HMS Bucephalus (1808)

History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Bucephalus
Ordered	19 May 1805
Builder	William Rowe, Newcastle
Laid down	August 1806
Launched	3 November 1808
Completed	17 June 1809
Commissioned	March 1809
Fate	Broken up September 1834
General characteristics [1]
Tons burthen	975 61⁄94 (bm)
Length	150 ft (45.7 m) (gundeck) 126 ft 6+1⁄8 in (38.6 m) (keel)
Beam	38 ft (11.6 m)
Depth of hold	12 ft 1 in (3.7 m)
Complement	254
Armament	Gundeck: 26 × 18-pounder guns QD: 2 × 9-pounder guns + 10 × 24-pounder carronades Fc: 2 × 9-pounder guns + 2 × 24-pounder carronades

HMS Bucephalus was a 32-gun frigate launched at Portsmouth on 3 November 1808. Bucephalus was present during the Invasion of Java. ^{[2] [3]} She was later reduced to 18-guns and converted into a troopship at Woolwich Dockyard in 1814. ^[1]

She was part of a squadron that carried the advance guard of Major General Keane's army, which was moving to attack New Orleans, part of the Gulf Campaign. Under the rules of prize-money, the troopship Bucephalus shared in the proceeds of the capture of the American vessels in the Battle of Lake Borgne on 14 December 1814. ^{[a] [b]}

After the end of the War of 1812, she returned to Great Britain, arriving at Portsmouth on 30 May 1815. ^[5]

Notes

1. A first-class share of the prize money was worth £34 12s 9+1⁄4 d; a sixth-class share, that of an ordinary seaman, was worth 7s 10+3⁄4d. ^[4]
2. 'Notice is hereby given to the officers and companies of His Majesty's ships Aetna, Alceste, Anaconda, Armide, Asia, Bedford, Belle Poule, Borer, Bucephalus, Calliope, Carron, Cydnus, Dictator, Diomede, Dover, Fox, Gorgon, Herald, Hydra, Meteor, Norge, Nymphe, Pigmy, Ramillies, Royal Oak, Seahorse, Shelburne, Sophie, Thames, Thistle, Tonnant, Trave, Volcano, and Weser, that they will be paid their respective proportions of prize money.'

Citations

1. Winfield, British Warships, p.414.
2. "Bucephalus, 1808". Naval Database. Roots Web. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
3. "log book, Indian or East Indian waters" . Retrieved 5 August 2021– via National Archives.
4. "No. 17730". The London Gazette . 28 July 1821. p. 1561.
5. "Port news - Portsmouth" . Salisbury and Winchester Journal. 5 June 1815. p. 4. Retrieved 27 May 2013– via British Newspaper Archive. Tuesday [30 May 1815] —Arrived'the Royal Oak, of 74 guns, Rear Sir P. Malcolm, Capt. Pearce; Majestic, of 58 guns, Capt. Hayes; Bucephalus, of 32 guns, Captain D'Aeth ; Seahorse, of 38 guns, Capt.'Gordon; and Thistle sloop with troops from the Havannah; Bedford, of 74 guns, Capt. Walker, from Jamaica.

References

• Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. London: Seaforth. ISBN   1-86176-246-1.