Built by William Barnard at Deptford and launched on 4 June 1795, Dryad was commissioned under Captain the Hon. Robert Allaster Cam Forbes (2nd son of Lord Forbes),[2] who had previously been the captain of Southampton at the Glorious First of June. The brand new frigate may have been a reward for his services, but he did not live long to enjoy it; The Edinburgh Magazine reported his death (by drowning) as: "7 Oct, off the coast of Norway, the Honourable Capt. Robert Forbes, commander of his Majesty's ship Dryad".[3][4]
Forbes' successor, Captain Lord Amelius Beauclerk, 3rd son of the Duke of St Albans, took command in December 1795.[2]Dryad was then stationed off the coast of Ireland. On 2 May 1796, while Dryad was under acting Commander John Pullin, she captured the 14-gun cutter Abeille some 16 or 17 leagues off The Lizard.[5]Abeille was three days out of Brest and had not taken anything. The Royal Navy took her into service under her existing name.
Earlier, Dryad had taken a large smuggling cutter, which was carrying a cargo of spirits, and sent her to Plymouth.[5]Diana, Seahorse, Unicorn and the hired armedcutterFox shared in the capture.[6]
On 13 June Dryad captured the French frigate Proserpine after a 45-minute action 12 leagues off Cape Clear Island.[7]William James wrote in his Naval History of Great Britain:
On the 13th of June, at 1 a.m., Cape Clear bearing west by north distant 12 leagues, the British 18-pounder 36-gun frigate Dryad, Captain Lord Amelius Beauclerk, standing close hauled on the starboard tack, with the wind a fresh breeze from northwest by west, discovered a sail in the south-west by west, or right ahead, standing towards her; but which, on nearing the Dryad, hauled her wind, and then tacked. This was the French frigate Proserpine, in search of her consorts, and who, now that she had discovered the ship approaching to be an enemy, was endeavoring to effect her escape.
Chase was immediately given by the Dryad, both ships on a wind upon the starboard tack. At 8 p.m. the Proserpine hoisted her colours; and immediately afterwards the Dryad did the same. The Proserpine then fired her stern-chasers, several of the shot from which went through the Dryad's sails and cut away her rigging. At 9 p.m., having reached her opponent's lee or larboard quarter, the Dryad commenced a close action, and maintained it with so much spirit and effect that, at 9 h. 45 m. p.m., the Proserpine hauled down the French ensign ... Were it not for the slight preponderance occasioned by the Dryad's carronades, the British frigate would have been inferior in guns, as well as in crew and size, to the French frigate. But, as what little the latter wanted in broadside weight of metal was amply made up to her in number of men, the action of the Dryad and Proserpine may be pronounced at least an equal match. Captain Pevrieux appears to have thought otherwise. Hence, the Proserpine fled, and by flying, not only sustained a very serious loss, but was unable to bring guns enough to bear upon her antagonist, to do any more injury to her than a single shot has often inflicted.
Had the French captain, instead of trying to escape, brought his frigate to, he might have manoeuvred her to some advantage, and even, if eventually compelled to yield, would have surrendered without discredit. As it was, after capturing the Proserpine, the Dryad, owing solely to her opponent's forbearance, was able to fight another frigate of the same force; and, could he have secured his prisoners without diminishing his crew, the Dryad's captain would no doubt have rejoiced at such an opportunity. Lord Amelius, in his official letter, speaks highly of his first lieutenant, Mr. Edward Durnford King, and the latter, most deservedly, was promoted to the rank of commander.[8]
Proserpine suffered 30 were killed and 45 wounded out of her complement of 348 men, while Dryad lost two killed and seven wounded.[7] The Royal Navy already had a Proserpine, and so the Admiralty renamed ProserpineAmelia in bringing her into the service. In 1847 the Admiralty issued the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Dryad 13 June 1796" to the five surviving claimants from her crew who had participated in the action.
Dryad and Beauclerk followed this with the capture or destruction of five more French privateers. On 16 October she captured the French privateer Vantour after a six-hour chase. Vautour was armed with seven 4-pounder guns and two 12-pounder carronades. She was of 130 tons burthen, with a crew of 78 men. She had sailed from Morlaiz on 13 October and not taken anything.[9]
The next year, on 19 August 1797, Dryad captured the French privateer Éclair.[10]Éclair was armed with ten 4-pounder and four 8-pounder guns. She had a crew of 108 men and had sailed from L'Orient on 11 August, and had not taken anything.
Then on 9 September Dryad sank the 12-gun French privateer Cornélie. The brig caught fire but because of the state of the seas, Dryad was only able to save some 17 men of her crew of 90 or so men. Cornelie was 16 days out of Nantz and had only captured one ship, a Dane.[11]
On 10 October Doris and Dryad captured the French privateer ship Brune after a chase of 40 leagues. She was armed with 16 guns and had a crew of 180 men. Brune was out of Bordeaux and had taken two British ships: on 17 September the brig Industry, which had been sailing from Newfoundland to Lisbon, and on 9 October the brig Commerce, which had been sailing in ballast from Greenock to Oporto.[12]
Lastly, on 4 February 1798 Dryad captured the 16-gun privateer Mars 20 leagues off Cape Clear. Mars was pierced for 20 guns but carried twelve 12-pounders, two 18-pounders, and two 12-pounder carronades. She also had a crew of 222 men. She was 49 days out of Nantes but had not captured anything.[13]
The Irish Station and Captain Mansfield (1799–1801)
Captain Charles Mansfield, Commanding Officer of HMS Dryad from December 1798 to June 1802
In December 1798 Captain Charles John Moore Mansfield was appointed in command. According to the memoirs of one of his midshipmen, Mansfield's wife and two unruly children were living onboard Dryad at Portsmouth, his wife dressing in her own version of a naval officer's uniform. She was apparently well liked, despite her eccentric dress, since she did not interfere with the ship's business.[14]
On 7 July 1799, Dryad was in company with the 44-gun frigate Révolutionnaire and Diamond when Revolutionaire captured the French privateer Determiné.[15] The same three British ships also captured the French brig Hyppolite.[16]
Dryad sailed for Cork, escorting a convoy. Several of the vessels picked up convicts and political prisoners at Cork for transport to Australia. Dryad escorted Friendship and Minerva well into the Atlantic, but then left them on 14 September. On 19 September 1799, she and Revolutionnaire captured the Cères, a French letter of marque en route from Bordeaux to the Caribbean.[16] Also, at some point Dryad recaptured the British ship Albion.[17]Albion had been sailing from Jamaica with a cargo of rum and sugar when the French privateer Brieve captured her.[18]
The Dryad frigate, Captain MANSFIELD, sailed from Cork on the 4th of December, with the following transports ... it is supposed that these troops are destined to replace the garrison of Minorca, the principle part of which are employed in the reduction of MALTA.
Dryad was based at Cork for several months during 1800, in AdmiralLord Gardner's fleet; Gardner's son Valentine commenced his naval career in Dryad under Mansfield. At the beginning of April 1800, Dryad spent several days assisting Revolutionnaire, which had lost her rudder in a hurricane in the Atlantic. Dryad had lost her fore-yard and the two ships assisted each other towards Cork when an off-shore gale forced them to head for Plymouth. However, another change in the wind meant that they could neither weather the Scilly Isles nor return to Cork and they drifted up the St George's Channel. On 16 April Dryad tried to tow Revolutionnaire off the Waterford rocks, but the cable broke. Fortunately another change of wind enabled Revolutionnaire to avoid the rocks and both ships finally arrived at Milford Haven on 19 April in a "most distressed state".[19]
Capture of Premier Consul and Ulla Fersen
West of Ireland on 5 March 1801 Dryad captured the French privateerPremier Consul of St Malo after a 3-hour chase. Premier Consul was pierced for 24 guns but was armed with fourteen 9-pounders. She had a crew of 150 men. She was 21 days out of Saint Malo and had captured a Portuguese schooner sailing from Lisbon to Ireland.[20]
The Portsmouth Telegraph reported on 16 March 1801:
By a private letter received from Cork, we learn, that the Dryad frigate, Captain Mansfield, has captured and sent into that port, a Swedish frigate, after an action of ten minutes, in which the Swede had 7 killed and 14 wounded.
The Swedish frigate was HSwMSUlla Fersen, of 18 guns. Dryad returned from the Irish Station to Portsmouth on 18 March with both Premier Consul and Ulla Fersen as prizes. The Admiralty took Premier Consul into service as HMS Scout, but she foundered within a year with the loss of her entire crew.[21] The British returned Ulla Fersen to the Swedes after negotiations.
The Peace of Amiens (1802–1803)
After the United Kingdom signed the Treaty of Amiens with the French Republic in March 1802, Mansfield arrived back in Portsmouth on 9 June in Dryad carrying Admiral Lord Gardner and bearing his flag. Captain Robert Williams was appointed to Dryad, joining her almost immediately. Dryad cruised off Portland suppressing smuggling. In February 1803 Williams left to become captain of the third rate 74-gun Russell. War with France broke out again in May 1803.
Napoleonic Wars
On 28 July 1803, Dryad, under Captain John Giffard, recaptured Adventure.[22]
Return to the Irish Station (1804–1808)
Dryad had the honour of returning Admiral Lord Gardner to his command at Cork in 1804. She remained on the Irish Station, but at the end of the year Captain Giffard left the ship due to ill health. His replacement, in January 1805, was Captain (later Admiral Sir) Adam Drummond.[2] On 2 November off FerrolDryad, in company with Boadicea, encountered four French ships-of-the-line under Rear-AdmiralPierre Dumanoir le Pelley that had escaped from the Battle of Trafalgar. Dryad and Boadicea tried to entice the French into the path of a Royal Navy squadron. Although Dryad and Boadicea lost the French ships of the line, a squadron under the command of Sir Richard Strachan had seen the rocket signals the frigates had launched. In the subsequent Battle of Cape Ortegal, the British captured Formidable, Scipion, Duguay-Trouin, and Mont Blanc. Unfortunately, having lost the French squadron, neither Boadicea nor Dryad shared in the benefits that their actions had made possible.
On 13 February 1805, Pallas captured Fortuna. Dryad submitted a claim to share in the prize money.[23] On 22 February, Euryalus captured St Jose and Dryad shared in the prize by agreement with Euryalus.[24]
In October or early November, as Harriot was returning from Port Jackson to London a Spanish privateer captured her, but Dryad recaptured her and sent her into Waterford.[25]
On 15 May 1807, Dryad was under the command of Captain Adam Drummond and in company with Amethyst and Plover. The three vessels were some twenty leagues off Scilly when Amethyst spotted and captured a strange sail. The captured vessel turned out to be the French privateer schooner Josephine. Josephine was armed with four 2-pounder guns and had a crew of 45 men, ten of whom she had put on board Jane, which had been sailing from Lisbon when Josephine captured her. Josephine had sailed from the Ile de Batz on 2 April.[26]
In July 1807 Captain William Price Cumby took pro tempore command of Dryad, and during a three-month cruise on the Irish Station took several valuable prizes. Captain Drummond returned to the ship, and on 22 March 1808 he captured the French privateerRennair (or Rennois). She was pierced for 18 guns but only mounted twelve 6-pounders and two 12-pounder carronades. She had a crew of 95 men, half of whom were Danes. She was a new vessel, 12 days into her first cruise, with provisions and stores for three months. When Rennair was captured she had taken only one prize, a Portuguese schooner carrying a cargo of salt for Cork.[27]
Then on 4 September, Dryad and Virginie captured the Danish brig Inge Berg Maria.[28]
Next, on 18 September 1807, Dryad, in company with Viginie, captured Jomsrue Ellen, Jensin, master. Then on 27 September 1807 Dryad captured Nimrod, H. Nicholayson, master.[29] (The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Netley.) On 22 September, Dryad captured the Danish ship Carl.[30] Four days later Dryad captured Garde Haab.[31]
Lastly, on 15 November 1808, Dryad captured the Unie.[32]
The Walcheren Expedition (1809)
Captain Edward Galwey took command in 1809, and remained captain of Dryad until the end of the Napoleonic Wars. On 28 July Dryad sailed with a large fleet from the Downs. This fleet, and the troops they carried, formed part of the Walcheren Expedition, the aim of which was to demolish the dockyards and arsenals at Antwerp, Terneuzen, and Flushing.
On 11 August Dryad formed part of a squadron of frigates directed to sound and buoy the Sloe Strait in preparation for the attack on Flushing, which fell on 15 August. In forcing the West Scheld, the British ships were under fire from shore batteries for two hours, during which time they suffered two men killed and nine wounded; Dryad had no casualties.[33] Prize money was paid in 1812.[34] The expedition ended in failure, mostly due to malaria decimating the expeditionary force, which withdrew by September.
The Home Station (1809–1814)
Between 1809 and 1814 Dryad served on the Home Station, including the north coast of Spain under the orders of Commodore Sir Robert Mends. On 6 February 1810 she and Eclipse recaptured Dobridge and Hercules.[35]
In late June and early July Dryad was part of a British squadron that destroyed all the French batteries (except for Castro) on the Spanish coast from St. Sebastian (a fortified town in the Basque province of Gipuzkoa at the bottom of the Bay of Biscay) to St. Andero. Landing parties destroyed one hundred heavy guns and essentially denuded that coast of its defences, all without suffering any casualties.[36] On 31 October, Dryad recaptured Americana.[37] The French privateer Charles had captured Americana, Fousica, master, on 26 October as Americana was sailing from Bahia to London. After Dryad recaptured Americana, Americana then arrived at Plymouth on 9 November.[38][a]
The year 1811 was busy. Dryad's list of prizes includes:
On 15 May Dryad and Armide captured the French schooner Hirondelle.[46]
On 26 May 1812, Belle Poule, Abercrombie and Dryad shared in the capture of General Gates. Armide also shared by agreement.[47]
Dryad was employed on less glamorous tasks as well - during August 1812 she conveyed bullocks to the Channel Fleet, a filthy and unpleasant mission. On 23 December 1812 Captain Galway drove a French brig of 22 guns ashore on the Île d'Yeu, which wrecked her.[2][48]Dryad took several hits in her hull and foremast from shots fired by shore batteries but suffered no casualties.
On 6 January 1813, Dryad captured the American schoonerRossie from Baltimore, which arrived in Plymouth on 17 January 1813.[c] Eight ships of the Royal Navy were in sight, as was Chance.[49] Then six days later, Dryad was among the 11 vessels that shared in the recapture of the schooner Industry.[50] The next day, Dryad captured the American ship Porcupine, of 330 tons burthen. Porcupine was armed with four guns and carried a crew of 13 men. She was sailing from New York to Bordeaux with a cargo of cotton and potash.[51] The privateer Chance was again in sight and so again shared in the prize money.
Capture of Clorinde (1814)
Capture of La Clorinde, by Robert Dodd, 1 March 1817, Dryad second left in the picture
While returning from Newfoundland in company with the 16-gun brig-sloopAchates, on 26 February Dryad came across the damaged French frigate Clorinde, which had attempted to escape Eurotas after a hard-fought battle the previous day. Eurotas had twenty men and officers killed and forty wounded; the French estimated their losses at 120 men. Captain John Phillimore of Eurotas was among those listed as severely wounded. Clorinde was under the command of Captain Dennis Legard, mounted forty-four guns and four brass swivel guns in each top, and had had a crew of 360 men.[52]
In his letter of report, Phillimore observed that the approach of Dryad and Achates was "to the great mortification of every one on board",[53] because Eurotas had spent all night setting up a jury-rig, and the Prize Rules meant that all ships in sight shared in the prize money. After a single cannon shot, Clorinde surrendered to Dryad, which towed her into Portsmouth. The Royal Navy took Clorinde into service as Aurora.[d]
Post-war
Dryad was decommissioned on her return with Clorinde, and although in 1816 she was fitted for a voyage to Jamaica, the plan was canceled. She remained out of commission at Sheerness until 1825.
By November 1829 Dryad was recommissioning in Plymouth for foreign service. Captain John Hayes joined her in May 1830 and she sailed for the coast of Africa on 29 September 1830, with Captain Hayes serving as commodore on that station, a station with a well-deserved reputation for killing sailors by disease. Fair Rosamond and Black Joke, both captured ex-slave ships, were tenders to Dryad, and between November 1830 and March 1832, they accounted for 11 out of the 13 slavers the squadron captured. Despite the hardships, the West Africa Squadron carried out a determined effort to stop the slave trade, a task that increasing international co-operation gradually more effective.
Dryad's visits to Ascension Island brought welcome relief to the crew from the torrid climate of West Africa, as well as fresh provisions and time ashore for recreation. It also gave them time to water, refit and paint her. Dryad carried out hydrography, too. In 1832 The Nautical Magazine recorded one such occasion:
On the authority of Commodore Hayes, and Mr. A. Weir, the master of H.M.S. Dryad, we can no longer give credit to the statement of Mr. Fraser, of the ship St. George, in 1830, relating to the existence of a dangerous rock to N.E. of Ascension. By the following it will be seen, that the Dryad and her tender went in search of it; and from the care taken in the observations, as well as the common occurrence of shoals of fish being frequently seen in those latitudes, and the great probability that it would have been discovered before, had such a rock existed, we must conclude that there is no such danger.[58]
On 21 or 22 February 1831 Black Joke captured a slaver with 300 slaves on board. This was probably the Spanish schooner Primeira. At the time Black Joke was acting as a tender to Dryad.[59][e] On 20 April, Black Joke captured the Marinerito.[61][f] On 19 July, Fair Rosamond captured the Spanish slave schooner Potosi.[g] On 10 September Fair Rosamond and Black Joke captured the Spanish slave vessels Regulo and Rapido.[h]
On 15 February 1832, Black Joke captured Spanish schooner Frasquita, alias Centilla. This vessel too yielded bounty money for the slaves on board her.[i]
Dryad's voyage home started in The Gambia on 31 May 1832, and after a short stop in the Azores at the beginning of July, she arrived in Portsmouth on 25 July. On 11 August she sailed for Cork, Ireland, and returned to Portsmouth on 29 August.
Fate
Portsmouth Harbour 1851, the Dryad hulk in the foreground
Dryad was taken out of commission for the last time on 13 September 1832 and she then became a receiving ship at Portsmouth.[2] She was broken up in 1862.
Commanding officers
From
To
Captain
June 1795
7 October 1795
Captain Hon. Robert Forbes, drowned off Norway in command on 7 October 1795
↑ Lloyd's Register described Americana as teak-built, of 283 tons, and from the Brazils. It gave her trade as London-Brazil.[39]
↑ A commissioned officer's share of the salvage money for Nancy was £16 1s5+1⁄2d; an able seaman's share was 16s 10+3⁄4d.[43] For an able seaman this would represent about two weeks' wages.
↑ Prize money was paid in January 1815, with the value of a first-class share, such as would accrue to a captain, being £671 6d; the value of a sixth-class share, i.e., that of an ordinary seaman, was £7 9s5+1⁄4d.[54] A first-class share of the head money was worth £182 12s 9+1⁄4d; a sixth-class share was worth £1 1s 2+1⁄4d.[55] Had Dryad and Achates not arrived, Philmore's first-class share alone would have been worth two to three times as much.
↑ A first-class share, which would have accrued to the captain of Dryad, was worth £369 2s 6d; a sixth-class share was worth £1 3s 6+3⁄4d.[60]
↑ A first-class share was worth £533 8s 9d; a sixth-class share was worth £1 18s 6+3⁄4d.[62]
↑ A first-class share was worth £215 9s 3d; a sixth-class share was worth 15s 6+1⁄2d.[63]
↑ A first-class share was worth £383 8s 1d; a sixth-class share was worth £1 8s 6d.[64] Later it was discovered that nine men had been left off the prize list for the capture of all three vessels and the holders of sixth-class shares were obliged to return 1s 0+3⁄4d for distribution to these men.[65] However, a prize court reinstated a half-bounty for 29 slaves who had died prior to the Regulo's condemnation. A captain's share was £13 10s, a commander's share was £6 5s, and a sixth-class share was 11+1⁄2d.[66]
↑ A first-class share was worth £303 3s 6d; a sixth-class share was worth £1 1s 9+3⁄4d.[65]
↑ A General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire, by John Burke, published by H Colburn and R Bentley, London, 1832, p. 360.
↑ A General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire, by John Burke, published by H Colburn and R Bentley, London, 1832, p. 305.
HMS Galatea was a fifth-rate 32-gun sailing frigate of the British Royal Navy that George Parsons built at Bursledon and launched in 1794. Before she was broken up in 1809 she captured numerous prizes and participated in a number of actions, first in the Channel and off Ireland (1794–1803), and then in the Caribbean (1802–1809), including one that earned her crew the Naval General Service Medal.
HMS Indefatigable was one of the Ardent-class 64-gun third-rate ships-of-the-line designed by Sir Thomas Slade in 1761 for the Royal Navy. She was built as a ship-of-the-line, but most of her active service took place after her conversion to a 44-gun razee frigate. She had a long career under several distinguished commanders, serving throughout the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. She took some 27 prizes, alone or in company, and the Admiralty authorised the issue of four clasps to the Naval General Service Medal in 1847 to any surviving members of her crews from the respective actions. She was broken up in 1816.
HMS Astraea was a 32-gun fifth rate Active-class frigate of the Royal Navy. Fabian at E. Cowes launched her in 1781, and she saw action in the American War of Independence as well as during the Napoleonic Wars. She is best known for her capture of the larger French frigate Gloire in a battle on 10 April 1795, while under the command of Captain Lord Henry Paulet. She was wrecked on 23 March 1808 off the coast of Anegada in the British Virgin Islands.
HMS Boadicea was a frigate of the Royal Navy. She served in the Channel and in the East Indies during which service she captured many prizes. She participated in one action for which the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal. She was broken up in 1858.
Révolutionnaire, was a 40-gun Seine-class frigate of the French Navy, launched in May 1794. The British captured her in October 1794 and she went on to serve with the Royal Navy until she was broken up in 1822. During this service Revolutionnaire took part in numerous actions, including three for which the Admiralty would in 1847 award clasps to the Naval General Service Medal, and captured several privateers and merchant vessels.
Proserpine was a 38-gun Hébé-class frigate of the French Navy launched in 1785 that HMS Dryad captured on 13 June 1796. The Admiralty commissioned Proserpine into the Royal Navy as the fifth rate, HMS Amelia. She spent 20 years in the Royal Navy, participating in numerous actions in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, capturing a number of prizes, and serving on anti-smuggling and anti-slavery patrols. Her most notable action was her intense and bloody, but inconclusive, fight in 1813 with the French frigate Aréthuse. Amelia was broken up in December 1816.
Franchise was launched in 1798 as a 40-gun Coquille-class frigate of the French Navy. The British captured her in 1803 and took her into the Royal Navy under her existing name. In the war on commerce during the Napoleonic Wars she was more protector than prize-taker, capturing many small privateers but few commercial prizes. She was also at the battle of Copenhagen. She was broken up in 1815.
HMS Acasta was a 40-gun Royal Navy fifth-rate frigate. She saw service in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, as well as the War of 1812. Although she never took part in any notable single-ship actions nor saw action in a major battle though she was at the Battle of San Domingo, she captured numerous prizes and rid the seas of many Spanish, French, and American privateers. She was finally broken up in 1821.
HMS Cerberus was a 32-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She served in the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars in the Channel, the Mediterranean, the Adriatic, and even briefly in the Baltic against the Russians. She participated in one boat action that won for her crew a clasp to the Naval General Service Medal (NGSM). She also captured many privateers and merchant vessels. Her biggest battle was the Battle of Lissa, which won for her crew another clasp to the NGSM. She was sold in 1814.
HMS Belle Poule was a Royal Navy fifth-rate frigate, formerly Belle Poule, a Virginie-class frigate of the French Navy that had been built by the Crucy family's shipyard at Basse-Indre to a design by Jacques-Noël Sané. She was launched on 17 April 1802, and saw active service in the East. In 1806 a British squadron under Sir John Borlase Warren captured her off La Palma in the Canary Islands. The Admiralty commissioned her into the Royal Navy as HMS Belle Poule. She was sold in 1816.
HMS Niemen was a Royal Navy 38-gun fifth-rate frigate. She began her career as the Niémen, a 44-gun French Navy Armide-class frigate, designed by Pierre Rolland. She was only in French service for a few months when in 1809 she encountered some British frigates. The British captured her and she continued in British service as Niemen. In British service she cruised in the Atlantic and North American waters, taking numerous small American prizes, some privateers but mostly merchantmen. She was broken up in 1815, at the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812.
HMS Amethyst was a Royal Navy 36-gun Penelope-class fifth-rate frigate, launched in 1799 at Deptford. Amethyst served in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, capturing several prizes. She also participated in two boat actions and two ship actions that won her crew clasps to the Naval General Service Medal. She was broken up in 1811 after suffering severe damage in a storm.
HMS Unicorn 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.
HMS Druid was a 32-gun Hermione-class fifth-rate frigate of the British Royal Navy, launched in 1783 at Bristol. She served in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, capturing numerous small prizes. One of her commanders, Captain Philip Broke, described Druid as a "point of honour ship", i.e., a ship too large to run but too small to fight. He and his biographer's view was that it was a disgrace to use a ship like her as a warship. She was broken up in 1813, after a thirty-year career.
HMS Lark was a 16-gun ship sloop of the Cormorant class, launched in 1794 at Northfleet. She served primarily in the Caribbean, where she took a number of prizes, some after quite intensive action. Lark foundered off San Domingo in August 1809, with the loss of her captain and almost all her crew.
HMS Cambrian was a Royal Navy 40-gun fifth-rate frigate. She was built and launched at Bursledon in 1797 and served in the English Channel, off North America, and in the Mediterranean. She was briefly flagship of both Admiral Mark Milbanke and Vice-Admiral Sir Andrew Mitchell during her career, and was present at the Battle of Navarino. Cambrian was wrecked off the coast of Grabusa in 1828.
HMS Superieure was the French privateer Supérieure, which was built in 1801 in Baltimore, Maryland, and which the British captured in 1803 in the West Indies, and took into the Royal Navy. She spent most of her career on the Jamaica and Leeward Islands stations, where she captured numerous privateers. She participated in several notable single-ship actions, including one in which she harassed a frigate, and two campaigns that would, in 1847, earn her surviving crew members the Naval General Service Medal (NGSM). She was laid-up in Britain in 1810 and sold in 1814.
The Atlantic raid of June 1796 was a short campaign containing three connected minor naval engagements fought in the Western Approaches comprising Royal Navy efforts to eliminate a squadron of French frigates operating against British commerce during the French Revolutionary Wars. Although Royal Navy dominance in the Western Atlantic had been established, French commerce raiders operating on short cruises were having a damaging effect on British trade, and British frigate squadrons regularly patrolled from Cork in search of the raiders. One such squadron comprised the 36-gun frigates HMS Unicorn and HMS Santa Margarita, patrolling in the vicinity of the Scilly Isles, which encountered a French squadron comprising the frigates Tribune and Tamise and the corvette Légėre.
HMS Elizabeth was a French privateer schooner that the Royal Navy captured in 1805 and took into service under her existing name. She participated in an engagement and a campaign that earned her crews clasps to the Naval General Service Medal. She was lost with all hands in 1814 when she capsized in the West Indies.
Proserpine was launched at Amsterdam in 1801 as a 32-gun frigate. The Royal Navy captured her in May 1804 at the capture of Surinam and took her into service as HMS Amsterdam. She sailed to England where she became a guard and storeship at Cork. She was sold in 1815.
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