William Rivers, Gunner der HMS Victory, 1755 bis 1817

Besser hab ich das Gesicht in 1:100 nicht hinbekommen ;-)

Das schöne an der Vic ist, dass einige der Protagonisten heute noch nachvollziehbar sind. Eine ganz interessante Familie war die des Gunners William Rivers, dem Gunner der Vic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._H._R._Rivers
Siehe "Family background"

William Rivers, geboren 1755 in Bermondsey, London, gestorben 1817
Schiffe
Triumph / Gunner 27-02-1781 bis 17-12-1781
Conquistatador / Able Seaman 12-03-1782 bis 29-07-1782
Triumph / ? 14-10-1782 bis 09-12-1782
Triumph / Gunner 10-12-1782 bis 30-11-1787
Barfleur / Gunner 01-12-1787 bis 30-05-1790
Victory / Gunner 31-05-1790 bis 25-01-1812

Gefechte
Battle of Hyeres 13-07-1795
2te Schlacht von Cap St. Vincent 14-02-1797
Trafalgar 21-10-1805

Hier eine schöne Zusammenfassung der Aufgaben eines Gunners
ROYAL NAVY GUNNERS IN THE FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY AND NAPLOEONIC WARS

Er hat ein Notizbuch geführt, dass öfters als Quelle dient, unter anderem folgende bekannte Publikationen:
HMS Victory: First-Rate 1765 von Iain Ballantyne
Nelson's Victory: 101 Questions and Answers About HMS Victory von Peter Goodwin


Deswegen suche ich aus dem Royal Naval Museum: William Rivers (1755-1817), gunner on HMS Victory: gunnery notes (Acc 1998/41)
Gibt es das irgendwo?

XXXDAn

Als kleine Ergänzung: Sein Sohn William Rivers war auch an Trafalgar auch an Bord, verlor dabei ein Bein. Hier eine kurze Zusammenfassung seines Lebenslaufs, er nahm an fast allen Großereignissen seiner Zeit teil.

https://threedecks.org/index.php?display...rewman&id=12308

RIVERS, WILLIAM (1788–1856),
lieutenant in the navy and adjutant of Greenwich Hospital, was entered on board the Victory in May 1795. In her he went out to the Mediterranean, was slightly wounded in the action of 13 July 1795, was present in the battle of Cape St. Vincent, 14 Feb. 1797, and on the return of the Victory to England continued in her while she was employed as a depot for prisoners, till paid off in 1799. He again joined the Victory in 1803, when she went out to the Mediterranean as flagship of Lord Nelson, and, continuing in her, was present in the battle of Trafalgar, 21 Oct. 1805, when he was severely wounded by a splinter in the mouth, and had his left leg shot off in the very beginning of the action. On 8 Jan. 1806 he was promoted to be lieutenant of the Princess of Orange. He received a gratuity from the patriotic fund, and in 1816 was awarded a pension of five shillings a day for the loss of his leg. From April 1806 to January 1807 he served in the Otter sloop in the Channel, from April 1807 to October 1809 he was in the Cossack frigate, in which he was present at the reduction of Copenhagen in September 1807, and in the end of 1809 was in the Cretan off Flushing. For the following years, and till the peace, he served in successive guardships at the Nore. After many fruitless applications for employment, he was in November 1824 appointed warden at Woolwich dockyard, and in April 1826 to Greenwich Hospital. Here he remained for upwards of thirty years, during which time he took an active part in the administration and organi- sation of the hospital and many of the minor charities connected with it. He died in his rooms in the hospital on 5 Dec. 1856. He married, in 1809, a niece of Joseph Gibson of Long Bennington, Lincolnshire, and had issue. A subscription bust by T. Milnes is in the Painted Hall at Greenwich.


http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/63987.html


SCU0046
Head-and-shoulders classical-style marble bust on a round socle, signed on the reverse 'T.MILNES / 1857'. The associated pedestal bears the inscription: ' WILLIAM RIVERS / LIEUTENTANT R.N. / AN / AIDE DE CAMP / TO / VICE ADMIRAL / LORD VISCOUNT NELSON K. B. / AT / TRAFALGAR / FOR 27 YEARS / ADJUTANT LIEUTENANT / OF / GREENWICH HOSPITAL / BORN 30TH NOVR. 1788 / DIED 5TH DECR. 1856 / ---/ 'FAITHFUL BELOW HE DID HIS DUTY' / ---/ PRESENTED / TO GRENWICH HOSPIRTAL / BY HIS SHIPMATES AND FRIENDS / AUGUST 1857. (The quotation 'Faithful below he did his duty' is from Charles Dibdin's famous song 'Tom Bowling': it appropriately continues 'But now he's gone aloft...', as all who originally saw it would have known.) Rivers was a veteran of the French wars, in which he was a long-serving man in the 'Victory' including at Cape St Vincent in 1797 and Trafalgar in 1805 (where his lost his left leg) before being commissioned lieutenant in 1806. Though he served to the end of the French wars in 1815, his lack of patronage meant he never gained further promotion and he thereafter had difficulty supporting a large family until appointed Warden of Woolwich Dockyard in 1824 and, finally, a lieutenant of Greenwich Hospital in April 1826. After a few years he became the Governor's Adjutant, remaining so to his death on 5 December 1856. Rivers was highly regarded in the Hospital and on 26 August 1857 the Board read a letter from Joseph Allen, their Military Inspector of Dining Halls and Kitchens, offering this bust as a gift to the Hospital from Rivers' 'friends and shipmates', who had subscribed for it, and requesting that in consideration of his 26 years [sic] of service to the institution the Board 'allot [it] an eligible position within the walls as a tribute to his memory'. It was originally placed in the Royal Charles Ward (a public 'show' ward) and moved to the Naval Gallery in the Painted Hall later in the century. This bust is currently (2010) on display in 'Discover Greenwich', the World Heritage Site visitor centre at the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich.
Date made 1857

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._H._R._Rivers Abschnitt Family Background

The senior Rivers, also called William, was the master gunner aboard the Victory and it is thanks to his commonplace book (now kept in the Royal Naval Museum library in Portsmouth) that many of the thoughts of the sailors aboard Nelson's flagship are preserved.[2] Midshipman Rivers, who claimed to be "the man who shot the man who fatally wounded Lord Nelson"[1] proved himself to be a model of heroism in the Battle of Trafalgar. In the course of his duties, the seventeen-year-old midshipman's foot was almost completely blown off by a grenade, left attached to him "by a Piece of Skin abought 4 inch above the ankle".[2] Rivers asked first for his shoes, then told the gunner's mate to look after the guns and informed Captain Hardy that he was going down to the cockpit.[2] The leg was then sawn off, without anaesthetic, four inches below the knee. According to legend, he did not cry out once during the amputation nor during the consequent sealing of the wound with hot tar.[2] When Gunner Rivers, anxious about his son's welfare, went to the cockpit to ask after him the young man called out from the other side of the deck, "Here I am, Father, nothing is the matter with me; only lost my leg and that in a good cause."[2] After the Battle, the senior Rivers wrote a poem about his remarkable son entitled "Lines on a Young Gentleman that lost his leg onboard the Victory in the Glorious action at Trafalgar":

"May every comfort Bless thy future life,
And smooth thy cares with fond and tender wife.
Which of you all Would not have freely died,
To Save Brave Nelson There Dear Country's Pride."

Aber wieder zu seinem Vater zurückkommend:

Wie komme ich an dessen Notizbuch dran?

Royal Naval Museum: William Rivers (1755-1817), gunner on HMS Victory: gunnery notes (Acc 1998/41)

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/acces...ns/98ac1070.htm

Hat da jemand schon Erfahrung?

XXXDAn

Hier noch die bisher gefundenen Stellen seines Notebooks



Eine Lafette der Victory mit unüblicher Bolzenanordnung



Auiflistung für Case Shot
Beides aus Napoleonic Naval Armament 1792-1815 von Ospry


Sein Eintrag über die Positionen der Schiffe am Beginn der Schlacht
aus Victory First Rate, Eastland & Ballantyne

Leider nein, deswegen hätte ich ja gerne Zuggriff auf dieses Büchlein :-)

Auch bei der Lafette weiß ich nicht, ob die Lafetten der Victory so ausgerüstet waren (wenn ja wann?) oder ob es sich hier um Verbesserungsvorschläge gehandelt hat.

XXXDAn

Hier noch eine gefundene Seite aus Napoleonic Naval Armament 1792-1815 von Ospry



Es ging um ein Testschießen mit Carronaden im Jahre 1779.

Grüßle, XXXDAn