1.
Godfrey Kneller
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Kneller was born Gottfried Kniller in the Free City of Lübeck, the son of Zacharias Kniller, a portrait painter. Kneller studied in Leiden, but became a pupil of Ferdinand Bol, the brothers came to England in 1676, and won the patronage of the Duke of Monmouth. He was introduced to, and painted a portrait of, Charles II, in England, Kneller concentrated almost entirely on portraiture. His portraits set a pattern that was followed until William Hogarth, nevertheless, he established himself as a leading portrait artist in England. When Sir Peter Lely died in 1680, Kneller was appointed Principal Painter to the Crown by Charles II, in the 1690s, Kneller painted the Hampton Court Beauties depicting the most glamorous ladies-in-waiting of the Royal Court for which he received his knighthood from William III. He produced a series of Kit-cat portraits of 48 leading politicians and his paintings were praised by Whig luminaries such as John Dryden, Joseph Addison, Richard Steele, and Alexander Pope. On the landing in Horsham Museum hang works of art from the Museums extensive painting collection, featuring a large 18th-century portrait of Charles Eversfield and his wife, in the painting Eversfield is giving his wife some violets which signifies fidelity, love and honesty. It is likely that the picture was cut down at some time as it was unusual to stop just below the knee and he married a widow, Susanna Grave, on 23 January 1704 at St Brides Church, London. She was the daughter of the Reverend John Cawley, Archdeacon of Lincoln and Rector of Henley-on-Thames, Kneller died of fever in 1723 at Great Queen Street and his remains were interred at Twickenham. He had been a churchwarden at St Marys, Twickenham when the 14th-century nave collapsed in 1713 and was active in the plans for the reconstruction by John James. His widow was buried at Twickenham on 11 December 1729, a memorial was erected in Westminster Abbey. Knellers will gave a pension of £100 a year to his assistant Edward Byng, Byng also inherited the drawings in Knellers studio. Kneller and his wife had no children together, the site of the house Kneller built in 1709 in Whitton, near Twickenham, became occupied by the mid-19th century Kneller Hall, home of the Royal Military School of Music. As to thinking better or worse of mankind from experience, some cunning people will not be satisfied unless they have put men to the test, there is a very good story told of Sir Godfrey Kneller, in his character of a Justice of the peace. In his hometown Lübeck there are works to be seen in the St. Annen Museum and his former works at St. Marys Church were destroyed by the Bombing of Lübeck 1942. A large oil portrait of James VII of Scotland hangs on the staircase of private members Club, The Caledonian Club, in Belgravia
2.
Rotherhithe
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Rotherhithe is a residential district in south east London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. Historically, the area is the most northeastern settlement in the county of Surrey and it is located on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping and the Isle of Dogs on the north bank, and is a part of the Docklands area. It borders Bermondsey to the west and Deptford to the south east, Rotherhithe has a long history as a port, with many shipyards from Elizabethan times until the early 20th century and with working docks until the 1970s. In the 1980s the area along the river was redeveloped as housing, through a mix of warehouse conversions. Rotherhithe is located 4.5 km east of Londons centre point, Rotherhithe, being an area of the Docklands, has the largest Chinese population in Southwark. The name Rotherhithe derives from the Anglo-Saxon Hrȳðer-hȳð meaning landing-place for cattle, the first recorded use of this name was in about 1105, as Rederheia. St. Marys Church is at the centre of the old Rotherhithe village, the dock has been remodelled, and its northwest half retained as an ornamental lake, renamed Canada Water. The canal has remained as a walkway and water feature within the redeveloped area, Rotherhithe is the home of the football team Fisher F. C. which plays its games at St Pauls Stadium. The league 1 team Millwall Football Club is located nearby in the London Borough of Lewisham. In January 2009 the London Mayor Boris Johnson said he would not fund the bridge, citing budget cuts due to the credit crunch, however the idea is still being supported by Sustrans. There are two Anglican churches in Rotherhithe St. Marys Church, and Trinity Church, there are two Roman Catholic churches, St Peter and the Guardian Angels, and Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. Kings Stairs Gardens is a park on the river towards the Bermondsey boundary. In September 2011 Thames Water announced that they wanted to build an access shaft for the super-sewer Thames Tunnel, severn Islands Leisure Centre occupies the site of the old Rotherhithe Town Hall. The building ceased to be a hall in 1905 when the former Rotherhithe Council merged with the old Bermondsey Borough Council. The old Rotherhithe Town Hall became a library and a museum and it was razed to the ground by repeated bomb hits and near misses during the Second World War. Rotherhithe had its own hospital, St Olaves Hospital, on Lower Road close to the old town hall. Built originally in the early 1870s on land adjoining Rotherhithe Workhouse, it became the infirmary of St Olaves Union in 1875, and was renamed St Olaves Hospital in 1930. Subsequently, becoming part of the Guys Hospital Teaching Group in 1966, it closed in 1985, the Terriss Theatre opened in 1899 and was later renamed the Rotherhithe Hippodrome of Varieties
3.
Greenwich
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Greenwich is an early-established district of todays London, England, centred 5.5 miles east south-east of Charing Cross. The town lends its name to the Royal Borough of Greenwich, Greenwich is generally described as being part of South-east London and sometimes as being part of East London. Greenwich is notable for its history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian. The town became the site of a palace, the Palace of Placentia from the 15th century. The palace fell into disrepair during the English Civil War and was rebuilt as the Royal Naval Hospital for Sailors by Sir Christopher Wren and his assistant Nicholas Hawksmoor. These buildings became the Royal Naval College in 1873, and they remained an establishment for military education until 1998 when they passed into the hands of the Greenwich Foundation. The historic rooms within these buildings remain open to the public, other buildings are used by University of Greenwich and Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. The town became a resort in the 18th century and many grand houses were built there, such as Vanbrugh Castle established on Maze Hill. From the Georgian period estates of houses were constructed above the town centre, Greenwich formed part of Kent until 1889 when the County of London was created. The place-name Greenwich is first attested in a Saxon charter of 918 and it is recorded as Grenewic in 964, and as Grenawic in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 1013. It is Grenviz in the Domesday Book of 1086, and Grenewych in the Taxatio Ecclesiastica of 1291, the name means green wic or settlement. An article in The Times of 13 October 1967 stated, East Greenwich, gateway to the Blackwall Tunnel, remains solidly working class, the manpower for one eighth of Londons heavy industry. West Greenwich is a hybrid, the spirit of Nelson, the Cutty Sark, the Maritime Museum, an industrial waterfront and a number of elegant houses, ripe for development. Royal charters granted to English colonists in North America, often used the name of the manor of East Greenwich for describing the tenure as that of free socage, New England charters provided that the grantees should hold their lands as of his Majesty’s manor of East Greenwich. Grants named the castle of Windsor, places in North America that have taken the name East Greenwich include a township in Gloucester County, New Jersey, a hamlet in Washington County, New York, and a town in Kent County, Rhode Island. Tumuli to the south-west of Flamsteed House, in Greenwich Park, are thought to be early Bronze Age barrows re-used by the Saxons in the 6th century as burial grounds, to the east between the Vanbrugh and Maze Hill Gates is the site of a Roman villa or temple. A small area of red paving tesserae protected by railings marks the spot and it was excavated in 1902 and 300 coins were found dating from the emperors Claudius and Honorius to the 5th century. This was excavated by the Channel 4 television programme Time Team in 1999, broadcast in 2000, the Roman road from London to Dover, Watling Street crossed the high ground to the south of Greenwich, through Blackheath
4.
St Dunstan's, Stepney
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St Dunstans, Stepney is an Anglican Church which stands on a site that has been used for Christian worship for over a thousand years. It is located in Stepney High Street, in Stepney, London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in about AD952 the Bishop of London — who is also Lord of the Manor of Stepney — replaced the existing wooden structure with a stone church dedicated to All the Saints. In 1029, when Dunstan was canonised, the church was rededicated to St Dunstan and All Saints, up until the early fourteenth century the church served the whole of Middlesex east of the City of London. Then new churches were built at Whitechapel and Bow, the existing building is the third on the site and was built of Kentish ragstone mainly in the fifteenth century. A porch and octagonal parish room were added in 1872, the church was restored extensively in 1899, at a cost of £5,600. The vestries and some of the building were destroyed by fire on 12 October 1901. The restoration cost £7,084, and the church was re-opened in June 1902 by the Bishop of Stepney. The ring of ten bells, the heaviest weighing 28¾ hundredweight, the seven oldest bells were cast by Thomas Mears and Son, Whitechapel, in 1806. The bells were re-hung in 1899, three were recast in 1952 when repairs were made to the tower. The bells are mentioned in the nursery rhyme Oranges and Lemons, When will that be, buried here is Lord Darnley, the elder brother of the husband of Mary Queen of Scots. His resting place is marked with a 12 feet slab of Purbeck marble, the church is surrounded by a churchyard of nearly seven acres. In 1658 William Greenhill was appointed vicar whilst retaining his position as a preacher at Stepney Meeting House and he held this post for about seven years, till he was ejected immediately after the Restoration in 1660. Shortly after this, the churchyard was enlarged to cope with the number of deaths during the Great Plague of London. In one eighteen-month period 6,583 died, with 154 being buried in one day in September 1665, the church has a long, traditional link with the sea and many sailors were buried here. It was once known as the Church of the High Seas, the graveyard is also where Roger Crab, the 17th-century hermit who lived on a diet solely of herbs, roots, leaves, grass and water, is buried. The church continues to be open to visitors and worshippers from all over the world, there is an active congregation who help to continue the life of the church community. As well as the Arbour Centre, there is a connection with two schools, Stepney Greencoat Church of England Primary School and Sir John Cass and Redcoat Church of England Secondary School. St Dunstans also employs a Children and Community Worker funded by the Bishop of Londons Mission Fund
5.
Kingdom of England
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In the early 11th century the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, united by Æthelstan, became part of the North Sea Empire of Cnut the Great, a personal union between England, Denmark and Norway. The completion of the conquest of Wales by Edward I in 1284 put Wales under the control of the English crown, from the accession of James I in 1603, the Stuart dynasty ruled England in personal union with Scotland and Ireland. Under the Stuarts, the kingdom plunged into war, which culminated in the execution of Charles I in 1649. The monarchy returned in 1660, but the Civil War had established the precedent that an English monarch cannot govern without the consent of Parliament and this concept became legally established as part of the Glorious Revolution of 1688. From this time the kingdom of England, as well as its state the United Kingdom. On 1 May 1707, under the terms of the Acts of Union 1707, the Anglo-Saxons referred to themselves as the Engle or the Angelcynn, originally names of the Angles. They called their land Engla land, meaning land of the English, by Æthelweard Latinized Anglia, from an original Anglia vetus, the name Engla land became England by haplology during the Middle English period. The Latin name was Anglia or Anglorum terra, the Old French, by the 14th century, England was also used in reference to the entire island of Great Britain. The standard title for all monarchs from Æthelstan until the time of King John was Rex Anglorum, Canute the Great, a Dane, was the first king to call himself King of England. In the Norman period Rex Anglorum remained standard, with use of Rex Anglie. The Empress Matilda styled herself Domina Anglorum, from the time of King John onwards all other titles were eschewed in favour of Rex or Regina Anglie. In 1604 James VI and I, who had inherited the English throne the previous year, the English and Scottish parliaments, however, did not recognise this title until the Acts of Union of 1707. The kingdom of England emerged from the unification of the early medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdoms known as the Heptarchy, East Anglia, Mercia, Northumbria, Kent, Essex, Sussex. The Viking invasions of the 9th century upset the balance of power between the English kingdoms, and native Anglo-Saxon life in general, the English lands were unified in the 10th century in a reconquest completed by King Æthelstan in 927 CE. During the Heptarchy, the most powerful king among the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms might become acknowledged as Bretwalda, the decline of Mercia allowed Wessex to become more powerful. It absorbed the kingdoms of Kent and Sussex in 825, the kings of Wessex became increasingly dominant over the other kingdoms of England during the 9th century. In 827, Northumbria submitted to Egbert of Wessex at Dore, in 886, Alfred the Great retook London, which he apparently regarded as a turning point in his reign. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says that all of the English people not subject to the Danes submitted themselves to King Alfred, asser added that Alfred, king of the Anglo-Saxons, restored the city of London splendidly
6.
Kingdom of Great Britain
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The Kingdom of Great Britain, officially Great Britain, was a sovereign state in western Europe from 1 May 1707 to 31 December 1800. It did not include Ireland, which remained a separate realm, the unitary state was governed by a single parliament and government that was based in Westminster. Also after the accession of George I to the throne of Great Britain in 1714, the early years of the unified kingdom were marked by Jacobite risings which ended in defeat for the Stuart cause at Culloden in 1746. On 1 January 1801, the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland were merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922, five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom, the name Britain descends from the Latin name for the island of Great Britain, Britannia or Brittānia, the land of the Britons via the Old French Bretaigne and Middle English Bretayne, Breteyne. The term Great Britain was first used officially in 1474, in the instrument drawing up the proposal for a marriage between Edward IV of Englands daughter Cecily and James III of Scotlands son James. The Treaty of Union and the subsequent Acts of Union state that England and Scotland were to be United into one Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain. However, both the Acts and the Treaty also refer numerous times to the United Kingdom and the longer form, other publications refer to the country as the United Kingdom after 1707 as well. The websites of the UK parliament, the Scottish Parliament, the BBC, additionally, the term United Kingdom was found in informal use during the 18th century to describe the state. The new state created in 1707 included the island of Great Britain, the kingdoms of England and Scotland, both in existence from the 9th century, were separate states until 1707. However, they had come into a union in 1603. Each of the three kingdoms maintained its own parliament and laws and this disposition changed dramatically when the Acts of Union 1707 came into force, with a single unified Crown of Great Britain and a single unified parliament. Ireland remained formally separate, with its own parliament, until the Acts of Union 1800, legislative power was vested in the Parliament of Great Britain, which replaced both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. In practice it was a continuation of the English parliament, sitting at the location in Westminster. Newly created peers in the Peerage of Great Britain were given the right to sit in the Lords. Despite the end of a parliament for Scotland, it retained its own laws. As a result of Poynings Law of 1495, the Parliament of Ireland was subordinate to the Parliament of England, the Act was repealed by the Repeal of Act for Securing Dependence of Ireland Act 1782. The same year, the Irish constitution of 1782 produced a period of legislative freedom, the 18th century saw England, and after 1707 Great Britain, rise to become the worlds dominant colonial power, with France its main rival on the imperial stage
7.
Royal Navy
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The Royal Navy is the United Kingdoms naval warfare force. Although warships were used by the English kings from the medieval period. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century, from the middle decades of the 17th century and through the 18th century, the Royal Navy vied with the Dutch Navy and later with the French Navy for maritime supremacy. From the mid 18th century it was the worlds most powerful navy until surpassed by the United States Navy during the Second World War. The Royal Navy played a key part in establishing the British Empire as the world power during the 19th. Due to this historical prominence, it is common, even among non-Britons, following World War I, the Royal Navy was significantly reduced in size, although at the onset of the Second World War it was still the worlds largest. By the end of the war, however, the United States Navy had emerged as the worlds largest, during the Cold War, the Royal Navy transformed into a primarily anti-submarine force, hunting for Soviet submarines, mostly active in the GIUK gap. The Royal Navy is part of Her Majestys Naval Service, which includes the Royal Marines. The professional head of the Naval Service is the First Sea Lord, the Defence Council delegates management of the Naval Service to the Admiralty Board, chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence. The strength of the fleet of the Kingdom of England was an important element in the power in the 10th century. English naval power declined as a result of the Norman conquest. Medieval fleets, in England as elsewhere, were almost entirely composed of merchant ships enlisted into service in time of war. Englands naval organisation was haphazard and the mobilisation of fleets when war broke out was slow, early in the war French plans for an invasion of England failed when Edward III of England destroyed the French fleet in the Battle of Sluys in 1340. Major fighting was confined to French soil and Englands naval capabilities sufficed to transport armies and supplies safely to their continental destinations. Such raids halted finally only with the occupation of northern France by Henry V. Henry VII deserves a large share of credit in the establishment of a standing navy and he embarked on a program of building ships larger than heretofore. He also invested in dockyards, and commissioned the oldest surviving dry dock in 1495 at Portsmouth, a standing Navy Royal, with its own secretariat, dockyards and a permanent core of purpose-built warships, emerged during the reign of Henry VIII. Under Elizabeth I England became involved in a war with Spain, the new regimes introduction of Navigation Acts, providing that all merchant shipping to and from England or her colonies should be carried out by English ships, led to war with the Dutch Republic. In the early stages of this First Anglo-Dutch War, the superiority of the large, heavily armed English ships was offset by superior Dutch tactical organisation and the fighting was inconclusive
8.
Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy)
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Admiral of the Fleet is a five-star naval officer rank and the highest rank of the British Royal Navy. The five-star NATO rank code is OF-10, although routine appointments ceased in 1995, the rank of Admiral of the Fleet is equivalent to a field marshal in the British Army or a marshal of the Royal Air Force. The rank evolved from sailing days and the admiral distinctions then used by the Royal Navy when the fleet was divided into three divisions – red, white, or blue, each division was assigned an admiral, who in turn commanded a vice-admiral and a rear admiral. In the 18th century, the nine ranks began to be filled by more than one person at any one time. The admiral of the red was pre-eminent and became known as the admiral of the fleet, the organisation of the British fleet into coloured squadrons was abandoned in 1864, although the Royal Navy kept the White Ensign. Since 1811 five members of the British Royal family, other than the monarch, of the British royalty granted the rank, only one, the Prince of Wales had not seen service in the Royal Navy. During the two World Wars a number of serving officers held active commissions as admirals of the fleet, following the creation of the Chief of the Defence Staff in 1959, the five naval officers appointed to that position became admirals of the fleet. In 2014, Lord Boyce, a former First Sea Lord, Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom First Sea Lord Heathcote, Tony. The British Admirals of the Fleet 1734–1995, media related to Royal Navy admirals of the fleet at Wikimedia Commons
9.
HMS Oxford (1674)
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HMS Oxford was a 54-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Francis Baylie in Bristol and launched in June 1674. Her guns comprised twenty-two 24-pounders on the deck, with twenty-two large sakers on the upper deck. On 23 February 1684, Captain John Tyrrell was appointed to command the ship, in 1692 she was at the Battle of Barfleur under the command of Captain James Wishart. From 1701 to 1702 the Oxford underwent a Great Repair amounting to rebuilding at Deptford, on 29 June 1723 she was ordered to be taken to pieces at Portsmouth Dockyard, and rebuilt to the lines of a 50-gun Fourth Rate of the 1719 Establishment. She relaunched on 10 July 1727, towards the end of the Seven Years War the ship was commanded by Mariot Arbuthnot. The Oxford was broken up in 1758
10.
HMS Kent (1679)
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HMS Kent was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Blackwall Yard in 1679. She was the ship of the name. Her first action was as part of the Anglo-Dutch fleet at the Battle of Barfleur and she gained four Battle Honours fighting the French and Spanish in the Mediterranean in more celebrated victories than any other ship of the same name to date. She was at the Battle of Vigo in 1702, which ended in a decisive victory and she fought at the Battle of Vélez-Málaga to defend Gibraltar in 1704, in what turned out to be an expensive victory. In 1718, she was part of the Viscount Torringtons fleet in the defence of Sicily and her last action was in 1744, when she bombarded the Spanish at Santiago da Cuba in the West Indies. She underwent her first rebuild at Rotherhithe in 1699, retaining her armament of 70 guns, on 16 February 1722 she was ordered to be taken to pieces and rebuilt at Woolwich Dockyard as a 70-gun third rate to the 1719 Establishment. She was relaunched on 19 September 1724, Kent was broken up in 1744
11.
HMS Association (1697)
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HMS Association was a 90-gun second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Portsmouth Dockyard in 1697. She served with distinction at the capture of Gibraltar, and was lost in 1707 by grounding on the Isles of Scilly in the greatest maritime disaster of the age, Association survived the Great Storm of 1703, during which she was at anchor off Harwich. Her rigging was cut away to avoid foundering on the Galloper sandbar, Association served as the flagship of Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell in the Mediterranean during the War of the Spanish Succession. Her engagements included the capture of Gibraltar on 21 July 1704, in October 1707, Association, commanded by Captain Edmund Loades and with Admiral Shovell on board, was returning from the Mediterranean after the Toulon campaign. The 21 ships in the squadron entered the mouth of the English Channel on the night of 22 October 1707, at 8 pm, Association struck the Outer Gilstone Rock off the Isles of Scilly, and was wrecked with the loss of her entire crew of about 800 men. As a result of errors, the ships were not where they were reckoned to be. Association was seen by those on board HMS St George to go down in three or four minutes time, among the dead were Captain Loades and Admiral Shovell, his stepsons Sir John Narborough and James Narborough as well as Henry Trelawney, second son of the Bishop of Winchester. Captain Loades was the son of Rear Admiral Narbroughs sister, three other ships were also lost, bringing the death toll to nearly 2,000. The Scilly naval disaster was one of the greatest maritime disasters in British history and it was largely as a result of this disaster that the Board of the Admiralty instituted a competition for a more precise method to determine longitude. There is a memorial depicting the sinking of the Association in the church at the Narboroughs home of Knowlton near Dover. The year before, Graham and other specialists from the Naval Air Command Sub Aqua Club had dived in this area on a first attempt to find the Association. Parts of the wreck are in 30 feet while others can be found at between 90 and 120 feet as the sea floor falls away from the reef, the divers first discovered a cannon, and on the third dive, silver and gold coins were spotted underneath that cannon. The Ministry of Defence initially suppressed news of the discovery for fear of attracting treasure hunters, more than 2,000 coins and other artefacts were finally recovered from the wreck site and auctioned by Sothebys in July 1969. In Robert Goddards novel Name to a Face, a plot element is the recovery of a ring worn by Admiral Shovell at the time of Associations sinking
12.
Third Anglo-Dutch War
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The Third Anglo-Dutch War or the Third English War was a military conflict between the Kingdom of England and the Dutch Republic, that lasted between April 1672 and early 1674. It was part of the larger Franco-Dutch War, in 1670, Charles II of England and Louis XIV of France concluded the secret Treaty of Dover, intending to subjugate the Dutch state. An attempt to make the province of Holland an English protectorate rump state likewise failed, the Parliament of England, fearful that the alliance with France was part of a plot to make England Roman Catholic, forced the king to abandon the costly and fruitless war. He was promised that after a French victory, he would be rewarded strategic coastal key positions to take as Crown possession, also, the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I had promised not to interfere with the French plans, on condition that the Spanish Netherlands would not be attacked. Ultimately Münster and Cologne decided to join the invasion with their armies, but he started his effort to recruit the young prince for his undertaking by advising William to become Roman Catholic, as he believed Catholicism was best fitted to absolutist rulers. Williams horrified reaction to this proposal convinced Charles that it was best not to reveal the Dover Treaty to him, Charles was hampered in his intrigue by needing Parliament to vote for sufficient funds to bring out a strong fleet. Charles was receiving considerable subsidies from Louis, about £225,000 a year, as the treaty with France was secret, he could not direct these subsidies to the fleet anyway. To provide for short-term money, Charles therefore on 2 January 1672 repudiated the Crown debts in the Great Stop of the Exchequer, the Parliament was decidedly unenthusiastic about a new war. The king tried to incite public opinion in England against the Dutch by creating a serious incident, Lord Arlington put it this way, Our business is to break with them, yet to lay the breach at their door. Bennet sent the royal yacht Merlin, with Temples wife Dorothy Osborne aboard, the Dutch ships duly struck their flag in salute first, as was mandatory under treaty, but refused to salute firing white smoke, because they were doubtful the Merlin counted as a real warship. Charles ordered the intriguer George Downing, the new ambassador in The Hague, to demand that the admirals responsible be severely punished, which the States General of the Netherlands refused. In early 1672, Downing, who already had made himself hated by the Dutch population as ambassador in the previous war, had to flee The Hague in fear of his life. Temple – somewhat wryly as he was sympathetic to the Dutch himself – remarked to Charles that now both he and his wife had had the honour to have become instruments of doom for the Dutch. On 25 February 1672, William III, despite his youth, was appointed Captain-General of the confederate Dutch army, factional strife and uncertainty about the French strategy prevented establishing a strong field army, most of the 83,000 troops were assigned to the fortresses. In 1667, the Dutch navy, after having destroyed the core of the English navy at Chatham, had been the strongest in the world. The Dutch nevertheless successfully prevented a blockade of their coast and any landing of enemy troops and their success was the result of the much improved training standards. In the major battles of 1666, the Dutch navy still had to get used to its new, much heavier, warships. In addition, personal conflict between Lieutenant-Admirals Michiel de Ruyter and Cornelis Tromp had damaged the unity of the fleet, De Ruyter used the summer of 1671 to execute many training manoeuvres employing the line-of-battle, perfecting the fire drill, and installing a new sense of coherence and discipline
13.
Nine Years' War
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It was fought on the European continent and the surrounding seas, Ireland, and in North America. Louis XIV of France had emerged from the Franco-Dutch War in 1678 as the most powerful monarch in Europe, Louis XIVs decision to cross the Rhine in September 1688 was designed to extend his influence and pressure the Holy Roman Empire into accepting his territorial and dynastic claims. The main fighting took place around Frances borders, in the Spanish Netherlands, the Rhineland, Duchy of Savoy, the fighting generally favoured Louis XIVs armies, but by 1696 his country was in the grip of an economic crisis. The Maritime Powers were also exhausted, and when Savoy defected from the Alliance all parties were keen for a negotiated settlement. By the terms of the Treaty of Ryswick Louis XIV retained the whole of Alsace, Louis XIV also accepted William III as the rightful King of England, while the Dutch acquired their Barrier fortress system in the Spanish Netherlands to help secure their own borders. In the years following the Franco-Dutch War Louis XIV of France – now at the height of his powers – sought to impose religious unity in France, and to solidify and expand his frontiers. Louis XIV, along with his chief advisor Louvois, his foreign minister Colbert de Croissy, Vauban had advocated a system of impregnable fortresses along the frontier that would keep Frances enemies out. To construct a system, however, the King needed to acquire more land from his neighbours to form a solid forward line. The King grabbed the necessary territory through what is known as the Réunions, a strategy that combined legalism, arrogance, the Treaty of Nijmegen and the earlier Treaty of Westphalia provided Louis XIV with the justification for the Reunions. These treaties had awarded France territorial gains, but because of the vagaries of the language they were notoriously imprecise and self-contradictory, unsurprisingly, these courts usually found in Louis XIVs favour. By 1680 the disputed County of Montbéliard had been separated from the Duchy of Württemberg, the Chamber of Reunion of Metz soon laid claims to land around the Three Bishoprics of Metz, Toul, and Verdun, and most of the Spanish Duchy of Luxembourg. The fortress of Luxembourg itself was blockaded with the intention of it becoming part of Louis XIVs defensible frontier. By forcibly taking the Imperial city the French now controlled two of the three bridgeheads over the Rhine, on the same day that Strasbourg fell French forces marched into Casale in northern Italy. Thus, the Reunions were carving territory from the frontiers of Germany, since Leopold Is intervention in the Franco-Dutch War Louis XIV had considered the Emperor his most dangerous enemy, yet the French king had little reason to fear him. Leopold I was weak in Germany, and was in danger along his Hungarian borders where the Ottoman Turks were threatening to overrun all central Europe from the south. Louis had encouraged and assisted the Ottoman drive against Leopold Is Habsburg lands, when the Turks besieged Vienna in the spring of 1683 Louis did nothing to help the defenders. Taking advantage of the Ottoman threat in the east Louis XIV invaded the Spanish Netherlands on 1 September 1683 and renewed the siege of Luxembourg, spains military options were highly limited, yet the Ottoman defeat before Vienna on 12 September had emboldened them. In the hope that Leopold I would now make peace in the east and come to their assistance, however, the Emperor had decided to continue the Turkish war in the Balkans and, for the time being, compromise in the west
14.
War of the Spanish Succession
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The War of the Spanish Succession was a major European conflict of the early 18th century, triggered by the death in 1700 of the last Habsburg King of Spain, the infirm and childless Charles II. Charles II had ruled over a vast global empire, and the question of who would succeed him had long troubled the governments of Europe, the English, the Dutch and the Austrians formally declared war in May 1702. By 1708, the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy had secured victory in the Spanish Netherlands and in Italy, France faced invasion and ruin, but Allied unity broke first. With the Grand Alliance defeated in Spain and with its casualties mounting and aims diverging, French and British ministers prepared the groundwork for a peace conference, and in 1712 Britain ceased combat operations. The Dutch, Austrians, and German states fought on to strengthen their own negotiating position, the Treaty of Utrecht and the Treaty of Rastatt partitioned the Spanish empire between the major and minor powers. The European balance of power was assured, in the late 1690s the declining health of King Charles II of Spain brought to a head the problem of his succession, a problem which had underlain much of European diplomacy for several decades. The empire was in decline, but remained the largest of the European overseas empires, unlike the French crown, the Spanish crowns could all be inherited by, or through, a female in default of a male line. The next in line after Charles II, therefore, were his two sisters, Maria Theresa, the elder, and Margaret Theresa, the younger, Maria Theresa had married Louis XIV in 1660 and by him she had a son, Louis, Dauphin of France. The testament of her father, Philip IV, reiterated this waiver and bequeathed the reversion of the whole of the Spanish dominions to his younger daughter, Margaret Theresa. However the French, using in part the excuse that the dowry promised Maria Theresa was never paid, nor was it clear whether a princess could waive the rights of her unborn children. Leopold I married Margaret Theresa in 1666, at her death in 1673 she left one living heir, Maria Antonia, who in 1685 married Max Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria. Shortly before her death in 1692, she gave birth to a son, if he chose, Louis XIV could attempt to assert his will on Spain by force of arms, but the Nine Years War had been an immense drain on Frances resources. To seek a solution and gain support, Louis XIV turned to his long-standing rival William of Orange. England and the Dutch Republic had their own commercial, strategic and political interests within the Spanish empire, however, the Maritime Powers were in a weakened state and both had reduced their forces at the conclusion of the Nine Years War. Louis XIV and William III, therefore, sought to solve the problem of the Spanish inheritance through negotiation, based on the principle of partition, to take effect after the death of Charles II. However, the bulk of the empire – most of peninsular Spain, the Spanish Netherlands, Sardinia, the Spanish Empire was now divided between the three surviving candidates. By this new treaty Archduke Charles would receive most of Spain, the Spanish Netherlands, Sardinia, and the overseas empire. For Leopold I, however, control of Spain and its empire was less important than Italy
15.
Rochester (UK Parliament constituency)
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Rochester was a parliamentary constituency in Kent. In 1918, it was split between Chatham and Gillingham, the Chatham seat became Rochester and Chatham in 1950, and then Medway in 1983. General Election 1914/15, Another General Election was required to place before the end of 1915
16.
Battle of Texel
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English involvement came about because of the Treaty of Dover, secretly concluded by Charles II of England, and which was highly unpopular with the English Parliament. Neither of them took part in the fight, the Battle of Texel was joined when a Dutch fleet sought to oppose the landing of troops by a combined Anglo-French fleet. The Dutch fleet of 75 ships and 30 fireships was commanded by Lieutenant-Admiral-General Michiel de Ruyter, with Lieutenant-Admirals Adriaen Banckert in charge of the van and Cornelis Tromp the rear. The Dutch were under an even greater disadvantage than the numbers show. De Ruyter first decided not to leave his position in the Schooneveld. However the Dutch Spice Fleet was returning from the Indies, filled with precious cargo, with half the country under French occupation for almost a year, the Dutch Republics finances were in disastrous straits. The Dutch could not afford to lose the wealth the Spice Fleet was bringing, as such stadtholder William ordered De Ruyter to seek to engage the enemy. Although outnumbered, De Ruyter gained the weather gauge and sent his van under Adriaen Banckert in to separate the Allied van from the main fleet, both suffered badly during hours of fierce fighting. On the third occasion, Spragge drowned when his boat took a shot, because of Spragges preoccupation with duelling Tromp, the English centre had separated from the rear, clashing with the Dutch centre under De Ruyter and Lieutenant-Admiral Aert Jansse van Nes. The fight raged for hours, due to turnings of the each side suddenly gaining or losing the advantage of the weather gauge. The fight then focused on an attempt by the Dutch to capture Spragges isolated flagship, the Prince, with both fleets exhausted, the English eventually abandoned their attempt to land troops, and both sides retired. No major ship was sunk, but many were damaged and about 3,000 men died. Its true however that Count dEstrées had strict orders from Louis XIV not to endanger the French fleet, despite its inconclusive finish, the battle was a clear strategic victory for the Dutch. The Spice Fleet arrived safely, bringing the much needed financial reprieve, in the months following, the Netherlands formed a formal alliance with Spain and the Holy Roman Empire. The threat posed by German and Spanish invasions from the south, the Third Anglo-Dutch War came to an end with the signing of the Treaty of Westminster between the English and the Dutch in 1674. Fourteen years later the Glorious Revolution, which saw Stadtholder William III ascend the throne of England, only in 1781 would the Dutch and British fleets fight each other again
17.
Siege of Derry
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The Siege of Derry, was the first major event in the Williamite War in Ireland. While the gates of the old walled city were closed in December 1688. The siege lasted three and a half months, ending on 30 July 1689 when relief ships bringing an English army sailed down Lough Foyle. The siege is commemorated yearly in August by the Apprentice Boys of Derry, in Scotland, the privy council asked William to assume responsibility for the government in January 1689, and he and Mary were formally offered the Scottish throne in March. The situation was different in Ireland where most of the population were Catholics, Irish Catholics were hoping that James would re-grant them lands, which had been seized from them after the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. James thus looked to Ireland to muster support in re-gaining his kingdoms just as his father, Richard Talbot, who was acting as Jamess viceroy in Ireland, was eager to ensure that all strongholds in the country were held by garrisons loyal to James. He focused on the province of Ulster, which had been the most heavily planted by British Protestant colonists. By November 1688, Enniskillen and Derry were the two garrisons in Ulster that were not wholly loyal to James and these became the point of the first stage in the Williamite war in Ireland. The elderly Alexander MacDonnell, 3rd Earl of Antrim, a Jacobite, was ordered to replace these two garrisons with forces loyal to King James and he agreed, but wasted several weeks searching for men who were at least six feet tall. A force of about 1,200 Scottish Highland Redshanks then set out for Derry, on 7 December, with the army a short distance away, thirteen apprentice boys seized the city keys and locked the gates. On 10 December, King James fled London and he was caught, but fled a second time on 23 December and made his way to France. Jamess first cousin, King Louis XIV of France, said he would help James regain power, in London on 13 February 1689, William and Mary were crowned. On 12 March, James landed in Kinsale with 6000 French soldiers and he took Dublin and marched north with an army of Irish and French Catholics. In April 1689 reinforcements from England arrived under the command of Colonel Cunningham and he was under instructions to take his orders from the Derry City Governor, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Lundy. Lundy advised Colonel Cunningham to leave as arrangements had been made for the city to be surrendered and he wrote on 15 April that without an immediate supply of money and provisions this place must fall very soon into the enemys hands. Lundy called a meeting with several of his most loyal supporters to discuss surrender, news of the meeting spread, angering many of the citizens. That night, Lundy and many left the city and took ship to Scotland. The citys defence was overseen by Major Henry Baker, Colonel Adam Murray, as the Jacobite army neared, all the buildings outside the city walls were set alight by the defenders to prevent them being used as cover by the besiegers
18.
Williamite War in Ireland
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It is also called the Jacobite War in Ireland or the Williamite–Jacobite War in Ireland. The cause of the war was the deposition of James as King of the Three Kingdoms in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, James was supported by the mostly Catholic Jacobites in Ireland and hoped to use the country as a base to regain his Three Kingdoms. He was given support by France to this end. For this reason, the war part of a wider European conflict known as the Nine Years War. Some Protestants of the established Church in Ireland also fought on the side of King James, James was opposed in Ireland by the mostly Protestant Williamites, who were concentrated in the north of the country. William landed a force in Ireland, composed of English, Scottish, Dutch, Danish and other troops. James left Ireland after a reverse at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, William defeated Jacobitism in Ireland and subsequent Jacobite risings were confined to Scotland and England. However, the War was to have an effect on Ireland, confirming British. The iconic Williamite victories of the Siege of Derry and the Battle of the Boyne are still celebrated by unionists in Ireland today, the war in Ireland began as a direct consequence of the Glorious Revolution in England. James II of England and Ireland, VII of Scotland, who was a Roman Catholic, attempted to introduce freedom of religion for Catholics and bypass the English Parliament to introduce unpopular laws. For many in England, this was an unpleasant reminder of the rule of Charles I, whose conflict with the Parliament led to the outbreak of the English Civil War. The breaking point in James relationship with the English political class came in June 1688 when his wife gave birth to a son. This fear led some political figures to conspire to invite William III, stadtholder of the provinces of the Dutch Republic. William had indicated that such an invitation would be a condition for a military intervention, the Dutch Republic was at the brink of war with the France of Louis XIV, then the greatest military power in Europe. William invaded England in November 1688, Williams invasion fleet was aided by favourable weather that gave him weather gage over the British fleet, allowing him to outmaneuver them and land unopposed. William landed at Brixham on 5 November 1688 with 18,000 troops, James fled to France after putting up only a token resistance. In 1689, Prince William and his wife Princess Mary Stuart became co-regents as King William III, however, while James II was unpopular in England, he had widespread popular support in Ireland. They had been defeated by 1652 and were punished by the English Commonwealth regime with land confiscations and they were largely disappointed with the failure of King Charles II to completely reverse this situation in the Act of Settlement 1662
19.
Battles of Barfleur and La Hogue
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The related naval battles of Barfleur and La Hogue took place between 29 May and 4 June New Style,1692. The first action took place near Barfleur, later actions were at Cherbourg and Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue in the Cotentin peninsula, Normandy and it was the decisive naval battle of the Nine Years War, known to the British as the War of the English Succession. Despite Tourville being in command of the fleet, strategic decisions were to be taken by James II, François dUsson de Bonrepaus and Bernardin Gigault de Bellefonds. The French victory at the Battle of Beachy Head two years earlier, in June 1690, had opened up the possibility of destroying the allied fleet, Tourville boldly engaged the 82-vessel Anglo-Dutch fleet at Barfleur. After a fierce but indecisive clash that left many ships on both sides damaged, Tourville disengaged and he slipped off into light fog and for several days tried to escape the superior forces. The French fleet was scattered, and fifteen were lost–three at Cherbourg, the threat of invasion of England was lifted. King Louis XIV and his minister, Count Pontchartrain, planned to land an army in England. They first planned to launch the invasion in April 1692 before the English and Dutch fleets put to sea, troops were collected at Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue, and the cavalry and guns were to be loaded into transports at Le Havre. Tourville was to bring the French fleet up from Brest and collect the transports, tourvilles Brest fleet was undermanned, and when he sailed, on 29 April, he was forced to leave 20 ships under Chateau-Renault behind. His fleet was delayed by adverse winds and did not clear Berteaume Roads until 2 May. Tourville entered the Channel with 37 ships of the line, accompanied by 7 fireships, plus frigates, scouts, the Dutch had despatched a fleet, under Almonde, from the Texel in April, which was making its way south. Admiral of the Blue Sir John Ashby sailed from the Nore on 27 April, Admiral of the Fleet Edward Russell was delayed until 29 April, but gained time by making a risky passage through the Gull channel. He met Almonde at the Downs and a further Dutch squadron at Dungeness, more detachments joined over the next few days, until 14 May, when Russell had a force of over 80 ships of the line, plus auxiliaries. Thus by 14 May, when the fleet was fully assembled. However, Louis XIV had furnished Tourville with strict orders to seek battle, strong or weak, the fleets sighted each other at first light on 29 May 1692, off Cap Barfleur. On sighting the allied fleet Tourville held a conference with his officers and their advice, and his own opinion, was against action, however Tourville felt bound by strict orders from the king to engage. He may also have expected some defections by English captains with Jacobite sympathies, both fleets were in three squadrons, each split into three divisions and commanded by a flag officer. Because of the conditions it was not until after 11 am, five hours after first sighting each other
20.
Colony of Newfoundland
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This followed decades of sporadic English settlement on the island, at first seasonal rather than permanent. It was made a Crown colony in 1854 and a Dominion of the British Empire in 1907, in 1949 it joined the Canadian confederation as the Province of Newfoundland. In 2001 that was changed to the current jurisdiction, the English encountered the Beothuk indigenous people on the island of Newfoundland and in the region. From 1610 to 1728, proprietary governors were appointed to establish settlements on the island. John Guy was governor of the first settlement at Cupers Cove, other settlements were Bristols Hope, Renews, New Cambriol, South Falkland and Avalon, which was organized as a province in 1623. The first governor given jurisdiction over all of Newfoundland was Sir David Kirke in 1638, during this period, France had also established settlements in the region, particularly to the west in what is now Quebec. It had strong trading ties to many of the First Nations along the Atlantic Coast, including the Mikmaq, the rivalry between England and France in Europe was played out in conflicts in North America, where they struggled for predominance. The Newfoundland colony was nearly obliterated during the Avalon Peninsula Campaign of King Williams War, in 1696 the French and allied Mikmaq armed forces wiped out all but a handful of English settlements on the island of Newfoundland. Over the next year, the English repopulated and rebuilt the colony, the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 ceded all of Newfoundland to the British Crown. Given the Newfoundland colonys isolation from the more southern British Thirteen Colonies in North America, after the American Revolutionary War ended in 1783 with the independence of the United States, Newfoundland Colony became part of British North America. The Crown resettled some Loyalists in Newfoundland, but most were given land in Nova Scotia and it became an official Crown colony in 1825, and Thomas John Cochrane, an officer of the Royal Navy, was appointed as its first governor. He directed the construction of Government House, which is located between Fort William and Fort Townshend and it has been designated as a National Historic Site of Canada. The colony was granted a constitution in 1832, and Cochrane became its first civil governor, the colony was granted self-governing status in 1854. Philip Francis Little was the first Premier of Newfoundland Colony between 1855 and 1858, the colony rejected confederation with Canada in the period of 1864-69. In 1907, Newfoundland became the Dominion of Newfoundland, a Dominion of the British Empire, due to economic hardship in 1934 it suspended its self-government and accepted temporary rule by a royal commission. Together with Labrador, an area on the mainland, it confederated with Canada in 1949 as the province of Newfoundland, in 2001 that was amended to rename the province Newfoundland and Labrador. British Empire Dominion of Newfoundland History of Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador List of lieutenant governors of Newfoundland and Labrador
21.
George Rooke
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Admiral of the Fleet Sir George Rooke was an English naval officer. As a junior officer he saw action at the Battle of Solebay, as a captain, he conveyed Prince William of Orange to England and took part in the Battle of Bantry Bay during the Williamite War in Ireland. As a flag officer, Rooke commanded a division of the Royal Navy during their defeat at the Battle of Beachy Head and he also commanded a division at the Battle of Barfleur and distinguished himself at the Battle of La Hogue. He was later defeated while escorting a convoy at the Battle of Lagos and he also commanded the allied naval forces at the capture of Gibraltar and attacked the French fleet at the Battle of Málaga. Born the son of Colonel Sir William Rooke and Jane Rooke, Rooke joined the Royal Navy as a volunteer in 1672. He transferred to the first-rate HMS Royal Prince, flagship of the Duke of York, in 1673, promoted to captain on 13 November 1673, Rooke was given command of the sixth-rate HMS Holmes and was deployed on convoy duties. After a period of service in the Army, Rooke transferred to the command of the fifth-rate HMS Nonsuch in April 1677 and conveyed Prince William of Orange to England in October 1677. In Deptford he saw action at the Battle of Bantry Bay in May 1689 when a French fleet tried to land troops in Southern Ireland to fight against Prince William during the Williamite War in Ireland. His tactics during the battle were subsequently severely criticised at the inquiry, knighted on 20 February 1693, he commanded the escort for Smyrna convoy, which was scattered and partly captured by the French Admiral Comte de Tourville at the Battle of Lagos in June 1693. He was promoted to admiral in July 1693. Rooke became a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty on the Admiralty board led by Admiral Edward Russell in May 1694 and he also became commander-in-chief of the Mediterranean Fleet in August 1695 and then returned to England in April 1696. When the Admiralty was reconstituted under a council headed by the Lord High Admiral and he was also appointed Vice-Admiral of England later that year. The Allies resolved upon an expedition, led by Rooke, to capture the southern Spanish port of Cádiz, however, on arrival in August 1702 the Allies made little or no progress in the assault on Cádiz. However the English Government had become aware that a Spanish treasure fleet was sitting in Vigo Bay, Rooke received the thanks of Parliament in this important action in the opening stages of the War of the Spanish Succession. Rooke safely delivered Archduke Charles of Austria to Windsor Castle in December 1703, Rooke also attacked the French fleet at the Battle of Málaga later that month. He died at his home, Lawrence House in Canterbury, on 24 January 1709 and was buried at St Pauls Church in Canterbury. In November 2004 Peter Caruana, Chief Minister of Gibraltar, unveiled a statue of Rooke as part of the 300th anniversary celebration of the capture of Gibraltar, in around October 1684 Rooke married to Mary Howe. After the death of his first wife he married Mary Luttrell in January 1701, after the death of his second wife, he married Catherine Knatchbull in January 1706
22.
Capture of Gibraltar
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The Capture of Gibraltar by Anglo-Dutch forces of the Grand Alliance occurred between 1–3 August 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession. This strength helped persuade King Peter II of Portugal to sever his alliance with France and Bourbon controlled Spain, Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt represented the Habsburg cause in the region. However, in order to compensate for their lack of success the Alliance commanders resolved to capture Gibraltar, following a heavy bombardment the town was invaded by English and Dutch marines and sailors. The governor, Diego de Salinas, agreed to surrender Gibraltar, three days later Prince George entered the town with Austrian and Spanish Habsburg troops in the name of Charles III of Spain. However, the Grand Alliance failed in its objective of replacing Philip V with Charles III as King of Spain but in the peace negotiations Gibraltar was ceded to Britain. At the start of the War of the Spanish Succession Portugal was nominally an ally of the Bourbons, France under Louis XIV, although not a belligerent, Portugals harbours were closed to the enemies of the Bourbon powers – principally the vessels of England and the Dutch Republic. However, following the Anglo-Dutch naval victory at Vigo Bay in 1702 the balance of forces had swung in favour of the Grand Alliance. Having now the ability to cut off Portugals food supplies and trade it was not hard for the Allied diplomats to induce King Peter II to sign the Methuen Treaties of May 1703 and join the Alliance. Once Peter II had committed himself to war the Alliance fleets gained access to Portugals harbours, known to his supporters as Charles III of Spain, the young pretender arrived in Lisbon – via London – with George Rookes fleet on 7 March 1704, amid great celebrations. Apart from the failed Grand Alliance attempt take Cádiz in 1702, and the subsequent attack on the Spanish treasure fleet in Vigo Bay, with Portugals change of allegiance, however, the war moved towards Spain. In May 1704 the court at Lisbon received news that French, but without supply for their forces, the coming summer heat made it impossible for them to continue with the campaign, and Philip V returned to Madrid on 16 July to a heros welcome. However, the heat did not affect the war at sea where the Alliance was in a position of strength, using Lisbon as an improvised forward base Admiral Rooke’s Anglo-Dutch fleet ventured into the Mediterranean Sea in May 1704. After seeing the Levant trading fleet safely through the Strait of Gibraltar Rooke headed towards Nice to put himself in touch with Victor Amadeus II, accompanying Rooke was Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt who had enjoyed popularity amongst the Catalans as their governor at the end of the Nine Years War. Moreover, the dissidents were incensed by the size of the Alliance force and had expected the personal appearance of Charles III, ultimatums for Velesco to surrender on pain of bombardment were ignored, and the plans for an insurrection from within the city’s walls failed to materialize. Rooke, fearing an attack from a French squadron, was impatient for departure, Prince George could do little more than order his local followers – a thousand in all – to disperse to their homes. The marines embarked on 1 June without loss, meanwhile, the comte de Toulouse, one of Louis XIV’s illegitimate sons, was sailing towards the Straits with the fleet from Brest. News from Lisbon of the French manoeuvres reached Rooke on 5 June, determined to prevent the junction of the Toulon and Brest fleets Rooke decided to risk a battle. Rooke met Shovell on 27 June off Lagos, Peter II and ‘Charles III’ sent word from Lisbon that they now wished another attempt to be made on Cádiz
23.
Bernard Desjean, Baron de Pointis
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Bernard Desjean, Baron de Pointis was a French admiral and privateer. He took part in operations in the 1680s under Duquesne, like the bombardment of Algiers. In the 1690s he fought under Tourville among others in the Battle of Beachy Head, in 1693, he became chef descadre. In 1697, he undertook his greatest expedition, the Raid on Cartagena and this raid was so successful that it made him immensely rich and very appreciated by King Louis XIV. In 1702, after the death of Jean Bart, he was appointed head of the Dunkirkers, in 1705, he tried to attack Gibraltar by sea during the Twelfth Siege of Gibraltar, but was defeated by John Leake in the Battle of Cabrita Point. After this battle Pointis retired from active service and he published Relation de lexpédition de Carthègene faite par les François en 1697. Konstam, Angus and Roger Michael Kean, pirates - Predators of the Seas, An Illustrated History. New York, Skyhorse Publishing Inc.2007
24.
Battle of Cabrita Point
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The battle was an allied victory which effectively ended the Franco-Spanish siege of Gibraltar. The allies had conquered Gibraltar on behalf of the Archduke Charles of Habsburg on 1 August 1704, the Spanish besieged the city by land, and in that year, the French had made a first failed attempt to attack from the sea in the Battle of Vélez-Málaga. In January 1705 Philip V of Spain was determined to reconquer the city and had Villadarias replaced by Marshal de Tessé, Tessé realized that Gibraltar would never be retaken as long as the allies could access it from the sea. He therefore ordered Admiral Pointis to block up the place by sea with his squadron of 18 ships of the line, some of these ships were Spanish under José Fernández de Santillán. Gibraltar was not a permanent harbour yet for the English fleet, the commander of Gibraltar, Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt, despatched an express to Lisbon, desiring Sir John Leake to sail to his assistance. This admiral set sail immediately with five sail of the line, by the morning of 10 March, he had a squadron of 23 English, eight Portuguese ships of various sizes, and four Dutch. Leakes fleet reached the Strait late on the 9th, and laid to during the night, the next morning at about 5.30 a. m. they were within two miles of Cabrita Point, when they saw five sail coming out of the Bay. These proved to be the French ships Magnanime, Lys, Ardent, Arrogant and they made at first towards the Barbary Coast, but, finding that they were being gained upon, stood for the Spanish coast. Sir Thomas Dilkes in HMS Revenge, with the Newcastle, Antelope and a Dutch man-of-war, got within gunshot of Arrogant, before 1 p. m. two Dutch ships took Ardent and Marquis, Magnanime and Lys were driven ashore to the westward of Marbella. Magnanime, in which De Pointis had his flag, ran ashore with so much force that all her masts went by the board, the French subsequently burned Magnanime and Lys. The rest of the French squadron had been blown from their anchorage by a gale and had taken shelter in the bay of Málaga and they now slipped their cables and made their way to Toulon. The Marshal de Tessé, in consequence of this disaster, turned the siege of Gibraltar into a blockade, Pointis retired from active service after this battle. Leake had not only scored a victory, but had saved Gibraltar from attack and had enhanced his already high reputation
25.
Charles Mordaunt, 3rd Earl of Peterborough
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Charles Mordaunt, 3rd Earl of Peterborough and 1st Earl of Monmouth KG PC was an English nobleman and military leader. He was the son of John Mordaunt, 1st Viscount Mordaunt, and his wife Elizabeth, the daughter and sole heiress of Thomas Carey, Mordaunts father, John Mordaunt, was created Viscount Mordaunt of Avalon and Baron Mordaunt of Reigate, Surrey, in 1659. Charles attended Tonbridge School, then matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford. When about sixteen years of age he joined Sir John Narboroughs fleet in the Mediterranean and his father died on 5 June 1675, and Charles Mordaunt succeeded to the peerage as Viscount Mordaunt. On his return from the expedition to Tangier, he plunged into active political life as a zealous Whig. When James succeeded to the throne, Mordaunts continued hostility forced him to repair to Holland in 1686, the disposition of the cold and cautious William had little in common with the fierce and turbulent Mordaunt. His plan was rejected, though the prudent prince of Orange deemed it judicious to retain his services, when William sailed to Torbay his friend accompanied him, and when the Dutch prince was safely established on the throne of England, honours without stint were showered upon Lord Mordaunt. He was sworn of the council on 14 February 1689, on 8 April of the same year appointed First Lord of the Treasury. (His maternal grandparents were Thomas Carey and his wife Margaret Smith, Thomas was the second son of Robert Carey, 1st Earl of Monmouth and his wife Elizabeth Trevanion. He was committed to the Tower of London, staying in confinement until 30 March 1697, and deprived of his employments. Some consolation for these came to him on 19 June of the same year. The four years after his release from the Tower were mainly passed in retirement and he led English and Dutch troops in Spain. He arrived at Lisbon on 20 June 1705, sailed for Barcelona on an expedition for the conquest of Catalonia, and began to besiege the city. On 24 January 1706 he entered Valencia in triumph, but these movements had weakened the garrison at Barcelona, when Charles determined upon uniting with Lord Galways troops and marching to Madrid, the advice of Peterborough again hindered his progress. The leaders of the army differed in their views, and Lord Peterborough was recalled to England to explain his conduct. He was charged with incompetence and exceeding his authority, and his actions became the subject of controversy between the Tories, who supported him, and the Whigs, who did not. On his return to England, he allied himself with the Tories and his resentment at this disagreement was softened by the command of a cavalry regiment, and by his appointment as a Knight of the Garter. With the accession of George I, Lord Peterboroughs influence was gone, worn out with suffering, he died at Lisbon on 25 October 1735
26.
Philip V of Spain
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Before his reign, Philip occupied an exalted place in the royal family of France as a grandson of King Louis XIV. His father, Louis, the Grand Dauphin, had the strongest genealogical claim to the throne of Spain when it became vacant in 1700. It was well known that the union of France and Spain under one monarch would upset the balance of power in Europe, Philip was the first member of the House of Bourbon to rule as king of Spain. The sum of his two reigns,45 years and 21 days, is the longest in modern Spanish history and he was a younger brother of Louis, Duke of Burgundy, the father of Louis XV of France. At birth, Philip was created Duke of Anjou, a title for younger sons in the French royal family. He would be known by name until he became the king of Spain. Philip was tutored with his brothers by François Fénelon, Archbishop of Cambrai, the three were also educated by Paul de Beauvilliers. In 1700 the King Charles II of Spain died childless and his will named the turning 17-year-old Philip, grandson of Charles half-sister Maria Theresa, the first wife of Louis XIV, as his successor. Upon any possible refusal, the crown of Spain would be offered next to Philips younger brother, Philip had the better genealogical claim to the Spanish throne, because his Spanish grandmother and great-grandmother were older than the ancestors of the Archduke Charles of Austria. However, the Austrian branch claimed that Philips grandmother had renounced the Spanish throne for herself and this was countered by the French branchs claim that it was on the basis of a dowry that had never been paid. After the Royal Council decided to accept the provisions of the will of Charles II naming Philip king of Spain, the ambassador, along with his son, knelt before Philip and made a long speech in Spanish which Philip did not understand, although Louis XIV did. Philip only later learned to speak Spanish, on 2 November 1701 the almost 18 year old Philip married the 13-year-old Maria Luisa of Savoy, as chosen by his grandfather King Louis XIV, by then an old man of 63. She was the daughter of Victor Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy, there was a proxy ceremony at Turin, the capital of the Duchy of Savoy, and another one at Versailles on 11 September. As queen of Spain, Maria Luisa proved very popular with her subjects and she served as regent for her husband on several occasions. Her most successful term was when Philip was away touring his Italian domains for nine months in 1702, in 1714, she died at the age of 26 from tuberculosis, a devastating emotional blow to her husband. The actions of Louis XIV heightened the fears of the English, the Dutch, however, a second act of the French king justified a hostile interpretation, pursuant to a treaty with Spain, Louis occupied several towns in the Spanish Netherlands. This was the spark that ignited the powder keg created by the issues of the War of the League of Augsburg. Almost immediately the War of the Spanish Succession began, inside Spain, the Crown of Castile supported Philip of France
27.
Barcelona
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Founded as a Roman city, in the Middle Ages Barcelona became the capital of the County of Barcelona. Barcelona has a cultural heritage and is today an important cultural centre. Particularly renowned are the works of Antoni Gaudí and Lluís Domènech i Montaner. The headquarters of the Union for the Mediterranean is located in Barcelona, the city is known for hosting the 1992 Summer Olympics as well as world-class conferences and expositions and also many international sport tournaments. It is a cultural and economic centre in southwestern Europe, 24th in the world. In 2008 it was the fourth most economically powerful city by GDP in the European Union, in 2012 Barcelona had a GDP of $170 billion, it is leading Spain in both employment rate and GDP per capita change. In 2009 the city was ranked Europes third and one of the worlds most successful as a city brand, since 2011 Barcelona has been a leading smart city in Europe. During the Middle Ages, the city was known as Barchinona, Barçalona, Barchelonaa. Internationally, Barcelonas name is abbreviated to Barça. However, this refers only to FC Barcelona, the football club. The common abbreviated form used by locals is Barna, another common abbreviation is BCN, which is also the IATA airport code of the Barcelona-El Prat Airport. The city is referred to as the Ciutat Comtal in Catalan. The origin of the earliest settlement at the site of present-day Barcelona is unclear, the ruins of an early settlement have been excavated in the El Raval neighbourhood, including different tombs and dwellings dating to earlier than 5000 BC. The founding of Barcelona is the subject of two different legends, the first attributes the founding of the city to the mythological Hercules. In about 15 BC, the Romans redrew the town as a castrum centred on the Mons Taber, under the Romans, it was a colony with the surname of Faventia, or, in full, Colonia Faventia Julia Augusta Pia Barcino or Colonia Julia Augusta Faventia Paterna Barcino. It enjoyed immunity from imperial burdens, the city minted its own coins, some from the era of Galba survive. Some remaining fragments of the Roman walls have incorporated into the cathedral. The cathedral, also known as the Basilica La Seu, is said to have founded in 343
28.
James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope
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James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope PC was a British statesman and soldier who effectively served as Chief Minister between 1717 and 1721. He is probably best remembered for his service during the War of the Spanish Succession and he was also the first British Governor of Minorca, which he had captured from the Spanish, between 1708 and 1711. He was educated at Eton College and at Trinity College, Oxford, Stanhope accompanied his father, then English Ambassador to Madrid, to Spain in 1690, and obtained some knowledge of that country which was very useful to him in later life. A little later he went to Italy where, as afterwards in Flanders, he served as a volunteer against France, and in 1695 he secured a commission in the English army. In 1701 Stanhope entered the House of Commons, but he continued his career as a soldier and was in Spain, however, at Brihuega he was overwhelmed by the French and was forced to capitulate on 9 December 1710. The defeat proved a setback to Allied ambitions in Spain. He remained a prisoner in Spain for over a year and returned to England in August 1712, once back in Britain he now abandoned his military career and moved wholly into politics. He soon sat for another seat, Wendover, and became one of the leaders of the Whig opposition in the House of Commons. He had his share in establishing the House of Hanover on the throne, in September 1714 he was appointed Secretary of State for the Southern Department, sharing with Walpole the leadership of the House of Commons. He was mainly responsible for the measures which were instrumental in crushing the Jacobite rising of 1715 and he acted as George Is foreign minister, and only just failed to conclude a treaty of alliance with France in 1716. In 1717 there was a schism in the Whig Party with Stanhope and Sunderland forming one grouping while Walpole. In 1717, consequent on changes in the ministry, Stanhope was made First Lord of the Treasury, a year later he returned to his former office of secretary for the southern department. On 3 July 1717, he was created Baron Stanhope of Elvaston and Viscount Stanhope of Mahon and, on 14 April 1718, Earl Stanhope. He was in all but name Prime Minister and is presented as the first Prime Minister of Great Britain. He saw Britains principal foreign policy goals as containing the threat of Spanish and he entered delicate negotiations with Spain which wished for the return of Gibraltar, which he was only prepared to do in exchange for Cuba and Florida. Ultimately the talks broke down, setting the path to the later Thirteenth Siege of Gibraltar, in the ensuing War of the Quadruple Alliance British forces were involved in a campaign to prevent Spanish expansion in Italy. Spain landed troops in Scotland in support of the Jacobites who they hoped to restore to the throne, the expedition was defeated at the Battle of Glen Shiel and in retaliation the British dispatched a force that briefly captured Vigo in October 1719. Domestically, he promoted the bill to limit the membership of the House of Lords a controversial move as it was seen as a directed at his former Whig colleagues led by Walpole
29.
Menorca
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Minorca or Menorca is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Majorca, Minorca has a population of approximately 94,383. It is located 39°47 to 40°00N, 3°52 to 4°24E and its highest point, called El Toro or Monte Toro, is 358 metres above sea level. The island is known for its collection of stone monuments, navetes, taules and talaiots. Some of the earliest culture on Minorca was influenced by other Mediterranean cultures, for example, the use of inverted plastered timber columns at Knossos is thought to have influenced early peoples of Minorca in imitating this practice. The end of the Punic wars saw an increase in piracy in the western Mediterranean, the Roman occupation of Hispania had meant a growth of maritime trade between the Iberian and Italian peninsulas. Pirates took advantage of the location of the Balearic Islands to raid Roman commerce. In reaction to this, the Romans invaded Minorca, by 121 BC both islands were fully under Roman control, later being incorporated into the province of Hispania Citerior. In 13 BC Roman emperor Augustus reorganised the system and the Balearic Islands became part of the Tarraconensis imperial province. The ancient town of Mago was transformed from a Carthaginian town to a Roman town, the island had a Jewish population. The Letter on the Conversion of the Jews by a 5th-century bishop named Severus tells of the conversion of the islands 540 Jewish men and women in AD418. Several Jews, including Theodore, a rich representative Jew who stood high in the estimation of his coreligionists and of Christians alike, many Jews remained within the Jewish faith while outwardly professing Christian faith. Some of these Jews form part of the Xueta community, when the Jewish community in Mahon requested the use of a room as a synagogue, their request was refused and they were denounced by the clergy. In 1781, when Louis des Balbes de Berton de Crillon, duc de Mahon invaded Minorca, at that time, the Jewish community consisted of about 500 people and they were transported from Minorca in four Spanish ships to the port of Marseilles. The Vandals easily conquered the island in the 5th century, the Byzantine Empire recovered it in 534. Following the Moorish conquest of peninsular Spain, Minorca was annexed to the Caliphate of Córdoba in 903 and given the Arabicized name of Manûrqa, with many Moors emigrating to the island. In 1231, after Christian forces reconquered Majorca, Minorca chose to become an independent Islamic state, the island was ruled first by Abû Uthmân Saîd Hakam al Qurashi, and following his death by his son, Abû Umar ibn Saîd. An Aragonese invasion, led by Alfonso III, came on 17 January 1287, some of the Muslim inhabitants of the island were enslaved and sold in the slave markets of Ibiza, Valencia and Barcelona, while others became Christians
30.
First-rate
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First rate was the designation used by the Royal Navy for its largest ships of the line, equivalent to the super-dreadnought of more recent times. By end of the century, a first-rate routinely carried 100 guns and more than 850 crew. The concept of a system for English naval vessels dates to the accession of James I of England, following which the fleet was formally divided into great, middling. A1618 commission of enquiry added a further designation of Ships Royal for the largest and most prestigious vessels in the fleet and their condition was generally poor, with Elizabeth Jonas and Triumph already completely unserviceable and White Bear so unseaworthy that she was sold for scrap in 1627. The Navys rating system was modified to differentiate ships considered suitable for various functions within the naval tactics of the age of sail. Lower numbers indicated larger and more capable ships, smaller third-rate ships carrying about 60–64 guns, and fourth-rate ships of around 50 guns, had earlier been considered suitable, but were being phased out. Fifth-rate and sixth-rate ships were frigates usually maneuvering independently of the line of battle, early first rates had as few as 60 guns, but by the mid-1660s they generally carried between 90 and 100 guns. By the early years of the 18th century, it had accepted that 100 guns was the standard criterion for a first rate in wartime. Towards the close of the century, ships were built more than 100 guns. In addition to the number of carriage-mounted guns, first rates also carried a number of anti-personnel guns. Although very powerful, the Navys seventeenth century first-rates were of limited utility at sea, for stability their lowest gundeck had to be very close to the waterline and its gunports could not be opened in anything but the calmest of seas. To do otherwise was to risk swamping the vessel, as occurred in 1781 when the first-rate Royal George sank at anchor at Spithead after the lower gunports were opened to air the ship. There was also too little space to stow provisions for long voyages. As a consequence the seventeenth century first-rates were restricted to summer cruising, Ships of this size were extremely expensive to operate. As a result, the few first rates were typically reserved as commanding admirals flagships, first rates were typically kept out of commission during peacetime and only activated during times of conflict. This had the advantage of preserving them from the wear and tear that smaller ships experienced in spending long periods at sea. Other nations had their own rating systems, notably the French Navy with its system of five formal rates or rangs, due to their unique importance as prestige warships, only a small number of first rates could be built and maintained at any one time. Thus over the 250 years that the system of the Royal Navy was used
31.
HMS Prince (1670)
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HMS Prince was a 100-gun first rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Phineas Pett the Younger at Deptford Dockyard and launched in 1670. The Prince was heavily damaged by De Ruyters flagship De Zeven Provinciën in a two hours duel and Captain of the Fleet Sir John Cox was killed on board, the Duke of York was forced to shift his flag to HMS St Michael. The Princes second captain, John Narborough, however conducted himself with such conspicuous valour that he won special approbation and was knighted shortly afterwards, HMS Prince was rebuilt by Robert Lee at Chatham Dockyard in 1692, and renamed at the same time as HMS Royal William. During the War of the Grand Alliance the ship saw action at the Battle of Barfleur of 19 May 1692, the Prince belonged to the red squadron and carried the flag of Rear Admiral of the Red Sir Cloudesley Shovell. She was the first ship to break the French line during the battle, later she was rebuilt for a second time by John Naish at Portsmouth Dockyard from 1714, relaunching on 3 September 1719. She was laid up after her re-launch and saw no service at all until she was reduced to an 84-gun Second rate ship in 1756, one year later, she was part of an unsuccessful expedition against Rochefort led by Admiral Sir Edward Hawke. Her squadron, under Vice-Admiral Charles Knowles, attacked the Île-dAix, in 1758 she participated in Boscawens and Wolfes attack on the French Fortress of Louisbourg and an indecisive skirmish with a French squadron. The following year the Royal William returned to Canada under the command of Captain Hugh Pigot to join the attack on Quebec, after the Battle of the Plains of Abraham and the capture of Quebec she sailed back to England with the body of General Wolfe. In 1760 the Royal William was Boscawens flagship when he took command of the fleet in Quiberon Bay, however, after a severe gale he was forced to return and shift his flag to the Namur. During the expedition against Belle Île of 1761 she was detached with several ships to cruise off Brest. The Seven Years War seems to be the last time that the Royal William played an active role and she was broken up in 1813. The Ship of the Line - Volume 1, The Development of the Battlefleet 1650-1850, Ship model of Royal Prince, Science and Society Picture Library, UK
32.
Edward Spragge
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Sir Edward Spragge was an Irish admiral of the Royal Navy. He was a fiery, brilliantly accomplished seaman who fought in many great actions after the restoration of King Charles II in 1660. Spragge was son of Lichfield Spragge of Roscommon, Ireland, by his wife Mary Legge, and grandson of John Spragge and his father was killed in about 1645 during the Civil War when Royalist Governor of Roscommon. Edward Spragge is said to have been a slave in Algiers before serving in the English Civil War from 1648 in Prince Ruperts royalist naval squadron and he remained loyal to the Stuarts after the war. He was very popular with the common sailors though because of his ebullient character, as Samuel Pepys put it, he was a merry man, Spragge married Clara, daughter of the famous privateer Jacob Collaert, the Governor of Dunkirk. He often clashed with Commonwealth vessels when employed by the Spanish as a privateer in the Anglo-Spanish War, after the English Restoration, Spragge was pardoned by Charles II and rewarded for his loyalty by being made captain of HMS Drake. Whenever Charles had need to send an envoy to the Spanish Netherlands, Spragge was then given command of the Triumph. The next year he was rear-admiral of the Green Squadron, on the Dreadnought, under Prince Rupert and he was vice-admiral of the Blue Squadron, subcommander of the rear, on the Victory, under Jeremiah Smith in the St. Jamess Day Battle. Although an overall English victory, the English rear was defeated and routed by Lieutenant-Admiral Cornelis Tromp, but Tromp was fired from the Dutch navy in August 1666. So he in front, his garrison in rear, March straight to Chatham to increase the fear, in 1670 and 1671, Vice Admiral Sir Edward Spragge fought the Barbary pirates on the Revenge. In the spring of 1671, he sailed with a fleet to Bougie Bay, near Algiers, in 1672, the Third Anglo-Dutch War broke out, which gave Spragge the chance to deal with his old rival Tromp. At this time, Rupert and Spragge became rivals, the latter becoming jealous for not having been appointed supreme commander. Spragge was in command of the Red Squadron on the London in the Battle of Solebay in 1672, in these last Schooneveld battles he sought out and fought Tromp, readmitted to the navy in 1673, with great fury, but without result. Spragge publicly swore an oath in front of King Charles that the next time, first the Prince Royal duelled the Gulden Leeuw, when the former ship was dismasted and half of her crew dead or wounded, Spragge shifted to HMS St George and Tromp to the Comeetstar. On the second occasion, whilst passing from the St George to the Royal Charles, Spragges sloop was hit by cannon fire, a cannonball passing through the hull of the St George hitting the boat. The Admiral was injured but perhaps died by drowning as his vessel sank, on 1 February 1673, Spragge had been elected as a Member of Parliament for Dover, after two ballots, but did not live to be able to sit. Spragge was buried in the North Choir Aisle of Westminster Abbey and his grave had this inscription, Sir Edward Spragge, Kt. Edward Spragge was the cousin of the later admiral George Legge. The Royal Navy has named four ships after Spragge, the first two, HMS Spragge of 1673 and HMS Spragge of 1677 were fireships
33.
Second-rate
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The term in no way implied that they were of inferior quality. They were essentially smaller and hence cheaper versions of the three-decker first rates and they had a reputation for poor handling and slow sailing. They were popular as Flagships of admirals commanding the Windward and/or leeward islands station, both first and second rates carried lighter guns on their forecastles and quarterdecks. The three-decker second rate was mainly a British type, and was not built by other European navies to any great degree. Apart from its unhandiness, in terms of sheer firepower it was matched or even over matched by many of the large 80-gun and 74-gun two-deckers used by the French and Spanish navies instead. The term second-rate has since passed into general usage as an used to mean of suboptimal quality. The Command of the Ocean, a Naval History of Britain 1649–1815, ISBN 978-1-84415-717-4, British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1817–1863, Barnsley ISBN 978-1-84832-169-4
34.
HMS Neptune (1683)
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HMS Neptune was a 90-gun second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was built under the 1677 Thirty Great Ships Programme and launched in 1683 at Deptford Dockyard and she was first commissioned in 1690 under Captain Thomas Gardiner, as the flagship of Vice-Admiral George Rooke. In that capacity she took part in the Battle of Barfleur in May 1692 and she underwent her first rebuild at William Johnsons yard at Blackwall Yard, from where she was relaunched on 6 May 1710 as a 90-gun second-rate built to the 1706 Establishment. She was recommissioned on 3 February 1711 under Capt. Francis Wyvell, on 18 August 1724 Neptune was ordered to be taken to pieces and rebuilt as a 90-gun second-rate to the 1719 Establishment at Woolwich Dockyard, from where she was relaunched on 15 October 1730. She was cut down to a 74-gun third rate at Chatham Dockyard from 1747 to April 1749, and was renamed HMS Torbay on 23 August 1750, Torbay was sold at Portsmouth to be taken to pieces on 17 August 1784
35.
Commander
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Commander is a common naval and air force officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organisations, Commander is also a generic term for an officer commanding any armed forces unit, for example platoon commander, brigade commander and squadron commander. In the police, terms such as commander and incident commander are used. Commander is a used in navies but is very rarely used as a rank in armies. In practice, these were usually unrated sloops-of-war of no more than 20 guns, the Royal Navy shortened master and commander to commander in 1794, however, the term master and commander remained in common parlance for several years. The equivalent American rank master commandant remained in use changed to commander in 1838. A corresponding rank in some navies is frigate captain, in the 20th and 21st centuries, the rank has been assigned the NATO rank code of OF-4. Various functions of commanding officers were also styled Commandeur, in the navy of the Dutch Republic, anyone who commanded a ship or a fleet without having an appropriate rank to do so, could be called a Commandeur. This included ad hoc fleet Commanders and acting Captains, in the fleet of the Admiralty of Zealand however, commandeur was a formal rank, the equivalent of Schout-bij-nacht in the other Dutch admiralties. The Dutch use of the title as a rank lives on in the Royal Netherlands Navy, in the Royal Netherlands Air Force, however, this rank is known by the English spelling of Commodore which is the Dutch equivalent of the British Air Commodore. The rank of commander in the Royal Australian Navy is identical in description to that of a commander in the British Royal Navy, RAN chaplains who are in Division 1,2 and 3 have the equivalent rank standing of commanders. This means that to officers and NCOs below the rank of commander, or wing commander, the chaplain is a superior. To those officers ranked higher than commander, the chaplain is subordinate, although this equivalency exists, RAN chaplains who are in Division 1,2 and 3 do not actually wear the rank of commander, and they hold no command privilege. In France, the rank of commander exists as capitaine de frégate and it is senior to capitaine de corvette, and junior to capitaine de vaisseau. The rank of commander was used in the Imperial Japanese Navy, though the modern rank is translated as commander in English, its literal translation is captain second rank. The rank is equivalent to that of a commander in the U. S. Navy, Commander is a rank in the Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem, and is denoted by the post-nominal letters CLJ. The corresponding rank in the Polish Navy is komandor porucznik, in the Russian Navy the equivalent rank to commander is captain of the second rank. The rank was introduced in Russia by Peter the Great in 1722, from the introduction of the Russian Table of Ranks to its abolition in 1917, captain of the second rank was equal to a court councillor, at the sixth level out of 14 ranks
36.
Bomb vessel
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A bomb vessel, bomb ship, bomb ketch, or simply bomb was a type of wooden sailing naval ship. Explosive shells or carcasses were employed rather than solid shot, bomb vessels were specialized ships designed for bombarding fixed positions on land. In the 20th century, the role was carried out by battleships, cruisers, destroyers. The first recorded deployment of bomb vessels by the English was for the Siege of Calais in 1347 when Edward III deployed single deck ships with bombardes and other artillery. The first specialised bomb vessels were built towards the end of the 17th century, based on the designs of Bernard Renau dEliçagaray and they were first called galiote à bombe. Five such vessels were used to shell Algiers in 1682 destroying the land forts, two years later the French repeated their success at Genoa. The early French bomb vessels had two forward-pointing mortars fixed side-by-side on the foredeck, to aim these weapons, the entire ship was rotated by letting out or pulling in a spring anchor. The range was controlled by adjusting the gunpowder charge. The French later adopted the word bombarde for this vessel, but it should not to be confused with the horizontal fire, stone throwing bombard of earlier centuries. The French design was copied by the Royal Navy, who continued to refine the class over the century or more, after Huguenot exiles brought designs over to England. The side-by-side, forward-pointing mortars were replaced in the British designs by mortars mounted on the centerline on revolving platforms and these platforms were supported by strong internal wooden framework to transmit the forces of firing the weapons to the hull. The interstices of the framework were used as areas for ammunition. Early bomb vessels were rigged as ketches with two masts, as a result, by the 1800s British bomb vessels were designed as full rigged ships with three masts, and two mortars, one between each neighboring pair of masts. Bomb vessels often had the front rigging made of chain, to withstand the muzzle blast of the mortars. Mortars were the kind of naval armament to fire explosive shells rather than solid shot until the invention of the Paixhans gun. However, as naval warfare became more advanced, bomb ships were accompanied by frigates to protect them from direct assault by faster, smaller vessels. Bomb vessels were named after volcanoes, or given other names suggestive of explosive qualities. Some were also given names associated with the underworld, vessels of other types which were later converted to bomb ships generally retained their original names
England (to 1707) 
Great Britain
Royal Navy (1664–1707)
Royal Navy (1707–1714)
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