HMS Alarm (1758)
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HMS ''Alarm'' was a 32-gun fifth-rate of the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
, and was the first Royal Navy ship to bear this name. She was built at King's Yard in
Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-o ...
by John Barnard. Copper-sheathed in 1761, she was the first ship in the Royal Navy to have a fully copper-sheathed hull.


History


Experiments with copper sheathing

''Alarm'' initially saw deployment in the
West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...
, where she experimentally had her hull sheathed in a thin layer of copper. Firstly it was intended to reduce the considerable damage caused by the teredo woodworm, and secondly the well-established toxic property of copper was expected to lessen the speed-killing
barnacle Barnacles are arthropods of the subclass (taxonomy), subclass Cirripedia in the subphylum Crustacean, Crustacea. They are related to crabs and lobsters, with similar Nauplius (larva), nauplius larvae. Barnacles are exclusively marine invertebra ...
growth which always occurred on ships' hulls. ''Alarm''s hull was first covered with soft stuff, which was hair,
yarn Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, used in sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery, ropemaking, and the production of textiles. '' Thread'' is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern ...
and brown paper, and then covered with a layer of copper plates. After a two-year deployment to the West Indies, ''Alarm'' was beached in order to examine the effects of the experiment. The copper had performed very well in protecting the hull from invasion by worm, and in preventing the growth of weed, for when in contact with water, the copper produced a poisonous film, composed mainly of oxychloride, that deterred these marine creatures. Furthermore, as this film was slightly soluble it gradually washed away, leaving no way in which marine life could attach itself to the ship. Satisfied that the copper had had the desired effect, the Admiralty introduced copper sheathing on a number of frigates. In 1776 ''Alarm'' was resurveyed. It was soon discovered that the sheathing had become detached from the hull in many places because the iron nails which had been used to fasten the copper to the timbers had been "much rotted". Closer inspection revealed that some nails, which were less corroded, were insulated from the copper by brown paper which was trapped under the nail head. The copper had been delivered to the dockyard wrapped in the paper which was not removed before the sheets were nailed to the hull. The obvious conclusion therefore, and the one which had been highlighted in a separate report to the Admiralty in as early as 1763, was that iron should not be allowed direct contact with copper in a sea water environment if severe corrosion of the iron was to be avoided. Later ships were designed with this in mind. The Admiralty had largely suspended the programme of fitting ships with copper sheathing after the 1763 report, and had not shown any further interest in developing effective copper sheathing until 1775. In the meantime the copper sheathing was removed from ''Alarm'', and several other test vessels until an effective solution to the corrosion problem could be developed. Later in her career she was commanded by a young John Jervis, from 1769 onwards. He sailed for the Mediterranean in May and arrived in
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on 7 September. Aboard ''Alarm'' at this time was Samuel Hood, son of Alexander Hood, and one of the many members of the Hood family to serve at sea. Samuel Hood served aboard ''Alarm'' from November 1765 to July 1772, in the post of
purser A purser is the person on a ship principally responsible for the handling of money on board. On modern merchant ships, the purser is the officer responsible for all administration (including the ship's cargo and passenger manifests) and supply. ...
.


Near loss

On the return voyage to England, on 6 April 1770, she was saved by Georges René Le Peley de Pléville from being wrecked off
Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
. ''Alarm'' had been battered by a storm in the evening and ran aground on the coast of
Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...
amongst boulders, and was in imminent danger of breaking up. Pléville quickly mustered the harbour pilots and rushed to the relief of the English. By the time he was able to board her, ''Alarm'' had already almost heeled over many times, and began to run aground. Pléville ordered a manœuvre that got her afloat again and brought her into harbour at Marseille. In gratitude for Pléville's actions, the Admiralty sent Jervis and ''Alarm'' back to Marseille in December to deliver a letter which read The present was a piece of silverware in the form of an urn, on which were engraved
dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...
s and other maritime attributes, with a model of the ''Alarm'', and a richly engraved lid surmounted by a triton. Remarkable in its elegance of form and high level of finish and workmanship, this vase bore the English Coat of Arms, and had the following inscription, intended to preserve the memory of the event which had merited the present: Thinking that he could not receive a gift from a foreign sovereign, de Pléville only accepted the urn after having been duly authorised to do so by the king of France. Jervis was also extremely grateful to de Pléville, and eager for the chance to reward him. He wrote to his sister from ''Alarm'', anchored at
Mahón Mahón (), officially Maó (, ; formerly spelled ''Mahó''), and also written as Mahon or Port Mahon in English, is the capital and second largest city of Menorca. The city is located on the eastern coast of the island, which is part of the ar ...
on 27 December 1770: Ten years later, de Pléville's devotion to the safety of the ''Alarm'' gained another reward, when his son – a young naval officer – was captured on board a frigate at the end of a battle in 1780 and taken to England. There, the British Admiralty sent him back to France without requiring a prisoner-exchange, after having authorised him to choose three other French naval officers to go with him. The Admiralty were also greatly pleased by Jervis' actions in this matter, allowing his further promotion. From 1771 to May 1772, the ship became the "home" of the
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, who was spending time in the
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
because of ill health. ''Alarm'' then returned to England for paying off.


Off America

On 9 March 1783, ''Alarm'' was involved in one of the last naval battles of the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
, when ''Alarm'', , and the
sloop of war During the 18th and 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship of the Royal Navy with a single gun deck that carried up to 18 guns. The rating system of the Royal Navy covered all vessels with 20 or more guns; thus, the term encompassed all ...
''Tobago'' intercepted two American vessels, the frigate and the transport . The American ships were transporting
bullion Bullion is non-ferrous metal that has been refined to a high standard of elemental purity. The term is ordinarily applied to bulk metal used in the production of coins and especially to precious metals such as gold and silver. It comes from ...
to the Continental forces and both sides were unaware that peace had been ratified over a month before. After a short battle between ''Sibyl'' and ''Alliance'', the Americans escaped. ''Alarm'' did not herself actively participate in the engagement.


French Revolutionary Wars

On 5 May 1795, off Puerto Rico, ''Alarm'' sank the corvette ''Liberté'', of sixteen 4-pounder guns. On 23 November 1796 ''Alarm'', under the command of Captain Fellowes, was cruising off Grenada when she encountered the and captured her. ''Galgo'', of 18 guns and 124 men, was under the command of Don Barber. She was sailing from Porto Rico to Trinidada and was carrying 80,335 dollars and provisions for the government at Trinidada. ''Alarm'' took ''Galgo'' into Grenada. In 1796, ''Alarm'' had violated
Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...
's neutrality, so contributing to
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
's declaration of war on the side of Revolutionary France. In February 1797 ''Alarm'' was among the vessels of the British flotilla that captured Trinidad.


Fate

''Alarm'' shared with in the head-money that was finally paid in March 1829, for the capture of a Spanish gunboat, ''Nuestra Senora del Corvodorvya'' (alias ''Asturiana''), on 25 November 1799. ''Alarm'' continued in service for a number of years, finally being broken up in September 1812 at
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...
having spent 64 years in service.


Notes


Citations


References

* * Brian Lavery, ''The Ship of the Line – Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650–1850.'' Conway Maritime Press, 1983. . * Robert Gardiner, ''The First Frigates'', Conway Maritime Press, London 1992. . * David Lyon, ''The Sailing Navy List'', Conway Maritime Press, London 1993. . * Rif Winfield, '' British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1714 to 1792'', Seaforth Publishing, London 2007. . *
Biography: John Jervis at the Royal Navy Museum website


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alarm (1758) Frigates of the Royal Navy Ships built in Harwich 1758 ships Maritime incidents in 1770