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AMELIA
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The French LA PROSERPINE taken in June 1796 off Cape Clear by Lord Amelius BEAUCLERK in DRYAD.
Broken up in 1816. |
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- 1797 Capt. Hon. Charles HERBERT, 09/1797. Channel.
- During a gale in the Hamoaze on the night of 31 January 1799 FORMIDABLE (98) broke from her moorings and ran foul of AMELIA. AMELIA, in common with the other ships in the river had struck her yards and topmasts because of the weather.
She sailed on 4 February. - On 9 April 1799, after reconnoitring two French frigates in L'Orient, SAN FIORENZO and AMELIA stood towards Belle Isle 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. Capt. 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 enemy ships were LA CORNELIE, LA VENGEANCE and LA SEMILLANTE. AMELIA lost Mr BAYLEY, midshipman, and one seaman killed. Seventeen were wounded. - AMELIA spent 1800 cruising in the Channel and off the coast of France.
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. The prize came into Plymouth on the 10th., AMELIA returned on the 21st. - 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. Capt. HERBERT slipped and captured her after a chase of four hours. She was the privateer HEUREUX of St. Malo with fourteen guns and seventy-eight men. She had been cruising for forty-one 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 the 17th.
- On 23 June she took bullocks out to the fleet. A Spanish packet was sent into Plymouth by AMELIA on 4 August. With 6 guns and 40 men she had been taking a cargo of sugar, coffee and hides from Havanna to Ferrol.
- At the end of the month AMELIA stood into Rochefort to reconnoitre the enemy and MEDUSA (50) an unidentified 44 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) stood out to assist them, the enemy retired under the protection of the shore batteries after an hour. Capt. HERBERT lay to but they declined to come out again and he sailed to join Sir Edward PELLEW
- On 19 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 the 27th. together with another brig in ballast.
- On 19 October, Mr Whitford, the coroner for Devon held an inquest on the body of a seaman from AMELIA who had died in the Royal Naval Hospital after being wounded by a loaded musket which went off as the armorer was cleaning it. Two more men were wounded but recovered and a third man, who was killed on the spot, was buried at sea. The verdict was accidental death.
- AMELIA was ordered to be victualled for 4 months on 6 January 1802 and on the 27th. 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. 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 by the police the following morning. - Capt. Lord PROBY, 04/1802. On 6 May she sailed from Plymouth for Cork, Waterford and Dublin with 150 discharged seamen. She returned 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. - At the end of August AMELIA sailed for Den Helder with Dutch troops discharged from the British service and returned on 4 September.
- In 1803 AMELIA was mainly based at Portsmouth. She arrived there from the Downs on 27 March and sailed on 1 April with part of the 83rd. regiment for Jersey. She was back on the 8th. and sailed again for the Downs on the 15th.
- In May 1803 AMELIA was part of the squadron under Rear Ad. THORNBOROUGH in RAISONNABLE keeping watch over Helvoet, Flushing and other Dutch ports. She sent a French chasse-maree in ballast into Plymouth on 23 May.
- On 11 August AMELIA sent the French privateer lugger ALERT, of 4 guns and 27 men, into Portsmouth and chased two others in mid-channel before returning on the 16th. She sailed again on a cruise two days later.
- 1804 Capt. W. C. FAHIE, Barbados In December 1804 AMELIA captured the Spanish brig ISABELLA and the ship CONCEPTION, both laden with wine and brandy, and the ship COMMERCE laden with cotton.
- 1807 Deptford, then re-fitting at Sheerness.
Capt. Frederick Paul IRBY was 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 Belleisle on 23 February 1809 and AMELIA and the DOTTEREL brig chased them all night.
The following morning they had approached so close to the rearmost enemy ship that her companions had to haul up to her support.
The NAIAD soon came into sight and the French made for the Sable d'Olonne. Rear Ad. 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 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. - On 15 May 1809 Lord GAMBIER ordered Capt. 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.
STATIRA joined him on 8 June but strong winds and current prevented them getting there before the 10th. 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. A number of French soldiers on board the prizes with the chief part of their hospital staff.
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 Capt. 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. The MOUCHE corvette, which had been lately engaged by the GOLDFINCH sloop and the BLACK JOKE lugger, had been a threat to British trade for some time. - On 8 November 1810 AMELIA captured the corvette-built privateer CHARLES of Bordeaux 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. - Capt. MACNAMARA in BERWICK gave chase to a French frigate about 12 or 13 miles off the Barfleur lighthouse on the morning of 24 March 1811 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 and had hopes of launching an attack with boats. When the tides proved too strong 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 burnt to the water's edge. AMELIA had one man killed and one wounded. The French frigate was the AMAZONE.
- Towards the end of 1811 she sailed for the coast of Africa where Capt. IRBY became senior officer of the anti-slavery squadron there.
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 Capt. 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 and they demolished the fort. - 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 January 1813 Lieut. PASCOE had to run his gunbrig DARING on shore and burn her at the island of Tamara, Isles de Los, after been 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, all her crew debilitated with fever and barely fit for duty after more than 12 months on the station. Capt. IRBY sent Lieut. PASCOE off in a small schooner to reconnoitre and he reported back on 3 February that the French force consisted of two frigates, ARETHUSE and RUBIS. The third ship was a Portuguese prize 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 Lieut. PASCOE's report. - Standing in towards Tamara on the 6th. Capt IRBY met the government schooner PRINCESS CHARLOTTE 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, Capt. IRBY having hopes of enticing her into action. For nearly four hours they exchanged fire until the enemy bore up after, using the usual French practice of firing high, she had cut AMELIA's sails and running and standing rigging to pieces. Twice during the action the enemy had attempted to board but had been driven back by the marines commanded by Lieut. Simpson.
The British losses were very heavy, 46 were killed in the fighting including Lieuts. John James BATES, John POPE, George WILLS; Lieut. William PASCOE, the commander of DARING, and, 2nd Lieut. R. G. Grainger, Royal Marines. Five more died of their wounds. 51 were dangerously or seriously, and 44 slightly, wounded.
Capt. IRBY appointed Lieut. REEVE, invalided from the KANGAROO and wounded several times in the action, as his first lieutenant, and master's mates Samuel UMFREVILLE and Edward ROBINSON as second and third. The latter had received a severe wound.
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 home. The wounded were examined by the Lieut. Governor of the Royal Hospital at Greenwich who was astonished at their debilitated condition
ARETHUSE was commanded by Capt. Bouvet and mounted twenty-eight French 18-pounders 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.
Only five marines escaped out of a detachment of 50 (see JAVA). The RUBIS was burnt on 8 February when it was found impossible to re-float her. Capt. Olivier and his crew were taken on board ARETHUSE. - AMELIA paid off at Portsmouth in May 1813.
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