sudden squall carried away Amelia's main-top-mast and fore and mizzen top-gallant masts; the fall of the main-top-mast tore away much of the mainsail from the yard. Neale shortened St Fiorenzo's sail and ordered Amelia to keep close to St Fiorenzo to maintain the weather gage, and to prepare for battle. An action commenced but the French vessels avoided close-quarter action and, although the British ships came under fire from shore batteries, they had to bear down on the French three times to engage them. After nearly two hours the French wore ship and sailed away to take refuge in the Loire, with the gun-vessel returning to Belle Île.
Amelia lost two killed and 17 wounded in the engagement. St Fiorenzo lost one man killed and eighteen wounded.
That evening St Fiorenzo captured a French brig and learned that the French frigates were the Vengeance, Sémillante and Cornélie. The British further learned that Cornélie had lost some 100 men dead and wounded, with one of the wounded being her commodore. Later reports mentioned that Captain Caro of Vengeance had been mortally wounded and that Sémillante had 15 dead.

1807 – Launch of French Commerce de Lyon, a Téméraire-class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy

1868 – Launch of French ironclad Atalante, a wooden-hulled armored corvette built for the French Navy in the mid-1860s.
The French ironclad Atalante was a wooden-hulled armored corvette built for the French Navy in the mid-1860s. She played a minor role in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, bombarded Vietnamese forts during the Battle of Thuận An in 1884 and participated in the Sino-French War of 1884–85. Atalante was reduced to reserve in Saigon in 1885 and sank there two years later after having been condemned.

1887 – Launch of HMS Victoria, the lead ship in her class of two battleships of the Royal Navy.
On 22 June 1893, she collided with HMS Camperdown near Tripoli, Lebanon, during manoeuvres and quickly sank, killing 358 crew members, including the commander of the British Mediterranean Fleet, Vice-Admiral Sir George Tryon.
HMS Victoria was the lead ship in her class of two battleships of the Royal Navy. On 22 June 1893, she collided with HMS Camperdown near Tripoli, Lebanon, during manoeuvres and quickly sank, killing 358 crew members, including the commander of the British Mediterranean Fleet, Vice-Admiral Sir George Tryon. One of the survivors was executive officer John Jellicoe, later commander-in-chief of the British Grand Fleet at the Battle of Jutland.

Victoria sinking after the collision, taken from HMS Collingwood. HMS Nile on the left.


1906 – Launch of French Ernest Renan, an armored cruiser built for the French Navy in the first decade of the 20th century.
Ernest Renan was an armored cruiser built for the French Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, she participated in the hunt for the German battlecruiser SMS Goeben and then joined the blockade of the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the Adriatic. She took part in the Battle of Antivari later in August, and the seizure of Corfu in January 1916, but saw no further action during the war. After the war, the British and French intervened in the Russian Civil War; this included a major naval deployment to the Black Sea, which included Ernest Renan. She served as a training ship in the late 1920s before she was sunk as a target ship in the 1930s.

1910 – Launch of HMS Colossus, the lead ship of her class of two dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy at the end of the first decade of the 20th century.
HMS Colossus was the lead ship of her class of two dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy at the end of the first decade of the 20th century. She spent her whole career assigned to the Home and Grand Fleets, often serving as a flagship. Aside from participating in the Battle of Jutland in May 1916 and the inconclusive Action of 19 August, her service during World War I generally consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea. Colossus was the only dreadnought from the main body of the Grand Fleet to be hit during the Battle of Jutland, although she suffered only minor damage.[1] The ship was deemed obsolete after the war and was reduced to reserve and then became a training ship. Colossus was hulked in 1923 and sold for scrap in 1928.

1914 – Mexican Revolution: One of the world's first naval/air skirmishes takes place off the coast of western Mexico.
The Action of 9 April 1914 was an important turning point in naval and aviation history. On the said date one of the first naval/air skirmishes took place.
The Action of 9 April 1914 was an important turning point in naval and aviation history. On the said date one of the first naval/air skirmishes took place. This engagement took place off the coast of western Mexicoduring the Mexican Revolution. The action was part of the naval campaign off Topolobampo at the edge of the Gulf of California. A Constitutionalist biplane dropped bombs on two Huertista gunboats; they all missed.

Captain Camina and his biplane which attacked Guerrero and Morelos in Topolobampo Bay


1940 – Launch of HMS Howe (pennant number 32), the last of the five British King George V-class battleships of the Royal Navy. Built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company,
HMS Howe (pennant number 32) was the last of the five British King George V-class battleships of the Royal Navy. Built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, she was laid down on 1 June 1937 and launched 9 April 1940. She was originally to have been named Beatty but this was changed to Howe, after Admiral Richard Howe. Howe was completed on 29 August 1942 after her building time was extended, as needed war supplies were diverted to work of a higher priority such as the construction and repair of both merchant ships and escort ships. Like her sister-ship Anson, Howe spent most of her career in the Arctic providing cover for Russian convoys.
In 1943 Howe took part in Operation Husky and bombarded Trapani naval base and Favignana in support of the allied invasions. Along with King George V, Howe escorted two surrendered Italian battleships to Alexandria. Howe was also sent to the Pacific and attached to Task Force 113, where she provided naval bombardments for the Allied landings at Okinawa on 1 April 1945.
Following the end of the war, Howe spent four years as flagship of the Training Squadron at Portland, before she was placed in reserve in 1950. The battleship was marked for disposal in 1957, sold for scrap in 1958, and completely broken up by 1961.

1940 - The Action off Lofoten was a naval battle fought between the German Kriegsmarine and the British Royal Navy off the southern coast of the Lofoten Islands, Norway during World War II.
The Action off Lofoten was a naval battle fought between the German Kriegsmarine and the British Royal Navy off the southern coast of the Lofoten Islands, Norway during World War II.
A German squadron under Vizeadmiral Günther Lütjens consisting of the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau met and engaged a British squadron under Admiral Sir William Whitworth consisting of the battlecruiser HMS Renown and 9 destroyers. After a short engagement, Gneisenau suffered moderate damage and the Germans withdrew.

The capital ships that fought during the Action off Lofoten: Scharnhorst (top), HMS Renown (middle), and Gneisenau (bottom).


1940 - The Battle of Drøbak Sound took place in Drøbak Sound, the northernmost part of the outer Oslofjord in southern Norway.
German cruiser Blücher was sunk by Norwegian shore defences, killing 830 of 2,202 troops and crew aboard.
The Battle of Drøbak Sound took place in Drøbak Sound, the northernmost part of the outer Oslofjord in southern Norway, on 9 April 1940. It marked the end of the "Phoney War" and the beginning of World War II in Western Europe.
A German fleet led by the cruiser Blücher was dispatched up the Oslofjord to begin the German invasion of Norway, with the objective of seizing the Norwegian capital of Oslo and capturing King Haakon VII and his government. The fleet was engaged in the fjord by Oscarsborg Fortress, an ageing coastal installation near Drøbak, that had been relegated to training coastal artillery servicemen, leading the Germans to disregard its defensive value. However, unbeknownst to German military intelligence, the fortress' most powerful weapon was a torpedo battery, which would be used to great effect against the German invaders.
The fortress' armaments worked flawlessly despite their age, sinking the Blücher in the sound and forcing the German fleet to fall back. The loss of the German flagship, which carried most of the troops and Gestapo agents intended to occupy Oslo, delayed the German occupation long enough for King Haakon VII and his government to escape from the capital.

Blücher on fire and sinking in Drøbak Sound


1940 - Heroic, but wholly ineffective, stand by the Norwegian armoured coastal defence ships Norge and Eidsvold at Narvik.
Both ships torpedoed and sunk with great loss of life.
Operation Weserübung (German: Unternehmen Weserübung [ˈveːsɐˌʔyːbʊŋ]) was the code name for Germany's assault on Denmark and Norway during the Second World War and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign. The name comes from the German for "Operation Weser-Exercise", the Weser being a German river.
In the early morning of 9 April 1940 (Wesertag, "Weser Day"), Germany invaded Denmark and Norway, ostensibly as a preventive manoeuvre against a planned, and openly discussed, Franco-British occupation of Norway known as Plan R 4. After the invasions, envoys of the Germans informed the governments of Denmark and Norway that the Wehrmacht had come to protect the countries' neutrality against Franco-British aggression. Significant differences in geography, location and climate between the two nations made the actual military operations very dissimilar.
The invasion fleet's nominal landing time, Weserzeit ("Weser Time"), was set to 05:15.


1942 - the British aircraft carrier HMS Hermes and her escorting Australian destroyer HMAS Vampire were sunk south-east of Trincomalee, Ceylon by Japanese aircraft.
Hermes sank with the loss of 307 men. Most of the survivors were rescued by the hospital ship Vita

A close-up view of Hermes sinking


1945 - while unloading a shipment of munitions at the Bari, Italy port, the Liberty ship SS Charles Henderson suffered an explosion that killed all on board along with 267 Italian nationals


1945 – World War II: The German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer is sunk by the Royal Air Force
Admiral Scheer was a Deutschland-class heavy cruiser (often termed a pocket battleship) which served with the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany during World War II. The vessel was named after Admiral Reinhard Scheer, German commander in the Battle of Jutland. She was laid down at the Reichsmarinewerft shipyard in Wilhelmshaven in June 1931 and completed by November 1934. Originally classified as an armored ship (Panzerschiff) by the Reichsmarine, in February 1940 the Germans reclassified the remaining two ships of this class as heavy cruisers.

1981 – The U.S. Navy nuclear submarine USS George Washington accidentally collides with the Nissho Maru, a Japanese cargo ship, sinking it.
USS George Washington (SSBN-598) was the United States's first operational ballistic missile submarine. It was the lead ship of her class of nuclear ballistic missile submarines, was the third[5] United States Navyship of the name, in honor of George Washington (1732–1799), first President of the United States, and the first of that name to be purpose-built as a warship.

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

10th of April

some of the events you will find here,
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Naval/Maritime History - 10th of April - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 9 April 1940 - The Battle of Drøbak Sound took place in Drøbak Sound, the northernmost part of the outer Oslofjord in southern Norway. German cruiser Blücher was sunk by Norwegian shore defences, killing 830 of 2,202 troops and crew...

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1703 - HMS Salisbury (1698) encountered and was attacked by a squadron consisting of four French warships, including the Adroit, and three privateers.
After an engagement which left 17 killed and 34 wounded, Salisbury was taken by the French
HMS Salisbury was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Richard and James Herring at Baileys Hard (near Bucklers Hard) on the Beaulieu River in Hampshire, England and launched on 18 April 1698.

1758 – Launch of HMS Thames, a 32-gun Richmond-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy built by Henry Adams and launched at Bucklers Hard
HMS Thames was a 32-gun Richmond-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy built by Henry Adams and launched at Bucklers Hard in 1758. She served in several wars, including for some four years in French service (as Tamise) after her capture. She was recaptured in 1796 and was broken up in 1803.

The Action of 24 October 1793 between Uranie and HMS Thames

Scale: 1:48. A contemporary full hull model of a ‘Richmond’-class 32-gun frigate


1781 – Launch of HMS Arethusa , a 38-gun Minerva-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy built at Bristol in 1781
HMS Arethusa was a 38-gun Minerva-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy built at Bristol in 1781. She served in three wars and made a number of notable captures before she was broken up in 1815.

Anson (left) and Arethusa (centre) capture Pomona


1781 – Launch of HMS Success, a 32-gun Amazon-class fifth-rate frigate of the British Royal Navy, which served during the American Revolutionary, French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
HMS Success was a 32-gun Amazon-class fifth-rate frigate of the British Royal Navy launched in 1781, which served during the American Revolutionary, French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. The French captured her in the Mediterranean on 13 February 1801, but she was recaptured by the British on 2 September. She continued to serve in the Mediterranean until 1811, and in North America until hulked in 1814, then serving as a prison ship and powder hulk, before being broken up in 1820.

Success destroys the Santa Catalina, 16 March 1782


1781 – Launch of HMS Perseverance, a 36-gun frigate of the British Royal Navy.
HMS Perseverance was a 36-gun frigate of the British Royal Navy. She served on the North American station until 1787, after which she returned to England where she was refitted at Portsmouth. In 1789 Perseverance was sent to the East Indies, she returned to Portsmouth in 1793 when she was laid up before finishing her career there as a receiving ship. She was sold and broken up in May 1823.

1781 – Launch of HMS Agamemnon, a 64-gun third-rate ship of the line of the British Royal Navy.
HMS Agamemnon was a 64-gun third-rate ship of the line of the British Royal Navy. She saw service in the Anglo-French War, French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and fought in many of the major naval battles of those conflicts. She is remembered as being Nelson's favourite ship, and was named after the mythical ancient Greek king Agamemnon, being the first ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name.

"Duckworth's Action off San Domingo, 6 February 1806" by Nicholas Pocock. HMS Agamemnon is visible in the background, third from left.


1795 - The Action of 10 April 1795 was a minor naval engagement during the French Revolutionary Wars in which a squadron of French Navy frigates was intercepted by a British battle squadron under Rear-Admiral John Colpoys which formed part of the blockade of the French naval base of Brest in Brittany.
British squadron under Rear Ad. Colpoys engaged three French frigate in the Channel. HMS Astraea (32), Cptn. Lord Henry Paulet, captured Gloire (36) and HMS Hannibal (74), Cptn. Markham, captured Gentille (36). Fraternite (36) escaped.
The Action of 10 April 1795 was a minor naval engagement during the French Revolutionary Wars in which a squadron of French Navy frigates was intercepted by a British battle squadron under Rear-Admiral John Colpoys which formed part of the blockade of the French naval base of Brest in Brittany. The French squadron split up in the face of superior British numbers, the three vessels seeking to divide and outrun the British pursuit. One frigate, Gloire was followed by the British frigate HMS Astraea and was ultimately brought to battle in a closely fought engagement. Although the ships were roughly equal in size, the British ship was easily able to defeat the French in an engagement lasting just under an hour.
The other French ships were pursued by British ships of the line and the chase lasted much longer, into the morning of 11 April when HMS Hannibal caught the frigate Gentille. Hannibal was far larger than its opponent and the French captain surrendered immediately rather than fight a futile engagement. The third French frigate, Fraternité successfully escaped. After refitting in Portsmouth, Colpoys' ships returned to their station off Brest, the blockade remaining in place for the remainder of the year.

1838 – Launch of HMS Penguin, a six-gun Alert-class packet brig built for the Royal Navy during the 1830s

1912 – RMS Titanic sets sail from Southampton, England on her maiden and only voyage.
RMS Titanic was a British passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in 1912, after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers and crew aboard, more than 1,500 died, making it one of modern history's deadliest commercial marine disasters during peacetime. RMS Titanic was the largest ship afloat at the time she entered service and was the second of three Olympic-class ocean liners operated by the White Star Line. She was built by the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast. Thomas Andrews, chief naval architect of the shipyard at the time, died in the disaster.

1917 - while returning to pick up wounded at the port of Le Havre, France, the British hospital ship HMHS Salta struck a mine 1 nautical mile (1.9 km) north of the entrance to the dam.
A huge explosion smashed her hull near the stern in her engine room and hold number three.
She listed to starboard and she sank within 10 minutes. Of 205 people aboard, 79 were lost. The British patrol boat HMS P-26 tried to come alongside to assist but also struck a mine and sank.
HMHS Salta (His Majesty's Hospital Ship) was a steam ship originally built for Société Générale de Transport Maritime Steam, but requisitioned for use as a British hospital ship during the First World War. On 10 April 1917 she hit a mine laid by the German U-boat UC-26.

1940 - in the First Battle of Narvik, the British destroyer HMS Hunter was sunk by German destroyer fire, along with a possible torpedo hit, and from being accidentally rammed astern by HMS Hotspur.
Hunter capsized and sank, killing 112 of her crew of 146.
The day after the German invasion, the Royal Navy took an opportunity to defeat the Kriegsmarine. The 2nd Destroyer Flotilla—under Commodore Bernard Warburton-Lee and comprising five H-class destroyers (HMS Hardy (flagship), Hotspur, Havock, Hunter and Hostile—moved up the fjord in the early morning. The German destroyers Hermann Künne and Hans Lüdemann were anchored alongside the tanker Jan Wellemand refuelling when the British destroyer attack began at 04:30. The German picket ship (Diether von Roeder) had left its post to refuel and as the British flotilla approached Narvik; they surprised and engaged a German force at the entrance to the harbour and sank two destroyers Wilhelm Heidkamp (killing Commodore Bonte) and Anton Schmitt, heavily damaged Diether von Roeder and inflicted lesser damage on two others. They also exchanged fire with German invasion troops ashore but did not have a landing force aboard and therefore turned to leave. Before the destroyers left the scene, Hostile fired her torpedoes at the merchant ships in the harbour. In total, eleven merchant ships (six German, one British, two Swedish and two Norwegian) were sunk during the British sortie into the harbour.

1940 - German light cruiser Königsberg, while attacking Bergen, was badly damaged by Norwegian coastal artillery, and sunk by British bombers the following day in the harbor.
Königsberg was a German light cruiser of the Königsberg-class, that was operated between 1929 and April 1940, including service in World War II. She was the lead vessel of her class and was operated by two German navies, the Reichsmarine and the Kriegsmarine. She had two sister ships, Karlsruhe and Köln. Königsberg was built by the Kriegsmarinewerft in Wilhelmshaven; she was laid down in April 1926, launched in March 1927, and commissioned into the Reichsmarine in April 1929. She was armed with a main battery of nine 15 cm SK C/25 guns in three triple turrets and had a top speed of 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph).

1943 - italian Trento-class heavy cruisers Trieste, while moored in La Maddalena, Sardinia, was bombed and sunk by American heavy bombers
Trieste was the second of two Trento-class heavy cruisers built for the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy). The ship was laid down in June 1925, was launched in October 1926, and was commissioned in December 1928. Trieste was very lightly armored, with only a 70 mm (2.8 in) thick armored belt, though she possessed a high speed and heavy armament of eight 203 mm (8.0 in) guns. Though nominally built under the restrictions of the Washington Naval Treaty, the two cruisers significantly exceeded the displacement limits imposed by the treaty. The ship spent the 1930s conducting training cruises in the Mediterranean Sea, participating in naval reviews held for foreign dignitaries, and serving as the flagship of the Cruiser Division. She also helped transport Italian volunteer troops that had been sent to Spain to fight in the Spanish Civil War return to Italy in 1938.

1963 - nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Thresher (SSN-593) that sank on deep-diving tests about 220 nautical miles (410 km) east of Boston, Massachusetts.
129 people died including commanding officer and 17 civilian technicians
The second USS Thresher (SSN-593) was the lead boat of her class of nuclear-powered attack submarines in the United States Navy. She was the U.S. Navy's second submarine to be named after the thresher shark.
On 10 April 1963, Thresher sank during deep-diving tests about 220 miles (350 km) east of Boston, Massachusetts, killing all 129 crew and shipyard personnel aboard in the deadliest submarine disaster ever. Her loss was a watershed for the U.S. Navy, leading to the implementation of a rigorous submarine safety program known as SUBSAFE. The first nuclear submarine lost at sea, Thresher was also the first of only two submarines that killed more than 100 people aboard; the other was the Russian Kursk, which sank with 118 aboard in 2000.

1968 – The TEV Wahine, a New Zealand ferry sinks in Wellington harbour due to a fierce storm - the strongest winds ever in Wellington. Out of the 734 people on board, fifty-three died.
TEV Wahine was the second Union Steamship Company of New Zealand ferry to carry the name Wahine (TEV = Turbo-Electric Vessel). The first was TSS Wahine (1913–51). TEV Wahine was a twin-screw, turbo-electric, roll-on/roll-off passenger and vehicle ferry. She was launched at the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company in Govan, Scotland, in 1965 and worked the New Zealand inter-island route between Wellington and Lyttelton from 1966. On 10 April 1968, near the end of a routine northbound overnight crossing from Lyttelton to Wellington, she was caught in a fierce storm stirred by Tropical Cyclone Giselle. She foundered after running aground on Barrett Reef and capsized and sank in the shallow waters near Steeple Rock at the mouth of Wellington Harbour. Of the 734 people on board, 53 people died from drowning, exposure to the elements, or from injuries sustained in the hurried evacuation and abandonment of the stricken vessel.
The wreck of Wahine is one of the better-known disasters in New Zealand's history, although there have been worse, with far greater loss of life. Radio and television captured the drama as it happened, within a short distance of shore of the eastern suburbs of Wellington, and flew film overseas for world news.

1991 - the Italian ferry Moby Prince collided with the oil tanker Agip Abruzzo in Livorno harbour and caught fire, killing 140 of the 141 people aboard.
The Moby Prince disaster was a major naval accident resulting in 140 deaths. It occurred in the late evening of Wednesday 10 April 1991, in the harbor of Livorno, Italy. It is the worst disaster in the Italian merchant navy since World War II. It is also considered one of the two worst environmental disasters in Italian history, along with the explosion and loss of the tanker Amoco Milford Haven on the following day in an unrelated accident near Voltri.

 

[Uwek]

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

11th of April

some of the events you will find here,
please use the following link where you will find more details and all other events of this day .....

Naval/Maritime History - 11th of April - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 10 April 1943 - italian Trento-class heavy cruisers Trieste, while moored in La Maddalena, Sardinia, was bombed and sunk by American heavy bombers Trieste was the second of two Trento-class heavy cruisers built for the Italian Regia...

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1693 – Launch of HMS Sussex, an 80-gun third-rate ship of the line of the English Royal Navy, lost in a severe storm on 1 March 1694 off Gibraltar.
HMS Sussex was an 80-gun third-rate ship of the line of the English Royal Navy, lost in a severe storm on 1 March 1694 off Gibraltar. On board were possibly 10 tons of gold coins. This could now be worth more than $500 million, including the bullion and antiquity values, making it one of the most valuable wrecks ever.

And the wonderful model built by our member Ramon, alias @ramonolivenza

and actual we have a started building log of another SUSSEX under construction by our member @Bird

Sussex 1693 navy board model​

Hello everyone I'm finally getting started on the Sussex, started resawing the cherry, I'm going to try to keep you posted along the way, I can't believe my little bandsaw works pretty good, I have a 14 inch in the garage that I am setting up, but just goes to show what is possible with small...
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1796 - Royal Navy HMS Révolutionnaire captured Gracieuse, a 32-gun Charmante-class frigate off Île d'Yeu and brought her into British service as HMS Unite.
Gracieuse was a 32-gun Charmante-class frigate of the French Navy. Renamed to Unité in 1793, she took part in the French Revolutionary Wars. The Royal Navy captured her in 1796 off Île d'Yeu and brought her into British service as HMS Unite. She was sold in 1802

1796 - french 80-gun ship of the line Ça Ira, ex Couronne. was destroyed in an accidental fire
The Couronne was an 80-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.

Model of Couronne, on display at the Château de Brest.


1809 - Beginning of the Battle of the Basque Roads, also known as the Battle of Aix Roads (French: Bataille de l'île d'Aix)
was a major naval battle of the Napoleonic Wars, fought in the narrow Basque Roads at the mouth of the Charente River on the Biscay coast of France.
The Battle of the Basque Roads, also known as the Battle of Aix Roads (French: Bataille de l'île d'Aix, also Affaire des brûlots, rarely Bataille de la rade des Basques) was a major naval battle of the Napoleonic Wars, fought in the narrow Basque Roads at the mouth of the Charente River on the Biscay coast of France. The battle, which lasted from 11–24 April 1809, was unusual in that it pitted a hastily-assembled squadron of small and unorthodox British Royal Navy warships against the main strength of the French Atlantic Fleet, the circumstances dictated by the cramped, shallow coastal waters in which the battle was fought. The battle is also notorious for its controversial political aftermath in both Britain and France.
In February 1809 the French Atlantic Fleet, blockaded in Brest on the Breton coast by the British Channel Fleet, attempted to break out into the Atlantic and reinforce the garrison of Martinique. Sighted and chased by British blockade squadrons, the French were unable to escape the Bay of Biscay and eventually anchored in the Basque Roads, near the naval base of Rochefort. There they were kept under observation during March by the British fleet under the dour Admiral Lord Gambier. The Admiralty, desiring an attack on the French fleet, ordered Lord Cochrane, an outspoken and popular junior captain, to lead an attack, over the objections of a number of senior officers. Cochrane organised an inshore squadron of fireships and bomb vessels, including a converted frigate, and personally led this force into Basque Roads on the evening of 11 April.

Destruction of the French Fleet in Basque Roads - Thomas Sutherland, after Thomas Whitcombe, 1817. NMM

Régulus stranded on the shoals of Les Palles, 12 April 1809. Louis-Philippe Crépin


1812 – Launch of French Aréthuse, a 46-gun 18-pounder frigate of the French Navy.
The Aréthuse was a 46-gun 18-pounder frigate of the French Navy. She served during the Napoleonic Wars, taking part in a major single-ship action. Much later she took part in the conquest of Algeria, and ended her days as a coal depot in Brest.

The battle between Aréthuse and Amelia on the shores of Guinea, 7 February 1813, by Louis-Philippe Crepin


1908 – Launch of SMS Blücher, the last armored cruiser to be built by the Imperial German Navy,
SMS Blücher was the last armored cruiser built by the German Empire. She was designed to match what German intelligence incorrectly believed to be the specifications of the British Invincible-class battlecruisers. Blücher was larger than preceding armored cruisers and carried more heavy guns, but was unable to match the size and armament of the battlecruisers which replaced armored cruisers in the British Royal Navy and German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine). The ship was named after the Prussian Field Marshal Gebhard von Blücher, the commander of Prussian forces at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.
Blücher was built at the Kaiserliche Werft shipyard in Kiel between 1907 and 1909, and commissioned on 1 October 1909. The ship served in the I Scouting Group for most of her career, including the early portion of World War I. She took part in the operation to bombard Yarmouth and the raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby in 1914.
At the Battle of Dogger Bank on 24 January 1915, Blücher was slowed significantly after being hit by gunfire from the British battlecruiser squadron under the command of Vice Admiral David Beatty. Rear Admiral Franz von Hipper, the commander of the German squadron, decided to abandon Blücher to the pursuing enemy ships in order to save his more valuable battlecruisers. Under heavy fire from the British ships, she was sunk, and British destroyers began recovering the survivors. However, the destroyers withdrew when a German zeppelin began bombing them, mistaking the sinking Blücher for a British battlecruiser. The number of casualties is unknown, with figures ranging from 747 to around 1,000. Blücher was the only warship lost during the battle.

SMS Blücher in 1912

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

12th of April

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Naval/Maritime History - 12th of April - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History Other Events on 11 April 1669 – Launch of french Fort 68, later 76 guns (designed and built by Jean Guichard, launched 11 April 1669 at Rochefort) – renamed Foudroyant in June 1671, broken up 1690 1693 – Launch of HMS Winchester...

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1655 – Launch of HMS Royal Charles, an 80-gun first-rate three-decker ship of the line of the English Navy.
Royal Charles was an 80-gun first-rate three-decker ship of the line of the English Navy. She was built by Peter Pett and launched at Woolwich Dockyardin 1655, for the navy of the Commonwealth of England. She was originally called Naseby, named in honour of Sir Thomas Fairfax's decisive 1645 victory over the Royalist forces during the English Civil Wars. She was ordered in 1654 as one of a programme of four second rates, intended to carry 60 guns each. However, she was altered during construction to mount a complete battery of guns along the upper deck (compared with the partial battery on this deck of her intended sisters, on which there were no gunports in the waist along this deck), and so was reclassed as a first rate.

Royal Charles off Hellevoetsluis, captured by the Dutch after the Raid on the Medway, June 1667. Jeronymus van Diest (II).

1782 - Battle of Providien. British fleet under Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes engaged a French fleet under the Bailli de Suffren near a rocky islet called Providien, south of Trincomalee, Ceylon.
The Battle of Providien was the second in a series of naval battles fought between a British fleet, under Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes, and a French fleet, under the Bailli de Suffren, off the coast of India during the Anglo-French War. The battle was fought on 12 April 1782 off the east coast of Ceylon, near a rocky islet called Providien, south of Trincomalee.


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

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

Scuttling of Sirius


1806 - HMS Brave (74), Cdr. Edmund Boger, foundered off the Azores in passage from Jamaica to England.
Cassard was a Téméraire-class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. She was renamed Dix-août in 1798, in honour of the events of 10 August 1792, and subsequently Brave in 1803.

Scale model of The Thomson Collection of Ship Models on display at the Art Gallery of Ontario


1808 - Launch of HMS Venerable, a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, at Northfleet.

1823 - Launch of HMS Prince Regent, a 120-gun Caledonia-class first rate three-decker ship of the line of the Royal Navy, at Chatham.
HMS Prince Regent was a 120-gun first rate three-decker ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 12 April 1823 at Chatham.
Served in the Baltic campaign in 1854 (1st campaign) but not in 1855 (2nd campaign).
She was converted into a screw ship in 1861, and was broken up in 1873.

1861 - The Civil War begins with Confederates firing on Fort Sumter, S.C.
The Union Navy plays an integral part blockading Confederates, keeping them diplomatically and economically contained from other nations.
The Battle of Fort Sumter (April 12–13, 1861) was the bombardment of Fort Sumter near Charleston, South Carolina by the Confederate States Army, and the return gunfire and subsequent surrender by the United States Army, that started the American Civil War. Following the declaration of secession by South Carolina on December 20, 1860, its authorities demanded that the U.S. Army abandon its facilities in Charleston Harbor. On December 26, Major Robert Anderson of the U.S. Army surreptitiously moved his small command from the vulnerable Fort Moultrie on Sullivan's Island to Fort Sumter, a substantial fortress built on an island controlling the entrance of Charleston Harbor. An attempt by U.S. President James Buchanan to reinforce and resupply Anderson using the unarmed merchant ship Star of the West failed when it was fired upon by shore batteries on January 9, 1861. South Carolina authorities then seized all Federal property in the Charleston area except for Fort Sumter.


1861 - Capture of Mỹ Tho
The Capture of Mỹ Tho (Vietnamese: Mỹ Tho) on 12 April 1861 was an important allied victory in the Cochinchina campaign (1858–62). This campaign, fought between the French and the Spanish on the one side and the Vietnamese on the other, began as a limited punitive expedition and ended as a French war of conquest. The war concluded with the establishment of the French colony of Cochinchina, a development that inaugurated nearly a century of French colonial dominance in Vietnam.

Capture of Saigon by France, 18th February 1859.


1910 – Launch of SMS Zrínyi, one of the last pre-dreadnought battleships built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy
SMS Zrínyi ("His Majesty's ship Zrínyi") was a Radetzky-class pre-dreadnought battleship (Schlachtschiff) of the Austro-Hungarian Navy (K.u.K. Kriegsmarine), named for the Zrinski, a noble Croatian family. Zrínyi and her sisters, Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand and Radetzky, were the last pre-dreadnoughts built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy.
During World War I, Zrínyi saw action in the Adriatic Sea. She served with the Second Division of the Austro-Hungarian Navy's battleships and shelled Senigallia as part of the bombardment of the key seaport of Ancona, Italy, during May 1915. However, Allied control of the Strait of Otranto meant that the Austro-Hungarian Navy was effectively contained in the Adriatic. Nonetheless, the presence of the Zrínyi and other battleships tied down a substantial force of Allied ships.
With the war going against the Austrians by the end of 1918, Zrínyi was prepared to be transferred to the new State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. On 10 November 1918, just one day before the end of the war, navy officers sailed the battleship out of Pola (Pula) and surrendered to a squadron of American submarine chasers. Following the handover to the United States Navy, she was briefly designated USS Zrínyi. In the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, the transfer was not recognized; instead, Zrínyi was given to Italy and broken up for scrap.

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

13th of April

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Naval/Maritime History - 13th of April - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History Other Events on 11 April 1669 – Launch of french Fort 68, later 76 guns (designed and built by Jean Guichard, launched 11 April 1669 at Rochefort) – renamed Foudroyant in June 1671, broken up 1690 1693 – Launch of HMS Winchester...

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1749 - whilst near Fort St David, HMS Pembroke (66), along with HMS Namur (90) and the hospital ship HMS Apollo (20), were wrecked in a storm, with the loss of 330 of her crew, only 12 being saved. On Namur 520 of her crew were drowned, on Apollo all 120.
HMS Pembroke was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built to the dimensions of the 1719 Establishment at Woolwich Dockyard, and launched on 27 November 1733.
In April 1749, whilst near Fort St David, Pembroke, along with Namur and the hospital ship Apollo, was wrecked in a storm, with the loss of 330 of her crew, only 12 being saved.

HMS Namur was a 90-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Woolwich Dockyard in 1697.
On 11 June 1723 she was ordered to be taken to pieces at Portsmouth and her timbers transferred to Deptford Dockyard. In 1729 the timbers were used to rebuild the ship according to the 1719 Establishment. She was relaunched on 13 September 1729. In 1745, she was razeed to 74 guns.
Namur was wrecked on 14 April 1749 in a storm near Fort St David. In total, 520 of her crew were drowned, though Captain Marshal survived.

1758 - HMS Prince George, a 90-gun second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched in 1682 as HMS Duke, at Woolwich Dockyard, accidently burnt at sea in the Bay of Biscay
On 13 April 1758, Prince George was at sea in the Bay of Biscay when a fire broke out below decks. The flames quickly spread throughout the ship and she foundered with the loss of 485 out of 745 crew.

1774 – Launch of HMS Surprise (or Surprize), a 28-gun Enterprise-class

1796 - HMS Revolutionnaire (44) captured french Unite (38) off Ushant.
Revolutionaire captured the French frigate Unité. Unité, under the command of Citizen Charles-Alexandre Léon Durand Linois, struck after Revolutionnaire's second broadside. Revolutionnaire had no casualties because the French had fired high, aiming for her rigging; the British fired into their quarry with the result that Unité suffered nine men killed and 11 wounded. In July there was an initial distribution of prize money for the capture of Unité and Virginie (captured by Indefatigable) of £20,000. Revolutionnaire and Indefatigable shared this with Amazon, Concorde and Argo. The Royal Navy took Unité into service under her existing name

1805 – Launch of HMS Revenge, a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy
HMS Revenge was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 13 April 1805. Sir John Henslow designed her as one of the large class 74s; she was the only ship built to her draught. As a large 74, she carried 24-pounder guns on her upper gun deck, rather than the 18-pounder guns found on the middling and common class 74s.

1813 - The Battle of Rappahannock River was fought in 1813 during the War of 1812.
The Battle of Rappahannock River was fought in 1813 during the War of 1812. A British force blockading the Rappahannock River of Virginia sent several hundred men in boats to attack four American privateers. Ultimately the British were victorious and the American ships were captured.

The reconstructed Lynx off California being saluted by Lady Washington.


1854 – Launch of HMS Hornet, a 17-gun wooden screw sloop of the Cruizer class of the Royal Navy
HMS Hornet was a 17-gun wooden screw sloop of the Cruizer class of the Royal Navy, launched in 1854 and broken up in 1868.

1865 - fire broke out aboard the clipper ship Comet in the cargo of wool while heading from Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia for London.
The captain and all 80 passengers abandoned ship in 3 boats and were lost.
On April 17, just as the Comet was about to sink, the 17 crew members remaining aboard were rescued by the British barque Dauntless.
Comet was an 1851 California clipper built by William H. Webb which sailed in the Australia trade and the tea trade. This extreme clipper was very fast. She had record passages on two different routes: New York City to San Francisco, and Liverpool to Hong Kong, and beat the famous clipper Flying Dutchman in an 1853 race around the Horn to San Francisco.
In 1863 the Comet was sold to the Black Ball Line and renamed the Fiery Star. She was lost at sea on 12 May 1865 after a fire had broken out in her cargo of wool.

1898 – Launch of SS Superior City, considered a pioneer vessel at her launching in 1898.
She was the largest vessel ever built on freshwater at that time
The SS Superior City was considered a pioneer vessel at her launching in 1898. She was the largest vessel ever built on freshwater at that time. She sailed the Great Lakes for twenty-two years until she sank after a collision in 1920 with the steamer Willis L. King in Whitefish Bay of Lake Superior that resulted in the loss of 29 lives. Controversy was immediate over the collision. It was subsequently ruled that the captains of both ships failed to follow the “rules-of-the-road”. Controversy started again in 1988 when the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society produced a video called "Graveyard of the Great Lakes" that included extensive footage of the skeletons of the Superior City crew. The controversy continued as late as 1996 over artifacts removed from her wreck. She is now a protected shipwreck in the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve.

1904 - Russian battleship Petropavlovsk (1894) Sunk by mine off Port Arthur,
Casualties numbered 27 officers and 652 enlisted men, including Vice Admiral Stepan Makarov, the commander of the squadron, and the war artist Vasily Vereshchagin.
Petropavlovsk (Russian: Петропавловск) was the lead ship of her class of three pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Russian Navy during the last decade of the 19th century. The ship was sent to the Far East almost immediately after entering service in 1899, where she participated in the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion the next year and was the flagship of the First Pacific Squadron.
At the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, Petropavlovsk took part in the Battle of Port Arthur, where she was lightly damaged by Japanese shells and failed to score any hits in return. On 13 April 1904, the ship sank after striking one or more mines near Port Arthur, in northeast China. Casualties numbered 27 officers and 652 enlisted men, including Vice Admiral Stepan Makarov, the commander of the squadron, and the war artist Vasily Vereshchagin. The arrival of the competent and aggressive Makarov after the Battle of Port Arthur had boosted Russian morale, which plummeted after his death.

1907 – Launch of HMS Invincible, the lead ship of her class of three battlecruisers built for the Royal Navy during the first decade of the twentieth century and the first battlecruiser to be built by any country in the world.
HMS Invincible was the lead ship of her class of three battlecruisers built for the Royal Navy during the first decade of the twentieth century and the first battlecruiser to be built by any country in the world. During the First World War she participated in the Battle of Heligoland Bight in a minor role as she was the oldest and slowest of the British battlecruisers present. The ship engaged the German light cruiser Cöln, but did not hit her before Cöln was sunk by the battlecruiser Lion.
She was the flagship of the 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron during the Battle of Jutland in 1916. The squadron had been detached from Admiral Beatty's Battlecruiser Fleet a few days before the battle for gunnery practice with the Grand Fleet and acted as its heavy scouting force during the battle. She was destroyed by a magazine explosion during the battle after one of her gun turret's armour was penetrated.

1917 - Launch of USS New Mexico (BB 40), the first dreadnought with turbo-electric drive.
USS New Mexico (BB-40) was a battleship in service with the United States Navy from 1918 to 1946. She was the lead ship of a class of three battleships, and the first ship to be named for the state of New Mexico. Her keel was laid down on 14 October 1915 at the New York Navy Yard, she was launched on 23 April 1917, and was commissioned on 20 May 1918. She was the first ship with a turbo-electric transmission, which helped her reach a cruising speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). Shortly after completing initial training, New Mexico escorted the ship that carried President Woodrow Wilson to Brest, France to sign the Treaty of Versailles. The interwar period was marked with repeated exercises with the Pacific and Atlantic Fleets, use as a trial ship for PID controllers, and a major modernization between March 1931 and January 1933.

1937 – Launch of HMS Ark Royal (91), an aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy that served during the Second World War.
HMS Ark Royal (pennant number 91) was an aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy that served during the Second World War.
Designed in 1934 to fit the restrictions of the Washington Naval Treaty, Ark Royal was built by Cammell Laird at Birkenhead, England, and completed in November 1938. Her design differed from previous aircraft carriers. Ark Royal was the first ship on which the hangars and flight deck were an integral part of the hull, instead of an add-on or part of the superstructure. Designed to carry a large number of aircraft, she had two hangar deck levels. She served during a period that first saw the extensive use of naval air power; several carrier tactics were developed and refined aboard Ark Royal.

HMS Ark Royal in 1939, with Swordfish of 820 Naval Air Squadron passing overhead

1940 - Second naval Battle of Narvik
The Royal Navy considered it imperative, for morale and strategic purposes, to defeat the Germans in Narvik, so Vice Admiral William Whitworth was sent with the battleship HMS Warspite and nine destroyers; four Tribal-class (HMS Bedouin, Cossack, Punjabi, and Eskimo) and five others (HMS Kimberley, Hero, Icarus, Forester and Foxhound), accompanied by aircraft from the aircraft carrier HMS Furious. These forces arrived in the Ofotfjord on 13 April to find that the eight remaining German destroyers—now under the command of Fregattenkapitän Erich Bey—were virtually stranded due to lack of fuel and were short of ammunition.
Before the battle, Warspite launched its catapult plane (a float-equipped Fairey Swordfish, L 9767), which bombed and sank U-64, anchored in the Herjangsfjord near Bjerkvik. Most of the crew survived and were rescued by German mountain troops. This was the first U-boat to be sunk by an aircraft during the Second World War and the only instance where an aircraft launched from a battleship sank a U-boat.

Warspite engaging shore batteries during the Second Battle of Narvik.

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

14th of April

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 13 April 1810 - 4 Danish gun boats, under Lt. Skibsted, capture the British gunboat HMS Grinder off the island of Samsoe Grinder was a gunboat serving as a tender, rather than a commissioned warship, to HMS Anholt, the British...

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1655 - Action of 14 April 1655 - English under Robert Blake destroy Barbary ships at Porto Farina, northern Tunisia
The Action of 14 April 1655 took place at Porto Farina (now Ghar el-Melh) in northern Tunisia, when an English fleet under Robert Blake destroyed the vessels of several Barbary corsairs. It achieved little direct effect, although it was the first time that ships alone defeated shore fortifications.


1743 – Launch of HMS Captain, a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built according to the 1733 proposals of the 1719 Establishment at Woolwich Dockyard,
HMS Captain was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built according to the 1733 proposals of the 1719 Establishment at Woolwich Dockyard, and launched on 14 April 1743.
In 1760, Captain was reduced to a 64-gun ship. Then in 1777 she was converted to serve as a storeship and renamed Buffalo.
Although a storeship, Buffalo shared, with Thetis, and Alarm, in the proceeds from Southampton's capture of the 12-gun French privateer Comte de Maurepas, on 3 August 1780.

The Battle of Dogger Bank, by Thomas Luny. NMM

1759 - Launch of HMS Sandwich, a 90-gun Sandwich-class second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 14 April 1759 at Chatham.

1781 – Capture of USS Confederacy, a 36-gun sailing frigate of the Continental Navy in the American Revolutionary War by the British Royal Navy
USS Confederacy was a 36-gun sailing frigate of the Continental Navy in the American Revolutionary War. The British Royal Navy captured her in April 1781, took her into service for about half-a-year as HMS Confederate, and broke her up in 1782

A Revolutionary War painting depicting the Continental Navy frigate Confederacy is displayed at the Navy Art Gallery at the Washington Navy Yard.

Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, stern board with decoration detail, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for Confederate (captured 1781), a captured American Fifth Rate.


1782 – Recapture of HMS Ardent, a 64-gun Ardent-class third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy.
HMS Ardent was a 64-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was built by contract by Hugh Blaydes at Hull according to a design by Sir Thomas Slade, and launched on 13 August 1764 as the first ship of the Ardent-class. She had a somewhat turbulent career, being captured by the French in 1779, and then re-captured by Britain in 1782.

1793 - HMS Phaeton (38) captured French privateer General Dumourier (22) to the west of Cape Finisterre.
San-Iago, a large Spanish galleon prize, also struck to Phaeton but was taken possession of by HMS Ganges (74)
Service in the Channel
In December 1792 Phaeton was commissioned under Sir Andrew Snape Douglas. In March 1793.
Then on 14 April Phaeton sighted the French privateer Général Dumourier (or Général Du Mourier), of twenty-two 6-pounder guns and 196 men, and her Spanish prize, the St Jago, 140 leagues to the west of Cape Finisterre. Phaeton was part of Admiral John Gell's squadron and the entire squadron set off in pursuit, but it was Phaeton that made the actual capture.
St Jago had been sailing from Lima to Spain when General Dumourier captured her on 11 April. In trying to fend off General Dumourier, St Jago fought for five hours, losing 10 men killed and 37 wounded, before she struck. She also suffered extensive damage to her upper works. St Jago's cargo, which had taken two years to collect, was the richest ever trusted on board a single ship. Early estimates put the value of the cargo as some ₤1.2 and £1.3 million. The most valuable portion of the cargo was a large number of gold bars that had a thin covering of pewter and that were listed on the manifest as "fine pewter". General Dumourier had taken on board 680 cases, each containing 3000 dollars, plus several packages worth two to three thousand pounds.
The ships that conveyed St Jago to Portsmouth were St George, Egmont, Edgar, Ganges and Phaeton. The money came over London Bridge in 21 wagons, escorted by a party of light dragoons, and lodged in the Tower of London.

1809 - Troude's expedition to the Caribbean
Start of 4 day engagement in which HMS Pompee (80), HMS Neptune (98), HMS Castor (32) and HMS Recruit (18), took French D'Hautpoult (74) off Cuba
Troude's expedition to the Caribbean was a naval operation by a French force under Commodore Amable-Gilles Troude during the Napoleonic Wars. The French squadron departed from Lorient in February 1809 in an attempt to reach and resupply the island colony of Martinique in the Caribbean Sea, then under invasion from a British expeditionary force. The force arrived much too late to affect the outcome of the successful invasion and took shelter from a British squadron in the Îles des Saintes, where they were blockaded by part of the British invasion fleet, led by Vice-Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane. Two weeks after the French ships arrived, British troops invaded and captured the Saintes, constructing mortar batteries to bombard the French squadron. With his position unsustainable, Commodore Troude decided to break out.

1869 – Launch of The SS Silesia, a late 19th-century Hamburg America Line passenger and cargo ship that ran between the European ports of Hamburg, Germany and Le Havre, France to Castle Garden and later Ellis Island
The SS Silesia was a late 19th-century Hamburg America Line passenger and cargo ship that ran between the European ports of Hamburg, Germany and Le Havre, France to Castle Garden and later Ellis Island, New York transporting European immigrants, primarily Russian, Prussian, Hungarian, German, Austrian, Italian, and Danish individuals and families. Most passengers on this route were manual laborers, including stonecutters, locksmiths, farmers, millers, upholsterers, confectioners, and tailors, though physicians and other professionals also bought passage on her.

1887 – Launch of SMS Kronprinzessin Erzherzogin Stephanie, an ironclad warship built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the 1880s, the last vessel of that type to be built for Austria-Hungary.
SMS Kronprinzessin Erzherzogin Stephanie was an ironclad warship built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the 1880s, the last vessel of that type to be built for Austria-Hungary. The ship, named for Archduchess Stephanie, Crown Princess of Austria, was laid down in November 1884, was launched in April 1887 and completed in July 1889. She was armed with a pair of 30.5-centimeter (12.0 in) guns in open barbettes and had a top speed of 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph). Her service was limited, in large part due to the rapid pace of naval development in the 1890s, which quickly rendered her obsolescent. As a result, her career was generally limited to routine training and the occasional visit to foreign countries. In 1897, she took part in an international naval demonstration to force a compromise over Greek and Ottoman claims to the island of Crete. Kronprinzessin Erzherzogin Stephaniewas decommissioned in 1905, hulked in 1910, and converted into a barracks ship in 1914. After Austria-Hungary's defeat in World War I, the ship was transferred to Italy as a war prize and was eventually broken up for scrap in 1926.

1896 – Launch of Esmeralda, developed as a custom design by naval architect Philip Watts for the Chilean Navy

1/48th scale model of Esmeralda, on display at the Swiss Museum of Transport.


1912 - The British passenger liner RMS Titanic hits an iceberg in the North Atlantic at 23:40 (sinks morning of April 15th)
RMS Titanic – A passenger ocean liner and, at the time, the world's largest ship. On 14 April 1912, on her maiden voyage, she struck an iceberg, buckling part of her hull and causing her to sink in the early hours of 15 April.
706 of her 2,224 passengers and crew survived.
Her loss was the catalyst for major reforms in shipping safety and is arguably the most famous maritime disaster, being the subject of numerous media portrayals

Animation showing the sequence of Titanic's sinking, from 23:50 April 14 to 02:20 April 15


1930 – Launch of Shamrock V, the first British yacht to be built to the new J-Class rule.
Shamrock V was the first British yacht to be built to the new J-Class rule. She was commissioned by Sir Thomas Lipton for his fifth America's Cup challenge. Although refitted several times, Shamrock is the only J-class never to have fallen into dereliction.

SAILING YACHT BRITANNIA (K1), ASTRA (K2), SHAMROCK V (K3), CANDIDA (K8) & VELSHEDA (K7), AUGUST 1934


1944 – Bombay explosion: A massive explosion in Bombay harbor kills 800 to 1.300 people and causes economic damage valued then at 20 million pounds.
The Bombay explosion (or Bombay docks explosion) occurred on 14 April 1944, in the Victoria Dock of Bombay (now Mumbai) when the freighter SS Fort Stikine, carrying a mixed cargo of cotton bales, gold, and ammunition including around 1,400 tons of explosives, caught fire and was destroyed in two giant blasts, scattering debris, sinking surrounding ships and setting fire to the area, killing around 800 to 1,300 people. Some 80,000 people were made homeless and 71 firemen lost their lives in the aftermath.

Smoke billowing out of harbour


1945 - german submarine U-1206 lost and sunk caused by a failure in the toilet
German submarine U-1206 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. She was laid down on 12 June 1943 at F. Schichau GmbH in Danzig and went into service on 16 March 1944 before sinking a year later, in April 1945. The boat's emblem was a white stork on a black shield with green beak and legs.
On 14 April 1945, 24 days before the end of World War II in Europe, while U-1206 was cruising at a depth of 200 feet (61 m), 8 nautical miles (15 km; 9.2 mi) off Peterhead, Scotland, misuse of the new toilet caused large amounts of water to flood the boat. According to the Commander's official report, while in the engine room helping to repair one of the diesel engines, he was informed that a malfunction involving the toilet caused a leak in the forward section. The leak flooded the submarine's batteries (located beneath the toilet) causing them to release chlorine gas, leaving him with no alternative but to surface. Once surfaced, U-1206 was discovered and bombed by British patrols, forcing Schlitt to scuttle the submarine. One man died in the attack, three men drowned in the heavy seas after abandoning the vessel and 46 were captured. Schlitt recorded the location as 57°24′N 01°37′W but the wreck would not be located until the 1970s.
During survey work for the BP Forties Field oil pipeline to Cruden Bay in the mid 1970s, the remains of U-1206 were found at 57°21′N 01°39′W in approximately 70 m (230 ft) of water. The site survey performed by RCAHMS suggests that the leak that forced U-1206 to surface may have occurred after running into a pre-existing wreck located at the same site.
A large number of sources incorrectly attribute this incident to U-120.

 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

15th of April

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Naval/Maritime History - 15th of April - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 14 April 1801 – Launch of HMS Medusa, a 32-gun 5th rate frigate of the Royal Navy that served in the Napoleonic Wars. HMS Medusa was a 32-gun 5th rate frigate of the Royal Navy that served in the Napoleonic Wars. Launched on 14 April...

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1763 - Launch of HMS Ramillies, a 74-gun Ramillies-class third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, at Chatham Dockyard.
In 1782 she was the flagship of a fleet under Admiral Thomas Graves off Newfoundland. Ramillies was badly damaged in a violent storm of 1782, and was finally abandoned and burned on 21 September 1782.

Loss of HMS 'Ramillies', September 1782: taking to the boats (BHC2217)


1786 - Launch of HMS Hannibal, a 74-gun Culloden-class third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, named after the Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca.
HMS Hannibal was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 15 April 1786, named after the Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca. She is best known for having taken part in the Algeciras Campaign, and for having run aground during the First Battle of Algeciras on 5 July 1801, which resulted in her capture. She then served in the French Navy until she was broken up in 1824.

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


1790 – Launch of HMS Queen Charlotte, a 100-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, at Chatham.
HMS Queen Charlotte was a 100-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 15 April 1790 at Chatham. She was built to the draught of Royal George designed by Sir Edward Hunt, though with a modified armament.
In 1794 Queen Charlotte was the flagship of Admiral Lord Howe at the Battle of the Glorious First of June, and in 1795 she took part in the Battle of Groix.

1802 – Launch of French Rhin, a 40-gun Virginie-class frigate of the French Navy launched in 1802
Rhin was a 40-gun Virginie-class frigate of the French Navy launched in 1802. She was present at two major battles while in French service. The Royal Navy captured her in 1806. Thereafter Rhin served until 1815 capturing numerous vessels. After the end of the Napoleonic Wars she was laid up and then served as a hospital for many years. She was finally broken up in 1884.

1809 - HMS Intrepid (64) engaged French frigates Furieuse (flute 20) and Felicite (flute 14).
HMS Intrepid was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 4 December 1770 at Woolwich. She was sold in 1828.

1816 – Launch of HMS Minotaur, a 74-gun Ganges-class third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, at Chatham Dockyard.

1847 – Launch of French Tage ("Tagus"), a 100-gun Hercule-class ship of the line of the French Navy.

Scale model on display at the Musée National de la Marine in Paris


1851 - Launch of clipper ship Flying Cloud
Flying Cloud was a clipper ship that set the world's sailing record for the fastest passage between New York and San Francisco, 89 days 8 hours. The ship held this record for over 100 years, from 1854 to 1989.

1863 – Launch of SMS Nymphe, the lead ship of the Nymphe class of steam corvettes
SMS Nymphe was the lead ship of the Nymphe class of steam corvettes, the first ship of that type to be built for the Prussian Navy. She was ordered as part of a naval expansion program to counter the Danish Navy over the disputed ownership of Schleswig and Holstein. Nymphe was laid down in January 1862, she was launched in April 1863, and she was completed in October that year. She had one sister ship, Medusa, and the vessels were wooden-hulled ships armed with a battery of sixteen guns.
Nymphe saw action during the Second Schleswig War against Denmark in 1864 at the Battle of Jasmund. She was heavily engaged by a Danish frigate in the battle, and she received around 70 hits, mostly to her rigging, though she was not seriously damaged. The ship was in the process of being recalled to Germany during the Austro-Prussian War in 1866, and as a result, saw no action during the conflict, but she did see battle with French warships during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. A French squadron of ironclads had anchored off Danzig, and Nymphe launched a surprise night attack on the idle vessels, though she inflicted no serious damage on the armored vessels. Her attack nevertheless convinced the French admiral that his heavy ships were not useful in a close blockade of German ports, and so they left.
In 1871, Nymphe embarked on a major overseas deployment to the Pacific Ocean and East Asia, where her captain conducted negotiations with various governments and she toured numerous cities. She remained abroad until mid-1874, after which she was converted into a training ship for apprentice seamen. She served in that capacity for the next decade, during which she conducted training cruises, usually to the Americas, though in 1882 she toured the Mediterranean Sea. In poor condition and in need of a complete reconstruction by 1885, she was stricken from the naval register in July 1887 and hulked. Nymphe was ultimately sold in 1891 and broken up in Hamburg.

Nymphe, center, at the Battle of Jasmund, battling the Danish frigate Sjælland (right background)


1912 – The British passenger liner RMS Titanic sinks in the North Atlantic at 2:20 a.m., two hours and forty minutes after hitting an iceberg.
Only 710 of 2,227 passengers and crew on board survive.
RMS Titanic – A passenger ocean liner and, at the time, the world's largest ship. On 14 April 1912, on her maiden voyage, she struck an iceberg, buckling part of her hull and causing her to sink in the early hours of 15 April. 706 of her 2,224 passengers and crew survived. Her loss was the catalyst for major reforms in shipping safety and is arguably the most famous maritime disaster, being the subject of numerous media portrayals

Collapsible lifeboat D photographed from the deck of Carpathia on the morning of 15 April 1912.


1914 – Launch of Imperator Aleksandr III (Emperor Alexander III) was the third, and last, ship of the Imperatritsa Mariya-class dreadnoughts of the Imperial Russian Navy.
Imperator Aleksandr III (Emperor Alexander III) was the third, and last, ship of the Imperatritsa Mariya-class dreadnoughts of the Imperial Russian Navy. She was begun before World War I, completed in 1917 and saw service with the Black Sea Fleet. She was renamed Volia or Volya (Russian: Вóля, Freedom) before her completion and then General Alekseyev (Russian: Генерал Алексеев) in 1920. The ship did not take part in operations during World War I because her sister ships were given a higher priority for completion. She was delivered in 1917, but the disruptions of the February Revolution rendered the Black Sea Fleet ineffective and she saw no combat.
Volia was surrendered to the Germans in 1918, but they were forced to turn her over to the British by the terms of the Armistice. The British turned her over to the White Russians in 1919 and they used her to help evacuate the Crimea in 1920. She was interned in Bizerte by the French and ultimately scrapped by them in 1936 to pay her docking fees. Her guns were put into storage and were later used by the Germans and Finns for coastal artillery during World War II. The Finns and the Soviets continued to use them throughout the Cold War.

Volia at sea


1915 – Launch of HMS Abercrombie and HMS Roberts, both Abercrombie class monitors of the Royal Navy that served in the First World War.
HMS Abercrombie was a First World War Royal Navy Abercrombie-class monitor.
On 3 November 1914, Charles M. Schwab of Bethlehem Steel offered Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, the use of four 14 in (356 mm)/45cal BL MK II twin gun turrets, originally destined for the Greekbattleship Salamis. These turrets could not be delivered to the German builders, due to the British Naval blockade. The Royal Navy immediately designed a class of monitors, designed for shore bombardment, to use the turrets.

1919 - german submarine beached off Hastings directly in front of the Queens Hotel
german submarine U-118, surrendered on 23 February 1919, would have been transferred to France, but the tow cable snapped during her voyage to France and she went aground at Hastings.
SM U-118 was a type UE II mine laying submarine of the Imperial German Navy and one of 329 submarines serving with that navy during World War I.
U-118 engaged in naval warfare and took part in the First Battle of the Atlantic.

SM U-118 washed ashore at Hastings, Sussex.