by Richard Hiscocks | Nov 12, 2017 | 1782, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
The 12-pounder frigate Blonde 32 had been built in France during the mid 1750?s, but in February 1760 had been one of three French vessels captured in a stunning action off the Isle of Man by a British squadron commanded by Captain John Elliot. After service in...
by Richard Hiscocks | Nov 16, 2017 | 1782, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Battle of Negapatam – 6 July 1782 Following the Battle of Providien in April, the British East Indian squadron commanded by Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes had undertaken repairs at Trincomale whilst its adversary, the French squadron under Commodore...
by Richard Hiscocks | Nov 21, 2017 | 1782, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Following the Battle of Providien in the East Indies on 12 April Captain George Talbot of the Worcester 64 had been relieved of his command by Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes and been left to find his own way home to England. Later accounts would differ as to...
by Richard Hiscocks | Nov 24, 2017 | 1782, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
The Sinking of the Royal George – 29 August 1782 On 17 March 1782 the Royal George 100, flagship of Rear-Admiral Richard Kempenfelt, joined the Channel Fleet at Portsmouth following a comprehensive refit at Plymouth. A few weeks later she inherited a new...
by Richard Hiscocks | Dec 3, 2017 | 1782, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
The Battle of Trincomale – 3 September 1782 Whilst the British East Indian squadron commanded by Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes had licked its wounds at Madras in the weeks after the Battle of Negapatam on 6 July, the French squadron under Commodore...
by Richard Hiscocks | Dec 12, 2017 | 1782, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Rainbow v Hebe – 4 September 1782 In the spring of 1782, the thirty-five year-old two-decked British fifth rate Rainbow 44 was fitted out at Chatham with a battery of carronades consisting of twenty 68-pounders on her lower deck, twenty-two 42-pounders on...
by Richard Hiscocks | Dec 28, 2017 | 1782, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
The Central Atlantic Hurricane destroys Graves’ Convoy – September 1782 On 25 July Rear Admiral Thomas Graves with his flag aboard the aged Ramillies 74, Captain Sylverius Moriarty, departed Bluefields, Jamaica, for England in command of a small...
by Richard Hiscocks | Dec 17, 2017 | 1782, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
The leadership qualities and self-belief of Captain Roger Curtis had manifested themselves at an early age when as a young captain he had twice disobeyed orders from his admiral in the interests of the service, and had twice been complimented by Vice-Admiral...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 1, 2018 | 1782, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
The capture of the Aigle and escape of the Gloire – 15 September 1782 Following their encounter with the disabled British prize Hector 74 on 4 September, the French frigates Aigle 40, commanded by the inspiring and well-connected 37-year-old Captain...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 11, 2018 | 1782, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
London v Scipion – 17 October 1782 The British ships of the line Torbay 74, Captain John Lewis Gidoin, and London 90, Captain James Kempthorne, were cruising to the east of San Domingo in company with the sloop Badger 18, Commander Safry Hills, when at 9...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 18, 2018 | 1782, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
The Third Relief of Gibraltar and Battle of Cape Spartel – October 1782 Throughout the summer of 1782, the British government had been unable to send a fleet to replenish the beleaguered Gibraltar as they had required ships in home waters to counter the...
by Richard Hiscocks | May 11, 2017 | 1781, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
?Admiral Sir George Rodney, who had recently been joined by the resourceful Rear-Admiral Sir Samuel Hood with eight sail of the line, opened the 1781 Leeward Islands campaign by capturing the Dutch islands of St. Eustatius and St. Martin on 3 February. The spoils...
by Richard Hiscocks | May 11, 2017 | 1781, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
The Capture of St. Eustatius – 3 February 1781 The fact that the financially profligate Admiral Sir George Rodney had been forced to flee for Paris in 1775 to escape his massive debts, a huge sum of which related to election fees, had delighted his many...
by Richard Hiscocks | May 18, 2017 | 1781, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
For several months a state of inactivity had existed in North American waters between the British fleet based in Gardiner’s Bay at the end of Long Island, and the French fleet which the previous July had occupied Newport, Rhode Island, some fifty miles to...
by Richard Hiscocks | May 25, 2017 | 1781, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
The Second Relief of Gibraltar – 12 April 1781 Following Admiral Sir George Rodney’s relief of Gibraltar in January 1780, the rock fortress had withstood the Spanish siege for the remainder of that year. By the beginning of 1781 however it was in...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jun 6, 2017 | 1781, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
?In December 1780 Britain declared war upon the Netherlands and plans were set afoot to attack the Dutch colonies. Prominent amongst these was the Cape of Good Hope, a vital staging post for ships making the voyage to and from the rich British and Dutch East Indian...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jun 20, 2017 | 1781, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Whilst Admiral Sir George Rodney remained at St. Eustatius to stock-take the booty from his capture of the Dutch island, his second-in-command, the skilful Rear-Admiral Sir Samuel Hood, was detached southwards on 12 February with eleven ships of the line to...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jul 11, 2017 | 1781, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Having been detached from Vice-Admiral George Darby?s Channel fleet on its return from the relief of Gibraltar in order to scout ahead in the Bay of Biscay, the Canada 74, Captain Sir George Collier, had the good fortune to fall in with the Spanish frigate...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jul 11, 2017 | 1781, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Wherever action was to be found in the American War of Independence, there was a strong possibility that Captain Sir James Wallace would be involved. In forcing the apparently impassable Hell?s Gate to escape the French fleet off Long Island, battering a French...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jul 19, 2017 | 1781, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
The British sloop of war Atalanta 16, Commander Sampson Edwards, and the brig Trepassey 14, Commander James Smyth, were cruising off the Newfoundland Banks on Sunday 27 May when a strange sail was discovered in the south-east at 3 p.m. Immediately the two...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jul 24, 2017 | 1781, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
On 3 May the frigates Flora 36, Captain William Peere Williams, and Crescent, 28, Captain the Hon. Thomas Pakenham, having previously been detached from Vice-Admiral George Darby?s fleet at Gibraltar on a mission to deliver funds to the British army at Minorca,...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jul 25, 2017 | 1781, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
The Channel Fleet Campaign – June-November 1781 Following his return to Spithead on 21 May after the successful relief of Gibraltar, Vice-Admiral George Darby, the commander-in-chief of the Channel Fleet, was quickly instructed to return to his station in...
by Richard Hiscocks | Aug 2, 2017 | 1781, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Mutiny on the Santa Monica – 16 July 1781 At the end of 1780 the frigate Santa Monica 36, Captain John Linzee, left home waters with Rear-Admiral Sir Samuel Hood’s reinforcements to join Admiral Sir George Rodney’s fleet in the Leeward...
by Richard Hiscocks | Aug 2, 2017 | 1781, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
The Battle of Cape Breton – 21 July 1781 The American-built frigate Charleston 28, Captain Henry Francis Evans, being in company with two sloops and two armed ships, was in escort of a convoy off Spanish River on the north-east of Cape Breton Island, Nova...
by Richard Hiscocks | Sep 4, 2017 | 1781, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
As a result of the commencement of hostilities with the Netherlands during the previous December, a squadron was ordered to form for duty in the North Sea under the command of Vice-Admiral Hyde Parker in March 1781. At this time the Dutch navy was neither...
by Richard Hiscocks | Sep 23, 2017 | 1781, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Battle of Chesapeake Bay – 5 September 1781 Throughout the spring and summer of 1781, Lieutenant-General Lord Cornwallis and his army had battled their way north through South Carolina and Virginia in an attempt to reach the York River where they hoped to...
by Richard Hiscocks | Oct 6, 2017 | 1781, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Kempenfelt v de Guichen – 12 December 1781 During the late autumn the government began receiving intelligence of a large French convoy that was congregating at Brest with a view to reinforcing their war effort in both the West and East Indies. Once it...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 15, 2017 | 1780, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Following Sir George Rodney’s return from France, where he had flown to escape his creditors, Britain was at last able to place one of her most skilful, if unpopular, admirals in charge of a major fleet. Appointed commander-in-chief of the strategically...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 17, 2017 | 1780, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
The Moonlight Battle off Cape St. Vincent – 16 January 1780 On Christmas Day 1779, Admiral Sir George Brydges Rodney, the newly appointed commander-in-chief of the Leeward Islands station, set sail from St. Helens having completed the equipment of...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 24, 2017 | 1780, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Following a comprehensive victory in the Moonlight Battle of 18 January and its subsequent relief of Gibraltar, the British fleet re-entered the Atlantic Ocean and on 18 February parted company with the commander-in-chief, Admiral Sir George Rodney and his West...
