The Battle of the Basque Roads

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HMS Aigle


She was a 36-gun, fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. Ordered on 15 September 1799 and built at Bucklers Hard shipyard, she was launched 23 September 1801. More than fifty of her crew were involved in the Easton Massacre when she visited Portland in April 1803 to press recruits. Much of her career as a frigate was spent in home waters where she fought the Battle of Basque Roads in 1809; initially providing support to the crews of the fireships, then forcing the surrender of the stranded French ships, Varsovie and Aquilon. Later that year she left The Downs to take part in the Walcheren Campaign where she carried out a two-day long bombardment of Flushing, leading to its capitulation on 15 August.



In October 1811, Aigle was sent to the Mediterranean where she and her crew raided the island of Elba before being asked to provide naval support during the invasion and occupation of Genoa. Refitted in January 1820, her square stern was replaced with a circular one, giving her a wider angle of fire and improved protection at the rear. Converted to a corvette in 1831, she returned to the Mediterranean under Lord Paget. From 1852, she became a coal hulk, then a receiving ship before being used as a target for torpedoes and broken up in 1870.

Construction and armament.

History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Aigle
Ordered:	15 September 1798
Builder:	Balthazar and Edward Adams
Cost:	£14,335
Launched:	23 September 1801
Commissioned:	December 1802
General characteristics
Class and type:	Aigle-class fifth-rate frigate
Tons burthen:	970 ​
Length:	·146 ft 2 in (44.6 m) (gundeck) ·122 ft 1 in (37.2 m) (keel)
Beam:	38 ft 8 in (11.8 m)
Depth of hold:	13 ft 0 in (4.0 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Fully Rigged Ship
Complement:	264
Armament:	·Gundeck: 26 × 18-pounder guns ·QD: 4 × 9-pounder guns + 8 × 32-pounder carronades ·Fc: 2 × 9-pounder guns + 2 × 32-pounder carronades

Aigle was the first of two, Aigle-class frigates designed by naval surveyor, Sir John Henslow. Built under contract by Balthazar Adams, she was ordered on 15 September 1798 and her keel was laid down in November at Bucklers Hard shipyard in Hampshire. Launched on 23 September 1801, her dimensions were: 146 feet 2 inches (44.6 metres) along the gun deck, 122 ft 1 in (37.2 m) at the keel, with a beam of 38 ft 8 in (11.8 m) and a depth in the hold of 13 ft 0 in (4.0 m). This made her 970 ​tons burthen .



Although classed as a 36-gun fifth-rate, Aigle was armed with a main battery of twenty-six 18 pounders (8.2 kilograms) on her upper gun deck, four 9 pdr (4.1 kg) on the quarter deck and two on the forecastle. She additionally carried ten 32 pdr (15 kg) carronades, eight on the quarter deck and two on the forecastle.

Service.







A plaque in St George's Church, Portland, remembering two quarrymen, a blacksmith and a young lady who died during the Easton Massacre

Aigle was first commissioned for the English Channel, under Captain George Wolfe in December 1802. A large press gang from Aigle, of more than 50 marines and sailors, led by Wolfe, put ashore in Portland on 2 April 1803. In what became known as the Easton Massacre, a scuffle broke out between the inhabitants and Wolfe's forces. Several civilians were shot and four were killed, while sixteen members of the press gang received injuries. Nine were wounded so seriously they had to be discharged. Wolfe and three officers stood trial for murder but were acquitted and left Portland, aboard Aigle, on 10 April to continue their patrol in home waters. Taking a French frigate, Franchise on 28 May, Aigle went on to capture six merchant vessels over the course of a week. A French privateer, Alerte, of 14 guns was taken on 27 September, off Vigo.

Not far from the Cordouan Lighthouse, on 12 July 1804, Aigle encountered two French naval vessels, the 20-gun Charente and the 8-gun Joie out of Rochefort. At 17:00 Aigle caught up with them. The French ships shortened sail and looked as if they were about to do battle but after discharging their guns, both ran aground. Many of the French sailors were drowned when the boats they were attempting to escape in were engulfed by the large waves. Unable to re-float the stranded ships due to the heavy swell; Wolfe ordered them destroyed.



Boats from Aigle were sent after some small craft, seen in the early hours of 27 November 1804 in the Bay of Gibraltar. On hearing some small-arms fire, Captain Thomas Dundas in Naiad set off in the direction of the noise and discovered a flotilla of Spanish gun-boats of which he managed to capture two. The boats and crew of Aigle were recovered without loss of life.



In January 1805 Aigle accidentally ran down and sank His Majesty's hired armed schooner Flying Fish. Aigle rescued the crew. That same month the Danish vessel Frederica Dorothea foundered while sailing from Bourdeaux to London. Here too Aigle rescued the crew.



Temporary command was given to Henry Sturt in February 1805 but Wolfe was back in charge by 21 August 1805, when Aigle discovered a small British squadron under Captain John Tremayne Rodd comprising the frigates Indefatigable and Niobe and three smaller vessels. Rodd had been shadowing the French fleet at Brest under Vice-Admiral Ganteaume, which had since left and was now at anchor between Camaret and Bertheaume. Shortly after her arrival, Aigle was dispatched to update the Commander-in-Chief of the Channel Fleet, Admiral William Cornwallis of this development.



Nine Spanish gun boats attacked Aigle in Vigo Bay on 28 September 1805. For an hour she had to endure their fire before the wind got up and the previously becalmed Aigle was able to launch a counter-offensive; capturing one gun boat and driving the others away. Two Chasse-marées were taken by the crew of Aigle, in a cutting-out expedition on 15 October 1807 and while cruising with the 32-gun Pallas and 74-gun Gibraltar in December, she assisted with the capture of a Spanish schooner, Bueno Vista. A few days later the same three ships took a French Lugger and had more success in the first quarter of the following year, when four more Chasse-marées were seized and a former British brig, Margaret was recaptured.

Action off Groix.





A painting by Thomas Whitcombe thought to be Aigle capturing Le Sirene.



Aigle was in action again on 22 March 1808 against two large, French frigates; Italienne of 40 guns and the 38-gun Sirene. A squadron comprising Aigle, the 32-gun frigate Narcissus, the two seventy-fours Impétueux and Saturn, and two or three smaller vessels were anchored between the Glénan islands, whilst being resupplied by a transport convoy. At 15:45, two French frigates to the south-east were simultaneously seen from Aigle's masthead and by the British schooner Cuckoo, which was stationed midway between the squadron and the island of Groix. Aigle immediately gave chase, and coming within hailing distance at 19:30, Wolfe directed Cuckoo to relay to Impétueux and Narcissus, now following two miles behind, his intention to cut off the French ships by sailing between Groix and the mainland.



An hour later, having endured the fire of the guns on both shores, Aigle was in a position to attack the rear-most frigate of the pair as they emerged from the western side of the island. This frigate sought the shelter of Groix' batteries, so Aigle set off in pursuit of the other which was now making for Lorient. As it was now dark, Aigle displayed a blue light to indicate her position to the closing Impétueux, and at 21:00, coming within 50 yards, exchanged fire with the Frenchman. To prevent a boarding, which Wolfe was determined upon, the frigate came about and, shortly after the British had broken off their attack for lack of sea room, ran aground on the Pointe de Chats on the eastern edge of Groix.


Saturn, Narcissus and Cuckoo joined Aigle and Impétueux during the night and the following morning at dawn, the five British returned to the island but no further attempt was made on either of the French frigates. Six days later the stranded ship was re-floated and both vessels arrived safely in Lorient.



Early in 1809, Aigle was back chasing merchantmen, securing five in January and February.

Battle of Basque Roads.






Map illustrating the position of Aigle off the Boyart Shoal shortly before the British attack on the night of 11 April

Aigle was part of the fleet under Admiral James Gambier that fought the Battle of the Basque Roads in April 1809. The French ships were anchored under the protection of the powerful batteries on the Isle d'Aix when on 11 April Lord Cochrane led an attacking force of fireships and explosive vessels. Just prior to the attack, Aigle took up a position just north-east of the Boyart Shoal; anchored behind HMS Imperieuse, and ahead of Unicorn and Pallas. It was the job of these four frigates to take on board the returning fireship crews and give assistance to the escorting boats, if required. The fireships had a partial success; the French, having anticipated such an attack, had rigged a boom across the channel. One of the explosive vessels however breached the boom, leading the French to cut their cables and drift on to the shoals.



The following day, after much delay, Gambier took the rest of his fleet into the Basque Roads. The British ships anchored, with springs, in a crescent around the stranded French, and exchanged fire. Aigle took up a position, second in line behind Unicorn, and just ahead of Emerald and Indefatigable. These ships directed their fire mainly towards the French ships of the line, Varsovie and Aquilon, both of which struck at around 17:30.


Walcheren Campaign.





The bombardment of Flushing

Aigle was part of a large expeditionary force in the summer 1809. Comprising more than 600 vessels and nearly 40,000 troops, it left The Downs on 28 July, intent on destroying the dockyards and arsenals at Antwerp, Terneuse and Flushing, and capturing the French fleet stationed in the river Scheldt.

Troops were landed on the Island of Walcheren at 16:30 on 30 July, while bomb-vessels and gun-boats began a bombardment of Veere. The town surrendered immediately but it took several days of fighting, before the fort was captured on 1 August. The British then mounted an attack on Flushing, and the island of Zuid-Beveland which was taken unopposed; the forts there having already been deserted. However, the British neglected Cadzand on the south-west side of the Scheldt, where more than 5,700 French troops crossed the river to reinforce Flushing. The capitulation of Fort Rammekens allowed the British to besiege the town on 3 August. and to prevent further aid being sent, a flotilla of gunboats was dispatched to the western arm of the Scheldt, to cut it off on the seaward side. The British then began locating and marking a channel for larger ships on 6 August.

A large squadron of ten frigates, including Aigle, was eventually able to make its way up the western passage on 9 August, enduring fire from batteries on both sides of the river for more than two hours. Aigle, in the centre, had her stern frame shattered when a shell fell through the deck and exploded, killing a marine and wounding four other members of the crew. She was the only ship to suffer any damage and her casualties amounted to almost half the total of two killed and nine wounded.





Sick troops being evacuated from Walcheren on 30 August 1809

A two-day long bombardment of Flushing forced its capitulation on 15 August. Ratified the following day, it left the British in control of Walcheren which they garrisoned with 10,000 troops. Schouwen and Duiveland on the Eastern branch of the Scheldt, were occupied peacefully on 17 August. The French fleet had already withdrawn to Antwerp however, having been informed on 29 July when the British were still at sea. Between the British and their objective were now more than 35,000 French soldiers, garrisoned in heavily armed forts at Lillo, Liefkenshoech, and Antwerp. The deliberate destruction of dykes by the French had led to widespread flooding, and with disease spreading through the British army, it was decided to abandon the expedition in early September.

After a 13 hour chase across the Atlantic on 12 September 1810, Aigle captured a French privateer from Bordeaux: Phoenix, armed with eighteen 18-pounder carronades and carrying a well trained crew of 129, had been successfully preying on British and American shipping.

Mediterranean service.

Sir John Louis was appointed captain in October 1811 and took Aigle to the Mediterranean. Aigle and Curacoa used boats to land marines and seamen near the harbour of Campo del Porto, Elba, on 20 June 1813. When the batteries protecting the town were over-run and the troops there routed, the French scuttled three of their own ships to prevent them from becoming prizes. The following morning, having returned to the boats, the marines captured a small convoy of three settees and drove the brig protecting them into Portoferraio. Two large feluccas were taken from the town of Mesca in the Gulf of Spezia, on the 28 June. Prevented by the wind from using the ships, the British once more took to boats but only succeeded in driving their quarry inshore. Later that evening the wind changed direction and Aigle and Curacoa were able to bombard the town while marines took the feluccas from the beach.

Four merchant vessels surrendered to Pembroke, Alcmene and Aigle on 11 April 1814, then when a Sicilian army under Lord William Bentinck invaded and occupied Genoa eight days later, Aigle provided naval support as part of a fleet under Vice-Admiral Edward Pellew.

Re-rated as a 42-gun frigate in February 1817, Aigle underwent repairs and alterations at Woolwich from March 1817. In accordance with Surveyor of the Navy, Robert Seppings' designs, in January 1820, Aigle had her square transom removed and a circular stern fitted. This gave her improved protection in the rear and allowed a better field of fire. She was subsequently laid up then repaired and cut down to a 24-gun corvette between March and July 1831. Recommissioned in August 1841 under Lord Clarence Paget, she was sent to the Mediterranean.

Fate.

Aigle returned to Woolwich in October 1852 where she was converted to a coal hulk and receiving ship. She moved to Sheerness in September 1869 and in the following August, she became a target for torpedoes before being sold and broken up in November 1870.

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HMS Emerald.


She was a 36-gun Amazon-class frigate that Sir William Rule designed in 1794 for the Royal Navy. The Admiralty ordered her construction towards the end of May 1794 and work began the following month at Northfleet dockyard. She was completed on 12 October 1795 and joined Admiral John Jervis's fleet in the Mediterranean.

In 1797, Emerald was one of several vessels sent to hunt down and capture the crippled Santisima Trinidad, which had escaped from the British at the Battle of Cape St Vincent. Emerald was supposed to have been present at the Battle of the Nile but in May 1798 a storm separated her from Horatio Nelson's squadron and she arrived in Aboukir Bay nine days too late. She was part of Rear-Admiral John Thomas Duckworth's squadron during the Action of 7 April 1800 off Cadiz.

Emerald served in the Caribbean throughout 1803 in Samuel Hood's fleet, then took part in the invasion of St Lucia in July, and of Surinam the following spring. Returning to home waters for repairs in 1806, she served in the western approaches before joining a fleet under Admiral James Gambier in 1809, and taking part in the Battle of the Basque Roads. In November 1811 she sailed to Portsmouth where she was laid up in ordinary. Fitted out as a receiving ship in 1822, she was eventually broken up in January 1836.

Construction.

Name:	HMS Emerald
Ordered:	24 May 1794
Builder:	Thomas Pitcher
Cost:	£14,419
Laid down:	June 1794
Launched:	31 July 1795
Commissioned:	August 1795
Fate:	Broken up, January 1836
General characteristics
Class and type:	Amazon-class fifth-rate frigate
Tons burthen:	933 ​
Length:	143 ft 2 1⁄2 in (43.6 m) (gundeck) 119 ft 5 1⁄2 in (36.4 m) (keel)
Beam:	38 ft 4 in (11.7 m)
Depth of hold:	13 ft 6 in (4.1 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Complement:	264
Armament:	Gundeck: 26 × 18-pounder guns QD: 8 × 9-pounder guns + 6 × 32-pounder carronades Fc: 2 × 9-pounder guns + 2 × 32-pounder carronades

Emerald was a 36-gun, 18-pound, Amazon-class frigate built to William Rule's design. She and her sister ship, Amazon, were ordered on 24 May 1794 and were built to the same dimensions: 143 feet 2 ¹⁄₂ inches (43.6 m) along the gun deck, 119 feet 5 ¹⁄₂ inches (36.4 m) at the keel, with a beam of 38 feet 4 inches (11.7 m) and a depth in the hold of 13 feet 6 inches (4.1 m). They measured 933 ​tons burthen.
Emerald was completed at Thomas Pitcher's dockyard in Northfleet at a cost of £14,419 and launched on 31 July 1795, twenty-seven days after Amazon. Her coppering at Woolwich was finished on 12 October 1795 and she was fitted-out at a further cost of £9,390. The Admiralty ordered a second pair of Amazon-class ships on 24 January 1795. They were marginally smaller at 925​⁸⁷⁄₉₄ tons (bm) and were built from pitch pine.

Service.

Mediterranean.



Santisima Trinidad being rescued at the Battle of Cape St Vincent. Emerald was one of the British frigates sent out to track her down afterwards.

Emerald was first commissioned in August 1795, under Captain Velters Cornewall Berkeley and in January 1797, she sailed for the Mediterranean. Spain had become allied to France and declared war on Britain in October 1796. Early in 1797, a Spanish fleet of 27 ships of the line was at Cartagena with orders to join the French fleet at Brest. A storm blew the Spanish fleet off course, enabling Admiral John Jervis' fleet of 15 ships of the line to intercept it off Cape St Vincent on 14 February. Although attached to Jervis' fleet at the time, as a frigate Emerald was too lightly built to take part in the Battle of Cape St Vincent; instead she anchored in nearby Lagos Bay with other vessels.

On 16 February, the victorious British fleet and its prizes entered the bay. Jervis ordered the three frigates—Emerald, Minerve, and Niger, of 40 and 32 guns respectively—to search for the disabled flagship, Santisima Trinidad, which had been towed from the battle. Two smaller craft—Bonne-Citoyenne, a corvette of 20 guns, and the 14-gun sloop Raven—joined the frigates. The British squadron on 20 February sighted Santisima Trinidad under tow by a large frigate and in the company of a brig. Berkeley, considering the small squadron under his command insufficient, declined to engage and eventually the Spanish ships sailed from sight. The 32-gun HMS Terpsichore, while cruising alone, later located Santisima Trinidad and engaged her but the out-gunned British frigate was forced to abandon her attack.

Action of 26 April 1797.

Following the Battle of Cape St Vincent, the British pursued the remainder of the Spanish fleet to Cadiz, where Jervis began a long-running blockade of the port.

On 26 April, while cruising in the company of the 74-gun Irresistible, Emerald helped to capture a 34-gun Spanish ship and to destroy another. The Spanish vessels were close to the coast when Jervis's fleet sighted them. Sent to investigate, Emerald and Irresistible, under Captain George Martin, discovered the ships were the frigates Santa Elena and Ninfa^]—the Spanish ships had been carrying silver from Havana to Cadiz, but had transferred their cargo the previous night to a fishing boat that had warned them of the proximity of the British fleet.

The Spanish ships sought shelter from the British north of Trafalgar in Conil Bay, the entrance to which was protected by a large rocky ledge. Irresistible and Emerald negotiated this obstacle at around 14:30 and engaged the Spanish ships, which were anchored in the Bay. The Spanish ships surrendered at approximately 16:00. Eighteen Spaniards were killed and 30 wounded during the fighting; one Briton was killed and one wounded. The remaining crew of Santa Elena avoided capture by cutting her cables and drifting her on shore so they could flee on foot. The British managed to drag Santa Elena off the beach but, badly damaged, she sank at sea.

The British took Ninfa into service as HMS Hamadryad, a 36-gun frigate with a main battery of 12-pounders, but were unable to retrieve the cargo of silver, which later arrived safely in Cadiz.

Second bombardment of Cadiz.

Captain Thomas Waller took command of Emerald in mid-1797, and was stationed with Admiral Jervis' fleet off Cadiz. On 3 July, Jervis attempted to end the protracted blockade by ordering a bombardment of the town. A first attempt resulted in the capture of two Spanish mortar boats but achieved little else. During a second bombardment on the night of 5 July, Emerald, in the company of Terpsichore and the 74-gun Theseus, provided a protective escort for three bomb vessels, Thunder, Terror, and Strombolo. This attack caused considerable damage; the next morning, the Spanish hurriedly moved ten of their line-of-battle ships out of range. The British cancelled a third bombardment, planned for 8 July, when the weather became unfavourable.

Attack on Santa Cruz.



The British attack on Santa Cruz de Tenerife, painted in 1848 by Francisco de Aguilar
Main article: Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (1797)


Later in July 1797, Emerald took part in an unsuccessful attack on Santa Cruz. A planned attack in April, proposed by Admiral Nelson, had been aborted as the troops required to execute it were unavailable. When Jervis was subsequently advised that the Spanish treasure fleet was anchored there, he revived Nelson's idea.

For the new attack, Nelson was to take three ships of the line, three frigates, including Emerald, and 200 marines, for an amphibious landing outside the Spanish stronghold. The frigates would then engage the batteries to the north-east of Santa Cruz while the marines stormed the town. However, a combination of strong currents and heavy Spanish fire forced the British to abandon the attack. Several further attempts were made between 22 and 25 July; although the British were able to land troops, Spanish resistance was too strong and the British had to ask for an honourable withdrawal.

After the attack, Nelson sent Emerald with his report to Jervis, who in turn sent her on to England with dispatches. Waller arrived at the Admiralty on 1 September, with the news of the failed attacks.

Alexandria.

While serving with Jervis on the Lisbon station in December 1797, Emerald, under the temporary command of Lord William Proby, captured the 8-gun privateer, Chasseur Basque. Waller returned as captain in April 1798.^[1] In May, Jervis dispatched a squadron of five ships, including Emerald and commanded by Nelson in the 74-gun Vanguard, to locate a large invasion fleet that had left Toulon. After receiving intelligence on 22 May, Nelson correctly predicted the French fleet's destination and set course for Alexandria where the British captured or destroyed all but two of the French ships at the Battle of the Nile, which occurred between 1–3 August 1798. Emerald missed the battle; having previously become separated from the rest of the squadron in a storm on 21 May, she arrived at Aboukir Bay on 12 August.

When Nelson left for Naples on 19 August 1798, he left behind a squadron—comprising three 74s Zealous, Goliath, Swiftsure, three frigates Emerald, Seahorse, and Alcmene, and the corvette Bonne Citoyenne—under Samuel Hood to patrol the waters around the port and along the coast. On 2 September, it encountered and destroyed the French aviso Anémone.

Emerald and Seahorse chased Anemone inshore, where she anchored in shallow water out of their reach. When they launched their boats to cut-out Anėmone, her crew cut the anchor cable and their ship drifted on to the shore; as the Frenchmen were attempting to escape along the coast, hostile Arabs captured them and stripped them of their clothes, shooting those who resisted. A heavy surf prevented the British boats from landing, so a midshipman from Emerald, the young Francis Fane, swam ashore with a line and empty cask to rescue the commander and seven others who had escaped naked to the beach. Anėmone had a crew of 60 men under the command of Enseigne de Vaisseau (Ensign) Garibou, and was also carrying General Camin and Citoyen Valette, Aide-de-Camp to General Napoleon Bonaparte, with dispatches from Toulon. Camin and Valette were among those the Arabs killed. Emerald remained stationed off Alexandria for the rest of the year.

Action on 18 June 1799.

Emerald and Minerve, while cruising together on 2 June, took Caroline, a 16-gun French privateer, off the south-east coast of Sardinia. Later, Emerald assisted in the capture of Junon, Alceste, Courageuse, Salamine, and Alerte in the Action of 18 June 1799. The British fleet under George Elphinstone was some 69 miles off Cape Sicié when three French frigates and two brigs were spotted. Elphinstone engaged them with three seventy-fours, Centaur, Bellona and Captain, and two frigates, Emerald and Santa Teresa. The next evening, after a 28-hour chase, the French ships were forced into an action. The French squadron had scattered, enabling the British to attack it piecemeal. Bellona fired the first shots at 19:00 as she, Captain, and the two frigates closed with Junon and Alceste, both of which struck their colours immediately. Bellona then joined Centaur in chasing Courageuse. Faced with overwhelming odds, Courageuse also surrendered. Emerald then overhauled Salamine, and Captain took Alerte at around 23:30.

Action on 7 April 1800.




Rear-Admiral John Duckworth, commander of the squadron blockading Cadiz, of which Emerald was a part when she fought in the Action of 7 April 1800

Emerald returned to blockade duty at Cadiz in April 1800, joining a squadron under Rear-Admiral John Thomas Duckworth that included the 74-gun ships Leviathan and Swiftsure, and the fireship Incendiary. The squadron sighted a Spanish convoy on 5 April, which comprised 13 merchant vessels and three accompanying frigates, and at once gave chase. At 03:00 the following day, Emerald managed to overhaul and cross the bow of a 10-gun merchantman, which, having nowhere to go, immediately surrendered. By daybreak, the remainder of the Spanish convoy had scattered and the only ship visible was a 14-gun brig, Los Anglese. The absence of wind prevented the becalmed British vessels approaching her. Instead, Leviathan and Emerald lowered boats that rowed towards the brig, which they captured after a short exchange of fire.

Other sails were now spotted in the east, west and south, forcing the British to divide their force: Swiftsure went south, Emerald east, and Leviathan west. At midday, Emerald signalled that there were six vessels to the north-east, and Leviathan wore round to pursue. By dusk, the two British ships had nine Spanish craft in sight. Three ships were seen at midnight to the north-north-west, and by 02:00 the following morning, two had been identified as the enemy frigates Carmen and Florentina. Duckworth ordered Emerald to take a parallel course to the enemy frigates in anticipation of a dawn attack, and at first light, the British closed with their opponents.

The Spaniards had assumed the approaching vessels were part of their convoy, but by daybreak they had realised their error and vainly set more sail to escape. Being close enough to hail the Spanish crews, Duckworth ordered that they surrender. When the Spaniards ignored the demand, he ordered Leviathan and Emerald to open fire on the rigging of the Spanish vessels in order to disable them. Both Spanish frigates quickly surrendered. Carmen had had 11 men killed and 16 wounded; Florentina 12 killed and 10 wounded, including her first and second captains. The two Spanish frigates were each carrying 1500 quintals of mercury.
A third frigate was visible on the horizon. Emerald immediately set off in pursuit but Duckworth recalled her and instead ordered her to locate the merchant ships; she secured four of the largest vessels by nightfall. The need to make the two captured frigates ready to sail delayed Leviathan, and by the time this was completed the third frigate had made her escape. Leviathan then returned to rendezvous with Emerald, managing to take a further enemy brig before night fell. The following day, both British vessels sailed for Gibraltar with their prizes. On arrival, they encountered Incendiary, which had made port the previous day with two captured vessels of its own. The small British squadron managed to secure nine merchant vessels and two frigates in total.

Caribbean.



1798 map showing the Dutch colonies of Essequibo and Demarara

Britain declared war on France in May 1803 following the short-lived Peace of Amiens and by June, Emerald, under the command of Captain James O'Bryen, had joined Samuel Hood's squadron in the Leeward Islands. Prior to the British invasion of St Lucia on 21 June, she harassed enemy shipping, disrupting the island's resupply.

The invasion force left Barbados on 20 June. It comprised Hood's 74-gun flagship Centaur, the 74-gun Courageux, the frigates Argo and Chichester, and the sloops Hornet and Cyane. The following morning, Emerald and the 18-gun sloop Osprey had joined them. By 11:00, the squadron was anchored in Choc Bay. The troops were landed by 17:00 and half an hour later the town of Castries was in British hands. In the island's main fortress, Morne-Fortunée, the French troops refused to surrender; the British stormed it at 04:00 on 22 June, and by 04:30 St Lucia was in British hands. Following this easy victory, the British sent a force to Tobago, which capitulated on 1 July.

Emerald was between St Lucia and Martinique on 24 June, when she captured the 16-gun French privateer Enfant Prodigue after a 72-hour chase. The French vessel was under the command of lieutenant de vaisseau Victor Lefbru and was carrying dispatches for Martinique. The Royal Navy took Enfant Prodigue into service as HMS St Lucia.

While in the company of the 22-gun brig HMS Heureux, Emerald intercepted and captured a Dutch merchant vessel travelling between Surinam and Amsterdam on 10 August. On 5 September, she captured two French schooners, and later that month took part in attacks on Berbice, Essequibo and Demarara.

Fort Diamond.

Emerald's first lieutenant, Thomas Forest, commanded the 6-gun cutter Fort Diamond on 13 March 1804 when, with 30 of Emerald's crew aboard, she captured a French privateer off Saint-Pierre, Martinique. Contrary winds prevented the privateer, Mosambique, from entering St Pierre and she had sought shelter beneath the batteries at Seron. Because Emerald was too far downwind, Captain O'Bryen used boats and crew from Emerald to create a diversion and draw fire from the battery while Fort Diamond approached from the opposite direction, rounded Pearl Rock (some two miles off the coast), and bore down on Mosambique. Forest put the cutter alongside with such force that a chain securing the privateer to the shore snapped. The 60-man French crew abandoned their vessel and swam ashore.^[ The Royal Navy took Mosambique into service.

Capture of Surinam.



1773 map of the Dutch colony of Surinam showing the respective positions of the Surinam and Commewine rivers, Warapee Creek, Braam's point, and the forts Leyden and New Amsterdam

In the spring of 1804, Emerald and her crew took part in an invasion of Surinam. The invasion force consisted of Hood's flagship Centaur, Emerald, the 44-gun heavy frigates Pandour and Serapis, the 28-gun sixth-rate Alligator, the 12-gun schooner Unique, the 12-gun corvette Hippomenes, and the 8-gun Drake, together with 2,000 troops under Brigadier-General Sir Charles Green. The force arrived from Barbados on 25 April after a twenty-two-day journey. The sloop Hippomenes, a transport and a further three armed vessels, landed Brigadier-General Frederick Maitland and 700 troops at Warapee Creek on the night of 30 April. The following night, O'Bryen was ordered to assist Brigadier-general Hughes in the taking of Braam's Point. A sandbar initially prevented Emerald from entering the Surinam River but O'Bryen forced her across on the rising tide, with Pandour and Drake following. Anchoring close by, the three British ships quickly put the Dutch battery of 18-pounders out of action and captured the fort without loss of life.

Emerald, Pandour, and Drake then pushed up the river, sometimes in less water than the frigates required to float properly, until on 5 May they arrived close to the forts Leyden and Frederici. The British landed a detachment of troops under Hughes some distance away, which marching under the cover of the forests and swamps, launched an attack that resulted in the swift capture of the two forts. By this time, most of the squadron had managed to work its way up the river as far as Frederici, Maitland was advancing along the Commewine River, and with troops poised to attack the fort of New Amsterdam, the Batavian commandant, Lieutenant-Colonel Batenburg, duly surrendered.

Emerald captured the vessel Augusta, which was under American colours, on 22 August and sent her into Antigua with the cargo of wine that she had been carrying from Leghorn to Guadeloupe. Emerald left Tortola on 26 October as escort to a convoy of 50 vessels for England but having parted from them in a storm, she put into Madeira in distress on 11 December.

Service on the Home Station.

Between February and June 1806, Emerald underwent repairs at Deptford dockyard and was recommissioned under Captain John Armour; Frederick Lewis Maitland assumed command in the first quarter of 1807. While in the Basque Roads in April, Emerald captured the 14-gun privateer Austerlitz, a brig from Nantes under the command of Captain Gatien Lafont. Emerald, while escorting a Spanish polacca that she had taken, spotted and captured the privateer on 14 April after a ten-hour chase. Austerlitz had been out of port two days but had made no captures; the polacca was the Spanish ship Prince of Asturias, which had sailed from La Guayra with a cargo of cocoa, bark and indigo. Emerald sent both prizes into Plymouth, where they arrived on 22 April. Emerald herself set off in pursuit of another vessel from La Guayra.

Emerald recaptured Zulema which had been plundered and taken by a French privateer as she sailed from Philadelphia to Liverpool. She arrived in Plymouth under her master, Mr Howard, on 4 May. During December, Plymouth received more of Emerald's captures. At the beginning of the month, Young Elias was detained. Her master Monsieur Delance, had been sailing from Philadelphia to Bordeaux. On 26 December, Mr Seaton's vessel, Friendship was caught returning from France.

Apropos.

Emerald's boats participated in a cutting-out expedition in Viveiro harbour on 13 March 1808. While cruising inshore at around 17:00, Emerald spotted a large French schooner, Apropos,^[ of 250 tons (bm), anchored in the bay. Apropos was armed with twelve 8-pounder guns, though pierced for 16, and had a crew of more than 70 men under the command of lieutenant de vaisseau Lagary.

The crews of the schooner and of the two batteries guarding the harbour had seen Emerald but Maitland still made plans to attack Apropos. He soon discovered it was not possible to place Emerald so as to engage both enemy batteries simultaneously, and instead sent landing parties to silence the guns, which had been firing on his ship since 17:30. The first landing party, led by Lieutenant Bertram and accompanied by two marine lieutenants and two master mates, stormed the outer fort. Maitland then positioned Emerald close to the second battery while a boat under the command of his third lieutenant, Smith, landed about a mile along the shore. This second landing party encountered Spanish soldiers, but drove them off and pursued them inland. By the time Smith's party returned to the beach, Emerald had already silenced the battery. In the darkness, Smith subsequently failed to locate the fort.

The crew of Apropos had run her ashore soon after Emerald had entered the harbour. The harbour batteries having been destroyed, Captain Maitland sent a further force under Midshipman Baird to secure and refloat the French ship. The original landing party under Lieutenant Bertram, which had already encountered and dispersed 60 members of the schooner's crew, met Baird's party on the beach. The British made several unsuccessful attempts to re-float the schooner before being forced to set her afire and depart.^] British casualties were heavy. Emerald had nine men killed, and 16 wounded, including Lieutenant Bertram. Maitland estimated that French casualties too had been heavy.

In 1847 the Admiralty issued the clasp "Emerald 13 March 1808" to the Naval General Service Medal to the ten surviving claimants from the action.

Back in the Basque Roads.


British chart of the Basque Roads, 1757

A French schooner Amadea arrived in Plymouth on 15 December 1808 having previously been captured and sent in by Emerald.
Back in the Basque Roads on 23 February 1809, Emerald was this time part of a squadron under Robert Stopford. Stopford's flagship, the 80-gun Caesar, was also accompanied by the seventy-fours Defiance and Donegal, and the 36-gun frigates Amethyst and Naiad. At 20:00, Stopford's squadron was anchored off the Chassiron Lighthouse, to the north-west of Ile d'Oléron, when the sighting of several rockets prompted him to investigate. About an hour later, sails were seen to the east which the British followed until daylight the following morning. The sails belonged to a French squadron that Stopford deduced to be out of Brest and which heaved to in the Pertuis d'Antioche.
The French force comprised eight ships of the line and two frigates, and Stopford immediately sent Naiad to apprise Admiral James Gambier of the situation. Naiad had not gone too far however when she signalled that there were three other vessels to the north-west. Stopford ordered Amethyst and Emerald to remain while he and the rest of the squadron set off in pursuit. The British frigate Amelia and the sloop Doterel also joined the chase. Caesar, Donegal, Defiance, and Amelia eventually drove the three French frigates ashore and destroyed them.

Emerald and Amethyst had more success in the spring of 1809 when on 23 March they captured the brigs Caroline and Serpent. In April, Emerald assisted Amethyst in the chase of a large 44-gun frigate off Ushant. Emerald sighted Niemen, with a main battery of 18-pounders and under the command of Captain Dupoter, at 11:00 on 5 April and immediately signalled Amethyst for assistance. Amethyst caught a glimpse of the French forty-four just as she turned away to the south-east and gave chase but by 19:20 had lost sight of both Niemen and Emerald. Amethyst fell in with Niemen again at around 21:30 and engaged her. Niemen was forced to strike when a second British frigate, Arethusa came into view and fired a broadside.^] The Royal Navy took Niemen into service under her existing name.^]
On 26 March, Enfant de Patria arrived at Plymouth. Patria, of 500 tons (bm), 10 guns, and 60 men, had sailed from France for Île de France when Emerald and Amethyst captured her. Two days later Emerald captured a second letter of marque, the 4-gun Aventurier, bound for the relief of Guadeloupe. She had a crew of 30 men.

Battle of the Basque Roads.



Map illustrating the position of the anchored French fleet shortly before the British attack on the night of 11 April

Emerald was part of the fleet under Admiral Lord Gambier that fought the Battle of the Basque Roads in April 1809. The French ships were anchored under the protection of the powerful batteries on the Isle d'Aix when on 11 April Lord Cochrane attacked them with fireships and explosive vessels. Emerald provided a diversion to the east of the island with the brigs Beagle, Doterel, Conflict, and Growler. The fireships met with only partial success; the French, having anticipated such an attack, had rigged a boom across the channel. One of the explosive vessels breached the boom, leading the French to cut their cables and drift on to the shoals.

The following day, after much delay, Gambier ordered a battle squadron to reinforce Cochrane in the Basque Roads. The British ships anchored, with springs, in a crescent around some of the stranded French ships, and exchanged fire. Emerald took up position ahead of Indefatigable and behind Aigle and Unicorn, and directed her fire mainly towards the French ships of the line, Varsovie and Aquilon, both of which struck at around 17:30.

At 20:00, Emerald, along with the other British frigates and brigs, weighed and anchored with the 74-gun HMS Revenge in the Maumusson passage to the south of Oléron while a second fireship attack was under preparation. Although the fireships were ready in the early hours on the 13th, contrary winds prevented their deployment. The British instead set Varsovie and Aquilon alight just after 03:00, on the orders of Captain John Bligh, after removing their crews. Emerald, and the other vessels moored with her, were recalled at 05:00 but owing to the lack of water, only the brigs were able to pass further up the river. Emerald therefore took no further part in the attack, which continued until 29 April when the last French ship was able to free herself from the mud and escape up the river to Rochefort.

Later service.

Emerald took two French sloops in July 1809. Deux Freres, en route for Guadeloupe from Rochelle when captured, arrived in Plymouth on 26 July. A week later, Emerald captured the French schooner Balance, which had been sailing to France from Guadeloupe. Both captures carried letters of marque, a government licence authorising the attack and capture of enemy vessels. The first, of four guns, was carrying a small reinforcement for Guadeloupe's garrison. The second, also of four guns, was carrying a cargo of coffee and other colonial produce.

While off the coast of Ireland on 8 October, Emerald rescued a British brig by capturing Incomparable, an 8-gun French privateer. The Frenchman was about to take the British vessel when Emerald intervened. Incomparable had a crew of 63 men and was four days out of Saint-Malo, but had not yet captured any other vessel. Still in Irish waters on 6 November, Emerald took the 16-gun French brig Fanfaron, two days out of Brest and bound for Guadeloupe. After an all-night chase, Emerald caught up. Capitaine de fregate Croquet Deschateurs of Fanfaron resisted, firing several broadsides and a final double-shotted broadside. Unable to escape, Deschateurs prepared to board but Emerald evaded the manoeuvre and fired a broadside that dismasted Fanfaron, leaving Deschateurs no option but to surrender his vessel. The subsequent French court-martial not only absolved Deschateurs of any liability for the loss but also commended him for his conduct. Four days later Emerald arrived at Cork with Fanfaron and Luna. Fanfaron, with a crew of 113, had been carrying a cargo of flour, salt, and other provisions, as well as iron, lead, and nails, all for Guadeloupe.

At the beginning of February 1810, Emerald captured and sent into Plymouth, Commerce, Hanson, master, which had been sailing from Drontheim to Bordeaux. Then on 22 March, Emerald captured the 350-ton (bm) Belle Etoile in the Bay of Biscay. Caught after a twelve-hour chase during which she jettisoned much of her cargo; Belle Etoile, out of Bayonne, was pierced for 20 guns but only carried eight. Carrying a cargo of wine, flour, oil, and other merchandise to Île de France, she was sent into Cork with her 56-man crew. Emerald captured an American ship, Wasp, in July 1810. Wasp was carrying 91 passengers from New York to Bordeaux; they arrived at Plymouth on 30 July.

Emerald was still serving on the Home Station on 11 April 1811 when she sent into Cork a French privateer. This was the 18-gun Auguste (or Augusta), which had been taken on 6 April. Nearly a month later, on 5 July, Emerald left Madeira in the company of five East Indiamen and was still on convoy duties later that month when a transport ship spotted her escorting thirteen vessels off the coast of West Africa on 18 July.

Fate.

In November 1811, Emerald sailed to Portsmouth and was laid up in ordinary. Fitted out as a receiving ship in 1822, she was eventually broken up in January 1836.

[Bligh]

HMS Unicorn.

She was a 32-gun fifth-rate Pallas-class frigate of the Royal Navy, launched in 1794 at Chatham. This frigate served in both the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, including a medal action early in her career. She was broken up in 1815.

History
Great Britain
Name:	HMS Unicorn
Ordered:	9 December 1790
Builder:	M/Shipwright John Nelson (died March 1793; completed by Thomas Pollard, Chatham Dockyard
Laid down:	March 1792
Launched:	12 July 1794
Honours and awards:	·Naval General Service Medal (NGSM) with clasp ·"Unicorn 8 June 1796" ·"Basque Roads"
Fate:	Broken up in March 1815
General characteristics
Class and type:	32-gun Pallas-class frigate
Tons burthen:	791
Length:	135 ft 8 3⁄4 in (41.4 m)
Beam:	36 ft 2 3⁄4 in (11.0 m)
Depth of hold:	12 ft 5 3⁄4 in (3.8 m)
Sail plan:	Full-rigged ship
Armament:	·Upper deck: 26 × 18-pounder guns ·QD: 4 × 6-pounder guns + 4 × 32-pounder carronades ·Fc: 2 × 6-pounder guns + 2 × 32-pounder carronades

French Revolutionary War.

Unicorn entered service in 1794 under the command of Captain William Cayley, who was followed in 1795 by Captain Thomas Williams. Under Williams, Unicorn served in the Western Approaches, operating from Cork. On 31 May, Unicorn, Scipio and Latona shared in the capture of the Dutch schooner Mary, Captain Pierce, master.

On 28 August 1795, Unicorn was in company with Diana and Seahorse, when Unicorn captured the Dutch East Indiaman Cromhout or Crumhout. Cromhout's capture resulted in at least £40,000 in prize money to be distributed among her captors.

Then Unicorn parted company with the rest of the squadron and after a chase of 13 hours captured the Dutch brig Komeet (or Comet), which was under the command of Captain-Lieutenant Mynheer Claris. Comet was only four years old, in excellent condition, and armed with 18 English 9-pounder guns. She was sailing from the Cape of Good Hope to the Texel and was provisioned with water and food for 110 men for a nine month cruise. The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Comeet.

Crumhout, Komeet, and a third vessel, the southern whale ship Horstfelder, that the British also captured, were part of a convoy of nine East Indiamen and two naval vessels, Komeet and Scipio. Scipio escorted the remaining Indiamen into Norwegian waters, which they reached on 22 September. Scipio and three of the Indiamen reached Trondheim on 6 October. The remaining Indiamen went to Bergen and Ålesund.

On 10 April 1796, Unicorn recaptured the brig Thames while in company with Penguin and the hired armed cutter Fox. Unicorn, Fox, Dryad, Diana and Seahorse, were in company when Dryad captured the French cutter Abeille.

On 7 June, Unicorn and Santa Margarita captured a large ship flying Swedish colours and carrying Dutch goods from Surinam, which turned out to be the Gustavus Adolphus. The commander of the prize crew, a lieutenant from Unicorn, advised Admiral Sir Robert Kingsmill, commander in chief of the Cork station, that when he had last seen Unicorn and Santa Margarita they were chasing three French vessels, the frigates Tamise and Tribune, and the corvette Legere.

In the Action of 8 June 1796, Unicorn captured the 44-gun Tribune. Before Unicorn could bring Tribune to close action the two vessels engaged in a ten-hour-long running fight. The actual close engagement lasted 35 minutes before Tribune struck. She was under the command of Commodore John Moulston and had lost 37 men killed of her crew of 337 men, as well as 15 wounded. (Moulston, who was wounded in the action, was an American who had served in the French Navy for 16 years.) Unicorn had no losses.




The capture of the French frigate Tribune by HMS Unicorn

The Royal Navy took Tribune into service under her existing name. Williams earned a knighthood for his victory. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the remaining survivors of the action the NGSM with clasp "Unicorn 8 June 1796".

Santa Margarita captured Tamise in an action that would ultimately yield her crew a clasp to the NGSM. Legere escaped. Dryad captured the fourth vessel in Moulston's squadron, the 26-gun frigate Proserpine, which had earlier parted company with her companion vessels in a fog. The British took Proserpine into service as Amelia.

In September to early October, Unicorn captured five vessels sailing from Surinam to Amsterdam:

• Eliza (22 September);
• Orion (23 September);
• Christian the Seventh (24 September):
• Whilhemsberg (1 October); and
• Freiheden (4 October).

On 21 October Unicorn captured the 6-gun privateer Enterprise in the Irish Sea. Enterprise had a crew of 40 men and was 28 days out of Brest. During her cruise she had captured a Portuguese ship, two English brigs, and a sloop.

In December, Unicorn was one of the few British ships able to respond to the French effort to invade Ireland during the Expédition d'Irlande. On 7 January 1797, Unicorn was able to capture the troopship Ville de Lorient with Doris and Druid and pursue the French flagship in the closing days of the campaign. Eleven days later Unicorn, Doris and Druid captured the privateer Eclair, of 18 guns and a crew of 120 men, in the Channel. Unicorn then rejoined the British fleet. In August, Unicorn was in company with Apollo when they recaptured the Somerset at Cove, near Cork.

In March 1797 command passed to Captain James Young and then to Captain Phillip Wilkinson in April 1799. Unicorn captured a French brig in March 1799.

On 9 June 1799 Unicorn and the hired armed cutter Constitution captured the French brig St. Antoine. On 10 June, two of Unicorn's boats, together with two each from Renown, Fisgard and Defence, all of Sir John Borlase Warren's squadron, captured the gunboat Nochette, two other armed vessels, and eight transports carrying supplies for the fleet at Brest. Nochette was armed with two 24-pounder guns. The two other armed vessels were chasse-marée armed with eight and six guns. The transports consisted of two brigs, two sloops, and four chasse-marée, which were carrying wine, brandy, flour and peas. In addition, the crews of 20 French vessels ran their vessels ashore, where many were probably wrecked. The British suffered four men wounded, but none were from Unicorn. Unicorn was short of water so Admiral St. Vincent ordered her to escort the prizes back to Plymouth and then immediately return to her station. Unicorn arrived at Plymouth on 18 June with ten vessels, one having foundered on the way. (The crew was saved.) She sailed for Brest on 27 June. Next, Unicorn participated in the attempt on the Spanish squadron in Aix Roads on 2 July.

On 6 January 1800 Unicorn was among the five vessels that shared in the capture of the French brig Ursule (or Huzelle). On 7 January, the French armed ship Huzelle came into Plymouth. She had been carrying passengers from Cayenne, including women and children, when Amethyst captured her. On her way in to a British port, the French privateer Providence, of 14 guns and 152 men, had recaptured her and sent her to Bordeaux. However, before she got there, Unicorn and Beaulieu recaptured her in turn and sent her into Plymouth. Huzelle was low on provision with the result that a five-year-old child died while she was in Plymouth Sound; as she anchored at Catwater, M.P. Symonds, the broker for the prize, sent on board plenty of fresh provisions. Among Huzelle's passengers were a Colonel Molonson of Invalids, and a naturalist, M. Burnelle, with a cabinet of curiosities for the French National Museum at Paris.

In June Unicorn was still with Warren's squadron off the Atlantic coast of France. She therefore shared in the capture on 11 June of ten merchant vessels: the brig Rosalie, the Baure Paire, the sloop Rosalie, the Bonne Nouvelle, the Oiseau, the Felicite, the Nochelle, the St. Claire, the Henrietta, and the Maree Francaise. Unicorn was also among the five ships that shared in the proceeds of the capture of the French privateer Rancune, taken on 27 September. Unicorn shared in some of these prizes by virtue of being part of Admiral Keat's squadron. She also shared in the captures of the Girone (28 July), the Revanche (28 July), the Alerte 1 July), the Joseph (3 August), the Vivo (30 September), and Magicienne (16 October). Unicorn shared with four other vessels in the capture of the Union on 14 August. On 15 August Unicorn recaptured the Petit Bastien, and four days later the Hirondelle.

Command then passed to Captain Charles Wemyss in 1801. On 14 August Wemyss wrote to Admiral W. Cornwallis stating that he had only been able to capture one chasse-marée, of 40 tons, which was carrying a cargo of lime. Not only was she not worth sending in, capturing her cost Unicorn one man killed and one man slightly wounded. Wemyss had also destroyed another chasse-marée, also of 40 tons that was carrying a cargo of corn. Captain Charles Stuart replaced Wemyss in 1802. In April and May 1803 Unicorn was placed in dock at Chatham for extensive repairs.

Napoleonic Wars.

Unicorn was recommissioned in April 1803 under Captain Lucius Hardyman for the North Sea. An assignment to escort a convoy of merchantmen from Sheerness to Riga was abandoned in mid-June due to poor weather. On 23 June she captured the Dutch fishing vessel Jonge Johannes,^] then on 17 September the neutral ship Catharina Louisa, which the High Court of Admiralty later restored to her owners. Then on 6 October she recaptured the William and Thomas. The salvage from the William and Thomas went in whole or in part to pay expenses relating to the detention of the Catherina Louisa. On 25 October Unicorn and Antelope captured the Catharina Tholens.

Unicorn sailed for Jamaica on 23 December 1804. On the morning of 6 May 1805, Unicorn was eight or nine leagues NE by N of Cape Francois, off St. Domingo when she saw a strange sail seven or eight miles away. There was little wind so Handyman sent out four boats in chase. After rowing for many hours, and despite finally facing cannon and small arms fire, the British captured the privateer without taking any casualties. She turned out to be the Tape-a-Bord, under the command of Citizen Hemiguelth. She was armed with four 6-pounder guns, and carried 46 men. She was out of Samana and had been on a cruise for 10 days without taking any prizes. On 15 October Unicorn captured the Spanish ship Notre Dame de la Carmen, which was on her way from Havana to Cadiz with a cargo of cocoa.

On 7 May 1806, Unicorn captured the French privateer Galatea.

Unicorn sailed for the River Plate on 7 October 1806. She then was off Buenos Aires during the British invasions of the Río de la Plata.

In 1808 she returned to Britain. By 29 June she was off France when she, Seine, Comet and Cossack captured the French brig Pierre Caesar. The Admiralty took Pierre Caesar into service as Tigress.

On 6 August Cossack captured the Mouche, with Unicorn sharing in the prize money by agreement. Around 15 or 28 October Unicorn and Thisbe captured General Mulenfelis or General Muhlenfels.

In 1809 Unicorn was present at the Battle of Basque Roads. Imperieuse had taken up a position by the Boyard Shoal. The frigates Unicorn, Aigle, and Pallas anchored close to her. Their task was to retrieve the returning crews of the fireships and to support the boats of the fleet that had assembled alongside Caesar, to assist the fireships. As it turned out the boats were not used. Still, in 1847 the Admiralty awarded the NGSM with clasp "Basque Roads" to all surviving claimants from the action.

Captain Alexander Robert Kerr assumed command in August 1809.

On 12 April 1810, Unicorn captured the 22-gun Esperence off the Île de Ré. Esperence was the former British Post-ship Laurel, but was armed en flute. She was under the command of a Lieutenant de vaisseau and carrying a cargo of colonial produce from Île de France. In November 1810 Unicorn received an advance of ₤14,000 on the prize money from the capture of Esperence.

Unicorn captured the privateer Gascon on 3 February 1810. Gascon carried 16 guns and 113 men. She was two days out of Bayonne without having taken any prizes.

In April 1811 Captain George Bourgoyne Salt assumed command. Between 19 November and 3 February 1812 Unicorn captured five vessels: Industry (19 November), Jane (21 November), Fly (18 January), Manlius (21 January), and Good Intent (3 February). Unicorn shared the capture of Manlius with Scylla. On 30 March 1813 the frigate Stag and Unicorn captured the French privateer Miquelonnaise, of St Malo. She was pierced for 20 guns but carried 18, two long 12-pounders, eight long 6-pounders and eight 12-pounder carronades. She had a crew of 130 men and was about six months old. On this cruise she had been out four days from Quimper and had taken a small brig, the Alexander, which had been carrying a cargo of tin and iron from London to Lisbon. Miquelonnaise sank the brig rather than bringing her in.

In April Stag, with Unicorn in sight, took the 2-gun privateer schooner Hébé, the former Royal Navy schooner Laura. The Royal Navy took her back into service as Lauretsinus. On 21 May, Unicorn captured the American schooner Miranda, of Rhode Island. She had a crew of six men, a burthen of 104 tons, and was sailing for Matunzas with a cargo of lumber.

Captain Samuel George Pechell took command of Unicorn in 1814. While under the command of Kerr, Salt, or Pechell, Unicorn sent in her boats to cut out a large brig sheltering under the batteries at Belle Île. The expedition cost the British two men killed. Unicorn also participated in the support of Spanish forces in the north of Spain, in the blockade of the Texel, and in patrols off the coast of Norway. Lastly, she also conveyed various members of the Royal Family to and from the Continent.

Fate.

Unicorn was sold out of the service and broken up at Deptford in March 1815.

[Bligh]

HMS Pallas.

She was a 32-gun fifth rate Thames-class frigate of the Royal Navy, launched in 1804 at Plymouth.

History.

Pallas was one of the seven Thames class frigates ordered for the fleet in early 1804. Her keel was laid at Plymouth Dockyard in June 1804 and she was launched on the afternoon of 17 November the same year along with her sister-ship HMS Circe. Pallas entered service in January 1805, under the command of Lord Cochrane and proceeded to cruise in the vicinity of the Azores. Here, Pallas captured three Spanish merchant ships and a Spanish 14-gun privateer.

United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Pallas
Builder:	Plymouth Dockyard
Launched:	17 November 1804
Fate:	Wrecked in the Firth of Forth on 18 December 1810
General characteristics
Class and type:	32-gun fifth rate Thames-class frigate
Tons burthen:	657 bm
Length:	127 ft (39 m) (overall) 107 ft 4 in (32.72 m) (keel)
Beam:	34 ft 6 in (10.52 m)
Depth of hold:	11 ft 9 in (3.58 m)
Complement:	220
Armament:	Upper deck: 26 x 12-pounder guns QD: 8 x 24-pounder carronades Fc: 4 x 24-pounder carronades

Cochrane was given orders to cruise off the Normandy coast in 1806. During the evening of 5 April 1806, Cochrane sailed Pallas into the Gironde estuary and captured the French 14-gun Tapageuse, and drove ashore and wrecked three other corvettes. The corvettes Cochrane drove ashore were one of 24 guns, one of 22 guns, and Malicieuse, of 18 guns. Earlier, while on the station, Pallas had captured two chasse marees, Dessaix and L'Île Deais, and wrecked a third, and captured one brig, Pomone, and burnt a second.
In 1807, command passed to George Miller. Later that year she passed to George Cadogan and took part in the evacuation of the British army from Walcheren. In 1808, George Francis Seymour took command and operated in the English Channel as part of the Channel Fleet.

Captain the Hon. George Cadogan took command of Pallas on 16 September 1809, having transferred from Crocodile. In 1810, Pallas was ordered to the North Sea and was given a cruise off the coast of Norway where she captured four Danish privateer cutters. One 13 December her boats captured two, one of four guns and one of two, both in the Cove of Siveraag.

Fate.

Pallas was under the command of Captain G.P. Monke when she was wrecked in the Firth of Forth near Dunbar on the night of 18 December 1810. The pilot mistook the light on a lime kiln at Broxmouth for that kept burning on the Isle of May, and the light on the island for that on the Bell Rock. Dunbar Lifeboat saved 45 men from HMS Pallas in two trips and, in attempting a third, was ‘upset and drowned nearly all’. Pallas lost 11 men in the sinking.

The subsequent court martial severely reprimanded Monke and the pilot, James Burgess, for the loss. It also dismissed the master, David Glegg, and ordered that he never serve as master again.

Pallas had been in company with Nymphe, which also wrecked that night, though without loss of life. Nymphe wrecked on a rock called the Devil's Ark near Skethard on Tor Ness Dunbar.

[Bligh]

HMS MEDIATOR.



Ann and Amelia (1781 ship)

History
United Kingdom
Name:	Ann and Amelia
Owner:	John Julius Angerstin, or Angerstein
Builder:	Fishburn & Brodrick, Whitby
Launched:	1781
Fate:	Sold June 1804
UK
Name:	HMS Mediator
Acquired:	June 1804 by purchase
Honours and awards:	Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Basque Roads 1809"
Fate:	Expended as a fireship in the Basque Roads, April 1809
General characteristics [1][5]
Tons burthen:	600, or 620, or 689
Length:	·126 ft 11 in (38.7 m) (overall) ·102 ft 8 in (31.3 m) (keel) ·134 ft 8 in (41.0 m) (overall) ·109 ft 4 in (33.3 m) (keel; est)
Beam:	·33 ft 2 in (10.1 m) ·34 ft 5 in (10.5 m)
Depth of hold:	13 ft 1 in (4.0 m)
Sail plan:	Ship
Complement:	254 (Frigate)
Armament:	·Ann and Amelia: 20 × 9-pounder + 6 × 4-pounder guns ·Frigate: o Lower deck: 26 × 18-pounder guns o Upper deck: 18 × 24-pounder carronades ·Storeship: o Upper deck: 20 × 18-pounder guns o QD: 2 × 9-pounder guns

Ann and Amelia was a three-decker merchant ship launched in 1781. The British East India Company (EIC) twice employed her as an "extra ship", first when she went out to India to sail in trade in that market, and again in 1803 when she sailed back from India to Britain. On her return to Britain the Admiralty purchased her in June 1804 and converted her to a 44-gun fifth rate with the name HMS Mediator. The Navy converted her to a storeship in 1808, but then expended her as a fireship at the battle of the Basque Roads in April 1809.


Ann and Amelia.

After her launch at Whitby in 1781, Ann and Amelia, under the command of Captain John Popham, was at The Downs on 30 January 1782. She left British waters on 6 February 1781 for India. She was to remain there in the local and Far East trade.

She served as a transport or troopship to support Major-General Sir David Baird's expedition in 1800 to the Red Sea. Baird was in command of the Indian army that was going to Egypt to help General Ralph Abercromby expel the French there. Baird landed at Kosseir, on the Egyptian side of the Red Sea. He then led his troops army across the desert to Kena on the Nile, and then to Cairo. He arrived before Alexandria in time for the final operations.

In 1803 the EIC employed Ann and Amelia again, this time to take a cargo from Bengal to Britain. She left Saugor on 29 January 1803. She reached Coringa on 27 February, and Madras on 11 March. She then reached St Helena on 10 July, and Yarmouth on 29 September, before arriving at The Downs on 3 October.

HMS Mediator.

In June–July 1804 Mediator underwent fitting by Brent, of Rotherhithe. Then she underwent further fitting between July and October, but at Deptford Dockyard.
Her measurements, and hence burthen, increased.

Captain Thomas Livingstone commissioned Mediator in August 1804 for the North Sea. Captain John Seater replaced Livingstone in January 1805, and on 25 February sailed towards the East Indies.

Equally, on 17 February, Mediator escorted a convoy of Indiamen out of Portsmouth. She escorted them as far as St Helena and then returned to Britain in September.

On 3 March 1806, Mediator and Squirrel left Cork, escorting a convoy for the West Indies. The convoy was reported "all well" on 25 March at 27°30′N 20°30′W.

In May 1806 Mediator was on the Jamaica Station. Seater died about that time, and Captain William Wise replaced him. On 14 November, Wise and Mediator captured the West Indian.
On 14 February 1807 Captain Wise and Mediator fell in with Bacchante, Commander James Dacres, in the Mona Passage. Dacres also had the French schooner Dauphin, which he had just captured. Mediator and Bacchante were patrolling, looking for French warships and privateers, so Dacres took Mediator under his command and hatched a plan to raid the port of Samana, "that nest of privateers". Dacres had Dauphin come into the harbour there under her French flag, with Bacchante disguised as her prize, and Mediator, a former merchantman, appearing to be a neutral ship. This stratagem permitted the British vessels to come into the harbour and anchor within a half a mile of the fort before the enemy realized that vessels were British warships. After a four-hour exchange of fire with a fort there, manned primarily by men from the privateers in the harbour, the fort fell to a land attack by the seamen and marines from Bacchante and Mediator, the landing party being under Wise's command. The British captured two French schooners undergoing fitting as privateers, and an American ship and a British schooner, both prizes to French privateers. Before they left on 21 February, the British destroyed the fort and its guns. In the attack, Dacres had four men wounded. Wise had two men killed and 12 wounded as Mediator had been more heavily engaged than Bacchante in the exchange of fire with the fort. Dacres estimated that French casualties had been high, but did not have a number as the Frenchmen took to the woods as the fort fell.

The Lloyd's Patriotic Fund, subsequently awarded both Dacres and Wise a sword each worth £100 that bore the inscriptions:

• "From the Patriotic Fund at Lloyd's to James Richard Dacres Esqr. Capt. of H.M.S. Bacchante for his Gallant Conduct in the Capture of the French National Schooner Dauphin and the Destruction of the Fort and Cannon in the Harbour of Samana on 16th February 1807 effected by the Bacchante in company with H.M.S. Mediator as Recorded in the London Gazette of the 25th of April".
• ^[
• "From the Patriotic Fund at Lloyd's to William Furlong Wise Esq. Capt. of H.M.S. Mediator for his Gallant Conduct in Storming and Destroying with the Seamen and Marines belonging to His Majesty's Ships Bacchante and Mediator the Fort and Cannon in the Harbour of Samana on 16th of February 1807 as Recorded in the London Gazette of the 25th of April".

In May Mediator and Wise captured the Grouper on 3 May and the Dispatch on 6 May.

In 1807 Captain George Reynolds replaced Wise, who had become ill and who remained in the West Indies for a little while to recuperate before returning home. By the end of the year Mediator had returned to Britain. In 1808 she was fitted as a storeship and command passed to Captain George Blamey. Her role became one of conveying supplies to the various squadrons blockading French ports. On 15 March 1808 Mediator recaptured the Swedish ship Maria Christiana. In May 1808 Captain John Pasco managed to obtain the command of Mediator for three months.

In January 1809 Mediator was at Corunna. The battle of Corunna, which took place on 16 January 1809, had British troops holding off the French to cover the embarkation of the British Army after its retreat. In this battle Sir John Moore was killed. Mediator and a number of other warships and transports arrived on 14 and 15 January from Vigo.

Mediator took on board a great number of sick and wounded soldiers, and then sailed to Lisbon. After the evacuation was complete a violent fever and ague inflicted Blamey so the Navy appointed Captain James Woolridge acting captain until Blamey recovered.

Fate: A blaze of glory.

On 11 April 1809 Woolridge, in Mediator commanded the flotilla of fire and explosion ships that the Admirals Gambier and Lord Cochrane sent in to Basque Roads to attack the fleet that was arrayed there. A flotilla of six fireships, together with one ship laden with combustibles, had gathered at Portsmouth but had been unable to sail. Gambier decided not to wait. He took eight of the largest transports at his command and converted them to fireships. The necessary combustibles came from three French chasse-marées, laden with tar and rosin, that the fleet had recently captured. At Lord Cochrane's suggestion, Mediator too was fitted as a fire-ship.
The fireships attacked at 8:30 p.m., but several had to be abandoned when their fuzes started prematurely. Mediator, with the benefit of the wind and a tide running at four knots broke through the boom protecting the French fleet. Woolridge and his skeleton crew barely escaped before she burst into flames. As it was, a gunner was killed, and Woolridge, Lieutenant Nicholas Brent Clements, Lieutenant James Pearl, and seaman Michael Gibson all received burns when they were blown out of her after she started to burn.

When Blamey, who was in sick quarters, heard that Mediator was going to lead the attack, hurried to join her. However he did not arrive until 12 April.

The battle continued the next day with the French losing four ships-of-the-line and a frigate. Ville de Varsovie (80), and Aquilon (74), were both burnt. Tonnerre (74), Calcutta (54), and Indienne (46), were scuttled.

King George presented Woolridge with a gold medal and chain, worth £100, that had been specially struck for the occasion. Lloyd's Patriotic Fund also presented Woolridge with a sword worth £100. Lastly, he was promoted to the rank of post captain.

In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the award of the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Basque Roads 1809" to all surviving claimants from the action.

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HMS Beagle.


HMS Recruit, a warship of the same class as the Beagle



She was an 18-gun Cruizer-class brig-sloop of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1804, during the Napoleonic Wars. She played a major role in the Battle of the Basque Roads. Beagle was laid up in ordinary in 1813 and sold in 1814.

Career

United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Beagle
Namesake:	The Beagle breed of dog
Ordered:	22 May 1804
Builder:	Perry, Wells & Green, Blackwall Yard
Laid down:	June 1804
Launched:	8 August 1804
Completed:	By 7 October 1804
Commissioned:	1804
Out of service:	1813
Honours and awards:	Naval General Service Medal clasps: "Basque Roads 1809" "St. Sebastian"
Fate:	Sold on 21 July 1814
General characteristics
Class and type:	18-gun Cruizer-class brig-sloop
Tons burthen:	382​82⁄94 (bm)
Length:	100 ft (30.5 m) (gundeck) 77 ft 3 1⁄4 in (23.6 m) (keel)
Beam:	30 ft 6 1⁄4 in (9.3 m)
Depth of hold:	12 ft 10 1⁄2 in (3.92 m)
Sail plan:	Brig rigged
Complement:	121
Armament:	18 guns:16 × 32-pounder carronades + 2 × 6-pounder bow guns

Beagle was commissioned in August 1804 under Commander John Burn, who sailed her to the Mediterranean. On 5 December Burn and Beagle captured the Spanish ship Fuenta Hermosa. Burn was temporarily relieved by Commander George Digby between June and August 1805, after which she joined Sir John Orde’s squadron off Cadiz.

On 14 January 1805, Beagle captured the Spanish ship Pastora Hermosa, which was carrying bullion.

Commander Francis Newcombe left the hired armed ship Lord Eldon to replace Burn in February 1806; Beagle remained in the Mediterranean until 1807. On 27 April 1806, Beagle and a number of other vessels were in company with Termagant when Termagant captured Anna Maria Carolina. Beagle then moved to the Downs where she operated between 1808 and 1809.

While under Newcombe's command Beagle captured three privateers in the English Channel. She captured Hazard, of 14 guns and 49 men, on 2 October 1808, Vengeur, of 16 guns and 48 men, on 24 January 1809, and Fortune, of 14 guns and 58 men, on 18 February.

• Hazard, which was under the command of Joseph Marie Lelong, had one man badly wounded before Beagle was able to capture her after a three-hour chase. Hazard had left Dieppe the day before and had captured two light colliers (the Trinity Yacht and Assistance), but Newcombe was unable to find and recapture them. Hazard had been Matthew, of Sunderland, and was carrying a cargo of coals.
• Vengeur was in company with Grand Napoleon, which escaped. Vengeur herself did not surrender until Beagle came alongside, though her captain, M. Bourgnie^, was wounded^. Vengeur had made no captures.
• Fortune, under Captain Tucker, had one man badly wounded. She was out of Calais and had made no captures.

Participation at the Battle of the Basque Roads.

Beagle arrived at Basque Roads on 10 April, having escorted from the Downs the convoy of fireships that were to attack the French anchorage the next day. Beagle was the second ship (after the bomb vessel Aetna) to voluntarily arrive to aid Cochrane's Imperieuse after the successful fireship attack, her crew reportedly giving Cochrane three cheers upon arriving. The prize crew that took possession and later burnt the French ship-of-the-line Calcutta, was under the command of a lieutenant from Beagle and a midshipman from Imperieuse. Beagle also took part in the bombardment of the French ships Aquilon and Ville de Varsovie, skilfully manoeuvring to fire, unlike other British ships that were anchoring to engage.

Beagle was one of the few ships joining Cochrane in ignoring Rear-Admiral Robert Stopford's recall order. Cochrane tasked her with protecting Aetna during the move upriver. Newcombe therefore placed Beagle between Aetna and the grounded French battleships. As a result, Beagle took heavy damage to her rigging and expended nearly all of her powder. Beagle had one man wounded.
Newcombe's achievements and valour resulted in his receiving promotion to post-captain after the battle. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the then-surviving participants in the battle the Naval General Service Medal with the clasp "Basque Roads 1809". Two of Beagle's sister ships, Dotterel and Foxhound were also present at the Basque Roads.

Later years.

Later in 1809 Commander William Dolling took command of Beagle, following Newcombe's promotion. In July and August, Beagle took part in the Scheldt operations.

On 4 November Beagle and Echo recaptured Mount Royal, of Pool. On 8 February 1810 Beagle recaptured the brig Resource. Then on 10 October Dollin and Beagle captured the smuggling lugger Ox, for which they received a reward from the Commissioners of His Majesty's Customs. Then on 13 June Beagle captured the smuggling boat Fly, of Bexhill. Three days later she captured several smuggling galleys. Apparently the officers and crew of Beagle purchased the cargo of two of the galleys and sold it.

Commander John Smith took command of Beagle in August 1811. On 14 August 1813, Beagle, in company with President, the gun-brig Urgent and the schooner Juniper, captured Marmion.

Beagle and participated in the Siege of San Sebastián (7 July - 8 September 1813) as part of the fleet under Captain George Collier assigned to help Sir Arthur Wellesley's campaigns in Portugal and Spain. Beagle had one man dangerously wounded in the taking of the battery on Santa Clara Island. Later, the seamen from the squadron, under Smith's command, maneuvered 24-pounder guns from Surveillante up the steep scarp of Saint Clara Island to assemble their own battery facing San Sebastian, which allowed them to silence the guns there. Smith was slightly wounded while being in charge of the seamen on shore engaged in taking the French battery on Saint Clara Island and in the subsequent operations. In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the issuance of the Naval General service Medal with clasp "St. Sebastian" to surviving participants in the campaign.

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HMS Doterel (or Dotterel),

She was an 18-gun Cruizer-class brig-sloop of the British Royal Navy. Launched on 6 October 1808, she saw action in the Napoleonic Wars and in the War of 1812. In February 1809 she took part in the Battle of Les Sables-d'Olonne, then in April the Battle of Basque Roads. She was laid up in 1827 at Bermuda, but not broken up until 1855.

United Kingdom
Class and type:	Cruizer class brig-sloop
Name:	HMS Doterel
Namesake:	Eurasian dotterel
Ordered:	31 December 1807
Builder:	John Scott and Richard Blake, Bursledon
Laid down:	April 1808
Launched:	6 October 1808
Fate:	Broken up 1855
General characteristics
Type:	Cruizer-class brig-sloop
Tons burthen:	386​
Length:	100 ft 2 in (30.5 m) (overall) 77 ft 2 1⁄4 in (23.5 m) (keel)
Beam:	30 ft 8 in (9.3 m)
Depth of hold:	12 ft 10 in (3.9 m)
Propulsion:	Sail
Complement:	121
Armament:	16 × 32-pounder carronades 2 × 6-pounder long guns for bow chasers

Career.

Doterel was first commissioned under Commander Anthony Abdy in October 1808. By February 1809 she was in the Basque Roads and had become attached to a squadron under Robert Stopford when on 27th of that month she took part in the Battle of Les Sables-d'Olonne.

Stopford in the 80-gun Caesar had been accompanied by the seventy-fours Defiance and Donegal, and the 36-gun frigates Emerald, Amethyst and Naiad, when he had chased a French force comprising eight ships of the line and two frigates, into the Pertuis d'Antioche.^[3] Stopford immediately sent Naiad to appraise Admiral James Gambier of the situation but Naiad had not gone too far when she signalled that there were three other vessels to the north-west. Stoppard ordered Amethyst and Emerald to remain while he and the rest of the squadron set off in pursuit.

When daylight came, the vessels sighted by Naiad were revealed to be the three French frigates, Calypso, Italienne and Sybille, being chased by Doterel and the 36-gun frigate Amelia. Doterel and Amelia had drawn so close to Sybille, the nearest French ship, that her two companions shortened sail in preparation for battle but on seeing Stopford's approaching squadron, all three French ships took off with Doterel and Amelia in close pursuit. At 10:00 the French frigates arrived at Sable d'Olonne where they anchored with springs, in the shallow water beneath the town's batteries. Caeser, Donegal, Defiance and Amelia stood in and engaged. Two of the French frigates were obliged to cut their cables and run ashore in order to escape before the British were forced to withdraw by the falling tide. However, all three French frigates were destroyed in the action.

Doterel was part of Gambier's fleet when it fought the Battle of the Basque Roads in April 1809. The French ships were anchored under the protection of the powerful batteries on the Isle d'Aix when on 11 April Lord Cochrane led an attacking force of fireships and explosive vessels. At this time, Doterel was employed in a passive role, providing a diversion to the east of the island with the brigs Beagle, Conflict and Growler, and the 36-gun frigate Emerald.^[8] The fireships were a partial success; the French, having suspected such an attack, had rigged a boom across the channel but this was breached by one of the explosive vessels. The French cut their cables and drifted on to the shoals. Later on 13 April, Doterel, Foxhound and Redpole, carrying letters from Gambier, arrived in the Maumossen Passage where Cochrane had retired from attacking the grounded French fleet due to the falling tide.

In October 1810 Doterel was commissioned for service in the West Indies, and in December command passed to William Westcott Daniel. Daniel was still in command in early October 1812, when Doterel was back in home waters, part of a squadron under Alexander Cochrane. On 4 October, she and the British sloop Raven chased down a 10-gun French privateer, Leonore, off the Isles of Scilly. In 1814, she served on the North American Station in the war against the United States, capturing the 14-gun American privateer Dominica on 22 May. In January 1815, Doterel was part of an invasion force under George Cockburn, which looted St Simons and its neighbouring islands in Georgia, carrying away cotton and freeing slaves who were later resettled on Bermuda. In August 1815 she returned to England where she was laid up at Chatham.

Doterel was recommissioned in February 1818 and served out of Cork under Lieutenant John Gore. On 16 November 1820, Doterel seized the American schooner Volunteer.
William Hendry assumed command in July 1821 and sailed for Halifax on the North American Station. In July 1822, Richard Hoare took command. Hoare spent just over three years in charge before he was superseded by Henry Edwards in August 1825. Doterel's last commander was William Hamilton who arrived on board in August 1826.

Fate.

The Admiralty found Doterel to be in such a defective state, she was ordered to be laid up in Bermuda on 4 April 1827, where she was used as a residence for workmen there. On 28 August 1848, Doterel was ordered to be broken up but the order was not carried out until some seven years later.

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HMS Foxhound.

She was an 18-gun Cruizer-class brig-sloop built by King at Dover and launched in 1806. She participated in the battle of the Basque Roads in early 1809 and foundered later that year.

Service.

Great Britain.
Name:	HMS Foxhound
Namesake:	Foxhound
Builder:	King, Dover
Launched:	1806
Commissioned:	May 1807
Honors and awards:	Naval General Service Medal with the clasp "Basque Roads 1809"
Fate:	Foundered 31 August 1809
General characteristics
Class and type:	Cruizer-class brig-sloop
Tons burthen:	384 ​
Length:	·100 ft 0 in (30.5 m) (gundeck) ·77 ft 2 7⁄8 in (23.5 m) (keel)
Beam:	30 ft 7 in (9.3 m)
Draught:	·7 ft 0 in (2.1 m) (unladen) ·11 ft 0 in (3.4 m) (laden)
Depth of hold:	12 ft 9 in (3.9 m)
Sail plan:	Brig
Complement:	121
Armament:	·16 × 32-pounder carronades ·2 × 6-pounder chase guns

Commander Pitt Burnaby Greene, late commander of the hired armed brig Cockatrice, commissioned Foxhound in May 1807. On 26 August Foxhound captured the Danish vessel Adetheid Margaretha. Two days later she captured the Danish vessels Gimlé and De Gode.



On 28 June 1808 Foxhound captured the French chasse maree Susanne. Then on 11 January 1809 Foxhound recaptured the Hamburg ship Vierininguen.
On 17 March 1809, Foxhound joined Admiral Lord Gambier's Channel fleet anchored off the Basque Roads. The British plan was to use the 60 vessels (of all kinds) to attack the French fleet lying within. The 15 French vessels there, commanded by Vice-Admiral Zacharie Allemand, lay behind a boom protected by 30 guns.



During this time Foxhound participated in the capture of two vessels, the Danish ship Neptunus on 24 March and the French ship Nymphe on 28 March. For the capture of Neptunus, Foxhound was in company with Indefatigable and the sloop Goldfinch. Foxhound was also in company with Indefatigable for the capture of Nymphe.

On 11 April, two explosion ships, twelve fire ships, accompanied by bomb vessels and escorted by men-of-war, some 27 vessels in all, under the command of Captain Lord Cochrane, broke the boom under a heavy fire. Foxhound covered the bomb vessel Aetna near the Île-d'Aix, which was making a diversionary attack. The British main attack captured two French vessels and two were blown up, all with a total loss to the British of only eight men killed and 24 wounded. Still, Cochrane was highly critical of Gambier's failure to act more aggressively. (Gambier had earlier objected to the plan to use explosion (Cochrane's invention) and fire ships, calling it "a horrible and anti-Christian mode of warfare".)

Two of Foxhound's sister ships, Doterel and Beagle were also present at the Basque Roads.

In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the then-surviving participants in the battle the Naval General Service Medal with the clasp "Basque Roads 1809".

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French brig Brave (1793)
.

Brave
History
France
Name:	Cannoniere No. 1
Builder:	Le Havre, to a design by Pierre-Alexandre-Laurent Forfait
Laid down:	January 1793
Launched:	26 April 1793
Renamed:	Brave (March 1793) Arrogante (May 1795)
Great Britain
Name:	HMS Arrogante
Acquired:	by capture
Renamed:	HMS Insolent
Honours and awards:	Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Basque Roads 1809"
Fate:	Sold 1816
General characteristics
Type:	Initially: Corvette-canonnière May 1795: Canonnière British service: gun-brig 1811: Brig-sloop
Displacement:	288 tons (French)
Tons burthen:	258​
Length:	91 ft 9 in (27.97 m) (overall) 72 ft 1 in (21.97 m) (keel)
Beam:	25 ft 11 3⁄8 in (7.909 m)
Depth of hold:	11 ft 2 in (3.40 m)
Complement:	French service: 94 British service: 55 (85 as brig-sloop)
Armament:	Initially: 4 x 24-pounder guns At capture: 6 x 24-pounder guns Gun-brig: 2 x 18-pounder guns + 10 x 32-pounder carronades Brig-sloop: 2 x 6-pounder guns + 12 x 24-pounder carronades

Brave, launched at Le Havre in 1793, was the name vessel of a two-vessel class of brig-rigged canonnières, i.e., gun-brigs. The French Navy renamed her Arrogante in May 1795. The Royal Navy captured her on 23 or 24 April 1798. The British Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Arrogante, but renamed her HMS Insolent some four months later. She was sold in June 1818.
French career.

As the corvette-canonnière Brave, she was stationed at the Bay of Audierne. Between 4 February 1793 and 7 August she was under the command of sous-lieutenant de vaisseau (later lieutenant de vaisseau) Massard and escorted convoys between Le Havre and Brest. From 27 August to 25 October she was under the command of enseigne de vaisseau non entretenu Bourhis.

Between 11 April 1794 and 28 July she was stationed first at Verdon and then at the Gironde estuary. There she carried dispatches from Brest to Verdon.

Still under Bourhis's command, between 13 May 1795 to 8 July, Brave sailed from Brest à Audierne, where she then was stationed in the bay, before returning to Brest. Next she was at Camaret roads, and then escorted a transport from le Conquet to Brest.

In May 1795 the French Navy renamed Brave to Arrogante, and changed her classification from corvette-canonnière to canonnière.

On 21 April 1796 Arrogante was under the command of lieutenant de vaisseau Le Bastard when she engaged a British squadron in the Audierne roads. On 25 July 1797 she was at Brest and still under Le Bastard's command.

Almost exactly two years later, on 23 April 1798 Arrogante was under the command of lieutenant de vaisseau Lambour and escorting a convoy between Audierne and Brest. French records report that while she was in the Iroise Sea she encountered two English frigates, HMS Jason and HMS Naiad.

Capture.

British records report that Naiad, Mars and Ramillies were in sight when Jason captured Arrogante. Arrogante was armed with six long 24-pounder guns and had a crew of 92 men.

British career.

The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Arrogante. She arrived at Plymouth in April 1798 and she sat there. In August, the Navy renamed her HMS Insolent, but did not refit her until February to April 1801. On 24 April Lieutenant Burians, a veteran officer, commissioned her.

On 21 July 1801, Jason wrecked off the coast near Saint-Malo. Some nine days later Captain Charles Cunningham of Clyde, who commanded the small British flotilla off the coast and had just found out about the wrecking, on 1 August sent Weazel to inquire about the crew of Jason. The French in Saint-Malo informed the British that the crew were all prisoners, and that the French were willing to release them on parole. On 3 August three cutters flying the cartel flag brought out Jason's crew. Although Jason was lying on her side, masts gone, and water breaking over her, Cunningham decided to destroy her to prevent the French from recovering her.

The boats of Weazel went in on 5 August despite strong opposition from shore batteries and various armed small craft, though the larger French vessels in the harbour did not sortie. The first attempt to set Jason on fire failed. A second attempt the next day was successful as the boats from Weazel, Insolent, and Liberty diverted French attention. On 5 October Cunningham received the news of peace with France.

Later, in October, one of Insolent's boats hit a rock, with the result that her captain and three seamen drowned. The purser's daughter was on the boat and one of the seaman swam for the shore, carrying her on his back. As he swam her clothes became sodden and he informed the young woman that unless she agreed to let him remove her clothes he could not carry her further. She refused, stating that she preferred to die than compromise her virtue. He swam on for a bit with her, still clothed, on his back, but eventually, exhausted, he had to let her go and watch her drown.

On 1802 she came under the command of Lieutenant N. Hartwright, at Milford. On 1 December Insolent went into Barnpool from Hamoaze, where she had been refitted. The next day a gale of wind drove a flush of sea over the bridge of St. Nicholas and Redding Point pushed Insolent towards the rocks under Mount Edgecumbe before she was brought up in safety. At some point Hartwright paid her off.

In January 1803 Lieutenant William Smith (2nd), recommissioned her at Guernsey. On 21 May Insolent captured the French ship Centaure. Centaur arrived at Plymouth on 23 May. She had sailed from Havre de Grace with provisions, shot, and shells,all bound for Brest.

Insolent was recoppered in January 1805 at Guernsey. In May Lieutenant Row Morris replaced Smith.

On 7 March 1807 Insolent came into Plymouth carrying French prisoners, which she landed at Mill Bay. The Naval Chronicle reports that as boat carrying the French prisoners paused for them to rest on their oars, Hibernia glided majestically by, causing the prisoners to exclaim, "There goes the coup de grace for Bounaparte".

On 25 August Morris sailed Insolent to the Mediterranean.

In early July 1808, Insolent detained and sent into Plymouth the Augustus, of New York, Hurdle, master. Augustus had sailed from Canton, China, in early February.

Insolent was present at the battle of Basque Roads, which took place on 11 April 1809. In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the issuance of the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Basque Roads 1809" to all surviving British participants in the battle.

On 9 June 1809 Insolent captured the French lugger Union. Six days latere Insolent captured the brig Juno; the schooner Arrow was in sight. The gun-brig Martial was in sight.^[23] Ten days after that Insolent, Conflict, and Arrow were in company when they captured the French brig Amitaire. On 8 August, Insolent captured the French chasse maree Marie.

From October 1809 to September 1810, Insolent was at Plymouth, undergoing a large repair. The Admiralty rerated her as a brig-sloop and commissioned her for the North Sea and the Baltic in October 1810 under the command of Commander Edward Brazier.

Under Brazier's command, Insolent captured two chasse marees, Providence (20 September 1812), and Trois Freres (23 January 1813).

In April 1812, Insolent captured a French privateer rowboat, armed with swivel guns, and sent her into Dover.

A gale on Sunday 18 October that continued to the next morning damaged many vessels. Insolent, for one, was driven ashore at Swansea.

In December 1812 Commander John Forbes replaced Brazier.

On 26 April 1814, Insolent was in company with Hamadryad and Cracker when they captured the Euranie.

Insolent was among the vessels in the Channel Fleet under the command of Vice Admiral Lord Keithfrom 1812 to 1814, and so qualifying for a share of the Parliamentary grant for her services.

In June 1814 Commander William Kelly replaced Forbes for North America.

Fate.

Insolent was paid off at Deptford in 1815. The Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy offered the "Insolent gun-brig, of 258 tons", lying at Deptford for sale on 11 June 1818. She was sold for £860 on that day to J. Crystall.

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HMS Thunder.

She was an 8-gun bomb vessel of the Royal Navy, previously the mercantile Dasher. Dasher, launched at Bideford in 1800, had made two voyages as a slave ship before the Royal Navy purchased her in 1803 and renamed her HMS Thunder. Thunder served in the Mediterranean and the Baltic; among other actions, she participated in a battle and one single-ship action, each of which resulted in her crew later qualifying for clasps to the Naval General Service Medal (1847). The Navy sold her in 1814.

Great Britain
Name:	Dasher
Owner:	1800:Thomas Phillips 1803:J. Sims
Builder:	Bideford
Launched:	1800
Captured:	Sold 1803
General characteristics
Tons burthen:	309, or 318
Complement:	40
Armament:	20 × 6-pounder guns
History
Name:	HMS Thunder
Acquired:	October 1803
Honours and awards:	Naval General Service Medal (NGSM) with clasps: "Basque Roads 1809" "Thunder 9 Octr. 1813"
Fate:	Sold 1814
General characteristics
Tons burthen:	383
Length:	Overall: 111 ft 3 in (33.9 m) Keel: 92 ft 10 in (28.3 m)
Beam:	27 ft 10 in (8.5 m)
Depth of hold:	15 ft 7 in (4.7 m)
Complement:	67
Armament:	8 × 24-pounder carronades + 1 × 10" + 1 × 13" mortars

Slave ship.
Dasher was launched at Bideford. She first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1800 with T.Phillips, master, Phillips & Co., owners, and trade Liverpool–Africa.

Captain Thomas Phillips acquired a letter of marque on 24 October. He sailed from Liverpool on 14 November. Dasher purchased her slaves at the Congo River and arrived at Trinidad on 15 October 1801, where she landed some 300 slaves. She arrived back at Liverpool on 24 January 1802.

LR for 1803 gave the name of Dasher's master as Hamilton, and her owner as Sime & Co. Her trade was now London–Africa.

Captain Hance Hamilton sailed from London on 1 June 1802. Because he sailed during the Peace of Amiens he did not acquire a letter of marque. Dasher arrived at Havana on 1 December 1802 and there landed 322 slaves. She arrived back at London on 11 April 1803.

Royal Navy.

War with France had just resumed and the Royal Navy needed small warships to escort convoys and combat privateers. The Navy purchased Dasher in October 1803. She underwent fitting for a bomb vessel at Deptford Dockyard between 1 November 1803 and 10 February 1804. Commander George Cocks commissioned her for the Mediterranean in December 1803.
On 13 April 1805 Thunder captured Africano.

On 17 November Thunder detained the Prussian ship Minerva, of one gun, six men and 200 tons (bm). Minerva was sailing from Barcelona to Embden with a cargo of brandy. Ten days later, Thunder detained the Swedish ship St. Jean, of two guns, eight men, and 150 tons (bm). St Jean had been sailing from Vigo to Stralsund with cocoa and fish when Thunder captured her off Malaga.

In 1806 Thunder was in the Mediterranean. On 21 January she captured Comercium. Between 7 and 21 February Thunder sent two Danish vessels into Gibraltar: the brig Commerce, Broadson, master, which had been sailing from Alicante to Amsterdam, and Victoriosa, Roche, master, which had been sailing from Alicante to Leghorn. Comercium and Commerce were probably the same vessel.

Next, Thunder detained Fremde Soshende, Thompson, master, which had been sailing from Malaga to Embden, and sent her into Gibraltar. This may have been Suskinders, or Trende Soskinders, which Thunder had detained on 24 March. His Majesty granted Thunder two-thirds of the value of the prize. Thunder also received two-thirds for Frau Anna Margaretha, detained on 30 April, and for Foderns Bestlutning, detained on 5 May.^]
On 27 April 1806, Beagle and a number of other vessels were in company with Termagant when Termagant captured the Anna Maria Carolina.

On 1 May Thunder detained Flora.

LL reported on 6 June that Thunder had detained two Danish ships and sent them into Gibraltar. Fortune, Tasmar, master, had been coming from Galipoli and was bound for Copenhagen. Harmony, Fisher, master, had been coming from Leghorn and was bound for Stettin.

Between 16 and 11 May Thunder detained five Danish vessels that she sent into Gibraltar:

• Charlotta, Smit, master, from St Remo to Hambro
• Constitution?, from Cette to Stettin
• Catharina, Yenson, master, from Gallipoly to Hambro
• Two Brothers, Krog, master, from Civita Vechia to Caen
• Adjuzor?, from Cette to Stettin

On 21 May Thunder detained Three Ladies, Jensen, master, which had been sailing from Gallipoly to stettin, and sent her into Gibraltar. HMS Dexterous and Niger were in company with Thunder at the capture of Trende Damen (Three Ladies). Thunder and Dextereous shared in the prize money for Trende Brodre, also captured on 21 May.

Thunder also detained Catharina and Alexander on 20 and 23 May.

On 9 June, Thunder captured John Joachim and on 11 June Anna Margaretha.

Later in the year Thunder detained and sent into Gibraltar the Danish vessel Louisa, Martins, master. Louisa had been sailing from Lisbon to Barcelona.

Commander Cocks again sailed for the Mediterranean on 4 January 1807. However, by August 1807 Thunder was in the expedition to attack Copenhagen. She was part of the advanced squadron which on 11 September engaged some Danish vessels that came out of the harbour at Copenhagen to attack the batteries the British army was establishing on shore. The squadron drove of the Danes; Thunder sustained no casualties. She was among the many vessels that shared in the prize money for the capture of vessels and stores at Copenhagen on 7 September; the share of an able seaman was worth £3 8s. She was also one of some 31 vessels of the fleet that participated in the proceeds from the capture during the campaign of the merchant vessels Hans and Joachim (17 August), Die Twee Gebroaders (21 August), Aurora, Paulina, and Ceres (30&31 August), Odiford (4 September), and Benedicta (12 September).


Battle of Saltholm.

In 1808 Commander James Caulfield replaced Cocks. On 9 June, during the Gunboat War, Thunder was one of four Royal Navy vessels escorting a convoy of 70 British merchant vessels from Malmö Roads. The other three British warships were HMS Turbulent of 12 guns, the 14-gun Piercer, and the 12-gun HMS Charger.

As the convoy was off the island of Saltholm in Øresund Strait near Copenhagen, a Dano-Norwegian force of 21 gunboats and seven mortar boats attacked the convoy.

Turbulent, which was bringing up the rear, was the first to engage and was forced to strike. Next, the Danes stationed themselves on Thunder's quarters and rear and opened fire. Thunder returned fire with her carronades and two 6-pounder guns on her stern. Eventually, the Danes withdrew with Turbulent and the 12 or 13 merchant vessels they had captured. The merchants at Lloyd's involved in the Baltic trade, as a token of appreciation for his efforts to save the convoy, gave Commander Caulfield ₤100 with which to purchase a piece of silver plate.

During the Anglo-Russian War (1807–1812), a Swedish fleet with HMS Centaur and Implacable engaged a Russian fleet off Hango Udd. The British warships succeeded in destroying the 74-gun Russian ship Vsevolod and the rest of the Russian fleet took shelter behind a boom in Rager Vik (Ragerswik or Rogerswick). Vice-Admiral Saumerez and his entire squadron joined the Anglo-Swedish squadron on 27 August 1807. They then blockaded the Russians for some months. During the blockade Saumarez had Thunder bombard the port for some weeks with little result. When Admiral Saumerez instructed Caulfield to withdraw he requested permission to remain a little longer. After the British and the Swedes abandoned the blockade in the face of the approaching winter, the Russian fleet was able to return to Kronstadt.

On 20 and 24 April 1809 Thunder was at the Battle of the Basque Roads. She did not participate in the original attack on 11 April, but after the French 74-gun Régulus stranded on a shoal at the entrance to the Charente, Thunder shelled her, but without success. The French eventuall refloated Regulus and got her into Rochefort. In 1847 the Admiralty issued the clasp "Basque Roads 1809" to the NGSM to all surviving claimants from the battle.

In July and August, Thunder took part in the Walcheren Campaign. On 22 August HMS Hound, Aetna, and Thunder were by the town of Doel and fired mortar shells to deter the French from throwing up a battery. Through the 30th the bomb vessels continued to shell the battery, and also enemy troops on the other side of the Scheldt. During the first week in September the British started to withdraw, ending their Walcheren campaign, having sustained heavy losses to disease and having nothing to show for their efforts.

Commander Caulfield was promoted to post captain in August 1809, with the promotion backdated to 11 April. Commander William Shepheard took command in December 1809. He sailed for Cadiz and the Mediterranean on 21 March 1810.

At the end of 1810 the French were besieging Cadiz.

Commander William Pell replaced Shepheard on 11 November. The French had assembled a flotilla of gun-boats to attack the town so on 23 November Thunder, Devastation, and Aetna, with a number of English and Spanish mortar and gun-boats, attacked the French flotilla at El Puerto de Santa María, between them firing some hundred shells with considerable effect.

In early 1812, HMS Stately, Druid and Thunder supported the British capture of Tarifa, near Cadiz. Thunder then returned to her station at Cadiz by Fort Catalina at the southern end of the Bay of Bulls, and protected Isla de León. The French abandoned their siege in August.

Thunder then moved to the coast of Valencia. She returned to England in September 1813.

On 9 October 1813 Thunder captured the French privateer Neptune off the Owers. Neptune, a lugger, came up on Thunder and called on the British to strike. Thunder fired a broadside (four guns), and small arms, and then came alongside. Thunder's men captured the privateer by boarding. Neptune, of Dunkirk, was two days out of La Hogue and had captured nothing. She was pierced for 18 guns, with 16 mounted. She had a complement of 68 men, of whom 65 were aboard. In the action she suffered four men killed and ten wounded, five of whom were severely wounded, one of whom later died. Thunder had only two men wounded, albeit one severely. Thunder brought Neptune into the Downs; an early report put the casualties aboard Thunder as one killed and one wounded, and the casualties aboard the privateer as 20 killed and wounded. The next report in Lloyd's List named the privateer as Neptune.^[ In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the NGSM with clasp "Thunder 9 Octr. 1813" to all surviving claimants from the action.

Fate.

Thunder sold for £1,250 on 30 June 1814.

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HMS Aetna.


She was one of the Royal Navy bomb vessels involved in the attack on Fort McHenry in the Battle of Baltimore and the bombardment of Fort Washington, Maryland in 1814, during the War of 1812. In these actions she was commanded by Richard Kenah. Prior to this, Aetna participated in the second Battle of Copenhagen in 1807 and the Battle of the Basque Roads in 1809. In both these actions, she was commanded by William Godfrey.

Name	HMS Aetna
Namesake:	Mount Etna
Acquired:	by purchase, 1803
Commissioned:	December 1803
Decommissioned:	Late 1815
Honours and awards:	Naval General Service Medal with clasps Basque Roads 1809 The Potomac 17 Augt. 1814
Fate:	Sold, 1816 and disposed in Woolwich
General characteristics
Type:	Bomb vessel
Propulsion:	Sails
Armament:	8 × 24-pounder carronades 1 × 13 in (330 mm) mortar 1 × 10 in (250 mm) mortar

Service history.

Aetna was the merchant vessel Success, that the Admiralty purchased in 1803. She was commissioned in December 1803 under Commander George Cocks and first served in the Mediterranean. His replacement was Commander Richard Thomas.

In December 1805 she came under the command of Captain John Quillam and in February 1807 or so under Commander William Peake, still in the Mediterranean. She was recommissioned in June 1807 under Commander William Godfrey for the Baltic. There she took part in the siege and bombardment of Copenhagen between 15 August and 20 October 1807, resulting in the capture of Danish Fleet by Admiral Gambier.

Battle of the Basque Roads.

On 6 April 1809, Aetna, eight fire ships and a transport with Congreve rockets, joined Captain Lord Cochrane's fleet of frigates, sloops and gunbrigs off the Chasseron lighthouse where it was preparing to attack French warships in the Basque Roads.

Aetna was the only vessel of her class present. On the night of 11 April Aetna, the frigate HMS Indefatigable and the sloop Foxhound were stationed near the north-west of the Île-d'Aix while the fire ships were launched against the enemy. At 11:00 on the 13th Aetna, HMS Beagle, the gun-brigs and the rocket cutters moved up to the mouth of the Charante to fire on the French ships Océan, Régulus and Indienne which had been driven ashore. Aetna split her 13-inch mortar in the attack. At 16:00 the falling tide forced them to return to their former anchorage under fire from shore batteries. By the evening of the 14th she had fired away all her 10-inch shells, but she did not leave the mouth of the Charente until the 29th.In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the then still surviving participants in the battle the Naval General Service Medal (NGSM) with the clasp "Basque Roads 1809".

Walcheren Campaign.

Aetna then formed part of the naval force in the Scheldt under the command of Sir Richard Strachan. At 06:00 on the morning of 28 July 1809 Aetna, together with the whole fleet in The Downs, set sail for Flushing and that evening they anchored about 18 miles from Walcheren. On the 30th they watched the troops go ashore covered by the frigates.

The following morning at 11:00 Aetna, with the rest of the force, opened fire with her two mortars for the first time and fired 42 shells before an officer in a boat came round the various ships about midnight to desire them to desist. Commander Paul Lawless assumed command of Aetna in August, though he may have already been in command then.

On 2 August Aetna moved towards the fort at Rammekens and on the 5th she anchored about a mile and a half from Flushing. Aetna saw no more action until the 13th when she fired seventy-four 13-inch shells and thirty-nine 10-inch at Flushing before the tide turned. When they were able to close again another fifty-two 12-inch and nine 10-inch shells were discharged. HMS Vesuvius, several gunbrigs and man-of-war launches with 24-pounders were firing alongside them. There was more firing on the 14th and 15th before a white flag was seen and the town surrendered on the 17th. By the 18th Aetna was a little more than 12 miles from Antwerp and a number of officers went ashore for a walk on South Beveland. On the 22nd they dropped down to the town of Doel and fired thirty-five 13-inch and five 10-inch shells to deter the French from throwing up a battery. HMS Hound, Thunder, and Aetna threw one shell per hour through the night, but in the morning they found that the enemy had continued work so, until the 26th they fired another 133 shells at the battery. All this time Antwerp was only seven or eight miles away, but still the troops waited, suffering from miasmatic fever and dysentery. On the 29th Aetna fired fifteen large shells against the battery and Thunder, Hound and a brig threw their shells into the enemy troops on the opposite side of the Scheldt. The following day forty-one more shells were fired. During the first week in September South Beveland was evacuated and the fiasco of the Walcheren expedition drew to a close.

Cockburn in his dispatches after the campaign noted that "the constant and correct Fire from the Ætna, Captain Lawless, particularly drew my Attention." Commander John Bowker replaced Lawless and then sailed Aetna for Cadiz on 8 April 1810.

Defence of Cadiz.

Aetna was subsequently employed in the defence of Cadiz. On 23 November Aetna, Devastation and Thunder, with a division of Spanish, and two divisions of British gun-boats, bombarded Fort Catalina at the southern end of the Bay of Bulls, while mortar and howitzer boats threw about 100 shells into French gunboats in the Guadalete river by El Puerto de Santa María.

On 24 November the mortar and howitzer boats threw several hundred shells into Santa Maria whilst Aetna, Devastation and Thunder, with part of the Spanish flotilla and the British gunboats drew the fire from Catalina. At the beginning of December Aetna burst her large mortar, the fourth time she had done so during the siege.^[

War of 1812.

Potomac River expedition.

In April 1814 Aetna sailed to America to join the squadron of Vice-Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane. On 17 August the frigate Euryalus, bombs Devastation, Aetna, and Meteor, the rocket ship Erebus, and the dispatch boat Anna-Maria were detached under Captain Gordon of Seahorse to sail up the Potomac River and bombard Fort Washington, about ten or twelve miles below the capital. Contrary winds meant they had to sweep for more than 50 miles over a period of five successive days, and lacking a pilot through Kettle-Bottoms, meant that it took ten days to reach the Fort.

On the evening of the 27th they began a bombardment of the fort which continued until the powder magazine exploded. When the British took possession the following morning they found that the Americans had retreated leaving 21 heavy guns and 6 field-pieces - all spiked. On the 29th they accepted the surrender of the town of Alexandria and took possession of 21 seaworthy vessels which were loaded with merchandise and naval and ordnance stores. On 31 August Fairy arrived with news that the Americans were mounting guns downstream to oppose the squadron's return, so they started back without delay. Unfortunately Devastation ran aground, and the Americans tried to destroy her with three fire ships. This attempt was defeated by the British who launched their own boats, drove off the Americans, and towed the fire-vessels to shore. The squadron spent a total of 23 days in the river. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the then still surviving participants in the battle the NGSM with the clasp "The Potomac 17 Augt. 1814".

Battle of Baltimore.

On 12 September 1814 Erebus, Meteor, Aetna, Terror, Volcano, and Devastation sailed up the Patapsco River in preparation for an attack on Baltimore, commencing their bombardment of Fort McHenry on the 13th, before being ordered to withdraw on the 14th.

On 19 September 1814 the fleet, including the Royal Oak, Asia, Ramillies, and Aetna, remained at anchor in the Patuxent River until 27th when it moved to the Potomac where shore operations were recommenced from 3 to 14 October, after which the fleet departed for Negril Bay, Jamaica, arriving on 5 November, to prepare for the attack on New Orleans.

Gulf Coast.

Aetna and Meteor were dispatched up the Mississippi, along with Thistle, Herald and Pigmy, to create a diversion, by bombarding Fort St Philip. For most of January 1815, Aetna was moored off the Mississippi, and moved to a new anchorage off Ship Island on 27 January 1815. On 9 February, Aetna was off Mobile Sound, and was ordered to send Lieutenant Knight and his Marine Artillerymen to join the army on shore, who were preparing to besiege Fort Bowyer. The following day, the bomb vessels Meteor and Hydra arrived. The ship was to witness the capitulation of the fort, and the raising of the Union Jack.

Aetna was to remain off Mobile until the end of March 1815. On 25 April 1815, some refugee slaves were embarked, having come from the Negro Fort which was being evacuated by the British, for passage to the Caribbean. Once they had been disembarked, and invalided servicemen were embarked in their place, Aetna proceeded to Portsmouth.

Disposal.

Returning from America, Aetna arrived back at Portsmouth on 19 July 1815, before sailing to Woolwich for disposal. The principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy offered the "Ætna bomb, of 368 tons", lying at Woolwich, for sale on 14 December. She sold there on 11 January 1816 for £1,850.

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HMS Whiting (1805)


HMS Whiting was a Royal Navy Ballahoo-class schooner (a type of vessel often described as a Bermuda sloop) of four 12-pounder carronades and a crew of 20. The prime contractor for the vessel was Goodrich & Co., in Bermuda, and she was launched in 1805. She was a participant at the Battle of Basque Roads but was captured by a French privateer at the beginning of the War of 1812 after having been taken and released by the Americans in the first naval action of the war.

History
Great Britain
Name:	HMS Whiting
Ordered:	23 June 1803
Builder:	Goodrich & Co. (prime contractor), Bermuda
Laid down:	1803
Launched:	November 1805
Honours and awards:	Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Basque Roads 1809"
Captured:	American privateer Dash 8 July 1812; released By French privateer Diligent 22 August 1812
Fate:	Unknown
General characteristics
Type:	Ballahoo-class schooner
Tonnage:	70​41⁄94 (bm)
Length:	55 ft 2 in (16.8 m) (overall) 40 ft 10 1⁄2 in (12.5 m) (keel)
Beam:	18 ft 0 in (5.5 m)
Depth of hold:	9 ft 0 in (2.7 m)
Sail plan:	Schooner
Complement:	20
Armament:	4 x 12-pounder carronades

Napoleonic Wars.

In 1805 Whiting was under the command of Lieutenant John Orkney at Halifax on her way to Portsmouth for completion, which took place between 26 April and 19 May 1806.^[1] Before that, however, at end-September she captured and sent into Bermuda an American vessel from Bordeaux carrying brandy and wine.

Whiting was commissioned in June 1806 under Lieutenant George Roach for the North Sea. However, already on 18 June Whiting, Moucheron, and the hired armed cutter John Bull arrived at Madeira. They were to join up with a squadron under Sir John Borlase Warren, and they sailed from Madeira to Join it on 21 June.

Even so, Whiting was still or again under the command of Orkney when on 29 November she captured the Spanish lugger Felicided. Orkney had also destroyed another vessel after transferring a small quantity of hides to the Felicidad.

On 7 September 1807 Whiting was part of the fleet at the Battle of Copenhagen.

In January 1808 Lieutenant Henry Wildey assumed command. On 30 June Whiting was in attendance when her sister ship Capelin hit the Parquette Rock off Brest, France and sank.

At the beginning of March 1809 Whiting joined the fleet assembling for an attack on the French fleet in the Basque Roads. William Congreve, who had arrived with a transport, fitted Whiting and the two the hired armed cutters Nimrod and King George with rockets. On 11 April the three vessels took up a position near the Boyart Shoal (see Fort Boyard) while fireships made a night attack on the French ships. The next day all three, together with a number of other vessels, opened fire upon the French ships Océan, Régulus, and the frigate Indienne, as those ships lay aground. The first two eventually escaped, and the last was one of four eventually destroyed, though by her own crew some days later to avoid capture. In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the issuance of the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Basque Roads 1809" to all surviving British participants in the battle.
On 13 April Whiting sailed for Portugal. For the next few years she sailed in the Channel, to the west, and to the coast of Spain going as far as Cadiz and Gibraltar. Wildey was promoted to Commander on 3 May 1810.
Whiting sent Mountaineer, Dow, master, into Plymouth, where she arrived on 6 July 1811. Mountaineer had been sailing from London to Honduras when she ran into Whiting off Dungeness, carrying away her main mast, and for and mizzen topmast.

On 20 December 1811 Whiting left Plymouth for Padstow, to assist the gun brig Bloodhound, which had run on shore near there.

In 1812 Lieutenant Lewis Maxey assumed command of Whiting. On 1 May he sailed for the Americas.


War of 1812.

Whiting did not survive the opening months of the War of 1812. Having sailed from Plymouth, she entered Hampton Roads on 8 July 1812 with despatches for the American government, and lowered her anchor. Unfortunately war had been declared about two weeks earlier. As Maxey was being rowed ashore, the Norfolk privateer Dash, under Captain Garroway, was leaving port and captured her. Dash had one large gun on a pivot and a crew of 80. Not only were a third of Whiting's crew in her boat, the rest were not at the guns as they were unaware that Britain and the United States were now at war.

This could have been the first naval capture of the war. However, Whiting was carrying official dispatches for the American government, which ordered her release. Instead, the first capture by either side was the British capture of USS Nautilus on 16 July.

In mid-August, the US Revenue Cutter Gallatin led Whiting out to the Hampton Roads and turned over to Maxey her crew "at the place where they were taken". The Americans then ordered Maxey to quit American waters with all possible speed.

Fate.

Shortly after Whiting left Hampton Roads for England, on 22 August the French 18-gun privateer brig Diligent, under Alexis Grassin, captured her. On 8 September Diligent would capture the 10-gun schooner HMS Laura.

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Hired armed cutter Nimrod.

During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars the British Royal Navy made use of hired armed vessels, one of which was His Majesty's hired armed cutter Nimrod. Three such vessels are recorded, but the descriptions of these vessels and the dates of their service are such that they may well represent one vessel under successive contracts. The vessel or vessels cruised, blockaded, carried despatches, and performed reconnaissance.

Nimrod of 75​ tons burthen and six 3-pounder guns that served from 11 October 1808 to 20 May 1814.

On 1 January 1809 Nimrod was under the command of Master's Mate Edward Tapley and shared in the proceeds of the recapture of the ship Crawford by Amazon.

In April 1809 Nimrod served at the Battle of the Basque Roads. William Congreve, who had arrived with a transport, fitted Whiting, Nimrod and the other hired armed cutter, King George, with rockets. On 11 April the three vessels took up a position near the Boyard Shoal (see Fort Boyard) while fireships made a night attack on the French ships. The next day all three, together with a number of other vessels, opened fire upon Océan, Régulus, and the frigate Indienne, as those ships lay aground. The first two eventually escaped, and the last was one of four eventually destroyed, though by her own crew some days later to avoid capture. In 1847 the surviving members of the crews of all the British vessels at the battle qualified for the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Basque Roads 1809".

On 9 November 1809 Nimrod and the hired armed cutter Adrian were among the vessels that shared in Snapper's capture of the French brig Modeste. Around the end of December, Nimrod, under the command of Jno. Tapley, recaptured the ship Elshon.

On 12 September 1810, Nimrod was under the command of William Peake when she captured Sophie. Then on 28 September Nimrod was among the vessels sharing in the capture of San Nicolas and Aventura. Next, on 13 December 1810 Nimrod was in company with Venerable and several other vessels at the capture of Goede Trouw. Lastly, on 18 December, Nimrod, and Royal Oak were in sight when Valiant captured the American schooner Polly.

On 7 January 1811 Nimrod captured Maria Francoise and sent her into Plymouth as a prize. Prize money was due to be paid in August 1811. Nimrod, Poictiers, and Caledonia shared in the capture on 22 August 1812 of the cargo of the French vessel Auguste. The British removed her cargo of wine before destroying her. On 22 November, Nimrod, under the command of Thomas Peake, captured Belisario.
On 23 December Nimrod, Thomas Peake, Master and Commander, was in company with Armide when they recaptured the English brig Sparkler, A. Brown, master. Nimrod sent Sparkler into Portland Roads. Sparkler had been sailing from Cadiz to London when captured.

In January 1813 Nimrod was escorting a convoy when the American privateer Hunter, of 16 guns and 80 men, succeeded in capturing a transport and a brig. Shortly thereafter HMS Phoebe captured Hunter and sent her into Plymouth.

On 9 March Nimrod recaptured Margaret, J. Simpson, master. The American privateer True Blooded Yankee had taken Margaret and put on board a prize crew that included a British seaman, John Wiltshire. The British tried Wiltshire for piracy and hanged him.

In January 1814, while serving in the blockade of Brest, Nimrod was present when Clarence captured the brig Henriette. This gave rise to a court case in which Clarence claimed sole prize rights and the other vessels in the blockading squadron claimed shares. The Court ruled that as a matter of principle: "When a prize is taken coming out of a blockaded port, by one of the blockading squadron stationed off the mouth of the harbour, the other ships of the squadron, although stationed at some distance, are entitled to share."
However, when the case came up for a hearing on the evidence, the court rejected the squadron's claim on the grounds that Henriette did not come out from Brest but rather was a small coaster traveling between Legue and Croisi that had taken shelter in Cannonet Bay.

On 2 July 1815 the Chasse-marée Virgen de Roden came into Falmouth. She was a prize to the cutter Nimrod. She had been sailing from Bordeaux to Brest with a cargo of wine, brandy, etc.

Other Nimrods.

There was also a Nimrod of 69 tons burthen, eight 3-pounder guns, and under the command of Thomas Tapley, that received a letter of marque on 15 September 1795. She may have been the same vessel as the first Nimrod above, but if so she would not have been operating simultaneously under a contract with the Royal Navy and a letter of marque.

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Armed cutter King George.


The third cutter of this name, King George was a smaller vessel than her predecessor(s). She was a former packet boat of 58 ​tons (bm), and carried six 4-pounder guns. She served from 30 May 1803 to 15 December 1804, and again from 17 September 1807 until 18 May 1814.

First contract.

In 1803 she was under the command of a Lieutenant Brown. On 25 May King George was part of a squadron of six vessels that captured the Matilda.

In July and August 1804 King George participated in the squadron under Captain Robert Dudley Oliver in HMS Melpomene at the bombardment of French vessels at Le Havre. The bomb vessels' shells and carcasses set the town on fire on 23 July. On 1 August, the vessels kept a continuous fire for three hours. Still, it is not clear that the bombardment did much damage to the French flotilla. On 31 July the squadron did capture the French vessel Papillon.
King George also shared in the capture, on 15 September, of the Flora de Lisboa, off Havre.

Second contract.

On 17 August 1807 King George was among the vessels sharing in the capture of the Hans and Jacob. Then four days later King George was among the vessels that captured the Twee Gebroders.

In her second contract, King George, under the command of Master's Mate Thomas Mercer, participated in the Battle of the Basque Roads. William Congreve, who had arrived with a transport, fitted King George, Whiting and the other hired armed cutter, Nimrod, with rockets. On 11 April the three vessels took up a position near the Boyart (see Fort Boyard) Shoal while fireships made a night attack on the French ships. The next day all three, together with a number of other vessels, opened fire upon Océan, Régulus, and the frigate Indienne, as those ships lay aground. The first two eventually escaped, and the last was one of four eventually destroyed, though by her own crew some days later to avoid capture. In 1847 the surviving members of the crews of all the British vessels at the battle qualified for the Naval General Service Medal with the clasp "Basque Roads 1809". Rear-Admiral Robert Stopford sent King George back to England with dispatches.

On 24 November 1809 King George captured a Danish galiot whose name later was established as the Texel. Then on 14 January 1810 she recaptured the Drie Gebroeders, J.F. Learman, Master.

On 10 March 1811, while under command of Thomas Mercer, Master, she was in company with Desiree when they captured the French privateer cutter Velocifere. Velocifere was armed with 14 guns and had a crew of 57 men.

On 10 March 1812 King George and Mr. Thomas Mercer were in company with Prospero, Aquilon and Raven when they captured the American brig John. Then on 27 June King George captured the Jonge Antonio.

On 17 September 1812, King George captured the merchant vessel Friede, and was present when Desiree captured the merchant vessel Dasikbaarheit. On 19 September Hearty was in company with Desiree and King George when they captured the Friede. Two days later Hearty and King George captured the Frau Maria.

On 12 May 1813 King George captured off Lowestoff the small French privateer Elise (or Eliza). The Eliza had a crew of 15 men, armed with small arms. She had been out three days without capturing anything, and came into Yarmouth the next day.

On 18 October 1813, King George captured the Director and the Elizabeth. Then on 15 December King George captured the Alexandria.

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HMS Valiant.


Valiant and the American ship Porcupine.


She was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 24 January 1807 at Blackwall Yard.

Great Britain
Name:	HMS Valiant
Builder:	Perry, Green & Wells, Blackwall
Laid down:	April 1805
Launched:	24 January 1807
Fate:	Broken up, 1823
General characteristics
Class and type:	Repulse-class ship of the line
Tons burthen:	1718 (bm)
Length:	174 ft (53 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	47 ft 4 in (14.43 m)
Depth of hold:	20 ft (6.1 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns Upper gundeck: 28 × 18-pounder guns QD: 4 × 12-pounder guns + 10 × 32-pounder carronades Fc: 4 × 12-pounder guns + 2 × 32-pounder carronades Poop deck: 6 × 18-pounder carronades

She took part in the attack on Copenhagen in 1807 and in the action against French warships in the Basque Roads 11-25 April 1809 (Battle of Aix Roads) under Lord Gambier and Lord Cochrane.

On 17 June 1813, Valiant was in company with Acasta when they came upon HMS Wasp in pursuit of an American brig off Cape Sable. The three British ships continued the chase for another 100 miles before they finally were able to capture the brig. She was the letter of marque Porcupine, of more than 300 tons, and was carrying a valuable cargo of brandy, wine, silks, dry goods and other merchandise from Bayonne to Boston. Captain Robert Dudley Oliver of Valiant described Porcupine as being only eight months old and an uncommonly fast sailer. After the capture, Wasp, which had recaptured a prize that the privateer Young Teazer had taken, sailed in search of the privateer.

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HMS Revenge.


HMS Revenge at Gosport.


She was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 13 April 1805. Sir John Henslow designed her as one of the large class 74s; she was the only ship built to her draught. As a large 74, she carried 24-pounder guns on her upper gun deck, rather than the 18-pounder guns found on the middling and common class 74s.

Great Britain
Name:	HMS Revenge
Ordered:	29 September 1796
Builder:	Chatham Dockyard
Laid down:	August 1800
Launched:	13 April 1805
Honours and awards:	Participated in: Battle of Trafalgar
Fate:	Broken up, 1849
General characteristics.
Class and type:	74-gun third-rate ship of the line
Tons burthen:	1954 (bm)
Length:	181 ft 11 in (55.4 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	49 ft 2 in (15.0 m)
Depth of hold:	20 ft 9 in (6.3 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns Upper gundeck: 30 × 24-pounder guns QD: 12 × 9-pounder guns Fc: 4 × 9-pounder guns

Career.

Newly commissioned, and captained by Robert Moorsom, she fought at the Battle of Trafalgar, where she sailed in Collingwood's column. Revenge was engaged at the Battle of Basque Roads in April 1809 under Captain Alexander Robert Kerr.

In October 1810, Revenge captured the French privateer cutter Vauteur off Cherbourg after a five-hour chase. Vauteur had been armed with 16 guns, but she threw 14 of them overboard during the chase. She had been out of Dieppe for 45 hours but had made no captures. She was the former British cutter John Bull, of Plymouth, and was restored to Plymouth on 19 October.The report in Lloyd's List announcing this news appears to have confused names. Vauteur appears to have been Vengeur. There is no account of Revenge capturing a Vauteur, but on 17 October, Revenge captured the French privateer lugger Vengeur, off Cherbourg. The lugger crossed to windward of Revenge before daylight, and Revenge gave chase, finally capturing her quarry after three hours. Vengeur was armed with 16 guns and had a crew of 78 men. She was one day out of Dieppe and had not taken any prizes.

On 6 November, Donegal captured the privateer Surcouf. Revenge, Donegal, and the hired armed lugger Sandwich would share in the prize money for Vengeur and Surcouf.

On 13 November 1810, the frigates Diana and Niobe attacked two French frigates (Elisa and Amazone), which sought protection under the shore batteries near Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue. Revenge and Donegal arrived two days later and together the four ships fired upon the French for as long as the tide would allow. The operation cost Donegal three men wounded. Élisa was driven ashore and ultimately destroyed as a result of this action; Amazone escaped safely into Le Havre.

Fate.

Revenge served until 1842, being broken up in 1849. She was one of the first warships of the Royal Navy to be painted with the Nelson Checker.

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French ship Océan (1790)

Océan drawn by Antoine Léon Morel-Fatio
History.
France
Namesake:	Ocean
Ordered:	30 September 1785
Builder:	Arsenal de Toulon
Laid down:	12 August 1786 as États de Bourgogne
Launched:	8 November 1790
Out of service:	2 August 1850
Renamed:	Ordered and completed as États de Bourgogne; Côte d'Or 22 January 1793; Montagne 22 October 1793; Peuple 25 May 1795;Océan 30 May 1795.
Struck:	1851 floating battery, 1855/56 broken up
Fate:	Broken up in 1856
General characteristics
Class and type:	Océan-class ship of the line
Displacement:	2 700 tonnes
Length:	65.18 m (213.8 ft) (196.6 French feet)
Beam:	16.24 m (53.3 ft) (50 French feet)
Draught:	8.12 m (26.6 ft) (25 French feet)
Propulsion:	sail, 3,265 m2 (35,140 sq ft)
Complement:	1,079
Armament:	Lower deck: lower deck: 32 36-pounder guns middle deck: 34 24-pounder guns upper deck: 34 12-pounder guns forecastle: 18 8-pounder guns, 6 36-pounder carronades

Océan was a 118-gun first-rate three-decker ship of the line of the French Navy, lead ship of her class. She was funded by a don des vaisseaux donation from the Estates of Bourgogne.
She was ordered as États de Bourgogne and was launched at Brest in 1790. Like many French ships of the line during the Revolutionary period, she was renamed several times, becoming Côte d'Or in January 1793, Montagne in October 1793, Peuple on 17 May 1795, and a matter of weeks later again renamed, to Océan. She served until 1855.





Océan, as Montagne, in Loutherbourg's Lord Howe's action, or the Glorious First of June

A large model of a generic Océan-class ship, named Océan, at the ​¹⁄₁₆ scale can be seen at the Musée de la Marine in Paris.

Career.



Figurehead of Océan.

As the largest ship of the line in the Brest fleet, the ship spent much of her early career as the fleet flagship.

As Montagne, the ship was the flagship of Rear-Admiral Villaret-Joyeuse in the Combat de Prairial (known in English literature as the Glorious First of June) in 1794. She was badly damaged by HMS Royal Sovereign, losing 313 men and receiving 233 round shots in her hull.

On 17 May 1795, she was renamed Peuple; a month later, on 23 June she fought in the Battle of Groix as Villaret's flagship. Returning to Lorient three days later, she was officially renamed to Océan, a name that had been in use since 30 May.

She was refitted in Brest in 1797.

In 1801, she once again served as Villaret's flagship, ferrying troops of Leclerc's expedition to Saint-Domingue.

Océan was Allemand's flagship at the Battle of the Basque Roads.

She was decommissioned on 2 August 1850, and used as a floating artillery battery from May 1851

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French ship Foudroyant (1800)

History
France
Namesake:	Coup of 18 fructidor an V "Lightning"
Laid down:	1793
Launched:	1800
Fate:	Broken up in 1834
General characteristics
Class and type:	Tonnant class ship of the line
Displacement:	1800 tonnes
Length:	59.3 m (195 ft)
Beam:	15.3 m (50 ft)
Draught:	7.8 m (26 ft)
Propulsion:	Sail
Armament:	80 guns 30 36-pounder long guns 32 24-pounder long guns 18 12-pounder long guns 4 obusiers de vaisseau
Armour:	Timber

The Foudroyant ("Lightning") was a Tonnant class 80-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.

She was started in Rochefort from 1793, and renamed to Dix-huit fructidor in 1798 in honour of the Coup of 18 fructidor an V, as she was still on keel. She was eventually launched as Foudroyant.

She took part in cruises in the Caribbean under Villaret de Joyeuse.

On 15 September 1806, while under jury rig some 15 miles off Havana, she encountered HMS Anson, under Captain Charles Lydiard. Anson, mistakenly believing Foudroyant distressed, attacked, and was driven off.

She took part in the Battle of the Basque Roads.

She was eventually broken up in 1834.

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French ship Ville de Varsovie.

The Robuste, sister-ship of the Ville de Varsovie
History
France
Name:	Ville de Varsovie
Namesake:	Warsaw
Ordered:	30 April 1804
Builder:	Rochefort
Laid down:	22 March 1805
Launched:	10 May 1808
Commissioned:	18 June 1808
Fate:	Destroyed by fire on 13 April 1809
General characteristics
Class and type:	Bucentaure-class
Type:	ship of the line
Tons burthen:	2000 tonnes
Length:	·59.3 m (194.55 ft) (overall) ·53.92 m (176.90 ft) (keel)
Beam:	15.3 m (50.20 ft)
Depth of hold:	7.8 m (25.59 ft)
Propulsion:	Sail
Sail plan:	2,683 m2 (28,879.57 sq ft)
Complement:	866
Armament:	·80 guns ·30 × 36-pounders ·32 × 24-pounders ·18 × 12-pounders (12 aft, 6 forecastle) ·6 × 36-pounder howitzers

The Ville de Varsovie was a Bucentaure-class 80-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, designed by Chaumont from original plans by Sané.




Built as Tonnant, she was renamed Ville de Varsovie ("City of Warsaw") while still under construction. At the time, Napoleon established the Duchy of Warsaw and made a considerable effort to mobilize Polish national sentiment on France's behalf.




She was commissioned on 18 June 1808 under captain Mahé, and was part of the Rochefort squadron.



A British party destroyed her by fire by after running aground during the Battle of the Basque Roads.

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French ship Tourville (1788)

History
France
Name:	Tourville
Namesake:	Anne Hilarion de Tourville
Builder:	Lorient
Laid down:	1 June 1787
Launched:	16 September 1788
Commissioned:	July 1790
Decommissioned:	26 October 1833
Fate:	broken up in Brest in 1841
General characteristics.
Class and type:	Téméraire-class ship of the line
Displacement:	1,966 tonnes 3,260 tonnes fully loaded
Length:	55.87 metres (183.3 ft) (172 pied)
Beam:	14.90 metres (48 ft 11 in)
Draught:	7.26 metres (23.8 ft) (22 pied)
Propulsion:	Up to 2,485 m2 (26,750 sq ft) of sails
Armament:	74 guns: Lower gundeck: 28 × 36-pounder long guns Upper gundeck: 30 × 18-pounder long guns Forecastle and Quarter deck: 16 × 8-pounder long guns 4 × 36-pounder carronades
Armour:	Timber

Tourville was a Téméraire-class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.


In August 1793, she was damaged by a tempest, which also killed her captain, and had to return to Brest. In September, a mutiny broke out aboard. She took part in the Bataille du 13 prairial an 2, to the Expédition d'Irlande, and to the Cruise of Bruix. She was eventually broken up in Brest in 1841.

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French ship Jean Bart (1791).



Scale model of Achille, sister ship of French ship Jean Bart (1791), on display at the Musée de la Marine in Paris



Jean Bart was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.

History
France
Name:	Jean Bart
Namesake:	Jean Bart
Builder:	Lorient
Laid down:	1 June 1788
Launched:	7 November 1790
Commissioned:	March 1791
Fate:	Wrecked near Île Madame on 26 February 1809
General characteristics
Class and type:	Téméraire-class ship of the line
Displacement:	·2,966 tonnes ·5,260 tonnes fully loaded
Length:	55.87 metres (183.3 ft) (172 pied)
Beam:	14.90 metres (48 ft 11 in)
Draught:	7.26 metres (23.8 ft) (22 pied)
Propulsion:	Up to 2,485 m2 (26,750 sq ft) of sails
Armament:	·74 guns: ·Lower gundeck: 28 × 36-pounder long guns ·Upper gundeck: 30 × 18-pounder long guns ·Forecastle and Quarter deck: o 16 × 8-pounder long guns o 4 × 36-pounder carronades
Armour:	Timber

Ship history
The ship was laid down at Lorient on 1 June 1788 from a design by Jacques-Noël Sané, and launched on 7 November 1790. Construction was delayed by lack of materials, and she was not completed until March 1791.

In 1793, she was part of the squadron led by Van Stabel. Along with the Tigre, she rescued the Sémillante which was in danger of being captured by the British.

She took part in the Atlantic campaign of May 1794, and in the capture of HMS Alexander on 6 November. She was also part of the Croisière du Grand Hiver winter campaign in 1794/95, serving in Van Stabel's division, and was present at the Battle of Genoa in March 1795, and in Cornwallis's Retreat and the subsequent Battle of Groix in June 1795.

In 1800, she sailed to the Mediterranean and made her homeport at Toulon.

In February 1809, she formed part of a French fleet which departed from Brest intending to aid the French colony of Martinique which was under threat from invasion. The fleet sailed for Basque Roads to rendezvous with the Rochefort squadron but upon entering the roadstead they were immediately blockaded by the British. On 26 February 1809, the Jean Bart grounded on a shoal near Île Madame while attempting to enter the anchorage south of Ile d'Aix and was subsequently declared a wreck. In April, the British seized the wreck and burnt the remains.

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French ship Tonnerre (1808)







Scale model of Achille, sister ship of French ship Tonnerre (1808), on display at the Musée de la Marine in Paris..

Tonnerre was a Téméraire-class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy

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History.
France
Name:	Tonnerre
Ordered:	16 April 1794
Builder:	Brest
Laid down:	22 September 1794
Launched:	9 June 1808
Commissioned:	21 July 1808
Renamed:	Quatorze Juillet (1795)
General characteristics
Class and type:	Téméraire-class ship of the line
Displacement:	2,966 tonnes 5,260 tonnes fully loaded
Length:	55.87 metres (183.3 ft) (172 pied)
Beam:	14.90 metres (48 ft 11 in)
Draught:	7.26 metres (23.8 ft) (22 pied)
Propulsion:	Up to 2,485 m2 (26,748 sq ft) of sails
Armament:	74 guns: Lower gundeck: 28 × 36-pounder long guns Upper gundeck: 30 × 18-pounder long guns Forecastle and Quarter deck: 16 × 8-pounder long guns 4 × 36-pounder carronades
Armour:	Timber

.
Started in 1794, she remained under construction until 1808. Under Captain de la Roncière, she joined the Rochefort squadron in February 1809.


At the Battle of the Basque Roads, she was beached on 12 April. Her crew then scuttled her by fire to avoid her capture.

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French ship Aquilon (Nestor 1793)




Scale model of Achille, sister ship of French ship Nestor (1793), on display at the Musée de la Marine in Paris

Nestor was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy

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History
France
Name:	Nestor
Namesake:	Nestor
Builder:	Brest
Laid down:	1793
Renamed:	Cisalpin in 1797 Aquilon 1803
Fate:	Destroyed, April 1809
General characteristics
Class and type:	Téméraire-class ship of the line
Displacement:	2,966 tonnes 5,260 tonnes fully loaded
Length:	55.87 metres (183.3 ft) (172 pied)
Beam:	14.90 metres (48 ft 11 in)
Draught:	7.26 metres (23.8 ft) (22 pied)
Propulsion:	Up to 2,485 m2 (26,750 sq ft) of sails
Armament:	74 guns: Lower gundeck: 28 × 36-pounder long guns Upper gundeck: 30 × 18-pounder long guns Forecastle and Quarter deck: 16 × 8-pounder long guns 4 × 36-pounder carronades
Armour:	Timber

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In the night of 30 December 1794, Nestor was dismasted due to the poor quality of her masts, and had to return to Brest for repairs. On her journey back, the Nestor met a British frigate under a false flag. The British officers closed in, addressed their French counterparts in perfect French, and were told the position of the French fleet.

In December 1796 she took part in the Expédition d'Irlande as flagship of Linois' squadron of three ships of the line and four frigates. After reaching Bantry Bay but deciding not to land troops on the advice of the Army generals, the squadron headed back to Brest, taking three prizes on the way and sailing through the English blockade by night.

She was burnt by the Royal Navy at the Battle of the Basque Roads in April 1809.

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French ship Régulus (1805)




The French Régulus under attack by British fireships, during the evening of 11 August 1809. Drawing by Louis-Philippe Crépin.

Régulus was a Téméraire-class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy

History
France
Name:	Régulus
Namesake:	Regulus
Ordered:	4 April 1801
Builder:	Lorient
Laid down:	2 November 1801
Launched:	12 April 1805
In service:	15 April 1805[dubious – discuss]
Fate:	Burned and scuttled 7 April 1814
General characteristics
Class and type:	Téméraire-class ship of the line
Displacement:	2966 tonnes 5260 tonnes fully loaded
Length:	55.87 metres (183.3 ft) (172 pied)
Beam:	14.90 metres (48 ft 11 in)
Draught:	7.26 metres (23.8 ft) (22 pied)
Propulsion:	Up to 2,485 m2 (26,750 sq ft) of sails
Armament:	74 guns: Lower gundeck: 28 × 36-pounder long guns Upper gundeck: 30 × 18-pounder long guns Forecastle and Quarter deck: 16 × 8-pounder long guns 4 × 36-pounder carronades
Armour:	Timber

From 25 May 1801, her armament was upgraded to between 80 and 86 guns.
During the Atlantic campaign of 1806, she was the flagship of L'Hermite's squadron (also comprising frigates Président and Cybèle and corvette Surveillant) during L'Hermite's expedition. She patrolled from the Gulf of Guinea to Brazil and the Caribbean. On 6 January 1806 the French squadron captured the 16-gun sloop-of-war HMS Favourite. The squadron also captured about 20 merchantman, notably including the ships Otway and Plowers (Plover).

In 1808, Régulus was in station with the Brest squadron.

In 1809, she was transferred to Rochefort. She famously took part in the Battle of the Basque Roads from 11 April 1809, under Captain Lucas, where she ran aground between Les Palles and Fouras. For 17 days, the stranded ship repelled assaults by the British, before refloating and returning to Rochefort on 29.

Fate.

Régulus was scuttled by fire on 7 April 1814 near Meschers-sur-Gironde to avoid capture by the British vessels HMS Egmont and HMS Centaur.

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French ship Cassard (1803)




Vétéran (sister-ship of Cassard) escaping into the shallow waters of Concarneau harbour. Painting by Michel Bouquet, on display at Brest Fine arts museum

Cassard was an improved Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. Along with her sister-ship Vétéran, she carried 24-pounder long guns on her upper deck, a featured normally reserved for the larger, three-deckers capital ships or for 80-gun ships

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History
France
Name:	Lion, Glorieux, Cassard
Namesake:	Jacques Cassard
Ordered:	May 1795
Builder:	Brest
Laid down:	26 August 1793
Launched:	24 September 1793, as Lion
In service:	December 1803
Renamed:	Glorieux, February 1798 Cassard, March 1798
Struck:	1815
Fate:	Broken up, 1832
General characteristics
Class and type:	Téméraire-class ship of the line
Displacement:	2,966 tonnes 5,260 tonnes fully loaded
Length:	56.47 metres (185.3 ft) (174 pied)
Beam:	15.05 metres (49.4 ft)
Draught:	7.26 metres (23.8 ft) (22 pied)
Propulsion:	Up to 2,485 m2 (26,750 sq ft) of sails
Armament:	74 guns: Lower gundeck: 28 × 36-pounder long guns Upper gundeck: 30 × 24-pounder long guns Forecastle and Quarter deck: 16 × 8-pounder long guns 4 × 36-pounder carronades
Armour:	Timber

.
Completed as Lion, she took part in the Expédition d'Irlande in December 1796. On 24 February 1798, she was renamed to Glorieux, and eventually to Cassard the next month.

Under Commodore Gilbert-Amable Faure, she took part in the Atlantic campaign of 1806 in Willaumez' squadron, taking two prizes on the way. In August, the 1806 Great Coastal hurricane caused her to separate from the rest of the fleet; she returned to Brest on 13 October.

She took part in Willaumez' attempt to rescue blockaded ships from Lorient and anchored in Rochefort, where she took part in the Battle of the Basque Roads in April 1809. During the battle, she attempted to escape into Rochefort harbour, ran aground, and was refloated by throwing part of her guns overboard. She remained deactivated in Rochefort.

She was eventually condemned in May 1818, and used as a coal hulk in Rochefort, before being broken up in 1832.

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French ship Jemmapes (1794)



Scale model of Achille, sister ship of French ship Jemmapes (1794), on display at the Musée de la Marine in Paris.
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History
France
Name:	Jemmapes
Namesake:	Battle of Jemappes
Ordered:	19 October 1787
Builder:	Rochefort, Charente-Maritime[1]
Laid down:	August 1790
Launched:	22 January 1794
Commissioned:	March 1794
Decommissioned:	May 1820
General characteristics
Class and type:	Téméraire-class ship of the line
Displacement:	2,966 tonnes 5,260 tonnes fully loaded
Length:	55.87 metres (183.3 ft) (172 pied)
Beam:	14.90 metres (48 ft 11 in)
Draught:	7.26 metres (23.8 ft) (22 pied)
Propulsion:	Up to 2,485 m2 (26,750 sq ft) of sails
Armament:	74 guns: Lower gundeck: 28 × 36-pounder long guns Upper gundeck: 30 × 18-pounder long guns Forecastle and Quarter deck: 16 × 8-pounder long guns 4 × 36-pounder carronades
Armour:	Timber

Jemmapes was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.
Laid down as Alexandre, she was renamed Jemmapes on 7 January 1793 in honour of the Battle of Jemappes. She took part in the Atlantic campaign of May 1794 and ultimately in the Glorious First of June. She was attacked and totally dismasted by HMS Queen, with the loss of 60, including her captain, and 55 wounded.

She took part in the expedition to Saint-Domingue under Julien Cosmao.

She was part of Zacharie Allemand's "invisible squadron", under Captain Jean-Nicolas Petit. She fought at the Battle of the Basque Roads in 1809.

She was used as a hulk in Rochefort, Charente-Maritime from 1830, and was later broken up.

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French ship Patriote (1785)




Scale model of Achille, sister ship of French ship Patriote (1785), on display at the Musée de la Marine in Paris

Patriote was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. She was one of the French ships which had their hull doubled with copper.

History
France
Name:	Patriote
Namesake:	Patriot
Ordered:	28 January 1786
Builder:	Brest
Laid down:	October 1784
Launched:	3 October 1785
Commissioned:	April 1786
Decommissioned:	May 1820
General characteristics
Class and type:	Téméraire-class ship of the line
Displacement:	1,966 tonnes 3,260 tonnes fully loaded
Length:	55.87 metres (183.3 ft) (172 pied)
Beam:	14.90 metres (48 ft 11 in)
Draught:	7.26 metres (23.8 ft) (22 pied)
Propulsion:	Up to 2,485 m2 (26,750 sq ft) of sails
Armament:	74 guns: Lower gundeck: 28 × 36-pounder long guns Upper gundeck: 30 × 18-pounder long guns Forecastle and Quarter deck: 16 × 8-pounder long guns 4 × 36-pounder carronades
Armour:	Timber

Patriote was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. She was one of the French ships which had their hull doubled with copper.

In September 1793, during the Siege of Toulon, she was taken by the British, who removed her armament and embarked the French sailors sympathetic to the Republic. Admiral Hood having agreed to expel them, she then ferried them to Brest, where she arrived on 16 October.

In 1794 she took part in the battle of the Glorious First of June, in the Croisière du Grand Hiver winter campaign in 1794 and 1795, and in the Expédition d'Irlande in December 1796. In 1806 she was damaged in a hurricane in the caribbean and came to chesapeake bay for shelter where she was blockaded by the British along with EOLE and laid off Annapolis for repairs.until returning to france From 1821, she was used as a hulk.

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HMS Calcutta (1795)





Régulus stranded on the shoals of Les Palles, 12 April 1809; Calcutta is on the right, also aground.

History
East India CompanyGreat Britain
Name:	Warley
Builder:	Perry & Co., Blackwall
Launched:	16 October 1788
Fate:	Sold to the Royal Navy in 1795
Great Britain
Name:	HMS Calcutta
Acquired:	9 March 1795
Fate:	Captured by the French Navy, 26 September 1805
France
Name:	Calcutta
Captured:	26 September 1805
Fate:	Destroyed by fire on 12 April 1809 at the Battle of the Basque Roads
General characteristics
Type:	·Mercantile:East Indiaman ·Royal Navy:56-gun fourth rate
Tons burthen:	1175, (bm)
Length:	·156 ft 11 in (47.8 m) (overall); ·129 ft 7 3⁄4 in (39.5 m) (keel)
Beam:	41 ft 3 1⁄2 in (12.6 m)
Draught:	17 ft 2 in (5.2 m)
Complement:	·East Indiaman:125 ·Royal Navy:324; 160 as storeship
Armament:	·East Indiaman: 26 x 9-pounder guns ·Royal Navy: ·Lower deck: 28 x 18-pounder guns ·Upper deck: 26 x 32-pounder cannonades + 2 x 9-pounder guns

HMS Calcutta was the East Indiaman Warley, converted to a Royal Navy 56-gun fourth rate. This ship of the line served for a time as an armed transport. She also transported convicts to Australia in a voyage that became a circumnavigation of the world. The French 74-gun Magnanime captured Calcutta in 1805. In 1809, after she ran aground during the Battle of the Basque Roads and her crew had abandoned her, a British boarding party burned her.


East Indiaman.

The East Indiaman Warley was built at John Perry's Blackwall Yard in 1788, the first vessel of the name that Perry built for the East India Company.

She made two trading voyages to the Far East for the East India Company. Warley's captain for her two voyages was Henry Wilson. He received a letter of marque on 7 September 1793.


First EIC voyage (1789–90).

Captain Henry Wilson sailed from Falmouth on 8 March 1789, bound for Madras and China. Warley reached Madras on 22 June, left on 9 August, and arrived at Whampoa on 28 September. Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 11 February 1790, reached St Helena on 28 April, and arrived at the Downs on 23 June.

Second EIC voyage (1793–94).

Captain Henry Wilson sailed from the Downs on 19 January 1793, again bound for Madras and China. Warley reached the Cape of Good Hope on 3 April, and arrived at Madras on 30 May.

By 6 July 1793, Warley was off Pondicherry with Admiral Cornwallis's squadron.^[3] Warley, Triton, and Royal Charlotte, together with HMS Minerva, participated in the capture of Pondicherry by maintaining a blockade of the port. By 28 August 1793, Warley was back at Madras. The Indiamen then sailed for China in early September.

By 4 October 1793, the East Indiamen were at Penang, and two weeks later at Malacca. On their way to China, the East Indiamen participated in an action in the Straits of Malacca. They came upon a French frigate, with some six or seven of her prizes, replenishing her water casks ashore. The three British vessels immediately gave chase. The frigate fled towards the Sunda Strait. The Indiamen were able to catch up with a number of the prizes, and after a few cannon shots, were able to retake them. The British restored the prizes to their crews and took the French prize crews as prisoners of war. Had they not carried letters of marque, such behaviour might well have qualified as piracy.

Warley arrived at Whampoa on 13 December. When Warley was at Whampoa that December she joined other East Indiamen there, among which were several that on their return to Britain the Admiralty would purchase: Royal Charlotte, Ceres, Earl of Abergavenny, and Hindostan. The British Government had chartered Hindostan to take Lord Macartney to China in an unsuccessful attempt to open diplomatic and commercial relations with the Chinese empire.

Homeward bound, Warley crossed the Second Bar on 13 March 1794. She reached St Helena on 18 June, and arrived at the Downs on 7 September.

Cruiser and armed transport.

In early 1795, the Royal Navy purchased Warley and had her original builders, Perry & Co., refit her as a 56-gun fourth rate, under the name Calcutta, at a cost of £10,300. She was one of nine large merchantmen that the Navy Board purchased that year for conversion to convoy escorts.


Captain William Bligh was her first commander, assigned to her to supervise her conversion. He took command on 16 April 1795 and commissioned her in May. In October 1795, the crew of the 74-gun HMS Defiance (then commanded by Captain Sir George Horne) mutinied. Bligh, in Calcutta, was ordered to embark 200 troops and take them alongside Defiance so that they might board her and regain control. The threat of the soldiers ended the mutiny for the time being, though the crew of the Defiance mutinied again in 1797 and 1798. Bligh continued to command Calcutta until she was paid off in February 1796 and transferred to the Transport Board.

In order for her to fulfill her new role, the Transport Board had the guns on her lower deck removed. As a result she no longer needed as large a crew and her complement fell to 160 officers and men. Calcutta served in the transport role under Lieutenants Robert Arnold (June 1796 – August 1797), Edward Jekyll Canes (August 1797 – January 1798), Richard Pouldon (or Poulden, or Polden; January 1798 – December 1799). and John Anderson (December 1799 – May 1802).

Under Poulden Calcutta was at the capture of Menorca in December 1798. On 11 November she was part of a squadron that unsuccessfully chased four Spanish frigates, though two days later Argo recaptured the sloop Peterel, which the Spaniards had captured on the 11th.

Lieutenant John Anderson (December 1799 – May 1802) replaced Pouldon. On 6 June 1800 he sailed Calcutta to Gibraltar, carrying the BanffshireFencibles.

Convict transport.








Calcutta and Ocean at anchor in Port Phillip


Between May 1802 and February 1803, the Navy had Calcutta fitted out as a transport for convicts being sent to Britain's penal colonies in Australia. She received new armament in the form of sixteen 24-pounder carronades on her upper deck and two six-pounder guns on the forecastle. Captain Daniel Woodriff recommissioned her in November 1802 and sailed her from Spithead on 28 April 1803, accompanied by Ocean, to establish a settlement at Port Phillip. Calcutta carried a crew of 150 and 307 male convicts, along with civil officers, marines, and some 30 wives and children of the convicts.



The Reverend Robert Knopwood kept a journal on the voyage.


Calcutta arrived at Teneriffe on 13 May; five convicts had died on that leg, suggesting that many had probably been embarked already in bad health. She reached Rio de Janeiro on 19 July, and the Dutch colony at the Cape of Good Hope on 16 August.

While Calcutta was at the Cape, a vessel arrived with news that Britain was now at war with the Batavian Republic. The colony's Dutch commodore sent a representative aboard Calcutta to demand her surrender and that of her contents. While the representative waited, Woodriff spent two hours preparing her for battle. He then showed the representative her sailors and marines at their guns, and told the Dutchman to inform the commodore that "if he wants this ship he must come and take her if he can". To speed up the preparations, William Gammon, the master's mate, had asked the convicts if any would volunteer to fight and work the ship. All volunteered. The commodore gave Woodriff 24 hours to leave, saying that he "did not wish to capture such a large number of thieves".

On 12 October, she reached her destination; by this time another three convicts had died. Of the eight convicts that died, one had drowned in an escape attempt at the Cape.

At Port Phillip David Collins, the commander of the expedition, found that the poor soil and shortage of fresh water made the area unsuitable for a colony. Collins wanted to move the colony to the Derwent River on the south coast of Tasmania (then Van Diemens Land) to the site of current-day Hobart. Woodriff refused the use of Calcutta, arguing that Ocean was large enough to transport the colony, and that he was under orders to pick up naval supplies for transport to England.

In December Woodriff sailed to Sydney where he took on a cargo of lumber. At midnight on 4 March, Woodriff landed 150 of his crew and marines to assist the New South Wales Corps and the Loyal Association, a local militia, in suppressing a convict uprising in support of the Castle Hill convict rebellion, a revolt by some 260 Irish convicts against Governor King. Afterward, the commander of the marine detachment on Calcutta, Charles Menzies, offered his services to the governor as superintendent of a new settlement at Coal Harbour, an offer Governor King accepted. Another Calcutta officer, Lieut. John Houston, accepted an appointment as acting Lieutenant Governor of Norfolk Island while Major Joseph Foveaux was on leave.

Calcutta left on 17 March 1804, doubled Cape Horn and reached Rio on 22 May. In reaching Rio, she had thus circumnavigated the world in ten months three days. She arrived at Spithead on 23 July.

Ship of the line.


In September 1804, the Admiralty again fitted out Calcutta for duty as a cruiser, re-arming her as a 56-gun fourth rate.

Capture.

On 3 August 1805, Calcutta, still under the command of Captain Woodriff, left St Helena as escort of a motley convoy to England. The convoy consisted of the East India company's "extra-ship" Indus, from Madras, the southern whaler African from Desolation, the whaler Fox from the Mozambique channel, the whaler Grand Sachem from the Peruvian coast and bound to Milford, the Prussian ship Wilhelmina, which Calcutta had detained on her way out to St Helena, and the large Swedish ship Carolina, which was sailing from China and asked to join.

On 14 September 1805, the brig Brothers, of London, from Tobago, joined the convoy. She had gotten separated from her convoy in a gale. Unfortunately, she was leaky and a very slow sailer.
On 25 September 1805, the convoy was in the Channel south of the Isles of Scilly when lookouts spotted a number of unknown vessels in the distance. Calcutta moved to position herself between the convoy and the unknown flotilla.

Next morning, it became clear that the unknown vessels were probably French so Calcutta signalled the convoy to make sail without her and moved to intercept the French vessels. She sailed towards the nearest vessel, which turned out to be the 40-gun frigateArmide. The engagement was desultory but Calcutta succeeded in luring the French southward and away from the convoy. As a result, the French detached the brig Sylph which captured only the slow-sailing Brothers.

However, eventually the rest of the French squadron started to arrive. It turned out this was Allemand's squadron, which included the 74-gun Magnanime. Woodriff brought Calcutta alongside Magnanime, but after a battle of some three-quarters of an hour was forced to strike. The French had shot high, bringing down Calcutta's rigging, disabling her. Because they fired high, Calcutta suffered only six dead and six wounded out of a crew of 350. The French brought Calcutta into French service the next day and retained her name.



[IMG]file:///C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image002.jpg[/IMG]
The action of September 1805 in which the French captured HMS Calcutta, by Thomas Whitcombe

Woodriff was imprisoned at Verdun and appealed to Talleyrand for release, without success until in early 1807 the French sent him to Saint-Malo. There the French government provided him a vessel under cartel to take him to England. The British government immediately reciprocated by releasing a French officer of equal rank. The court-martial on Gladiator, on 1 January 1808, for Woodriff and his officers acquitted all, praising the captain for his gallantry and skilful manoeuvring, which had allowed the convoy to escape.

The owners and underwriters on the ship and cargo of the Indus, one of the East Indiamen that Calcutta had saved, proposed a subscription of 21 percent on the amount insured. The resulting money was to be presented to Woodriffe and his officers and crew as a small token of gratitude.

French service.

On 12 April 1809, Calcutta was part of the squadron of La Rochelle under captain Jean Baptiste Lafon. During the Battle of the Basque Roads, Calcutta ran aground on the shoals of Les Palles, as did most of the other French ships. Under fire from Imperieuse under Captain Lord Cochrane, Calcutta's crew panicked and abandoned ship without orders. A midshipman with a small party from Imperieuse took over Calcutta, but then set her afire to prevent her re-capture, causing her to explode.

A court-martial held Lafon responsible for the loss of his ship, and deemed his behaviour to have been cowardly. In a five to four vote, the court sentenced him to death; a firing squad executed him on the deck of Océan on 9 September.

[Bligh]

French frigate Hortense (1803)

Hortense was a 40-gun Hortense-class frigate and lead vessel of her class of the French Navy.





Model of Hortense, on display at Toulon naval museum

History
France
Name:	Hortense
General characteristics
Class and type:	Hortense-class frigate
Displacement:	1350 (French tons)
Length:	48.75 m (159.9 ft)
Beam:	12.2 m (40 ft)
Draught:	5.9 m (19 ft)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Ship
Armament:	·28 × 18-pounder long guns ·12 × 8-pounder long guns

In January 1805, under the command of Captain Delamarre de Lamellerie, she and Incorruptible were sent to observe British movements off Toulon. On 4 February they attacked a convoy, destroying seven ships. Three days later, they encountered another convoy escorted by the 20-gun sloop HMS Arrow and the 8-gun bomb vessel HMS Acheron; the French frigates destroyed the two Royal Navy vessels and captured three ships of the convoy.

Then on 12 May 1805, Hortense and Hermione captured the 18-gun ship-sloop HMS Cyane. Cyane was cruising between Barbados and Martinique when she encountered a French fleet under Admiral Villeneuve. Hortense and Hermione so out-gunned Cyane that her captain, Commander George Cadogan, had no choice but to strike his colours.

Hortense took part in the Battle of Cape Finisterre, in the Battle of Trafalgar and in Lamellerie's expedition.

In 1814, she was renamed to Flore.

[Bligh]

Pallas-class frigate Elbe (1808)

Class overview
Name:	Pallas
Operators:	French Navy
Preceded by:	Hortense class
Subclasses:	Ariane
Planned:	62
Completed:	57
Cancelled:	5
General characteristics
Class and type:	Pallas-class frigate
Displacement:	1080 tonnes
Length:	46.93 m (154.0 ft)
Beam:	11.91 m (39.1 ft)
Draught:	5.9 m (19 ft)
Propulsion:	(21,000 sq ft) of sail
Complement:	326
Armament:	Nominally 40 guns In practice carried either 44 or 46 guns: Battery: 28 18-pounders Quarter deck & forecastle: 8 × 8-pounder long guns 8 × 36-pounder carronades or 12 × 18-pounder carronades
Armour:	Timber

The Pallas class constituted the standard design of 40-gun frigates of the French Navy during the Napoleonic Empire period. Jacques-Noël Sané designed them in 1805, as a development of his seven-ship Hortense class of 1802, and over the next eight years the Napoléonic government ordered in total 62 frigates to be built to this new design. Of these some 54 were completed, although ten of them were begun for the French Navy in shipyards within the French-occupied Netherlands or Italy, which were then under French occupation; these latter ships were completed for the Netherlands or Austrian navies after 1813.

• Elbe.

Builder: Mathurin & Antoine Crucy, Basse-Indre
Ordered: 26 March 1805 as Aréthuse
Laid down: October 1805, renamed Elbe May 1807
Launched: 23 May 1808
Completed: July 1809
Fate: Renamed Calypso August 1814. Condemned 1825 and taken to pieces c.1841.

[Bligh]

French brig Nisus (1805)

Nisus
History
France
Name:	Nisus
Ordered:	21 February 1804
Builder:	Lerond Campion & Co., Granville
Laid down:	31 March 1804
Launched:	15 February 1805
Captured:	12 December 1809
UK
Name:	Guadaloupe
Acquired:	12 December 1809 by capture
Honours and awards:	Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Guadaloupe"
Fate:	Sold 1814
General characteristics
Type:	Palinure-class
Tons burthen:	335 ​14⁄94 (bm)
Length:	98 ft 8 5⁄8 in (30.1 m) (overall) 78 ft 3 1⁄2 in (23.9 m) (keel)
Beam:	28 ft 4 3⁄4 in (8.7 m)
Depth of hold:	13 ft 10 in (4.2 m)
Sail plan:	Brig
Complement:	French service:94 British service:100
Armament:	French service: 16 x 6 or 8-pounder guns (initially) British service: 14 x 24-pounder carronades + 2 x 6-pounder chase guns

The French brig Nisus was a Palinure-class brig of the French Navy, launched in 1805. The Royal Navy captured Nisus at Guadeloupe in 1809. The British took her into service as HMS Guadaloupe (or Guadeloupe), and sold her in November 1814.

French service.

Nisus, under the command of lieutenant de vaisseau Le Nétrel, sailed from Granville, Manche, to Saint-Servan. Then on 11 April 1806 she sailed from saint-Malo to Brest. From 18 July 1808 she carried provisions, munitions, and stores from Brest to Basse-Terre, and then returned to Brest. By this time Le Nétrel had been promoted to the rank of capitaine de frégate. Still under his command, between 24 February and December 1809. Following the Battle of the Basque Roads, she sailed from Brest to Lorient. There she picked up troops and provisions for Guadeloupe before sailing there.

Nisus left Lorient on 30 October and arrived at Deshaies on 1 December. She was about to leave with a cargo of coffee when a British squadron under Captain George Miller in Thetis arrived on 12 December to reconnoiter the harbour.

Capture.

Miller sent in boats with the marines from Thetis, Pultusk, Achates, and Bacchus, and 78 sailors. The landing party first captured the fort at Deshaies, whereupon Nisus surrendered when its guns were turned on her. During the operation, Attentive kept up a six-hour cannonade on Nisus and the battery. Many of the 300 men in the battery fled, as did most of the crew of Nisus before the British could take possession. The British destroyed the battery before withdrawing. British casualties amounted to two men from Thetis being wounded on shore, and two men being wounded on Attentive.

British service.

The British took Nisus into service as HMS Guadaloupe and commissioned her at Antigua under Commander Michael Head.

Guadaloupe immediately participated in the capture of Guadeloupe in January and February 1810. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Guadaloupe" to all surviving participants of the campaign.

Head then sailed Gaudaloupe to Deptford where she underwent fitting-out from 23 August to 23 January 1811. In December 1810 Commander Joseph Swabey Tetley, late of Derwent, took command; he later sailed to the Mediterranean.

On 27 June 1811 Guadaloupe was off the Cap de Creux when she sighted two strange vessels to leeward, one a brig of 16 guns and the other a xebec of ten guns. An action ensued during which the French brig attempted to board Guadaloupe. Eventually the two French vessels retreated some two miles to the protection of two shore batteries at Port-Vendres. Te French brig turned out to be the Tactique, of sixteen 24-pounder carronades and 150 men; the xebec was the Guêpe, of two long 8-pounder guns and six small carronades, and some 70 men. French losses were reported to have been 11 men killed and 48 wounded. Casualties aboard Guadaloupe consisted of one man killed, ten severely wounded, and two or three slightly wounded.

On 24 October 1811, Guadaloupe encountered the French privateer schooner Syrene. After a 13-hour chase, Guadaloupe captured Syrene off Cape Blanco. She was pierced for 12 guns but carried only six. She had a crew of 61 men and was eight days out of Leghorn, but had made no captures.

In 1812 Commander Arthur Stow (or Stowe), promoted from lieutenant, replaced Tetley. On 9 November 1813 Undaunted and Guadaloupe attacked Port-la-Nouvelle, with the marines storming the batteries while men from the ships captured two vessels and destroyed five. Captain Thomas Ussher of Undaunted noted in his report that this brought the total number of vessels taken or destroyed in the 10 months he had been in command of Undaunted up to seventy.

Commander Charles Hole replaced Stow.
In April 1814, Lieutenant Charles Pengelly, who was First-Lieutenant of Guadeloupe, was made acting Commander of her for leading the Sicilian flotilla that participated in the capture of Genoa on 18 April. He was confirmed in the rank in September. Reportedly, Hole transferred to Pelorus. The same account stated that Lieutenant Pengelly had transferred from "the gun-boat service in the Faro" to Guadaloupe.

He returned Guadaloupe to Britain where she was paid-off in August 1814.

Fate.

The Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy offered the "Guadaloupe sloop, of 325 tons" lying at Plymouth for sale on 3 November 1815. She sold on that day for £930.

[Bligh]

OFFSHORE FLEET LORD GAMBIER.


HMS Caledonia (1808)



HMS Caledonia, 120 guns, lying in Plymouth SoundHMS Caledonia was a 120-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 25 June 1808 at Plymouth. She was Admiral Pellew's flagship in the Mediterranean. .

History.
UK
Name:	HMS Caledonia
Ordered:	19 January 1797
Builder:	Plymouth Dockyard
Laid down:	January 1805
Launched:	25 June 1808
Renamed:	HMS Dreadnought, 1856
Honours and awards:	Participated in bombardment of Algiers, 1816
Fate:	Broken up, 1875
General characteristics.
Class and type:	Caledonia-class ship of the line
Tons burthen:	2616​5⁄94 (bm)
Length:	205 ft (62 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	53 ft 6 in (16.31 m)
Depth of hold:	23 ft 2 in (7.06 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	120 guns: Gundeck: 32 × 32 pdrs Middle gundeck: 34 × 24 pdrs Upper gundeck: 34 × 18 pdrs Quarterdeck: 6 × 12 pdrs, 10 × 32 pdr carronades Forecastle: 2 × 12 pdrs, 2 × 32 pdr carronades Poop deck: 2 × 18 pdr carronades

Construction.

The Admiralty orders for Caledonia's construction were issued in November 1794, for a 100-gun vessel measuring approximately 2,600 tons burthen. There were considerable delays in obtaining dockyard facilities and in assembling a workforce, and actual building did not commence until 1805 when the keel was laid down at Plymouth Dockyard. By this time the designs had also been amended to stipulate construction of a 120-gun vessel of 2,616​⁵⁄₉₄ tons. When completed to this new design in 1808, Caledonia entered Royal Navy service as the largest and most heavily armed vessel of the time.

Active service.

Caledonia proved to be a very successful ship, and it was said that 'This fine three-decker rides easy at her anchors, carries her lee ports well, rolls and pitches quite easy, generally carries her helm half a turn a-weather, steers, works and stays remarkably well, is a weatherly ship, and lies-to very close.' She was 'allowed by all hands to be faultless'. In later years she was to become the standard design for British three-deckers.




Fight of the Romulus against HMS Boyne and HMS Caledonia, by Gilbert Pierre-Julien (1783 - 1860)

On 12 February 1814 she took part with HMS Boyne in action against the French ship of the line Romulus off Toulon; the French vessel managed to escape to Toulon by sailing close to the coast to avoid being surrounded.
In 1831 she was part of the Experimental Squadron of the Channel Fleet under Sir Edward Codrington. On 12 September that year she took part in an experiment whereby she was towed by the frigate HMS Galatea by means of hand-worked paddles alone.

In 1856 she was converted to a hospital ship, renamed Dreadnought and became the second floating Dreadnought Seamen's Hospital at Greenwich, where she remained until 1870. In 1871 she was briefly returned to service to accommodate patients recovering from the smallpox epidemic of that year. She was broken up in 1875.



Caledonia as Dreadnought towed away on her final voyage.

[Bligh]

HMS Caesar (1793)




HMS Caesar engaging Mont Blanc at the Battle of Cape Ortegal, 4 November 1805

HMS Caesar, also Cæsar, was an 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 16 November 1793 at Plymouth. She was designed by Sir Edward Hunt, and was the only ship built to her draught.^[1] She was also one of only two British-built 80-gun ships of the period, the other being HMS Foundroyant.

History
UK
Name:	HMS Caesar
Ordered:	November 1783
Builder:	Plymouth Dockyard
Laid down:	24 January 1786
Launched:	16 November 1793
Fate:	Broken up, 1821
Notes:	Participated in: Battle of Algeciras Bay Battle of Cape Ortegal Battle of Les Sables-d'Olonne
General characteristics
Class and type:	80-gun third rate ship of the line
Tons burthen:	2002 ​74⁄94 (bm)
Length:	181 ft (55 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	51 ft 3 in (15.62 m)
Depth of hold:	22 ft 4 in (6.81 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	80 guns: Gundeck: 30 × 32 pdrs Upper gundeck: 32 × 24 pdrs Quarterdeck: 14 × 9 pdrs Forecastle: 4 × 9 pdrs

Service.

Battle of Algeciras Bay.

She was involved in the Battle of Algeciras Bay in 1801, during which her Master, William Grave, was killed^[




Battle of Cape Ortegal.

The Battle of Cape Ortegal was the final action of the Trafalgar Campaign, and was fought between a squadron of the Royal Navy and a remnant of the fleet that had been destroyed several weeks earlier at the Battle of Trafalgar. It took place on 4 November 1805 off Cape Ortegal, in north-west Spain and saw a squadron under Captain Sir Richard Strachan in Caesar defeat and capture a French squadron under Rear-Admiral Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley.

Battle of Les Sables-d'Olonne.

In 1809, she took part in the Battle of Les Sables-d'Olonne.

Fate.

She was converted to serve as a depot ship in 1814, and was broken up in 1821.

[Bligh]

HMS Gibraltar.

Spanish ship Fenix (1749)



Ship-of-the-line Fénix by Rafael Berenguer y Condé, Naval Museum of Madrid

The Fénix was an 80-gun ship-of-the-line (navio) of the Spanish Navy, built by Pedro de Torres at Havana in accordance with the system laid down by Antonio Gaztaneta launched in 1749.

History
Spain
Name:	Fenix
Builder:	Havana Dockyard
Laid down:	1 July 1747
Launched:	26 February 1749
Commissioned:	1 December 1749
Honours and awards:	Participated in: Battle of Cape St Vincent
Captured:	16 January 1780, by Royal Navy
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Gibraltar
Acquired:	16 January 1780
Honours and awards:	Participated in: Battle of Fort Royal Invasion of Tobago Battle of Cuddalore Glorious First of June Battle of Hyères Islands Battle of the Basque Roads Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Egypt"
Fate:	Broken up, 1836
General characteristics.
Class and type:	80-gun third rate ship-of-the-line
Tons burthen:	2,184 ​25⁄94 (bm)
Length:	178 ft 10 3⁄4 in (54.5 m) (gundeck) 144 ft 5 3⁄4 in (44.0 m) (keel)
Beam:	53 ft 3 3⁄4 in (16.2 m)
Depth of hold:	22 ft 4 in (6.8 m)
Sail plan:	Full-rigged ship
Complement:	650
Armament:	Lower deck:30 × 24-pounder guns Upper deck: 1780:32 × 18-pounder guns 1781:32 × 24-pounder guns QD: 1780:12 × 9-pounder guns + 2 × 68-pounder carronades 1810:4 × 12-pounder guns + 8 × 32-pounder carronades Fc: 1780:6 × 9-pounder guns 1810:4 × 12-pounder guns + 2 × 32-pounder carronades

Fénix was a Spanish, two deck, ship-of-the-line built in Havana from mahogany. Launched in 1749, her dimensions were 178 feet 10.75 inches (54.5 m) along the gun deck, 144 feet 6 inches (44.0 m) at the keel, with a beam of 52 feet 11.75 inches (16.1 m) and a depth in the hold of 22 feet 1.75 inches (6.8 m). This made her 2,184 ​³⁵⁄₉₄ tons burthen (bm).

Classed as an 80-gun third-rate, Fénix was armed with thirty 24 pounders (11 kg) on her lower gun deck, thirty-two 18 pounders (8.2 kg) on her upper gun deck, twelve 9 pounders (4.1 kg) on the quarterdeck, and six on the forecastle. Her sister ship, Rayo, was later converted to a 100-gun, three-decker. She was wrecked at Trafalgar in 1805.


In 1759, she was sent to bring the new king, Carlos III, from Naples to Barcelona. When Spain entered the American Revolutionary War in June 1779, the Fénix set sail for the English Channel where she was to join a Franco-Spanish fleet of more than 60 ships-of-the-line under Lieutenant General Luis de Córdova y Córdova. The Armada of 1779 was an invasion force of 40,000 troops with orders to capture the British naval base at Portsmouth.

As the flagship of Admiral Juan de Lángara, the ship fought at the Battle of Cape St Vincent on 16 January 1780, where she was captured by the British Royal Navy and commissioned as the third rate HMS Gibraltar in March of that year.

She was copper sheathed and fitted out for British service at Plymouth Dockyard between April and August 1780 at a cost of £16,068.5.3d. The Admiralty changed her armament a number of times: in November 1781 the 18-pounders on her upper deck were upgraded to 24 pounders (11 kg), and the same December two 68 pounders (31 kg) carronades were added. By 1810, the guns on her quarterdeck had been replaced with four 12 pounders (5.4 kg) guns and eight 32 pounders (15 kg) carronades, and on her forecastle with four 12 pounders (5.4 kg) guns and two 32 pounders (15 kg) carronades. Although large, two deck ships were favoured in other European navies, the British preferred to build three-deck third-rates; the extra space making them better suited for flagships. After the capture of Fenix, the Admiralty began to see the advantages of a longer two-deck ship which was less prone to hog, almost as well armed as its three-decked counterparts, and relatively quick.


She spent a short while in the English Channel before joining Samuel Hood's squadron in the West Indies and taking part in the Capture of St Eustatius in February 1781 and the Battle of Fort Royal the following month. Gibraltar and five other ships were sent to stop a French invasion fleet bound for Tobago in May 1781, but found the French too powerful and had to withdraw. In November, her 18-pound guns were replaced with 24-pounders, after which, in February 1782, she sailed to the East Indies and in the following year participated in the Battle of Cuddalore.

At the start of the French Revolutionary War, Gibraltar served in the Channel Fleet, fighting at the Glorious First of June in 1794 before being sent to the Mediterranean in May 1795. In June, the ship was in an action off Hyères; then, in December 1796, she was badly damaged in a storm and had to return to England for major repairs. By June Gibraltar was back in the Mediterranean, serving in the navy's Egyptian campaign, where she remained during and beyond the Peace of Amiens, except for a short period when she was sent home for a refit.

Returning to the Channel in April 1807, Gibraltar joined the fleet under Admiral James Gambier, which fought the Battle of the Basque Roads in 1809. This was her last major action; the ship was taken out of service in 1813 and converted to a powder hulk. She became a lazarette in 1824, then was broken up in November 1836 at Pembroke Dock.

[Bligh]

HMS Hero (1803)



The wreck of HMS Hero in the Texel, 25 December 1811


HMS Hero was a 74-gun third rate of the Royal Navy, launched on 18 August 1803 at Blackwall Yard.
.

History
UK
Name:	HMS Hero
Ordered:	24 June 1800
Builder:	Perry, Blackwall Yard
Laid down:	August 1800
Launched:	18 August 1803
Honours and awards:	Participated in: Battle of Cape Finisterre
Fate:	Wrecked, 1811
Notes:	Only 12 of her crew of 530 survived.
General characteristics
Class and type:	Fame-class ship of the line
Tons burthen:	1743 (bm)
Length:	175 ft (53 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	47 ft 6 in (14.48 m)
Depth of hold:	20 ft 6 in (6.25 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Complement:	530
Armament:	74 guns: Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns Upper gundeck: 28 × 18-pounder guns QD: 14 × 9-pounder guns Fc: 4 × 9-pounder guns

She took part in Admiral Robert Calder's action at the Battle of Cape Finisterre in 1805 and the Basque roads in 1809.

On 25 December 1811 Hero, under captain James Newman-Newman, was wrecked on the Haak Sands at the mouth of the Texel during a gale, with the loss of all but 12 of her crew.

[Bligh]

HMS Donegal (1798)



'Duckworth's Action off San Domingo, 6 February 1806' by Nicholas Pocock. HMS Donegal is on the left of the painting, engaging the Jupiter.

HMS Donegal was launched in 1794 as Barra, a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. She was renamed Pégase in October 1795, and Hoche in December 1797. The British Royal Navy captured her on 12 October 1798 and recommissioned her as HMS Donegal.

History.
France.
Name:	Barra
Namesake:	Joseph Barra Lazare Hoche
Builder:	Toulon
Laid down:	November 1791
Launched:	23 March 1794
Commissioned:	February 1795
Renamed:	Pégase (October 1795), then Hoche (December 1797)
Captured:	by the British, 12 October 1798
Fate:	Captured by the British 12 October 1798
Great Britain
Name:	HMS Donegal
Namesake:	County Donegal
Acquired:	Captured from the French on 12 October 1798
Fate:	Broken up in May 1845
General characteristics
Class and type:	Téméraire-class ship of the line
Displacement:	2,966 tonnes 5,260 tonnes fully loaded
Length:	55.87 metres (183.3 ft) (172 pieds)
Beam:	14.46 metres (47 ft 5 in) (44½ pieds)
Draught:	7.26 metres (23.8 ft) (22 pieds)
Propulsion:	Up to 2,485 m2 (26,750 sq ft) of sails
Armament:	74 guns: Lower gundeck: 28 × 36-pounder long guns Upper gundeck: 30 × 18-pounder long guns Forecastle and Quarter deck: 16 × 8-pounder long guns 4 × 36-pdr carronades
Armour:	Timber

Capture.

Hoche took part in the French attempt to land in County Donegal, in the west of Ulster, to support the Irish Rebellion of 1798. She formed the flagship of an expedition under Commodore Jean-Baptiste-François Bompart, consisting of Hoche and eight frigates, and transporting 3,000 French troops. Aboard Hoche was Wolfe Tone, the leading figure in the Society of United Irishmen. The ships were chased by a number of British frigates after they had left the port of Brest on 16 September. Despite throwing them off, they were then pursued by a fleet of larger ships under the command of Commodore Sir John Borlase Warren. Both sides were hampered by the heavy winds and gales they encountered off the west coast of Ireland, and Hoche lost all three of her topmasts and had her mizzensail shredded, causing her to fall behind. The French were finally brought to battle off Tory Island on 12 October 1798.

The battle started at 07:00 in the morning, with Warren giving the signal for HMS Robust to steer for the French line and attack Hoche directly. Hoche then came under fire from HMS Magnanime. The next three British ships into action, the frigates Ethalion, Melampus and Amelia, all raked the isolated Hoche as they passed before pressing on sail to pursue the French frigates, now sailing towards to the south-west. With Hoche heavily damaged, Bompart finally surrendered at 10:50 with 270 of his crew and passengers killed or wounded, giving his sword to Lieutenant Sir Charles Dashwood. Wolfe Tone was later recognised and arrested.

In Royal Navy service.

Off Cadiz.

The captured Hoche was taken into service and renamed HMS Donegal, after the action in which she had been captured. She spent 1800 in Plymouth, and in 1801 came under the command of Captain Sir Richard Strachan, with William Bissell as her first lieutenant from 1801 until December 1805. Donegal was initially deployed in the English Channel, but following the outbreak of hostilities with Spain, she was assigned to watch the French squadron at Cadiz. Whilst on this station, she spotted and gave chase to the large 42-gun Spanish frigate Amfitrite in November 1804. After pursuing her for 46 hours, Amfitrite lost her mizzen-top-mast and Donegal subsequently overhauled her.

The engagement lasted only eight minutes, Amfitrite surrendered and after being searched, was found to be laden with stores and carrying dispatches from Cadiz to Tenerife and Havana. She was taken over and later commissioned into the Navy as HMS Amfitrite. Donegal would later make another capture off Cadiz, taking a Spanish vessel carrying a cargo reputed to be worth 200,000 pounds.

In the Mediterranean and Atlantic.

By 1805 Donegal was still off Cadiz, under the command of Captain Pulteney Malcolm. She then accompanied Vice-admiral Nelson in his pursuit of the combined fleets across the Atlantic to the West Indies and back. She was not present at Trafalgar, but was able, on 23 October, to capture the partially dismasted Spanish first rate Rayo which had escaped Trafalgar, but had been ordered to sea again to attempt to recapture some of the British prizes.

Donegal was then part of a squadron off Cadiz under Vice-admiral John Duckworth, when news reached him that two French squadrons had sailed from Brest in December 1805. Duckworth took his squadron to Barbados to search for them, eventually sighting them off San Domingo on 6 February. Duckworth organised his ships into two lines, the weather line consisting of HMS Superb, Northumberland and Spencer, while the lee line consisted of Agamemnon, Canopus, Donegal and Atlas. The lines moved to attack the French ships and the Battle of San Domingo broke out. Donegal initially engaged the Brave with several broadsides, forcing her to surrender after half an hour. Captain Malcolm then moved his position to fire a few broadsides into the Jupiter before sending a boarding party aboard her. The crew of Jupiter then surrendered her. Captain Malcolm then directed the frigate HMS Acasta to take possession of Brave. After the battle, Donegal had lost her fore-yard and had 12 killed and 33 wounded.

Off the French coast.

She remained under the command of Pulteney Malcolm, and was stationed off Finisterre throughout 1807. She then became the flagship of Rear-admiral Eliab Harvey, and was later placed under the command of Rear-admiral Richard Keats in the Channel. Donegal was at Spithead in 1808 and over a period of five days from 1 August Captain Malcolm oversaw the disembarkation of Sir Arthur Wellesley's army at Mondego Bay. Donegal’s first-lieutenant James Askey acted as the beach-master during the landings.

On 23 February 1809 Donegal was part of a squadron under Rear-Admiral Stopford, when they chased three enemy frigates into the Sable d'Olonne, leading to the Battle of Les Sables-d'Olonne. HMS Defiance was able to anchor within half a mile of them, whilst Donegal and Caesar had to anchor further out because of their deeper draughts. Their combined fire eventually forced two of the frigates to run ashore, whilst Donegal suffered one man killed and six wounded in the engagement. By April 1809 Donegal was sailing with Admiral James Gambier's fleet in the Basque Roads. During the Battle of the Basque Roads, Donegal's first-lieutenant James Askey commanded the fire ship Hercule in the attack on the French fleet, with the assistance of midshipman Charles Falkiner, also of Donegal.

Donegal was commanded by acting-Captain Edward Pelham Brenton when she sailed for Cadiz on 24 July 1809, carrying the ambassador to the Junta at Seville, Marquess Richard Wellesley, brother of Sir Arthur Wellesley. She arrived on 1 August, shortly after the Battle of Talavera, and after the failure of Richard Wellesley's mission, returned him to Britain in November. On her arrival, Captain Malcolm resumed command of Donegal.

On 6 November 1810, Donegal captured the French privateer lugger Surcouf off Cape Barfleur. Surcouf, of 14 guns and 53 men, was one day out of Cherbourg and had made no captures. The hired armed lugger Sandwich shared in the prize money arising from the capture, as well as Revenge's capture on 17 October of the privateer Vengeur. Donegal too shared in the proceeds of the capture of Vengeur, suggesting Donegal, Revenge, and Sandwich were all in company.

On 13 November 1810, the frigates Diana and Niobe attacked two French frigates (Elisa and Amazone), which sought protection under the shore batteries near Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue. Revenge and Donegal arrived two days later and together the four ships fired upon the French for as long as the tide would allow. The operation cost Donegal three men wounded. Élisa was driven ashore and ultimately destroyed as a result of this action; Amazone escaped safely into Le Havre.

Fate.

Donegal spent most of 1811 off Cherbourg, before being reduced to ordinary at Portsmouth later that year. She was later moved and spent 1814 in ordinary at Chatham. After the end of the Napoleonic era, she was refitted and brought back into service as a flagship, serving well into the 1830s; Donegal was eventually broken up in 1845.

[Bligh]

HMS Resolution (1770)


HMS Resolution was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 12 April 1770 at Deptford Dockyard.

History.
UK
Name:	HMS Resolution
Ordered:	16 September 1766
Builder:	Deptford Dockyard
Laid down:	July 1767
Launched:	12 April 1770
Honours and awards:	Participated in: Battle of Cape St Vincent Battle of the Chesapeake Battle of the Saintes
Fate:	Broken up, 1813
General characteristics.
Class and type:	Elizabeth-class ship of the line
Tons burthen:	1612 (bm)
Length:	168 ft 6 in (51.36 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	46 ft (14 m)
Depth of hold:	19 ft 9 in (6.02 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns Upper gundeck: 28 × 18-pounder guns QD: 14 × 9-pounder guns Fc: 4 × 9-pounder guns

She participated in the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1780, the Battle of the Chesapeake in 1781, and the Battle of the Saintes in 1782. She was also at the Battle of the Basque Roads in 1809 although taking no part in the action.

Resolution was broken up in 1813.

[Bligh]

HMS Theseus (1786)





HMS Theseus in the 1804 Antigua–Charleston hurricane.

HMS Theseus was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy.
One of the eight Culloden class ships designed by Thomas Slade, she was built at Perry, Blackwall Yard, London and launched on 25 September 1786.

History
UK
Name:	HMS Theseus
Namesake:	Theseus
Ordered:	11 July 1780
Builder:	Perry, Blackwall Yard
Laid down:	3 September 1783
Launched:	25 September 1786
Fate:	Broken up, 1814
Notes:	·Participated in: ·Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife ·Battle of the Nile ·Siege of Acre. ·Battle of the Basque Roads
General characteristics
Class and type:	Culloden-class ship of the line
Tons burthen:	1660 (bm)
Length:	170 ft (52 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	47 ft 2 in (14.38 m)
Depth of hold:	19 ft 11 in (6.07 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	·Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns ·Upper gundeck: 28 × 18-pounder guns ·QD: 14 × 9-pounder guns ·Fc: 4 × 9-pounder guns

Service.


Theseus was the flagship of Rear Admiral Horatio Nelson's fleet for the 1797 Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Day to day command was vested in her flag captain Ralph Willett Miller. The British were soundly defeated and Nelson was wounded by a musket ball while aboard the Theseus, precipitating the amputation of his right arm.

Despite the defeat, morale and good order were retained aboard the ship. In August 1797 ship's surgeon Robert Tainsh reported a mere nine cases of illness aboard, with little incidence of scurvy and a ready supply of antiscorbutics. An outbreak of ulcers was attributed to the overuse of salted provisions and addressed by Miller's insistence on ensuring a supply of onions and lemons as part of daily rations. Also with Miller's approval, the lower deck ports were periodically washed with nitrous acid to reduce the risk of mould, windsails were installed to encourage a flow of fresh air below decks and the crew's hammocks were ordered to be aired three times a week.

Battle of the Nile.

In 1798, Theseus took part in the decisive Battle of the Nile, under the command of Captain Ralph Willett Miller. The Royal Navy fleet was outnumbered, at least in firepower, by the French fleet, which boasted the 118-gun ship-of-the-line L'Orient, three 80-gun warships and nine of the popular 74-gun ships. The Royal Navy fleet in comparison had just thirteen 74-gun ships and one 50-gun fourth-rate.


During the battle Theseus, along with Goliath, assisted Alexander and Majestic, who were being attacked by a number of French warships. The French frigate Artemise surrendered to the British, with the crew setting fire to their ship to prevent it falling into the hands of the British. Two other French ships Heureux and Mercure ran aground and soon surrendered after a brief encounter with three British warships, one of which was Theseus.

The battle was a success for the Royal Navy, as well as for the career of Admiral Nelson. It cut supply lines to the French army in Egypt, whose wider objective was to threaten British India. The casualties were heavy; the French suffered over 1,700 killed, over 600 wounded and 3,000 captured. The British suffered 218 dead and 677 wounded. Nine French warships were captured and two destroyed. Two other French warships managed to escape. Theseus had five sailors killed and thirty wounded, included one officer and five Royal Marines.

Siege of Acre.

Theseus played a less successful role in the 1799 Siege of Acre, under the command of Captain Ralph Willett Miller. On 13 May 1799 she reached the nearby port of Caesarea, and Miller ordered the ship readied for action in bombarding Acre the following morning. A large quantity of ammunition was brought to the deck for use by the ships guns, including more than 70 18-pound and 36-pound shells. At 9.30am on the 14th, the ammunition was accidentally ignited while the ship was under way. The resulting explosion set fire to the deck, mainmast and mizzen mast, and killed Miller and 25 other men. Another 45 crew members were injured.

Flames quickly spread between Theseus' decks, and a second detonation of ammunition stores destroyed the poop and quarterdecks and toppled the main mast over the starboard bow. A further ten men were killed before the fire was brought under control, leaving the ship unserviceable for the Acre campaign.

Later service.



Capt J. Beresford leading the British squadron in the Theseus on 24 February 1809

Four years later a refitted Theseus took part Blockade of Saint-Domingue in 1803, under Captain John Bligh. She also took part in the Battle of the Basque Roads in 1809. Lord Cochrane initiated a daring attack, led by fire ships and other explosive vessels, in an attempt to cause chaos among their target, an anchored French squadron. Many of the French ships were subsequently run aground due to the havoc that this attack caused. The enemy squadron would probably have been completely destroyed had the Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Lord Gambier, not hesitated over necessary decisions, such as to deploy the main fleet which instead lay in wait for their orders. Thus the remnants of the French escaped destruction.


Theseus was broken up at Chatham in 1814.

[Bligh]

HMS Valiant (1807).


HMS Valiant and Glory.

HMS Valiant was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 24 January 1807 at Blackwall Yard.

History.
UK
Name:	HMS Valiant
Builder:	Perry, Green & Wells, Blackwall
Laid down:	April 1805
Launched:	24 January 1807
Fate:	Broken up, 1823
General characteristics.
Class and type:	Repulse-class ship of the line
Tons burthen:	1718 (bm)
Length:	174 ft (53 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	47 ft 4 in (14.43 m)
Depth of hold:	20 ft (6.1 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns Upper gundeck: 28 × 18-pounder guns QD: 4 × 12-pounder guns + 10 × 32-pounder carronades Fc: 4 × 12-pounder guns + 2 × 32-pounder carronades Poop deck: 6 × 18-pounder carronades

She took part in the attack on Copenhagen in 1807 and in the action against French warships in the Basque Roads 11-25 April 1809 (Battle of Aix Roads) under Lord Gambier and Lord Cochrane.


On 17 June 1813, Valiant was in company with Acasta when they came upon HMS Wasp in pursuit of an American brig off Cape Sable. The three British ships continued the chase for another 100 miles before they finally were able to capture the brig. She was the letter of marque Porcupine, of more than 300 tons, and was carrying a valuable cargo of brandy, wine, silks, dry goods and other merchandise from Bayonne to Boston. Captain Robert Dudley Oliver of Valiant described Porcupine as being only eight months old and an uncommonly fast sailer. After the capture, Wasp, which had recaptured a prize that the privateer Young Teazer had taken, sailed in search of the privateer.

She was broken up in 1823.

[Bligh]

HMS Illustrious (1803)




HMS Illustrious heading out of Table Bay (Thomas Whitcombe, cira 1811)



HMS Illustrious, a 74-gun third rateship of the line and the second of that name, was built by Randall & Brent at Rotherhithe where her keel was laid in February 1801. Launched on 3 September 1803, she was completed at Woolwich

History
UK
Name:	HMS Illustrious
Ordered:	4 February 1800
Builder:	Randall, Rotherhithe
Launched:	3 September 1803
Fate:	Broken up, 1868
General characteristics
Class and type:	Fame-classship of the line
Tons burthen:	1746 (bm)
Length:	175 ft (53 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	47 ft 6 in (14.48 m)
Depth of hold:	20 ft 6 in (6.25 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	·Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns ·Upper gundeck: 28 × 18-pounder guns ·QD: 14 × 9-pounder guns ·Fc: 4 × 9-pounder guns

She was first commissioned for the Channel Fleet under Captain Sir Charles Hamilton and was involved in the Battle of the Basque Roads in 1809, in which she won a battle honour, and in the expeditions against the docks at Antwerp and render the Schelde unnavigable to French ships.

On 22 November 1810, Illustrious was amongst the fleet that captured Île de France on 3 December.

She then took part in the Invasion of Java (1811) in Indonesia.



She was refitted at Portsmouth (1813–17) and then laid up in reserve until recommissioned in 1832. She was laid up again in 1845, and later used as a guard ship, a hospital ship and, lastly, in 1854 she became a gunnery training ship and continued as one until she was broken up in 1868 in Portsmouth.

[Bligh]

HMS Bellona (1760)


Le Courageux (centre) arrives off Southsea Castle with HMS Bellona (left) and HMS Brilliant (right) in this painting by Geoff Hunt.


HMS Bellona was a 74-gun Bellona-class third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. Designed by Sir Thomas Slade, she was a prototype for the iconic 74-gun ships of the latter part of the 18th century. "The design of the Bellona class was never repeated precisely, but Slade experimented slightly with the lines, and the Arrogant, Ramillies, Egmont, and Elizabeth classes were almost identical in size, layout, and structure, and had only slight variations in the shape of the underwater hull. The Culloden class ship of the line was also similar, but slightly larger. Thus over forty ships were near-sisters of the Bellona." Bellona was built at Chatham, starting on 10 May 1758, launched on 19 February 1760, and commissioned three days later.

History.
Great Britain.
Name:	HMS Bellona
Ordered:	28 December 1757
Builder:	Chatham Dockyard
Laid down:	10 May 1758
Launched:	19 February 1760
Honours and awards:	Battle of Copenhagen
Fate:	Broken up, 1814
General characteristics
Class and type:	Bellona-class 74-gun ship of the line
Tons burthen:	1615 bm
Length:	168 ft (51 m) (gundeck), 138 ft (42 m) (keel)
Beam:	46 ft 11 in (14.30 m)
Draught:	21 ft 6 in (6.55 m)
Depth of hold:	19 ft 9 in (6.02 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Complement:	650 officers and men
Armament:	Lower gundeck: 28 × 32 pounder guns Upper gundeck: 28 × 18 pounder guns QD: 14 × 9 pounder guns Fc: 4 × 9 pounder guns

Bellona was the second ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name, and saw service in the Seven Years' War, American Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic Wars.

Bellona left to join the squadron blockading Brest (this being the Seven Years' War) on 8 April 1760. She was later detached to patrol off the Tagus River in Spain, and on 13 August, while sailing with the frigate Brilliant, she sighted the French 74-gun ship Courageux in company with two frigates. The British ships pursued, and after 14 hours, caught up with the French ships and engaged at the Action of 14 August 1761, the Brilliant attacking the frigates, and Bellona taking on the Courageux. The frigates eventually got away, but the Courageux struck her colours, and was later repaired and taken into the Royal Navy.



After making repairs in the River Tagus near Lisbon, HMS Bellona, Le Courageux and HMS Brilliant returned to Portsmouth, arriving in early September.

In 1762 Bellona was paid off and did not see action again until 1780, during the American Revolutionary War. She was coppered at this time, one of the first British ships to receive the hull-protecting layer. Until 1783 she cruised in the North Sea and the West Indies, and participated in reliefs of Gibraltar.

Bellona was once again paid off, recommissioned briefly in 1789 in expectation of war with Russia, but didn't get into action again until 1793, when she went to the West Indies.

On 10 January 1797, Bellona and Babet drove a small French privateer schooner ashore on Deseada. They tried to use the privateer Legere, of six guns and 48 men, which Bellona had captured three days earlier, to retrieve the schooner that was on shore. In the effort, both French privateers were destroyed. Then Babet chased a brig, which had been a prize to the schooner, ashore. The British were unable to get her off so they destroyed her. Babet and Bellona were paid headmoney in 1828, more than 30 years later.

Bellona took part in the Action of 18 June 1799, securing the surrender of the frigates Junon and Alceste, and helping HMS Centaur in capturing Courageuse.

In 1801 she was in the Battle of Copenhagen, participating despite having grounded on a shoal.
After being present at the Battle of the Basque Roads as part of the offshore fleet she continued to serve in the North Sea and Bay of Biscay until 1814, when she paid off for the last time and was broken up, having served in the navy for over 50 years, an unusually long time for one of the old wooden ships.

[Bligh]

HMS Revenge (1805)



HMS Revenge at Gosport

HMS Revenge was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 13 April 1805. Sir John Henslow designed her as one of the large class 74s; she was the only ship built to her draught. As a large 74, she carried 24-pounder guns on her upper gun deck, rather than the 18-pounder guns found on the middling and common class 74s

History.
UK
Name:	HMS Revenge
Ordered:	29 September 1796
Builder:	Chatham Dockyard
Laid down:	August 1800
Launched:	13 April 1805
Honours and awards:	Participated in: Battle of Trafalgar
Fate:	Broken up, 1849
General characteristics.
Class and type:	74-gun third-rate ship of the line
Tons burthen:	1954 (bm)
Length:	181 ft 11 in (55.4 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	49 ft 2 in (15.0 m)
Depth of hold:	20 ft 9 in (6.3 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns Upper gundeck: 30 × 24-pounder guns QD: 12 × 9-pounder guns Fc: 4 × 9-pounder guns

Career.


Newly commissioned, and captained by Robert Moorsom, she fought at the Battle of Trafalgar, where she sailed in Collingwood's column.
Revenge was engaged at the Battle of Basque Roads in April 1809 under Captain Alexander Robert Kerr.

In October 1810, Revenge captured the French privateer cutter Vauteur off Cherbourg after a five-hour chase. Vauteur had been armed with 16 guns, but she threw 14 of them overboard during the chase. She had been out of Dieppe for 45 hours but had made no captures. She was the former British cutter John Bull, of Plymouth, and was restored to Plymouth on 19 October. The report in Lloyd's List announcing this news appears to have confused names. Vauteur appears to have been Vengeur. There is no account of Revenge capturing a Vauteur, but on 17 October, Revenge captured the French privateer lugger Vengeur, off Cherbourg. The lugger crossed to windward of Revenge before daylight, and Revenge gave chase, finally capturing her quarry after three hours. Vengeur was armed with 16 guns and had a crew of 78 men. She was one day out of Dieppe and had not taken any prizes.

On 6 November, Donegal captured the privateer Surcouf. Revenge, Donegal, and the hired armed lugger Sandwich would share in the prize money for Vengeur and Surcouf.

On 13 November 1810, the frigates Diana and Niobe attacked two French frigates (Elisa and Amazone), which sought protection under the shore batteries near Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue. Revenge and Donegal arrived two days later and together the four ships fired upon the French for as long as the tide would allow. The operation cost Donegal three men wounded. Élisa was driven ashore and ultimately destroyed as a result of this action; Amazone escaped safely into Le Havre.

Fate.

Revenge served until 1842, being broken up in 1849. She was one of the first warships of the Royal Navy to be painted with the Nelson Checker.

[Bligh]

Battle Instructions.

For the 11th of April.

1. Explosion ship to sail up to the harbour boom, come to rest against it and detonate. Points awarded for success of explosion, and recovery of the crew in small cutter. Commander of the Explosion ship must decide when to extricate crew, and number of turns to set fuse for. From that point the ship will sail with the wind direction and tide which is on the flow. Any vessel within half a ruler of the detonation must draw two B chits of damage. If a special damage chit is drawn a card from the special Fire Deck must be drawn.

2. Fire ships. Must follow up the explosion ship, and enter the Aix Roads as soon as the boom is annihilated. Commanders must announce when fires are lit and draw a card at this time from the special fire deck. Once the fire is set you must withdraw in your ships boats. After this the progress of the fire ships will be at the whim of the wind and tide. Points awarded for any fire ship which hits a French ship and sets it on fire.

3. Supporting ships. Sail into the Aix Roads behind the Fireships and attack any French vessels in the Aix Roads, either resisting or drifting toward the shoals. Points awarded for either sinking or boarding and setting fire to enemy ships.

Special rules.

a. All ships excepting the fireships and explosion ship who are en-flute may be armed with 50% carronades if the commanding officer so wishes and you know your rules for them!

b. All ships may have Bow chasers which fire as normal cannon per the rules but inflict one A damage chit irrespective of distance from the enemy but within one and a half rulers of the target. these guns do not effect your broadside fire power in any way.

c. Fire your fore or aft battery and your other half battery will still be considered loaded. This means that you simply deduct that number from the broadside and during the next move you may choose to use rhe remaining guns, or start to reload as per usual.

d. The wind may veer purely at the whim of the games master simply on the roll of a wind direction dice.

For the 12th of April only.

Ships destroyed or run aground will be credited points as per usual. Bonus points will be awarded for any of the following objectives:-
Destroying the French Flagship Ocean.

Boarding and setting on fire the following ships if they are still in the game:-

Ville de Varsovie.
Aquilon.
Calcutta.

(These latter three actions actually took place.)

The Ocean is a bonus point for going one better than the actual action.

Good luck to all Captains, and remember that any dissension over the rules will mean your being dismissed to your cabin in disgrace.
Bligh.