HMS Pearl was a fifth-rate, 32-gun British Royal Navyfrigate 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-AdmiralRichard 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.
Pearl was part of the British fleet that captured the island of St Lucia from the French in December 1778, and was chosen to carry news of the victory to England, capturing the 28-gun Spanish frigate Santa Monica off the Azores on her return journey. She joined Vice-Admiral Marriot Arbuthnot's squadron in July 1780, capturing the 28-gun French frigate Esperance while stationed off Bermuda in September; the following March she took part in the First Battle of Virginia Capes, where she had responsibility for relaying signals. Pearl returned to England in 1783, where she underwent extensive repairs and did not serve again until 1786, when she was recommissioned for the Mediterranean.
Taken out of service in 1792, she was recalled in February 1793, when hostilities resumed between Britain and France. On her return to the American continent, she narrowly escaped capture by a French squadron anchored between the Îles de Los and was forced to put into Sierra Leone for repairs following the engagement. In 1799, Pearl joined Vice-Admiral George Elphinstone's fleet in the Mediterranean where she took part in the Battle of Alexandria in 1801. In 1802, she sailed to Portsmouth where she served as a storeship for sailors' clothes and then a receiving ship. She was renamed Protheé in March 1825 and eventually sold in 1832.
Construction and armament
Pearl was a British fifth-rate, 32-gun, Niger-class frigate designed for the Royal Navy by naval architect, Thomas Slade. Eleven were eventually built, all requested during the Seven Years' War, and Pearl was the seventh ship in her class to be finished. She was ordered, with HMSEmerald, on 24 March 1761, and her keel was laid down at Chatham Dockyard on 6 May.[1][2] When launched on 27 March 1762, Pearl was 125feet 0+1⁄2inch (38.1m) along the gun deck, 103ft 4+3⁄8in (31.5m) at the keel, had a beam of 35ft 3in (10.7m) and a depth in the hold of 12ft (3.7m).[2] She was 683 16⁄94tons burthen and by the time she had been completed, on 14 May 1762, she had cost the Admiralty £16,573.5.4d.[2]Niger-class frigates, were full-rigged ships, carrying 32 guns: a main battery of twenty-six 12-pounder (5.4kg) guns on the upper deck, four 6-pounder (2.7kg) guns on the quarterdeck and two on the forecastle. When fully manned, they carried a complement of 220.[3]
From April 1770, Pearl spent time on and off the Newfoundland station, under first John Ruthven and then James Bremer. Towards the end of 1772, she sailed for Portsmouth where she underwent repairs and a refit, at a total cost of £9,008.15.11d. The combined works took until February 1776.[5] John O'Hara, who had been in command since November 1775, was replaced by Thomas Wilkinson in March 1776, shortly after completion.[5]
American Revolutionary War
British chart showing the attack on New York in 1776. Pearl is depicted creating a diversion in the North River, opposite Bloomingdale, with HMS Repulse and Renown.
Wilkinson returned Pearl to North America in April to fight in the American Revolutionary War, bringing a convoy of troopships from Ireland to Quebec, with the sixth-rate frigate HMSCarysfort,[5][6] before escorting transports along the Hudson River to take part in the landings at Kip's Bay, New York, in September.[7][8] On the evening of 13 September, the British began moving into position. Six troopships with three fifth-rates, HMSRoebuck, HMSPhoenix and HMSOrpheus, and the smaller Carysfort, moved up the East River and anchored in Bushwick Creek, opposite Kip's Bay.[9] At the same time, Pearl, the fourth-rate, 50-gun HMSRenown and fifth-rate, 32-gun HMSRepulse, were sent up the North River as a diversion. On the day of the landings, 15 September, the small squadron passed the enemy batteries without incident and anchored at Bloomingdale, 6 miles (9.7km) upstream of New York.[8] The following night the Americans sent fireships but these caused no damage other than the inconvenience to the British of having to move their ships.[8]
Towards the end of the year, Pearl joined a small squadron under Captain Andrew Snape Hamond on a cruise along the coast to South Carolina and, on 20 December, captured the USSLexington, a 16-gun sloop of war of the Continental Navy.[5][10] A strong gale prevented the removal of prisoners and the allocation of an adequate prize crew, and with only eight British sailors on board, she was retaken that night.[10] Sometime later, Pearl detained a French vessel, carrying arms and ammunition. Wilkinson saw this as proof that the French were aiding the Americans but as there had been no formal declaration of war at that point, he was obliged to let her go.[10]
From South Carolina Pearl sailed to Antigua where she arrived on 27 January 1777 to await careening and refitting.[10][11][12] While this was being carried out, on 13 February, Wilkinson died from disease and was replaced by George Elphinstone.[13][14] Work was completed in mid-March, after long delays caused by a shortage of skilled labour, and she returned to the American coast, leaving English Harbour on 18 March, in the company of Roebuck and the two 20-gun post shipsHMSPerseus and HMSCamilla.[11][13][14]
Pearl (far left) at the action off Mud Fort in the River Delaware on 15 November 1777
Despite the time spent in port, Pearl managed more than a dozen captures between January and May 1777, including Batchelor on 21 March (suspected of piracy because of its armament) and a whaleboat from Lewes, Delaware, on 29 May that was thought to be spying.[15][16] Another change in command occurred in 1777 when John Linzee was appointed as captain[5][Note 1] and on 6 July, boats from Pearl and Camilla captured and burnt the schooner, USS Mosquito in a cutting out expedition.[5] The American vessel of six cannon and four swivel guns was moored in a tributary of the Delaware River when, at 03:00, the British sailors boarded without opposition. The only two people guarding her, the master and the gunner, were taken off and she was set alight.[17]
Pearl was anchored off Bombay Hook, Delaware, on 21 July. At 15:00, a fleet of twelve Continental Navy vessels, under the command of Charles Alexander in the frigate USS Delaware, came in sight. A signal gun was fired to warn her tender, which was ashore collecting supplies, then the ship weighed anchor and sailed off but ran aground on Cross Ledge. The tender was captured along with a fortnight's worth of provisions but Pearl managed to get free and escape downriver.[18] At 11:00 the following morning she spotted Camilla some 6 nautical miles (11km; 6.9mi) away. Pearl requested she join her and the two ships anchored to await the enemy fleet.[19] On the morning of 23 July, an American vessel came under a flag of truce but by this time the sixth-rate, HMSLiverpool, had sailed into view. At 06:00 the next day, the American fleet arrived and made a second attempt to discuss terms but were dismissed. The three British frigates cleared for action, the Americans scattered and were pursued up the river but not caught; the British losing sight of their quarry and giving up the chase the next day.[20]
Assault on Philadelphia
British chart showing American defences on the Delaware in 1777. Pearl is shown attacking a battery opposite Hog Island before travelling up the river to engage the American fleet.
When American land forces were defeated at the Battle of Brandywine near Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, and retreated to Philadelphia that September, Pearl was part of a squadron tasked with opening up the Delaware River, which had been heavily protected with redoubts and sunken obstructions to prevent its navigation. Led by Vice-AdmiralRichard Howe in Roebuck, the small force worked its way upstream to Billingsport, New Jersey, where a large earthworks and gun battery protected a channel, blocked with a submerged cheval de frise–large wooden frames, filled with stones and fronting iron-tipped spears.[21][22] Stationed along the river were floating batteries and gunboats, and 3 miles (4.8km) further upstream, another set of obstacles had been sunk between Fort Mifflin and Fort Mercer.[23] On 22 September, Pearl, Roebuck, Liverpool and the third-rate, 64-gun HMSAugusta, forced a passage in order to support an attack on Red Bank by British troops.[24] Joined later by the fourth-rate, 50-gun HMSIsis and the 16-gun sloop HMSMerlin, the British vessels were subjected to heavy fire when they engaged the American flotilla and batteries. Augusta ran aground and caught fire, and Merlin blew up; Pearl and the remaining force broke off the attack and returned to Billingsport.[25][26]
British troops entered Philadelphia on 26 September but a supply route was needed and control of the river was therefore crucial. In November, Province Island was captured and Howe began erecting batteries. A hulk was converted to a floating gun platform and with the assistance of Pearl, Roebuck and Liverpool, a six-day bombardment of Fort Mifflin forced the Americans out. Two days later Fort Mercer fell and the British vessels pushed upriver in pursuit of the American fleet which was later scuttled at Gloucester, Massachusetts.[27][28]
At the end of the year, Howe's fleet removed to Narragansett Bay where Pearl and her compatriots patrolled the coast and preyed on enemy shipping.[5][29] On 18 March, 1778 boats from Pearl and HMSCamilla captured Pennsylvania Navy armed boat named Fame (A.K.A. No. 71) up a creek above Reedy Point. The next day her boats captured an armed boat and a yawl.[30] At dawn on 25 July 1778, a large vessel was seen off Sandy Hook in Lower New York Bay and Pearl, anchored nearby, was sent in pursuit. The stranger turned out to be the Industry, an American frigate of 26 guns operating under a letter of marque. Pearl came up with her at 09:00 and the privateer fought for an hour and a half before striking her colours.[31]
Pearl was present when the French fleet from Toulon arrived at the end of July, and was at the ensuing engagement in August.[32] The French force, under Comte d'Estaing, entered the bay on 29 July and attacked British positions on Conanicut and Goat Island the following day.[33] On 8 August, 4,000 French soldiers and sailors were landed to reinforce the 10,000 American troops who had just crossed from the mainland to lay siege to the British garrison on Rhode Island.[34]
Howe positioned his fleet off Point Judith on 9 August. D'Estaing had superior numbers and guns, so sailed out the next morning, fearing that the British might soon be reinforced.[35] A violent gale scattered the fleets and ended several days of manoeuvring, during which both commanders sought the weather gage.[36] When the British were eventually reunited, it was evident that repairs were required and they sailed for New York City on 15 August. D'Estaing's ships had fared even worse and were forced to retire to Boston.[37] Howe left for England in September 1778, and Pearl joined a squadron under Rear-AdmiralJohn Byron, watching the French fleet in Boston harbour.[38][39]
Operations in the West Indies
D'Estaing's fleet of 15 ships-of-the-line left Boston on 3 November 1778, two days after Byron's squadron had been blown off station and driven into Newport, Rhode Island by more bad weather.[38][39]Pearl was despatched to carry news of the escape to the Commander-in-Chief of the Leeward Islands Station, Rear-Admiral Samuel Barrington; Byron was to follow two to three days later if he was unable to locate the French. Not knowing Barrington's precise whereabouts, Pearl at first sailed to Antigua, arriving on 4 December, before immediately heading for Barbados.[39] En route, she stopped a Dutch vessel which had encountered a French warship out of Boston on the previous night. From the information received, Linzee deduced that d'Estaing's fleet was somewhere near Barbados and arrived there himself on 13 December.[39]
D'Estaing's fleet attacks Barrington's at St Lucia.
With the arrival of winter and the associated impracticalities of keeping a fleet at sea during bad weather, the British switched their attention to the Leeward Islands, where the French had already been active; capturing the Island of Dominica in September.[40] On 10 December, CommodoreWilliam Hotham with a convoy of 5,000 troops and a small escort, arrived at Barbados, giving the British numerical superiority in the area.[38] Joining with Barrington's ships, the escort squadron comprised two 64-gun and three 50-gun ships-of-the-line, a bomb vessel, and two frigates, Pearl and the 36-gun HMSVenus. On 13 December, the convoy landed troops on the French colony of St Lucia. The troops quickly captured the batteries on the west side of the island,[41] and with the support of these batteries, Barrington's much smaller fleet was twice able to repulse d'Estaing's when it arrived the following day. Although the French were able to land 7,000 troops of their own, British command of the high ground meant they were beaten off.[42] The French troops were re-embarked, and when d'Estaing's fleet left on 29 December, the island surrendered.[43][Note 2]
News of the capture of St Lucia was carried back to England in Pearl. Captain Alexander Graeme took command of the ship on 9 January 1779 and she left Antigua on 16 February in the company of the 74-gun third-rate, HMSSultan with despatches from both Byron and Barrington, and arrived at Spithead on 22 March.[44][45] She was then paid off, sheathed in copper, and refitted at Plymouth.[5] Graeme left Pearl on 13 April.[45] She served for a short while in the Channel before returning to the North American Station under Captain George Montagu.[5]
On her return to the American continent in September, Pearl spent two days resupplying at Fayal in the Azores, leaving on 13 September. At 06:00 the following morning, a Spanish frigate was spotted to the north-west and was brought to action after a three-and-half-hour chase. The 28-gun Santa Monica surrendered after a two-hour engagement, having 38 men killed and 45 wounded. Pearl had 12 killed and 19 wounded.[46] The Santa Monica was the larger vessel at 956 tons burthen, but not as well armed; she was re-rated as a 36-gun when taken into British service.[47]
On 8 January 1780, Pearl took part in an attack on a Spanish convoy from Caracas[5] comprising 22 ships, including seven men of war; the entire convoy was taken. A portion of the captured ships were carrying naval supplies and these were despatched to England with Pearl and 64-gun third-rate, HMSAmerica as escorts, while the remaining prizes were sent to Gibraltar.[48] The ship later returned to North America, spending some time at Halifax, Nova Scotia before leaving, with the 74-gun third-rate, HMS Robust, to join Vice-Admiral Marriot Arbuthnot's squadron off Sandy Hook on 3 July 1780, where preparations were being made to repel an expected attack by the French fleet.[49]
Arbuthnot set sail on 13 July, after being reinforced with six ships-of-the-line under Rear-Admiral Thomas Graves. Hearing that the French fleet had put into Narragansett Bay on 17 July, Arbuthnot's squadron arrived on 22 July to find the French encamped on Rose Island and their ships strung out between there and Conanicut Island. Arbuthnot sent orders for transports from New York, in case the British Army thought an attack on the island necessary, then anchored his squadron off Block Island.[49] After re-provisioning on 6 August, the British squadron stationed itself off Newport, then retired to Gardiner's Island on 9 August, leaving on 17 August for an eight-day cruise between the Nantucket Shoals and the east end of Long Island, returning to lie off Martha's Vineyard.[49]
Pearl fell in with the 28-gun French frigate, Esperance off Bermuda on 30 September 1780. After a two-hour fight, Esperance broke off but was pursued and the two ships engaged in a running battle for a further two and a half hours, after which the French ship was forced to capitulate. She had 20 men killed and 24 wounded; Pearl had 6 men killed and 10 wounded.[50]
In January 1781, Arbuthnot had a French squadron blockaded in Newport. On 23 January, his ships were caught in a squall off the east end of Long Island which resulted in the loss of one 74-gun third-rate ship, HMSCulloden, and the dismasting of another, HMSBedford. America was blown out to sea but turned up two weeks later undamaged.[51]Pearl escaped relatively unharmed. The French, however, now had a numerical advantage; they broke out on 8 February and captured the British fifth-rate, HMSRomulus.[51] The British brought Bedford back into service by salvaging the masts from the wreck of the Culloden and set sail to look for the French on 9 March.[52] The two forces discovered each other at 06:00 on 16 March in a thick fog some 40 nautical miles (74km; 46mi) off Cape Henry.[53] The British caught up by 13:00 and found themselves to windward of the French after some manoeuvring, where the increasingly strong winds and high seas prevented them from opening their lower gunports. The French, downwind, leaned away from their opponents; they were not so disadvantaged and could bring more and larger guns to bear. The fleets engaged by 14:30 with the heaviest action upon the leading three ships of the British vanguard.[54] The three ships were so badly damaged that the British were unable to pursue when the French broke off and turned towards Newport, so they put into Chesapeake Bay. The British casualties were 30 killed, 73 wounded, while the French had 72 killed and 112 wounded.[55]Pearl was too small to be in the line of battle and had stood off with the other frigates, incurring no loss or damage. She had responsibility for relaying signals during the battle.[56]
Arbuthnot's ships were seaworthy by 24 March and he set sail for Delaware, where he assumed that the French fleet had gone, but contrary winds forced him to return. Two days later, Pearl was sent out with the 28-gun sixth-rate, HMSIris to search for the French but again was unable to locate them.[55][56]
Pearl remained in American waters until July 1782. She continued to harass enemy shipping, taking the French privateerSinge, a large polacca, on 10 July 1781[57] and the 8-gun American Senegal of 50 tons burthen, on 19 August,[58] plus three merchant vessels before the year was out.[58] Two schooners[59] and three brigs were captured in 1782,[60] before Pearl paid off and returned to England for substantial repairs. The cost of repairs amounted to £19,267.13.8d and took until June 1784, after which she was laid up at Deptford.[5][Note 3]
Prizes taken during the American Revolutionary War
Vessels captured or destroyed during the American Revolution for which Pearl's crew received full or partial credit[Note 4]
Between July and December 1786, Pearl underwent a refit. She sailed to the Mediterranean on 22 March 1787, returning home in 1789 to be recommissioned under Captain George Courtnay. She rejoined the Mediterranean fleet in May 1790.[5] Sometime in 1792, the ship was taken out of service but was recalled the following year when France declared war on Britain once more. She was fitted out at Plymouth between June and August at a cost of £7,615, before sailing to the Irish Station under Captain Michael de Courcy where she served until November 1795. Following a small repair at Plymouth, costing £9,686, Captain Samuel James Ballard took command in February 1796.[5]
Aided by the 36-gun fifth-rate, HMSFlora, Pearl captured the 24-gun privateer, Incroyable, on 14 April 1797. Reputed to be a very fast sailing vessel, Incroyable left her home port of Bordeaux on 2 April. She had yet to take a prize, when, on the morning of 11 April, she was seen and chased by Pearl. The next day, the two ships were some 200nmi (370km; 230mi) off the west coast of Spain, when Flora appeared, forcing Incroyable to haul to windward. On 13 April, Incroyable became becalmed, allowing the British frigates to catch up, which they did at 23:45. After receiving a single broadside, the French privateer surrendered.[72]
In March 1798, Pearl sailed for the Leeward Islands via West Africa, where, on 24 April, she escaped from two French frigates.[5] While passing through the Îles de Los, an archipelago off the coast of Guinea, she discovered an enemy squadron comprising four large ships at anchor and a brig under sail. As she approached, one of the ships hoisted a French flag and opened fire. Forced to run between two frigates, Pearl engaged both as she passed then hove to, continuing to fire for a further hour before making off with one, or possibly both frigates in pursuit.[73][74] The chase continued through the night and all through the following day before Pearl managed to escape, arriving at Sierra Leone on 27 April, where she was inspected for damage. She had been holed in several places, although all were above the waterline; her fore-topgallantyard and foreyard had been shot away and a number of lower shrouds and other rigging had been cut through. In addition, two of her carronades had been dismounted, causing the death of one man.[73][Note 5]Pearl eventually arrived in the West Indies, capturing the 10-gun privateer, Scocvola, in October and the 12-gun privateer, Independence, in December, both off the coast of Antigua.[5]
On 22 October 1799, Pearl was sent to the Mediterranean where she spent much of the following 12 months attempting to disrupt enemy trade by attacking the numerous merchant vessels along the European coast. Spain had re-entered the war as an ally of France in 1796 and in January 1800, the British frigate took both a Spanish brig, and a French brig with accompanying settee.[5][76] Then on 9 February, near Narbonne, she drove ashore and destroyed a large Genoese polacca of 14 guns. The crew escaped as did the small convoy of settees that were being escorted.[77] While off Marseilles, Pearl captured a Genoese brig and settee on 28 April, two more Genoese settees on 2 and 3 May[78] and, with the fourth-rate HMSHindostan, a Ragusan brig on 20 May.[79]
Cruising off Alicante in June and July, Pearl captured three more Ragusan ships, a French settee, two Spanish settees and a xebec.[80][81] Then, on 20 July, the crew of Pearl took part in a cutting out expedition which resulted in the capture of two xebecs and six settees. Shortly after the action a storm blew up and three of the prizes had to be scuttled though their cargo was removed first.[81][82] She captured four more settees on 31 August, destroyed a further two on 11 October and on the same day, she took a French ketch on its way to Nice. Two Genoese ships were taken on 14 October and three French settees the following day while a fourth was burnt.[83]
Pearl received a share of the prize money for a transport, wrecked off Minorca and salvaged on 20 October with the aid of the 18-gun sloop HMSLutine, the 8-gun bomb vessel HMSStrombolo, and the 6-gun tender HMSAlexander. On 31 October, with Lutine, Strombolo, the 20-gun corvette HMSBonne Citoyenne and the 12-gun polacca, Transfer, she took another transport from Port Mahon.[84]
Alexandria
In January 1801, a large force of 16,000 troops and more than 100 vessels was assembled in Malta in preparation for an invasion of French-occupied OttomanEgypt. The escorting fleet, to which Pearl was attached, was commanded by her former captain, Elphinstone, by this time a vice-admiral. The expedition arrived in Aboukir Bay on 1 February 1801.[85] The subsequent Battle of Alexandria was brought to a successful conclusion when the French surrendered on 2 September, following a protracted siege.[86] In 1850, a general service medal with the clasp "Egypt" was retrospectively awarded to the surviving members of Pearl's crew, for their part in the campaign.[85][87]
While cruising with the 32-gun fifth-rate HMSSanta Teresa on 28 February, Pearl took a Genoese merchant ship on its way home, laden with goods from Marseilles. The two British frigates later managed to save some cargo from a sinking Genoese tartan and a French tartan that had been scuttled. Both ships were out of Marseilles.[88] On 20 March, a French ship bound for Alexandria was intercepted and captured by Pearl, Santa Teresa and the 40-gun heavy frigate, HMS Minerve.[88] With the 16-gun sloop HMSPeterel and 14-gun brig HMS Victorieuese, Pearl seized a Genoese ship carrying arms to Alexandria on 29 April. The three British ships took a French aviso, also going to Alexandria, on the same day.[89] On 1 July, Pearl took a small privateer.[5]
Pearl was in Commodore John Borlase Warren's squadron when, on 1 August, it was called to the island of Elba to relieve the British garrison at Porto Ferrajo, which had been under siege since the beginning of May.[90] The arrival of the British ships caused the two French frigates guarding the port to retreat to Leghorn in the Kingdom of Etruria, a French client state. Warren then initiated a blockade of the island.[91] The two escaped frigates were later brought to action on 2 September when the fifth rates, HMS Pomone, HMSPhoenix and Minerve recaptured Succès and destroyed Bravoure after she had run aground.[92][Note 6]
The next day at 14:30, Phoenix, Pomone and Pearl were cruising off the west side of Elba, when they spotted the 40-gun Carrère, on her passage from Porto-Ercole to Porto-Longone with a convoy of small vessels. Pearl sailed to cut off the frigate's destination but only Pomone got close enough to engage. Carrère surrendered to her after a 10-minute action but the convoy managed to escape.[91][94]
His majesty's ships Pearl, Pomone, the ships-of-the-line Renown, Gibraltar, Dragon, Alexander, Généreux and Stately, and the brig Vincejo, supplied nearly 700 seamen and marines for an attack on the French batteries investing the town. The action took place on 14 September but was only partially successful, and eight days later the British ships left Elba, though Porto Ferrajo remained in British hands until the end of the war.[95]
Prizes taken during the French Revolutionary War
Vessels captured or destroyed during the French Revolutionary War for which Pearl's crew received full or partial credit[Note 7]
After the Treaty of Amiens had brought the French Revolutionary War to an end, Pearl remained in the Mediterranean under Ballard until May 1802. She then returned to England and was laid up in ordinary at Portsmouth.[105] In April 1804, she was fitted out as a slop ship, a vessel for the storage and distribution of sailor's clothing.[5][106] She was laid up again in 1812, then fitted as a receiving ship in April 1814. In March 1825, Pearl was renamed Protheé[5] and put up for sale on 13 April 1831 but was not purchased.[107] The Admiralty eventually disposed of her on 4 January 1832, when she sold for £1,230.0.00d.[5][108]
Notes
↑ Winfield's book gives the date of this change as December 1777,[5] however, copies of Linzee's journal, reprinted in Morgan's Naval Documents of the American Revolution indicate he was in command at the capture of Mosquito in July.[17]
↑ Clowes has Pearl as one of the two frigates (the other being the 36-gun Venus) in Hotham's fleet at St Lucia.[38] This fleet left New York on 4 November however[38] and the London Gazette has Pearl with Byron until 17 November.[39] The Gazette also records that Pearl did not arrive in Barbados until the day after the fleet had left.[39]
↑ Winfield's book gives the year of these repairs as 1884 but this is a typographical error because 1786 is the following year in Winfield's timeline and Pearl was sold in 1825.[4]
↑ William James claims the ship that chased Pearl was the 36-gun Régénérée,[73] while Onésime-Joachim Troude, in his third volume of "Batailles navales de la France", states the 40-gun Vertu was the ship in pursuit.[75] Clowes' book says that both the frigates chased Pearl.[74]
↑ Succès was previously HMS Success, captured off Gibraltar by Ganteaume's force on 9 February 1801.[93]
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 Amazon, was a 36-gun Amazon-class frigate, built at Rotherhithe in 1795 to a design by Sir William Rule. Carrying a main battery of 18-pounder long guns, she was the first of a class of four frigates. She had a short but eventful career during the French Revolutionary War, which she spent in the Channel and Western Approaches, part of a frigate squadron under Sir Edward Pellew. She was wrecked in Audierne Bay in 1797, following an action on 13 January with the French ship-of-the-line, Droits de l'Homme.
HMS Latona was a 36-gun, fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy that served during the American Revolutionary War, 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 Centaur was a 74-gun third rate of the Royal Navy, launched on 14 March 1797 at Woolwich. She served as Sir Samuel Hood's flagship in the Leeward Islands and the Channel. During her 22-year career Centaur saw action in the Mediterranean, the Channel, the West Indies, and the Baltic, fighting the French, the Dutch, the Danes, and the Russians. She was broken up in 1819.
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.
HMS Mermaid was a 32-gun Active-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy, launched in 1784 and broken up in 1815. During the French Revolutionary Wars she served in the West Indies, the Channel, and the Mediterranean. During the Napoleonic Wars she first served in the Americas, but from early 1811 on, she was armed en flute and served as a troopship until she was broken up.
Bonne Citoyenne was a 20-gun corvette of the French Navy launched in 1794, the name ship of a four-vessel class. She was part of the French fleet active in the Bay of Biscay and English Channel. The Royal Navy captured her in 1796, commissioning her as the sloop-of-war HMS Bonne Citoyenne.
The action of 13 October 1796 was a minor naval engagement of the French Revolutionary Wars, fought off the Mediterranean coast of Spain near Cartagena between the British Royal Navy 32-gun frigate HMS Terpsichore under Captain Richard Bowen and the Spanish Navy 34-gun frigate Mahonesa under Captain Tomás de Ayalde. The action was the first battle of the Anglo-Spanish War, coming just eight days after the Spanish declaration of war. In a battle lasting an hour and forty minutes, Mahonesa was captured.
HMS Success was a 32-gun Amazon-class fifth-rate frigate of the British Royal Navy launched in 1781, which served during the American Revolutionary, French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. The French captured her in the Mediterranean on 13 February 1801, but she was recaptured by the British on 2 September. She continued to serve in the Mediterranean until 1811, and in North America until hulked in 1814, then serving as a prison ship and powder hulk, before being broken up in 1820.
HMSEmerald was a 36-gun Amazon-class fifth rate frigate that Sir William Rule designed in 1794 for the Royal Navy. The Admiralty ordered her construction towards the end of May 1794 and work began the following month at Northfleet dockyard. She was completed on 12 October 1795 and joined Admiral John Jervis's fleet in the Mediterranean.
HMS Aigle was a 36-gun, fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. Ordered on 15 September 1799 and built at Bucklers Hard shipyard, she was launched 23 September 1801. More than fifty of her crew were involved in the Easton Massacre when she visited Portland in April 1803 to press recruits. Her captain and three other officers stood trial for murder but were acquitted. Much of Aigle's career as a frigate was spent trying to keep the English Channel free of enemy warships and merchant vessels. On 22 March 1808, she was first into the action against two large French frigates, compelling one to seek the shelter of the Île de Groix batteries and forcing the other onto the shore.
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 Lavinia was a 44-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy, launched in 1806 at Milford Haven. She was 1,17167⁄94 tons burthen and carried a main battery of thirty 18-pounder (8.2 kg) guns on the upper deck with a secondary armament of eight 9-pounder (4.1 kg) guns and twelve 32-pounder (15 kg) carronades.
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 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 Beaulieu was a 40-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The ship was laid down in 1790 as a speculative build by the shipwright Henry Adams and purchased by the Royal Navy in June of the same year. Built to the dimensions of a merchant ship, Beaulieu was broader, with more storage capacity, than a standard frigate; though may not have had good sailing qualities. The frigate was commissioned in January 1793 by Lord Northesk and sent to serve on the Leeward Islands Station. She participated in the capture of Martinique in February 1794, and then was similarly present at the capture of the island of Saint Lucia in April. The frigate also took part in the initial stages of the invasion of Guadeloupe. Later in the year the ship's crew was beset by yellow fever and much depleted. Beaulieu was sent to serve on the North America Station to allow them to recuperate, returning to the Leeward Islands in 1795. In the following two years the ship found success in prizetaking and briefly took part in more operations at Saint Lucia. She returned to Britain at the end of 1796.
References
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