Jacob Jones and the Destroyer Named After Him

Today, I posted about the discovery of the shipwreck of the destroyer USS Jacob Jones this past August in my Cooter's History Thing blog.  It was discovered off the coast of England's southwest side.  It was the first U.S. Navy destroyer sunk in enemy action.

It was torpedoed by a German U-boat, the U-53, on 6 December 1917, after the United States had entered World War I.

It was named after Jacob Nicholas Jones who had quite a career in the American Navy that spanned the Quasi-War with France, The First Barbary War, the War of 1812 and the Second Barbary War.

I have written a whole lot about him.  Just click on his name in the labels below.

--Brock-Perry

The Torpedo Act

In the last post, I mentioned the Torpedo Act.  

From the Yale Law School Lillian Goldman Law Library.

An Act to Encourage the Destruction of Armed Vessels of War of the Enemy

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, during  the present war with Great Britain, it shall be lawful for any person or persons, to burn, sink, or destroy, any British armed vessel of war, except vessels coming as cartels or flags of truce; and for that purpose to use torpedoes,  submarine instruments, or any other destructive machine whatever: and a bounty of one half the value  of the armed vessel so burnt, sunk, or destroyed, and also one half the value of her guns, cargo, tackle,  and apparel, shall be paid out of the treasury of the United States to such person or persons who shall effect the same, otherwise than by the armed or commissioned vessels of the  United States.

Approved March 3, 1813

Jacob Lewis & the N.Y. Flotilla-- Part 3: Lewis & Fulton on Torpedoes and Underwater Cannons

Congress  prompted experimentation to develop new weapons and methods of naval combat, passing what was called the Torpedo Act in March.  This granted one half the value of an enemy warship to an individual destroying it.

Robert Fulton and Commodore Jacob Lewis cooperated in developing torpedoes and underwater gunnery.  In the early 19th century, a torpedo was an explosive charge detonated against the side of a target.  Typically, a small vessel rammed the enemy ship below the waterline with a torpedo mounted on a forward spar.

Also, a submarine could attach the torpedo under the target underwater.

Fulton and Lewis demonstrated the potential of an underwater cannon.  They placed a hundred pounder columbiad  with a ten pound powder charge below the surface of the water.  The firing mechanism was dry inside the attacking boat while the muzzle extended into the water.  Upon firing, the cannon could drive a massive ball through three feet of solid oak at a range of six feet.

The British decision not to attack New York City precluded the use of this under actual combat conditions.

--Brock-Perry

Other Ships Named HMS Venturer-- Part 2: A Famous World War II Submarine

There was not another British ship name Venturer until 1943, during World War II (or, as the British call it, the Second World War).

**  HMS  Venturer (P68).  Launched in 1943 and lead submarine of the British "V" Class.  Sank the German submarine U-771 and more famously, the U-864 in what is regarded as the first time that one submarine purposely destroyed another submarine while both were submerged.

The submarine was sold to Norway in 1946, and renamed the HNoMS Ulstein and was scrapped in 1964.

I will write more about this in my Tattooed On My Soul:World War II blog today.

**  HMS Venturer.   Then there were three tenders of the HMS Flying Fox, the Bristol Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Division named HMS Venturer.  The MS Flying Fox was at first an actual ship, a 24-class sloop launched in 1918 and transferred to the British Naval reserve in 1920, but now moved ashore in a building.  The original HMS Flying Fox was scrapped in 1973.

--Brock-Perry

Other Ships Named USS Portsmouth in the U.S. Navy

From Wikipedia.

**  USS Portsmouth (1843)  Sloop of War commissioned in 1844.  Active in the Mexican War and the Civil War.  Decommissioned in 18778, but continued use as a training ship until 1915.  20 guns.  Built at Portsmouth Naval Yard.

**  USS Portsmouth (CL-102), a Cleveland class light cruiser in service 1945 to 1949.  Built at Newport News, Virginia.

**  USS Portsmouth (SSN-707)  A Los Angeles class nuclear attack submarine commissioned in 1983 and decommissioned in 2004.

Built in Groton, Connecticut, but commissioning took place 1 October 1983 at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, in Kittery, Maine, just east of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, her namesake city.

--Brock-Perry