HMS Sylph (1795)

Last updated

The cutter Mary Ann and HMS Sylph RMG BHC3650.tiff
HMS Sylph (R) and the cutter Mary Ann, 1795
History
Naval Ensign of Great Britain (1707-1800).svgGreat Britain
NameHMS Sylph
Namesake Sylph
Ordered13 July 1795
Cost £5,322
Laid downJuly 1795
Launched3 September 1795
Completed23 September 1795
CommissionedAugust 1795
FateBroken up, April 1811
General characteristics [1]
Class and type Albatross-class brig-sloop
Tons burthen36952⁄94 (bm)
Length
  • 96 ft 2 in (29.3 m) (gundeck)
  • 73 ft 10+1⁄2 in (22.5 m) (keel)
Beam30 ft 8 in (9.3 m)
Depth of hold12 ft 9 in (3.9 m)
PropulsionSails
Complement121
ArmamentGun deck: 16 × 32-pounder carronades + 2 × 6-pounder bow chasers

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.

Contents

Sylph was an active ship through the French Revolutionary Wars, participating in actions such as the action of 12 May 1796 and taking a number of warships and privateers during service as a blockade and patrol ship. The majority of her service would be spent in the North Sea, English Channel and off the coast of Spain. Sylph served actively until 1805, when she was laid up at Portsmouth. She was broken up there in 1811.

Construction

Drawing showing the body plan used to build Sylph and other ships, 1795 Albatross (1795); Dispatch (1795); Kite (1795); Raven (1796); Star (1795); Swallow (1795); Sylph (1795); Pelican (1795). RMG J4534.png
Drawing showing the body plan used to build Sylph and other ships, 1795

Sylph was a 16-gun, 32-pound carronade brig-sloop. [1] She was part of the Albatross-class designed by William Rule and approved on 22 April 1795. Of the five ships in the class three, including Sylph, were built of fir, likely due to a wartime lack of other available materials. [2] The class was established to help meet the need for extra ships for convoy duties. Sylph and her class were originally planned to have sixteen 6-pound long guns, but the Admiralty Order of 22 April also established the ships with carronades instead. [3] Sylph was ordered on 13 July as part of a contract to the yard of William Barnard, however Barnard had died in March and the construction of Sylph was organised by his widow and two sons. [3] Sylph was completed with the following dimensions: 96 feet 2 inches (29.3 m) along the gun deck, 73 feet 10+1⁄2 inches (22.5 m) at the keel, with a beam of 30 feet 8 inches (9.3 m) and a depth in the hold of 12 feet 9 inches (3.9 m). She measured 36952⁄94 tons burthen. [1]

Sylph was launched on 3 September 1795 and fitted out between 10 and 23 September at Deptford Dockyard. [1] While her class nominally held 32-pound carronades, they proved too heavy for the small ships and were replaced in most vessels with smaller 24-pound carronades. [3]

Service

1796

Sylph was commissioned under Commander John Chambers White, who would command her into 1799, on 28 August 1795. [1] [4] She first served in the North Sea Fleet of Admiral Adam Duncan. [5] Sylph was sent with HMS Leopard, HMS Phoenix, and HMS Pegasus to intercept a small Dutch squadron that had recently sailed from Norway. [Note 1] [5] The Dutch were spotted on 12 May 1796 off the Texel, and consisted of the 36-gun frigate Argo, the 18-gun Echo, 16-gun Mercury, and 14-gun De Grier (all brigs), and the cutter Duke of York, which was a prize of Argo. [5] The brigs immediately attempted to escape and were chased by Sylph and Pegasus while Phoenix pursued the frigate, Leopard being too slow to assist. [5] After a battle of twenty minutes Argo surrendered to Phoenix, while De Grier and Echo were driven ashore and Mercury, despite throwing fourteen of her sixteen guns overboard to lose weight, taken by Sylph. [Note 2] [5] [1] [6]

From around August Sylph was a part of Commodore John Borlase Warren's blockading squadron in the Channel. [7] On 22 August this squadron, consisting of four frigates and Sylph, was cruising off the mouth of the Gironde when they discovered and chased the French 32-gun frigate Andromaque. [7] HMS Galatea and Sylph cut Andromaque off from the river and while they lost sight of her overnight, Andromaque was driven ashore on the morning of 23 August. [7] Sylph fired into her as she lay on shore and then sent her boats in to burn her in the afternoon. [7] She took the 4-gun privateer cutter Le Phoenix in the English Channel in September. [1] [8]

1797

On 17 July 1797 Sylph participated in the destruction of the French 28-gun frigate La Calliope off the coast of Brittany. [Note 3] [1] [4] Sylph was in company with HMS Pomone, HMS Artois, HMS Anson, and the cutter Dolly when they came across a French convoy of fourteen ships guarded by Calliope, a corvette, and a brig-corvette off Ushant at Hodierne Bay. [9] [10] [11] The two corvettes were able to use their speed to escape the squadron, but Calliope was not able to follow them and instead chose to cut away her masts and run herself on shore at 2:20 A.M. so as to not be taken by the British. [9] At 7 A.M. Anson anchored near the beached Calliope and a brig attempting to assist her, and fired on them. Realising that Anson was too far away to do significant damage, Captain White moved Sylph in between Calliope and Anson at 9:30 A.M. and began a 'well-directed fire' at Calliope. [9] [10] At 11:30 A.M. Anson left to rejoin Pomone and Artois, but Sylph stayed to continue firing on Calliope until 6 P.M. when she was recalled by Warren in Pomone. [9] The efforts of Sylph meant that the French were unable to salvage any of Calliope, and the frigate broke up on the shore the next day. [9] [4] Sylph lost five seamen and one marine wounded, but on top of Calliope's destruction, one transport ship, three brigs, and four chasse-marées were taken, and two other ships run ashore. [12] [10] [11]

Less than a month later on 11 August she participated in an attack on another enemy convoy. Sylph was sailing with Pomone, HMS Jason, and HMS Triton when early in the morning the convoy of brigs and chasse-marées was spotted off the coast of Vendée. [13] The convoy was protected by the 22-gun corvette Réolaise and three or four smaller gun vessels; these ran to the mouth of the Les Sables-d'Olonne river to receive protection from a fort stationed there. [13] [14] [15] Captain White of Sylph volunteered to sail in and begin firing at the vessels despite this, and did so at 11:30 A.M. [13] Sylph opened fire from around one mile away, receiving fire in turn from the anchored ships and fort, and was joined in her endeavour at noon by Pomone and Jason while Triton chased members of the convoy away. [13] After around forty-five minutes of firing, Sylph cut her cable and stood out from the river mouth having had one master's mate and two seamen killed. [13] The attack was successful with one 12-gun gun-brig destroyed and the corvette heavily damaged. [13] [14] On 27 August Sylph was sailing with the same group of ships at the mouth of the Gironde when they discovered and chased another French convoy. They chased the convoy all night and the two fastest, Triton and Jason, captured five of the ships. [13]

1798

In February 1798 Sylph was present at the capture of the 18-gun privateer La Légere, and took the French chasse-marée La Sainte Famille with HMS Impétueux on 5 April. [4] [1] On 16 September a French expedition commanded by Jean-Baptiste-François Bompart consisting of the ship of the line Hoche, eight frigates, a schooner, and 3,000 soldiers, left Brest to sail for Ireland as reinforcements to the invasion of General Jean Humbert. [Note 4] [16] Sylph was part of a small squadron including HMS Boadicea and HMS Ethalion which spotted the expedition off Pointe du Raz at daybreak on 17 September. [16] [17] Ethalion and Sylph were left to follow the French as they made sail, later being joined by HMS Amelia and Anson. [18] While the French made attempts to dislodge the following British ships and confuse them as to their destination, by 23 September Captain George Countess of Ethalion was sure of their path towards Ireland, and Sylph was sent to warn the commander-in-chief of the Irish Station of the approaching ships. [18] [17] The warning provided by Sylph and the squadron allowed the Royal Navy to bring together a force to attack Bompart's ships, resulting in the Battle of Tory Island on 12 October and a series of follow-up actions which saw Hoche and five of the frigates captured. [19] [17]

1799

Alongside HMS Mermaid she took the Spanish 4-gun packet Golondrina off Corunna on 24 May 1799. [Note 5] [4] [20] On 2 July she took part in an attempt on some Spanish ships in Aix Roads. [1] This Spanish squadron had sailed from Brest at the end of May and was cornered by the fleet of Lord Bridport on 4 June, at which point they retired to the fortified port of Île-d'Aix. [21] Bridport left a blockading force commanded by Rear-Admiral Charles Morice Pole of six ships of the line, three bomb vessels, four frigates, and Sylph, off the island. [22] On 2 July Pole moved his ships of the line into the Roads, and the smaller vessels closer to Aix itself. [23] The intent was to protect the three bomb vessels as they bombarded the anchored Spanish ships. [22] However, the Spaniards were protected by two forts on land as well as a floating battery of mortars, which Sylph reported to Pole had a much higher range than the British ships. [22] [23] At 3 P.M. a number of Spanish gun boats advanced and opened fire on them, forcing by 4:30 P.M. the British ships to cease their bombardment and sail out of range of the Spaniards. [22] Neither side was very damaged, but the Spanish claimed it as a victory. [23]

On 2 August command of Sylph was handed to Commander Charles Dashwood, who on 17 November took the French 8-gun lugger Fouine while watching the French fleet in Brest. [1] [24] On 18 December Sylph, along with Ethalion and HMS Fisgard, was blown off station by a severe gale. [25] Ethalion returned to her position off Brest first, and was wrecked on 24 December. 150 survivors were rescued by the boats of Sylph, HMS Nimrod, and HMS Danae, before they were transferred to Sylph who brought them to Plymouth on 26 December. [25]

1800–1801

Sylph in action off Santander against a French frigate (44) on the night of 31 July 1801 was heavily damaged before breaking off, by Robert Dodd Santander, 1801 RCIN 735101.jpg
Sylph in action off Santander against a French frigate (44) on the night of 31 July 1801 was heavily damaged before breaking off, by Robert Dodd
Sylph meets French frigate Artemise (44) on the night of 28 September 1801 at Cape Penas, 1801 and was obliged to bear away and decline the action: Cape Penas, 1801 RCIN 735102.jpg
Sylph meets French frigate Artémise (44) on the night of 28 September 1801 at Cape Penas, 1801 and was obliged to bear away and decline the action:

Sylph continued to patrol the northern coast of Spain and the Channel in 1800-1; she fought two actions with unidentified ships off Santander on 31 July and 28 September of the latter year. These actions may have been against a 44-gun French frigate apparently called L'Artemise. [26] On 31 July Sylph was chasing an armed schooner off Santander which the enemy frigate arrived to protect. [27] The wind was not favourable for her to escape the much larger enemy, and so Sylph prepared to engage her; the engagement lasted one hour and twenty minutes in which one man was killed and nine wounded before Sylph withdrew to make repairs. [25] [27] At daybreak on 1 August the enemy frigate was spotted by Sylph seemingly in a disabled state, but the damaged state of Sylph meant she was too slow in advancing on the frigate, which escaped. [28] After the combat she was filling with 1 foot 6 inches (0.5 m) of water an hour but managed to reach the Channel Fleet from where she was ordered by Admiral William Cornwallis to go to Plymouth for repairs, which she did on 14 August. [25] [29] Having been repaired, Sylph resumed her station off the coast of north Spain, and on 28 September discovered a French frigate of the same force as her earlier adversary. [29] At 7:30 P.M. the two ships engaged each other from extremely close distance, exchanging broadsides for two hours and five minutes before the frigate disengaged, leaving Sylph with heavy damage to her rigging but again with minimal casualties, only one man injured. [26] [30] Commander Dashwood was promoted to post-captain for his bravery in these two engagements. [Note 6] [34]

Later service

By November Sylph was under Commander William Goate based in the Channel and North Sea on blockade duties. She was decommissioned during the Peace of Amiens but recommissioned to continue the same services in February 1803. [1] On the night of 17 December 1804 Sylph, HMS Thisbe, and HMS Niobe were all forced to cut away their masts to save themselves from being destroyed during a gale off Guernsey. [25] Sylph was repaired and stayed on station until the end of 1805. The ship was laid up at Portsmouth in November and broken up there in April 1811. [1]

Notes and citations

Notes

  1. ↑ See Action of 12 May 1796
  2. ↑ Argo was taken into Royal Navy service as HMS Janus.
  3. ↑ This class of frigate usually served as 32 or 34-gun frigates rather than the stated 28. [9]
  4. ↑ See Order of battle at the Battle of Tory Island for French ship details.
  5. ↑ Golondrina was pierced as a 20-gun ship but did not have the majority in place. [20]
  6. ↑ There is severe doubt over who the opponent of Sylph was in these two engagements. While it was accepted that her opponent was a large warship, there is no evidence of a French frigate called L'Artemise existing in 1801, and doubt has been cast over a 44-gun frigate doing such minimal damage to a smaller and lighter enemy like Sylph. [31] [32] William Laird Clowes suggested the ship was some kind of French or Spanish privateer. [33]

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Winfield, British Warships, p. 645
  2. ↑ Gardiner, First Frigates, p. 54
  3. 1 2 3 Winfield, British Warships, p. 643
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 O'Byrne, Naval Biographical Dictionary, p. 1281
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Duncan, British Trident, p. 10
  6. ↑ Schomberg, Naval Chronology, p. 91
  7. 1 2 3 4 Clowes, Royal Navy, p. 502
  8. ↑ Schomberg, Naval Chronology, p. 119
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 James, Naval History, Vol. 2, p. 95
  10. 1 2 3 Clowes, Royal Navy, p. 507
  11. 1 2 "No. 14031". The London Gazette . 25 July 1797. p. 697.
  12. ↑ James, Naval History, Vol. 2, pp.95-6
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 James, Naval History, Vol. 2, p. 96
  14. 1 2 James, Naval History, Vol. 2, p. 97
  15. ↑ Clowes, Royal Navy, p. 508
  16. 1 2 James, Naval History, Vol. 2, p. 139
  17. 1 2 3 Clowes, Royal Navy, p. 345
  18. 1 2 James, Naval History, Vol. 2, p. 140
  19. ↑ James, Naval History, Vol. 2, pp. 142-9
  20. 1 2 Schomberg, Naval Chronology, p. 88
  21. ↑ James, Naval History, Vol. 2, p. 301
  22. 1 2 3 4 James, Naval History, Vol. 2, p. 302
  23. 1 2 3 Clowes, Royal Navy, p. 389
  24. ↑ Schomberg, Naval Chronology, p. 83
  25. 1 2 3 4 5 Phillips, Sylph (18) (1795). Michael Phillips' Ships of the Old Navy. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  26. 1 2 O'Byrne, Naval Biographical Dictionary, p. 263.
  27. 1 2 James, Naval History, Vol. 3, p. 145
  28. ↑ James, Naval History, Vol. 3, pp. 145-6
  29. 1 2 James, Naval History, Vol. 3, p. 146
  30. ↑ James, Naval History, Vol. 3, pp. 146-7
  31. ↑ James, Naval History, Vol. 3, pp. 147-8
  32. ↑ Clowes, Royal Navy, pp. 540-1
  33. ↑ Clowes, Royal Navy, p. 540
  34. ↑ James, Naval History, Vol. 3, p. 148

Related Research Articles

HMS <i>Galatea</i> (1794) Frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Galatea was a fifth-rate 32-gun sailing frigate of the British Royal Navy that George Parsons built at Bursledon and launched in 1794. Before she was broken up in 1809 she captured numerous prizes and participated in a number of actions, first in the Channel and off Ireland (1794–1803), and then in the Caribbean (1802–1809), including one that earned her crew the Naval General Service Medal.

HMS <i>Pegasus</i> (1779) Frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Pegasus was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth rate. This frigate was launched in 1779 at Deptford and sold in 1816. Pegasus had a relatively uneventful career and is perhaps best known for the fact that her captain from 1786 to 1789 was Prince William Henry, the future King William IV. By 1811 Pegasus was a receiving ship at Chatham; she was sold in 1816.

HMS <i>Arethusa</i> (1781) Frigate of the Royal Navy

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 <i>Anson</i> (1781) Intrepid-class ship of the line

HMS Anson was a ship of the Royal Navy, launched at Plymouth on 4 September 1781. Originally a 64-gun third rate ship of the line, she fought at the Battle of the Saintes.

HMS <i>Phoenix</i> (1783) Frigate of the Royal Navy

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Tory Island</span> 1798 naval action off the coast of Donegal, Ireland

The Battle of Tory Island was a naval action of the French Revolutionary Wars, fought on 12 October 1798 between French and British squadrons off the northwest coast of County Donegal, then in the Kingdom of Ireland. The last action of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, the Battle of Tory Island ended the final attempt by the French Navy to land substantial numbers of soldiers in Ireland during the war.

Coquille was a 40-gun frigate of the French Navy, lead ship of her class, and launched in 1794. The Royal Navy captured her in October 1798 and took her into service as HMS Coquille, but an accidental fire destroyed her in December 1798.

French frigate <i>Pomone</i> (1785) 40-gun frigate of the French Navy launched in 1785

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.

HMS <i>Ethalion</i> (1797) Frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Ethalion was a 38-gun Artois-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was built by Joseph Graham of Harwich and launched on 14 March 1797. In her brief career before she was wrecked in 1799 on the French coast, she participated in a major battle and in the capture of two privateers and a rich prize.

Vice Admiral Sir John Chambers White, KCB was a prominent British Royal Navy officer of the early nineteenth century, who participated in a number of engagements during the Napoleonic Wars. He achieved most of his fame in the late 1790s as the commander of HMS Sylph, a small brig operating in Northern European waters. White was able to capture a number of equivalent French, Spanish and Dutch vessels and on one occasion was instrumental in the destruction of a much larger French frigate by a British squadron. In 1798 he was with the squadron that discovered the French invasion attempt on Ireland and acted as a messenger in the campaign to destroy the invasion force that ended at the Battle of Tory Island. He was later flag captain for Sir John Borlase Warren and participated at the action of 13 March 1806 and the destruction of the Regulus in 1814. After the war, White largely retired, but retained several shore appointments and rose to the rank of vice-admiral.

Admiral Sir Lawrence William Halsted GCB was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

HMS Drake was a 14-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy. She was bought from a commercial builder during the early years of the American War of Independence, and went on to support operations in the English Channel and the Caribbean. At one stage she assisted an attack on a French-held island, an expedition commanded by a young Horatio Nelson. Laid up for a time after the end of the American War of Independence, she returned to service shortly before the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars. Drake spent most of her time in Caribbean waters, until being declared unfit for service in 1800 and deleted from the navy lists.

Thomas Eyles was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

HMS <i>Success</i> (1781) Frigate of the Royal Navy

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Action of 12 May 1796</span> Minor naval engagement during the French Revolutionary Wars

The action of 12 May 1796 was a minor naval engagement during the French Revolutionary Wars between a squadron of British Royal Navy frigates and a frigate and four smaller ships of the Batavian Navy. The British squadron had been detached on the previous day from the British North Sea fleet under Admiral Adam Duncan, which was cruising off the Batavian fleet anchorage at the Texel, while the Batavian squadron was returning to the Netherlands from the Norwegian coast where it had been sheltering since suffering defeat at the action of 22 August 1795 the previous year. As the Batavian squadron neared the Batavian coast, the British squadron under Captain Lawrence Halstead attacked.

HMS <i>Pearl</i> (1762) Royal Navy frigate, in service 1762–1832

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 <i>Melpomene</i> (1794) Frigate of the French and Royal Navy (1788-1815)

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 <i>Triton</i> (1796) Experimental frigate of the Royal Navy in service 1796–1814/20

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 <i>Artois</i> (1794) Frigate of the Royal Navy, commissioned 1794 and wrecked 1797

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 <i>Caroline</i> (1795) Frigate of the Royal Navy in service 1795–1812

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

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.