Special points of interest: Chairman’s Dispatch 2 From the Quarterdeck 4 News from Council 5 Forthcoming Events 9 Feature Story contd 15 Ditty Box 32 Collectors’ Corner 36 Book Notes 37 In the Auction Rooms 41 INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Reception for Nile & Copenhagen Captains’ Memorial 5 Council Away-Day 6 HMS Trafalgar Figurehead 7 Victory Medal Weekend 8 The Wyllie Weekend 9 The Emma Exhibition 10 Vis Celebrates Hoste/ Lissa 11 Adm Sir Alexander Ball 12 No.1 Smithery, Chatham 13 NHCS & Robt. Abrahams 17 St.Kitts/Nevis Travel Guide 15 HMS Solebay At Nevis 26 HMS Victory in the News 29 Brennan Carves Victory 30 NHS Launches Shipshape Network 32 HMS Colossus Revisited 34 NMM Ofer Wing Report 34 HMS Somerset Resurfaces 36 A Nelson’s Flintlock 38 THE KEDGE ANCHOR NEWSLETTER OF THE 1805 CLUB Issue No. 30 March 2011 The KEDGE ANCHOR is the newsletter of The 1805 Club. It is published three times a year (in March, July and November) and is distributed free to members. For information about the newsletter contact the North American editors: Randy and Dana Mafit at 1980 Sunrise Blvd., Eugene, Oregon 97405, USA, phone +1 541343-1894, email: randym1805@aol.com ; or the UK editor Ken Flemming, 15 Southlands Drive, Leyland, Preston Lancs PR26 7SJ, UK , phone +44 (0)1772 433970, email: kenflemming@sky.com. UK Edition DESTINATION— ST. KITTS & NEVIS Nelson, Nesbit and Nevis By Captain Peter Hore The island of Nevis in the West Indies is important to any narrative of Nelson because it is where he married, and where, by his sycophancy towards the Duke of Clarence (later William IV), and his enthusiastic application of the Navigation Acts he nearly ended his career. His actions in the West Indies while in command of the frigate Boreas also account for why Nelson fretted ashore in Norfolk for five years afterwards when he might have been on active service. Nevis was settled by the English and Scots in 1628: by the late 18th century the population was some 2000 whites and 8000 slaves, and a few hundred freed slaves. Today Nevis struggles to make its living out of tourism, but two hundred years ago the sugar islands were economically more valuable to the British Empire than the thirteen rebellious colonies of North America. The centre of every West Indian sugar plantation was the so-called great house, where the owner or his agent lived with his family, often closely surrounded by the machinery, mills and chimneys of a sugar refinery. Most great houses were built on ridges or high round where they could enjoy cooling breezes, but in 1778 the great house of the Nisbet plantation was completed on gently sloping ground on the north east corner of Nevis, where the prevailing winds sweeping off the Atlantic made life in the subtropical heat tolerable. It was one of the later plantations to be cleared, perhaps indicating that it was some of the poorer land. Typically of great houses, Nisbet had a - continued on page 15 - Top: Beach at the Nesbit Plantation, Nevis Middle: St. John’s Figtree Church, Nevis Photo by Captain Peter Hore Botton: Nelson Museum, Charlestown, Nevis Photo by Dana Mafit
THE CHAIRMAN’S DISPATCH! “Remember Nelson” The enemy standing before him had the weather gauge and was, for once, ready to fight. He could see them two miles distant preparing to bear down on his short line, which was sailing eastwards and dangerously close to the lee shore. The enemy approach was at right angles and in two distinct divisions. Six frigates opposed his four. This was Trafalgar in miniature, except that the enemy was dictating the tactics. He may have been out-gunned, but his squadron was not out-classed. Cleared for action his frigates beat to quarters. Their port lids were open, and the guns, loaded with double shot, were run out. His patient and well-trained gun crews were steadfast. He felt exalted and was keen to express his confidence and excitement to all those under his command. He needed an inspirational signal. Instinctively his mind found two words: ’Remember Nelson’. They did the trick. His name was William Hoste and the Battle of Lissa in the Adriatic was about to begin. The Royal Navy contested French dominance of the Adriatic from the small island of Lissa and on 14 March 1811 Rear Admiral Edouard Dubordieu and Captain William Hoste fought their fierce little frigate action, supported on the French side by their Venetian allies and some smaller ships. In spite of being out-gunned and outnumbered Hoste, a protégée of Nelson, won a brilliant victory and we commemorate the 200th anniversary of his achievement within a few weeks of this issue of the Kedge Anchor. The Battle of Lissa, and a subsequent engagement off the same island in November of the same year, underlines how the naval struggle between France and Britain continued long after Trafalgar, how sea power was the key to Napoleon’s ultimate defeat in 1815, and how the habit of victory, infused with the spirit of Nelson, was to crown the last decade of this Golden Age of the Royal Navy, 1740-1815. Hoste’s career serves to remind us of the enduring influence of the example and success of the captains and admirals of the second half of the eighteenth century and how their leadership enhanced the style and spirit of the Royal Navy, and captured the imagination and support of the general public. The nature of their leadership is attracting an increasing amount of interest. It was also something that fascinated our former chairman and vice-president, the late Dr Colin White. He saw naval leadership as his next field of study. Therefore, in searching carefully for an appropriate memorial to Colin, The 1805 Club with the Society for Nautical Research, Centro Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), and National Museum of the Royal Navy (Royal Naval Museum) have partnered to launch a three-year leadership project at the heart of which will be three conferences, each featuring a Colin White Memorial Lecture. It is hoped the first conference on ‘naval leadership in the Atlantic world’ will be held in Portsmouth this November, followed in subsequent years by conferences in Madrid and the United States. The Madrid conference in 2012 will complement the commemorations for the Peninsular War, during which the Royal Navy made a crucial contribution, and the conference in the United States in 1813 will tie in with The War of 1812, when a new naval power emerged on the world stage and some of the fiercest single-ship duels ever seen took place. Naval battles, like Lissa, and the quality of leadership at sea during these wars remind us of the importance of sea power to our island. Notwithstanding stunning advances in technology during the last two hundred years, this is as true today as it was at the end of the Golden Age. It therefore comes as a bitter disappointment that the latest, savage, yet so called ‘strategic’ defence review has failed to recognize this fundamental truth. Today, the essential importance and relevance of the Royal Navy needs all the support it can muster, and while the Club’s conservation and research work goes unnoticed by the vast majority of people, its relevance is brought into sharper focus by this palpable need to ‘get the message across’. Lissa, like The War of 1812, draws our attention to the frigate, fast and agile warships that generally concentrated their firepower on one deck and were famously described by Nelson as the “eyes of his fleet”. And as he wrote in 1798, there were never enough of them: “Were I to die at this moment, want of frigates would be stamped on my heart”! We are fortunate in the UK to have two survivals, the Unicorn in Dundee and the HMS Trincomalee at Hartlepool. The latter, with its impressive maritime history centre, is the venue for our joint event with the Society for Nautical Research in August and you will find full details in this issue (see page 8). The historical backdrop of anniversaries was featured in the Council’s discussions during its ‘Away-day’ at the Naval Historical Branch in February (and is reported on elsewhere in this issue). This was the third time
the Council had arranged to spend time deliberating Club strategy as opposed to day-to-day matters. Our President, Admiral Sir Jonathon Band GCB DL, joined us for the morning and explained how the Club was a respected part of the ‘naval heritage family’. It was a very worthwhile session which is helping us to chart the future course of the Club. Three important challenges emerged: Project themes and activity, our educational programme, and the scope and need for more resources, including fundraising. I will write about each of these in more detail in future dispatches. Meanwhile, with the focus on projects and fundraising we look forward to the official launch of The Nile and Copenhagen Captains’ Memorial at The Mayor’s Parlour, Kensington Town Hall on 17 March 2011. Many members cannot make the reception but your generosity is already recognized by the donations you have made in lieu of attending. These already surpass £1,000, equivalent to over 30 guests being at the event, thanks to the underlying sponsorship of DBR (London) Ltd. The Club’s twentieth anniversary Aynsley china mugs are also selling well and I encourage you to buy yours now if you haven’t already done so – or another if you have purchased one already! – since it is a strictly limited edition. Also, don’t miss the Club’s Members’ Day, AGM and Cecil Isaacson Memorial Lecture by Tim Voelker at The University of Greenwich on Saturday, 7 May 2011. We’d love to see you. With best wishes to you all, Peter Warwick REMINDER / FINAL NOTICE 2011 MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS DUE Membership subscription renewals for 2011 were due on January 1st. A renewal form was enclosed with the 2010 Trafalgar Chronicle. Your continued membership in the 1805 Club is very important to us—your participation and subscription support a variety of club activities including monument conservation/restoration, the organization and staging of commemorative events, and the publication of the Trafalgar Chronicle, the Kedge Anchor and other publications. We encourage you to renew your membership and hope that you continue to find it worthwhile. Again this year, we are inviting those of you who would like to make an additional contribution to the conservation work of the club (above and beyond your annual subscription) to include it with your dues. If you wish to donate for this purpose you should tick the appropriate box on the renewal form. You may designate any amount and your donation will be duly recorded. It may be listed on a conservation project in the future, unless you would prefer anonymity. The annual subscription is £35.00, with cheques made payable to “The 1805 Club.” For North American and Carribbean members the annual subscription is $70.00US (if paid before January 1st). After January 1st members need to send $70.00 + $30.00 conversion/draft fee for a total of $100.00. KA PUBLICATION DATES & DEADLINES The Kedge Anchor (KA), is The 1805 Club’s newsletter for communicating news, announcing events, and providing articles of interest to the club membership. It is published three times a year in March, July and November. Your editors are pleased to accept contributions/submissions from members. If you are interested in submitting news notes or articles you may forward them to the editors by email or post at the addresses listed at the bottom of the front page of each issue. The Kedge Anchor does not sell or provide advertising space. The following is a list of publication dates and deadlines for submission of contributions: Issue Date Deadline for Submissions MARCH February 15th JULY June 15th NOVEMBER October 15th VICE ADMIRAL MASSEY’S 2010 PICKLE NIGHT ADDRESS Readers will find enclosed a reprint of the address presented at the November 2010 New York Pickle Night Dinner by Vice Admiral Sir Alan Massey KCB CBE. Your editors express their great appreciation to Admiral Massey (and by extension, to the American Friends of the Royal Naval Museum who arranged his appearance) for permission to reprint the address ‘exclusively for circulation to members of The 1805 Club.’ Admiral Massey is a former senior officer in the Royal Navy who served as the Second Sea Lord. Educated at the University of Liverpool and Britannia Royal Naval College, he saw service as captain of HMS Illustrious during operations against the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001 and as captain of HMS Ark Royal when he led the amphibious assault into Iraq in 2003. He led the Operations Division of the Permanent Joint Headquarters at Northwood and then went on to be Assistant Chief of Naval Staff. He assumed office as Second Sea Lord in a ceremony aboard HMS Victory in July 2008. After retiring from the Royal Navy he was appointed Chief Executive of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in July 2010.
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