Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Other Events on 18 February
1669 – Launch of French Couronne 80/82 guns (designed and built by Laurent Hubac, launched 18 February 1669 at Brest) – broken up in 1712
1743 – Launch of HMS Chester, a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy
HMS Chester was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Deptford to the dimensions laid down in the 1741 proposals of the 1719 Establishment, and launched on 18 February 1743.
Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth for rebuilding Falkland (1744), a 1741 Establishment 50-gun Fourth Rate, two-decker. The plan was later used for Portland (1744), and Harwich (1743), Colchester (1744), Chester (1744), Winchester (1744),Gloucester (1745), Maidstone (1744), Advice (1746), Norwich (1745), Ruby (1745), Salisbury (1746). The body plan and longitudinal half-breadth was later altered for Litchfield (1746) and Colchester (1746).
Chester was sold out of the navy in 1767.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Chester_(1743)
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-301895;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=C
1752 – Launch of HMS Weymouth, a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy,
HMS Weymouth was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Plymouth Dockyard to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment, and launched on 18 February 1752.
Weymouth served until 1772, when the decision was taken to have her broken up.
Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with some inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth proposed for building 60-gun ships for the Royal Navy. This Establishment, when approved, included Anson (1747), Saint Albans (1747), Tyger (1747), and Weymouth (1752), and in a modified version for Medway (1755) and York (1753). Signed by Joseph Allen [Master Shipwright, Deptford Dockyard, 1742-1746], John Ward [Master Shipwright, Chatham Dockyard, 1732-1752], Peirson Lock [Master Shipwright, Portsmouth Dockyard, 1742-1755 (died)], John Holland [Master Shipwright, Woolwich Dockyard, 1742-1746], and John Pook [Master Shipwright, Sheerness Dockyard, 1742-1751 (died)].
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Weymouth_(1752)
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-363796;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=W
1807 HMS Griper (12), Lt. Edward Oorris, foundered off Ostend.
Bold (or modified Confounder) class
A revival of Sir William Rule's Confounder class of 1804, this final group was built to a somewhat modified version of that design, and were commonly referred to as the Bold class. Twelve were ordered in November 1811, and a further batch of six followed in November 1812. Unlike earlier brigs of this size, most were re-rated as brig-sloops at or soon after their completion, and were under commanders (rather than lieutenants), at least until 1815-17, when they reverted to being gun-brigs.
Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with stern board outline, sheer lines with a scroll figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for Griper (1804) and Furious (1804), both 12-gun Gunbrigs built by Messrs Brindley at King's Lynn. Note that the Admiralty stamp claims Flamer (1804), which was actually built at Frindsbury not King's Lynn by the same company. Signed by John Henslow [Surveyor of Navy, 1794-1806] and William Rule [Surveyor of Navy, 1793-1813].
Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the inboard profile, upper deck, and lower deck for the 58 ships of the Archer class (1800), 12-gun Gunbrigs built by contract. Reverse is annotated with a list of the builders and the ships names.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_gun-brigs_of_the_Royal_Navy
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-547691;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=G
1807 - HMS Inveterate Gun-boat (12), Lt. George Norton, wrecked near St. Valery en Caux, Calais, when she drifted ashore in a heavy gale.
The Confounder class vessels were built to an 1804 design by William Rule. The design reflected learning from the experiences of the earlier gunbrig classes. As a result, the Confounder class vessels were more "sea-kindly" and better able to handle long voyages. Two vessels were converted to mortar brigs in 1809.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_gun-brigs_of_the_Royal_Navy
1827 - HMS Diamond (1816 - 38 later 46) accidentally burnt whilst out of commission at Portsmouth
HMS Diamond (1816), a fifth-rate launched at Chatham in 1816 and broken up following a serious fire at Portsmouth in 1827.
Lines (ZAZ2339)
Inboard profile plan (ZAZ2397) (after refitting in 1817)
Scale: 1:24. Plan showing the midship section with details illustrating the method of securing the beams to the sides on Diamond (1816), a 38-gun Fifth Rate Frigate building at Chatham Dockyard.
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-307153;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=D
1846 - Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft issues the General Order to change Larboard to Port for identification of the left side of a sailing vessel.
George Bancroft (October 3, 1800 – January 17, 1891) was an American historian and statesman who was prominent in promoting secondary education both in his home state, at the national and international level. During his tenure as U.S. Secretary of the Navy, he established the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1845. He was a senior American diplomat in Europe. Among his best-known writings is the magisterial series, History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent.
Port and starboard are nautical and aeronautical terms of orientation that deal unambiguously with the structure of vessels and aircraft. Their structures are largely bilaterally symmetrical, meaning they have mirror-image left and right halves if divided long-ways down the middle.
Side
To understand which is which, when a person is on board and facing the bow on a vessel or aircraft, that is, facing forward towards the direction the vehicle is heading when underway, the port side is the left-hand side and the starboard side is the right-hand side. However, port and starboard never change; they are unambiguous references that are not based on the relative directions of an observer, just as the cardinal directions of east and west do not change no matter the direction a person faces
The term starboard derives from the Old English steorbord, meaning the side on which the ship is steered. Before ships had rudders on their centrelines, they were steered with a steering oar at the stern of the ship on the right hand side of the ship, because more people are right-handed. Since the steering oar was on the right side of the boat, it would tie up at the wharf on the other side. Hence the left side was called port. The Oxford English Dictionary cites port in this usage since 1543.
Formerly, larboard was often used instead of port. This is from Middle English ladebord and the term lade is related to the modern load. Larboard sounds similar to starboard and in 1844 the Royal Navy ordered that port be used instead. The United States Navy followed suit in 1846. Larboard continued to be used well into the 1850s by whalers.
An Anglo-Saxon record of a voyage by Ohthere of Hålogaland used the word "bæcbord" ("back-board") for the left side of a ship.
Importance of standard terms
The navigational treaty convention, the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea—for instance, as appears in the UK's Merchant Shipping (Distress Signals and Prevention of Collisions) Regulations 1996 (and comparable US documents from the US Coast Guard)—sets forth requirements for maritime vessels to avoid collisions, whether by sail or powered, and whether a vessel is overtaking, approaching head-on, or crossing. To set forth these navigational rules, the terms starboard and port are absolutely essential, and to aid in in situ decision-making, the two sides of each vessel are marked, dusk to dawn, by navigation lights, the vessel's starboard side by green and its port side by red. Aircraft are lit in the same way.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_and_starboard
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Bancroft
1865 - SS Syren (also spelled Siren) was a privately owned iron-hulled sidewheel steamship and blockade runner, captured
SS Syren (also spelled Siren) was a privately owned iron-hulled sidewheel steamship and blockade runner built at Greenwich, Kent, England in 1863, designed for outrunning and evading the Union ships on blockade patrol around the Confederate States coastline during the American Civil War. Owned by the Charleston Importing and Exporting Company, Syren made her first run on 5 November 1863, importing supplies for the Confederacy from Nassau to Wilmington. Syren completed a record 33 runs through the Union blockade, the most of any blockade runner, before invading Union forces captured her while Syren was berthed at Charleston Harbor.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Syren
1891 – Launch of HMS Apollo, the sixth ship of the Royal Navy to be named for the Greek god Apollo, was a second-class Apollo-class protected cruiser
HMS Apollo, the sixth ship of the Royal Navy to be named for the Greek god Apollo, was a second-class Apollo-class protected cruiser launched in 1891 and converted to a minelayer in 1909 along with six of her sisters. They formed a minelaying squadron in 1914—15 during the First World War, although Apollo was disarmed in 1915 and served in secondary roles until broken up in 1920.
Diagram of an Apollo-class cruiser
Scale: 1:48. A half block model of the starboard side of the second class cruiser HMS Apollo (1891), made entirely in wood and painted pink-brown below the waterline, a narrow white stripe above and black above the waterline. Hull details include a ram bow; single row of portholes; five rectangular positions along the gunwale amidships for gun placements; and rudder. Other features and fittings include a foredeck with a small gun, wave deflector, stump foremast and bridge; two stump funnels and two ventilators all painted ochre; and aft deck with stump mainmast, small gun, deckhouse and rail . The model is displayed on a backboard painted off-white with a mahogany-stained frame with bevelled edges. On plaque attached to top right-hand side of backboard ‘Apollo’.
Profile (ZAZ7635) of the steam cutter
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Apollo_(1891)
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/colle...el-292027;browseBy=vessel;vesselFacetLetter=A
1944 - The amphibious force under Rear Adm. Harry W. Hill lands troops on Engebi Island, Eniwetok, securing the island before the end of the day.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Eniwetok
1945 - U.S. Navy destroyers engage Japanese vessels off Iwo and Chichi Jima. USS Waldron (DD 699) is damaged after intentionally ramming a gunboat; USS Dortch (DD 670) sinks auxiliary submarine chaser Ayukawa Maru north-northwest of Iwo Jima; USS Barton (DD 722), USS Ingraham (DD 694), and USS Moale (DD 693) operating near Chichi Jima, sink Japanese guardboats No.35 Nanshin Maru, No. 3 Kyowa Maru, and No.5 Kukuichi Maru.
