The English Ship Fairfax

The English ship Fairfax was originally commissioned in 1650.  By mid 1650 she saw action against French ships in the English Channel.  During 1651 she was Captain Penn’s flagship patrolling the Mediterranean.  By February of 1653 she had returned to England.  During that time she was accidentally set afire and burned to the waterline. 

                                               Abraham Willaerts painting "Action in the first Dutch War"

Immediately following the fire a new ship Fairfax was commissioned and built on the unburnt portion of the original ship.  The new Fairfax was a third rate frigate of the Navy of the Commonwealth of England.  She was re-commissioned as the HMS Fairfax when the English monarchy was restored in 1660.  In 1673 the Fairfax struck a reef off the English coast.  Even though she was re-floated, she was damaged beyond reasonable repair.  She was taken apart and her timbers were re-used in other vessels. 

The Fairfax had a keel length of 120 feet and a beam of 35 feet in width.  She was a full rigged speaker class frigate.  (In the 17^th Century the term frigate was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability.)   Her original complement of 52 guns was increased to 66 guns in 1666 and increased again to 72 guns in 1672.  Similarly her crew of 220 men was increased to 300 in 1666 and to 400 in 1672.

Robert Blake's flagship George at the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife 

She was launched in 1653 and saw her first service in the First Anglo-Dutch War which ended in 1654.  This war was fought entirely at sea over a trade dispute between England and the Netherlands.

During the Anglo- Spanish War (1654-60) the Fairfax was a member of Admiral Robert Blake’s fleet of 23 warships .  During that war she played a key role in the 1657 Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.  This battle resulted in the scuttling of two Spanish Galleons and nine Spanish merchant ships leaving only 5 other Spanish vessels afloat.  Those five ships also surrendered to Blake’s fleet.

                                                                                Admiral Robert Blake

For he last thirteen years the Fairfax saw service as part of Lord Sandwich’s Mediterranean fleet.  Between 1661 and 1662 she patrolled off Tangier and Algiers.  In 1665 she participated in the Battle of the Lowestoft during the Second Anglo-Dutch War.  During that battle the English fleet of 109 ships routed the Dutch fleet of 103 vessels.  The English fleet was significantly more powerful than the Dutch fleet with larger ships, and more guns in number and size.  The Dutch fleet lost nearly 20 vessels while the English only lost one.  The Fairfax saw 8 more years of service with the Royal Navy before the grounding off the English coast ended her career and caused her to be taken apart and reused.

Tall Ship Model of the HMS Fairfax

Ship Models Online offers a 34" Quality Tall Ship Model of the HMS Fairfax .  This is a beautiful, museum quality model.  You'll be proud to display her in your home or office.

The Story of the Wasa - Part 3, Armaments and Ornamentation

Armaments

While the Wasa was heavily armed, other warships in the Baltic carried more gunnery.  Still, she was likely the most powerful warship of the time due to her ability to place more cannon fire from a single side of the ship.  The King’s instructions to the shipwrights were to build the Wasa with devastating firepower in order to sink the enemy ships rather than to disable and board them. 

During construction, the King made frequent changes in the number, size and placement of guns on the ship.  The configuration ranged from thirty-six 24-pound guns on the lower deck with twenty-four 12-pound guns on the upper deck, to thirty 24-pound guns on the lower deck with thirty 12-pound guns on the upper deck.  Finally, the order was given for thirty-two (a total of sixty-four) 24-pound guns on both the upper and lower decks.  While this provided more firepower and standardized the ammunition, it also further raised the center of gravity of the vessel. 

Unlike other ships of the day, the Wasa boasted all newly manufactured cannons and other guns.  Sweden had a mountain that contained a vast supply of copper ore.  This copper allowed for casting new, lighter weight bronze cannons.  Wasa's cannons weighed nearly 100 tons.  They manufactured two hundred and fifty six cannons for the four ships the King commissioned.  However, due to manufacturing delays, Sweden launched Wasa with only forty-eight of the 24-pound guns evenly divided between the two decks.

Ornamentation

The exterior of warships of the Baroque era was frequently highly decorated.  These decorations served two primary purposes; the ornamental sculptures served to authenticate the monarch’s wealth, wisdom and authority, and they would belittle, intimidate and taunt the enemy sailors.  Inspiration for Wasa’s sculptures arose from a variety of sources including Egypt, the Old Testament, and Roman and Grecian antiquity.  Many of the sculptures were quite grotesque, adding to the enemy’s horror.  In contrast to the exterior, the interior of the ship was quite sparse.

Six expert sculptors, along with many assistants, fashioned the sculptures over a two-year period, carving them from oak, pine and/or linden and were painted in vivid colors.  For the larger sculptures, they employed multiple pieces of wood bolted together.  Nearly 500 sculptures decorated the Wasa, with many already recovered and restored

Read Part 4 of the Story of the Wasa  – Deterioration and Salvage.

Ship Models Online offers two Wasa tall ship models as well as models of other tall ships of the same era.

Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasa_(ship)

Admiral Nelson and the HMS Victory

Admiral Nelson wasn't the Captain of the HMS Victory during the October, 1805 Battle of Trafalgar. That task was left to Captain Thomas Hardy.  Nelson was Admiral of the fleet of 27 vessels charged with defending England against Napoleon's combined invasion fleet of 33 French and Spanish ships led by Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve.


Admiral Nelson                                                  Admiral Villeneuve

Nelson had pioneered a radical attack/defense strategy against the French fleet.  Normal strategy for naval warfare was to form the fleet in a line and attack the defending line.  This was Villenueve's plan.  Nelson, however, didn't stay with this strategy.  Instead, he arranged his fleet in columns with the HMS Victory in the lead.

The Victory came under heavy fire.  Two of Nelson's aides were cut down almost immediately.  And the wheel was cut off.  But the Victory survived.  During the battle, however, a French sharpshooter aboard the Redoubtable took aim at Nelson from a range of 50 feet.. The bullet severed Nelson's spine and he was mortally wounded.

The Battle of Trafalgar by J.M.W. Turner

                                                                           










The British took 22 vessels of Combined French-Spanish fleet and lost none of their own.  Admiral Villeneuve was captured and taken aboard his own flagship back to England where he was held for a number of years.  On his return trip to France he was found murdered in an inn.

Nelson was returned to England and given a state funeral.  His funeral procession was attended by 32 Admirals, more than 100 Captains, and over 10,000 soldiers and sailors.  After the four hour funeral service in St Paul's Cathedral he was interred in a sarcophagus originally intended for Cardinal Wolsey.  Nelson has been named the ninth most important person in all of British history.

You can view a detailed scale model of the HMS Victory here.