Naval History On This Day, Any Nation

[st george]

1653 - First Anglo-Dutch War: Battle of the Gabbard/ Battle at North Foreland, English fleet beats the Dutch
1944 - Four U.S. Carrier Groups (15 carriers) begin attack on Japanese positions in the Marianas.
1948 - The Women's Armed Forces Integration Act provides for enlistment and appointment of women in the Naval Reserve.
1970 - After earthquake in Peru, USS Guam begins 11 days of relief flights to transport medical teams and supplies, as well as rescue victims.
1990 - CDR Rosemary Mariner becomes first Navy woman to command fleet jet aircraft squadron.

[Kevin]

today's link is to the HMS Royal Charles

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Royal_Charles_(1655)

 

This ship was an 80-gun 1^st rate that was first named NASEBY.  Several years after Oliver Cromwell assumed the title of Lord Protector of England, he authorized the construction of three “great ships” for the Navy.  These were the NASEBY (named for his victory over the royalists in 1645), the 64-gun LONDON and DUNBAR (the later subsequently named HENRY.)  The NASEBY’S dimensions were:  Length, 162 feet; Breadth, 52 feet 6 inches; Depth, 11 feet; tons, 1,230; Hull, wood; Armament, 80 guns; designed by Peter Pett and built at Woolwich Dockyard, England in 1655.  NASBEY’S original adornments included a figure-head portraying, according to Samuel Pepys, “Oliver on horseback trampling 6 nations under foote, a Scott, Irishman, Dutch, French, Spaniard and English as was easily made out by their several habits: A Fame held  a laurel over his insulting head, & the word God with us.”  When King Charles II returned from exile in the NASEBY, he ordered the ship named for himself as well as the figurehead of Neptune, an act that irritated the parsimonious Pepys, who complained, “God knows, it is even the flinging away of 100 pounds out of the King’s purse.” 

Thus the HMS ROYAL CHARLES was born from the now ex NASEBY.  The ship under either name did not participate in the First Anglo-Dutch War in 1652-4 since she was not yet built.  The Second Anglo-Dutch War, which began in 1665, was another story.  In the first battle on June 13, 1665, HMS ROYAL CHARLES was the flagship of the Duke of York (the future King James II), who was the Lord High Admiral.  At this battle of Lowestoft both fleets numbered over 100 ships.  The English had superior gun power, bigger ships and were more organized than the Dutch (the English fought in the new Line of Battle), but the Dutch fought very well.  By midafternoon, the HMS ROYAL CHARLES was in danger of being sunk or surrendered to the EENDRACHT when the Dutch flagship exploded, killing all but five of her 400 crew, including the Dutch Admiral Wassenaer van Obdam.  HMS ROYAL CHARLES was so damaged that eh Duke shifted his flag to the HMS ST. MICHAEL and later still the HMS ROYAL JAMES.  Nonetheless, Lowestoftwas a clear English victory, with only 250 dead compared with the 4,000 Dutch dead.  This was the last battle of the year 1665, since the fleets only fought during good weather in the summer, the bulk of the fighting taking place in the English Channel close to both fleets home ports.

 In the spring of 1666, command of the English fleet was divided between Prince Rubert and George Monck, Duck of Albermarle, in HMS ROYAL CHARLES.  At the end of May, the Dutch fleet still being in port, King Charles unwisely divided his fleet and sent Prince Rubert west to prevent a French force from joining the Dutch.  Unknown to King Charles, this was not going to happen, but the damage was done.  This resulted in Monck confronting the Dutch fleet of 85 ships under Admiral Michiel Adriaanszoon de Ruyter with only 56 English ships.  Monck decided to attack the Dutch on June 1^st, even though he was heavily outnumbered.  This lead to the capture of the disabled and hopelessly trapped second-rate SWIFTSURE by the Dutch ship REIGER, following a heroic defense in which Vice-Admiral Sir William Berkeley was killed.  But overall the English did well on the first day.  Early on the second day Monck profited from a tactical error by Lieutenant Admiral Cornelis Tromp, until de Ruyter came to his countryman’s assistance.  Each side lost three ships.  On June 3^rd Monck had to retreat toward the English coast, as his ships were in bad shape.  During the withdrawal (or tactical retreat), the HMS ROYAL PRINCE (90 guns) ran aground on Galloper Shoal and was burned by the Dutch.  Monck, at the end of the 3^rd day, joined forces with the ships under the command of Prince Rubert, who now came up to help with his ships which had been originally sent west.  The two fleets rejoined the battle on the June 4^th and the battle could have went either way.  Through a stroke of good luck and hard fighting, the Dutch came out victorious, although both fleets were so badly damaged that they could not have fought another day.  The English in particular were running out of ammunition!  The Four Days Battle of 1666 remains one of the longest fleet engagements on record.  Although the English losses were more than double those of the Dutch – 20 ships lost (depending on the source of the information, as there is some question as to the exact number of ships lost on both sides) and many killed on both sides, the English regrouped fast, and the fleet put to see again in July.  The Dutch were the only ones who had prizes taken (six ships) and thought that they had completely destroyed the English fleet.  Fifty days later, they were proved wrong.

 On August 4^th the two fleets met again, the Dutch confident of a victory.  The HMS ROYAL CHARLES was again the flagship of the English, but this time their fleet was not divided, their losses suffered in June were replaced, and they had additional help with the mighty SOVEREIGN OF THE SEAS, which did not fight in the Four Days Battle due to lack of manpower!  The battle proved disastrous for the Dutch, although de Ruyter fought long and well.  Dutch losses this time amounted to 20 ships, the English lost 3 ships.  This battle is known as the St. James’ Day Fight by the English. 

 In the Spring of 1667, the English treasury was exhausted by a combination of Charles’s extravagance and the lasting effects of both the Great Plague of 1665 and the London fire of September 1666.  Charles decided to economize by laying up his fleet.  Seeing their opportunity, the Dutch fleet attacked the fort at Sheerness on June 10^th and advanced up the Medway.  The English scuttled a number of ships in an effort to block the channel, and an iron chain was strung across the river between Upnor and Gillingham.  Over the course of three days, twenty-three ships were lost, most intentionally sunk by the English and then burned by the Dutch.  The losses included two first rates, three second rates, two third rates, six fourth rates and one sixth rate.  Orders were given to burn the HMS ROYAL CHARLES, but at the approach of a Dutch boat from the BESCHERMING, the crew fled.  As Pepys recounted, “The Dutch did take her with a boat of nine men, who found not a man aboard her, and …..presently a man went up and struck her flag and jack……They did carry her down at a time when both for wind and tide, when the best pilot in Chatham would not have undertaken it, they heeling her on one side to make her draw little water.”

 In short, the HMS ROYAL CHARLES was taken as a prize and sailed to a Dutch port.  Incompatible with the needs of the Dutch fleet (she drew to much water), HMS ROYAL CHARLES never fought again and the Dutch displayed her at Rotterdam as a war trophy.  She was auctioned and broken up in 1673, during the Third Anglo-Dutch War.

 For an excellent read and a more complete account of the Four Days’ Battle of 1666, I highly recommend the book A DISTANT STORM: The Four Days’ Battle of 1666 by Frank L. Fox, Press of Sail Publications, 1996.

Edited June 12, 2013 by Kevin

[Kevin]

June 13

 

1796

HMS Dryad (36), Cptn. Lord Amelius Beauclerk, captured Proserpine (42).

1805

Boats of HMS Cambrian (40), Cptn. John Poo Beresford, captured Spanish privateer schooner Maria (14) to the east of Bermuda.

1829

HMS Mermaid survey ship, Samuel Nol, lost on Franklands Reef off Australia.

[st george]

1665 -  Sea battle at Lowestoft: English fleet beats Dutch
1777 - Leonard Norcross patents a submarine diving suit

1881 - USS Jeannette crushed in Arctic ice pack
1967 - Operation Great Bend in Rung Sat Zone, Vietnam

[Kevin]

June 14

 

1777

John Paul Jones takes command of Ranger

1789

William Bligh and loyal crew of HMS Bounty arrive at Timor, off the coast of Java.

1803

HMS Immortalite (42), Cptn. Edward William Campbell Owen, HMS Jalouse (18), Christopher Strachey, and HMS Cruizer (18),  John Hancock, cut out Inabordable(4) and Commode (4) from Cap Blanc Nez.

1809

Boats of HMS Scout (18), William Raitt, stormed and captured the battery, spiked the guns and carried off 7 vessels at Cape Croisette, south of Marseilles.

Start of 5 day engagement in which HMS Latona (38), Cptn. Hugh Pigot, tookFelicite (14)

1814

HMS Superb (74), Cptn. Charles Paget, and HMS Nimrod (18), Nathaniel Mitchell, attacked Wareham at the head of Buzzard's Bay, and destroyed American ships Fair Trader (18), Independent (14), Fancy, Elizabeth and Nancy,together with a valuable cotton mill belonging to Boston merchants.

 

[st george]

1285 - Forces led by Prince Tran Quang Khai of Vietnam's Tran Dynasty destroys most of the invading Mongol naval fleet in a battle at Chuong Duong.

1658 - Battle at Dunes: English & French fleet beat Spanish
1667 - The Raid on the Medway by the Dutch fleet in the Second Anglo-Dutch War ends. It had lasted for five days and resulted in the worst ever defeat of the Royal Navy.

1673 - Battle at Schooneveld: Michiel de Ruyter beats French/English fleet

1847 - Commodore Matthew Perry launches amphibious river operations by Sailors and Marines on Tabasco River, Mexico

1864 - US Union warship USS Kearsarge appears at Cherbourg

1900 - The Reichstag approves a second law that allows the expansion of the German navy.
1908 - Fourth German Navy Bill is passed authorising the financing the building of another four major warships.

1940 - Franklin D. Roosevelt signs Naval Expansion Act to construct ships to increase Navy's tonnage by 11 %
1940 - German U-47 sinks airship Balmoral

1952 - Keel laid for 1st nuclear powered sub USS Nautilus (4th to be named Nautilus)

[st george]

Not Naval, but an event that has helped many a ship modeller.

 

1834 - Sandpaper patented by Isaac Fischer, Jr., Springfield, Vermont

[Kevin]

June 15

 

1744

Commodore George Anson, HMS Centurion (60, returned to Spithead after circumnavigation voyage

1775

Cptn. Abraham Whipple, Commodore of the Rhode Island Navy, in sloop Katy, captures the armed sloop Diana, tender to HMS Rose.

1783

HMS Shrewsbury (74) scuttled off Jamaica.

1797

HMS Fortune (14) wrecked near Oporto

 

[st george]

1904 – A fire aboard the steamboat SS General Slocum in New York City's East River kills 1,000.

1944 - Fifth Fleet lands Marines on Saipan, under the cover of naval gunfire, in conquest of Marianas
1963 - Launching of combat store ship, Mars (AFS-1), first of new class of underway replenishment ships
1966 - The world's first Hovercraft Show has opened to promote export sales of hovercraft for ferry operators, and military craft.

1991 - 2 battle groups and amphibious ships evacuate dependents and Air Force personnel from Clark Air Force Base after Mount Pinatubo erupts in Philippines

[Kevin]

June 16

 

1798

Boats of HMS Aurora (28) Capt. Thomas Gordon Caulfield, destroyed two vessels.

1812

HMS Swallow (18), Cptn. Edward Reynolds Sibly, engaged Renard (16), Lt. Charles Baudin des Ardennes, and Goéland (14) Ens.Belin, near the island of Sainte-Marguerite. 

1813

HMS Persian (18), Cdr. Charles Bertram, wrecked on the Silver Keys shoal just north of the island of Hispaniola

1897

HMS Foudroyant (80) driven on shore at Blackpool in a gale. 

 

[st george]

1745 - English fleet occupies Cap Breton on St Lawrence River

1779 - Vice-admiral Hardy sails out of Isle of Wight against Spanish Armada

1898 - U.S. squadron bombards Santiago, Cuba
1965 - Navy Department schedules reactivation of hospital ship Repose (AH-16), first hospital ship activated for Vietnam Conflict

[Kevin]

June 17

 

 

 

1755

British fleet under Admiral Boscawen took Alcide (64), Captain Hocquart, andLys (64) off Newfoundland.

1775

Cuthbert Collingwood promoted to Lieutenant

1778

HMS Milford (28) took Licorne.

HMS Arethusa (32), Samuel Marshall, engages French frigate Belle Poule (32) in the Channel

1794

HMS Romney (50) captured Sybille (44)

1813

Garrison defeated at island of Zupano, protecting Ragusa (Dubrovnik), by party from HMS Saracen (18), John Harper.

Boats of HMS Narcissus (32), Cptn. John Richard Lumley, took the American revenue schooner Surveyor in the York River in the Chesapeake.

1815

HMS Pilot (18) John Toup Nicholas, engaged French frigate Legere off Cape Corse.

1833

USS Delaware enters drydock at Gosport Navy Yard in Norfolk, VA, the first warship to enter a public drydock in the United States 

[st george]

1579 - Sir Francis Drake claims a land he calls Nova Albion (modern California) for England.

 

1850 - Paddle-wheeler "G P Griffith"" burns off Mentor Ohio

 

1863 - Naval Engagement at Warsaw Sound GA-USS Weehawken vs CSS Atlanta

 

1870 - USS Mohican burns Mexican pirate ship Forward
1898 - Navy Hospital Corps established
1932 - Oil tanker Cymbeline explodes in Montreal, Canada

 

1940 - Chief of Naval Operations asks Congress for money to build two-ocean Navy

 

1940 - Sinking of the RMS Lancastria by the Luftwaffe near Saint-Nazaire, France.

 

[Kevin]

Todays link to   RMS Lancastria

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Lancastria

[Kevin]

June 18

 

1778

HMS Foudroyant (80), Cptn. John Jervis, HMS Courageaux (74) and HMSRobust (74) captured French frigate Pallas (32)

1793

HMS Nymphe (36), Cptn. Edward Pellew, captured Cleopatra (40), Cptn. Jean Mullon (Killed in Action)

1809

HMS Sealark (4) lost at sea on the East coast of UK

1812

US declares war on Great Britain for impressment of sailors and interference with commerce

Edited June 19, 2013 by Kevin

[st george]

1629 - Sea battle at Dungeness: Piet Heyn vs Dunkerk Cape

1767 - Samuel Wallis, an English sea captain, sights Tahiti and is considered the first European to reach the island.

1779 - French fleet occupies St. Vincent

1799 - A frigate squadron under Rear-admiral Perrée is captured by the British fleet under Lord Keith

1942 - First African-American officer, Bernard W. Robinson, commissioned in Naval Reserve
1957 - CNO approves ship characteristics of the Fleet Ballistic Missile sumbarine

2010 - Fifty-eight year old Reid Stowe returned to land after claiming to spend the longest time at sea without touching land. His record breaking trip lasted 1,152 days and began in April 2007 . He originally set out with his girlfriend, but she had to leave after suspecting that she was pregnant. Stowe was greeted by her and his nearly two year old child who had never seen. To pass the time on his journey he practiced yoga and painted, in addition to keeping up with the sailboat.

Edited June 18, 2013 by st george

[Kevin]

Reid Stowe

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

 

William Reid Stowe Born January 6, 1952 (age 61) Nationality American Occupation Artist and Craftsman, Sailor, Adventurer Known for Extended voyages with schoonerAnne

William Reid Stowe (born January 6, 1952) is an American artist and mariner. Stowe grew up around sailboats on the East Coast, sailing on the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans in his late teens and early 20's. By age 26, he had built two of his own sailboats with the help of his family and friends. Stowe subsequently sailed to the Antarctic with his schooner Anne in 1986 and completed a 194-day journey without touching land in 1999.

In 2010 Stowe completed a more extensive ocean voyage, entitled 1000 Days at Sea: The Mars Ocean Odyssey—a journey that commenced on April 21, 2007, from the 12th St. Pier, Hoboken, New Jersey.^[1] Stowe was the principal designer and builder of theAnne, a 70 ft (21.3 m), 60-ton (54,400 kg) gaff-rigged schooner which he sailed on this voyage.^[1][2] The purpose of the enterprise was to remain on the open ocean, without resupply or pulling into any harbor, for a period of one thousand days, along with some other goals that were not met, such as circumnavigating the globe four times.^[3] The single circumnavigation involved active management of a sailboat under varying weather conditions, with continuous wear and tear of equipment on the schooner, although the schooner was not always under full sail.^[4]

On June 17, 2010, Reid Stowe sailed the schooner Anne up the Hudson River, accompanied by Sail Magazine's Executive Editor Charles Doane, and docked in New York [1][2]. The total voyage duration claimed by Stowe was 1,152 days, a potential record for the longest continuous sea voyage without resupply or stepping on land. Upon landing at Pier 81 in Manhattan, he was met by family and friends, by his girlfriend Soanya Ahmad—who had accompanied him for the first quarter of the journey—and their toddler son, as well as by the press.^[5][6][7]

Contents   [hide] 

• 1 Childhood
• 2 Early voyages
  • 2.1 Construction of the Anne (originally named Tantra Schooner)
• 3 Voyages with the Anne
  • 3.1 The Caribbean and Antarctica
  • 3.2 The Port of New York
    • 3.2.1 Voyage of the Turtle: Prelude to '1000 Days at Sea'
    • 3.2.2 Subsequent attempts
  • 3.3 The 1000-day voyage
    • 3.3.1 Soanya leaves the journey
    • 3.3.2 Completion of the voyage
• 4 See also
• 5 References
• 6 External links

Childhood[edit]

Reid Stowe was born January 6, 1952 near Moses Lake, Washington^[8] to Harry and Anne Stowe;^[9] and is the oldest of six siblings. His father, an officer in the United States Air Force, was posted to many parts of the world during that time and usually his family travelled with him. Growing up, Reid spent three years in Germany, two years in thePhilippines, plus state-side tours in Mississippi, Illinois, Arizona, and Virginia. Traveling notwithstanding, the family generally spent summers with Anne Stowe's father, who had constructed a beach cottage on the Intracoastal Waterway near Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina.^[10] Anne's father and uncles frequently built and rebuilt portions of the home, and built small craft for use on the waterway. It was during these summer interludes that Reid absorbed carpentry, and, during his high school years with his younger brother Wave, Stowe built fiberglass surf boards. He and his brother employed workshops that his family maintained in various winter residences to complete their work after school.^[10][11]

Early voyages[edit]

Reid Stowe initially pursued studies in the arts, enrolling in the University of Arizona, where he took up painting and sculpture.^[9] During his late teens, Stowe visited Hawaii in the summer to surf. During one of these Hawaiian excursions, when Stowe was nineteen, he fell in with Craige Fostvedt,^[12] who had invested some of his college funds to purchase a small sailing vessel. Invited to accompany him on an extended sail through the South Pacific to New Zealand,^[13] Stowe was obliged to obtain a passport, for which he needed a copy of his birth certificate. Years later, Stowe recalled to interviewer Harold Channer that his parents could very well have refused to send him the certificate and instead could have insisted on his return to school. That they chose otherwise, Stowe regards as a life-affirming experience, the tacit parental support giving him confidence to proceed. The South Pacific trip was Stowe's first experience with open ocean sailing, for which he acquired a passion.^[10]

Following his South Pacific voyage, Stowe returned to his grandfather's residence in Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, where he spent eight months constructing a 27 ft (8.23 m)catamaran named Tantra,^[14] specifically for open ocean sailing.^[9][10] During its construction, he was visited by a Dutchman—whom he had first met on his South Pacific voyage—who persuaded Stowe to take the catamaran across the North Atlantic to Holland.^[13] The two embarked on their journey to the Netherlands in June, 1973. After their arrival, Reid Stowe continued on a solo voyage which took him to Africa, a second Atlantic crossing, a trip to Brazil and the Amazon, returning to the United States in 1976. In his 2003 interview with Harold Channer, Stowe claimed that the catamaran Tantra was "the smallest boat to cross the Atlantic Ocean twice,"^[10] though on closer reading it appears that a smaller boat has made the round trip crossing as early as the nineteenth century. In 1880-'81, George P. Thomas and Frederick Norman navigated their 16 ft 7 in (5.05 m) dory Little Western from Gloucester, Massachusetts to Cowes England in June 1880, stayed in England for nearly one year, and returned to America the following June.^[15][16][17]

Construction of the Anne (originally named Tantra Schooner)[edit]

Following his return to the United States, Stowe's thoughts turned to the construction of a vessel well-suited to extended voyages. He was particularly impressed with gaff-rigged schooners, which he felt represented a culmination of craft and technique for sailing vessels.^[10] In 1976, he took up residence in the North Carolina beach cottage of his maternal grandfather, and with extensive help from his mother's family, his father—now a retired Colonel—and his siblings, Reid Stowe began the construction of a sailing vessel designed after late nineteenth century American gaff-rigged fishing schooners, prevalent from the 1880s to the 1900s. The completed design called for a 60-ton (54,400 kg), two-masted gaff-rigged vessel, 70 ft (21.3 m) in length with a 16 ft (4.88 m) beam. Unlike the nineteenth century antecedent, however, Stowe and his family employed Ferralite over steel wire mesh for the hull,^[14][18][19] with interior spaces finished in Caribbean hardwood supplied largely from debris thrown up by Hurricane David.^[20] In an interview with Harold Channer, Stowe likened the hull to a sealed steel and fiberglass bottle.^[10] Additionally, electricity for computers and communication equipment is generated from wind, solar, and water motion generators.^[10] Stowe, his family, and friends of the family, were engaged in building the craft over the next eighteen months, completing the work in 1978. The shipyard was entirely confined to the beach cottage property of his grandfather. Named Tantra Schooner at launch,^[21] Stowe established the ship as his home, sailing it originally to the Caribbean with his then wife, Iris and baby daughter Viva, "[finishing] the interior en route and in the islands." Author Jill Bobrow, in her 1982 Classic Yacht Interiors attributed some of the interior handiwork to Iris: "a beautiful walnut inlaid with enamel."^[21]

Voyages with the Anne[edit] The Caribbean and Antarctica[edit]

According to Bobrow, Stowe initially sailed the Tantra Schooner as a charter boat, but indirectly noted the possibility of extended voyaging even in the early eighties: "The charter accommodations are fabricated so that when extra quarters are not necessary, that space is set up to be a cargo hold — the intent being to make Tantra Schooner totally self-supporting."^[21] In this early description of the vessel and her crew, Bobrow reported: "Reid and Iris are a delightful, spiritual couple. Their boat reflects their ingenuity, creativity, and joy of life."^[21]

Renamed the Anne in honor of his mother and her family,^[1][9] Stowe took the schooner to Antarctic waters in 1986 with a crew of eight, his first long-term trial with the vessel.^[11]For five months, Stowe and his crew sailed the waters around the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Shetland Islands.^[22] Stowe navigated into ice packs and claimed winds of up to 110 miles per hour (180 km/h). Later, Stowe told Nik Kleinberg of ESPN: "You're geared up like an ice man, goggles, everything, not a bit of skin exposed. We had a gust of wind that blew the boat completely over."^[11] To combat boredom, the crew "fought the lack of sensory stimulation with plastic filters that allowed people to bathe in different colored lights, and a 'bag of tricks' that included scented herbs and spices, stones, religious artifacts, pebbles, sand, and other items that stimulated the senses and kindled fond memories of home."^[23]

It was during this voyage that Stowe began seriously considering a trip of extremely long duration.^[11] Author Albert A. Harrison characterized these circa 1990 plans in his 2001 book, Spacefaring: The Human Dimension.^[23] "The Anne, [seventy feet] long^[24] and displacing sixty tons, would set forth with a crew of six to eight (the same size as an initial Mars crew under some scenarios) and three years worth of provisions. For a thousand days they would sail outside of normal trade routes and without entering port. The crew would consist of scientists who would study weather, water, and atmospheric pollution, and ozone depletion in remote and little-documented regions of the world. Stowe hoped to conduct field tests of communication satellites, water purification systems and other equipment potentially useful for exploring Mars." Later, Stowe, with Harrison, authored the paper, "One thousand days non-stop at sea - Lessons for a mission to Mars" outlining a "1000-day voyage without touching land or receiving supplies from other craft. The goals of this expedition include the evaluation of equipment, supplies, and humans under conditions of isolation and confinement that will resemble some of those of the initial Mars voyage."^[25]

The Port of New York[edit]

In the fall of 1997, Stowe began using Pier 63 as a base of operations, located in the Chelsea section of Manhattan, New York City at a marina operated by John Krevey.^[26][27] He promoted his one thousand days voyage in earnest, calling it the "1000 Days at Sea: The Mars Ocean Odyssey," and one news article at the time suggested a launch date of 1999.^[28] It would be eight years, and one marriage later, before Stowe found sufficient funding and media support for the project.^[29] In the intervening time, Stowe made his home on board the Anne, used Pier 63 as his address, and undertook preliminary trips with Laurence Guillem, whom he had married in 1999. In 2006, the construction of a new park along the Hudson River forced the owner of the maritime barge at Pier 63—where Reid had kept his schooner Anne—to relocate to Pier 66.^[30][31] This caused the move of the schooner Anne to the 12th St. Pier across the river in Hoboken, on the New Jersey side, from which Reid eventually embarked on his epic voyage.

Voyage of the Turtle: Prelude to '1000 Days at Sea'[edit]

Stowe's prelude to the present voyage was undertaken in 1999, when he and his new bride, Laurence Guillem, voyaged the South Atlantic Ocean for 194 days on the Anne, an expedition which Guillem dubbed "The Odyssey of the Sea Turtle."^[29] Stowe's intent during this preliminary voyage was to shape a course literally in the shape of a turtle. Of this choice, Stowe said: "There's also something to be said about not racing around all the time. So this voyage was sort of an antidote to our speed-obsessed society. And the turtle is also a reminder about endangered species and the environment. I'm sure it's going to be interpreted in different ways."^[32] The voyage lasted from June 4, to December 17, 1999, with no major mishap, though it had its tribulations. The Anne suffered engine failure under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge,^[33] aging sailcloth limited the precision of Stowe's navigation — the turtle was neither as large nor as complete as he had originally hoped — and a brush with Hurricane Lenny on their return leg hampered their return to the port of New York.^[32] Still, he and his sailing mate had spent over a half year out of sight of land.

Subsequent attempts[edit]

Stowe and Guillem undertook a second exercise in January 2001, a voyage to Trinidad in which the Anne encountered severe weather off Bermuda.^[34] The ship knocked over on its side once (although local papers incorrectly reported three knockdowns) in high seas, but righted itself. Having injured her jaw in the mishap, it was the last significant voyage that Guillem undertook with Stowe.^[33][34] Of her reluctance to return to sea, she said of him: "J'aime Reid, mais lui c'est un poisson et moi non." ("I love Reid, but he is a fish and I am not.")^[35]

Soanya Ahmad in January 2010

The 1000-day voyage[edit]

Stowe and Ahmad departed on the 1000-day voyage on April 21, 2007 at 3:00 PM EDT from the 12th St. Pier in Hoboken, New Jersey, witnessed by about 100 well-wishers, including his parents and his former wife, Laurence Guillem.^[36][37] The heavily laden schooner passed through New York Harbor and into the open ocean by the evening of April 21.

Schooner Anne

The departure put into execution plans that, in some respects, closely resembled those put forth by Stowe and Harrison in a 1992 paper.^[25] They had postulated that conditions of confinement and isolation experience during an extended sea voyage would be similar in some respects to those experienced during a voyage to Mars. The name, 1000 Days at Sea: The Mars Ocean Odyssey, the duration and the challenges of the voyage echo concepts that were put forth in the paper and reiterated in the departure press release.^[38] The scientific goals that had been outlined in the departure press release—the study of weather, water, atmospheric pollution and ozone depletion in little-documented regions of the world—have not been fully realized due to lack of proper equipment, as indicated by periodic entries in the voyage's log.^[39]

An article at the MarineBuzz website^[40] explained some of the technical aspects of the schooner's supplies, and summarized Soanya's role in the expedition up to the point where she had to depart the schooner and hand over her tasks to Reid (see below).

Several unexpected events occurred during the course of this voyage, two of them near the outset. On April 25, 2007, the schooner ventured near a US Navy missile firing trial that was being conducted off the New Jersey coast. After United States Coast Guard personnel alerted the schooner, the crew diverted their course with no further mishap. A second, more serious mishap occurred on May 6, 2007 when the schooner ran into a container ship that left the schooner's bowsprit heavily damaged, though the hull and the remainder of the boat was unscathed.^[41] Stowe was able to make a replacement, albeit shortened, bowsprit from less-damaged portions.^[42]Following these incidents, the vessel spent much of the second half of 2007 in the Southern Atlantic, passing the tip of Africa in mid December, 2007.

Soanya leaves the journey[edit]

One significant incident occurred on February 22, 2008, when Stowe's companion, Soanya Ahmad decided to leave the voyage.^[43] After 306 days spent on board the schooner Anne, Ahmad had to disembark due to what later was discovered to be morning sickness. She disembarked from the schooner off Rottnest Island, near Perth, Western Australia.^[44] Members from the Royal Perth Yacht Club, including Jon Sanders,^[45] rendezvoused with the Anne around 1800 local time (+9 UTC) and assisted with Ms. Ahmad's departure. She arrived in Perth around 2100 local time.^[45] Ms. Ahmad reported she had been suffering from chronic seasickness since November.^[45][46]Ms. Ahmad's departure left Stowe without a crew and compromised an original tenet of the voyage, "...to leave the land and all support, sail for 1,000 days, non-stop at sea without receiving help, to live at sea, to be healthy, to send back good messages and have the whole world follow the voyage and understand the importance of it..."^[38] Mr. Stowe intended to complete the mission plan alone. According toThe Age, the schooner Anne was to maintain a position beyond sight of land during the transfer so Mr Stowe could continue his attempt to break records.^[46] Jon Sanders, the current record holder for longest solo time at sea, was asked in an interview whether Reid could break his record. Sanders, who was also a member of Ms. Ahmad's rescue party responded—"I think the boat by the look of it will stay in one piece. It won't break any records." However, he quickly followed that with, "But...I couldn't say anything that it wouldn't...He's still got a lot of patience and time." He then admitted that Reid Stowe could do it—Interviewer: "There's a possibility he could take your record out." Sanders: "Ah, ya."^[45]

After leaving the schooner Anne on Day 306, Ahmad returned to New York, where in July 2008, she gave birth to a son, Darshen. Two years later, the whole family would be living aboard the Anne.^[47][48]

Completion of the voyage[edit]

On Day 658, Reid Stowe broke the world record for the longest non-stop ocean voyage, previously held by Jon Sanders, if one disregards Nansen's Fram expedition, during which the schooner Fram lay trapped on ice for nearly three years, and the crew was away from land for at least 1067 days.^[49]

Reid Stowe and his support team have since accomplished one of their goals of a person sailing on the open seas without resupply for 1000 days, as well as breaking the 1067-day record set by the Fram in 1896.^[49][50] January 16, 2010 was officially the day of the 1000-day mark,^[8][51] while March 24, 2010 equalled the 1067-day mark. Subsequent to the first 306 days with Soanya Ahmad, Reid Stowe also broke the record for the longest solo sea voyage without resupply, on Day 964 (Dec. 11, 2009).^[50] Furthermore, as a two-member male-and-female crew, Stowe and Ahmad could also lay claim to the longest non-stop voyage on the ocean by a man and a woman since Bernard Moitessier and his wife Françoise completed a 126-day voyage in 1966, from Tahiti to Spain.^[52] Since the voyage's end, all of the records claimed by Stowe have yet to be officially recognized.

Throughout the journey, Stowe maintained contact with the New York City–based support team via an Iridium phone. Stowe employed a VHF marine transceiver for ship-to-ship communications. Volunteers maintained a web site so that the general public could follow the progress of the voyage. The entire route of the schooner Anne was verified daily byGPS tracking,^[53] and the manufacturer of the equipment has made the database available online.^[54]

Until the computers broke down in December, 2009, there were also almost daily logs—with a photo—sent as email via the satellite telephone. These missives were originally contributed by Soanya and Reid, until Soanya's departure from the schooner, when Reid took over the role of sole communicator.^[42]

Reid Stowe saw his son for the first time, after landing his 70-foot schooner 'Anne' in New York and reuniting with girlfriend Soanya Ahmad on Thursday, June 17, 2010. The couple hadn't seen each other since Soanya had to leave the voyage in February, 2008.^[5][55]

[Kevin]

June 19

 

 

 

1798

HMS Aurora (28), Capt. Henry Digby, engaged off Adeira.

1807

Turkish fleet of 9 ships of the line, supported by 5 frigates and 5 small craft under Kapudan Pasha Seyit-Ali intercepted between Lemnos Island and Mount Athos by Russian fleet under Dmitry Senyavin of 10 ships of the line. Raphael(80), Cptn. Dmitry Lukin (Killed in Action), damaged Messudie (120), Seyit-Ali, and broke through the enemy's defence line also damaging Sed-ul-Bahr (84), Admiral Bekirbey, and 2 frigates before escaping. Tverdy (74), Admiral Senyavin, forced the leading Turkish ship to withdraw and the Turkish line being broken Seyit-Ali took flight. The fastest Russian vessels pursued. Selaphail (74), Cdr. Rozhnov, took Seid-ul-Bahr (84) and other ships cut off Besharet-Nyuma, as well as a frigate and a corvette which were set ablaze. Seyit-Ali was also forced to burn the lagging Tausu-Bahri (84) and a frigate in order to gain enough time to escape into the Dardanelles with his remaining vessels.

1808

The Danish brig Lougen, Lt. Peter F. Wulff, and 4 gunboats under Sub Lt. Fønss captures the British brig HMS Seagull (16), R. Cathcart, off Flekkerø in Norway.

1809

Boats of HMS Bellerophon (74), Cptn. Samuel Warren, carried Russian batteries at Hango.

1812

Boats of HMS Briseis (10), Cptn. John Ross, re-captured British merchant Uraniafrom Pillau roads in the Baltic

1864

USS Kearsarge sinks Confederate raider Alabama off France 

[st george]

1588 - Spanish Armada heavily destroyed in storm at Coruna
1944 - Battle of the Philippine Sea begins ("The Marianas Turkey Shoot")
1948 - Chief of Naval Operations assigns 3 destroyers to U.N. mediator for the Palestine truce.

[Kevin]

June 20

 

 

1743

HMS Centurion (50), Cptn. George Anson, took Nuestra Senora del Caba Donga(42), Admiral Don Geronimo Montero, worth £400,000 off Cape Spiritu Santo.

1781

HMS Castor (32) and HMS Crescent (28), Cptn. T. Packenham, Lt. John Bligh (act.), badly damaged from a previous engagement taken by French Gloire (40) and Friponne (36). HMS Flora (36), Cptn. William Pere Williams, escaped

1783

The Battle of Cuddalore. British fleet of 18 ships, under Admiral Sir Edward Hughes, engaged French fleet of 15 ships, under the Bailli de Suffren, off the coast of India. It took place after peace had been signed but before the news had reached India. It was the final battle of the American Revolutionary War.

1809

HMS Agamemnon (64), Cptn. Jonas Rose, ran on shore and wrecked in Maldonado Roads, Rio de la Plata.

1813

Fifteen U.S. gunboats engage HMS Junon (38), Cptn. James Sanders, HMSNarcissus (32), Cptn. John Richard Lumley, and HMS Barrossa (36), Cptn. William Henry Shirreff, in Hampton Roads, VA.

Capture of Dignano by boats of HMS Elizabeth (74), Cptn. Leveson Gower.

1815

Trials of Fulton I, built by Robert Fulton, are completed in New York. This ship would become the US Navy's first steam-driven warship.

1822

HMS Drake Sloop (10), Charles Adolphus Baker, wrecked off the coast of Newfoundland.

[st george]

1819 - The U.S. vessel SS Savannah arrives at Liverpool, England, United Kingdom. It is the first steam-propelled vessel to cross the Atlantic, although most of the journey is made under sail.

1898 - U.S. forces occupied Guam, which became first colony of U.S. in the Pacific.
1913 - First fatal accident in Naval Aviation, ENS W. D. Billingsley killed at Annapolis, MD
1934 - Commander in Chief, Asiatic Fleet Admiral Frank Upham reports to CNO that based on analyses of Japanese radio traffic, "any attack by (Japan) would be made without previous declaration of war or intentional warning."
1944 - Battle of Philippine Sea ends with Japanese losing 2 aircraft carriers and hundreds of aircraft.

[mtaylor]

Bit of trivia I thought I'd toss in... the first battle of the American Revolution between the French and English  was June 17th, 1778.  The last, as mentioned was June 20th, 1783.

 

June 17th -- 1778

HMS Milford (28) took Licorne.

HMS Arethusa (32), Samuel Marshall, engages French frigate Belle Poule (32) in the Channel

 

Licorne was taken after a chase by Milford and forced to fall into line under Keppel's flag.  At no point was any of the British admitting they were at war, but after two days, the French captain fired a broadside (of 8-pounders) at the America (74) and dropped his colors.  The battle involving  Belle Poule  is well-documented but occurred miles away from the English squadron and Licorne.

 

 

 

[Kevin]

June 21

 

 

1588

First engagement between English ships and the Spanish Armada

1810

Manado surrendered to HMS Dover (38), Cptn. Edward Tucker.

[st george]

533 - A Byzantine expeditionary fleet under Belisarius sails from Constantinople to attack the Vandals in Africa, via Greece and Sicily.

1667 - Dutch Admiral Michiel de Ruyter occupies Sheerness, England.

1792 - Vancouver meets Spanish ships Sutil and Mexicana off Vancouver, BC.

1898 - USS Charleston captures island of Guam from Spain.
1900 - Baron Eduard Toll, leader of the Russian Polar Expedition of 1900, departed Saint Petersburg in Russia on the explorer ship Zarya, never to return.

1919 - Admiral Ludwig von Reuter scuttles the German fleet in Scapa Flow, Orkney. The nine sailors killed are the last casualties of World War I.

1940 - The first successful west-to-east navigation of Northwest Passage begins at Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

1942 - World War II: A Japanese submarine surfaces near the Columbia River in Oregon, firing 17 shells at nearby Fort Stevens in one of only a handful of attacks by the Japanese against the United States mainland.

1945 - Okinawa declared secure after most costly naval campaign in history. U.S. had 30 ships sunk and 223 damaged, mostly from kamikaze attacks, with 5000 dead and 5000 wounded, while the Japanese lost 100,000 dead.

1963 - The French navy is withdrawn from the North Atlantic fleet of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

2012 - A boat carrying more than 200 refugees capsized in the Indian Ocean between the Indonesian island of Java and Christmas Island, killing 17 people and leaving 70 other missing.

[Kevin]

June 22

 

 

1798

HMS Aurora (28), Capt. Henry Digby, destroyed French corvette Egalite (20)

1807

HMS Leopard (50), Cptn. Humphries, fired on USS Chesapeake (36), Cptn Barron, off the coast of Maryland

1813

Unsuccessful attack by boats of British squadron under Admiral Warren on Craney Island at Portsmouth, Virginia.

1865

Confederate raider Shenandoah fires last shot of Civil War in Bering Strait

[st george]

1884 - Navy relief expedition under CDR Winfield S. Schley rescues LT A.W. Greely, USA, and 6 others from Ellesmere Island, where they were marooned for 3 years on Arctic island.
1893 - The Royal Navy battleship HMS Camperdown accidentally rams the British Mediterranean Fleet flagship HMS Victoria which sinks taking 358 crew with her, including the fleet's commander, Vice-Admiral Sir George Tryon.

1898 - ADM Sampson begins amphibious landing near Santiago, Cuba

1942 - Japanese submarine in mouth of Columbia River, Oregon.

2008 - Over seven hundred people were missing after a ferry capsized off of the coast of the Philippines after encountering harsh seas caused by Typhoon Fengshen. Rescue ships had found only four survivors and hoped that others had managed to swim to shore or find safety somewhere.

Edited June 23, 2013 by st george

[Kevin]

June 23

 

 

 

1795

Lord Bridport's victory over Vice-admiral Villaret-Joyeuse off L'Orient.                 

1798

HMS Rover ran aground off Gulf of St. Lawrence.

1800

Boats of Rear Ad. Sir John B. Warrens's squadron, HMS Renown (74) Cptn. Eyles, HMS Fisgard (44), Cptn. T. Byam Martin, and HMS Defence (74), Cptn. Lord H. Paulet, attacked a convoy in the Quimper River. When the enemy retired up stream they landed and blew up a battery and other works.

1808

HMS Porcupine (22), Cptn. Hon. Henry Duncan, drove ashore and destroyed a French vessel at Civita Vecchia.

1812

HMS Belvidera (36), Cptn. Richard Byron, engaged and escaped from USS President (44), Commodore John Rodgers, USS Congress (38), Cptn. John Smith, and USS United States (44), Stephen Decatur.

1813

Boats of HMS Castor (32), Cptn. Charles Dilkes, cut out French privateer Fortuneoff Catalonia.

[st george]

1611 – The mutinous crew of Henry Hudson's fourth voyage sets Henry, his son and seven loyal crew members adrift in an open boat in what is now Hudson Bay; they are never heard from again.

1933 - Commissioning of USS Macon, Navy's last dirigible
1943 – World War II: The British destroyers HMS Eclipse and HMS Laforey sink the Italian submarine Ascianghi in the Mediterranean after she torpedoes the cruiser HMS Newfoundland.

1972 - Navy helicopter squadron aids flood-stricken residents in Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, and Pittstown area of PA.

[Kevin]

June 24

 

 

1746

HMS Saltash (14) foundered off Beachy Head

1801

HMS Swiftsure captured by Dix Aout, &c.

1833

USS Constitution enters drydock at Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston, MA, for overhaul. The ship was saved from scrapping after public support rallied to save the ship following publication of Oliver Wendell Holmes' poem, "Old Ironsides." 

[st george]

1340 - Hundred Years' War: Battle of Sluys - The French fleet is almost destroyed by the English Fleet commanded in person by King Edward III.

1597 - The first Dutch voyage to the East Indies reaches Bantam (on Java).