Unicorn entered service in 1794 under the command of Captain William Cayley, who was followed in 1795 by Captain Thomas Williams.[3] Under Williams, Unicorn served in the Western Approaches, operating from Cork. On 31 May, Unicorn, Scipio and Latona shared in the capture of the Dutch schooner Mary, Captain Pierce, master.[4]
On 28 August 1795, Unicorn was in company with Diana and Seahorse, when Unicorn captured the Dutch East IndiamanCromhout or Crumhout.[5]Cromhout's capture resulted in at least £40,000 in prize money to be distributed among her captors.[6]
Then Unicorn parted company with the rest of the squadron and after a chase of 13 hours captured the Dutch brigKomeet (or Comet), which was under the command of Captain-Lieutenant Mynheer Claris. Comet was only four years old, in excellent condition, and armed with 18 English 9-pounder guns. She was sailing from the Cape of Good Hope to the Texel and was provisioned with water and food for 110 men for a nine-month cruise.[7] The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Comeet.
Crumhout, Komeet, and a third vessel, the southern whale ship Horstfelder, that the British also captured, were part of a convoy of nine East Indiamen and two naval vessels, Komeet and Scipio. Scipio escorted the remaining Indiamen into Norwegian waters, which they reached on 22 September. Scipio and three of the Indiamen reached Trondheim on 6 October. The remaining Indiamen went to Bergen and Ålesund.[8]
On 10 April 1796, Unicorn recaptured the brig Thames while in company with Penguin and the hired armedcutterFox. Unicorn, Fox, Dryad, Diana and Seahorse, were in company when Dryad captured the French cutter Abeille.[5]
On 7 June, Unicorn and Santa Margarita captured a large ship flying Swedish colours and carrying Dutch goods from Surinam, which turned out to be the Gustavus Adolphus.[9] The commander of the prize crew, a lieutenant from Unicorn, advised Admiral Sir Robert Kingsmill, commander in chief of the Cork station, that when he had last seen Unicorn and Santa Margarita they were chasing three French vessels, the frigates Tamise and Tribune, and the corvette Legere.[10]
In the action of 8 June 1796, Unicorn captured the 44-gun Tribune.[11] Before Unicorn could bring Tribune to close action the two vessels engaged in a ten-hour-long running fight. The actual close engagement lasted 35 minutes before Tribunestruck. She was under the command of Commodore John Moulston and had lost 37 men killed of her crew of 337 men, as well as 15 wounded. (Moulston, who was wounded in the action, was an American who had served in the French Navy for 16 years.) Unicorn had no losses.[11]
The Royal Navy took Tribune into service under her existing name. Williams earned a knighthood for his victory. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the remaining survivors of the action the NGSM with clasp "Unicorn 8 June 1796".
Santa Margarita captured Tamise in an action that would ultimately yield her crew a clasp to the NGSM. Legere escaped. Dryad captured the fourth vessel in Moulston's squadron, the 26-gun frigate Proserpine, which had earlier parted company with her companion vessels in a fog.[11] The British took Proserpine into service as Amelia.
In September to early October, Unicorn captured five vessels sailing from Surinam to Amsterdam:[12]
Eliza (22 September);
Orion (23 September);
Christian the Seventh (24 September):
Whilhemsberg (1 October); and
Freiheden (4 October).
On 21 October Unicorn captured the 6-gun privateer Enterprise in the Irish Sea. Enterprise had a crew of 40 men and was 28 days out of Brest. During her cruise she had captured a Portuguese ship, two English brigs, and a sloop.[13]
In December, Unicorn was one of the few British ships able to respond to the French effort to invade Ireland during the Expédition d'Irlande. On 7 January 1797, Unicorn was able to capture the troopship Ville de Lorient with Doris and Druid and pursue the French flagship in the closing days of the campaign. Eleven days later Unicorn, Doris and Druid captured the privateer Eclair, of 18 guns and a crew of 120 men, in the Channel.[14]Unicorn then rejoined the British fleet. In August, Unicorn was in company with Apollo when they recaptured the Somerset at Cove, near Cork.[15]
In March 1797 command passed to Captain James Young and then to Captain Phillip Wilkinson in April 1799.[3][lower-alpha 1]Unicorn captured a French brig in March 1799.
On 9 June 1799 Unicorn and the hired armed cutter Constitution captured the French brig St. Antoine.[17] On 10 June, two of Unicorn's boats, together with two each from Renown, Fisgard and Defence, all of Sir John Borlase Warren's squadron, captured the gunboat Nochette, two other armed vessels, and eight transports carrying supplies for the fleet at Brest. Nochette was armed with two 24-pounder guns. The two other armed vessels were chasse-marée armed with eight and six guns. The transports consisted of two brigs, two sloops, and four chasse-marée, which were carrying wine, brandy, flour and peas. In addition, the crews of 20 French vessels ran their vessels ashore, where many were probably wrecked. The British suffered four men wounded, but none were from Unicorn.[18]Unicorn was short of water so Admiral St. Vincent ordered her to escort the prizes back to Plymouth and then immediately return to her station. Unicorn arrived at Plymouth on 18 June with ten vessels, one having foundered on the way. (The crew was saved.) She sailed for Brest on 27 June.[19] Next, Unicorn participated in the attempt on the Spanish squadron in Aix Roads on 2 July.[3]
On 6 January 1800 Unicorn was among the five vessels that shared in the capture of the French brig Ursule (or Huzelle).[20] On 7 January, the French armed ship Huzelle came into Plymouth. She had been carrying passengers from Cayenne, including women and children, when Amethyst captured her. On her way in to a British port, the French privateer Providence, of 14 guns and 152 men, had recaptured her and sent her to Bordeaux. However, before she got there, Unicorn and Beaulieu recaptured her in turn and sent her into Plymouth. Huzelle was low on provision with the result that a five-year-old child died while she was in Plymouth Sound; as she anchored at Catwater, M.P. Symonds, the broker for the prize, sent on board plenty of fresh provisions. Among Huzelle's passengers were a Colonel Molonson of Invalids, and a naturalist, M. Burnelle, with a cabinet of curiosities for the French National Museum at Paris.[21]
In June Unicorn was still with Warren's squadron off the Atlantic coast of France. She therefore shared in the capture on 11 June of ten merchant vessels: the brig Rosalie, Baure Paire, the sloop Rosalie, Bonne Nouvelle, Oiseau, Felicite, Nochelle, St. Claire, Henrietta, and Maree Francaise.[22]Unicorn was also among the five ships that shared in the proceeds of the capture of the French privateer Rancune, taken on 27 September.[23]Unicorn shared in some of these prizes by virtue of being part of Admiral Keat's squadron. She also shared in the captures of Girone (28 July), Revanche (28 July), Alerte (1 July), Joseph (3 August), Vivo (30 September), and Magicienne (16 October).[24]Unicorn shared with four other vessels in the capture of Union on 14 August.[25] On 15 August Unicorn recaptured Petit Bastien, and four days later Hirondelle.[26]
Command then passed to Captain Charles Wemyss in 1801. On 14 August Wemyss wrote to Admiral W. Cornwallis stating that he had only been able to capture one chasse-marée, of 40 tons, which was carrying a cargo of lime. Not only was she not worth sending in, capturing her cost Unicorn one man killed and one man slightly wounded. Wemyss had also destroyed another chasse-marée, also of 40 tons that was carrying a cargo of corn.[27] Captain Charles Stuart replaced Wemyss in 1802.[3] In April and May 1803 Unicorn was placed in dock at Chatham for extensive repairs.
Napoleonic Wars
Unicorn was recommissioned in April 1803 under Captain Lucius Hardyman for the North Sea.[3] An assignment to escort a convoy of merchantmen from Sheerness to Riga was abandoned in mid-June due to poor weather.[28] On 23 June she captured the Dutch fishing vessel Jonge Johannes,[29] then on 17 September the neutral ship Catharina Louisa, which the High Court of Admiralty later restored to her owners. Then on 6 October she recaptured the William and Thomas. The salvage from William and Thomas went in whole or in part to pay expenses relating to the detention of Catherina Louisa.[30] On 25 October Unicorn and Antelope captured Catharina Tholens.[31]
Unicorn sailed for Jamaica on 23 December 1804.[3] On the morning of 6 May 1805, Unicorn was eight or nine leagues (39 or 43km) north east by north of Cape Francois, off St. Domingo when she saw a strange sail seven or eight miles (11 or 13km) away. There was little wind so Handyman sent out four boats in chase. After rowing for many hours, and despite finally facing cannon and small arms fire, the British captured the privateer without taking any casualties. She turned out to be Tape-a-Bord, under the command of Citizen Hemiguelth. She was armed with four 6-pounder guns, and carried 46 men. She was out of Samana and had been on a cruise for 10 days without taking any prizes.[32] On 15 October Unicorn captured the Spanish ship Notre Dame de la Carmen, which was on her way from Havana to Cadiz with a cargo of cocoa.[33]
On 7 May 1806, Unicorn captured the French privateer Galatea.[34]
In 1808 she returned to Britain. By 29 June she was off France when she, Seine, Comet and Cossack captured the French brig Pierre Caesar.[35] The Admiralty took Pierre Caesar into service as Tigress.
On 6 August Cossack captured Mouche with Unicorn, sharing in the prize money by agreement.[36] Around 15 or 28 October Unicorn and Thisbe captured General Mulenfelis or General Muhlenfels.[37][38]
In 1809 Unicorn was present at the Battle of Basque Roads. Imperieuse had taken up a position by the Boyard Shoal. The frigates Unicorn, Aigle, and Pallas anchored close to her. Their task was to retrieve the returning crews of the fireships and to support the boats of the fleet that had assembled alongside Caesar, to assist the fireships. As it turned out the boats were not used. Still, in 1847 the Admiralty awarded the NGSM with clasp "Basque Roads" to all surviving claimants from the action.
On 12 April 1810, Unicorn captured the 22-gun Esperence off the Île de Ré. Esperence was the former British Post-shipLaurel, but was armed en flute. She was under the command of a lieutenant de vaisseau and carrying a cargo of colonial produce from Île de France.[39] In November 1810 Unicorn received an advance of £14,000 on the prize money from the capture of Esperence.[40]
Unicorn captured the privateer Gascon on 3 February 1810. Gascon carried 16 guns and 113 men. She was two days out of Bayonne without having taken any prizes.[41][lower-alpha 2]
In April 1811 Captain George Bourgoyne Salt assumed command. Between 19 November and 3 February 1812 Unicorn captured five vessels: Industry (19 November), Jane (21 November), Fly (18 January), Manlius (21 January), and Good Intent (3 February). Unicorn shared the capture of Manlius with Scylla.[43] On 30 March 1813 the frigate Stag and Unicorn captured the French privateer Miquelonnaise, of St Malo. She was pierced for 20 guns but carried 18, two long 12-pounders, eight long 6-pounders and eight 12-pounder carronades. She had a crew of 130 men and was about six months old. On this cruise she had been out four days from Quimper and had taken the small brig Alexander, which had been carrying a cargo of tin and iron from London to Lisbon. Miquelonnaise sank the brig rather than bringing her in.[44]
In April Stag, with Unicorn in sight, took the 2-gun privateer schooner Hébé, the former Royal Navy schooner Laura.[45] The Royal Navy took her back into service as Lauretsinus. On 21 May, Unicorn captured the American schooner Miranda, of Rhode Island. She had a crew of six men, a burthen of 104 tons, and was sailing for Matunzas with a cargo of lumber.[46][lower-alpha 3][lower-alpha 4]
Captain Samuel George Pechell took command of Unicorn in 1814.[3] While under the command of Kerr, Salt, or Pechell, Unicorn sent in her boats to cut out a large brig sheltering under the batteries at Belle Île. The expedition cost the British two men killed. Unicorn also participated in the support of Spanish forces in the north of Spain, in the blockade of the Texel, and in patrols off the coast of Norway. Lastly, she also conveyed various members of the Royal Family to and from the Continent.[49]
Fate
Unicorn was sold out of the service and broken up at Deptford in March 1815.[3]
Notes
↑ Wilkinson would later change his name to Stephens.[16]
↑ Gascon was offered for sale on 16 March 1810 at Plymouth. The advertisement for the auction described her as having a burthen of 29469⁄94 tons, a length of 92ft 10+1⁄2in (28.3m), and a breadth of 27ft 6in (8.4m).[42]
↑ Originally, the British merchantmen William Ashton, William Dawson, and Mary had captured Miranda. However, the United States privateer Paul Jones had recaptured Miranda, only to have her fall into Royal Navy hands.[47]
↑ On 23 May 1813 HMSLeonidas captured Paul Jones off Ireland. Paul Jones was armed with 16 guns and had a crew of 85 men under the command of Captain Archibald Taylor. She had been out two months and had captured three prizes.[48]
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 Indefatigable was one of the Ardent-class 64-gun third-rate ships-of-the-line designed by Sir Thomas Slade in 1761 for the Royal Navy. She was built as a ship-of-the-line, but most of her active service took place after her conversion to a 44-gun razee frigate. She had a long career under several distinguished commanders, serving throughout the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. She took some 27 prizes, alone or in company, and the Admiralty authorised the issue of four clasps to the Naval General Service Medal in 1847 to any surviving members of her crews from the respective actions. She was broken up in 1816.
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.
HMS Boadicea was a frigate of the Royal Navy. She served in the Channel and in the East Indies during which service she captured many prizes. She participated in one action for which the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal. She was broken up in 1858.
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.
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 Cerberus was a 32-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She served in the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars in the Channel, the Mediterranean, the Adriatic, and even briefly in the Baltic against the Russians. She participated in one boat action that won for her crew a clasp to the Naval General Service Medal (NGSM). She also captured many privateers and merchant vessels. Her biggest battle was the Battle of Lissa, which won for her crew another clasp to the NGSM. She was sold in 1814.
HMS Melampus was a Royal Navy fifth-rate frigate that served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. She captured numerous prizes before the British sold her to the Royal Netherlands Navy in 1815. With the Dutch, she participated in a major action at Algiers and, then, in a number of colonial punitive expeditions in the Dutch East Indies.
HMS Hazard was a 16-gun Royal Navy Cormorant-class ship-sloop built by Josiah & Thomas Brindley at Frindsbury, Kent, and launched in 1794. She served in the French Revolutionary Wars and throughout the Napoleonic Wars. She captured numerous prizes, and participated in a notable ship action against the French frigate Topaze, as well as in several other actions and campaigns, three of which earned her crew clasps to the Naval General Service Medal. Hazard was sold in 1817.
HMS Druid was a 32-gun Hermione-class fifth-rate frigate of the British Royal Navy, launched in 1783 at Bristol. She served in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, capturing numerous small prizes. One of her commanders, Captain Philip Broke, described Druid as a "point of honour ship", i.e., a ship too large to run but too small to fight. He and his biographer's view was that it was a disgrace to use a ship like her as a warship. She was broken up in 1813, after a thirty-year career.
HMS Spitfire was a Tisiphone-class fireship of the Royal Navy. She served during the years of peace following the end of the American War of Independence, and by the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars, had been reclassified as a 14-gun sloop-of-war. Spitfire went on to serve under a number of notable commanders during a successful career that saw her capture a considerable number of French privateers and small naval vessels. She spent most of her career in Home waters, though during the later part of her life she sailed further afield, to the British stations in North America and West Africa. She survived the Napoleonic Wars and was eventually sold in 1825 after a period spent laid up.
Minerve was a 40-gun frigate of the French Navy, lead ship of her class. She operated in the Mediterranean during the French Revolutionary Wars. Her crew scuttled her at Saint-Florent to avoid capture when the British invaded Corsica in 1794, but the British managed to raise her and recommissioned her in the Royal Navy as the 38-gun fifth rate HMS St Fiorenzo.
Rhin was a 40-gun Virginie-class frigate of the French Navy launched in 1802. She was present at two major battles while in French service. The Royal Navy captured her in 1806. Thereafter Rhin served until 1815 capturing numerous vessels. After the end of the Napoleonic Wars she was laid up and then served as a hospital for many years. She was finally broken up in 1884.
During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars the British Royal Navy made use of hired armed vessels, one of which was His Majesty's hired armed cutter Nimrod. Three such vessels are recorded, but the descriptions of these vessels and the dates of their service are such that they may well represent one vessel under successive contracts. The vessel or vessels cruised, blockaded, carried despatches, and performed reconnaissance.
The hired armed cutter Black Joke was a cutter that served the Royal Navy from 12 January 1795 to 19 October 1801. In 1799 she was renamed Suworow, and under that name she captured numerous prizes before she was paid off after the Treaty of Amiens.
HMS Greyhound was a cutter that the British Admiralty purchased in 1780 and renamed Viper in 1781. Viper captured several French privateers in the waters around Great Britain, and took part in a notable engagement. She was sold in October 1809.
HMS Clyde was a Royal Navy Artois-class frigate built at Chatham Dockyard of fir, and launched in 1796. In 1797, she was one of only two ships whose captains were able to maintain some control over their vessels during the Nore mutiny. In 1805, HMS Clyde was dismantled and rebuilt at Woolwich Dockyard; she was relaunched on 23 February 1806. She was ultimately sold in August 1814.
HMS Childers was a brig-sloop of the British Royal Navy, initially armed with 10 carriage guns which were later increased to 14 guns. The first brig-sloop to be built for the Navy, she was ordered 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. 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. She had an active career in both the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, capturing numerous French privateers and during the Gunboat War participated in a noteworthy single-ship action. The navy withdrew her from service at the beginning of 1811, at which time she was broken up.
The French brig Suffisante was launched in 1793 for the French Navy. In 1795 the Royal Navy captured her and took her into service under her existing name. HMS Suffisante captured seven privateers during her career, as well as recapturing some British merchantmen and capturing a number of prizes, some of them valuable. She was lost in December 1803 when she grounded in poor weather in Cork harbour.
HMS Conflict was launched in 1805. She captured a number of vessels, including privateers, and participated in several major actions. She disappeared in November 1810 with the loss of all her crew.
References
Barney, John (November 2009). "North Sea and Baltic Convoy 1793–1814: As Experienced by Merchant Masters Employed by Michael Henley and Son". Mariner's Mirror. 95 (4). Avenel, New Jersey: Society for Nautical Research: 435. doi:10.1080/00253359.2009.10657115. S2CID162389206.
O'Byrne, William R. (1849). A naval biographical dictionary: comprising the life and services of every living officer in Her Majesty's navy, from the rank of admiral of the fleet to that of lieutenant, inclusive. Vol.1. London: J. Murray.
Sicking, Louis; de Bles, Harry & des Bouvrie, Erlend (2004). Dutch light in the "Norwegian night": maritime relations and migration across the North Sea in early modern times. Hilversum: Uitgeverij Verloren. ISBN978-90-6550-814-0.
Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN978-1-86176-246-7.
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