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

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
3 January 1695 - Start of a 2 day capture of the HMS Nonsuch (1668 – 36) and HMS Falcon (1694 – 38) by the French La Francois (1687 – 50) near Isles of Scilly.


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.

large (7).jpg
An English fourth-rate seen from before the port beam with, on the broadside, nine guns on the gun deck, ten on the upper deck (square decorated ports) and three in wreathed ports on the quarterdeck. There are eight sweep ports between the guns on the gun deck. This is a pen and brown ink drawing with a wash over the preliminary work in pencil. It has been signed by the Younger, ‘W.V.VJ’. The ship may be one of the 42-gun fourth-rates which in 1677 were armed with twenty guns on the gun deck, eighteen on the upper deck and four on the quarterdeck. They were the ‘Assurance’ (1646) ‘Constant Warwick’ (1646, rebuilt 1666) ‘Falcon’ and ‘Sweepstakes’ (1666), ‘Nonsuch’ (1668) and ‘Phoenix’ (1671). Other drawings and the small number of gun-deck ports led Robinson to suggest the ‘Assurance’ as most probable, but she was sold in 1698 and he considered it unlikely she would have been drawn as late as 1701, which the style here suggests. By the style and paper he related this drawing to PAH5024, which shows the ‘Seahorse’ of 1694 and could be more certainly dated to about 1701. Both are very accurate drawings in pen and brown ink and the early features here, such as the square decorated ports, might be accounted for if it is this drawing is based on an offset from an earlier example. Robinson, however, fails to say whether the ‘Assurance’ of 1646 was rebuilt in 1675, the date he ascribes to the ship as shown.

Class and type:
  • 36-gun fifth rate (as launched)
  • Re-rated as 42-gun fourth rate in 1669
  • Re-rated as 36-gun fifth rate in 1691
Tons burthen: 359 29⁄94bm
Length:
  • 97 ft 3.5 in (29.7 m)(gundeck)
  • 88 ft 3 in (26.9 m) (keel)
Beam: 27 ft 8 in (8.4 m)
Draught: 12 ft 8 in (3.86 m)
Depth of hold: 10 ft 10 in (3.30 m)
Propulsion Sails
Sail plan: Full rigged ship
Complement:
  • 150 as Fifth Rate;
  • 180 as Fourth Rate
Armament:
  • 40 in 1685:
  • 20 demi-culverins,
  • 16 sakers
  • and 4 x 3-pounder guns

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.

She reverted to a 36-gun fifth rate in 1691, and was recommissioned under Captain Richard Short, for service off New England. Command passed in January 1693 to Captain Thomas Dobbin, then in November 1693 to Captain Thomas Taylor. She was captured off the Scilly Isles on 4 January 1695 by the French 48-gun privateer Le François; renamed Le Sans Pareil, she subsequently served in the French Navy until 1697.



HMS Falcon (1694), a sistership of Nonsuch, was converted from a merchant ship in 1694 to a 38-gun fifth rate. She was captured by the French in 1695




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Nonsuch_(1668)
https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_ship&id=5575
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
3 January 1794 – Launch of HMS Artois, the leadship of the Artois class, a series of nine frigates built to a 1793 design by Sir John Henslow,


The Artois class were a series of nine frigates built to a 1793 design by Sir John Henslow, which served in the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

Type: Frigate
Tons burthen: 983 70⁄94 bm (as designed)
Length:
  • 146 ft 0 in (44.5 m) (gundeck)
  • 121 ft 7.125 in (37.1 m) (keel)
Beam: 39 ft 0 in (11.9 m)
Depth of hold: 13 ft 9 in (4.19 m)
Sail plan: Full-rigged ship
Complement: 270 (altered later to 315)
Armament:
  • Upper Deck:
    • 28 x 18-pounder guns
  • Quarter Deck:
    • 2 x 9-pounder guns
    • 12 x 32-pounder carronades
  • Forecastle:
    • 2 x 9-pounder guns
    • 2 x 32-pounder carronades

large (8).jpg
large (9).jpg
Scale: 1:48. A design block model of the ‘Artois’, a 38-gun frigate, built by Wells of Rotherhithe in 1794. The model is scenic, and is represented on a slipway, with complete with its launching flags. It carries a plaque inscribed ‘Artois tons 996 Guns 38 Built 1794. On a launch. This model represents the mode of launching ships in HM Dockyards at the present time, and was accepted subsequent to 1795’. ‘Artois’ captured several French ships before being wrecked near La Rochelle in 1797. The model was displayed in the naval museum in Somerset House, open to the public in 1838.

Seven of these ships were built by contract with commercial builders, while the remaining pair (Tamar and Clyde) were dockyard-built - the latter built using "fir" (pitch pine) instead of the normal oak.

They were armed with a main battery of 28 eighteen-pounder cannon on their upper deck, the main gun deck of a frigate. Besides this battery, they also carried two 9-pounders together with twelve 32-pounder carronades on the quarter deck, and another two 9-pounders together with two 32-pounder carronades on the forecastle.

large (10).jpg
large (11).jpg
large (12).jpg
large (13).jpg
Scale: 1:48. A model of one of the nine ships of the 'Artois/Apollo' class of 38-gun frigates designed by Sir John Henslow and built between 1793 and 1795. Seven were built conventionally in private shipyards and two more were constructed experimentally in fir in the Royal Dockyards at Chatham and Woolwich. Four of the conventional ships were wrecked between 1797 and 1799, and the fir-built ships deteriorated rapidly. The model shows the hull of the ship fully planked and set on a launching cradle, though without the rails on which it will run, as is common on models of this period. The stern decoration and figurehead are carefully carved and some features such as decorations and the steering wheel are made in bone. The figurehead is of Diana the huntress, which identifies the ship. Two other models of this ship are in the Museum collection.

Ships in class
large (14).jpg
Lines (ZAZ2383)

large (15).jpg
Frame (ZAZ2384)


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artois-class_frigate
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...1;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=A;start=0
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
3 January 1794 – Launch of French Républicaine française, a 32-gun frigate of the French Navy, of the Galathée class.


The Républicaine française was a 32-gun frigate of the French Navy, of the Galathée class. The Royal Navy captured her in 1796. The Navy fitted her as a troopship in 1800, but both as a troopship, and earlier as a frigate, she captured several small Spanish and French privateers. She was broken up in 1810.

Class and type: Galathée class frigate
Tons burthen: 923 2⁄94 (bm)
Length:
  • 44.5 m (146 ft)
  • 140 ft 6 1⁄2 in (42.8 m) (overall)
  • 119 ft 4 5⁄8 in (36.4 m) (keel)
Beam:
  • 12.2 m (40 ft)
  • 38 ft 1 1⁄2 in (11.6 m)
Depth of hold:
  • 5.5 m (18 ft)
  • 11 ft 7 1⁄2 in (3.5 m)
Propulsion: Sails
Sail plan: Full rigged ship
Complement:
  • French service:320
  • British service:264
Armament:
  • French service: 32 guns, later upgraded to 44
  • British service:
    • Upper deck:26 × 12-pounder guns
    • QD: 12 × 32-pounder carronades
    • Fc: 2 × 9-pounder guns + 2 × 32-pounder carronades
Galathée-Dumoulin-IMG_5509.JPG
Galathée, sister-ship of Républicaine française

French service
Ordered in March 1793 as Panthère, she became République française in January 1794, and eventually Républicaine française when commissioned in May, as the name had been attributed to the 120-gun République française.

Under Lieutenant François Pitot, she cruised the Atlantic off Brest. On 30 May 1795, she was again renamed to Renommée.

Action of 13 June 1796
In June 1796, Renommée patrolled the Caribbean off Porto Rico. On 12 June, she chased a strange ship, which she joined around 18:00. The ship hoisted two flags half-mast and fired a shot, to which Renommée responded by flying her colours. Immediately, the ship hoisted the Union Jack and gave chase. Captain Pitot attempted to escape by throwing his anchors and some of his guns overboard, but the ship gained on Renommée. On 13 June, at around 4a.m., the British ship, identified as the 74-gun HMS Alfred, under captain Thomas Drury, fired a broadside that struck Renommée under the waterline, causing a leak that wet her ammunition. After a second broadside from Alfred, Pitot struck his colours.

Led aboard Alfred, Pitot learned that several ships had been lured into the trap that had caught him. Pitot was later acquitted by the court-martial for the loss of his ship.

British service
On her capture Commander John Richards (acting) took command of Renommee. The Royal Navy commissioned her at Jamaica as HMS Renommee, under the command of Captain Robert Rolles.

On 6 September 1797 she was in company with HMS Diligence and HMS Hermione when Diligence captured a Spanish 6-gun packet ship with troops on board.

On 20 September 1798, Renommee captured the 6-gun privateer Triomphante. Then in February 1799, Renommee captured the Spanish 4-gun privateer Neptune.

Early in 1799 Renommee captured a merchant vessel.

Renommee arrived at Portsmouth on 2 August 1799. Captain William Sanderson took command in August, and paid her off that month.

Between January and March 1800, Renommee underwent fitting at Portsmouth for service as a troopship. In February Commander James Nasmyth Marshall recommissioned her. Commander Peter M'Keller later replaced Marshall.

Renommee served in the navy's Egyptian campaign between 8 March 1801 and 2 September, so her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal, which the Admiralty authorised in 1850 to all surviving claimants.[Note 1] After the Egyptian operations Renommee was paid off.

Between September 1804 and January 1805 Renommee underwent repairs by Perry & Co., Blackwall. She then underwent fitting-out at Woolwich until March for a return to service as a 38-gun frigate. Captain Sir Thomas Livingstone recommissioned her in January for the Channel. She then sailed to the Mediterranean.

Renommee shared with ten other vessels in the capture on 2 August 1805 of the vessels:

  • Lucy, F. G. Voizard, Master,
  • Desiree, J. V, Coltais,
  • Paix, B. Potel,
  • Deux Amis, P. Endelinne, and
  • Gun Pinnace, No. 311, A. Hice.
On 4 April 1806 Renommee came upon a Spanish brig anchored under Fort Callcretes on the Cape de Gatte. Renommee was able to capture the brig despite coming under fire from the brig, shore batteries, and two gun boats. The captured brig was the Vigilante, armed with twelve 12-poounder long guns and six short 24-pounder guns. She had a crew of 109 men under the command of Teniento de Navio Don Joseph Julian. British casualties amounted to two men wounded; Spanish casualties were one man killed and three men wounded. Vigilante's main mast went overboard shortly after the engagement ended, and her foremast was almost did. Renommee therefore took her under tow and brought her into port.

In the early morning of 4 May, the boats of Renommee and Nautilus, under the command of Lieutenant Sir William Parker, of Renommee, brought out from under the fire of the guns of the town and tower of Vieja and also from under the fire of more than 100 musketeers, the Spanish naval schooner Giganta. Giganta was armed with two 24-pounders, three 4-pounder long guns, four 4-pounders, and swivel guns. She had a crew of 38 men under the command of Alfirre de Navis Don Juan de Moire. British casualties amounted to four men severely woounded and three lightly wounded; Spanish casualties consisted of one man mortally wounded and nime men severely wounded. There were no immediate fatalities. Livingstone recommended that the Navy take Giganta into service at Gibraltar.

On 21 and 22 October 1806, Lieutenant Sir William Parker again led Renomee's boats in cutting-out expeditions. The first occurred at Colon, on Majorca, where in the face of enemy fire the British captured one tartane of four guns, and two settees, one of which mounted three guns. The settees were carrying grain and the British were able to bring them out. The tartan ran aground so the raiding party set her on fire, which led to her blowing up. One British seaman was wounded in the action.

The next night, Parker again went into the port and from under the fire of the tower of Falconara, brought out a settee armed with two guns. Small arms fire from shore wounded one British seaman, so Parker landed with some seamen and marines. The landing party killed one Spaniard and drove the others off. There were no other British casualties.

Early in the morning of 7 November 1807, boats from Renommee and Grasshopper cut out a Spanish brig and a French tartan, each armed with six guns, from under the Torre de Estacio. The prize crews were not able to prevent winds and tides from causing the two vessels to ground. The boats and the two vessels were under a constant fire from the tower that wounded several prisoners. After about three hours the British abandoned their prizes as they could not free them and were unwilling to set fire to them as the captured vessels had prisoners and women and children aboard, many of whom were wounded. The British had two men badly wounded in the action; although the enemy suffered many wounded, they apparently had no deaths.

Renomee shared in the proceeds of Grasshopper's capture on 12 November of the American schooner Henrietta, Henry Dawson, master.

Fate
Renomee was scrapped at Deptford in September 1810

large (16).jpg
lines & profile NMM, Progress Book, volume 5, folio 229 states that 'Pique' (1795) arrived at Portsmouth Dockyard in December 1796 and was docked ini January 1797 where her copper was replaced. She was launched on 29 January 1797 and sailed in April 1797 having been fitted


The Galathée class was a type of 32-gun frigates of the French Navy, designed by Raymond-Antoine Haran, with 26 × 12-pounder and 6 × 6-pounder guns. six units were built in all, seeing service during the Naval operations in the American Revolutionary War, and later in the French Revolutionary Wars. The Royal Navy captured and took into service five of the six, the sixth being wrecked early in the French Revolutionary Wars.

Sub-class Charente Inférieure class (32-gun design by Raymond-Antoine Haran, with 26 x 12-pounder and 6 x 6-pounder guns).

Charente Inférieure, (launched 30 June 1793 at Rochefort) – renamed Tribune in February 1794 – captured by British Navy 9 June 1796, becoming HMS Tribune.
République Française, (launched 3 January 1794 at Bordeaux) – renamed Républicaine Française in September 1794, then Renommée in May 1795 – captured by British Navy 13 June 1796, becoming HMS Renommee.
Décade Française, (launched 10 October 1794 at Bordeaux) – renamed Décade in May 1795 – captured by British Navy 23 August 1798, becoming HMS Decade.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Républicaine_française_(1794)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galathée-class_frigate
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-339266;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=P
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
3 January 1807 - HMS Pickle schooner, Lt. Moses Cannadey, captured privateer cutter Favorite (14), E. J. Boutruche, off the Lizard.


HMS Pickle was a topsail schooner of the Royal Navy. She was originally a civilian vessel named Sting, of six guns, that Lord Hugh Seymour purchased to use as a tender on the Jamaica station. Pickle was at the Battle of Trafalgar, and though she was too small to take part in the fighting, Pickle was the first ship to bring the news of Nelson's victory to Great Britain. She also participated in a notable single-ship action when she captured the French privateer Favorite in 1807. Pickle was wrecked in 1808, but without loss of life. In 1995 five replica Baltic packet schooners were constructed at the Grumant & Askold shipyard in Russia. One, named "Alevtina & Tuy", was in 2005 renamed "Schooner Pickle", although not a replica of HMS Pickle, to represent the 1805 vessel for the 200-year Trafalgar celebration. Retaining her adopted name, she is berthed in Hull Marina on the Humber. The vessel, owned by Historic Motor and Sail (https://historicmotorandsail.org.uk) is kept as a representation of the original Pickle and can be seen at ports throughout the East coast of England during the summer months.

1024px-HMSPicklereplica.jpg
Representation of HMS Pickle at Portsmouth

On 3 January 1807 Scorpion was chasing a cutter some 15 miles south of The Lizard. Pickle came on the scene, made all sail, and succeeded in catching up with the quarry, with whom she exchanged two broadsides. Callaway ran Pickle alongside the French vessel, and his crew boarded and captured her. The French vessel was the privateer Favorite, of 14 guns and 70 men under the command of M. E. J. Boutruche. She was only two months old and had left Cherbourg two days before

large (1).jpg
large (2).jpg
large.jpg
Scale: 1:48. A full hull and rigged exhibition style model of HM Schooner ‘Pickle’ (circa 1800). A small vessel of 127 tons and 73 feet in length, the ‘Pickle’ was schooner rigged, that is she had two masts both rigged fore and aft which gave a good turn of speed even in unfavourable winds. Such rigs were rare in Europe during this time, but much more common across the Atlantic; the Pickle had been built in Bermuda and taken into the navy in 1800. She had taken little part in the actual Battle of Trafalgar, not unusual for such a small vessel, but played an important part in the aftermath, rescuing 120-130 men and one woman from the water. Under the command of Lieutenant John Lapenotiere, the ‘Pickle’s’ claim to fame was as the despatch vessel carrying the news of Nelson’s victory at the Battle of Trafalgar back to England. Setting sail on the 29 October, 1805, Lapenotiere made a fast passage in strong and favourable winds reaching the port of Falmouth in eight days. He then took land transport for the 260 miles to London, arriving on the 5 November.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Pickle_(1800)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
3 January 1854 - Launch of Lightning was a clipper ship, one of the last really large clippers to be built in the United States


Lightning was a clipper ship, one of the last really large clippers to be built in the United States. She was built by Donald McKay for James Baines of the Black Ball Line, Liverpool, for the Australia trade.

It has been said that Lightning was the most extreme example of a type of ship classified as an extreme clipper.

lossy-page1-1280px-The_Clipper_Ship_Lightning_1854_(1769_Tons_Register)._Messrs_James_Baines_a...jpg


Her builder was the famous Donald McKay of Boston, a follower of John Willis Griffiths and his principles of ship design. Lightning is a prime example of a change in thinking that turned builders away from shaping ships' hulls like cod's heads and mackerel tails. She had 16 feet (4.9 m) of concavity in her bows and a beautiful fine run, yet she also had a moderate deadrise and a good full midsection with tumblehome, allowing her to be fast yet stable, with good sail-carrying ability.

History
When Lightning was built in 1854 in Boston, America's clipper boom was on the wane. The Australian gold rush was on, however, and McKay was building ships for James Baines of the Black Ball Line (house flag featured a black disk ("ball") on a red background) in Liverpool. Baines needed to transport passengers and cargo to Australia and had been impressed by the huge American ships. Lightning was powerfully and heavily constructed to handle the heavy seas and storms of the Australian run. Only the finest materials went into her construction. She cost ₤30,000 to build, and Baines put in another ₤2,000 in interior decoration, adding fine woods, marble, gilding and stained glass. It is said that her rooms rivaled those of the later Queen Mary. An on-ship newspaper called the Lightning Gazette was published for the passengers and crew.

After arriving in England, Lightning's hollow bow was ignorantly filled in by her captain Anthony Enright. McKay called the people who did it "the wood butchers of Liverpool". When the famous James "Bully" Forbes became her captain, he drove her mercilessly, often running with the lee rail underwater, and the fillings soon washed out. Lightning began to set records. For example, she crossed from New York to Liverpool in 13 days, 19½ hours, and she sailed 436 miles (702 km) in 24 hours, doing 18 to 18½ knots. In 1854–55, she made the passage from Melbourne to Liverpool in 65 days, completing a circumnavigation of the world in 5 months, 9 days, which included 20 days spent in port.

Lightning did a brief stint as a troop ship, taking British soldiers to India to fight the 1857 Indian Mutiny.

At around 01:00 on 30 October 1869, Lightning caught fire at Geelong in Australia, when she was fully loaded and ready to sail with 4,300 bales of wool, 200 tons of copper, 35 casks of wine, and some tallow. Attempts to control the fire were unsuccessful, so at around noon the decision was taken to sink her. She was towed out to the shoals in Corio Bay where initial attempts to hole her below the waterline with cannon fire from the shore were unsuccessful. At about four in the afternoon some of the crew scuttled her by cutting holes on the waterline, and she sank in 27 feet (8.2 m) of water. The shoals became known as "Lightning Shoals".


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning_(clipper)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
3 January 1870 – Launch of The eighth HMS Vanguard of the British Royal Navy was an Audacious-class central battery ironclad battleship, launched in 1870.


The eighth HMS Vanguard of the British Royal Navy was an Audacious-class central battery ironclad battleship, launched in 1870.

HMS_Vanguard_h52617.jpg

Vanguard — under the command of Captain Richard Dawkins, sailed out of Kingstown (now Dún Laoghaire) harbour on 27 August 1875 in company with three other ironclads, Warrior, Hector and Iron Duke. The ships were part of the First Reserve Squadron and were on a summer cruise around the Irish coast. The squadron — under the command of AdmiralTarleton, was en route to Queenstown (Cobh), County Cork where the cruise would finish. As they passed the Kish lightship, a heavy fog came down which restricted visibility to less than a ship's length.

Vanguard's sister ship — Iron Duke — noticed she was drifting off course and began returning to her proper station. A problem with her steam plant meant that her foghorn was inoperable, and could not be used to alert the other vessels of her position or course.

At about 12:50, a look-out on Vanguard spotted a sailing ship directly ahead. As Vanguard turned to avoid it, Iron Duke appeared out of the fog on her port side less than 40 yd (40 m) away. Collision was unavoidable. Iron Duke's underwater ram tore open Vanguard's hull near her boilers.

Iron Duke freed herself after a few minutes, sustaining only minor damage. Vanguard, however, was sinking. Her pumps could move water at a rate of 3,000 lb/min (23 kg/s) but the flooding exceeded 50 long tons per minute (847 kg/s). The pumps were powered by the engines, which shut down ten minutes after the collision when the engine room flooded.

The_loss_of_the_Vanguard.jpg
HMS Vanguard (right) sinking. HMS Iron Duke is on the left

Vanguard and Iron Duke both launched all boats. The abandonment was completed in good order with Captain Dawkins the last of the 360 crew aboard to leave and the only casualty was his dog which was lost. Warrior and Hector sailed on in the fog and only learned of the sinking upon reaching Queenstown.

Seventy minutes after the collision, Vanguard rested on the seabed 165 ft (50 m) deep. The tips of her masts were still visible above the surface. The Admiralty was confident that the ship could be raised and diving operations started, but were soon abandoned.

Captain Dawkins was blamed at the court martial for not doing enough to save his vessel following the collision, and never received command of another vessel. Contemporary popular opinion, however, was sympathetic towards him.

The wreck was rediscovered in 1985 and lies in 148–165 ft (45–50 m) of water. The wreck is protected under the Irish National Monument Act, and a licence from the National Monuments Service is required to dive it.


The Audacious-class ironclad battleships were designed by Sir Edward Reed at the request of the Board of Admiralty to serve as second-class battleships on distant foreign stations.

Background and design

HMS_Iron_Duke_(1870)_9-inch_gun.jpg
A 9-inch (229 mm) muzzle-loadingrifle aboard HMS Iron Duke c. 1870s. Hanging from the deckhead above the gun are its ramming staff and its sponging-out staff. One of the gun's shells, partially obscured by the glare from outside, is hanging in the gunport in front of the gun.

The principal motivation driving the Admiralty was the French policy, already well advanced, of dispatching their own small ironclads to these same distant stations. HMS Monarch was under construction, and HMS Captain had been authorised. Both of these were turret-armed ships, and the press agitated for a turret-mounted armament in these newly ordered ships. The Admiralty, however, decided that as there had been built a long succession of successful broadside ironclads, and no turret-armed ships had been produced other than some coastal defence shipsof low displacement and limited range, it would be better to await the assessment of Monarch and Captain before departing from the broadside principle.

As the ships were intended for service in waters far distant from Britain, and given the limited efficiency of the steam engines of the period, it was necessary to equip them with a full sailing rig. Reed never wavered from his belief that in a fully rigged ship armament carried in a central broadside battery was the superior method, being unobstructed by masts and rigging. Both the designer and the Admiralty were therefore in total agreement that these ships should not be armed with turret-mounted artillery. The rig was later converted to a barque-rig, which required fewer hands to manage.

The ships were designed following the lines of HMS Defence, by then, more than five years old. Reed found that, on the dimensions of the older ship, the armament, armour and machinery would all be insufficient for the stated requirements, and asked for an increase in tonnage, which was reluctantly granted by the Board.

Although four ships were required, initially only two, HMS Audacious and HMS Invincible were laid down. The Admiralty, following a commitment made to Parliament by the First Lord of the Admiralty, put the other two ships out to tender. Submissions of various designs were received: a broadside and turret ship from Mare & Company, a broadside ship from Palmers, a different broadside ship from Thames Ironworks, and turret ships from Napiers, Samudas and Lairds Co & Sons. All were determined to be in some way inadequate, and ultimately the third and fourth ships were built, with some delay, to the Admiralty design.

This class was the first homogeneous class of battleships to be launched since the Prince Consort class, and the last until the Admiral class.

Ships
  • Audacious : Launched 27 February 1869. Renamed HMS Fisgard in 1902 and reclassified as a Depot ship. Renamed HMS Imperieuse in 1914 and reclassified as a Repair ship. Sold for breaking up 12 March 1927.
  • Invincible : Launched 29 May 1869. Reclassified as a Depot ship in 1901. Renamed HMS Erebus in 1904. Renamed HMS Fisgard II and reclassified as a Training ship in 1906. Sank while under tow on 17 September 1914.
  • Iron Duke : Launched 1 March 1870. Put into Reserve 1890, converted to coal hulk 1900. Sold for scrap 15 May 1906.
  • Vanguard : Launched 3 January 1870. Sunk after accidental collision with Iron Duke on 1 September 1875.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Vanguard_(1870)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audacious-class_ironclad
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 3 January


1756 – Launch of French Sauvage at Brest – wrecked March 1759 off Poitou.

Licorne class, (30-gun design of 1754 by Jean Geoffroy, with 26 x 8-pounder and 4 x 4-pounder guns).

Licorne, (launched December 1755 at Brest) – sank in a storm 1763, but was refloated and repaired at Brest 1764, damaged in a cyclone and repaired at Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe in 1776, captured by British Navy 1778, becoming HMS Licorne.
Sauvage, (launched 3 January 1756 at Brest) – wrecked March 1759 off Poitou.
Hermine, (launched May 1757 at Bayonne) – wrecked December 1761 off Vigo.
Opale, (launched May 1757 at Bayonne) – wrecked July 1762 off San Domingo.


1769 – Spanish San Fernando 64 (launched 1751 at Ferrol) - Wrecked 3 January 1769

San Fernando class
San Fernando
64 (launched 1751 at Ferrol) - Wrecked 3 January 1769
Castilla 64 (launched 1751 at Ferrol) - wrecked 1771
Asia 64 (launched 17 March 1752 at Ferrol) - Scuttled 11 June 1762


1782 HMS Flying Fish (12) wrecked off Calais

HMS Flying Fish (1778) was a cutter purchased in 1778 and wrecked off Calais in 1782. The French appear to have refloated her and taken her into service as Poisson Volant, commissioning her at Dunkirk on 12 June 1783. In 1785 or 1786 she was struck off at Brest


1798 British armed tender George (6), Lt. Michael Mackey, engaged Spanish privateer cutter (12) and schooner (6) in the West Indies and was taken by boarding after missing stays.


1801 Boats of HMS Melpomene (38), Cptn. Sir Charles Hamilton, cut out a brig (18) in Senegal but it was lost to grounding during attempt.

HMS Melpomene (1794) was a 38-gun fifth-rate frigate captured in 1794 and sold in 1815 after service in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

large (3).jpg
Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with stern board decoration and name in a cartouche on the counter, the sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for Melpomene (captured 1794), a captured French Frigate, as taken off at Chatham Dockyard having been fitted as a 38-gun Fifth Rate Frigate. Note that the plan shows her with a fairly typical French layout of wheel abaft the mizzen and a single set of anchor bitts on the upper deck.

http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-330552;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=M


1909 - USS Scorpion arrives to help the survivors of the Messina, Sicily earthquake. With the Great White Fleet making its way through the Suez Canal, President T. Roosevelt orders the U.S. Navy to assist.

The fourth USS Scorpion was a steam yacht in commission in the United States Navy from 1898 to 1899, 1899 to 1901, and 1902 to 1927.

USS_Scorpion_(PY-3).jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Scorpion_(PY-3)


1944 - USS Turner (DD-648), was a Gleaves-class destroyer of the United States Navy, sank after suffering internal explosions

USS Turner (DD-648), was a Gleaves-class destroyer of the United States Navy. She was commissioned on 15 April 1943 and sank after suffering internal explosions on 3 January 1944.

USS_Turner_(DD-648).jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Turner_(DD-648)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
4 January 1749 - John Jervis (later Earl of St Vincent) joined the navy as an Able Seaman on HMS Gloucester (50)


Admiral of the Fleet John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent GCB, PC (9 January 1735 – 14 March 1823) was an admiral in the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom. Jervis served throughout the latter half of the 18th century and into the 19th, and was an active commander during the Seven Years' War, American War of Independence, French Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic Wars. He is best known for his victory at the 1797 Battle of Cape Saint Vincent, from which he earned his titles, and as a patron of Horatio Nelson.

800px-John_Jervis,_Earl_of_St_Vincent_by_Francis_Cotes.jpg
A young Captain John Jervis by Francis Cotes courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery

Jervis was also recognised by both political and military contemporaries as a fine administrator and naval reformer. As Commander-in-chief of the Mediterranean, between 1795 and 1799 he introduced a series of severe standing orders to avert mutiny. He applied those orders to both seamen and officers alike, a policy that made him a controversial figure. He took his disciplinarian system of command with him when he took command of the Channel Fleet in 1799. In 1801, as First Lord of the Admiralty he introduced a number of reforms that, though unpopular at the time, made the Navy more efficient and more self-sufficient. He introduced innovations including block making machinery at Portsmouth Royal Dockyard. St Vincent was known for his generosity to officers he considered worthy of reward and his swift and often harsh punishment of those he felt deserved it.

Jervis' entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography by P. K. Crimmin describes his contribution to history:
"His importance lies in his being the organiser of victories; the creator of well-equipped, highly efficient fleets; and in training a school of officers as professional, energetic, and devoted to the service as himself."

Years of service 1749–1807
Rank Admiral of the Fleet
Commands held
HMS Porcupine
HMS Scorpion
HMS Albany
HMS Gosport
HMS Alarm
HMS Kent
HMS Foudroyant
Leeward Islands Station
Mediterranean Fleet
Channel Fleet
First Lord of the Admiralty

Battles/wars
Awards
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath

Early life
John Jervis was born in Meaford, Staffordshire, on 9 January 1735, the second son of Swynfen and Elizabeth Jervis. His father was a barrister, counsellor to the Admiralty Boardand auditor of Greenwich Hospital. Swynfen Jervis intended that his son should follow him to the bar. The young Jervis was educated at Burton Grammar School and subsequently at Reverend Swinden's Academy in Greenwich, London.

Their family name Jervis is pronounced /ˈdʒɜːrvɪs/ JUR-vis. The name Jervis originates from the Norman name Gervase.

Early naval career
At the age of thirteen Jervis ran away and joined the navy at Woolwich, London. After a short time he returned home as he had heard his family were very upset at his disappearance. Lady Jane Hamilton (mother of Sir William Hamilton) and Lady Burlington became aware of Jervis' desire to join the navy and lobbied his family on his behalf. Eventually they introduced the Jervis family to Admiral George Townshend who agreed to take the boy aboard one of his ships.

On 4 January 1749 Jervis entered the navy as an able seaman aboard the 50-gun Gloucester on her way to Jamaica. On arrival in the West Indies, Jervis was detached on HM sloop Ferret to the Mosquito Coast where he saw constant service against Spanish guarda-costas and privateers. When Townshend quit the West Indies he discharged Jervis into the Severn under Admiral Thomas Cotes. Cotes' flag captain Henry Dennis rated Jervis as a midshipman. On 31 July 1754 Jervis moved to the 24-gun Sphinx. Jervis commented in a letter to his sister: "my chief employ when from my duty is reading studying navigation and perusing my old letters of which I have almost enough to make an octavo volume." While in Jamaica, the young Jervis drew funds against his father's account with a local banker. When the reply came from England that the withdrawal could not be honoured, the midshipman found himself in debt. Jervis was forced to quit his mess and live on ship's rations in order to pay off the loan. The event deeply affected the young Jervis who swore never to "draw another bill without the certainty of it being paid". Sphinx was paid off at Spithead on 7 November 1754. Jervis was assigned to the 20-gun Seaford in December of the same year and then from the end of December until February 1755 was assigned to HM Yacht William and Mary under the navigational expert Captain John Campbell.

Jervis passed his lieutenant's examination on 2 January 1755 and was assigned as sixth lieutenant to the first-rate Royal George of 100 guns. By March, he had moved to third lieutenant of the 60-gun Nottingham. The Nottingham was part of Edward Boscawen's fleet that attempted to prevent French reinforcements reaching New France. On 31 March 1756 Jervis moved to the 74-gun HMS Devonshire and on 22 June he was promoted to be fourth lieutenant of the 90-gun Prince under Captain Charles Saunders in the Mediterranean. When the captain was promoted to admiral, Jervis followed him to the 74-gun Culloden in November 1756. In January 1757 Jervis was promoted to temporary command of HMS Experiment. In her, he fought a large French privateer in an indecisive action off Cape Gata. When the captain of the Experiment regained his health Jervis moved back to the Culloden. In June 1757, he followed Saunders to the 90-gun HMS St George. Jervis returned to England in temporary command of the 80-gun Foudroyant, a ship that had been captured by Henry Osborn's fleet at the Battle of Cartagena. He followed Saunders once more when the admiral was promoted to command the North American station; Jervis was promoted to Lieutenant of HMS Prince.

read more about his long naval career in wikipedia ......


HMS Gloucester was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line built for the Royal Navy in the 1740s. She participated in the 1740–48 War of the Austrian Succession, capturing four French privateers. The ship was broken up in 1764.

Class and type: 1741 revisions 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line
Tons burthen: 985 67⁄94 bm
Length: 140 ft 8.5 in (42.9 m) (Gundeck)
Beam: 40 ft 2.5 in (12.3 m)
Depth of hold: 17 ft 2.5 in (5.2 m)
Sail plan: Full-rigged ship
Complement: 300
Armament:
  • 50 guns:
  • Gundeck: 22 × 24-pdr cannon
  • Upper gundeck: 22 × 12-pdr cannon
  • Quarterdeck: 4 × 6-pdr cannon
  • Forecastle: 2 × 6-pdr cannon
large.jpg
Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth for Falkland (1744), a 1741 Establishment 50-gun Fourth Rate, two-decker. The plan was later used for Portland (1744), and Harwich (1743), Colchester (1744), Chester (1744), Winchester (1744),Gloucester (1745), Maidstone (1744), Advice (1746), Norwich (1745), Ruby (1745), Salisbury (1746). The body plan and longitudinal half-breadth was later altered for Litchfield (1746) and Colchester (1746).

Description
Gloucester had a length at the gundeck of 140 feet 8.5 inches (42.9 m) and 114 feet 7.5 inches (34.9 m) at the keel. She had a beam of 40 feet 2.5 inches (12.3 m) and a depth of holdof 17 feet 2.5 inches (5.2 m). The ship's tonnage was 89567⁄94 tons burthen. Gloucester was armed with twenty-two 24-pounder cannon on her main gundeck, twenty-two 12-pounder cannon on her upper gundeck, four 6-pounder cannon on the quarterdeck and another pair on the forecastle. The ship had a crew of 300 officers and ratings.

large (1).jpg
Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, inboard profile, and longitudinal half-breadth for Harwich (1743) and Colchester (1744), both 1741 Establishment 50-gun Fourth Rate, two-deckers. A copy of the draught sent to Harwich was not approved of, and later the two foremost upper deck gunports were moved aft. Note that the Harwich is referred to by her original building name of Tyger [Tiger].

Construction and career
Gloucester, named after the eponymous port, was the fifth ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy. She was ordered on 15 June 1743 from Whetstone & Grenville, to the 1741 revisions of dimensions. The ship was laid down at their Rotherhithe dockyard on 12 July, launched on 23 March 1745 and completed on 10 May. Gloucester cost £13,019 to build and an additional £6,149 to outfit. The ship was commissioned in March 1745 under Captain Charles Saunders for service in the English Channel. She took two French privateers in July and another pair in 1747. Later that year she participated in the Second Battle of Cape Finisterre on 25 October. Gloucester sailed for Jamaica in 1749 and returned home in 1753 to pay off.

She briefly served as a hospital ship for sick soldiers in 1758 before the ship was transferred to Sheerness for use as a receiving ship the following year. Gloucester was ordered to be broken up on 21 October 1763, which was completed by 13 February 1764.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Jervis,_1st_Earl_of_St_Vincent
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Gloucester_(1745)
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-315706;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=G
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
4 January 1781 - HMS Courageux (74) and HMS Valiant (74) took French frigate Minerve (32) in the Channel.


Courageux was a heavy 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, launched in 1753. She was captured by the Royal Navy in 1761 and taken into service as HMS Courageux. In 1778, she joined the Channel Fleet and later, was part of the squadron commanded by Commodore Charles Fielding, that controversially captured a Dutch convoy on 31 December 1779, in what became known as the Affair of Fielding and Bylandt. On 4 January 1781, Courageux was west of Ushant, when she recaptured Minerva in a close range action that lasted more than an hour. The following Spring, Courageux joined the convoy, under George Darby, which successfully relieved the besieged Gibraltar.

At the start of French Revolutionary War, Courageux took part in the blockade and subsequent occupation of Toulon. In September 1793, she was sent with a squadron under Robert Linzee, to support an insurrection in Corsica and took part in the unsuccessful attack on San Fiorenzo. When Toulon was evacuated, Courageux was in a state of disrepair and was forced to warp out of her mooring without a rudder. She was however able to complete repairs while she rescued allied troops from the waterfront. At the Battle of Genoa in March 1795, she was instrumental in the capture of the French ships Ça Ira and Censeur but at the subsequent Battle of the Hyères Islands, she was so slow getting into the action that by the time she arrived, the order had been given to disengage.

In December 1796, Courageux was with the Mediterranean fleet, anchored in the bay of Gibraltar, when a great storm tore her from her mooring and drove her onto the rocks of the Barbary coast. Of the 593 officers and men that were on board, only 129 escaped; five by means of a launch, and the rest by clambering along the fallen mainmast to the shore.

Class and type: 74-gun third-rate ship of the line
Tons burthen: 1,721 bm
Length: 140 ft 10 3⁄8 in (42.9 m) (gundeck)
Beam: 48 ft (14.6 m)
Depth of hold: 20 ft 10 1⁄2 in (6.4 m)
Sail plan: Full-rigged ship
Armament:
  • French Navy: 74 guns
  • Gundeck: 28 × 36-pounders
  • Upper gundeck: 30 × 24-pounders
  • Quarterdeck: 16 × 8-pounders
  • Royal Navy: 74 guns
  • Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounders
  • Upper gundeck: 28 × 18-pounders
  • Quarterdeck: 18 × 9-pounders
large (4).jpg large (5).jpg
Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with stern board decoration and name in a cartouche on the counter, the sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, and the longitudinal half-breadth for 'Courageux' (1761), a captured French Third Rate, as taken off prior to fitting as a 74-gun Third Rate, two-decker at Portsmouth Dockyard. Signed by Edward Allin [Master Shipwright, Portsmouth Dockyard, 1755-1762] Reverse: Scale: 1:96. Plan showing the roundhouse, quarterdeck and forecastle, upper deck, gun (lower) deck, and orlop deck with fore and aft platforms for 'Courageux' (1762).

Design
Courageux was a 74-gun ship-of-the-line of the French Royal Navy. Her keel of 140 feet 1 1⁄8 inches (42.7 m) was laid down at Brest in April 1751 and her dimensions as built were: 172 feet 3 inches (52.5 m) along the gun deck, with a beam of 48 feet 0 3⁄4 inch (14.6 m) and a depth in the hold of 20 feet 10 1⁄2 inches (6.4 m). At 1,721 30⁄94 tons burthen she was of a typical size for a French 74 which were at least 100 tons heavier than their British equivalents. She was considered heavy because she carried 24-pounder guns on her upper deck rather than the normal 18 pounders.[citation needed] and when fully manned, she would have carried a complement of 650 men.

While in Royal Navy service, she was armed with up to twenty-eight 18-pound guns on her upper deck and the same amount of 32-pounders on the lower deck. Her upper works carried 9-pound guns; fourteen on the quarterdeck and four on the forecastle.

The action on 4 January
In 1781, Courageux was under the command of Lord Mulgrave.

On 4 January 1781, Courageux and HMS Valiant recaptured Minerva, approximately 5 miles west of Ushant. Minerve had sailed in company from Brest the previous day, for a fortnight's cruise around the Scilly Isles. Courageux exchanged fire at close range for more than an hour, during which time all of Minerve's masts had been put out of action, and there was extensive damage to her hull. Fifty of her crew had been killed and a further 23 injured. Courageux's mizzen, foremast and bowsprit were damaged, ten of her crew were killed and seven wounded. Valiant, in the meantime, had gone off in pursuit of another ship. Courageux towed her prize to Spithead, arriving on the morning of 8 January.


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

Class and type: Valiant-class ship of the line
Tons burthen: 1799 (bm)
Beam: 49 ft 8 in (15.14 m)
Depth of hold: 22 ft 5 in (6.83 m)
Sail plan: Full rigged ship
Armament:
  • Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns
  • Upper gundeck: 30 × 24-pounder guns
  • QD: 10 × 9-pounder guns
  • Fc: 2 × 9-pounder guns
large (6).jpgScale: 1:48. Plan showing the sheer lines proposed (and approved) for repairing the Valiant (1759), a 74-gun Third Rate, two-decker. The plan indicates her 'as built' in ticked lines. Signed by John Williams [Surveyor of the Navy, 1765-1784]. NMM, Progress Book, volume 5, folio 83 states that 'Valiant' (1759) was docked at Portsmouth Dockyard on 8 October 1771 and undocked on 1 April 1775 having undergone a "large repair" costing £36,279.10.10

HMS Minerva was one of the four 32-gun Southampton-class fifth-rate frigates of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1759 and served through the Seven Years' War, but was captured in 1778 during the American Revolutionary War and served as the French Minerve until being recaptured in 1781 and renamed HMS Recovery. She was broken up in 1784.

Class and type: Southampton-class fifth-rate frigate
Tons burthen: 664 24⁄94bm
Length:
  • 124 ft 4 in (37.90 m) (gundeck)
  • 102 ft 2.25 in (31.1468 m) (keel)
Beam: 34 ft 11.5 in (10.655 m)
Depth of hold: 12 ft 0 in (3.66 m)
Sail plan: Full-rigged ship
Complement: 210 officers and men
Armament:
  • 32 guns comprising:
  • Upperdeck: 26 × 12-pounder guns
  • Quarterdeck: 4 × 6-pounder guns
  • Forecastle: 2 × 6-pounder guns
large (2).jpg Lines & Profile (ZAZ3069)

Service history
The frigate was built at Rotherhithe between 1756 and 1759 and was commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS Minerva during the Seven Years' War. Under the command of Captain Alexander Hood, she took part in the Battle of Quiberon Bay on 20 November 1759. In mid-1761 prize money was paid to the crews of ships taking part in the battle, and also to the crews of Intrepid and Minerva, for the capture of the St. Simon.

At daybreak on 24 January 1761 Minerva, still under the command of Captain Hood, encountered a large two-decker ship about 90 nautical miles north-west of Cabo de Peñas in northern Spain. Minerva gave chase and finally caught her at 10.20 a.m. During a brisk engagement lasting no more than 40 minutes the enemy ship lost her main and fore top-mast, while soon after Minerva lost her bowsprit and fore-mast. Both ships were obliged to break off the action to clear the wreckage, but Minerva was ready to resume the fight first and closed with the enemy again at 4 p.m., forcing her to strike her colours after an hour. She proved to be the French ship Warwick (formerly HMS Warwick, captured in 1756), a 60-gun ship, but armed with only 34 guns, under the command M. le Vegerde Belair. She had sailed from Rochfort on 20 January, bound for the Isle de France (now Mauritius) loaded with provisions, ammunition, and stores, and also transporting a detachment of 74 soldiers and six other passengers. Warwick had 14 killed and 32 wounded, while aboard Minerve 14 were killed, and 34 wounded, three of whom later died.

On 15 February 1762 at the Downs, prize money was paid to the crews of Minerva and Edgar, for the capture of the French privateer Ecureuil and the recapture of the brig Elizabeth. Prize money for the Warwick was paid from 19 July 1762 at Portsmouth.

During the American Revolutionary War Minerva was part of the West Indies Squadron under Admiral Peter Parker. On 14 August 1778 she captured the American 50-ton schooner Fanny off Hispaniola, sailing from Connecticut with a cargo of timber.

On 22 August 1778, Minerva, under the command of Captain John Stott, and unaware that France had declared war on Britain met the French 32-gun frigate Concorde, under Capitaine de Tilly. Stott, mistaking her for a harmless merchantman, approached to speak to her, but Concorde fired two broadsides into her before Minerva could reply. The British were caught off guard, and suffered further misfortune when a powder explosion under the half-deck dismounted three guns, and killed or wounded eighteen men. Captain Stott was also severely wounded in the head and was carried below. After two and a half hours, Minerva surrendered, her mizzen-mast having gone overboard and her other masts tottering, her wheel destroyed, and having lost her Captain and First Lieutenant.

She was commissioned into the French Navy as Minerve, and commanded by Nicolas Henri de Grimouard. On 4 January 1781 the 74s HMS Courageux and Valiant recaptured her; the Royal Navy recommissioned her under the name HMS Recovery, as another HMS Minerva had been commissioned after she was lost. She was laid up in 1783 and sold the following year.

large (3).jpg
Scale: 1:96. Plan showing the quarter deck, forecastle, upper deck, lower deck, and fore & aft platforms for Minerva (1759), a 32-gun, Fifth Rate Frigate as taken off/fitted at Sheerness Dockyard. Signed by Edward Hunt [Master Shipwright, Sheerness Dockyard, 1767-1772].



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Courageux_(1753)
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-305024;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=C
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Valiant_(1759)
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-356802;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=V
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Minerva_(1759)
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-331293;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=M
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
4 January 1795 - HMS Blanche (1786 - 32), Cptn. Robert Faulkner, captured french Pique (1795 - 38) off Dominica.


HMS Blanche was a 32-gun Hermione-class fifth rate of the Royal Navy. She was ordered towards the end of the American War of Independence, but only briefly saw service before the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in 1793. She enjoyed a number of successful cruises against privateers in the West Indies, before coming under the command of Captain Robert Faulknor. He took the Blanche into battle against a superior opponent and after a hard-fought battle, forced the surrender of the French frigate Pique. Faulknor was among those killed on the Blanche. She subsequently served in the Mediterranean, where she had the misfortune of forcing a large Spanish frigate to surrender, but was unable to secure the prize, which then escaped. Returning to British waters she was converted to a storeship and then a troopship, but did not serve for long before being wrecked off the Texel in 1799.

HMS_Blanche_and_Pique.jpg
HMS Blanche and Pique

Class and type: 32-gun Hermione-class fifth rate
Tons burthen: 722 48⁄94 bm
Length:

  • 129 ft (39.3 m) (overall)
  • 107 ft 0 1⁄2 in (32.6 m) (keel)
Beam: 35 ft 7 1⁄2 in (10.9 m)
Depth of hold: 12 ft 7 in (3.84 m)
Sail plan: Full rigged ship
Complement: 220
Armament:

  • Upper deck: 26 × 12-pounder guns
  • QD: 4 × 6-pounder guns + 4 × 18-pounder carronades
  • Fc: 2 × 6-pounder guns + 2 × 18-pounder carronades

Construction and commissioning
Blanche was ordered from the yards of Thomas Calhoun and John Nowlan, of Bursledon on 9 August 1782 and laid down there in July the following year. She was launched on 10 July 1786 and proceeded to Portsmouth where she was coppered in August. She was then laid up for some time, before commissioning in January 1789. Work to fit her for sea had been completed by 25 April that year.

large (9).jpg
Lines (ZAZ2941)

Career
Blanche's first period of service took her to the Leeward Islands in May 1789, under the command of Captain Robert Murray, but she had returned to Britain by June 1792, when she was paid off. A brief period of refitting at Deptford lasted from July to October, before she returned to the Leeward Islands under the command of Captain Christopher Parker. Parker undertook several successful cruises while in the West Indies in 1793, capturing the 12-gun Vengeur on 1 October, the 20-gun Revolutionnaire on 8 October and the 22-gun Sans Culotte on 30 December. Command of the Blanche passed to Captain Robert Faulknor in 1794, who continued Parker's work by capturing a large schooner at La Désirade on 30 December 1794, with the loss of two killed and four wounded.

large (7).jpg
This painting, by English artist John Thomas Baines (1820–75), refers to an incident between the British frigate ‘Blanche’ and the French vessel ‘Pique’ off Guadeloupe in the early hours of 5 January 1795. In the course of the violent and extended action the English captain, Robert Faulknor, was killed, but the dismasted ‘Pique’ finally had to surrender. The ‘Pique’ is shown in a port-broadside view on the right, totally dismasted, her bowsprit lashed to the ‘Blanche’s’ stern, shown port-quarter view on the left. The ‘Blanche’ is firing through her stern windows, raking the ‘Pique’, which still wears her ensign on the staff. The ‘Blanche’ has only her foremast standing and is towing the ‘Pique’ before the wind. By focusing on the two ships in the middle ground, but reducing the depiction of human activity aboard the vessels, and by merging the calmly rippled sea and the cloudy sky in a grey tonality as a backdrop, the artist manages to portray the devastation of the scene effectively. He has, however, erroneously shown 'Blanche' flying post-1801 Union colours: the Union at the main and the red ensign should not have the red St Patrick saltire (diagonal) cross of Ireland - which was only added in that year. The painting is signed and dated lower right but this is very hard to read: it has been recorded as 'JOHN T. BAINES / LYNN FEB` SL 1830' but Baines would only have been ten in that year so it may be 1850.

Battling the Pique
Faulknor then proceeded to patrol off Pointe à Pitre, Guadeloupe, where the 36-gun French frigate Pique was known to be refitting. The French ship came out of the harbour on 4 January, and the two frigates spent several hours manoeuvring and circling each other, trying to gain an advantage. The battle started early on the morning of 5 January, with the two ships closing and exchanging broadsides, before Pique turned and ran afoul of Blanche, with her bowsprit caught across her port quarter. While the French made several attempts to board, which were repulsed, the crew of Blanche attempted to lash the bowsprit to their capstan, but during the attempt Captain Faulknor was killed by a musket ball to the heart. Pique then broke away from Blanche and came round her stern, this time colliding on the starboard quarter. Blanche's men quickly lashed the bowsprit to the stump of their mainmast, which held her fast. Heavy volleys of musket fire were now exchanged between the two ships, while the men of Blanche attempted to manoeuvre their guns into a position to fire on the trapped Frenchman. They eventually had to blow away part of Blanche's woodwork to achieve this. They now raked the Pique until she was forced to surrender, over five hours since the battle had begun. Casualties for the British were eight killed, including Captain Faulknor, and 21 wounded. Pique had lost 76 killed and 110 wounded. The two ships were joined later that morning by the 64-gun HMS Veteran, which helped exchange and secure the prisoners and tow the ships to port. Pique was taken into the Royal Navy, as HMS Pique. In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the award of the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Blanche 4 Jany. 1795" to all surviving claimants from the action.

Later career
Captain Charles Sawyer took command of Blanche in January 1795, and captured a small privateer off Saint Lucia on 17 April. Blanche returned to Portsmouth for a refit in late 1795, before sailing to the Mediterranean in December.

In 1796 a court martial dismissed Sawyer from his vessel and from the service. Sawyer had lost control of Blanche and the respect of his crew due to his increasingly blatant homosexual relations with two young midshipmen, his coxswain, and another seaman. Blanche's first lieutenant, Archibald Cowan, eventually wrote to Captain George Cockburn, senior captain of the fleet. The charges were "odious misconduct, and for not taking public notice of mutinous expressions muttered against him"; the court martial dismissed Sawyer from His Majesty's service on 17 October 1796, ruling that he was "incapable of ever serving in any military capacity whatever."

Even before the court martial verdict, Admiral John Jervis in June placed Blanche under the command of Captain D’Arcy Preston. On 19 December Blanche was involved in an action with HMS Minerve against the Spanish frigates Santa Sabina and Ceres. The Minerve captured Santa Sabina, but though the Blanche forced Ceres to surrender, she was unable to secure her prize, which subsequently escaped.

Command passed to Captain Henry Hotham in 1797, who continued Blanche's successful cruises by capturing the 14-gun privateer Coureur on the Lisbon station on 20 November, followed by the 6-gun privateer Bayonnais on 27 December that year.

Fate
Blanche was paid off in August 1798 and fitted out as a storeship the following year. She was further converted to a troopship and commissioned under Commander John Ayscough. While under his command she grounded in the entrance to the Texel on 28 September 1799 and was declared a constructive total loss.[


HMS Pique was a 38-gun fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She had formerly served with the French Navy, initially as the Fleur-de-Lys, and later as the Pique. HMS Blanche captured her in 1795 in a battle that left the Blanche's commander, Captain Robert Faulknor, dead. HMS Pique was taken into service under her only British captain, David Milne, but served for just three years with the Royal Navy before being wrecked in an engagement with the French ship Seine in 1798. The Seine had been spotted heading for a French port and Pique and another British ship gave chase. All three ships ran aground after a long and hard-fought pursuit. The arrival of a third British ship ended French resistance, but while the Seine and Jason were both refloated, attempts to save Pique failed; she bilged and had to be abandoned.

large (8).jpg
lines & profile NMM, Progress Book, volume 5, folio 229 states that 'Pique' (1795) arrived at Portsmouth Dockyard in December 1796 and was docked ini January 1797 where her copper was replaced. She was launched on 29 January 1797 and sailed in April 1797 having been fitted.

Class and type: Galathée class frigate, later 38-gun fifth rate frigate
Displacement: 1,150 tons (French)
Tons burthen: 906 21⁄94 (bm)
Length:

  • 144 ft 1 1⁄2 in (43.9 m) (overall)
  • 119 ft 5 1⁄4 in (36.4 m) (keel)
Beam: 37 ft 9 1⁄4 in (11.5 m)
Depth of hold: 11 ft 8 in (3.6 m)
Sail plan: Full rigged ship
Complement:

  • French service
  • Originally: 150 (peace) and 220 (war)
  • Later:280 and then 322
Armament:
  • French service
  • Upper deck: 26 x 12-pounder guns
  • Spar deck:6 x 6-pounder guns
  • British service'
  • Upper deck:26 x 12-pounder guns
  • QD: 6 x 6-pounder guns + 4 x 24-pounder carronades
  • Fc: 2 x 6-pounder guns + 2 x 24-pounder carronades


French career
Pique was built at Rochefort as the Fleur-de-Lys, one of the six-ship Galatée class designed by Raymond-Antoine Haran. She was launched on 2 December 1785. The French Revolution led to her being renamed Pique in June 1792.

Between 25 May and 23 December 1792, Pique was under the command of lieutenant de vaisseau d'Ancausse de Labatut. She cruised the environs of Belle Île and Île d'Yeu before returning to Île-d'Aix roads. She then sailed to observe the entrance to the Channel.

From 9 January 1793, Pique was under the command of capitaine de vaisseau d'Ancausse de Labatut in the Île-d'Aix roads. Then under the command of capitaine de vaisseau de Leissègues, between 7 March and 23 November 1793 she carried troops and passengers to the Windward Islands.

On 9 January 1794, Pique was at Rochefort before Leissègues again carried troops and passengers to the Windward Islands.

British career after her capture by HMS Blanche
HMS Pique was commissioned in September 1795 under Captain David Milne, and assigned to serve in the Leeward Islands. On 9 March 1796, Pique and Charon captured the French privateer Lacédémonienne off Barbados. She was described as a brig of 14 guns and 90 men. The British took her into service.

Pique then went on to serve as part a squadron under Captain Thomas Parr in the fourth rate HMS Malabar. She was present at the capture of the Dutch colonies of Demerera and Essequibo on 23 April 1796, and the capture of Berbice on 2 May 1796.

Pique, Babet, Prompte, and Scipio captured the Catherina Christina in July 1796. Pique then returned to Britain and operated in the English Channel from 1797.

Pique shared with Révolutionnaire, Boadicea and the hired armed cutter Nimrod in the capture of the Anna Christiana on 17 May 1798.

Main article: Action of 30 June 1798
While patrolling off the Penmarks on 29 June 1798 she and her consorts Mermaid and Jason came across the French frigate Seine. Seine had crossed the Atlantic from the West Indies and was bound for a French port. The British squadron manoeuvred to cut her off from land, but the Mermaid, under Captain James Newman-Newman, soon lost contact, leaving Pique under Milne and Jason under Captain Charles Stirling, to chase down the Frenchman.

The chase lasted all day, until 11 o'clock at night when Pique was able to range alongside Seine and fire a broadside. The two exchanged fire for several hours, with the lighter Pique suffering considerable damage to her masts and rigging. Jason then ranged up and Captain Stirling called upon Milne to anchor, but Milne did not hear and was determined to see Seine captured, and pressed on. Before the battle could be resumed, Pique ran suddenly aground. Jason too ran aground before she could swing way, while Seine was observed to have grounded, and lost all her masts in the process. As the tide rose, Seine was able to swing into a position to rake the two British ships. With difficulty, the sailors of Jason dragged several guns to the bow in order to exchange fire, while Pique was able to bring her foremost guns to bear. Under fire from both British ships, the appearance on the scene of Mermaid convinced the French to surrender. Jason had lost seven killed and 12 wounded, while Pique sustained casualties of two killed and six wounded. Seine however had 170 killed and 100 wounded.

Fate
Mermaid arrived and retrieved Jason, but Pique had bilged and had to be destroyed. St Fiorenzo too arrived and was instrumental in recovering Seine. The Royal Navy took Seine into service under her existing name.






https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Blanche_(1786)
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-296476;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=B
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Pique_(1795)
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-339266;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=P
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
4 January 1799 - HMS Wolverine (1798 - 16), Cptn. Lewes Mortlock (Killed in Action), engaged French luggers Ruse and Furet.


HMS Wolverine (or Wolverene, or Woolverene), was a Royal Navy 14-gun brig-sloop, formerly the civilian collier Rattler that the Admiralty purchased in 1798 and converted into a brig sloop, but armed experimentally. She served during the French Revolutionary Wars and participated in one action that won for her crew a clasp to the Naval General Service Medal. A French privateer captured and sank Wolverine on 21 March 1804 whilst she was on convoy duty.

HMS_Wolverine_1798.jpg
Portrait of Wolverine

Type: brig-sloop (ex-collier)
Tonnage: 286 (bm)
Length:
  • 98 ft (30 m) (overall)
  • 71 ft (21.6 m) (keel)
Beam: 27 ft 6 in (8.4 m)
Sail plan: Brig
Complement: 70
Armament:
  • UD: 2 x 18-pounder guns + 6 x 24-pounder carronades
  • QD: 4 x 12-pounder carronades
  • Fc: 2 x 12-pounder carronades

Armament
Unusually for a brig-sloop, she was virtually a two-deck vessel as the waist between forecastle and quarterdeck was filled in to form a continuous flush deck. The upper deck below this flush deck carried six 24-pounder carronades and two 18-pounder long guns, all mounted on centreline pivots. The gun crews could fire their weapons to either side of the vessel by rotating the carriages along grooves set into the deck firing through the eight gunports on either side to accommodate these guns.

On the flush deck above she additionally carried six 12-pounder carronades (two forwards and four on the quarterdeck). The crews could also shift the carronades on her upper deck from side to side as required.

Captain John Schank, who was responsible for several other nautical innovations, devised this method of arming Wolverine.

French Revolutionary Wars
Lieutenant Donald M'Dougall commissioned Wolverine on 28 April 1798. On 16 April 1798 command passed to the newly promoted Commander Lewis Mortlock. The next month Wolverine was part of the force under Admiral Home Popham that took part in the Ostend Raid that landed 1,300 troops under Major General Coote at Ostend in May. Shore batteries caused extensive damage to her and killed one seaman and one soldier, and wounded 10 seamen and five soldiers; the soldiers on Wolverene were from the 23rd Regiment of Foot. The army blew up the locks and gates on the Bruges canal but was then forced to surrender.


"Captain Lewis Mortlock of His Majesty's sloop of war Wolverene of 12 guns & 70 men, who gallantly distinguished himself in attacking & defeating two French luggers of Superior Force, one of 16 guns the other 14 guns & 140 men each, off Boulogne on the 3d Janry 1799 and died in consequence of his wounds. This print is with permission dedicated to John Schank Esq, Captain in the Royal Navy, by his much obliged & obedient servant C Turner", National Maritime Museum, Greenwich

On 28 June Wolverine was in company with the 50-gun fourth rate Romney, Plover, and Pilote, also later Daphne, and possibly the 24-gun post ship Champion, when they fell in with a Swedish convoy of 21 merchant vessels and their escort, 44-gun frigate. Sweden and Britain not then being at war, Captain Lawford of Romney shadowed the convoy while sending a lieutenant back to the Admiralty for instructions. On 30 June the lieutenant returned, but his instructions are now lost. Lawford decided to detain the Swedish merchant vessels, which he did, without the Swedish frigate intervening. Ultimately, the Swedish vessels sailed into Margate where they were held for some months before the authorities sent most on their way.[3] Prize money for some part of the capture was paid in June 1804.

At the end of July Wolverine captured nine Dutch fishing boats off Ostend and brought them into the Downs.

On 14 October, Wolverine was in sight when the hired armed cutter Sandwich captured the Dutch hoy Hoop and her cargo.

1799
Wolverine was again in action on 3 January 1799 when she engaged the French luggers Furet and Rusé. The Furet carried fourteen 4-pounders and about 80 men, and was under the command of Citizen Denis Fourment; Rusé carried eight 4-pounders and about 70 men, and was under the command of Citizen Pierre Audibert. The men from both French vessels attempted to board Wolverinebut the British repelled them. The French then threw incendiary devices though Wolverine's stern cabin windows and escaped while the British were extinguishing the fire. In all, Wolverine had two men killed, and eight, including Mortlock, wounded. Furet had five men killed, her captain and five men mortally and 10 men badly wounded. Rusé had her first and second lieutenants, another officer, and two seamen killed, and five mortally and several badly wounded.

Wolverine, under Lieutenant M'Dougall, sailed to Portsmouth, where she landed Mortlock on 6 January after contrary winds had forced her to spend 24 hours off the Isle of Wight. Mortlock died in his mother's arms at Gosport on 10 January, and was interred two days later after a funeral procession attended by every Captain in the port. His large Newfoundland dog, which had stood beside him throughout the fight, escaped without a scratch.

Command of Wolverine was given to Captain John MacKellar, but on 24 January 1800 he was appointed to Charon. In late 1799 Lieutenant William Bolton became her new commander.

Between April and July Wolverine sailed in company with the 28-gun sloop Arrow and the Hired armed cutter Kent. Together, these three vessels captured a number of prizes. On 23 April they captured Blenie Rosetta. On 29 May they took Active and Providence. One month later, on 28 June, they captured five fishing boats. Then on 13 July they captured the Altona. Three days later they captured the Antony Wilhelm. Lastly, on 29 July, they captured the Nancy.

Next, Wolverine was among the many British vessels that shared in the surrender of the Dutch Fleet at the Vlieter Incident.

On 9 September Vice-Admiral Mitchell detached Arrow and Wolverine to attack a ship and a brig belonging to the Batavian Republic and anchored under the Vlie at the entrance to the Texel. Arrow had to lighten ship and the following day they crossed over the Flack abreast of Wieringen and saw the enemy in the passage leading from Vlie Island towards Harlingen. On 12 September Wolverine anchored within 60 yards of the brig and only had to fire one gun before the brig hauled down her colours. She proved to be the Gier, armed with fourteen 12-pounders. Arrow exchanged broadsides with the ship, Draak, of 24 guns (six 50-pound brass howitzers, two 32-pounder guns, and sixteen long 18-pounder guns), which surrendered when Wolverine came up. Draak turned out to be a sheer hulk so Captain Bolton burnt her. The British also captured two schooners, each of four 8-pounder guns, and four schuyts, each of two 8-pounder guns. The Dutch prisoners numbered 380 men. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasps "Arrow 13 Sept 1799" and "Wolverine 13 Sept. 1799" to any survivors of the two crews that claimed them.

Arrow and Wolverine weighed on 15 September and Wolverine went to take possession of a Batavian ship, the 24-gun Dolphin (Dolfijn), near Vlie which hoisted Orange colours as soon as the English came up. Two hundred and thirty prisoners were put aboard her and the command given to Lieutenant M'Dougall of Wolverine. Command of Gier, a brand new vessel, went to Lieutenant Gilmour of Arrow.

On Friday the 26 September Wolverine and the gun-brigs Haughty and Piercer anchored near Espiegle, some 6 miles off Lemmer in West Friesland to organise an attack on the town the following morning. Captain Boorder of Espieglehad discovered that the enemy had 1,000 regular troops to defend the place and to augment the flotilla he had taken two schuyts that he had armed with two 6-pounders each from Espiegle. Early on Saturday morning Bolton sent Boorder ashore with the following letter: "Resistance on your part is in vain. I give you one hour to send away your women and children; if the town is not surrendered to the British arms for the Prince of Orange, your soldiers shall be buried in its ruins."

Commandant Van Groutten requested 24 hours delay but Bolton replied that if the Orange colours were not hoisted in half an hour, he was opening fire. Although his Dutch pilot insisted that the water was too shallow, Bolton pushed Wolverine through the oozy mud for two miles until he was a musket shot from the shore. Haughty and Piercer passed ahead until they grounded within a pistol shot of the pier, which had been reinforced with some 18-pounders from Dutch gunboats. Notwithstanding the flag of truce the enemy opened a heavy fire that the British squadron returned. The action continued for an hour until the soldiers fled from the town and a crew from Piercer's boat planted the British standard on the pier. Later the wind came round to the southward and freshened to a gale. Wolverine's bow was hove around with difficulty and by using a heavy press of sail she was dragged through the mud into 11 feet of water. Flatboats pulled the gunbrigs clear. On the Monday morning the enemy advanced towards the town along the northern causeway and Bolton sent word to warn Boorder. Because the town was nearly surrounded by water, a few men in flat boats were able to defend the place and the enemy were soon in retreat.

large (10).jpg
large (11).jpg
large (12).jpg
large (13).jpg
Scale: 1:36. A Georgian full hull model of the ‘Wolverine’ (1798), a 12-gun sixth-rate sloop. The model is decked. This vessel was used to demonstrate a system devised by Captain John Schank by which the carriages of her lower deck guns ran in grooves in the deck. The model shows the hull with some external detail, and part of the deck planking aft is left off to show how the guns are fitted. Built as the merchant ship ‘Rattler’ of London, the ‘Wolverine’ was purchased by Captain John Schanck and converted to a small warship. Schanck fitted powerful carronades along the centre line, fitted in grooves so that they could be swung from one side to the other and thus double her armament for a given weight. This proved unsuccessful in practice, as the weight on one side caused it to heel so much that the gunports could not be opened except in calm weather. The ‘Wolverine’ had some success despite its faults, until a French privateer captured then sank it in 1804.

1800
In 1800 Lieutenant Jeffery Riegersfield took command, succeeded on 16 July by Lieutenant John Wight. On 10 August he sent into Portsmouth a prize, the Catherine of Bordeaux, laden with wine.

On the morning of 19 August he found that a part of an enemy convoy, consisting of two French gun-brigs and a cutter were attempting to escape from the mouth of the river Isigny and run along shore to the eastward. Supported by Sparkler and the gun-vessel Force, he went in pursuit. The enemy ran themselves ashore in Grand Camp, the entrance being commanded by batteries on either side, which Wolverine bombarded for nearly an hour. Lieutenant Stephens of Sparkler and Lieutenant Tokeley of Force covered Lieutenant Gregory of Wolverine who went in with the cutter and the jolly boat and a party of Royal Marines to board the largest vessel and set her on fire. They were under fire from three field pieces and about 200 men with muskets. The other vessel was completely shot through. The only casualties were three men on Wolverine who were burnt by an explosion of gunpowder. The enemy lost at least four men killed on the beach.

When Wolverine entered Portsmouth on 17 September she brought with her Neptunus, laden with naval stores, that Wight had captured when she was going into Havre de Grace. Wolverine shared the prize money with Oiseau and the cutter Fly.

On 2 November Wight discovered a French cutter under the land about 4 miles E. S. E. of Cape Barfleur light-house. He prevented her getting round the Cape and ran her ashore inside a reef of rocks under the village of Gouberville. She struck hard and because a gale was blowing up he assumed that she would be destroyed.[20] Riegersfield again took temporary command.

1801
Wolverine, Loire, St Fiorenzo, Aggressor, Seahorse, Censor and the hired armed cutter Swift shared in the capture on 11 and 12 August 1801 of the Prussian brigs Vennerne and Elizabeth. Wolverine paid off and was put into ordinaryon 29 April 1802, when Lieutenant Wight was promoted to Commander.

Loss
Wolverine was recommissioned in November 1803 under Lieutenant Henry Gordon. She then served as a convoy escort in the North Atlantic.

Wolverine was in action on 21 March 1804 with the French 30-gun privateer Blonde while on passage to Newfoundland with a convoy of eight merchantmen.[22] Wolverine sighted two strange vessels. When it became clear that they were French frigates, Wolverine sent the convoy on its way and sailed to intercept the frigates. The larger of the two French frigates sailed to engage Wolverine, while the smaller one sailed after the merchantmen.

Wolverine was finally forced to surrender after an hour-long fight and losing 5 men killed and 10 wounded, one mortally. She was so badly damaged that she sank within a quarter-hour of her surrender, though the French rescued the surviving crew. Blonde, under François Aregnaudeau, out of a complement of 240 men and boys, lost only her first lieutenant mortally, and five of her men slightly wounded. The court martial on 17 August 1804 attributed Wolverine's loss on the defective state of her gun carriages - a mass of complicated timber and machinery - that the enemy's first two broadsides had rendered useless.

Post script
HMS Loire captured Blonde five months later on 17 August. Also in August a letter arrived in Portsmouth from one of Wolverine's officers that reported that Wolverine's crew had been marched nearly 900 miles to Verdun from where they were landed. Captain Gordon and his officers were well, and had not been ill-treated.

Blonde's captain was François Aregnaudeau. He was captain of the privateer Duc de Dantzig, when she disappeared in 1812.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Wolverine_(1798)
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/66557.html
 
Hi Uwek
Thank you for posting again.
I wish some of the kit makers would get the Union Jack correct, when I see some kits of English ships it makes my blood boil.

I was thinking when I was reading your posts, how would the young kids to day get on in them times, I think they would go running back to mum would they not haha.

Thank you again for your excellent postings.

Denis.
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
4 January 1841 - The steamship SS Thames, built in 1827 by Fletcher's in Limehouse, London, wrecked on the Cribewidden Rock in the Isles of Scilly


The steamship, SS Thames, was built in 1827 by Fletcher's in Limehouse, London, and belonged to the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company. She was commanded by Captain James Grey and wrecked on the Cribewidden Rock in the Isles of Scilly early on the morning of 4 January 1841 on her way from Dublin to London.

Wreck
According to The Times (1841), the weather was "exceedingly boisterous, with showers of hail and snow." She "shipped a heavy sea, which extinguished her fires." Then, mistaking St Agnes Lighthouse for Longships Lighthouse, they ran onto the Cribewidden Rock at around 5 am.

Of the sixty-five passengers, there were only four survivors: a "young lady passenger" named Morris, two female attendants and a seaman who was rescued the following day. A boat crew from St Agnes set off as soon as the wreck was discovered by locals and rescued the three women. A fourth woman who survived the initial sinking refused to leave with rescuers because she could not find her child. Local pilots were unable to offer any further assistance because it was low tide and the pilot boats were aground. By 11 am, Thames was lost to the sea.

The only other survivor was the seaman who had made his way to Rosevear on a piece of driftwood. He survived on the exposed island for 24 hours before being discovered by boatmen. A porter cask had found its way to the rock from the wreck. The seaman took a drink before emptying it to use as an overnight shelter.

Ten bodies were found, including that of the woman who refused to leave her child. The casualties were buried on the island of St Mary's.

Figurehead_of_the_SS_Thames.jpg
FIgurehead of the SS Thames in Tresco Abbey Gardens

The figurehead from the ship was salvaged and is now on display at Tresco Abbey Gardens.


Tresco Abbey Gardens are located on the island of Tresco in the Isles of Scilly, United Kingdom. The 17 acre gardens were established by the nineteenth-century proprietor of the islands, Augustus Smith, originally as a private garden within the grounds of the home he designed and built. The gardens are designated at Grade I in the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

1024px-TrescoAbbeyGardens.JPG

Valhalla Museum
The Valhalla Museum within Tresco Abbey Gardens features the Valhalla Collection containing some 30 figureheads, as well as name-boards and other decorative carvings from the days of sail. The collection was started by Augustus Smith. Most of the figureheads date from the middle and end of the 19th century and come from merchant sailing vessels or early steamships that were wrecked on the Isles of Scilly. Some of the ships which are represented in the collection are:

Valhalla,_Tresco_Abbey_Gardens_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1766334.jpg
  • a 17th-century stern decoration of the Greek god Boreas and possibly carved by Pierre Puget, is said to be from a French ship wrecked on Annet in that century.
  • HMS Association - wrecked on the night of 22 October 1707 (Old style) in the Scilly naval disaster of 1707. The bronze cannon was salvaged from this wreck in 1970. It is a French 18-pounder bronze gun, probably a trophy from the siege of Toulon (1707). The main decoration shows the arms of France and Navarre surrounded by the collars of the orders of St Michel and the St Esprit, surmounted by a crown.
  • SS Thames — wrecked 4 January 1841 near Gorregan and Rosevear.
  • Alessandro II Grande — wrecked 1 January 1851 when she was blown on the Mare ledges, off the south shore of Tresco. There was no loss of life. The figurehead is of Tsar Alexander I.
  • Mary Hay — wrecked 13 April 1852 after hitting the Steeple Rock, on the Bream Ledges which is between Mincarlo and Samson.
  • Chieftain — said to be wrecked in 1856 off St Martin's Head. There is no record of a ship with that name in the Lloyd's Register
  • Award — wrecked 19 March 1861 when she was driven onto Gweal during a force 8 to 9 NNW gale. Her crew of 24 managed to scramble ashore.
  • Primos — wrecked 24 June 1871 on the Seven Stones reef.
  • River Lune — wrecked 27 June 1879 on the Brothers Rock in Muncoy Neck, between Melledgan and Annet.
  • Bernardo – sank on Annet in 1888. Her figurehead is said to be St Bernard of Clairvaux.
  • Lofaro — wrecked 2 February 1902 struck Merrick Rock, St Martin's with the loss of her crew.

Tresco_Island-Valhalla_960x540_1.jpg

Tresco_Island-Valhalla_Golden_Lion_690x450.jpg Tresco_Island-Valhalla_Mary_Hay_1852_690x450.jpg

Tresco_Island-Valhalla_Primos_1871_690x450.jpg Tresco_Island-Valhalla_Serica_1893_690x450.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Thames
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tresco_Abbey_Gardens
https://www.tresco.co.uk/the-island/valhalla-museum
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
4 January 1852 - RMS Amazon, a wooden three-masted barque, paddle steamer and Royal Mail Ship, kept fire, exploded and sunk on her maiden voyage


RMS Amazon was a wooden three-masted barque, paddle steamer and Royal Mail Ship of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. She was one of a set of five sister ships built at the beginning of the 1850s for RMSP's routes between Southampton and the Caribbean.

Amazon_1852.jpg
Contemporary engraving of Amazon

Building
By 1851 iron-hulled screw ships were increasingly common, but RMSP conservatively continued to buy new paddle steamers. The Admiralty supervised those UK merchant ships contracted to carry mail, and insisted that they all have wooden hulls. Therefore, RMSP ordered that Amazon and her four sisters be wooden-hulled paddle steamers.

R & H Green built Amazon at Blackwall Yard, London. Her keel was laid on 1 September 1850 at and she was launched on 28 June 1851. Seaward and Capel of Limehouse built her engines. They were a pair of side-lever steam engines, developing 800 hp at 14 revolutions per minute. No figure for her gross register tonnage is recorded, but it was in the order of 2,900 GRT.

Maiden voyage and loss
Amazon was the first of the five sister ships to enter service. In December 1851 she reached Southampton to prepare for her maiden voyage. She carried 1,000 tons of coal for her bunkers and loaded several hundred tons of cargo. Her strong room contained 500 bottles of mercury for use in the production of mining explosive in Mexico and £20,000-worth of specie. The mercury was worth over £5,000 and the total value of the cargo was estimated at about £100,000. In common with many ships undertaking trans-oceanic voyages in that era, the ship carried livestock on deck and bales of hay to feed them.

On Friday, 2 January, Amazon, commanded by Captain William Symons, loaded mail, embarked 50 passengers and late that day she sailed for the Caribbean. In the next 24 hours she twice hove to as her engine bearings overheated. She entered the Bay of Biscay and at about 12:40 on Sunday, 4 January, smoke was sighted rising from a hatch ahead of her forward funnel. Captain Symons and his chief officer, Roberts, were quickly on deck and organised crewmen with buckets and a hose to fight the fire. Men started to move hay away from the fire, but after they had moved only two bales all the remainder caught alight.

Symons ordered that the engines be stopped and boats launched. The mail boat was lowered containing 25 people. In a heavy sea and with the ship still under way the boat was swamped and all of its occupants drowned. The fire was now such that the engine room could not be reached and so the engines could not be stopped. Symons turned the ship so that the wind was at her stern. This helped to slow the spread of fire toward her stern, but also maximised her speed and thus the difficulty in launching her boats.

The pinnace was lowered. Before its occupants could unfasten its forward tackle the heavy sea swung it around and tossed its occupants in the water. A second cutter was lowered but swamped by a wave that washed away all but two of its occupants. The starboard lifeboat was successfully launched and 16 people got away in it. The dinghy was successfully launched carrying five people.

RMS_Amazon.png
Contemporary engraving of the loss of Amazon

The fire spread out of control. The starboard lifeboat rescued the five occupants of the dinghy and tried to approach the ship to rescue more people, but came in danger of being swamped and so abandoned the attempt. Amazon was still under way, rolling in the heavy sea while Symons and his crew still tried to keep her course steady.

By 04:00 the fire brought down the ship's foremast and mainmast. At 05:00 her magazine exploded and her mizzen mast was brought down as the deck collapsed . Her funnels glowed red-hot[6] and about half an hour later she sank about 110 miles (180 km) west-south-west of the Isles of Scilly.

At 10:30 the brig Marsden, bound from London to North Carolina, rescued the 21 survivors in the starboard lifeboat and landed them at Plymouth. At first these were feared to be the only survivors. However, the Dutch galliot Gertruida rescued seven passengers, 17 crew members and a foreman from Seaward and Capel and landed them at Brest on 5 January. A second Dutch ship, Hellechina, rescued 13 survivors and transferred them to the HM Revenue cutter Royal Charlotte, which landed them at Plymouth on 16 January.

At the beginning of February a section of Amazon's timbers, partly charred by the fire, drifted ashore at Falmouth.

Deaths and aftermath
Reports of the total number of dead vary from 105 to 115. They included the popular travel writer and novelist Elliot Warburton.[citation needed] A national appeal, championed by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, raised money for widows, orphans and survivors.

An enquiry into the ship's loss failed to establish a cause of the fire. The repeated overheating of the engine bearings has been cited as suggesting that the fire may have started in the engine room. However, such overheating might also be expected to cause the engines to seize, whereas they continued to run as the fire spread.

Whatever the cause, the fire caused the Admiralty to reconsider its insistence on wooden hulls for mail ships. The next ship that RMSP ordered, RMS Atrato, was built with an iron hull.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Amazon_(1851)
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_(Schiff,_1852)
https://dawlishchronicles.com/amazon-rms-loss-by-fire-1852/

E-Books:
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=GVUCAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&hl=de#v=onepage&q&f=false
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=H1UCAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&hl=de#v=onepage&q&f=false
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=wRkEAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&hl=de#v=onepage&q&f=false
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
4 January 1866 - USS Narcissus, a screw steamer, departed Pensacola on New Year's Day, was wrecked and sank at Egmont Key, Florida with loss of all on board.


USS Narcissus — a screw steamer launched in July 1863 as Mary Cook at East Albany, N.Y. — was purchased by the Union Navy at New York City on 23 September 1863 from James D. Stevenson; and commissioned at New York Navy Yard on 2 February 1864, Acting Ensign William G. Jones in command.

EP-301169611.jpg

On October 19, 2018, the shipwreck was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Civil War
The new tug soon got underway south; and touched at Port Royal, South Carolina for fuel on 14 February, before pushing on to the Gulf of Mexico. She joined the West Gulf Blockading Squadron at New Orleans late in the month and was assigned to patrol and blockade duty in Mississippi Sound. On the morning of 24 August, she captured sloop Oregonin Biloxi Bay, Mississippi Sound, and took the prize to New Orleans for adjudication.

Subsequently ordered to Mobile Bay, Narcissus supported clean-up operations following the great Union naval victory there on 5 August. She struck a Confederate torpedo off Mobile in a heavy storm on 7 December and sank within 15 minutes without loss of life.

Raised in the closing days of 1864, Narcissus was repaired at Pensacola early in 1865 and served in the gulf as a dispatch boat through the end of the war. She departed Pensacola on New Year's Day 1866, was wrecked, and sank at Egmont Key, Florida on 4 January with loss of all on board.

narcissusmap.jpg

Consideration as Florida's twelfth Underwater Archaeological Preserve
In December 2011, The Bureau of Archaeological Research, Division of Historical Resources, Florida Department of State, initiated a proposal to dedicate the wreck site of the Narcissus as Florida's twelfth Underwater Archaeological Preserve. The proposal was accepted and the shipwreck became an Underwater Archaeological Preserve in January 2015.





https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Narcissus_(1863)
https://sites.google.com/site/290foundation/history/uss-narcissus
 

Attachments

  • Narcissus_history_transcript.pdf
    155.8 KB · Views: 3
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
4 January 1910 - USS Michigan, the first U.S. dreadnought battleship, is commissioned.


USS Michigan (BB-27), a South Carolina-class battleship, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of the 26th state. She was the second member of her class, the first dreadnought battleships built for the US Navy. She was laid down in December 1906, launched in May 1908; sponsored by Mrs. F. W. Brooks, daughter of Secretary of the Navy Truman Newberry; and commissioned into the fleet 4 January 1910. Michigan and South Carolina were armed with a main battery of eight 12-inch (305 mm) guns in superfiring twin gun turrets; they were the first dreadnoughts to feature this arrangement.

1024px-Photograph_of_the_Battleship_USS_Michigan_-_NARA_-_19-N-13573.jpg
USS Michigan (BB-27) in 1912

Michigan spent her career in the Atlantic Fleet. She frequently cruised the east coast of the United States and the Caribbean Sea, and in April 1914 took part in the United States occupation of Veracruz during the Mexican Civil War. After the United States entered World War I in April 1917, Michigan was employed as a convoy escort and training ship for the rapidly expanding wartime navy. In January 1918, her forward cage mast collapsed in heavy seas, killing six men and injuring three others. In 1919, she ferried soldiers back from Europe. The ship conducted training cruises in 1920 and 1921, but her career was cut short by the Washington Naval Treaty signed in February 1922, which mandated the disposal of Michigan and South Carolina. Michigan was decommissioned in February 1923 and broken up for scrap the following year.

Design

Brassey's1912_South-Carolina.png
Line-drawing of the South Carolinaclass
Main article: South Carolina-class battleship

Michigan was 452 ft 9 in (138 m) long overall and had a beam of 80 ft 3 in (24 m) and a draft of 24 ft 6 in (7 m). She displaced 16,000 long tons (16,257 t) as designed and up to 17,617 long tons (17,900 t) at full combat load. The ship was powered by two-shaft vertical triple-expansion engines rated at 16,500 ihp (12,304 kW) and twelve coal-fired Babcock & Wilcox boilers, generating a top speed of 18.5 kn (34 km/h; 21 mph). The ship had a cruising range of 5,000 nmi (9,260 km; 5,754 mi) at a speed of 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph). She had a crew of 869 officers and men.

The ship was armed with a main battery of eight 12-inch (305 mm)/45 caliber Mark 5 guns in four twin gun turrets on the centerline, which were placed in two superfiring pairs forward and aft. The secondary battery consisted of twenty-two 3-inch (76 mm)/50 guns mounted in casemates along the side of the hull. As was standard for capital ships of the period, she carried a pair of 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes, submerged in her hull on the broadside. The main armored belt was 12 in (305 mm) thick over the magazines, 10 in (254 mm) over the machinery spaces, and 8 in (203 mm) elsewhere. The armored deck was 1.5 to 2.5 in (38 to 64 mm) thick. The gun turrets had 12 inch thick faces, while the supporting barbettes had 10 inch thick armor plating. Ten inch thick armor also protected the casemate guns. The conning tower had 12 inch thick sides.

Service history

Photograph_of_the_Battleship_USS_Michigan_at_the_Brooklyn_Navy_Yard_-_NARA_-_19-N-61-6-25.jpg
Michigan dressed with flags for a Naval Review off New York in October 1911

Michigan was laid down on 17 December 1906 at the New York Shipbuilding Corporation. Her completed hull was launched on 26 May 1908; she was christened after the 26th state by Mrs. F. W. Brooks, daughter of Secretary of the Navy Truman Newberry. Fitting out work was completed by 4 January 1910, when she was commissioned into the US Navy. After entering service, she was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet. She then began a shakedown cruise down to the Caribbean Sea that lasted until 7 June. Michigan joined training maneuvers off New England beginning on 29 July. A training cruise to Europe followed; she departed Boston, Massachusetts on 2 November and stops included Portland in the United Kingdom and Cherbourg, France. She arrived in the latter port on 8 December and remained there until the 30th, when she left for the Caribbean. The ship reached Guantanamo Bay, Cuba on 10 January 1911 and continued on to Norfolk, arriving four days later. During this period, future naval aviation pioneer John Henry Towers served aboard the ship as a spotter for the main guns. The long range of the guns, which could shoot further than the horizon, convinced Towers of the need for spotter aircraft.

The ship then cruised the east coast for most of the next two years. On 15 November 1912, she departed for a longer cruise to the Gulf of Mexico, with stops in Pensacola, Florida, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Galveston, Texas on the way. She then continued further south to Veracruz, Mexico, where she arrived on 12 December. Michigan remained there for two days before beginning the voyage home; she reached Hampton Roads on 20 December. Patrols off the east coast resumed for the first half of 1913. On 6 July, she steamed out of Quincy, Massachusetts for another voyage to Mexican waters; this trip was prompted by the Mexican Civil War, which threatened American interests in the country. She arrived off Tampico on 15 July and thereafter cruised the Mexican coast until 13 January 1914, when she departed for New York City, arriving seven days later. She then transferred back to Norfolk.

1.jpg

On 14 February, she left the port for a short voyage to Guacanayabo Bay, Cuba, and was back in Hampton Roads by 19 March. Michigan began a third cruise to Mexico on 16 April to support the United States occupation of Veracruz. She reached the city on 22 April and landed a battalion of Marines as part of the occupation force. The ship then patrolled the coast before departing for the United States on 20 June. She reached the Delaware Capes six days later. The normal peacetime routine of cruises off the east coast continued for the next three years. In December 1914, the ship's crew experimented with fire control directors to aid in gunlaying; the experimental directors produced significantly improved results in gunnery tests conducted in early 1915. In 1916, one of her forward 12-inch guns exploded during gunnery training.

World War I

USS_Michigan_BB_27_collapsed_cage_foremast.jpg
Michigan's collapsed cage mast

On 6 April 1917, the United States declared war on Germany over its unrestricted submarine warfare campaign. Due to her slow speed, Michigan was assigned to Battleship Force 2 that day, and was tasked with training naval recruits and escorting convoys. As part of the training mission, she participated in fleet maneuvers and gunnery exercises. On 15 January 1918, Michigan was cruising off Cape Hatteras on a training exercise when a heavy gale and rough seas knocked over the forward cage mast. The ship had rolled to port in the heavy seas before rolling sharply back to starboard. The rapid change in direction caused the mast to snap at its narrowest point, which had been damaged in the 1916 barrel explosion and patched over. The accident killed six men and injured another thirteen. Michigan steamed to Norfolk, transferred the injured men to the hospital ship Solace, and went to the Philadelphia Navy Yard for repairs, arriving on 22 January.

By early April, Michigan was back in service; for the next several months, she primarily trained gunners in the Chesapeake Bay. While on a convoy escort that had left the United States on 30 September, the ship's port screw fell off. She was forced to leave the convoy on 8 October and return to port for repairs, remaining out of service for the rest of the war. In November 1918, Germany signed the Armistice that ended the fighting in Europe. Michigan was assigned to the Cruiser and Transport Force in late December 1918 to ferry American soldiers back from Europe. She made two round trips in 1919 during the operation, the first from 18 January to 3 March, and the second from 18 March to 16 April, bringing back 1,062 men in the two voyages.

Post-war period

USS_Michigan_(BB-27)_1918.jpg
Michigan steaming at high speed, c. 1918

In May, Michigan was sent to Philadelphia for an overhaul that lasted through June. She thereafter returned to her peacetime training routine. On 6 August, she was reduced to limited commission and stationed at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. On 19 May 1920, she steamed to Annapolis to pick up a contingent of midshipmen for a major training cruise. After departing Annapolis, the ship steamed south and transited the Panama Canal before proceeding to Honolulu, Hawaii, where she arrived on 3 July. Michigan visited several naval bases on the west coast of the United States through the summer, before returning to Annapolis on 2 September. Three days later, she was back in Philadelphia, where she was temporarily decommissioned.

Michigan was reactivated in 1921 for another cruise to the Caribbean, departing on 4 April. She returned to Philadelphia on 23 April; shortly thereafter, the ship became embroiled in a minor scandal. The ship's commanding officer at the time, Clark Daniel Stearns, instituted a series of sailors' committees on 3 May to ease tensions between officers and the crew. The commanders of the Atlantic Fleet and Michigan's squadron decided that the committees were a threat to discipline and evidence of Marxist influences. They contacted Edwin Denby, then the Secretary of the Navy, who relieved Stearns of command. On 28 May, she picked up another group of midshipmen for another training cruise. This voyage took the ship to Europe, with stops in a number of ports, including Christiana, Norway, Lisbon, Portugal, and Gibraltar. She returned to Hampton Roads via Guantanamo Bay on 22 August.

In the years immediately following the end of the Great War, the United States, Britain, and Japan all launched huge naval construction programs. All three countries decided that a new naval arms race would be ill-advised, and so convened the Washington Naval Conference to discuss arms limitations, which produced the Washington Naval Treaty, signed in February 1922. Under the terms of Article II of the treaty, Michigan and her sister South Carolina were to be scrapped. Michigan put to sea for the last time on 31 August, bound for the breaker's yard in Philadelphia. She arrived there on 1 September and was decommissioned on 11 February 1923. She was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 10 November and broken up for scrap the following year.


The South Carolina-class battleships, also known as the Michigan class, were built during the first decade of the twentieth century for the United States Navy. Named South Carolina and Michigan, they were the first American dreadnoughts—powerful warships whose capabilities far outstripped those of the world's older battleships.

In the opening years of the twentieth century, the prevailing theory of naval combat was that battles would continue to be fought at relatively close range using many small, fast-firing guns. As such, each of the ships in the United States' previous battleship class (the Connecticut class) had many medium-sized weapons alongside four large guns. This paradigm, however, was soon to be subverted, as American naval theorists proposed that a ship mounting a homogeneous battery of large guns would be more effective in battle.

Unbenannt.JPG

As their ideas began to enjoy wider acceptance, the US Congress authorized the country's Navy to construct two small 16,000-long-ton (16,000 t) battleships. This displacement was roughly the same size as the Connecticut class and at least 2,000 long tons (2,000 t) smaller than the foreign standard. A solution was found in an ambitious design drawn up by Rear Admiral Washington L. Capps, the chief of the navy's Bureau of Construction and Repair; it traded heavy armament and relatively thick armor—both favored by naval theorists—for speed.

With their superfiring main armament, press accounts billed South Carolina and Michigan, alongside the British HMS Dreadnought, as heralding a new epoch in warship design. Both, however, were soon surpassed by ever-larger and stronger super-dreadnoughts. The class's low top speed of about 18.5 knots (21.3 mph; 34.3 km/h), as compared to the 21-knot (24 mph; 39 km/h) standard of later American battleships, relegated them to serving with older, obsolete battleships during the First World War. After the end of the conflict and the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty, both South Carolinas were scrapped.




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Michigan_(BB-27)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Carolina-class_battleship
https://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/us_navy_pages/uss_michigan_bb27.htm
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
4 January 1918 - Storebror , ex Afon Alaw, a four-masted sailing ship which served from 1891 until 1918, was sank by German surface raider SMS Wolf


Afon Alaw was a four-masted sailing ship which served from 1891 until 1918. She had a sister ship, Afon Cefni. Afon Alaw was built by Alexander Stephen and Sons at their yard in Glasgow for Hughes & Co based at Menai Bridge in Anglesey. The vessel was named for a river in Anglesey. The vessel remained in British service until 1915, moving between three owners before being sold to a Norwegian company which renamed the vessel Storebror. Norway was neutral during World War I, however the German surface raider SMS Wolf did not want its position known and sank Storebror on 4 January 1918 to prevent the Norwegian ship from disclosing it.

Type: Barque
Tonnage: 2,052 GRT
Length: 86.7 m (284 ft 5 in)
Beam: 12.5 m (41 ft 0 in)
Sail plan: Barque-rigged

StateLibQld_1_133954_Afon_Alaw_(ship).jpg
Afon Alaw

Description
Afon Alaw was 2,052 GRT, 86.7 m (284 ft 5 in) long between perpendiculars with a beam of 12.5 m (41 ft 0 in). Powered by sails, Afon Alaw had four masts.

Service history
The ship was ordered by Hughes & Co for construction by Alexander Stephen and Sons at their yard in Glasgow, Scotland with the yard number 336. The ship was named after the river of the same name (Afon Alaw) in Anglesey. Afon Alaw was launched on 18 November 1891 and completed in December. The ship was registered in Liverpool. In 1904, the hip was sold to another company from Liverpool, Barque Cambrian Warrior Ltd, and again in 1911 to County Sg Co Ltd.

In 1915, Afon Alaw was sold again to A/S Excelsior, renamed Storebror and registered in Kristiansand, Norway. On 4 January 1918 Storebror was sailing from Beira to Montevideo, Uruguay in ballast when the German raider SMS Wolf came upon the ship. The German warship did not want its position announced and sank the neutral-flagged Storebror at 17°32′S 26°50′WCoordinates:
17px-WMA_button2b.png
17°32′S 26°50′W. This was the last ship Wolf would sink on its patrol.


SMS Wolf
(formerly the Hansa freighter Wachtfels) was an armed merchant raider or auxiliary cruiser of the Imperial German Navy in World War I. She was the fourth ship of the Imperial Navy bearing this name (and is therefore often referred to in Germany as Wolf IV), following two gunboats and another auxiliary cruiser that was decommissioned without seeing action

SMS_Wolf.jpg

Description and history
As a commerce raider, the Wolf was equipped with six 15 cm (5.9 in) guns, three 5.2 cm (2.0 in) SK L/55 guns and several smaller caliber weapons as well as four torpedo tubes. She also carried over 450 mines to be dropped outside enemy ports; she laid minefields in the Indian Ocean and off Australia's southern coast which claimed several ships. Her commander was Fregattenkapitän (Commander) Karl August Nerger who was in charge until her return to Kiel, Germany in February 1918.

Wolf_voyage.jpg
Map of the Voyage of Wolf

The Wolf had not been designed for speed and her top speed was a mere 11 knots (20 km/h). Her advantages included deception (fake funnel and masts which could be erected or lowered to change her appearance), false sides which kept her weapons hidden until the last possible moment, and a range of over 32,000 nmi (59,000 km) thanks to a coal bunker capacity of 8,000 tons (assuming a cruise speed of 8 knots, burning 35 tons of coal daily).

On 30 November 1916 the Wolf left her home port of Kiel with a crew of 348 men. Escorted by the SM U-66 from Skagerrak to the North Atlantic, she passed north of Scotland and turned south going around the Cape of Good Hope, where she laid some of her mines, into the Indian Ocean. She dropped mines at the harbors of Colombo and Bombay, then entered the waters of South Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

With the help of the "Wölfchen" (Little Wolf), a Friedrichshafen FF.33 two-seater seaplane, she located and seized enemy vessels and cargo ships. After transferring their crews and any valuable supplies (notably coal, but also essential metals of which the German war effort had much need) to the Wolf, she then sank the vessels. The Wolf destroyed 35 trading vessels and two war ships, altogether approximately 110,000 tons.

After 451 days she returned to her home port of Kiel on 24 February 1918 with 467 prisoners of war aboard. In addition she carried substantial quantities of rubber, copper, zinc, brass, silk, copra, cocoa, and other essential materials taken from her prizes. The Wolf, without support of any kind, had made the longest voyage of a warship during World War I. Captain Nerger was awarded the highest German decoration, the Pour le Mérite.

For the remainder of the war, the Wolf was employed in the Baltic Sea. After the war she was ceded to France and sold to Compagnie des Messageries Maritimes of Paris, refitted and renamed Antinous. She was scrapped in 1931 in Italy.

A member of the crew was the young Theodor Plivier, who became later a revolutionary, communist, and famous author. In his first novel Des Kaisers Kulis (The emperor's coolies) he assimilates his experience on board the Wolf. The book was transformed in a theatrical play, too, and forbidden after the National Socialist Machtergreifung. Another crew member was Jakob Kinau, brother of author Gorch Fock – Kinau served as a Minenbootsmannsmaat on the Wolf. In his voyage diary, which was published in 1934 in the Quickborn-Verlag, Hamburg, he mentioned some details of a mutiny on board, which was not described in memoirs of other Wolf crew.

The SS Port Kembla was sunk off the coast of the South Island of New Zealand after hitting a mine laid by the Wolf.

Summary of raiding history
In 15 months at sea, Wolf captured and sank 14 ships, totalling 38,391 GRT. She also laid minefields that sank another 13 ships, grossing a further 75,888 GRT. The heaviest loss was the Spanish mail steamer Carlos de Einzaguirre on the way from Cadiz to Manila. It was struck by a mine of the Wolf near Cape Town and sunk in only four minutes. 134 people, including 12 women and five children, died. 24 persons survived.

2.JPG

3.JPG

In addition, on 6.2.17, the British troopship HMT Tyndareus was badly damaged by one of Wolf's mines off Cape Town and was only saved from sinking by skillful seamanship.


Film
In February/March 1918 the Bild- und Filmamt (BUFA) produced the 13 minutes silent movie S.M. Hilfskreuzer "Wolf", which was produced in Kiel. It shows, beside from Portuguese Army officers, soldiers or officers from New Zealand or Australia as prisoners of war of the "Wolf".



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afon_Alaw_(1891_ship)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Wolf_(1913)
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Wolf_(1913)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
4 January 1930 - Edgar Quinet, an armored cruiser of the French Navy and the lead ship of her class, ran aground on a rock off the Algerian coast and sank five days later.


Edgar Quinet was an armored cruiser of the French Navy, the lead ship of her class. She and her sister ship, Waldeck-Rousseau, were the last class of armored cruiser to be built by the French Navy. Edgar Quinet was laid down in November 1905, launched in September 1907, and completed in January 1911. Armed with a main battery of fourteen 194-millimeter (7.6 in) guns, she was more powerful than most other armored cruisers, but she had entered service more than two years after the first battlecruiserHMS Invincible—had rendered armored cruisers obsolescent.

Armoured_cruiser_Edgar-Quinet.png

At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Edgar Quinet 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. In 1922, she evacuated over a thousand civilians from Smyrna during the climax of the Greco-Turkish War. Converted into a training ship in the mid-1920s, Edgar Quinet ran aground on a rock off the Algerian coast on 4 January 1930 and sank five days later.

Description
Main article: Edgar Quinet-class cruiser
Edgar Quinet was 158.9 meters (521 ft) long overall, with a beam of 21.51 m (70.6 ft) and a draft of 8.41 m (27.6 ft). She displaced 13,847 metric tons (13,628 long tons; 15,264 short tons). Her power plant consisted of three triple-expansion engines powered by forty coal-fired Belleville boilers, which were trunked into six funnels in two groups of three. Her engines were rated at 36,000 indicated horsepower (27,000 kW) and produced a top speed of 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph). She had a crew of between 859 and 892 officers and enlisted men.

Edgar Quinet was armed with a main battery of fourteen 194 mm (7.6 in) 50-caliber M1902 guns; four were in twin gun turrets forward and aft, with three single gun turrets on either broadside. The last four guns were mounted in casemates abreast the main and aft conning towers. Close-range defense against torpedo boats was provided by a battery of twenty 65 mm (2.6 in) guns in casemates in the ship's hull. She was also equipped with two 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes submerged in the hull. She was protected with a armored belt that was 150 mm (5.9 in) thick amidships. The gun turrets had 200 mm (7.9 in) thick plating, while the casemates had marginally thinner protection, at 194 mm. The main conning tower had 200 mm thick sides.

Service history

Edgar_Quinet_being_launched.png
Edgar Quinet at her launching

Edgar Quinet was laid down at Brest in November 1905 and launched on 21 September 1907. She was completed in January 1911 and commissioned into the French fleet. The ship was the most powerful armored cruiser completed by France, but she entered service two years after the British battlecruiser HMS Invincible, which rendered the armored cruiser obsolescent as a warship type. In April 1912, she was assigned to the 1st Light Squadron, along with her sister ship Waldeck-Rousseau and the armored cruiser Ernest Renan.

In 1913, Edgar Quinet participated in an international naval demonstration in the Ionian Sea to protest the Balkan Wars. Ships from other navies included in the demonstration were the British pre-dreadnought battleship HMS King Edward VII, the Austro-Hungarian pre-dreadnought SMS Zrínyi, the Italian pre-dreadnought Ammiraglio di Saint Bon, and the German light cruiser SMS Breslau. The most important action of the combined flotilla, which was under the command of British Admiral Cecil Burney, was to blockade the Montenegrin coast. The goal of the blockade was to prevent Serbian reinforcements from supporting the siege at Scutari, where Montenegro had besieged a combined force of Albanians and Ottomans. Pressured by the international blockade, Serbia withdrew its army from Scutari, which was subsequently occupied by a joint Allied ground force.

World War I

Edgar_Quinet.png
Edgar Quinet underway, c. 1911–1914

At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Edgar Quinet was anchored off Durazzo with the British cruiser HMS Defence and destroyer HMS Grampus and the German Breslau. The ships were moored there in a show of international support for a conference in Scutari over the status of Albania. Edgar Quinet and the armored cruisers Ernest Renan and Jules Michelet were mobilized as the First Light Division and tasked with hunting down the German battlecruiser SMS Goeben and her consort Breslau. These ships, along with a flotilla of twelve destroyers, were to steam to Philippeville on 4 August, but the German cruisers had bombarded the port the previous day. This attack, coupled with reports that suggested the Germans would try to break out of the Mediterranean into the Atlantic, prompted the French high command to send Edgar Quinet and the First Light Division further west, to Algiers.

After the German ships escaped to Constantinople, rather than attack the French troop transports from North Africa as had been expected, Edgar Quinet joined the rest of the French fleet in its blockade of the Adriatic Sea, based out of Navarino. The fleet, commanded by Admiral Augustin Boué de Lapeyrère, had assembled by the night of 15 August; the following morning, it conducted a sweep into the Adriatic and encountered the Austro-Hungarian cruiser SMS Zenta. In the ensuing Battle of Antivari, Zenta was sunk, with no losses on the French side. The French fleet then withdrew due to the threat of Austro-Hungarian U-boats in the area.

On 8 January 1916, Edgar Quinet, her sister Waldeck-Rousseau, Ernest Renan and Jules Ferry embarked a contingent of Chasseurs Alpins (mountain troops) to seize the Greek island of Corfu. The cruisers sent the troops ashore on the night of 10 January; the Greek officials on the island protested the move but offered no resistance.

Later career

lossless-page1-1920px-French_cruiser_Edgar_Quinet_80-G-416378.tiff.png
Edgar Quinet in San Diego, California in 1928

Edgar Quinet continued her service in the eastern Mediterranean after the end of the war in 1918. During the culmination of the Greco-Turkish War that immediately followed World War I, Edgar Quinet rescued 1,200 people from the Great Fire of Smyrna in 1922. In 1925, Edgar Quinet was converted into a training ship. The work lasted until 1927, and included the reduction of her armament to ten of her 194 mm guns, the removal of two of her funnels, and a reconstruction of her bridge. Then-Captain François Darlan commanded the ship in 1928. In 1929, Edgar Quinet underwent an overhaul; during this modernization she was fitted with equipment to handle floatplanes for reconnaissance purposes. After returning to service, the ship was assigned as a training ship for cadets from the École Navale (Naval Academy). On 4 January 1930, Edgar Quinet ran aground off the coast of Algeria west of Oran and proved to be a total loss. She sank five days later.


The Edgar Quinet class was the last type of armored cruiser built for the French Navy. The two ships of this class—Edgar Quinet and Waldeck-Rousseau—were built between 1905 and 1911. They were based on the previous cruiser, Ernest Renan, the primary improvement being a more powerful uniform main battery of 194 mm (7.6 in) guns. The Edgar Quinetclass was the most powerful type of armored cruiser built in France, but they entered service more than two years after the British battlecruiser HMS Invincible, which, with its all-big-gun armament, had rendered armored cruisers obsolescent.

Unbenannt.JPG

Both ships operated together in the Mediterranean Fleet after entering service, and they remained in the fleet throughout World War I. They participated in the blockade of the Adriatic to keep the Austro-Hungarian Navy contained early in the war. During this period, Edgar Quinet took part in the Battle of Antivari in August 1914, and Waldeck-Rousseau was unsuccessfully attacked twice by Austro-Hungarian U-boats. Waldeck-Rousseau participated in the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War in the Black Sea in 1919–22, while Edgar Quinet remained in the Mediterranean during the contemporaneous Greco-Turkish War.

Edgar Quinet was converted into a training ship in the mid-1920s before running aground off the Algerian coast in January 1930. She could not be pulled free and sank five days later. Waldeck-Rousseau served as the flagship of the Far East fleet from 1929 to 1932 and was decommissioned after returning to France. She was hulked in 1936 and scrapped in 1941–44.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_cruiser_Edgar_Quinet
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Quinet-class_cruiser
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 4 January


1807 - HMS Nautilus (22), Cptn. Edmund Palmer, wrecked on Cenigotto a barren rock in the Levant

HMS Nautilus (1804) was an 18-gun sloop launched in 1804 and wrecked in 1807. It took six days for help to arrive and 62 of the 122 men aboard died


1832 – Birth of George Tryon, English admiral (d. 1893)

Vice-Admiral Sir George Tryon KCB (4 January 1832 – 22 June 1893) was a British admiral who died when his flagship HMS Victoria collided with HMS Camperdown during manoeuvres off Tripoli, Lebanon.

Vice_Admiral_Sir_George_Tryon.jpg

Sinking of HMS Victoria and drowning of Vice-Admiral Tryon
Main article: HMS Victoria (1887)
On 22 June 1893, the fleet was on exercises when Tryon's flagship, HMS Victoria, sank following a bizarre order from him which brought it in collision with the flagship of his second in command, Rear Admiral Sir Albert Markham. Tryon went down with his ship, his last reported words being "It is all my fault". Tryon was considered by many of his contemporaries to be a supremely competent yet radical officer, but with a strong and sometimes overbearing personality. This manner was felt to be a contributory cause to the accident. For instance, an article in Society Journal Talk in July 1893 (following the accident) said, "Much has been said about George Tryon's charm of manner, and the rest of it, but in truth he was, at any rate when officially engaged, a very brusque and dictatorial man. Unfortunately he was a 'viewy' man too, a man of theories..."

1280px-HMSVictoriasinking1893.jpg
Victoria sinking after the collision, taken from HMS Collingwood. HMS Nile on the left.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Tryon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Victoria_(1887)


1863 - Blockading ship USS Quaker City captures sloop Mercury carrying despatches emphasizing desperate plight of the South.

SS Quaker City (1854) was a heavy, 1,428 long tons (1,451 t) sidewheel steamship leased by the Union Navy at the start of the American Civil War. She was subsequently purchased by the navy, outfitted with a powerful 20-pounder long rifle, and assigned to help enforce the Union blockade of the ports of the Confederate States of America

USS_Quaker_City.jpg
Wash drawing of USS Quaker City (1861-1865) by Clary Ray, circa 1900.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Quaker_City_(1854)


1954 - Leros and Traunstein ran aground. Traunstein was refloated on the same day but Leros was almost lost in many damaging attempts to save the coast from a huge oil spill. She was pulled off the reef and towed into Cuxhaven on early morning Saturday January 10

The steam ship Traunstein ran aground on Scharhörn and was refloated on the same day.
The Greece tanker Leros ran aground on Scharhörn, in the Elbe estuary. She was pulled off the reef and towed into Cuxhaven on early morning 10 January, after many failed attempts and heavy damage.
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
5 January 1797 - French expedition to Ireland - HMS Polyphemus outran and captured the french frigate Tartu, of 44 guns and 625 men (including troops), after four hours of intermittent combat.


The first French ships to return to Brest arrived on 1 January, including Bouvet's flagship Immortalité accompanied by Indomptable, Redoutable, Patriote, Mucius, Fougueux and some smaller ships. They had avoided any contact with British warships and had been able to make good speed in a period of relatively calm weather. During the following days, the French ships that had gathered off the Shannon limped home, all badly damaged due to the increasingly rough seas and high winds.
Several ships did not return to France at all, including the frigate Surveillante, which was scuttled in Bantry Bay on 2 January; many of those aboard, including General Julien Mermet and 600 cavalrymen, were rescued by boats from the remaining French fleet while others scrambled ashore to become prisoners of war.

On 5 January, HMS Polyphemus outran and captured the french frigate Tartu, of 44 guns and 625 men (including troops), after four hours of intermittent combat. The Royal Navy later took her into service as HMS Uranie. Polyphemus also captured another transport, but the weather being bad and night falling, she did not take possession. Captain Lumsdaine of Polyphemus reported that the transport was leaky and making distress signals, but that he was unable to assist. He thought it highly likely that she had sunk. This may have been the transport Fille-Unique, which sank in the Bay of Biscay on 6 January, although the fate of the 300 soldiers aboard is unknown.


Uranie was a frigate of the French Navy launched in 1788. She took part in a frigate action in 1793, capturing HMS Thames, and was renamed Tartu in honour of her captain, Jean-François Tartu, who was killed in the action. The Royal Navy captured her in 1797. She served as HMS Uranie until the Royal Navy sold her in 1807.

Uranie_vs_HMS_Thames.png
The Action of 24 October 1793 between Uranie and HMS Thames

French service
At the Action of 24 October 1793, under Jean-François Tartu, she engaged HMS Thames, which she reduced to a hulk before disengaging. Tartu was killed; he was hailed as a hero, and Uranie was renamed Tartu in his honour.

large.jpg
Capt Cotes in the Thames defeats large French frigate Uranie, 1793. With inscription (PAF0004)


British service
On 5 January 1797, she was captured by HMS Polyphemus, and subsequently brought into British service as HMS Uranie.

On 28 July 1800, Uranie captured the French privateer schooner Revanche, which was armed with fourteen 6-pounder guns and had a crew of 80 men. Revanche was 19 days out of Vigo and had already captured and sent in the English brig Marcus, a Portuguese ship, and a Spanish brig that had been a prize to Minerve. Sirius shared in the capture.

large (1).jpg
In the summer of 1801 three British frigates, ‘Doris’, ‘Beaulieu’ and ‘Uranie’, stationed off the French coast near Brest were monitoring the movements of the French fleet. In July a French gunship-corvette, ‘Chevrette’ was discovered at anchor under some batteries in Camaret Bay. The French believed this to be an impregnable position, but the British ships decided to slip her away from her moorings. On the night of 20 July, the boats of ‘Doris’ and ‘Beaulieu’ set out to achieve this. However they became separated, and some turned back. Those that did reach the ‘Chevrette’ waited until daybreak for the remaining boats, before realising that they had turned back and would not be coming to their aid. By daybreak the boats that had reached the ‘Chevrette’ were spotted and so the element of surprise was lost. Later that morning the ‘Chevrette’ moved closer to some heavy batteries, where she also embarked some soldiers. That night the British boats regrouped and made a second attempt to cut out the ‘Chevrette’. Yet again some of the boats became separated. Nonetheless a lieutenant of the ‘Beaulieu’ decide to attack even with a greatly depleted force of only nine boats instead of the original 15. They were spotted and fired on as they approached the ‘Chevrette’ but managed to board the vessel, despite fierce opposition from the French crew and soldiers on board. As the British had lost all their fire-arms they boarded with only swords. Despite these odds, in less than three minutes after boarding they brought down the Chevrette’s three topsails and courses. They had also managed to cut the cable so the ship began to drift out of the bay. Realising this, a number of the Frenchmen jumped overboard and the rest fled below. Thus the British gained control of the quarterdeck and forecastle. As the ships drifted in the bay, the remaining British ship’s boats were able to join them and gained overall supremacy. The British losses were far lighter than those sustained by the French. Although painted some 30 years after the event, the artist has captured the dramatic effect, with the only light coming from fire raging on the deck. Figures are therefore shown silhouetted against the sky and can be seen in combat, climbing the rigging or up the side of the ship. The remaining British ship’s boats can be seen approaching on the right of the painting.

In 1807, she detected Manche, but failed to engage. Complaints by her crew led to the court martial of the captain for "failure to do his utmost to bring the enemy's frigate to action"


HMS Polyphemus, a 64-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 27 April 1782 at Sheerness. She participated in the 1801 Battle of Copenhagen, the Battle of Trafalgar, and the Siege of Santo Domingo. In 1813 she became a powder hulk and was broken up in 1827.

large.jpg
Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with stern-quarter decoration, and longitrudinal half-breadth proposed for 'Polyphemus' (1782), and later for 'Repulse' (1780), both 64-gun Third Rate, two-deckers. Signed by John Williams [Surveyor of the Navy, 1765-1784].

Class and type: Intrepid-class ship of the line
Tons burthen: 1408 71⁄94 (bm)
Length:
  • 160 ft 0 in (48.8 m) (gundeck)
  • 133 ft 3 in (40.6 m) (keel)
Beam 44 ft 7 in (13.6 m)
Depth of hold: 19 ft 0 in (5.8 m)
Sail plan Full rigged ship
Armament:
  • Gundeck: 26 × 24-pounder guns
  • Upper gundeck: 26 × 18-pounder guns
  • QD: 10 × 4-pounder guns
  • Fc: 2 × 9-pounder guns
large (2).jpg 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 Polyphemus (1782), a 64-gun Third Rate, two-decker, as launched at Sheerness Dockyard, April 1782. Signed by Henry Peake [Master Shipwright, Sheerness Dockyard, 1779-1782].

Early career
Polyphemus was laid down at Sheerness in 1776. On 26 April 1778, His Majesty King George III visited Sheerness to inspect the dockyards. There he saw Polyphemus, which was standing in her frame to season. She was launched in 1782 and commissioned under Captain William C. Finch, who then sailed her to Gibraltar.

She was part of a British fleet under Admiral Richard Howe successfully resupplied Gibraltar, then under siege by Bourbon forces. Shortly after, the British fleet met the Franco-Spanishfleet under Admiral Luis de Córdova y Córdova on 20 October 1782. The consequent battle of Cape Spartel was indecisive. Polyphemus was part of the second division of the van, and suffered four men wounded.

In late 1782, Admiral Sir Richard Hughes took a squadron that included Polyphemus, under Captain Thomas Sotheby, out to the West Indies. On their way the British encountered a French convoy off Martinique. The action of 6 December 1782 lasted 40 minutes, during which time Ruby, under Captain John Collins, captured the French 64-gun ship Solitaire, under Jean-Charles de Borda. Solitaire had 35 men killed and 55 wounded whilst Ruby had only two men wounded.[citation needed] Two days later the squadron arrived at Barbados. The Royal Navy took Solitaire into service as HMS Solitaire. Polyphemus shared with Ruby in the head money for the capture of Solitaire, while the other vessels of the British squadron did not, suggesting that Polyphemus assisted Ruby.

At the end of the war in 1783, her crew was paid off in June. Then she received some repairs between December 1783 and December 1784.

French Revolutionary Wars
In December 1793, after the outbreak of war with France, Polyphemus underwent fitting that at Chatham that took until June 1794. Captain George Lumsdaine commissioned her in April.

large (3).jpg
Scale: 1:96. Plan showing the roundhouse, quarterdeck and forecastle, upper deck, lower deck, and orlop deck for Polyphemus (1782), a 64-gun Third Rate, two-decker, as launched at Sheerness Dockyard, April 1782. Signed by Henry Peake [Master Shipwright, Sheerness Dockyard, 1779-1782].

Irish station
Polyphemus and Santa Margarita shared in the recapture on 21 September 1795 of the vessel Hibberts. Polyphemus was operating off Queenstown, Ireland, on 22 October when she took possession at Cork of the Dutch 64-gun ship Overijsel (or Overyssel), which the Royal Navy took into service as HMS Overyessel. Polyphemus then became the flagship for Vice-Admiral Robert Kingsmill, at Queenstown, before undergoing repairs in May and June 1796 at Plymouth. In August Polyphemus left the East India fleet west of the Canaries and returned to Plymouth two weeks or so later.

In December 1796, Polyphemus and Apollo were off the Irish coast when they captured the 14-gun French privateer schooner Deux Amis, of 100 tons bm and 80 men.[9] The Royal Navy took her into service under her existing name. On the 31st Polyphemus captured the Tartar.

There was only a handful of ships based at Cork under Rear-Admiral Kingsmill, principally Polyphemus and a frigate squadron, in late December 1796 when the French launched the Expédition d'Irlande, an attempt to create a republican uprising in Ireland. Polyphemus seized the transport Justine on 30 December and HMS Jason captured the transport Suffren shortly afterwards, although the French frigate Tartu recaptured Suffren. On 5 January 1797 Polyphemus captured Tartu, of 44 guns and 625 men (including troops). The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Uranie. Polyphemus also captured another transport, but the weather being bad and night falling, she did not take possession. Lumsdaine reported that the transport was leaky and making distress signals, but that he was unable to assist. He thought it highly likely that she had sunk. This may have been the Fille-Unique, which sank in the Bay of Biscay on 6 January.

Between November 1799 and March 1800 she underwent repairs at Chatham. She was recommissioned in 1799, again under Lumsdaine.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Uranie_(1788)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_expedition_to_Ireland_(1796)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Polyphemus_(1782)
 
Back
Top