This Day in Naval History

Calendar 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	30	31

01 August	1695	Bombardment of Dunkirk by British
	1779	HMS Alarm Galley lost at Rhode Island
	1781	HMS Pelican (24) foundered off Morant Keys.
	1798	Battle of the Nile. British under Sir Horatio Nelson defeat moored French fleet under Francois-Paul Brueys D’Aigalliers
	1801	U.S. schooner Enterprise (12), Lt. Andrew Sterett, encountered the Barbary corsair Tripoli (14), Admiral Rais Mahomet Rous, west of Malta in the Mediterranean. After a three-hour battle and false surrenders by Tripoli, Enterprise broadsided the vessel and Rous threw the Tripolitan flag into water in surrender.
	1803	Boats of HMS Hydra (38), Cptn. George Mundy, captured Favori.
	1808	HMS Wizard (16), Abel Ferris, towed and covered boats of HMS Wizard and HMS Kent whilst they captured guns ashore, the gunboat Vigilant and a convoy of 10 sail, at Noli.
	1811	A general promotion of Royal Navy officers took place
	1825	HMS Fury Bomb Vessel, Cptn. Henry Hoppner, wrecked by being driven ashore by the ice on the western coast of Prince Regent Inlet, Arctic, and bilged. .
02 August	1781	HMS Pelican (24) foundered of Jamaica
	1795	HMS Diomede (44) wrecked after striking a sunken rock off Trincomalee.
	1808	HMS Tigress (12), Lt. Greensword, captured by 16 Danish gunboats, under Lt. Cdr. Ulrich A. Schønheyder, after a short action off Langeland in the Great Belt.
	1811	Boats of Ad. Young's Heligoland squadron HMS Qubec (32), Cptn. Charles Sibthorp Hawtayne, HMS Raven, G. G. Lennock, HMS Redbreast (12), HMS Exertion, Lt. Oliphant, HMS Alert (4), Lt. Neale, and HMS Princess Augusta took four gun-brigs near the island of Nordeney..
	1812	HMS Emulous Sloop (18), William Howe Mulcaster, wrecked Sable Island, Nova Scotia. 2 Danish schooners, under Sub Lt. Hans Bodenhoff, forestall an attack on Tromsoe, Norway by HMS Horatio (44), Cptn. Lord George Stuart, but are taken by boats from the frigate after heavy losses on both sides. USS Essex (32), Cptn. David Porter, burned British brig Hero and captured a ship Nancy off Newfoundland
	1813	HMS Bacchante (38), Cptn. William Hoste, and HMS Eagle (74) Cptn. Charles Rowley, destroyed the batteries at the harbour at Rovigno. Most of a convoy of 21 ships was scuttled but one gunboat armed with an 18-pounder and two armed trabaccolos laden with salt were captured. USS President (44), John Rodgers, captures British bark Lion.
	1865	CSS Shenandoah, James Waddell, encountered the British bark Barracouta in the Pacific Ocean and received the first firm report that the Civil War had ended in April with the defeat of the Confederacy. Disarming his ship, Waddell took her to surrender at Liverpool, England.
03 August	1758	The naval Battle of Negapatam. Indecisive battle between a British squadron under Vice-Admiral George Pocock and French squadron under Comte d'Aché.
	1791	Cptn. William Bligh, HMS Providence, accompanied by HMS Assistant left Spithead on 2nd breadfruit voyage.
	1801	HMS Pomone (44), Cptn. Gower, captured Carriere.
	1804	US Mediterranean Squadron Squadron under Commodore Edward Preble, USS Constitution (44), attacks Tripoli. During the bombardment Lt. Stephen Decatur led his men in a two hour hand-to-hand fight while boarding and capturing a Tripolitan gunboat. His younger brother, Lt. James Decatur, was a casualty during this battle.
	1809	HMS Lark Sloop (16), Cptn. Robert Nicholas, was upset in a gale and foundered off Cape Causada, San Domingo.
	1812	USS Essex (36) ,Cptn. David Porter, captured British brig Brothers HMS Emulous William Howe Mulcaster, wrecked on Sable Island
	1861	Construction of USS Monitor authorized
04 August	1746	HMS Pembroke (66) captured Fertile.
	1790	US Revenue Cutter Service (which became the US Coast Guard) established.
	1798	Boats of HMS Melpomene (38) and HMS Childers (16), J. O'Brian, captured Aventurier (16) from the port of Corigiou
	1800	HMS Belliqueux (64), Cptn. Rowley Bulteel, captured La Concorde (44), Cptn. Landolphe, while escorting a convoy of outward bound East India ships.
	1804	Adam Duncan died
	1808	HMS Delphinen (16), Richard Harward, wrecked on the South-West part of Vieland, Holland.
	1811	Start of campaign to capture Java by the British.
	1813	Battery at Ragosniza on the Isle of Lissa destroyed by the boats of HMS Milford (74), Cptn. J. D. Markland, and HMS Weazle (18), Cptn. John W. Andrew.
	1846	Sailors and Marines from USS Congress (52), Commodore Robert F. Stockton, capture Santa Barbara, California.
	1858	First trans-Atlantic cable completed by USS Niagara and British ship Agamemnon
05 August	1766	HMS Pitt cutter foundered in the Atlantic.
	1781	The Battle of Dogger Bank. A British squadron under Vice-admiral Sir Hyde Parker engaged a Dutch squadron under Vice-admiral Zoutman.
	1813	HMS Dominica (14), Lt. George Wilmot Barrete (Killed in Action), taken by the American privateer Decatur off Charleston
	1832	Frigate USS Potomac (42), Cptn. John Downes, is first U.S. Navy ship to entertain royalty, King and Queen of Sandwich Islands, Honolulu
	1864	R.Adm. David Farragut wins Battle of Mobile Bay, sealing off last Confederate port on Gulf Coast
06 August	1805	HMS Blenheim (90), Capt. Austen Bissell, Flagship of Vice Ad. Sir Thomas Troubridge engaged Marengo and Belie Poule.
	1806	HMS Dover (44) was lying alongside the dockyard wharf at Woolwich, being used as a temporary marine barracks, when she caught fire and was burnt to the water's edge.
	1807	HMS Hydra (38), Cptn. George Mundy, engaged a battery protecting Principe Eugenio (16), Della Carolina (10), and Carmen Del Rosario (4) in the harbour of Begu in Catalan. The battery and the 3 polacres were taken by the ships boats.
	1811	Four Danish gun-boats taken near Heligoland, but by the accidental explosion of some gunpowder, 30 English seamen and several prisoners were severely burnt or wounded.
	1862	CSS Arkansas destroyed by her commanding officer Isaac N. Brown when her engine broke down to prevent capture by USS Essex off Baton Rouge.
07 August	1761	Lord Anson in HMS Royal Charlotte yacht hoisted the Union flag.
	1778	HMS Cerberus (28), Cptn. John Symons, HMS Juno (32), HMS Kingfisher (14) and HMS Lark (32) abandoned and burnt at Rhode Island to avoid capture.
	1781	HMS Medea (28), H Duncun, took American Belisarius (24)
	1798	HMS Espoir, L. O. Bland, captured Genoese Liguria (26). HMS Indefatigable (44) Cptn. Sir Edward Pellew, captured Vaillante.
	1815	Napoleon Buonaparte and his suite boarded HMS Northumberland (74), Cptn. Charles B. Ross, for his voyage to exile on St. Helena.
08 August	1745	George Byng promoted to Rear-Admiral of the Blue.
	1796	HMS Mermaid (32) engaged Vengeance and batteries.
	1808	Boats of HMS Porcupine (22), Cptn. Hon. Henry Duncan, cut out Conception.
	1809	HMS Lark (16) Robert Nicholas, upset in a gale and foundered off Cape Causada, San Domingo
	1811	French settlement of Batavia capitulated to the British under Sir Samuel Auchrmity and Rear-Admiral Stopford
	1813	Schooners USS Hamilton and USS Scourge founder in storm on Lake Ontario
09 August	1778	Engagement between British squadron under Lord Howe and French squadron under Comte d'Estaing off Rhode Island.
	1781	HMS Isis (50) took Trumbull.
	1799	HMS Speedy (14) and boats captured Spanish armed vessel.
	1810	HMS Caroline (36), Cptn. Christopher Cole, HMS Piedmontaise (38), Cptn. Charles Foote, and HMS Barracouta (18), Cdr.Richard Kenah, took Banda Neira.
	1815	Cptn. Stephen Decatur concludes treaty for U.S. with Tripoli
	1842	Signing of Webster-Ashburton Treaty under which U.S. and Great Britain agreed to cooperate in suppressing the slave trade.
10 August	1628	Swedish warship Vasa (64), Cptn Söfring Hansson, capsized and sank, a few minutes after departure on her maiden voyage, in the Saltsjon, Stockholm.
	1780	HMS Flora (36), Cptn. William Pere Williams, took La Nymphe, (36) Chevalier de Romain (Killed in Action), off Ushant.
	1797	HMS Arethusa (38), Cptn. Thomas Wolley, captured French corvette Gaite (20) in the Atlantic.
	1800	HMS Janus (44) wrecked off Trinidad.
	1801	Boats of HMS Atalante (16), Anselm John Griffiths, captured the armed lugger L'Eveilie (2) in Quiberon Bay.
	1805	HMS Phoenix (36), Cptn. Thomas Baker, captured Didon (44) off Cape Finisterre.
	1809	8 Danish gunboats, under Lt. Cdr. Søren A. Bille, defeat the British brig Allart off Frederiksværn.
11 August	1673	Battle of Texel. Engagement between the Anglo-French fleet under Prince Rupert and the Dutch under De Ruyter who was protecting a convoy.
	1705	HMS Plymouth (60) foundered.
	1718	Battle of Cape Passaro. British fleet under Sir George Byng defeated Spanish fleet under Antonio de Gaztaneta off Sicily.
	1797	HMS Sylph (18) and consorts destroyed gunboats at Sable d'Olonne.
	1799	HMS Pylades (16), Adam Mackenzie, HMS Espiegle (16), J. Boorder and HMS Courier (12), Lt. Thomas Searle, under Cptn. Frank Sotheron, HMS Latona (38), attacked a captured British gun-brig, Crash, in the passage between Schiermonikoog and the coast of Holland HMS Courier started the action but Crash would not surrender until the two sloops came up.
	1801	HMS Lowestoffe (32), Cptn. Robert Plamplin, while working through the windward (Caycos) passage, escorting a convoy, was wrecked during the early hours of the morning on the Great Heneaga (Inagua). The loss was due to a sudden change of current after dark.
	1808	HMS Comet (10) captured Sylphe. Boats of British squadron under Rear Ad. Sir R. Keats captured the Danish brig Fama (18), Lt. Otto F. Rasch, and the royal yacht Søeormen (12), Sub Lt. Tøger Rosenørn, off Nyborg inlet, Baltic.
	1812	USS Constitution (44), Cptn. Isaac Hull, captures and destroys brig Lady Warren Boats of HMS Menelaus (38), Cptn. Peter Parker, at Port St. Stefano captured a brig and destroyed other vessels over 3 days.
12 August	1778	HMS Somerset (64) wrecked off Cape Cod.
	1780	HMS Bienfaisant (64), Cptn. John Macbride, took Count d'Artois off the Old Head of Kinsale.
	1798	HMS Hazard (16), William Butterfield, captured Neptune (10) from the Isle de France bound for Brest.
	1804	Boats of HMS Galatea (32), Cptn. Henry Heathcote, failed to cut out French privateer General Ernouf (late Lily) lying at the Saintes near Guadeloupe.
	1809	HMS Monkey (12), Lt. Thomas Fitzgerald, and HMS Lynx (16), John Willoughby Marshall, captured three Danish luggers off Dais Head near Rostock.
	1812	USS Constitution (44), Cptn. Isaac Hull, captures and destroys brig Adeona Battery carried at Benidorm by party from HMS Minstrel (18), John Strutt Peyton
	1814	Boats of HMS Cherwell and HMS Netley took Somers and Ohio.
13 August	1704	Battle of Malaga. An Anglo-Dutch fleet under Sir George Rooke, flying his flag in HMS Royal Katherine (84), fought an inconclusive action with a Franco-Spanish fleet under the Comte de Toulouse, in Foudrayant (104).
	1759	HMS Crescent (32) took Berkeley.
	1762	Havana capitulated to British.
	1777	American explosive device made by David Bushnell attatched to the 'Turtle' was used to attack HMS Cerberus (28), Cptn. J. Symons, at anchor off New London, CT. It actually blew up a schooner astern of the frigate, and killed several men on board. This was the first vessel ever destroyed in such a manner.
	1761	HMS Bellona (74), Cptn. Robert Faulkner, took Courageux (74), Dugne de L'Ambert
	1805	Boats of HMS Swift (16), John Wright, take guarda costa schooner Caridad Perfecta (12) at Truxillo.
	1810	Isle de la Passe (off Grand Port, Mauritius) surrendered to British.
	1811	HMS Temeraire (98), Cptn. Joseph Spear, and HMS Caledonia (20), Cptn. Francis William Austen, engaged a battery on the Cap des Medes at the N. E. end of the island of Porquerolles, near Toulon.
	1812	HMS Alert (16), Thomas Lamb Laugharne, captured by USS Essex (46), Cptn. Porter.
	1846	Joint expedition led by Cdr. Robert Stockton seizes Los Angeles, CA
14 August	1799	HMS Fox (32), Cptn. Henry Stuart, HMS Daedalus (32), Cptn. Henry Lidgbird Ball, and boats destroyed Kosseir.
	1806	HMS Phosphorus Fireship (4), Lt. W. J. Hughes, beat off a French privateer lugger (12) off the Isle of Wight.
	1809	Boats of HMS Otter (18), Nisbet Josiah Willoughby, captured two vessels in the Indian Ocean.
	1812	HMS Chubb Schooner(4), Lt. Samuel Nisbett, foundered near Halifax.
	1813	HMS Pelican (18), John Fordyce Maples, captures USS Argus (20), William Henry Allen, off St. David's Head, Ireland.
	1814	HMS Nancy (3) burnt in Nottawasaga river to avoid capture by Americans
15 August	1758	Commodore Howe destroyed Cherbourg.
	1778	HMS Orpheus (32) abandoned and burnt of Rhode Island.
	1779	French and Spanish fleets off Plymouth.
	1797	HMS Alexandrian Schooner (6), Lt. William Wood Senhouse, captured French privateer schooner Coq (6) off Martinique.
	1807	HMS Comus (22), Cptn. Edmund Heywood, captured Danish frigate Fredrickswoern, (30) off Marstrand in Sweden
	1815	HMS Dominica Schooner (14), Lt. Richard Crawford, wrecked off Bermuda.
16 August	1742	HMS Gloucester (50) burnt near Ladrones to avoid capture by Spanish.
	1778	HMS Isis (50) engaged Cesar Engagement between British squadron under Sir Edward Vernon and a French squadron under M.Tranjolly off Pondicherry, Coromandel coast.
	1779	HMS Ardent (64), Cptn. Phillip Boteler, captured by Franco-Spanish fleet in the Channel.
	1805	HMS Raisonable (64) engaged Topaze (40)
	1808	HMS Sybille (44), Cptn. Clotworthy Upton, captured Espiegle (16), Cptn. Maujouan.
	1812	USS Constitution (44), Cptn. Isaac Hull, recaptures American merchant brig Adeline.
	1850	The Danish paddle steamer Hekla, Cdr. Edouard Suensson, of the blockade force outside Kiel, fights the Schleswig-Holstein steamship Løwe and 4 gunboats in the Kiel inlet. 1 gun boat is set on fire.
17 August	1695	Bombardment of Calais by British.
	1781	George III. visited the fleet at the Nore.
	1796	Dutch fleet under Ad. Engelburtus Lucas surrendered to British squadron under Ad. Sir George Keith Elphinstone at Saldanha Bay, South Africa.
	1803	HMS Racoon (16), Austin Bissell, destroyed Mutine off St.Jago.
	1804	HMS Loire (40), Cptn. Frederick Maitland, captured privateer frigate Blonde (30) off Bordeaux after a chase of 36 hours.
	1810	Porte du Diable stormed and carried by British.
	1812	USS President (44), Commodore John Rodgers, captures British schooner L'Adeline in North Atlantic
18 August	1759	Battle of Lagos. British fleet under Admiral Edward Boscawen defeated French Mediterranean fleet under De la Clue off Lagos, Portugal
	1762	HMS Rainbow (44), Cptn. Mark Robinson, took Hancock.
	1789	Royal Visit to Plymouth Sound.
	1798	HMS Leander (50), Cptn. Thomas Boulden Thompson, captured by Genereaux (74) Cptn. Lejoille.
	1806	Boats of HMS Galatea (32), Cptn. Murray Maxwell, pursued a Spanish privateer schooner for some miles up a river on the Spanish Main near Porto Cavallo. They took the vessel and blew her up.
	1807	First day of Admiral Gambier's light squadron engagement in Copenhagen Roads. Boats of HMS Confiance (18), Cptn. James Lucas Yeo, cut out privateer Reitrada from the port of Guardia, Portugal
	1808	HMS Rook captured by two French privateers.
	1811	HMS Hawke (16), Cptn. Henry Bourchior, engaged a French convoy and escorts. They took four vessels laden with stores, brig Heron and three transports, No 710, Concord and L'Amiable Amie, in the Channel off St. Marcou.
	1812	HMS Attack (14), Lt. Richard Simmonds, sunk by 14 Danish gun-boats , under Lieutenant Jørgen C. de Falsen, off Foreness
	1813	Capture of Cassis by HMS Undaunted (38), Cptn. Thomas Ussher, squadron, and boats.
19 August	1702	Start of 6 day engagement between a British squadron under Vice Ad. John Benbow and a French squadron under Jean du Casse along the coast of Colombia, off Santa Marta. Benbow vigorously attacked the French squadron, but the refusal of most of his captains to support the action allowed du Casse to escape. Two of the captains, Richard Kirby, HMS Defiance (64), and Cooper Wade, HMS Greenwich (54), were convicted of cowardice and shot.
	1793	Toulon declares for the Royalist cause and men from the British fleet under Lord Hood occupy the defences.
	1799	Surinam taken by British.
	1801	HMS Sybille (44), Cptn. Chas. Adam, captured French national frigate Chiffone, in Mahe Road.
	1812	USS Constitution (44), Cptn. Isaac Hull, defeated HMS Guerrière (38), Cptn. James Richard Dacres, about 600 miles S. E. of Halifax. She was too badly damaged to take in so, as soon as the wounded had been taken out, she was set on fire by her captors.
20 August	1799	HMS Clyde (38), Cptn. Charles Cunningham, captured the French frigate Vestale in the mouth of the Garonne.
	1800	Start of a 6 day engagement in which HMS Seine (48), Cptn. David Milne, captured Vengeance (24), Cptn. Pitot, off the Mona Passage.
	1801	The boats of HMS Hound (14) and HMS Mallard (12) set fire to a vessel loaded with pitch and tar which had been wrecked near Etaples. Six flat boats came out of St. Valery and were forced ashore.
	1810	HMS Nereide (38), Cptn. Nesbit J. Willoughby, engaged French frigates La Bellone and La Minerve, sloop Le Victor and 2 prizes, Windham and Ceylon off Isle de la Passe, Mauritius.
21 August	1781	HMS Minorca (18), Lt. Lawson, scuttled to block the entrance to the harbour at Port Mahon.
	1797	HMS Penguin (16) captured two French brigs.
	1801	British cutting-out operations at Corunna. Boats of HMS Boadicea (38), Cptn. Charles Rowley, HMS Fisgard (44), Capt. T. Byam Martin, and HMS Diamond (38), Cptn. Griffith, attacked enemy vessels in Corunna harbour and brought out Neptuno (20) a gunboat (1) and a merchant ship. British cutting-out operations at Etaples. Boats of HMS Hound and HMS Mallard (12) set fire to a vessel loaded with pitch and tar which had been wrecked near Etaples some time previously. Six flat boats then came out of St. Valery and they forced them ashore. where they lay hauled up on the beach. Boats of HMS Jamaica (26), Cptn. Jonas Rose, HMS Gannet (16), Isaac Cotgrave, HMS Hound (14), HMS Tigress (12), W. Aldus, and HMS Mallard (12) cut out 3 flat boats also near Etaples.
	1810	Boats of HMS Sirius (36), Capt. Samuel Pym, cut out a French prize, the Windham, a British East Indiaman.
	1813	HMS Laurestinus (24) wrecked North end of the Island of Abaco, Halifax.
22 August	1779	HMS Resolution and HMS Discovery arrive in Britain after Cptn. Cook's 3rd voyage of discovery.
	1794	HMS Flora (36), Cptn. Sir John B. Warren, and HMS Arethusa (38), Cptn. Sir Edward Pellew, drove the French frigate Felicite (40), and the corvettes Espion (18) and Alerte (18) ashore near the Penmark Rocks.
	1795	Engagement of British light squadron under Cptn. James Alms with Dutch squadron in the North Sea, off the coast of Norway. HMS Stag (32), Cptn. Joshua Sydney Yorke, took Alliance (36) but her consorts, Argo (36) and Nelly (16), escaped after a running fight with the rest of the squadron.
	1796	HMS Galatea (32), Cptn. Richard G. Keats, drove the frigate L'Andromaque (48), (mounting 40) on shore near Arcasson, where she was completely destroyed by HMS Sylph (18) on the 23rd.
	1798	HMS Naiad (38), Cptn. Pierrepont, and HMS Magnanime (44), Cptn. Michael de Courcy, captured the French frigate Decade off Cape Finisterre.
23 August	1798	Etrusco, Store-ship, (26) foundered in the West Indies.
	1806	HMS Anson (64) and HMS Arethusa (38), Cptn. Charles Brisbane, captured the Spanish frigate Pomona (38) and destroyed 12 gunboats near Moro Castle, Havana.
	1813	HMS Colibri Sloop (16), John Thomson, wrecked in crossing the bar of Port Royal, Jamaica.
	1839	Capture of Hong-Kong by British
	1864	R.Adm. David Farragut's squadron captures Fort Morgan at Mobile Bay winning control of Mobile Bay
24 August	1789	The First Battle of Svensksund. Swedish fleet of 12 Archipelago frigates, 5 Galleys, 20 Gun yawls, 4 Gun prams, 4 Bomb vessels and Auxiliaries under Carl August Ehrensvärd, and Carl Olof Cronstedt defeated by Russian fleet of 24 Larger ships, 3 Bomb vessels, 47 Galleys, 30 Gun yawls, 3 Cutters and Auxiliaries under Charles Henry of Nassau-Siegen, Ivan Balle and Count Giulio Litta.
	1794	HMS Impétueux (74), caught fire and blown up, in Portsmouth harbour.
	1800	HMS Success (32), Cptn. Shuldham Peard, captured Diane.
	1805	HMS Phaeton (38) Cptn. George Cockburn, and HMS Harrier (18), Edward Ratsey, engaged Semillante and shore batteries in the St. Bernadino Strait between Luzon and Samar in the Philippines.
	1807	HMS Weazle (18), John Clavell, captured four vessels and destroyed three.
	1811	HMS Diane and HMS Semiramis cut out the French gun-brig Teaser in the mouth of the river Gironde, and brig le Pluvier taken, with eight vessels, at the same time, by the boats of the Diane and Semiramis.
	1814	British invasion of Maryland and Washington, D.C.; Washington Navy Yard and ships burned to prevent capture by the British
25 August	1768	HMS Endeavour, Lt. James Cook, sailed from Plymouth.
	1778	Sartine (32) taken by HMS Seahorse (24) and HMS Coventry (28). HMS Otter (14) wrecked off Florida coast.
	1795	HMS Spider (16) captured a brig.
	1796	HMS Raison engaged Vengeance.
	1800	British fleet of about 100 vessels and 15,000 men, including HMS Impetueux (74), Cpt. Sir Edward Pellew, landed some 10,000 troops on the beach of Doniños near Ferrol to take the Castle of San Felipe. They were successful but withdrew the next morning after a counter-attack.
	1803	HMS Seagull (16), Henry Burke, defeated East Indiaman Lord Nelson (late British) which was then boarded by boats of HMS Colossus (74).
	1804	HMS Immortalite (42), Cptn. Edward William Campbell Owen, and HMS Cruizer (18), John Hancock, engaged 146 armed vessels off Boulogne.
	1807	Boats of HMS Clyde (38) cut out a sloop at Ypont.
	1813	7 gunboats from Brunsbüttel and Glückstadt, under Lt. Johan Hedemann, engages 11 British gunboats on the Elbe.
	1843	Steam frigate USS Missouri arrives at Gibralter completing first Trans-Atlantic crossing by U.S. steam powered ship.
26 August	1645	Battle of Plymouth. Dutch convoy under Vice-Commodore Michiel de Ruyter beat off an attack by General-at-Sea George Ayscue of the Commonwealth of England.
	1711	HMS Greyhound (40) wrecked in Tynemouth.
	1768	HMS Endeavour, Lt. James Cook, sailed from Plymouth with Joseph Banks expedition
	1775	Rhode Island Resolve: Rhode Island delegates to Continental Congress press for creation of Continental Navy to protect the colonies
	1799	HMS Tamar (38), Cptn. Thomas Western, captured the French corvette Republicaine (32), Capt. Le Bozee.
	1804	HMS Immortalite (42), Cptn. Edward William Campbell Owen, HMS Harpy (18), sloop, Edmund Heywood, HMS Adder (12), gunbrig, Lt. George Wood, and HMS Constitution, cutter, James Samuel Denis, engaged more than 90 brigs and luggers off Boulogne. HMS Constitution was sunk by a shell off Cap Gris Nez .
	1808	HMS Implacable (74), Cptn. Thomas Byam Martin, and HMS Centaur (74), Cptn. W. H. Webley, captured Russian Vsevelod (74), Cptn. Roodneff, which was subsequently set on fire as it had run too firmly aground.
	1810	French frigate squadron of Bellone, Minerve, Victor and captured Indiaman Ceylon, defeated a British squadron at Vieux Grand Port, Mauritius. HMS Nereide (38), Cptn. Nesbit J. Willoughby, and HMS Iphegenia (36), Cptn. Henry Lambert, struck. HMS Sirius (36), Cptn. Samuel Pym, and HMS Magicienne (32), Cptn. Lucius Curtis, were both burnt to prevent them falling into enemy hands after grounding. HMS Lively (38), Cptn. George M'Kinley, wrecked Point of Salina, South-east of Bay of St. Paul's, Malta.
	1839	Brig Washington seizes Spanish slaver, Amistad near Montauk Point, NY
	1861	Union amphibious force lands near Hatteras, NC
	1865	American Civil War ends with Naval strength over 58,500 men and 600 ships
27 August	1797	HMS Jason and HMS Triton (32), Cptn. John Gore, captured part of a French convoy.
	1807	A Danish gunboat flotilla, under Lt. Christian Wulff, attacks a British battery at Gl. Pesthus on Kallebodstrand
	1816	Bombardment of Algiers by a British Squadron, under Lord Exmouth, and a small Dutch squadron, under Vice-Admiral van Capellen, which destroyed 33 ships in the harbor.
	1826	HMS Magpie Schooner (5) wrecked Colorados Roads, Island of Cuba.
28 August	1652	Dutch under admiral Van Gelen defeat English under Admiral Richard Badiley at the Battle of Elba.
	1796	HMS Topaze (38), Cptn. S. G. Church, captured Elizabeth.
	1797	HMS Pomone (44), Cptn. R. C. Reynolds, destroyed Petit Dia'le.
	1799	HMS Contest Gun-boat, Lt. John Ides Short, driven on shore in the Helder.
	1809	Battery at Cortelazzo, at the mouth of the Piave river between Venice and Trieste, carried by boats of HMS Amphion (32), Cptn. William Hoste. Six Venetian gunboats Surveillante, Vedette, and Nos. 64, 76, 77 and 78 with two trabaccolos, moored under the battery were brought out and five other trabaccolos were burnt in the river.
	1867	Captain William Reynolds of USS Lackawanna raises U.S. flag over Midway Island and took formal possession of these islands for the U.S.
29 August	1583	HMS Delight ran aground off Sable Island.
	1707	HMS Wincheley (26), Cptn. William Jone,s foundered in a hurricane.
	1779	HMS Boreas (28), Cptn. Charles Thompson, took Compass (en flute).
	1782	HMS Royal George (100), Cptn. Waghorn, while heeled at Spithead off Portsmouth to repair the coppering with the lower deck guns run out, was struck by a sudden and violent squall which threw her over so much that water rushed in the open ports. She filled and sank killing Rear-Admiral Richard Kempenfelt and about 900 crew.
	1791	HMS Pandora (24), Cptn. Edward Edwards, with 14 Bounty mutineers, wrecked on Great Barrier Reef.
	1800	Twenty boats Sir John Warren's squadron cut out Fench privateer Guepe (18) from under the batteries in Vigo Bay.
	1810	HMS Queen Charlotte cutter (8), Joseph Thomas, repulsed a French cutter, former British revenue cutter Swan (16), off Alderney.
	1811	Start of 3 day campaign by HMS Sir Francis Drake (38), Cptn. George Harris, HMS Phaeton (38), Cptn. Fleetwood Broughton Pellew, and HMS Dasher (18) which captures Madura.
	1814	HMS Peacock (18), William Mends, foundered off South Carolina
	1861	U.S. squadron captures forts at Hatteras Inlet, NC
	1862	Union gunboat Pittsburgh supports Army troops in landing at Eunice, Arkansas
30 August	1707	HMS Childs Play (24), Cdr. George Doiley, foundered in a hurricane off St. Christopher's
	1806	Boats of HMS Bacchante (22), Cptn. James R. Dacres, cut out a brig and two feluccas, San Antonio letter of marque and Spanish privateer Deseado, at Santa-Martha. HMS Pike (4), Lt. Macdonald, captured a guarda-costa.
	1814	Party from HMS Menelaus (38), Cptn. Peter Parker (Killed in Action), engaged ashore in Chesapeake Bay.
31 August	1591	First day of the Battle of Flores in the Anglo-Spanish War. The galleon Revenge, commanded by Admiral Sir Richard Grenville,fought a rear guard action against 53 Spanish ships allowing the British fleet to retire to safety. The crew of the Revenge sank and damaged several Spanish ships and they were boarded many times by different Spanish ships repelling each attack successfully. When Grenville was badly wounded, his surviving crew surrendered. Lord Alfred Tennyson wrote a poem about the battle entitled The Revenge: a Ballad of the Fleet.
	1803	HMS Boadicea (38), Cptn. John Maitland, engaged French Duguay-Trouin (74) and Guerriere (38).
	1810	HMS Repulse (74), Cptn. John Halliday, and HMS Philomel (18), Gardener Henry Guion, repulsed 3 French frigates off Toulon.
	1807	HMS Psyche (36), Cptn. Fleetwood Broughton Pellew, and boats at Samarang.
	1809	HMS Foxhound Sloop (18) foundered in the Atlantic on her return from Halifax.
July : September

*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.

Historic Naval Fiction

The Home of Naval Fiction Set in the Age of Sail

This Day in Naval History - August