'Venus' Frigate by Chapman (With Plans)

[Ponk]

Venus frigate

Built: Karlskrona

Shipyard: Karlskronavarvet

Keel laid down: 31/3 1783

Launched: 19/7 1783

Constructiontime: 110 days

Ship class: 5th rate Bellona Class frigate

Nation: Sweden

Production

Venus was built following the ”Bellona” design by Fredrik Henrik af Chapman in Karlskrona. Chapman had become superintendent of the naval shipyard in Karlskrona in 1782, and after having won a procurement against fellow shipbuilder Gilbert Sheldon, he was tasked by the king, Gustav III to design and build a new fleet for the kings planned wars, and the ”Bellona” series was the first frigate series to be produced with Chapman as head and they were also the first frigates to be carrying 24-pounder guns.

As head Chapman took the opportunity his new title provided to make changes into the way production was managed at the yard, and introduced prefabrication methods that meant he could produce several ships of the same design in a record breaking time. The ”Bellona” and Chapmans SOL ”Wasa” series was a testament of how effective this method really was, 10 ”Bellona” ships and 10 ”Wasa” ships were constructed at the shipyard during 3 years and the fastest ship built took only 45 days to construct. The ships were build with such speed that the part that often took the longest to complete was the figurehead carved by sculpture Johan Törnström, who could take up to 2 years to finish 1 figurehead out of oak, to meet the heroic scale required by the king. The king had previously issued a royal decree that every figurehead and decoration of the new ships, were to be approved by the Royal Academy of Painters and Sculpturs, which meant that several ships left the shipyard with no figureheads at all. Venus was the third one in the ”Bellona” series, and she was launched 19/7 1783.

Ship details

The original ship dimension based on ”Bellona” were as follows(using 18th century measures converted to the present), overall lenght 156 feet(46.33m), Beam 40 feet(11.88m), Draught (full load) 17 1/2 feet (5.20m), Tonnage 1360. Height of gun deck above water, 7feet(2.10m).

Venus(Based on 1789 drawing(image 1)) when completed was 160feet(47.52m) in lenght, beam 40 3/4feet(12,10m), draught(full load) 18 1/3feet(5,44m) Height of gun deck above water, 8feet(2,37m). Tonnage 1345.

She had a crew of 342 and was armed with 26 24-pounder guns and 14 6-pounders. The ship was constructed using partially oak trees and the outside planking of the hull from the keel to the gunwale along with the ceiling was buildt with pine. Pine's lifespan was about 2/3 that of oak, but the cost was one-third, and at the time the nations finances were having some problems. She and her sister ships sailed exceptionally well, doing 13-14 knots with a good wind.

Swedish Operational History

In 1786 she sailed to the city of Göteborg to be integrated into it's naval station under the command of Adolf Ulrik Sheldon. During the Russo-Swedish war, in 1788. Her squadron captured the Russian frigate Kildouin which was marauding west-coast fishing villages. Her service for the Swedish navy was however shortlived, in june 1789, under the command of Magnus Hansson, she patrolled the waters outside the norweigian coastline, which at this time was controlled by Denmark. She made contact with a russian squadron consisting of two Ship of the line, two frigates and one brig. Captain Hansson was positioned in such a way that he would not be able to reach open sea to avoid a confrontation with the Russians, so Hansson retreated to the mouth of the Oslofjord, hopeing that the current Swedish armistice with Denmark would act as an detergent for the Russians to attack, who by doing so would be risking a political scandal if they engaged in what was to be considered a neutral nations waters. Venus made it's way 40km inwards guided by Norweigian harbor pilots and anchored outside Tönsberg. The Russians however, followed and Captain Robert Crown of the brig Merkurij was the first to come in range and opened fire with it's 22 carronades. Venus and Merkurij had long and sharp engagement with the Merkurij taking the greater damage, the remaining of the Russian squadron closed their distance and surrounded Venus by placeing themselves for raking fire. Hansson then consulted with his officers and it was concluded that continuing the engagement would only result in a high amount of casualties while not being able to cause any significant damage on the enemy's bigger ship's. So the decision was made and Hansson surrendered to the Russians by striking the colors.

Russian Operational History

The Russians repaired the damaged ship and included her into their navy. Rewarding the Scottish Captain of the Merkurij command of the captured frigate. She then saw action the 13th may 1790 against the Swedes in the battle of Reval where a stronger Swedish force attacked a defending Russian fleet, the attack was a disaster and resulted in the loss of two Swedish SOL's and a victory for the Russians. Later in july the same year Venus took part in the battle of Vyborg Bay where the Russian with superior numbers managed to blockade a Swedish fleet commanded by the king himself in the bay with a disaster for the Swedes close at hand. The Swedes made a daring attempt to break the blockad to avoid losing the entire fleet and risking the capture of the king, they were successful but while doing so they suffered heavy losses. During the battle, Venus under the command of the newly promoted Rear Admiral Robert Crown successfully boarded and captured the Swedish SOL Rättvisan, which was one of Chapmans ”Wasa” class ships that had been built alongside with Venus in Karlskrona. The battle was a Russian victory but a strategic victory for the Sweds that managed to save most of it's fleet along with their king.

In 1795 Venus became part of vice admiral Peter Hanikoffs squadron of 12 SOL and 8 frigates who Cathrine the Great had leased to the British for 1 million sterling a year. Hanikoff joined together with the English admiral Duncan and took part in a blockade of the Dutch canal ports.

In 1797 admiral Duncan ordered Venus to sail to Leith, north of the city of Edinburgh to escort merchant ships heading to the Baltic sea.

She was rebuilt in 1804, and during the war of the Fourth Coalition she saw service in the mediterranean sea.

In december 1807 she was in need of repairs and sailed to the city of Palermo which was part of the kingdom of Sicily. Two months earlier, the Russian Tsar had declared war on the United Kingdom as a result of the British attack on Copenhagen. The news of the decleration of war reached Palermo while Venus was still being repaired, and as it were, a British fleet closed in to the city and the Russians decided to sell Venus to Sicily in order to avoid letting her be captured by the British. She served under the sicilian flag until atleast 1812 and after that her fate is unknown.

Sources

Main source-

Daniel G Harris. F H Chapman The first naval architect and his works. Published in Great Britain 1989 by Conway Maritaime Press Ltd, 24 Bride Lane, Fleet street, London EC4Y 8 DR.

ISBN 0 85177 486 5

Chapman Karlskrona http://www.orlogsstadenkarlskrona.se/page/76/varldsarvsutnamningen.aspx (16.01.2015)

Hanikoff squadron-

The Cambridge modern history, Volume 13

Stanley Leathes, G. W.(George Walter) Prothero, Sir Adolphus William Ward, John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton Acton(Baron.) pp 48, Available online at: https://books.google.se/books?id=zgA-AAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&hl=sv&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false (17.01.2015)

Hanikoff squadron-

The Royal Military Chronicle; or, The British Officer's monthly register, chronicle, and military mentor. VOL. 1. A new series. From may to october. 1814. London: Printed by w. Green, and T. Chaplin, 1, Crance-court, Fleet-street. pp 462. available online at: https://books.google.se/books?id=kS8FAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA462&lpg=PA462&dq=peter+hanikoff&source=bl&ots=SQnGZpb-iC&sig=4F27OqhYNVjzENyeDPaBV69_rvM&hl=sv&sa=X&ei=33K5VKnwOMWqPJ6_gMAM&ved=0CCMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=peter%20hanikoff&f=false (16.01.2015)

Robert Crown-

The Gentleman's Magazine, and Historical Chronicle, Volym 92. 1822 By Sylvanus Urban, Gent.

pp 302. Available online at: https://books.google.se/books?id=HaRJAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA303&lpg=PA303&dq=admiral+Robert+Crown&source=bl&ots=RHBLbFqPbK&sig=PXtvcr1PZuZnAGOCplEQxmJHLlo&hl=sv&sa=X&ei=2T-8VLyRC4PTygOx9oL4Bw&ved=0CGMQ6AEwDQ#v=onepage&q=admiral%20Robert%20Crown&f=false (19.01.2015)

Venus ship details

http://koti.mbnet.fi/felipe/html/frigates_1700-1860.html (16.01.2015)

Ship service history The Maritime History Virtual Archives http://www.bruzelius.info/Nautica/Ships/War/SE/Venus(1783).html (16.01.2015)

Images.

Images 2 and 3. http://www.sjohistoriska.se/sv/Fordjupning/MarketStore/Foremal1/?msobjid=0004032&Origin=SM

(05.06.2015)

Image 4 http://www.sjohistoriska.se/sv/Fordjupning/MarketStore/Foremal1/?msobjid=0004036&Origin=SM (05.06.2015)

Edited February 11, 2016 by Ponk

[Theuerdank]

I hope really in Open World the goal for some success won't be only to get the heaviest ship also for 'single' fights, otherwise you will never have a chance against ....... the other heavy (line) ships.

Such wonderful ships like that 'Venus' would only be a very 'nice' addition for the collection, a step to the next heavier one. So i pray NA will not be finally such a collection game, not heavier=better and so the only reason to play to get the most bulkiest ship.

[maturin]

With 28 24-pdr guns, she's not exactly a lightweight!

[Mighty_Alex]

Some more pics:

Capture of Venus

 

Some artistic interpretation

 

Sistership Camilla

 

Venus captures Swedish SOL Rättvisan

 

There is a book about this ship (with detailed plans): http://www.heritage-navalis.ru/item.php?id=761

[Malachi]

The plan in the OP is most definitely not the Venus (at least not the Bellona-class Venus). And, curiously, it´s signed by af Chapman´s brother.

 

 

<-------- this is the body plan for the Bellona

Edited October 22, 2015 by Malachi

[Mighty_Alex]

<-------- this is the body plan for the Bellona

I see you're a fan. 

[Malachi]

Quite like this frigate-class, yes

[akd]

так что пост ее реальные планы...

threedecks.org списки примерно половина Беллона класс с gundeck длина 156 м, но другая половина числится с gundeck длиной 190 футов. (!). Там был очень длинный вариант этого сорта, или это ошибка?

http://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_class&id=129

Один из классов, перечисленных в качестве 190' была Галатея. Я думаю, это она позже после перестроения:



Хочу отметить, что она имеет 28 орудий в ее главной батареи по сравнению Беллона / Венера 26.



Приятная картина Венера против ртути

http://navalmuseum.ru/collection/ship/modeli?id=1048

[Wagram]

On 10/22/2015 at 9:05 PM, akd said:

http://navalmuseum.ru/collection/ship/modeli?id=1048

Sorry, but how can this be a model of the Swedish 44 gun frigate "Venus"? It has only 20 gun ports (10 on each side) on the main deck and 6 (3 on each side) on the upper deck ...