CalendarThese 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) top
  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.  top
  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 top
  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 top
  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. top
  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). top
  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.

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  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. top
  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

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  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.  top
  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

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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 top
  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 top
  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  
  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.  top
  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 top
  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. top
  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. top
  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. top
  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. top
  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. top
  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 top
  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. top
  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. top
  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). top
  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. top
  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. top
  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 1653 First day of Battle of Portland, or Three Days' Battle. Commonwealth Fleet under General at Sea Robert Blake attacked by Dutch Fleet under Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp escorting merchant shipping through the English Channel. top
  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. top

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*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.

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