Bomb vessel

A bomb vessel, bomb ship, bomb ketch, or simply bomb was a type of wooden sailing naval ship. Its primary armament was not cannon (long guns and carronades), but rather mortars mounted forward near the bow. Bomb vessels were specialized ships designed for bombarding (hence the name) fixed positions on land. In more modern times, the same role was carried out by battleships, cruisers and destroyers, as well as the purpose-built World War I– and II–era monitor.

Development

The concept of the bomb vessel originated with the French Navy. The first bomb vessel, "Bombarde", was built at Dunkirk in 1681. The early French bomb vessels had two forward-pointing mortars fixed side-by-side on the foredeck. To aim these weapons, the entire ship was rotated by letting out or pulling in a spring anchor.

The French design was copied by the Royal Navy after Huguenot exiles brought designs over to England and the United Provinces, who continued to refine the class over the next century or more. The side-by-side, forward-pointing mortars were quickly replaced in the British designs by mortars mounted on the centerline on revolving platforms. These platforms were supported by strong internal wooden framework to transmit the forces of firing the weapons to the hull. The interstices of the framework were used as storage areas for ammunition.

Early bomb vessels were rigged as ketches with two masts. They were awkward vessels to handle in terms of seamanship, in part because bomb ketches typically had the masts stepped farther aft than would have been normal in other vessels of similar rig, in order to accommodate the mortars forward. As a result, by the 1770s all British bomb vessels were designed as full rigged ships with three masts. Bomb vessels often had the front rigging made of chain to protect it from the muzzle blast of the main weaponry.

Mortars were the only kind of naval armament to fire explosive shells rather than solid shot. Since it was considered dangerous to have large stocks of shells on board the ships that were firing them, and because the reinforced mortar platforms occupied so much space below decks, bomb vessels were usually accompanied by a tender to carry ammunition as well as the ordnance officers in charge of firing the mortars.

Bomb vessels were traditionally named after volcanoes, or given other names suggestive of explosive qualities. Some were also given names associated with the underworld. Vessels of other types which were later converted to bombs generally retained their original names.

As highly specialized warships, bomb vessels were expensive to fit out and maintain, and only marginally suited for their secondary role as cruisers. But, because bomb vessels were built with extremely strong hulls to withstand the recoil of the mortars, several were converted in time of peace as ships for exploration of the Arctic and Antarctic regions, where pack ice and icebergs were a constant menace. Most famously, these ships included HMS "Erebus" and HMS "Terror". Ironically, in this case, the volcanoes - Mount Erebus and Mount Terror on Ross Island in Antarctica - were named after the ships, instead of vice-versa.

Notable bomb vessels and actions

* The bomb vessels "Racehorse" and "Carcass" were further strengthened for an expedition of discovery to the North Pole in the 1770s. The uncompleted expedition included a young Horatio Nelson. [http://historicaltextarchive.com/books.php?op=viewbook&bookid=3&cid=1]

* Bomb vessels "Discovery", "Explosion", "Hecla", "Sulphur", "Terror", "Volcano", and "Zebra" participated in the 1st Battle of Copenhagen in 1801.

* "Thunder", "Vesuvius", "Aetna", and "Zebra" participated in the 2nd Battle of Copenhagen in 1807.

* "Thunder" and "Aetna" additionally participated in the Battle of the Basque Roads in 1808 (this action was also notable for including three rocket vessels in support of the bombs).

* The "bombs bursting in air" recorded by Francis Scott Key at the Battle of Baltimore in 1814 were provided by the "Volcano", "Meteor", "Devastation", "Aetna", and a new "Terror".

* A second "Hecla" and her sister ship "Fury" were used by William Edward Parry on a series of voyages to the Arctic between 1819 and 1827.

* "Erebus" and the second "Terror" served as exploration vessels in the expeditions of James Clark Ross to the Antarctic in 1840-1843, and of John Franklin to the Arctic in 1845–1848. "Terror" had also previously been used by George Back in his 1836–1837 Arctic expedition.

Recommended reading

* Lavery, Brian: "Nelson's Navy". ISBN 1-59114-611-9.
* Ware, Chris: "The Bomb Vessel". ISBN 1-55750-071-1.
* [http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/Naval_History/Index.html Naval History of Great Britain]

External links

* [http://www.modelships.de/Verkaufte_Schiffe/La_Candelaria_1/La_Candelaria_I_eng.htm Spanish bomb ketch of 1782] High resolution photos of a model