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HMS San Josef (1797)

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Builder's Old Measurement ( BOM , bm , OM , and o.m. ) is the method used in England from approximately 1650 to 1849 for calculating the cargo capacity of a ship . It is a volumetric measurement of cubic capacity. It estimated the tonnage of a ship based on length and maximum beam . It is expressed in "tons burden " ( Early Modern English : burthen , Middle English : byrthen ), and abbreviated "tons bm".

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27-752: HMS San Josef was a 114-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy . Originally built at Ferrol in Galicia for the Spanish Navy in 1782–83, she was captured from the Spanish Navy at the Battle of Cape St Vincent on 14 February 1797 (when she was still named in Spanish San José ). In 1809 she served as the flagship of Admiral John Thomas Duckworth . The San José was among

54-518: A first rate was the designation for the largest ships of the line . Originating in the Jacobean era with the designation of Ships Royal capable of carrying at least 400 men, the size and establishment of first-rates evolved over the following 250 years to eventually denote ships of the line carrying at least 80 guns across three gundecks. By the end of the eighteenth century, a first-rate carried no fewer than 100 guns and more than 850 crew, and had

81-642: A 'stepping stone' to capture another was afterwards known in the Royal Navy as "Nelson's patent bridge for boarding first rates". From 1839 San Josef was used as a gunnery training ship. From 10 August 1841 she was commanded by Captain Joseph Needham Tayler , serving as a guard ship at Devonport (established gunnery school). Other captains who served in her include: Captain Frederick William Burgoyne, while serving as

108-677: A consequence the first-rates were restricted to summer cruising, and then only in the English Channel and nearby waters. By the mid-1700s, however, improved design had removed these limitations. Ships of this size were extremely expensive to operate. As a result, the few first rates (the Royal Navy had only five completed in 1794) were typically reserved as commanding admirals ' flagships . First rates were typically kept out of commission (" in Ordinary ") during peacetime and only activated ("commissioned") during times of conflict. This had

135-643: A measurement ( burthen ) tonnage of some 2,000 tons. The concept of a rating system for British naval vessels dates to the accession of James I of England , following which the fleet was formally divided into "great", "middling" and "lesser" craft. A 1618 commission of enquiry added a further designation of "Ships Royal" for the largest and most prestigious vessels in the fleet, each capable of carrying at least 400 men. The first Ships Royal – Elizabeth Jonas , Triumph , White Bear , Merhonour , Ark Royal and Victory – were all converted galleons and included three very old vessels that had fought against

162-440: A method assuming that a ship's burden would be 3/5 of its displacement. Since tonnage is calculated by multiplying length × beam × draft × block coefficient , all divided by 35 ft per ton of seawater, the resulting formula would be: where: Or by solving : In 1694 a new British law required that tonnage for tax purposes be calculated according to a similar formula: This formula remained in effect until

189-420: A reduced complement of guns.) Towards the close of the century, ships were built with more than 100 guns, and they too were classed as first rates. In addition to the rated number of carriage-mounted guns (which included the heaviest calibre available mounted on their lower decks, with smaller guns on the decks above), first rates also carried a number of anti-personnel guns, initially swivel-mounted weapons. From

216-479: A weight known today as a long ton or imperial ton. In order to estimate the capacity of a ship in terms of 'tun' for tax purposes, an early formula used in England was: where: The numerator yields the ship's volume expressed in cubic feet. If a "tun" is deemed to be equivalent to 100 cubic feet, then the tonnage is simply the number of such 100 cubic feet 'tun' units of volume. In 1678 Thames shipbuilders used

243-780: Is in the form of part of a wooden gun carriage; called a Quoin. This quoin can be found among the Valhalla figurehead collection in Tresco Abbey Gardens in the Isles of Scilly. Another is a carved Triumph of Arms from the stern rail sold at Bonhams in London in October 2014. Parts of the ship were used in the re-building of St Nicholas' Church, West Looe in 1852. San Josef Mountain on the South Coast of British Columbia, on

270-485: Is then divided by 100 cubic feet of capacity per gross ton, resulting in a tonnage expressed in tons. King Edward I levied the first tax on the hire of ships in England in 1303 based on tons burthen. Later, King Edward III levied a tax of 3 shillings on each " tun " of imported wine, roughly equivalent to £150 in 2023. At that time a "tun" was a wine container of 252 wine gallons , approx 210 imp gal (955 L) weighing about 2,240 lb (1,020 kg),

297-485: The Spanish Armada in 1588. 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 Navy's rating system was later 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. By

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324-592: The War of 1812 , survives intact in shallow water near shore in Kingston, Ontario , and is a popular diving attraction. Two other noted first rates were HMS  Royal Sovereign , which was broken up in 1841, and HMS  Britannia , which was broken up in 1825. Both these ships had 100 guns. Later first rates such as HMS  Caledonia and its several sisters had 120 guns. Other navies, notably those of France and Spain, also had similar ships with more than 100 guns,

351-489: The 250 years (approximately) that the rating system of the Royal Navy was used, only a relatively small number of these ships saw service. Only one first rate has survived to the present. HMS  Victory , Admiral Nelson 's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar, is preserved at HMNB Portsmouth and is in commission. The hull of the 102-gun HMS  St Lawrence , which was built and operated entirely in fresh water during

378-574: The British divided by 94, whereas the Americans divided by 95. The upshot was that American calculations gave a lower number than the British ones. The British measure yields values about 6% greater than the American. For instance, when the British measured the captured USS  President , their calculations gave her a burthen of 1533 7 ⁄ 94 tons, whereas the American calculations gave

405-458: The Builder's Old Measurement rule (above) was put into use in 1720, and then mandated by Act of Parliament in 1773. The British took the length measurement from the outside of the stem to the outside of the sternpost, whereas the Americans measured from inside the posts. The British measured breadth from outside the planks, whereas the Americans measured the breadth from inside the planks. Lastly,

432-848: The Spanish fleet during the battle, during which HMS Captain , under the command of Captain Horatio Nelson came out of the line to attack the San Nicolás . After exchanging fire, Nelson led his forces aboard the San Nicolás . While the English were fighting their way aboard the San José continued to fire upon the Captain and the San Nicolás . The San José then fell upon the San Nicolás and their rigging became tangled. Trapped,

459-404: The added advantage of preserving them from the wear and tear that smaller ships experienced in spending long periods at sea. Spending time in Ordinary could considerably extend a first rate's lifespan; for instance, by the time she fought in the Battle of Trafalgar , HMS  Victory had been in service for 40 years, although a portion of this time was spent in Ordinary. With first rates being

486-554: The advent of steam propulsion. Steamships required a different method of estimating tonnage, because the ratio of length to beam was larger and a significant volume of internal space was used for boilers and machinery. In 1849, the Moorsom System was created in the United Kingdom . The Moorsom system calculates the cargo-carrying capacity in cubic feet, another method of volumetric measurement. The capacity in cubic feet

513-762: The flagship of Samuel Pym , Plymouth; Captain Henry John Leeke ; and Captain Thomas Maitland , as the flagship of Admiral William Hall Gage , Devonport. She was broken up a Devonport in May 1849. Her figurehead was preserved, and for many years adorned a building (which served for a time as a sailmaking loft) in the Royal Victoria Victualling Yard , Deptford. Some small pieces of the San Josef still survive to this day. One

540-517: The invention of the slide-mounted carronade in the later 1770s, first rates (like other warships), could mount a number of these weapons on their quarterdecks and forecastles to augment their short-range firepower, but they were not included in the ship's rating until 1817 except where they replaced carriage-mounted guns. Although very powerful, the Navy's first-rates were of limited utility at sea. For stability their lowest gundeck had to be very close to

567-399: 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 become accepted that 100 guns was the standard criterion for a first rate in wartime (while 90 guns, later 98 guns, became the standard wartime ordnance for a second rate ). (In peacetime, all ships of the line carried

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594-501: The men from the San José continued to fire on the British boarding parties with muskets and pistols. Nelson then took his men from the decks of the San Nicolás aboard the San José , forcing the Spanish to surrender, with their Admiral badly injured. The San José and the San Nicolás , both captured by Nelson, were two of the four ships captured during the battle. After their capture they were renamed HMS San Josef and HMS San Nicolas respectively. The feat of using one enemy vessel as

621-459: The mid-18th century ships suitable for the line of battle were first-rate ships carrying at least 100 guns, second-rate ships carrying 84 to 98 guns, and larger third-rate ships carrying 70 to 80 guns. 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

648-515: The most heavily armed being the Santísima Trinidad which, following a rebuilding in 1802, carried 140 guns. The Royal Navy's use of the term "first-rate" to describe its largest and most powerful vessels is the origin of the modern English-language meaning of "exceptionally good" or "of the highest quality." Builder%27s Old Measurement The formula is: where: The Builder's Old Measurement formula remained in effect until

675-512: The most powerful ships of the navy, it was common to compare them with the navies of other nations; frequently one sees the largest ships of those navies being referred to as first rates. Other nations had their own rating systems, notably the French Navy with its system of five formal rates or rangs . Due to their cost of construction and maintenance, only a small number of first rates could be built and maintained at any one time. Thus over

702-531: The south side of Estero Basin on Frederick Arm to the west of the mouth of Bute Inlet , was named in 1864 by Captain Pender for the San Josef , while Departure Bay and Nanaimo Harbour at the city of Nanaimo were originally named (in 1791) the Bocas de Winthuysen after Rear-Admiral Don Francisco Xavier Winthuysen. First-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships ,

729-461: The waterline and its gunports could not be opened in anything but the calmest of seas. To do otherwise was to risk swamping the entire 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. Early first-rates had little storage space to stow provisions for their large crews on long voyages, and the ships themselves routinely proved unseaworthy in winter weather; as

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