Twelve More American Revolution Cannons Found in the Savannah River-- Part 2: HMS Rose?

The river bottom of the Savannah River is strewn with all sorts of old stuff , ranging from Indian pottery to parts of a Confederate Civil War ironclad (the CSS Georgia) and other vessels lost dating back to Colonial times.  

When the first three cannons were found during dredging last February east of Savannah's famed River Street, archaeologists and the British Royal Navy  offered an intriguing possibility about their source.

Based on measurements and appearance, those cannons might have been from the British HMS Rose, a ship they scuttled during the American revolution in the Savannah River to block French ships from aiding the colonists who were attempting to retake the city.

But, now further investigation has the ship being sunk farther up the river and that it had had its cannons removed beforehand.

Farther research show that the cannons might have belonged to  British transport ships that were also sunk to block the river's channel.

Archaeologists are hoping further research will bring to light identifying elements of the cannons and matches to what the scuttled ships were carrying as weapons.

So, Whose Cannons?  --Cooter

USS Confederacy?

From Wikipedia.

I came across this name while doing research for something else and the name just sort of jumped out at me for some reason.  Exactly why would the U.S. Navy name a warship after the hated Confederates?  Well, as it turns out, there was a story.

The definition of confederacy is a league or alliance.  Turns out, that was what the Americans had going during the American Revolution.

The Confederacy was a  36-gun sailing frigate on the Continental Navy during the American Revolution.  The British Royal Navy captured her  in Match 1781 and took her into their service as the HMS Confederate for a half year before breaking her up in 1782.

Betcha Never Heard of This Ship.  --Cooter

19 Famous Folks in Military-- Part 2: Wilson, Barker, Guiness, Sajac and Bronson

**  FLIP WILSON

First name is actually Clerow, but received  nickname "Flip" from  fellow airmen in Air Force.

**  BOB BARKER

Former host of "The Price Is Right"  trained as a fighter pilot.  He left college in 1943 for flight training with the Naval Reserve, but World War II ended before he  was given an active-duty assignment.

**  ALEC GUINESS

The original Obi-Wan Kenobi joined the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve in 1941.  He would later serve as the commander on a landing craft during the Normandy Invasion on D-Day.

**  PAT SAJAC

The "Wheel of Fortune" host  joined the Army in 1968.  He worked as a deejay for the Armed Forces Radio.  "Gooooood Morning, Vietnam!!"

**  CHARLES BRONSON

Joined the Army in 1943 and served as an aircraft gunner.  Awarded a Purple Heart before leaving the military in 1946.

--Cooter

USS Fulton (AS-1)-- Part 4: Panama Canal Zone, Asiatic Fleet and a Disastrous Fire

The Fulton was recommissioned  on 2 December 1930 as a gunboat and had duty as a survey ship in the Panama Canal Zone.  It was reclassified as the USS Fulton (PG-49).  It conducted surveys  in the area until 1932 when it went to San Diego and made preparations to join the U.S. Asiatic Fleet.

Her assigned station was Hong Kong where the ship arrived in November and then made voyages to Cavite  Navy Yard in the Philippines and cruised along the Chinese coast from Hong Kong to Canton until March 1934.

On this day a fire broke out amidships.  As the ship appeared to be sinking, the crew was taken off by the British destroyer HMS Wishart and merchant ship SS Tinian.  Three of the crew suffered injuries.    The crew was taken to  the Royal Navy Dockyard at Hong Kong.  The British destroyer HMS Whitshed stood by the burning Fulton until the fire was put out.  An American tug arrived  to tow the Fulton to Hong Kong where emergency repairs were made and she was towed to Cavite.

The United States Department of the Navy  later passed thanks along to British authorities for their service.

Damage to the Fulton was considered too great and she was decommissioned  on 12 May 1934 and scrapped later that year.

The Story of a Ship.  --Cooter

Destroyers at D-Day

From Wikipedia "List of Allied Ships at the Normandy Landings."

There were seven battleships, five heavy cruisers, twenty light cruisers and 139 destroyers and escorts.  Of interest, not all were British (85 ships including Canadian ones)or U.S. (40 ships).  There were also 7 Free French and 7 other Allied ones ( 2 Greek, 2 Polish and 3 Norwegian).

According to yesterday's article, three British and three U.S. destroyers were sunk at D-Day.

However, according to this list, just the USS Corry (DD-463) was sunk during the invasion on June 6, 1944.  Also a Norwegian destroyer (see below)

The others were sunk at later dates:

HMS Boadicea (H65) torpedoed and sunk June 13 June
HMS Fury (H76) mined June 21 and not repaired
USS Glennon  (DD-620)  Hit a mine June 8, sunk by German artillery June 10
USS Rich  (DE-695)  Sunk by mine June 10
HMS Swift  (G46)  Mined and sunk June 24 off Normandy

HNoMS Svenner  (GO3)   Norwegian   destroyer  Hit by German torpedo and sunk off Normandy at dawn, June 6, 1944

--Cooter

75 Years Later-- Part 2: On Board a British Destroyer That Day

Retired Rear Admiral John Roberts, 95, was a 20-year-old junior officer aboard a Royal Navy destroyer that day and bombarded the German defenses.  Three British destroyers and three American destroyers were sunk on D-Day, but Roberts downplayed the danger he faced.

"I was in a ringside seat, as it were, watching the coast being bombarded by bombers, battleships; everything was firing at the shore.  But the fact is that it was a success, and we knew that really by the end of that day.  We caught the Germans by surprise."

75 Years Later, D-Day Veterans Cruise Back to Landing Beaches-- Part 1

From the June 5, 2019, Chicago Tribune by Danica Kirka.

Retired British Rear Admiral John Roberts, 95,  got back into the military side of his life quite easily as he boarded a ship bound for Normandy, France, and events marking the 75th anniversary of D-Day.  He had his white beret in place, a chestful of medals and began inspecting Sea Cadets line up for him.  Then, he got on a boat, just hoping that after being away from the sea for 40 years that he wouldn't get seasick.

Roberts and about 300 other veterans of the Normandy invasion left Dover Sunday for a six-day trip that will take them back to where they were all those years ago.  They will cruise to Dunkirk and Poole before arriving in Portsmouth, England where British Prime Minster Theresa May and Donald Trump will join other world leaders for a commemoration of D-Day on Wednesday.

They will then leave Portsmouth Harbor that evening and arrive in Normandy the next morning, retracing that famous crossing they made in 1944.

Interesting Histories to Former Ships By the Name HMS Looe

From Wikipedia.

There were seven ships in the British Navy of this name.  Of them, were wrecked, two became breakwaters, one was a former privateer and one was captured by the Japanese in 1941 and became a Japanese ship.

1st:  32-gun fifth rate launched 1696, wrecked 1697

2nd:  32-gun fifth rate launched 1697, wrecked 1705

3rd:  42-gun fifth rate launched 1707, reduced to harbor service 1735, sunk as breakwater 1737

4th:  44-gun fifth rate launched 1741, wrecked 1744  (Our HMS Looe)

5th:  44-gun fifth rate launched in 1745, sunk as breakwater 1759

6th:  30-gun fifth rate, formerly privateer Liverpool, purchased 1759, sold 1763

7th:  To have been a Bangor-class minesweeper.  Laid down 1941, renamed HMS Lyemun while still on stocks, but captured that year by the Japanese who completed it and launched it as the Nan Yo in 1943, lost later that year.

Wreck Me, Break Me.  --Cooter

Sunken Vessels of Epic World War I Naval Battle Revealed

From the June 16, 2015, Yahoo! News/Sky News.

3D scans have revealed the wrecks of several of the 25 warships (14 British) sunk during the huge naval action at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916.One is of the HMS Invincible in which 1,000 sailors lost their lives.  The other two are the HMS Defence and HMS Queen Mary.  All three have been scanned.

The HMS had been described at the time as being "reduced to atoms" when it sank, but has been found to be complete and sitting upright.

The HMS Echo used information from previous expeditions as well as eyewitness accounts to visit 21 of the 25 shipwreck sites where they are expected to be.

In the battle, the British Navy had 6,094 killed and the Germans lost 2,551.  Both sides claimed victory.

--Cooter

HMS Caroline to Become Floating Tourist Attraction in 2012

From the October 16, 2012, Mail Online.

The First World War warship is set to become a tourist attraction in Belfast, Northern Ireland.  It will be restored and reopened to celebrate its 1200th anniversary.  The hope is that it will become as popular as the World War II cruiser HMS Belfast in the Thames River, London.

The HMS Caroline is the second most important historical ship in the British Navy after the HMS Victory.  The 3,750 ton light cruiser is the last surviving ship of the important Battle of Jutland during World War I.

Lottery money will be used in the restoration.

The "C" Class cruiser has been moored at the Alexander Dock since 1924 and most recently was used as a training ship before being decommissioned last March.  Its weaponry and boilers were removed in 1924.

--Cooter

17th Century Shipwreck Found Off Swedish Coast in 2012

From the June 1, 2012, Free internet Press by Intellpuke.

Amateur divers found a Swedish Royal Navy vessel that sank off Stockholm in 1660 reportedly with a cargo of of gold and jewelry.  It is believed to be the Resande Man (meaning traveling man).

However, the cargo, which was being carried to Poland as a gift from the Swedish government, was not found.  The ship sank in the Baltic Sea in November 1660.

The ship was found on May 17, 2012.  The wreck is in poor shape and the divers are about 90% sure it is the Resande Man, but haven't found the ship's bell for proof.

The ship was 25 meters long and 7 meters wide, half the size of the Swedish warship Vasa, which infamously sank on its maiden voyage in 1628.

In August 2011, divers found the wreck of the Mars, flagship of King Erik XIV's fleet which sank in the Baltic Sea in 1564.

Always Great to Discover a Lost Wreck.  --Cooter

The Titanic's Second Officer Charles Lightoller-- Part 1

Continued from the September 22, 2011,, Spec.com "The truth about the Titanic's sinking."

I wrote about this Aug. 8, 2012 and continued the story Oct. 19th.  I promise to finish it before 2013.

This from Wikipedia.

Charles Lightoller commanded the last bridge watch on the doomed Titanic and was the most senior officer to survive.  Lightoller was very strict about "women and children first" and only went overboard as the ship slid beneath the waves and survived on an overturned lifeboat.

He was decorated for gallantry as a naval officer in World War I and commanded one of the "little ships at Dunkirk in World War II.  Quite a life.

After the Titanic, he became a mate on one of the Titanic's sister ships, the Oceanic.  In World War I, the Oceanic became an armed merchant cruiser and Charles was a lieutenant on it.  Later he commanded the torpedo boat HMTB 117 and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for engaging the Zeppelin L31.

As a result of that action, he was appointed to command the HMS Falcon, a C-Class Torpedo Boat Destroyer.  It sank April 1, 1918 after a collision with the trawler John Fitzgerald while both were escorting a convoy in the North Sea.  You had to wonder what Lightoller was thinking as his second ship went down.

Then, he was given command of the destroyer HMS Garry and received another Distinguished Service Cross for ramming and sinking the U-boat 110. 

And Amazing Life and a Lot of History for One Man.  --DaCoot

World War I British Naval Deaths Go Online-- Part 2

Another victim that was 16-year-old Jack Cornwell who became a hero for staying at his post beside the top foredeck gun on the HMS Chester, despite being mortally wounded with the rest of his gun crew lying dead around him.  His commanding officer wrote, "He remained standing alone at a most exposed post, quietly awaiting orders until the end of the action."

It was found that the British ships had flaws that made them very vulnerable to internal explosions as happened on the Invincible.  In the case of young Cornwell on the Chester, the gun had inadequate armor.  He died two days later after just a month at sea and was awarded the Victoria Cross.  A fund was raised for him to support his mother, but she died destitute three years later.

One survivor of the Battle of Jutland was Britain's future King George VI, the stuttering king.  His ship, the HMS Collingwood lost 229 men in the fight.

The battle was a strategic success for the German Grand Fleet which returned to its home port and never ventured out again.

Always Stories in Those Statistics.

World War I British Navy Deaths Go Online-- Part 1

From the April 5, 2011, Guardian.co.uk.

Most historians studying the war dwell on the land action and those huge casualties, but some 44,000 British sailors also lost their lives.  About half of their bodies were never recovered and one-fifth died of disease.

George Blackwell, 24, a laundry worker from Winbledon, southwest of London was one of them, meeting his end at the Battle of Jutland, May 31-June 1.  The Royal Navy lost over 6,000 men, six cruisers and eight destroyers.

Admiral David Beatty, watching the second cruiser explode and sink within a half hour of the first one, remarked, "There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today."

Stroker First Class Blackwell was deep within his ship, the cruiser HMS Invincible, when it was hit by a German shell, exploded, split in half and sank in ninety seconds, killing all but six.  He never had a chance.  His body was never recovered, one of 1,026 dying that day.

The only thing his family has to remember him is a black-edged memorial card with words of sympathy and a photo.

More to Come.

British Ships Named Ark Royal

From Suite 101.com by Paula Thomas.

ARK ROYAL V

Aircraft carrier launched in 1985 and at auction March 2011.

ARK ROYAL IV

Launched 1955.

ARK ROYAL III

1938-1941.  Purpose-built aircraft carrier built by Cammell Laird & Co, Birkenhead.  Recorded the first aeriel and U-boat kills.

ARK ROYAL II

1914-1934.  In World War I converted from a merchant ship and later named HMS Pegasus.

ARK ROYAL I

From the 18589s, originally named Ark Raleigh, 38-gun warship and flagship of Lord Effingham against the Spanish Armada.  Built by Sir Walter Raleigh and later rebuilt and renamed Anne Royal.

The History of a Ship's Name.  --Cooter

Claude Choules, Last World War I Combatant Dies-- Part 1

From May 4th AFB.

Earlier this year, Frank Buckles, the last surviving United States soldier from the Great War died. Sadly, Claude Choules, the last-surviving British combatant from the war has joined Mr. Buckles as the next-to-last member of their era.

Only one survivor of World War I remains, Florence Green, 110, who was a mess waitress for the RAF.

Mr. Choules, 110, was blind and nearly deaf, nicknamed Chuckles, and was also Australia's oldest man.

He was born in Worcestershire, England and joined the Royal Navy at age 15 in 1916, serving aboard the HMS Impregnable. He was present at the surrender of the German Imperial Fleet in 1918, as well as that fleet's scuttling at Scapa Flow in Scotland.

More to Come. --DaCoot