She was commissioned in September 1782 under Captain William Dickson, and recommissioned in March 1783 as a guardship at Plymouth. She was recommissioned in September 1786 under Charles Chamberlyane, still as a guardship, and paid off in February 1788.
In April 1795 she was recommissioned under Captain Joseph Ellison, for Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren's squadron for the Quiberon operation. Standard sailed for the East Indies on 28 February 1796, temporarily under the command of Captain Lukin. By October she was in the North Sea. In February 1797 she was under Captain Thomas Parr, and then in September under Captain Thomas Revell Shivers.
From mid-April to mid-May, Standard was one of the many vessels caught up in the Nore Mutiny. On 5 May the crew had taken over the ship and trained cannon on officer’s country over the issue of pay in arrears. After the mutiny collapsed, William Wallis, one of the leaders on Standard, shot himself to avoid trial and hanging. William Redfern, her surgeon's mate, was sentenced to death for his role in the mutiny, later commuted to transportation for life to the colony of New South Wales.[2]
She was recommissioned in February 1799 as a prison ship at Sheerness under lieutenant Thomas Pamp. In November she was fitted as a convalescent ship at Chatham. One month later she was recommissioned under Lieutenant Jacques Dalby as a hospital ship at Sheerness.
Mediterranean
Between March and May 1801 Standard was re-fitted at Chatham as a 64-gun ship, being commissioned in April under Captain Charles Stewart, for the North Sea. She was paid off, repaired, fitted at various times, and recommissioned in August 1805, Standard was recommissioned under Captain Thomas Harvey. She then sailed to the Mediterranean to join Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Louis's squadron.
Duckworth's squadron forcing the Dardanelles
While in the Mediterranean she served during Vice Admiral Sir John Duckworth's unsuccessful 1807 Dardanelles Operation.[3] On 19 February, Standard suffered three wounded while forcing the Dardanelles. Near a redoubt on Point Pesquies the British encountered a Turkish squadron of one ship of 64 guns, four frigates and eight other vessels, most of which they ran aground. Marines from Pompee spiked the 31 guns on the redoubt. Standard and Thunderer destroyed three Turkish frigates that had run ashore.[4] On 27 February Standard had two men wounded assisting a Royal Marine landing party on the island of Prota.
On the way out, the Turkish castle at Abydos fired on the British squadron. Granite cannonballs weighing 700–800 pounds (320–360kg) and measuring 6ft 6in (1.98m) in circumference hit Windsor Castle, Standard, and Active. The shot itself killed four men on Standard. It also started a fire and explosion that led four seamen to jump overboard. In all, Standard lost four dead, 47 wounded, and four missing (believed drowned). In all, the British lost 29 killed and 138 wounded. No ship was lost.[4]
On 26 March 1808, she and the 38-gun frigate Active captured the Franco-Italian brig Friedland, which they took to Malta as a prize.[5] Captain Richard Mowbray of Active took possession of Friedland after a chase of several hours. The brig might have escaped had she not lost her topmast. She was one year old and was armed with 16 French 12-pounder guns. Active took her prize to Malta, together with the prisoners, who included Commodore Don Amilcar Paolucci, commander in chief of the Italian Marine and Knight of the Iron Crown.[5]
On 16 June, Standard was sailing off Corfu when she encountered the Italian gunboat Volpe, which was armed with one iron 4-pounder, and the French dispatch boat Legera. When the wind fell, Harvey sent his pinnace, his cutter and his yawl in pursuit. The British caught up with their quarry after having rowed for two hours. They captured Volpe despite facing stiff resistance and ran Legera aground about four miles north of Cape St. Mary. The French crew took to the rocks above their vessel and kept up a continuous small arms fire on the British seamen who took possession of the vessel and towed her off. They then burned both vessels. Despite the resistance and small arms fire the British had suffered no casualties.[6]
Last years
In 1809 she served in the Gunboat War in the Baltic under Captain Aiskew Hollis. On 18 May a squadron consisting of Standard, the frigate Owen Glendower, and the vessels Avenger, Ranger, Rose, and Snipe captured the island of Anholt.[7] A landing party of seamen and marines under the command of Captain William Selby of Owen Glendower, with the assistance of Captain Edward Nicolls of the Standard's marines, landed. The Danish garrison of 170 men put up a sharp but ineffectual resistance that killed one British marine and wounded two; the garrison then surrendered. The British took immediate possession of the island.[7]
Hollis, in his report, stated that Anholt was important in that it could furnish supplies of water to His Majesty's fleet, and afford a good anchorage to merchant vessels sailing to and from the Baltic.[7] However, the principal objective of the mission was to restore the lighthouse on the island to its pre-war state to facilitate the movement of British men of war and merchantmen navigating the dangerous seas there.[8]
On 19 December 1810 Standard sailed for the Mediterranean again. In February 1811 she was on the Portugal station, temporarily under Captain Joshua Horton. In May she was under the temporary command of Captain Charles Fleming.
Fate
Standard was paid off into ordinary in 1813. She was broken up in 1816.[1]
HMS Leander was a Portland-class 50-gun fourth rate of the Royal Navy, launched at Chatham on 1 July 1780. She served on the West Coast of Africa, West Indies, and the Halifax station. During the French Revolutionary Wars she participated in the Battle of the Nile before a French ship captured her. The Russians and Turks recaptured her and returned her to the Royal Navy in 1799. On 23 February 1805, while on the Halifax station, Leander captured the French frigate Ville de Milan and recaptured her prize, HMS Cleopatra. On 25 April 1805 cannon fire from Leander killed an American seaman while Leander was trying to search an American vessel off the US coast for contraband. The resulting "Leander affair" contributed to the worsening of relations between the United States and Great Britain. In 1813 the Admiralty converted Leander to a hospital ship under the name Hygeia. Hygeia was sold in 1817.
HMS Agamemnon was a 64-gun third-rate ship of the line of the British Royal Navy. She saw service in the American Revolutionary War, French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and fought in many of the major naval battles of those conflicts. She is remembered as being Nelson's favourite ship, and was named after the mythical ancient Greek king Agamemnon, being the first ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name.
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 Polyphemus, a 64-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 27 April 1782 at Sheerness. She participated in the 1801 Battle of Copenhagen, the Battle of Trafalgar, and the Siege of Santo Domingo. In 1813 she became a powder hulk and was broken up in 1827.
The Battle of Anholt was a successful British military operation under the command of James Wilkes Maurice against the Danish-held island of Anholt under the command of Jørgen Conrad de Falsen, taking place during the Gunboat War, a conflict between the United Kingdom and Denmark-Norway that was part of the wider Napoleonic Wars. It was an attempt by the Dano-Norwegians to recapture Anholt, a small Danish island off the coast of Jutland which the British had captured in 1809. Early in the Gunboat War, the Dano-Norwegians had closed their lighthouse at the easternmost point of Anholt. In January 1809, the bomb-vessel Proselyte, which the British had stationed off Anholt to act as a lighthouse, struck Anholt Reef and sank. On 18 May 1809, the 74-gun Third Rate HMS Standard, under Captain Askew Hollis, led in a squadron that also included the frigate Owen Glendower, and the vessels Avenger, Ranger, Rose, and Snipe. Together they captured the island.
HMS Arethusa was a 38-gun Minerva-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy built at Bristol in 1781. She served in three wars and made a number of notable captures before she was broken up in 1815.
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.
Viala was a 74-gun Téméraire-class ship of the line of the French Navy launched in 1795. The Royal Navy captured her in 1806 and sold her in 1814.
HMS Edgar was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, that saw service in the American Revolutionary, French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Launched in 1779, she fought in the battles of Cape St Vincent and Copenhagen, two of the major naval engagements of the wars.
HMS Ardent was a 64–gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 9 April 1796 at Northfleet. She had been designed and laid down for the British East India Company who was going to name her Princess Royal, but the Navy purchased her before launching, for service as a warship in the French Revolutionary War.
HMS Thames was a 32-gun Richmond-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy built by Henry Adams and launched at Bucklers Hard in 1758. She served in several wars, including for some four years in French service after her capture. She was recaptured in 1796 and was broken up in 1803.
HMS Active was a Royal Navy fifth-rate frigate launched on 14 December 1799 at Chatham Dockyard. Sir John Henslow designed her as an improvement on the Artois-class frigates. She served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, capturing numerous enemy vessels. Her crews participated in one campaign and three actions that would later qualify them for the Naval General Service Medal. She returned to service after the wars and finally was broken up in 1860.
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 Romney was a 50-gun fourth rate of the Royal Navy. She served during the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars in a career that spanned forty years. Five ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Romney. The origins of the name are from the town of New Romney, although it may be that the name entered the Royal Navy in honour of Henry Sydney, 1st Earl of Romney.
HMS Owen Glendower was a Royal Navy 36-gun fifth-rate Apollo-class frigate launched in 1808 and disposed of in 1884. In between she was instrumental in the seizure of the Danish island of Anholt, captured prizes in the Channel during the Napoleonic Wars, sailed to the East Indies and South America, participated in the suppression of the slave trade, and served as a prison hulk in Gibraltar before she was sold in 1884.
The Royal Navy purchased the Newcastle collier Ramillies in June 1804 and commissioned her as HMS Proselyte in September 1804, having converted her to a 28-gun sixth rate in July and August. Between 1806 and 1808 she was converted to a bomb vessel. She was crushed by ice and abandoned in 1808 at the island of Anholt while acting as a lightvessel.
Grinder was a gunboat serving as a tender, rather than a commissioned warship, to HMS Anholt, the British garrison on the island of Anholt during the Gunboat War. Grinder's origins are obscure, but the Danes captured her in 1810 and the British recaptured her in 1811. She was sold in 1832.
HMS Snipe was a gun-brig and the first Royal Navy ship to bear the name Snipe. Her grounding in 1807 inspired the invention of the Manby Mortar, an important development in maritime lifesaving equipment.
HMS Avenger was the collier Thames, launched in 1803, that the Royal Navy purchased in 1804 and renamed. During her service she captured a number of prizes. She also captured one French privateer and participated in the capture of the Danish island of Anholt. She wrecked at St Johns Newfoundland on 8 October 1812.
Captain Joseph Ellison was a Royal Navy officer. Having joined the service at the age of nine, he served during the Falklands Crisis in 1770 and went on to participate in the Battle of Bunker Hill and Siege of Pondicherry during the American Revolutionary War, during which he was promoted to lieutenant. On 4 July 1780 Ellison was serving on board HMS Prudente when they engaged, with another British frigate, two French frigates off Cape Ortegal. Ellison was badly wounded in the back during the battle and had an arm destroyed by a cannon ball that was amputated after the British had attained their victory. Having recuperated from his injuries Ellison was appointed to the impress service where he performed so well that he was promoted to commander in 1782 and post-captain in 1783. He took command of HMS Ariadne in April of that year and served in her off Ireland investigating fisheries, but in September he temporarily retired from the navy when his wounds began to become more problematic.
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