On this day in history : 9th January 1806 – The state funeral of Vice Admiral Lord Nelson takes place at St. Paul’s Cathedral….
Lord Horatio Nelson by John Hoppner – Public domain
Nelson had been killed at the Battle of Trafalgar on the 21st of October 1805 after being shot by a French musket-man…. His body was preserved in spirit and carried back to England onboard HMS Victory…. The usual practice was to bury the dead at sea but Nelson’s second in command, Lord Collingwood, knew the nation would wish to mourn and honour this greatest of naval heroes….
The Battle of Trafalgar – J.M.W. Turner (oil on canvas) – Public domain
HMS Victory eventually arrived at Greenwich on the 23rd of December…. Lord Nelson’s body was then transferred to the Commissioner’s yacht and arrived at Greenwich Hospital on the 24th – where he lay in state in the Painted Hall for 3 days, from the 5th to 7th of January 1806….
Nelson had been placed inside a coffin made from the main-mast of the L’Orient – a French ship that had been destroyed at the Battle of the Nile…. This had then been placed into a lead coffin which was soldered up – and then this in turn was enclosed in yet another coffin, made from elm…. The first mourner to pay his respects was the Prince of Wales – and over the following days it is thought as many as 100,000 visited….
On the 8th of January Lord Nelson was transported up the River Thames onboard the King’s Barge…. A large canopy, festooned with black ostrich feathers, was placed over the coffin and a two-mile procession of boats followed the barge….
Lord Nelson’s Funeral Procession by Water, from Greenwich Hospital to White Hall – Augustus Charles Pugin – Public domain
On arriving at Whitehall Steps, near to Westminster, Nelson was taken to the Admiralty in Whitehall…. The following day was dry and bright….30,000 troops and many thousands of public lined the streets to watch the procession from Whitehall to St. Paul’s Cathedral…. Nelson’s ornate funeral carriage had been designed to look like HMS Victory…. It was accompanied by royalty, nobility, ministers, high-ranking military officers and over 10,000 soldiers….
representation of the Grand Funeral Car of Lord Nelson : The Wellcome Collection
7,000 attended the funeral service, which began at 1pm and ended at 6pm…. The coffin was placed within a marble sarcophagus in the crypt of the cathedral – a resting place which had originally been intended for Cardinal Wolsey…. As the ship’s flag was removed from the coffin it was seized by HMS Victory’s seamen – who ripped it into pieces so they could each keep a personal momento….
Arrival of Admiral Lord Nelson’s funeral carriage for internment at St. Paul’s Cathedral – Augustus Charles Pugin – Public domainLord Nelson’s Tomb, St. Paul’s Cathedral – image: reverendlukewarm via Flickr
On this day in history : 8th January 1989 – The Kegworth air disaster ~ A Boeing 737 crashes on to the M1 motorway near to East Midlands airport…. 47 people are killed….
A British Midland Boeing 737-400, similar to the aircraft which crashed – Pedro Aragao CC BY-SA 3.0
The British Midland operated Boeing 737, Flight 092, had taken off from Heathrow at 19.52hrs and was bound for Dublin, when one of the brand new aircraft’s engines caught fire – forcing it to divert to East Midlands airport….
It had begun its descent, passing low over the village of Kegworth in Leicestershire, when it was reported that the second engine had also failed…. The chances of this happening are a hundred million to one….
The plane crashed on to the motorway and broke into three pieces at 20.26hrs – thankfully no vehicles on the ground were caught in the impact…. The aircraft was just a few hundred metres from the runway….
Scene of the disaster – Image : Air Accidents Investigation Branch – OGL v1.0
The UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch discovered a fan blade had broken in the left engine, causing the air conditioning to malfunction…. Subsequently the flight deck filled with smoke and the crew wrongly assumed a fault had occurred in the right engine…. Earlier models of the Boeing 737 had ventilated the flight deck from the right – but the new 737-400 series operated a different system – only the crew had not been made aware of this – and they had shut down the wrong engine….
Out of the 126 crew and passengers on board 47 were killed and 74 were seriously injured….
Site of the disaster – photo taken May 2006 – Andrew Tatlow – CC BY-SA 2.0
On this day in history : 6th January 1781 — The English defeat the French in the Battle of Jersey – the last attempt by the French to invade the Channel island of Jersey….
It was the height of the American War of Independence and the French wanted to remove the threat to shipping between themselves and America…. Jersey was a central base for British privateers….
Baron Phillippe de Rullecourt was a 36-year-old colonel in the French army, he was a bit of an adventurer and also very ambitious…. He put forward a plan to King Louis XVI on how he could take Jersey….and the king promised to make Rullecourt a general once he had captured St. Helier, the capital of Jersey…. A rough army, made up mainly of deserters and prisoners was put at Rullecourt’s disposal…. His second in command was an Indian by the name of Prince Emire, who had been captured by the British in India and sent to France as a prisoner – by all accounts he was a rather barbaric man….
Rullecourt had inside information; he knew what he was up against….some sources suggest he had made a prior trip to Jersey disguised as a merchant…. The British, aware of the military importance of the island, had heavily fortified the coastline with forts and gun batteries…. The Jersey Militia consisted of some 3,000 men in five regiments; they were supported by the 95th (Yorkshire) Regiment of Foot and various other units – giving a total of around 9,250 troops…. However, being the time of year it was most of the British commanding officers were back in England, enjoying an extended Christmas leave…. Jersey also had naval support in the form of ‘The Jersey Squadron’ – but it was away fighting with the Dutch…. Rullecourt would no doubt have known all this….
Towards the end of 1780 Rullecourt’s rag-tag army of troops assembled at Le Havre….and then commenced to march to Granville – stealing what they could to eat on the way – they arrived on the 27th of December…. Around 30 small boats awaited them and they sailed on the 1st of January…. A previous attempt had to be aborted because of bad weather; this time they were to get just 12 miles from Jersey before once again having to turn back due to a severe storm…. It was the 5th of January before they had another chance….
Reports vary…. Some say as many as 2,000 men set sail – but it appears only around 1,000 landed…. Those that did were poorly equipped and half starved…. However, Rullecourt himself was successful at landing a contingent on the eastern coast of the island – by guiding his own division of 800 men through a narrow channel and landing undetected…. English guards who had meant to be on lookout duty had gone on a drunken binge – for this they later faced court martial….This first division landed at La Rocque and here they stayed the night…. A second division of 400 men were to perish on the rocks – and a third division of 600 became separated from the main fleet and either retreated or took refuge…. A final fourth small fleet of 200 men managed to land at La Rocque early the following morning….
Rullecourt marched his men to St. Helier – it was early and most of Jersey was still asleep…. On arriving in the town they set up their camp in the market square – and at 7am the Governor of Jersey, Moyse Corbet, was roused and detained at Government House…. He was told of how thousands of French troops had taken Jersey – Rullecourt threatened to burn the town and slaughter its inhabitants…. Corbet promptly surrendered….and ordered British troops based at Elizabeth Castle and at the nearby Saint Peter’s Barracks to lay down their arms…. Rullecourt set off to take control of the castle….
Moyse Corbet – Public domain
Only the commander at Elizabeth Castle, one Captain Alyward, was having none of it and refused to give in…. He sent word to Rullecourt that if he advanced any further he would have to face the consequences…. Rullecourt ignored him – the British opened fire, several French soldiers were killed and one officer wounded…. A furious Rullecourt retreated back to St. Helier….
Elizabeth Castle from the west – Image credit : Wolfgang Pehlemann CC BY-SA 3.0
Meanwhile the British were scurrying around mustering up their own troops…. Soon more than 2,000 had been assembled and plans for attack began…. Word was received from Rullecourt that if the British did not surrender then he would order the ransack of the town…. By now the British had got wind of just how few French troops there really were and quite understandably gave the notion of surrender the proverbial two-fingered salute….
Attack began…. The British had so many men that a third of the number could have done the job…. In fact some were at a loss at what to do, so resorted to simply firing their guns into the air…. The resistance from the French lasted all of 15 minutes….in panic their troops fled, trying to find the way back through the countryside to their boats…. Over 600 prisoners were taken that day – and found themselves on their way to England…. Others were not so fortunate – many were killed (whereas only about 30 on the British side lost their lives)…. Rullecourt himself sustained an injury from which he died the following day….
The Death of Major Peirson by John Singleton Copley – Pub
It seems obvious that the French had received help from informers…. They had details of fortifications, how many British troops there were – and even the names of their commanding officers…. Two Jersey-men were subsequently arrested…. Moyse Corbet was criticised for his actions and faced court martial in London – where he was convicted and sacked from his position as Governor of Jersey….
Historical re-enactment soldiers of 1781 Jersey Militia marching in the Royal Square, St. Helier – where the Battle of Jersey took place…. To the right of the picture a public house can be seen, ‘The Pierson’…. This was the home of Dr. Lerner, where Rullecourt died…. Image : Man Vyi – Public domain
On this day in history : 5th January 1993 – The oil tanker MV Braer runs aground off the coast of the Shetland Islands, spilling its 84,700 tons of crude oil….
Location of the wreck – Eric Gaba, NordNordWest, Uwe Dedering CC BY-SA 3.0
The 800ft ship, which had been built in Japan in 1975, did not have the more modern double hull, which would have offered more protection from spillage…. The Liberian-registered tanker was travelling from Bergen in Norway to Quebec in Canada when it ran into trouble after being caught in Force 11 gales…. At 5.19am the Lerwick Coastguard was first notified that the vessel had lost power….
Desperate efforts by salvage teams were made to try and avert disaster…. Anchor handling vessel Star Sirius was brought in to attempt to tow the stricken ship….but was unsuccessful – and so the crew of the tanker had to be airlifted to safety by helicopter….
At 11.19am MV Braer was confirmed at having run aground on rocks at Quendale Bay, at the southern tip of Shetland…. From the moment of impact oil could be seen pouring into the sea – in an area renowned for its sea birds and marine wildlife…. A week later, during the most intense extratropical cyclone ever recorded in the northern Atlantic, the tanker broke up….
Bow of the Braer visible in June 1993 – Mike Pennington CC BY-SA 2.0
A later report into the disaster chiefly blamed bad weather but also held the Greek captain, Alexandros Gelis, to account for lack of basic seamanship….
On this day in history : 4th January 1967 – Donald Campbell is killed whilst attempting to break his own world water speed record – in his jet powered boat, the Bluebird K7….
Donald Campbell – fair use
It was a cold crisp day, ice surrounded Coniston Water, which is the fifth largest lake in the Lake District; at five miles long it has depths of up to 184 feet deep…. For the previous nine weeks Campbell’s attempt at breaking his water speed record had been hampered by bad weather and engine troubles…. Bluebird, a 12-year-old hydroplane, had been refitted with a lighter, more powerful Bristol Orpheus engine, from a Folland Gnat aircraft….
Bluebird K7, on display at Goodwood Motor Racing Circuit in 1960 – Sheppane at English Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
This particular January morning the waters of Coniston were smooth and Bluebird was launched at 8.45am – it entered the measured one kilometre run at 8.46am…. The first run southbound recorded an average speed of 297mph over the kilometre…. Campbell needed to do 303mph on the return run to achieve the 300mph average to beat his record…. The accident happened 200yds from the end of the second run….
Travelling at some 300mph Bluebird’s nose lifted; the boat then flipped over backwards and somersaulted 50 feet into the air – then fell nose first towards the lake…. Shrouded by a dense curtain of water Bluebird disappeared beneath the surface….
Coniston Water from Holme Fell – Mick Knapton CC BY-SA 3.0
Attempts were made by divers to recover Campbell’s body from the 120ft deep water – but to no avail…. Although the wreckage of the boat was found recovery was called off…. Campbell’s teddy bear mascot, Mr Whoppit, was found floating amongst the debris, as was his pilot’s helmet….
Mr Whoppit in the cockpit at Lake Eyre, 1964 – Fair use
Recovery finally took place between October 2000, when the first sections of Bluebird were raised and May 2001, when Campbell’s remains were recovered…. He was buried in Coniston Cemetery on the 12th of September 2001…. Had he of been successful in his water speed attempt it would have been his eighth world record – four of which had been set on Coniston Water….
Campbell’s gravestone in Coniston – Image courtesy : Thruxton – own work – CC BY-SA 3.0
Cottage Capers 