HMS Orpheus (1809)

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History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
NameHMS Orpheus
Ordered27 February 1808
Builder Deptford Dockyard
Laid downAugust 1808
Launched12 August 1809
CompletedBy 21 September 1809
FateBroken up in August 1819
General characteristics
Class and type Apollo-class frigate
Tons burthen9472894 (bm)
Length145 ft (44.2 m) (gundeck); 121 ft 8+34 in (37.1 m) (keel)
Beam38 ft 3 in (11.7 m)
Depth of hold13 ft 4 in (4.1 m)
Sail plan Full-rigged ship
Complement264
Armament
  • Upper deck: 26 × 18-pounder guns
  • QD: 2 × 9-pounder guns + 10 × 32-pounder carronades
  • Fc: 2 × 9-pounder guns + 4 × 32-pounder carronades
Plan of an Apollo-class frigate dated 1803 EURYALUS 1803 RMG J5673.jpg
Plan of an Apollo-class frigate dated 1803

HMS Orpheus was a 36-gun Apollo-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy launched in 1809 from Deptford Dockyard. She was broken up in 1819.

Contents

Construction

Ordered on 27 February 1807 and laid down in August 1808 at Deptford Dockyard. Launched on 12 August 1809 and completed on 21 September 1809.

Service

Holkar under attack from HMS Orpheus American Privateer Holkar being Captured by HMS Orpheus May 1813 (48170795086).jpg
Holkar under attack from HMS Orpheus

Orpheus also saw service in the War of 1812. While in Long Island Sound, she chased the American privateer Holkar and ran her aground, before destroying Holkar by cannon fire. [1]

Orpheus was part of the British patrolling squadron in Long Island Sound. When the British fleet encountered an American fleet, commanded by Stephen Decatur it chased them to New London where the American fleet escaped. The British squadron there formed a blockade, confining the American fleet until the end of the war. [2]

On 27 April Orpheus chased the American ship Whampoa on shore near Newport, Rhode Island. Whampoa had been sailing from Lorient. The British took possession of Whampoa but then abandoned her due to fire from the shore. [3]

Fate

She was broken up at Chatham Dockyard in August 1819.

Citations and references

Citations

  1. Maclay, p.441-442.
  2. Tucker, 2012 pp.293-304
  3. Lloyd's List №4778.

References

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