HMS Basilisk was a Bomb Vessel of the Infernal Class, built under contract by Richard Wells at his shipyard at Deptford, at the time within the County of Kent, on the south bank of the River Thames.
The Infernal Class was a group of seven Bomb Vessels designed by Sir Thomas Slade, Co-Surveyor of the Navy, of which three were built in Kent shipyards. Of the other two vessels of the class, HMS Mortar was built in the same shipyard as HMS Basilisk and HMS Thunder was built at the shipyard of John Henniker in Chatham.
A Bomb Vessel was a small vessel designed to carry one or two large calibre mortars. Mortars have been around virtually since the invention of large calibre artillery and the first recorded use of a Bomb Vessel occurred as far back as 1347. The classic Bomb Vessel first appeared in the late 1600's and were designed for the French Navy by Bernard Renau d'Elicigaray. His designs were quickly copied for the Royal Navy and were refined by designs brought over by French Protestant or Huguenot refugees fleeing persecution in France. Until the advent of the Bomb Vessel, naval artillery was pretty much ineffective against fortified positions ashore. The mortars fired a large hollow iron sphere filled with gunpowder and detonated by a fuse, timed to explode on or shortly after impact.
Bomb Vessels were massively built, using timbers of a size usually found in a ship of the line. They were required to be hugely strong in order to absorb the enormous recoil forces of the mortars they carried. An unintended consequence of this strength was that in peacetime, bomb vessels proved to be perfect for polar exploration, being able to better resist the pressure of being trapped in ice. Early Bomb Vessels, including HMS Thunder, were ketch-rigged, or fitted with carried two masts, a main mast in front of a smaller mizzen mast, in order to give a clear field of fire forward for the mortars. The mortars themselves were fixed to fire dead ahead, meaning that the Ketch-Rig was a necessary evil. Square-rigged Ketches like HMS Basilisk were slow, cumbersome and dificult to handle, which is why that arrangement of sails and masts was only used for Bomb-Vessels. Later Bomb Vessels carried their mortars on traversing mounts, which enabled them to be ship-rigged, with three masts and thus easier to handle and more manoeuvrable, although still slow and heavy for a vessel of that size.
Bomb Vessels tended to have dramatic sounding names associated with hellfire and destruction, names which reflected their role. Because of the limited scope for their use, purpose-built Bomb Vessels were very few and far between in the Royal Navy. When large numbers of them were needed in a hurry, the Royal Navy would convert sloops or gun-brigs into Bomb Vessels by fitting them with mortars and the reinforcement needed under the mortar-beds. Once finished with, a sloop or gun-brig would quickly be converted back to her original role as they were structurally unable to withstand prolonged use as a Bomb Vessel.
Because a bomb vessel was unrated, that is, she carried less than the 20 guns required to be rated, she was commanded by an officer with the substantive rank of Lieutenant who was appointed as her Master and Commander. This was abbreviated to Commander, although the formal rank of Commander did not yet exist as it does today. If an officer in the position of Master and Commander proved himself a competent commander, he would be 'posted' or promoted to Captain and appointed to command a rated vessel.
The most famous member of the Infernal class was HMS Carcass, built in Rotherhithe a little further up the River Thames in what was then the County of Surrey, in which a young Mr Midshipman Horatio Nelson served during a voyage of polar exploration. For this voyage, HMS Carcass would have had her mortars and their beds removed and would have been re-rigged with a ship rig ie. three masts, with extra accomodation provided for a larger crew. This conversion was done with all Bomb Vessels which were converted to the polar exploration role in peacetime.
The contracts for the construction of both HMS Basilisk and HMS Mortar were signed on 21st September 1758. At the time, what is now known as the Seven Years War was at it's height. It had started in the summer of 1754 when fighting broke out in the Ohio Territory, now western Pennsylvania, between rival French and British colonists and had escalated to the point where the British had declared war against France on 17th May 1756. The opening battles of the Seven Years War had gone badly for the British. The island of Minorca with the vital naval base at Port Mahon had been lost in June 1756, it had gone badly ashore in America after the French managed to persuade many Native American tribes to fight alongside them and in Europe, the main British ally Austria had allied herself with the French. Things weren't helped by political instability at home. This changed in June 1757 when a coalition was formed between two former political opponents, the Duke of Newcastle and William Pitt the Elder. Once a division of political responsibilities had been agreed between the two men, the Government was able to set a strategic policy which had been lacking before. In 1758, Pitt decided on a strategy to distract the French by attacking them in their overseas possessions. This approach had a number of advantages. Firstly, it would divide the French forces by making them send troops and ships to defend their colonies and trading posts and secondly it would deprive the French of trade and therefore money. A series of so-called 'Descents' or amphibious assaults were launched on the French coast, their trading posts on the west coast of Africa were attacked and taken and plans were laid to take Quebec. Orders were placed in the autumn of 1758 for Bomb Vessels, including HMS Basilisk as part of this overall strategy.
The first keel section of what was to become HMS Basilisk was laid at Deptford on Wednesday 2nd October 1758 and the completed hull was launched into the River Thames with all due ceremony on Saturday 10th February 1759. Immediately after her launch, the vessel was taken to the Royal Dockyard at Deptford and was fitted with her guns, mortars, masts and rigging. Declared complete on the 19th April 1759, HMS Basilisk commissioned into the Channel Fleet under Commander John Clerke. Construction of the hull at Wells' shipyard had cost £3,757.14s.6d while fitting her out cost a further £2,194.11s.2d. On completion, HMS Basilisk was a vessel of 301 tons. She was 91ft 7in long on her main deck, 74ft 4in long at the keel and 27ft 8in wide across the beams. She was armed with one 13in mortar, 1 11in mortar, 8 6pdr long guns on her main deck and 14 half-pound swivel guns attached to her forecastle, quarterdeck and main deck handrails and in her fighting tops. She was manned by a crew of 60 officers, men and boys.
Infernal Class PlansInternal Deck Plans:
Sheer Plan and Lines:
A model of the centre section of a Bomb Vessel c. 1760. In view of the date, this is very likely to be an Infernal Class vessel. Notice the scale of the supports for the mortar bed. Notice also the swivel guns:
A model of the Bomb Vessel HMS Grenado. Launched in 1742, HMS Grenado was somewhat earlier than HMS Thunder, but apart from being slightly smaller, shared the same layout and general appearance. The model shows the mortar beds and her unusual and ungainly-looking ketch rig:
In early 1759, the British became aware of French plans for an invasion of Britain. This was to involve the transport of 100,000 French troops in a huge fleet of barges and flat-bottomed boats across the English Channel. The invasion fleet was to be built in Le Havre, Brest, Morlaix, Lorient and Nantes. Initially, the plans were to involve a Jacobite uprising in Scotland under Charles Stewart, the so-called Bonnie Prince Charlie, but this part of the plan was cancelled after the Young Pretender turned up to a meeting with the French military High Command late and drunk. Nevertheless, plans for the invasion continued to evolve such that by the summer of 1759, it had been decided that the invasion would be launched from Le Havre alone and that the hundreds of invasion craft should gather there to await favourable winds, to carry them to the Portsmouth area where they were to land. The British laid their own plans to counter the invasion threat. Admiral Sir Edward Hawke, commanding the Royal Navy's Channel Fleet was to mount a close blockade of the main French naval base at Brest to prevent them from being able to escort the invasion force across the English Channel, while troops were stationed on the Isle of Wight and shore batteries thrown up near likely landing sites. In the early summer, intelligence reached London that the French intended to try to send the fleet unescorted.
In late June 1759, Rear-Admiral Sir George Brydges Rodney was ordered to take a squadron of five ships of the line, five frigates, a sloop of war and six Bomb Vessels to Le Havre and destroy the invasion fleet. On 2nd July 1759, Rodney and his force left the fleet anchorage off St. Helens, Isle of Wight, bound for Le Havre. His force comprised HMS Achilles (60 guns, flagship), HMS Chatham, HMS Isis, HMS Norwich and HMS Deptford (all of 50 guns), the frigates HMS Brilliant and HMS Juno (both of 36 guns), HMS Vestal (32), HMS Boreas and HMS Unicorn (both of 28 guns), the ship-sloop HMS Wolf of 16 guns and the bomb vessels HMS Furnace, HMS Firedrake, HMS Blast, HMS Basilisk, HMS Mortar and HMS Carcass.
Rodney's force arrived off Le Havre the following day and Rodney issued his orders. He was acutely aware of the importance to the whole mission of the Bomb Vessels, so wrote the following orders for his Flag Captain, Captain the Honourable Samuel Barrington:
"
You are hereby required and directed to keep His Majesty's Ship under your command in constant readiness for action and your boats manned and armed with five grapnels in them, who, when any of the bombs are attacked or have an appearance of it, are immediately to go to their assistance
Given under my hand on board the Achilles at sea 3rd July 1759"
Commander Clerke must have reported to Rodney that he was short handed aboard HMS Basilisk, because on the same day, Rodney wrote more orders for Captain Barrington:
"
You are hereby required and directed to lend from His Majesty's Ship under your command, six good, able, sober men from the Gunners crew to assist working the mortars on board the Basilisk bomb.
Given under my hand on board the Achilles at sea 3rd July 1759".
Commander Clerke had his vessel anchored such that they could traverse the mortars by adjusting the anchor cables to shift their targets. At noon on 4th July 1759, the bombardment of Le Havre began. Over the course of the next 52 hours, the Bomb Vessels and ships fired some 3,000 shells into the magazines, shore batteries, invasion vessels and into the town of Le Havre itself and did immense damage. Despite the efforts of hundreds of men to fight the fires, Le Havre burned for six hours after the British finally ceased firing. French plans to launch their invasion of Britain from Le Havre were in ruins. Although the Bomb Vessels and ships of the line returned home, Rodney stayed behind with the frigates and over the course of the next few months took many prizes.
The Bombardment of Le Havre, 4th to 6th July 1759. Painting by Joseph-Abel Couture.
Meanwhile, the French pressed on with their plans. An alternative plan was hatched to launch the invasion with the remaining invasion craft from Brest, to be escorted across the English Channel by the combined French Brest and Toulon Fleets and land at Maldon in Essex and in Scotland to support a planned Jacobite uprising, dividing the defending British. The Toulon Fleet was caught and scattered by the British Mediterranean Fleet under Admiral Sir Edward Boscawen at the Battle of Lagos in August 1759 and the Brest Fleet was smashed by Admiral Sir Edward Hawke at the Battle of Quiberon Bay in November. After those two crippling defeats, the French called off the planned invasion.
In July 1761, Commander Clerke was posted and appointed to command the ex-French 36 gun frigate HMS Melampe and was replaced in HMS Basilisk by Mr Robert Brice Kingsmill. In October 1761, Commander Kingsmill was ordered to take his vessel to the Caribbean and on arrival, she joined a fleet once again under the command of Rear-Admiral Rodney. By this stage of the war, the French were being driven back on all fronts. By the end of 1760, Canada had fallen to the British and the following year, the British had successfully taken the island of Dominica. In the light of this, the French had correctly guessed that the enemy's next target would be Martinique and had made preparations accordingly. The French force defending Martinique consisted of 1,200 regular troops, plus 7,000 local militia and around 4,000 hired mercenaries. Ranged against them was a British army of about 8,000 men under the command of General Robert Monckton.
On 5th January 1762, the fleet left Barbados and headed towards Martinique, arriving two days later. A landing at Les Anses d'Arlet Bay proved unsuccessful because it was not possible to move heavy field guns along the road from there to Fort Royal, the capital. The entire force was re-embarked. On 16th January, the invasion began again. After a short campaign, Fort Royal fell to the British on 3rd February and by 12th, the whole island was in British hands. After the fall of Martinique, General Monckton sent detachments to the islands of Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and Grenada, all of which surrendered to his troops without a fight.
Up until the end of 1761, Spain had remained neutral in the war, but the accession of King Charles III in August 1759 had brought about a change. The new King was nervous about the string of British successes that year and considered that Spain's own possessions would be targeted by the rampant British. Spain began to give assistance to the French; something which didn't go unnoticed in London. It seemed as though war with Spain was becoming unavoidable. William Pitt suggested a pre-emptive attack on the Spanish treasure ships bringing gold from South America but the Government refused and Pitt resigned in protest. Nevertheless, Britain had declared war on Spain on 4th January 1762.
The Spanish for their part, had anticipated the British declaration of war and in June 1761, a force of seven ships of the line and 1,100 troops had arrived in Cuba to reinforce the defences of Havana, the most important Spanish possession in the region. The city of Havana possessed an anchorage capable of holding up to 100 ships of the line and shipyards capable of building First Rate ships. The reinforcements increased the Spanish garrison in Havana to about 2,400 men and once reinforced, the harbour was base to a force of 12 ships of the line with over 5,000 sailors and 700 Spanish Marines. The harbour at Havana was accessed via a narrow channel about 200 yards wide, guarded on one side by the Castillo de los Tres Reyes del Morro (known in English as Morro Castle) mounting 64 heavy guns and manned by 700 men. The other side was guarded by the slightly smaller Castillo de San Salvador de la Puntal (known in English as Fort Puntal). The city itself stood on the south side of the channel and was protected by walls extending about three miles around the whole city. The entrance to the harbour had been defended by a stout boom extending across the channel between the two castles.
The Capture of Havana - Morro Castle and the Boom Defence before the attack by Dominic Serres:
Almost as soon as war had been declared, the Government decided that Havana would be taken from the Spanish and to this end, the troops already in the Caribbean would be reinforced from the UK. Lieutenant-General George Keppel, the Third Earl of Albemarle would be in command of the operation. Vice-Admiral Sir George Pocock would be in command of the supporting naval forces with Commodore Sir Augustus Keppel as his second. In February 1762, five regiments of infantry embarked aboard transport ships at Spithead and sailed on March 5th, escorted by seven ships of the line. After meeting up with British forces already in the area, the British arrived off San Domingo and began preparations for the siege. It was a veritable armada. Pocock had the following ships under his command:
HMS Namur (90 guns, fleet flagship), HMS Cambridge (80), HMS Valiant (Keppel's flagship), HMS Culloden, HMS Dublin, the ex-French HMS Temeraire, HMS Dragon, HMS Devonshire (all of 74 guns), HMS Orford, HMS Hampton Court, HMS Stirling Castle, HMS Temple (all of 70 guns), HMS Marlborough (68), HMS Belle Isle (64), HMS Edgar, HMS Pembroke, HMS Ripon, HMS Nottingham, HMS Defiance, HMS Centurion and HMS Depford (all of 60 guns), HMS Hampshire (50), HMS Penzance, HMS Dover and HMS Enterprise (all 44 guns), HMS Richmond and HMS Alarm (both of 32 guns), HMS Trent and HMS Boreas (both of 28 guns), HMS Rose, HMS Port Mahon and HMS Fowey (all of 24 guns), HMS Glasgow and HMS Mercury (both of 20 guns), HMS Cygnet of 18 guns, HMS Barbados, HMS Port Royal, HMS Ferret and the cutter HMS Lurcher (all of 14 guns), HMS Viper and HMS Merlin (10 guns) plus the bomb vessels HMS Thunder, HMS Basilisk and HMS Grenado. All told, the land forces committed to the attack comprised over 12,000 men, with 14,000 seamen and Marines. The foot regiments committed were:
1st (Royal), 4th (Kings Own), 9th (Whitmore's), 15th, 17th, 22nd, 27th (Inniskilling), 28th (Townshends), 34th, 35th (Otways), 40th (Armigers), 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 42nd (Royal Highland), 43rd (Talbots), 48th (Dunbars), 56th, 60th (Royal American), 66th (Cholmondleys), 72nd (Richmonds), 77th (Montgomerys) and the 90th (Morgans). There were also 377 men from the Royal Regiment of Artillery.
In May of 1762, Commander Kingsmill was replaced in command of HMS Basilisk by Mr William Lowfield.
The Capture of Havana - Landing the guns and stores, by Dominic Serres:
The Spanish on their part did not seriously believe that the British would attack such a well-defended position and when the sails of the British fleet were sighted from the top of Morro Castle in the morning of 6th June, they assumed it was the British Jamaica Convoy on it's way to the UK. The alarm finally broke out when messengers from Morro Castle reported that the fleet had large numbers of flat-bottomed boats in tow. The British immediately blockaded Havana and began to land troops and guns the following day. By 12th June, the landings were complete and the British had taken the high ground overlooking Morro Castle. Their first priority was to take the castle and by 22nd June, had completed the construction of seige batteries comprising 12 heavy guns and 38 mortars, which commenced firing that day. On July 1st, the British launched a combined sea and land assault on Morro Castle. HMS Cambridge, HMS Dragon, HMS Marlborough and HMS Stirling Castle moved into position within a musket-shot of the castle and opened fire, along with the batteries constructed ashore. Sadly, the ships were too close to the castle walls and their fire was ineffective, while the Spanish guns on the walls inflicted damage and casualties on the ships below.
The artillery duel lasted until 14:00 and although the fire from the ships had been largely ineffective, that from the batteries ashore had not and by the time the exchange of artillery fire ended, only three of Morro Castle's guns facing the siege batteries was still in action.
The bombardment of Morro Castle by Phillip Paton.
Things at Morro Castle contained in this vein throught the rest of June into July 1762. By mid-July, disease and enemy action had taken a serious toll on the British. 5,000 troops and some 3,000 sailors were either dead or sick with Yellow Fever. Siege works were continuing, with a mine being dug under the walls of the castle. Things looked up for the British when on July 27th, reinforcements of some 3,000 men arrived from America. Finally, at 13:00 on 30th July, the mine was ready and was detonated. After a desperate pitched battle amongst the rubble and debris, Morro Castle finally fell to the besieging British later that day.
The British now turned their attentions to the city of Havana and the fort on the other side of the channel. The next two weeks were spent preparing the batteries on Morro Castle to fire on Fort Puntal and the city and further batteries were built on the high ground overlooking both. On August 5th, more reinforcements arrived from America, of about 1,500 men and on August 10th, the Earl of Albemarle sent a summons to surrender to General Juan de Prado, the Spanish commander-in-chief. The summons was refused, so at dawn on the 11th August 1762, the British opened fire on the city. The British had 47 guns, 15 32pdr guns and 32 24pdr guns taken from the ships with 10 mortars, perhaps taken from the Bomb Vessels and 5 howitzers and by 10:00, Fort Puntal was silenced and there were only a handful of guns on the city walls still firing. In the early after noon, the Spanish sent a flag of truce and negotiations for the Spanish surrender began. The negotiations went on for the rest of the day and all the next day before the surrender was agreed on August 13th. On August 14th 1762, the British entered the city of Havana. The jewel in the crown of Spanish possessions in the Americas had fallen, the British had captured the finest harbour and port in the entire Caribbean and not only that, but had seized military equipment and merchandise valued at almost 3 million Spanish Pesos and no less than nine Spanish ships of the line, three frigates and nine smaller vessels. In addition, two Spanish ships of the line under construction in the shipyard were burned.
The Capture of Havana - Taking the town by Dominic Serres:
After the fall of Havana, HMS Basilisk sailed to Jamaica where she remained until she departed for American waters in October. On 29th October 1762, whilst off Nantucket, HMS Basilisk encountered the French privateer L'Audacieuse of 18 guns and 140 men. Against theswift, heavily armed French privateer, HMS Basilisk stood no chance and after a hard-fought action which saw Commander Lowfield and the only other commissioned officer aboard the vessel both killed, HMS Basilisk struck her colours to the enemy and surrendered.
Perhaps because she was damaged beyond repair or maybe because the French navy didn't need a slow, cumbersome but very specialised vessel, or perhaps even because she may have been sold into merchant service after her capture and refitted, but after being taken by the privateer, HMS Basilisk disappeared from records.
