#hms tenedos

[ltwilliammowett]

Fire the danger of every ship

Even on board ships that were built of wood and contained large quantities of flammable materials such as gunpowder, the risk of fire was a constant issue. If a fire broke out, it was very difficult to extinguish due to the cramped conditions. To make matters worse, loaded guns were often triggered, which then fired shots unpredictably and made rescue attempts difficult. The terrible loss of HMS Ajax on 14 February 1807 was another such case.

Watercolour of HMS Ajax (1798), by unknown (x)

Her fire was caused by accident or carelessness. She was anchored off Tenedos and was under Admiral Sir John Duckworth's squadron in Malta to take part in the Dardanelles operation. There were 630 men on the Ajax at the time, of whom 250 lost their lives and 380 were rescued. Among them were many veterans who had taken part in Trafalgar.  Only what exactly had happened. An officer who had witnessed the whole thing tells the following:  

At half past nine [in] the evening, the Ajax took fire in the bread room, and in ten  minutes she was in a general blaze from stern to stern; the wind blew fresh from the  N.E. which prevented the boats of the ships to leeward from rendering any  assistance; but from those to windward, and near her, she was well enough supplied  to save upwards of 400 of her people and those may consider themselves as most  providentially preserved; as it had blown a gale all the day, and for two or three  days before, and fell moderate towards the evening – a continuance of the gale  would probably have rendered all assistance impossible.

The fire, it appears, had  been for some time, alight in the bread room before the  alarm was given; for when the first Lieutenant, and many others, broke open the  door of the Surgeon’s cabin, the after bulk head was burst down by the accumulated  flames and smoke abaft it, and so rapidly made its progress through the cockpit,  that it was with difficulty he could regain the ladder, and most of those who  accompanied him were suffocated in the attempt. On reaching the quarterdeck he  found the fire had out-run him, and Captain Blackwood agreeing with that she was  past all remedy, they both ran forward where the majority of the people were  assembled, calling most piteously on their God for that help they despaired of  getting, although many boats were approaching them, so rapidly did the fire work  its way forward, and leapt from the sprit-sail-yard, when the Canopus’s boat fortunately picked them up. At this time the boats were assembling under the ship’s  bows, and saved most who still clung to them, though many, naked, benumbed with cold, and pressed on by others, let go their hold and perished, as did everyone who imprudently on the first alarm jumped overboard.

The boats, however, cleared  her bows, though many of them were in imminent danger of swamping, from the  number of the poor creatures who were clinging to the gunwales, and who were  obliged to be forced off, and left to perish, for the safety of the rest. The ship burnt all  night, and drifted on the Island of Tenedos, where she blew up at five next morning,  with a most awful explosion … The Gunner, unhappy father! Had thrown one child  overboard, which was saved; but going down for another, perished in the flames …  One woman, out of three, saved herself by following her husband with a child in his  arms down a rope from the jib-boom-end …Amongst the lost were Lieutenants Reeve and Sibthorpe; Captain Boyd, Royal Marines; Mr. Owen, surgeon; Mr. Donaldson, master; twenty-five midshipmen; two merchants of Constantinople, and a Greek pilot. Several of the people died after they  were got on board the different ships, the rest are distributed among the squadron. in: Narratives of Shipwrecks of the Royal Navy; between 1793 and 1849, by William O. S. Gilly and How to survive the Georgian Navy, by Bruno Pappalardo

What we do know is that the fire started in the bread room and how during the court martial that Captain Blackwood faced at the end of 1807. The Purser's Mate had forgotten a lantern and it had fallen over due to the movement of the ship and set fire to everything. So it was an accident that happened because of a little carelessness. However, many fell victim to it. Captain Blackwood was acquitted by the way.

[kaos3317]

Non riesco a non pensare a te,  anche quando non vorrei.  Una via d'uscita anche se c'è, sembra sia introvabile  ai miei amici che continuano a dirmi che non fai per me,  rispondo che non voglio più star male perchè non sei tu,  ma la notte tardi vieni qui  e mi prendi le mani  il tuo sguardo si fa serio e poi mi parli,e dici  questa volta io ritorno per restare, per sempre.  Ma finisce che era un sogno  al mio risveglio io ti cerco e non so dove sei.  Mentre sembra che il mio mondo stia crollando su di me  tu adesso dove sei?  Mentre io continuo a dire  il nome di chi ormai non c'è,  mi chiedo dove sei.  Mentre vedo le mie mani muoversi nel buio su di lei,  mentre ballo con il tuo fantasma dimmi dove sei!  I tuoi occhi non li scorderò,  finchè avrò da vivere.  Stai sicura che li troverei fra altri mille intorno a me.  La tua voce nella testa suona dolce musica però,  quando ti sento e metto giù mi dico di non farlo più.  E a che serve stare su whatsapp per dirci, le stesse,  vecchie cose che sappiamo già,  per ore e ore,  tanto ormai lo so che i baci che tu chiedi,  non sono i miei.  Il rumore dei tuoi passi è già lontano, io ti sto chiamando dove sei?  Mentre sembra che il mio mondo stia crollando su di me  tu adesso dove sei?  Mentre io continuo a dire  il nome di chi ormai non c'è,  mi chiedo dove sei.  Mentre vedo le mie mani muoversi nel buio su di lei,  mentre ballo con il tuo fantasma dimmi dove sei!  Hm,Hm  ti ho cercata negli angoli più nascosti, quando pensavo di sapere dove fossi,  ma quando ti sto per trovare ti sposti, ricordi troppi,  sul divano quando fumi sale piano, occhi rossi.  E io guardando dentro questo,  vecchio, specchio,  ho detto solo stai pronto,  ora gonfia il petto,  presentale il conto,  rimettiti l'elmetto e  vatti a riprendere il tuo mondo.  Ti devo dire no, quasi quasi ti sfioro,  mentre gli altri scompaiono,  e io da solo coi pensieri più espliciti,  la vita è questa ma non è che ti ci abitui alle cicatrici e ai lividi.  Bevendo un altro caffè pessimo,  tenedo un'altra sul mio petto, ma il mio cuore resta scettico  perchè era amore prima che noi ci mettessimo,  giù al tappeto come un k.o. tecnico.  Mentre sembra che il mio mondo stia crollando su di me  tu adesso dove sei?  Mentre io continuo a dire  il nome di chi ormai non c'è,  mi chiedo dove sei.  Mentre vedo le mie mani muoversi nel buio su di lei,  mentre ballo con il tuo fantasma dimmi dove sei!  Mentre sembra che il mio mondo stia crollando su di me  tu adesso dove sei?  Mentre io continuo a dire  il nome di chi ormai non c'è,  mi chiedo dove sei.  Mentre vedo le mie mani muoversi nel buio su di lei,  mentre ballo con il tuo fantasma dimmi dove sei!

[ltwilliammowett]

Model of a 1803 Rifle Harpers Ferry, made at the United States Armory

Most notably, the patch box on the stock is inscribed: “Taken from the Maintop of the U.S.S. PRESIDENT after her capture by H.M.S. ENDYMION, 15th January 1815 by W.N. Griffiths. Midshipman H.M.S. TENEDOS.” 

Museums Catalogue entry below

USS President was the fastest of the six original American frigates. In January of 1815, USS President, commanded by Captain Stephen Decatur, encountered a British blockade while attempting to sail from New York. The British squadron, comprised of HMS Majestic, HMS Endymion, HMS Pomone, and HMS Tenedos, gave chase to the American ship. HMS Endymion, a warship specifically designed and outfitted to fight the large American frigates, engaged President first. Both ships received significant damage in the ensuing fight. Decatur, seeing that Endymion was immobilized by the exchange, chose to flee, but his ship was slowed by damage and overtaken by Pomone and Tenedos. After taking fire from Pomone, President surrendered and was taken back to England as a prize. She was too badly damaged to be refitted and was later broken up at Portsmouth, England.

William Nelson Griffiths, Esq., a midshipman in the British Royal Navy aboard Tenedos, was directly involved in the capture of President and would have been permitted to take this rifle as a personal souvenir. After retrieving the badly damaged gun, Griffiths later had it repaired with a new stock and converted it from flintlock ignition to percussion cap. George Dyer, whose name appears on the lock plate of the gun, was a gunsmith working out of Bristol, England during the early to mid-1800s. Dyer probably repaired and converted the rifle in the second quarter of the 19th century. Every part of the gun, except the stock and parts of the lock, are original 1803 Harpers Ferry. The back of the barrel was cut off to accommodate the new firing mechanism and with it went most of the Harpers Ferry markings, though the rifle still bears the armory serial number: “447”. The gun appears heavily used but well handled; the hammer, however, is cracked.

Griffiths served on a number of ships throughout his Royal Navy career. In 1815 he served on HMS Tenedos under Captain Hyde Parker as part of the British blockade of New York. He later went on to serve under Captain William Edward Parry on multiple polar expeditions between 1819 and 1823. He rose to the rank of lieutenant on November 13, 1823, and eventually reached the rank of commander before his retirement from the Navy in 1864. He died at the age of 78 in 1878.

[ltwilliammowett]

The Capture of the USS President, 15 January 1815 by Geoffrey Huband

[ltwilliammowett]

HMS Endymion takes up the Chase, 15th January, 1815, by Geoff Hunt 2013

Commodore Hayes, commanding HMS’s frigates Endymion, Pomone and Tenedos, carrying his flag in the Majestic, was on blockade duty off New York in early January 1815, cruising close off Sandy Hook. Blown off station by a violent snow-storm on the 14th, he guessed that Commodore Decatur  would seize this opportunity to get his USS President out to sea, and further correctly guessed Decatur's likely course.

Consequently, at daylight on the 15th, President 'appeared as if by rendezvous'  but some five miles ahead of the British squadron. The chase was on. The day began with strong winds but these eased progressively until by afternoon there was so little wind that all ships were carrying every stitch of canvas.

Following crushing defeats in single-ship frigate actions earlier in the war, the Royal Navy had realised that its standard frigate classes were no match for American heavy frigates such as the President, which were in every respect some fifty percent larger, stronger and more heavily armed than British frigates. By 1815 the British had formulated responses to this threat, and Hayes' squadron was a perfect example. His flagship Majestic was a 'razee', a cut-down 74-gun battleship, and more than a match for the President if it could only catch it. Endymion (Capt. Hope) was the nearest British equivalent to President, a heavy frigate not far short of the American's size and weight of fire. And of course the squadron had two other frigates as well.

Most importantly on this day, Endymion had the speed to catch the American.  As the strong winds - which favoured  the  heavy Majestic - eased, Endymion surged on ahead and, after a chase of seven hours, gradually began to overhaul President despite every resource Decatur employed to escape. The two ships were firing steadily at each other from 2pm onwards. Sunset was at 4.45pm; still they fought on at close range. Around 8 pm aboard Endymion it seemed that President had ceased fire and they even believed that the American had surrendered; but the American dismantling shot had destroyed Endymion's sails and she had no boats left to take the surrender, so she stood off to bend six new sails, which was done in the space of one hour, before resuming the chase. But by now the rest of the squadron had caught up, and at 11.40pm it was Tenedos that finally took the American flagship's surrender.