HMS Horatio (1807)

Last updated

Horatio (1807) RMG J3672.jpg
Drawing of Horatio after repair in 1819
History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
NameHMS Horatio
Ordered15 June 1805
BuilderGeorge Parsons, Bursledon, Hampshire
Laid downJuly 1805
Launched23 April 1807
Completed4 August 1807
FateSold to break up 1861 at Charlton
General characteristics
Class and type Lively-class frigate
Tons burthen1,071 51⁄94 tons bm (as designed)
Length154 ft (47 m)
Beam39 ft 5 in (12.01 m)
Draught13 ft 6 in (4.11 m)
PropulsionSail
Sail plan Full-rigged ship
Complement284 (later raised to 300, then in 1813 to 320)
Armament
  • As ordered :
  • UD: 28 × 18-pounder guns
  • QD: 2 × 9-pounder guns + 12 × 32-pounder carronades
  • FC: 2 × 9-pounder guns + 2 × 32-pounder carronades

HMS Horatio was a Royal Navy 38-gun fifth-rate Lively-classfrigate, built out of fir timbers at the yard of George Parsons in Bursledon.

Contents

Construction

It was launched on 23 April 1807 and fitting out was completed at Portsmouth Dockyard by 4 August 1807. [1] [2] Captain George Scott was given charge of the ship in June 1807. [2]

Napoleonic Wars

Horatio was soon deployed to take part in the West Indies Campaign as part of the ongoing Napoleonic Wars.

Capture of Junon

On the morning of 10 February 1809, Horatio along with the sloop HMS Driver came upon the French frigate Junon pursuing a British brig-of-war (HMS Superieure) about 115 mi (185 km) north of Anguilla. [3] Under the command of George Scott, Horatio engaged in battle the 44-gun Junon, commanded by Augustin Rousseau. The French frigate aimed above Horatio's decks, destroying its masts and rigging and causing many injuries, including to Captain Scott, who was incapacitated by a grape-shot blast to the shoulder, and to his first lieutenant, Manley Hall Dixon. [3] Lieutenant George Douglas took over command for the rest of the 95-minute battle, at which point the badly damaged Junon attempted to flee. [3]

At this point the brig Superieure and frigate Latona arrived in the area and joined the battle. [3] After a short exchange of fire with Latona, Junon surrendered. In the engagement seven sailors on Horatio were killed and 26 wounded (17 of them seriously). On Latona there were six minor injuries. Thomas Colville, a seaman on Driver, was also badly injured. [3] Scott described the British loss as "by no means Considerable" in relation to the "dreadful loss of the Enemy" suffered by the 323-man crew of Junon. He counted 130 French sailors killed and wounded, including Rousseau, who died shortly afterwards. [3]

The hull of Horatio suffered only minor damage, but the masts and rigging were essentially destroyed. [3] In contrast, the hull of Junon was "most wonderfully cut up" and took on a great deal of water until the shot holes were patched. [3]

The heroism of the crew of Horatio was recognized in 1847 when the Navy issued as clasp to the Naval General Service Medal inscribed "Horatio 10 Feby. 1809". Thirteen surviving crew members from Horatio received this clasp.

Later action during the Napoleonic Wars

A year later, on 21 February 1810, still apparently under Scott's command, Horatio gave chase to Necessité, followed by an hour's "running action" resulting in the capture of the French ship without injuries on either side. Necessité, which was built as a 40-gun ship but only carried 28 guns at the time, had a crew of 186 men and was carrying a cargo of naval stores and provisions from Brest to Mauritius. [1]

Scott later went on to become captain of HMS Asia, but was forced to resign in 1814 due to pain from the injuries he received during the battle with Junon. [1]

By 1812, Horatio was under the command of Captain Lord George Stuart. On 2 August, boats from the frigate captured two Danish vessels, under the command of Lieutenant Hans Buderhof, and their prize, an American vessel of about 400 tons burthen (bm). The two Danish vessels were schooner No. 114 (with six 6-pounders and 30 men), and cutter No. 97 (with four 6-pounders and 22 men). Nine men from Horatio were killed and 16 wounded, of whom two died later; the Danes lost ten men killed and 13 wounded. [4]

On 8 December 1813 Horatio, under the command of Captain Lord George Stuart, and HMS Amphion captured the island of Showen during the Dutch uprising. The two British ships landed a small joint force of marines and seamen, who met no opposition as the French surrendered first. In addition to prisoners, guns, and arms, the British re-captured a French gunboat and a brig of 14 guns that turned out to be Bustler. [5] Bustler had been serving as station ship at Ziericksee. [6] Tickler was in company with Horatio and Amphion. [7] [lower-alpha 1]

On 19 May 1814, Horatio arrived in Barbados from Bermuda along with a squadron of seven other British warships. [9] On 2 June, it was in Halifax, Nova Scotia, having reportedly arrived from Cork and Newfoundland. [9]

The ship's voyages in the period from 12 August 1814 to 10 January 1816 are known in some detail due to the discovery of the illustrated logbook of midshipman John Smith Gould. [10] [2] During this period Horatio travelled to and painted Funchal, Madeira, the Ascension Islands, St. Helena, the Cape of Good Hope, Madras, Malacca, Singapore, Manilla, Macao, Ansons Bay and Rio de Janeiro. [10] The log contains watercolours of icebergs that Gould called "ice islands" and pre- and post-eruption views of a volcano. [10]

Later service

Drawing of the iron mast step (support) fitted to former frigates Horatio and Eurotas as part of their conversion to steam-powered guard-ships in 1845-46. Eurotas (1829); Horatio (1807) RMG J0474.png
Drawing of the iron mast step (support) fitted to former frigates Horatio and Eurotas as part of their conversion to steam-powered guard-ships in 1845–46.

The ship spent 1816 in the East Indies, with calls at ports in India and China. At the end of 1816, Horatio was ordered home, and paid off at the beginning of 1817. [1] The following year, the ship remained out of commission at Deptford. [1]

Horatio underwent major repairs at Deptford Dockyard between 1817 and 1819, under the direction of the yard's master shipwright, William Stone. Many frames were replaced with new timber or reused timbers taken from other ships.

In late 1845 and early 1846, plans were drawn up to convert Horatio and Eurotas to become steam-powered screw-driven guard ships. [1] Some sources suggest that the actual conversion work was performed at Chatham Dockyard in 1850, with Horatio being the first screw-driven frigate launched from that yard. [10] [11] After its conversion Horatio was posted to Sheerness. [1]

Following the outbreak of the Crimean War in 1854, the navy revived the concept of the bomb vessel. [12] As well as powered and unpowered newly built craft, in 1855 the navy earmarked four old sailing frigates that had recently been converted to screw propulsion to also be fitted with mortars: Horatio and Eurotas, plus the later frigates Seahorse and Forth. [13] However, only the work on Horatio was completed; the other conversions were cancelled. [14]

Fate

After 54 years of service, Horatio was apparently sold for breaking up at Charlton, London in 1861. Other reports give a sale date of 1865. [1]

Notes

  1. ↑ The first-class shares of the prize and head money for Bustler were worth £237 17s 0½d. The sixth-class shares, those of an Ordinary Seaman, were worth £2 1s 2¼d. [8]

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Phillips, Michael. "Horatio (44) 1807". Michael Phillips' Ships of the Old Navy. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 "Maritime Sale on Wednesday 21st October 2009; Lots: 93-121 of 299; Lot 98". Archived from the original on 11 May 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "No. 17065". The London Gazette . 18 April 1809. p. 1979.
  4. ↑ "No. 16637". The London Gazette . 22 August 1812. pp. 1710–1711.
  5. ↑ "No. 16826". The London Gazette . 18 December 1813. pp. 2551–2552.
  6. ↑ Winfield (2008), p. 345.
  7. ↑ "No. 16982". The London Gazette . 7 February 1815. pp. 218–219.
  8. ↑ "No. 16983". The London Gazette . 11 February 1815. p. 239.
  9. 1 2 "(untitled)". Lloyd's List. 4 July 1814.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "1814 voyage charted with sketches and maps in midshipman's logbook". Daily Telegraph. 16 October 2009. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  11. ↑ "The Steam Navy". The Historic Dockyard Chatham. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  12. ↑ Lyon & Winfield. "2". The Sail and Steam Navy List. p. 74.
  13. ↑ Lyon & Winfield. "5". The Sail and Steam Navy List. pp. 22–23.
  14. ↑ Lyon & Winfield. "2". The Sail and Steam Navy List. pp. 75–76.

Related Research Articles

Gunboat War 1807–1814 war between Denmark–Norway and the United Kingdom

The Gunboat War was a naval conflict between Denmark–Norway and the British during the Napoleonic Wars. The war's name is derived from the Danish tactic of employing small gunboats against the materially superior Royal Navy. In Scandinavia it is seen as the later stage of the English Wars, whose commencement is accounted as the First Battle of Copenhagen in 1801.

HMS <i>Ajax</i> (1798) British ship of the line (1801–1807)

HMS Ajax was an Ajax-class 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the British Royal Navy. She was built by John Randall & Co of Rotherhithe and launched on the Thames on 3 March 1798. Ajax participated in the Egyptian operation of 1801, the Battle of Cape Finisterre in 1805 and the Battle of Trafalgar, before she was lost to a disastrous fire in 1807 during the Dardanelles Operation.

HMS <i>Princess Charlotte</i> (1814) Frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Princess Charlotte, later HMS Burlington, was a 42-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy built in 1814, during the War of 1812 at the Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard in Kingston, Ontario. She had originally been built as Vittoria, but was renamed before being launched. She was constructed to a design by George Record, and was built under a private contract by Master shipwright John Goudie. She served on Lake Ontario, having been commissioned at Oswego on 5 May 1814 under Captain William Mulcaster.

Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard

The Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard from 1788 to 1853 in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, at the site of the current Royal Military College of Canada.

HMS <i>Latona</i> (1781) Sailing frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Latona was a 36-gun, fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy that served during the American Revolution, the French Revolutionary Wars, and the Napoleonic Wars. Shortly after her launch in 1781, she participated in the Battle of Dogger Bank against a Dutch squadron in the North Sea. In September 1782, Latona took part in the relief of Gibraltar and was the first ship in the convoy to pass through the Straits, when Richard Howe sent her ahead, to spy on the condition of the Franco-Spanish fleet in Algeciras Bay.

HMS Prince Regent was a 56-gun British warship that served on Lake Ontario during the War of 1812. Prince Regent was built at the Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard in Kingston, Upper Canada and launched on 14 April 1814. Rated as a fourth-rate frigate, Prince Regent took part in the Raid on Fort Oswego in 1814. Following the War of 1812 the frigate was renamed HMS Kingston on 9 December 1814. In 1817, the vessel was placed in reserve following the Rush-Bagot Treaty that demilitarized all the lakes along the United States-Canada border. Discarded in 1832, the vessel found no buyer and sank in Deadman Bay off Kingston after 1832.

HMS <i>Bombay</i> (1805) Frigate of the Royal Navy

HCS Bombay, later HMS Bombay and HMS Ceylon, was a teak-built fifth rate, 38-gun wooden warship built in the Bombay Dockyard for the Honourable East India Company (HEIC) and launched in 1793. The Royal Navy purchased her in 1805 and renamed her HMS Bombay. She served with the Royal Navy under that name until 1 July 1808, when she became HMS Ceylon. She was sold at Malta in 1857 and broken up in 1861.

HMS <i>Amphion</i> (1798) Frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Amphion was a 32-gun fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She served during the Napoleonic Wars.

HMS <i>Garland</i> (1807)

HMS Garland was a 22-gun Royal Navy Laurel-class post ship. She was built by Richard Chapman at Bideford and launched on 5 May 1807. She saw action in the War of 1812 and was sold in 1817.

The Junon was a Gloire class 40-gun frigate of the French Navy. Launched in 1806, she saw service during the Napoleonic Wars, escorting merchant convoys to France's besieged Caribbean colonies. In February 1809 she was captured at sea after a fierce engagement with four Royal Navy vessels.

Action of 10 February 1809 Naval engagement during the French Revolutionary Wars

The action of 10 February 1809 was a minor naval engagement of the Napoleonic Wars, in which a British Royal Navy squadron chased and captured the French frigate Junon in the Caribbean Sea. Junon was on a mission to carry trade goods from the Îles des Saintes near Guadeloupe back to France and was part of a succession of French warships sent during 1808 and the early months of 1809 in an effort to break the British blockade of the French Caribbean, which was destroying the economies and morale of the islands. Having landed supplies, Junon's return cargo was intended to improve the economic situation on Guadeloupe with much needed oceanic trade.

HMS Eurydice was a 24-gun Porcupine-class post ship of the Royal Navy built in 1781 and broken up in 1834. During her long career she saw service in the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. She captured a number of enemy privateers and served in the East and West Indies, the Mediterranean and British and American waters.

HMS <i>Juno</i> (1780) Frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Juno was a Royal Navy 32-gun Amazon-class fifth rate. This frigate served during the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

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 <i>Superieure</i> (1803)

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.

Admiral Sir Hugh Pigot was an officer of the Royal Navy, who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and the War of 1812.

The French brig Observateur, which was launched in 1800 for the French Navy, was a Vigilant-class 16-gun brig, one of six built to a design by Pierre-Alexandre-Laurent Forfait. The Royal Navy captured her in 1806 and took her into service as HMS Observateur. She participated in two actions, one for the French Navy and one for the Royal Navy, and one campaign before she was laid up in 1810. The Navy did not succeed in selling her until 1814.

Serpent was a French navy brig of the Palinure class, launched in 1807 at Paimbeouf (Nantes) as Rivolli, but renamed. HMS Acasta captured her in 1808 in the Caribbean and the British Royal Navy took her into service there as HMS Pert but renamed her Asp. The navy disposed of her in 1814. She then made five voyages as a whaler, and wrecked in December 1828 on her sixth voyage.

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.

Admiral Sir Robert Howe Bromley, 3rd Baronet was a Royal Navy officer of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. After joining the navy in 1791 under the auspices of his relative Captain Henry Curzon, he participated in the Macartney Embassy to China as a midshipman and also spent time serving in the English Channel and Mediterranean Sea. Promoted to lieutenant in 1798, he served in the North Sea Fleet and on the Jamaica Station before returning to the Channel to serve off the Channel Islands in the sloop of war HMS Pelican which was heavily damaged in a storm in late 1800. Soon after this he was promoted to commander and again served in the North Sea, before being promoted to post captain in 1802.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.