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WIP 32 gun frigate USS Essex, 1799

Captain Armstrong

Captain Armstrong

Shipbuilding Coordinator
Storm Modder
So um, I think I have a bit of an addiction to building ships, cause I went a built another one.:p This one went faster than even I expected, I began shaping the hull two weeks ago to the day in delftship, and now the model is complete, rigging, path and all.:wp

The ship I chose is the 32 gun frigate USS Essex of 1799. She was built in Salem, Massachusetts, which held only about 10,000 people at the time, but had a strong maritime tradition. Rated at 32 guns she was not the most modern frigate for her time (the standard types in Europe were 40, 38, or 36 gun frigates, and the Constitution class frigates were huge compared to the Essex) though there were plenty of old 32 gun frigates left in European navies, just very few new ones being built. Anyways, despite her small size she was a well liked ship, and had fine lines. Before later alterations spoiled her speed, she was the second fastest frigate in the US Navy. Only the 44 gun USS President -one of Constitution’s sister ships- could match her speed. (I have more detailed sailing reports I can dig out when it comes time to decide on stats) She was the first US warship to round the Cape of Good Hope and enter the Indian Ocean, and was also the first American warship to round Cape Horn and enter the Pacific Ocean. After she sailed to the pacific in the war of 1812, she famously devastated the British whaling trade there, giving the admiralty a lot of grief. Eventually a British 36 gun frigate and 18 gun sloop were sent to hunt down the Essex, which they did, and cornered her off Valparaiso, Chile. Before she sailed, the Essex had foolishly been rearmed by the navy yard almost entirely with 32 pounder carronades, which gave her a ton of firepower but were a real weakness because an enemy armed with long guns could stay out of range and still pound away at the Essex. This is exactly what the Brits did, and to make things worse, the Essex ran aground while trying to take the battle to open water where she might be able to close with her opponents. Captain Porter of the Essex had no choice but to strike the Essex’s colours, and she was taken into the Royal Navy.
She was the definately the inspiraton for the USS Norfolk in the Aubrey/Maturin book the far side of the world, and the only real difference is that o'brian changed the name so he could do what he wanted with the plot. the role of the Norfolk was given to the Acheron in Master and Commander: the far side of the world, though the Acheron is quite a bit bigger than the Essex/Norfolk would've been.
Enough history, here are the pics:keith
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64339105@N08/7252080654/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64339105@N08/7252080822/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64339105@N08/7252081104/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64339105@N08/7252081282/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64339105@N08/7252081508/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64339105@N08/7252081708/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64339105@N08/7252081938/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64339105@N08/7252082116/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64339105@N08/7252082374/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64339105@N08/7252082572/in/photostream
*note, I cannot take credit for the figurehead, that is Helldiver's work.
for those who are wondering, she is about 95,700 tris. alot I know, but I kept it under 6 digits:dance
 
There's so many high-detail ship models being made these days, I can hardly tell them apart anymore. Absolutely beautiful, mate! :onya
 
Excellent choice on the figurehead. It's far more interesting than the usual stuff we get in game. I would expect to see a backstay running up all the way above the royal yards on a vessel of that size. I would also expect to see the masts protrude a few feet higher above the royals on a frigate like that, but it's not a big deal.
 
Thanks everyone! I can't wait to sail it either:dance as for the masts protruding above the royals, I built them to the sailplan drawn by Howard chapelle
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/43901618/CArmstrong/Plans/Frigates/uss essex sailplan .jpg
the only error I have ever found in his sailplans is his t'gallants. they tend to be diproportionately tall. I think this is innacurate, especially because he did the same thing for his sailplan of the USS philadelphia, even though the original one drawn up when the ship was built showed normal sized t'gallants
You are right about those backstays,I simply forgot to adjust their height to fit the mast, so Ive raised them up now:onya
 
I definitely agree about the t'gallants. I must admit that I'm starting to lose some faith in Chapelle... First this then the backwards-facing pennants, then calling Prince a schooner...
 
Aye, me too, but only for a few things like that. overall his works are still some of the most comprehensive and detailed sources I have access too, and his draughts are beautifully drawn. whats that about backward facing pennants? many sailplans seem to have them, I think it is just assumed the ship is running way closer to the wind than it actually could http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:USSCongress.png
I'm pretty sure he drew the sailplan of the prince, so he definately shouldve called it a schooner brigatine or hemaphradite brig or something. though I think there is a debate going on as to whether the square sails and yards were actually shipped on the mainmast of the prince, which I think would make her a schooner if they were not on there?
 
Captain Armstrong said:
though I think there is a debate going on as to whether the square sails and yards were actually shipped on the mainmast of the prince, which I think would make her a schooner if they were not on there?
Click to expand...

Forgive me if I spoke a bit broadly there; his overall works are indeed some of the best readily available sources.
Even if the Prince didn't have a square tops'l bent to her mainmast she would still be a brigantine. Schooners don't mount t'gallantmasts, and since PDN carries one on her foremast she can't be considered a schooner at all.
 
Ah ok, I forgot about brigatines somehow:facepalm chapelle's works certainly are very good, though because of little things like the t'gallants and the like, I prefer to double check with other sources when I can
 
Very nice! It's great seeing how quickly you're improving with each ship you make :)
 
Thank you both! its great to hear such compliments from experienced modelers:) Yes, all in only 2 weeks! I'm suprised it went that fast, I guess there was no type of modelling that I hadn't dealt with before, and no glitches or major problems came up. It helped that the plans were detailed too, I didn't have to guess where anything went.
 
Shouldn't you be revising instead of churning out new models so quickly...? :p
She's a very nice vessel, as usual. :onya

At the rate you're going, you probably could have upgraded at least half of the stock ships to the standard of the new Corvette by now.
Do you reckon that's something you could consider helping out with at some point? I'd love to eventually get all stock ships (the ones we plan to keep) up to at least that standard,
but doing it all myself would take too long, considering all the other ships I'm involved with. It's generally really easy if you're confident with Maya, and the small changes make a big difference. :)
 
You mean like studying for exams? Haha I suppose, but I still have a few weeks yet, and its not like I can't do both. Though youre right, I shouldn't wait to the last minute :read

I've always favored the idea of building new ships to better designs to fill the roles of the stock ships, rather than fixing up the old ones, though your frigate Russia and upgrades to the corvette have turned out really well:doff I just dont think the stock ships are necessarily the best types of ships to fill their roles,and I certainly have no interest in working on galleons and fluyts and the like.

I am upgrading the Constitution right now, though I suppose it isn't exactly a stock ship:p
did you have any stock ships in particular in mind? what ships are currently known to be based off real ships? I had thought about building a cutter or lugger or something as a side project, though the stock ones are some of the better original ships.
 
I must say I agree with Armstrong, although I, like him, am a fan of Napoleonic and similar vessels.
 
On the other hand I have zero interest in the Napoleonic age and only work on those ships out of a sense of duty. :rumgone A Carrack or Caravel is much sexier than a frigate.
 
built up above the water line DEFINES sexy for me ;)

(dear me, is this turning into a flame war? haha!)
 
I define sexy as not prone to capsizing in moderate swells.

(My God, It is!)
 
We all have our opinions and can express them easily here. All ships from all ages are being worked on. There are well over 300 years of history to explore after all, and it is such a waste to restrict oneself to one tiny sliver of time and space.
 
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