HMS Diadem (1782)

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HMS Diadem at capture of Good Hope-Thomas Whitcombe-2.jpg
Diadem at the capture of the Cape of Good Hope, 8 January 1806, by Thomas Whitcombe
History
Naval Ensign of Great Britain (1707-1800).svg Great Britain
NameHMS Diadem
Ordered5 December 1777
BuilderChatham Dockyard
Laid down2 November 1778
Launched19 December 1782
CommissionedMarch 1783
Honours and
awards
FateBroken up at Plymouth, September 1832
General characteristics [2]
Class & type Intrepid-class ship of the line
Tons burthen1375½ bm
Length159 ft 10 in (48.72 m) (gundeck)
Beam44 ft 5 in (13.54 m)
Depth of hold19 ft (5.8 m)
PropulsionSails
Sail plan Full-rigged ship
Complement500
Armament
  • Gundeck: 26 ×  24-pounder guns
  • Upper gundeck: 26 ×  18-pounder guns
  • QD: 10 ×  4-pounder guns
  • Fc: 2 ×  9-pounder guns
Diadem at Cape St Vincent, 1797 Cape St Vincent, 1797 RCIN 735048.c (cropped).jpg
Diadem at Cape St Vincent, 1797

HMS Diadem was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 19 December 1782 at Chatham. [2] Although built as a warship, she would see the latter part of her career as a troopship, covering the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812.

Contents

Service

Revolutionary Wars

In August 1796 she was the flagship of Commodore Horatio Nelson. [3] By December 1796 he had transferred, and was aboard the frigate HMS Minerve, covering the evacuation of the garrison at Elba. [4]

She participated in the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1797 under Captain George Henry Towry. [3]

In 1798 she was converted to serve as a troopship. [2] On 7 April 1799 she left Portsmouth together with Trompe. They were carry the West York militia to Dublin. [5]

In 1800 under the command of Post Captain Sir Thomas Livingstone she was employed in the expedition to Quiberon and Belle Île under Sir Edward Pellew, subsequently she was employed in the expedition to Cádiz under Admiral Lord Keith.

Given that Diadem served in the navy's Egyptian campaign between 8 March 1801 and 2 September, her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal (1847) that the Admiralty authorised in 1850 to all surviving claimants. [a]

Napoleonic Wars

Between April and July 1810 Diadem was at Chatham being fitted for service as a troopship of 28 guns. In June 1810 Captain John Phillimore (or Philmore) commissioned her for Lisbon. [7]

In January 1812 she carried released Danish prisoners of war from Plymouth to Chatham. Midshipman Drew's biography recollects that Diadem, under the command of the squadron of Home Riggs Popham, [b] was employed on operations on the north coast of Spain, actively working with the Spanish insurgent forces. [9]

On 6 June 1812, the 1st Royal Marine Battalion embarked aboard Diadem at Portsmouth. The battalion arrived off the coast near Santoña on 15 June, and was involved in the attack on the fort at Castro Urdiales. The fort's garrison of two companies of infantry capitulated on 8 July, the French having evacuated the town the day before. On 10 July, the battalion re-embarked, intending to go to Portugalete, but returned to Castro shortly afterwards.

Further reinforcements for the 2nd Royal Marine Battalion disembarked soon after Diadem arrived on 29 November at Santander, [c] On 21 December 1812, Diadem embarked half of the 2nd Royal Marine Battalion from Santander, arriving in Cawsand Bay on 4 January. [11] [12]

War of 1812

The American vessel Baltimore was in the Bay of Biscay, near Santander when on 7 October 1812 she encountered a British naval squadron, which captured her. The report of her capture noted that she was carrying coffee, sugar, and hides. [13] Lloyd's List reported that she had arrived at Portsmouth on 1 November. It also reported that she was a prize to Diadem. [14]

On 30 March 1813, the Diadem and the Diomede embarked the 1st Royal Marine Battalion under the command of Major Richard Williams. They arrived in Bermuda on 29 May 1813.

Later, she sailed to the Halifax station. [7] Phillimore transferred to command of HMS Eurotas on 4 May 1813, and was succeeded by John Martin Hanchett. Byng assumed command temporarily on 29 June 1813, vice Hanchett, having been seriously wounded at the Battle of Craney Island, this interim arrangement continued until 31 March 1814. [15]

In June 1814, in company with the Leopard, and Diomede, with troops for Quebec.

On 9 December 1814 she arrived at Falmouth, latterly from the Chesapeake.

Fate

In February 1815, it was reported the Diadem was to be paid off, being in a bad state. [16] In May, work began at Chatham on being refitted as a Unrated Receiving Ship, this was completed in June. [3] As a consequence William Armstrong Usher was appointed as her commanding officer. [17]

Diadem was broken up in September 1832. [2]

Notes

  1. ↑ A first-class share of the prize money awarded in April 1823 was worth £34 2s 4d; a fifth-class share, that of a seaman, was worth 3s 11½d. The amount was small as the total had to be shared between 79 vessels and the entire army contingent. [6]
  2. ↑ He worked with the Spanish guerrillas to successfully harry the French troops and assault French fortresses on the Basque coast while Wellington was advancing through Spain. [8]
  3. ↑ The Diadem Ship Muster shows entries 3790 to 4119 were for reinforcements embarked, of whom 94 marines had come via HMS Puissant, the remainder via HMS Nemesis. [10]

Citations

  1. ↑ "No. 21077". The London Gazette . 15 March 1850. pp. 791–792.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Lavery, Ships of the Line, vol. 1, p. 181.
  3. 1 2 3 "British Third Rate ship of the line 'Diadem' (1782)". Ships. Retrieved 18 March 2013– via Three Decks - the premier web resource for researching naval history during the Age of Sail.
  4. ↑ Sugden 2004, p. 683.
  5. ↑ Naval Chronicle, Vol. 1, p.444.
  6. ↑ "No. 17915". The London Gazette . 3 April 1823. p. 633.
  7. 1 2 Winfield (2008), pp.99-100.
  8. ↑ "Home Riggs Popham" . Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/22541 . Retrieved 11 October 2015.(Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
  9. ↑ O'Byrne 1849), Vol. 1, p.306.
  10. ↑ ADM 37/3345 a.
  11. ↑ HMS Diadem Captain's Log 1810 June 20–7 February 1815 ADM 51/2284.
  12. ↑ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. 8 January 1813. p. 2. Retrieved 4 February 2026– via HathiTrust. Plymouth, arrived from Santander, Spain [on] 4 [January 1813] St Jose, Iris Frigate, Diadam[sic] M W., Latona Frigate
  13. ↑ "No. 16715". The London Gazette . 27 March 1813. p. 627.
  14. ↑ LL 3 November 1812, №4716.
  15. ↑ Marshall (1827), Supplement, Part 3, p.246,
  16. ↑ "Naval Intelligence" . London Courier and Evening Gazette. 2 February 1815. p. 3. Retrieved 23 December 2015– via British Newspaper Archive. Gravesend. The Diadem, Captain Hanchett, being in a bad state, is under orders to be paid off.
  17. ↑ "Shipping Intelligance" . Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser. London. 14 June 1815. p. 3. Retrieved 16 June 2015– via British Newspaper Archive. Naval Promotions - W. A. Usher, Diadem;

References

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