Late in 1792, when the British began re-arming in anticipation of another war with France, Latona underwent a refit and was recommissioned for the Channel Fleet. On 18 November 1793, she spotted, chased and engaged a squadron of six ships-of-the-line and some smaller vessels. She was unable to detain the enemy ships for long and they escaped before the rest of the British fleet could catch up. Still with Howe's fleet in May 1794, Latona and her compatriots were waiting for a large grain convoy bound for France from the United States. The British eventually found what they were looking for off Ushant on 28 May, and began a running battle which ended three days later on the Glorious First of June. Latona escaped serious damage despite being actively involved in the battle, coming to the assistance of the ship-of-the-lineHMSBellerophon and firing on two French 74s before towing her to safety.
Latona operated with a British squadron in the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland during August 1799, and was present at the Vlieter Incident, when a Dutch squadron surrendered without resistance. She subsequently served in the Baltic before being decommissioned and laid up in ordinary, shortly after the Treaty of Amiens. Hostilities resumed in May 1803, but Latona was not brought back into service until the end of 1804. In April 1806, she was sent to the West Indies and was part of a small squadron of four frigates that captured Curaçao, on 1 January 1807. Sailing into the harbour second, behind HMSArethusa, she helped the British frigate capture the 36-gun Kenau Hasselar before putting men ashore to storm the town and its defences.
When the 40-gun Junon escaped a blockade of the Îles des Saintes in February 1809, she was pursued by Latona, a second frigate and two brigs. As the French frigate engaged the 14-gun HMSSuperieure, Latona caught up and forced her to strike. A French expedition to the Caribbean under Amable Troude in April also found itself trapped when it stopped at the Îles des Saintes. When the islands were captured by a force under Major-GeneralFrederick Maitland, the French squadron was forced to flee. Latona, the ship-of-the-line HMSPompee and the frigate HMSCastor went after the 74-gun D'Hautpoul which struck two days later, when more British ships appeared on the horizon. Latona was converted to a troopship in May 1810 then hulked in 1813. In October that year, she began service as a receiving ship at Leith, then in December, she was recommissioned as a warship and used as the flagship of Admiral Sir William Johnstone Hope. She was sold in 1816.
Design
Latona was a 36-gun frigate designed by the senior surveyor John Williams and ordered on 22 March 1779. Her keel, of 116feet 10inches (35.6m) was laid down at Limehouse in November 1782 by the shipwright company, Greaves and Purnell. When finished, she was 141feet 3inches (43.1m) along the gun deck, had a beam of 38feet 11+3⁄4inches (11.9m) and a depth in the hold of 13feet 6inches (4.1m). She was 94420⁄94tons burthen and drew between 10ft 1+1⁄2in (3.086m) and 13ft 11+1⁄2in (4.255m).[2]
The frigate was initially designed to carry a main battery of twenty-eight 18-pounder (8.2kg) guns, with a secondary armament of ten 6-pounder (2.7kg) guns on the upperworks. On 30 September the armament was increased by the addition of ten 18-pounder carronades, although only eight were fitted, and fourteen 1⁄2-pounder (0.23kg)swivel guns. Then on 25 April 1780, it was decided to upgrade the six-pound long guns with 9 pounders (4.1kg).[2]
In this era it was common for each surveyor to produce independent designs for new ship types, and this design was a counterpoint to Edward Hunt's HMSMinerva; together the two draughts represent the prototype of the thirty-eight gun, 18-pounder armed frigate.[2]
Latona was commissioned in March 1781, and in the August following, she participated in the Battle of Dogger Bank under the command of CaptainHyde Parker.[2] His father, Vice-AdmiralSir Hyde Parker, 5th Baronet, commanded the fleet at the battle. Great Britain had declared war on the Dutch Republic in December 1780, following the latter's refusal to cease trading with emerging United States. Since then, the British had been blockading the Dutch coast while protecting its own merchant shipping. Latona was one of the escorts accompanying a convoy of ships from the Baltic on 5 August.[3] At 04:00, a Dutch fleet was seen. Admiral Hyde Parker immediately dispatched his convoy toward the English coast, and ordered a general chase.[4] The Dutch admiral, Johan Zoutman, chose to keep his convoy under his lee. After a bloody battle with casualties high on both sides, the Dutch returned to Texel, whence they came.[5]
Relief of Gibraltar by Earl Howe, 11 October 1782, by Richard Paton
After November 1781, Latona was in the English Channel under Lord Hugh Conway, and on 25 April 1782 she captured a privateer, Bernardin.[2]Latona was part of Richard Howe's fleet in the summer of 1782 and took part in the relief of Gibraltar in September.[6] The supply ships left England on 11 September, escorted by Howe's 34 ships-of-the-line. While rounding Cape St Vincent, on 8 October, Latona was dispatched to report on the condition of the Franco-Spanish fleet in the bay of Algeciras. It was known that this force of about 48 ships-of-the-line was poised to attack Gibraltar and, even if no attack was forthcoming, would pose a significant obstacle to Howe's relief mission.[6] She returned two days later with news that an attack had already taken place and had been beaten off.[7] The convoy entered the straits, and successfully delivered the vital supplies, food, and ammunition to the besieged, between 16 and 18 October. The large combined French and Spanish fleet, which had been blown off station, appeared on 19 October but was lured away by Howe's fleet the following day.[8] The faster British ships, never intending to give battle, were easily able to withdraw after a short engagement.[9]
Latonapaid off in April 1783 but was recommissioned the following month under Thomas Boston and, in November, she sailed for the Leeward Islands. Command passed successively to Charles Sandys in May 1784 then LieutenantVelters Cornewall Berkeley in March 1786. The latter held the position until the ship paid off once again, in October.[2]Latona was laid up for some time before, in November 1788, work began at Woolwich to make her ready for sea once more. £15,978.0.0d was spent on extensive repairs and a refit. She was recommissioned in May 1790 by Albemarle Bertie but by the end of the year, she had been removed from service.[2]
Late in 1792, anticipating that it would soon be forced to enter the war in Europe, Britain began military preparations.[10] In December, Latona was recommissioned under Edward Thornbrough and following a £12,644.0.0d refit, began service in The Channel in January 1793. She captured a French privateer, Amerique, in March and two more in May; Franklin and Ambitieux of ten guns apiece.[2]
French Revolutionary Wars
In July 1793, Latona was attached to Richard Howe's Channel fleet.[11] Howe's 22 ships-of-the-line and accompanying frigates were returning from a cruise in the Bay of Biscay on 18 November, when Latona signalled the presence of enemy ships in Cancale Bay. They turned out to be a French squadron of six ships-of-the-line, two frigates and two smaller craft out of Brest.[12] Mistaking the British for a convoy they were expecting, the French ships began to sail towards their foe but soon realised their error and fled. Using his frigates to keep the enemy in sight, Howe set off in pursuit, but only Latona got close enough to engage. Coming up on the rearmost ships in the afternoon, she was eventually driven off when two French ships-of-the-line joined the action. In an attempt to catch up, some off the British ships were carrying too much sail; causing their topmasts to break. The chase was therefore abandoned. Although the French squadron was seen again on 19 November, bad weather prevented Howe staying in touch and the French were soon lost from sight.[13] A few days later, on 27 November, Latona was in a squadron under the command of Captain Thomas Pasley of the 74-gun HMSBellerophon, which captured the 28-gun privateer, Blonde off Ushant.[14][lower-alpha 1]
HMS Defence at the Battle of the Glorious 1st June 1794 by Nicholas Pocock
Still with the Channel fleet in May 1794, Latona and her compatriots were waiting for a large grain convoy bound for France from the United States.[19] Howe's fleet arrived off Ushant on 5 May and the frigates Latona and Phaeton were tasked with circumnavigating the island and looking in the Brest roads for the French fleet. When they returned to report the French were still in port, Howe set off to try and intercept the convoy before it could gain the protection of the Brest fleet. After almost two weeks spent searching the shipping lanes and finding nothing, the British fleet returned and on 19 May, Phaeton and Latona were again dispatched to monitor the roads.[20]
After finding the anchorage empty, the two frigates stopped an American vessel and learnt from the crew that the French fleet had sailed three days earlier. On the same day (19 May), the frigate HMSVenus joined Howes' fleet with news that a British squadron, under George Montagu, desperately needed reinforcements.[21] The next day, after Latona and Phaeton's return, Howes' fleet set off to rendezvous with Montagu and on the morning of 21 May, encountered a former Dutch convoy, taken by the French two days previous. Howe's ships managed to recapture about half, but unable to spare the men, Howe had his prizes burned. Realising now that the French fleet was nearby and that Montagu was safe, Howe abandoned his previous plan and set off in pursuit.[22]
The British found their quarry on 28 May, some 400 nautical miles (700km) west of Ushant, and engaged in a running battle, culminating on 1 June 1794.[23] And, although seven French ships were captured or sunk without the British losing any, the vital grain convoy arrived in France without significant loss.[24] The killed and wounded among the British fleet amounted to 2,048. Casualties from the six French prizes alone were upwards of 1,200 and it is estimated that among the French fleet, 7,000 men were killed, wounded or taken prisoner.[24]Latona did not lose any of her crew despite being actively involved in the battle when, at 08:45 she came to the assistance of Bellerophon, firing on two French 74s before towing her to safety.[25]
There was a change of command and duty for Latona in September, when under Arthur Legge, she was part of a royal escort for Princess Caroline of Brunswick.[2]
Then a few days later, on 3 December, Latona captured the French brig Intrepide40 leagues (190km) west-north-west of Lisbon. She was pierced for 18 guns but carried twelve 6-pounders, an 18-pounder carronade, and a brass 12-pounder gun. During the chase she threw all her guns overboard except for the 12-pounder and one 6-pounder, both of which she used as stern chasers, firing, but without effect, until Latona was almost alongside. She had a crew of 83 men aboard, under the command of M. Jean Candeau. On her cruise she had captured only one vessel, a galliot belonging to Bremen, which had been sailing from Faro to Liverpool with a cargo of fruit.[26]
John Bligh assumed command in May 1797 when Latona served as flagship to Admiral William Waldegrave. At the end of the month, she set sail for Newfoundland, where the Admiral was to serve as the newly appointed governor. In November Frank Sotheron became Latona's captain and on 29 November was off Portugal when she captured the French Bordeaux-based privateer schoonerAigle about 107 leagues (520km) north by west from Lisbon. Aigle had sailed from near Bayonne, on 6 November, but had captured nothing. She was pierced for 14 guns but carried only 12 small carriage guns, and had a crew of 62 men under the command of Francis Harimendy.[26]Latona returned to England in February 1798 but was brought back to the West Indies in April and remained on that station for much of the remaining year. Sometime in late 1778 she fired a broadside into American merchantman "Aurora", her captain later claim the broadside wasn't ordered.[27] In December, she was back home once more.[2]
War of the Second Coalition
Surrender of the Dutch squadron on 30 August in the Vlieter, by Robert Dodd.
Between 8 March 1799 and 12 May, Latona captured many small Dutch vessels.[28][lower-alpha 2]Latona operated with a British squadron in the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland during August 1799 which resulted in the surrender of a Dutch squadron in the Vlieter roads.[29] A combined fleet under Admiral Lord Duncan, comprising eight ships-of-the-line, three fourth rates and six frigates, one of which was Latona, arrived off Texel on 22 August. With it, were more than 230 other craft, carrying supplies and 27,000 troops.[30] After failing to persuade the Dutch to hand over their ships, the troops were landed near Helder on the morning of 27 August. After an engagement with a Franco-Dutch force, the city was captured. At the same time, a single British frigate, HMSCirce, entered the Nieuwe Diep and captured the ships there which were laid up in ordinary. Among them were 13 warships carrying a total of 510 guns, and of these, four small frigates and a 44-gun vessel were added to the Royal Navy.[29] Two days later, a British squadron under Vice-Admiral Andrew Mitchell entered the Vlieter roads where a Dutch squadron under Vice-Admiral Samuel Story was anchored. Latona and two other frigates grounded in the narrow channel, but all managed to get off and join their compatriots in line opposite the Dutch, who accepted an offer to surrender and handed over their ships.[31]
Latona was operating on the Lisbon station towards the end of the year, where she captured two privateers: the 12-gun Aigle on 29 November, and the 14-gun Intrepide on 3 December.[32] In 1800, she was reassigned to the North Sea where in April, off Flamborough, she took the 14-gun privateer Virginie. Following a spell in the Baltic Sea, early in 1801, Latona was at Deptford in October before joining the Channel Fleet in 1802. This was another short-lived appointment: Latona returned to the Baltic and was stationed off St Petersburg from August to October. She then sailed back to England and paid off.[33]
Napoleonic Wars
Having been laid up in ordinary since October 1802, Latona required substantial repair before returning to service. The work was undertaken at Deptford between April and October 1804; after which she was taken into the Channel, by Thomas Le Marchant Gosselin, who had taken command in August.[33]Latona captured the Spanish ketch Amphion, armed with 12 guns and 70 men, at sea on 22 October 1805.
In April 1806, Latona was under Captain James Wood, and in June, she had her carronades upgraded to 32 pounders (15kg). She was then sent to Jamaica where, later in the year, she was part of a small squadron sent by James Dacres, to ascertain the willingness of the population of Curaçao to enter into an alliance.[34][33]Latona with the razeeHMSAnson and the frigate HMSArethusa, left Port Royal on 29 November with orders to enlist the 38-gun HMSFisgard, then somewhere at sea. The three vessels, under the command of Charles Brisbane in Arethusa, arrived in Aruba on 22 December, having been held back by unfavourable winds and tides, and were joined the following day by Fisgard.[35]
The expedition left on 24 December and arrived off Curaçao on 1 January 1807. The island was heavily defended by a chain of fortifications along the high ground, that also overlooked the harbour. Fort Amsterdam, had 60 guns guarding the entrance, and inside, the guns of a second large fort, Fort Republick, covered the entire anchorage. With such a small force at his disposal, Brisbane thought a peaceful solution unlikely and, in order that he might begin negotiations from a position of strength, sailed his ships straight into the harbour.[35]
Arethusa led under a flag of truce, which the Dutch ignored, Latona second, followed by Anson and Fisgard, the latter grounding after a shift of wind. At 06:15, the British still coming under heavy fire, the flag of truce was taken down and an action started on the ships in the harbour. Arethusa fired three broadsides into the 36-gun frigate, Kenau Hasselar, before Brisbane led a boarding party. Shortly after, Latona drew alongside and the Dutch ship was taken. In the meantime, men from Anson boarded and captured the 22-gun Suriname.[36] Two schooners were also seized in the battle.[37]
Sailors from all four British frigates went ashore at 07:30, storming Fort Amsterdam, which was successfully overcome in about ten minutes, before taking the town and its citadel. After which, at 09:30, they returned to their ships and, after half an hour, had pounded Fort Republik into submission. By noon, the whole island had capitulated.[36]Latona lost one man killed and two wounded; in all, the British lost three killed and 14 wounded. The Dutch lost nearly 200 men. On the ships alone, six men were killed, including Commandant Cornelius J. Evertz, who commanded the Dutch naval force in Curaçao and seven wounded, of whom one died later.[37][36]Latona's captain, Wood, was knighted for his part in the action, as was Brisbane. The Patriotic Fund gave each of the four captains a gold medal and a gift; Wood received a vase valued at £105.0.0d. Several promotions were given to the lesser officers and in 1849, the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Curacoa 1 Jany. 1807" to surviving claimants.[38][36][39][lower-alpha 3]
Under the command of Hugh Pigot, Latona was at the action of 10 February 1809, where she was involved in the capture of the French 40-gun frigate Junon.[42] On 7 February, Junon escaped from a British blockade of the Îles des Saintes. She was seen and chased by two small brigs, one of which soon fell behind but the other, HMSSuperieure of 14-guns, kept her in sight and was joined on the 9th by Latona; the crew of which had been alerted by the sound of gunfire. The next day, Junon was still some way ahead of her pursuers when two more British ships, the 38-gun HMSHoratio and the 18-gun HMSDriver, appeared and caused her to alter her course.[43] Seeing Latona steering to cut her off, Junon turned back towards Horatio, passing her on the opposite tack and exchanging fire. A short engagement followed in which both frigates were greatly damaged but Junon, less so in the sails and rigging, was able to leave Horatio behind. She was then attacked by Superiere until Latona caught up and opened fire. Junon's main and mizzen mast fell and she struck.[44]
In April 1809, a French squadron under Amable Troude, comprising three 74s and two armed-storeships, arrived at the Îles des Saintes. There they were blockaded until 14 April, when a British force under Major-GeneralFrederick Maitland and Captain Philip Beaver in Acasta, invaded and captured the islands.[45]Latona was among the naval vessels that shared in the proceeds of the capture of the islands.[lower-alpha 4] The French squadron was obliged to quit its position, after the British established a battery on the mountain overlooking the anchorage.[47][48] Despite leaving under cover of darkness, Troude's ships were noticed by the 18-gun HMSHazard, which immediately alerted the rest of the blockading force.[48] At 22:00, two hours later, two British vessels, HMSPompee of 74 guns and the 18-gun Recruit, came close enough to open fire on D'Hautpoul, the rearmost French ship. Soon after, HMSNeptune joined the attack but none of the shots, all fired from distance, did any damage and the French began to draw away.[49] Only Recruit stayed in touch, harrying her quarry throughout the night and following day until Pompee rejoined the action on the evening of the 15th and caused the three French 74s to scatter. Pompee continued her pursuit of D'Hautpoul and was joined by Latona and the 32-gun HMSCastor the next day. On 17 April, further British ships appeared and at 17:15 D'Hautpoul struck. The other two French 74s managed to escape to Cherbourg, having been chased by Recruit and Neptune when the squadron dispersed on 15 April.[49]
D'Hautpoul was taken into the Royal Navy as HMS Abercromby. The French had had 80–90 men killed or wounded during the action, the British had 10 killed and 35 wounded. The majority of the British casualties occurred on Pompee.[49] The two French storeships, Furieuse and Félicité, left the Îles des Saintes on 15 April, the day after Troude's line-of-battle ships. They made it to Gaudeloupe unmolested but when they left on 14 June, they were pursued by Latona and the 16-gun sloop, HMSCherub. Félicité succumbed to Latona after a four-day chase; Furieuse managed to out-sail Cherub but was eventually taken by Bonne Citoyenne on 6 July.[49][50]
Later service and fate
In May 1810, work began at Woolwich to convert Latona to a troopship. The alterations took until July, during which time she had her armament reduced to a main battery of fourteen 9-pounder (4.1kg) guns, with two 6 pounders (2.7kg) on the forecastle, and six 18-pounder (8.2kg) carronades on the quarterdeck. She served in this capacity until 1813, first under Charles Sotheby on the Lisbon station, then from April 1812, under Edward Rodney.[51] She was then placed in ordinary at Sheerness. In July 1813, she was briefly recommissioned by Mathew Buckle, and re-established with an armament of sixteen 24-pounder (11kg) carronades, before being fitted as a receiving ship for service at Leith. In December 1813, Latona was recommissioned as a warship by Andrew Smith, as the flagship of Admiral Sir William Johnstone Hope; an appointment she held until she was sold in May 1816 for £2,550.0.0d[51]
Notes
↑ At the time of her capture Blonde was armed with 28 guns and had a crew of 210 men under the command of Citizen Gueria.[15] A subsequent prize-money notice listed the vessels that shared in the proceeds as Bellerophon, Vanguard, Phoenix, Latona, and Phaeton.[16] Some sources, such as; Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours by Jean-Michel Roche, the British Warships in the Age of Sail series by Rif Winfield and La Marine de Louis XVI: Nomenclature des Navires Français de 1774 À 1792 by Alain Demerliac, attribute the capture of Blonde to Latona and Phaeton alone.[17][18][2]
↑ Prize money was paid in November 1811. A first-class share was worth £7 7s 8d; a fifth-class share, that of a seaman, was worth 5d.[28]
↑ On 3 December 1808, the London Gazette reported a disputed claim for prize money from a fifth vessel, Morne Fortunee. Neither the original reports nor the accounts of William James and William Laird Clowes acknowledge this ship as being at the capture of Curaçao.[37][40] By 1849, when the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal, Morne Fortunee was listed together with the four frigates.[39] 65 medals were given out.
↑ The prize agent for a number of the vessels involved, Henry Abbott, went bankrupt. In May 1835 there was a final payment of a dividend from his estate. A first-class share was worth 10s 2+3⁄4d; a sixth-class share, that of an ordinary seaman, was worth 1d. Seventh-class (landsmen) and eighth-class (boys) shares were fractions of a penny, too small to pay.[46]
Courageux was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, launched in 1753. She was captured by the Royal Navy in 1761 and taken into service as HMS Courageux. In 1778 she joined the Channel Fleet, and she was later part of the squadron commanded by Commodore Charles Fielding that controversially captured a Dutch convoy on 31 December 1779, in what became known as the Affair of Fielding and Bylandt. On 4 January 1781, Courageux recaptured Minerva in a close-range action west of Ushant that lasted more than an hour. That April, Courageux joined the convoy under George Darby which successfully relieved the Great Siege of Gibraltar.
HMS Brunswick was a 74-gun third rate ship-of-the-line of the Royal Navy, launched on 30 April 1790 at Deptford. She was first commissioned in the following month under Sir Hyde Parker for the Spanish Armament but was not called into action. When the Russian Armament was resolved without conflict in August 1791, Brunswick took up service as a guardship in Portsmouth Harbour. She joined Richard Howe's Channel Fleet at the outbreak of the French Revolutionary War and was present at the battle on Glorious First of June where she fought a hard action against the French 74-gun Vengeur du Peuple. Brunswick was in a small squadron under William Cornwallis that encountered a large French fleet in June 1795. The British ships successfully retreated into the Atlantic through a combination of good seamanship, good fortune and deceiving the enemy.
Fénix was an 80-gun ship of the line (navio) of the Spanish Navy, built by Pedro de Torres at Havana in accordance with the system laid down by Antonio Gaztaneta launched in 1749. In 1759, she was sent to bring the new king, Carlos III, from Naples to Barcelona. When Spain entered the American Revolutionary War in June 1779, Fénix set sail for the English Channel where she was to join a Franco-Spanish fleet of more than 60 ships of the line under Lieutenant General Luis de Córdova y Córdova. The Armada of 1779 was an invasion force of 40,000 troops with orders to capture the British naval base at Portsmouth.
HMS Phoenix was a 36-gun Perseverance-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The shipbuilder George Parsons built her at Bursledon and launched her on 15 July 1783. She served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and was instrumental in the events leading up to the battle of Trafalgar. Phoenix was involved in several single-ship actions, the most notable occurring on 10 August 1805 when she captured the French frigate Didon, which was more heavily armed than her. She was wrecked, without loss of life, off Smyrna in 1816.
Pomone was a 40-gun frigate of the French Navy, launched in 1785. The British captured her off the Île de Batz in April 1794 and incorporated her into the Royal Navy. Pomone subsequently had a relatively brief but active career in the British Navy off the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts of France before suffering sufficient damage from hitting a rock. Due to this, the ship was taken out of service and then broken up in 1803.
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.
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 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.
Roquebert's expedition to the Caribbean was an unsuccessful operation by a French naval squadron to transport supplies to Guadeloupe in December 1809 at the height of the Napoleonic Wars. Over the previous year, British Royal Navy squadrons had isolated and defeated the French Caribbean colonies one by one, until by the autumn Guadeloupe was the only colony remaining in French hands. Cut off from the rest of the world by British blockade squadrons that intercepted all ships coming to or from the island, Guadeloupe was in a desperate situation, facing economic collapse, food shortages and social upheaval, as well as the impending threat of British invasion. In an effort to reinforce and resupply the colony, the French government sent four vessels to the West Indies in November 1809 under Commodore François Roquebert. Two of the ships were 20-gun flûtes carrying supplies and troops. The two others were 40-gun frigates, ordered to protect the storeships on their journey from the British forces operating off both the French and Guadeloupe coasts.
The Atlantic campaign of 1806 was a complicated series of manoeuvres and counter-manoeuvres conducted by squadrons of the French Navy and the British Royal Navy across the Atlantic Ocean during the spring and summer of 1806, as part of the Napoleonic Wars. The campaign followed directly from the Trafalgar campaign of the year before, in which the French Mediterranean fleet had crossed the Atlantic, returned to Europe and joined with the Spanish fleet. On 21 October 1805, this combined force was destroyed by a British fleet under Lord Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar, although the campaign did not end until the Battle of Cape Ortegal on 4 November 1805. Believing that the French Navy would not be capable of organised resistance at sea during the winter, the First Lord of the Admiralty Lord Barham withdrew the British blockade squadrons to harbour. Barham had miscalculated – the French Atlantic fleet, based at Brest, had not been involved in the Trafalgar campaign and was therefore at full strength. Taking advantage of the reduction in the British forces off the port, Napoleon ordered two heavy squadrons to sea, under instructions to raid British trade routes while avoiding contact with equivalent Royal Navy forces.
The frigate action of 29 May 1794—not to be confused with the much larger fleet action of 29 May 1794 that took place in the same waters at the same time—was a minor naval engagement of the French Revolutionary Wars between a Royal Navy frigate and a French Navy frigate. The action formed a minor part of the Atlantic campaign of May 1794, a campaign which culminated in the battle of the Glorious First of June, and was unusual in that the French ship Castor had only been in French hands for a few days at the time of the engagement. Castor had previously been a British ship, seized on 19 May by a French battle squadron in the Bay of Biscay and converted to French service while still at sea. While the main fleets manoeuvered around one another, Castor was detached in pursuit of a Dutch merchant ship and on 29 May encountered the smaller independently cruising British frigate HMS Carysfort.
HMS Pearl was a fifth-rate, 32-gun British Royal Navy frigate of the Niger-class. Launched at Chatham Dockyard in 1762, she served in British North America until January 1773, when she sailed to England for repairs. Returning to North America in March 1776, to fight in the American Revolutionary War, Pearl escorted the transports which landed troops in Kip's Bay that September. Much of the following year was spent on the Delaware River where she took part in the Battle of Red Bank in October. Towards the end of 1777, Pearl joined Vice-Admiral Richard Howe's fleet in Narragansett Bay and was still there when the French fleet arrived and began an attack on British positions. Both fleets were forced to retire due to bad weather and the action was inconclusive. Pearl was then despatched to keep an eye on the French fleet, which had been driven into Boston.
HMS Roebuck was a fifth-rate ship of the Royal Navy which served in the American and French Revolutionary Wars. Designed in 1769 by Sir Thomas Slade to operate in the shallower waters of North America, she joined Lord Howe's squadron towards the end of 1775 and took part in operations against New York the following year. She engaged the American gun batteries at Red Hook during the Battle of Long Island in August 1776, and forced a passage up the Hudson River in October. On 25 August 1777, Roebuck escorted troopships to Turkey Point, Maryland, where an army was landed for an assault on Philadelphia. She was again called upon to accompany troopships in December 1779, this time for an attack on Charleston. When the ships-of-the-line, which were too large to enter the harbour, were sent back to New York, Admiral Marriot Arbuthnot made Roebuck his flagship. She was, therefore, at the front of the attack, leading the British squadron across the shoal to engage Fort Moultrie and the American ships beyond.
HMS Romulus was a 36-gun fifth rate frigate of the Flora class, built for the Royal Navy and launched in September 1785. At the outbreak of the French Revolutionary War, Romulus was despatched to the Mediterranean where she joined a fleet under Admiral Lord Hood, initially blockading, and later occupying, the port of Toulon. She played an active role during the withdrawal in December, providing covering fire while HMS Robust and HMS Leviathan removed allied troops from the waterfront.
HMS Imperieuse was a 38-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. Built in Ferrol, Spain, for the Spanish Navy she was launched as Medea in 1797. In 1804 she was part of a squadron carrying gold from South America to Spain that was seized by the British while Spain and Britain were at peace. Medea was subsequently taken into service with the Royal Navy and was briefly named HMS Iphigenia before being renamed Imperieuse in 1805.
HMS Melpomene was a 38-gun frigate of the Royal Navy. Originally a French vessel, she was captured at Calvi on 10 August 1794 and first saw British service in the English Channel, where she helped to contain enemy privateering. In October 1798, she chased a French frigate squadron sent to find the French fleet under Jean-Baptiste-François Bompart, that was routed at the Battle of Tory Island and in August 1799, she joined Andrew Mitchell's squadron for the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland.
HMS Triton was a 32-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy designed by James Gambier and launched in 1796 at Deptford. Triton was an experimental ship and the only one built to that design; she was constructed out of fir due to wartime supply shortages of more traditional materials and had some unusual features such as no tumblehome. Her namesake was the Greek god Triton, a god of the sea. She was commissioned in June 1796 under Captain John Gore, with whom she would spend the majority of her active service, to serve in the Channel in the squadron of Sir John Warren.
HMS Sylph was a 16-gun Albatross-class brig-sloop of the Royal Navy designed by William Rule and launched in 1795 at Deptford Dockyard. Her namesake was the air spirit sylph. She commissioned in August 1795 under Commander John Chambers White, who would have her until the end of 1799. She was later commanded by Charles Dashwood.
HMS Artois was a fifth-rate Artois-class frigate of the Royal Navy, designed by Sir John Henslow and launched in 1794 at Rotherhithe as the lead ship of her class. She served for the majority of her career in the English Channel under the command of Edmund Nagle in the squadrons of Edward Pellew and John Borlase Warren, notably taking part in the action of 21 October 1794 where she captured the 44-gun frigate La Révolutionnaire almost singlehandedly. She participated in a number of other actions and events including the attempted invasion of France in 1795. Artois continued to serve actively on the coast of France in blockade and patrolling roles, taking a large number of ships as prizes, until she was wrecked with no loss of life off Île de Ré on 31 July 1797 while attempting to reconnoitre the harbour of La Rochelle.
HMS Caroline was a 36-gun fifth-rate Phoebe-class frigate of the Royal Navy. She was designed by Sir John Henslow and launched in 1795 at Rotherhithe by John Randall. Caroline was a lengthened copy of HMS Inconstant with improved speed but more instability. The frigate was commissioned in July 1795 under Captain William Luke to serve in the North Sea Fleet of Admiral Adam Duncan. Caroline spent less than a year in the North Sea before being transferred to the Lisbon Station. Here she was tasked to hunt down or interdict French shipping while protecting British merchant ships, with service taking her from off Lisbon to Cadiz and into the Mediterranean Sea. In 1799 the ship assisted in the tracking of the French fleet of Admiral Étienne Eustache Bruix, and in 1800 she participated in the blockade of Cadiz.
References
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Fonds Marine. Campagnes (opérations; divisions et stations navales; missions diverses). Inventaire de la sous-série Marine BB4. Tome premier: BB4 1 à 209 (1790–1804)
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Gardner, Robert, The Heavy Frigate, Conway Maritime Press, London 1994.
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