Cruising On Matsu

Follow Tim and Linda's Travels On Matsu

31 July 2008 | Trinidad
13 July 2008 | New York City
08 July 2008 | Chaguaramas Bay, Trinidad & Tobago
29 June 2008 | Prickly Bay, Grenada
16 June 2008
09 June 2008 | St Lucia
08 June 2008 | South Coast Of Martinique
01 June 2008 | St Pierre, Martinique
29 May 2008 | Iles Des Saintes, Guadeloupe
19 May 2008 | Redonda
17 May 2008 | Sint Maarten
17 May 2008 | Simpson Bay, Sint Maarten
30 April 2008 | Culebra, Virgin Islands
18 April 2008 | The Lagoon, Virgin Gorda, British Virgin islands
31 March 2008 | Culebrita, Spanish Virgin Islands
18 March 2008 | Ponce, Puerto Rico
29 February 2008 | Boqueron, Puerto Rico
26 February 2008 | Mayaguez
22 February 2008 | South Caicos, Turks & Caicos Islands
11 February 2008 | Abrahams Bay, Mayaguana

HMS Diamond Rock

08 June 2008 | South Coast Of Martinique
Tim
Strange lumps of rock in the Caribbean part 2!

Following on from Redonda here's Diamond Rock, a British Naval War Ship. Paraphrased Wikipedia entry below.

In 1804 Commodore Sir Samuel Hood, aboard HMS Centaur and aided by calm weather, was able to run lines ashore and hoist five cannons to the summit of the Rock. Fortifications were hastily built, and the position supplied with food and water for a garrison of twenty men under the command of Lieutenant Maurice, Hood's 1st lieutenant. The Royal Navy garrisoned island was officially commissioned as a Man-of-war HMS The Fort Diamond.

For 17 months the newly commissioned ship harassed the French fleet on it's way to and from Fort De France, and then on his voyage to Martinique in 1805, Admiral Villeneuve was ordered by Napoleon to recapture Diamond Rock. A French-Spanish combined naval force of sixteen ships attacked the garrison on Diamond Rock. The garrison's stone water cistern had cracked, due to an earth tremor, so they were without water and short of food. After a fierce bombardment, they surrendered to the superior force on June 3rd, 1805.

A more romantic version is that the French floated barrels of rum ashore and then captured the rock from the drunk garrison!
Comments
Vessel Name: Matsu
Vessel Make/Model: Passport 51
Hailing Port: London, Montreal & Sydney
Crew: Tim Ball and Linda L�pine
About: Ship's Cat - Charlie
Extra: For more information on us and the boat see the links section.

Profile

Who: Tim Ball and Linda L�pine
Port: London, Montreal & Sydney