uss frolick
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Everything posted by uss frolick
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Was the frigate named after Cleopatra, the most famous of Egyptian women, or the Mediterranean trade wind of the same name? Here's proper music to play while you construct her: "L'Eyptienne", by Debussy – Rameau ... -
How about "A Port Wine Sea", by Susan Wenger, a parody of the Patrick O'Brien novels. (Assuming that you read the latter.) From Amazon: "The Port-Wine Sea is a rousing parody of the best historical fiction ever written. It is a story about a British naval captain during the Napoleonic War, and his friend, a naval physician/espionage agent. They set sail once again aboard "H.M.S. Aghast" during the War of 1812 to demonstrate to the upstart Colonies the errors of their ways. The doctor/spy tries to establish liaison with the Creek Indians to create a diversion to the main British assault. Meanwhile the noble Captain is diverted by a teenaged Maryland vixen. Along the way, they encounter a skittish horse, a demure skunk, a whooping crane, and an escaped colony of termites aboard the ship." https://www.amazon.com/Port-Wine-Sea-Parody-Susan-Wenger/dp/1893162001/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3I5WGC02MQKQS&keywords=a+port+wine+sea&qid=1692539646&sprefix=a+port+wine+sea%2Caps%2C123&sr=8-1 Only 1 left in stock - order soon!
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I recall reading the Admiralty Court of Enquiry for the loss of HMS Levant, 20, in 1815 when she and HMS Cyane fought the USS Constitution, that the crew was unable to shift their two long nine pounders to the stern chase position, because the sloop was unable to steer with them in place. This was after the Cyane had surrendered, and the shattered Levant was trying to escape.
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Seems more likely that they would have cut an additional pair of ports aft the main-chains, than to permanently arm the stern ports.
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Seriously. The Cumberland, Boston's "other famous frigate", is very well documented with deck plans, inboard profiles and sail plans as an 1856 corvette-conversion, from the US National Archives (which I do possess.) Even Howard Chapelle called her "magnificent". The last American frigate to go into battle under sail (at Fort Hatteras, 1861), she fought the Ironclad Virginia in March 1862 for forty minutes, and sank with her colors flying and her guns firing. 121 brave sailors lost.
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The Civil War sailing frigate/corvette USS Cumberland would be popular.
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Amphion, Imperieuse, Bonne Citoyenne ... yummy.
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Curious. Is that a "turtledove" in center of the taffrail carvings for "La Tourterelle"? A very sweet name for a man of war ...
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Virginia vs. Cumberland, March 8, 1862. An hour well spent:
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‘Blakeley and the Wasp: The Cruise of 1814’, NIP, 2001.
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I did it too on a 1812-era American sloop of war subject, quite a while back, even though Naval Institute Press was great, and performed all those functions free of charge. But when all was said and done, I made back only about a quarter of all my research costs, even though the book sold out. But it's in most of the major research libraries in the country, so there's immortality for you!
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A brief but complete history of the development of the American sloops of war can be found within Chapelle's 'History of the American Sailing Navy'. Ancre's monographs on La Creole, La Cygne and L'Invention contain brief histories of the French sloop/corvette types as well. But what is lacking, strangely enough, is the development of the type in British service.
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The Henderson book "Sloops and Brigs" referenced above is about single ship actions during the Napoleonic Wars, and has nothing at all to do with ship designs.
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... those found so far. The condition of some of these ships is just amazing.
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A lot of nice, rare titles there. Do you ship to Tasmania?
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That L'Egyptienne build is just phenomenal!
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I'm sad that in the near decade since it was written, there has been no word on a possible second volume, which would have taken us through the American Revolution, the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, the War of 1812, and beyond.
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If you think about it, the whole blood thing makes little sense. From the direction that any shot would come, any gory splatterings would be flung back and away from the bulwarks. It would make more sense to paint the deck red, and issue the crews with red clothes, if that was a major concern. In this same way, the crew hammocks, hung above the bulwarks in battle was alleged to have been splinter protection. But given the crew's position, and the direction any fire would come from, that is not possible. It did somewhat hide, and to a small degree protect, the heads of the crew from enemy small arms men.
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The reason New England barns are painted red, is so the cows can find their way home in a blizzard. That told to me as a child from an ancient native Vermonter, of somewhat questionable reliability. I recall reading a microfilmed 1812 letter from a captain of the US Frigate Chesapeake, (Evans? Lawrence?) asking if the inside bulwarks could remain in the "slate grey" primer color, following a great repair, as he had apparently preferred it. No answer to him was found.
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Preordered Vol 3 of Grant Walker just now. This next month will pass slowly, I fear ...
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For the French system, I can refer to the works of Jean Boudoit, with Le Cygne (the Swan) in particular, for the carronade rigging. The US method comes for contemporary sources, primarily British Courts Martial detailing the losses of British sloops of war in 1812-15. Add to this archeological evidence from Great Lakes and Lake Champlain shipwrecks, and long discussions with Dr. Kevin Chrisman at the North Texas State Archeology program.
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The French also had an unusual way of rigging their iron 24 and 36 pounder carronades after about 1805. The breach rope was one continuous loop that ran outside the hull through special scuppers and sat in a lead trough that ran below the outside bottom of the port cill. Odd. It must have evened-out the recoil when the carronade was trained at an angle, but it made the breach rope vulnerable to enemy fire. The US Navy carronades of the period were double breached for extra security. But one of the breaches ran through the hull in lead scuppers and ended in a knot or a fid, while the other was secured on the inside to a ringbolt in a British fashion. I'm not sure which was the main breach, and which was the backup, or preventer breach.
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That's the French method of rigging the gun tackle.
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Archaeological Evidence for the Development of RN Gunnery
uss frolick replied to Steve20's topic in Nautical/Naval History
I remember seeing a picture of the well-preserved wreck of the Schooner USS Hamilton, lost in 1813 on Lake Ontario, in which the six-pounder shot racks - in that case, just long troughs at the base of the bulwarks - were nearly empty, even though the crew slept at their guns that fateful night, prepared for immediate action. Had the shot been netted in, they would still be there, but the net would probably be gone. I also remember seeing a thrilling, realistic painting in National Geographic Magazine of the Swedish Warship Kronan sinking. It was an interior view of the ship on her beam ends, with debris and cannon balls airborne, flying towards the faces of the terrified crew! I no longer have that issue from the early 1980s. Perhaps someone here does, and can post? -
Archaeological Evidence for the Development of RN Gunnery
uss frolick replied to Steve20's topic in Nautical/Naval History
If netting, then there should be evidence on the boxes of holes, nails or small cleats to hook the net, with which to properly secure the shot. You definitely don't want 32-pound shot flying about in a gale ...
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