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    Default Third Rate 64 gun ships of the Royal Navy.

    HMS Africa (1781)

    HMS Africa was a John Williams designed Inflexible Class, 64 gun third rate ship of the line, built by Adams and Barnard at Deptford Dockyard. Ordered on the11th of February, 1778, she was laid down in the following month, and launched on the 11th of April, 1781. She was completed in the July of 178i at Deptford and Woolwich Dockyards.


    HMS Africa


    History
    Great Britain
    Name: HMS Africa
    Ordered: 11 February 1778
    Builder: Barnard, Deptford
    Laid down: 2 March 1778
    Launched: 11 April 1781
    Fate: Broken up, May 1814
    General characteristics
    Class and type: Inflexible Class 64 gun third rate ship of the line
    Tons burthen: 1,385​8394 (bm)
    Length: 160 ft 10 in (48 m) (gundeck)
    Beam: 44 ft 9 in (13.52 m)
    Depth of hold: 18 ft 11 in (5.74 m)
    Propulsion: Sails
    Sail plan: Full rigged ship
    Armament:
    • 64 guns:
    • LD: 26 × 24-pounder guns
    • UD: 26 × 18-pounder guns
    • QD: 10 × 4-pounder guns
    • Fc: 2 × 9-pounder guns


    Service.

    HMS Africa was commissioned in the March of 1871.

    During the American War of Independence, she sailed for India in early 1782 as part of a squadron of five ships under Commodore Sir Richard Bickerton, arriving too late for the battles of that year. Africa never actually served in the American theatre and remained in India for the duration of hostilities, taking part in the last battle of that war, at Cuddalore in 1783. She returned to England once news of the peace treaty arrived, and she was paid off in the March of 1784, and fitted for ordinary at Plymouth in the following month. She underwent a small repair there for £10,727.3.4d between the December of that year and the July of 1785. She was next fitted for sea in the September of 1793, and commissioned in the following month under Captain Roddam Home, who commanded her until 1796. On the 18th of May 1794 she sailed for Nova Scotia and was involved in the attack on Leogane on the Jamaica station on the 21st of March, 1796. Rear-Admiral William Parker commanded and the Navy co-operated in an attack, made by troops under Major-General Forbes from Port au Prince, San Domingo, upon Leogane, in the same island. The forces were landed, under the fire of the Ceres, 32, Captain James Newman Newman, Lark, 16, Commander William Ogilvy, Iphigenia, 32, Captain Francis Farrington Gardner, Cormorant, 18, Commander Francis Collingwood, and Sirene, 16, Commander Daniel Guerin; and the town and works were simultaneously cannonaded by the Leviathan, 74, Captain John Thomas Duckworth, Africa, under Captain Home, and Swiftsure, 74, Captain Robert Parker. The place proved stronger than had been anticipated, and, the Leviathan and Africa having been considerably damaged aloft by the guns on shore, the attempt was abandoned.

    On her return to England, in the October of that year she was paid off, and then fitted as a Hospital ship at Chatham in the September of 1798. She was commissioned under Liuetenant John Bryant, and then from 1800 under Lieutenant John Dixon.

    Napoleonic Wars.

    She was refitted as a 64 by Pitcher of Northfleet fo £32,208 between the September of !804 and the July of 1805 when she came under Captain Henry Digby just in time for him to command her in the Weather column under lord Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar on the 21st of October.Having been separated from the main British fleet before the battle, Africa arrived from a different direction without knowing the battle plan that Admiral had devised. As the rest of the fleet engaged the combined Franco-Spanish fleet in a pell-mell battle, Digby sailed Africa down the line of enemy ships in a parallel fashion, exchanging broadsides. During the action Africa suffered 18 killed and 44 wounded.

    From the January of1806, Africa was under Captain James R Farquharson for a month and then under Captain I Wooley before Captain James Ross in the Channel. By 1807 her Captain was Henry Bayntum and she was at the Cape of Good Hope in the July of that year. In the February of 1808 CaptainJohn Barrett took command.

    Gunboat War.

    During the Gunboat War, Africa remained under the command of Captain Barrett, and on the 15th of October in that year Africa was escorting a convoy of 137 merchant ships in the Baltic, with the assistance of the Bomb vessel HMS Thunder and two Gun Brigs. They left Karlskrona. that day and on the 20th of October they anchored in the Oresund, off Malmo. At noon a flotilla of Danish Gunboats were seen to be moving towards the convoy and Africa sailed to intercept them. The flotilla consisted of 25 gunboats and seven armed launches, mounting some 70 heavy cannons with an overall total of some 1600 men aboard. It was under the command of Commodore Johan Cornelius Krieger.

    At 1:30 the wind died and Africa was immobilized. By 2:50pm the gunboats had stationed themselves off Africa's quarters, where few of her guns could fire, and opened fire. The battle continued until 6:45pm when with night closing in all firing ceased. Had daylight lasted another hour the Danes might have captured Africa, however, nightfall meant both forces left the battlefield without victory for either side. As it was, Africa had lost 9 men killed and 51 wounded, including Captain Barrett. She was so badly mauled that she had to return to Karlskrona for repairs. The convoy, however, managed to reach Britain.



    Danish gunboats attack HMS Africa, 1808

    After her refit, in the February of 1809, Africa was recommissioned under Captain Loftus bland and left once more for the Baltic in the October of that year now under the command of Captain Thomas Dundas who was superseded in the May of 1810 by Captain George Reeves who succeeded in bringing home a large convoy, notwithstanding the severity of the weather and the violence of the gales. By the October of 1810 command had devolved onto Captain Thomas Baker under whom John Houlton Marshall was promoted to Commander on the ship at a ceremony held on the 21st of that month to commemorate the Anniversary of Battle of Trafalgar.
    In 1811 Captain John Surman Carden assumed command and sailed for North America on the 28th of January in that year. By the November Africa was under Captain John Bastard, as the Flagship of Vice Admiral Herbert Sawyer.

    War of 1812.

    Still under the command of Captain Bastard, Africa became part of Sir Philip Broke's squadron in 1812, and was present at the capture of the American 14 gun Nautilus on the 16th of July of that year. In the following month she was not so lucky when Broke pursued, but ultimately failed to catch USS Constitution on the 14th of August. However she did manage to take the schooner Lewis.


    Constitution's escape from the British squadron after a chase of sixty hours.

    Fate.

    On her return home Africa was broken up at Portsmouth in the May of 1814.
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    Last edited by Bligh; 09-02-2020 at 12:39.
    The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.

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    HMS Agamemnon (1781)

    HMS Agamemnon was a Thomas Slade designed Ardent Class,64 gun third rate ship of the line, built by Henry Adams at Bucklers Hard. Ordered on the 5th of February, 1777, and re-ordered in the April of that year, she was laid down in the following month and launched the 10th of April, 1781. Her completion took place between the 15th of May and the9th of July in that year at Portsmouth. The total cost of her construction was £38,303 15s 4d
    She is remembered as being Nelson's favourite ship, and was named after the mythical Greek king of that name, being the first ship of the Royal Navy to bear it.



    A painting of the launch of Agamemnon by Harold Wyllie depicts blue skies and scores of spectators

    History
    GREAT BRITAIN
    Name: HMS Agamemnon
    Ordered: 8 April 1777
    Builder: Henry Adams Bucklers Hard
    Laid down: May 1777
    Launched: 10 April 1781
    Fate: Wrecked in Maldanado Bay Uruguay, 16 June 1809
    General characteristics
    Class and type: Ardent Class 74 gun ship of th line
    Tons burthen: 1,383 (bm)
    Length: 160 ft 2 in (49 m) (gundeck)
    Beam: 44 ft 5 in (13.52 m)
    Depth of hold: 18 ft 11 in (5.8 m)
    Propulsion: Sails
    Sail plan: Full rigged ship
    Armament:
    • 64 guns:
    • GD: 26 × 24-pounders
    • UD: 26 × 18-pounders
    • QD: 10 × 4-pounders
    • Fc: 2 × 9-pounders


    Service.

    Agamemnon was commissioned under Captain Benjamin Caldwell on the 28th of March, 1781, and she was soon assigned to Admiral Richard Kempenfeldt’s squadron. The Admiralty having received intelligence that a large French convoy was preparing to sail from Brest under the command of Admiral de Guichen and being comprised of transports carrying naval supplies for the French West Indian Islands and also the French squadrons deployed in the Far East, dispatched orders to Kempenfelt was consequently ordered to intercept this convoy, which he accomplished whilst traversing the Bay of Biscay, south-west of Ushant , on the 12th of December. With the French naval escort to leeward of the convoy, Kempenfelt attacked immediately, capturing 15 of the transports before nightfall. The rest of the convoy scattered, most returning to Brest; only five transports reached the West Indies.

    Early in 1782, she sailed to the West Indies as part of Admiral Sir George Rodney’s squadron, and on the 9th of April, she was involved in the Battle of the Saints It commenced in an indecisive skirmish, involving the ships of the the van under Hood, Rodney’s 2ic. His ships were badly mauled and then retreated to make good their damage. Three days later Agamemnon came into action as the second part of the battle evolved. This time it proved to be a decisive victory for the British fleet. Agamemnon’s losses amounted to 2 lieutenants and 14 crewmen killed, and 22 wounded. After wartime service.

    Agamemnon returned home and was paid off at Chatham in the June of 1783. From the 29th of October in that year until the June of 1784 she underwent a small repair there had her coppering replaced at a total cost of £12,393.0.9d, and was laid up in ordinary.
    She was refitted for sea in the October and November of 1790, but not recommissioned until the February of 1793.

    French Revolutionary War.

    She was placed under the command of Captain Horatio Nelson, and after provisioning joined the fleet lying at anchor at the Nore, and then sailed to join the Mediterranean fleet, commanded by Vice-Admiral Hood, which was in the process of blockading the French port of Toulon On the 27th of August the town of Toulon declared in favour of the Bourbons, and Hood's fleet moved in to take control of the naval dockyard and capture the 30 French ships of the line in the harbour. Agamemnon then departed for Naples to petition King Ferdinand for reinforcements. Even with his extra contingent of 4,000 men, the revolutionary army, commanded by Napoleon, launched a successful assault against the town and the allied troops were forced into abandoning the defensive works and ultimately the anchorage itself. Agamemnon’s next action took place on the 22nd of October in that same year when she fought against a French frigate squadron off Sardinia.

    In the April and May of, 1794, seamen from Agamemnon, led by Nelson himself, assisted in capturing Bastia in Corsica. Agamemnon then sailed to Gib for repairs, in spite of having been refitted in 1793 before her recommissioning. Following the repairs, Agamemnon returned to Corsica At Calvi Agamemnon provided guns and men for the siege. This was the action in which Nelson was wounded and lost the sight in his right eye, from the ricocheting of a French cannon ball which threw gravel and dirt into his face. The town finally surrendered on the 10th of August. During the siege Agamemnon had lost six men killed.

    In the December of 1794 Vice-Admiral Williasm Hotham, took command of the fleet and under him
    Agamemnon, participated in the Battle of Genoa. On the 10th of March a French fleet of 15 of the line, had been observed. On the 13th as the French had not made any attempt to close with the British Fleet, Admiral Hotham gave orders to the fleet for a general chase. In the French scramble to withdraw, the Ca Ira collided with the Victoire, losing her masts in the process. This allowed the British van to close, and HMS Inconstant caught up with the Ca Ira engaging her until the Agamemnon and Captain could come up to her assistance. The arrival of more French ships who had returned to succour Ca Ira caused Admiral Hotham to signal a general retreat for the British ships engaged with her. Nevertheless, Ça Ira was taken on the following day, together with another French ship, the Censeur, who had been towing the stricken ship.


    Agamemnon (left) battling Ca Ira on 13 March 1795.

    On 7 July 1795 off Valdo, whilst in company with a small squadron of Frigates, Agamemnon was forced to flee from a French fleet comprising 22 ships of the line and 6 accompanying frigates. They were next sighted on the 13th of July, off the Hyeres islands by the fleet which gave chase once more and caught the French. During the resulting battle, Agamemnon was one of several ships who managed to come up with the French. Agamemnon and HMS Cumberland were just about to engage a French 80-gun ship, when inexplicably. Hotham again signalled for his fleet to break off the action, thus enabling the French to escape once more despite the mauling that they had received. Hotham was taken to task for his ineptitude and was relieved of his command, Admiral Sir John Jervis being instated in his place.

    Nelson, having been promoted to Commodore on the 11th of March 1796 took command of his own squadron, and on the 31st of May, boats from Agamemnon and other ships in Nelson's squadron captured a small French convoy close to the Franco-Italian coast.
    On the 10th of June, Nelson transferred his pennant to HMS Captain. Command of the Agamemnon passing to Captain John Samuel Smith.

    Agamemnon then returned to England and was paid off in the September of that year. She was refitted at Chatham for £10.623 before being recomissioned under Captain Robert Fancourt who was to remain in command until 1802.

    Mutiny.

    In the May of 1797, whilst under the command of Fancourt, Agamemnon was involved in the Nore Mutiny. On the 29th of that month, the North Sea squadron lying in the Yarmouth Roads was ordered to sea. Only three ships, Agamemnon, Adamant and Glatton, responded to the signal, but the crew of Agamemnon subsequently joined the mutineers, and returned to Yarmouth Roads. The then sailed to join the main mutiny taking place at the Nore. Order was eventually restored aboard Agamemnon, when seamen and marines forcibly ejected the hard-line mutineers from the ship. Captain Fancourt was thus enabled to secure a pardon for the remaining ship's company.
    On 18 March 1800, Agamemnon was damaged when she ran onto the Penmark Rocks.
    Agamemnon was next sent to the Baltic in the August of 1800 as part of Dixon’s squadron at Elsinore, and then as part of the fleet under Admiral Sir Hyde Parker and Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson to attack the Danish Fleet. Thus it transpired that Agamemnon came to be included in Nelson's division which fought the Battle of Copenhagen on the 2nd of April, 1801. Agamemnon was positioned second in the line to the rear of HMS Edgar, and after passing down the Outer Channel, she grounded whilst attempting to round the southern tip of the Middle Ground shoal. While the battle raged around her Agamemnon, along with Bellona and Russell, both of whom had also run aground, she flew signals of distress. The three stranded ships were eventually pulled off the Middle Ground in the night of the 3rd of April.


    Diagram of the Battle of Copenhagen, showing Agamemnon grounded near the Middle Ground

    Agamemnon was laid up at Chatham in 1802.

    The Napoleonic Wars.

    Agamemnon was brought out of ordinary in the September of 1804, having been recommissioned under Captain John Harvey on the 31st of July, and sailed to join the Channel fleet under Admiral William Cornwallis.
    Agamemnon was part of Vice-Admiral Robert Calder's squadron which was cruising off Cape Finisterre on the 22nd of July, 1805, when the combined Franco-Spanish fleet from the West Indies was sighted to windward. The British ships formed into line of battle, with Agamemnon fifth in the line, and engaged Admiral Villenuve’s fleet. During the engagement Agamemnon had three men wounded, and lost her mizzen topmast plus her foresail yard. By nightfall, Calder's fleet had become scattered, and he signalled for the action to be discontinued.


    The Battle of Trafalgar.


    Ship positions at the beginning of the Battle of Trafalgar.HMS Africa and HMS Neptune are erroneously shown in one another's positions

    Following the action at Finnesterre, on the 17th of September, 1805, after a small refit in Portsmouth, Captain Harvey was superseded in command of Agamemnon by Captain Sir Edward Berry and on the 3rd of October she sailed from her anchorage at Spithead to join Vice-Admiral Nelson's fleet off Cadiz. On the 21st of October she fought in the weather column at the Battle of Trafalgar, astern HMS Orion and ahead of HMS Minotaur. Once engaged, she was firing both broadsides simultaneously, hammering the Spanish four decker Flagship Santisima Trinidad until it was dismasted, and with 216 of its complement dead, struck its colours. However, before Berry could take possession of the prize, the enemy van division began bearing down on the British line, With Nelson already dying below decks on Victory, his Captain of the Fleet Thomas Hardy ordered Agamemnon and several other ships to intercept them. Three of the enemy ships broke off and ran for Cádiz. After briefly engaging Intrepide, the British ships moved to try to cut off the fleeing ships. Over the course of the battle, Agamemnon suffered just two killed, and eight wounded.

    Having undergone repairs after the battle and subsequent storm, at the beginning of 1806 Agamemnon joined Vice-Admiral Duckworth’s squadron in the West Indies, in pursuit of a French fleet carrying troops to Santo Domingo. On the 6th of February in that year, the two squadrons met up at the Battle of San Domingo; Agamemnon assisted Duckworth's flagship Superb, under Captain Richard Keats, in driving the French Vice-Admiral Leissegues flagship Imperial ashore where she was wrecked.


    Duckworth's Action off San Domingo, 6 February 1806, by Nicholas Pocock. HMS Agamemnon is visible in the background, third from left.

    On the 24th of March, with the aid of Carysfort, Agamemnon captured the 18 gun La Lutine, and on the 30th of the month she also took the 16 gun privateer La Dame Ernouf. In June her new Captain was Joseph Spear, and In October, she escorted a convoy on her return to Britain. November saw another change of commander to Captain William Fahie, and in December she went into Chatham for a well deserved refit.

    In 1807 under her new commander, Captain Jonas Rose, Agamemnon participated in Admiral James Gambier’s expedition to take control of the Danish fleet before it could be captured by the French. As a result of this action by the British and after negotiations with the Danes failed, she participated in the second Battle of Copenhagen, and as in the preceding battle of 1801, once again ran aground. After she was refloated, Agamemnon landed guns and shot in Kjörge Bay to form part of a battery being established there to command the city. Firing commenced on the 2nd of September, and persisted until the Danes surrendered on the 7th of that month.
    She then proceeded to the West Indies via Portugal.

    Sailing for the Tagus on the 1st of January 1808, Agamemnon joined the blockading squadron off Lisbon. From there in the following month Agamemnon sailed with Rear-Admiral Sir Sidney Smith’s flagship Foudroyant to Brazil, where they joined another squadron. At Rio De Janeiro it was discovered that Agamemnon was again quite worn out, with seams in her planking opening and some of her framing bolts broken. In the October of that year, Agamemnon and Monarch anchored in Maldonado Bay, in the mouth of the Rio de la Plata. Whilst there, Monarch ran aground, requiring Agamemnon's assistance to refloat her. The two ships then put to sea, but were forced to return to Maldonado Bay when they encountered bad weather. After the ships returned to Rio in the January of 1809, the ship was fully surveyed by the carpenter, who drew up an extensive list of her defects.

    Fate.

    On the 16th of June, 1809 Agamemnon, together with the rest of the squadron (which was now under the command of Rear-Admiral Michael de Courcy), put into Maldonado Bay for the third and final time, to shelter from a storm. While working her way between Gorriti island and the shore, Agamemnon struck an uncharted shoal. Captain Jonas Rose attempted to use the ship's boats, together with the stream and Kedge anchors, to refloat her, but the attempt failed.. The ship had dropped anchor on the shoal just prior to grounding, and it was discovered that she had actually run onto it when she grounded, the anchor having pierced the hull. On the 17th of June, with the ship listing heavily to starboard, Agamemnon's stores and all her crew were taken off by boats from other vessels in the squadron, and the following day Captain Rose and his officers left the ship.

    The court-martial for the loss of Agamemnon was held at Rio de Janeiro on the 22nd of July, 1809, aboard HMS Bedford. Its findings were that the ship might have been saved if she had not been in such poor general condition, and Captain Rose was honourably acquitted.
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    The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.

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    HMS America (1777)


    HMS America was a John Williams designed Intrepid Class, 64 gun third rate ship of the line, built by M/shipwright Adam Hayes at Deptford Dockyard. Ordered on the 18th of June 1771, and laid down in the October of that year, she was launched on the 5th of August, 1777, and completed on the 29th of March 1778.


    Plan showing the body, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth proposed for America
    History
    GREAT BRITAIN
    Name: HMS America
    Ordered: 18 June 1771
    Builder: Deptford Dockyard
    Launched: 5 August 1777
    Fate: Broken up, 1807

    General characteristics
    Class and type: Intrepid Class 64 gun ship of the line
    Tons burthen: 1369 (bm)
    Length: 159 ft 6 in (48.62 m) (gundeck)
    Beam: 44 ft 4 in (13.51 m)
    Depth of hold: 19 ft (5.8 m)
    Propulsion: Sails
    Sail plan: Full rigged ship
    Armament:
    • 64 guns:
    • Gundeck: 26 × 24-pounders
    • Upper gundeck: 26 × 18-pounders
    • Quarterdeck: 10 × 4-pounders
    • Forecastle: 2 × 9-pounders

    Service.

    HMS America was commissioned in the December of 1777, and refitted and coppered at Portsmouth for a cost of £7,210.17.5d between the February and the March of 1780. Under the command of Captain Samuel Thompson, she took part in the Battle of the Chesapeake on the 5th of September, 1781, suffering no casualties.
    On the12th of April, 1782 she saw action in the white squadron as part of the Battle of the Saints against a huge French fleet. She was again lucky in the action losing only 1 killed and 1 wounded.

    On her return to England after wartime service she was paid off 1n 1783.

    Between the March of 1786 and January of 1787 America underwent a small to middling repair at Portsmouth costing £15,979, and then in the March of 1793 she was fitted out for sea and commissioned under Captain John Rodney who was to command her until 1794 in the Channel.

    In 1795 she came under the broad pennant of Captain John Blanket, and sailed for the East Indies on the 12th of March. On route she served with Elphinstone’s squadron at the Cape of Good Hope as as part of the British fleet at the Battle of Muizenberg. This was a small but significant military affair that began in June 1795 and ended three months later with the first British occupation of the Cape. In 1796 America was under Captain Edward Buller at the capture of the Dutch squadron in Saldanha Bay on the 17th of August and then returned to England where she underwent a small repair at Chatham between the March and December of 1797.



    She was then recommissioned under Captain John Smith until 1799 and Joined Duncan’s fleet, taking a 14 gun privateer Hussar in the North Sea in the August of 1798.She was with Mitchell’s squadron in the Helder during 1799 where she grounded on the 30th of August in that year. This resulted in her having to return to Chatham, where a small repair was effected between the November of that year and the April of 1800. Whilst undergoing repairs, she was recommissioned under Captain Joseph Bingham in the March of 1800, to serve as the Flagship of Vice Admiral Sir William Parker from the following month. She sailed for Halifax in the month following this. By the13th of December she had sailed south and was off the Azores when she ran herself upon the Formigas Reef and suffered severe damage to her hull. With some difficulty she was refloated with the tide and returned to harbour. On the 27th of December America's captain and senior officers were court martialled aboard the HMS Carnatic, which was anchored off Port Royal, Jamaica. All were acquitted when the court established that the grounding had been caused by errors in the ship's charts, upon which the Reef was marked as being substantially to the south of its actual location.

    Fate.

    Following the grounding, America was withdrawn from active service and redesignated as a prison ship at Port Royal. In 1804 she was loaned to the Transport Board. Following this she was decommissioned and broken up in 1807.
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    The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.

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    HMS Anson (1781)




    HMS Anson was another John Williams designed Intrepid Class, 64 gun ship of the line, and being the leading ship of her class. She was built by M/shipwright Israel Pownoll at Plymouth Dockyard until the February of 1775, and completed by John Henslow. She was ordered on the 24th of April, 1773 and approved on the 19th of May. Laid down in the January of 1774, she was launched on the 4th of September, 1781, and completed on the 15th of October of that year. This included her coppering. Her sister ship HMS Intrepid had proved satisfactory in sea trials, consequently the Admiralty increased their order from four to fifteen ships and Anson was part of that expanded order. The ship was assigned its name in honour of Admiral George Anson who had been the victor the First Battle of Finisterre, which had taken place on the 14th of May, 1747. [IMG]file:///C:\Users\Rob\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image001.jpg[/IMG]
    .
    History
    GREAT BRITAIN
    Name: HMS Anson
    Ordered: 24 April 1773
    Builder: Plymouth Dockyard
    Laid down: January 1774
    Launched: 4 September 1781
    Honours and
    awards:
    • Participated in:

    Battle of the Saints
    Fate: Wrecked, 29 December 1807
    General characteristics
    Class and type: Intrepid Class 64 gun ship of the line
    Tons burthen: 1375 (bm)
    Length: 159 ft 6 in (48.62 m) (gundeck)
    Beam: 44 ft 5.25 in (13.51 m)
    Depth of hold: 19 ft (5.8 m)
    Propulsion: Sails
    Sail plan: Full rigged ship
    Armament: AS a 64 gun ship:
    Gundeck:26 × 24-pounder guns
    Upper gundeck:26 × 18-pounder guns
    QD:10 × 4-pounder guns
    FC:2 × 9-pounder guns


    • As a 44 gun ship:

    Gundeck:26 × 24-pounder guns
    QD:8 × 12-pounder guns
    x 42-ounder
    Carronades

    • Fc:2 × 12-pounder guns
    • 2 × 42-pounder Carronades

    Servce.

    HMS Anson was commissioned in the September of 1781, for service in the Leeward Islands under Captain William Blair, on the 15th of January, 1782. On the 12th of April in that year,Anson fought at the battle of The Saints in the rear division under the command of Rear-Admiral Francis Samuel Drake. in the fleet of Admiral Sir George Rodney against the French Fleet commanded by Admiral de Grasse. During the battle she lost three killed and 13 wounded including Captain Blair who was struck at waist level by a cannonball which cut him in two.

    In the July of that year Anson returned to England, was paid off and had her coppering repaired and raised at Portsmouth. Then between 1884 and 1794 she underwent a series of small repairs in keeping with ordinary maintenance. However, all this was about to be changed by an Admiralty Order issued on the 11th of August in that year.

    Conversion to a frigate.

    Experience with 64-gun ships throughout the navy, at the Saints and elsewhere, had proved that they were now too poorly armed and weakly built to stand up to th fire power of larger ships-of-the-line. Rather than dispose of the ships entirely, the Royal Navy decided to have such ships razeed by removing the uppermost deck to produce a large Frigate with the capability of housing heavier guns than a standard Frigate. The subsequent Razee Frigate was more than a match for a typical purpose-built frigate, not only because of its firepower but because it was also structurally stronger, although not being as swift or agile as its counterparts nor as easy to handle in strong winds.
    Anson was razéed by the close of the year having had the forecastle and quarterdeck removed, and the upper deck reconstructed to provide a new forecastle and quarterdeck, ending up as a 44 gun Frigate with with a gun deck consisting of twenty-six 24-pounder cannon pounders). The new quarterdeck and forecastle had a corresponding weight of cannon to replace the earlier lighter ones, plus the bonus of Carronades Anson was thus heavily armed for a frigate, and retained the stronger construction (and ability to absorb damage) of a ship-of-the-line.

    The French Revolutionary Wars.

    Anson was recommissioned in the October of 1794 under Captain Philip Durham who would command her until 1800. In the October of the following year she took part in the Quiberon operations from the June to the October of that year, and in 1796 in Warren’s squadron she assisted in the attack on a convoy off Pointe du Raz 0n the 20th of march in which the 28 gun storeship L’ Etoile was taken. She then returned to England to make good defects at Plymouth in the May of 1797. On her return to the squadron she was soon in action off the Penmarcks on the 16th of July, when accompanied by Sylph they drove the French Corvette Calliope on shore, where Sylph proceeded to fire on her. When Pomone reconnoitred site during the following week, she found that Calliope was a complete wreck with her crew camping on shore and attempting to salvage what little they could. Pomone confirmed that the flute Freedom and a brig that had also been driven ashore were total wrecks.

    On the 16th of July, this time accompanied by Boadicea, Anson took the privateers le Zephyr of 8 guns. Leviathan, Anson, Childers, Pompee and Melpomene, took Tordenskiold on the10th of September and each shared in the prize money. To follow up on this exploit Anson went on to capture the 20 gun Le Railleur on the 17th of November.

    To round off the year, on the 29th of December Anson, cruising off the mouth of the Girond in the Bay of Biscay, recaptured the 30 gun Daphne, which had been taken by the French three years previously. Anson fired several shots before Daphne struck her colours. When taken it transpired that two of her passengers were the Civil Commissioners Jaiquelin and La Carze, who unfortunately managed to toss their dispatches over the side. These had been intended for delivery to Guadeloupe. During the action Daphne lost five men killed and several more wounded.

    1798 saw Anson continue where she had left off in the previous year but this time in the Channel from the 8th of February. On the 22nd of March, together with Canada and Phaeton against in an action the 36 gun La Charente off the Ile d ‘Aix, and then on the 31st of August, again accompanied by Phaeton she took the 18 gun privateer Le Mercure.

    On the 7th of September, after a 24-hour long chase, Anson and Phaeton captured Flore. Captain Stopford, of Phaeton, in a letter described Flore as a frigate of 36 guns and 255 men. She was eight days out of Boulogne on a cruise. She had also served with the Royal Navy in the American Revolution.

    At Warren’s action with Bompart on the12th of October Anson was unable to take part in the Battle, because she had sustained damage during poor weather and was unable to keep up with the rest of the British squadron. However, In the aftermath of the original engagement, on the 18th of October she joined the brig HMS Kangeroo and fought a separate action capturing the damaged French frigate Loire. Anson was still under the command of Captain Durham, who struggled to manoeuvre his ship after having had her mizzen mast shot away as well as her main lower and topsail yards during the earlier pursuit.

    After a refit, Anson sailed from Plymouth on the 26th of January, 1799, and on the 2nd of February, in company with Ethalion, captured the 14 gun French privateer cutter Boulonaise. off Dunkirk. She had been preying on shipping in the North Sea. She then returned to Plymouth for repairs between the July and August of that year.
    On the 9th of September, Captain Durham held a fête for the King. During the course of the evening, the king was found on the lower deck surrounded by the ship’s company and talking to an old sailor.

    On the 10th of April, 1800, when north-west of the Canaries, Anson detained Catherine & Anna bound for Hamburg from Batavia with a cargo of coffee.

    Then on the 27th of the month she captured the Letter of Marque 16 gun brig Vainquer. She was ,however, armed partially en flute and only mounted four. When captured she had been on her way from Bordeaux to San Domingo with a cargo of merchandise.

    Two days later, at daybreak, Anson encountered four French privateers: Brave (36 guns), Guepe (18), Hardi (18), and Duide (16). As soon as the French vessels realized that Anson was a British frigate they scattered. As Anson passed Brave going in the opposite direction Anson fired a broadside into her; Durham believed that the broadside did considerable damage, but he was unable to follow up as Brave had the wind in her favour and so out sailed Anson. Durham then set off after one of the other French vessels, which he was able to capture. She was Hardi, of 18 guns and 194 men. Durham described her as "a very fine new Ship just of the Stocks." The Royal Navy took Hardi into service, first as HMS Hardi, before shortly thereafter renaming her HMS Rosario. Lastly, Durham reported sending into port for adjudication a very valuable ship that had been sailing from Batavia to Hamburg with the Governor of Batavia as passenger. (This may have been Catherine & Anna.)

    On 27th of June Anson and Constance came across some 40 or 50 Spanish merchant vessels on the Straits of Gibraltar. They were protected by 25 gunboats. Two row boats came out from Gibraltar to assist Anson and the British were able to capture eight Spanish merchantmen, though the Spanish managed to recaptured one.
    On 29th of June Anson and Constance captured two privateer misticos: Gibraltar and Severo (or Severino). Gibraltar was armed with four guns and had a crew of 50 men. Severo was armed with two guns and ten Swivel guns, and had a crew of 26 men.

    On 30th of June Anson cut off two Spanish gun boats that had been annoying the convoy she was escorting. The two proved to be Gibraltar and Salvador. They each mounted two 18–pounder guns in their bow, and each had eight guns of different dimensions on their sides. They were each manned by 60 men and probably sustained heavy casualties in resisting Anson.

    Anson went in for a small refit between the December of 1800 and the January of 1801, in which month she came under the command of Captain William. E. Cracraft, who was to captain her until 1805. Anson was destined for the Channel station, cruising out of Portsmouth, and also taking part in convoy duties. In 1802 she was ordered to Med, and in November she sailed from Malta for Egypt.

    In 1803 she took the 5 gun privateer La Marguerite on the 15th of October.
    She went in to Plymouth to be fitted for temporary service for repairs in the September of1805 until the January of 1806.

    Napoleonic Wars.

    In December of 1805 Captain Charles Lydiard had been appointed her new captain and it was under him that Anson was driven ashore at Portsmouth, on the 15th of January, but she was successfully refloated, repaired, and returned to service. Still under Lydiard′s command, Anson sailed to the Leeward Islands in the West Indies on the 4th of April.1806.

    On the 23rd of August, while sailing in company with Captain Charles Brisbane's they encountered the 38-gun Spanish frigate Pomona off Havana, guarded by a shore battery and twelve Gunboats. Pomona was trying to enter the harbour, whereupon Lydiard and Brisbane bore up and engaged her. The gunboats came out to defend her. The two British frigates then anchored between the shore battery and gunboats on the one hand, and Pomona on the other. A hard-fought action began, which lasted for 35 minutes until Pomona struck her colours. Three of the gunboats were blown up, six were sunk, and the remaining three were badly damaged. The shore battery was obliged to stop engaging the British ships, following an explosion, which seriously damaged one part of the battery. There were no casualties aboard Anson, but Arethusa lost two killed and 32 wounded, with Captain Brisbane among the latter. The captured Pomona was subsequently taken into the Navy as HMS Cuba.


    HMS Arethusa and HMS Anson capture the Pomona off Havana, depicted by Thomas Whitcombe.

    Anson continued her cruising off Havana, and on the15th of September sighted the French 84-gun Foudroyant, displaying the flag of Vice-Admiral Jean-Baptiste Willaumez, which had been dismasted in a storm and was carrying a jury-rig. Despite the superiority of his opponent and the nearness of the shore Captain Lydiard attempted to close on the French vessel and opened fire. Anson came under fire from the fortifications at Morro Castle,, while several Spanish ships, including the 74-gun San Lorenzo, came out of Havana to assist the French. After being unable to manoeuvre into a favourable position and coming under heavy fire, Lydiard hauled away and made his escape. Anson had two killed and 13 wounded during the engagement, while its sails and rigging had been badly damaged. Foudroyant meanwhile had 27 killed or wounded.

    Anson was then assigned to Charles Brisbane's squadron and joined Brisbane's Arethusa and James Athol Wood’s HMS Latona.
    In the November of 1806, the ships were despatched by Vice-Admiral James Richard Dacres to reconnoitre Curacao. They were joined in December by HMS Fisguard, and Brisbane decided to launch an attack. The British ships approached early in the morning of the 1st of January, 1807 and anchored in the harbour. They were attacked by the Dutch, at which Brisbane boarded and captured the 36-gun frigate Halstaar, while Lydiard attacked and secured the 20-gun corvette Suriname. Both Lydiard and Brisbane then led their forces on shore, and stormed Fort Amsterdam, which was defended by 270 Dutch troops. The fort was carried after ten minutes of fighting, after which two smaller forts, a citadel and the entire town were also taken. More troops were landed while the ships sailed round the harbour to attack Fort République. By 10 am the fort had surrendered, and by noon the entire island had capitulated.

    Anson had seven men wounded. In all, the British lost three killed and 14 wounded. On the ships alone, the Dutch lost six men killed, including Commandant Cornelius J. Evertz, who commanded the Dutch naval force in Curaçao, and seven wounded, of whom one died later. With the colony, the British captured the frigate Kenau Hasselar, the sloop Suriname which was a former Royal Naval sloop, and two naval schooners.


    The capture of Curaçao, depicted by Thomas Whitcombe

    Anson was sent back to Britain carrying the despatches and captured colours. The dramatic success of the small British force carrying the heavily defended island was rewarded handsomely. Brisbane was knighted, and the captains received swords, medals and vases.
    In 1847 the Admiralty authorised the issue of the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Curacoa 1 Jany. 1807" to any surviving claimants from the action; 65 medals were issued.

    Fate.

    After a period refitting in Britain Anson was assigned to the Channel Fleet and ordered to support the blockade of Brest by patrolling off Black Rocks. She sailed from Falmouth on the 24th of December,1807, and reached Ile de Bas on the 28th of the month. With a severe storm developing from the south west, Lydiard decided to return to port. He made forthe Lizard, but in the poor weather, came up on the wrong side and became trapped on a lee shore off Mount's Bay near Penzance, in Cornwall with breakers ahead and insufficient room to sail out to the open seas. Anson rolled heavily in rough seas, having retained the spars from her days as a 64-gun ship after she had been razeed. Lydiard's only option was to anchor off Loe Bar. The storm caused the first anchor cable to snap at 4 am on the morning of 29th of December. Anson's second anchor cable broke at 7 am and she was soon being driven onto the shore. With no anchors, Lydiard, in the hope of saving as many lives as possible, attempted to beach her on what he thought was a suitable beach. It only upon impact that he discovered that it was a sandbar that covered rocks dividing Loe Pool from the open sea. The wind and waves caused the ship to roll broadside on and her mainmast snapped. a sheet anchor was let out, which righted the ship only before it snapped in its turn at 8 am.
    As hundreds of spectators watched from nearby settlements the pounding surf prevented boats from being launched from the ship or the shore, and a number of the crew were swept away. Some managed to clamber along the fallen main-mast to the shore. Captain Lydiard remained aboard to oversee the evacuation. About 2 pm the ship began to break up, which allowed a few more men to emerge from the wreck, with one being saved. By 3 pm no trace of the ship remained.
    Survivors were taken to Helston, two miles away and later sent on to Falmouth.
    Estimates of the number of lives lost vary from sixty to 190. Captain Lydiard and Anson's first-lieutenant was among the casualties; Lydiard's body was recovered on the 1st of January, 1808 and taken to Falmouth for burial with full military honours. Most of the other victims were buried in pits dug on unconsecrated ground on the cliffs with no burial rites. The death toll is uncertain as some of the survivors had been pressed, and took the opportunity to desert.


    'Loss of the Anson Frigate, off Cornwall', in an 1808 depiction by William Elmes
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    The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.

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    HMS Ardent (1782)



    HMS Ardent was a an Edward Hunt designed Crown Class, 64-gun third rate ship of the line, built by George Parsons and Staves at Bursledon Hants. Ordered on the 15th of October 1779, she was laid down in the October of 1780 and launched on the 24th of December,1782. She was completed between the 24th of December of that year and the 27th of August, 1783 at Portsmouth.

    Plan of Ardent



    Quarterdeck and forecastle



    History

    GREAT BRITAIN
    Name: HMS Ardent
    Ordered: 15 October,1779
    Builder: Staves & Parsons, Bursledon
    Laid down: October 1780
    Launched: 21 December 1782
    Fate: Blown up, 1794

    General characteristics
    Class and type: Crown Class 64 gun ship of the line
    Type:
    Tons burthen: 1387 (bm)
    Length: 160 ft 8 in (48.9 m) (gundeck)
    Beam: 44 ft 7.5 in (13.7 m)
    Depth of hold: 19 ft 4 12 in (5.9 m)
    Propulsion: Sails
    Sail plan: Full rigged ship
    Armament:
    • Gundeck: 26 × 24-pounder guns
    • Upper gundeck: 26 × 18-pounder guns
    • QD: 10 × 4-pounder guns
    • Fc: 2 × 9-pounder guns

    Service.

    HMS Ardent was commissioned in the March of 1783 as a guardship for Portsmouth. By 1784 she was under the command of Captain Harry Harmood, still serving as a guard ship. This state of affairs continued until the June of 1790 when she was commissioned for sea under Captain James Vashon to serve in the Spanish Armament and then followed by the Russian Armament. She was paid off again in the September of 1791.

    In the February of 1793 she was recommissioned under the command of Captain Robert Manners Sutton, her fitting out being completed in the May of that year. She sailed for the Med on the 23rd of the month, and was with Vice-Admiral Lord Hood at Toulon in August. She was part of a force detached under Robert Linzee to take part in the attack on Corsica in the September of that year, and in the October took part in an attack on a Martello Tower.

    Fate.

    In April 1794 Ardent was stationed off the harbour of Villafranche on the French Med coast in order to observe a pair of French frigates. It is presumed that she accidentally caught fire and blew up, as at the enquiry into her loss no actual cause was ever identified. Berwick, whilst cruising in the Gulf of Genoa in that summer encountered some wreckage which seemed to suggest the cause was fire and an explosion. A portion of Ardent's quarter deck with some gunlocks deeply embedded in it was found floating in the area, as were splinter nettings driven into planking. There were no survivors. Indeed no trace was ever found of any of her crew of 500.
    Attached Images Attached Images    
    The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.

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    HMS Argonaut (1782)

    HMS Argonaut was a French built 64-gun third rate ship of the line named Le Jason. She was laid down in the January of 1778, launched on the 13th of February, 1779, and completed in the May of that year in Toulon. She was captured by the British on the 19th of April, 1782 and commissioned by them as HMS Argonaut in the same year.
    .
    History
    FRANCE
    Name: Jason
    Launched: 1779
    Captured: 19 April 1782, by Royal Navy
    GREAT BRITAIN
    Name: HMS Argonaut
    Acquired: 19 April 1782
    Fate: Broken up, 1831

    General characteristics
    Class and type: 64 gun third rate ship of the line
    Tons burthen: 1451​7794 (bm)
    Length: 166 ft 0 in (50.70 m) (gundeck)
    Beam: 44 ft 8 12 in (13.6 m)
    Depth of hold: 19 ft 1 in (5.82 m)
    Propulsion: Sails
    Sail plan: Full rigged
    Armament: 64 guns
    Lower Deck: 26x24 pdrs
    Upper Deck:26x 18 pdrs
    QD:10x9 pdrs
    Fc: 2x9 pdrs


    In French Service.

    On the 2nd of May, 1780, Jason departed Brest with 7 ships of the line and 3 frigates under Admiral Ternay, escorting 36 transports carrying troops in support of the Continental Army fighting the British in the American Revolution. The squadron comprised the 80-gun Duc de Bourgogne, under Admiral Ternay d’Arsac, the 74 gun Neptune, and Conquerant, and the 64-gun Provence, Bernard de Marigny, Jason and Eveille, and the frigates Surveillante,Amazone, and Bellone. Amazone, which constituted the vanguard of the fleet, arrived at Boston on the11th of June, 1780.

    In British Service.

    On the 19th of April 1782 whilst in the Mona passage Jason was taken by the ships of Admiral Rodney’s squadron, and was registered as a British ship with effect from that date. She was commissioned by Admiral Rodney, under Captain John Alymer for passage home and sailed on the 25th of July for England. She arrived at Plymouth on the 19th of October and was renamed Argonaut . She then underwent a small repair for £12,745.7.4d between the February and July of 1783.She was then fitted and coppered for a further £9,513 between the April and September of that year.She was not recommissioned until the January of 1793 and still under Alymer sailed for Nova Scotia on the 18th of May 1794.

    In 1795, now under Captain Alexander Ball, on the 8th of January, she captured the French Republican warship Esperance on the North America Station. Esperance was armed with 22 guns of 4 and 6lb calibre, and a crew of 130 men. She was under the command of a Lieutenant de Vaisseau De St. Laurent and 56 days out from Rochfort, bound for the Chesapeake. Argonaut shared the prize money with Captain Robert Murray’s Oiseaux.
    The French ambassador to the United States registered a complaint with the American President stating that Argonaut, by entering Lynnhaven bay, either before she captured Esperance or shortly thereafter, had violated a treaty between France and the United States. The French also accused the British of having brought Esperance into Lynnhaven for refitting for a cruise. The President passed the complaint to the Secretary of State, who forwarded the complaint to the Governor of Virginia. The Governor inquired into the matter of the British Consul who replied that the capture had taken place some 10 leagues off shore. The weather had forced Argonaut and her prize to shelter within the Chesapeake for some days, but that they had left as soon as practicable. Furthermore, Argonaut had paroled her French prisoners when she came into Lynnhaven and as she had entered American territorial waters solely to parole her French prisoners no one should have thought that objectionable. The authorities in Virginia took a number of depositions but ultimately nothing further came from the matter.
    Because she was captured in good order and sailed well, Rear Admiral George Murray, the British commander in chief on the North American station, put a British crew aboard her and sent Esperance out on patrol with the Lynx on the 31st of January.

    On the 3rd of August in that same year, Argonaut captured the ship Anna.

    Fate.

    On her return to England, Argonaut was paid off at Chatham in the October of 1896, fitted as a Hospital ship and placed on harbour service in 1797 under Lieutenant Philip Hue, then under Lieutenant George Paul in 1799. In 1804 she came under Lieutenant John James until finally paid off in 1828, and then eventually broken up in 1831.
    The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.

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