uss frolick

What a great photograph! With regard the port lids, this engraving of the Delaware from the 1830s shows full classic ports on the lower gun deck, half lids (lower lid) and removable bucklers (upper lid) on the upper gun deck, and completely removable lids or "full bucklers", or possibly no lids at all, on the spar deck: 0 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr Close up: 0-1 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr

I'm guessing that was an expedient to make small pieces of timber do, when larger, proper ones were not available.

On the expanded outboard planking plan of the Cruiser Class, in this case HMS Primrose, 1807, note how low the anchor-stock-planking extends below the waterline. I thought they only used it for the thicker main-wales. In 1809, Primrose wrecked in a storm on Mistral Rock, with the loss of all hands, but the drummer boy. https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/83932.html

I can almost hear the gaggle of young-gentlemen singing "The Sailors Dirge", in the frigate's cramped steerage, by the dim light of a solitary, swinging lantern - slamming their beer steins down on the table at the end of every verse ... "... but now his heart is cold." Slam!

The smithsonian has a ten sheet set of plans in 1/4 inch scale of the USS Hartford . It was drawn up to make a rigged solid hull model for their collection

Paul Sutcliffe, what, if anything, remains of the wreck of HBM Frigate Magicienne, 32, blown up in the same battle?

The Norfolk Island British Frigate Sirius wrecked in 1790, so the old style trunnioned carronades are appropriate. The other British frigate called Sirius wrecked on Mauritius Island at the Battle of Port Southeast in 1810, as portrayed in Patrick O'Brien's novel, The Mauritius Command. From Wiki Sirius sailed from [[The Motherbank, Ryde, Isle of Wight] on 13 May 1787 as the flagship of the eleven-vessel First Fleet, under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip (Governor-designate of the new colony). Phillip transferred to the Armed Tender HMS Supplyat Cape Town,[7] with Second Captain John Hunter[8] remaining in command of Sirius. Also on board were Royal Marine Major Robert Ross, who would be responsible for colony security and surgeons George Bouchier Worgan and Thomas Jamison. Midshipman Daniel Southwell recorded that Sirius was carrying the Larcum Kendall K1 chronometer used by Captain James Cook on his second and third voyages around the world.[9] She arrived in Botany Bay on 20 January 1788, two days after Supply, according to the journals of Hunter[10] and First Lieutenant (later Rear Admiral) William Bradley[11] [12] The 252-day voyage had gone via Rio de Janeiro and the Cape of Good Hope and covered more than 15,000 miles (24,000 km). It was quickly decided that Botany Bay was unsuitable for a penal settlement and an alternative location was sought. While waiting to move, a large gale arose preventing any sailing; during this period the French expeditionary fleet of Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérousearrived in Botany Bay. The colony was established at Sydney Cove in Port Jackson when Governor Phillip arrived on 26 January aboard Supply. Sirius arrived the following day.[13] The British cordially received the French. Sirius's captains, through their officers, offered assistance and asked if Lapérouse needed supplies. However the French leader and the British commanders never met personally. Lapérouse also took the opportunity to send his journals, some charts and some letters back to Europe with Sirius. After obtaining wood and fresh water, the French left on 10 March for New Caledonia, Santa Cruz, the Solomons, the Louisiades, and the western and southern coasts of Australia. The French fleet and all on board were never seen again. The documents carried by Sirius would be its only testament. Decades later it was discovered that Lapérouse's expedition had been shipwrecked on the island of Vanikoro. Sirius left Port Jackson under the command of Hunter on 2 October 1788,[8] when she was sent back to the Cape of Good Hope to get flour and other supplies. The complete voyage, which took more than seven months to complete, returned just in time to save the near-starving colony. In 1789, she was refitted in Mosman Bay, which was originally named Great Sirius Cove after the vessel. The name lives on in the adjacent Sirius Cove (formerly "Little Sirius Cove").[14] On 19 March 1790, Sirius was wrecked on a reef at Norfolk Island while landing stores. Among those who witnessed the ship's demise from shore was Thomas Jamison, the surgeon for the penal settlement. Jamison would eventually become Surgeon-General of New South Wales. Sirius's crew was stranded on Norfolk Island until they were rescued on 21 February 1791. Hunter returned to England aboard Waaksamheid where he faced court martial and was honourably acquitted. He was appointed as Phillip's successor as Governor of New South Wales in February 1795, though he did not return to the colony until September.[8] One of the sailors on Sirius, Jacob Nagle, wrote a first-hand account of the ship's last voyage, wreck, and the crew's stranding.[15] With the settlement in New South Wales still on the brink of starvation, the loss of Sirius left the colonists with only one supply ship.

Put a little steeple and cross on the roof, and you got yourself a nice little country church! Reverend Hank has a nice ring to it.

Very interesting! Free to download from the museum site: https://ussconstitutionmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Black-Sailors-During-the-War-of-1812.pdf

The graham crackers and milk, were they good? I nominate the no-show young-guy as permanent "captain of the head" ...

Thanks Druxey! Little Fly was the last surviver of the Swan Class. I wonder how she looked then, after so many required repairs and updates. A new fiddlehead? Stern carvings replaced, or reduced? Quarterdeck and forecastle barricades planked over? The 'Nelson Checker' paint job? Carronades on the main deck? Remember, the poor, little 16-gun ship Fly was only 300 tons, while the new Cruiser Class 18-gun brigs were 400 tons. Pegasus vanished in those same seas back when she was brand new - as she had just arrived in Halifax from England on her maiden cruise.

The Swan Class Sloop HMS Fly was lost off Newfoundland in an 1802 storm. I wonder if this was the same hurricane...

⚓ Bienvenue dans notre communauté de la modélisation des navires et de l’histoire maritime! ⛵ Translation: Welcome to our community of ship modeling and maritime history!

Your L'Egyptienne is a work of art - the most beautifully drawn ship plans that I have ever seen. I hope you find that elusive serenity soon!

No grog! 😂

Nice to see someone other than a white admiral/president chosen for a carrier. A cook, no less, I love it!

I felt sorry for the poor critters in the burning barn! Hank-borg, we will expect a full film review from you ! Here's an interesting, detailed documentary on the loss of the Blucher: And you'll have to get this one too!

It looks very good! But its not all naval. Here's a well done land battle scene, as seen through the unfortunate eyes of a young Norwegian soldier.

A clip from the 2016 Norwegian movie "The King's Choice" where the Oscarsborg Fortress sinks the German cruiser Blücher in the opening hours of the invasion of Norway in april 1940. English subtitles can be turned on for this clip. "No warning, no hesitation. These are enemies". "What if we're wrong"? "At my command ... Fire". The German ship was only four days old. Colonel Birger Eriksen, commander at Oskarborg fortress, was the personification of Leadership!

Just to confuse things more, in peace time, the French liked to disarm the quarterdeck and forecastle of their frigates to save weight, expense, manpower and wear on the lighter pieces. French 12-pounder frigates sailed with just their 26 main deck guns between the wars. The lovely La Belle Poule carried her ten six pounders when she valiantly fought HMS Nonsuch, 64 (!!!), but accounts vary of her total armament during her earlier famous battle with Arethusa, as hostilities had just broken out. (Can you believe she fought a 64?)

In 1812, American cannon balls were locally cast in sand molds, and the results were unsatisfactory. Many of our shot were underweight, and I saw a letter printed in the papers complaining that the Constitution's 24-pound shot actually weighed closer to 22 pounds, while Purer Charles Ludlow reported that the French 18-pounder cannon and shot (Guerriere and Java were both French prizes) were original French issue. This calibrated to French pounds, is about 20 pounds English equivalent. Thus this diminishes the famous, old 24 vs. 18 pounder cannon fairness argument considerably! The US navy vessels carried 100 round shot for every gun onboard. I don't recall if this was for every gun mounted or rated. Many famous engagements did not fire as many shot as we suppose that they did. We are used to Patrick O'Brien's fictional accounts of the famed 'three broadsides in five minutes' ability of Captain Aubrey's commands, but this was rarely done in real life. The bloodiest battle of the War-of-1812 occurred between the Shannon and the Chesapeake, an engagement that lasted, at very most, 15 minutes. The Chesapeake fired only three broadsides, according to the court of enquiry testimony of the midshipman belonging to the second division, while the first division fired only twice before her guns were out of view of their target. Remembering that each side began at moment zero with loaded guns, this makes, on average, one broadside every seven and a half minutes. The report of the damage inflicted on the Chesapeake, drawn up by the British in Halifax, notes that hundreds of projectiles were embedded in, or passed through, the American's port side. While this sounds amazing at first, this report actually counted every individual grape shot! Actually, the Shannon reportedly fired, alternating, one round and one grape - and then two round shot - from her 18-pounders at each discharge, and that her carronades fired one round and one grape/cannister at each discharge. The shots were inflicted at point black range, so few could have missed, and so counting specifically the round shot that stuck in, or passed through, the Chesapeake 's hull, (I don't have the numbers readily available) - then again we have three broadsides only into the Chesapeake's side. (I know that there was a destructive stern rake at the end of the fight - I'm simplifying.) But that was enough to kill or wound 170 Americans, including most officers on deck and nearly every marine. Shannon was the best gunnery ship in the RN! Worse still was the USS Constellation/La Vengeance fight of 1800. The French captain reported later that he fired about 780 (if I remember correctly) projectiles that night, of which 400, he specified, were round shot. This seems like a lot, until one does the math. Assume that the 380 grape and canister were all double-shotted with a single round shot - and that none of the round shot were double shotted. La Vengeance mounted 52 carriage guns that night, two of them being standing stern chase 18-pounders on the main deck. That's 25 guns per broadside. The battle lasted on and off for four hours, or 'all night' according to one account. That means the Frenchman fired, on average, 400/25 = 16 equivalent broadsides in 4 hours. That's one broadside every 15 minutes - and that excludes the opening phases when the Vengeance opened up on the Constellation with her stern chasers for about an hour. The battle was described as a furious night time engagement, that ended in a draw, when both ships were partially dismasted and drifted out of sight. Not exactly HMS Surprise rates of fire! In addition to the shot on deck, in garlands along the hatches and/or bulwarks, wooden boxes of grape and canister were brought up before the battle, probably hoisted up through the hatches. After the Chesapeake fight, according to one local paper, a wooden box was fished out of Boston Harbor by a spectator, that was marked "Chesapeake, Cannister Shot, Fourth Division". In addition, the Constitution had shot wooden trays with nine 32-pounder round shot in arranged them 3 X 3. There are contemporary accounts of Sunday services, given on board ship, where the crew reportedly sits on capsten bars that were lain across "shot boxes". Click the image in the link below to scroll through the five pictures to see what the trays looked like and the painting of Captain Hull which contains them: https://www.model-monkey.com/product-page/1-96-shot-trays-and-shot-for-32-pounder-carronades

That is a very interesting document. Thanks for sharing! The text is very technical and wonky. Sadly for history, none of those ships described ever saw major action, it being the start of the era known as Pax Brittania. I wonder who the author's audience was for something so specialized?

William James's early works are now considered by modern historians to be some of the first true, modern-type histories, since the author consulted primary source documents (logbooks), interviewed participants (friends with Philip Broke, for example) and included footnotes, graphs and appendixes. If you can look past his Anglophilic and Ameri-phobic snarks, you can still used his information today. His six volume series on the history of the British Navy during the Napoleonic period cannot be much improved upon, and many subsequent historians either quote or plagiarizes James's work. It is very scholarly work given it's early date.

Shannon? Shannon who? 🙄

Volume 4 of Jean Boudroit's "The 74-Gun Ship" has a large section on the crew of a 74 circa 1780, with many color plates. I don't think that below-deck fashions would have changed much in 10-20 years, except for the officers.