USS Vincennes

“ As the aircraft entered the 10 mile range from USS VINCENNES, the Captain was forced to make a decision. He had been told that: The aircraft is not responding to warnings; not acting like a commercial aircraft; the IFF mode and code were indicative of an Iranian military aircraft; and, most importantly, that the aircraft was decreasing in altitude, increasing in speed and on a closing flight profile with USS VINCENNES. As Captain Rogers says in his testimony, "... my confidence in confirmed to me that the aircraft was, in fact, a threat." ”

“ USS VINCENNES was advised on 20 June 1988 of modifications to Iranian aircraft including F-4’s. "Iran is clearly working hard to develop an anti-shipping capability as well, and innovative techniques of adapting air defense weapons systems for ASM purposes are continuing." (IO Exhibit 14, CJTFME//J2//200510Z JUN 88) .
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⁠ (7) (SNF) USS VINCENNES was advised on 26 June 1988 of the unprecedented deployment of Iranian F-14’s to Bandar Abbas: "The F-14 deployment represents an increased threat to allied aircraft operating in SOH, SPG, and GOO." (IO Exhibit 14, CJTFME//J2//260900Z JUN 88) . ”

“ His decision to disengage was changed only when the small boats began to close his units. (Rogers p. 837)
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⁠ (5) (S) The small boats have greater speed and maneuverability than the USS VINCENNES. (Rogers p. 842)
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⁠ (6) (S) The small boats carry weapons capable of inflicting significant personnel and equipment casualties. (Rogers p. 838)
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⁠ (7) (S) Experience with small boat tactics shows that the greatest threat they present is personnel and equipment casualties when they make high speed massed attacks on their targets, raking the superstructures of ships with gunfire and rockets. ”

“ During this engagement, there were no pre-launch indications and Warnings (I&W) indicators of impending Iranian air activity available to USS VINCENNES from either internal ship's sensors or from external sources. 232) . (IO Exhibit 232)
⁠c. (U) Unless otherwise noted, names and associated console positions refer to USS VINCENNES's CIC operator positions. (See Figure 1. Figure 1 is duplication of IO Exhibit 174 and is inserted here for ease of review.)
Figure 3-2. CG 47 CIC Plan View
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“ Colonel Clark understood perfectly the strategic importance of Vincennes as a post commanding the Wabash, and as a base of communication with the many Indian tribes north of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi. Francis Vigo (may his name never fade!) had brought him a comprehensive and accurate report of Hamilton's strength and the condition of the fort and garrison. This information confirmed his belief that it would be possible not only to capture Vincennes, but Detroit as well. ”

“ Monsieur Gaspard Roussillon was looked upon as the aristocrat par excellence of Vincennes, notwithstanding the fact that his name bore no suggestion of noble or titled ancestry. He was rich and in a measure educated; moreover the successful man's patent of leadership, a commanding figure and a suave manner, came always to his assistance when a crisis presented itself. He traded shrewdly, much to his own profit, but invariably with the excellent result that the man, white or Indian, with whom he did business felt himself especially favored in the transaction. ”

“ Vincent. "Those who have suffered hitherto have been so worthless before that their fate was of little use as an example. I shall now convince the seamen that no character, however good, shall save a man who is guilty of mutiny."
But St. Vincent was not content with mere repression. Outwardly, and indeed inwardly, unshaken, he yet unwearyingly so ordered the fleet as to avoid occasions of outbreak. With the imposing moral control exerted by his unflinching steadiness, little trouble was to be apprehended from single ships ”

“ He entered the navy as a midshipman, 2 March, 1823, became a passed midshipman, 20 Feb., 1830, was promoted to lieutenant, 29 March, 1834, and was commissioned a commander, 14 Sept., 1855. He was in charge of the sloop "Vincennes" in 1858-'60 on the coast of Africa to suppress the slave-trade, and the " Brandy wine " of the North Atlantic squadron, 1862-'3, most of the time being stationed at Hampton Roads, Va. ”

“ The wood, which now belongs to Paris, was laid out during the second empire on the same lines as the Bois de Boulogne. On its south border is the asylum of Vincennes, founded in 1855 for the benefit of convalescents from the hospitals. In the town there is a statue of General Daumesnil, celebrated for his defense of the castle against the allies in 1814 and 1815. Vincennes has a school of military administration and carries on horticulture and the manufacture of ironware of various kinds, rubber goods, chemicals, perfumery, mineral waters, &c. ”

“ The date of the founding of Vincennes (Post or Port Vincent) has been varyingly assigned from 1702 to 1735; but Dunn, in his Indiana (Boston and New York, 1888) , p. 54, shows quite conclusively that François Margane, Sieur de Vincennes, went thither at the request of Governor Périer of Louisiana in 1727, and founded a fort to counteract the designs of the English against the French trade. The French colony was not begun until 1735, and the next year the commandant Vincennes was captured and burnt by the Chickasaws, while engaged in an expedition against their country. Louis St. ”

“ A French priest, named Gibault, secured the favor of the inhabitants of Vincennes for the American interest, and the Indians of the neighborhood were conciliated by the able management of Colonel Clarke, who knew how to win the favor of the men better than any other borderer; but on the 29th of January, 1779, intelligence was received at Kaskaskia, where Clarke was then posted, that Governor Hamilton had taken possession of Vincennes, and meditated the re-capture of the other posts, preparatory to assailing the whole frontier, as far as Fort Pitt. ”

“ The increased English efforts to gain footholds in the Wabash and Maumee valleys, determined Vincennes upon a course of action approved by the Marques de Vaudreuil, governor of Canada. Vincennes’ plan called for the removal of the Miamis at the headwaters of the Maumee to a new center on the St. Joseph river of Lake Michigan, near the present city of South Bend. [18] It is possible that the plan might have succeeded as Vincennes was “much loved” by the Miamis; however, with his death at Kiskakon in 1719, the Miamis “resolved not to move to the River St. Joseph, [but] to remain where they are”. ”

“ Lesser men have quailed before that piercing stare, but General Wingrove was never the lesser man. The admiral tossed his head with disgust, every line of his body denoting outraged dignity. He turned to his audience, a small pulse beating in his forehead.
"I cannot comprehend the general's attitude, nor can I understand why he has attacked the Navy in this unwarranted fashion. The Navy has existed and will always exist as the first barrier of American defense. ”

“ Vincent was appointed first lord of the admiralty, when his intimate knowledge of the working of the service, perhaps, too, of the rascalities practised in the dockyards, rendered his assistance most valuable in the war which St. Vincent waged against the prevalent iniquities. He was for some time one of the commissioners of the navy, and was then appointed second secretary of the admiralty; and, though his name did not come prominently before the public, it was well known to all who were directly interested that in this attack he was St. Vincent's main support. ”

“ Vincent agreed. "She may be a formidable machine in the way of fighting, but one can scarcely call her a ship."
"She is a floating-battery, and if they tried their best to turn out the ugliest thing that ever floated they could not have succeeded better. She is just like a Noah's ark sunk down to the eaves of her roof."
"Yes, she is a good deal like that," Vincent agreed. "The very look of her ought to be enough to frighten the Federals, even if she did nothing else." ”

“ As most men in the navy knew, Captain Vince was a most dangerous swordsman. In duel or in warfare, no man yet had been able to stand before him. With skilled arm and eye and with every muscle of his body trained, his sword sought a vital spot in his opponent. There was no thought now in the mind of Vince about disarming the pirate and taking him prisoner; this terrible wild beast, this hairy monster must be killed or he himself must die. ”

“ Notwithstanding the haste with which Captain Vincent was obliged to quit the ship he had so bravely defended, he did not forget the sabre that had been presented to him by the Capitan Pacha, at Constantinople; but a French officer managed to obtain it from one of the Arrow’s crew, under a feigned pretence, and every endeavour to recover it proved unavailing; redress was not to be had of people who respected no principles of honor.
The frigates proved to be part of the Toulon fleet, commanded by Mons. ”

“ Just as they reached dry land, in sight of Vincennes, they captured a resident, and sent him into the town with a letter demanding the immediate surrender of the place and fort. The people, taken by surprise, were greatly alarmed, and believed the expedition to be from Kentucky, composed of the fierce and strong of that advancing commonwealth. Had armed men dropped in their midst from the clouds, they could not have been more astonished, for it
* Vincennes is the capital of Knox county, Indiana. ”

“ The wind was light and in favour of the corvette, and slowly the two vessels diminished the few miles between them; but there was enough wind to show the royal colours on the Badger.
"He is a bold fellow, that pirate," said some of the naval men, "and he will wait and fight us."
"He will wait and fight us," said some of the others, "because he cannot get away; in this wind he is at our mercy."
Captain Vince stood and gazed over the water, sometimes with his glass and sometimes without it. ”

“ Villeneuve gallantly amended that somebody else owned an undivided half in the glory of that salvation and would own more as soon as the Union fleet (daily growing in numbers) should try to enter the bay: a hint at Anna, of course, and at the great ram Tennessee, which the Confederate admiral, Buchanan, had made his flag-ship, and whose completion, while nothing else was ready but three small wooden gunboats, was due--they had made even Anna believe--to the safe delivery of the Bazaar fund. ”

“ A warlike man has been over to see Vincennes, and he has said that 'princes ought never to be struck, except on the head.'"
The Cardinal had added "remarkable," but he had erased this word and substituted "formidable." Again, beneath:
"This man rules Fairfax. He plays an inspired part. He will be a great man—assistance refused—money lost."
The King then said, "No, no! do nothing hastily. I shall wait."
"But, Sire," said Chavigny, "events pass rapidly. If the courier be delayed, the King's destruction may happen a year sooner."
"Have they advanced so far?" asked Louis. ”

“ As to the probability of the enemy being able, in a narrow sea, to pass through our blockading squadrons with all that secrecy and dexterity, and by those hidden means that some worthy people expect, I really, from anything I have seen in the course of my professional career, am not disposed to concur in it.' Lord St Vincent was equally emphatic that preparation should be rather directed to keeping the enemy as far from our coasts as possible, and attacking them the moment they come out of their ports, than to awaiting them at home. ”

“ Vincent hoisted his flag on board the Ville de Paris of 110 guns, as Commander-in-Chief of the Channel fleet; and at the same time our officer assumed the command of that ship, which he held until the month of March, 1801. He was soon after appointed to one of the yachts in attendance on the royal family at Weymouth, and continued to be employed on that sort of service till about April, 1804, when he succeeded Sir Isaac Coffin, as Commissioner of Sheerness Dockyard, from whence he afterwards removed to Portsmouth, where he now resides. ”

“ Eventually it was Maury’s good fortune to be transferred to the latter vessel, in which he was to circumnavigate the globe. He first joined the Vincennes, on March 10, 1827, in Callao Roads, the port of Lima, Peru. The American warships had by this time entered the Pacific and were cruising up and down the South American coast from Valparaiso, Chile to Guayaquil, Ecuador to protect the commerce of the United States, as this part of South America also was then in turmoil. ”

“ Lesher, he's drunk but he's cap'n all the same."
"That's right," put in a third sailor. "Hurrah for Captain Lesher and the rum he let us have!"
"Got to keep off, I tell you," went on Bostwick. "If you don't, we have—er—we have strict orders to fire on you, yes, sir."
"To fire on us!" cried Dick. "Do you mean to say you would fire on us?"
"Now, see here, don't you put in your oar," said a fourth sailor. "You don't count with us. It's the cap'n that was we're talkin' to."
"I am captain still," said Captain Blossom firmly. "If you don't want to obey me, you must leave the ship." ”

“ Any man sitting at a submarine telephone aboard von Vennemann's boat could have picked up the sound of our approach; but, secure in his egotism and thereby rendered confident that he was far removed from danger, I am certain that nothing more than a careless watch was maintained by this ex-naval officer of the German Navy. It is very probable, too, that we were assisted in our attack by the earliness of the hour; for his ship, being lavishly lighted, was undoubtedly turning her dynamos with a hum that might have drowned any other noise in her engine-rooms. ”