Naval/Maritime History - 27th of August - Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History (2024)

Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History

8th of October

some of the events you will find here,
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1746 - HMS Weazel (1745 - 16), Cdr. Hugh Palliser, off Beachy Head, in a short time captured four French privateers including Jeantie (6). Antoine Colloit, and Fortune (10), John Gilliere.
HMS Weazel or Weazle was a 16-gun ship-sloop of the Royal Navy, in active service during the War of the Austrian Succession, the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War. Launched in 1745, she remained in British service until 1779 and captured a total of 11 enemy vessels. She was also present, but not actively engaged, at the Second Battle of Cape Finisterre in 1747.

Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with stern board outline, sheer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth with deck detail for Weazle (1745), a 16-gun Ship Sloop.

1778 – Launch of HMS Alexander, a 74-gun Alfred-class third-rate
HMS Alexander was a 74-gun third-rate of the Royal Navy. She was launched at Deptford Dockyard on 8 October 1778. During her career she was captured by the French, and later recaptured by the British. She fought at the Nile in 1798, and was broken up in 1819. She was named after Alexander the Great.

The launch of the 74-gun warship HMS 'Alexander' at Deptford Dockyard.

Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with stern quarter decorations, longitudinal half-breadth for Alexander (1778) and Warrior (1781), and later for Montague (1779), all 74-gun Third Rate, two-deckers.

1778 – Launch of HMS Charon, a 44-gun Two-decker Roebuck-class Fifth-Rate
Fate: She was trapped at the Yorktown so her stores, men and guns were taken ashore; on 10 October 1781 heated shot from a French battery set her on fire.

Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with stern board decoration, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for Charon (1778), as built at Harwich in 1778, and later used for Experiment (1784), Gladiator (1783), and Serapis (1782),

1782 – Launch of HMS Standard, a 64-gun Intrepid-class third-rate ship of the line,
HMS Standard was a 64-gun Royal Navy third-rate ship of the line, launched on 8 October 1782 at Deptford. She was the last of the 15 Intrepid class vessels, which were built to a design by John Williams.

Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with stern board detail, sheer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth for 'Standard' (1782), a 64-gun Third Rate, two-decker,

1800 - HMS Diligence (16), Charles Hodgson Ross, wrecked on the Honda Bank near Havana
HMS Diligence was the name ship of her class of brig-sloops of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1795 and lost in 1800. She spent her career on the Jamaica station where she captured four armed vessels, one of them after a short engagement, and many small Spanish and French merchant vessels in the Caribbean inter-island and coastal trade.

Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with stern board outline, sheer lines with scroll figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for building Diligence (1795)

1804 - gunboat HMS Speedy (1798 - 4) sank
The schooner-rigged gunboat HMS Speedy sank in a snowstorm in Lake Ontario south of Brighton, Ontario and west of Prince Edward County, on 8 October 1804, with the loss of all hands. The sinking changed the course of Canadian history because of the prominence of the citizens of the tiny colony of Upper Canada lost in the disastrous event.
The ship was built for the Provincial Marine in 1798 at the Point Frederick Navy Depot and was used to transport government officials and supplies.

1805 – Launch of HMS Fame, a 74-gun Fame-class third rate ship of the line
HMS Fame was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Deptford Dockyard. She was constructed on the same building slip as was HMS Courageux, her keel having been ordered to be laid down on it immediately after the other ship's launch on 26 March 1800. The first elements of her keel were finally laid down on 22 January 1802, and Fame was launched on 8 October 1805.

Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plans, sheer lines, and logitudinal half-breadth for 'Fame' (1805), a 74-gun Third Rate, two-decker,

1812 - During the War of 1812, a boat party under Lt. Jesse D. Elliott captures HMS Detroit and HMS Caledonia at Fort Erie in a night attack. Detroit is burned and Caledonia is purchased by the U.S. Navy in 1813 and placed in commission as USS Caledonia. The brig played an important role with the American squadron on Lake Erie, and was sold at the end of the war.

On 24 July 2009, a story appearing in the Buffalo mentioned the discovery of an 85-foot schooner on the bottom of Lake Erie, which may be Caledonia.

1856 – The Second Opium War between several western powers and China begins with the Arrow Incident on the Pearl River.
The war followed on from the First Opium War. In 1842, the Treaty of Nanking—the first of what the Chinese later called the unequal treaties—granted an indemnity and extraterritoriality to Britain, the opening of five treaty ports, and the cession of Hong Kong Island. The failure of the treaty to satisfy British goals of improved trade and diplomatic relations led to the Second Opium War (1856–60). In China, the First Opium War is considered to be the beginning of modern Chinese history.
Between the two wars, repeated acts of aggression against British subjects led in 1847 to the Expedition to Canton which assaulted and took, by a coup de main, the forts of the Bocca Tigris resulting in the spiking of 879 guns.

The Illustrated London print of the clipper steamship Ly-ee-moon, built for the opium trade, c. 1859

1879 – War of the Pacific: The Chilean Navy defeats the Peruvian Navy in the Battle of Angamos.
The Combat of Angamos (Spanish: Combate de Angamos) was a naval encounter of the War of the Pacific fought between the navies of Chile and Perú at Punta Angamos, on 8 October 1879. The battle was the culminating point of a naval campaign that lasted about five months in which the Chilean Navy had with the sole mission of eliminating its Peruvian counterpart. In the struggle, two armored frigates, led by Commodore Galvarino Riveros and Navy Captain Juan José Latorre battered and later captured the Peruvian monitor Huáscar, under Rear Admiral Miguel Grau Seminario.
After the loss of the frigate Independencia at Punta Gruesa, Grau sought to challenge the outnumbering Chilean fleet adopting a harassing strategy, focused in inflicting as much damage as possible while avoiding a full scale engagement. As Grau evolved along the Pacific coast, he was chased by Admiral John Williams Rebolledo, who had been ordered to catch Grau no matter what. His failure cost him his commission, and was replaced by Riveros.
With a different strategy, Riveros managed to encircle Grau at Punta Angamos, about 80 kilometers north of Antofa*gasta. Falling in a trap set by Riveros and Latorre, Grau was forced to present battle after ordering the corvette Unión to escape to Perú.

The Battle of Angamos (Spanish: Combate de Angamos) was a naval encounter of the War of the Pacific fought between the navies of Chile and Perú at Punta Angamos, on 8 October, 1879.

1885 – Launch of SS La Bourgogne, a French ocean liner
SS La Bourgogne was a French ocean liner, which sank in 1898, with the loss of 549 lives. At the time this sinking was infamous, because only 13% of the passengers survived, while 48% of the crew did. In 1886 she set a new record for the fastest Atlantic crossing by a postal steamer

1978 – Australia's Ken Warby sets the current world water speed record of 317.60 mph at Blowering Dam, Australia.
Ken Warby (born 9 May 1939) is an Australian motorboat racer, who currently holds the water speed record of 317.58 miles per hour (511.10 kilometres per hour), set on Blowering Dam on 8 October 1978.
As a child, Warby's hero was Donald Campbell, who died attempting to break the record in 1967.