HMS Fox (1780)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Fox.

History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Fox
Ordered	10 December 1778
Builder	George Parsons, Bursledon, Hampshire
Laid down	February 1779
Launched	2 June 1780
Completed	By 27 July 1780
Honours and awards	Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Egypt" [1]
Fate	Broken up in April 1816
General characteristics
Class & type	32-gun Active-class fifth rate frigate
Tons burthen	69685⁄94 bm
Length	126 ft 2+1⁄4 in (38.462 m) (gundeck) 104 ft 1 in (31.72 m) (keel)
Beam	35 ft 5+3⁄4 in (10.814 m)
Depth of hold	12 ft 2 in (3.71 m)
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Crew	250
Armament	Upper deck: 26 × 12-pounder guns QD: 4 × 6-pounder guns + 4 × 24-pounder carronades Fc: 2 × 6-pounder guns + 2 × 24-pounder carronades

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.

Early career

Fox was sent to the Caribbean in late 1781 and in January the following year under Captain Thomas Windsor captured two Spanish frigates. ^[2] In March 1783 under Captain George Stoney captured the Spanish frigate Santa Catalina. ^[3]

Fox was at Plymouth on 20 January 1795 and so shared in the proceeds of the detention of the Dutch naval vessels, East Indiamen, and other merchant vessels that were in port on the outbreak of war between Britain and the Netherlands. ^[4]

In March 1797, near Visakhapatnam, Fox captured the French privateer Modeste, under Jean-Marie Dutertre. ^[5]

Took part in the bloodless Raid on Manila in January 1798.

Given that Fox served in the navy's Egyptian campaign between 8 March and 2 September 1801, her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal that the Admiralty issued in 1847 to all surviving claimants.

Napoleonic Wars

On 12 May 1809, Fox, Commander Henry Hart, brought into Madras, her prize Caravan, Aikin, master. Caravan was the former Cartier, Aikin, master, that the privateer French brig Adèle had captured in October 1807. Caravan had been carrying stones for building forts, arrack, coffee, and several carriages and bandies. ^[6]

War of 1812

From April to June 1812 Fox was at Woolwich Dockyard being refitted as a 16 gun troopship. ^[7]

On 30 March 1813 the 2nd Royal Marine Battalion embarked on the ships HMS Romulus, ^[8] HMS Diomede, ^[9] HMS Nemesis, ^[10] and HMS Fox ^[11] set sail on 7 April, and arrived in Bermuda on 29 May 1813.

In September 1814 Fox was in a squadron, with Bedford as flagship, that carried the advance guard of Major General Keane's army, which was moving to attack New Orleans. ^[12] Under the rules of prize-money, the troopship Fox shared in the proceeds of the capture of the American vessels in the Battle of Lake Borgne on 14 December 1814. ^[a]

The Fox, along with the Dasher, Fairy, Espiegle, Columbia, Barbadoes, Muros, Chanticleer, and Niobe were utilised as troop ships during the Invasion of Guadeloupe (1815) against the Bonapartist Admiral Linois. ^[14] She returned to Portsmouth in October 1815, ^[15] and then was duly sent to Le Havre. ^[16]

Fate

Fox was broken up in April 1816.

Notes

1. '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.' ^[13]

Citations

1. "No. 21077". The London Gazette . 15 March 1850. pp. 791–792.
2. Southey, Thomas (1827). Chronological History of the West Indies: In Three Volumes, Volume 2. Longman. p. 540.
3. Beatson. Naval and Military Memoirs of Great Britain. p. 533.
4. "No. 15407". The London Gazette . 15 September 1801. p. 1145.
5. Demerliac, p. 308, no 2898
6. The Asiatic Annual Register Or a View of the History of Hindustan ..., Volume 11 (June 1809), p.103.
7. Winfield, (2008)
8. HMS Romulus Ship Muster 1812 July–1813 March ADM 37/3650 refers to 1st, 7th and 8th companies and 35 artillerymen.
9. HMS Diomede Ship Muster 1813 January–October ADM 37/4262 shows 5th and 6th Companies boarded on 30 March, having been on HMS Fox.
10. HMS Nemesis Ship Muster shows entries 688 to 780 were for embarked Marines. There is no mention of their unit but 1st Lt Ch Pratt and 1st Lt Harrison are the two Marine officers present.
11. HMS Fox Captain's Log 23 May 1812–17 February 1814 ADM 51/4450.
12. Surtees (2005), p. 324.
13. "No. 17730". The London Gazette . 28 July 1821. p. 1561.
14. Despatch from Durham to Croker dated 15 August 1815 within "No. 17062". The London Gazette . 18 September 1815. p. 1913.
15. "Port News" . Salisbury and Winchester Journal. 9 October 1815. p. 4. Retrieved 29 June 2012– via British Newspaper Archive. Wednesday [4 October 1815] - Arrived the Fox troop-ship, from America
16. "Port News" . Saint James's Chronicle. 14 October 1815. p. 4. Retrieved 27 June 2020– via British Newspaper Archive. Portsmouth, Oct. 12. - Sailed the Fox, Fame, and Thames transports for Havre.

References

• Demerliac, Alain (2003). Nomenclature des navires français (in French). Vol. 1792–1799. Nice: Éditions A.N.C.R.E.
• Hannings, Bud. (2012). The War of 1812: A Complete Chronology with Biographies of 63 General Officers. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN   978-0-7864-6385-5
• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of All Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th Century to the Present (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN   978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC   67375475.
• Surtees, William (2005) [1833]. Twenty-five years in the Rifle Brigade. William Blackwood. OCLC   1191238522 – via Google Books.
• Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN   978-1-86176-246-7.