HMS Amelia (1796)

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HMS Amelia, 1813
Career (UK) Royal Navy Ensign
Name: HMS Amelia
Acquired: Captured 13 June 1796
Renamed: Formerly the French Proserpine, renamed on capture
Fate: Broken up in December 1816
General characteristics
Class and type: Fifth Rate
Tons burthen: 1,059 tons
Length: 151 ft 6 in (46.2 m)
Beam: 39 ft 6 in (12.0 m)
Propulsion: Sails
Sail plan: Ship
Armament:

Rated as "38 guns"
For other ships of the same name, see HMS Amelia.

HMS Amelia was a 38-gun fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy.

Contents

[edit] History

She had previously served in the French Navy as the Hébé Class frigate Proserpine, but was captured on 13 June 1796 by HMS Dryad and commissioned into the Royal Navy as the first ship to bear the name HMS Amelia. She spent 20 years in the Service before being broken up in December 1816.

[edit] 1796 - 1801

On 13 June 1796, about 36 nautical miles south of Cape Clear, Ireland, the French frigate Proserpine was captured by the frigate Dryad, commanded by Captain Lord Amelius Beauclerk, following a relatively brief chase. Since the name Proserpine was already in use in the Royal Navy, she was renamed HMS Amelia.

She joined HM Ships Ethalion and Sylph on 18 September 1798 blockading the French Brest Squadron, preventing them sailing for Ireland to support the Irish Rebellion with troops. During the night of 11-12 October the signal for a general chase was made by the Commodore, Sir John Borlase Warren. Commodore Warren's squadron engaged the French squadron, and captured the Hoche (74 guns) and the frigates Embuscade, Coquille and Bellone. Wolfe Tone, the leader of the United Irishmen was captured.

On 31 January 1799, while at anchor in the Hamoaze, HMS Formidable broke free from her moorings and struck the Amelia. Fortunately both ships had struck their topmasts and damage was light. Amelia was able to sail on 4 February. On 9 April the same year, after reconnoitring two French frigates in L'Orient, HMS San Fiorenzo and Amelia stood towards Belle Île in very hazy weather. Here they were surprised by three French frigates and a large gun vessel hiding under the land. At that instant a sudden squall carried away Amelia's main-top-mast and fore and mizzen top-gallant masts; the fall of the former tearing much of the mainsail from the yard. Captain Neale of the San Fiorenzo shortened sail and ordered Amelia to bear up with him to maintain the weather-gage and prepare for battle. The enemy showed no inclination for close-quarter action and, although the British ships came under fire from shore batteries, they had to bear down on the French three times to engage them. After nearly two hours the French wore ship and stood away to take refuge in the Loire. From a captured French ship they learnt later that the French frigates were the Vengeance, Sémillante and Cornélie. Amelia lost 2 killed and 17 wounded.

During a stormy night on 5 February 1801 Amelia captured the French privateer brig La Juste of St Malo. It was so dark that the two vessels did not see each other until the brig ran aboard the Amelia carrying away the Frenchman's foremast and bowsprit. La Juste, with 14 guns and 78 men, was commanded by Jean Pierre Charlet and had been out from L'Orient for 30 days without making a capture. A prize crew brought La Juste into Plymouth on 10 February, and Amelia returned on 21 February. On 10 May Amelia had just anchored close to the mouth of the Loire when a brig was seen standing in to the river. As soon as she made out the English ship she tacked and made off with all sail. Captain Herbert slipped and captured her after a chase of four hours. She was the privateer Heureux of St. Malo with 14 guns and 78 men. She had been cruising for 41 days but had made no captures. She was uncoppered due to the shortage of that material and this had resulted in her being slower than she might have been. Amelia sent her into Plymouth where she arrived on 17 May.

On 23 June she took bullocks out to the Channel Fleet. A Spanish packet was sent into Plymouth as a prize by Amelia on 4 August. With 6 guns and 40 men she had been taking a cargo of sugar, coffee and hides from Havana to Ferrol. At the end of June she stood into Rochefort to reconnoitre the enemy and Medusa (50 guns), an unidentified 44-gun ship and an armed schooner came out to oppose her. A smart action ensued in full view of the spectators lining the cliffs and, although the Embuscade (32 guns) stood out to assist them, the enemy retired under the protection of the shore batteries after an hour. Captain Herbert lay to, but they declined to come out again and he sailed to join Sir Edward Pellew.

In September she captured a number of coasters and brigs in the Bay of Biscay. One of them, the brig Cheodore laden with sardines, arrived in Plymouth on 27 September, together with another brig in ballast. Shortly after, a seaman from Amelia died in the Royal Naval Hospital after being wounded by a loaded musket which went off as the armourer was cleaning it. At the inquest, on 19 October, Mr Whitford, the coroner for Devon recorded a verdict of accidental death. Two more men were wounded but recovered and a third man, who was killed on the spot, was buried at sea.

[edit] 1802 - 1807

On 6 January 1802 Amelia was ordered to be victualled for 4 months and 21 days later she sailed on a cruise against smugglers. During the night of 1 March some words passed between the boat's crew of Amelia and some Portuguese seamen at the Pier Head, Barbican, Plymouth. A violent scuffle ensued which developed into a battle; during the conflict one of the Portuguese drew a long knife and stabbed one of Amelia's men in the groin. He bled profusely but a surgeon managed to stop the flow. The Portuguese fled but were rounded up the following morning.

In April of 1802 Captain Lord Proby RN took command. On 6 May she sailed from Plymouth for Cork, Waterford and Dublin with 150 discharged seamen, returning on 28 May. Orders came down from London on 11 June that all the sloops and frigates in the Sound were to be sent to sea immediately as the coast from Berry Head to Mount's Bay was infested with smugglers. Amelia, Amethyst, Blanche and Rosario were immediately victualled for two months. By the end of August 1802, Amelia had sailed for Den Helder with Dutch troops discharged from the British service and returned on 4 September.

1803 saw Amelia based mainly at Portsmouth. She arrived there from the Downs on 27 March and sailed on 1 April with part of the 83rd Regiment of Foot for Jersey. She was back on 8th April and sailed again for the Downs on the 15th. In May she was part of the squadron under Rear Admiral Thornborough in HMS Raisonnable keeping watch over Hellevoetsluis, Flushing, Netherlands and other Dutch ports. She sent a French Chasse-marée in ballast into Plymouth on 23 May, and on 11 August the French privateer lugger Alert, of 4 guns and 27 men, into Portsmouth, chasing two others in mid-channel before returning on 16 August. She sailed again on a cruise two days later. The extent of her success against smugglers is hard to judge; although one Henry Sothcott (born 1774) was caught at sea by Amelia on 14 August and sentenced to 5 years pressed into the Navy for smuggling.[1]

Amelia deployed to the Leeward Islands Station, and Capatin Lord Proby died on 6 August 1804 at age 25 at Surinam, from yellow fever while in command.[2] Captain W C Fahie RN took command while the ship was in Barbados. In December she captured the Spanish brig Isabella and the ship Conception, both laden with wine and brandy, and the ship Commerce laden with cotton. She returned to Deptford and in 1807 refitted at Sheerness.

[edit] 1807 - 1812

December 1807 saw Captain Frederick Paul Irby appointed to her at the end of the year for service in the Channel and coast of Spain. He sighted three French 44-gun frigates (Calypso, Italienne and Sybille) near Belle Île on 23 February 1809 and Amelia and the brig HMS Dotterel chased them all night. The following morning they had approached so close to the rearmost French ship that her companions had to haul up to her support. HMS Naiad soon came into sight and the French made for the Sable d'Olonne. Rear Admiral Stopford and his squadron, who had been watching eight French sail-of-the-line standing into the Pertuis d'Antioche, came down to join them and stood in with HM Ships Caesar, Defiance, Donegal and Amelia. They opened fire, passing as near to the enemy as the depth of water permitted, and forced the frigates to run ashore at the top of high water. Amelia had her bowsprit shot through and she was hulled in several places but had no casualties. The French lost 24 men killed and 51 wounded.

She was present with Admiral Lord Gambier at the blockade of Basque Roads in April of 1809, where she was directed to dislodge the French who were endeavouring to strengthen their position in Aix roads. One of Capatin Irby's contemporary reports states:

HMS Amelia, Coruña, May 6, 1810

Captain Irby to Mr Croft

"I have been cruising for these two months past between Bayonne and Santona.

"In addition to the troops I have observed under arms, there has been a great proportion of armed peasantry at Baquio, a small place to the westward of Rachidaes; as our boats were returning from destroying some batteries, they were attacked by armed peasantry alone, who were dispersed by shot from the ship, and also since they have assisted the French troops, when we captured a vessel laden with military stores from St. Ander"

—from William Francis Patrick Napier , History of the War in the Peninsula and in the South of France, (Carey and Hart, Philadelphia, 1842)

On 15 May Lord Gambier ordered Captain Irby to investigate the situation at Santander where an attack was about to be made by Spanish patriots on the French troops in the town. HMS Statira joined him on 8 June but strong winds and current prevented them getting there before 10 June. As they approached they could see firing on shore and several vessels trying to escape from the harbour. Three French national vessels were captured by the two ships: The corvette La Mouche of sixteen brass 8 pounders and 180 men; the brig Rejouie with eight 8-pounders; and a schooner, No. 7 (also called La Mouche) with one 4-pounder gun. Two luggers were also taken: Legere, which was unseaworthy so her cargo was put on board Rejouie; and Notre Dame, a Spanish vessel seized by the French. The aide-de-camp to General Ballestero reported that the town was in possession of the Spanish and that the French troops had all surrendered. Because of the large number of prisoners Captain Irby sent Statira into the harbour with the prizes while Amelia remained off the coast in hopes of being able to render more assistance to the Spaniards. La Mouche corvette, which had been lately engaged by the sloop Goldfinch and the lugger Black Joke, had been a threat to British trade for some time.

Amelia captured the corvette-built privateer Charles of Bordeaux on 8 November 1810 about 400 miles west of Finisterre after a chase of 13 hours, sometimes reaching a speed of twelve and a half knots. Under the command of Pierre Alexandre Marrauld, she had sailed from L'Orient on 4 October to make her maiden run to the Ile de France. About 200 tons, she was pierced for 22 guns but mounted twelve long 6-pounders and eight 18-pounder carronades, all English measurement. Amelia arrived in Plymouth Sound on 16 November.

On the morning of 24 March 1811 Captain Macnamara in HMS Berwick gave chase to the French frigate Amazone about 12 or 13 miles off the Barfleur lighthouse and forced her to take refuge in a rocky bay about a mile to the west of the lighthouse. He was joined by Amelia, Niobe and the sloops Goshawk and Hawk, hoping to launch an attack with boats. When the tides proved too strong for a boat attack, Niobe led in, with Amelia and Berwick following in succession, and they fired on the enemy for two hours. They stood in the following morning to renew the attack but the enemy set fire to the frigate and she burned to the waterline. Amelia had one man killed and one wounded.

Leaving Lymington on 11 April 1811, she sailed for Canada with a convoy, and on 18 June she left Quebec carrying General Sir James Henry Craig from Canada to England when he was relieved as Governor-General.[3] On 15 October 1811 Amelia sailed for the coast of Africa where Captain Irby became senior officer of the anti-slavery squadron there. Throughout her time on the station Amelia suffered with damp powder. Although the large portion which had caked in the magazine was sent ashore to be dried, the problem was never properly solved. In June 1812 he learnt that the natives at Winnebah, half way between Accra and Cape Coast Castle, had murdered Mr Meredith, the governor of the fort. When the authorities at Cape Coast Castle asked for Captain Irby's assistance he sailed for Winnebah with a detachment of the Africa corps under Mr Smith, Governor of Tantumquerry, and anchored off the port on 2 July. The natives had fled so he landed his marines and the troops, who demolished the fort.

[edit] 1813 and the battle with Arethuse

HMS Amelia in action with the French Frigate Arethuse, 1813, by John Christian Schetky, 1852
HMS Amelia in action with the French Frigate Arethuse, 1813, by John Christian Schetky, 1852

In January 1813 Lieutenant Pascoe RN had to run his gunbrig Daring on shore and burn her at the island of Tamara, Iles de Los, after being chased by three French vessels. Two days later he and part of his crew arrived in the river of Sierra Leone where Amelia was about to leave for England, with many of her crew debilitated with fever and barely fit for duty after more than 12 months on the station. Captain Irby sent Lieutenant Pascoe off in a small schooner to reconnoitre and he reported back on 3 February that the French force consisted of two frigates, Arethuse (Captain Pierre Bouvet) and Rubis (Captain Louis-Francois Olivier). The third ship was a Portuguese prize, La Serra, which they were unloading before sailing to intercept British merchant vessels, a convoy from England being expected daily. The master and the rest of the crew from Daring arrived in a cartel, having given their parole, and confirmed Lieutenant Pascoes's report. Standing in towards Tamara on the 6 February, Captain Irby met the government schooner Princess Charlote and learnt that the two frigates were anchored a considerable distance apart. Although he was not aware of it, Rubis, the southernmost one, had been disabled by striking a rock. The Arethuse weighed and stood out to sea followed by Amelia, Captain Irby having hopes of enticing her into action. For nearly four hours they exchanged fire, throughout which Arethuse used the usual French practice of firing high. Having cut Amelia's sails and running and standing rigging to pieces, the French ship bore up. Twice during the action the enemy had attempted to board but had been driven back by the marines commanded by Lieutenant Simpson, Royal Marines.

The British losses were very heavy, with 46 killed, including Lieutenants John Bates, John Pope and George Wills, Lieutenant William Pascoe, the commander of Daring, and 2nd Lieutenant R G Grainger, Royal Marines. Five more men died of their wounds later. 51 were dangerously or seriously wounded, and 44 slightly wounded. Captain Irby appointed Lieutenant Reeve, invalided from HMS Kangaroo and wounded several times in the action, as his First Lieutenant, and Master's Mates Samuel Umfreville and Edward Robinson (who had been severely wounded) as second and third. Mr Williamson, the surgeon, his assistant Mr Burke and Mr Stewart of Daring cared for the wounded as the crippled Amelia made her way north towards Madeira and then home, arriving at Spithead on 22 March. Arethuse arrived in St Malo on 19 April. The wounded were examined by the Lieutenant Governor of the Royal Hospital at Greenwich who was astonished at their debilitated condition. Arethuse mounted twenty-eight 18-pounder long guns on the main deck and sixteen 36-pounder carronades and two long guns on the upper deck. Amelia put more than 30 round shot in her hull on the starboard side below the quarter deck and, according to one report, at least 31 were killed and 74 wounded. The Rubis was burnt on 8 February when it was found impossible to re-float her. A flavour of the intensity of the battle may be gained from William James writing in his Naval History of Great Britain, 1793 - 1827

The Amelia ... in attempting a second time to cross her antagonist, a second time fell on board of her; and the two ships now swang close alongside, the muzzles of their guns almost touching. This was at about 9 h. 15 m. p.m., and a scene of great mutual slaughter ensued. The two crews snatched the spunges out of each other's hands through the portholes, and cut at one another with the broadsword. The Amelia's men now attempted to lash the two frigates together, but were unable, on account of the heavy fire of musketry kept up from the Aréthuse decks and tops ; a fire that soon nearly cleared the Amelia's quarterdeck of both officers and men ... Here was a long and bloody action between two (taking guns and men together) nearly equal opponents, which gave a victory to neither. Each combatant withdrew exhausted from the fight; and each, as is usual in the few cases of drawn battles that have occurred, claimed the merit of having forced the other to the measure. —William James , The Naval History of Great Britain from the declaration of war by France in February 1793 to the accession of George IV in January 1820 : with an account of the origin and progressive increase of the British Navy (New edition in Six volumes), Volume VI, pp183-190 (R Bentley, London, 1837)

In addition to her ship's company, she brought at least one passenger; Exbury parish baptism register records the baptism on 6 June 1813 of a boy, "Irby Amelia Frederick, aged 9 or 10, a native of Poppoe near Whidah, Africa, who was stolen as a slave, but rescued at sea by HMS Amelia" - it is recorded in the Baptismal Register of 1813 as being "in grateful testimony of the humanity and intrepidity of his gallant deliverer".[4]

[edit] 1813 - 1816

Amelia paid off at Portsmouth in May 1813. There is some evidence that she cruised in 1814, and in 1815 was preparing for a voyage to the Mediterranean, but with the end of the war, and after 20 years of continual wartime service, she was broken up in December 1816.

[edit] Commanding Officers

From To Captain
September 1797 1802 Captain Hon. Charles Herbert RN
April 1802 6 August 1804 Captain William Allen Proby RN, Lord Proby (died in command)
1804 1807 Captain W C Fahie RN
December 1807 1813 Captain Frederick Paul Irby RN

[edit] References

  1. ^ Sothcott Family Tree. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
  2. ^ thePeerage.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
  3. ^ I Brook, F B Tupper The Life and Correspondence of Major-General Sir Isaac Brock, K. B. Simpkin, Marshall & co, Canada, 1847.
  4. ^ St George's News. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.