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

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
12 October 1798 - The Battle of Tory Island


(sometimes called the Battle of Donegal, Battle of Lough Swilly or Warren's Action) was a naval action of the French Revolutionary Wars, fought on 12 October 1798 between French and British squadrons off the northwest coast of County Donegal, then in the Kingdom of Ireland. The last action of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, the Battle of Tory Island ended the final attempt by the French Navy to land substantial numbers of soldiers in Ireland during the war.

WarrensAction1798Ireland.jpg
Battle of Tory island, Nicholas Pocock, 1799. Ulster Museum

The Society of United Irishmen, led by Wolfe Tone, launched an uprising against British rule in Ireland in May 1798. At the request of the rebels, a small French force under General Humbert was landed at Killala, County Mayo, but by early September both this expedition and the rebellion had been defeated. Unaware of Humbert's surrender, the French despatched reinforcements on 16 September. Having missed one invasion force, the Royal Navy was on alert for another, and when the squadron carrying the reinforcements left Brest they were soon spotted. After a long chase, the French were brought to battle in a bay off the rugged County Donegal coast in the west of Ulster, very close to Tory Island. During the action the outnumbered French attempted to escape, but were run down and defeated piecemeal, with the British capturing four ships and scattering the survivors. Over the next fortnight, British frigate patrols scoured the passage back to Brest, capturing three more ships. Of the ten ships in the original French squadron, only two frigates and a schooner reached safety. British losses in the campaign were minimal.

The battle marked the last attempt by the French Navy to launch an invasion of any part of the British Isles. It also ended the last hopes the United Irishmen had of obtaining outside support in their struggle with the British. After the action, Tone was recognised aboard the captured French flagship and arrested. He was brought ashore by the British at Buncrana, on the Inishowen Peninsula. He was later tried for treason, convicted, and committed suicide while in prison in Dublin, hours before he was to be hanged.

read more details at wikipedia........


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tory_Island
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_battle_at_the_Battle_of_Tory_Island
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
12 October 1798 - french Hoche, ex-Barra and ex-Pégase, 74 gun Temeraire class was captured during the Battle of Tory Island


HMS Donegal was launched in 1794 as Barra, a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. She was renamed Pégase in October 1795, and Hoche in December 1797. The British Royal Navy captured her on 12 October 1798 and recommissioned her as HMS Donegal.

large.jpg
Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sternboard outline, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for Donegal (captured 1798), a captured French Third Rate. The plan illustrates the ship as fitted at Plymouth Dockyard as a 74-gun Third Rate, two-decker. Signed by John Marshall [Master Shipwright, Plymouth Dockyard, 1795-1801].
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/80434.html#RYbguOlB38d8IMVU.99


Capture
Hoche took part in the French attempt to land in County Donegal, in the west of Ulster, to support the Irish Rebellion of 1798. She formed the flagship of an expedition under Commodore Jean-Baptiste-François Bompart, consisting of Hoche and eight frigates, and transporting 3,000 French troops. Aboard Hoche was Wolfe Tone, the leading figure in the Society of United Irishmen. The ships were chased by a number of British frigates after they had left the port of Brest on 16 September. Despite throwing them off, they were then pursued by a fleet of larger ships under the command of Commodore Sir John Borlase Warren. Both sides were hampered by the heavy winds and gales they encountered off the west coast of Ireland, and Hoche lost all three of her topmasts and had her mizzensail shredded, causing her to fall behind. The French were finally brought to battle off Tory Island on 12 October 1798.

The battle started at 07:00 in the morning, with Warren giving the signal for HMS Robust to steer for the French line and attack Hoche directly. Hoche then came under fire from HMS Magnanime. The next three British ships into action, the frigates Ethalion, Melampus and Amelia, all raked the isolated Hocheas they passed before pressing on sail to pursue the French frigates, now sailing towards to the south-west. With Hoche heavily damaged, Bompart finally surrendered at 10:50 with 270 of his crew and passengers killed or wounded, giving his sword to Lieutenant Sir Charles Dashwood. Wolfe Tone was later recognised and arrested.

In Royal Navy service
Off Cadiz

Further information: Action of 25 November 1804
The captured Hoche was taken into service and renamed HMS Donegal, after the action in which she had been captured. She spent 1800 in Plymouth, and in 1801 came under the command of Captain Sir Richard Strachan, with William Bissell as her First Lieutenant from 1801 until December 1805. Donegal was initially deployed in the English Channel, but following the outbreak of hostilities with Spain, she was assigned to watch the French squadron at Cadiz. Whilst on this station, she spotted and gave chase to the large 42-gun Spanish frigate Amfitrite in November 1804. After pursuing her for 46 hours, Amfitrite lost her mizzen-top-mast and Donegal subsequently overhauled her.

The engagement lasted only eight minutes, Amfitrite surrendered and after being searched, was found to be laden with stores and carrying dispatches from Cadiz to Tenerife and Havana. She was taken over and later commissioned into the Navy as HMS Amfitrite. Donegal would later make another capture off Cadiz, taking a Spanish vessel carrying a cargo reputed to be worth 200,000 pounds.

In the Mediterranean and Atlantic
By 1805 Donegal was still off Cadiz, under the command of Captain Pulteney Malcolm. She then accompanied Vice-admiral Nelson in his pursuit of the combined fleets across the Atlantic to the West Indies and back. She was not present at Trafalgar, but was able, on 23 October, to capture the partially dismasted Spanish first rate Rayo which had escaped Trafalgar, but had been ordered to sea again to attempt to recapture some of the British prizes.

Donegal was then part of a squadron off Cadiz under Vice-admiral John Duckworth, when news reached him that two French squadrons had sailed from Brest in December 1805. Duckworth took his squadron to Barbados to search for them, eventually sighting them off San Domingo on 6 February. Duckworth organised his ships into two lines, the weather line consisting of HMS Superb, Northumberland and Spencer, while the lee line consisted of Agamemnon, Canopus, Donegal and Atlas. The lines moved to attack the French ships and the Battle of San Domingo broke out. Donegal initially engaged the Brave with several broadsides, forcing her to surrender after half an hour. Captain Malcolm then moved his position to fire a few broadsides into the Jupiter before sending a boarding party aboard her. The crew of Jupiter then surrendered her. Captain Malcolm then directed the frigate HMS Acasta to take possession of Brave. After the battle, Donegal had lost her fore-yard and had 12 killed and 33 wounded.

1280px-Duckworth's_action_off_San_Domingo,_6_February_1806,_Nicholas_Pocock.jpg
'Duckworth's Action off San Domingo, 6 February 1806' by Nicholas Pocock. HMS Donegal is on the left of the painting, engaging the Jupiter

Off the French coast
She remained under the command of Pulteney Malcolm, and was stationed off Finisterre throughout 1807. She then became the flagship of Rear-admiral Eliab Harvey, and was later placed under the command of Rear-admiral Richard Keats in the Channel. Donegal was at Spithead in 1808 and over a period of five days from 1 August Captain Malcolm oversaw the disembarkation of Sir Arthur Wellesley'sarmy at Mondego Bay. Donegal’s first-lieutenant James Askey acted as the beach-master during the landings.

On 23 February 1809 Donegal was part of a squadron under Rear-admiral Stopford, when they chased three enemy frigates into the Sable d'Olonne, leading to the Battle of Les Sables-d'Olonne. HMS Defiance was able to anchor within half a mile of them, whilst Donegal and Caesar had to anchor further out because of their deeper draughts. Their combined fire eventually forced two of the frigates to run ashore, whilst Donegal suffered one man killed and six wounded in the engagement. By April 1809 Donegal was sailing with Admiral James Gambier's fleet in the Basque Roads. During the Battle of the Basque Roads, Donegal's first-lieutenant James Askey commanded the fire ship Hercule in the attack on the French fleet, with the assistance of midshipman Charles Falkiner, also of Donegal.

large (1).jpg

Donegal was commanded by acting-Captain Edward Pelham Brenton when she sailed for Cadiz on 24 July 1809, carrying the ambassador to the Junta at Seville, Marquess Richard Wellesley, brother of Sir Arthur Wellesley. She arrived on 1 August, shortly after the Battle of Talavera, and after the failure of Richard Wellesley's mission, returned him to Britain in November. On her arrival, Captain Malcolm resumed command of Donegal.

On 6 November 1810, Donegal captured the French privateer lugger Surcouf off Cape Barfleur. Surcouf, of 14 guns and 53 men, was one day out of Cherbourg and had made no captures. The hired armed lugger Sandwich shared in the prize money arising from the capture, as well as Revenge's capture on 17 October of the privateer Vengeur. Donegal too shared in the proceeds of the capture of Vengeur, suggesting Donegal, Revenge, and Sandwich were all in company.

On 13 November 1810, the frigates Diana and Niobe attacked two French frigates (Elisa and Amazone), which sought protection under the shore batteries near Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue. Revenge and Donegalarrived two days later and together the four ships fired upon the French for as long as the tide would allow. The operation cost Donegal three men wounded. Élisa was driven ashore and ultimately destroyed as a result of this action; Amazone escaped safely into Le Havre.

large (2).jpg

Fate
Donegal spent most of 1811 off Cherbourg, before being reduced to ordinary at Portsmouth later that year. She was later moved and spent 1814 in ordinary at Chatham. After the end of the Napoleonic era, she was refitted and brought back into service as a flagship, serving well into the 1830s; Donegal was eventually broken up in 1845.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Donegal_(1798)
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-307730;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=D
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
12 October 1799 - HMS Trincomalee (1799 - 16), Lt. John Rowe, engaged Iphigenie (24) in the Persian Gulf. They fought at close quarters for 20 minutes when both vessels suddenly blew up.


HMS Trincomalee was a sloop of Dutch or French origin that the British Royal Navy took into service in 1799. She was destroyed in action in 1799 with the loss of all but two of her crew.

Career
The Navy commissioned Trincomalee under the command of Commander John Rowe. An Arab Dow arrived at Bombay on 6 December 1799, from Muscat. She brought information from Mr. Manesty, the British East India Company's (EIC) Resident at Bassorah. He reported that Trincomalee had been dispatched from Muscat to intercept two French ships in the Gulf of Persia that had captured Mr. Manesty's ship Pearl, on 7 October. Pearl had been carrying three lakh rupees (750,000 francs), 40 horses, 5000 "saumons de cuivre", and other cargo. In the engagement on 7 October in which Iphigénie captured Pearl, Captain Fowler of Pearl and five of her crew were killed, and a number of men wounded before she struck. Her captor then removed the bullion and cargo from Pearl, and then decided to sail for Mauritius.

Trincomalee set out in company with the Bombay Marine's cruizer Comet. They were cruising in the Bab-el-Mandeb when just before midnight on 12 October they encountered two vessels, the French privateer Iphigénie, Captain Jean-François Malroux du Bac, and her prize, Pearl. Trincomalee challenged them, but they did not respond and instead sailed away. The next morning the two British ships spotted them and gave chase, catching up with their quarry.

An action ensued at about 11a.m. with Trincomalee engaging Iphigénie and Comet engaging Pearl. The exchange of fire lasted about two hours when suddenly Trincomalee exploded. She was so close to Iphigénie that the explosion knocked down Iphigénie's main and mizzen masts and ruptured her sides, with the result that she soon started to founder.

Comet and Pearl broke off their engagement and picked up the few survivors. There were about 30-40 survivors from Iphigénie; Malroux du Bac drowned, apparently while trying to retrieve documents aboard his ship. Pearl's original crew had also been on board Iphigénie. Only two men from Trincomalee, a seaman and a lascar, survived.

Pearl and Comet did not renew their engagement, instead sailing off in different directions, Pearl with the survivors from Iphigénie. Comet landed the two men from Trincomalee at Muscat. Pearl arrived at Muscat on 15 October to replenish her water. There the captain of Pearl's prize crew freed John Carmlington, an officer from Pearl who had survived despite being on Iphigénie, on 24 October, the day Pearl sailed


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Trincomalee_(1799)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
12 October 1800 - American frigate USS Boston (1799 - 32) captures French frigate Le Berceau (1794 - 22),


The Action between the USS Boston and Berceau, was a single ship action off Guadeloupe, during the Quasi-War with France. USS Boston (32 guns), Capt. George Little, captured the French corvette Berceau, capitaine de frégate Louis-Andre Senez. Cruising 600 miles northeast of Guadeloupe in the morning of 12 October, Boston, spotted two vessels that by 8:00 A.M. were determined to be warships, a schooner (not identified) and the 24-gun Berceau, which then headed in different directions.

Berceau_vs_USS_Boston-h76555.jpg
French frigate Berceau and USS Boston figthing, 12 October 1800.

Pursuing the latter, Boston gained steadily before catching her in the late afternoon (the American report gives the time as 4:30 P.M., French 3:30 P.M.). Berceau then shortened sail and the two began a stubborn engagement, each trying to wreck the spars, sails and rigging of the other until the damage to the tops of both made them unmanageable and they drifted apart. The crews then spent the next several hours repairing their damage so that they could rejoin the fight. Well after dusk, the two were again able to engage (the French report gives an additional intermediate engagement), which they did for more than an hour. The action was finally terminated (American, 10:20 P.M.; French 11:30 P.M.) when, losing her fore and main mast and already having had boarding attempts repulsed, Berceau was forced to strike her colors.

Following several days spent immobile, repairing spars, sails and rigging, Boston towed Berceau under prize-master Robert Haswell to its namesake home port of Boston. On arrival, it was discovered that the action had actually been fought two weeks after a peace agreement had formally ended hostilities. As a consequence Berceau was repaired at American expense and returned to France. The victory was also tainted by charges that the French officers had been plundered of their personal belongings and negro servants, with the active participation of most of their American counterparts. Acquitted in a resulting court martial proceeding, most of Boston's officers were nonetheless dismissed from the Navy.


The third USS Boston was a 32-gun wooden-hulled, three-masted frigate of the United States Navy. Boston was built by public subscription in Bostonunder the Act of 30 June 1798. Boston was active during the Quasi-War with France and the First Barbary War. On 12 October 1800, Boston engaged and captured the French corvette Berceau. Boston was laid up in 1802, and considered not worth repairing at the outbreak of the War of 1812. She was burned at the Washington Naval Yard on 24 August 1814 to prevent her capture by British forces.

USS_Boston_(1799).jpg
An engraving of USS Boston in the Mediterranean circa 1802

Design and Construction
Boston was designed and constructed by Edmund Hartt at Boston, Massachusetts. Boston was authorized by the Naval Act of 1798 (fr) funded by the donations from the people of Boston, Massachusetts as part of the group of ships built by the states to supplement the Original six frigates of the United States Navy provided by the Naval Act of 1794.

The frigate has a displacement of 400 tons and had a length between perpendiculars of 134 feet (41 m). She was originally armed with twenty-four 9-pounder and eight 6-pounder guns, and carried a complement of 220 officers and men. She was launched on 20 May 1799 and commissioned soon afterwards, Captain George Little in command.

Service history
Boston cruised in the West Indies (July 1799 – June 1800) protecting American commerce against French privateers. Returning to Boston 25 June 1800, she cruised along the American coast until September when she sailed to the Guadeloupe Station in the West Indies. In 22°52′N 52°56′W, on 12 October 1800, she engaged and captured the French corvette Berceau. Boston lost seven killed and eight wounded in the encounter. She towed her prize to Boston, arriving in November. During her West Indian cruises Boston captured seven additional prizes (two in conjunction with USS General Greene).

During the winter of 1801 Boston carried Minister Livingston to France and then joined the Mediterranean Squadron off Tripoli while under the command of Captain Daniel McNeill. She fought an action with six or seven Tripolitanian gunboats on 16 May 1802, forcing one ashore. Boston returned to Boston in October 1802 and then proceeded to Washington where she was laid up. Considered not worth repairing on the outbreak of the War of 1812, she remained at Washington until 24 August 1814 when she was burned to prevent her falling into British hands.


Berceau was a 22-gun corvette of the French Navy, built to a design by Jacques-Noël Sané, and launched in 1794. The Americans captured her in 1800 but restored her to France the next year. She then served in the Indian Ocean before returning to Spain, where she was broken up in 1804.

Career
On 17 October 1794 Berceau was in the Île-d'Aix roads. Her commander was lieutenant de vaisseau Bonamy.

Berceau participated in the Croisière du Grand Hiver, an unsuccessful sortie by the French fleet at Brest on 24 December 1794.
On 18 September 1797 Berceau was at Saint-Nazaire and under the command of capitaine de frégate Bourrand. Between 21 May and 8 June 1799 she carried dispatches from Toulon to Malaga, and then returned to Palamós.[2]
In 1799, Berceau took part in the Cruise of Bruix. On 11 May, Admiral Bruix set his flag on Berceau to direct a battle against the British off Cadiz; after the Spanish broke contact, Bruix cancelled the attack.
On 13 July 1800, Berceau fought against two Portuguese corvettes off Guyana.[2] From September, she cruised the Caribbean under capitaine de frégateLouis-Andre Senez.

Capture by USS Boston
Main article: USS Boston vs Berceau
On 12 October 1800 Berceau met the 28-gun American frigate Boston; at the time neither vessel knew that the treaty that ended the Quasi-War had already been signed. In the ensuing engagement, Berceau was badly damaged and lost 34 men killed and 28 wounded before she eventually struck her colours. The Americans had four men killed, three men mortally wounded, and eight men wounded.

Berceau had been dismasted, so Boston towed her as a prize to Boston. During the voyage prize-master Lieutenant Robert Haswell rigged a jury mast and then sailed her on in an impressive feat of seamanship. The battle having been fought two weeks after a formal peace agreement, Berceau was repaired at American expense for $32,839.54.[3] On 22 June 1801, she was restituted to France and recommissioned under Lieutenant Michelon. He then sailed her from Boston to Port-Louis, arriving around 19 October 1801.

Second French career
She sailed from Saint-Pierre, Martinique, to Lorient. Between 29 March and 14 April Berceau was under the temporary command of lieutenant de vaisseau Emmanuel Halgan. Capitaine de frégate Brouard succeeded Halgan.
On 25 September 1803, under René Lemarant de Kerdaniel, Berceau joined up with Linois' squadron off Île de France, bringing the news that the War of the Third Coalition had broken out.
On 21 November the French frigate Sémillante and Berceau captured the large country ship Countess of Sutherland as she was sailing from Bengal to China with a cargo of cotton and rice. In December, Sémillante and Berceau sent their boats in to attack British vessels anchored at Pulo Bay, and burn the East India Company factory and naval arsenal there. Accounts differ, but the French succeeded in burning between six and twelve vessels.
In February 1804, Berceau took part in the Battle of Pulo Aura under capitaine de frégate Halgan. Afterwards, the captains of the French vessels and the one Dutch vessel involved, including Halgan, wrote reports on the incident.

Fate
Berceau returned to Europe, reaching Vigo in August or September 1804, in bad condition. On 28 September Emperor Napoleon ordered her sold; she was decommissioned on 4 November and sold, for 21,000 piastres.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Boston_vs_Berceau
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Boston_(1799)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_corvette_Berceau_(1794)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
12 October 1813 – Launch of French Duquesne, a 80-gun Bucentaure-class 80-gun ship of the line


Duquesne was an 80-gun Bucentaure-class 80-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, designed by Sané.

1280px-French_ship_Duquesne_mg_5192.jpg
Scale model of Duquesne, on display at the Musée de la Marine in Toulon

Built on brand new docks as Zélandais, she was renamed Duquesne following the Bourbon Restoration, on 27 April 1814, while she was still being commissioned. On 23 March 1815, during the Hundred Days, she was renamed Zélandais, and then Duquesne again on 15 July when Louis XVIIIreturned on the throne.

She took part in the Invasion of Algiers in 1830 under Captain Bazoche. After the July Revolution, she was again renamed Zélandais.

Incendie_de_la_salle_d'armes_à_Brest-Anonymous_circa_1832_mg_8012.jpg 800px-Incendie_de_la_salle_d'armes_à_Brest-Anonymous_circa_1832_mg_8013.jpg
Incendie de la salle d'armes à Brest le 25 janvier 1832

On 24 January 1834, she ferried survivors of the wreck of Superbe to Toulon. She was again used as a troopship, was used as a hulk in 1832 in Brest, and was eventually struck in 1836.

800px-Duquesne_mp3h9378.jpg
The figurehead of Duquesne is on display at the Musée national de la Marine in Paris. An oil painting in Brest naval museum shows Duquesne as a hulk during the fire of the harbour.


The Bucentaure class was a class of 80-gun French ships of the line built to a design by Jacques-Noël Sané from 1802 onwards, of which at least 29 were ordered but only 21 ships were launched. They were a development from his earlier Tonnant class.

  • Bucentaure 80 (launched 13 July 1803 at Toulon) – Flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805, captured there by the British and wrecked in the subsequent storm
  • Neptune 80 (launched 15 August 1803 at Toulon) – Captured by the Spanish at Cadiz in June 1808, renamed Neptuno, BU 1820
  • Robuste 80 (launched 30 October 1806 at Toulon) – Driven ashore by the British and burnt near Frontignan in October 1809
  • Ville de Varsovie 80 (launched 10 May 1808 at Rochefort) – Captured and burnt by the British in the Battle of the Basque Roads in April 1809
  • Donawerth 80 (launched 4 July 1808 at Toulon) – BU 1824
  • Eylau 80 (launched 19 November 1808 at Lorient) – BU 1829
  • Friedland 80 (launched 2 May 1810 at Antwerp) – Transferred to the Dutch Navy in August 1814 and renamed Vlaming, BU 1823
  • Sceptre 80 (launched 15 August 1810 at Toulon) – Condemned 1828
  • Tilsitt 80 (launched 25 August 1810 at Antwerp) – Transferred to the Dutch Navy in August 1814 and renamed Neptunus, BU 1818
  • Auguste 80 (launched 25 April 1811 at Antwerp) – Transferred to the Dutch Navy in August 1814 and renamed Illustre, returned in September 1814, BU 1827
  • Pacificateur 80 (launched 22 May 1811 at Antwerp) – BU 1824
  • Illustre 80 (launched 9 June 1811 at Antwerp) – Transferred to the Dutch Navy in August 1814 and renamed Prins van Oranje,BU 1825.
  • Diadème[note 1] 80 (launched 1 December 1811 at Lorient) – 86 guns from 1837; condemned 1856.
  • Conquérant 80 (launched 27 April 1812 at Antwerp) – Condemned 1831.
  • Zélandais 80 (launched 12 October 1813 at Cherbourg) – renamed Duquesne in April 1814, but reverted to Zélandais in March 1815 then Duquesne again in July 1815. Condemned 1858.
  • Magnifique 80 (launched 29 October 1814 at Lorient) – 86 guns from 1837; condemned 1837.
  • One further ship begun at Venice to this design was never launched – Saturne, which was broken up on the stocks by the Austrian occupiers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Duquesne_(1813)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucentaure-class_ship_of_the_line
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
12 October 1940 - Battle of Cape Passero


The Battle of Cape Passero (1940), was a Second World War naval engagement between the British light cruiser HMS Ajax and seven torpedo boatsand destroyers of the Italian Regia Marina, southeast of Sicily, in the early hours of 12 October 1940. It took place in the aftermath of a British supply operation to Malta.

Background
In October 1940, the Mediterranean Fleet mounted a resupply operation to Malta from Alexandria, designated MB6. The convoy had four cargo shipsescorted by two anti-aircraft cruisers and four destroyers. The screening force was led by Vice-Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham's flagship, HMS Warspite, and included three other battleships, two aircraft carriers, six cruisers, and 16 destroyers. The only remarkable incident during the convoy was some damage to the destroyer HMS Imperial when she ran into a minefield. The merchantmen reached their destination on 11 October. Until then, bad weather had prevented the intervention of the Italian Fleet. An aircraft spotted the returning ships shortly after they had left Malta. Meanwhile, HMS Ajax was detached from the other cruisers for a scouting mission.

HMS_Ajax.jpg
HMS Ajax

The engagement
The Italian commander—Admiral Inigo Campioni—ordered a force of destroyers to Cape Bon, in case the British warships were going to Gibraltar. In Campioni's view, it was too late for the Italian battleships and cruisers to operate against the convoy. A flotilla of four destroyers and three torpedo boats was, at the same time, patrolling between 35° 45’ N and 35° 25′N, at about 3 nmi (3.5 mi; 5.6 km) apart, in full moonlight. The Italian destroyers—all Soldati-class—were the Artigliere, Camicia Nera, Aviere, and Geniere. The torpedo boats were the Spica-class Ariel, Alcione, and Airone.

Torpedo boat action
At 01:37, Ajax was sighted by Alcione, steaming eastward, 19,600 yd (17,900 m) away on the port side. At 01:48, the three torpedo boats were closing the British cruiser at full speed. The cruiser was completely unaware of the enemy approach. At 01:57, Alcione fired two torpedoes from a range of 1,900 yd (1,700 m). Captain Banfi, commander of the Italian formation, ordered the flagship Airone to open fire on the enemy with her 100 mm (3.9 in) guns, followed by her sister ships. Three rounds hit home, two on the bridge and the third 6 ft (1.8 m) below the waterline.

Ajax realised she was under attack and opened fire on the nearest torpedo boat—Ariel—while at full speed. Ariel was shattered by the salvos and sank 20 minutes later, although she may have been able to fire a torpedo.[7] Captain Mario Ruta, his second in command, and most of the crew were killed. Airone was the next Italian ship to be hit. She managed to launch two torpedoes before being disabled, catching fire almost immediately, her bridge and upper deck machine-gunned by Ajax at short range. She sank a few hours later. Banfi was among the survivors. Then Alcione—the only Italian warship undamaged—broke contact at 02:03.

Destroyer action

Artigliere_AWM-305865.jpg
Starboard side view of the Italian destroyer Artigliere. The ship was stopped, abandoned and on fire forward after an engagement with the British cruiser HMS Ajax. The Artigliere was sunk by the cruiser HMS York on the following morning.

Meanwhile, after manoeuvering during the fighting, Ajax resumed her course to the eastward. At 02:15, her fire-control radar detected two Italian destroyers, whose commander—Captain Carlo Margottini—had sighted the firing from the south. A radio malfunction had prevented Margottini from attacking in full strength, when three of his destroyers had headed north-west, instead of north as ordered. Aviere was battered by a sudden broadside from the British cruiser, forestalling a torpedo attack, and was forced to withdraw southwards, heavily damaged. Artigliere managed to fire a torpedo and four full 120 mm (4.7 in) gun salvos at 2,800 yd (2,600 m) before being hit and crippled. The torpedo missed, but four rounds struck two of Ajax’s secondary gun turrets, destroyed her port whaler and disabled her radar. After unsuccessfully firing at Camicia Nera, Ajax broke off the action. She had fired 490 rounds of different calibres and four torpedoes. Thirteen of her ship's company had been killed and 22 wounded, while the cruiser required a month of repairs before she returned to active service.

The disabled Artigliere—with her commander and most staff officers killed—was taken in tow by Camicia Nera. They were surprised at first light by the cruiser HMS York, which drove off Camicia Nera before sinking the drifting Artigliere with a torpedo. The survivors were rescued the next day by the Italian Navy.

Ships_after_Battle_of_Cape_Passero_1940.jpg
Artigliere, with HMS Orion and HMAS Sydney on the background after the engagement

Aftermath

RN_Artigliere_destroyed.jpg
The Artigliere is finished by a torpedo from HMS York in the morning of 12 October.

This action had been the Regia Marina’s first experience of the Royal Navy's superior skills and equipment in night actions. The extensive use of starshells, searchlights and incendiary rounds by the Royal Navy had to be countered, before the Italians could close the technical gap. They also suspected the enemy's use of radar, but at this time it was only speculation. They concluded that poor Italian air surveillance had prevented a quick reaction by the Italian heavy units, handing the tactical advantage to the British of avoiding contact in unfavourable conditions.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cape_Passero_(1940)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Ajax_(22)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soldati-class_destroyer
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
12 October 2000 – The USS Cole is badly damaged in Aden, Yemen, by two suicide bombers, killing 17 crew members and wounding at least 39.


The USS Cole bombing was an attack against the United States Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Cole on 12 October 2000, while it was being refueled in Yemen's Aden harbor.

17 American sailors were killed and 39 injured in the deadliest attack against a United States naval vessel since 1987.

1280px-USS_Cole_(DDG-67)_Departs.jpg
The Military Sealift Command fleet ocean tug USNS Catawba towing USS Cole after the bombing

The organization al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack against the United States. A U.S. judge has held Sudan liable for the attack, while another has released over $13 million in Sudanese frozen assets to the relatives of those killed. The United States Navy has reconsidered their rules of engagement in response to this attack.

Attack

INTEL-COGNITIVE-Cole.jpg
USS Cole after the attack

On the morning of Thursday, 12 October 2000, USS Cole, under the command of Commander Kirk Lippold, docked in Aden harbor for a routine fuel stop. Cole completed mooring at 9:30; and began refueling at 10:30. Around 11:18 local time (08:18 UTC), a small fiberglass boat carrying C4 explosives and two suicide bombers approached the port side of the destroyer and exploded, creating a 40-by-60-foot (12 by 18 m) gash in the ship's port side, according to the memorial plate to those who lost their lives. Former CIA intelligence officer Robert Finke said the blast appeared to be caused by C4 explosives molded into a shaped charge against the hull of the boat. Around 400 to 700 pounds (180 to 320 kg) of explosive were used. Much of the blast entered a mechanical space below the ship's galley, violently pushing up the deck, thereby killing crew members who were lining up for lunch. The crew fought flooding in the engineering spaces and had the damage under control after three days. Divers inspected the hull and determined that the keel was not damaged.

Seventeen sailors were killed and 39 were injured in the blast. The injured were taken to the United States Army's Landstuhl Regional Medical Center near Ramstein, Germany, before being sent to the United States. The attack was the deadliest against a U.S. naval vessel since the Iraqi attack on USS Stark on 17 May 1987. The asymmetric warfare attack was organized and directed by the terrorist organization al-Qaeda. In June 2001, an al-Qaeda recruitment video featuring Osama bin Laden boasted about the attack and encouraged similar attacks.

Al-Qaeda had previously attempted a similar but less publicized attack on the U.S. Navy destroyer USS The Sullivans while in port at Aden on 3 January 2000, as a part of the 2000 millennium attack plots. The plan was to load a boat full of explosives and explode it near The Sullivans. However, the boat was so overladen that it sank, forcing the attack to be abandoned.

Planning for the attack was discussed at the Kuala Lumpur al-Qaeda Summit shortly after the attempt, which was held from 5 to 8 January 2000. Along with other plotters, it was attended by future 11 September hijacker Khalid al-Mihdhar, who then traveled to San Diego, California. On 10 June 2000, Mihdhar left San Diego to visit his wife in Yemen at a house also used as a communications hub for al-Qaeda. After the bombing, Yemeni Prime Minister Abdul Karim al-Iryani reported that Mihdhar had been one of the key planners of the attack and had been in the country at the time of the attacks. He would later return to the United States to participate in 9/11 on American Airlines Flight 77, which flew into the Pentagon, killing 184 victims.

Rescue
The first naval ship on the scene to assist the stricken Cole was the Royal Navy Type 23 frigate, HMS Marlborough, under the command of Captain Anthony Rix. She was on passage to the UK after a six-month deployment in the Gulf. Marlborough had full medical and damage control teams on board and when her offer of assistance was accepted she immediately diverted to Aden. Eleven of the most badly injured sailors were sent via MEDEVAC to a French military hospital in Djibouti and underwent surgery before being sent to Germany.

MV_Blue_Marlin_carrying_USS_Cole.jpg
MV Blue Marlin carrying USS Cole

The first U.S. military support to arrive was a U.S. Air Force Security Forces Quick Reaction Force from the 363d Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, 363d Air Expeditionary Wing, based in Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, transported by C-130 aircraft.[citation needed] They were followed by another small group of United States Marines from the Interim Marine Corps Security Force Company, Bahrain flown in by P-3 Orion aircraft. Both forces landed within a few hours after the ship was struck and were reinforced by a U.S Marine platoon with the 1st Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team Company (FAST), based out of Norfolk, Virginia. The Marines from 6th Platoon, 1st FAST arrived on the 13 October from Norfolk, Virginia. The FAST platoon and security forces airmen secured USS Cole and a nearby hotel that was housing the U.S. Ambassador to Yemen.

USS Donald Cook and USS Hawes made best speed to arrive in the vicinity of Aden that afternoon providing repair and logistical support. USNS Catawba, USS Camden, Anchorage, Duluth and Tarawa arrived in Aden some days later, providing watch relief crews, harbor security, damage control equipment, billeting, and food service for the crew of Cole. LCU 1666 provided daily runs from Tarawa with hot food and supplies and ferrying personnel to and from all other naval vessels supporting Cole. In the remaining days LCU 1632 and various personnel from LCU 1666 teamed up to patrol around Cole while MV Blue Marlin was preparing to take up station to receive Cole.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Cole_bombing
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Cole_(DDG-67)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 12 October


1800 - HMS Urchin gunvessel, Lt. Thomas Pearson Croasdaile, foundered in Tetuan Bay while under tow by HMS Hector
.

1806 - HMS Constance (22), Cptn. Alexander Saunderson Burrows (Killed in Action), HMS Sheldrake (16), John Thicknesse, HMS Strenuous (14), Lt. John Nugent, and HMS Britannia cutter, Lt. Smith, took frigate La Salamandre (26) anchored close to the rocks off Erquy and covered by a battery of guns on the cliffs. Constance and the prize had both taken the ground and, in spite of the heavy fire from the shore, great efforts were made to get them off, but without success. The prize was set on fire but, although she was left completely wrecked on the rocks, the French later recovered and repaired Constance.

HMS Constance (1794) was a 22-gun sixth rate captured from the French in 1797, but recaptured by them in 1806; she grounded and was salvaged in December, and condemned in February 1807.


1810 – Launch of French Marengo was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.

Marengo was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.
On 5 January, she collided with the Tourville off Brest.
In November 1814, under René Lemarant de Kerdaniel, she took part in the French repossession of Guadeloupe and Martinique.
She took part in the Invasion of Algiers in 1830, and in the Battle of the Tagus under Captain Maillard Liscourt the next year.
In 1854, she took part in the Crimean War.
She was struck on 21 July 1858 and was used as a prison hulk from 1860 to 1865. In 1866, she was renamed Pluton.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Marengo_(1810)


1813 - Island of St. George taken and Cattaro blockaded by HMS Bacchante (38), Cptn. William Hoste, HMS Saracen (18), Cptn. John Harper and 2 Sicilian gunboats


1861 – Launch of USS Katahdin was a Unadilla-class gunboat built for the U.S. Navy during the American Civil War.

USS Katahdin was a Unadilla-class gunboat built for the U.S. Navy during the American Civil War.
Katahdin was outfitted as a gunboat with cannon and rifled gun for blockade duty and two howitzers for shore bombardment.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Katahdin_(1861)


1911 – Completion of SS Zealandic, a British ocean liner initially operated by White Star Line. She was used both as a passenger liner and a cargo ship as well as serving during both world wars.

Zealandic.jpg

1024px-HMS_Hermes_(95)_off_Yantai_China_c1931.jpeg
(HMS Hermes) SS Mamari III was converted to resemble HMS Hermes as a decoy ship

Having been used as a decoy for the British aircraft carrier HMS Hermes she was sunk en route to the dock where she was to be converted back to cargo use.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Zealandic_(1911)


1914 - USS Jupiter (AC 3) is the first U.S. Navy ship to transit the Panama Canal. In March 1920, Jupiter is decommissioned. Following conversion, she is renamed USS Langley (CV 1). Upon commissioning in March 1922, Langley becomes the U.S. Navys first aircraft carrier.

1280px-USS_Jupiter_(AC-3)_at_Mare_Island_on_16_October_1913_(NH_52365).jpg
Jupiter 16 October 1913, the collier, before conversion to Langley, the aircraft carrier.

USS Langley (CV-1/AV-3) was the United States Navy's first aircraft carrier, converted in 1920 from the collier USS Jupiter (AC-3), and also the US Navy's first turbo-electric-powered ship. Conversion of another collier was planned but canceled when the Washington Naval Treaty required the cancellation of the partially built Lexington-class battlecruisers Lexington and Saratoga, freeing up their hulls for conversion to the aircraft carriers Lexington and Saratoga. Langley was named after Samuel Pierpont Langley, an American aviation pioneer. Following another conversion to a seaplane tender, Langley fought in World War II. On 27 February 1942, she was attacked by nine twin-engine Japanese bombers[3] of the Japanese 21st and 23rd Naval Air Flotillas[2] and so badly damaged that she had to be scuttled by her escorts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Langley_(CV-1)


1942 - Scout dive bombers from VS-71 sink the Japanese destroyer Natsugumo off Savo Island. Also on this date, torpedo bombers from VT-8, Navy and Marine Corps SBDs from VS-3, VS-71, and VMSB-141 and F4F Wildcats from VMF-121, VMF-212, and VMF-224 damage Japanese destroyer Murakumo off New Georgia as she is helping survivors at the Battle of Cape Esperance. She is later scuttled by Japanese destroyer Shirayuki.

1280px-Natsugumo.jpg
Natsugumo (夏雲 Summer Cloud) was the seventh of ten Asashio-class destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the mid-1930s under the Circle Two Supplementary Naval Expansion Program (Maru Ni Keikaku).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_destroyer_Natsugumo_(1937)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
13 October 1644 – A Swedish–Dutch fleet defeats the Danish fleet at Fehmarn and captures about 1,000 prisoners.


The Battle of Fehmarn (1644) took place north-west of the island of Fehmarn, now part of Germany, in the Baltic Sea. A combined Swedish fleet, with a large element of hired Dutch ships, defeated a Danish fleet and took 1000 prisoners, including Ulfeldt, Grabov and von Jasmund. The Danish admiral Pros Mund was killed in the battle.

Sjöstrid-Sjöslaget_vid_Femernbält_1644_-_Sjöhistoriska_museet_-_O_08132.tif.jpg
Sjöstrid: Sjöslaget vid Femernbält 1644. I förgrunden Smålands Lejon, som söker lägga ombord med danska Patientia, medan tätt intill en brännare sätter eld på danska Lindormen. Ungefär samtida oljemålning av okänd konstnär, med holländskt kopparstick (av C.I. Visscher) som förlaga.

The Swedes had 16 ships with 392 guns, and the Dutch element had 21 ships with 483 guns (making a total of 37 ships with 875 guns). The Danes had 17 ships with 448 guns. The Swedes expended two fireships and the Dutch lost one ship. The Danes lost 10 ships captured, including their largest three, and two wrecked.

The battle
On the morning of 13 October the Swedish fleet weighed anchor and prepared for battle by dividing into two Swedish and three Dutch squadrons. One of the Swedish squadrons was led by Wrangel on Smålands Lejon and the other under vice admiral Peter Blum on Draken. The chartered Dutch squadrons in the Swedish fleet were commanded by Thijssen onboard Jupiter, vice admiral Henrik Gerretsen on Groote Dolphijn and Schoutbynacht Pieter Marcussen on Groot Vliessingen.

The Danish fleet was divided in two squadrons under admiral Pros Mund on Patentia and Joachim Grabow on Lindormen. Around 10 am the larger ships in both fleets were within firing range of each other and started firing. The smaller Danish ships retreated from the battle, but were pursued by the Dutch ships.

Early in the battle the Swedish flagship Smålands Lejon was so damaged in her rigging and hull that she had to pull out. The Swedish ships Regina och Göteborg attacked and boarded the Danish flagship Patentia. The Danish admiral Pros Mund was killed during the fighting.

1024px-Fehmarn1644.jpg

The Swedish fire ship Meerman was sent against the Danish Lindormen, which quickly caught fire and exploded. The wreck was discovered in 2012. Swedish Nya Fortuna captured the Danish man-of-war Oldenborg by boarding. The last man-of-war Tre Løver veered off, but was pursued by Anckarhjelm's Dutch Jupiter, Patentia and Swarte Arent. Tre Løver managed to sink Swarte Arent before the two other Dutch ships boarded her.

The smaller Danish vessels Tu Løver, Havhesten, and Fides were captured by Dutch Jupiter and Groote Dolphijn. A cluster of Danish ships were forced against the shore of Lolland, among them Neptunus, Nellebladet, Stormarn, and Kronet Fisk. These were later towed by the Dutch. Danish Delmenhorstwent aground and exploded after being set on fire by the Swedish fire ship Delfin. Danish Markatten, Højenhald and a galleot also went aground, but cannon fire from land protected them from the Dutch. Only Pelikanen and Lammet managed to escape and sail to Copenhagen on 17 October.

Consequences
The Danes lost twelve ships, of which ten were captured. A hundred men perished and about 1,000 were captured. The ship Swarte Arent was the only loss on the Swedish side; its crew was rescued. In total, the Swedish side suffered only 59 deaths.

The victory was one of the greatest in the history of the Royal Swedish Navy. Even if transshipping Torstensson's soldiers to the Danish islands was no longer a threat, since these were now intent on meeting general Gallas' Imperial troops approaching from the south, the Danes realized that Sweden had total naval dominance after the battle. This paved the way for negotiations and eventually the treaty of Brömsebro on 13 August 1645.

Ships involved
Sweden

  • Drake 40
  • Smålands Lejon 32 (flag)
  • Göteborg 36
  • Leopard 36
  • Regina 34
  • Tre Kroner 32
  • Jägare 26
  • Vesterviks Fortuna 24
  • Akilles 22
  • Svan 22
  • Gamla Fortuna 18
  • Lam 12 (galley)
  • Fenix 10 (galley)
  • Postpferd 2 (galley/galliot)
  • Lilla Delfin (fireship) - Burnt
  • Meerman (fireship) - Burnt
  • ? (merchantman)
Dutch element of Swedish fleet
  • Delphin 38
  • Jupiter 34
  • Engel 34
  • Gekroende Liefde 31
  • Coninchva Sweden 28
  • Campen 26
  • Den Swarten Raven 26
  • Vlissingen 24
  • Nieuw Vlissingen 24
  • St Matthuis 24
  • Patientia 24
  • Arent/Adelaar 22 - Sunk by Tre Løver
  • Nieuw Gottenburg 22
  • Liefde van Hoorn 20
  • Prins 20
  • Wapen van Medenblik 20
  • Posthorn 20
  • Brouwer 20
  • St Marten 20
  • Harderinne 8
  • ? 2 (galliot)
Denmark
  • Patienta 48 (flag, Pros Mund) - Captured
  • Tre Løver 46 - Captured
  • Oldenborg 42 - Captured
  • Lindorm 38 (Henrik Mund)
  • Pelican 36
  • Stormar 32 (Corfits Ulfeldt) - Captured
  • Delmenhorst 28 (Hans Knudsen) - Captured
  • Fides 28 - Captured
  • Neptunus 28 - Captured
  • Nelleblad 24 - Captured
  • To Løver 22 - Captured
  • Kronet Fisk 20 - Aground and captured
  • Lam 16
  • Markat 16
  • Havhest 14
  • Højenhald 8 - Wrecked
  • ? 2 (galley/galliot) - Wrecked


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fehmarn_(1644)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torstenson_War
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
13 October 1796 - HMS Terpsichore (32), Cptn. Richard Bowen, captured Spanish frigate Mahonesa (34), Cptn. Don Tomas Ayaldi, off Carthagena.


The Action of 13 October 1796 was a minor naval engagement of the French Revolutionary Wars, fought off the Mediterranean coast of Spain near Cartagena between the British Royal Navy 32-gun frigate HMS Terpsichore under Captain Richard Bowen and the Spanish Navy 34-gun frigate Mahonesa under Captain Tomás de Ayalde. The action was the first battle of the Anglo-Spanish War, coming just eight days after the Spanish declaration of war. In a battle lasting an hour and forty minutes, Mahonesa was captured.

large.jpg
Capture of the Mahonesa Octr. 13th 1796
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/109662.html#0cOCHomxZmlwMWdX.99

Spain had been an ally of Britain in the first years of the War of the First Coalition against the newly formed French Republic. Relations between the allies had often been strained, and following a series of defeats in the War of the Pyrenees the Spanish signed a peace treaty in August 1795. A year later the Treaty of San Ildefonso brought Spain back into the war, now as an ally of France. The war in the Mediterranean had reached a stalemate after two inconclusive battles in the spring of 1795, with a British blockade of the French naval base at Toulon maintained from San Fiorenzo and Leghorn under Vice-Admiral Sir John Jervis. The French dominance in the Italian campaign of 1796 made the British position tenuous, and with Spain's entry into the war Jervis was forced to disperse his limited forces further still, with forces watching Spanish shipping at Cádiz.

Off Cartagena Bowen commanded the small frigate Terpsichore, which had been shadowing a large Spanish fleet which had left Cádiz a few days earlier. As he returned to Gibraltar Bowen encountered Mahonesa, and the Spanish captain Ayalde offered battle. Bowen accepted and the ships fought an extended engagement at close quarters. The Spanish ship took much more serious damage and casualties than the British, and gradually the crew began to slip away from their guns. Ayalde made an attempt to escape, but his ship was too crippled and after a chase of 20 minutes he surrendered. Bowen brought the prize to Lisbon, where the damage was revealed to be too severe to repair. Bowen served in a number of engagements off Cádiz in the following months, until he was killed in July 1797 at the Battle of Santa Cruz.

Background
In early 1793 Great Britain and Spain, historic antagonists in the Mediterranean, found themselves allies against the newly-formed French Republic in the War of the First Coalition. The alliance was uneasy, the Spanish refusing to allow British officers to command Spanish forces, and suspicious of British motives in the aftermath of the Nootka Crisis of 1790. During the Siege of Toulon, Spanish Admiral Juan de Lángara threatened to open fire on HMS Victory, the flagship of British Vice-Admiral Lord Hood during a dispute over strategy, and at the culmination of the siege Spanish forces were accused of deliberately sabotaging a British attempt to destroy the French Mediterranean Fleet at anchor in harbour.

As the war progressed the Spanish suffered a series of defeats on land in the War of the Pyrenees, and in the summer of 1795 Spain was forced to sign a peace treaty with the French, withdrawing their forces from the Mediterranean campaign. Britain and France fought inconclusive sea battles at Genoa and the Hyères Islands that year, the campaign settling into a stalemate, with the French blockaded in Toulon but sending successful raiding squadrons against British trade. One such squadron destroyed a large British convoy at the Battle of the Levant Convoy off Cape St. Vincent in October 1795 and took shelter in the main Spanish naval base of Cádiz. During 1796 the Italian campaigns of Napoleon Bonaparte systematically eliminated Britain's Italian allies, while diplomatic negotiations brought Spain into an alliance with France, signing the Treaty of San Ildefonso in August. On 5 October Spain declared war on Britain and a large Spanish fleet sailed from Cádiz under Lángara to unite with the French at Toulon.

British forces in the Mediterranean were commanded by Vice-Admiral Sir John Jervis, who had stationed forces off Cádiz to watch for Spanish movement in the advent of war. The squadron at Cádiz, commanded by Rear-Admiral Robert Mann, was chased by Lángara's fleet, abandoning two storeships in its precipitate withdrawal. Initially anchoring at Gibraltar, Mann then deserted his post and returned to Britain against orders. One of the independent commands in the region was a small force led by the small 32-gun frigate HMS Terpsichore under Captain Richard Bowen, recently transferred from the North Sea command at Jervis' request. Bowen recognised the danger in Mann's desertion, and set sail for the Ligurian Sea to warn Jervis of Lángara's approach.

Action
On 11 October, Lángara reached the Spanish Mediterranean port of Cartagena, uniting with the squadron there and sailing in search of Jervis. The previous day Bowen, having passed Lángara's slower fleet, encountered HMS Pallas and passed the warning along, turning back to his station off Gibraltar. As Lángara passed by, a Spanish frigate stationed in Cartagena, the 34-gun Mahonesa under Captain Tomás de Ayalde, sailed independently on a patrol and in the early morning of 13 October sighted a strange sail to the northeast. Ayalde brought his frigate towards the stranger to investigate and found that he faced Bowen's frigate, manoeuvering to position Mahonesa in an advantageous station to windward.

Bowen's ship was undermanned, having landed 30 men for medical treatment at Gibraltar and with another 30 on board unfit for action, and he was concerned that the Spanish fleet he was shadowing might appear at any moment; a Spanish tender was seen sailing for Cartagena with news of Bowen's arrival. Bowen however determined to fight, and stood towards Ayalde's ship. At 09:30, Bowen pulled close alongside the Spanish frigate and fired a single shot to see how the Spanish vessel would react. Ayalde responded with a full broadside, and the frigates traded heavy fire for the next hour and twenty minutes as they wore around one another. Terpsichore's masts were badly damaged and the rigging, sails, boats and anchors badly torn up by Spanish fire, but casualties among the crew were relatively light. Mahonesa however was badly battered, suffering heavy casualties; the booms were shattered and the guns in the centre of the ship disabled.

As the action continued, Ayalde found that his men were slipping away from their guns and that fewer and fewer could be persuaded to return. Recognising that defeat was now inevitable, he ordered sails set and attempted to retreat to Cartagena. On Terpsichore, Bowen had his men effect rapid repairs and within 20 minutes the British frigate was under sail and soon overhauled the shattered Spanish ship. As Terpischore pulled alongside Mahonesa, gun batteries ready to fire, Ayalde struck his colours and surrendered.

Aftermath
Bowen effected repairs on board Terpsichore and his prize and turned to the westward. His losses were minimal, with only four men wounded in the engagement. Casualties on board Mahonesa were much heavier; Bowen estimated 30 killed and 30 wounded, Bowen successfully brought both frigates to Lisbon, where Jervis was establishing a new fleet anchorage. There Mahonesa was bought into the Royal Navy under the same name. Bowen was commended for his victory, and awarded a piece of plate valued at 100 guineas. Naval historian William James considered that Mahonesa and Terpsichore, both 12-pounder frigates, were "as fair a match as an English officer would wish to fight." Bowen himself paid tribute to Ayalde's bravery in the action, considering that the Spanish captain had fought on long past the point where defeat was inevitable.

With Mann's desertion and the Spanish declaration of war, Jervis found his fleet isolated and outnumbered. Acting on orders from the Admiralty, he withdrew his forces from the Mediterranean entirely, retreating to Gibraltar and then Lisbon. There he received reinforcements from Britain and, in February 1797, launched a successful attack on the Spanish fleet at the Battle of Cape St Vincent, inflicting such a serious defeat that the Spanish fleet would not emerge again from Cádiz until the Croisière de Bruix campaign in 1799. Bowen was attached to the Cádiz blockade, capturing several merchant vessels in November 1796, defeating the French frigate Vestale off Cádiz at the Action of 13 December 1796, and attacking the damaged Spanish 130-gun Santísima Trinidad in the aftermath of the Battle of Cape St. Vincent. In July 1797 Terpsichore was with the squadron under Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson which attacked the port of Santa Cruz on Tenerife. The operation was a failure, Nelson's force driven off with heavy casualties; Nelson lost an arm and Bowen was struck and killed by grape shot while storming the town. More than five decades after the battle the Admiralty recognised the action with a clasp attached to the Naval General Service Medal, awarded upon application to all British participants still living in 1847.


HMS Terpsichore was a 32-gun Amazon-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was built during the last years of the American War of Independence, but did not see action until the French Revolutionary Wars. She served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, in a career that spanned forty-five years.

Terpsichore was launched in 1785, but was not prepared for active service until the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in 1793. She was initially sent to serve in the West Indies where in 1794 Captain Richard Bowen took command. Bowen commanded Terpsichore until his death in 1797, and several of her most memorable exploits occurred during his captaincy. Terpsichore served mostly in the Mediterranean, capturing three frigates, and in 1797 went as far as to attack the damaged Spanish first rate Santísima Trinidad, as she limped away from the Battle of Cape St Vincent. The Santísima Trinidad mounted 136 guns to Terpsichore's 32, and was the largest warship in the world at time. Terpsichore inflicted several casualties, before abandoning the attack. Terpsichore passed through several commanders after Bowen's death at Tenerife, and went out to the East Indies, where her last commander was Captain William Augustus Montagu. Montagu fought an action with a large French frigate in 1808, and though he was able to outfight her, he was not able to capture her. Terpsichore returned to Britain the following year, and spent the last years of the war laid up in ordinary. She survived in this state until 1830, when she was broken up.




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_13_October_1796
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Terpsichore_(1785)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
13 October 1798 - HMS Jason (1794 - 38), Charles Stirling, wrecked on unknown rock near Brest.


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

Construction
Jason was ordered on 1 April 1793 and was laid down that month at the yards of John Dudman, at Deptford. She was launched on 3 April 1794 and had been completed at Deptford Dockyard by 25 July 1794. She cost £16,632 to build; this rising to a total of £22,567 when the cost of fitting her for service was included. Jason was commissioned in May 1794 under her first commander, Captain James Douglas.

HMS_Jason_and_the_Seine.jpg
HMS Jason captures the Seine on 30 June 1798, depicted in a contemporary engraving

Career
Jason initially served in the English Channel, at first under Douglas, and then by 1795 under Captain Charles Stirling. Stirling remained the Jason's commander for the rest of her career. In a highly active career against French shipping he took at least six French vessels, including two that later became part of the Royal Navy.

Jason was present at the Quiberon expedition in October 1795 as part of John Borlase Warren's squadron, and went on to be highly active against French privateers and raiders. In December 1796 she was part of the British squadron that frustrated the French Expédition d'Irlande, capturing the disarmed frigate Suffren. Further service in the Channel followed; Jason captured the 14-gun privateer Marie off Belle Isle on 21 November 1797, the 24-gun privateer Coureur on 23 February 1798, and in company with HMS Russell captured the 12-gun privateer Bonne Citoyenne on 20 March 1798. Further successes that year included the 6-gun Arrogante off Brest 23 April 1798, and in company with HMS Pique, the 38-gun frigate Seine in the Breton Passage at the Action of 30 June 1798. Arrogante was taken into the Royal Navy as HMS Arrogante, later being renamed HMS Insolent. Seine too became a British ship, as HMS Seine, serving until being wrecked in 1803.

Loss
HMS Jason struck an uncharted rock on 13 October 1798 while sailing off Brest and was wrecked. She was one of a handful of frigates to be lost on the dangerous Brest blockade, with three of her class be and HMS Ethalion was lost the following year.


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

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

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

Ships in class

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Jason_(1794)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artois-class_frigate
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
13 October 1798 - HMS Melampus and Résolue


After the Battle of Tory Island

Chase
By nightfall some of the remaining French ships had entered Donegal Bay with Canada, Melampus and Foudroyant still in pursuit. The two forces repeatedly passed one another in the dark, and Canadaalmost drove ashore. Back at the battle site, Warren had ordered Robust to tow Hoche into Lough Swilly—this order later came under criticism, as Robust was in a battered state herself and the storms of the previous week had not abated. When a gale struck the pair on 13 October, Hoche lost several masts and broke her tow, only being prevented from foundering by the combined efforts of the British prize crew and their French prisoners. Eventually, on 15 October, Doris appeared and took Hoche in tow, arriving in Lough Swilly without further incident a few days later. Meanwhile, Ethalion saw Bellone safely into port, and Magnanime and Amelia brought in Coquille and Embuscade respectively.

large.jpg
His Majesty's Ship Melampus of 36 guns.... in charge of Resolue & Bellone two French frigates of 40 guns each, off the coast of Ireland, October 13th 1798 (PAH5223)
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/145170.html#QriYRZG7FhKSV3F5.99

Melampus and Résolue
On the morning of 13 October, Warren sighted two of the French frigates standing out of Donegal Bay and went after them, directing Moore in Melampus to stay behind to search for stragglers. Hindered by contrary winds, Melampus scoured the bay until well after nightfall, and at 23:30 was surprised by the sudden appearance directly in front of her of Immortalité and Résolue near St. John's Point. Immortalité soon spotted Melampus and made sail, but Captain Bargeau of Résolue had not seen the British ship, and was hesitant about following his compatriot in the dark. In the gloom and confusion, he mistook Melampus for Immortalité and came alongside, only realising his mistake when Melampus opened fire. Because of the heavy seas, Résolue's guns had been tied down below decks, so the only return fire she could offer was from her handful of quarterdeck guns. Bargeau, whose ship was still leaking badly, recognised that further resistance was futile and surrendered in minutes, having lost ten men and much of his rigging. Melampus put aboard a prize crew and then departed in pursuit of Immortalité.


HMS Melampus was a Royal Navy fifth-rate frigate that served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. She captured numerous prizes before the British sold her to the Dutch navy in 1815. With the Dutch she participated in a major action at Algiers, and then in a number of colonial punitive expeditions in the Dutch East Indies.

800px-A_CR_Melampus_in_BRISTOLIAN_in_Cmd.JPG
Detail from the painting by Bristol artist Chris Woodhouse of the 36-gun Bristol-built frigate HMS Melampus, commissioned and purchased in 1990 by Bristol City Museum

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

Engageante_resolue.jpg
Engageante (left) and Résolue (right) battling HMS Concorde at the Action of 23 April 1794



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tory_Island#Melampus_and_Résolue
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Melampus_(1785)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Résolue_(1778)
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
13 October 1805 - HMS Jason (32), Cptn. P. William Champain, captured French national corvette Naiade (20), Lt. Hamond, in the Atlantic west of Barbados. Jason also took a Spanish schooner, Three Schooners, the same day.


HMS Jason was a 32-gun fifth rate Thames-class frigate of the Royal Navy, launched in 1804 at Woolwich. She was broken up in 1815.

Service
Jason entered service in 1805 under the command of Captain P. William Champain, and served in the Leeward Islands as the flagship of Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane.

On 10 August 1805 Jason captured the Spanish privateer Dolores.

On 13 October Jason captured the French corvette Naiade off Barbados after a chase of nine hours. She was pierced for 22 guns, but mounted sixteen long 12-pounders and four brass 2-pound swivels. She had a crew of 170 men under the command of lieutenant de vaisseau Hamon, and had had one man killed before she surrendered. She had come out from France the previous March with the Toulon squadron and was 15 days out of Martinique on a two months' cruise. Captain P.W. Champain of Jason described her as, "one of the largest Brigs in the French Service; extremely well fitted, fails very fast, (having escaped from many of our Cruizers,) and appears particularly calculated for His Majesty's Service." That same day Jason captured the Spanish merchant ship Three Brothers. (The Royal Navy took Naiade into service as HMS Melville.)

In 1806, command of Jason passed to Captain Thomas John Cochrane. In June she participated in an attack on a Spanish gun battery at Aguadilla on Puerto Rico. Although the attacking force came under heavier fire than expected, the British were eventually able to capture the battery. On 6 August, Jason was in company with Hart, and the schooners Maria and Tobago when they captured Hercules.

In 1807, Jason was detached, together with the brig Wolverine, to the coast of Surinam to search for the French sloop Favorite, which she discovered in January and captured in a short engagement. Favorite had been a Royal Navy sloop that the French had captured in January 1806; the Royal Navy took her back into service as HMS Goree.

In 1808 Jason was involved in a mutiny off New York City, when local inhabitants persuaded a shore party to revolt. The rebellion spread to the ship and it was only with difficulty that the officers subdued the mutineers, the first lieutenant driving them below with a pike and locking them in; 45 men were later court martialled at Halifax, Nova Scotia.

In 1809 command passed to Captain William Maude and Jason participated in the attack on the Topaze off Guadeloupe in the successful Action of 22 January 1809.

In April 1809, a strong French squadron arrived at the Îles des Saintes, south of Guadeloupe. There they were blockaded until 14 April, when a British force under Major-General Frederick Maitland and Captain Philip Beaver in Acasta, invaded and captured the islands. Jason was among the naval vessels that shared in the proceeds of the capture of the islands.

Command later passed to James William King and then Charles John Napier, returning to King in 1811. She served on the Jamaica and North Sea stations in 1812 and 1813. On 13 June 1812, Jasondetained the American ship Lydia. Almost a month later, on 12 July, Jason detained the American brig Cyrus.

Two days later Jason captured the American ship Three Friends.

In 1814 Jason formed part of the escort for King Louis XVIII of France and later for the Russian and Prussian Emperors during the negotiations to end the Napoleonic Wars.

Fate
In 1815 at the end of the war, Jason was broken up at Plymouth.


The French corvette Naïade was launched at Brest in 1793 as a brig-corvette for the French Navy. The Royal Navy captured her in 1805 and took her into service as HMS Melville. She was sold for breaking up in 1808.

Diligente_(1800).jpg
Plan showing an incomplete inboard profile, the poop deck, upper deck, and lower deck for Diligent (captured circa 1800), a captured French Storeship, used as a Storeship at Woolwich Dockyard. Black, green, and red ink on paper. Sheet: 436 mm x 385 mm

French service
Naïade was built to a plan by Pierre-Agustin Lamothe and was the name ship of her three-vessel class. The Royal Navy captured one sister ship, Diligente, in 1800 and employed her as a 14-gun transport until they sold her in 1814.

French Revolutionary Wars
The French Navy employed Naïade to patrol and escort convoys between Ouessant and Socoa. She then escorted a convoy between Ostend and Dunkirk. Lastly, she cruised in the North Sea and the Pas-de-Calais. Then she was stationed at Flessingue. During this time she was first under the command of lieutenant de vaisseau Julien (24 February 1794 to 17 May 1794), and then lieutenant de vaisseau Léonard (1-22 December 1794).

Napoleonic Wars
At some point Naïade transferred to the Caribbean.

Naïade and Cyane left Martinique on 29 September 1805 provisioned for a cruise of three months. Enseigne de vaisseau Hamon, who had assumed command of Naïade shortly before they sailed,[5] was the senior officer of the pair.

Six days later HMS Princess Charlotte was off Tobago when she sighted them in the distance. The two French vessels were too far away for Princess Charlotte to chase them. Captain George Tobin of Princess Charlotte decided to disguise his vessel as best he could in the hope that he could lure them to approach. He was successful and an engagement ensued.

Eventually, Princess Charlotte succeeded in capturing Cyane, which had been a Royal Navy sloop until the French had captured her in May; Naïade as Tobin put it, "by taking a more prudent Situation and superior sailing, effected her Escape without any apparent Injury."

Capture
On 13 October 1805 HMS Jason captured Naiade off Barbados (14°5′N 55°48′W) after a chase of nine hours. She was pierced for 22 guns, but mounted sixteen 12-pounder guns and four brass 2-pounder swivels. She had a crew of 170 men under the command of lieutenant de vaisseau Hamon, and had had one man killed before she surrendered. She had come out from France the previous March with the Toulon squadron and was 15 days out of Martinique, provisioned for a two months' cruise. Captain P.W. Champain of Jason described her as, " one of the largest Brigs in the French Service; extremely well fitted, fails very fast, (having escaped from many of our Cruizers,) and appears particularly calculated for His Majesty's Service."

British service
The Royal Navy re-rigged Naiade on 25 May 1806 as a ship-sloop. The Navy then commissioned her in August at Antigua under Commander the Honourable James William King; he was promoted to commander and into Melville on 25 August 1806.

Kingfisher captured on 16 December the French privateer Elisabeth, out of Guadaloupe after a 12-hour chase. Elizabeth had captured Cambrian after Cambrian had left a convoy on 28 October. Melville recaptured Cambrian, which had been carrying a cargo of coal from Cork to Jamaica.

Melville served in the squadron under Rear-Admiral Alexander Cochrane, in Belleisle, that was sent to occupy the Danish West Indies. The actual occupation of the Danish West Indies did not occur until 7 December, after receipt of news of the second battle of Copenhagen.

A notice of a head money payment states that at some point King and Melville captured the privateers Pensee and Favorite.

Melville arrived at Deptford on 18 July 1808. King transferred on 29 July into Pelorus, which he commissioned in Britain.

Fate
The Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy offered "Melville sloop...lying at Deptford" for sale on 3 November 1808. She was sold that day




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Jason_(1804)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_corvette_Naïade_(1793)
 
Last edited:
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 13 October


1693 – Launch of French Gaillard 54 guns (designed and built by Félix Arnaud), at Bayonne – captured by the British in 1710


1738 – Launch of French Dauphin-Royal 74 at Brest, designed by Blaise Ollivier - condemned 1783 and hulked; taken to pieces in 1787.

The Dauphin Royal was a 2nd Rank 74-gun ship of the line of the Royal French Royal Navy, designed in 1735 by Blaise Ollivier and constructed in 1735 to 1740 at Brest Dockyard. She and the contemporary Superbe, also built at Brest over the same period, were the last French 74-gun ships to have only thirteen pairs of lower deck guns (subsequent 74-gun French ships all were constructed with a fourteenth pair of lower deck guns). In 1747, she was rebuilt at Brest and reduced to 70 guns by the removal of her poop guns.

She took part in the Battle of Quiberon Bay on 20 November 1759 under Captain d'Uturbie Fragosse, in the Battle of Ushant, and the Battle of Saint Kittson 25/26 January 1782.

She was condemned in September 1783 and sold in June 1787 to be broken up.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Dauphin_Royal_(1735)


1754 – Launch of French Bienfaisant 64 at Brest, (designed and built by Mathurin-Louis Geoffroy) – captured by the British in the siege of Louisbourg in July 1758 and added to the RN under the same name, BU 1814

Bienfaisant was a 64-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, launched in 1754.
A cutting out expedition ordered by Admiral Edward Boscawen of the British Royal Navy captured her on the night of 25 July 1758 during the 1758 Siege of Louisbourg. Bienfaisant and the 74-gun Prudent were the last remaining ships of the line of the French squadron in Louisbourg harbour. Prudent had run aground and so her captors set her alight, but men commanded by Commander George Balfour of HMS Aetna boarded and brought out Bienfaisant. The action provided a decisive moment of the siege; the fortress surrendered the next day.

The Royal Navy commioned Bienfaisant as the third rate HMS Bienfaisant. She took part in the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1780 and the capture of the Comte de Artois off Ireland in August.
She participated, under the command of Captain Braithwaite, in the 1781 Battle of Dogger Bank with reduced armament on her lower deck as the last ship in the line.
Bienfaisant was broken up in 1814.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Bienfaisant_(1758)


1756 – Birth of James Gambier, 1st Baron Gambier, English admiral and politician, 36th Commodore Governor of Newfoundland (d. 1833)

Admiral of the Fleet James Gambier, 1st Baron Gambier, GCB (13 October 1756 – 19 April 1833) was a Royal Navy officer. After seeing action at the capture of Charleston during the American Revolutionary War, he saw action again, as captain of the third-rate HMS Defence, at the battle of the Glorious First of June in 1794, during the French Revolutionary Wars, gaining the distinction of commanding the first ship to break through the enemy line.

James_Gambier.jpg

Gambier went on to be a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty and First Naval Lord and then served as Governor of Newfoundland. Together with General Lord Cathcart, he oversaw the bombardment of Copenhagen during the Napoleonic Wars. He later survived an accusation of cowardice for his alleged inaction at the Battle of the Basque Roads.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Gambier,_1st_Baron_Gambier


1768 – Birth of Jacques Félix Emmanuel Hamelin, French admiral and explorer (d. 1839)

Baron Jacques Félix Emmanuel Hamelin (13 October 1768 – 23 April 1839) was a rear admiral of the French navy and later a Baron. He commanded numerous naval expeditions and battles with the British Navy as well as exploratory voyages in the Indian Ocean and the South Seas.

Hamelin_portrait.jpg

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


1775 - The Continental Congress at Philidelphia resolves to build armed ships. Recognized as the


1804 - HMS Firebrand fireship, William Maclean, wrecked off Dover.

HMS Firebrand (1804a), was the French privateer brig Adèle, that Albatross captured in November 1800 and that became the British East India Company's armed brig Waller. The Royal Navy purchased her at London in August 1804 but she was wrecked in October.


1810 – Launch of HMS Hotspur, a 36-gun Fifth-rate Apollo-class frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Hotspur was 36-gun Fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. Built by Parsons of Warsash and launched on 13 October 1810.
On 30 April 1812 Sir William Bensley, Sovereign, Harriet, and City of London were at 25°40′N 23°5′W and under escort by Hotspur, which parted from them and returned to England. The East Indiamen had left England and were on their way to the East Indies.
Hotspure was broken up in January 1821.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Hotspur_(1810)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo-class_frigate


1813 - HMS Telegraph (14), Cdr. Timothy Scriven, engaged Filbustier (22), Lt. Daniels, in the mouth of the Adour until her crew escaped ashore after setting her on fire. Attempts to save her did not succeed.

HMS Telegraph was built in 1812 in New York as the American letter of marque Vengeance. The Royal Navy captured her in 1813 and took her into service as the 14-gun schooner or gunbrig Telegraph. Over a period of only about two years she took numerous small prizes and caused the destruction of a French 16-gun brig. A gale caused the wrecking of Telegraph in 1817.

HMS_Telegraph_(1813)_and_Flibustier.jpg
Destruction of the Flibustier Octr 13th 1813. From a sketch by Captn Scriven, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich

On 13 October 1813 Telegraph caused the destruction of the French 16-gun brig Flibustier (1810) in the mouth of the Adour. Flibustier had been in St Jean de Luz sheltering where shore batteries could protect her when she sought to escape because of the approach of Wellington's army. She started out during a "dark and stormy night", but Telegraph immediately pursued her. After an action lasting three-quarters of an hour, the French saw Challenger and Constant coming up to join the engagement. Flibustier's crew set her on fire and escaped ashore. Lieutenant Scriven sent boats to try to save her, but they were unsuccessful and she blew up. Papers found on board showed lieutenant de vaisseau Jean-Jacques-Léonore Daniel had been the commander. She had been armed with sixteen French 24-pounder carronades, two 9-pounder guns, a brass howitzer, and four brass 3-pounder guns. There had been 160 men on board and Scriven reported that from what he saw, the French losses must have been considerable; Telegraph had no casualties. Lloyd's List reported that when Flibustier blew up there were still 30 wounded men aboard. The same report gave her armament as sixteen 32-pounder carronades, two long 9-pounder guns, and four brass 4-pounder guns.

Scriven believed that Flibustier was bound for Santona to relieve the garrison there as her cargo consisted of treasure, arms, ammunition, and salt provisions. He also thought that some of the men who had been aboard her were officers and soldiers for the garrison.

Both armies witnessed the British victory, with the allied army giving three cheers. As a reward for his success Scriven received a promotion to Commander and Telegraph was re-rated as a sloop of war.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Telegraph_(1813)


1841 – Death of Patrick Campbell, Scottish admiral (b. 1773)

Vice-Admiral Sir Patrick Campbell, KCB (1773 – 13 October 1841) was a senior British Royal Navy officer of the early nineteenth century who was distinguished by his service in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. During his service in a number of ships in the Mediterranean and English Channel, Campbell saw several small ship actions and was successful in every one, even surviving a double shipwreck in 1805. Following the war, Campbell retired for ten years before returning to service, later commanding at the Cape of Good Hope.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Campbell_(Royal_Navy_officer)


1852 – Launch of Spanish Reina Doña Isabel II 86 at Carraca - stricken 18 July 1867 but still extant 1885, BU


1862 - The Union yacht America seizes schooner David Crockett attempting to run the blockade out of Charleston with a cargo of turpentine and rosin.


1864 - Union bark Braziliera and screw-steamer Mary Sanford, both with the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, send out a boat expedition that frees a number of slaves from a plantation on White Oak Creek, Ga.
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
14 October 1726 – Birth of Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham, Scottish-English admiral and politician (d. 1813)


Admiral Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham PC (14 October 1726 – 17 June 1813[1]) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. As a junior officer he saw action during the Seven Years' War. Middleton was given command of a guardship at the Nore, a Royal Navy anchorage in the Thames Estuary, at the start of the American War of Independence, and was subsequently appointed Comptroller of the Navy. He went on to be First Naval Lord and then First Lord of the Admiralty. Middleton also played a crucial role in the abolition of the slave trade.

800px-Admiral_Charles_Middleton,_later_Lord_Barham_(1726-1813),_by_Isaac_Pocock.jpg

Naval career
Middleton entered the Royal Navy in 1741 as captain's servant aboard HMS Sandwich and HMS Duke, and later served aboard HMS Flamborough as midshipman and master's mate.[3] He became lieutenant in 1745, serving aboard the frigate HMS Chesterfield, after 1748 on the west Africa station.

During the Seven Years' War, from 1754, Middleton was stationed aboard HMS Anson during her apprehension and capture of two French ships at Louisbourg, after which he was stationed in the Leeward Islands. In January 1757, an incident over rum rations, during which Middleton lost his temper and physically attacked a sailor ended with the sailor being court martialled and Middleton being transferred and promoted to command of the sloop HMS Speaker.

Promoted to post-captain on 22 May 1758, Middleton was given command of the frigate HMS Arundel.[3] In 1761, while in command of HMS Emerald, he distinguished himself in the West Indies, taking sixteen French ships and several privateers, and received the gratitude of the merchants in the British colony of Barbados.[3] From March 1762 Middleton took command of the frigate Adventure, patrolling the coast of Normandy.[3]

In December 1761 Middleton married Margaret Gambier, niece of Captain Mead, who he had encountered aboard HMS Sandwich some twenty years earlier. Margaret moved to Teston in Kent, to be close to her friend Elizabeth Bouverie. In 1763, after service aboard the Adventure, he moved to join Margaret at Teston, and for the next twelve years he farmed the land belonging to Mrs Bouverie, taking on the role of a country gentleman.[3]

In 1775, at the outbreak of the American War of Independence, Middleton was given a guardship at the Nore, a Royal Navy anchorage in the Thames Estuary, and was subsequently appointed Comptroller of the Navy in 1778, a post he held for twelve years.[3] In 1781 was created a baronet,[3] with a special remainder, failing any male issue, to his son in law, Gerard Noel.[3]

"I find politics have got too great a hold on [the Navy Board] for me to withstand it ... I shall contend no more for the public, having raised a nest of hornets already by so doing. I trust those who follow me will have more weight than I have had, and influence ministers to correct these evils."
— Extract from an unsent letter to John Montagu, First Lord of the Admiralty in 1786. Middleton resigned his Navy Board positions in 1790.[4]
In 1784, Sir Charles Middleton was elected Tory Member of Parliament (MP) for Rochester, a seat he held for six years, and on 24 September 1787 he was promoted rear admiral.[5] By 1786 he had become disillusioned with his role as Comptroller of the Navy, seeing it as beset by internal politics between the Admiralty and the Navy Board. In 1786 he prepared a letter to the First Lord of the Admiralty indicating he would "contend no more for the public," and urging the appointment of a successor who could "have more weight than I have had, and influence ministers to correct these evils."[4] The letter was never sent, but Middleton resigned his position in 1790 and effectively retired from naval affairs.[4]

Promotions based on seniority continued to be received, despite Middleton's retirement from active service. On 1 February 1793 he was promoted to vice admiral,[6] and in May 1794 he was appointed to the Board of Admiralty.[3] He became First Naval Lord in March 1795[7] and was promoted to full admiral on 1 June 1795. He was finally, in May 1805, appointed First Lord of the Admiralty.[3] He was created Baron Barham, of Barham Court and Teston in the County of Kent, with a special remainder, failing male issue, to his only child, his daughter, Diana Noel, 2nd Baroness Barham, and her male heirs. He died eight years later, aged 86, at his home of Barham Court.[8]

Abolitionist

Barham Court, the family seat
In addition to his service in the Royal Navy, Middleton played a crucial role in the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire. He had been influenced by a pamphlet written by Rev. James Ramsay, who served as a surgeon under Middleton aboard HMS Arundel in the West Indies, but later took holy orders and served on the Caribbean island of St Christopher (now St Kitts), where he observed first-hand the treatment of slaves. On his return in 1777, exhausted by the continuing conflict with influential planters and businessmen, Ramsay returned to Britain and briefly lived with Sir Charles and Lady Middleton at Teston.[9] He later became vicar of Teston and rector of Nettlestead, Kent, the livings being in the gift of Middleton.[10]

Ramsay's pamphlet Essay on the Treatment and Conversion of African Slaves in the British Sugar Colonies, published in 1784, especially affected Lady Middleton. Feeling inadequate to take up the issue of the slave trade in Parliament himself, and knowing that it would be a long, hard battle, Sir Charles Middleton suggested the young Member of Parliament William Wilberforce as the one who might be persuaded to take up the cause. (Whether this was the first time that the issue had been suggested to Wilberforce is debatable). In 1787 Wilberforce was introduced to James Ramsay and Thomas Clarkson at Teston, as well as meeting the growing group of supporters of abolition, which also included Edward Eliot, Hannah More, the evangelical writer and philanthropist and Beilby Porteus, Bishop of London.[11]

Clarkson had first made public his desire to spend his life fighting for emancipation at Middleton's home, Barham Court, overlooking the River Medway at Teston, Kent. In order to make a case for abolishing the slave trade, Clarkson did much research over many years, gathering evidence by interviewing thousands of sailors who had been involved in the slave trade.[11]

Barham Court was effectively used for planning the campaign by Lord and Lady Barham, with numerous meetings and strategy sessions attended by Wilberforce, Clarkson, Eliot and Porteus before presenting legislation to Parliament. While Middleton never played a direct role in the effort to abolish the slave trade (finally accomplished in 1807) and slavery itself (in 1833) he played a very important part as a behind the scenes facilitator. His efforts were motivated by his evangelical faith.[12]

Legacy
Three warships of the Royal Navy were named HMS Barham in honour of Charles Middleton including the Battleship HMS Barham launched in 1914



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Middleton,_1st_Baron_Barham
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
14 October 1780 – Launch of HMS Magnanime, Intrepid-class – converted 1794 razees


HMS Magnanime was a 64-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 14 October 1780 at Deptford Dockyard. She belonged to the Intrepid-class designed by Sir John Williams.

large.jpg
Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the inboard profile for Magnanime (1780), a 64-gun Third Rate, two-decker, as proposed to be cut down to a 38-gun Fifth Rate Frigate. The plan includes the outline of her original height when a 64-gun ship. Magnanime was cut down (razeed) at Plymouth Dockyard by Admiralty Order dated 11 August 1794.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/82334.html#2QfJUEdIf8vCpvYJ.99

Career
Commissioned in October 1780 under Captain Charles Wolseley, Magnanime sailed in 1781 with the Relief Expedition to Gibraltar, and subsequently to the Indian Ocean, where she participated in several of the series of battles against French forces off India - including those of Providien, Negapatam and Trincomalee in 1782 and Cuddalore in 1783. She returned to the United Kingdom and paid off into ordinary in June 1784.

From 1794—95, she was cut down into a 44-gun razee fifth-rate frigate and recommissioned in November 1794 under Captain Isaac Schomberg.

On 16 March 1798 Magnanime was escorting a small convoy when she spied a privateer lurking about, seeking an opportunity to pick off a prize. Captain The Hon. Michael de Courcy set Magnanime in chase. Twenty-three hours and 256 miles later, he captured Eugénie at Latitude 42 and Longitude 12. She was armed with 18 guns, eight of which she had thrown overboard during the chase, and had a crew of 107 men. She was coppered and appeared completely new. The Royal Navy took her into service under the name HMS Pandour, but never commissioned her.

large (1).jpg
Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the inboard profile for 64-gun Third Rate, two-deckers of the Intrepid class (approved 1765). As this plan is undated, it is unknown as to which of the class the plan refers to. The class was built in two batches: those ordered between 1765 and 1769 - Intrepid (1770), Monmouth (1772), Defiance (1772), Nonsuch (1774) and Ruby (1776), and then the second group ordered between 1771 and 1779 - Vigilant (1774), Eagle (1774), America (1777), Anson (1781), Polyphemus (1782), Magnanime (1780), Sampson (1781), Repulse (1780), Diadem (1782), and Standard (1782).
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/81279.html#7WVli5ktcrhv8w4y.99


On 1 April Magnanime was again involved in a successful chase. This time one of 180 miles in 18 hours. The captured privateer was the Audacieux, of 20 guns, though pierced for 22, and carrying a crew of 137 men. She too was coppered and new. de Courcy remarked that Audacieuz was so fast that if her captain had done a better job of steering she would have escaped. She was taken into the Royal Navy as HMS Audacieux but apparently was never commissioned.

Magnanime passed under the command of Captain William Taylor in spring 1799, and commanded her on African coast. He took part in the capture of Gorée from the French in April 1801, while cruising with a squadron under the command of Captain Sir Charles Hamilton. Hamilton, in command of the 44-gun HMS Melpomene had received intelligence that there were three French frigates at anchor there. Hamilton sailed to investigate, taking with him Taylor in Magnanime, and Captain Solomon Ferris, in command of the 64-gun HMS Ruby. The frigates were not there, so Hamilton summoned the governor and ordered him to surrender. The governor agreed, and Hamilton and his force took possession on 5 April. Magnanime was later in the Leeward Islands, where she remained for the rest of the French Revolutionary Wars, paying off into ordinary again in 1802.

During the Napoleonic Wars she served in a variety of ancillary capacities - as a floating battery, then as a hospital ship.

Fate
Magnanime was eventually broken up in July 1813.

large (2).jpg
Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the stern construction outline from above the waterline for Magnanime (1780), a 64-gun Third Rate, two-decker, built and completed at Deptford Dockyard.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/382866.html#jKjlXmPRSB7lI2pJ.99


1794 razees

In 1794, three 64-gun third-rate ships were cut down to 44-gun fifth-rate frigates with a primary armament of 24-pounder guns, in a process known as razeeing. This was in response to rumours then circulating of very large French frigates supposed to be under construction. By Admiralty Order of 11 August 1794, two 64-gun ships of the Intrepid class - Anson and Magnanime - were to be cut down by one deck level. By a subsequent Admiralty Order of 8 September 1794, a third 64-gun ship - the Indefatigable of the Ardent class - which had been launched but never commissioned in 1784, was similarly to be cut down.

The conversion retained the primary armament of twenty-six 24-pounder guns on the gun deck (but this deck became the upper deck rather than the lower deck), while the secondary armament became eight 12-pounder guns and four 32-pounder carronades on the quarter deck, and four 12-pounder guns and two 32-pounder carronades on the forecastle; the complement was reduced to 310 men.

large (3).jpg
Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the orlop deck with fore & aft platforms for Magnanime (1780), a 64-gun Third Rate, two-decker, as proposed to be fitted when cut down to a 38-gun Fifth Rate Frigate. Magnanime was cut down (razeed) at Plymouth dockyard by Admiralty Order dated 11 August 1794.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/82335.html#ZxpqSCkl0fiwU57A.99


Razeed ships of 1794
  • HMS Anson
    • Built at: Plymouth Dockyard
    • Launched: 4 January 1781
    • Converted at: Chatham Dockyard
    • Converted: July to December 1794 (for £8,426)
    • Re-rated: 8 October 1794
    • Fate: Wrecked in Mounts Bay 29 December 1807
  • HMS Magnanime
    • Built at: Deptford Dockyard
    • Launched: 14 October 1780
    • Converted at: Plymouth Dockyard
    • Converted: June 1794 to February 1795 (for £17,066)
    • Re-rated: 8 November 1794
    • Fate: Broken up at Sheerness Dockyard in July 1813
  • HMS Indefatigable
    • Built at: Henry Adams's yard, Bucklers Hard
    • Launched: July 1784
    • Converted at: Portsmouth Dockyard
    • Converted: September 1794 to February 1795 (for £8,764)
    • Rerated: 29 November 1794
    • Fate: Broken up at Sheerness Dockyard in August 1816



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Magnanime_(1780)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1794_razees
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-327994;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=M
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
14 October 1785 - Launch of HMS St George, a 98-gun Duke-class


HMS St George was a 98-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 14 October 1785 at Portsmouth.[1] In 1793 she captured one of the richest prizes ever. She then participated in the Naval Battle of Hyères Islands in 1795 and took part in the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801. She was wrecked off Jutland in 1811 with the loss of almost all her crew.

The_St_George_and_other_vessels.jpg
Le HMS Saint-George, portant le pavillon d'un vice-amiral de l'escadre rouge, accompagnés d'autres vaisseaux, par Dominic Serres. Peinture de 1787.

large (6).jpg
Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with gallery decorations, and longitudinal half-breadth proposed (and approved) for 'Duke' (1777), and later in August 1774 for 'Saint George' (1785) and 'Glory' (1788), all 90-gun Second Rate, three-deckers. Signed by John Williams [Surveyor of the Navy, 1765-1784].
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/80001.html#PvqygOfvppTrO9Us.99

Service
In 1793 Captain John Gell was appointed to be a Rear-Admiral of the Blue and raised his flag on the St George. Whilst in the Mediterranean with his division of the fleet, Gell was able to seize a French privateer and its Spanish-registered prize the St Jago. These ships were said to be one of the most valuable prizes ever brought to England. The ownership of the St Jago was a matter of some debate and was not settled until 4 February 1795, when the value of the cargo was put at £935,000 (equivalent to £88,650,000 in 2016). At this time all the crew, captains, officers and admirals could expect to share in this prize. Admiral Hood's share was £50,000 (equivalent to £4,740,000 in 2016). The ships that conveyed St Jago to Portsmouth were St George, Egmont, Edgar, Ganges and Phaeton.

In October 1793 Gell was able to obtain the surrender of the French frigate Modeste, which had abused the neutrality of the port of Genoa. After this Gell had to return to England for the last time due to ill health.

St George was present at the Naval Battle of Hyères Islands in 1795, and took part in the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801, Flying Nelson's Flag. Her captain was Thomas Masterman Hardy, future captain of HMS Victory under Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar. Captain Sir William Bolton earned his promotion to Commander after his service on the St George in this battle, on 2 April 1801. In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the issuance of the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Copenhagen 1801" to all remaining survivors of the battle.

large (4).jpg
View of HMS St George after being on shore on the bar of Lisbon (PAH0745)
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/140692.html#adTZR8tZRwQpkTl7.99

Fate
HMS St George was wrecked near Ringkøbing on the west coast of Jutland on 24 December 1811. She narrowly escaped wrecking on a shoal (Rødsand) south of Zeeland on 15 December, while returning from the Baltic Sea. Under jury masts and a temporary rudder she had got a considerable distance out of the Sleeve when a gale came up. This, combined with a heavy sea, resulted in St George being wrecked at Nazen, about three miles from Ringkøbing, together with Defence.

large (5).jpg
A View of the Shipwreck and Total Loss of the St George... and the Defence.... in the North Sea (with key) (PAH0746)
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/140693.html#bFr4CrKGKWwI4j2i.99

Only seven of her 738 crew were saved. Among the dead were Rear-Admiral Robert Carthew Reynolds and Captain Daniel Oliver Guion. Most of the bodies that came ashore were buried in the sand dunes of Thorsminde, which have been known ever since as "Dead Men's Dunes".

Post script
St George's ship's bell was recovered in 1876 and served as church bell in the church of No near Ringkøbing until May 2011. In May the church renovated its bell tower and consequently presented the bell to the Strandingsmuseum St. George in Thorsminde.

Following the exposure of the wreck of St George by a storm in 1981, thousands of artifacts have been recovered from the wreck, many of which are on display at the Strandingsmuseum St George.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_St_George_(1785)
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-350148;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=S
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-350156;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=S
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
14 October 1811 - HMS Pomone (1805 - 38), Cptn. Robert Barrie, with Sir Hartford Jones on board, wrecked on the Needles. The master was severely reprimanded for not taking accurate bearings of Hurst lighthouse.


HMS Pomone was a 38-gun Leda-class fifth rate of the Royal Navy launched in 1805. She saw action during the Napoleonic Wars, primarily in the Mediterranean while under the command of Captain Robert Barrie. She was wrecked off The Needles, part of the Isle of Wight, in 1811.

HMS_Pomone_(retouched).jpg
Color lithograph by T. G. Dutton after painting by G.F. St. John

large (8).jpg
Scale 1:60. A contemporary full hull model of ‘Pomone’ (1805) a 38-gun frigate fifth-rate ship of the line. The model is decked, equipped and partially rigged, and represents a ship measuring 150 feet along the lower deck by 40 feet in the beam and a tonnage of 1076 builder’s old measurement. The upper deck was armed with twenty eight 18-pounder guns, eight 9-pounders on the quarterdeck and two 12-pounder guns on the forecastle. It was originally thought that this model depicted the French ‘Pomone’, a 44-gun frigate launched in 1785 and later captured by the British in 1794. However, at this scale, the beam is too great and it is doubtful as to whether any French frigate of this date would have had the rounded forecastle bulkhead. The model dimensions do fit almost exactly the British ‘Pomone’ that was built by Brindley of Frinsburg, Kent, and launched in 1805. This ship spent most of its career off the French Atlantic coast and is credited with the capture of the Neapolitan privateer ‘Lucien Charles’ in 1809, as well as taking part in the action in Rosas Bay in the same year. She was eventually wrecked off the Needles in 1811. This model is complete with a number of interesting features such as the full set of ship’s boats in the waist and on the stern davits, covered hammock netting on the bulwarks, and rather uniquely, the ship is shown ‘in ordinary’ or laid up with the topmasts and bowsprit struck and stored in their lowered position. The model was once in the possession of Sir Edward Reynell Anson (1902-51), 6th Baronet.
Read more at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/66612.html#kUgaAEmyx5bqXY4P.99

large (7).jpg large (8).jpg large (9).jpg


Loss

Pomone wrecking, from the Hampshire and Wight Trust for Maritime Archaeology

Returning from the Mediterranean with Sir Harford Jones, the British Ambassador to Persia, on board, as well as some Arab stallions that the Shah of Persia had sent as a present to King George III, Pomone struck on The Needles at seven o'clock on Monday, 14 October 1811. However, the master mistook the light at The Needles for the light at Hurst Castle. When the light was seen, Barrie feared that Pomone was too far south. He went forward but by the time land was spotted it was too late; someone shouted out a warning but the helmsman could not get turn her in time.

Pomone struck a sunken rock about two cables' length to the southwest of Needles point. Pomone traversed the rock but she had lost her rudder and was holed in several places, leading her to immediately fill with water.[20] Full of water and having lost her rudder, Pomone was sluggish. As a result, the waves then forced her onto Needle Point. The crew cut away her masts but could not get her off.

There was no wind, and as a result, boats from the guardship Tisiphone and pilot boats from Yarmouth were able to get alongside in an hour and take off the crew. The gunbrig Escort took Sir Hartford to Portsmouth. Over the next three days Pomone's cannon, masts, cargo and valuables were all salvaged, with the Shah's horses being manhandled out through the gun ports. She had 55,000 dollars on board, which were saved except for 4,000 dollars that some of the crew stole. A marine stove in spirit casks and drank himself senseless; he was sentenced to 50 lashes but later pardoned on the basis of his prior good record.

A court martial on 25 October absolved Barrie and his officers of blame. However the board severely reprimanded the master for failing to take accurate bearings of Hurst Castle and for having not paid sufficient attention to Barrie's warnings about the lighthouse. In response to the wrecking the Admiralty ordered that its ships should not attempt the Needle Passage at night. Barrie was appointed to the 74-gun third rate, Dragon.

Wreck site

The Needles from the cliffs inshore at The Needles Battery

The shipwreck site identified at The Needles contains the remains of two wrecks, thought to be HMS Assurance and the stern part of Pomone. The wreck site was designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act on 4 April 1974. The majority of finds recovered from this double wreck site are thought to be from Pomone.

It is possible that another wreck site identified in Alum Bay could be the bow end of Pomone.

The wreck site was identified by an Isle of Wight resident, Derek Williams, who became the first licensee.

The Hampshire and Wight Trust for Maritime Archaeology operates the Underwater Archaeology Centre, which is housed in five former casemates of Fort Victoria (Isle of Wight). The museum houses several exhibitions, including one about the wreck of Pomone.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Pomone_(1805)
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...el-339832;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=P
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
14 October 1881 - The Eyemouth disaster

was a severe European windstorm that struck the south-eastern coast of Scotland, United Kingdom, specifically Berwickshire, on 14 October 1881. One hundred and eighty-nine fishermen, most of whom were from the village of Eyemouth, were drowned. Many citizens of Eyemouth call the day Black Friday.

photo0jpg.jpg
Casualties
Some boats that had not capsized were wrecked on the Hurkar Rocks. Many houses were also destroyed. Two days later, the Ariel Gazelle turned up in Eyemouth, having braved the storm instead of fleeing.


Aftermath


The bronze memorial at St Abbs - figures of women and children look out to sea

A donation-led relief fund was established to provide financial security to families who had lost members to the storm. The response was significant, bringing in over £50,000 (£4,550,000 in 2015).

The disaster was the subject of a contemporary oil on canvas painting by Scottish artist J. Michael Brown

From the Scottish Archives for Schools:
GD265-16-16-2cropped-300p.gif

Scotland is famous for its frequently wet and windy weather. It lies in the path of eastward-moving Atlantic depressions which bring wind and clouds throughout
the year, and is frequently hit by windstorms during the autumn and winter.

A severe storm struck the southern coast of Scotland on 14th October 1881, leading to the Eyemouth fishing disaster or ‘Black Friday’ as some locals call it. The Edinburgh Evening News reported the storm on Saturday 15th October:

A storm of extraordinary violence set in on Thursday night and raged for the greater part of yesterday all over the country, causing great distruction to property and loss of life. All telegraphic communication between Scotland and the Metropolis was broken down by the wreckage of the wires and in several parts of the country similar isolation has occurred. Hundreds of magnificent trees have been torn to pieces or uprooted and cast across the roads, rendering traffic impracticable. From all parts of the country floods and serious agricultural havoc are reported. Railway traffic, in consequence of the distruction of signal posts and wires, was carried on with difficulty and the drivers of express trains report that they could scarcely maintain their footing on the engines. Snow lies deep in the north and the lower ranges of the Grampians have also received a coating of snow.

Fishing was an essential part of the local economy in Eyemouth: the men went fishing and the women supported them by baiting the lines and repairing nets. The sudden windstorm in October 1881 blew up while the fishing boats were out at sea and caused the deaths of 189 fishermen, of whom 129 were from Eyemouth itself. Many of the fishing boats capsized; others were wrecked on the rocky coastline. There was an occasional miraculous story of survival against all the odds: the fishing boat, the Ariel Gazell, arrived back in Eyemouth harbour two days after the storm, having survived, but largely the stories were of death, destruction and loss.

The lives lost in this natural disaster are commemorated by a tapestry in Eyemouth Museum.

Eyemouth_Disaster_memorial_(6949297293).jpg Scotland-870x580.jpg stream_img.jpg


Eyemouth (Scots: Heymooth) is a small town and civil parish in Berwickshire, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It is 2 miles (3.2 km) east of the main north-south A1 road and just 8 miles (13 km) north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. It has a population of about 3,420 people (2004).

The town's name comes from its location at the mouth of the Eye Water. The Berwickshire coastline consists of high cliffs over deep clear water with sandy coves and picturesque harbours. A fishing port Eyemouth holds a yearly Herring Queen Festival. Notable buildings in the town include Gunsgreen House and a cemetery watch-house built to stand guard against the Resurrectionists (body snatchers). Many of the features of a traditional fishing village are preserved in the narrow streets and 'vennels', giving shelter from the sea and well-suited to the smuggling tradition of old.

Eyemouth is not far from the small villages of Ayton, Reston, St. Abbs, Coldingham and Burnmouth. The coast offers opportunities for birdwatching, walking, fishing and diving. Accommodation includes several hotels, B&Bs and a holiday park. The geology of the area shows evidence of folding that led James Hutton to announce that the surface of the earth had changed dramatically over the ages.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyemouth_disaster
http://www.scottisharchivesforschools.org/naturalscotland/eyemouthdisaster.asp
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyemouth
 
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
14 October 1898 – The steamer ship SS Mohegan sinks after impacting the Manacles near Cornwall, United Kingdom, killing 106.


The SS Mohegan was a steamer which sank off the coast of the Lizard Peninsula, Cornwall, on her second voyage. She hit The Manacles on 14 October 1898 with the loss of 106 of the 197 on board.

SS_Mohegan.jpg

Design and construction
The ship started life as the Cleopatra, a mixed passenger liner and animal carrier. She was built alongside four others at Earle's Shipbuilding and Engine Company, Hull, for the Wilson & Furness-Leyland Line. She was rated A1 at Lloyd's of London. She was built for 'safety at sea' and was equipped with eight watertight bulkheads, failsafe lighting and pumping systems, eight lifeboats capable of carrying 59 passengers each and three compasses. She could carry 120 first class passengers, with stalls for 700 cattle.

She did not serve with the Wilson & Furness-Leyland Line, instead being purchased by the Atlantic Transport Line, who were seeking to replace ships that had been requisitioned as troop transports by the United States government for use in the Spanish–American War. The other four ships acquired in this period were the Alexandria, Boadicea, Victoria and Winifreda, at a cost of around £140,000 per ship.

As the Cleopatra

Captain Richard Griffith, commander of the Mohegan on her last voyage

She sailed on her maiden voyage from London to New York on 31 July 1898, arriving on 12 August 1898. A number of defects were quickly revealed, her water system feeding the boilers malfunctioned and there were a number of serious leaks. The blame was placed on a rushed construction, and the crew struggled to keep the ship operational. The passengers protested to the company about the poor condition of the ship, but also reported "the splendid conduct of the officers and crew." The Cleopatra returned to London, limited to half-speed the crossing took 21 days. Once she had docked an extensive programme of repairs was undertaken, which eventually lasted 41 days. She was then trialled, and inspected by the Board of Trade. She was pronounced fit to sail, and was duly renamed Mohegan.

As the Mohegan
Bound for New York, Mohegan sailed from Tilbury Docks at 2:30pm on 13 October 1898, under the command of the 42-year-old Captain Richard Griffith. She carried 57 passengers, 97 crew, seven cattlemen, and 1,286 tons of spirits, beer, and antimony. She arrived off Dover at 7:30 that evening, dropping her pilot. A report on the progress so far from the Assistant Engineer was probably landed at this time. A few minor leaks and electrical failures were reported but otherwise no major problems had been encountered.

Mohegan then reached her maximum speed as she sailed down the English Channel. She kept close to the coast as she passed Cornwall, but took the wrong bearing. This was noticed by some of the officers and crew. They had noticed that the Eddystone Lighthouse was too far away and the coast too close. She neared the entrance of Falmouth Harbour and turned towards the entrance of the Helford River and on down The Lizard coast without slowing from 13 knots. This was noticed by the Coverack coastguard, which attempted to signal to her with warning rockets. The Mohegan either was unaware or took no notice, and maintained her course. James Hill, coxwain of the Porthoustock lifeboat saw the ship, lights ablaze, heading at full speed towards the Manacle Rocks. With a cry of 'She's coming right in!' he called his crew.

Wrecked on the Manacles

SS_Mohegan_wrecked.jpg
The Mohegan wrecked on the Manacles

The crew were finally alerted now to the danger, whether by the signals from shore or by the 'old Manacle bell' from the buoy, and the engines were stopped at 6:50 PM, but too late. The Mohegan ran onto the Manacles, embedding the rudder into the rock and tearing the hull open. The ship had struck Vase Rock, and now drifted onto the Maen Varses reef. Dinner was being served at the time, and many of the passengers were initially unaware of the severity of the accident. The engine room was almost immediately flooded to three feet. The steam gauges broke and the crew rushed to the deck. The ship was plunged into darkness soon after. With the loss of power the passengers made their way onto the deck, where attempts were made to launch the lifeboats.

Captain Griffith had ordered the fitting of a high second rail inboard of the lifeboats to prevent their being rushed in the event of an emergency, but this now hampered the launching of the boats. Further problems were encountered when the ship listed to port then heavily to starboard. Only two lifeboats were launched, of which one was virtually swamped and the other capsized. The ship rolled and sank 12 minutes after hitting the rocks, with the loss of 106 lives. Captain Griffith, Assistant Engineer William Kinley and all of the officers went down with the ship. Only her funnel and four masts remained above water. The Porthoustock lifeboat Charlotte was launched in 30 minutes and rescued most of the survivors from the wreck and the water; 44 persons were saved.


The recovered bodies are buried in a mass grave

Aftermath
Most of the recovered bodies of the drowned were buried in a mass grave in St Keverne churchyard, which was given a memorial stained glass window by the Atlantic Transport Line. Some bodies were sent to London for burial, whilst eight were shipped to New York on the Mohegan’s sister ship Menominee. The Scottish poet William McGonagall immortalised the tragedy in his poem The Wreck of the Steamer "Mohegan" Most of the cargo was salvaged, though a diver lost his life in the process. The wreck gradually disintegrated in the following years. The third officer, William Logan Hindmarsh, age 30 is buried in the graveyard in Coverack, with an inscription indicating that the boat company paid for his gravestone and interment.

The wreck of the Mohegan, and in the next year the stranding of the liner SS Paris on Lowland point led to the introduction of the Coverack lifeboat. The remains of the wreck are popular with divers, and artefacts such as crockery and brass portholes are occasionally recovered. A magnificent staircase salvaged from the wreck stands in Coverack youth hostel, at Parc Behan, School Hill, Coverack.

The ships Bell resides at the Bell Inn in Thetford, Norfolk.

Controversy
The sinking was the greatest disaster in the history of the Atlantic Transport Line to date, and occurred in mysterious circumstances, the ship had steered off course. The Board of Trade enquiry recorded

"that a wrong course – W. by N. – was steered after passing the Eddystone, at 4.17 pm."​
The loss of all of the officers in the wreck meant that no explanation could be found for the course, and it was ascribed to human error.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Mohegan
 
Back
Top