Honduras issued a set of four stamps to commemorate the construction of Fort San Fernando de Omea on the Caribbean north coast of Honduras.
One of this stamps the 50.00 L shows us a vessel which is given by the Honduras post as the British warship HMS NIOBE attacking the town and fortress of Omea.
Of the fort is given that it was built on instructions of King Ferdinand VI of Spain in 1759 and it was the most important colonial military structure in Central America. The walls have the shape of a bow and arrow, with rounded wall to withstand the shock of the waves. The fort is now a national historic monument in Honduras since May 1959.
The HMS NIOBE was built as a wooden hulled screw sloop at Deptford Dockyard at Deptford for the Royal Navy.
1864 Keel laid down.
31 May 1866 launched as the HMS NIOBE one of the Amazon class.
Displacement 1,083/1,570 tons, dim. 57 x 10.97 x 4.72m.
Hull: Frames of English oak with teak cladding, and her deck was made of fir planking.
Armament: 2 – 7 inch MLR and 2 – 64pdr MLR guns.
Powered by one 2-cyl. expansion steam engine, manufactured by Ravenhill, Salkeld & Co, 1,833 ihp, one shaft, speed 12.3 knots.
Barque rigged. Under canvas she could make 11 knots.
Carried one 27ft pinnace, one 25 ft steam cutter, two rowing cutters and a 16ft jolly boat.
Crew 150.
February 1867 commissioned at Woolwich. Under command of Commander Thomas Kirkpatrick Mackenzie.
After commissioned was she a unit of the North America and West Indies station.
4 November 1868 command was taken over by Commander Russel Graves.
1873 Under command of Lambton Loraine.
HMS 'NIOBE' & THE BOMBARDMENT OF OMOA
From 'The Illustrated London News', November 8th, 1873
Last year the Government of the State of Omoa, Spanish Honduras, of which
General Medina was President, was deposed by a revolutionary party, of which Senor Arias was chief. A similar movement was successful in the neighbouring Republic of Guatemala. For several months a civil war has raged, with varying success, to the detriment of foreign merchants, mostly English, who have a large capital invested in mahogany and other exports. In June, 1873, the NIOBE, Commander Sir Lambton Loraine, was dispatched from Jamaica. The General commanding the Arias party, Streber by name, had perpetrated serious outrages on the merchants, and others, at Omoa and among other misdeeds, the British Vice-Consulate was broken open, and jewels, money, and goods to the amount of many thousands of pounds were taken with the British flag being hauled down and trampled-on. Hearing of this, the NIOBE, taking on board Mr. Vice-Consul Bain, proceeded to the scene of action.
The following demands were sent in to General Streber:
The release of all British prisoners confined in the castle, a salute of
twenty-one guns on re-hoisting the Consular flag, the return of the stolen plate and jewels to the Consulate and an indemnification of £20,000 for robberies of British merchants, perpetrated under Streber's orders. As the means of communicating with the capital was cut off by the opposite party, and it was impossible to correspond with the English Minister Resident, the extreme urgency of the case compelled the alternative of bombarding Omoa Castle to be held out to Streber should the just reparation demanded from him not be conceded. All peaceable overtures being summarily rejected, General Streber pointed his guns on the ship, trusting that his stone walls would defy the NIOBE’s guns. He paraded his troops on the parapet and gave three derisive cheers, at the same time firing his inshore guns. At three o'clock on August 19th, the NIOBE steamed into position, and in a few hours made considerable havoc in the walls with her seven-inch guns, many shells bursting in the casemates, while the crash of falling masonry and debris told of the destruction inside. At half-past five the firing ceased and the ship anchored for the evening. At one in the morning on the 20th, no signs of yielding being apparent, the castle was again shelled for an hour, the ship returning to her anchorage down the bay. The desired effect was now produced, for at eight o'clock a white flag was seen waving frantically from the fort. After some diplomatic correspondence, all the British
demands were complied with, and it was thus proved that the English people and their flag could not be insulted with impunity.
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From 'The Illustrated London News', January 3rd, 1874
The Minister Plenipotentiary of Honduras at the Court of London has received instructions to present a strong protest against the bombardment of Omoa by HMS NIOBE, which is described in the despatch as "a very grave violation of international law and an abuse of force by a strong Government against a weak one." A request is made that a full inquiry should be instituted into the conduct of the captain of the NIOBE, against whom very serious charges are made.
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07 November 1873 she arrived at Santiago de Cuba to stop the executions of the American and British men of the American ship VIRGINIUS which was captured in International waters loaded with contraband. After arrival the executions were stopped after Commander Loraine intervened. More is given on: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginius_Affair
Then I found about her loss on 20 May 1874:
From 'The Illustrated London News', July 18th, 1874
An account was lately published of the loss of H.M.S. NIOBE on Cape Blanc, Island of Miquelon:
H.M.S, NIOBE left Halifax for St. Pierre, intending to communicate with the
French naval officer at that place before proceeding on a fishing cruise. A
thick fog prevailed throughout the whole passage, and she was unable to reach St. Pierre Roads. On May 20 she came to anchor on the west side of Sandy Neck, joining the Great and Little Miquelon Islands. Commander Bogle, finding the anchorage not a desirable one, and thinking it possible to reach Miquelon Roads, or even St. Pierre, by rounding the north end of Miquelon Islands, ordered anchor to be weighed and steamed northward, keeping the land in sight, and being apparently on the edge of the fog bank, which was dense to seaward. About nine in the morning breakers were reported ahead. The screw?(engine) was stopped and reversed, but the ship soon after struck on Cape Blanc, on the north side of Miquelon Island, and, being exposed to the heavy sea, soon became a total wreck.
The boats were immediately lowered, and all hands but one were safely landed
by six in the evening of the same day. Three men were washed out of a boat by the sea, two of whom reached the shore, but the other was drowned.
Loss of H.M.S. “Niobe” near St. Pierre
With regret we notice the loss of her Majesty’s steamship NIOBE. This ship was famous, owing to the stand on the side of humanity, taken by her then Commander, Sir Lambton LORRAINE, in the VIRGINIAS trouble at Cuba. The NIOBE was bound to St. Pierre, there to meet the French S.S. of war, EERSANT The two ships were to proceed thence to the Northern parts of this Island, the object being to settle difficulties, existing between the French fishermen and the settlers (British subjects) on the so called “French Shore”. The NIOBE stuck off Cape Blanc (or White Cape) directly opposite the town of Miquelon. It would appear as if some mistake had been made in the soundings, which are the same there as off Cape Miquelon. The French steamship ADONIS went to Miquelon to render assistance, but the captain and officers did not think proper to come to St. Pierre, as they were expecting a steamer from Halifax (the WOODLARK) to take them to that Port or St. John’s. One man was killed by the capsizing of a boat on him. There had been a dense fog for 5 days – not a glimpse of Sunlight visible.
Source: From Harbor Grace Standard.....................
The NIOBE was a total loss and she was scrapped from the Navy list on 23 July 1874.
Honduras 2015 50.00L sg?, scott?
Conway’s All the Worlds Fighting Ships 1860-1905. The Sail & Steam Navy List.