HMS Venerable (1808)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Venerable.

Venerable fighting the French frigate Alcmène on 16 January 1814
History
United Kingdom
Name	Venerable
Ordered	31 January 1805
Builder	Pitcher, Northfleet
Laid down	December 1805
Launched	12 April 1808
Commissioned	May 1808
Decommissioned	1815
Reclassified	As a church ship, October 1825
Honours and awards	Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Venerable 16 Jany. 1814" [1]
Fate	Broken up, October 1838
General characteristics
Class & type	Repulse-class ship of the line
Tons burthen	1,715 61⁄94 (bm)
Length	171 ft 2 in (52.2 m) (gundeck)
Beam	47 ft 5 in (14.5 m)
Draught	17 ft 4 in (5.3 m) (light)
Depth of hold	20 ft (6.1 m)
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	590
Armament	74 muzzle-loading, smoothbore guns Gundeck: 28 × 32 pdr guns Upper deck: 28 × 18 pdr guns Quarterdeck: 2 × 18 pdr guns + 12 × 32 pdr carronades Forecastle: 2 × 18 pdr guns + 2 × 32 pdr carronades Poop deck: 6 × 18 pdr carronades

HMS Venerable was a 74-gun third-rate Repulse-class ship of the line built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 19th century. Completed in 1808, she played a minor role in the Napoleonic Wars participating in the Walcheren Campaign in 1809. The ship often served as a flagship.

Description

Venerable measured 174 feet 1 inch (53.1 m) on the gundeck and 143 feet 5 inches (43.7 m) on the keel. She had a beam of 47 feet 5 inches (14.5 m), a depth of hold of 20 feet (6.1 m) and had a tonnage of 1,715 61⁄94 tons burthen. The ship's draught was 12 feet 9 inches (3.9 m) forward and 17 feet 4 inches (5.3 m) aft at light load; fully loaded, her draught would be significantly deeper. The Repulse-class ships were armed with 74 muzzle-loading, smoothbore guns that consisted of twenty-eight 32-pounder guns on her lower gundeck and twenty-eight 18-pounder guns on her upper gundeck. Their forecastle mounted a pair of 18-pounder guns and two 32-pounder carronades. On their quarterdeck they carried two 18-pounders and a dozen 32-pounder carronades. Above the quarterdeck was their poop deck with half-a-dozen 18-pounder carronades. ^[2]

Construction and career

Vewnerable was the second ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy. ^[3] She was ordered on 24 January 1805 from Thomas Pitcher as part of the second batch of five Repulse-class ships of the line designed by Sir William Rule, co-Surveyor of the Navy. The ship was laid down at his shipyard in Northfleet in December and was launched on 12 April 1808. She was commissioned by Captain Home Popham in May and completed later that year. ^{[4] [5]}

On 13 December 1810 Venerable was in company with the hired armed cutter Nimrod and several other vessels at the capture of Goede Trouw. ^[6]

On 12 March 1812, as the merchant ship Ramoncita was returning from Lima and Cadiz, the French privateer Amelia captured her. However, HMS Virago recaptured Ramoncita. The salvage money notice stated that Virago had been in company with Venerable, Cumberland, Elizabeth, and Plantagenet. ^[7]

On 31 December 1813, she captured the French letter of marque brig Jason which became HMS Jason. Jason, of 264 tons (bm), was pierced for 22 guns but carried 14, 12 of which she had thrown overboard when Venerable chased her. She had left Bordeaux five days earlier and was sailing for New York with a cargo of silks, wines, and other articles of merchandise. There were 64 people on board, ten of whom were passengers. She was on her maiden voyage, copper-bottomed, and sailed so well, Captain Worth took her under protection, intending to go to Barbados. ^[8]

Venerable was Admiral Durham's flagship when on 16 January 1814, Venerable and her prize Jason, were in company with Cyane. Cyane spotted two 44-gun French frigates, Alcmène and Iphigénie and signaled to Venerable. Venerable joined her and after a chase that left Cyane far behind, captured Alcmène, though not without a fight. Venerable lost two men dead and four wounded, while the French lost 32 dead and 50 wounded. Alcmène had a complement of 319 men under the command of Captain Ducrest de Villeneuve, who was wounded when he brought her alongside Venerable and attempted a boarding. ^[8]

Jason and Cyane tracked Iphigénie and initially fired on her but broke off the engagement because they were outgunned. Cyane continued the chase for over three days until Venerable was able to rejoin the fight after having sailed 153 miles in the direction she believed that Iphigénie had taken. On 20 January 1814, after a 19-hour chase, or what amounted in all to a four-day chase Iphigénie, Venerable captured the quarry, having again left Cyane behind. In the chase, Iphigénie cast off her anchors and threw her boats overboard in order to try to gain speed. She had a complement of 325 men, under the command of Captain Émeric. She apparently did not resist after Venerable came up. ^{[8] [Note 1]} Before meeting up with the British ships, the two French vessels had taken some eight prizes. ^[10] The action resulted in the award in 1847, to any surviving claimants, of the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Venerable 16 Jany. 1814".

Venerable was able to locate Iphigénie because Commander Ducrest de Villeneuve of Alcmène was so angry at Captain Émeric, who was the senior French commander, for not having come alongside Venerable on the other side also to board, that he essentially revealed the rendezvous instructions to Durham. When some prisoners from Iphigénie's crew were brought on Venerable, crew from Alcmène too were enraged. Durham had to station Royal Marines between them, with fixed bayonets, to prevent fighting from breaking out. ^[11]

Venerable was Admiral Durham's flagship for the Invasion of Guadeloupe (1815) against the Bonapartist Admiral Linois. ^[12]

Venerable was converted into a church ship from May to October 1825, and was broken up in 1838. ^[5]

Notes

1. A first-class share of the prize money for both vessels, including head money for Alcmène, was £819 16s 4½d; a sixth-class share, that of an ordinary seaman, for Iphigénie was worth £2 1s 8¼d. For Alcmène, a sixth-class share was worth £3 9s 4d. ^[9]

Citations

1. "No. 20939". The London Gazette . 26 January 1849. p. 244.
2. Winfield, pp. 75, 78
3. Colledge, Warlow & Bush, p. 459
4. Lavery, p. 188
5. Winfield, p. 78
6. "No. 16543". The London Gazette . 19 November 1811. p. 2244.
7. "No. 16744". The London Gazette . 22 June 1813. p. 1228.
8. Naval Chronicle, Vol. 31, pp. 254–255
9. "No. 17048". The London Gazette . 5 August 1815. p. 1599.
10. James & Chamier (1837), Vol. 6, pp. 259–261
11. Long, p. 199
12. Despatch from Durham to Croker dated 15 August 1815 within "No. 17062". The London Gazette . 18 September 1815. p. 1913.

References

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben & Bush, Steve (2020). Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th Century to the Present (5th revised and updated ed.). Seaforth Publishing. ISBN   978-1-5267-9327-0.
• James, William & Frederick Chamier (1837) The naval history of Great Britain : from the declaration of war by France in 1793 to the accession of George IV. (London: R. Bentley).
• Lavery, Brian (1984). The Ship of the Line. Vol. 1: The Development of the Battlefleet 1650-1850. Naval Institute Press. ISBN   0-85177-252-8.
• Long, William H. (1895) Medals of the British navy and how they were won: with a list of those officers, who for their gallant conduct were granted honorary swords and plate by the Committee of the Patriotic Fund. (Norie & Wilson).
• Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates (2nd, revised ed.). Seaforth. ISBN   978-1-84415-717-4.