HMS Brunswick (1790)
 HMS Brunswick fighting the Achille and Vengeur du Peuple simultaneously | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 UK | |
| Name: | HMS Brunswick |
| Ordered: | 7 January 1785 |
| Builder: | Deptford Dockyard |
| Laid down: | May 1786 |
| Launched: | 30 April 1790 |
| Fate: | Broken up, 1826 |
| Notes: |
|
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Class and type: | 74-gun third rate ship of the line |
| Tons burthen: | 1836 13⁄94 (bm) |
| Length: | 176 ft 2 1⁄2 in (53.7 m) (gundeck) |
| Beam: | 48 ft 9 in (14.9 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 19 ft 6 in (5.9 m) |
| Propulsion: | Sails |
| Sail plan: | Full rigged ship |
| Armament: |
|
HMS Brunswick was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 30 April 1790 at Deptford.[1]
Contents
1 Construction and armament
2 Career
2.1 First of June
2.2 Operations off Belle Ile
3 Fate
4 Notes
5 References
Construction and armament
Brunswick was a 74-gun, third-rate ship-of-the-line ordered on 7 January 1785. She was the first of her type built following the American Revolutionary war and was significantly larger than previous 74s. Her keel, of 145 feet 2 inches (44.2 m) was laid down at Deptford in May 1786. When finished, she was 176 feet 0 inches (53.6 m) along the gun deck, had a beam of 48 feet 8 inches (14.8 m) and a depth in the hold of 19 feet 6 inches (5.9 m). She was 1,82872⁄94 tons burthen and drew between 13 ft 0 in (3.96 m) and 16 ft 7 in (5.05 m).[2]
The ship was initially designed to carry a main battery of twenty-eight 32-pounder (15 kg) guns on the lower deck and thirty 18-pounder (8.2 kg) on the upper deck, with a secondary armament of twelve 9-pounder (4.1 kg) guns on the quarter deck and four on the forecastle. She was launched on 30 April 1790 and taken down the Thames to Woolwich where she was fitted-out between 17 May and 18 June. Her build and first fitting cost the Admiralty £47,781.0.0d.[2]
In December 1806, Brunswick's armament was changed so that all her guns fired a 24-pounder (11 kg) shot. This meant that the guns on the lower deck were downgraded while those on the upperdeck were upgraded. The guns on the forecastle were replaced with two 24-pounder long guns and four 24-pounder carronades, and on the quarter deck, the twelve 9-pounders were removed to make way for two long guns and ten carronades, all 24-pounders.[2] The great guns on the upper decks were mounted on Gover carriages which enabled them to be handled by fewer men.[3][2]
Career
Brunswick's first captain, Sir Hyde Parker, was appointed in May 1790 during the Spanish Armament. At the end of that year he was superseded by Sir Roger Curtis, under whom Brunswick spent most of 1791 at Spithead until the settlement of the Russian Armament, without hostility, in late August. She then paid off, but was immediately recommissioned to serve as a guardship in Portsmouth Harbour, and continued in that role through 1792, except for a brief period spent in the "Evolution Squadron".[4] On 29 October 1792, three condemned mutineers of the Mutiny on the Bounty were hanged from her yardarms.[5]
Following the outbreak of the French Revolutionary War, Captain John Harvey took command of Brunswick, and saw service in the Channel Fleet under the overall command of Admiral Earl Howe. As part of this fleet, on 2 May 1794, she accompanied the East and West India and Newfoundland convoys along the Channel as far as Lizard Point. Howe then divided his force, sending eight ships-of-the-line and four or five frigates to escort the convoys further while the remaining 26 ships-of-the-line, including Brunswick, set off to search for a large Franco-American grain convoy known to be heading for France.[6]
Howe realised that the French fleet at Brest would be detailed to escort the grain convoy through hostile waters. Having had two frigates confirm that the French fleet was still in port, Howe attempted to intercept the convoy in advance by placing his ships where he thought an encounter most likely. After thirteen days of searching however, the British fleet returned on 19 May, to find the fleet in Brest gone. It had in fact passed close by the British ships, in thick fog, two days previously on 17 May.[7] On the evening of 19 May, Howe's fleet fell in with the fifth-rate HMS Venus, which had been attached to Rear-Admiral Sir George Montagu's squadron. Also searching for the convoy, Montagu had been cruising between Cape Ortugal and Belle-Isle, but knowing he would be hopelessly outnumbered, he had sent Venus to locate Howe and ask for reinforcements.[8] At 04:00 the next morning, Howe ordered all sail in an attempt to reach Montagu before the French. However, part of a Dutch convoy, which had been captured by the French on 19 May, was recaptured by the Howe's fleet on 21 May, and the former prisoners were able to provide information regarding the whereabouts of the French fleet. In light of this new information, Howe realised that Montagu was no longer in danger and altered course to pursue the French.[9]
First of June
The British and French fleets on the morning of 1 June 1794[10]
On 25 May a French ship was seen and followed, which after three days led the British to the main French fleet.[11] Howe gave the order to prepare for battle at 09:45 on 28 May and at 10:35 to form into two columns. In an attempt to force an action, some of the fastest ships were sent to attack the French rear, which they did throughout the day, both causing and receiving some damage.[12] The two fleets came together on 29 May, and a limited engagement took place that petered out and became a general chase after an attempt to cut the French line was mistimed.[13] Thick fog prevented any further action for the next two days.[14]
The weather cleared on the morning of 1 June, and both fleets were drawn up line ahead, sailing in the same direction, Brunswick in the centre, immediately behind Hood's flagship, the first-rate Queen Charlotte and in front of Valiant. At around 08:15 the order was given for each ship to bear down upon and engage her opposite number.[15]Brunswick was one of three ships Howe signalled to put on more sail.[16] The tardiness of Brunswick and the 74-gun Gibraltar, on the other side of Queen Charlotte, meant that Howe found himself battling one 120-gun and two 80-gun ships simultaneously.
Brunswick (centre), following her engagement with Vengeur du Peuple (left) and Achille (right), on 1 June 1794
Gibraltar was, however, able to stop a fourth enemy ship, the first-rate Républicain, from joining in, by bringing down her main and mizzen masts from a distance, while Brunswick, having made all sail as directed, was close enough to draw the fire of the Vengeur du Peuple.[17] Unable to pass astern, Harvey had his ship come hard alongside and the two became locked together; the Brunswick's anchors fouling on Vengeur's fore-shrouds and channels.[18] When asked whether they should attempt to cut Brunswick free, Harvey replied, "No, we have got her and we will keep her". The British, prevented from opening their lower gun ports by the pressure exerted by the hull of Vengeur du Peuple, simply shot through them and the two ships drifted out of the line as they exchanged broadsides.[19]
A while later, at 11:00, a second French ship, Achille, attempted to join the action but Brunswick shot away her only remaining mast, which fell over the side and obstructed her guns. Unable to return fire or manoeuvre, she was forced to strike. When it became apparent that she could not be taken possession of, Achille spread her spritsail, rehoisted her colours and tried to make her escape.[20]Henry Harvey in HMS Ramillies then sailed to his brother's aid; raking Vengeur du Peuple twice and forcing the two ships apart, before turning to secure Achille.[21]
By the end of the action, Vengeur had sunk from the damage inflicted by Brunswick and six other French ships had been captured. The remainder escaped.[22] In the three engagements, it was estimated that French casualties were between 3,000 and 7,000 dead and wounded, while British losses were recorded as 290 dead and 858 wounded.[23]Brunswick had been badly damaged; she had lost her mizzen mast completely, her yards were shattered and her sails and rigging had been shot away, 23 guns had been dismounted, she had been on fire three times and her starboard quarter gallery was missing. She drifted away to leeward of the retreating enemy fleet, but made all available sail to head northward for the safety of a home port.[24] Having had 45 killed and 114 wounded, including Captain Harvey who died of the wounds later, Brunswick had suffered the highest casualty toll of any Royal Navy ship present at the battle.[25] After Harvey had been carried below, Lieutenant William Edward Cracraft was made acting captain.[20] Despite his own ship's condition, when the dismasted French ship Jemmapes was encountered, at 15:00, Cracraft had Brunswick hove to with the intention of engaging. Jemmapes however indicated that she had already struck.[24]
Operations off Belle Ile
In 1795, Brunswick, under Captain Lord Charles Fitzgerald, was attached to William Cornwallis's squadron in the Channel. On the morning of 8 June, Cornwallis' force comprising five ships-of-the-line, two frigates and a small brig-sloop, was cruising southwards along the Breton coast and past the Penmarck Rocks, when at 10:30, HMS Triumph signalled the presence of six sails to the north-east. Cornwallis turned his squadron to investigate and discovered the ships were part of a large merchant convoy, escorted by three ships-of-the-line and six or seven frigates under the overall command of Contre-Amiral Jean Gaspard Vence.[26] At first, the convoy sailed towards Cornwallis's squadron, believing it to be French. When the mistake was realised, at 12:00, Vence ordered his ships towards Belle Île, where they could shelter beneath the gun batteries. Cornwallis sent his fastest ships ahead, to engage the trailing ships of the convoy and try to force an action but, despite taking eight prizes, they were not able to do so.[27][28]
Prevented from pressing their atttack by the shoal waters and batteries, the British anchored in the Palais Road, close to the island, where they remained until the following evening. On 9 June, they sailed into the Bay of Biscay and around Ushant headland, reaching the Scilly Isles on 11 June. The eight brigs taken off Belle Ile and two American vessels captured after, were at that point, sent into Spithead under escort off the 18-gun HMS Kingfisher. The remaining ships turned back towards Belle Île, in the hope that by then, Vence's squadron would be in open water.[28][29]
Cornwallis's Retreat, June 17, 1795, Thomas Luny
On 15 June, Vence's squadron was sailing off the island of Groix, when it encountered a French fleet under Villaret de Joyeuse, which had sailed from Brest on 12 June and comprised nine ships-of-the-line, nine frigates (including two ships of the line razeed into 50-gun frigates) and four corvettes. The two forces joined and turned north. On 16 June, the French fleet was off Penmarck Point when, at 10:30, Cornwallis's squadron was spotted to the north-west.[30] Cornwallis was anticipating Vence's merchant convoy which had arrived at its destination some days previous, and did not immediately understand the danger his squadron was in. HMS Phaeton, having been sent ahead to investigate, added to the confusion when she signalled to Cornwallis that the French fleet contained 30 vessels, but did not return. This caused Cornwallis to take the signal to mean that the French ships, while more numerous, were inferior in strength.[31][27]
At 11:00, seeing that Cornwallis was still advancing, Phaeton signalled the exact composition of Villaret's fleet. The British squadron, now realising the danger, turned away to the south-west, with Brunswick leading the line and the French in pursuit. Having followed the British out into the Atlantic, at 14:00, Villaret's fleet divided with one part sailing north to cut Cornwallis off, while the other maintained its course to the south. By 18:00 the northern squadron had overhauled the British who found themselves directly between the two French divisions, no more than 9 nautical miles (17 km) from each.[32]
The chase continued into the night with Brunswick and HMS Bellerophon struggling to keep station. In an effort to increase their speed, the two ships jettisoned their anchors, boats and much of their provisions. Bellerophon was sailing so slowly that her captain, James Cranstoun, ordered four carronades and a large amount of roundshot to be thrown over the side.[32] At 09:00, Zélé, the leading French ship in the windward squadron was close enough to open to fire on the British rearguard ship, HMS Mars. The action was soon joined by the 40-gun frigate Virginie which came up on Mars' port quarter. Concerned that Bellerophon, which was close by, might lose a sail, a loss she could not sustain, Cornwallis ordered Triumph and Royal Sovereign to drop back and allow Bellerophon to join Brunswick at the front.[33] This reorganisation of the line slowed the entire squadron and put all the ships in range of the French vanguard. The British cut holes in the stern planks of their ships to allow more cannon to be trained on Villaret's advancing fleet. This tactic appeared to be successful, and at 13:30, the leading French ship was forced to fall back when she lost her main topgallant mast.[34]
The French continued their attack on the British rear and, after a further four hours, Mars began to fall away to leeward. Seeing this, Royal Sovereign and Triumph yawed, raking the four French ships heading to cut her off and take possession of her.[35] This action caused the French ships to haul to wind and Mars was able to rejoin her squadron. A more distant engagement then took place which petered out just after 18:30 when the French broke off the attack.[34]
Later in June 1795, William Browell became Brunswick's captain and she served as the flagship of Rear-Admiral Richard Rodney Bligh.[2]
She sailed to Jamaica carrying Bligh's flag and remained on that station until 1800.[citation needed]
In 1797, Brunswick was in the Leeward Islands under captain William Gordon Rutherford.[2]
Fate
In 1812 Brunswick was on harbour service, and she was broken up in 1826.[1]
Notes
^ abc Lavery (2003), p. 185.
^ abcdef Winfield (2007) p. 89
^ James (1802) p. 357
^ "Warship Histories". National Maritime Museum. Archived from the original on 29 August 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2012..mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output .citation qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-maintdisplay:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em
^ Barrow p. 271
^ James (Vol. I), pp. 125–126
^ James (Vol. I), p. 126
^ James (Vol. I), p. 128
^ James (Vol. I), p. 129
^ James (Vol. I), p. 147
^ James (Vol. I), p. 130
^ James (Vol. I), pp. 130–131
^ James (Vol. I), pp. 136–137
^ James (Vol. I), pp. 144–145
^ James (Vol. I), pp. 146–147
^ James (Vol. I), p. 148
^ James (Vol. I), p. 150
^ Clowes (Vol.IV) p. 232
^ Clowes (Vol.IV) pp. 232 - 233
^ ab Clowes (Vol.IV) p. 233
^ Clowes (Vol.IV) pp. 233-235
^ James (Vol. I), p. 152
^ James (Vol. I), pp. 152–153
^ ab Clowes (Vol.IV) p. 234
^ "No. 13669". The London Gazette. 11 June 1794. p. 542.
^ Clowes (Vol.IV) p. 255
^ ab Clowes (Vol.IV) p. 256
^ ab "No. 13790". The London Gazette. 23 June 1795. p. 655.
^ James (Vol.I) p. 237
^ James (Vol.I) p. 238
^ James (Vol.I) pp. 238 - 239
^ ab James (Vol.I) p. 239
^ James (Vol.I) p. 249
^ ab Clowes (Vol.IV) pp. 257 - 258
^ Clowes (Vol.IV) p. 257
References
.mw-parser-output .refbeginfont-size:90%;margin-bottom:0.5em.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>ullist-style-type:none;margin-left:0.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>ul>li,.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>dl>ddmargin-left:0;padding-left:3.2em;text-indent:-3.2em;list-style:none.mw-parser-output .refbegin-100font-size:100%
Barrow, John (1831). The Eventful History of the Mutiny and Piratical Seizure of HMS Bounty: Its Causes and Consequences. London: John Murray.
Clowes, William Laird (1997) [1900]. The Royal Navy, A History from the Earliest Times to 1900, Volume IV. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 1-86176-013-2.
James, Charles (1802). A New and Enlarged Military Dictionary, or, Alphabetical Explanation of Technical Terms. London: T. Egerton.
James, William (1837) [1827]. The Naval History of Great Britain, Volume I, 1793–1796. London: Richard Bentley. OCLC 634321885.
- Lavery, Brian (2003) The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850. Conway Maritime Press.
ISBN 0-85177-252-8.
Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84415-700-6.
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