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

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
23 September 1901 – Launch of submarine USS Porpoise, a Plunger class


The third USS Porpoise (SS-7) was an early Plunger-class submarine in the service of the United States Navy, later renamed as A-6.

She was laid down on 13 December 1900 in Elizabeth, New Jersey at the Crescent Shipyard under the direction of shipyard superintendent, Arthur Leopold Busch. This craft was launched on 23 September 1901, and commissioned at the Holland Torpedo Boatyard at New Suffolk, New York on 19 September 1903, with Lieutenant Charles P. Nelson in command.

Porpoise_(SS-7)_and_Shark_(SS-8);H98835k.jpg
USS Porpoise (right) and sister ship USS Shark at New York, 1905

Early service
Assigned initially to the Naval Torpedo Station at Newport for experimental torpedo firing work, Porpoise entered the New York Navy Yard in September 1904 for repairs and alterations, remaining there until February 1906. Assigned then to the First Torpedo Flotilla on 7 March 1907, she operated at Annapolis, Maryland — temporarily assigned to the United States Naval Academy for instruction of future naval officers — until June. Taken subsequently to the New York Navy Yard, she was decommissioned on 21 April 1908. Partially disassembled, she was then loaded onto the after well deck of the collierCaesar for a voyage to the Philippines as deck cargo along with her sister ship Shark via the Suez Canal.

Arriving at the Naval Station at Cavite, Porpoise was launched on 8 July 1908, and recommissioned on 20 November. Due to the small size of Plunger-class boats, officers and men lived on board the gunboat Elcano.

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Whiting's experiment
In April 1909, Ensign Kenneth Whiting, a future naval aviation pioneer, became the commanding officer of Porpoise. On 15 April, Whiting and his crew of six took the submarine out for what was to be a routine run. Porpoise got underway, cleared the dock and moved out into Manila Bay. She dove soon thereafter, and leveled off at a depth of 20 ft (6.1 m). Only then did Whiting reveal the purpose of the dive.

Convinced that a man could escape from a submarine through the torpedo tube, Whiting determined that he was going to try and test his theory with himself as a guinea pig. Squeezing into the 18 inch (450 mm) diameter tube, he clung to the crossbar which stiffened the outer torpedo tube door, as the crew closed the inner door. When the outer door was opened and water rushed in, Whiting hung onto the crossbar that drew his elbows out of the tube's mouth, and then muscled his way out using his hands and arms, the entire evolution consuming 77 seconds. He then swam to the surface, Porpoisesurfacing soon thereafter. Reluctant to speak about the incident in public, he nevertheless informed his flotilla commander, Lt. Guy W.S. Castle, who submitted a report on how the feat had been accomplished. In Porpoise's log that day, Whiting had simply commented: "Whiting went through the torpedo tube, boat lying in (the) water in (a) normal condition, as an experiment..."

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Asiatic fleet and later service
Subsequently becoming a unit of the First Submarine Division, Asiatic Torpedo Fleet, on 9 December 1909, Porpoise continued her routine of local operations out of Cavite for the next decade. Renamed A-6 on 17 November 1911, she patrolled the entrance to Manila Bay and convoyed vessels out of port during World War I, under the command of Lt. A.H. Bailey. Placed in ordinary on 1 December 1918, she spent a little over a year in that status, until decommissioned on 12 December 1919 and turned over to the Commandant of the Naval Station at Cavite for disposal. Given the alphanumeric hull number SS-7 on 17 July 1920, A-6 was authorized for use as a target in July 1921 and as of 16 January 1922 was struck from the Naval Vessel Register.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Porpoise_(SS-7)
http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08007.htm
 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 23 September


1705 - Barcelona capitulates to British.


1739 - HMS Chester (1708 – 50) and HMS Canterbury (1693 – 60) capture Spanish Carracca ship San Joseph

HMS Chester was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Chatham Dockyard to the 1706 Establishment of dimensions, and launched on 18 October 1708. Chester was placed on harbour service in 1743 and was broken up in 1749.

HMS Canterbury was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Deptford on 18 December 1693.
She was rebuilt at Portsmouth according to the 1719 Establishment, and was relaunched on 15 September 1722. On 25 April 1741, she was ordered to be taken to pieces and rebuilt at Plymouth Dockyard as a 58-gun fourth rate according to the 1741 proposals of the 1719 Establishment. She was relaunched on 5 February 1744.
Canterbury was placed on harbour service in 1761, and was broken up in 1770.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Chester_(1708)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Canterbury_(1693)


1757 - Squadron under Ad. Charles Knowles bombarded the Isle of Aix.


1762 – HMS Scorpion (1746 – 14) foundered off the Isle of Man.

HMS Scorpion was a 14-gun two-masted Merlin-class sloop of the Royal Navy, built by Wyatt and Major at Bucklers Hard on the Beaulieu River in Hampshire, England and launched on 8 July 1746.
She foundered in the Irish Sea in September 1762.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Scorpion_(1746)


1796 - HMS Pelican (1795 - 18), Cptn. John Clarke Searle, engaged French Mé,dé e (40).

HMS Pelican (1795) was an 18-gun sloop launched in 1795 and sold in 1806.


1805 – Launch of French Milanaise at Dunkirk

renamed Sirène in August 1814; deleted 1836.
Milanaise class, (40-gun design by Charles Segondat, with 28 x 18-pounder and 12 x 8-pounder guns).

Milanaise, (launched 23 September 1805 at Dunkirk) – renamed Sirène in August 1814; deleted 1836.
Vistule, (launched 23 August 1808 at Dunkirk) – renamed Danaé in August 1814; deleted 1819.
Oder, (launched 14 July 1813 at Dunkirk) – renamed Thémis August 1814, reverted to Oder March 1815, then Thémis again July 1815; deleted 1831.
Perle, (launched 13 August 1813 at Dunkirk) – deleted August 1823.


1813 - During the War of 1812, the frigate President, commanded by Commodore John Rodgers, captures the British HMS High Flyer off Nantucket Sound.


1831 – Launch of French Généreux was a Téméraire-class 74-gun ship of the line

Ordered in the late days of the First French Empire, Généreux was not completed before 1831, and then stayed in ordinary for years before finally becoming active in 1839, when she was appointed to Admiral Lalande's squadron in the Atlantic, under Captain Durand. In 1841, she served in the Mediterranean under Captain Graëb.
From 1852, she was used as a prison ship, and served as barracks in Toulon from 1865.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Généreux_(1831)


1899 – American Asiatic Squadron destroys a Filipino battery at the Battle of Olongapo.

The Battle of Olongapo was fought September 18–23, 1899, during the Philippine–American War. The battle featured both land and sea fighting, of which the objective was the destruction of the single Filipino artillery gun in Olongapo, a menace to American ships crossing the nearby sea.

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


1937 – Chinese light cruisers Ping Hai and Ning Hai sunk by Japanese aircraft

Ning Hai (Chinese: 甯海; literally: "Peaceful Seas") was a light cruiser in the Republic of China Navy (ROCN) before World War II and the lead ship of her class. She was sunk in the early days of the Second Sino-Japanese War by aircraft from the Imperial Japanese Navy, and her wreck was raised and repaired by the Japanese, re-entering service with the Japanese Navy in the Pacific War as the escort vessel Ioshima (五百島). She was sunk again in September 1944 by a USN submarine.

Chinese_cruiser_NING-HAI_in_1932.jpg

Ping Hai (Chinese: 平海; literally: "Amicable Seas") was a light cruiser in the Chinese fleet before World War II and the second ship of the Ning Hai class. The ship was laid down in China to the specifications supplied by the Japanese, and Japanese advisors were hired to oversee the construction. Compared to its sister ship Ning Hai, it had a lower-output powerplant and lacked seaplane facilities. Its anti-aircraft armament was also different from that of its sister.

The progress of its construction was affected by the Mukden Incident (18 September 1931) and the January 28 Incident (28 January – 3 March 1932). Disruption of parts supply and non-cooperation of Japanese advisors delayed its launch date from the originally planned 10 October 1933 to 28 September 1935. Blocked delivery of originally-specified anti-aircraft weapons meant that equivalent replacements of those weapons had to be bought via Germany. When it was completed in 1936, official outbreak of war was barely a year away.

Chinese_cruiser_PING-HAI_in_1936.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_cruiser_Ning_Hai
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_cruiser_Ping_Hai


1940 - Battle of Dakar, also known as Operation Menace

The Battle of Dakar, also known as Operation Menace, was an unsuccessful attempt in September 1940 by the Allies to capture the strategic port of Dakar in French West Africa (modern-day Senegal). It was hoped that the success of the operation could overthrow the pro-German Vichy Frenchadministration in the colony, and be replaced by a pro-British Free French one under General Charles de Gaulle.

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


1944 - USS West Virginia (BB 48) reaches Pearl Harbor and rejoins the Pacific Fleet, marking the end of the salvage and reconstruction of 18 ships damaged Dec. 7, 1941.

USS West Virginia (BB-48), a Colorado-class battleship, was the second United States Navy ship named in honor of the country's 35th state. She was laid down on 12 April 1920, at Newport News, Virginia, launched on 19 November 1921, and commissioned on 1 December 1923. She was sponsored by Alice Wright Mann, daughter of noted West Virginian T. Mann, and her first captain was Thomas J. Senn. After her shakedown and crew training were finished, she was overhauled at Hampton Roads, and later ran aground in Lynnhaven Channel

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USS West Virginia (BB-48) in San Francisco Bay, c.1934

Following repairs, she participated in exercises and engineering and gunnery courses, winning four medals in the latter. She participated in other fleet tactical development operations until 1939. In 1940, she was transferred to Pearl Harbor, to guard against potential Japanese attack, and was sunk by six torpedoes and two bombs during the attack on Pearl Harbor. On 17 May 1942, she was salvaged from the seabed by draining the water from her hull.

After repairs in Pearl Harbor, she sailed to the Puget Sound Navy Yard. There she received an extensive refit, including the replacement of her 5-inch (127 mm)/25 caliber anti-aircraft guns and single-purpose 5-inch/51 caliber guns with dual-purpose 5-inch/38 caliber anti-aircraft guns. She left Puget Sound in July 1944, for Leyte Gulf.

She bombarded Leyte in November 1944, becoming part of a successful American plan to destroy the portion of the Japanese fleet trying to sail through the Surigao Strait, and later attacked Iwo Jima and Okinawa. At the end of the Pacific War she entered Tokyo Bay, for the Japanese surrender, and became part of Operation Magic Carpet, making three runs to Hawaii to transport veterans home. She was deactivated on 9 January 1947, and laid up at Bremerton, Washington, until sold for scrap on 24 August 1959.

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A view of the attack on Pearl Harbor from a Japanese plane with the torpedo explosion of the USS West Virginia in the center.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_West_Virginia_(BB-48)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
24 September 1695 - HMS Winchester (1693 - 60) foundered off Cape Florida


HMS Winchester was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the English Royal Navy, launched at Bursledon on 11 April 1693.

In 1695, Winchester foundered on Carysfort Reef in the Florida Keys and was lost. The remains of the wreck—now consisting of nothing more than cannonballs—were discovered in 1938 lying approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) southwest of the Carysfort Reef Light.

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The ships bell

The 944 ton, 4th Rate 60 gun British man-of-war Winchester was built in 1693 at Bursledon by William Wyatt. She was 121 feet long, and she had a 38 foot beam. The Winchester was originally commissioned in 1693 under the command of Captain Edward Bibb. While en route from Jamaica to England, a plaque on board quickly spread throughout her crew, rendering them unable to perform their duties. Her Captain, who was also sick, was put ashore in Jamaica. The Winchester's command was turned over to Captain John Soule. After leaving Port Royal, the crew continued to drop like flies from the scurvy. One report lists only eight able bodied seamen still standing when she was sailed onto a reef on September 24, 1695. A few of her crew including Captain Soule were transferred to another vessel. Captain Soule died later, and unfortunately almost all 400 of her crew were lost.


The wreck
In 1938 two fishermen, Jacob Monroe and Sam Lynch, with boat problems came to the dock of Charles M. Brookfield’s tourist lodge on Elliot Key. Brookfield offered to helped them. The next day they told him that they had found many cannon on the ocean floor at Carysfort Reef, which were later determined by Brookfield’s inquiry to the British admiralty to be the remains of a British warship, H.M.S. Winchester. Charles Brookfield later hired divers and brought up silver coins, musket balls, cannonballs, anchors, a prayer book and the cannons.

In the early 50's another young man filled with life and adventure also slipped beneath the waves at Carysfort Reef, not to fish, but to explore. Scuba diving was new and only the brave tried this new sport. What he found was the remains of this majestic ship. He talked with locals and a marine archaeologist who accompanied him on his first few dives. Back in these days it was gold and silver that was valued, and only if it was easy picking. Once it was determined this was not a treasure ship, and the cannons had been taken, everyone lost interest, except for my father. He valued the history, something that would not come into fashion for years.

For many months in the early 1950's he spent most of his days under the waves. He always said, "Take all or nothing". He kept maps on the location of each item, taught to him by his archaeologist friend, and brought his finds to a friend’s lagoon keeping them safe until he had the ability to preserve the artifacts. Other treasure hunters had found many remarkable artifacts, including a gold watch, and pewter ware.

Premium-Collection-Board-Ax-Cannon-Balls-1695-HMS.jpg
offered recently on ebay - Artefacts from the ship


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Winchester_(1693)
http://www.britishwarship.com/bell.htm
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
24 September 1757 - HMS Tilbury (1745 - 58) wrecked and HMS Ferret (1743 - 14) foundered off Louisburg during a hurricane


HMS Tilbury was a 58-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, ordered from Portsmouth Dockyard on 17 December 1742 to be built to the dimensions laid down in the 1741 proposals of the 1719 Establishment. She was launched on 20 July 1745.

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Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, inboard profile, and incomplete longitudinal half-breadth for Tilbury (1745), a 1741 Establishment 60-gun Fourth Rate, two-decker. Reverse: Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, incomplete sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth for Bristol (1747), a modified 1741 Establishment 50-gun Fourth Rate, two-decker built at Woolwich by Mr Holland.

In 1757 Tilbury was under the command of Captain Henry Barnsley, and formed part of Vice Admiral Francis Holburne's expedition to capture Louisbourg. The squadron was dispersed by a storm on 24 September, and Tilbury was driven onto the rocks. Captain Barnsley and 120 of his crew were drowned, and the survivors became French prisoners, though they were treated well by their captors.

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Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth for Princess Louisa (1744), Tilbury (1745), Defiance (1744), and Eagle (1745), all 1741 Establishment 60-gun Fourth Rate, two-deckers. Alterations are recorded on the plan, which were sent to Portsmouth in December 1742, to Mr Carter in January 1743, and Mr West in November 1743. Alterations to the after port but one were made for Defiance. Further alterations to the after body and midships were made for Eagle, dated April 1744. The plan also mentions Isis (captured 1747), a captured French 50-gun Fourth rate, two-decker.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/81376.html#uzmyrhuEXFLrQMR8.99

Class and type: 1741 proposals 58-gun fourth rate ship of the line
Tons burthen: 1.123 57⁄94 bm
Length: 147 ft (44.8 m) (gundeck)
Beam: 42 ft (12.8 m)
Depth of hold: 18 ft 1 in (5.5 m)
Sail plan: Full rigged ship
Armament:
  • 58 guns:
  • Gundeck: 24 × 24 pdrs
  • Upper gundeck: 24 × 12 pdrs
  • Quarterdeck: 8 × 6 pdrs
  • Forecastle: 2 × 6 pdrs


HMS Ferret was a 14-gun two-masted sloop of the Royal Navy, built on speculation by Henry Bird at Deptford Wet Dock on the Thames River, England in the same way as the preceding Saltash had been two years earlier. She was purchased while building by the Navy Board on 6 April 1743.

The new sloop was launched on 10 May, and was commissioned in the same month under Commander John Moore, and served initially until 1748. In early 1749 she was modified, with her quarterdeck extended by several feet and her main mast shortened. In May 1749 she sailed for Jamaica, and remained in the West Indies until 1754. She was re-rigged as a ship sloop (by the addition of a mizzen mast) and recommissioned in April 1755 under Commander Arthur Upton; she was lost, presumed to have foundered in a hurricane off Nova Scotia on 24 September 1757.

Tons burthen: 255 51⁄94 (bm)
Length:
  • 88 ft 4.5 in (26.9 m) (gundeck)
  • 75 ft 2.75 in (22.9 m) (keel)
Beam: 25 ft 3.25 in (7.7 m)
Depth of hold: 6 ft 9.5 in (2.1 m)
Sail plan: Snow
Complement:125
Armament: 14 × 4-pounder guns; also 14 x ½-pounder swivel guns



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Tilbury_(1745)
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-354424;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=T
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Ferret_(1743)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
24 September 1762 - Battle of Manila


The Battle of Manila (Filipino: Labanan sa Maynila, Spanish: Batalla de Manila) was fought during the Seven Years' War, from 24 September 1762 to 6 October 1762, between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Spain in and around Manila, the capital of the Philippines, a Spanish colony at that time. The British won, leading to a twenty-month occupation of Manila.

1024px-The_Attack_of_Manilla,_October_1762_WDL213.png
The Seven Years' War (1756-63) was a world-wide conflict between Britain and France that also involved Spain as an ally of France. In 1762, the British sent Admiral William Draper, with an expeditionary force of some 2,000 European and Indian (Sepoy) soldiers, to attack Manila in the Spanish colony of the Philippines. The Spanish offered little opposition, and on October 2, 1762, the acting governor-general, Archbishop Manuel Antonio Rojo, surrendered the city. The British occupation lasted until 1764, when the Philippines reverted to Spanish control as part of the peace settlement. This map depicts where the British landed and the assault from the south. It shows the British warships (some of which are individually identified) and many other features, including roads, houses, churches, vegetation, and cultivated fields.

Prelude
The British Ministry approved Col. Draper's plans for invading the Philippine Isles and HMS Seahorse, under Capt. Cathcart Grant, was sent to intercept Manila bound vessels. The first portion of the invasion fleet sailed from India on 21 July, under Commodore Teddinson, followed by the remainder under Admiral Sir Samuel Cornish, 1st Baronet, and Col. Draper on 1 August. HMS Norfolk served as the admiral's flagship.

On 1 August 1762, a British fleet of eight ships of the line, three frigates, and four store ships, sailed away from Madras with a force of 6,839 regulars, sailors and marines. The commander of the expedition was Brigadier-General William Draper. He was assisted by Colonel Monson as second in command, Major Scott as adjutant-general and Captain Fletcher as brigade-major of the East India Company. The expeditionary force consisted of:

Manila was garrisoned by the Life Guard of the Governor-General of the Philippines, the 2nd Battalion of the King's regiment under Don Miguel de Valdez, Spanish marines, a corps of artillery under Lt. Gen. Don Felix de Eguilux, seconded by Brig. the Marquis de Villa Medina, a company of Pampangos, and a company of cadets.

Battle

Admiral Cornish's fleet, fourteen vessels, of which ten carried more than fifty guns, anchored in Manila Bay on 23 September. A landing was planned two miles south of the city, covered by HMS Argo, under Captain King, HMS Seahorse, under Captain Grant, and HMS Seaford under Captain Pelghin. The three-pronged landing force of 274 marines was led by Colonel Draper, center, Major More, right, and Colonel Monson, left. The next day, they were joined by 632 seamen under Captains Collins, Pitchford and Ouvry.

large (5).jpg
Scale 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half breadth for Argo (1758), Active (1758), Aquilon (1758), Milfrord (1759), and later in 1758 for Guadeloupe (1763), and in 1764 for Carysfort (1766), then in 1782 for Laurel (cancelled 1783 and not built), and Hind (1785)a 28-gun, Sixth Rate Frigates.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/83197.html#2Ko3QvyJU71wHvyq.99


Fort Polverina was captured on 25 September. Further reconnaissance revealed that the fortifications of Manila were not formidable, in fact they were incomplete. "In many places the ditch had never been finished, the covered way was out of repair, the glacis was too low, some of the outworks were without cannon..."

1920px-Map_of_British_Conquest_of_Manila_1762.jpg
Map of the British Conquest of Manila in 1762.

On 30 September, a British storeship arrived with entrenching tools, but was driven ashore by a gale. However, she had run aground so that she screened the rear of Draper's camp from a large force of Filipinos. Her stores were landed with greater speed and safety than would have been possible had she remained afloat for the gale continued for several days and forbade the passage of boats through the surf.

A strong gale started on 1 October, cutting off communication with the British fleet. On the morning of 4 October, a force of 1,000 local Pampangos attacked a cantonment built by the British overnight but was beaten back with 300 Filipinos killed. After this failure, all except 1,800 of the Pamgangos abandoned the city. "The fire from the garrison now became faint, while that of the besiegers was stronger than ever, and ere long a breach became practicable." On 6 October, 60 volunteers under Lieutenant Russell advanced through the breach in the Bastion of St. Andrew. Engineers and pioneers followed, then came Colonel Monson and Major More with two divisions of the 79th, the seamen and then another division of the 79th.

Preventing further slaughter, acting Governor-General Archbishop Manuel Rojo del Rio y Vieyra surrendered both Manila and Cavite to Draper and Cornish.

Aftermath
"The humanity and generosity of the British commanders saved Manila from a general and justly merited pillage. A ransom of four millions of dollars only was demanded for this relaxation of the laws of war. Thus the whole archipelago of the Philippines fell with the wealthy city of Manila."

The British held Manila until it was returned to Spain according to the peace settlement. News that it had been lost did not reach Spain until after the cessation of hostilities between the two powers. Oidor Don Simon Anda y Salazar had been dispatched to Bulacan in order to organize resistance. There he organized an army of 10,000 Filipinos under the command of Jose Busto.

Manila was placed under the authority of civilian Deputy Governor Dawsonne Drake, appointed by the East India Company as the leader of the Manila Council. Major Fell commanded the garrison as another member of the council

During their time in the Philippines, the British found themselves confined to Manila and Cavite in a deteriorating situation, unable to extend British control over the islands and unable to make good their promised support for an uprising led first by Diego Silang and later by his wife Gabriela, which was crushed by Spanish forces.

The British expedition was rewarded after the capture of the treasure ship Filipina, carrying American silver from Acapulco, and in a battle off Cavite the Santísima Trinidad which carried China goods. However, when Cornish sailed for Madras with the East Indies Squadron in early 1763, he had only collected $516,260 of the $2 million ransom. The balance consisted of bills of exchange, though Spain never did pay the Manila ransom.

The city remained under British rule for 18 months and was returned to Spain in April 1764 after the Treaty of Paris.

Draper and Cornish were thanked by Parliament on 19 April 1763, Cornish was made a Baronet of Great Britain, and Draper eventually received as Knighthood of the Bath.



HMS Argo (1758 - 28) was a 28-gun sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The ship was one of the Coventry class, designed by Sir Thomas Slade as a development of based on the Lyme, "with such alterations as may tend to the better stowing of men and carrying for guns."

HMS Seaford (1754 - 20) was a 20-gun sixth rate launched in 1754, participated in the Battle of Manila (1762), and sold in 1784.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Manila_(1762)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Argo_(1758)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
24 September 1787 - Sir John Jervis and Adam Duncan promoted to Rear-Admiral and Samuel Hood promoted Vice-Admiral of the Blue


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

800px-John_Jervis,_Earl_of_St_Vincent_by_Francis_Cotes.jpg

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

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


Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan (1 July 1731 – 4 August 1804) was a British admiral who defeated the Dutch fleet off Camperdown (north of Haarlem) on 11 October 1797. According to the British, this victory should be considered one of the most significant actions in naval history.

800px-Admiral_Adam_Duncan_by_Henri-Pierre_Danloux_1798.JPG


Admiral Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood (12 December 1724 – 27 January 1816) was a Royal Navy officer. As a junior officer he saw action during the War of the Austrian Succession. While in temporary command of Antelope, he drove a French ship ashore in Audierne Bay, and captured two privateers in 1757 during the Seven Years' War. He held senior command as Commander-in-Chief, North American Station and then as Commander-in-Chief, Leeward Islands Station, leading the British fleet to victory at Battle of the Mona Passage in April 1782 during the American Revolutionary War. He went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, then First Naval Lord and, after briefly returning to the Portsmouth command, became Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet during the French Revolutionary Wars.

800px-Northcote,_Samuel_Hood.jpg


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Jervis,_1st_Earl_of_St_Vincent
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Duncan,_1st_Viscount_Duncan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Hood,_1st_Viscount_Hood
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
24 September 1803 – Launch of french Cassard, a 74 gun Large Variant Téméraire class Ship of the Line


Cassard was an improved Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. Along with her sister-ship Vétéran, she carried 24-pounder long guns on her upper deck, a featured normally reserved for the larger, three-deckers capital ships or for 80-gun ships.

1024px-Veteran_mg_8190c.jpeg
The Vétéran (sister-ship of Cassard) fleeing into the shallow waters of Concarneau / Oil on canvas, c. 1861, 82 x 117 cm / On display at Brest Fine arts museum

Completed as Lion, she took part in the Expédition d'Irlande in December 1796. On 24 February 1798, she was renamed to Glorieux, and eventually to Cassard the next month.

Under Commodore Gilbert-Amable Faure, she took part in the Atlantic campaign of 1806 in Willaumez' squadron, taking two prizes on the way. In August, the 1806 Great Coastal hurricane caused her to separate from the rest of the fleet; she returned to Brest on 13 October.

She took part in Willaumez' attempt to rescue blockaded ships from Lorient and anchored in Rochefort, where she took part in the Battle of the Basque Roads in April 1809. During the battle, she attempted to escape into Rochefort harbour, ran aground, and was refloated by throwing part of her guns overboard. She remained deactivated in Rochefort.

She was eventually condemned in May 1818, and used as a coal hulk in Rochefort, before being broken up in 1832.

Displacement:
  • 2,966 tonnes
  • 5,260 tonnes fully loaded
Length: 56.47 metres (185.3 ft) (174 pied)
Beam: 15.05 metres (49.4 ft)
Draught: 7.26 metres (23.8 ft) (22 pied)
Propulsion: Up to 2,485 m2 (26,750 sq ft) of sails
Armament:


Large Variant of Téméraire class - Cassard group

Two ships were laid down in 1793-94 at Brest to a variant of Sané's design with the aim of carrying 24-pounder guns on the upper deck instead of the 18-pounders carried by the Téméraire. These ships were 2 feet longer than the standard 74s, and half a foot wider. The first was begun as the Lion, but was renamed Glorieux in 1795 and Cassard in 1798. The second was begun as the Magnanime, but was renamed Quatorze Juillet in 1798 and Vétéran in 1802. Unlike the main sequence, construction proceeded slowly. By 1816 the 24-pounders aboard these two ships had been replaced by 18-pounders, and no further ships to this variant design were produced, so indicating that it was not judged successful.

Vétéran
Builder: Brest shipyard
Begun: November 1794
Launched: 18 July 1803
Completed: December 1803
Fate: Condemned, 1833.

The Vétéran was a development from the Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, one of two ships of a sub-class of which the other vessel was the Cassard. The two ships, both built by Pierre Ozanne at Brest to the plans of Jacques-Noël Sané, were enlarged from the earlier class in order to carry an upper deck battery of 24-pounder long guns, instead of the 18-pounder long guns used on the regular units of the Téméraire class.

Ordered as Magnanime, she was renamed to Quatorze Juillet on 7 May 1798, and eventually to Vétéran on 6 December 1802.

On 13 December 1805, captained by Jérôme Bonaparte, she departed Brest as a unit of Willaumez division, in the context of the Atlantic campaign of 1806. The 1806 Great Coastal hurricane scattered the division and Vétéran found herself isolated. She cruised off Quebec, destroying merchantmen and skirmishing with Royal Navy forces. She eventually returned to France and evaded the British blockade, entering Concarneau, thanks to the experience of a sailor who had been a fisherman in the region. Vétéran found herself trapped, however, and could not exit the harbour for years. At some point before 1812, she was able to reach Lorient.

In 1812, she took part in Allemand's escape from Lorient. She sailed from Lorient to Brest under Captain Jurien de Lagravière.


Cassard
Builder: Brest shipyard
Begun: August 1793
Launched: 24 September 1803
Completed: December 1803
Fate: Condemned, 1818.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Cassard_(1803)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Vétéran_(1803)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
24 September 1856 - sidewheel steamer Niagara kept fire and sunk on Lake Michigan close to port Washington


The Niagara was a 245-foot (75 m) long sidewheel palace steamer launched in 1846. Like the others of its kind, it carried passengers and cargo around the North American Great Lakes. It was owned by the Collingwood Line.

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A drawing of the Palace Steamer, Niagara. The Niagara was built in 1846, and caught fire and sank in Lake Michigan off Belgium, Wisconsin, in 1856. The wreck site is a Registered Historic Place.

On September 23, 1856, the Niagara left Sheboygan, Wisconsin headed for Port Washington, Wisconsin, on Lake Michigan, carrying 170 passengers and a heavy load of cargo. Fire broke out in the area of the engine room at around 6:00 pm,[4] and the steam engines and the paddlewheels soon stopped. The steamer, which was 4–5 miles offshore, quickly became engulfed in flames and smoke. Efforts to use the fire hose were unsuccessful. The passengers panicked while trying to board the lifeboats, capsizing all but one of them. Many jumped overboard into the water, which was reported to be too cold for anyone to survive in it. Several ships in the area rushed to the scene and rescued most of the passengers. The captain and most of the crew survived, but more than 60 on board perished, making it one of Wisconsin's deadliest transportation disasters. Among those lost was John B. Macy, a former member of the United States Congress.

It was reported at the time that the fire was caused by an incendiary. The Captain insisted the fire could not have started in the engine room, because it was fireproof, and blamed combustible cargo stored below. It appears that the cause of the fire was never definitively established.

DSC_0023-sm.jpg DSC_0035-sm.jpg DSC_0093-sm.jpg

The wreck of the Niagara lies in 55 feet (17 m) of water one mile (1.6 km) off Belgium, Wisconsin.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niagara_(palace_steamer)
http://www.wisconsinshipwrecks.org/vessel/Details/455
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
24 September 1895 – Launch of HMS Quail (1895), Quail class destroyer


HMS Quail was a B-class torpedo boat destroyer of the British Royal Navy. She was launched by Laird Brothers, Birkenhead, on 24 September 1895.[4] She served in home waters and the West Indies for several years, her robust structure proved by surviving at least one heavy collision. She served during the Great War, and was sold off after the hostilities end, on 23 July 1919. She gave her name to the four strong group of Quail-class destroyers.

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H.M.S. "Quail", North America and West Indies Squadron, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Design and construction
HMS Quail was one of four 30-knot destroyers ordered from Laird's as part of the 1894–1895 Royal Navy shipbuilding programme. As with other early Royal Navy destroyers, the detailed design of Quail was left to the builder, with the Admiralty laying down only broad requirements. In order to meet the contract speed of 30 knots (35 mph; 56 km/h) Quail was powered by two four-cylinder triple expansion steam engines, fed by four Normand boilers, rated at 6,300 ihp (4,700 kW), and was fitted with four funnels. She carried the specified armament for the thirty-knotters of a QF 12 pounder 12 cwt (3 in (76 mm) calibre) gun on a platform on the ship's conning tower (in practice the platform was also used as the ship's bridge), with a secondary armament of five 6-pounder guns, and two 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes.

Quail was laid down as Yard No 606 on 28 May 1895, and was launched on 24 September 1895. She reached a speed of 30.385 knots (34.966 mph; 56.273 km/h) over a measured mile and an average speed of 30.039 knots (55.632 km/h; 34.568 mph) over three hours during trials on 11 December 1896. Quail commissioned in June 1897.

hmsquail.jpg

Service
Newly commissioned, Quail took part in the naval review off Spithead on 26 June 1897 to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. In service, Quail proved to be a strongly-built ship, and a good seaboat, although, like other Laird-built 30-knot destroyers, manoeuvrability was poor, with a wide turning circle.

Quail was sent to the North America and West Indies Station, based at Bermuda, being on station when the Spanish–American War broke out in 1898. Lieutenant Edward Hilary Rymer was appointed in command in January 1899, and was succeeded by Lieutenant Edgar Robert Morant in early summer 1902. She took part in the Anglo-German naval blockade of Venezuela during the Venezuela Crisis of 1902–03. Quail returned to home waters in 1903, joining the Mediterranean Fleet in October 1904, and returning to the United Kingdom in 1906.

On 7 August 1907, Quail was involved in a collision with the scout cruiser HMS Attentive, badly damaging her bow. On 30 May 1910, Quail collided with the British fishing trawler Olivia off Porthallow, Cornwall, England, killing four men from the village of Flushing, Cornwall, aboard Olivia. Quail was a member of the Fifth Destroyer Flotilla, based at Devonport, in 1910, and was still a member of the Fifth Flotilla in 1913.

On 30 August 1912 the Admiralty directed all destroyers were to be grouped into classes designated by letters based on contract speed and appearance. As a four-funneled 30-knotter destroyer, Quail was assigned to the B Class.

HMS Quail formed part of the Seventh Destroyer Flotilla based on the Humber on the outbreak of the First World War, continuing operations until the end of the war. She was sold for breaking up on 23 July 1919


Four Quail-class destroyers served with the Royal Navy. These ships were all built by Laird, Son & Co. and were the first of the 'thirty knotters'.

Concern about the higher speeds of foreign boats had prompted to Admiralty to order new destroyers capable of 30 knots, rather than the 27 knot requirement which had been standard. The boats were not able to make this speed in bad weather, where they were usually wet and uncomfortable with cramped crew quarters, but they proved their toughness in serving through the Great War, despite being twenty years old. Thanks to their watertight bulkheads, their thin plating and light structure they were able to take a great deal of damage and remain afloat, although their plates buckled easily, affecting their handling.

The ships were fitted with Normand boilers which generated around 6,300 HP. They were armed with the standard twelve pounder and two torpedo tubes and carried a complement of 63 officers and men. Ships of this type bore four funnels and were designated B-class destroyers

Ships
  • Quail, launched 24 September 1895, sold for disposal 23 July 1919.
  • Sparrowhawk, launched 8 October 1895, wrecked 17 June 1904.
  • Thrasher, launched 5 November 1895, sold for disposal 1919.
  • Virago, launched 19 November 1895, sold for disposal 10 October 1919.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Quail_(1895)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quail-class_destroyer
https://www.worldnavalships.com/quail_class1.htm
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
24 September 1960 – USS Enterprise, the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, is launched.


USS Enterprise (CVN-65), formerly CVA(N)-65, is a decommissioned United States Navy aircraft carrier. She was the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and the eighth United States naval vessel to bear the name. Like her predecessor of World War II fame, she is nicknamed "Big E". At 1,123 ft (342 m), she is the world's longest naval vessel ever built. Her 93,284-long-ton (94,781 tonnes) displacement ranks her as the 12th-heaviest carrier, after the 10 carriers of the Nimitz class and the USS Gerald R. Ford. Enterprise had a crew of some 4,600 service members.

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Enterprise underway in the Atlantic Ocean during Summer Pulse 2004

The only ship of her class, Enterprise was, at the time of inactivation, the third-oldest commissioned vessel in the United States Navy after the wooden-hulled USS Constitution and USS Pueblo. She was originally scheduled for decommissioning in 2014 or 2015, depending on the life of her reactors and completion of her replacement, USS Gerald R. Ford, but the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 slated the ship's retirement for 2013, when she would have served for 51 consecutive years, longer than any other U.S. aircraft carrier.

Enterprise's home port was Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, as of September 2012. Her second home port was Naval Air Station Alameda until its closure in 1997. When in port at NAS Alameda, she was visible to those crossing the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. She was the flagship of Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz while he lived in Berkeley, California, until his death in 1966. Her final deployment before inactivation, began on 10 March 2012 and ended 4 November 2012. She was inactivated on 1 December 2012 and underwent the 48-month inactivation process that rendered her unfit for further military service (inactivation removes fuel, fluids, furnishings, tools, fittings and de-energizes the ship's electrical system). Enterprise was officially decommissioned on February 3, 2017, after over 55 years of service, and with the completion of an extensive terminal offload program. She was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register the same day.

The name has been adopted by the future Gerald R. Ford–class aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-80).

Design
Enterprise was intended as the first of a class of six carriers, but massive increases in construction costs led to the remaining vessels being cancelled. Because of the huge cost of her construction, Enterprise was launched and commissioned without the planned RIM-2 Terrier missile launchers. These were never installed and the ship's self-defense suite instead consisted of three shorter-range RIM-7 Sea Sparrow, Basic Point Defense Missile System (BPDMS) launchers.

Later upgrades added two NATO Sea Sparrow (NSSM) and three Mk 15 Phalanx CIWS gun mounts. One CIWS mount was later removed and two 21-cell RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile launchers were added.

Enterprise is also the only aircraft carrier to house more than two nuclear reactors. having an eight-reactor propulsion design, with each A2W reactor taking the place of one of the conventional boilers in earlier constructions. She is the only carrier with four rudders, two more than other classes, and features a more cruiser-like hull.

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Task Force 1, the world's first nuclear-powered task force. Enterprise, Long Beach and Bainbridge in formation in the Mediterranean, 18 June 1964. Enterprise has Einstein's mass–energy equivalence formula E=mc² spelled out on its flight deck. Note the distinctive phased array radars in the superstructures of Enterprise and Long Beach.

Enterprise also had a phased array radar system known as SCANFAR. SCANFAR was intended to be better at tracking multiple airborne targets than conventional rotating antenna radars. SCANFAR consisted of two radars, the AN/SPS-32 and the AN/SPS-33. The AN/SPS-32 was a long-range air search and target acquisition radar developed by Hughes for the U.S. Navy. The AN/SPS-32 operated together with the AN/SPS-33, which was the square array used for 3D tracking, into one system. It was installed on only two vessels, Enterprise and the cruiser USS Long Beach, placing a massive power drain on the ship's electric system.

The technology of the AN/SPS-32 was based on vacuum tubes and the system required constant repairs. The SPS-32 was a phased array radar which had a range of 400 nautical miles against large targets, and 200 nautical miles against small, fighter-size targets. These early phased arrays, replaced around 1980, were responsible for the distinctive square-looking island.

The AN/SPS-32 and AN/SPS-33 radars, while ahead of their time, suffered from issues relating to electrical beam steering mechanism and were not pursued in further ship classes. While they are considered to be an early form of "phased array" radar, it would take the later technology of the Aegis phased array AN/SPY-1 with its electronically controlled beam steering to make phased array radars both reliable and practical for the USN.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Enterprise_(CVN-65)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 24 September


1564 – Birth of William Adams, English sailor and navigator (d. 1620)

William Adams (24 September 1564 – 16 May 1620), known in Japanese as Miura Anjin (三浦按針: "the pilot of Miura") was an English navigator who, in 1600, was the first of his nation to reach Japan during a five-ship expedition for the Dutch East India Company. Of the few survivors of the only ship that reached Japan, Adams and his second mate Jan Joosten were not allowed to leave the country while Jacob Quaeckernaeck and Melchior van Santvoort were to go back to the Dutch Republic to invite them to trade. Adams and Joosten settled in Japan and became two of the first ever (and very few) Western samurai.

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From left to right: "Blijde Bootschap", "Trouwe", "'T Gelooue", "Liefde" and "Hoope". 17th-century engraving.

Soon after Adams's arrival in Japan, he became a key advisor to the shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu. Adams directed construction for the shōgun of the first Western-style ships in the country. He was later key to Japan's approving the establishment of trading factories by the Netherlands and England. He also was highly involved in Japan's Red Seal Asian trade, chartering and serving as captain of four expeditions to Southeast Asia. He died in Japan at age 55. He has been recognised as one of the most influential foreigners in Japan during this period.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Adams_(sailor)


1744 – Launch of French Sirène at Brest, a 30 gun Sirene-class frigate
– captured by British Navy 1760, but not added to RN. / Sirène class (30-gun design of 1744 by Jacques-Luc Coulomb, with 26 x 8-pounder and 4 x 4-pounder guns).


1757 - HMS Southampton (1757 - 32), Cptn. James Gilchrist, captured French Privateer 'Le Caumartin' (1758 - 16), 3 days after she took the 28 gun French Emeraude (1744 - 28)

HMS Southampton was the name ship of the 32-gun Southampton-class fifth-rate frigates of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1757 and served for more than half a century until wrecked in 1812.

In 1772, Southampton – at the time commanded by the capable John MacBride, destined for a distinguished naval career – was sent to Elsinore, Denmark, to take on board and convey to exile in Germany the British Princess Caroline Matilda, George III's sister, who had been deposed from her position as Queen of Denmark due to her affair with the social reformer Johan Struensee.
On 3 August 1780, Southampton captured the French privateer lugger Comte de Maurepas, of 12 guns and 80 men, under the command of Joseph Le Cluck. She had on board Mr. Andrew Stuart, Surgeon's Mate of HMS Speedwell, "as a ransomer." She had suffered shot holes between wind and water and sank shortly thereafter. Southampton shared the head money award with Buffalo, Thetis, and Alarm.
On 10 June 1796, Southampton captured the French corvette Utile at Hyères Roads, by boarding. Utile was armed with twenty-four 6-pounder guns and was under the protection of a battery. She had a crew of 136 men under the command of Citizen François Veza. The French put up a resistance during which they suffered eight killed, including Veza, and 17 wounded; Southampton had one man killed. The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Utile. Gorgon, Courageux, and the hired armed cutter Fox were in company at the time, and with the British fleet outside Toulon. They shared with Southampton in the proceeds of the capture, as did Barfleur, Bombay Castle, Egmont, and St George.
Lloyd's List reported that she and the sloop Brazen had run aground and lost their masts on the coast of Mississippi during a great hurricane on 19 and 20 August 1812, but that the crews were saved. Neither vessel was lost though.
On 22 November, Southampton, under the command of Captain James Lucas Yeo, captured the American brig USS Vixen. Vixen was armed with twelve 18-pounder carronades and two 9-pounder bow chasers, and had a crew of 130 men under the command of Captain George Reed. She had been out five weeks but had not captured anything.
Fate
A strong westerly current wrecked Southampton and Vixen on an uncharted submerged rock off Conception Island in the Crooked Island Passage of the Bahamas on 27 November. No lives were lost

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Southampton_(1757)


1762 - Merlin-class sloop Badger wrecked

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

Although initially armed with ten 6-pounder guns, this class was built with seven pairs of gunports on the upper deck, enabling them to be re-armed with fourteen 6-pounders later in their careers.
The first two – Swallow and Merlin – were ordered on 7 July 1743 to be built to replace two ex-Spanish vessels (the Galgo and Peregrine's Prize, both captured in 1742, and put into service by the British). Two more vessels to the same design were ordered on 30 March 1744; another two were ordered five days later, four more followed on 23 May and three others were ordered later that year.
On 5 April 1745 five more were ordered – including a second Falcon (named to replace the first, captured in the same year) and a second Swallow (similarly to replace the first, wrecked in 1744) – and a single extra vessel was ordered on 11 April. A final pair were ordered on 9 January 1746.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merlin-class_sloop


1840 - Tyre captured by HMS Castor (1832 - 26), Cptn. Edward Collier, and HMS Pique (1834 - 36), Cptn. Robert Boxer.

HMS Castor was a 36-gun fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy.

Castor was built at Chatham Dockyard and launched on 2 May 1832. She was one of a two ship class of frigates, built to an 1828 design by Sir Robert Seppings, and derived from the earlier Stag class. The Castor class had a further 13 inches (33 cm) of beam to mount the heavier ordnance. Castor cost a total of £38,292, to be fitted for sea.
Her first captain was Lord John Hay, and by September 1832 Castor was at Lisbon.
On 27 August 1834 she collided with the Revenue Cutter Cameleon off South Foreland, Dover, sinking Cameleon with the loss of most of its crew. This incident led to the Court Martial of officers and crew of Castor on 6 September 1834 in Plymouth. The officers were acquitted but the lieutenant of the watch was dismissed from the service, it having been admitted and proven that a proper watch had not been kept.
She took part in the Egyptian–Ottoman War (1839–1841), also known as the Second Syrian War, when the British Mediterranean Fleet under Admiral Sir Robert Stopford, supported the Ottoman Empire and took action to compel the Egyptians to withdraw from Beirut. During the Oriental Crisis of 1840 Castor was involved in the bombardment of St. Jean d’Acre on 3 November 1840. After cruising on the coast of Ireland she was sent out to the East Indies Station; before being decommissioned at Chatham in 1842.
In 1845 Castor was on the China Station under the command of Captain Graham. Officers, seaman and Royal Marines of Castor participated in the siege of Ruapekapeka Pā from 27 December 1845 to 11 January 1846 during the Flagstaff War in New Zealand. Seven sailors were killed in the battle to take the fortified stronghold that was built by the Māori.
In 1852 Castor was on the Cape Station under the command of Commodore Wyvill. She came to the assistance of HM Troopship Birkenhead, when the Birkenhead was wrecked on 26 February 1852.
She was used as a training ship from January 1860, and was a Royal Naval Reserve training ship at North Shields from April 1862, having been reduced to 22 guns. She was sold at Sheerness on 25 August 1902 for breaking up at Castle & Sons breakers yard in Woolwich.

HMS Pique was a wooden fifth-rate sailing frigate of the Royal Navy, designed by Sir William Symonds. She was launched on 21 July 1834 at Devonport. She was of 1633 tons and had 36 guns. She was broken up in 1910.

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H.M. Ship Pique 36 Guns Sailing out of Portsmouth Harbour to Spithead, Septr 10th 1837 Print

Service history
Pique was the first of a new class of medium-sized frigates designed by Sir William Symonds, Chief Surveyor of the Navy. Following commissioning she formed part of an experimental squadron, which were groups of ships sent out in the 1830s and 1840s to test new techniques of ship design, armament, building and propulsion.
In September 1835 she ran ashore in the Strait of Belle Isle. She was refloated and crossed the Atlantic rudderless and taking on water. In October she arrived in Portsmouth for repairs where a large rock, which had plugged the hole in her hull, was removed. This stone remains on display in the Porter's Garden, Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.
Under the command of Captain Edward Boxer (3 August 1837 - August 1841), she sailed to North America, the West Indies and the Mediterranean, including operations on the coast of Syria, as part of the squadron led by HMS Cambridge, and including Zebra and Vesuvius.


Cannonballs lodged in the Acre city wall, being fired by Pique during a bombardment in 1840.
In 1840 Pique saw service in the bombardment of the city of Acre under the command of Admiral Robert Stopford. For the engagement, Pique was assigned to the far northern end of the line, north-northeast of the much larger HMS Waterloo and at a greater distance from the city than the rest of Stopford's fleet. Despite this unfavourable position, accurate gunnery enabled Pique to score several hits on the town. In 2012 renovation works along Acre's city wall uncovered three cannonballs fired by Pique during the battle, the shots having struck within three metres of each other and embedded in the wall at depths of up to 65 centimetres.
Between 1841 and 1846 Pique served on the North America and West Indies Station. With HMS Blake, in 1845 she acted as a cable ship for experiments in laying telegraph cable in Portsmouth Harbour. From 26 December 1853 she was commanded by Captain Frederick Nicolson on the Pacific Station, and participated in the 1854 Anglo-French squadron sent to the Russian War and Second Anglo-Chinese War). She was present at the Siege of Petropavlovsk.
From 1872 she was a receiving ship, and from 1882 rented as a hospital hulk to Plymouth Borough Council to quarantine sailors who fell victim to a cholera epidemic.
Pique was sold for scrap on 12 July 1910, raising £2,300

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Castor_(1832)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Pique_(1834)


1853 – Admiral Despointes formally takes possession of New Caledonia in the name of France.

Auguste Febvrier-Despointes (1796 – 5 March 1855) was a French counter admiral. He served as the first commandant of New Caledonia from 24 September 1853 to 1 January 1854.

Admiral_Febvrier_des_Pointes_1796_1855.jpg

Despointes entered the French Navy school at Brest in September 1811 and in 1844 married Anne Élisabeth Papin-Thévigné. He was promoted to commander on 10 December 1850 and contre-amiral on 2 April 1851, he became major general of the fleet at Brest and then, in 1852, rose to commander of France's naval division in Oceania and the west American coast. He officially took possession of New Caledonia in the name of France on 24 September 1853 before taking part in the far eastern theatre of the Crimean War in 1854, including the siege of Petropavlovsk. He then fell ill, dying on board his ship in 1855; his body was returned to France in 1856.

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


1864 - The steam tug USS Fuchsia and the sidewheel steamer USS Thomas Freeborn conduct a raid against a boat works above Milford Haven, Va., on Stutts Creek. Some three miles upstream a force of 40 sailors land, destroying four Confederate boats, capturing five, and demolishing a fishery.

USS Fuchsia (1863) was a steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries.
Fuchsia, a steam tug, was built in 1863 by Fincourt, New York City; purchased by the Navy 16 June 1863; and commissioned in August 1863, Acting Master W. T. Street in command.

USS_Fuschia.jpg

USS Thomas Freeborn was a steam tug acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War.
Thomas Freeborn was used by the Navy as a gunboat to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries.

USS_Thomas_Freeborn_at_Matthias_Point.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Fuchsia_(1863)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Thomas_Freeborn


1930 – Launch of Borinquen, passenger liner

SS Borinquen was a passenger liner which was built in the United States in 1931. After being requisitioned for troop transport service by the United States Army for World War II and continued service post war the ship was sold in 1949 and became the Arosa Star. After further sales and change in the cruise ship regulations the ship was again sold and grounded as La Jenelle on the California coast in 1970.

'Borinquen',_Puerto_Rico_(8365169914).jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borinquen_(1931)


1939 – Launch of RMS Andes, passenger ship for Royal Mail

RMS Andes was a 26,689 GRT steam turbine Royal Mail Ship, ocean liner, cruise ship, and the flagship of the Royal Mail Lines fleet. She was the second Royal Mail ship to be named after the South American Andes mountain range. The first RMS Andes was an A-class liner launched in 1913. In 1929 that RMS Andes was converted into a cruise ship and renamed Atlantis.

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The second Andes was built in Belfast in 1937–39 and completed at the outbreak of the Second World War. The Admiralty almost immediately requisitioned her as a troop ship and had her converted to carry about 4,000 troops. In troop service she broke three speed records for long-distance voyages.
Andes was converted back into a civilian liner in 1947. She entered civilian service in 1948 on RMSP's premier liner route between Southampton, Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. For seven years she worked the route full-time, but from 1955 the frequency of her liner voyages decreased and she spent an increasing proportion of her time cruising. In 1959–60 she was converted at Flushing, Netherlands into a full-time cruise ship. She was scrapped at Ghent in 1971.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Andes_(1939)


1944 - Noshiro Maru was a Nippon Yusen Kaisen (NYK) Liner wrecked

Noshiro Maru was a Nippon Yusen Kaisen (NYK) Liner completed in 1934 and requisitioned by the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) in 1937 to transport troops to China following the Marco Polo Bridge Incident. She was later returned to civilian service before being converted to an armed merchant cruiser by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in 1941. She was bombed twice and torpedoed twice as a World War II troopship before being abandoned at Manila in 1944.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noshiro_Maru
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
25 September 1732 - Re-Launch of HMS Marlborough, ex HMS St.Michael (Saint Michael)


HMS St Michael was a 90-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by John Tippetts of Portsmouth Dockyard and launched in 1669.

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Port quarter view of the ‘Marlborough’ flying the British Ensign at her stern. Pen and ink drawing with wash. Inscribed faintly on verso: ‘Marlbrough (sic) No 6’ and below this ‘5’. Written over the figures in darker pencil: ’74 guns / commanded by Sir John Bentley 1744 / Of which this drawing is a correct Portrait taken at the time of Sir John’s command / by his clerk.’ ‘Portrait’ is written over ‘copy’.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/112645.html#kIFFLRc7emgKghyf.99


St Michael was rebuilt at Blackwall Yard in 1706, at which time she was also renamed HMS Marlborough. On 5 April 1725 Marlborough was ordered to be taken to pieces and rebuilt at Chatham. She was relaunched on 25 September 1732.

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Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines (one waterline) with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth for Marlborough (1732), a 1719 Establishment 90-gun Second Rate, three-decker.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/80280.html#qyY2d1Vzh45keP5D.99



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Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines (one waterline) with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth for Marlborough (1732), a 1719 Establishment 90-gun Second Rate, three-decker.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/80280.html#qyY2d1Vzh45keP5D.99


Marlborough was reduced to a 68-gun ship in 1752. Whilst making her way back to Britain after participating in the reduction of Havana in 1762, Marlborough was caught in very heavy weather. On 29 November her crew were forced to abandon the ship, which was sinking. All of Marlborough'screw were taken off by HMS Antelope.

British Second Rate ship of the line 'Saint Michael' (1669) (90)

Dimension - Measurement - Type - Metric Equivalent
Length of Keel - 125' 0"Imperial Feet - 38.1
Breadth - 40' 8 ½"Imperial Feet - 12.2047
Depth in Hold - 17' 5"Imperial Feet - 5.1997
Burthen - 1,101 Tons BM

Ordered - 26.10.1664
Launched - 30.9.1669

30.9.1669 - Launched as a Second Rate
10.1669 - Completed at Portsmouth Dockyard at a cost of £15630.0.0d
1672 - Reclassed as a First Rate
13.3.1671/72 - Battle of Smyrna Convoy
28.5.1672 - Battle of Solebay
28.5.1673 - First Battle of Schooneveld
4.6.1673 - Second Battle of Schooneveld
11.8.1673 - Battle of Texel
1678 - In the Channel
31.12.1689 - Reclassed as a Second Rate
19.5.1692 - Battle of Barfleur
10.1694 - Sailed for the Mediterranean
1696 - In the Channel
1697 - At Portsmouth
21.11.1705 - Paid off
18.12.1706 - Began braeking up at Blackwall to be rebuilt

Broken Up to Rebuild - 18.12.1706
Becomes - British Second Rate ship of the line 'Marlborough' (1706) (90)

British Second Rate ship of the line 'Marlborough' (1732) (90)

Dimension - Measurement - Type - Metric Equivalent
Length of Gundeck - 162' 8"Imperial Feet - 49.3809
Length of Keel - 132' 6"Imperial Feet - 40.2384
Breadth - 47' 4"Imperial Feet - 14.3401
Depth in Hold - 18' 6"Imperial Feet - 5.5055
Burthen - 1,579 3⁄94 Tons BM

Ordered - 6.4.1725
Keel Laid Down - 1.9.1725
Launched - 25.9.1732
First Commissioned - 2.2.1740/41
1741 - Began fitting at Chatham Dockyard
7.1741 - Completed at Chatham Dockyard at a cost of £28126.14.11d
7.1741 - Completed fitting at Chatham Dockyard at a cost of £10319.11.1d

Dimension - Measurement - Type - Metric Equivalent
Length of Gundeck - 164' 0"Imperial Feet - 49.9872
Length of Keel - 132' 5"Imperial Feet - 40.2376
Breadth - 47' 2"Imperial Feet - 14.3329
Depth in Hold - 18' 10"Imperial Feet - 5.4864
Burthen - 1,566 89⁄94 Tons BM

11.10.1741 - Sailed for the Mediterranean
11.2.1743/44 - Battle of Toulon
13.6.1746 - Paid off

Previously - British Second Rate ship of the line 'Marlborough' (1732) (90)
British Third Rate ship of the line 'Marlborough' (1756)

Dimension - Measurement - Type - Metric Equivalent
Length of Gundeck - 164' 0"Imperial Feet - 49.9872
Length of Keel - 132' 5"Imperial Feet - 40.2376
Breadth - 47' 2"Imperial Feet - 14.3329
Depth in Hold - 18' 10"Imperial Feet - 5.4864
Burthen - 1,566 89⁄94

Ordered - 6.12.1752
Keel Laid Down - 11.1753
Launched - 6.1756

6.1759 - At Jamaica
8.1760 - Began small repair at Portsmouth Dockyard
9.1760 - Paid off
12.1760 - Refitted as a 68 gun Third Rate
3.1761 - Completed small repair at Portsmouth Dockyard at a cost of £8885.18.5d
18.10.1761 - Sailed for the Leeward islands
6.6.1762 - Operations against Havanna
11.6.1762 - Siege of El Morro
29.11.1762 - Foundered in the Atlantic on the voyage home, all crew saved


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_St_Michael_(1669)
Data from Three decks
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
25 September 1759 - Launch of HMS Niger, the leadship of the 32-gun Niger-class frigates


HMS Niger was a 32-gun Niger-class fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy.

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HMS Niger was a 12pdr armed 32 gun 5th rate frigate, built at the Royal Dockyard, Sheerness. She was the lead ship of a class of ten sailing frigates designed by Britain's top naval architect of the time, Thomas Slade. Slade is more famous now for having designed HMS Victory. Of the ten Niger Class frigates, seven were built in Kent shipyards and HMS Niger was the first of three ships of the class to be built at the Sheerness Royal Dockyard.

The 12pdr armed 32 gun frigate was, along with the smaller, 9pdr armed 28 gun 6th rate frigate, the main type of frigate in service with the Royal Navy until the early 1790s, when they began to be superseded by much larger frigates mounting 18pdr guns. Despite their advancing age and obsolescence in the face of new larger and more powerful frigates, some of the older frigates went on to have very long active service careers and this included HMS Niger.

HMS Niger was ordered from the Sheerness Royal Dockyard by the Navy Board on Monday 19th September 1757. At the time, the Seven Years War had been officially ongoing for about a year, although it had actually started in 1754 in North America as a territorial dispute between British and French colonists. From a colonial brushfire, the war had escalated by 1756 into what is now regarded as being the first real World War in the proper sense of the phrase.

Once the 1/48 scale draft had been expanded into full size drawings in chalk on a mould loft floor and those drawings had been used to build moulds used to mark and cut out the full-sized timbers, HMS Niger's first keel section was laid on the slipway at Sheerness on Tuesday 7th February 1758. The construction project was overseen by Mr Joseph Harris, Master Shipwright in the Kings Dockyard at Sheerness. Harris had first been appointed Master Shipwright at Sheerness on 19th December 1755. After completing HMS Niger, Harris was to supervise the construction of another Niger Class frigate, HMS Montreal, before promotion took him to the position of Master Shipwright at Deptford Royal Dockyard in 1761. He ended his career in the position of Master Shipwright at Chatham Royal Dockyard, where his first project was another Niger Class frigate, HMS Aurora.

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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.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/82884.html#YR1oaXTTTHmLvT80.99

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The ship was launched into the Swale on Tuesday 25th September 1759. After launch, she was fitted with her guns, masts and rigging at Sheerness before being commissioned under Captain John Bentinck in October 1759. Captain Bentinck had first held a command in May of 1758 when he had been appointed to command the small ketch HMS Fly of 8 guns. Promoted to Captain in October 1758, his command prior to HMS Niger had been the 44 gun two-decker HMS Dover. On completion, HMS Niger was a ship of 679 tons. She was 125ft long at the gun deck and 103ft 4in long at the keel. She was 35ft 2in wide across her beams and her hold (the space between the Orlop, the lowest deck and the bottom of the ship) was 12ft deep. The ship drew 8ft 5in of water at the bow and 13ft 9in at the rudder when fully laden. She was armed with 26 12pdr long guns on her gun deck, 4 6pdr long guns on her quarterdeck and 2 6pdr long guns on her forecastle. She was also fitted with 12 half-pounder swivel guns attached to the handrails around her upper decks and in her fighting tops. She was manned by a crew of 220 officers, men, Royal Marines and boys. By the time she was complete, HMS Niger had cost £11,254.4s.8d.

from: http://www.kenthistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=18266.0

Class and type: Niger-class fifth rate frigate
Tons burthen: 679 67⁄94 bm
Length:
Beam: 35 ft 2 in (10.72 m)
Depth of hold: 12 ft (3.7 m)
Sail plan: Full rigged ship
Complement: 220
Armament:
  • As built
    • Upper gundeck: 26 × 12-pounder guns
    • QD: 4 × 6-pounder guns
    • Fc: 2 × 6-pounder guns
    • 12 x ½pdr swivels
  • After 1794
    • Upper gundeck: 26 × 12-pounder guns
    • QD: 4 × 6-pounder guns + 4 × 24-pounder carronades
    • Fc: 2 × 6-pounder guns + 2 × 24-pounder carronades

Service:
In 1766, under the command of Sir Thomas Adams, Niger travelled to Newfoundland and Labrador. Also on board were Constantine Phipps, and the English botanist Joseph Banks. The purpose of the journey was to transport a party of mariners to Chateau Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador to build a fort, to continue strengthening relations with the native population, and to survey some of the coast of Newfoundland.

For Neufundland
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Scale: 1:96. Plan showing the upper deck, lower deck, and fore & aft platforms for Niger (1759), a 32-gun, Fifth Rate Frigate, as fitted/taken off? at Portsmouth Dockyard after returning from Newfoundland. Signed by Thomas Bucknall [Master Shipwright, Portsmouth Dockyard, 1762-1772].
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/82894.html#OYCUfsXx6vfaPUrZ.99


Banks collected many species of plants and animals during that journey, including many which were previously unknown or undescribed by Europeans. In 1766 Banks met James Cook briefly in St. John's, Newfoundland, through their mutual friend Thomas Adams. This meeting would lead to Banks joining Cook on his first circumnavigation from 1769 to 1771.

For Jamaica
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Scale: 1:96. Plan showing the upper deck, lower deck, and fore & aft platforms for Niger (1759), a 32-gun, Fifth Rate Frigate, as taken off/fitted? prior to sailing for Jamaica. Signed by John Henslow [Master Shipwright, Plymouth Dockyard, 1775-1784].
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/82895.html#pVxRexC9ltGaY8YU.99

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

The Navy converted Niger to a prison hospital ship in May 1809, and renamed her Negro in 1813. She was sold in 1814.


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Scale: 1:48. A contemporary full hull model of the ‘Winchelsea’ (circa 1764) a frigate of 32 guns. The model is partially decked, fully planked on the starboard side, with exposed frames on the port side. This model is one of several commissioned by Lord Sandwich, First Lord of the Admiralty, to encourage George III’s and the Prince of Wales’s interest in the navy. Not surprisingly for a royal commission, the workmanship is of the highest standard. Because of the high profile of the project, it has been possible to establish by research through the state papers and Admiralty records that a Mr Burrough was paid for the ‘carved work’, and that the model was built at Woolwich Dockyard. J. Williams built the ‘Winchelsea’ at Sheerness to the designs of Sir Thomas Slade, who also designed Nelson’s ‘Victory’. It measured 125 feet along the gun deck by 35 feet in the beam and was 680 tons burden. After a fairly quiet career in the Mediterranean, West Indies and Newfoundland, the ‘Winchelsea’ became a convalescent ship at Chatham in 1803, before being sold in 1815.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/66277.html#Gky16EPXiJPwp8At.99

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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.

Ships in class
  • HMS Stag
  • She was ordered during the Seven Years' War, and saw service during that conflict and also during the American War of Independence.
    • Ordered: 19 September 1757
    • Built by: Thomas Stanton & Company, Rotherhithe.
    • Keel laid: 26 September 1757
    • Launched: 4 September 1758
    • Completed: 4 December 1758 at Deptford Dockyard.
    • Fate: Taken to pieces at Deptford Dockyard in July 1783.
  • Alarm
  • Copper-sheathed in 1761, she was the first ship in the Royal Navy to have a fully copper-sheathed hull.[1][2]
    • Ordered: 19 September 1757
    • Built by: John Barnard & John Turner, Harwich.
    • Keel laid: 26 September 1757
    • Launched: 19 September 1758
    • Completed: 24 June 1759 at the builder's shipyard.
    • Fate: Taken to pieces at Portsmouth Dockyard in September 1812.
  • HMS Aeolus
    • Ordered: 19 September 1757
    • Built by: Thomas West, Deptford.
    • Keel laid: September 1757
    • Launched: 29 November 1758
    • Completed: 18 January 1759 at Deptford Dockyard.
    • Fate: Renamed Guernsey on 7 May 1800. Taken to pieces at Sheerness Dockyard in April 1801.
  • HMS Niger
    • Ordered: 19 September 1757
    • Built by: Sheerness Dockyard.
    • Keel laid: 7 February 1758
    • Launched: 25 September 1759
    • Completed: 24 November 1759.
    • Fate: Renamed Negro 1813. Sold at Portsmouth Dockyard on 29 September 1814.
  • HMS Montreal
  • She was launched in 1761 and served in the Seven Years' War and the American War of Independence. The French captured her in 1779 and she then served with them under the name Montréal. An Anglo-Spanish force destroyed her during the occupation of Toulon early in the French Revolutionary Wars.
    • Ordered: 6 June 1759
    • Built by: Sheerness Dockyard.
    • Keel laid: 26 April 1760
    • Launched: 15 September 1761
    • Completed: 10 October 1761.
    • Fate: Captured by French squadron off Gibraltar on 1 May 1779.
  • HMS Quebec
    • Ordered: 16 July 1759
    • Built by: John Barnard & John Turner, Harwich.
    • Keel laid: July 1759
    • Launched: 14 July 1760
    • Completed: 9 August 1760 at the builder's shipyard.
    • Fate: Blew up and sunk in action against French frigate La Surveillante off Ushant on 6 October 1779.
  • HMS Pearl
  • Launched at Chatham Dockyard in 1762, she served in British North America until January 1773, when she sailed to England for repairs. Returning to North America in March 1776, to fight in the American Revolutionary War, Pearl escorted the transports which landed troops in Kip's Bay that September. Towards the end of 1777, she joined Richard Howe's fleet in Narragansett Bay and was still there when the French fleet arrived and began an attack on British positions. Both fleets were forced to retire due to bad weather and the action was inconclusive. Pearlwas then dispatched to keep an eye on the French fleet, which had been driven into Boston.
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HMS Pearl and Santa Monica, Azores, September 1779. La Santa Monica had been built at Cartagena during 1777.

  • Pearl was present when the British captured the island of St Lucia in December 1778 and was chosen to carry news of the victory to England, capturing the 28-gun frigate Santa Monica off the Azores on her return journey. Pearl joined Admiral Marriot Arbuthnot's squadron in July 1780, capturing the 28-gun frigate Esperance while stationed off Bermuda in September and, in the following March, took part in the first battle of Virginia Capes, where she had responsibility for relaying signals. At the end of the war in 1782, Pearl returned to England where she underwent extensive repairs and did not serve again until 1786, when she was recommissioned for the Mediterranean.

    Taken out of service in 1792, Pearl was recalled in February 1793, when hostilities resumed between Britain and France. On her return to America, she narrowly escaped capture by a French squadron anchored between the Îles de Los and put into Sierra Leone for repairs following the engagement. In 1799, Pearl joined George Elphinstone's fleet in the Mediterranean where she took part in the Battle of Alexandria in 1801. In 1802, she sailed to Portsmouth where she served as a slop ship and a receiving ship before being sold in 1832.

    • Ordered: 24 March 1761
    • Built by: Chatham Dockyard.
    • Keel laid: 6 May 1761
    • Launched: 27 March 1762
    • Completed: 14 May 1762.
    • Fate: Renamed Prothee 19 March 1825. Sold at Portsmouth Dockyard on 14 January 1832.
  • HMS Emerald
    • Ordered: 24 March 1761
    • Built by: Hugh Blaydes, Hull.
    • Keel laid: 13 May 1761
    • Launched: 8 June 1762
    • Completed: October 1762 at the builder's shipyard.
    • Fate: Taken to pieces at Deptford Dockyard in October 1793.
  • HMS Winchelsea
  • She was ordered during the Seven Years' War, but completed too late for that conflict. She cost £11,515-18-0d to build.
    • Ordered: 11 August 1761
    • Built by: Sheerness Dockyard.
    • Keel laid: 29 March 1762
    • Launched: 31 May 1764
    • Completed: 26 June 1766.
    • Fate: Sold at Sheerness Dockyard on 3 November 1813.
  • HMS Glory
    • Ordered: 30 January 1762
    • Built by: Hugh Blaydes & Thomas Hodgson, Hull.
    • Keel laid: March 1762
    • Launched: 24 October 1763
    • Completed: December 1763 at the builder's shipyard.
    • Fate: Taken to pieces at Woolwich Dockyard in January 1786.
  • HMS Aurora
    • Ordered: 8 December 1762
    • Built by: Chatham Dockyard.
    • Keel laid: 10 October 1763
    • Launched: 13 January 1766
    • Completed: 24 July 1769.
    • Fate: Lost with all hands in the Indian Ocean (disappeared, fate unknown) in January 1770.




http://www.kenthistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=18266.0
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Niger_(1759)
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=N;start=10
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
25 September 1779 - Bonhomme Richard sinks two days after the Battle of Flamborough Head


Bonhomme Richard, formerly Duc de Duras, was a warship in the Continental Navy. She was originally an East Indiaman, a merchant ship built in France for the French East India Company in 1765, for service between France and the Orient. She was placed at the disposal of John Paul Jones on 4 February 1779, by King Louis XVI of France as a result of a loan to the United States by French shipping magnate, Jacques-Donatien Le Ray.

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Reconstruction by Jean Boudriot

Origin
Bonhomme Richard was originally an East Indiaman named Duc de Duras, a merchant ship built at Lorient according to the plan drawn up by the King's Master Shipwright Antoine Groignard for the French East India Company in 1765. Her design allowed her to be quickly transformed into a man-of-war in case of necessity to support the navy. She made two voyages to China, the first in 1766 and the second in 1769. At her return the French East India Company had been dissolved, and all its installations and ships transferred to the French Navy. As a naval ship she made a voyage to Isle de France before being sold to private shipowners in 1771. She sailed in private service until she was purchased by King Louis XVI of France in early 1779 and placed under the command of John Paul Jones on 4 February. The size and armament of Duc de Durasmade her roughly equivalent to half of a 64-gun ship of the line.

Jones renamed her Bon Homme Richard (usually rendered in more correct French as Bonhomme Richard) in honor of Benjamin Franklin, the American Commissioner at Paris whose Poor Richard's Almanac was published in France under the title Les Maximes du Bonhomme Richard.

First patrols
On 19 June 1779, Bonhomme Richard sailed from Lorient accompanied by USS Alliance, Pallas, Vengeance, and Cerf with troop transports and merchant vessels under convoy to Bordeaux and to cruise against the British in the Bay of Biscay. Forced to return to port for repair, the squadron sailed again 14 August 1779. It went northwest around the west coast of the British Isles into the North Sea and then down the east coast. The squadron took 16 merchant vessels as prizes.

Battle of Flamborough Head
Further information: Battle of Flamborough Head

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Figure 1: Painting of the Bonhomme Richard by artist Geoff Hunt. The painting depicts Bonhomme Richard, commanded by Continental Navy Captain John Paul Jones, probably just before her famous duel with the British warship HMS Serapis, commanded by Royal Navy Captain Richard Pearson, off Flamborough Head, England, on 23 September 1779. Click on photograph for larger image. You can see other works of art by Geoff Hunt here:http://www.brooksartprints.com/Huntlist.html

On 23 September 1779, the squadron encountered the Baltic Fleet of 41 sail under convoy of HMS Serapis and HM hired armed vessel Countess of Scarborough near Flamborough Head. Bonhomme Richard and Serapis entered a bitter engagement at about 6:00 p.m. The battle continued for the next four hours, costing the lives of nearly half of the American and British crews. British victory seemed inevitable, as the more heavily armed Serapis used its firepower to rake Bonhomme Richard with devastating effect. The commander of Serapis finally called on Jones to surrender. He replied, "Sir, I have not yet begun to fight!" Jones eventually managed to lash the ships together, nullifying his opponent's greater maneuverability and allowing him to take advantage of the larger size and considerably more numerous crew of Bonhomme Richard. An attempt by the Americans to board Serapis was repulsed, as was an attempt by the British to board Bonhomme Richard. Finally, after another of Jones's ships joined the fight, the British captain was forced to surrender at about 10:30 p.m. Bonhomme Richard – shattered, on fire, leaking badly – defied all efforts to save her and sank about 36 hours later at 11:00 a.m. on 25 September 1779. Jones sailed the captured Serapis to the Dutch United Provinces for repairs.

Though Bonhomme Richard sank after the battle, the battle's outcome was one of the factors that convinced the French crown to back the colonies in their fight to become independent of British authority.

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Battle between Continental ship Bonhomme Richard and HMS Serapis, 23 September 1779. Oil on canvas, 21" x 28," by Thomas Mitchell (1735-1790), signed and dated by the artist, 1780. It depicts Bonhomme Richard (center), commanded by Continental Navy Captain John Paul Jones, closely engaged with HMS Serapis, commanded by Royal Navy Captain Richard Pearson, off Flamborough Head, England. Firing at right is the Continental frigate Alliance, while at left the British Countess of Scarborough is engaging the American Pallas.The original painting is in the US Naval Academy Museum, Annapolis, Maryland. It was donated by the US Naval Institute in 1949. Official US Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.

Search for the wreck
Bonhomme Richard's final resting location is the subject of much speculation. A number of unsuccessful efforts have been conducted to locate the wreck. The location is presumed to be in approximately 180 feet (55 m) of water off Flamborough Head, Yorkshire, a headland near where her final battle took place. The quantity of other wrecks in the area and a century of fishing trawler operations have complicated all searches.

One season's attempts to locate and retrieve the ship, or some artifacts from her, using USNS Grasp were filmed for the Discovery Channel's Mighty Ships series in 2011. The U.S. Navy's mission was unsuccessful.




Our member @Olivers Historic Shipyard started recently a building log of the Bonhomme Richard based on the ancre monographie of Jean Bourdriot
https://www.shipsofscale.com/sosforums/index.php?threads/bonhomme-richard-1-48.2429/

A planset review of this monographie you can find here:
https://www.shipsofscale.com/sosfor...attle-with-hms-serapis-by-jean-boudriot.2169/

The planset published by ancre:
https://ancre.fr/en/monograph/54-monographie-du-bonhomme-richard-1779.html

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This book deals with a vessel belonging to the early navy of the United States of America. The ship won fame during the American Revolutionary War under the command of the famous captain John Paul Jones. A former East India Company 900-ton ship, it was repurchased by Louis XVI in order for John Paul Jones to take its command.
Le Bonhomme Richard (whose name is an homage to Benjamin Franklin 's Poor Richard's Almanack) headed up a division in a very bold privateer campaign on the English coasts. This campaign ended in a violent and spectacular fight against the English vessel SERAPIS and its capture in September 1779.
The goal of this monograph is a reconstruction of Le Bonhomme Richard in its most genuine form. Jean Boudriot was the only person capable of doing so, with his intricate knowledge of the East India Company's navy. He presents here a vessel built in France but sailing under the Stars and Stripes, thus furthering our knowledge of the French navy at the time of the American Revolutionary War.

CONTENTS OF THE MONOGRAPH
A 64-page brochure, 24x31cm format, including :

- John Paul Jones, US NAVY vessel captain
- The battle of Cape Flaniborough
- Remarks on reconstructing Le Bonhomme Richard
- Commentaries on the plates
- Rigging rules
- Guns
- Note on metal works
- Marks and flags, paint
- Presentations of models
- The designs are intended to facilitate construction of the framework.

Set of 26 plates at 1:48 scale
(except plates 24, 25 and 26 at 1:64 scale) including :

- Frame, waterlines, sections
- Wooded frame ; structure
- Layout of the structure of the hull, drawing of all frames at 1:48 scale
- Design of decks
- Cross and longitudinal sections
- Ship's boat, anchors, guns
- Fittings
- Masts and spars, rigging, sails
- Definition of the hull at 1:64 scale


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Bonhomme_Richard_(1765)
http://navalwarfare.blogspot.com/2012/03/bonhomme-richard.html
 

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
25 September 1786 - Launch of HMS Theseus, a 74 gun Culloden-class Ship of the line


HMS Theseus was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy.
One of the eight Culloden class ships designed by Thomas Slade, she was built at Perry, Blackwall Yard, London and launched on 25 September 1786

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A port-broadside view of the Theseus in the foreground, connected to its ship’s boat on the right, shown with the blockading squadron at Cadiz in 1797, all anchored. In the far-left distance is a vessel shown in stern view. The port of Cadiz features in the right background with several large vessels nearby. In the left foreground is a small ship’s boat, tied to supposedly another vessel outside of the picture plane. Below is signed and dated ‘T Buttersworth 1800’. The waters are characterised with evenly-spaced tides and a partial reflection of the Theseus.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/149451.html#VsXGqs1pIq2YlrAb.99


Service
Theseus was the flagship of Rear Admiral Horatio Nelson's fleet for the 1797 Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Day to day command was vested in her flag captain Ralph Willett Miller. The British were soundly defeated and Nelson was wounded by a musket ball while aboard the Theseus, precipitating the amputation of his right arm.

Despite the defeat, morale and good order were retained aboard the ship. In August 1797 ship's surgeon Robert Tainsh reported a mere nine cases of illness aboard, with little incidence of scurvy and a ready supply of antiscorbutics. An outbreak of ulcers was attributed to the overuse of salted provisions and addressed by Miller's insistence on ensuring a supply of onions and lemons as part of daily rations. Also with Miller's approval, the lower deck ports were periodically washed with nitrous acid to reduce the risk of mould, windsails were installed to encourage a flow of fresh air below decks and the crew's hammocks were ordered to be aired three times a week.

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Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plans, sheer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth for 'Theseus' (1786), a 74-gun Third Rate, two-decker. Note the alteration in the position of the foremast.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/81156.html#Gfr0LmAsoMbCQQBL.99

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Scale 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth for 'Thunderer' (1783), 'Terrible' (1785), 'Venerable' (1784), 'Victorious' (1785), 'Theseus' (1786), 'Ramillies' (1785), and 'Hannibal' (1786), all 74-gun Third Rate, two-deckers. The plan also records alterations dated January 1813 for cutting down 74-gun Third Rates to Frigates, relating specifically to 'Majestic' (1785), 'Resolution' (1770), and 'Culloden' (1783), all 74-gun Third Rate, two-deckers. Only the 'Majestic' was cut down to a 58-gun Fourth Rate, as the other two were broken up in 1813.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/80760.html#5F6RDqtydOzGvVBd.99

Battle of the Nile
In 1798, Theseus took part in the decisive Battle of the Nile, under the command of Captain Ralph Willett Miller. The Royal Navy fleet was outnumbered, at least in firepower, by the French fleet, which boasted the 118-gun ship-of-the-line L'Orient, three 80-gun warships and nine of the popular 74-gun ships. The Royal Navy fleet in comparison had just thirteen 74-gun ships and one 50-gun fourth-rate.

During the battle Theseus, along with Goliath, assisted Alexander and Majestic, who were being attacked by a number of French warships. The French frigate Artemise surrendered to the British, with the crew setting fire to their ship to prevent it falling into the hands of the British. Two other French ships Heureux and Mercure ran aground and soon surrendered after a brief encounter with three British warships, one of which was Theseus.

The battle was a success for the Royal Navy, as well as for the career of Admiral Nelson. It cut supply lines to the French army in Egypt, whose wider objective was to threaten British India. The casualties were heavy; the French suffered over 1,700 killed, over 600 wounded and 3,000 captured. The British suffered 218 dead and 677 wounded. Nine French warships were captured and two destroyed. Two other French warships managed to escape. Theseus had five sailors killed and thirty wounded, included one officer and five Royal Marines.

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Scale: 1:24. Plan showing the plan and elevation of an iron tiller as fitted on Theseus (1786), a 74-gun, Third Rate, two-decker, at Sheerness Dockyard. NMM, Progress Book, volume 5, folio 616, states that 'Theseus' was at Sheerness Dockyard between 23 August 1787 and 28 June 1788, prior to moving to Chatham Dockyard to be fitted.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/86467.html#zhZF2eBDtuxSU1A5.99

Siege of Acre
Theseus played a less successful role in the 1799 Siege of Acre, under the command of Captain Ralph Willett Miller. On 13 May 1799 she reached the nearby port of Caesarea, and Miller ordered the ship readied for action in bombarding Acre the following morning. A large quantity of ammunition was brought to the deck for use by the ships guns, including more than 70 18-pound and 36-pound shells. At 9.30am on the 14th, the ammunition was accidentally ignited while the ship was under way. The resulting explosion set fire to the deck, mainmast and mizzen mast, and killed Miller and 25 other men. Another 45 crew members were injured.

Flames quickly spread between Theseus' decks, and a second detonation of ammunition stores destroyed the poop and quarterdecks and toppled the main mast over the starboard bow. A further ten men were killed before the fire was brought under control, leaving the ship unserviceable for the Acre campaign.

1024px-H.M.S._Theseus_Vice_Admiral_Dacres,_in_the_Hurricane_Plate_1.jpg
H.M.S. Theseus Vice Admiral Dacres, in the Hurricane which happened in Septr 1804, in the West Indies. Plate 1. One of four plates showing the 74-gun HMS Theseus caught in a hurricane off San Domingo between 4 and 11 September 1804. HMS Theseus and HMS Hercule were badly damaged in the hurricane, but eventually survived to reach Port Royal on 15 September.

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H.M.S. Theseus Vice Admiral Dacres, after a Hurricane which happened in Septr 1804, in the West Indies. Plate 4 (PAD6030)
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/110181.html#CvtLgzQukO7JZIrS.99

Later service
Four years later a refitted Theseus took part Blockade of Saint-Domingue in 1803, under Captain John Bligh. She also took part in the Battle of the Basque Roads in 1809. Lord Cochrane initiated a daring attack, led by fire ships and other explosive vessels, in an attempt to cause chaos among their target, an anchored French squadron. Many of the French ships were subsequently run aground due to the havoc that this attack caused. The enemy squadron would probably have been completely destroyed had the Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Lord Gambier, not hesitated over necessary decisions, such as to deploy the main fleet which instead lay in wait for their orders. Thus the remnants of the French escaped destruction.

Theseus was broken up at Chatham in 1814.


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

Ships
Builder: Deptford Dockyard
Ordered: 30 November 1769
Launched: 18 May 1776
Fate: Wrecked, 1781
Thunderer.jpg
HMS Thunderer (1783) in full sail

Builder: Wells, Rotherhithe
Ordered: 23 August 1781
Launched: 13 November 1783
Fate: Broken up, 1814
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The Battle of Camperdown, 11 October 1797 by Thomas Whitcombe, painted 1798, showing the British flagship Venerable (flying the Blue Ensign from her stern) engaged with the Dutch flagship Vrijheid.

Venerable_A1173.jpg
Loss of His Majesty's Ship Venerable... Shipwreck on the Night of 24 November 1804 on the Rocks in Torbay, by Robert Dodd

Builder: Perry, Wells & Green, Blackwall Yard
Ordered: 9 August 1781
Launched: 19 April 1784
Fate: Wrecked, 1804
Builder: Wells, Rotherhithe
Ordered: 13 December 1781
Launched: 28 March 1785
Fate: Broken up, 1836
Builder: Perry, Blackwall Yard
Ordered: 28 December 1781
Launched: 27 April 1785
Fate: Broken up, 1803
Builder: Randall, Rotherhithe
Ordered: 19 June 1782
Launched: 12 July 1785
Fate: Broken up, 1850
Algesiras.jpg
HMS Hannibal (left foreground) lies aground and dismasted at the Battle of Algeciras Bay.

Builder: Perry, Blackwall Yard
Ordered: 19 June 1782
Launched: 15 April 1786
Fate: Captured, 1801
Builder: Perry, Blackwall Yard
Ordered: 11 July 1780
Launched: 25 September 1786
Fate: Broken up, 1814


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Theseus_(1786)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culloden-class_ship_of_the_line
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...5;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=T;start=0
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
25 September 1794 – Launch of French Artémise, a 32-gun Magicienne class frigate of the French Navy in Toulon.
4 years earlier, on 26 September 1790 sistership Topaze was launched. All ships of this class were built in Toulon



The Artémise was a 32-gun Magicienne class frigate of the French Navy.

She was under construction in Toulon when the British seized the city in August 1793. They evacuated the city in December 1793, leaving her behind. The French named her Aurore on 24 July 1794, but then renamed her Artémise when they launched her on 25 September.

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A painting of an action in 1795, during the French Revolutionary Wars. Almost simultaneously the opposing French and British admirals in the Mediterranean, sent two frigates each to reconnoitre each other’s fleets. Early on the morning of 24 June they sighted each other off Minorca. The British ships were the ‘Dido’ and ‘Lowestoft’ and the French were the ‘Minerve’ and ‘Artemise’. Several hours later the ‘Minerve’ came into close action and attempted to board the ‘Dido’, and each were damaged. The ‘Lowestoft’ then took up the fight and within an hour all the ‘Minerve’s’ topmast went over the side. The ‘Lowestoft’ then engaged the second French frigate, leaving the two damaged ships to make repairs. After a time it became clear that the second French frigate, which had taken flight, had the edge on the ‘Lowestoft’ which was therefore recalled. On her return she placed herself across the stern of the French frigate and raked her, with the result that she struck some time later. She was the ‘Minerve’ a more powerful ship than either of the British frigates. The French ship which escaped was another powerful frigate, the ‘Artemise’. In the left foreground is the ‘Dido’ in action to starboard with the ‘Minerve’ whose bow shows starboard broadside view. The ‘Dido’s’ mizzen mast is shot away and the wreck of it is towing astern of her. She has a red ensign at the main. The ‘Minerve’s’ fore topgallant mast is shot through and hanging and her main mast is in the act of falling. In the right background is the ‘Lowestoft’ port quarter view in action to starboard with the ‘Artemis’, also port quarter view.

At the Action of 24 June 1795, along with the 40-gun Minerve, she took part in an action against HMS Dido and HMS Lowestoffe, escaping while Minerve was captured. Her captain was relieved of his command for leaving Minerve.

In 1798, she took part in the Expedition of Egypt. During the Battle of the Nile on 2 August 1798 HMS Orion and HMS Theseus engaged her; outgunned, her crew set fire to her to prevent the British from capturing her.


HMS Topaze was a Royal Navy 32-gun frigate, originally completed in 1791 as a French Magicienne-class frigate.
In 1793 Lord Hood's fleet captured her at Toulon. The Royal Navy took her into service under her existing name. She was broken up in 1814.

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lines 38 guns, Fifth Rate. NMM, Progress Book, volume 5, folio 275 states that 'Topaze' (1793) arrived at Portsmouth Dockyard in December 1794 and was docked in July 1795 where her copper was replaced. She was launched on 16 July 1795 and sailed on 17 November having been fitted.

British service
French Revolutionary Wars

In August 1795, Topaze was commissioned under the command of Captain Stephen George Church. She sailed for Halifax in March 1796. On the morning of 28 August Topaze was part of a British squadron that was sitting becalmed about four leagues from Cape Henry when they spotted three strange vessels. Bermuda was the closest to them and signaled that they were enemy frigates. The British were not able to set out in pursuit until midday. Topaze was the first to catch the breeze and outdistanced her companions. She caught up with the laggard after about five and half hours. The French vessel fired a broadside and then surrendered. Assistance and Bermuda then took possession of the prize and accompanied her to Halifax while the rest of the squadron pursued, unsuccessfully, the other two French frigates. When Assistance took possession the French vessel she turned out to be the Elizabeth, of twenty-four 12-pounder and twelve 8-pounder (or 9-pounder) guns, and with a crew of 297 men. The Royal Navy did not purchase Elizabeth. She was an Indiaman, i.e., a merchant vessel, that the French government had bought and apparently was "an indifferent sailer".

In 1800 Topaze captured a few small prizes, one of them being the galliot Louisa, which came into Plymouth on 30 May. Topaze and Heureux sailed for the West Indies on 13 February 1801 as escorts to a large convoy. Church died in August in the West Indies, of a fever. In 1801 she came under the command of Captain Robert Honyman, who had come out to Jamaica on Garland during the summer. Honyman then sailed Topaze back to England, where she served on the Irish station.

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Napoleonic Wars
In April 1803 Topaze was commissioned under Captain Willoughby Lake. On 4 June Providence came into Plymouth. Topaze had captured her while she was sailing from Charlestown to Ostend with a cargo of rice and cotton. At the end of the month, 34 French fishing boats came into Portsmouth. They were prizes to Africaine and Topaze.

On 25 September 1804, Topaze encountered and captured the French letter of marque ship Minerve, of Bordeaux, which was sailing to Martinique. She was pierced for 18 guns, but carried only fourteen 9-pounders, and had a crew of 111 men.

Then some six months later, on 13 February 1805, Topaze captured and brought into Cork the ketch-rigged General Augereau, of Bayonne. General Augereau was armed with fourteen 12-pounder carronades, and had a crew of 88 men. She had been cruising 47 days but had taken no prizes. Apparently General Augereau was notorious for her past success, and particularly the capture of the West Indiaman, William Heathcote.

On 7 May 1805, Lake and Topaze captured the Spanish privateer Napoleon, of St. Sebastian. Napoleon was pierced for 20 cannon but was armed with ten 9-pounder guns and four 18-pounder carronades; she had a crew of 108 men. She was out of Bordeaux in the 57th day of her first cruise during which she had captured the letter of marque Westmoreland, of Liverpool, after a sharp action, and the brig Brunswick, which had been sailing from Honduras.

Then on 20 May, Topaze captured the Spanish privateer brig Fenix, also of St. Sebastian. Fenix armed with 14 guns and had a crew of 85 men. She was ten days out of Vigo and had taken no prizes.

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figurehead 38 guns, Fifth Rate. NMM, Progress Book, volume 5, folio 275 states that 'Topaze' (1793) arrived at Sheerness Dockyard on 20 September 1799 and was docked on 3 October. She was undocked on 14 October 1799 and sailed on 25 December 1799 having made good defects. Topaz later arrived at Portsmouth Dockyard on 19 October 1800 and sailed on 27 December 1800 having been refitted.

The French corvette Sylphe captured on 13 May 1805 a number of vessels in a convey that had left Cork on the 9th for Newfoundland. Topaze and Rosario each recaptured one.

By June 1806 Captain Anselm John Griffiths had taken command of Topaze on the Irish station. He sailed her to the Mediterranean on 8 January 1808.

In 1809 she joined the forces operating in the Adriatic campaign of 1807-1814. When the French despatched the frigates Danaé and Flore from Toulon to the Adriatic, Topaze and Kingfisher intercepted them on 12 March. Despite bringing the French to action, the British were unable to prevent them reaching Corfu and then sailing north to augment French defences in the Adriatic. Topaze sustained no casualties or meaningful damage.

On 31 May, off Demata, Albania, boats from Topaze attacked a French coastal convoy under the fortress of St. Maura. The boats captured:
  • xebec Joubert, armed with eight guns and six swivel guns, with a crew of 55 men under the command of Enseigne de Vaisseau Martin;
  • cutter Menteur, of four guns and 20 men, under the command of Enseigne de Vaisseau P. Gabriel;
  • felucca Esperance, of three guns and 18 men;
  • balancelle San Juan, of 18 tons;
  • trabaccolo San Nicolai, of 14 tons.
Her boats destroyed four vessels whose names were unknown:
  • gun-boat, of one gun and 16 men;
  • gun-boat, of one gun and 15 men;
  • trabaccolo, of 29 tons; and
  • trabaccolo, of 30 tons.
All the vessels, except Joubert, were carrying government-owned cargoes of timber and brandy for Corfu. The boat action took place under heavy fire with the result that Topaze lost one man killed and one man wounded.

After this action Captain Henry Hope took command of Topaze and operated off the coast of Spain. On October 1809, a squadron under Rear Admiral George Martin, of Collingwood's fleet, chased an enemy convoy off the south of France. They succeeded in driving two of the three escorting ships of the line, Robuste and Lion, ashore near Frontignan, where their crews burnt them after dismantling them and stripping them of all usable material. The crews of the third ship of the line, Borée, and the frigate Pauline escaped into Sète.

The transports that had been part of the convoy, including the armed storeship Lamproie, of 18 guns, two bombards (Victoire and Grondeur), and the xebec Normande, sailed into the Bay of Rosas where they hoped that the castle of Rosas, Fort Trinidad and several shore batteries would protect them. On 30 October Tigre, Cumberland, Volontaire, Apollo, Topaze, Philomel, Tuscan and Scout sent in their boats. By the following morning the British had accounted for all eleven vessels in the bay, burning those they did not bring out. Some of the British boats took heavy casualties; Topaze lost four men killed and eight men wounded. In January 1813, prize money was awarded to the British vessels that took part in the action for the capture of the ships of war Grondeur and Normande, and of the transports Dragon and Indien. A court declared Invincible a joint captor. Head money was also paid for the Grondeur and Normande and for the destruction of Lemproye and Victoire.

On 9 December Topaze rescued 100 men from the garrison at Marbella when it fell to the French.

On 21 June 1810, the boats of Alceste and Topaze captured two vessels in the bay of Martino in Corsica. A landing party captured a battery of three guns that protected the entrance to the bay. They were able to capture and render the guns unserviceable, and kill or wound a number of the garrison. The British lost one man killed and two wounded in the action.

On 24 August Topaze captured the Centinelle. Topaze was also involved in the Battle of Fuengirola in October 1810. On 11 October Hope and Topaze took Lord Blayney from Gibraltar to Ceuta. two days later they left, escorting a division of gunboats and some transports carrying artillery, a battalion of the 89th Regiment of Foot ("Blayney's Bloodhounds"), the Spanish Imperial Regiment of Toledo and some others to Fuengirola to attack a Polish garrison there. The battle proved a defeat for the Anglo-Spanish force and Blayney himself was captured.

In November 1810 Captain John Richard Lumley took command of Topaze. His successor was Captain Edward Harvey. He sailed Topaze off Corfu until December 1812 when he escorted a convoy back to Britain. Topaze was in poor condition when he paid her off in February 1812.

Fate
In 1812, HMS Topaze was laid up at Portsmouth, was sold on 1 September 1814 for £1,300, and broken up in 1814.


The Magicienne class was a type of twelve 32-gun frigates of the French Navy, each with a main battery of 26 x 12-pounder long guns, and with 6 x 6-pounders on the quarterdeck and forecastle. They were designed by Joseph-Marie-Blaise Coulomb.
All ships of this class were built in Toulon - so some kind of Serial-production

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Scale 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with sternboard decoration and name in a cartouche, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for Magicienne (1781), a captured French Frigate, as taken off prior to fitting as a 32-gun Fifth Rate Frigate at Chatham Dockyard. NMM, Progress Book, volume 5, folio 254, states that 'Magicienne' was docked at Chatham Dockyard on 30 October 1783 and coppered. She was undocked on 11 November 1783 and fitted for ordinary.

  • Magicienne

Battle_of_St_Domingo_PU5760-cropped.jpg
HMS Magicienne and HMS Acasta at the Battle of San Domingo.

Builder: Toulon
Ordered: 7 February 1777
Begun: March 1777
Launched: 1 August 1778
Completed: October 1778
Fate: captured by British Navy off Boston on 2 July 1781 and added to the British Navy as HMS Magicienne
  • Précieuse
Builder: Toulon
Ordered: 7 February 1777
Begun: March (or August?) 1777
Launched: 22 August 1778
Completed: November 1778
Fate: out of service in January 1804; broken up in July 1816.
  • Sérieuse
Builder: Toulon
Ordered: 28 August 1778
Begun: March 1779
Launched: 28 August 1779
Completed: October 1779
Fate: sunk at the Battle of Aboukir on 1 August 1798
  • Lutine
Builder: Toulon
Ordered: 23 October 1778
Begun: March 1779
Launched: 11 September 1779
Completed: November 1779
Fate: captured by British Navy in August 1793, and added to the British Navy as HMS Lutine - wrecked on 9 October 1799, her ship's bell was salvaged and still hangs in Lloyd's of London.
  • Vestale
Builder: Toulon
Ordered: 20 April 1780
Begun: May 1780
Launched: 14 October 1780
Completed: February 1781
Fate: captured by British Navy off Bordeaux on 19 August 1799.
  • Alceste
Builder: Toulon
Ordered: 20 April 1780
Begun: May 1780
Launched: 28 October 1780
Completed: February 1781
Fate: captured on 29 August 1793 by British Navy at Toulon (Alceste served in the Mediterranean until she was put in the reserved and disarmed in Toulon. The royalist insurrection found her there; the British, who supported the royalists, seized her and transferred her to the Kingdom of Sardinia before the conclusion of the Siege of Toulon), but retaken by the French Boudeuse on 8 June 1794, then captured again on 18 June 1799 by British Navy and commissioned her as HMS Alceste.
  • Iris
Builder: Toulon
Ordered:Begun: May 1781
Launched: 29 October 1781
Completed: March 1782
Fate: captured in August 1793 by British Navy at Toulon, but burnt on 18 December 1793 during the evacuation.
  • Réunion
1920px-HMS_Crescent,_capturing_the_French_frigate_Réunion_off_Cherbourg,_20th_October_1793.jpg
H.M.S. Crescent, under the command of Captain James Saumarez, capturing the French frigate Réunion off Cherbourg, 20 October 1793, att. John Christian Schetky

Builder: Toulon
Begun: February 1785
Launched: 23 February 1786
Completed: January 1787
Fate: captured by British Navy off Cherbourg on 18 October 1793, and added to the British Navy under name HMS Reunion .
  • Modeste
Capture_of_Modeste.jpg
Engraving by Nicolas Ozanne showing the capture of Modeste in the harbour of Genoa

Builder: Toulon
Begun: February 1785
Launched: 18 March 1786
Completed: January 1787
Fate: captured by British Navy at Genoa on 7 October 1793, and added to the British Navy as HMS Modeste .
  • Sensible
Seahorse_&_Sensible.jpg
Capture of La Sensible on 27 June 1798 by the frigate Sea Horse

Builder: Toulon
Ordered: 23 January 1786
Begun: February 1786
Launched: 29 August 1787
Completed: March 1788
Fate: captured by British Navy off Malta on 28 June 1798, and added to the British Navy as HMS Sensible .
  • Topaze
Builder: Toulon
Ordered: 14 March 1789
Begun: August 1789
Launched: 26 September 1790
Completed: February 1791
Fate: captured by British Navy at Toulon on 29 August 1793, and added to the British Navy as HMS Topaze .
  • Artémise
Builder: Toulon
Begun: end 1791
Launched: 25 September 1794
Completed: November 1794
Fate: sunk at the Battle of Aboukir on 2 August 1798



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Artémise_(1794)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Topaze_(1793)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magicienne-class_frigate
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-354768;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=T
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
25 September 1794 - Launch of French Romaine, lead ship of the Romaine-class frigates at Le Havre


The Romaine was the lead ship of the Romaine class frigate of the French Navy.

She took part in the Expédition d'Irlande and in the Battle of Tory Island.

She cruised to New York City in 1802, and was condemned in 1804. In 1805 she was converted to a troop ship but never sailed again, and she was eventually broken up in 1816.

1280px-Fight_of_the_Poursuivante_mp3h9427.jpg
French frigate Poursuivante (a sistership of Romaine), a detail of a larger canvas: Combat de la Poursuivante contre l'Hercule, 1803 ("Fight of the Poursuivante against the Hercule", 1803). Which shows the French frigate Poursuivante raking the British ship HMS Hercule, in the action of 28 June 1803.

The Romaine class was a class of nine frigates of the French Navy, designed in 1794 by Pierre-Alexandre Forfait. They were originally designated as "bomb-frigates" (Fr. frégate-bombarde) and were intended to carry a main armament of twenty 24-pounder guns and a 12-inch mortar mounted on a turntable in front of the mizzen mast. Experience quickly led to the mortars being removed (in most vessels they were never fitted), and the 24-pounders were replaced by 18-pounder guns. The ships also featured a shot furnace, but they proved impractical, dangerous to the ships themselves, and were later discarded.[4] A further eleven ships ordered to this design in 1794 were not built, or were completed to altered designs.

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

Vessels in class
Builder: Le Havre
Begun: March 1794
Launched: 25 September 1794
Completed: December 1794
Fate: Condemned 1804.
Builder: Lorient
Begun: May 1794
Launched: 7 January 1795
Completed: February 1795
Fate: Captured by the British Navy on 20 October 1798, becoming HMS Immortalite.

Capture_or_Immortalite_217052.JPG
Capture of Immortalité by HMS Fisgard, 20 October 1798
Builder: Lorient
Begun: May 1794
Launched: 12 March 1795
Completed: May 1795
Fate: Wrecked off Cape Clear on 29 December 1796.
Builder: Dieppe
Begun: March 1794
Launched: 20 May 1795
Completed: December 1795
Fate: Deleted 1815.

Incorruptible-m071201_0012558_p.jpg
Portrait of Incorruptible by Olivier Colin.
Builder: Dieppe
Begun: March 1794
Launched: 31 August 1795
Completed: December 1795
Fate: Deleted 1818 or 1819.
Builder: Le Havre
Begun: August 1794
Launched: 11 February 1796
Completed: January 1798
Fate: Captured by the British Navy on December 1805, but not added to the British Navy.
Builder: Le Havre
Begun: September 1794
Launched: 11 March 1796
Completed: January 1798
Fate: Converted to a breakwater 1808, taken to pieces 1810.
Builder: Dunkirk
Begun: February 1794
Launched: 23 April 1796
Completed: December 1798
Fate: Captured by the British Navy on 8 July 1800, becoming HMS Desiree.

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The plate represents the sloop 'Dart', commanded by Captain P. Campbell in the act of boarding and taking the French frigate 'La Desiree'. 'Dart' is in the centre of the picture. Inscribed: "Capture of La Desiree - July 7th 1800."
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/109789.html#vIcKjihDqcEQJOHg.99

Builder: Dunkirk
Begun: February or April 1794
Launched: 24 May 1796
Completed: April 1798
Fate: Condemned 1805, made a breakwater 1806 or 1807.

Twenty ships of this type were originally included in the shipbuilding programme placed between October 1794 and April 1794, but several appear not to have been begun.
Apart from the nine listed above,
a tenth vessel, Furieuse, was begun at Cherbourg in March 1795 to the same design but was completed as a vessel of Forfait's earlier Seine class.
An eleventh, Pallas (originally named Première) was begun at Saint-Malo in November 1795 to a much modified design;
a twelfth, Fatalité was also ordered in October 1793 at Saint-Malo, but was cancelled in 1796,
as was a further vessel, Nouvelle, ordered in 1794 at Lorient.
Another vessel, Guerrière, was begun at Cherbourg in 1796 to this design but was also completed to a modified design.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Romaine_(1794)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romaine-class_frigate
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
25 September 1806 - The Action of 25 September 1806


was a naval battle fought during the Napoleonic Wars off the French Biscay port of Rochefort. A French squadron comprising five frigates and two corvettes (Gloire (40), Indefatigable (44), Minerve (44), Armide (44) and Themis (36) and Lynx (18) and Sylphe (18)), sailing to the French West Indies with supplies and reinforcements, was intercepted by a British squadron of six ships of the line that was keeping a close blockade of the port as part of the Atlantic campaign of 1806 . The British ships, under the command of Commodore Sir Samuel Hood, spotted the French convoy early in the morning of 25 September, just a few hours after the French had left port, and immediately gave chase. Although the French ships tried to escape, they were heavily laden with troops and stores, and the strong winds favoured the larger ships of the line, which caught the French convoy after a five-hour pursuit, although they had become separated from one another during the chase.

390830.jpg

At 05:00 the leading British ship, HMS Monarch, was within range and opened fire on the French squadron, which divided. One frigate went north and was intercepted by HMS Mars, while another, accompanied by the two corvettes, turned south and managed to outrun HMS Windsor Castle. The main body of the French force remained together and met the attack of Monarch and the British flagship HMS Centaur with their broadsides. Although outnumbered and outclassed by the British squadron the French ships fought hard, inflicting damage on the leading British ships and severely wounding Commodore Hood. Eventually the strength of the British squadron told, and despite a fierce resistance the French ships surrendered one by one, the British capturing four of the seven vessels in the squadron.

Background
The principal naval campaign of 1806 was fought in the Atlantic Ocean, following a raid by two large French battle squadrons on British trade routes, focused particularly on the Caribbean. The security of the French Caribbean was under severe threat during the wars, as the Royal Navy dominated the region and restricted French movements both between the islands and between the West Indies and France itself. This dominance was enforced by rigorous blockade, in which British ships attempted to ensure that no French military or commercial vessel was able to enter or leave French harbours both in Europe and in the French colonies. In the Caribbean, this strategy was designed to destroy the economies and morale of the French West Indian territories in preparation for attack by British expeditionary forces. To counter this strategy, the French government repeatedly sent convoys and individual warships to the French Caribbean islands with supplies of food, military equipment and reinforcements. These resupply efforts ranged from small individual corvettes to large battle squadrons and were under orders to avoid conflict wherever possible. Despite these orders, many were intercepted by British blockade forces, either in the Caribbean or off the French coast itself.

The largest French resupply effort of the Napoleonic Wars was a squadron under Contre-Admiral Corentin-Urbain Leissègues, sent to Santo Domingo in December 1805 with troops and supplies. In conjunction with a second squadron under Vice-Admiral Jean-Baptiste Willaumez, this force was then ordered to raid British trade routes and disrupt the movement of British merchant shipping across the Atlantic. Leissègues reached Santo Domingo in February 1806, but within days a British battle squadron had intercepted and destroyed his force at the Battle of San Domingo. Willaumez was able to avoid attack by British forces during the spring of 1806, and cruised in the Caribbean during much of the summer, but his force was eventually dispersed by a hurricane in August and the survivors forced to shelter on the American Eastern Seaboard. Unaware of the dispersal of Willaumez's squadron, the British naval authorities sought to block its return to Europe by stationing strong battle squadrons off the principal French Atlantic ports. One of their most important targets was the city of Rochefort, heavily fortified port in which a powerful French naval force was based, and a squadron of six Royal Navy ships of the line was assigned to watch it in case Willaumez attempted to return there. In August, command of the blockade squadron was awarded to Commodore Sir Samuel Hood, a highly experience naval commander.

In Rochefort, an expedition was planned to carry supplies to the French West Indies while the British were distracted by Willaumez's operations. Assigned to the operation was Commodore Eleonore-Jean-Nicolas Soleil, an officer who had served on Allemand's expedition, a successful operation the year before. To carry the supplies and reinforcements, Soleil was provided with seven ships: Four large modern frigates rated at 40-guns but actually carrying 44–46, a smaller and older frigate of 36 guns and two small corvettes of 16 guns each. All of the ships were heavily laden, each carrying as many as 650 men, but it was hoped that their size and speed would allow them to defeat anything smaller than they were and to escape anything larger.

Battle
Soleil's squadron departed Rochefort on the evening of 24 September, aiming to bypass Hood's squadron in the dark. However at 01:00 on 25 September, with the wind coming from the northeast, lookouts on HMS Monarch spotted sails to the east. Hood's squadron was spread out, tacking southeast towards the Chassiron Lighthouse at Saint-Denis-d'Oléron with HMS Centaur in the centre, HMS Revenge to the east (or windward) and Monarch to the west. HMS Mars was also close by, with the rest of the squadron spread out in the rear. Hood's immediate reaction was that the sails must belong to a squadron of French ships of the line, and ordered his ships to form a line of battle in anticipation. Even as the signal was raised however, lookouts on Monarch identified the strangers as frigates and Hood abandoned his previous orders and raised a new signal ordering a general chase, confident that his ships could destroy the convoy even without the power and defensive capability of a line of battle.

As soon as Soleil realised that he had been spotted he gave orders for his ships to sail to the southwest as fast as possible, hoping to outdistance the British squadron. However his convoy were all heavily laden and were therefore slower than they would normally be, while the heavy swell and strong winds favoured the large ships of the line. The chase continued throughout the night, until by 04:00 Monarch was clearly gaining on the convoy, with Centaur 8 nautical miles (15 km) behind. At 05:00, Captain Richard Lee was close enough to fire his bow-chasers, small guns situated at the front of his ship, at the rearmost French frigate, the Armide. Captain Jean-Jacques-Jude Langlois returned the fire with his stern-chasers and the French ships raised the Tricolour in anticipation of battle.[10]Recognising that he was facing an overwhelming British force, Soleil split his ships, sending Thétis and the corvettes Lynx and Sylphe southwards and Infatigable to the north. This had limited success in achieving the desired effect of dividing the pursuit, with Captain William Lukin taking HMS Mars out of the British line in pursuit of Infatigable while the slow HMS Windsor Castle was sent after the three south bound ships, but the main body of the Royal Navy squadron remained on course.

At 10:00, Soleil accepted that his remaining ships would rapidly be overhauled by Monarch and drew them together, forming a compact group with which to receive the British attack. He also ordered his captains to focus their fire on the enemy sails, rigging and masts, hoping to inflict enough damage to delay the pursuit and allow his force to escape. Within minutes Monarch was heavily engaged with Armide and Minerve but Captain Lee found himself at a disadvantage: the heavy swell that had suited his ship during the chase also prevented him from opening his lower gunports in case of flooding. This halved his available cannon and as a result his isolated ship began to suffer severe damage to its rigging and sails from the frigates' gunnery. Within 20 minutes, Monarch was unable to manoeuvree, but Lee continued fighting until Centaur could reach the melee, the flagship opening fire at 11:00. Hood passed the battling Monarch and Minerve, concentrating his fire on Armide and the flagship Gloire. For another 45 minutes the battle continued, Centaur suffering damage to her rigging and sails from the French shot and taking casualties from musket fire from the soldiers carried aboard. Among the wounded was Commodore Hood, who was shot in the right forearm, the ball eventually lodging in his shoulder. Hood retired below and command passed to his second in command, Lieutenant Case.

At 11:45, Armide surrendered to Centaur, followed 15 minutes later by Minerve. Both ships had suffered heavy damage and casualties in the unequal engagement and could not hope to continue their resistance with the rest of the British squadron rapidly approaching. To the north, Infatigable had failed to outrun Mars and Captain Lukin forced the frigate to surrender after a brief cannonade. With three ships lost and the other three long disappeared to the south, Soleil determined to flee westwards, hoping the damage he had inflicted on Centaur's sails was sufficient to prevent her pursuit. However, Gloire had also been damaged and could not distance herself from the British flagship sufficiently before support arrived in the form of Mars. With his ship undamaged, Lukin was able to easily catch the fleeing frigate and opened fire at 14:30, combat continuing for half an hour before Soleil surrendered, his frigate badly damaged. To the south, Windsor Castle had proven far too slow to catch the smaller French ships, which had easily outrun the second rate and escaped.

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Aftermath
It took some time for the British squadron to effect repairs on their ships and prizes in preparation for the journey back to Britain. They had suffered light casualties of nine killed and 29 wounded, but among the more seriously injured was Hood, whose arm had been amputated during the battle. French losses were much heavier but are unknown: Hood did not include them in his official report but promised to provide them soon afterwards in a follow up letter, which, if it was written, has never been located. All four of the captured frigates were large new vessels that were immediately purchased for service in the Royal Navy, Gloire and Armide retaining their names while Infatigable became HMS Immortalite and Minerve became HMS Alceste. Although Hood and his men were commended at the time, subsequent historical focus has been on the bravery of the inexperienced French crews in resisting an attack by an overwhelming force for so long. William James wrote in 1827 of the "gallant conduct on the part of the French ships" and William Laird Clowes, writing in 1900 stated that "The resistance offered by the French to a force so superior was in every way credible".

Within days of the action Hood had been promoted to rear-admiral and awarded a pension of £500 a year, but despite his wound he continued in service, fighting a notable action with Russian ships in the Baltic Sea in 1807 and later operating off the Spanish coast in the early Peninsular War. French efforts to resupply their West Indian colonies continued throughout the next three years, costing a heavy toll of men and ships lost to the British blockade. By 1808, the situation in the French Caribbean had become desperate and the French increased their supply convoys, losing five frigates and a ship of the line in failed reinforcement efforts during late 1808 and early 1809. The weakened colonies were unable to resist British attack, and co-ordinated invasions forced the surrender of first Martinique in January 1809 and Guadeloupe a year later, Cayenne and Santo Domingo also falling to British, Spanish and Portuguese forces.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_25_September_1806
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
25 September 1809 - HMS Carieux Sloop (18) wrecked off Petit Terre, Island of Marigalante, West Indies.


HMS Curieux was a French corvette launched in September 1800 at Saint-Malo to a design by François Pestel, and carrying sixteen 6-pounder guns. She was commissioned under Capitaine de frégateJoseph-Marie-Emmanuel Cordier. The British captured her in 1804 in a cutting-out action at Martinique. In her five-year British career Curieux captured several French privateers and engaged in two notable single-ship actions, also against privateers. In the first she captured Dame Ernouf; in the second, she took heavy casualties in an indecisive action with Revanche. In 1809 Curieux hit a rock; all her crew were saved but they had to set fire to her to prevent her recapture.

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HMS 'Curieux' Captures 'Dame Ernouf', 8 February 1805, by Francis Sartorius Jr., National Maritime Museum, Greenwich

Design
Curieux was a prototype, and the only vessel of her class. Construction on the subsequent Curieux-class brigs started in 1803.

Capture
On 4 February 1804, HMS Centaur sent four boats and 72 men under Lieutenant Robert Carthew Reynolds to cut her out at Fort Royal harbour, Martinique. The British suffered nine wounded, two of whom, including Reynolds, later died. The French suffered ten dead and 30 wounded, many mortally. Cordier, wounded, fell into a boat and escaped. The British sent Curieux under a flag of truce to Fort Royal to hand the wounded over to their countrymen.

The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Curieux, a brig-sloop. Reynolds commissioned her but he had been severely wounded in the action and though he lingered for a while, died in September.

Reynold's successor was George Edmund Byron Bettesworth, who had been a lieutenant on Centaur and part of the cutting out expedition. Curieux's first lieutenant was John George Boss who had been a midshipman on Centaur and also in the cutting out expedition.

In June 1804, Curieux recaptured the English brig Albion, which was carrying a cargo of coal. Then, on 15 July, she captured the French privateer schooner Elizabeth of six guns. That same day she captured the schooner Betsey, which was sailing in ballast.

In September Curieux recaptured the English brig Princess Royal, which was carrying government stores. Then in January 1805 Curieux recaptured an American ship, from St. Domingo, that was carrying coffee. The American had been the prize of a French privateer.

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The French brig sloop ‘Curieux’ was fitted out at Martinique in order to attack British interests. As she was a threat to British West Indian commerce, the British Commodore Hood gave orders for her capture. Under the command of Lieutenant Robert Carthew Reynolds four boats with 60 seamen and 12 marines set out on a moonlit night from the British ship ‘Centaur’. This meant a 20-mile row to reach the ‘Curieux’ lying under the protection of the guns of Fort Edward. When Reynolds’s barge came in under the stern of the ‘Curieux’ he found that, providentially, a rope ladder hung down the side. He scaled it and cut a hole in the anti-boarding nets to enable his men to pour on board. Before she was taken the French lost nearly 40 killed and wounded. The British had nine wounded and Reynolds, who was one of them, subsequently died of his wounds. On the right side of the picture the ‘Curieux’ is shown just before her capture. Her anti-boarding netting is clearly visible. The sailors can be seen loosing her sails and cutting her cable, while the guns of Fort Edward are firing. A moon shines between her masts and in the left foreground another battery is in action. The painting is signed and dated ‘F. Sartoruis 1805’.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/12029.html#KoGjlmAS5fRTjB4j.99

Curieux and Dame Ernouf
Then on 8 February 1805, Curieux chased the French privateer Dame Ernouf (or Madame Ernouf) for twelve hours before she able to bring her to action. After forty minutes of hard fighting Dame Ernouf, which had a crew almost double in size relative to that of Curieux, maneuvered to attempt a boarding. Bettesworth anticipated this and put his helm a-starboard, catching his opponent's jib-boom so that he could rake the French vessel. Unable to fight back, the Dame Ernouff struck. The action cost Curieux five men killed and four wounded, including Bettesworth, who took a hit in his head from a musket ball. Dame Ernouf had 30 men killed and 41 wounded. She carried 16 French long 6-pounder guns and had a crew of 120. This was the same armament as Curieux carried, but in a smaller vessel. Bettesworth opined that she had fought so gallantly because her captain was also a part-owner. She was 20 days out of Guadeloupe and had taken one brig, which, however, Nimrod had recaptured. The British took Dame Ernouf into service as Seaforth, but she capsized and foundered in a gale on 30 September 1805. There were only two survivors.

On 25 February Curieux, under Bettesworth, captured a Spanish launch, name unknown, which she took into Tortola

Lieutenant Boss was on leave at the time of the action but later took over as acting commander while Bettesworth recuperated. At Cumana Gut, Boss cut out several schooners and later took a brig from St. Eustatia. Curieux and the schooner Tobago cooperated in capturing two merchantmen lying for protection under the batteries at Barcelona, on the coast of Caraccas.

On 7 July, Curieux arrived in Plymouth with dispatches from Lord Nelson. On her way, she had spotted Admiral Villeneuve's Franco-Spanish squadron on its way back to Europe from the West Indies and alerted the Admiralty. Rear-Admiral Sir Robert Calder, with 15 ships of the line, intercepted Villeneuve on 22 July, but the subsequent Battle of Cape Finisterre was indecisive, with the British capturing only two enemy ships.

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Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with stern board decoration and name across the counter, the sheer lines with inboard detail and quarter gallery [figurehead missing], and longitudinal half-breadth for Curieux (captured 1804), a captured French Brig as taken off and fitted as an 18-gun Brig Sloop. The ship was at Plymouth to have defects made good between 17 July and 17 October 1805. Signed by Joseph Tucker [Master Shipwright, Plymouth Dockyard, 1802-1813]. The top right corner is missing, including the area around the figurehead.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/84038.html#w51SPSVFTmIeAEKT.99


James Johnstone took command of Curieux in July 1805. After refitting she sailed for the Lisbon station. On 25 November 1805 Curieux captured the Spanish privateer Brilliano, under the command of Don Joseph Advis, some 13 leagues west of Cape Selleiro. She was a lugger of five carriage guns and a crew of 35 men. Brilliano, which had been out five days from Port Carrel and two days before Cureux captured her, had taken the English brig Mary, sailing from Lynn to Lisbon with a cargo of coal. Brilliano had also taken the brig Nymphe, which had been sailing from Newfoundland with a cargo of fish for Viana. The next day Curieux apparently captured San Josef el Brilliant.

On 5 February 1806, two years after her own capture, Curieux captured the 6-gun privateer Baltidore (alias Fenix) and her crew of 47 men. The capture occurred 27 leagues west of Lisbon after a chase of four hours. Baltidore had been out of Ferrol one month, during which time she had captured Good Intent, which had been sailing from Lisbon for London. About a month earlier, on 3 January, Mercury had recaptured Good Intent, which had been part of a convoy that Mercury had been escorting from Newfoundland to Portugal.

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The last, but seventh in order of events, in series of ten drawings (PAF5871–PAF5874, PAF5876, PAF5880–PAF5881 and PAF5883–PAF5885) of mainly lesser-known incidents in Nelson's career, apparently intended for a set of engravings. Pocock's own description of this drawing in a letter of 9 July 1810 calls it 'a view of St Johns Harbour Antigua taken on the spot by myself with the Fleet at Anchor – the "Curieux" Brig (in the foreground) making sail with dispatches for England. Here though there is no fighting I thought the anxiety and promptitude of Lord Nelson wou'd be exemplified, and with a Correct View of Antigua wou'd give the Whole [set] a Variety.' Nelson's 'Victory' is in stern view to the right of 'Curieux', beyond the intervening rowing boat. Pocock's personal knowledge and drawing(s) of Antigua of course dated from his time as a Bristol sea captain, ending about 1778, not that of the incident shown. This was during the pre-Trafalgar chase to the West Indies, in early summer 1805, where Nelson failed to find Villeneuve's Franco-Spanish Fleet, which had already sailed again for Europe. On 12 June he sent home the 'Curieux' from Antigua with dispatches, to update the Admiralty, before his fleet pursued. By chance, 'Curieux' distantly sighted and overtook the enemy near the Azores, realized they were heading for Ferrol in north-western Spain, not Cadiz, and brought that vital news back to Lord Barham at the Admiralty, ahead of Nelson's return. For the rather complex circumstances of the commissioning of these ten drawings, and Pocock's related letters, see 'View of St Eustatius with the '"Boreas"' (PAF5871). Signed by the artist and dated in the lower left. Exhibited: NMM Pocock exhib. (1975), no. 52.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/100711.html#kSBJdyj5sdjw1E00.99


Curieux and Revanche
In March 1806 John Sheriff took over as captain of Curieux. On 3 December 1807, off Barbados, Curieux, now armed with eight 6-pounders and ten 18-pounder carronades, engaged the 25-gun privateer Revanche, commanded by Captain Vidal. Revanche, which had been the slaver British Tar, was the more heavily armed (chiefly English 9-pounders, and one long French 18-pounder upon a traversing carriage on the forecastle) and had a crew of 200 men. Revanche nearly disabled Curieux, while killing Sheriff. Lieutenant Thomas Muir wanted to board Revanche, but too few crewmen were willing to follow him. The two vessels broke off the action and Revanche escaped. Curieux, whose shrouds and back-stays were shot away, and whose two topmasts and jib-boom had been damaged, was unable to pursue.

In addition to the loss of her captain, Curieux had suffered another seven dead and 14 wounded. Revanche, according to a paragraph in the Moniteur, lost two men killed and 13 wounded. Curieux, as soon as her crew had partially repaired her, made sail and anchored the next day in Carlisle Bay, Barbados. A subsequent court martial into why Muir had not taken or destroyed the enemy vessel mildly rebuked Muir for not having hove-to repair his vessel's damage once it became obvious that Curieux was in no condition to overtake Revanche.

Further service
In February 1808 Commander Thomas Tucker assumed command, to be succeeded by Commander Andrew Hodge. Lieutenant the Honourable Henry George Moysey, possibly acting, then took command. Under his command Curieux was engaged in the blockade of Guadaloupe, where she cut out a privateer from St. Anne's Bay, Jamaica.

On 18 February 1809, Latona captured the French frigate Felicité. Curieux shared in the prize money, together with all the other vessels that been associated in the blockade of the Saintes.

Loss
On 22 September 1809, at about 3:30am, Curieux struck a rock off Petit-Terre off the Îles des Saintes. The rock was 30 yards from the beach in 11 feet of water. At first light, Hazard came to her assistance and her guns and stores were removed. Hazard then winched Curieux off a quarter of a cable but she slipped back and ran directly onto the reef. There she bilged. All her crew was saved but the British burned her to prevent her recapture. A court martial board found Lieutenant John Felton, the officer of the watch, guilty of negligence and dismissed him from the service. Moysey died the next month of yellow fever


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Curieux_(1804)
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections.html#!csearch;searchTerm=Curieux
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
25 September 1858 - Launch of transatlantic steamer SS Hungarian


SS Hungarian was a transatlantic steamship of the Canadian Allan Line that was launched in 1858, completed in 1859 and sank in 1860.

William Denny and Brothers of Dumbarton, Scotland launched her on September 25, 1858. She was powered by a 400 nhp direct-acting steam engine that drove a single screw. She was completed in 1859. Hungarian's maiden voyage began on May 18, 1859 when she left Liverpool for Quebec. She was wrecked in 1860 at Cape Sable Island, off Nova Scotia, with the loss of all aboard.

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manually vectorized picture of steamship Hungarian, built by Wm Denny in 1859 and sunk in 1860

Rescue of the John Martin
At 8:00 on November 9, 1859, Hungarian sighted a vessel in distress in a strong northerly gale and high seas off the edge of the Newfoundland Banks. A crew of 7 men, including Chief Officer Hardie and Third OfficerPorter were lowered into a lifeboat and headed to the vessel. Upon arriving within hailing range, they were told the ship was the British schooner John Martin, which also carried the rescued crew of another schooner wrecked off Labrador. The sinking John Martin was abandoned by its complement of 43, including 23 women and children. Chief Officer Hardie was knocked overboard while helping passengers into Hungarian. He could not swim, but hauled himself aboard by a rope and survived the ordeal.

Hungarian headed for St. John's and arrived on the morning of the November 10. Each member of Hungarian's crew who had helped in the lifeboat was given a party by the passengers of the trip, and also received a silver cup for their heroism.

Sinking
On February 8, 1860 Hungarian left Liverpool, England for Portland, Maine, under the command of Captain Thomas Jones. She called at Queenstown, Ireland, and departed from there on February 9, 1860. On the night of February 19, she wrecked on Cape Ledge, the west side of Cape Sable, Nova Scotia, with total loss of life. The wrecked ship, and survivors who clung to her, were visible from shore, but unreachable due to high seas and gale-force winds that did not relent until six days later.

ssHungarian.jpg

Newspaper articles were published for months after the incident. Most messages about the disaster were sent out from Barrington Telegraph and relayed to major cities. News of the wreck following soon after that of her sister ship Indian "threw a sense of gloom over the whole of British America". 205 people were killed.


from http://sandmancincinnati.com/7-ss-hungarian the following:

The SS Hungarian, an iron-hulled Canadian passenger steamer, one of the country's largest, founded off the southern tip of Nova Scotia at Cape Sable, the Horse Race on February 20th, 1860. Captain Thomas Jones was trying to make Portland, Maine from Queenstown when a violent storm swept the vessel into a group of rocks just off the coast.

Distress flares were launched into the nighttime sky around 3am, and at daybreak the wreck was visible to the gathering crowd on the shore. They could see people clinging to the ship and some being sweeped away, but there was nothing they could do. High seas and gale-force winds made a rescue impossible. Many turned away, wrenched at the tragedy unfolding before them. Some prayed for the rain to stop. Instead, it continued, relentlessly, for 6 days. The ship was eventually broken asunder and everyone perished. 205 lost.

Over the next couple weeks, local townspeople took to the shoreline every morning to collect and sort through the large amount of debris that began washing to the sandy edge. There were wooden steamer trunks, leather shoes, men’s felt hats and silk parasols. A few bodies needed to be buried. Many textiles began surfacing, too. They were part of the ship’s cargo. All of the fabrics that were brightly colored where now muted, their dyes pulled away by the greater abundant blue.

Someone found a woman’s diary and carefully opened it. Comments of a spirited life filled the ink smeared, undulated pages. The last entry was simply, Lizzie dies tonight.

“There's health upon my cheek once more,
And in my eye new light
'Twill all be quench in Ocean's gloom,

For Lizzie dies tonight.”

From “Lizzie Dies Tonight” (1862) words by Mary Byron Reese. Music by Stephen Foster

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HUNGARIAN's captain was apparently searching for a glimpse of Cape Sable Island when disaster struck. Flares from the steamer were sighted at about three in the morning and fishermen on Cape Sable saw people clinging to HUNGARIAN's masts at daybreak but seas were too high to render aid. Debris washing ashore soon revealed the full extent of the tragedy. They included personal belongings, part of the ship's cargo of fine textiles, a number of bodies and according to legend, a diary, whose last, sad entry, "Lizzie dies tonight," became a popular ballad. All 205 people aboard were lost. The wreck led directly to the establishment of the Cape Sable lighthouse the following year. Extensive salvage was performed on her wreck in subsequent years. HUNGARIAN is one of countless wrecks in the Cape Sable-Seal Island area. No underwater archaeology has been conducted in the area, although Parks Canada has done some survey work. Strong currents and rip tides make the area a dangerous challenge for even experienced divers...In the year 1839 the SS Hungarian sunk off the coast of Nova Scotia. On board was a young woman by the name of Lizzie who was returning from Europe after a long illness to her homeland the United States.

As the shipped heaved and tossled in the water Lizzie realized that it was going to sink so she grabbed a piece of paper and wrote this note to her mother.

"Dear Mother,
I love you and have loved our time together.

I am glad that I shared my life with you.
The ship is sinking and and will soon be gone
and so will I. Lizzie dies tonight."


She then tucked the note into her wallet. The wallet washed up on the shore some time later and the note was found between it's folds...so few were recovered, they were given proper burial and are buried in Old Town Cemetery near entrance to Swim`s Point at Clark`s Harbour.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Hungarian
https://www.geocaching.com/geocache...ial?guid=d69b92ff-89b7-480f-8ae7-b37fefd45864
 
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