Medusa was ordered on 28 January 1800 from the Pitcher yard at Northfleet, and was designed by Sir William Rule. Her keel was laid down in April 1800, and she was launched a year later on 14 April 1801. Medusa was commissioned on 25 April 1801 under the command of John Gore.[1] One source suggests that Gore welcomed Nelson aboard on 30 July 1801.[2]
Service history
On 2 August 1801 Lord Nelson hoisted his flag aboard Medusa at Deal and crossed the channel in order to observe the French invasion fleet at Boulogne. He ordered an attack by bomb vessels on the 4th, followed by an attempt to board and cut out the enemy flotilla on the night of the 15th.[3]
The British were organised into four boat divisions under the command of Captains Philip Somerville, Isaac Cotgrave, Robert Jones and Nelson's aide-de-camp Edward T. Parker, supported by howitzer boats commanded by Captain John Conn. The darkness of the night and a powerful tide meant that the boats arrived separately rather than together, and Jones' division missed the action completely. The French were well-prepared, and the attackers were met by heavy fire from the ships and from shore. Medusa suffered 55 casualties, the most of any ship. [4]
During the Peace of Amiens, between October 1801 and February 1802, Medusa was employed in suppressing smuggling in the English Channel, patrolling the south coast between Start Point and the Isle of Wight. Gore learned of the imminent renewal of hostilities, so hurried to join the squadron of Sir Richard Bickerton in blockading the French naval base at Toulon. When Nelson arrived to take command in July, four sloops and four frigates, including Medusa, were sent to patrol off Gibraltar.[3]
On 8 December 1803 Medusa attacked two French felucca-rigged privateers in the Strait. The first, Esperance, armed with two 12 and two 6-pounder guns, was captured, while the other, Sorcier, was pursued until she ran aground and was wrecked near Cabrita Point, 9 miles south-west of Marbella.[5] Soon afterwards Medusa chased another French privateer schooner so close to Cadiz, that her shot went into the town.
On 9 January 1804 she captured the Spanish ship Nostra Senora del Rosario.[6]
Sir Graham Moore's action of 5 October 1804. Medusa, Indefatigable, Amphion, and Liveley capture a Spanish squadron off Cadiz, and sink Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes
In the action of 5 October 1804Medusa, along with the frigates Indefatigable, Amphion and Lively engaged four Spanish frigates en route to Cadiz with silver and gold from South America. Captain Graham Moore of Indefatigable made a perfunctory attempt to persuade the Spanish ships to allow themselves to be detained, which they naturally declined. In the short battle that followed the Spanish frigate Mercedes blew up, and the remaining three; Fama, Medea and Clara, were captured.[7]
Medusa returned to Portsmouth on 8 November with the Spanish frigate Matilda, which she and Donegal under Captain Sir Richard Strachan[8] had intercepted on 23 October, while sailing from Cadiz to Veracruz with £200,000 worth of mercury aboard. Medusa went into dock for extensive repairs. Gore was knighted in February 1805.[3]
On 15 April 1805 Medusa sailed for Bengal with Lord Cornwallis, the new Governor-General of India, aboard as passenger. Unfortunately Cornwallis died soon after his arrival, so in November Medusa headed back to England, arriving on 26 January 1806, taking only 84 days to sail 13,800 miles. Gore was then given command of the 74-gun ship Revenge, and command of Medusa passed to Captain the Hon. Duncombe Pleydell-Bouverie.[3]
In 1808 Medusa was attached to the Channel Fleet. On 4 April she captured the privateer luggerActif of Dieppe, and relieved her of her prize, a coasting sloop.[3] On 6 December 1808 Captain William Bowles was appointed acting-captain of Medusa, remaining in command until 23 April 1809 and Captain Bouverie's return.[1]
In January 1810 Medusa captured two more prizes; the 14-gun French privateers Aventure and Hirondelle. Captain Bowles returned to acting command of Medusa in May 1810 while she served on the north coast of Spain, landing seamen and marines at Santoña in July to assist in the destruction of various French batteries.[3]
From May 1812 Medusa was part of a squadron under the command of Captain George Collier in Surveillante, employed off the coast of northern Spain assisting the operations of Spanish partisans. On 17 June Medusa joined Hotspur, Rover, Venerable, Rhin and Lyra off Santoña, and made contact with the guerilla chief Don Gaspar, who arranged an attack on the town and the fort of Lequietio, 12 miles (19km) to the east. Marines were landed to reinforce the guerillas, and Captain Bouverie supervised the landing of a gun, which made a breach in the fort's wall allowing it to be captured.[3]
On 9 November 1812 Medusa captured the American schooner Independence, of 213 tons, 4 guns, and 23 men. She had been sailing from Bayonne, bound to New York, with a cargo of brandy, silks, etc.[9] The Royal Navy took her into service as HMSRacer.
On 10 March 1813 Medusa captured the American vessel Messenger, and on 22 March the American vessel Tiger.[10]
On 28 March 1813, Medusa captured Ferox and her cargo. Lyra was in company.[11]
On 13 April Medusa captured the American letter of marque schooner Caroline, armed with 4 guns and with a crew of 28, en route to Bordeaux from New Orleans.[3] On 10 June Bouverie left Medusa, and command was given to Captain George Bell, who remained until 17 November 1813[1] when she was decommissioned at Plymouth.
Fate
Medusa was converted into a hospital ship, and was eventually broken up in 1816.[3]
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HMS Naiad was a Royal Navy fifth-rate frigate that served in the Napoleonic Wars. She was built by Hall and Co. at Limehouse on the Thames, launched in 1797, and commissioned in 1798. She served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and her last actions occurred in 1824–5. She was paid off in 1826. She then served for many years in Latin America as a coal depot, first for the Royal Navy and then for the Pacific Steam Navigation Company. She was broken up in 1898, 101 years after her launching.
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HMS Donegal was launched in 1794 as Barra, a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. She was renamed Pégase in October 1795, and Hoche in December 1797. The British Royal Navy captured her at the Battle of Tory Island on 12 October 1798 and recommissioned her as HMS Donegal.
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.
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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.
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