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

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
13 January 1950 – British submarine HMS Truculent collides with an oil tanker in the Thames Estuary, killing 64 men.


HMS Truculent was a British submarine of the third group of the T class. She was built as P315 by Vickers Armstrong, Barrow, and launched on 12 September 1942. Truculent was lost following a post-war accident with a Swedish oil tanker in the Thames Estuary in January 1950.

HMS_Truculent.jpg

Wartime service
Truculent spent much of her World War II wartime service in the Pacific Far East, except for a period in early 1943, operating in home waters. Here, she sank the German submarine U-308, which was on her first war patrol, with all hands. She also took part in Operation Source, towing the X-class midget submarine X-6 to Norway to attack the heavy Kriegsmarine warships Tirpitz, Scharnhorst and Lützow.

On her transfer to the Pacific, she sank the Japanese army cargo ship Yasushima Maru; the small Japanese vessel Mantai; the Japanese merchant cargo ship, turned hell ship, Harugiku Maru and five Japanese sailing vessels. She also laid mines, one of which damaged the Japanese minelayer Hatsutaka.

She survived the war and returned to the United Kingdom to continue in service with the Royal Navy.


Sinking
On 12 January 1950, Truculent was returning to Sheerness, having completed trials after a refit at Chatham. In addition to her normal complement, she was carrying an additional 18 dockyard workers. She was travelling through the Thames Estuary at night. At 19:00, a ship showing three lights appeared ahead in the channel. It was decided that the ship must be stationary, and because Truculent could not pass to the starboard side without running aground, the order was given to turn to port. At once, the situation became clear; the Swedish oil tanker Divina — on passage from Purfleet and bound for Ipswich — came out of the darkness. The extra light indicated that she was carrying explosive material. The two vessels collided, the Divina's bow striking Trucluent by the starboard bow hydroplane, and remained locked together for a few seconds before the submarine sank.

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Fifty-seven of her crew were swept away in the current after a premature escape attempt, 15 survivors were picked up by a boat from the Divina and five by the Dutch ship Almdijk. Most of the crew survived the initial collision and managed to escape, but then perished in the freezing cold mid-winter conditions on the mud islands that litter the Thames Estuary. Sixty-four men died as a result of the collision. Truculent was salvaged on 14 March 1950 and beached at Cheney Spit. The wreck was moved inshore the following day where 10 bodies were recovered. She was refloated on 23 March and towed into Sheerness Dockyard. An inquiry attributed 75% of the blame to Truculent and 25% to Divina.

Truculent was then sold to be broken up for scrap on 8 May 1950.

Her loss led Peter de Neumann of the Port of London Authority to develop plans for a port control system, and the later introduction of the 'Truculent light', an extra steaming all round white light on the bow, on British submarines, to ensure they remained highly visible to other ships.


The salvage of the Truculent


In Film
On 21 February 1950, the film "Morning Departure" was released. The film tells the story of a British submarine that sinks on a training cruise from the perspective of a small group of survivors. Filming finished shortly before HMS Truculent sank, and the film was almost withdrawn. The decision was made to release the film as planned, and to add the following message that appears in the opening credits:

This film was completed before the tragic loss of HMS Truculent, and earnest consideration has been given as to the desirability of presenting it so soon after this grievous disaster. The Producers have decided to offer the film in the spirit in which it was made, as a tribute to the officers and men of H.M. Submarines, and to the Royal Navy of which they form a part.​



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Truculent_(P315)
http://www.submarinewarfare.uk/britsubtruculent.html
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
13 January 2012 – The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia sinks off the coast of Italy due to the captain Francesco Schettino's negligence and irresponsibility. There are 32 confirmed deaths.


On January 13, 2012, the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia ran aground and overturned after striking an underwater rock off Isola del Giglio, Tuscany, resulting in 32 deaths. The eight year old Costa Cruises vessel was on the first leg of a cruise around the Mediterranean Sea when she deviated from her planned route at the Isola del Giglio, sailed closer to the island, and struck a rock formation on the sea floor. A six-hour rescue effort resulted in most of the passengers being brought ashore.

Costa_Concordia_in_Palma,_Majorca,_Spain.JPG

An investigation focused on shortcomings in the procedures followed by the crew and the actions of the Italian captain, who left the ship prematurely.[3][4] About 300 passengers were left on board, most of whom were rescued by helicopter or motorboats in the area.[4] Captain Francesco Schettino was later found guilty of manslaughter in connection with the disaster and sentenced to sixteen years in prison. Despite receiving its own share of criticism, Costa Cruises did not face criminal charges.

Costa Concordia was officially declared a "constructive total loss" by the insurance company, and her salvage was "one of the biggest maritime salvage operations".[8] On 16 September 2013, the parbuckle salvage of the ship began,[9] and by the early hours of 17 September 2013, the ship was set upright on its underwater cradle. In July 2014, the ship was refloated by large sponsons (metal tanks) welded to its sides and was towed 320 kilometres (200 miles) to its home port of Genoa for scrapping which was finished in July 2017.

The total cost of the disaster, including victims' compensation, refloating, towing and scrapping costs, is estimated at approximately $2 billion, more than three times the $612 million construction cost of the ship. Costa Cruises offered compensation to passengers (to a limit of €11,000 per person) to pay for all damages, including the value of the cruise. 65% of the survivors took the offer.

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2012 grounding and partial sinking
Main article: Costa Concordia disaster

Costa Concordia in Genoa, Italy on 24 November 2010

On 13 January 2012, under the command of Captain Francesco Schettino, in calm seas and overcast weather, after departing Civitavecchia, the port for Rome, Italy, on a 7-night cruise, at 21:45 local time (UTC+1), Costa Concordia hit a rock off Isola del Giglio (42°21′55″N 10°55′17″E), on the western coast of Italy about 100 km (62 mi) northwest of Rome. A 53-metre (174 ft) long gash was made in the port-side hull, along 3 compartments of the engine room (deck 0); resulting in power losses, leading to a loss of propulsion and loss of electrical systems, which crippled the ship. Taking on water, the vessel listed to the port side. Twenty-four minutes later, strong winds pushed the vessel back to Giglio Island, where she grounded 500 m (550 yd) north of the village of Giglio Porto, resting on her starboard side in shallow waters, with most of her starboard side underwater.

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Costa Concordia after dawn with lifeboats at shore

Almost half of the ship remained above water, but it was in danger of sinking completely into a trough 70 metres (230 ft) deep.[24] Despite the gradual sinking of the ship, its complete loss of power, and its proximity to shore in calm seas, an order to abandon ship was not issued until over an hour after the initial impact. Although international maritime law requires all passengers to be evacuated within 30 minutes of an order to abandon ship, the evacuation of Costa Concordiatook over six hours. At the time, she was carrying 3,206 passengers and 1,023 crew members. The accident resulted in 32 fatalities. The body of the last missing person, Indian crew member Russel Rebello, was recovered on 3 November 2014.

Timeline of wrecking
Costa_Concordia_map_13-1-2012_(en).png



List of Costa Concordia from collision at 20:45 (UTC) until complete rest at 03:00. Shift from port to starboard list takes place around the time of the u-turn.
Below is a timeline of the wrecking, 13–14 January 2012 (using local time, which was UTC+1).

  • 21:12: Ship deviates from planned route
  • 21:45: Collision at Le Scole reef
  • 22:06: Harbour Master phoned by passenger's daughter, saying life jackets were ordered
  • 22:14: Harbour Master radios ship; is told that all is well except for an electrical blackout that will be repaired
  • 22:26: Harbour Master is told that the ship is taking on water and listing; no dead or injured; requested a tugboat
  • 22:34: Harbour Master is told that ship is in distress
  • 22:39: Patrol boat reports the ship is listing heavily
  • 22:44: Coast Guard reports the ship is grounded
  • 22:45: Captain denies grounding, says ship still floating and will be brought around
  • 22:58: Captain reports that he ordered evacuation
  • 23:23: Ship reports large starboard hull breach
  • 23:37: Captain reports 300 people on board
  • 00:12: Coast Guard patrol boat reports that port side lifeboats cannot be launched
  • 00:34: Captain says he is in a lifeboat and sees 3 people in water
  • 00:36: Coast Guard patrol reports 70–80 people on board including children and elderly
  • 00:42: Captain and some of his officers are in lifeboat; Harbour Master orders them to return
  • 01:04: Helicopter lowers Air Force officer aboard, who reports 100 people remain
  • 03:05: Evacuation ferry returns to Porto Santo Stefano with 5 injured and 3 dead
  • 03:17: Police identify captain on quay
  • 03:44: Air Force reports 40–50 people still to be evacuated
  • 04:22: 30 people reported remaining to be evacuated
  • 04:46: Evacuation concluded


Salvage
Main article: Costa Concordia salvage

Costa_Concordia_salvage_July_crop.jpg
Costa Concordia salvage operation in progress

An initial assessment by salvage expert Smit International estimated that the removal of Costa Concordia and her 2,380 tonnes of fuel could take up to 10 months. Smit advised that the ship had been damaged beyond the hope of economical repair and recommended it be written off as a constructive total loss. Smit was soon contracted to initially remove only Concordia's fuel.

Principles of righting and refloating of Costa Concordia

(1) Funnel (chimney) is removed and a submerged platform is built to support the ship. Steel sponsons are attached to the port side and partially filled with water.
(2) Cables roll the ship upright, helped by the water weight in the sponsons
(3) Sponsons are attached to the starboard side
(4) Water is pumped out of the sponsons to lift the ship so she can be towed away[


During the fuel removal operation, Smit reported that the ship had shifted 60 cm (24 in) in the three weeks since her grounding, but that there was no immediate prospect of her breaking up or sinking deeper. Removal of the fuel from the various fuel tanks distributed throughout the ship was completed in March 2012, later than Smit's initial estimates. This cleared the way to arrange for the ultimate salvaging and scrapping of the ship.

Costa_Concordia_parbuckling_11.jpg

On 17 September 2013, Costa Concordia was brought to a vertical position through a parbuckling procedure. The cost for salvaging the ship increased to $799 million. In addition, the ship had suffered severe hull deformations in two places. Titan Salvage, the company directing the salvage operations, estimated that the next phase of the salvage operation would be completed by early-to-mid-2014. After this "floating" operation, the ship would be towed to a salvage yard on the Italian mainland for scrapping or "breaking".

On 14 July 2014, work commenced to refloat Costa Concordia in preparation for towing. At this point, the costs had risen to €1 billion. Including tow cost, €100 million for the ship to be broken up for scrap and the cost of repairing damage to Giglio island, the estimated final cost was expected to be €1.5 billion ($2 billion). On 23 July, having been refloated, the ship commenced its final journey under tow at a speed of 2 knots (4 km/h; 2 mph), with a 14-ship escort, to be scrapped in Genoa. It arrived at port on 27 July, after a four-day journey. It was moored to a seawall at the port, awaiting dismantling processes.

Costa_Concordia_Abwracken.jpg
Costa Concordia on 12 September 2015, being scrapped in the Superbacino dock in Genoa, Italy

On 11 May 2015, following initial dismantling, but still kept afloat by the salvage sponsons, the hull was towed 10 miles (16 km) to the Superbacino dock in Genoa for removal of the upper decks. The last of the sponsons were removed in August 2016 and the hull was taken in to a drydock on 1 September for final dismantling. Scrapping of the ship was completed on 7 July 2017.




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Concordia_disaster
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_Schettino
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Concordia
 
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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 13 January


1741 - HMS Otter (8) wrecked off Aldborough in a storm

HMS Otter (1721) was an 8-gun sloop launched in 1721 and wrecked in 1741.

https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_ship&id=5651


1766 - HMS Aurora (32), Niger-class frigate, launched at Chatham

HMS Aurora (1766) was a 32-gun fifth rate launched in 1766, sailed September 1769 for East Indies, lost without a trace, presumably from fire or storm, in the Indian Ocean in January 1770.

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Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth proposed (and approved) for Alarm (1758), Aeolus (1758), Montreal (1761), Niger (1759), Quebec (1760), Stag (1758), and Winchelsea (1764), all 32-gun Fifth Rate Frigates. The plan includes alterations, dated 1769, to the main channels and deadeyes.

The Niger-class frigates were 32-gun sailing frigates of the fifth rate produced for the Royal Navy. They were designed in 1757 by Sir Thomas Slade, and were an improvement on his 1756 design for the 32-gun Southampton-class frigates.
Slade's design was approved in September 1757, on which date four ships were approved to be built to these plans - three by contract and a fourth in a royal dockyard. Seven more ships were ordered to the same design between 1759 and 1762 - three more to be built by contract and four in royal dockyards. Stag and Quebec were both reduced to 28-gun sixth rates in 1778, but were then restored to 32-gun fifth rates in 1779.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niger-class_frigate
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-334651;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=N


1790 – Death of Luc Urbain de Bouëxic, French admiral (b. 1712)

Luc Urbain de Bouëxic, comte de Guichen (June 21, 1712, Fougères, Ille-et-Vilaine – January 13, 1790, Morlaix) was a French admiral who commanded the French fleets that fought the British at the First Battle of Ushant (1778) and the Battle of Martinique (1780) during the American War of Independence

Luc_Urbain_du_Bouëxic_de_Guichen.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luc_Urbain_de_Bouëxic,_comte_de_Guichen


1808 - HM brig Pandora (18), a Cruizer class brig sloop, Henry Hume Spence, captured the French privateer Entreprenante (16), M. Bloudin, near Cap Gris Nez

HMS Pandora was launched in 1806. She captured two privateers before she was wrecked in February 1811 off the coast of Jutland.

On 13 January 1808, Pandora captured the French privateer Entreprenant, of 16 guns and 58 men, six or seven miles SSE of Folkestone, with the assistance of the hired armed cutter Active. The chase lasted an hour and 40 minutes and the French vessel did not strike until small arms fire from Pandora had wounded Captain Bloudin and five or six other men. Entreprenant was three days out of Calais and had captured the brig Mary, of Sunderland.

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


1811 - Cumberland merchant ship, Cptn. Barret with 26 men, defeated four French privateers, taking 170 men, who had boarded the Cumberland, prisoners.

https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_ship&id=14685


1815 - Capture of St. Mary's, Georgia, by the British over 2 days.


1818 - HMS Shark (16), Lt. Charles Newton Hunter, wrecked at Jamaica

HMS Shark (1779) was a 16-gun Swan class sloop launched in 1779. She was used as a receiving ship on the Jamaica station from 1803 to 1816 and foundered in Port Royal harbor in 1818; her remains were sold a few months later

HMS_Kingfisher_1770_bow.jpg
Prospective oil painting of the hull model of HM Sloop Kingfisher (1770) - starboard bow view (Swan class)

The Swan class were built as a 14-gun class of ship sloops for the Royal Navy, although an extra 2 guns were added soon after completion.

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Lines (ZAZ4690)

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Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the quarterdeck, forecastle, inboard profile and upper deck for Atalanta (1775), a 14-gun Ship Sloop. The plan was reused later in 1774 for fitting the Cygnet (1776). It was copied in 1775 for Hound (1776), Vulture (1776), Spy (1776) and Hornet (1776), and finally copied again in 1779 for Alligator (1780) of the same class.

https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_ship&id=6647
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swan-class_ship-sloop
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-305826;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=C


1834 – Spanish Lealtad, 5o gun, wrecked at Santander


1863 – Launch of USS Mendota (1863) was a steamer built for the Union Navy

USS Mendota (1863) was a steamer built for the Union Navy during the American Civil War. With her heavy guns, she was planned by the Union Navy for use as a bombardment gunboat, but also as a gunboat stationed off Confederate waterways to prevent their trading with foreign countries.

1024px-USS_Mendota.jpg

Mendota, a sidewheel gunboat, was launched 13 January 1863 by F. Z. Tucker, Brooklyn, New York; acquired by the Navy 1 February 1864; and commissioned 2 May 1864, Comdr. Edward T. Nichols in command.

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


1863 – Launch of USS Osage was a single-turreted Neosho-class monitor built for the Union Navy

USS Osage was a single-turreted Neosho-class monitor built for the Union Navy during the American Civil War. After completion in mid-1863, the ship patrolled the Mississippi Riveragainst Confederate raids and ambushes as part of Rear Admiral David Porter's Mississippi Squadron. Osage participated in the Red River Campaign in March–May 1864, during which she supported the capture of Fort DeRussy in March and participated in the Battle of Blair's Landing in April. The ship was grounded on a sandbar for six months after the end of the campaign and badly damaged. Osage, after being refloated and repaired, was transferred to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron in early 1865 for the campaign against Mobile, Alabama. During the Battle of Spanish Fort in March 1865 she struck a mine and rapidly sank. The ship was later salvaged and sold in 1867.

USS_Osage_(1863-1865)_-_NH_60295.jpg

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


1865 - With 8,000 Union soldiers, Rear Adm. David Porter provides 59 warships and 2,000 Sailors and Marines to take Confederate Fort Fisher, N.C., after a 2-day assault.


1943 - PBY-5A aircraft from (VP-83) sink German submarine U-507 off Brazil, which had sunk 19 and damaged one Allied merchant vessels, including seven that were American.

German submarine U-507 was a Type IXC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine built for service in the Second World War and the Battle of the Atlantic. She was mainly notable for two patrols she conducted during the "Second Happy Time" in mid-1942, during the first of which she caused havoc in the Gulf of Mexico amongst unprotected American shipping, and then in the second she attacked ships along the coast of Brazil, in an inexplicable and shocking attack on a neutral nation's shipping in its own waters which almost single-handedly provoked the Brazilian declaration of war on Germany.

The U-boat was built during 1941 by the Deutsche Werft shipyards in Hamburg, and commissioned on 8 October 1941, with Korvettenkapitän Harro Schacht in command. Schacht commanded the boat for its entire lifespan, receiving the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 9 January 1943 in recognition of his successful patrols in the preceding year. He never wore his award however, as he was killed with his entire crew when the boat was sunk four days later.

1280px-U-156_37-35_Laconia_1942_09_15.jpg

4th patrol
On her fourth and final patrol she put these new orders to full use, as she sank three British ships off the northern Brazilian coast, and captured the masters of all the ships; J.Stewart, F.H. Fenn and D. MacCullum. These victories had taken her into 1943 with a reputation for success, confirmed when her captain was informed of his Knight's Crossaward. Four days later U-507 was spotted by an American Navy PBY Catalina aircraft of VP-83 flying from a newly available Brazilian base, which dropped several depth charges on the boat. The site of the attack was 330 miles off the Brazilian coast at Cape São Roque (Cape of Saint Roch). There were no survivors from the entire crew of 56 including the three captives and the boat's new captain Heinz Radau, who was conducting an observation and familiarization patrol.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-507


1945 - Destroyer escort USS Fleming (DE 32) sinks a Japanese submarine 320 miles north-northeast of Truk.

The second USS Fleming (DE-32), and first ship of the name to enter service, was an Evarts-class destroyer escort built for the United States Navy during World War II. While performing convoy and escort duty in the Pacific Ocean she was also able to sink one Japanese submarine and to shoot down several kamikaze planes that intended to crash onto her. For her military prowess under battle conditions, she was awarded four battle stars.

USS_Fleming_(DE-32)_after_her_launch_at_the_Mare_Island_Naval_Shipyard_on_16_June_1943.jpg

She was launched on 16 June 1943 by Mare Island Navy Yard; sponsored by Mrs. W. E. Rutherford; and commissioned on 18 September 1943, Lieutenant Commander R. J. Toner in command.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Fleming_(DE-32)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
14 January 1774 – Launch of French Ajax, a 64-gun Sévère class ship of the line of the French Navy.


Ajax was a 64-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.

Class and type: Sévère class ship of the line
Tons burthen: 1300 tons
Length: 51.2 metres
Beam: 13.2 metres
Draught: 6.7 metres
Propulsion: Sails
Sail plan: Full rigged ship
Armament: 64 guns

Lancement_du_vaisseau_le_Caton_à_Toulon_en_1777.jpg
Lancement du vaisseau de 64 canons le Caton à Toulon en 1777.

Career
Built as Maréchal de Broglie for private owners and transferred to the French East India Company, the ship sailed two journeys to China as a merchantman. In April 1779, she was purchased by the Crown to ferry furnitures to Isle de France (now Mauritius) and be commissioned as a warship upon her arrival. In June, she was coppered, and she received her name of Ajax on 13 August.

On 16 February 1780, Ajax departed Lorient with Protée, Éléphant and Charmante, escorting a convoy bound for India. In late February, off Spain, the convoy met Rodney's fleet; Protée sacrificed herself to hold the British back and was captured on 24, while Charmante returned to Lorient, arriving on 3 March, and the convoy escaped under the protection of Ajax.

Arrived at Isle the France, Ajax joined Suffren's squadron. She took part in the Battle of Negapatam in 1782, under Captain Bouvet. The rigging of Ajax having been damaged by a gale the night before and not been repaired, Bouvet requested authorisation to retreat to effect his repairs; when Suffren refused, Ajax remained with her squadron but without taking part in the action. Suffren was furious and cashiered Bouvet for his conduct.

Ajax then took part in the Battle of Trincomalee and in the Battle of Cuddalore, under Captain Dupas de la Mancelière, who was killed in the action.

Vaisseau en cours d'armement à Brest en 1776.

1280px-Le_Port_de_Brest_(une_prise_de_la_mâture)-Louis-Nicolas_Van_Blarenberghe_mg_8233.jpg


Sévère class, built by François Caro for commercial operators, to the design of Antoine Groignard's Indien Class. Purchased in 1778-79 by the French Navy. A third sister-ship - the Superbe (launched 11 March 1774) was sold in 1779 to Austria.
  • Sévère 64 (launched 17 January 1775 at Lorient-Caudan, and purchased for the French Navy in November 1778) - Wrecked 26 January 1784 in Table Bay, South Africa.
  • Ajax 64 (launched 14 January 1774 at Lorient-Caudan under the name Maréchal de Broglie, and purchased for the French Navy in April 1779, being renamed Ajax on 13 August 1779) - Struck in 1786, but reinstated as a floating battery at Verdon in June 1795; taken to pieces after March 1801.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Ajax_(1779)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Sévère_(1778)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
14 January 1797 - Action of 13 January 1797 (lastet 13. + 14.th January) - Part I


The Action of 13 January 1797 was a minor naval battle fought between a French ship of the line and two British frigates off the coast of Brittany during the French Revolutionary Wars. During the action the frigates outmanoeuvred the much larger French vessel and drove it onto shore in heavy seas, resulting in the deaths of between 400 and 1,000 of the 1,300 persons aboard. One of the British frigates was also lost in the engagement with six sailors drowned after running onto a sandbank while failing to escape a lee shore.

The French 74-gun ship Droits de l'Homme had been part of the Expédition d'Irlande, an unsuccessful attempt by a French expeditionary force to invade Ireland. During the operation, the French fleet was beset by poor coordination and violent weather, eventually being compelled to return to France without landing a single soldier. Two British frigates, the 44-gun HMS Indefatigable and the 36-gun HMS Amazon, had been ordered to patrol the seas off Ushant in an attempt to intercept the returning French force and sighted the Droits de l'Homme on the afternoon of 13 January.

The engagement lasted for more than 15 hours, in an increasing gale and the constant presence of the rocky Breton coast. The seas were so rough that the French ship was unable to open the lower gun ports during the action and as a result could only fire the upper deck guns, significantly reducing the advantage that a ship of the line would normally have over the smaller frigates. The damage the more manoeuvrable British vessels inflicted on the French ship was so severe that as the winds increased, the French crew lost control and the Droits de l'Homme was swept onto a sandbar and destroyed.

Background
Main article: Expédition d'Irlande
In December 1796, during the French Revolutionary Wars, a French expeditionary force departed from Brest on an expedition to invade Ireland. This army of 18,000 French soldiers was intended to link up with the secret organisation of Irish nationalists known as the United Irishmen and provoke a widespread uprising throughout the island. It was hoped that the resulting war would force Britain to make peace with the French Republic or risk losing control of Ireland altogether.Led by Vice-Admiral Morard de Galles, General Lazare Hoche and leader of the United Irishmen Wolfe Tone, the invasion fleet included 17 ships of the line, 27 smaller warships and transports, and carried extensive field artillery, cavalry and military stores to equip the Irish irregular forces they hoped to raise.

Departure from Brest
Morard de Galles planned to sail his fleet from the French naval fortress of Brest under cover of darkness on the night of 15–16 December. The British Channel Fleet normally maintained a squadron off Brest to blockade the port, but its commander, Rear-Admiral John Colpoys, had withdrawn his force from its usual station 20 nautical miles (37 km) offshore to 40 nautical miles (74 km) northwest of Brest because of severe Atlantic winter gales. The only British ships within sight of Brest were an inshore squadron of frigates under Sir Edward Pellew in HMS Indefatigable, accompanied by HMS Amazon, HMS Phoebe, HMS Révolutionnaire and the lugger HMS Duke of York. Pellew was already renowned, having been the first British officer of the war to capture a French frigate: the Cléopâtre at the Action of 18 June 1793. He later captured the frigates Pomone and Virginiein 1794 and 1796, and saved 500 lives following the shipwreck of the East Indiaman Dutton in January 1796. For these actions he had first been knighted and then raised to a baronetcy. Indefatigable was a razee, one of the largest frigates in the Royal Navy, originally constructed as a 64-gun third rate and cut down to 44 guns in 1795 to make the ship fast and powerful enough to catch and fight the largest of French frigates. Armed with 24-pounder cannon on the main decks and 42-pounder carronades on the quarter deck, she had a stronger armament than any equivalent French frigate.


Sir Edward Pellew by Thomas Lawrence, 1797

Observing the French fleet's departure from the harbour at dusk, Pellew immediately dispatched Phoebe to Colpoys and Amazon to the main fleet at Portsmouth with warnings, before approaching the entrance to Brest in Indefatigable with the intention of disrupting French movements. Believing that the frigates in the bay must be the forerunners of a larger British force, de Galles attempted to pass his fleet through the Raz de Sein. This channel was a narrow, rocky and dangerous passage, and de Galles used corvettes as temporary light ships that shone blue lights and fired fireworks to direct his main fleet through the passage. Pellew observed this, and sailed Indefatigable right through the French fleet, launching rockets and shining lights seemingly at random. This succeeded in confusing the French officers, causing the Séduisant to strike the Grand Stevenent rock and sink with the loss of over 680 men from a complement of 1,300. Séduisant's distress flares added to the confusion and delayed the fleet's passage until dawn. His task of observing the enemy completed, Pellew took his remaining squadron to Falmouth, sent a report to the Admiralty by semaphore telegraph, and refitted his ships.

Failure of the Expédition d'Irlande

Jean-Baptiste Raymond de Lacrosse

During December 1796 and early January 1797, the French army repeatedly attempted to land in Ireland. Early in the voyage, the frigate Fraternité carrying de Galles and Hoche, was separated from the fleet and missed the rendezvous at Mizen Head. Admiral Bouvet and General Grouchy decided to attempt the landing at Bantry Baywithout their commanders, but severe weather made any landing impossible. For more than a week the fleet waited for a break in the storm, until Bouvet abandoned the invasion on 29 December and, after a brief and unsuccessful effort to land at the mouth of the River Shannon, ordered his scattered ships to return to Brest. During the operation and subsequent retreat a further 11 ships were wrecked or captured, with the loss of thousands of soldiers and sailors.

By 13 January most of the survivors of the fleet had limped back to France in a state of disrepair. One ship of the line that remained at sea, the 74-gun Droits de l'Homme, was commanded by Commodore Jean-Baptiste Raymond de Lacrosse and carried over 1,300 men, 700–800 of them soldiers, including General Jean Humbert. Detached from the main body of the fleet during the retreat from Bantry Bay, Lacrosse made his way to the mouth of the Shannon alone. Recognising that the weather was still too violent for a landing to be made, Lacrosse acknowledged the failure of the operation and ordered the ship to return to France, capturing the British privateer Cumberland en route.

Chase
Pellew too was on his way back to Brest in Indefatigable, accompanied by Amazon under the command of Captain Robert Carthew Reynolds. While the rest of the Channel Fleet had been pursuing the French without success, Pellew had had his ships refitted and resupplied at Falmouth so that both frigates were at full complement, well armed and prepared for action. At 13:00 on 13 January, the British ships were approaching the island of Ushant in a heavy fog when they spied another ship through the gloom ahead. This ship, clearly much larger than either of the British vessels, was the Droits de l'Homme. At the same time, lookouts on the French ship spotted the British, and Lacrosse was faced with the dilemma of whether or not to engage the enemy. He knew that his ship was far larger than either of his opponents, but had earlier spotted sails to westwards he believed to be British and thus considered himself outnumbered and possibly surrounded. British records show that no other British vessels were in the vicinity at the time and it is likely that Lacrosse had seen the French ships Révolution and Fraternité returning to Brest from Bantry Bay. In addition, Lacrosse was concerned by the increasing gale and rocky lee shoreline, which posed a considerable threat to his over-laden vessel, which was already damaged from its winter voyage and carried a demi-brigade of the French Army and Humbert, neither of which could be placed at risk in an inconsequential naval action.

Determined to avoid battle, Lacrosse turned southeast, hoping to use his wider spread of sail to outrun his opponent in the strong winds. Pellew, however, manoeuvred to cut the Droits de l'Homme off from the French coast, at this stage still unsure of the nature of his opponent. As the chase developed, the weather, which had been violent for the entire preceding month, worsened. An Atlantic gale swept the Ushant headland, driving a blizzard eastwards and whipping the sea into a turbulent state, making steering and aiming more difficult. At 16:15, two of Droits de l'Homme's topmasts broke in the strong winds. This dramatically slowed the French ship, and allowed Pellew, who had recognised his opponent as a French ship of the line, to close with Droits de l'Homme.


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14 January 1797 - Action of 13 January 1797 (lastet 13. + 14.th January) - Part II


Battle
Pellew was aware that his frigate was heavily outclassed by his much larger opponent, and that Amazon, which was 8 nautical miles (15 km) distant, was not large enough to redress the balance when it did arrive. He correctly assumed, however, that the ocean was too rough to allow Lacrosse to open his lower gunports without the risk that heavy waves would enter them and cause Droits de l'Homme to founder. In fact, the French ship was totally unable to open her lower deck gunports during the action: an unusual design feature had the ports 14 inches (36 cm) lower than was normal and as a result the sea poured in at any attempt to open them, preventing any gunnery at all from the lower deck and halving the ship's firepower. Although this reduced the number of available guns on the French vessel, Lacrosse still held the advantage in terms of size, weight of shot and manpower. The French situation was worsened however by the loss of the topmasts: this caused their ship to roll so severely in the high seas that it was far more difficult both to steer the ship and to aim the guns than on the British vessels.

Vaisseau-Droits-de-lHomme.jpg
Battle between the French warship Droits de l'Homme and the frigates HMS Amazon and Indefatigable, 13 & 14 January 1797, Leopold Le Guen

To the surprise of Lacrosse and his officers, Indefatigable did not retreat from the ship of the line, nor did she pass the ship of the line at long-range to leeward as expected. Instead, at 17:30, Pellew closed with the stern of Droits de l'Homme and opened a raking fire. Lacrosse turned to meet the threat and opened fire with the guns on the upper deck accompanied by a heavy volley of musket fire from the soldiers on board. Pellew then attempted to pull ahead of Droits de l'Homme and rake her bow, to which Lacrosse responded by attempting to ram Indefatigable. Neither manoeuvre was successful, as Droits de l'Homme raked the British ship but caused little damage as most of her shot scattered into the ocean.

Indefatigable and Droits de l'Homme manoeuvred around one another, exchanging fire when possible until 18:45, when Amazon arrived. During this exchange, one of Droits de l'Homme's cannon burst, causing heavy casualties on her packed deck. Approaching the larger French ship with all sail spread, Reynolds closed to within pistol shot before raking Droits de l'Homme. Lacrosse responded to this new threat by manoeuvring to bring both British ships to face the westward side of his ship, avoiding becoming trapped in a crossfire. The battle continued until 19:30, when both Amazon and Indefatigable pulled away from their opponent to make hasty repairs. By 20:30, the frigates had returned to the much slower French ship and began weaving in front of Droits de l'Homme's bow, repeatedly raking her. Lacrosse's increasingly desperate attempts to ram the British ships were all unsuccessful and what little cannon fire he did manage to deploy was ineffectual, as the rolling of the ship of the line prevented reliable aiming.

By 22:30, Droits de l'Homme was in severe difficulties, with heavy casualties among her crew and passengers and the loss of her mizzenmast to British fire. Observing the battered state of their opponent, Pellew and Reynolds closed on the stern quarters of the French ship, maintaining a high rate of fire that was sporadically returned by Droits de l'Homme. Having exhausted the 4,000 cannonballs available, Lacrosse was forced to use the shells he was carrying, which had been intended for use by the army in Ireland. In the high winds, these proved even less effective than solid shot, but did drive the frigates to longer range. With their opponent almost immobilised, the British frigates were able to remain outside her arc of fire, effect repairs when necessary and secure guns that had broken loose in the heavy seas. For the rest of the night the three battered ships remained locked in a close range duel, until suddenly, at 04:20 while it was still dark, land was spotted just 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) to leeward by Lieutenant George Bell of the Indefatigable.

Shipwrecks
Pellew immediately turned seawards in an effort to escape the shore and signalled Reynolds to follow suit. Although both ships had suffered severe damage from the battle and weather, they were able to make the turn away from land, Amazon to the north and Indefatigable, at the insistence of its Breton pilot, to the south. Initially it was believed that the land spotted was the island of Ushant, which would have given the ships plenty of sea-room in which to manoeuvre. However at 06:30, with the sky lightening, it became apparent on the Indefatigable that there were breakers to the south and east, indicating that the three ships had drifted during the night into Audierne Bay. On discovering his situation, Pellew was determined to bring his ship westwards, attempting to work his ship out of danger by beating against the wind. Hasty repairs had to be made to the damaged rigging before it was safe to alter their course. Due to her northwards turn, Amazon had even less room to manoeuvre than Indefatigable and by 05:00 she had struck a sandbank. Although the frigate remained upright, attempts over several hours to bring her off failed; at 08:00 Reynolds ordered his men to prepare to abandon ship.

Droits de l'Homme had been more seriously damaged than the British frigates, and was closer to shore at the time land was spotted. As Lacrosse's crew made desperate efforts to turn southwards, the ship's foremast and bowsprit collapsed under the pressure of the wind. With the ship virtually unmanageable, Lacrosse ordered the anchors lowered in an attempt to hold the ship in position until repairs could be made. This effort was futile, as all but two anchors had been lost during efforts to hold position in Bantry Bay, and British gunfire had damaged one of the anchor cables and rendered it useless. The final anchor was deployed, but it failed to restrain the ship and at 07:00 (according to the French account), the Droits de l'Homme struck a sandbank close to the town of Plozévet. This broke off the remaining mast and caused the ship to heel over onto her side.

Amazon
As daylight broke over Audierne Bay, crowds of locals gathered on the beach. The Droits de l'Homme lay on her side directly opposite the town of Plozévet, with large waves breaking over her hull; 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) to the north, Amazon stood upright on a sandbar, her crew launching boats in an effort to reach the shore, while Indefatigable was the only ship still afloat, rounding the Penmarck rocks at the southern edge of the bay at 11:00. On board the Amazon, Reynolds maintained discipline and gave orders to launch the ship's boats in an orderly fashion and to build rafts in which to bring the entire crew safely to shore. Six men disobeyed his command, stole a launch, and attempted to reach the shore alone, but were swept away by the current. Their boat was capsized by the waves, and all six drowned. The remaining crew, including those wounded in the previous night's action, were safely brought ashore by 09:00, where they were made prisoners of war by the French authorities.

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La Droits de L’Homme, a French 74 Gun Ship returning from an unssuccessful [sic] Expedition to Ireland attacked by his Majesty’s Frigates the Indefatigable, commanded by Sir Edward Pellew, Bart & the Amazon commanded by R.C. Reynold Esqr by Night on the 13th & 14th January 1797, which Action, continued for ten hours hard fighting, when the Enemy’s Ship was forced on shore on their own Coast. The Amazon (1795) is on the left-hand side of the picture and is shown in action against the French temeraire Droits-de-l'Homme (1794). Indefatigable (1784) is on the right. This image depicts three ships showing the stern view. The Droits-de-L'Homme is in the centre, being attacked by the two British ships. It is badly damaged by cannon fire, visible on the sails, its yard is suspended diagonally. The Indefatigable sails also have holes in from cannon fire. There is smoke surrounding the three ships from cannon fire.

HMS Amazon, was a 36-gun frigate, built at Rotherhithe by (John and William) Wells & Co. in 1795 to a design by Sir William Rule. Carrying a main battery of 18-pounder long guns, she was the first of a class of four frigates. She spent her entire career in The Channel, part of the Inshore Squadron under Sir Edward Pellew. She was wrecked in Audierne Bay in 1797, following an engagement with the French ship-of-the-line, Droits de l'Homme.

Type: Fifth-rate frgate
Tons burthen: 933 67/94 bm
Length:
  • 143 ft 2.5 in (43.650 m) (gundeck)
  • 119 ft 5.5 in (36.411 m) (keel)
Beam: 38 ft 4 in (11.68 m)
Depth of hold: 13 ft 6 in (4.11 m)
Propulsion: Sails
Complement: 264
Armament: 36 guns

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Lines (ZAZ2587)

Armament and construction
Amazon was one of four 36-gun, 18-pound, Amazon-class frigates built to a design by William Rule. She and her sister ship, HMS Emerald, were ordered on 24 May 1794. Built to the same dimensions, they were: 143 feet 2 1⁄2 inches (43.6 m) along the gun deck with a beam of 38 feet 4 inches (11.7 m) and a depth in the hold of 13 feet 6 inches (4.1 m). They were 933 67⁄94 tons burthen a piece.

Work began in June at Rotherhithe by Wells & Co, when the 119 feet 5 1⁄2 inches (36.4 m) keel was laid down. Launched on 4 July 1795 Amazon was taken to Deptford where she was completed from 3 - 25 September. Including fitting, her construction had cost £24,681.

Amazon was built to carry a main battery of twenty-six 18 pounders (8.2 kilograms) on her upper gun deck, eight 9 pdr (4.1 kg) on the quarter deck and two on the forecastle. She additionally carried ten 32 pdr (15 kg) carronades, six on the quarter deck and two on the forecastle. When fully manned, she had a complement of 264.

Service
In 1795, while under the command of Captain Robert Carthew Reynolds, she was part of the Inshore Squadron under Sir Edward Pellew watching the French port of Brest to report any attempt by the French fleet to leave port. Pellew's force comprised the 44-gun ships Indefatigable and Argo, the 38-gun frigate Révolutionnaire, Amazon, and a second 36-gun frigate, Concorde. Cruising off Ushant, late in the afternoon of 13 April 1796, a ship was seen to windward. Pellew, ordered Révolutionnaire to sail an intercepting course while the rest of the squadron gave chase. Révolutionnaire eventually cut off the quarry, which turned out to be the French frigate, Unité, and after a brief exchange of fire, forced her to surrender. A week later, on 20 April, Amazon was again in pursuit of an enemy frigate. With Argo in Plymouth and Révolutionnaire on her way home with her prize, the three remaining British frigates were lying-to off The Lizard, when 40-gun Virginie was spotted. Indefatigable, being the best sailer, was first to engage, after a 168-mile (270 km) chase, lasting 15 hours. When Amazon and Concorde caught up, the French ship surrendered. Then on 13 June, Amazon contributed to the capture of the 16-gun Betsy and the 14-gun Les Trois Couleurs off Brest.

On 11 December 1796, Amazon was despatched with news that seven French ships of the line had arrived in Brest. This was part of the preparation for an invasion of Ireland. The French fleet left harbour and evaded the main British blockade fleet and sailed for Bantry Bay. However, storms scattered them and most returned to France having accomplished very little.

In the Action of 13 January 1797, Amazon, in company with Pellew's ship Indefatigable, encountered the French ship Droits de l'Homme, a 74-gun ship of the line. Normally, frigates would not engage a ship of the line as they would be severely outgunned. However, there was a heavy sea and the French ship could not open her lower deck gunports for fear of flooding. This reduced her broadsideconsiderably.

Pellew was seven miles ahead of Amazon when he first attacked the Droits de l'Homme. An hour and a half later Amazon came up and poured a broadside into the Frenchman's quarter. The two frigates attacked her from either side yawing to rake her while avoiding much of her return fire. At 4.20 am on 14 January land was suddenly sighted ahead and the frigates broke off the attack and headed in opposite directions. Amazon, going north, and more severely damaged, was unable to wear and ran aground at Audierne Bay, Isle Bas. Three crew had been killed during the battle and six more drowned, but the rest were able to reach shore. There the French captured them. The heavy seas pounding her on the beach destroyed Amazon; the Droits de l'Homme, badly damaged in the battle, was also wrecked, with heavy casualties.

The court martial on 29 September 1797, routinely held by the Navy after the loss of any vessel, honourably acquitted Captain Reynolds and his officers of negligence in the loss of the ship



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14 January 1797 - Action of 13 January 1797 (lastet 13. + 14.th January) - Part III


Droits de l'Homme
Droits de l'Homme was irreparably damaged, and many of the men on board were soldiers with no training for what to do in the event of a shipwreck. Each successive wave swept more men into the water and desperate attempts to launch boats failed when the small craft were swept away by the waves and broken in the surf. Rafts were constructed, but several were swamped in attempts to carry a rope to the shore. The men on the one raft that remained upright were forced to cut the rope to prevent them from foundering in the heavy seas. Some of the men on this raft reached the beach, the first survivors of the wreck. Subsequent attempts were made by individuals to swim to shore with ropes, but they were either drowned or driven back to the ship by the force of the sea.

With no aid possible from the shore, night fell on 14 January with most of the crew and passengers still aboard. During the night, the waves stove in (smashed in) the stern of the ship, flooding much of the interior. On the morning of 15 January, a small boat carrying nine British prisoners (part of the crew of the Cumberland, captured by Droits de l'Homme earlier in the campaign) managed to reach shore. The sight of the British-manned boat reaching shore prompted a mass launching of small rafts from the wreck in hopes of gaining the beach. However the waves increased once more, and not one of these small craft survived the passage.

By the morning of 16 January, the seas were still rough, whilst hunger and panic had taken over on the wreck. When a large raft carrying the wounded, two women and six children was launched during a lull in the weather, over 120 unwounded men scrambled to board it. This severely overloaded the craft and within minutes a large wave struck the heavy raft and capsized it, drowning all aboard. By the evening, the remaining survivors, without food or fresh water, began to succumb to exposure, and at least one officer drowned in a desperate attempt to swim to shore. Throughout the night, the survivors gathered on the less exposed parts of the hull, and, in the hope of staving off death by dehydration, drank sea water, urine, or vinegar from a small barrel that had floated up from the hold. The morning of 17 January finally saw a reduction in the storm and the arrival of a small French naval brig, the Arrogante. This ship could not come close without the risk of grounding but sent her boats to the wreck in the hope of rescuing survivors. The brig was joined later in the day by the cutter Aiguille.

On the Droits de l'Homme, many survivors were too weak to reach the boats, and a number of men fell from the hull and drowned in the attempt. Many more could not find room in the small boats, and only 150 men were rescued on 17 January. The following morning, when the boats returned, they found only 140 survivors left, at least as many again having died during the night. The last two people to leave the ship were the commanders General Humbert and Commodore Lacrosse. Taken to Brest, the survivors were fed and clothed and given medical treatment. All the surviving prisoners from the Cumberland were released and returned to Britain, in recognition of their efforts to save lives from the shipwreck.

Aftermath

Menhir commemorating the wreck of Droits de l'Homme (shown in the picture as damaged by storm with the topmost portion having broken off)

Exact French casualties are difficult to calculate, but of the 1,300 aboard Droits de l'Homme, 103 are known to have died in the battle and just over 300 were saved from the wreck, indicating the deaths of approximately 900 men on the French ship between the morning of 14 January and the morning of 18 January. However, a French source suggests that up to another 500 of the crew were rescued from the wreck by the corvette Arrogante and the cutter Aiguille on 17 and 18 January. This would give a toll of only about 400. A menhir at Plozévet, with an inscription carved in 1840 gives a death toll of six hundred.

Amazon lost three in the battle and six in her wreck, with 15 wounded, while Indefatigable did not lose a single man killed, suffering only 18 wounded. The discrepancy in losses during the action is likely due to the extreme difficulty the French crew had in aiming their guns given their ship's instability in heavy seas.

Reynolds and his officers were exchanged for French prisoners some weeks later, and in the routine court-martial investigating the loss of their ship were honourably acquitted "with every sentiment of the court's highest approbation." Reynolds was subsequently appointed to the large frigate HMS Pomone. The senior lieutenants of each frigate were promoted to commander and head money (prize money based on the number of the enemy's crew and awarded when the defeated ship was destroyed) was distributed among the crews. Pellew remained in command of Indefatigable off Brest for another year and seized a number of French merchant ships. He was later promoted several times, and by the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 had become Lord Exmouth, Commander in Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet. Reynolds did not survive the war, dying in the wreck of HMS St George in 1811. Lacrosse and Humbert were not censured for the loss of their ship: the commodore was promoted to admiral and later became ambassador to Spain, while Humbert led the next and equally unsuccessful attempt to invade Ireland, surrendering at the Battle of Ballinamuck in 1798.

In Britain, the action was lauded at the time and since: First Lord of the Admiralty Lord Spencer described the operation as "an exploit which has not I believe ever before graced our naval annals". Historian James Henderson says of the action: "It was a feat of arms and seamanship such as had never been done before, and never was done again," and Richard Woodman calls it "a dazzling display of seamanship by all concerned in the alternating darkness and moonlight of a boisterous night". Five decades later the battle was among the actions recognised by the Naval General Service Medal, with clasps "Indefatigable 13 Jany. 1797" and "Amazon 13 Jany. 1797", awarded upon application to all British participants still living in 1847


Droits de l'Homme (French for Rights of Man) was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy during the French Revolutionary Wars. Launched in 1794, the ship saw service in the Atlantic against the British Royal Navy.

She was part of the fleet that sailed in December 1796 on the disastrous Expédition d'Irlande. After unsuccessful attempts to land troops on Ireland, the Droits de l'Homme headed back to her home port of Brest with the soldiers still on board. Two British frigates were waiting to intercept stragglers from the fleet, and engaged Droits de l'Homme in the Action of 13 January 1797. Heavily damaged by the British ships and unable to manoeuvre in rough seas, the ship struck a sandbar and was wrecked. Hundreds of lives were lost in the disaster.

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Coloured aquatint showing the wreck of Les Droits de L'Homme (1794), a French ship chased ashore by the British ship Indefatigable. Inscribed: 'Destruction of Le Droits de L'Homme, showing her situation at Daybreak as forced onshore by the two Frigates in Hodierne Bay near Brest, with the Indefatigable under a press of sail haul'd to clear the land, and throwing up rockets as signals to her consort the Amazon which was unfortunately wrecked at some distance from the enemy's ship'. This action happened on 13 Jan 1797. There are 2 further impressions of this picture in the collection.

Class and type: Téméraire-class ship of the line
Displacement:

  • 2,966 tonnes
  • 5,260 tonnes fully loaded
Length: 55.87 metres (183.3 ft) (172 pied)
Beam: 14.90 metres (48 ft 11 in)
Draught: 7.26 metres (23.8 ft) (22 pied)
Propulsion: Up to 2,485 m2 (26,750 sq ft) of sails
Armament:

  • 74 guns:
  • Lower gundeck: 28 × 36-pounder long guns
  • Upper gundeck: 30 × 18-pounder long guns
  • Forecastle and Quarter deck:
    • 16 × 8-pounder long guns
    • 4 × 36-pounder carronades

Construction and naming
The ship was built at Port-Liberté (now Lorient) and launched on 10 Prairial de l'An II (29 May 1794). Her name refers to the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, one of the founding documents of the French Revolution.

Service history
Droits de l'Homme, was involved in the Action of 6 November 1794, chasing the British 74s Canada and Alexander. Droits de l'Homme caught up with Alexander first, but was forced out of action with damage to her rigging, but Alexander was soon caught by Jean Bart and Marat and captured.

Droits de l'Homme was lightly involved in Battle of Groix, on 22 June 1795, firing few if any shots during the battle.

Expédition d'Irlande
In December 1796 Droits de l'Homme, under capitaine de vaisseau Raymond de Lacrosse, took part in the invasion attempt against Ireland, carrying 549 soldiers. On their way, the fleet was dispersed by tempests. The Droits de l'Homme arrived at Bantry Bay and cruised off the coast, capturing the brigs Cumberland and Calypso. She stayed there for eight days to ascertain that no French ship was in distress on the coast, and departed for Brittany.

Droits_de_lHomme_sinking.jpg
Droits de l'Homme wrecked

On 25 Nivôse An V in the Action of 13 January 1797, off Penmarch, Droits de l'Homme met the British frigates HMS Indefatigable (44), under Sir Edward Pellew, and Amazon (36), commanded by Robert C. Reynolds. The sea was rough, preventing Droits de l'Homme from using her lower deck batteries and from boarding the British. Lacrosse was wounded; he gave command of the ship to his second officer, Prévost de Lacroix, and had his crew swear not to strike their colours.

After 13 hours of combat, running out of ammunition, the British broke contact when Indefatigable sighted land ahead. Indefatigable, despite having damage to her masts and rigging, managed to beat off the lee shore and escape Penmarch reefs; Amazon ran aground and was destroyed near Plozévet, and her crew captured. Droits de l'Homme, having lost her rudder, masts and anchors, ran aground off Plozévet.

Some of the crew were rescued by the ship's boats and fishing boats from nearby villages, but the rescue was interrupted for five days by the storm; 60 men died for lack of food and water. General Jean-Amable Humbert, who was commanding the soldiers aboard, narrowly escaped drowning, and between 250 and 390 men died in the wreck. Captain Lacrosse was last to leave the ship.

Commemoration
In 1840, Major Pipon, an English officer who had been a prisoner aboard, erected an inscribed menhir on the coast in remembrance of the tragedy. In 1876 it was broken into several pieces by the weather, but restored in 1882.

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In the summer of 1796 the French conspired with Irish dissidents to send an expedition to Ireland to assist an uprising there, by which it was hoped to detach it from the United Kingdom. Owing to various delays it was mid-December before a well equipped army of 18,000 was embarked for Bantry Bay. Extremely bad weather over Christmas meant the troops could not be landed and the enterprise was abandoned. Some of the ships went as far as the mouth of the Shannon before heading for their French bases, including the ‘Droits de l' Homme’ which had been partly disarmed to act as a troop carrier. She was nearing Brest when she was spotted by the British frigates 'Indefatigable' and 'Amazon'. The running fight lasted from 1730 on 13 January until the early hours of the next morning when land was sighted close ahead. The 'Indefatigable' beat clear but the 'Amazon' was so damaged aloft that she was wrecked. All but six of her crew were saved and made prisoners. The 'Droits de l’Homme' was less fortunate. She had already had over 200 killed and wounded in the fight, was disabled and ran on a sandbank in the Bay of Audierne. For three days she pounded on the bank with the big seas washing through her, before the weather abated enough for boats to get out to her. Some of her crew and the many soldiers aboard tried to swim ashore, but few reached it safely. Altogether about a thousand soldiers and sailors died in the wreck. In the left centre of the picture the 'Droits de l’Homme’ is shown running in a heavy sea, while astern of her the ‘Indefatigable’ is raking her. In the right background the ‘Amazon’ is coming up under a press of sail, so this scene shows the fight in its earliest stage. The painting was probably copied from the aquatint by Edward Duncan after W. J. Huggins. It is signed ‘E.Colls’ and is one of a pair. The second, which when acquired by the Museum was mistakenly identified as showing the stranded ‘Droits de l’Homme’ with the ‘Indefatigable’ clawing off, was taken from a Nicholas Pocock painting of another scene altogether. That one (also a better picture, BHC0532) shows the ‘Endymion’ rescuing a French ship from going ashore on the Spanish coast about 1803.


HMS Indefatigable was one of the Ardent class 64-gun third-rate ships-of-the-line designed by Sir Thomas Slade in 1761 for the Royal Navy. She was built as a ship-of-the-line, but most of her active service took place after her conversion to a 44-gun razee frigate. She had a long career under several distinguished commanders, serving throughout the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. She took some 27 prizes, alone or in company, and the Admiralty authorised the issue of four clasps to the Naval General Service Medal in 1847 to any surviving members of her crews from the respective actions. She was broken up in 1816.

Class and type: Ardent-class ship of the line
Tons burthen: 1384 3⁄94 (bm)
Length:

  • 160 ft 1 1⁄4 in (48.8 m) (gundeck);
  • 131 ft 10 3⁄4 in (40.2 m) (keel)
Beam: 44 ft 5 in (13.5 m)
Depth of hold: 19 ft (5.8 m) (as frigate, 13 ft 3 in (4.0 m))
Sail plan: Full rigged ship
Complement: 310 officers and men (as frigate)
Armament:

  • As built:
  • Gundeck: 26 × 24-pounder guns
  • Upper gun deck: 26 × 12-pounder guns
  • QD: 10 × 4-pounder guns
  • Fc: 2 × 9-pounder guns
  • As frigate:
  • Gundeck: 26 × 24-pounder guns
  • QD: 8 × 12-pounder guns + 4 × 42-pounder carronades
  • Fc: 4 × 12-pounder guns + 2 × 42-pounder carronades

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Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plans, stern board outline with some decoration detail, sheer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth for Indefatigable (1784), a 64-gun Third Rate, two-decker, as built and launched at Bucklers Hard by Henry Adams. The ship was fitted at Portsmouth Dockyard between July and November 1784.



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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
14 January 1798 - Raid on Manila (1798) - HMS Sibylle (38), Cptn. Edward Cooke, and HMS Fox (32), Cptn. Pulteney Malcolm, at Caista Roads, Manila - Part I


The Raid on Manila of January 1798 was a Royal Navy false flag military operation during the French Revolutionary Wars intended to scout the strength of the defences of Manila, capital of the Spanish Philippines, capture a Manila galleon and assess the condition of the Spanish Navy squadron maintained in the port. Spain had transformed from an ally of Great Britain in the War of the First Coalition into an enemy in 1796. Thus the presence of a powerful Spanish squadron at Manila posed a threat to the China Fleet, an annual convoy of East Indiaman merchant ships from Macau in Qing Dynasty China to Britain, which was of vital economic importance to Britain. So severe was this threat that a major invasion of the Spanish Philippines had been planned from British India during 1797, but had been called off following the Treaty of Campo Formio in Europe and the possibility of a major war in India between the British East India Company and the Kingdom of Mysore.

To ensure the safety of the merchant ships gathering at Macau in the winter of 1797–98, the British commander in the East Indies, Rear-Admiral Peter Rainier, sent a convoy to China escorted by the frigates HMS Sybille and HMS Fox and commanded by Captain Edward Cooke. After completing his mission Cooke decided to investigate the state of readiness of Spanish forces in Manila himself. He was also intrigued by reports that a ship carrying treasure was due to sail from Manila, which would make a valuable prize. Sailing in Sybille and accompanied by Captain Pulteney Malcolm in Fox, Cooke reached the Spanish capital on 13 January 1798.

Anchored in Manila Bay, Cooke pretended that his ships were French vessels and successfully lured successive boatloads of Spanish officials aboard, taking them prisoner in turn. Once he had determined from his captives the state of defences in Manila, that the treasure ship had been unloaded at Cavite and that the Spanish squadron was undergoing extensive repairs and thus unavailable for operations, he sent a raiding party against a squadron of gunboats in the mouth of the Pasig River. Capturing the gunboats in a bloodless attack, Cooke then released his prisoners and sailed southwards, unsuccessfully assaulting Zamboanga before returning to Macau.

Background
In 1796, after three years of the French Revolutionary Wars, Spain and the French Republic signed the Treaty of San Ildefonso. The secret terms of this treaty required Spain to renounce its alliance with Great Britain and subsequently to declare war on its former ally. In the East Indies this shift of political allegiance meant that the dominant British forces in the region were faced with the threat of attack from the Spanish Philippines to the east. Britain dominated the East Indies in 1796, controlling the trade routes through the Indian Ocean from the ports of Bombay, Madras and Calcutta. Dutch Ceylon, the Dutch Cape Colony and parts of the Dutch East Indies had been captured in 1795, and the French presence in the region had been confined to Île de France and a few subsidiary islands in the Western Indian Ocean.

Some of the most important trade routes began at Canton and Macau in Qing Dynasty China. Early in each year a large convoy known as the "China Fleet", composed of large East Indiaman merchant ships in the employ of the British East India Company, sailed westwards to Europe from Macau laden with tea and other commercial cargo. This convoy was economically significant to Britain: one convoy in 1804 was valued at over £8 million (the equivalent of £600,000,000 as of 2019). In January 1797 the convoy had been attacked by the French squadron in the East Indies, comprising six frigates commanded by Contre-amiral Pierre César Charles de Sercey. In the ensuing Bali Strait Incident the commander deceived Sercey into believing that the unescorted convoy contained disguised ships of the line and the French admiral retreated, only learning of his error on his return to Île de France. There was considerable concern in India that Sercey might try again in 1798, or that the Spanish, who maintained a powerful squadron at Cavite, might make an attempt of their own.

Rainier's initial impulse on learning in November 1796 of the impending declaration of war between Britain and Spain was to draw up plans for a major invasion of the Philippines, centred on Manila in repetition of the successful British capture of Manila in 1762. Co-operating with the Governor-General of India Sir John Shore and Colonel Arthur Welleley among others, a substantial naval and military forces were earmarked for the operation which was in the advance planning stages, when unexpected news arrived in India in August 1797 announcing the Treaty of Campo Formio which brought the War of the First Coalition to an end. Britain now faced France and Spain alone, while emissaries from the Tipu Sultan of the Kingdom of Mysore, an old opponent of Britain in Southern India, were seeking French assistance with a renewed outbreak of hostilities. The resources planned for the operation against Manila were therefore retained in India and the operation cancelled, but the protection of the China Fleet was still essential and Rainier diverted some of his squadron eastwards to China.

A number of merchant ships had gathered at Bombay in the spring of 1797 in preparation for the trip to Macau to load trade goods and join the China Fleet. To escort this force, Rainier provided the 40-gun frigate HMS Sybille, captured from the French at the Battle of Mykonos in 1794, and the 50-gun HMS Centurion, which sailed with the convoy in July, taking passage through the Straits of Malacca, joined there by the ships of the line HMS Victorious and HMS Trident and the 32-gun frigate HMS Fox under Captain Pulteney Malcolm for the final voyage to Macau. The convoy arrived without incident on 13 December 1797, although the crews had been substantially weakened by tropical illnesses.

Cooke's raids
Reconnaissance of Manilla

With his convoy safely at anchor in Macau and the China Fleet several weeks from sailing, Cooke decided to reconnoitre Manila and make observations on the port and the Spanish squadron based there. As an added motivation, rumours in Macau suggested that the annual Manila galleon was due to arrive. This ship brought up to two million Spanish silver dollars from Acapulco across the Pacific Ocean stopping at Guam on its way to Manila. Depositing its dollars in the Philippines, the ship then loaded trade goods from the East Indies for the return journey to New Spain. This round trip was essential to the maintenance of the Spanish Empire in the East Indies, which operated at an enormous financial loss only mitigated by the substantial subsidy from New Spain. Spanish dollars were the accepted currency across most of the East Indies, and disruption of this financial system could have profound effects on regional trade; but British sailors had nevertheless been attacking the Manila galleons since Thomas Cavendish in 1587.

Leaving the heavier warships at Macau, Cooke sailed on 5 January 1798 only with Sybille and Fox, the latter carrying a Mr. Bernard, an experienced linguist. Passing Luzon, Cooke's ships encountered a small Spanish merchant vessel, which was lured towards the frigates, which were flying French tricolors. Seizing the Spanish vessel, Cooke closely questioned the captain and learned that most of the Spanish squadron in Manila were undergoing extensive repairs at Cavite and were unfit to sail. Cooke rewarded the captain by releasing his vessel with its cargo intact, although he did remove 3,900 silver dollars. The Spanish squadron had suffered badly in a typhoon in April 1797 and much of the damage had still not been repaired by the time Cooke's small squadron arrived off Manila. Cooke had taken precautions to disguise his ships as French vessels, modelling Sybille on the powerful 40-gun Forte and Fox on the smaller Prudente.

Dinner on Sybille
Late in the afternoon of 13 January 1798, Sybille and Fox arrived in Manila Bay, slipping unchallenged past the fortress of Corregidor and then sailing across the bay on the morning of 14 January, anchoring between Manila and Cavite. From his vantage point Cooke could see the Spanish squadron dismasted and under repair in Cavite, the ships of the line San Pedro, Europa and Montañés and the frigates Maria de la Cabeya and Luisa in dock and unfit for action. To Cooke's disappointment he could also see the Manila galleon, Marquesetta being unloaded at the Cavite docks and another valuable merchant ship Rey Carlos aground in the harbour. The Spanish had learned only shortly before Cooke's arrival that the British frigate HMS Resistance under Captain Edward Pakenham was in Philippine waters and had decided to remove the valuable cargo from the treasure ship rather than risk an attack.

Fox was the first British ship into the anchorage, and was consequently approached by the guardboat, whose crew came aboard. Malcolm, like Cooke, spoke French fluently and with Bernard translating was able to persuade the officer in charge that the new arrivals were Forte and Prudente seeking supplies and Spanish reinforcements for commerce raiding operations. The officer offered supplies but cautioned that none of the Spanish ships would be in a position to sail until March at the earliest. Cooke then joined the party on the deck of Fox, claiming to be Commodore Latour, a French officer who, unknown to the Spanish, had been killed in the Action of 9 September 1796 off Sumatra. The Spanish officer was now completely convinced by the ruse, which had been augmented by fake French uniforms. Inviting the visitor below decks, Cooke then passed wine around and together they drank a series of toasts, including "the downfall of England".

For an hour the officers drank, Malcolm and Cooke learning detailed information about the state of the defences and squadron in the Philippines, until a second boat pulled alongside Fox containing more officers keen to greet the French arrivals. This vessel was the personal barge of the Spanish commander at Cavite, Rear-Admiral Don Ignacio María de Álava, who was not aboard, but who sent a message via an aide in a third boat. Each time, the officers were escorted below to join the festivities whereupon their crews were seized at gunpoint and taken below decks as prisoners of war. In Malcolm's cabin, the captured officers were informed of their situation, promised release before the British frigates sailed, and offered more wine. The crew of Fox meanwhile forced the captured Spanish sailors to strip and donned their clothing. Climbing into the Spanish boats this party rowed for the mouth of the nearby Pasig River, where they had learned that three heavy gunboats were moored. Taking the crews by surprise, the British boarding parties drove off the Spanish without a fight and brought all three boats alongside Fox. These vessels normally carried crews of thirty and were well-armed, one with a 32-pounder long gun and two with 24-pounder long guns, each supplemented by four swivel guns.

The harbour captain reached Fox shortly afterwards, furious at the seizure of the gunboats and demanding they be returned. Malcolm received him with a tirade of near incomprehensible French and brought him to join the other captured officers in his cabin, while the boat's crew were imprisoned below decks. Shortly afterwards, at 16:00, Cooke and Malcolm hosted a large dinner for their officer captives and sent food and grog to the crew, the total number of Spanish sailors on Fox now numbering approximately 200. Once the meal was finished, Cooke allowed all of the captives to return to their boats and row for shore without the conditions of parole, although he retained the captured gunboats.

Zamboanga
Cooke led his small squadron past Corregidor on 15 January and turned south. Four days later in a storm one of the gunboats broke its tow line and was never seen again, lost with its twelve crew. The frigates subsequently scouted Mindanao before reaching Zamboanga on 22 January. There Cooke raised Spanish colours in an attempt to deceive the authorities into supplying food and water to his squadron but Sybille grounded on a sandbank at the entrance to the port which raised the suspicions of a guardboat sent by the governor of Zamboanga, Raymundo Español. The captain of the Spanish boat asked the British ships the names of their captains, and on receiving no answer but a volley of rifle fire, he put the town on alert. With the defenders forewarned, Cooke abandoned his ruse and after refloating Sybille the following morning, ordered a bombardment of the fort protecting the harbour. This had little effect, though later the Spanish recovered at least 450 cannonballs from different calibers, and Malcolm then attempted an amphibious landing in order to storm the landward side of the fort. The boats came under heavy fire, one smashed by a cannonball, killing two and wounding four. Another boat grounded on a sandbar and became stuck; so with his force in disarray, as 250 villagers armed with lances ambushed and drove the British from the beach, Malcolm called off the operation. After exchanging shot for an hour both frigates cut their anchor cables and retreated out of range, with two dead and one wounded on Sybille and eight wounded on Fox, in addition to those lost in the boats. The defenders lost a single man killed and 4 wounded.

With his frigates now requiring repairs, Cooke withdraw half a league from Zamboanga and spent three days refitting the masts and rigging of the ships. Then he sailed north, scuttling the two remaining gunboats as he did not believe they would survive the return journey to Canton. Four days later, on 27 January the squadron halted at a village named "Pullock" in the north of the Sultanate of Maguindanao to collect fresh water. On the beach a boat party from Sybille was set upon by Lumad tribesmen. Two were killed and nine others taken captive and dragged into the forest before rescuers could arrive. Cooke complained to Sultan Kibab Sahriyal at Kuta Wato and the captured sailors were eventually recovered, although not before Sybille and Fox had sailed for China to escort the merchant convoy back to India.

Aftermath
Cooke's opportunistic diversion had determined that the Spanish forces in the Philippines posed no immediate threat, although the mission had cost 18 lives: Admiral Rainier later expressed his satisfaction with the outcome in a letter to the Admiralty. More might have been achieved with reinforcements: Historian C. Northcote Parkinson suggests that had Cooke's squadron united with Resistance together they may have been able to destroy the disarmed Spanish warships at Cavite. He also notes however that in this scenario Pakenham would have been commanding officer, a man with considerably less imagination and guile than Cooke. Historian Richard Woodman was critical of the mission, considering the operation to have "no glorious outcome" and citing the failure to capture the treasure ships as its greatest short-coming.

The 1798 China Fleet sailed without further incident. During the ensuing year Resistance was destroyed by an accidental explosion in July in the Bangka Strait, and the majority of Rainier's forces were focused on disrupting the French occupation of Suez in the Red Sea. This diversion of British resources created gaps in the coverage in merchant shipping and Sercey was able to send the frigate Preneuse and corvette Brûle-Gueule to Manila late in the year to join the repaired Spanish squadron. At the beginning of February 1799, this combined force sailed to Macau, taking the British defences by surprise. The British commander Captain William Hargood counterattacked, advancing on the Franco-Spanish force which retreated during the day and disappeared under cover of darkness that evening in the Wanshan Archipelago. The combined squadron then dispersed and the China Fleet was not attacked again until the Battle of Pulo Aura in 1804, at which a French squadron was again driven off in confusion. The frigates Cooke had mimicked, Forte and Prudente were sent to operate independently against British trade in the Indian Ocean in early 1799. Prudente was captured by HMS Daedalus at the Action of 9 February 1799 near Southern Africa, and Forte was intercepted by HMS Sybille under Cooke on 28 February near Balasore in Bengal. In the ensuing battle Forte was captured but Cooke mortally wounded, dying on 25 May.




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_Manila_(1798)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Sibylle_(1792)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Fox_(1780)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
14 January 1798 - Raid on Manila (1798) - HMS Sibylle (38), Cptn. Edward Cooke, and HMS Fox (32), Cptn. Pulteney Malcolm, at Caista Roads, Manila - Part II - The Ships


Sibylle was a 38-gun Hébé-class frigate of the French Navy. She was launched in 1791 at the dockyards in Toulon and placed in service in 1792. After the 50-gun fourth rate HMS Romney captured her in 1794, the British took her into service as HMS Sybille. She served in the Royal Navy until disposed of in 1833. While in British service Sybille participated in three notable single ship actions, in each case capturing a French vessel. On anti-slavery duties off West Africa from July 1827 to June 1830, Sybille captured numerous slavers and freed some 3,500 slaves. She was finally sold in 1833 in Portsmouth.

Class and type: Hébé-class frigate
Displacement: 700 tonnes
Length: 46.3 m (152 ft)
Beam: 11.9 m (39 ft)
Draught: 5.5 m (18 ft)
Complement :297
Armament:

  • French Service:
  • Gundeck: 26 × 18-pounder long guns
  • Fc and QD: 8 × 8-pounder long guns
  • British service:
  • 1794:
  • Gundeck: 28 × 18-pounder guns
  • QD: 12 9-pounder guns
  • Fc: 4 9-pounder guns
  • 1799:
  • Gundeck: 4 × 9-pounder guns and 12 × 32-pounder carronades
  • Fc: 2 × 9-pounder guns and 6 × 32-pounder carronades
  • Later:
  • QD: 8 × 9-pounder guns + 6 × 32-pounder carronades


French service
See also: Battle of Mykonos

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Capture of Sybille by Romney - Action between Romney and Sibylle off Miconi, Grecian Archipelago, 17 Jun 1794 (see drawings by Pocock) (PAF5826)

From 23 April 1790 to October–December 1792, Sibylle escorted a convoy and transferred funds from Toulon to Smyrna, first under Capitaine de vaisseau (CV) Grasse-Briançon and then CV de Venel. From March 1793 to January 1794, under CV Rondeau, she escorted convoys between Toulon and Marseilles and then she moved to the Levant station. She cruised the Aegean Sea, and in June 1794 she was escorting a convoy from Candia to Mykonos.

On 17 June, as Sybille was anchored in Miconi along with three merchantmen bound for Cadiz, a British convoy escorted by HMS Romney, under Captain Paget, and three frigates appeared. Romney approached and demanded that Sibylle hoist a white flag, to which Rondeau retorted that he could not fly another flag than that of the Republic.

Romney opened fire, and after one hour and a half of gunnery exchanges, Sibylle struck to her much more powerful opponent. Paget took possession of Sibylle and the merchantmen, but put the crew and Rondeau ashore. Sibylle was taken into British service as HMS Sybille.

British service in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
In 1798, now named Sybille, the ship served off the Philippines, participating in the bloodless Raid on Manila. In December, she gave chase to the privateer Clarisse, under Robert Surcouf. Clarisse escaped by throwing eight guns overboard.

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Sybille fighting Forte.

In February 1799, while under the command of Captain Edward Cooke, Sybille patrolled the Indian Ocean in a hunt for the French frigate Forte, under Captain Beaulieu-Leloup. The ships met on 28 February in the Balasore Roads in the Bay of Bengal at the Action of 28 February 1799. Sybille took Forte by surprise and captured her, as Forte's captain mistook Sybille for a merchantman. Cooke was wounded in the action and died at Calcutta 23 May, aged 26. Though his grave is in Calcutta, the East India Company erected a monument to him in Westminster Abbey in appreciation of the benefit to British trade of his capture of Forte. In all, Sybille lost five dead and 17 wounded. In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the issuance of the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Sybille 28 Feby. 1799" to all remaining survivors of the action.

In June 1799, Sybille came under the command of Captain Charles Adam. On 23 August 1800, Sybille, with Daedalus, Centurion and Braave captured a Dutch brig. The Royal Navy took her into service as Admiral Rainier. The British ships had entered Batavia Roads and captured five Dutch armed vessels in all and destroyed 22 other vessels. Sybille alone apparently captured one brig of six guns, four proas armed with swivels, four proas armed, between with three 8-pounder and three 4-pounder guns, and some 21 unarmed proas, of which five were lost. How many of these, if any, are among the vessels reported as being taken in the Batavia Roads is not clear.

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HMS Sybille capturing the Chiffonne

On 19–20 August 1801, in the Roads of Mahé, Seychelles, Sybille captured the French frigate Chiffone, under the command of Capitaine de Vaisseau Guieyesse. Chiffone had captured the Portuguese corvette Andorinha off the coasts of Brazil on 5 May, and the East Indiaman Bellona in the Madagascar Channel on 16 June. (Later, from 23 May 1803 to 1805, Charles Adams would command Chiffonne.)

On 3 May 1807, under Captain Robert Winthrop, Sybille captured the French 4-gun privateer Oiseau in the English Channel.

Sybille, under the command of Capt. Clotworthy Upton, participated in Battle of Copenhagen in 1807, where she bombarded the city. The battle resulted in the British capturing the Danish Fleet.

On 25 January 1808, while on the Home station, Sibylle captured the French privateer lugger Grand Argus. Grand Argus was pierced for 12 guns but carried only four. She and her crew of 41 men were under the command of Michael Daguinet. She was on her first cruise from Granville but had made no captures in the three days she had been out.

Then on 16 August, Sybille captured the French brig-corvette Espiègle, later recommissioned in the Royal Navy as Electra. Espiègle arrived in Cork on the evening of 31 August.

In the summer of 1809 Sybille cruised off the Greenland ice. Her role was to protect the whalers from privateers and then to escort them back to Britain.

In subsequent years she captured several privateers. In October 1810 she captured the French privateer Edouard off the coast of Ireland. Edouard, under Guillaume Moreau, was armed with 14 guns and had a crew of 90 men. She was eight days out of Abrevarake.

On 28 January 1812 Sybille was in company with Surveillante and Spitfire, when Surveillante captured the American ship Zone. On 10 May Sybille captured the French 14-gun privateer Aigle at sea. On 2 August she detained and sent into Cork Perseverance of New York.

Lastly, on 5 February 1813 Sybille captured the French privateer Brestois at sea. Brestois was a schooner armed with 14 guns and carrying a crew of 121 men. Sybille sent her into Cork too.

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lines & pr NMM, Progress Book, volume 5, folio 582, states that 'Sybille' arrived at Portsmouth Dockyard on 30 November 1794 and was docked on 3 January 1795. She was undocked on 21 January and sailed on 17 April 1795 having been fitted.

Post-war service
Captain Sir John Pechell took command of Sybille on 1 July 1823 and fitted her out for service in the Mediterranean. She sailed in October and proceeded to spend three years protecting the Ionian Islands and suppressing piracy.

A year later, Sybille enforced an indemnity on the government of the First Hellenic Republic for an attack on a Turkish vessel at Ithaca in violation of the neutrality of the United States of the Ionian Islands in December 1823. On 5 October 1824, Pechell seized three Greek schooners in the harbour of Nauplia (Polyxenes of 8 guns and 69 men; San Niccolo of 10 guns and 73 men; and Bella Poula of 8 guns and 37 men) as a provision until the indemnity of 40,000 dollars was forthcoming. The ship took the prizes to Zante and the prisoners to Corfu.

In October 1825, boats from Sybille and Medina, Captain Timothy Curtis, found a Greek pirate mistico and her prize at anchor in a cove at Catacolo. The British handed the Ionian prize over to the authorities in Zante and sent the mistico to Corfu.

Sybille's next notable action occurred when she attacked a pirate lair at Kaloi Limenes at the end of June 1826. Sybille sent in her boats but they were unsuccessful, suffering some 13 dead and 31 wounded, five of whom died subsequently. Gunfire from Sybille killed many pirates until the pirates traded a Royal Marine they had captured from one of the boats for a cease-fire. Sybille left the island though some time later a Turkish brig chased the pirates' remaining boat ashore in Anatolia thus ending that threat.

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Inboard profile plan NMM, Progress Book, volume 6, folio 303, states that 'Sibelle' arrived at Woolwich Dockyard in March 1815 and wasdocked in April, where she was housed over. After recoppering between April and July 1815 she was undocked and sailed in October 1816, having undergone 'between middling and large repairs'.

Suppressing the slave trade
In 1822 Sybille was in the West Indies. That year her tender, the 5-gun schooner Speedwell, shared with the frigate Tyne in the capture of two pirate schooners on 5 November, the Union and the Constantia (alias Espereanza), and in the destruction of the Hawke and the Paz.

From 4 December 1826 until 1830, Sybille was part of the West Africa Squadron, which sought to suppress the slave trade. There she was under the command of Commodore Francis Augustus Collier.

On 6 September 1827, Sybille captured the Brazilian ship Henriqueta (also Henri Quatre), with 569 slaves on board, of whom 546 survived to be liberated in Sierra Leone. In December the Admiralty purchased Henriquetta for £900 as a tender to Sybille and renamed her Black Joke. Black Joke would go on to be one of the most successful anti-slavery vessels in the squadron.

On 14 March 1828 Sybille was reported to have captured three slave vessels: possibly a Dutch schooner with 272 slaves; a Spanish schooner with 282 slaves; and the Hope, former tender to Maidstone, with a cargo on board for the purchase of slaves. When Sybille arrived at Sierra Leone on 17 May for refitting in preparation for a passage to Ascension Island, she reported that since she arrived on the station in July 1827 she had freed over 1100 slaves.

In 1829, 204 men died on board Eden from yellow fever. To convince the crew of Sybille that the fever was not contagious, her surgeon, Robert McKinnal, drank a glassful of black vomit from an ailing crew member.

Between February and March 1829 Sybille captured a Brazilian brig, and her tenders captured the slave schooner Donna Barbara. By 11 April 1829, Sybille claimed to have released over 3,900 slaves in the previous 22 months. On 29 April she captured a Spanish schooner with 291 slaves on board. Then on 12 May she sent in to the prize court a schooner with 185 slaves on board.

Sybille also seized and condemned a number of vessels for illicitly trafficking in slaves. On 11 October it was the brigantine Tentadora and on 1 November the brigantine Nossa Senhora da Guia, with 310 slaves, of whom 238 survived. On 30 January 1830 Sybille seized and condemned a third, unnamed vessel. Then on 15 January she took Umbelino, with 377 slaves of whom only 163 survived, and eight days later, Primera Rosalia, with 282 slaves, of whom 242 survived. She also captured a brigantine from Lagos after a 27-hour chase; the vessel turned out to have 282 slaves on board. Her last capture occurred on 1 April when she captured Manzanares. Sybille finally returned to Portsmouth from the coast of Africa on 26 June and was paid off.

Fate
Between January 1830 and July 1831 she was fitted as a lazaretto for Dundee. She was eventually sold to Mr. Henry for ₤2,460 on 7 August 1833.


HMS Fox was a 32-gun Active-class fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 2 June 1780 at Bursledon, Hampshire by George Parsons.

Class and type: 32-gun Active-class fifth rate frigate
Tons burthen: 696 85⁄94bm
Length:

  • 126 ft 2 1⁄4 in (38.462 m) (gundeck)
  • 104 ft 1 in (31.72 m) (keel)
Beam: 35 ft 5 3⁄4 in (10.814 m)
Depth of hold: 12 ft 2 in (3.71 m)
Sail plan : Full rigged ship
Crew: 250
Armament:

  • Upper deck: 26 × 12-pounder guns
  • QD: 4 × 6-pounder guns + 4 × 24-pounder carronades
  • Fc: 2 × 6-pounder guns + 2 × 24-pounder carronades

Fox was sent to the Caribbean in late 1781 and in January the following year under Captain Thomas Windsor captured two Spanish frigates. In March 1783 under Captain George Stoney captured the Spanish frigate Santa Catalina.

In March 1797, near Visakhapatnam, Fox captured the French privateer Modeste, under Jean-Marie Dutertre.

Took part in the bloodless Raid on Manila in January 1798.

Because Fox served in the navy's Egyptian campaign between 8 March 1801 and 2 September, her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal that the Admiralty issued in 1847 to all surviving claimants.

She was broken up in April 1816.

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Scale: 1:48. A contemporary full hull model of the 'Mermaid' (1784), a 32-gun frigate, built in 'bread and butter' fashion, planked and finished in the Georgian style. Model is partially decked and equipped, and is mounted on its launching cradle in a slipway, depicting the vessel prior to launch. On deck there is a full set of launching flags including from the bow, the Union Jack, Admiralty flag with foul anchor motif, Royal Standard and furthest aft, the Union flag. As part of the base unit there is a drawer at one end, which hides a separate section of slipway. Once pulled out, it doubles the length of the slip. A small catch can then be depressed which releases the model down slipway. The stern decoration is typical for this period where the style of carving is crisp and finished with clear varnish, even down to the name plaque mounted on the counter. The 'Mermaid’ was present at the capture of Toulon in 1793 and, later, in 1798 whilst in the West Indies, it is credited with the capture of three French warships. In 1797 it captured a Spanish packet off Corunna, before finally being broken up in 1815.

Active class 32-gun fifth rates 1779-84; designed by Edward Hunt.

  • HMS Active 1780 - wrecked in the Saint Lawrence River on 15 July 1796.
  • HMS Daedalus 1780 - on lease to Trinity House from 1803 to 1806, broken up in 1811.
  • HMS Mermaid 1784 - converted to troopship in 1811, broken up in 1815.
  • HMS Cerberus 1779 - wrecked near Bermuda on 30 April 1783.
  • HMS Fox 1780 - converted to troopship in 1812, broken up in 1816.
  • HMS Astraea (or Astrea) 1781 - fitted as troopship between 1800 and 1805, wrecked on rocks off Anegada on 24 May 1808.
  • HMS Ceres 1781 - hulked as receiving ship at Sheerness in 1803, transferred to Chatham as harbour flagship in 1812, converted into a victualling depot in 1816 and broken up in 1830.
  • HMS Quebec 1781 - temporarily hulked at Woolwich between 1803-1805, hulked as receiving ship at Sheerness in 1813, broken up in 1816.
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Lines & Profile (ZAZ3042)

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Sibylle_(1792)
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-352081;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=S
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Fox_(1780)
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-330787;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=M
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
14 January 1805 - HMS Doris (36), Cptn. Patrick Campbell, badly damaged striking the Diamond Rock was set on fire and blown up near the mouth of the Loire
(some sources say 14th others 21st January)


HMS Doris was a 36-gun Phoebe class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy, launched on 31 August 1795. which saw service in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Doris was built by Cleveley, of Gravesend.

Class and type: 36-gun Phoebe class fifth-rate frigate
Tons burthen: 913 (bm)
Length: 142 ft (43.3 m) (gundeck)
Beam: 38 ft (11.6 m)
Propulsion: Sails
Sail plan: Full-rigged ship
Armament: 36 guns

She was one of four frigates that the Admiralty ordered on 24 May 1794 to a design by Sir John Henslow, Surveyor of the Navy, to be a faster version of the 1781 Perseverance class frigates. The contract for the first ship was placed with the yard of Cleveley, Gravesend, where the keel was laid in 1794. She was named Doris on 1795 and was launched on 31 August 1795.

HMS Pheobe, the leadship of the class, sistership of Doris
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Scale: unknown. A full hull model of the ‘Phoebe’ (1795), a 36-gun frigate. The model is decked, equipped and rigged. This model represents the new, large types of frigate which were built in large numbers in the 1790s.It is fully rigged and shows the seamen’s hammocks stowed around the decks. It also shows the Nelson chequer, or black and white painting of the hull. This style was not common until about 1815, which may date the model to this time. The ‘Phoebe’ was built on the Thames in Dudman’s yard at Deptford. It served off the Irish coast in 1796–1800 and captured many enemy ships. In 1805 it was present at the Battle of Trafalgar captained by Thomas Bladen Capel, one of Nelson’s original ‘band of brothers’. It became a depot ship at Plymouth in 1822 and was finally broken up in 1840.

Service
She entered service in November 1795, operating as part of the Channel Fleet during the Napoleonic Wars. Her first captain was the Hon. Charles Jones, who in 1797 became Lord Ranelagh.

In June 1796, Doris and Apollo captured the French corvette Légère, of twenty-two 9-pounder guns and 168 men. Légère had left Brest on 4 June in company with three frigates. During her cruise she had captured six prizes. However, on 23 June she encountered the two British frigates at 48°30′N 8°28′W. After a 10-hour chase the British frigates finally caught up with her; a few shots were exchanged and then Légère struck. The Navy took into her service as HMS Legere.

In January 1797 Doris shared with Druid and Unicorn in the capture of the French privateer Eclair. Unicorn was the actual captor. Eclair was armed with 18 guns and had a crew of 120 men.

On 15 July, Doris took the privateer Duguay Trouin. Duguay Trouin had been armed with twenty 6-pounders and two 12-pounders but had thrown them overboard during the chase. She had a crew of 127 men and was out four days from Nantes, but had not taken any prizes. On her previous cruise she had taken the Sandwich Packet of Falmouth. Galatea shared in the capture.

On 19 July 1797, Doris and Galatea recaptured the Portuguese ship Nostra Senora de Patrocinio e Santa Anna. At some point they also recaptured the Portuguese ship Nostra Senora de Conceiçao e Navigantes.

In 1798 Doris was engaged in the hunt for Jean-Baptiste-François Bompart's French squadron that culminated in the Battle of Tory Island, although Doris was not present during the action. In 1800 and 1801, Doris under the command of John Holliday participated in the capture of six French merchant brigs and prizes.

On 21 July 1801, the boats of Doris, Beaulieu, Uranie and Robust succeeded in boarding and cutting out the French naval corvette Chevrette, which was armed with 20 guns and had 350 men on board (crew plus troops placed on board in expectation of the attack). Also, Chevrette had anchored under the batteries of Cameret Bay. The hired armed cutter Telemachus placed herself in the Goulet de Brest and thereby prevented the French from bringing reinforcements by boat to Chevrette.

The action was a sanguinary one. The British had 11 men killed, 57 wounded, and one missing. Also killed was Lieutenant Burke (who was a relative of Walter Burke- purser of HMS Victory), who was wounded in the fight, and died after boarding the French ship. Chevrette lost 92 officers and men, including her first captain, and 62 seamen and troops were wounded. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "21 JULY BOAT SERVICE 1801" to surviving claimants from the action.

In 1803 following the Peace of Amiens, Doris took two more French privateers. On 18 May Doris, under the command of Captain Richard Harrison Pearson, captured the French naval lugger Affronteur, off Ushant. Affronteur was armed with fourteen 9-pounder guns and had a crew of 92 men under the command of Lieutenant de Vaisseau M. Morce André Dutoya. Capturing Affronteur required an engagement during which Doris suffered one man wounded, while Affronteur lost Dutoya and eight men killed, and 14 men wounded, one of whom died shortly thereafter. Affronteur became the hired armedvessel Caroline.

Fate
In 1806, while under the command of Captain Patrick Campbell, Doris was lost on a rock off Quiberon Bay. She had arrived there on 20 January to bring news of a French squadron that was preparing to set sail, but when she arrived the British fleet was no longer in the bay. The next morning, as Dorisset sail, the weather worsened. Campbell returned to the bay to take shelter, at which time Doris hit the Diamond Rock in Benequet Passage. She took on water but the crew was able to get her nearly clear of water, in part by stretching a sail over the hole in her side and then pumping the accumulated water out. However, that afternoon the schooner Felix arrived with news that the Rochefort Squadron had sailed. Campbell felt it imperative that he get the news to the blockading squadron. As he set sail, the holes in the hull opened and despite her crew's efforts to save her she began to sink rapidly. Campbell anchored her eight miles north-east of Le Croisic and evacuated the crew to Felix and a passing American merchant schooner. He then set the ship on fire to prevent her use by the enemy. He later took passage to Britain aboard HMS Tonnant. The subsequent court martial reprimanded the pilot, Jean Le Gall, for his lack of skill.

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Lines (ZAZ2659)

Phoebe class 36-gun fifth rates 1795-1800, lengthened version of William Hunt's Perseverance class of 1780.
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Inboard profile plan (ZAZ2660)

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Frame (ZAZ2673)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Doris_(1795)
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-338894;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=P
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Phoebe_(1795)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
14 January 1911 - Launch of Battleship Arkansas (BB 33). After service in two world wars, she is target ship for Bikini Atoll Atomic bomb tests.


USS Arkansas (BB-33) was a dreadnought battleship, the second member of the Wyoming class, built by the United States Navy. She was the third ship of the US Navy named in honor of the 25th state, and was built by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation. She was laid down in January 1910, launched in January 1911, and commissioned into the Navy in September 1912. Arkansas was armed with a main battery of twelve 12-inch (305 mm) guns and capable of a top speed of 20.5 kn(38.0 km/h; 23.6 mph).

Arkansas served in both World Wars. During the First World War, she was part of Battleship Division Nine, which was attached to the British Grand Fleet, but she saw no action during the war. During the interwar years, Arkansas performed a variety of duties, including training cruises for midshipmen and goodwill visits overseas.

Following the outbreak of World War II, Arkansas conducted Neutrality Patrols in the Atlantic prior to America's entry into the war. Thereafter, she escorted convoys to Europe through 1944; in June, she supported the invasion of Normandy, and in August she provided gunfire support to the invasion of southern France. In 1945, she transferred to the Pacific, and bombarded Japanese positions during the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. After the end of the war, she ferried troops back to the United States as part of Operation Magic Carpet. Arkansas was expended as a target in Operation Crossroads, a pair of nuclear weapon tests at Bikini Atoll in July 1946.

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Arkansas circa 1918

Construction
Main article: Wyoming-class battleship
Arkansas was laid down on 25 January 1910, at New York Shipbuilding in Camden, New Jersey. She was launched on 14 January 1911, after which fitting-out work was effected. The ship was completed by September 1912, and was commissioned into the US Navy on 17 September, at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, under the command of Captain Roy C. Smith. The ship was 562 ft (171 m) long overall and had a beam of 93 ft 3 in (28 m) and a draft of 28 ft 6 in (9 m). She displaced 26,000 long tons(26,417 t) as designed and up to 27,243 long tons (27,680 t) at full combat load. The ship was powered by four-shaft Parsons steam turbines and twelve coal-fired Babcock & Wilcox boilers rated at 28,000 shp (21,000 kW), generating a top speed of 20.5 kn (38.0 km/h; 23.6 mph). The ship had a cruising range of 8,000 nmi (15,000 km; 9,200 mi) at a speed of 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph).

The ship was armed with a main battery of twelve 12-inch/50 caliber Mark 7 guns[a] guns in six twin Mark 9 gun turrets on the centerline, two of which were placed in a superfiring pair forward. The other four turrets were placed aft of the superstructure in two superfiring pairs. The secondary battery consisted of twenty-one 5-inch (127 mm)/51 caliber guns mounted in casemates along the side of the hull. The main armored belt was 11 in (279 mm) thick, while the gun turrets had 12 in (305 mm) thick faces. The conning tower had 11.5 in (292 mm) thick sides.

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Arkansas visiting Kiel, Germany in July 1930. Photo taken from the battleship Schleswig-Holstein

Modifications

In 1925, Arkansas was modernized in the Philadelphia Navy Yard. Her displacement increased significantly, to 26,066 long tons (26,484 t) standard and 30,610 long tons (31,101 t) full load. Her beam was widened to 106 ft (32 m), primarily from the installation of anti-torpedo bulges, and draft increased to 29 ft 11.75 in (9 m). Her twelve coal-fired boilers were replaced with four White-Forster oil-fired boilers that had been intended for the ships cancelled under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty; performance remained the same as the older boilers. The ship's deck armor was strengthened by the addition of 3.5 in (89 mm) of armor to the second deck between the end barbettes, plus 1.75 in (44 mm) of armor on the third deck on the bow and stern. The deck armor over the engines and boilers was increased by 0.75 in (19 mm) and 1.25 in (32 mm), respectively. Five of the 5-inch guns were removed and eight 3-inch (76 mm)/50 caliber anti-aircraft guns were installed. The mainmast was removed to provide space for an aircraft catapult mounted on the Number 3 turret amidships.

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Arkansas underway on 11 April 1944

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Arkansas being sunk in the Baker nuclear test. The black mark on the right of the column marks the position of the capsizing Arkansas



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Arkansas_(BB-33)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Crossroads#Test_Baker
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
14 January 1917 - japanese armoured cruiser Tsukuba exploded caused by a fire in her ammunition magazine, while in port at Yokosuka, with a total loss of 305 men



Tsukuba (筑波) was the lead ship of the two-ship Tsukuba class of armoured cruisers in the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was named after Mount Tsukuba located in Ibaraki prefecture north of Tokyo. On 28 August 1912, Tsukuba was re-classified as a battlecruiser

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The 14th January was for this ship a very important day:
Laid down: 14 January 1905
Commissioned: 14 January 1907
Fate: Explosion, Tokyo Bay 14 January 1917


Background
Construction of the Tsukuba-class cruisers was ordered under the June 1904 Emergency Fleet Replenishment Budget of the Russo-Japanese War, spurred on by the unexpected loss of the battleships Yashima and Hatsuse to naval mines in the early stages of the war. These were the first major capital ships to be designed and constructed entirely by Japan in a Japanese shipyard, albeit with imported weaponry and numerous components. However, Tsukuba was designed and completed in a very short time, and suffered from numerous technical and design problems, including strength of its hull, stability and mechanical failures. The ship was reclassified as a battlecruiser in 1912.

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Design
The Tsukuba-class design had a conventional armored cruiser hull design, powered by two vertical triple-expansion steam engines, with twenty Miyabara boilers, yielding 20,500 shp (15,300 kW) design speed of 20.5 knots (38.0 km/h; 23.6 mph) and a range of 5,000 nautical miles (9,000 km) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph). During speed trials in Hiroshima Bay prior to commissioning, Tsukuba attained a top speed of 21.75 knots (40.28 km/h; 25.03 mph).

In terms of armament, the Tsukuba-class was one of the most heavily armed cruisers of its time, with four 12-inch 41st Year Type guns as the main battery, mounted in twin gun turrets to the fore and aft, along the centerline of the vessel. Secondary armament consisted of twelve 6-inch (152 mm) guns and twelve 4.7-inch 41st Year Type guns, and four QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns.

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Service record
Tsukuba was laid down on 14 January 1905, launched 26 December 1905 and commissioned on 14 January 1907 at Kure Naval Arsenal, with Captain Takenouchi Heitaro as her chief equipping officer and first captain. Shortly after commissioning, and with Admiral Ijuin Gorō on board, Tsukuba was sent on a voyage to the United States to attend the Jamestown Exposition of 1907, the tricentennial celebrations marking the founding of the Jamestown Colony. She then traveled on to Portsmouth, England and returned to Japan via the Indian Ocean, thus circumnavigating the globe.

After her return to Japan, Tsukuba was assigned to Captain Hirose Katsuhiko (the brother of the war hero Takeo Hirose) and escorted the United States Navy’s Great White Fleet through Japanese waters on its around-the-world voyage in October 1908. Captain Isamu Takeshita was captain of Tsukuba from July through September 1912, followed by Captain Kantarō Suzuki to May 1913, and Captain Kanji Kato from December 1913 to May 1914.

Tsukuba served in World War I, initially during the blockade of the German port of Tsingtao in China during the Battle of Tsingtao from September 1914 as part of Japan's contribution to the Allied war effort under the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. After the fall of the city, Tsukuba was sent out as part of the search for the German East Asiatic Squadron in the South Pacific until the destruction of the German squadron in the Battle of the Falklands in December 1914. Tsukuba remained in Japanese home waters in 1915 and 1916.

On 4 December 1915, Tsukuba was in a fleet review off of Yokohama, attended by Emperor Taishō in which 124 ships participated. A similar fleet review was held again off Yokohama on 25 October 1916.

On 14 January 1917, Tsukuba exploded while in port at Yokosuka. Some 200 crewmen were killed immediately, and over 100 more were drowned as the cruiser sank in shallow waters within twenty minutes, with a total loss of 305 men. The force of the explosion broke windows in Kamakura, more than twelve kilometers away. At the time of the disaster, more than 400 crewmen were on shore leave, which is why so many survived. The cause of the explosion was later attributed to a fire in her ammunition magazine, possibility through spontaneous combustion from deterioration of the Shimose powder in her shells.

The masts, bridge and smokestacks of the vessel remained above water, and afterwards, her hulk was raised, and used as a target for naval aviation training. It was formally removed from the navy list on 1 September 1917 and broken up for scrap in 1918.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_cruiser_Tsukuba
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsukuba-class_cruiser
 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
14 January 1969 – USS Enterprise fire - An accidental explosion aboard the USS Enterprise near Hawaii kills 27 people.


The 1969 USS Enterprise fire was a major fire and series of explosions that broke out aboard USS Enterprise (CVAN-65) on January 14, 1969, off the coast of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The fire broke out after a Zuni rocket attached to an aircraft detonated, and spread following further rocket and bomb explosions which blew holes in the flight deck, allowing burning jet fuel to enter the ship's interior. 28 sailors were killed, 314 injured, 15 aircraft were destroyed, and the total cost of aircraft replacement and shipboard repair was over $126 million. The closely related 1967 USS Forrestal fire preceded the Enterprise fire by 18 months, but a number of improvements in the wake of the Forrestal tragedy helped reduce the damage.

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Fire on the stern of USS Enterprise, January 14, 1969

Background
Built 1958-1961, the Enterprise was the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. Her enormous construction cost caused the cancellation of the five other carriers planned for the class, so many of her features were one-of-a-kind.

Enterprise departed Alameda for her fourth deployment to Vietnam, and eighth deployment overall, on January 6, 1969. At the time of the fire, the ship was off the coast of Hawaii, conducting a final battle drill and Operational Readiness Inspection (ORI) before steaming for Vietnam. Personnel were aboard Enterprise to observe the ORI.

Fire

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Sailors from the destroyer Rogersuse their on board hoses to assist with the firefighting efforts aboard Enterprise.

At approximately 8:18 am, Enterprise was turning to port to conduct flight operations when a Zuni rocket, equipped with a 15-pound warhead of Composition B explosive, mounted on a F-4J Phantom parked on the stern, exploded after being heated by the exhaust from an MD-3A "Huffer", a tractor-mounted air starting unit used to start aircraft. The explosion perforated the aircraft's fuel cells, and ignited the leaking JP-5 jet fuel. About a minute later, three additional Zuni rockets exploded; these blasts blew holes into the flight deck, allowing the burning JP-5 to pour into the 03 level directly under the flight deck. Captain Kent Lee, commanding officer of Enterprise, directed the port turn to continue after the first explosion, steering the ship into the wind to blow smoke away from the ship.

Approximately three minutes after the initial explosion, a bomb mounted on the Phantom exploded, having been engulfed in flames from the earlier explosions and burning fuel. This explosion blew a larger hole, approximately 8 by 7 feet (2.4 by 2.1 m), in the flight deck. The heat from the blast ignited additional fires on the 03 level, and debris from the explosion caused holes in the deck; this allowed burning fuel to spread further, entering the 02 and 01 levels and eventually the first deck. This explosion also damaged the twin-agent units that provided firefighting foam to the area, rendering them inoperable as well as severing fire hoses in the area. In short order two 500 lb (227 kg) Mark 82 bombs detonated in succession. Several minutes after the detonations a bomb rack holding three Mk 82 bombs exploded. This blast tore a large hole, approximately 18 by 22 feet (5.5 by 6.7 m), into the flight deck, and ruptured a 6,000-US-gallon (23,000 l; 5,000 imp gal) fuel tank mounted on a tanker aircraft; a massive fireball resulted from the fuel igniting, spreading the fire further. All told, eighteen explosions occurred, blowing eight holes into the flight deck and beyond.

The nuclear-powered cruiser USS Bainbridge and destroyer Rogers came to the stricken carrier's aid during the fire, and despite the damage and the loss of the twin-agent units, the crew was able to extinguish the fires within four hours.

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Aftermath
The following day, Bainbridge escorted Enterprise to Pearl Harbor, where the ship underwent repairs, taking only 51 days, after which Enterprise continued on her regularly scheduled deployment. Enterprise returned to Alameda on July 2, 1969.

This was the last of three major fires to befall U.S. aircraft carriers in the 1960s. A fire aboard USS Oriskany on October 26, 1966, killed 44 sailors and injured 156 more, and a fire aboard USS Forrestal on July 29, 1967, killed 134 sailors and injured 161. The Forrestal fire was started by a Zuni rocket which was accidentally launched by a power surge into parked aircraft, igniting a fuel fire that began to "cook off" 1000-pound bomb ordnance.

Investigation
A JAG Manual investigation commenced immediately after the fire, in accordance with Navy policy. The investigation determined that the initial explosion was caused by overheating of the Zuni rocket by the huffer exhaust. Investigators also determined that although concerns about the exhaust and placement of the huffer were raised by an airman who observed the exhaust, the personnel to whom the concerns were raised were involved in other tasks, and may not have completely understood what was being said due to the ambient noise on the flight deck; however, the investigators also noted that moving the unit may not have made a difference in whether the initial explosion occurred or not, due to the estimated temperature of the rocket by that time. The investigation also revealed that flight-deck personnel did not have an understanding of ordnance cook-off times, and as a result may not have had an appreciation of the hazards posed by live ordnance on the flight deck.

Perhaps most important was the training in the wake of the Forrestal conflagration, where 50% of the ship's crew and 0% of the air wing had attended firefighting school. After qualified firefighters became casualties in the Forrestal accident, untrained individuals took their place. When the Enterprise fire erupted, the complement that attended firefighting school had risen to 96% of the ship's crew and 86% of the air wing.

Among the items deemed to have had a negative effect on firefighting operations were lack of redundancies in communication systems and firefighting system controls and components; lack of communication between the Air Boss, who was responsible for flight and hangar deck firefighting, and the Damage Control Assistant, who was responsible for all other firefighting operations; and overtasking of the fire-main system due to activation of multiple systems at once.

Investigators generally praised the firefighting operation aboard Enterprise. Specific praise was given to the medical department, who were directly credited with saving countless lives, and to the establishment of a damage-control training team that helped with damage-control training. Enterprise had also established a competitive program between its repair parties to increase effectiveness. Praise was also directed at the captain of USS Rogers, who navigated his ship to within feet of Enterprise to aid firefighting efforts.

The investigators made a number of recommendations. Chief among them were a redesign of the air-start unit, to permit the exhaust to be blown upward instead of to the side, and educating flight-deck personnel on ordnance cookoff temperatures and times; implementation of a longer huffer air-supply hose, which delivers the air needed to start aircraft and which had already been accomplished aboard USS Constellation due to concerns about ordnance cookoff from huffer exhaust, was also recommended fleetwide. Many other recommendations were made, including installation of redundant communication and control systems, improved communication between key senior personnel, and a redesign of the head covering worn by flight deck firefighters. Investigators also recommended cross-training shipboard dentists as anesthetists; a dentist so trained was assigned to Enterprise, giving the medical department the ability to perform additional emergency surgery during the fire.




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Enterprise_fire
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
14 January 1993 – In Poland's worst peacetime maritime disaster, ferry MS Jan Heweliusz sinks off the coast of Rügen, drowning 55 passengers and crew; nine crew-members are saved.


MS Jan Heweliusz was a Polish ferry named after astronomer Johannes Hevelius (Polish: Jan Heweliusz) that served on the route Ystad-Świnoujście. It was built in Norway in 1977 and was owned by PLO (Polish Oceanliners) and operated by its daughter company PLO EuroAfrica. In the early hours of January 14th 1993 it capsized and sank in 27 metres of water off Cape Arcona on the coast of Rügen in the Baltic Sea while sailing toward Ystad with 64 passengers and crew.[1] The accident claimed the lives of 20 crewmen and 35 passengers. 10 bodies were never found. 9 people were rescued. The sinking of Jan Heweliusz is the most deadly peacetime maritime disaster involving a Polish ship.

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MS Jan Heweliusz in 1986, damaged after a fire

1986 fire
In September 1986, the ship suffered a serious fire. No one on board was injured, but the ship was heavily damaged. The ship was repaired by coating the damaged areas with 60 tons of concrete, which increased the weight of the ship and dangerously affected its stability, although this was apparently an illegal method.

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1993 sinking
At 4:10 am on Jan 14 1993, the ship started listing in hurricane-force winds, estimated at 180 km/h. It capsized at 5:12am. The waves were up to 6 metres high and ferries in the nearby port of Sassnitz had been cancelled. Prior to its sinking, Jan Heweliusz had been involved in 28 incidents, including collisions with fishing boats, listing, engine failure, and a fire in 1986. It had ballast problems and had also damaged its hull in Ystad during docking, but this was not reported to the port authorities and only makeshift repairs were made. It sailed two hours late, carrying 10 railway carriages from five European countries.

The Marine Chamber of Appeals in Gdynia blamed the accident on the poor technical condition of the ship, with the captain, who died in the accident, also being blamed for allowing the ship to sail in such an unseaworthy state.

In 2005, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasburg ruled that the official investigation of the sinking was not impartial and granted 4600 euros in damages each to eleven relatives of the victims.

Today, the wreck of the ship is located at the depth of 27 metres and is frequently visited by divers

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Jan_Heweliusz
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 14 January


1705 – Birth of Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier, French sailor, explorer, and politician (d. 1786)

Jean Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier (14 January 1705 – 1786) was a French sailor, explorer, and governor of the Mascarene Islands.

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He was orphaned at the age of seven and after having been educated in Paris, he was sent to Saint Malo to study navigation. He became a lieutenant of the French East India Company in 1731. He succeeded in convincing his employer to provide him with two ships and send him on an exploration mission in the South Atlantic. With his ships Aigle and Marie he discovered on 1 January 1739 a tiny island which was named Bouvet Island after him; however, he mislabeled the coordinates for the island, causing it to be lost until it was rediscovered seven decades later in 1808. Shortly afterwards, he had to abandon the expedition because most of his crew had fallen ill; his ship then called at the Cape of Good Hope and returned to France.

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Itinerary of Charles Bouvet

Ten years after his expedition, Bouvet de Lozier was appointed governor of the Mascarene Islands twice, once from 1750 to 1752 and a second time from 1757 to 1763.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Baptiste_Charles_Bouvet_de_Lozier


1813 - US Frigate Chesapeake (38), Cptn. Samuel Evans, captures British merchant brig Liverpool Hero

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Chesapeake_(1799)


1827 - HM Sloop Nimrod (18), Cdr. Samuel Sparshott, bilged in Holyhead Bay


HMS Nimrod was a Cruizer class brig-sloop of the British Royal Navy, launched in 1812. She spent her war years in north American waters where she captured one small privateer, assisted in the capture of another, and captured or destroyed some 50 American vessels. After the war she captured smugglers and assisted the civil authorities in maintaining order in Tyne. She was wrecked in 1827 and so damaged that the Navy decided she was not worth repairing. A private ship-owner purchased Nimrod and repaired her. She then went on to spend some 20 years trading between Britain and Charleston, the Mediterranean, Australia, and India. She was last listed in 1851.

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Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plans, sheer lines and longitudinal half-breadth

Nimrod sailed from Cork on 13 January 1828 for the Clyde. A gale developed during the night that damaged her and caused her to take on water. As she approached Anglesey Sparshott decided to take refuge at Holyhead. She was able to get into the harbour and anchor. The wind changed direction and she lost her anchor and the wind and sea drove her onto a ridge of rocks. By midnight of 14 January it became possible to get a line to shore and get the crew off her. Over the next few days her stores were landed and on 12 February the steamer Harlequin was able to pull her off the rocks. The Navy judged her not worth repairing. She was sold to Rowland Robert & Co. on 22 February for £510. The subsequent court martial acquitted Sparshott, his officers, and men of her loss.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Nimrod_(1812)


1863 - Navy General Order 4, signed by Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, announces the Emancipation Proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln, which is signed on Jan. 1, 1863.


1903 – Launch of The first USS Pike (SS-6) was a Plunger-class submarine


The first USS Pike (SS-6) was a Plunger-class submarine in the service of the United States Navy, later renamed as A-5.

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She was laid down on 10 December 1900 at San Francisco, California by Union Iron Works, launched on 14 January 1903, and commissioned on 28 May 1903 at the Mare Island Navy Yard with Lieutenant Arthur MacArthur III in command.
Pike operated out of the Mare Island Navy Yard for over three years, operating principally in experimental and training roles. Following the earthquake and subsequent fire at San Francisco on 18 April 1906, members of Pike's crew took part in the relief efforts in the wake of the disaster.


Pike underway

Decommissioned on 28 November 1906, Pike remained inactive until 8 June 1908, when she was recommissioned for local operations with the Pacific Torpedo Flotilla, off the Pacific coast. She remained attached to this unit into June 1912. Pike was renamed A-5 on 17 November 1911.
A-5 arrived at the Puget Sound Navy Yard on 26 June 1912, and was placed in reserve two days later. Following two and a half years of inactivity there, A-5 was loaded onto the collier Hector on 15 February 1915 (her sister-ship A-3 was loaded the next day). A-5 made the voyage to the Philippines as deck cargo. She arrived at Olongapo on 26 March. Launched on 13 April, she was recommissioned on 17 April and assigned to the Asiatic Fleet.

Shortly after the United States entered World War I, A-5 sank while moored at the Cavite Navy Yard on 15 April 1917; her sinking was attributed to a slow leak in a main ballast tank. She was raised on 19 April and, following reconditioning, returned to active service. Like her sister-ships, she patrolled the waters off the entrance to Manila Bay during the course of the war with the Central Powers.
A-5, given the alphanumeric hull number SS-6 on 17 July 1920, was decommissioned on 25 July 1921. Earmarked as a target vessel, she was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 16 January 1922

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USS Grampus in docjyard (sistership)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Pike_(SS-6)


1943 - USS Gudgeon (SS 211) lands six men, 2,000 pounds of equipment and supplies on Negros Island for first resupply mission for a submarine.

USS Gudgeon (SS-211) was the first American submarine to sink an enemy warship in World War II. One of the long-range Tambor-class vessels, Gudgeon scored 14 confirmed kills, placing her 15th on the honor roll of American submarines. She was declared overdue, presumed lost, on 7 June 1944.

Fifth and sixth patrols
Now a part of the Southwestern Pacific submarine forces, Gudgeon sank the 6783-ton Choko Maru west-northwest of Rabaul on 21 October during her fifth war patrol, 8 October to 1 December, and carried out a daring attack on a seven ship convoy on 11 November, torpedoing several ships but sinking none.

The submarine's sixth war patrol, from 27 December 1942 to 18 February 1943, was unsuccessful in terms of ships sunk, but she carried out two special missions. On 14 January 1943 Gudgeon successfully landed six men on Catmon Point, Negros Island, Western Visayas, Philippines, to carry out the vital guerrilla resistance movement there. Returning from her patrol area, Gudgeon was diverted to Timor Island on 9 February, and the following day rescued 28 men—Australian, English, Portuguese, and Filipino—for passage to Fremantle.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Gudgeon_(SS-211)


1944 - Five U.S. Navy submarines sink five different Japanese vessels in and around the Pacific Ocean. USS Albacore (SS 218) sinks Japanese destroyer Sazanami 300 miles off Yap; USS Scamp (SS 277) sinks the tanker Nippon Maru off Sorol Island; USS Guardfish (SS 217) sinks tanker Kenyo Maru southeast of Palau; USS Seawolf (SS 197) sinks tanker Yamazuru Maru off Okinawa, and USS Swordfish (SS 193) sinks transport Yamakuni Maru off Hachijo Jima.


1945 - USS Cobia (SS 245) sinks the Japanese minelayer Yurijima off the east coast of Malaya.

USS Cobia (SS/AGSS-245) is a Gato-class submarine, formerly of the United States Navy, named for the cobia. Cobia (SS-245) was laid down on 17 March 1943 by the Electric Boat Company of Groton, Connecticut. She was launched on 28 November 1943 (sponsored by Mrs. C. W. Magruder), and commissioned on 29 March 1944, Lieutenant Commander Albert L. Becker in command.

Cobia was designated a National Historic Landmark for her service in World War II, which included service in the Pacific, where she earned four battle stars. She is now a museum ship at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Cobia
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
15 January 1759 – Launch of HMS Firm, a 60-gun Edgar-class fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 15 January 1759 at Blackwall Yard, London.


HMS Firm was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 15 January 1759 at Blackwall Yard, London.
Her carpenter from 1775 was James Wallis, who had previously served aboard HMS Resolution with Captain James Cook on his second voyage to the Pacific.

Class and type: Edgar-class ship of the line
Tons burthen: 1297 tons
Length: 154 ft (47 m) (gundeck)
Beam: 43 ft 6 in (13.26 m)
Depth of hold: 18 ft 4 in (5.59 m)
Propulsion: Sails
Sail plan: Full rigged ship
Armament:
  • 60 guns:
  • Gundeck: 24 × 24 pdrs
  • Upper gundeck: 26 × 12 pdrs
  • Quarterdeck: 8 × 6 pdrs
  • Forecastle: 2 × 6 pdrs
She was on harbour service from 1784, and was broken up in 1791.

large.jpg
Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth for Panther (1758), Firm (1759), and Edgar (1758), all 60-gun Fourth Rate, two-deckers.

large (1).jpg
Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the inboard profile for Panther (1758), Firm (1759), and Edgar (1758), all 60-gun Fourth Rate, two-deckers.

The Edgar-class ships of the line were a class of three 60-gun fourth rates, designed for the Royal Navy by Sir Thomas Slade.

Ships
Builder: Martin and Henniker, Chatham
Ordered: 7 May 1756
Launched: 22 June 1758
Fate: Broken up, 1813
Builder: Randall, Rotherhithe
Ordered: 19 April 1756
Launched: 16 November 1758
Fate: Sunk as a breakwater, 1774
Builder: Perry, Blackwall Yard
Ordered: 11 August 1756
Launched: 15 January 1759
Fate: Sold out of the service, 1791



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Firm_(1759)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar-class_ship_of_the_line
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-309218;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=E
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
15 January 1782 - Action of 15 January 1782
frigate HMS Fox intercepted and engaged two small Spanish Navy frigates.



The Action of 15 January 1782 was a minor naval engagement that took place near the island of Jamaica during the American Revolutionary War. A Royal Naval frigate HMS Fox (32) intercepted and engaged two small Spanish Navy frigates.

HMS Fox was an Active-class fifth-rate frigate of thirty-two guns and was commanded by Captain Thomas Windsor from 1781. While on a cruise near Jamaica they saw two sail and then went to intercept. They turned out to be two small Spanish frigates and thus Windsor showed his colours.

The two Spanish frigates Socorro Guipuscoano (26) a ship of twenty-six guns and Dama Biscayma (20) of twenty guns tried to escape but Fox overhauled them both. They engaged Fox for nearly an hour before they finally struck. Fox had one boatswain and one seaman killed, and seven others wounded.

The two Spanish ships were bound to Havana from San Sebastián. The prizes were carried into Jamaica and the prize money was distributed accordingly making Windsor and his crew rich men.

For his action Thomas Windsor was promoted and went on to command HMS Lowestoffe on 31 January.


HMS Fox was a 32-gun Active-class fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 2 June 1780 at Bursledon, Hampshire by George Parsons.

Class and type: 32-gun Active-class fifth rate frigate
Tons burthen: 696 85⁄94bm
Length:
  • 126 ft 2 1⁄4 in (38.462 m) (gundeck)
  • 104 ft 1 in (31.72 m) (keel)
Beam: 35 ft 5 3⁄4 in (10.814 m)
Depth of hold: 12 ft 2 in (3.71 m)
Sail plan: Full rigged ship
Crew:250
Armament:
  • Upper deck: 26 × 12-pounder guns
  • QD: 4 × 6-pounder guns + 4 × 24-pounder carronades
  • Fc: 2 × 6-pounder guns + 2 × 24-pounder carronades

Fox was sent to the Caribbean in late 1781 and in January the following year under Captain Thomas Windsor captured two Spanish frigates. In March 1783 under Captain George Stoney captured the Spanish frigate Santa Catalina.

In March 1797, near Visakhapatnam, Fox captured the French privateer Modeste, under Jean-Marie Dutertre.

Took part in the bloodless Raid on Manila in January 1798.

Because Fox served in the navy's Egyptian campaign between 8 March 1801 and 2 September, her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal that the Admiralty issued in 1847 to all surviving claimants.

She was broken up in April 1816.




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_15_January_1782
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Fox_(1780)
 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
15 January 1801 - armed cutter HMS Lurcher, a 12-gun cutter, captured by a 16-gun French privateer


His Majesty's Hired armed cutter Lurcher was a 12-gun cutter that served the Royal Navy from 15 August 1795 until 15 January 1801 when a French privateer captured her in the Channel.

  • On 6 June 1793, the cutter Lurcher, of 100 tons burthen, eight 3 and 4-pounder guns, and under the command of Christopher Heayott, received a Letter of Marque.

Type: Cutter
Tons burthen: 102 69⁄94 (bm)
Complement: 40
Armament: 12 × 3-pounder guns


Naval service
On 1 April 1798, Lurcher and the hired armed cutter Nimrod recaptured the Roebuck packet, which the French privateer Adelaide had captured on 20 March. Lurcher and Nimrodsent Roebuck into Plymouth.

In 1799, Lurcher was under the command of Lieutenant J. Betts, and stationed at Portsmouth.

Lurcher shared, with many other British warships, in the capture of the French privateer Aimable Victoire on 29 January 1799. The actual captor, after a chase of eight and a half hours, was Triton. Aimable Victoire was armed with 16 brass 8-pounder guns and two iron 6-pounder guns, and had a crew of 86 men. She was on her first cruise, was one day out of Cherbourg, and had not captured anything.

In May, Lurcher, still under Bett's command, landed at the mouth of the River Shannon to procure fresh provisions for HMS Royal George, Admiral Lord Bridport's flagship.

On 19 June Lurcher, Lieutenant Robert Forbes, came into Plymouth from Brest, with damage that she had sustained in an engagement with a French cutter. Lurcher had succeeded in cutting out the French cutter from the Penmarks.

On 13 November 1800, the hired armed cutters Nile and Lurcher captured the French brig Prothee. Five days later they captured a French privateer brig of 14 guns. Prize money was due to be paid on 10 July 1801 in Plymouth.

Two weeks later, on 23 November, Captain Sir Richard Strachan in Captain chased a French convoy in to the Morbihan where it sheltered under the protection of shore batteries and the 20-gun corvette Réolaise. Magiciennewas able to force the corvette onto the shore at Port Navalo, though she got off again. The hired armed cutter Suworow then towed in four boats with Lieutenant Hennah of Captain and a cutting-out party of seamen and marines. The hired armed cutters Nile and Lurcher towed in four more boats from Magicienne. Although the cutting-out party landed under heavy fire of grape and musketry, it was able to set the corvette on fire; shortly thereafter she blew up. Only one British seaman, a crewman from Suworow, was killed. However, Suworow's sails and rigging were so badly cut up that Captain had to tow her.

On 7 December 1800, Nile discovered a convoy of 15 or 16 small vessels coming round the point of Croisic near the mouth of the river Vilaine in Quiberon Bay. Lurcher joined Nile and together the two cutters captured or destroyed nine vessels at a cost of only one man wounded on Lurcher, despite fire from shore batteries. The three vessels that fell to Lurcher were all sailing from Nantes to Yannes with wine from Nantes. The three vessels were:

  • Maria Joseph, Martin Beroist, master, of two men and eight tons. Lurcher captured her.
  • Eponine, Yine Le Frank, of three men and 13 tons. Lurcher drove her on shore on Houat with the loss of her cargo.
  • Bon Secour, Yine Nicolane, of two men and eight tons. Lurcher sank her at anchor, but after saving her cargo.
In 1801 Lurcher was still under the command of Lieutenant Forbes when a 16-gun French privateer captured her. Lurcher had been believe wrecked in a gale, but a letter from Excellent dated 24 February at Lorient arrived at Portsmouth on 2 March. A flag of truce vessel had reported that Lurcher was at Lorient after a French privateer of superior force had captured her "after a gallant action."


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hired_armed_cutter_Lurcher
https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_ship&id=11443
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
15 January 1808 - HMS Sparkler (12), Lt. James Samuel Asked Dennis, driven ashore by a gale and wrecked on the Dutch coast


HMS Sparkler (1804) was 178-ton (bm) Archer Class gun-brig fitted with two 18-pounder guns and ten 18-pounder carronades. The ship was launched at Brightlingsea on 6 August 1804 and wrecked on a reef off Schelling Island on the Dutch coast on 14 January 1808. After her upper deck was underwater and the surf was breaking over her, the crew took to the rigging. A fisherman rescued the survivors the next day. Sparkler lost 14 of her 50 crew in the incident.

large (5).jpg
Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the inboard profile, upper deck, and lower deck for the 58 ships of the Archer class (1800), 12-gun Gunbrigs built by contract. Reverse is annotated with a list of the builders and the ships names.

Archer class (1804 batch)
General characteristics
Type: Gun-brig
Tons burthen: 17731⁄94bm
Length:
  • 80 ft (24 m) (gundeck)
  • 65 ft 10 1⁄4 in (20.072 m) (keel)
Beam: 22 ft 6 in (6.86 m)
Depth of hold: 9 ft 5 in (2.87 m)
Sail plan: Brig
Complement: 50
Armament: 2 x chase guns (varying calibres) + 10 x 18-pounder carronades

Most of the early gun-brigs were sold or broken up during the short-lived Peace of Amiens. Consequently, in the first half of 1804, the Admiralty ordered a further batch of forty-seven gun-brigs to the 1800 William Rule design - 25 on 9 January, seven on 22 March and 15 during June - with an additional one ordered from Halifax Dockard, Nova Scotia on 1 October. Many reused the names of gun-brigs that had been disposed of or lost before 1804.

large (6).jpg
Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with stern board outline, sheer lines with scroll figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for Hardy (1804), a 12-gun Brig. This plan may actually relate to any of the Archer Class Gunbrigs as the plan is unassigned.


http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-547746;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=A
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_gun-brigs_of_the_Royal_Navy#Archer_class_(1804_batch)
https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_ship&id=6657
 
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