Other 18th-/19th-century conflicts
Maps, views and documents from 19 wars
San Salvador, 1812 (Salvador, Bahia, Brazil) 12°58'16"S 38°30'39"W
published 1 Jan 1814Aquatint with etching and engraving; printed on paper; laid down on paper, the paper backing brought round the edges of the recto | 39.9 x 45.1 cm (image) | RCIN 735179.d
The three-hour action between the Java and the Constitution was an uneven contest between the small British 38-gun fifth rate frigate and the larger, heavier, 44-gun American 'super frigate'.
The scene in this view is described in the log of the Constitution as follows: 'The Java was an important ship fitted out in the compleatest manner ... She had Copper &c. on board for a 74 [-gun ship] building at Bombay, and, I suspect, a great deal of other valuables, but everything was blown up, except the officers baggage when we set her on fire on the 1st of January 1813 at 3.P.M. Nautical Time.' Lieutenant Chads wrote to the Admiralty from the Constitution dated 'off St Salvador Decr 31st 1812' to say that 'His Majesty's Ship Java is no more'. There is thus a discrepancy between the American and British reports in the time of the destruction of the ship.
The original drawing for this print was made by Lieutenant Buchanan, R.N., an officer on board the Java, who was praised by first Lieutenant Henry Ducie Chads (later Sir Henry; Rear-Admiral; 1788-1868), who took over when Captain Lambert was mortally wounded. Chads said that he 'can never speak too highly' of Buchanan and the other officers.
The character of Henry Lambert appears in Patrick O'Brian's Fortune of War in which the real life story of Lambert's death on the Java is told.
Proof copy. The upper-case lettering in the title is engraved in outline. One of a set of four aquatints; the companion prints are at RCINs 735179.a-c.
Additional text: [bottom left, faintly engraved:] Proof [bottom left, between 'Proof' and title, a note of the number of guns and men and weight of metal of the English Force.] [Bottom right, right of title, a note of the number of guns and men and weight of metal of the American Force.]
For further reading, see:
US Department of the Navy - Naval History and Heritage Command: Selected naval documents: USS Constitution, 'Journal of Commodore William Bainbridge': American National Archives, Record Group 45, Captain's Letters, 1813, Vol.1, No.8 1/2 and British TNA Admiralty 1/5435.
W. James, The Naval History of Great Britain, from the Declaration of War by France in 1793, to the Accession of George IV. A new edition, with additions and notes, 6 vols, London, 1837, VI, pp.126-33.
J.K. Laughton, 'Chads, Sir Henry Ducie (1788–1868)', Dictionary of National Biography, 2004; online edition 2008.
J.K. Laughton, 'Lambert, Henry (d. 1813)', Dictionary of National Biography, 2004.
Condition: no fold lines. Verso: brown discolouration.
Josiah Boydell (18 January 1752-27 March 1817) (publisher) [bottom centre, below title:] Jan,y 1, 1814, Publish'd by Mess,rs Boydell & C.o Cheapside, and Colnaghi & C,o Cockspur Street, London.
Alexander Buchanan (b. 1793) (artist)
Nicholas Pocock (1740-1821) (draughtsman and etcher) [bottom left, below edge of view:] Drawn & Etch'd by N, Pocock, from a Sketch by Lieut. Buchanan.
Robert Havell (1769-1832) (engraver)
Daniel Havell (d. 1826) (engraver) [bottom right, below edge of view:] Engraved by R, & D, Havell.
Colnaghi & Co. (c.1785-1911) (publisher)
Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty (dedicatee)
Subject(s)
Navy-USAUSS Constitution (frigate, launched 1797)Java (HMS)Royal NavyWatermark: None visible
Condition: no fold lines. Verso: brown discolouration
35.4 x 45.1 cm (neatline)
39.9 x 45.1 cm (image)
43.6 x 52.2 cm (platemark)
46.1 x 54.8 cm (sheet)
Printed title:
DEDICATED BY PERMISSION TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE LORDS COMMISSIONERS OF THE ADMIRALTY. / Plate 4.th The JAVA in a Sinking state, set fire to, & Blowing up. The CONSTITUTION at a distance ahead, Laying to, / unbending Sails, repairing her Rigging &c. on the Evening of 29,,th Dec,,r 1812. [bottom, below view]
Additional text:
[bottom left, faintly engraved:] Proof [bottom left, between 'Proof' and title, a note of the number of guns and men and weight of metal of the English Force.] [Bottom right, right of title, a note of the number of guns and men and weight of metal of the American Force.]
Annotations:
(Recto) [bottom left, black pencil:] XV-179-d. (Verso) [bottom left, black pencil, in Evelyn Heaton-Smith's hand]: 228.a; [centre, black pencil:] 44; [centre and top right, black pencil, obscured by paper backing:] 44.
George III catalogue entry:
Naval Engagement Four Views of the Action between H.M. Frigate Java, Captain Lambert, and the American Frigate, Constitution, on the 29.th of Dec.r 1812: by Pocock and Havell from a sketch by Lieut. Buchannan, published by Boydell, 1814.
Subject(s)
Salvador, Bahia, Brazil (12°58'16"S 38°30'39"W)
Bibliographic reference(s)
US Department of the Navy - Naval History and Heritage Command: Selected naval documents: USS Constitution, 'Journal of Commodore William Bainbridge': American National Archives, Record Group 45, Captain's Letters, 1813, Vol.1, No.8 1/2 and British TNA Admiralty 1/5435.
W. James, The Naval History of Great Britain, from the Declaration of War by France in 1793, to the Accession of George IV. A new edition, with additions and notes, 6 vols, London, 1837, VI, pp.126-33.J.K. Laughton, 'Chads, Sir Henry Ducie (1788–1868)', Dictionary of National Biography, 2004; online edition 2008.
J.K. Laughton, 'Lambert, Henry (d. 1813)', Dictionary of National Biography, 2004.
H. Parker, Naval battles from the collection of prints formed and owned by Commander Sir Charles Leopold Cust, With an introduction by C.N. Robinson, London, 1911, no.228.a
Page revisions
3 November 2024
Current version