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HMS Pandora (1779)
HMS ''Pandora'' was a 24-gun sixth-rate post ship of the Royal Navy launched in May 1779. The vessel is best known for its role in hunting down the mutineers in 1790, which remains one of the best-known stories in the history of seafaring. ''Pandora'' was partially successful by capturing 14 of the mutineers, but wrecked on the Great Barrier Reef on the return voyage in 1791. HMS ''Pandora'' is considered to be one of the most significant shipwrecks in the Southern Hemisphere. Design and construction ''Pandora'' was a 24-gun, 9-pounder, post ship. The class was designed by Surveyor of the Navy John Williams in 1776; it was an enlarged version of the , also designed by Williams. Ten ships of the class were ordered in total, with the first agreed on 25 June. ''Pandora'' was the ninth ship to be ordered, such occurring on 11 February 1778. Contracted out to Adams & Barnard of Grove Street, Deptford Dockyard, she was laid down on 2 March and launched on 17 May 1779 with t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Naval Ensign Of Great Britain (1707-1800)
A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It includes anything conducted by surface Naval ship, ships, amphibious warfare, amphibious ships, submarines, and seaborne naval aviation, aviation, as well as ancillary support, communications, training, and other fields. The strategic offensive role of a navy is Power projection, projection of force into areas beyond a country's shores (for example, to protect Sea lane, sea-lanes, deter or confront piracy, ferry troops, or attack other navies, ports, or shore installations). The strategic defensive purpose of a navy is to frustrate seaborne projection-of-force by enemies. The strategic task of a navy also may incorporate nuclear deterrence by use of submarine-launche ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ship's Company
A ship's company or complement comprises all officers, non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel aboard a naval vessel, excluding civilians and guests. United States Aircraft-capable ships An exception to this rule is the definition of ship's company as it applies to the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps personnel assigned to aircraft-capable ships of the U.S. Navy, primarily aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships. In the case of aircraft carriers in the U.S. Navy, the total ship's complement is divided into three categories: # the ship's company physically assigned to the ship, and # the carrier air wing, with its associated strike fighter, U.S. Marine fighter/attack, electronic attack, airborne early warning and helicopter squadrons, and a detachment of a fleet logistics squadron, which is considered a separate "embarked" command, and # the carrier strike group commander and staff, which is also considered an "embarked" command The number of personnel assigned ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Solent
The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and mainland Great Britain; the major historic ports of Southampton and Portsmouth lie inland of its shores. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit which projects into the Solent narrows the sea crossing between Hurst Castle and Colwell Bay to just over . The Solent is a major shipping lane for passenger, freight and military vessels. It is also an important recreational area for water sports, particularly yachting, hosting the Cowes Week sailing event annually. It is sheltered by the Isle of Wight and has a complex tidal pattern, which has benefited Southampton's success as a port, providing a "double high tide" that extends the tidal window during which deep-draught ships can be handled. Spithead, an area off Gilkicker Point near Gosport, is known as the place where the Royal Navy is traditionally reviewed by the monarch of the day. The area is of great ecological and landscape impo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carronade
A carronade is a short, smoothbore, cast-iron cannon which was used by the Royal Navy. It was first produced by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, and was used from the last quarter of the 18th century to the mid-19th century. Its main function was to serve as a powerful, short-range, anti-ship and anti-crew weapon. The technology behind the carronade was greater dimensional precision, with the shot fitting more closely in the barrel, thus transmitting more of the propellant charge's energy to the projectile, allowing a lighter gun using less gunpowder to be effective. Carronades were initially found to be very successful, but they eventually disappeared as naval artillery advanced, with the introduction of rifling and consequent change in the shape of the projectile, exploding shells replacing solid shot, and naval engagements being fought at longer ranges. History The carronade was designed as a short-range naval weapon with a low muzzle velocity f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Pitt, 2nd Earl Of Chatham
General John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham (9 October 1756 – 24 September 1835) was a British soldier and politician. He spent a lengthy period in the cabinet but is best known for commanding the disastrous Walcheren Campaign of 1809. Chatham was the eldest son of William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham. He was two and a half years older than his famous brother William Pitt the Younger, the future prime minister. After serving as a junior officer in the American War of Independence, he succeeded his father as Earl of Chatham in 1778. Politically he was a close supporter of his brother during the following decade, leading to his appointment as First Lord of the Admiralty in 1788. Despite overseeing the Royal Navy's victory at the Glorious First of June in 1794, he faced criticism for his handling of the Admiralty and was demoted to the comparatively unimportant post of Lord Privy Seal. Although he continued to serve in William's cabinet, the relationship between the two brothers neve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mutiny On The Bounty
The mutiny on the ''Bounty'' occurred in the South Pacific Ocean on 28 April 1789. Disaffected crewmen, led by acting-Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, seized control of the ship, , from their captain, Lieutenant (navy), Lieutenant William Bligh, and set him and eighteen loyalists adrift in the ship's open Launch (boat), launch. The reasons behind the mutiny are still debated. Bligh and his crew stopped for supplies on Tofua, where a crew member was killed. Bligh navigated more than in the launch to reach safety and began the process of bringing the mutineers to justice. The mutineers variously settled on Tahiti or on Pitcairn Island. ''Bounty'' had left England in 1787 on a mission to collect and transport breadfruit plants from Tahiti to the West Indies. A five-month layover in Tahiti, during which many of the men lived ashore and formed relationships with native Polynesians, led those men to be less amenable to naval discipline. Relations between Bligh and his crew deterio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nootka Crisis
The Nootka Crisis, also known as the Spanish Armament, was an international incident and political dispute between Spain and Great Britain triggered by a series of events revolving around sovereignty claims and rights of navigation and trade. It took place during the summer of 1789 at the Spanish outpost of Santa Cruz de Nuca on Vancouver Island. The commander of the outpost, Esteban José Martínez Fernández y Martínez de la Sierra, seized several British merchantmen intending on engaging in the maritime fur trade and building a permanent outpost at Nootka Sound. A public outcry in Britain led to the mobilization of the Royal Navy, and the possibility of war. Both sides called upon allies. The Dutch joined the side of the British; the Spanish Navy was mobilized in response along with French Navy, the navy of Spain's ally France, though the French soon announced they would not go to war. Without French help, Spain had little hope against the British and Dutch, resulting in the S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reserve Fleet (United Kingdom)
The Reserve Fleet was a Royal Navy formation of decommissioned vessels which could be brought to a state of readiness at time of war. In the early years of the 18th century ships were "laid up in ordinary" at various British naval bases forming a repository for serviceable but decommissioned ships. Sir John Fisher's reforms made these reserve ships more ready for combat, in the lead up to the First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to .... Whilst warships had been laid up in ordinary routinely, the establishment of a Reserve Fleet as a separate, formally established naval formation dated to the change in title and appointment of Vice Admiral Henry Oliver in November 1919. With the breakup of the Grand Fleet in April 1919, Royal Navy forces in home waters ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Virginia Capes
The Virginia Capes are the two capes, Cape Charles to the north and Cape Henry to the south, that define the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay on the eastern coast of North America. The importance of the Chesapeake Bay in American history has long made the Virginia Capes strategically significant, most notably in the naval Battle of the Chesapeake that was crucial to the American victory at the siege of Yorktown, effectively ending the American Revolutionary War. As a result, the area was heavily garrisoned, beginning with the construction of Fort Monroe and Fort Wool in 1819. During the American Civil War, a pivotal battle between the ironclad warships and was fought in Hampton Roads. The ''Virginia'' was attempting to break the Union blockade that was strangling the Confederacy. During World War I, additional gun batteries were installed on Cape Henry at Fort Story and on Fisherman's Island near Cape Charles. During World War II, the coast artillery batteries at Fort St ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brig
A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the latter part of the 19th century. In commercial use, they were gradually replaced by Fore-and-aft rig, fore-and-aft rigged vessels such as Schooner, schooners, as owners sought to reduce crew costs by having rigs that could be handled by fewer men. In Royal Navy use, brigs were retained for training use when the battle fleets consisted almost entirely of iron-hulled steamships. Brigs were prominent in the coastal coal trade of British waters. 4,395 voyages to London with coal were recorded in 1795. With an average of eight or nine trips per year for one vessel, that is a fleet of over 500 Collier (ship), colliers trading to London alone. Other ports and coastal communities were also served by colliers trading to Britain's coal ports. In the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Privateer
A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or delegated authority issued commissions, also referred to as letters of marque, during wartime. The commission empowered the holder to carry on all forms of hostility permissible at sea by the usages of war. This included attacking foreign vessels and taking them as prizes and taking crews prisoner for exchange. Captured ships were subject to condemnation and sale under prize law, with the proceeds divided by percentage between the privateer's sponsors, shipowners, captains and crew. A percentage share usually went to the issuer of the commission (i.e. the sovereign). Most colonial powers, as well as other countries, engaged in privateering. Privateering allowed sovereigns to multiply their naval forces at relatively low cost by mobilizi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
