Now! Then! 2024! - Yorkshire On This Day

Excerpt

Recommended by Captain Keppel, for, while serving as boatswain’s mate of the St Jean d’Acre (attached to the naval brigade), proceeding in a punt with an exploding apparatus into the harbour of Sebastopol, to endeavour to blow up one of the Russian line-of-battle ships. This service, which was twice attempted, is described by Lord Lynns “as a bold one, and gallantly executed.” On the first occasion, Mr Shepherd proceeded past the enemy’s steamboats, at the entrance of Careening Bay; but was prevented penetrating further by the long string of boats that were carrying troops from the south to the north side of Sebastopol. The second attempt was made on the 16th August, from the side of Careening Bay, in the possession of the French.

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To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.

Abbreviations:

• ER: East Riding
• GM: Greater Manchester
• NR: North Riding
• NY: North Yorkshire
• SY: South Yorkshire
• WR: West Riding
• WY: West Yorkshire

Comment

Comment

Was this conceived as a suicide attack, or did Sheppard have some kind of limpet mine and an exit strategy?

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Original

Recommended by Captain Keppel, for on the 15th July, 1855, while serving as boatswain’s mate of the St. Jean d’Acre (attached to the naval brigade) proceeding in a punt with an exploding apparatus into the harbour of Sebastopol, to endeavour to blow up one of the Russian line-of-battle ships. This service, which was twice attempted, is described by Lord Lynns “as a bold one, and gallantly executed.” On the first occasion, Mr. Shepherd proceeded past the enemy’s steam-boats, at the entrance of Careening Bay; but was prevented penetrating further by the long string of boats that were carrying troops from the south to the north side of Sebastopol. The second attempt was made on the 16th August, from the side of Careening Bay, in the possession of the French.

(Despatches from Captain Honourable H. Keppel in Admiral Lord Lyons’ letter 10th May, 1856, and Admiral Lord Lyons, 4th October, 1855.)

154 words.

Tags

Tags are assigned inclusively on the basis of an entry’s original text and any comment. You may find this confusing if you only read an entry excerpt.

• Black Sea (1) ·
• Boatswain (1) ·
• Crimea (2) ·
• Crimean War (6) ·
• Edmund Lyons, 1st Baron Lyons (1) ·
• Henry Keppel (1) ·
• John Sheppard (VC) (1) ·
• Limpet mine (1) ·
• Naval brigade (1) ·
• Royal Navy (10) ·
• Sevastopol (1) ·
• Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855) (3) ·
• Suicide attack (1) ·
• Victoria Cross (3) ·

All tags.

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