British fifth rate 18 pounder Frigates.

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HMS Flora (1780)

HMS Flora was a 36 gun Flora Class frigate designed by Sir John Williams and approved by the Admiralty on the 6th of November 1778. Flora was built by M/shipwright Adam Hayes at Deptford Dockyard. Ordered on the 6th of November, 1778, and laid down on the 21st of that month, she was launched on the 6th of May 1780 and completed on the 21st of June in that same year at a cost of £19,788.15.10p including fitting and coppering.

History
GREAT BRITAIN
Name:	HMS Flora
Ordered:	6th of November, 1778
Builder:	Adam Hayes at Deptford Dockyard
Launched:	6th of May 1780
Fate:	Wrecked 18,1,1808
General characteristics
Class and type:	Flora class, 36 gun fifth rate Frigate
Tons burthen:	868 53⁄94 (bm)
Length:	137ft 0 in (gundeck)
Beam:	38ft 0in
Depth of hold: Draught:	13ft 3in 1ft 3in x 14ft 0in.
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	Gundeck: 26 × 18 pdr guns QD: 8× 9 pdr guns+ 4 x18 pdr Carronades Fc: 2 × 9 pdr guns + 4 x18 pdr Carronades and 12 x 1⁄2 pdr swivels

Service.

HMS Flora was commissioned by Captain William Williams in the May of 1780. On the 10th of August Flora was patrolling off Ushant when she sighted sails in the haze about four miles away. These turned out to be French, a topsail cutter and a frigate. The topsail cutter made off, but Flora soon overhauled the French frigate, which turned out to be La Nymphe, a 12 pdr 32 gun frigate, under Captain Le Chevalier Du Rumain. The French hoisted their colours, and opened fire. Flora retaliated and the two ships fought an artillery duel at a range of about two cables, After an hour, HMS Flora had had her sails and rigging much cut up, so Captain Williams ordered that the range be closed to point blank. At this range, the increased short-range firepower offered by the newly-introduced carronades carried by her began to tell and although Flora's steering wheel was destroyed and one of her forecastle carronades ended up being manned by only her Boatswain and a boy, terrible damage and casualties were being wrought on La Nymphe. Her captain was mortally wounded by four musket shots, then a gunpowder cartridge being carried by one of her boys exploded. At 18:15, the French attempted to board the British frigate, but their attack was driven off and the French boarders were followed onto their own decks by the wildly yelling British. The fighting now became hand-to-hand fighting with pistols, bayonets, knives, boarding axes, pikes, tomahawks and clubs, it was kill or be killed with no quarter asked or given. By the time the French finally surrendered, they had suffered 55 dead with 81 wounded, whilst HMS Flora's casualties came to 9 dead and 17 wounded. La Nymphe was dispatched to Portsmouth with a prize crew and was taken into the Royal Navy as HMS Nymphe. is widely reputed to be the first ship to use carronades in anger.


The action between HMS Flora and La Nymphe by Dominic Serres


On the12th of April, 1781, Flora was part of a fleet of 29 ships under Vice Admiral George Darby escorting a fleet of 100 store ships bound for Gibraltar during the Seige. The fleet entered Gibraltar Bay unopposed by the enemy and once the supplies had been unloaded, evacuated the civilian population.

Flora in company with the 28 gun frigate HMS Crescent were ordered to escort a convoy to Minorca. On the return leg, the two British frigates were chased by a Spanish squadron which drew close enough to open fire. HMS Flora suffered casualties of one man killed and another wounded After shaking off their pursuers, the two British frigates made it to Gibraltar on the 29th of May where they received intelligence about two large enemy warships which had been seen in the area earlier that day. On receiving the news, the two British frigates headed to Cueta, a Spanish possession on the African side of the Straits of Gibraltar where they discovered that the two enemy vessels were in fact 36 gun Dutch frigates Castor and Briel. Approaching the enemy in deteriorating weather, the British were forced to abandon their attack because of the rising storm. The following day, the weather had calmed down and the British moved into the attack. Flora engaged Castor and Crescent took on the Briel. Although Flora was much more heavily armed than Castor, the Dutch resisted for two hours before they were forced to capitulate. The Castor had 22 killed and 41 wounded whilst Flora suffered 9 men killed, including her Lieutenant of Marines and 32 wounded. HMS Crescent was not so fortunate. Outgunned by her Dutch opponent, she quickly had all her quarterdeck guns and four of her main deck nine-pounders put out of action. Her upper yards and sails were quickly shot away by the Dutch and disaster struck when her main mast, mizzen mast and all their associated rigging fell into the waist area amidships. This put all the guns forward of the main mast out of action and rendered the ship unmanageable. The Dutch ship being upwind, Captain Packenham of the Crescent was unable to close the range and board the Dutchman, who then manoeuvred his ship across Crescent's stern and mercilessly raked the smaller British ship. Unable to bring any guns to bear and with his ship dismasted, Captain Packenham ordered the colours to be struck and the ship surrendered. Fortunately, they had sufficiently damaged the Briel to prevent it coming alongside and boarding. With the approach of the victorious HMS Flora, the Briel made off towards Cadiz. Briel had suffered 12 killed and 40 wounded, whilst Crescent had sustained casualties of 26 dead and 67 wounded. This action is now known as the Battle of Cape St Mary.


The Battle of Cape St Mary

A little under three weeks later, as Flora, Crescent, and the now HMS Castor were heading back to England, making repairs as best they could during a squall, they sighted a French privateer. Leaving the two other ships, Flora pursued the privateer, but the squall suddenly cleared revealing with two French 32 gun Frigates, Gloire and Friponne. The three damaged Frigates were in no condition to fight the three French ships. Captain Williams decided that it was too dangerous to fight and ordered his ships to scatter and make the best of their way back to England. Castor was quickly caught by the Friponne. With only her prize crew of 75 men aboard she had no choice but to surrender as soon as the Friponne opened fire. Crescent, sailing under a jury rig, could not outrun the Gloire, and also with insufficient men to man the guns effectively, she too was forced to surrender after giving some resistance to the French. Only HMS Flora managed to escape.


In the December of that year, Captain Williams was replaced in command by Captain Samuel Marshall, who was another experienced Frigate commander. On the 15th of January 1782, HMS Flora sailed for the West Indies where The French had a fleet under the Compte de Grasse, and on her arrival, she joined the fleet commanded by Vice Admiral Sir George Brydges Rodney. She was assigned to the Vanguard division of Rodney's fleet, commanded by his Second in Command, Vice Admiral Sir Samuel Hood.

De Grasse planned to take his fleet of 35 ships of the line and 100 transport ships, join forces with a Spanish fleet of 12 ships of the line, and more importantly, pick up 15,000 Spanish troops to attack Jamaica. Rodney knew that if this force were successful, the British would be hard put to defend their remaining possessions. Flora was charged with the task of patrolling the area around the main French base at Martinique, looking for signs that De Grasse was about to put to sea.
On the 7th of April in that year, De Grasse and his fleet were sighted leaving the anchorage at Martinique the news reaching Rodney at St Lucia on the following day. Rodney immediately ordered the entire fleet to sea to search for the French and bring them to battle. On the following day the French were sighted, and De Grasse ordered his convoy of transports to make for Guadeloupe whilst he covered them with his fleet. Hood swiftly took his vanguard sweeping into the attack. His force of 12 ships of the line fought an inconclusive action against the French in which both sides suffered considerable damage.



Conclusions came at the Battle of The Saints on the 12th of April.



The moment of victory - De Grasse's flagship, the Ville de Paris (with the white flags on the right) strikes her colours in surrender to HMS Barfleur (with the red flags to the left of her

Shortly after this action peace negotiations started with the French, and the British began to reduce their naval forces in the Caribbean. Toward the end of the year Captain Marshall received orders to take his ship back to England where she was paid off.

Her war was over until 1783. She was then recommissioned under Captain George Bowen in the May of that year. He was duly replaced in July by Captain Robert Montagu, and on the 6th of November Flora sailed for the West Indies, where Captain Montagu remained in command until the June of 1784, and Flora then came under the command of Captain George Stoney, remaining in the Caribbean until the summer of 1786 when she returned to England and was paid off at Deptford in the September of that year to undergo a Great repair carried out by Perry at Blackwall at a cost of £18,241, between the August of 1890 and the January of 1793.She was then recommissioned and fitted at Deptford in the February of that year under Captain John Borlase Warren who had been placed in command of a squadron of Frigates operating out of Falmouth tasked with patrolling the Western Approaches and the Bay of Biscay to protecting British shipping against French naval units and privateers In addition to HMS Flora, the squadron also comprised the Frigates HMS Arethusa HMS Melampus, HMS Concorde and Flora's former prize, HMS Nymphe. On the 23rd of January, 1794 off Cape Clear, Flora captured the 12 gun French Privateer Brig Le Vipere which was then taken into the Royal Navy and commissioned as HMS Viper. Then on the 23rd of April off Ile Bas, together with her squadron, she captured the French 44 gun La Pomone and the 20 gun Le Babet. Flora suffered one seaman killed and three wounded during the Action.



The taking of La Republique Francaise and
Le Phoenix

In the June of that year she captured the 16 gun French Privateer La Republique Francaise and 12 gun Le Phoenix
By August, the squadron had been joined by the Frigates HMS Diamond, HMS Artois and HMS Diana together with the Ex Spanish 36 gun HMS Santa Margarita.

On the 7th of August, Captain Warren led the squadron to sea in search of cruising French frigates and on 23rd off the Penmarks they intercepted the 36 gun French Frigate Le Volontaire, which had been cruising the English Channel seeking prizes. After a 12 hour chase, the Volontaire was run to ground by HMS Diamond, HMS Artois, HMS Diana and HMS Santa Margarita, and driven onto the rocks, where she was left to her fate.



The Falmouth squadron at sea sometime in 1794, by Derek Gardner. The frigate in the foreground is HMS Diamond and judging by the older-style stern, HMS Flora is the frigate ahead of her.

On the 23rd of August Flora was in company with Arethusa off the Pointe du Raz when they sighted the French 16 gun Corvettes L'Espion and L'Alert, both vessels recently captured from the British. The British frigates immediately gave chase and followed the French vessels into Audierne Bay where they were deliberately run ashore under the cover of shore batteries. The French managed to recover both ships and put them back into service, although both were eventually recaptured by the British later on.

In the September of the year Warren was promoted to Commodore and Flora came under Captain William Otway, followed by Captain Thomas Drury, and then Captain Lidgbird Hall.

In the October of 1795, Captain Robert Gambier Middleton took command and on the 27th of November Flora sailed for the Med to join a squadron commanded by Nelson on the Riviera.

On the 15th of May 1796, Flora took, with others, the two gun French Privateer Lugger L'Epervier.
At the start of 1797 Flora made a trip to Newfoundland but was back off Portugal by April, where on the 13th, in company with the Frigate HMS Pearl, she captured the 24 gun French Privateer Frigate L'Incroyable.

On the 2nd of May, 1798, back in the Med and off Sardinia, temporally under the command of Captain Alexander Wilson, HMS Flora cut out, the 16 gun French Corvette La Corcyre, which had formally been the British privateer Cornish Hero, taken by the French earlier that year.Later in the month, Flora was operating in the Ionian Islands off the southern tip of Greece where on the 13th; she chased the 18 gun French, Venetian built, Brig-corvette Mondovi into the port of Cerigo, Now known as Kythira on the island of the same name. Now back in command, Captain Middleton was determined to destroy or capture the enemy vessel, but a direct frontal attack was not possible owing to the powerful shore battery overlooking the harbour, so he decided instead on a boat action. The raid was to be led by the First Lieutenant, Mr William Russel, assisted by the third Lieutenant, Mr William Hepenstall and Marine Lieutenant Richard Parry, plus Masters Mate Mr. Morton, the ships gunner Mr. Tancock, Midshipmen Petley and Hawkins. Under heavy fire but undeterred, they boarded the Mondovi and took her, with a loss of 1 Marine private killed, plus Mr Parry, Mr Morton, Mr Tancock and 5 seamen wounded.

By the 1st of August, Flora was back off the coast of Portugal, where she recaptured the Portugese Brig Nostra Senora del Monte previously taken by the French Privateer L'Abeille, and carrying a cargo of baled goods which Captain Middleton sent into Madeira under a prize crew.From the end of August, in company with Caroline, Flora cruised off the Azores taking even more Privateers. On the 12th of October came the 12 gun Le President Parker, followed by the 20 gun L Intrepide off Lisbon on the 25th of January, 1799. In the following month her victims were the 14 gun L Aventure and the Spanish Diligente.

April witnessed the taking of the 14 gun La Legere on the 28th, and on the 25th of July the Le Rhuiter.
In 1800, on the 2nd of March Flora captured the 16 gun Spanish ships Corunesa, followed by the 10 gun San Antonio y Animas in April, and the 4 gun Cortez in June.

Between the March and September of 1801, Flora supported the British campaign in Egypt where a British army under General Lord Abercrombie eventually defeated the French army which had been stranded there after Vice Admiral Lord Nelson had destroyed the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile a few years earlier.

Because of the end of The French Revolutionary War on the 25th of March, 1802 with the Treaty of Amiens, in April Flora returned to Deptford and paid off into the Ordinary. With the collapse of the treaty, war began again in the May of 1803. HMS Flora was taken into the Dockyard at Deptford in the December of 1804 for repairs which were completed in the April of 1805. She was then recommissioned under Captain Loftus Otway Bland. As part of her refit, the ship's armament had been slightly modified. She was now armed with 26x 18 pdr long guns on her gundeck, and 8x 32 pdr Carronades on her quarterdeck with two more on her forecastle alongside 2x 9 pdr long guns, plus a dozen half-pounder swivel guns on her upper deck handrails and in her fighting tops.

Assigned to the North Sea Fleet in 1806, Flora was active in maintaining the blockade of the Dutch coast, capturing a great number of enemy blockade runners.

In 1806 she had another spell in the Med where on the 25th of November she captured the 6 gun Privateer El Esperarte.

Fate.

Flora then returned to the North Sea where on Monday the 18th of January, 1808, she was driven ashore in a storm at Terschelling on the Dutch coast and was wrecked with the loss of 9 men. Captain Bland was kept in a damp prison cell, where he contracted Consumption or TB. On his release under a prisoner exchange deal, he was acquitted of any wrongdoing in the loss of his ship. The Court Martial board found that he had been caught on a lee shore and was unable to prevent his ship being driven ashore in the atrocious weather. He was appointed to command the 64 gun third rate ship of the line HMS Africa and was sent to the Baltic, where the cold damp weather played havoc with his health and he was forced to retire sick from the Royal Navy. He died in Exeter in 1810 and is buried in the nave of Exeter Cathedral.

Special thanks in this particular post must go to Stuart Waters of the Kent History Forum for his article on HMS Flora, on which I have heavily drawn.

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HMS Thalia (1782)

HMS Thalia was a Sir John Williams designed, Flora Class, 18 pounder 36 gun Frigate. She was built by M/shipwrights John Nowlan and Thomas Calhoun at Burseldon. Ordered on the 19th of December, 1780 and laid down in the March of 1781 as the Unicorn, and renamed Thalia on the 15th of August 1782, she was launched on the 7th of November in that year, and completed between the 9th of November and the 18th of January, 1783 at Portsmouth.

History
GREAT BRITAIN
Name:	HMS Thalia
Ordered:	19th December, 1780
Builder:	John Nowlan and Thomas Calhoun, Burseldon.
Launched:	7th November 1782
Fate:	BU. June 1814
General characteristics
Class and type:	Flora Class, 18 pounder 36 gun Frigate
Tons burthen:	88147⁄94 (bm)
Length:	137ft 1in (gundeck)
Beam:	38ft 3in
Depth of hold:	13ft 3in
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	UD: 26 × 18 pdr guns QD: 8 × 6 pdr guns. (9 pdrs from 1780) + 4 x 18 pdr Carronades Fc: 2 × 6 pdr guns. (9 pdrs from 1880) + 4 x 18 pdr Carronades and 12 x 1⁄2 pdr swivels

Service.

HMS Thalia was commissioned under Captain Robert Calder in the December of 1782, and paid off in the April of 1783 into Ordinary. She underwent a small repair at Portsmouth from the March to December of 1790 at a cost of £4,550. She was not fitted until the February of 1793 after being commissioned under Captain Richard Grindall for cruising, during the course of which on the 20th of February 1795 she took the 12 gun Le Requin off Dunkirk.

Later in that same year, but now under Captain Lord Powlett, on the 23rd of June, she was in action off the Ile Groix, and at the beginning of 1797 sailed as part of Hyde Parker’s reinforcements to Jervis which she joined on the 6th of February. On the 10th of September in the Med she captured the 16 gun L’Espion, followed on the Lisbon Station in the February of 1798 by the Privateers comprising the 16 gun L’Antoine and L’Aloute on the 5th and the Spanish 6 gun San Josef on the 27th.

On the 4th of March Thalia’s next victim was another Spaniard the 14 gun La Victoria. Following these exploits Thalia once more sailed for the Med on the 22nd of May.

In the January of 1799 she came under Captain Josiah Nisbet, and on the 29th of June 1800, her ships boats took the 2 gun Privateer La Virgin del Carmen. In the May of 1801, by Admiralty Orders, Thalia returned to Deptford to be fitted as a troopship for the Transport Board at a cost of £11,146. With only 20 x 9 pdr guns on her Upper Deck she was recommissioned in the July of that year under Commander John Moncur, and left for the West Indies in the November of that same year, from whence she returned in the May of 1803 to be paid off into Ordinary. She was immediately re rated as a Frigate with 6 x 32 pdr Carronades on the Quarterdeck, to which four more were added whilst she was being fitted at Deptford between the August of 1804 and the April of 1805. She had been recommissioned under Captain James Walker in the March of that year for cruising and convoy duties. and on the 27th of September she set out for the East Indies, returning in the January of 1806. In the October of the following year, now under Captain Thomas Manby Thalia was assigned to duty as the Flagship of Rear Admiral Sir Edmund Nagle, and on the 29th of October she took the Privateer Le Requin.

On the 20th of April 1808 she sailed for the Davis Strait, and in the November of that year came under Captain James G Vashon until 1812. On the 30th of March, 1809 he sailed her for Halifax Nova Scotia and the following year down to Jamaica in the May of 1810. On the Death of Admiral Rowley in the October of 1811, Vashon was promoted to the rank of Commodore.

Fate.

Thalia returned to Britain, was paid off, and went into Ordinary at Chatham between 1813 and 1814 where she was broken up in the July of that year.

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HMS Crescent (1784)



HMS Crescent was a Sir John Williams designed, Flora Class, 18 pounder 36 gun Frigate. She was built by M/shipwrights John Nowlan and Thomas Calhoun at Burseldon. Ordered on the 11th of August, 1781, and laid down in the November of that year, she was launched on the 28th of October, 1784 and completed for Ordinary between the 1st of November and the 11th of January, 1785 at Portsmouth at a cost of £5,694. She was fitted for sea in 1790 at a further cost of £2,218.


Flora Class Frigate

History
GREAT BRITAIN
Name:	HMS Crescent
Ordered:	11th August, 1781
Builder:	John Nowlan and Thomas Calhoun, Burseldon.
Launched:	28th October1784
Fate:	WR. 6.12.1808.
General characteristics
Class and type:	Flora Class, 18 pounder 36 gun Frigate
Tons burthen:	887 85⁄94 (bm)
Length:	137ft 21⁄2in (gundeck)
Beam:	38ft 51⁄2in
Depth of hold:	13ft 3in
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	UD: 26 × 18 pdr guns QD: 8 × 6 pdr guns. (9 pdrs from 1780) + 4 x 18 pdr Carronades Fc: 2 × 6 pdr guns. (9 pdrs from 1880) + 4 x 18 pdr Carronades and 12 x 1⁄2 pdr swivels

Service.

HMS Crescent was commissioned under Captain William Young in the May of 1790 for the Spanish Armament. She was recommissioned in January 1793 under Captain James Saumarez for Rear Admiral John MacBrides Squadron's squadron on blockade duty in the Channel, where she narrowly avoided capture on the 8th of June in that year, she managed to escape from the 50 gun French ships, Le Scévola and Le Brutus.

However, on the 22nd of the month, assisted by HMS Hind and the Privateer Lively, she captured the 10 gun French Privateer, le Chib de Cherbourg. Later that month, Crescent and Hind also took the 12 gun Privateer L'Espoir.

Action of 20 October 1793.

On the morning of 20 October, lookouts on board Crescent reported sails off Cape Barfleur, on the Cotentin Peninsular, which were heading towards Cherbourg. Saumarez set a course to intercept, and with the wind in his favour, soon came up on the port side of the two vessels which proved to be the 38 gun French Frigate La Réunion and a 14 gun Cutter Espérance, which were returning from a raiding cruise in the Channel.

Espérance immediately fled towards Cherbourg, leaving Réunion alone to engage in combat with Crescent. Although the French ship was the larger and carried a larger crew, the British ship had a slight advantage in weight of shot, 315 pounds to the 310 pounds of Réunion, and as it turned out was also marginally faster.

After the opening exchanges, Réunion had already lost her fore yard and mizzen topmast whilst Crescent lost only the top off her foremast. Both ships had rigging cut and a number of sails damaged but Crescent was still able to manoeuvre across Réunion's stern and rake her causing massive damage to the French ship and decimating her crew, Although Réunion continued to resist for some time, she was no longer able to manoeuvre effectively so with Saumarez about to cross his bow, and a second Frigate HMS Circe now rapidly approaching due to a strengthening wind, Réunion's captain realised he had no option other than to surrender his vessel. The engagement had lasted two hours and ten minutes during which time the cutter, Espérance, managed to escape to Cherbourg. Apart from the damage Crescent’s sole casualty amounted to one man wounded.


H.M.S. Crescent, under the command of Captain James Saumarez, capturing the French frigate Réunion off Cherbourg, 20 October 1793, att. John Christian Schetky.

Capitulation of Saldanha Bay.

In 1795, Crescent came under the command of Captain Edward Buller for the Channel but on the 7th of March 1796 she was ordered to sail for the Cape of Good Hope to join a squadron commanded by Rear Admiral George Elphinstone, and she was present at Saldanha where a squadron of the Batavian Republic’s Navy capitulated. The Cape had long been important to Britain's marine traffic, providing a convenient stopping point en route to India. In the previous year, fearing that it may fall into the hands of the French, Britain had captured the colony from the Dutch. In the following year of 1796, the Dutch sent a squadron under the command of Rear Admiral Lucas in an attempt to recapture the Cape. Keith's ships trapped the Dutch in Saldanha Bay on the 17th of August, forcing Lucas to surrender without having to open fire upon him.

Crescent remained on station at the Cape, and in 1797 she came under the command of Captain John Murray, who was superseded by Captain John Spranger in the February of 1798, and then, in the June of that year, by Captain Charles Brisbane.

By the Spring of 1798 Crescent was in need of repairs and a refit which on her return to Britain in the June of that year, and having been paid off, were carried out at Deptford from August 1798 until the June of 1799 at a cost of £18,924. During the repairs she was recommissioned in the April of that year, under William Lobb and on completion was sent to the West Indies. Whilst on passage, on the 15th of November she took the 16 gun El Galgo. Then whilst serving on the Jamaica station, in the June of 1800 Crescent took the 12 gun Diligente, which the Royal Navy took into service as a 14 gun transport under her existing name.

Between the 21st of May and the 8th of August, Crescent, in company with HMS Meleager, and HMS Nimrod took a Spanish Felucca sailing between Havana and Vera Cruz, plus a Xebec sailing from Campeachy to Havana.
In the July of 1802 Captain Lennox Thompson took command of Crescent, and in the June of the year following, she was recommissioned under Captain Lord William Stuart.

Crescent returned to home waters in the February of 1806, under Captain James Carthew. She then went on to serve in the North Sea before undergoing general repairs between the June and October of 1808.

Fate.

Recommisioned under George Reynolds in the April of the year she remained in home waters and command passed to Captain John Temple who was still in command when Crescent was wrecked off the coast of Jutland on the 6th of December resulting in more than 220 people being drowned, including Captain Temple.

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HMS Romulus (1785)



HMS Romulus was the last of the Flora Class 36 gun Frigates designed by Sir John Williams, and built by Edward Greaves of Greaves and Purnell at Limehouse. Ordered on the 28th of December, 1781, she was laid down in the November of 1782, and Launched on the 21st of September 1785 at a cost of £11,154.5.4d., Romulus was then taken Deptford Dockyard where completion began on the 11th of October to have her sheathed in copper. The work cost £1,736, with a further £2,333 spent on fitting out at Portsmouth, completed on the 5th of July 1790. The total build amounting to £15,345.5.4d.

a Flora-class frigate, similar to Romulus
History
GREAT BRITAIN
Name:	HMS Romulus
Ordered:	28 December 1781
Builder:	Greaves and Purnell, Limehouse
Laid down:	November 1782
Launched:	21 September 1785
Fate:	Broken up, 1816
General characteristics
Class and type:	Flora-class
Tons burthen:	879​37⁄94 (bm)
Length:	137 ft 2 in (gundeck)
Beam:	38 ft 3 in
Draught:	9 ft 5 1⁄2 in x 13 ft 6 1⁄2 in
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Complement:	270
Armament:	36 guns: GD: 26 × 18 pdrs QD: 8 × 9 pdrs + 4 × 18 pdr Carronades Fc: 2 × 9 pdrs + 4 × 18 pdr Carronades

Service.

HMS Romulus was commissioned by Captain Thomas Lennox Frederic from the May of 1790 until the September of 1791, after which she was paid off. Following Britain's entry into the French Revolutionary Wars in the February of 1793, Romulus was refitted at Portsmouth for £5,512, and recommissioned under Captain John Sutton, the refit being completed in the April of that year. On the 22nd of that month she set sail for the Med to join Admiral William Hotham’s squadron. By August she was blockading the port of Toulon as part of Admiral Lord Hood’s fleet and on the 5th of August, 1793 was amongst the vessels that shared in the capture of the Prince Royal of Sweden On the 20th of August, whilst in company with Agamemnon, Robust and Romney, she went on to take a Polacca. Then on the 28th of the month she took part in the occupation of Toulon, and received a share of the prize money for the ships captured there. On the 16th of November, in company with HMS Meleager, she captured a French gunboat, and during the evacuation in December, Romulus provided covering fire whilst Robust and Leviathan evacuated the allied troops from the waterfront.

Corsica.

Early in 1794 Romulus, together with HMS Victory and 10 other Royal Navy ships supported the troops under Sir David Dundas who captured the town of San Fiorenzo in the Gulf of St Florent Corsica, where on the 19th of February, they found the scuttled French frigate Minerve, and having refloated her, she was taken into service as the 38 gun St Fiorenzo Romulus took shares in both the prize money for the frigate and also for the naval stores captured in the town.

The British fleet under Samuel Lord Hood was lying off Bastia during the early part of August when word was received that seven French ships of the line and five frigates had broken out of Toulon. Setting off in pursuit, with 13 ships of the line and four frigates, including Romulus, the British spotted their quarry on the 10th of August, and by dawn on the following day had closed to a distance of approximately12 nautical miles In an attempt to evade the superior British force, the French took shelter in Gourjean Bay. On arrival at the anchorage, the only British ship close enough to engage was the Frigate Dido who was beaten off by the fire from the rearmost French vessels and the two forts guarding the entrance. A plan was formulated to capture or destroy the French fleet with Romulus, Dido, Juno, Meleager and the 74 gun HMS Illustrious, attacking the four enemy frigates. The scheme was delayed by contrary winds and tides and then abandoned after the French fortified their position by landing guns and establishing batteries on the shore.

Hood returned to Corsica with Victory, the 98 gun Princess Royal and two 74s, leaving the remainder of the fleet under Hotham. This force, comprising nine ships of the line and four frigates, including Romulus was intending to blockade the bay, but was unfortunately blown off station during a storm, thus enabling the French escaped back to Toulon.

The Battle of Genoa.

Later that August, command of Romulus passed to Captain George Hope, and in the November of that year Hood left for England, bequeathing to Hotham the post as Commander in Chief. On the 9th of March 1795, Romulus was one of seven frigates which, together with 13 ships of the line, two sloops and a cutter, were anchored in the roads of Livorno, when the 24 gun Sloop Moselle, brought word that a French fleet, had been sighted off Sainte Marguerite. Hotham immediately ordered his ships to sea and on the following day British Frigates spotted the French fleet heading back to Toulon into a headwind. The French were accompanied by the recently captured Berwick, which had been undergoing repairs at Corsica when taken.

The British had been in pursuit for two days when on the night of the 12th of March a storm developed. Two French ships of the line, Berwick and Mercure, were damaged and had to be escorted into Gourjean Bay by two Frigates, leaving the opposing fleets roughly equal in strength and number. Seeing that the French were intending to avoid battle, on the following morning Hotham who had been trying to form line of battle, settled for ordering a General Chase, and at 08:00 the 80 gun Ca Ira at the rear of the French fleet collided with Victorie, and its fore and main topmasts went by the board. The leading British ship, the 36 gun Frigate, HMS Inconstant under Captain Thomas Freemantle, reached the damaged Ça Ira within an hour of the collision and opened fire at close range, causing further damage. Seeing the danger, the French frigate Vestale fired upon Inconstant from a distance before taking the limping Ça Ira in tow.
The chase continued throughout the day and night with the British van sporadically engaging with the French rearguard. As Ça Ira dropped further and further behind the main body of the French force, to better protect the damaged ship, Vestale was replaced with the ship of the line Censeur. And by morning both fleets were 21 nautical miles southwest of Genoa with the British rapidly gaining on the French. By this time Ça Ira and Censeur had fallen a long way behind the French fleet, and Hotham sent his two fastest ships, Captain and Bedford in pursuit. The two ships did not, however, arrive simultaneously, and were both severally repulsed, although further damage was inflicted on the French stragglers in the process. As more British ships arrived, the French fleet broke off the engagement and left Ça Ira and Censeur to their fate. Hotham was content with the capture of these prizes and made no further attempt to pursue the fleeing French and consolidate his victory.

After the action, the British fleet anchored in the Gulf of La Spezia to make repairs, but on the 17 of March they were struck by a heavy gale. The badly damaged Illustrious, which had been taken in tow by Meleager, broke free and grounded near Avenza. On the 20th of March, the weather had abated sufficiently to effect a rescue. Loestoffe, Romulus, Tarlton and teams of ship's boats successfully removed all of the crew and most of the ship's stores without casualties, but were unable to save the irreparably damaged vessel. Once the wreck had been cleared, it was abandoned and set on fire.

Following temporary repairs, on the 25th of March, Romulus and her compatriots left the bay, arriving on the following day at San Forenzo where further work was carried out to the battle and storm damaged British fleet. Upon completion, on the 18th of April, Hotham's ships, minus the two prizes, Ça Ira and Censeur, set sail for Livorno and anchored in the roads there on the 27th of April.

Following this action things were quiet until the 26th of September of that year, when Romulus in company with HMS Diadem captured the Aballata, which was loaded with coinage. She took another prize in the January of 1796 and was also in sight when HMS Lively captured the Danish ship, Concordia on 27 February, thus being entitled to a share of the spoils, and a further vessel in the July of 1796.

In the January of 1797, Romulus in concert with Minerve under Commodore Nelson, and also the frigates, Dido and Southampton, plus the storeships Dolphin, Dromedary, and two sloops assisted in the evacuation of the island of Elba. On the 29th of January the squadron had left Portoferraio, with 12 transports bound for Gibraltar but on that evening, Minerve and Romulus left the convoy to carry out a surveillance of the enemy ports and coast. The two frigates travelled first to Corsica, evacuated by the British in October the previous year. Finding nothing of any consequence in San Fiorenzo Bay, Nelson decided to investigate Toulon. Arriving on the 1st of February, two days were spent in the roads and looking into the port, but there was no sign of the enemy fleet, and the few ships that were there were not in a seaworthy condition. The squadron subsequently sailed to Barcelona, where they flew French colours in the hope of tempting out any ships within. This ruse de guerre was not successful however, and with the wind being contrary for Minorca, the two British vessels sailed instead for Cartagena. Finding it empty also, Nelson surmised that the combined Spanish and French fleet had gone west and was operating outside the Mediterranean. Minerve and Romulus therefore, rejoined the rest of the squadron at Gibraltar on the 10th of February.

On the 24th of May, In company with the 36 gun, Frigate HMS Mahonesa, Romulus captured the 20 gun Nuestra Senora del Rosario off Cadiz. The two British ships approached under false colours and did not reveal their true identity until they were alongside; at which point the Spanish Corvette struck, without a shot being fired. On the 10th of September of that same year Romulus and Mahonesa made a further capture ,when assisted by HMS Thalia they took the French brig, Espoir.

In the following February, Romulus, now under Sir Henry Heathcoate, sailed for England, where she was paid off.



Landing troops at Aboukir Bay on 8 March 1801

During the May and June of 1799, Romulus was recommissioned under Commander John Culverhouse as a troopship at a cost of £10,246 and dispatched to the Med. Even in this lightly armed state she was still an effective warship, on the 14th of June 1800 capturing a Danish Brig out of Livorno, and on the 30th of September, Romulus was also in sight of the action when a Privateer took a Swedish Brig, and as a result was entitled to share in the prize money. She served in the Navy's Egyptian campaign, landing troops at Aboukir Bay on the 8th of March 1801, where she came under fire, which killed one of her crew and wounded another. With the signing of the Peace Treaty in 1802, she returned to England under the temporary command of Lieutenant Thomas Staines, paid off and when hostilities resumed Romulus was established as a floating battery fitted with thirty two x 18lb long guns, eight of which were positioned on her upper works, for defence of the Thames during 1803, at a cost of £3,167. She guarded the Thames near Woolwich until the June of that year, when under Commander Woodley Losack she was transferred to Hosley Bay, East Anglia, which was a popular anchorage for the Royal Navy at that time. In the January of 1804 she came under the command of Commander Charles Pelley before being moved to the Firth of Forth in the May of that year under Commander Thomas Burton where she stood sentry near Leith.

Fate.

Romulus was laid up at Chatham from 1807 until some point in 1809. Between the June and October of 1810 she was converted to a lightly armed troopship with fourteen x 9 pdrs on the Upper Deck, two on the forecastle and six x 18 pdr Carronades on the Quarter Deck. She recommissioned under Lord David Balgonie, and by the March of 1812, under Commander George WH Knight, she was serving in this capacity in the Mediterranean. In the July of that year by Admiralty Orders she was appropriated for use as a hospital ship in Bermuda. This was a short lived appointment, and she paid off in December of 1813. She was later recommissioned under Lieutenant James Driscoll, but was eventually broken up there in the November of 1816.

[Bligh]

THE MINERVA CLASS 38 gun Frigates designed by Sir Edward Hunt, and Admiralty approved on the 6th of November 1778 are the next group that I intend to include here.
Rob.

[Bligh]

HMS Minerva (1780)




HMS Minerva was a Sir Edward Hunt designed 38 gun fifth rate Frigate, the first of four of the class to bear her name. Built by M/shipwright George White until the April of 1779,she was completed by John Jenner at Woolwich Dockyard. Ordered on the 6th of November 1778, she was laid down in the same month and launched on the 3rd of June, 1780. She was completed on the 6th of July in that year at a cost of £24,698.4.10d.

Drawing of the outline of the Minerva
History
GREAT BRITAIN
Name:	HMS Minerva
Ordered:	1778
Builder:	George White Woolwich Dockyard
Laid down:	1778
Launched:	3 June 1780
Commissioned:	6 July 1780
Honours and awards:	Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Egypt"
Fate:	1798 renamed Pallas, troopship Broken up March 1803
General characteristics
Class and type:	Minerva class 38 gun Frigate.
Tons burthen:	938 72⁄94 (bm)
Length:	141 ft 0 in
Beam: Propulsion:	38 ft 10 in Sail
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	Upper deck: 28 x 18 pdr guns QD: 8 x 9 guns + 6 x 18 pdr Carronades Fc: 2 x 9 pdr guns + 4 18 pdr Carronades

Service.

HMS Minerva was commissioned by Captain Charles Fielding in the April of 1780, for the Channel. At some point Minerva captured the French brig Jupiter. Between the 24th and 27th of December in that year, she captured the Thomas en Jank, the Yonge Frone Teglaar, and the Zeepost.

On the 11th of April, 1781, Minerva was serving in the Channel Fleet off Cape St Vincent under the command of Vice Admiral George Derby when they encountered three enemy vessels. Darby dispatched Minerva, Alexander and Foudroyant in pursuit, but the three enemy frigates, made a successful withdrawal into the harbour at Cadiz. Sometime later vessels from the Fleet made an attack on several enemy Gunboats. During the action Minerva suffered some of her crew to be badly wounded. She was among the ships of Darby's Fleet which took a share in the prize money for the capture of the French Duc de Chartres, the Spanish Frigate Santa Leocadia, and also the French Brig Trois Amis.

On the following day, Darby's squadron of 29 ships of the line, and a 100 store ships which they were escorting, for the relief of Gibraltar entered the bay there. On the 9th of June Minerva left with the Lisbon trade.
On the 9th of October, 1781, Minerva, Crocodile, Flora, and Monsieur took the American privateer Hercules, and on the next day Minerva and Monsieur also captured the American privateer Jason.

In early 1782 Captain the Honourable Thomas Pakenham took command of Minerva, and on the 11th of March in concert with Daphne she captured the Brig Pearl off Oporto.

On the 28th of October Minerva was also amongst the British ships which shared in the taking of the Dutch East Indiaman Young Susanna, off Ceylon.

Minerva was present at the action off Cuddalore on the 20th of June, 1783, but as a transport she was not involved in the fighting. As a store ship she was transporting military stores and provisions in support of the British army which was planning to attack Cuddalore. On her return to Britain she was paid off at Portsmouth, and between the July of 1789 and the June of 1790 was refitted for sea at Portsmouth at a cost of £3,963.She was then recommissioned under Captain Robert Sutton and sailed for the East Indies on the 27th of December in that year to serve under the Broad pennant of Commodore William Cornwallis in the capacity of his Flagship. At the beginning of November, 1791, Cornwallis in Minerva, accompanied by the 36 gun Frigates Perseverance and Phoenix, was in the Roads of Tellicherry with a fort and anchorage situated a few miles south of Mangalore when Phoenix was ordered to stop and search the French Frigate Resolue escorting a number of merchant ships believed to be carrying military supplies to support Tippu Sultan. Resolue had resisted Phoenix and after a short exchange of fire Résolue struck to Phoenix. The French captain insisted on considering his ship as a British prize, so Cornwallis ordered Strachan to tow her into Mahe and return her to the French commodore.


The French Revolutionary Wars.




In 1793, Minerva was flying the now Rear Admiral Cornwallis's flag, and on the 24th of June in that year she took the French ship Citoyen off Cuddalore.

From the 1st of August, together with three HEIC Indiamen, the Royal Charlotte, Triton and Warley, Minerva blockaded the Port of Pondicherry whilst the army besieged the fortifications. The governor’s initial refusal to surrender was challenged on the 20th of August when the British began a bombardment. The governor finally capitulated and surrendered the town on the 23rd. During the siege, Minerva, with Admiral Cornwallis aboard, repulsed the French Frigate Sybile, which had attempted to breach the blockade. Sybille was transporting 150 artillerymen; consequently preventing her from landing them was of value to the besieging troops. The British ships also captured a vessel "from the islands" which was also bringing in military supplies. Following the surrender of Pondicherry, in the January of 1794 Minerva came under the command of Captain John Whitby before returning to Britain to be paid off in the April of that year.

Between the May and September of 1795 Minerva was refitted for sea at Portsmouth at a cost of £9,666.

During her refit, In the July of that year she was recommissioned under Captain Thomas Peyton for service in Strachan's squadron, which was attached to the main British fleet.

In the September of 1796, Horatio Nelson aboard HMS Captain, together with Gorgon, Vanneau, the cutter Rose, and troops of the 51st regiment of Foot was dispatched to reduce the Genoese port of Capraja, which belonged to the Genoese and was serving as a safe haven for privateers. On route, Minerva joined the squadron, and the troops were duly landed on the18th of September, with the result that the island surrendered immediately. On the 27th, Minerva in company with the Cutter Lady Jane succeeded in capturing two Spanish vessels, the Santa Francisco Xavier and the Nostra Senora de la Miserecordia.

On the 13th of November in that same year, Minerva in company with Melampus, ran to earth the French 18 gun Corvette L’Etonnant off Barfleur and drove her ashore. On her first voyage from Harve to Brest, she was carrying naval and military stores. On the 19th of April, 1797, Minerva, together with the hired armed cutter Grand Falconer, plus Camilla and Cynthia took the American ship Favourite. Later in the same month both Diamond and Minerva were grounded off Cape Barfleur, and had sufficient damage to have to return to Portsmouth fort repairs, and between the July of 1797 and May 1798, by Admiralty Orders, Minerva was converted into a troopship armed en flute at a cost of £7,945 and renamed Pallas as the original ship of that name had been recently wrecked, thus freeing up the name. In the February of 1798 she was re-established with Upper deck 16 x 9pdrs, Quarterdeck 2 x 6 pdrs and Forecastle 2 x 6 pdrs. She then recommissioned under Commander John Mackellar for the Ostend operations. In the May of that year, Pallas (though still known as Minerva in the dispatches) participated in Home Popham’s expedition in which the British Army comprising a force of about 1,300 were landed to destroy the locks and sluice gates on the Bruges canal to prevent the French from moving gunboats and transports between Flushing, Ostend and Dunkirk for an invasion of Britain. Although the British succeeded in damaging the sluice gates, the evacuation of the contingent failed due to bad weather leading to their capture by the French, who also captured Mackellar and his boat crew.

In the July of that year Commander Joseph Edmunds took over as captain. By the 20th of May, 1800, Pallas was now part of the squadron under the command of Vice-Admiral Lord Keith off Genoa blockading and bombarding the port. Keith decided to send in boats under the cover of the bombardment to cut out some armed French vessels. At 1am on the 21st the boats succeeded in boarding, carrying, and bringing off the fifty oared galley, the Prima. The British suffered only four men wounded, one of whom was from Pallas.
Next, on the 30th, Pallas recaptured the English Tartane Rosario, sailing between Leghorn and Minorca, in ballast. Two days later Pallas captured a Ragusan ship out of Leghorn and bound for Barcelona conveying a mixed cargo. On the 7th of June Pallas captured the Ardita off the coast of Italy. From the 8th of August 1801, Pallas was involved in transporting a portion of the British Army under Lieutenant General Eyre Coote from Cairo to the west of Alexandria. The siege ended on the 30th of August when Alexandria capitulated. As a ship serving in the navy's Egyptian campaign (8 March to 8 September 1801),the officers and crew of Pallas all qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal issued by the Admiralty in 1847 to all surviving claimants.

Fate.

This operation was destined to be Pallas’ last hurrah, as she was paid off into Ordinary in the May of 1802, and subsequently broken up at Chatham in the March of 1803.