These pages list the key dates in the history of the sailing navies of the world.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
| Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | |
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
01 February
1793
France declared war on Britain and Holland starting Revolutionary War.
Adam Duncan promoted to Vice Admiral.
1807
HMS Lark (16), Cptn. Robert Nicholas, and boats at Zispata Bay. Silenced a battery and engaged a convoy with 3 small escorts. 1 enemy was taken but 2 earlier prizes ran aground and were burnt.
02 February
1712
George Anson entered the navy as a volunteer on board HMS Ruby (54)
1799
HMS Nautilus (16) wrecked off Filey Bay
1800
USS Constellation, (38) Cptn. Thomas Truxtun, defeats la Vengeance (54), Cptn. Pitot
1801
HMS Legère Sloop (24), Cdr. Cornelius Quinton, sprang a leak and had to be run ashore to save the lives of the crew in Jamba Bay, east of Carthagena, S. America.
1812
HMS Southampton (32), Sir James Yeo, captured Haytian privateer Amethyst (44)
1813
Boats of HMS Kingfisher (18) took 6 vessels at Corfu.
1839
Capture of Kurrachee by HMS Wellesley (74), HMS Algerine (10), Lt. William Sidney Thomas, and troops.
1862
USS Hartford, Cptn. David G. Farragut, departs Hampton Roads for Mississippi River campaign
03 February
1735
Dutch frigates Anna Catharina, Cptn. Jacon de Prinseran,and 't Vliegent Hart ran aground on the sandbanks around Duerloo Channel.
1762
HMS Raisonable (64) lost of Martinique.
1781
St. Eustatia taken by Admiral Sir George Brydges Rodney.
1798
HMS Speedy (14), Hugh Downman, engaged Papillon (14) off Vigo
1799
Commencement of bombardment of Alexandria by HMS Bulldog bomb (16) and HMS Perseus bomb, James Oswald
1801
US Senate approves peace treaty with France ending undeclared Quasi War that began 1798
1805
HMS Arrow (28), Richard Budd Vincent, and HMS Acheron bomb (8), Cdr. Arthur Farquhar, escorting a convoy of 32 ships taken by French frigates Hortense (40) and Incorruptible (38) off Cape Caxine on the Algerian coast. Arrow sank and Acheron was burnt as a result of their damage but only 3 of the convoy were taken.
1810
HMS Valiant (74), Cptn. John Bligh, captured Confiance (14) off Belleisle.
1814
HMS Majestic (54), Cptn. John Hayes, took Terpsichore (44).
04 February
1779
John Paul Jones takes command of Bonhomme Richard
1804
Boats of HMS Centaur (74), Cpt. Murray Maxwell, cut out French corvette Curieux (16) as she lay under Fort Edward in Port Royal Harbour, Martinique
1811
Four of the enemy's vessels captured off Pestichi, by boats of HMS Cerberus (32), Cptn Henry Whitby, and HMS Active (38), Cptn. James Alexander Gordon.
1825
USS Ferret schooner capsized in a storm off Cuba
05 February
1744
HMS Looe (44), Cptn. Ashby Utting, foundered off Sable Cape
1800
HMS Fairy (16) and HMS Harpy (18), Henry Bazely, engaged French frigate Pallas (38) off Cape Frehel. She struck to Harpy when HMS Loire (38), HMS Danae (20) and HMS Railleur came up.
1804
HMS Eclair (10), Lt. Carr, engaged French privateer Grand Decide (22) off Tortola.
1807
HMS Blenheim (90), Cptn. Austen Bissell, Vice Ad. Sir Thomas Troubridge, and HMS Java (32), Cptn. George Pigot, lost during a gale off the island of Rodriguez, India Ocean.
1809
HMS Carrier Cutter (10), Lt. Robert Ramsey, was wrecked on the French coast.
1836
HMS Pike (14) wrecked on Pelican Reef in Jamaica.
06 February
1799
HMS Argo (44), Capt James Bowen, captured Spanish frigate Santa Teresa (34) off Majorca.
1800
HMS Loire (40), Cptn. James N. Newman, HMS Danae (20), Cptn. Lord Proby, HMS Railleur (20), Cptn Turquand, HMS Fairy (16) and HMS Harpy (18), Henry Bazely, captured French frigate Pallas (38) off Cape Frehel
1806
British aquadron of 7 ships of the line, two frigates and two brigs, under Vice Ad. Sir John Thomas Duckworth, defeated French squadron of five ships of the line, two frigates and a corvette, under Vice-Admiral Corentin Urbain Leissègues, off St. Domingo.
1810
End of campaign with final capture of Guadaloupe by Britsh fleet, under Rear Ad. Sir Alexander Cochrane, of HMS Pompee (80), Capt. George Cockburn, and consorts.
1862
Union gunboat squadron captures Fort Henry, Tennessee River
07 February
1758
Cptn. Samuel Hood joined HMS Vestal (32).
1793
Cptn. Horatio Nelson joins HMS Agamemnon (64).
1800
USS Essex becomes first U.S. Navy vessel to cross the Equator.
1808
HMS Decouverte (8) drove ashore a privateer.
1810
HMS Achates (10), Thomas Pinto, wrecked at Guadeloupe.
1813
HMS Amelia (38), Cptn. Frederick Paul Irby, engaged French frigate Arethuse (46), Capt. Bouvet, off Sierra Leone
1829
HMS Nightingale (8), Lt. George Wood, wrecked on the Shingles
08 February
1794
HMS Fortitude (74), Cptn. William Young, and HMS Juno (32) engaged tower on Mortella Point, Corsica an event which eventually led to the construction of 'Martello' towers on the south coast of England.
1804
HMS Hussar (38), Cptn. Philip Wilkinson, struck on the southernmost part of the Saintes, beat over the rocks, carrying away the rudder and was bilged. Burnt to prevent capture.
1805
HMS Curieux (18), George Edmund Byron Bettesworth, captured French privateer brig Dame Ernouf (16) some 60 miles east of Barbados.
1808
Boats of HMS Meleager (36), Cptn. John Broughton, captured French felucca-rigged privateer Renard. off the port of San-Jago de Cuba.
1809
HMS Amphion (32), Cptn. William Hoste, and HMS Redwing (18), Edward Augustus Down, destroyed stores and took two prizes at Meleda, Adriatic.
1813
Boats of HMS Belvidera (36), Cptn. Richard Byron, HMS Maidstone, HMS Junon (38), Cptn. James Sanders, and HMS Statira (38), Cptn. Hassard Stackpoole, took American letter of marque Lottery (6)
09 February
1692
HMS Crown Prize (26) lost outside the entrance to Dartmouth Harbour.
1707
HMS Hastings (32), Cptn. Francis Vaughan, capsized off Yarmouth
1746
HMS Portland (50), Cptn. Charles Stevens, captured French Auguste (50) off Scilly
1799
USS Constellation, (38) Cptn. Thomas Truxtun, captures French l'Insurgente (36), Captain Barreaut, off the island of Nevis.
HMS Daedalus (32), Cptn. Henry Lidgbird Ball, captured Prudente (38) near the Cape of Good Hope.
1808
HMS Decouverte (8), Lt. Colin Campbell, captured French armed schooner Dorade (3), Cptn. Netley, off St. Domingo.
10 February
1809
HMS Horatio (44), Cptn. George Scott, and HMS Latona (38), Cptn. Hugh Pigot, captured Junon (40), Cptn. Rousseau (Killed in Action), off the Virgin Islands
1810
HMS Thistle (8), Lt. Peter Proctor, captured Dutch national corvette Havik (10), Lt. Stirling.
1811
News received in England of the capture of the Isles of Bourbon and France, with their dependencies, and the capture or extirpation of the enemy's entire naval force in those seas, by Major-general Abercrombie, and Commodore Rowley.
1862
Union gunboats destroy Confederate ships at Elizabeth City, NC.
11 February
1744
British Fleet of 30 ships of the line, under Admiral Thomas Mathews, engaged Franco-Spanish fleet of 27 ships of the line, under Juan José Navarro, off Toulon.
1778
HMS Liverpool (28), Cptn. Henry Bellew, driven ashore near Jamaica Bay, Long Island, in thick weather and a heavy sea while taking dispatches from the Delaware to New York
1796
HMS Leda (36) foundered off Madeira
12 February
1793
HMS Alligator (28), Cptn. William Affleck, captures the French privateer Sans Peur in the North Sea
1807
HMS Atalante (16), Lt. John Bowker, wrecked when running aground on La Grande Blanche, Island of Rhe, France.
1811
HMS Cerberus (32), Cptn. Henry Whitby, and HMS Active (38), Cptn. James Alexander Gordon, take or destroy, under the town of Ortano, Italy, a Venetian trabaccolo and 9 transports.
13 February
1801
HMS Success (32), Cptn. Shuldham Peard, captured by French squadron under Rear Ad. Gantheaume near Toulon
1808
Boats of HMS Confiance (20), Cptn. James Lucas Yeo, cut out a French gunboat, Enseigne Gaudolphe, off the Tagus.
HMS Bassora Brig (12), James Violet, wrecked near Carthagena.
1811
HMS Pandora (18), John Macpherson Ferguson, struck the Scaw Reef off Jutland and was wrecked.
1812
HMS Apollo (38), Cptn. Bridges W. Taylor, took French frigate-built storeship Merinos (20).
1814
HMS Boyne (98), Cptn. Burton, and HMS Caledonia (120), Cptn. Jeremiah Coghlan, engaged Romulus and Adrienne off Toulon
Island of Paxo surrendered to HMS Apollo (38), Capt. Bridges W. Taylor, and troops.
1854
Admiral Perry anchors off Yokosuka, Japan to receive Emperor's reply to treaty proposal
14 February
1760
HMS Ramillies (90) driven ashore and wrecked in what is today Ramillies Cove near Salcombe, Devon
1778
John Paul Jones in Ranger receives first official salute to U.S. Stars and Strips flag by European country, at Quiberon, France.
1779
Captain Cook killed at Kealakekua Bay.
1797
Battle of Cape St. Vincent. British fleet, under Sir John Jervis, defeated Spanish fleet, under Jose de Cordoba
1805
HMS San Fiorenzo (38), Cptn. Henry Lambert, captured French frigate Psyche, Capt. Bergeret, off Vishakhapatnam in the Indian Ocean.
1807
HMS Bacchante (22), Cptn. James R. Dacres, and HMS Mediator (44), Cptn. William Furlong Wise, captured the French national schooner Dauphin (3) off Cape Raphael and used her to to get the ships into and attack her home port of Samana, St Domingo. The fort was carried and destroyed and 2 privateers and 2 prizes in the harbour were taken.
HMS Ajax (74), Cptn. Henry Blackwood, burnt by accident off the Island of Tenedos in the Dardanelles.
1810
HMS Rainbow (28) and HMS Avon (18), Henry Fraser, engaged French frigate Nereide (44)
1813
USS Essex becomes first U.S. warship to round Cape Horn and enter the Pacific Ocean.
Boats of HMS Bacchante (38), Cptn. William Hoste, captured French gunboat Alcinous (2) taken off Otranto with eight trading vessels under her convoy.
1814
USS Constitution (44), Cptn. Charles Stewart, captured HMS Pictou schooner (16) and armerd merchant Lovely Ann. Pictou was destroyed.
15 February
1775
HMS Halifax schooner (10) wrecked.
1793
HM Brig Sloop Childers (16), Robert Barlow, captures the French privateer Patriote near Gravelines in the first capture of the Revolutionay War
1808
HMS Raposo gun-brig, Lt. James Violett, burnt to avoid capture near Carthagena.
1809
HMS Belle Poule (38), Cptn. James Brisbane, captured French frigate Var (26) in the Gulf of Valona, Adriatic
1811
HMS Amethyst (36), Cptn. Jacob Walton, driven ashore and wrecked on Cony Cliffs, Plymouth Sound, by a violent gust of wind.
16 February
1745
HMS Weymouth (60), Cptn. Warwick Calmady, grounded and wrecked off English Harbour, Antigua
1793
HMS Iphigenia (32), Cptn. Patrick Sinclair, captures the French privateer Elizabeth in the Channel
1798
Boats of HMS Alfred (74), Cptn. T. Totty, captured Scipion.
1804
Lt. Stephen Decatur USN leads Tripoli raid to burn the captured frigate Philadelphia.
1815
USS Constitution (44), Cptn. Charles Stewart, captured British merchantman Susannah
17 February
1782
British fleet of 9 ships of the line, under Sir Edward Hughes, engaged a French fleet of 11 ships of the line, under Bailli de Suffren, off the East coast of India.
1793
HMS Juno (32), Cptn. Samuel Hood, captures the French privateer Entreprenant in the Channel
1794
British squadron under Commodore Robert Linzee captured Fornelli, Corsica.
1805
French frigateVille de Milan (38), Cptn. Jean-Marie Renaud (Killed in Action), captured,HMS Cleopatra (32), Cptn. Sir Robert Lawrie, off Bermuda.
1864
Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley sinks USS Housatonic
18 February
1653
Start of 3 day Battle of Portland. English fleet, under Robert Blake, was attacked by a Dutch fleet escorting a large convoy, under Lt.-Admiral Maarten Tromp. Figures are unclear but each fleet had 70-80 warships and whilst the British lost 1-3 warships the Dutch lost 8-12 and 40- 50 merchantmen.
1756
HMS Royal George (100), built at Woolwich Dockyard, launched
1800
HMS Alexander (74), Lt. William Harrington (Acting), and HMS Success (32), Cptn. Shuldham Peard, captured Genereux (74) off Malta.
1801
HMS Penguin (16), Robert Mansel, engaged a French corvette (24) and two merchantmen (16) in the South Atlantic.
1807
HMS Griper (12), Lt. Edward Oorris, foundered off Ostend.
HMS Inveterate Gun-boat (12), Lt. George Norton, wrecked near St. Valery en Caux, Calais, when she drifted ashore in a heavy gale.
HMS Prospero bomb (8), William KING(1), and HMS Speedwell (16) foundered off Dieppe.
1817
HMS Alceste (38), Cptn. Murray Maxwell, wrecked off Island of Pulo Leat, China Seas.
1827
HMS Diamond (38) accidentally burnt whilst out of commission at Portsmouth
19 February
1694
HMS Sussex (80), Ad. Sir Francis Wheler, and HMS Cambridge (70) Capt. John Ward (1), lost in a hurricane off Gibraltar.
1758
HMS Invincible (74) lost on the Owers.
1781
Whilst proceeding to the Chesapeake HMS Romulus (44), Cptn. George Gayton, was captured by a French squadron from Des Touches's squadron under the orders of Cptn Le Gardeur de Tilly, composed of the Eveille (64), Gentille (32), Surveillante (32) and the cutter Guepe
1794
British squadron under Commodore Robert Linzee captured Minerve.
1801
HMS Phoebe (36), Cptn. Robert Barlow took French frigate Africaine (44), Cptn. Majendie, off Ceuta in Morocco.
1804
Boats of HMS Drake (14), Samuel W. King, cut out a schooner from the harbour of Trinite in the north part of Martinique.
HMS Cerberus Gun-brig, Lt. Joseph Patey, wrecked on rocks near Berry Head
1807
HMS Ignition Fire-ship, Phillip Griffin, wrecked off Dieppe.
1814
USS Constitution (44), Cptn. Charles Stewart, captures British merchant brig Catherine
20 February
1745
HMS Chester (50), Cptn. Francis Geary, and HMS Sutherland (50) captured privateer Elephant.
1804
HMS Active (38), Cptn. Richard Hussey Moubray, engaged 16 gunboats and took a transport.
1811
Sir Joseph Yorke's squadron arrived in the Tagus, with a reinforcement of 6,500 men for Lord Wellington.
1815
USS Constitution (44), Cptn. Charles Stewart, captures HMS Cyane (22), Cptn. Gordon Falcon, and sloop-of-war HMS Levant (20), Hon. George Douglas, east of Madeira.
21 February
1692
British squadron of 7 ships, under Commodore Ralph Wrenn, engaged a French squadron of 18 ships, under M. de Blenac, in the West Indies.
1759
HMS Vestal (32), Cptn. Samuel Hood, took French frigate Bellona (32) in the Channel
1793
HMS Alligator (28), Cptn. William Affleck, captures the French privateer Prend Tout in the North Sea
1810
HMS Horatio (44), Cpt. George Scott, captured Necessite (28).
22 February
1799
HMS Espoir, Cptn. James Sanders, engaged Spanish flotilla and captured Spanish xebec Africa off Marbella
1812
HMS Victorious (74), Cptn. John Talbot, and HMS Weasel (18), John William Andrew, captured French Rivoli (74), Commodore Jean-Baptiste Barré, engaged brig Mercure (16) which blew up, off Venice.
1815
Engagement between British boats and U.S. troops in St. Mary's River.
23 February
1805
HMS Leander (50), Cptn. John Talbot, re-captured HMS Cleopatra and took French frigateVille de Milan (38), Cptn. Pierre Guillet.
1814
HMS Epervier (18), Ruchard Wales, took U.S. privateer brig Alfred (16), Cptn. Williams.
1824
HMS Delight (10), Robert Hay, lost in a hurricane at the Mauritius.
24 February
1808
HMS Hirondelle (16), Lt. Joseph Kidd, wrecked on shore the coast of Barbary.
1809
HMS Ceasar (80), Cptn. Charles Richardson, Rear Ad. Robert Stopford, and consorts forced three French frigates Italienne, Calypso and Cybe ashore near the Basque Roads
1813
USS Hornet (20), James Lawrence, sank HMS Peacock (18), Cptn. William Peake (Killed in Action), off the mouth of the Demerara River, Guiana.
25 February
1761
Adam Duncan promoted Captain into HMS Valiant (74).
1798
HMS Marquis of Coburg sunk Revanche.
1811
HMS Shamrock (8), Lt. Wentworth Parsons Croke, wrecked on Cape Santa Maria
1813
HMS Linnet (14), Lt. John Tracey, taken by French frigate Gloire (40), Cptn Albin-Réné Roussin, in the Channel.
1814
HMS Eurotas (38), Cptn. John Phillimore, captured Clorinde (42) about 250 miles south of Cape Clear
1861
USS Saratoga, member of U.S. African Squadron, captures slaver sloop Express
26 February
1705
HMS Harman fireship sank off Port Royal, Jamaica.
1813
Island of Ponza taken by HMS Thames (32), Cptn. Charles Napier, HMS Furieuse (38), Cptn. William Mounsey, and army units.
1815
HMS St. Lawrence (12) taken by American privateer brig Chasseur (14), Cptn. Thomas Boyle, off Havana.
HMS Statira (38), Cptn. Spelman Swaine, struck an uncharted rock and sank off Cuba.
27 February
1748
HMS Lizard (14) wrecked on the Scilly Isles.
1780
HMS Leviathan storeship foundered while returning home from Jamaica.
1806
HMS Hydra (38), Cptn. George Mundy, captured French national brig Le Furet (18), Lt. Demay, off Cadiz
1835
HMS Firefly Schooner (5), Lt. John M'Donnell, wrecked on reef near Belize.
28 February
1758
HMS Revenge (64), Cptn. John Storr, took Orphte.
HMS Monmouth (64), Cptn. Arthur Gardiner (Killed in Action), and HMS Swiftsure (70), Cptn. Stanhope, took Foudroyant (80) off Toulon.
HMS Monarch (74), Cptn. John Montagu, drove ashore French Oriflamme (50) near Cape de Gato
1760
British squadron, under Cptn. Elliot, defeated a French squadron, under François Thurot (Killed in Action), off the Isle of Man.
1797
HMS Terpsichore (32), Cptn. Sir Richard Bowen, engaged Santissima Trinidad (136) damaged at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent
1799
HMS Sybille (44), Cptn. Edward Cooke (Killed in Action) captured French frigate Forte, Cptn. Beaulieu-Leloup, off Bengal River
1809
HMS Proserpine (32), Cptn. Charles Otter, captured by French frigates Peneloe(44) and Pauline (44) off Cape Sicie, near Toulon.
1814
HMS Anacreon Sloop (16), John Davies, foundered in the Channel.
1844
Explosion of Peacemaker, experimental 14 inch gun, on board USS Princeton which killed eight, including U.S. Secretary of State Abel Parker Upshur and Secretary of the Navy Thomas Gilmer. Spared were the lives of U.S President John Tyler and his son, along with U.S. Senator from Missouri Thomas Hart Benton who were also among the dignitaries aboard for the demonstration of naval gunnery.
29 February
1812
HMS Fly (16), Henry Higman, wrecked on the Knobber reef at the eastern end of Anholt Is. in the Kattegat.
Jan 
*Dates of events prior to September 1752 may be quoted differently in some countries as both the Julian and Gregorian calendars were in use by countries. Calendars were regularised when Britain passed the Calendar Act of 1751 An Act for Regulating the Commencement of the Year; and for Correcting the Calendar now in Use.