Europa approaching Port Mahon, Minorca, by Anton Schranz | |
History | |
---|---|
Great Britain | |
Name | HMS Europa |
Ordered | 12 January 1778 |
Builder | Woolwich Dockyard |
Laid down | 26 September 1778 |
Launched | 19 April 1783 |
Completed | By 10 September 1783 |
Honours and awards | Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Egypt" [1] |
Fate | Sold for breaking up on 11 August 1814 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | 50-gun Portland-class fourth rate |
Tons burthen | 1,046 91⁄94 (bm) |
Length |
|
Beam | 40 ft 7+1⁄4 in (12.4 m) |
Depth of hold | 17 ft 5+1⁄2 in (5.32 m) |
Propulsion | Sails |
Sail plan | Full-rigged ship |
Complement | 350 |
Armament |
HMS Europa was a 50-gun fourth-rate of the Royal Navy, built by Woolwich Dockyard in 1783. Europa was based out of Jamaica, and ran aground at Montego Bay in 1785, but was not seriously damaged. When reports of the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars reached the British posts in Jamaica, Europa was sent into action along with the entire British squadron based at Jamaica, which consisted of several 12-pounder frigates and a number of smaller vessels, under the command of Commodore John Ford.
In April 1793, when the Royal Navy station in Jamaica received word of the War of the First Coalition, the naval squadron based at Jamaica, under the command of Commodore John Ford, became active. [2] Europa served as a troop transport, and also helped capture French merchant vessels, carrying produce and supplies. On 1 June 1794, Europa assisted HMS Belliqueux, HMS Penelope, and HMS Sceptre in attacking French fortifications during the capture of Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Europa, under the command of James Stephenson, served as a troopship during the British expedition to Egypt in 1801. There she participated in the landing at Aboukir Bay, an overwhelming attack that defeated the French and led to the British capture of Cairo. Because Europa 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, which the Admiralty issued in 1847 to all surviving claimants.
The Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy offered the "Europa, of 50 guns and 1047 tons", lying at Portsmouth, for sale on 11 August 1814. The buyer had to post a bond of £3,000, with two guarantors, that they would break up the vessel within a year of purchase. [3] Europa was sold in 1814. [4]
Admiral James Vashon was a British officer of the Royal Navy. He saw service during the Seven Years' War, the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He was first captain of HMS Dreadnought, between 1801 and 1802. Previously, he had commanded Alert (1781), Europa (1786), and Formidable.
The North America and West Indies Station was a formation or command of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy stationed in North American waters from 1745 to 1956, with main bases at the Imperial fortresses of Bermuda and Halifax, Nova Scotia. The North American Station was separate from the Jamaica Station until 1830 when the two combined to form the North America and West Indies Station. It was briefly abolished in 1907 before being restored in 1915. It was renamed the America and West Indies Station in 1926. It was commanded by Commanders-in-Chief whose titles changed with the changing of the formation's name, eventually by the Commander-in-Chief, America and West Indies Station.
Admiral of the Blue Sir Alexander Inglis Cochrane was a senior Royal Navy commander during the Napoleonic Wars and achieved the rank of admiral.
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.
Peter Puget was an officer in the Royal Navy, best known for his exploration of Puget Sound, which is named for him.
Rear-Admiral Sir Robert Barrie was a British naval officer noted for his service in the War of 1812. He was helped early in his naval career by the patronage of his uncle, Sir Alan Gardner, who arranged for him to take part in the Vancouver Expedition. When the Pacific Coast was explored, he had served as a midshipman with Captain Vancouver in 1791.
HMS Discovery was a Royal Navy ship launched in 1789 and best known as the lead ship in George Vancouver's exploration of the west coast of North America in his famous 1791-1795 expedition. She was converted to a bomb vessel in 1798 and participated in the Battle of Copenhagen. Thereafter she served as a hospital ship and later as a prison hulk until 1831. She was broken up in 1834.
Arthur Fleming Morrell was British officer of the Royal Navy, an explorer, and Commandant of Ascension Island, who saw service spanning the end of the Napoleonic era and well into the Victorian era.
HMS Chatham was a Royal Navy survey brig, built in 1788, that accompanied HMS Discovery on George Vancouver's exploration of the West Coast of North America in his 1791–1795 expedition.
Joseph Baker (1767–1817) was an officer in the Royal Navy, best known for his role in the mapping of the Pacific Northwest Coast of America during the Vancouver Expedition of 1791–1795. Mount Baker is named after him.
Joseph Whidbey FRS was a member of the Royal Navy who served on the Vancouver Expedition 1791–95, and later achieved renown as a naval engineer. He is notable for having been the first European to discover and chart Admiralty Island in the Alexander Archipelago in 1794.
Admiral Alan Gardner, 1st Baron Gardner, was a British Royal Navy officer and peer of the realm. He was regarded by some as one of the Georgian era's most dashing frigate captains and, ultimately, a respected senior admiral.
Volant Vashon Ballard CB was a Rear-Admiral of the Royal Navy. He served as a midshipman with George Vancouver on his voyage to the north-west coast of America.
Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Herbert, KCB, was a British Royal Navy officer. He served in the Napoleonic Wars, War of 1812, and First Anglo-Chinese War. From 1847 to 1849, he was commodore of the South East Coast of America Station. Herbert served as Member of Parliament for Dartmouth as a Conservative from 1852 to 1857.
William Young was an officer of the Royal Navy who saw service during the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He should not be confused with his namesake and near contemporary Vice Admiral William Young.
James Johnstone was a British naval officer and explorer. He is noted for having served as sailing master of the armed tender HMS Chatham and later acting lieutenant during George Vancouver's 1791–1795 expedition to the Pacific Northwest. Johnstone Strait in British Columbia is named after him.
HMS Prince William was a 64-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She had previously been Guipuzcoano, an armed 64-gun ship of the Spanish (Basque) mercantile Guipuzcoan Company of Caracas. She was also known by the religious name of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción.
John Loring was an officer in the Royal Navy who served during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
Rear-Admiral John Bligh CB was an officer in the Royal Navy who served during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
Robert Murray was an officer in the Royal Navy who served during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.