HMS Tartar (1764): 10c The frigate HMS Tartar, was launched at Rotherhithe in 1756. Captain Lockhart, the ship's first Captain took many privateers in his two years in command. On 28 March 1764 Captain Sir John Lindsay ailed for Barbados carrying William Harrison, the son of John Harrison, with one of his time pieces on his historic voyage to solve the problem of finding longitude at sea. They arrived at Madeira on 19 April as predicted by Harrison. Barbados was sighted on 13 May and when Harrison arrived back in England on 18 July by merchant ship the timepiece was discovered to be only 15 seconds slow. HMS Tartar was eventually wrecked off San Domingo in 1797.
HMS Barbadoes (1803): 70c Originally a French Privateer La Brave, she was taken in May 1803 and presented to the Royal Navy by the people of Barbados. Sailing under Captain Joseph Nourse she captured another French privateer, the Napoleon after only four days. This was followed by numerous other victories at sea involving French and Spanish vessels around the Caribbean and in European and Atlantic waters before she was badly damaged in a violent hurricane. making her way to Bermuda for a refit HMS Barbadoes was finally wrecked off Sable Island along with two other vessels on 28 September 1812 but her cargo of $60,000 destined for Halifax Dockyard was salvaged by attaching a buoy to each of the cases.
HMS Valerian (1926): $1.15 Built under the Emergency War ProgrammeHMS Valerian was launched in 1916. A Flower Class Sloop of 1250 tons, this Class were specifically built as Minesweepers and were constructed with triple spaced hulls at the bow to give extra protection when mine hunting. Those that survived the War were converted to the Convoy protection sloops until the late 1920's. A frequent visitor to Barbados in the 1920's HMS Valerian sank when hit by a hurricane en-route to Bermuda in 1926 with the loss of 86 of the crew of 115.
HMS Victorious: $2.50 Built in 1936 HMS Victorious was one of four Illustrious Class of ships which had armoured flight decks and hangars which made them able to deal with Kamikaze attacks. After a hit a bulldozer was used to push the wreckage over the side and quick drying concrete filled the large dent in the deck. Within 2 1/2 hours she was flying off aircraft again. Captain Bovell, a Barbadian and son of the colony's one time attorney General, was commanding HMS Victorious in the historic battle in which the "Bismarck" was sunk. Once she was within air range the torpedo carrying aircraft on board took off and caried out a successful strike to help incapacitate the German Battleship.
HMS Barbados: First Day Cover Otherwise known as USS Halstead PF-76, HMS Barbados was one of several Colony Class Frigates named after British Colonies, which were mass-produced in the USA in 1943. Their design was a modification of the British River Class. She as built at Providence RI and assigned to the Royal Navy under the Lend-Lease programme and launched on 27 August. Weighting 1318 tons and armed with three 3"AA, two twin 40mm and four 20mm guns, one Hedgehog multiple spigot mortar and depth charge throwers, she had a complement of 120 men and attained a maximum speed of 18 knots. She was returned to the US in 1946 and finally sold for scrap in 1947.
TECHNICAL DETAILS:
Country: Title:Casb Reference:Designer: Printer: Process:Perforation:Stamp size: Sheet Format: Paper: Release Date: Values and Designs:
BarbadosRoyal Navy ConnectionsBAR179John Batchelor (text CASB studio)BDT International Security Printers Lithography 14 per 2cm28.45 mm x 42.58 mm 50 (2x 25)CA Spiral26th May 200310c: HMS Tartar (1764)70c: HMS Barbadoes (1803)$1.15: HMS Valerian (1926)$2.50: HMS Victorious (1941)FDC: HMS Barbados
