Service history
She was commissioned in March 1798 under Captain Charles Elphinstone, and deployed to the North Sea. On 6 December 1798 she sailed for the Cape of Good Hope. On 24 March, 1800 a heavy gale hit Cape Town capsizing and sinking USS Essex's launch, the crew was saved with difficulty by her barge. [1] From December 1802 she was commanded by Captain Samuel Mottley, and was the flagship of Rear Admiral Sir James Saumarez from June 1803 for the next three years. In January 1804 she was commanded by Captain Hugh Downman (as Mottley had returned to Britain aboard Leopard), and deployed to the Channel Islands and the North Sea. In April 1806 she was commanded by Commander Joseph Edmonds, and was in Popham's squadron at the Cape of Good Hope, then participated in the River Plate Expedition, once more commanded by Downman, then was paid off in June 1807.
Diomede was refitted at Portsmouth from September to November 1807, having been recommissioned in August 1807 under Captain Philip Dumaresque, who thereafter commanded Victory. In 1808 she was commanded by Captain John Sykes, and was the flagship of Rear Admiral Sir Edmund Nagle at Guernsey. In 1809 she was commanded by Captain Hugh Cook for the next two years. She sailed on 22 April 1809 with a convoy to Saint Helena, and thereafter to the East Indies.
From June to September 1812, she was refitted at Chatham as a 26-gun troopship, and was recommissioned in October 1812 under Captain Charles Fabian. In 1813 she sailed for North America. In 1814 Diomede was commanded by Hugh Pigot until October, and thereafter by Captain George Kippen. The boats and some of the complement of the Diomede participated in the Battle of Lake Borgne in December 1814. In 1821 the survivors of the flotilla shared in the distribution of head-money arising from the capture of the American gun-boats and sundry bales of cotton. [9] [lower-alpha 1] The Diomede returned to England in April 1815 and paid off. On 7 July 1815, Diomede was ordered to become a provisions depot vessel at Sheerness, but upon inspection was found to be too decayed so was broken up in August 1815.
Medal
In 1847 the Admiralty initiated the Naval General Service Medal. The clasps covered a variety of actions, from boat service to single-ship actions, to larger naval engagements, including major fleet actions. The engagement at Lake Borgne was deemed a boat service worthy enough of recognition by a clasp, and appears on the list of clasps for boat service during the War of 1812. The Admiralty issued a clasp (or bar) marked "14 Dec. Boat Service 1814" to surviving combatants who claimed the clasp. [lower-alpha 2] [11] This was the largest Boat Action for which the Naval General Service Medal was granted. In all, 205 survivors claimed it.
HMS Tonnant was an 80-gun ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She had previously been Tonnant of the French Navy and the lead ship of the Tonnant class. The British captured her in August 1793 during the Siege of Toulon but the French recaptured her when the siege was broken in December. Rear-Admiral Horatio Nelson captured her at Aboukir Bay off the coast of Egypt at the Battle of the Nile on 1 August 1798. She was taken into British service as HMS Tonnant. She went on to fight at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, during the Napoleonic Wars.
HMS Fox was a 32-gun Active-class fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 2 June 1780 at Bursledon, Hampshire by George Parsons.
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HMS Royal Oak was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 4 March 1809 at Dudman's yard at Deptford Wharf. Her first commanding officer was Captain Pulteney Malcolm.
HMS Bedford was a Royal Navy 74-gun third rate. This ship of the line was launched on 27 October 1775 at Woolwich.
HMS Ramillies was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 12 July 1785 at Rotherhithe.
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HMS Sophie was an 18-gun Cruizer class brig-sloop of the Royal Navy. She served during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. During the War of 1812 Sophie participated in the economic war against American trade, capturing or destroying numerous small merchant vessels, and in an unsuccessful attack on Fort Bowyer, Alabama. Later, she moved to the East Indies where she served in the First Anglo-Burmese War. The Admiralty sold Sophie in 1825.
HMS Cydnus was one of eight Royal Navy 38-gun Cydnus-class fifth-rates. This frigate was built in 1813 at Blackwall Yard, London, and broken up in 1816.
HMS Santa Dorothea was a Royal Navy 34-gun fifth-rate. This frigate had previously served in the Spanish Navy under the name Santa Dorotea. Built in Spain in 1775, she served during the early years of the French Revolutionary Wars until being captured while sailing as part of a squadron off Cartagena. Taken into British service, she spent the rest of the French Revolutionary and most of the Napoleonic Wars under the white ensign until being broken up in 1814.
Hugh Downman was an officer of the Royal Navy who saw service during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, eventually rising to the rank of admiral.
Perçante was a 20-gun ship-corvette of the French Navy, built at Bayonne and launched in 1795. The British captured her in 1796 and took her into the Royal Navy under the name HMS Jamaica. They rated her as a sixth-rate 26-gun frigate. She served during both the French Revolutionary Wars and part of the Napoleonic Wars, during which she captured some privateers and participated in a boat attack. The Admiralty had her laid up in 1810 and sold her in 1814.
The French frigate Trave was a Pallas-class frigate of the French Navy, launched at Amsterdam in 1812. After the Royal Navy captured her in 1813 in the North Sea, it took her into service as the troopship HMS Trave. She served in the Potomac and her boats participated in the Battle of Lake Borgne during the War of 1812. She was sold on 7 June 1821.
HMS Calliope was a Cherokee-class brig-sloop of the Royal Navy, launched in 1808. She operated primarily in the North Sea where she captured numerous small merchant vessels and one French privateer. She also was present at the battle of Lake Borgne, near New Orleans. She was broken up in 1829.
Royal George was launched in 1803 as a brig for the Revenue Service. The Royal Navy purchased her in 1806 and renamed her HMS Bustard. She served on active duty between 1808 and 1815, distinguishing herself in operations in the Mediterranean. She then sailed to the West Indies. The Royal Navy sold her in 1815 and she became the whaler Royal George. She made three whaling voyages and was lost in 1825 on her fourth.
HMS Demerara was the French privateer Cosmopoli, launched, captured, and purchased in 1806. She spent her entire career in the West Indies. In 1809 she participated in the capture of Martinique. Demerara was sold in 1813.
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HDMS Norge was a Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy ship-of-the-line, built to a design by F. C. H. Hohlenberg. The British Royal Navy seized her in 1807, together with the rest of the Danish fleet after the second battle of Copenhagen. She served off Spain, in the editerranean, and in the North Sea. Then in 181
HMS Dover was a 38-gun troopship, previously the French corvette Bellona, launched at Venice in 1808. She was captured at Lissa in 1811. She served as a troopship and transport until circa 1819. She then became the flagship for the Admiral commanding the Leith station. She was used for harbour service from 1825, and was sold in 1836.
Great Britain