uss frolick

Bad cop! No donut!

The remains of the USS Cumberland is still at Hampton Roads, lying one hundred yards from the CSS Florida wreck. There is reportedly a charred frigate hull buried in the Potomac muck at the site of the old Washington Navy Yard: Contenders are USS Boston, USS New York, or USS General Greene which were burned to prevent capture by the British in 1814. The brackish water fortunately prevents the wooden hulls' destruction by the Toredo Worm.

Shot was held securely in the racks by netting, otherwise even the slightest sea motion would send all the balls flying. The USS Wasp plans of 1806 has the carronade shot all stored around the hatchways, while the USS Scourge wreck of 1813 has them in troughs at the bulwarks. The advantages seem to be with the Wasp's storage, as the balls are closer to the centerline of the hull and less likely to break loose by rolling motion of the ship. Shot that was stowed by the bulwarks was also prone to scattering amongst the friendly gun crews if was hit by an enemy's shot from the outside. If the enemy's shot struck a hatchways' shot rack, then the balls would be scattered to the unengaged side of the vessel where there are presumably fewer people to be hurt. The advantage of having the shot by the bulwarks is that it was closer to the muzzle, and thus quicker to reload. The deck plan of the USS United States, drawn by Charles Ware of the Boston Navy Yard circa 1820, shows two types of shot storage. Shot was stored around most hatchways on the gun and spar decks of the frigate, and the upper deck chase guns and carronades were supplemented by portable shot boxes, each holding nine shot, (three rows of three in square), placed just forward of each forecastle gun, and just aft of each quarterdeck gun. They were movable and were placed about two-thirds the way out from the bulwarks to the end of the gun carriages or carronade slides. No shot boxes are shown on her gun-deck. The perfectly preserved 1813 wreck of the USS Hamilton, laying 300 feet from the USS Scourge in Lake Ontario, and capsized in the same squall, had no solid bulwarks, and no shot garlands at all for her carronades or her single pivot gun. So she must have used portable shot boxes exclusively. That two schooners of the same squadron would each have different methods of shot storage shows that there was no universal standard at that time.

This from Historian John Miller from his "Early American Ships", Page 174: "The 16 gun Privateer Ship Rattlesnake was built in Plymouth Massachusetts in 1779 or 1780 allegedly to the designs by the maverick designer John Peck. She was owned by John Andrews and others of Salem, and her captain was Mark Clark. She mounted anywhere between 14 and 20 carriage guns at various times, and she usually carried about 85 men. The earliest dated commission found of her is dated June 12, 1781, but she may have been commissioned earlier. One privateer with the name of Rattlesnake is reported to have captured more than $1 million worth of British shipping on a single cruise in the Baltic, but whether it was this Rattlesnake or not we do not know. Our Rattlesnake was captured off the American coast in 1781 by the brand new British 44-gun ship Assurance, and was renamed Cormorant. She was taken to England and her lines were drawn (her lines survive on file at the national Maritime Museum at Greenwich). It took the British bureaucracy a long time to realize that they already had a ship called Cormorant in the Royal Navy, and she was renamed Rattlesnake once more in August 1783, after the war was over. Chapelle says she was sold out of the service in 1784, but British records indicate that she was not sold until 10 October 1786. What happened next is partially conjecture, but it seems she passed into French hands during the period of the French Revolution, for there was a French privateer called Le Tonnant in the 1790s that had the Rattlesnakes exact lines."

Chapelle's "The Search for Speed Under Sail" is the best for the technical aspects of American privateers, and it includes every known plan. It was his last and best book (1967), and it includes a better set of plans plans of the Rattlesnake drawn by Merit Edson. If you are looking for the specific history of the cruises of the Rattlesnake, then unfortunately, you are out of luck. Her career is no longer remembered, other than the date of her capture. There was a book called "The History of American Privateers" published at the end of the 19th century that is quite good, and it has been reprinted in modern times. I forget the author: Edward Stanton MacClay, maybe. "The Republic's Private Navy" by Jerome Garritee is the best scholarly modern work, but it deals with Baltimore's Privateer from the War of 1812, and of course, the Rattlesnake is a Revolutionary War ship out of Massachusetts (we think she is anyway). There is a new book out about the history of Salem privateers that I saw on Amazon that I haven't read, and I forget the title, but it looks promising.

It's still available.

BIN price or $81.27. Kind of an odd price. Well worth it if you have the funds. Very hard to find in English. She was a Cruizer Class Brig Sloop of the Royal Navy named HMS Grasshopper, but she was taken by the Dutch in 1807 and renamed the Irene. The book follows the building of a solid hull model, published circa 1970, with Jean Boudriot quality drawings and plans. The famous War-of-1812 British Brigs Frolic, Peacock, Pelican, Epervier, Reindeer, Avon and Penquin were all sister-brigs. I hope someone here grabs it. I have a copy that took me five years to find.

Mr. Delacroix, As usual, your monographs looks absolutely first rate! Since you are in the monograph business, might I be so bold as to make a recommendation for a future subject? The beautiful 24-pounder French frigate class deserves to be covered. These include La Forte/Egyptienne, La Vengeance/Resistance and the numerous frigates of the Immortalite Class, of which many plans and models survive. I predict that this would be a very popular subject, especially with members here.

I love where you're going with this project!

Bluejacket sells the plans from their 1812-15 Connie Kit separately. The set comes with a book. Lawrence Arnot drew their plans, and it is the official kit of the USS Constitution Museum, so I would trust them for accuracy.

I found the following letter in the National Archives Microfilm Rolls. Thought it might be of interest ... "Captain Robert Rafine, Esquire USF Essex Salem, Massachusetts Washington, DC Jan 25, 1800, Dear Captain Rafine, As your ship is nearly ready for sea, your are ordered to open a Rendezvous and take on six months provisions, and make all preparations for putting to sea at the earliest opportunity. As the French are active in the southern waters, particularly off the piratical haven called "Delray Beach", or "New Sodom", off the coast of Spanish Florida, you and the Ship Essex under your command are ordered to frustrate their endeavors. Your detailed private orders are thus enclosed. Fail not, Sir, at your peril. Having the the highest confidence in your abilities, I remain, Sir, Your Humble and Obedient Servant, Benjamin Stoddart, Esquire, Secretary of the Navy." ( )

Hank lives! Huzzah!

Don't forget the universal Yankee favorite, Apple! There's also a often planted tree here in FLA called Loquat. Many people cut them down, because they don't want to pick up the fruit. It can be identified by grey bark with clusters of yellow grape sized fruit. It is apple/pear colored and has a very small, tight grain, yet is easily bendable.

The guy you have to talk to is fellow 'Tampon' Roman Barzana. He used to head up a Tampa shipwright club in the 1990s, and he is the universal expert on all ships Spanish and Spanish Colonial. I haven't spoken to Roman in years, But I did see that he posted here occasionally in the CAD section last year. Go USF, The University of Sun and Fun! The Harvard on the Hillsborough ...

Let's not forget the infamous scurvy-dog pirate Jose' Gaspar, whose bone-chilling exploits around Tampa Bay are celebrated by the yearly Gasparilla Celebration and booze-fest we see today! Arrrghhh, Matey! Actually, Gaspar was pure fiction invented a century ago by a real estate developer who hoped to make backwater Tampa more exciting ... didn't work.

Thanks Cookster for posting this gem from the 1980s! You gotta love Portia Takakjian for doing this exercise BY HAND!

I heard that they found a political campaign flyer on board the CSS Hunley that was still legible. It read: "Re-Elect Strom Thurman." (Old Charleston joke.)

No doubt later on, he was known below decks as "Kiss-Me 'Ardy" ...

I have it. It is the best quality ship kit that I have ever inspected (though I have not yet built it). The Brittania fittings are very clean, numerous and precise, and although the kit is a solid hull, the gun-deck is left open so you can fully detail it. The kit shows the 1812 configuration, and the plans and instruction booklet are the best of any in a historical sense, but at only 1/8th inch scale, you had better have a decent pair of glasses! It is also a tad expensive.

The main issue with the Bellona volume is that, while Brian Lavery is a wonderful historian, he is not a draftsman, and his drawings show it, whereas the late Portia Takakjian (Essex) was an artist, and David White is a naval architect.

As far as sailing vessels go, the best of the series was the first volume on HMS Diana, by David White. The others are not as good, as general references, and most have major issues, like the Constitution framed as though she came from an English yard! Brian Lavery's Bellona was the worst, IMHO, many drawing being mere small tracings in a sea of white paper. I think the series format is rather dated. Unless you are building a specific ship that is the subject of one of the other volumes, like Bounty or Pandora, they are unnecessary. I would highly recommend the classic "The Construction and Fitting of English Men of War" by Peter Goodwin, as well as Diana book. Alas no centerfold of sweet Diana!

Where did you get your information on the existence of a contemporary Bon Homme Richard POW bone model? It would be the historical find of the century!

Charlie, In the case of the Fair American, nobody was sure about what scale the original model is, or the size of the actual ship was. When Model Shipway first offered the popular FA in solid hull form back in the 1950s, they guessed it to be in 3/16th of an inch scale, and so marked their yellow box. When they redid the kit in laser cut bulkhead form in the 1980s, the FA she suddenly became a 1/4th scale model, EVEN THOUGH BOTH KITS AND THEIR FITTINGS WERE THE EXACT SAME SIZE!

Not many of this particular class fought single ship actions. Blanche was the only one, I think, but she was taken by a mob of French frigates and corvettes afterwards. In terms of fighting history, the most interesting ship of the Euryalus Class was, IMHO, HMS Hebrus. She fought the heavy French Frigate L'Etoile and took her in 1814 after a severe nighttime action, and was one of the British frigates that bombarded Ft McHenry in Baltimore. Then, in 1816, she went on to bombard Algiers with Lord Exmouth's fleet, helping to finally end Christian slavery on the Barbary Coast. But Hebrus was built of fir in 1813, so she would need to have square tuck stern fastened to Euryalus's frame.

"Mom, what's a magazine?"