uss frolick

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.

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.

The Ship that Held Up Wall Street

By Warren C. Riess with Sheli O. Smith

College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2014

8-3/4” x 11-1/4”, hardcover, 112 pages

Illustrations, diagrams, sketch maps, notes, glossary, index. $29.00

ISBN: 9781623491888

 

            In January 1982 a backhoe digging a trench at a New York City construction site uncovered the remains of a buried ship—an old one. The trench, one of four, was part of an archeological survey prior to clearing the site for the foundations of a thirty-story office building in Manhattan’s financial district.           

            It was soon apparent the ship likely dated from the early eighteenth century. It offered insights on a little-understood period of naval architecture. Construction could be delayed for only a short time. Any study or recovery of the ship in situ had to be completed by March 1.

            The Ship that Held Up Wall Street, by Warren C. Riess with Sheli O. Smith, tells what happened next. It reveals the story of a month-long sprint to unearth the ship and the decades-long marathon to unlock the secrets of the find.

            The book opens describing the 28-day site dig. Riess relates an urban adventure worthy of an Indiana Jones movie. The excavation took place in February in pre-Giuliani New York City. The archeologists not only had to fight time and February weather, they had to contend with picket lines and gang violence. (Local community activists protested the lack of minority workers at the dig site until they learned the diggers were low-paid archeologists, not high-paid construction workers. A street gang attempted to fire-bomb the ship for reasons still unknown.)

            This is followed by a section describing preservation of artifacts and explains what was chosen for preservation and why. It provides a clear, understandable introduction to the science behind stabilizing fragile timber and artifacts.

            Riess next unravels the identity of the ship uncovered by construction. The chapter reads like a first-rate mystery novel, as Reiss pieces clues together. Evidence as diverse as the design of the ship, the timber used in construction, and even the species of shipworm which attacked the hull provided critical data. Combined with archival research, it allowed a tentative identification of the ship.

            For those most interested in sailing era naval architecture, this is likely the most fascinating chapter. The ship is revealed as a transitional design, a cross between the Dutch fluyte (or flyboat) and British merchant frigate. It was significant find.

            After developing the probable career of the ship, Riess explains how and why this ship ended up buried one-tenth of a mile from Manhattan’s present coast. To do this he examines the history of early eighteenth-century New York City. He takes readers into the commercial life of the city, and introduces them to the individuals who developed the lot in the 1740s and 1750s.

            The Ship that Held Up Wall Street is a delightful book on several levels. In addition to adventure, mystery, and history, Riess introduces touches of comedy and tragedy describing missteps, near-catastrophe, and dropped opportunities occurring in every effort with tight deadlines and many participants.

            The only real disappointment—for model-makers—is a lack of technical detail about the ship’s design and construction. Riess promises that in a second book about the ship, one he is currently preparing. The Ship that Held Up Wall Street will hold model-makers until then.

 

Mark Lardas

League City, Texas

Recognizably the USS Essex of 1799. 26x12pdrs, though could be 28 if someone filled the bridle ports. 12xQD guns, 2-4xF'csle guns, depending on the year. Figurehead is quite close to the Chapelle draught of the vessel. Artois class had less tumblehome, no forecastle rails (no rails or solid bulwarks there was British practice) and generally had a bit different shape. 
http://www.stephens-kenau.com/uss_essex-product-view-29.html 
http://s619.photobucket.com/user/Jocool123/media/Buffcon%202013/14_zpsa3c5c348.jpg.html
http://www.shipmodel.com/models/essex-waterline-model
http://www.shipmodel.com/models/essex-full-hull
http://blog-imgs-37.fc2.com/c/o/r/corniche/2013030100293960a.jpg
http://blog-imgs-37.fc2.com/c/o/r/corniche/20130301003002319.jpg
http://blog-imgs-37.fc2.com/c/o/r/corniche/20130301002941202.jpg

The way he's dressed, I'd say Elton John, 1970.
 
wq3296

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.

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. 

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."

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.

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.

Hi all, quick update.  I have some construction photos but I'll post them later this weekend after some more more progress.
 

 
I can finally show my dwg.  It's not finished but is far enough along now where you can definitely tell where I'm headed. My latest efforts have been focused on some nagging details, especially the quarterdeck and forecastle deck port locations.  Or more correctly for my 1814 time period, the spar deck.  (The quarterdeck and forecastle were joined into one continuous deck with the forecastle deck raised slightly, and upper bullwarks installed in the 1808-09 rebuild).  I also finally started drawing the channels, deadeyes and shrouds to check gunport clearance.  After all the changes, mistakes, and revisions I've had to make it's starting to all come together on paper, and most everything fits the source drawings.  Sometimes I have to "interpret" things, and that makes me nervous, but when cross checking my various source drawings if they all mostly agree  that's the best I can hope to achieve.
 
The spar deck ports have been difficult to determine, as there are conflicting sources on there number and placement.  Baker's sail plan of 1808-9 shows 6 ports on the quarterdeck, with 1 still fouling a mizzen stay.  She was originally built with 5 ports, but that was changed and is indeed a documented fact (yeah for proof !).  Josiah Fox and Portia Takakjian both say there were 7 ports but I could find no source to show their placement.  I was starting to worry and doubt myself so I reached out to USS Frolick and he pointed me right to the data in "The Frigate Essex Papers", that was right under my nose the whole time!  So after feeling stupid for a bit I was able to move forward with confidence.
 
I'm primarily using "The Frigate Essex Papers" and "Anatomy of the Ship Essex" and the drawings contained in both volumes as my research material.  I just ordered Chappelle's "History of the American Sailing Navy" and Lees "Masting and Rigging".  I've also read through Goodwin's "English Man of War", Longridge's Victory book and Ed Tosti's "Niaid Volume 1".  All have provided lots of info and knowledge.
 
I also must again thank USS Frolic (Steve) here on MSW for his invaluable help on details and research!  With his help and knowledge I feel like my efforts will result in a somewhat accurate 1814 Essex.
  Next on my research list is her 1814 armament, Steve is also helping me with that.  I'm going to order a couple carronades and long guns soon that I think will work to see if they fit the bill.   One last bit of housekeeping, I'm going to go back and edit my first post to show my research details and such, I was waiting until I got far enough along to be knowledgeable enough to do so.  Most, if not all, the logs I've seen by the folks who really know what they're doing do this.  I should probably copy them on that.   Thanks again for the comments and for looking in!

Here's a coupe overall pics.  It still looks like alligator skin, and I realize most of you still can see where this is going - but it is coming together.  All the frames without gunports are done, I'm now working on the frames that extend into the gunports.  My method for those is also a little different (imagine that!) but I think accuracy will be the easiest to obtain the way I plan to do it.  Basically I'm making the frames long (extend into the gunport), then will come back and trim them to length once everything is fair.  After that I'll make the gunport header and frame extensions as a separate piece, fit it, and fair it.
 
Also keep in mind the top of the plywood bulkheads is not the gundeck level, the gundeck will sit above the bulkheads on spacers.
 



 
BTW, if there was a contest for most cluttered workshop, I'd be in the running.  

This will update both my progress and the state of the previously done rigging. Just as I was about to become suicidal over the possible need for major redoing of the rigging, the weather warmed up considerably and the heat went off ( hopefully for this year ). Although the lines didn't quite tighten up to where they had been, it has been sufficient to bring me back from the brink.
 
Now on to more pleasant matters. I've done the fore topmast rigging. This involved the burton pendants, shrouds and ratlines, backstays, stay and preventer stay and jib stay. In order to do the jib stay, I had to make and mount the jib boom. After mounting the jib boom, I added the heel lashing and then did the bowsprit horses and netting. The jib stay also required that cheek blocks be added to the masthead. Finally, I seized a lead block for the main topgallant stay to the masthead. Two things of some note: the stay and preventer stay pass through the sheaves in the bees and then set up with thimbles and lanyards hooked to the bows; the jib stay leads through the cheek block and then sets up with a tackle hooked to the fore channel.
 
I'm just beginning work on the topgallant/royal mast assemblies and the flying jib boom, and will then do their rigging.
 
Bob
 
 

Thank you for the compliments.
 
It is very curious what you say because, precisely, I am currently collects information about L'Egyptienne, 24 frigate.
I need to find enough documents and in particular the wood quotations to make my choice.
 
GD

Here is a completed frame ready for final trimming and sanding.




 
Here you can see all those miter joints sticking out, and what they look like after being trimmed and sanded.  The "alligator skin look" is kind'a strange I know, I hope now that some are trimmed down the shape of the frames are starting to show.


 
I wet the joints so they show up a little better...

 

This last week I spent on the galley, the last piece of the quarter deck structures. I didn't have a vertical to look at for fore and aft, but did have a starboard view.  
 
First work on the framing:

 
Then on the port side wall with small grated window. I used pins for the bars.


 
Walls then went in place along with an interior brace.


 
Some paint, handrails and chimney....

 
Then lastly the hatches. I decided to leave the top slide-out hatch away to give a neat looking piece of detail.



 
 
 

I had a chance to visit the "Old Depot Museum in Vicksburg". I am not sure that it is really a museum, but it is a fine collection of models and a splendid diorama of the battle of Vicksburg. I would really describe it as a showcase for an outstanding group of model builders. There are train models and memorabilia as well. I suggest that anyone passing through that great southern city take the time tostop by there.

Hi Pete
 
Typically the helmsman is watching the luffs of the sails, particularly when beating so I imagine he would stand to the weather side of the wheel to give himself the best view possible, similar to the helmsman on a yacht today is most often seen on the weather side of the helm where they can watch the luff of the genoa. Occasionally you'll see a yachts helmsman to leeward but if you look carefully they're looking under the mainsail to see the luff of the genoa.
 
Mark D

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.

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."
 
( )

Thanks so much Nils, Frolick, Patrick and the"likes".
 
Frolick, I'm not so sure of her sailing qualities just yet. It may be some months before she's ready to go. Hopefully, the French will do no damage before then.  
 
Bob

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."
 
( )

I checked... all of us building French ships are way behind you.  Though I think Gaetan has a 1:24th 74 finished  but not masted.