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BOADICEA
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(38) |
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Built in 1797, Buckler's Hard.
Hospital ship in 1854. |
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- 1797 Capt. R. G. KEATES, 07/1797, Channel fleet.
On 14 August BOADICEA captured the Spanish ship UNION (22), which had sailed from Corunna the previous day bound for Buenos Aires with merchandise. - On 14 May 1800 Capt. KEATES sent an armed boat with a midshipman and 6 men into the Outer Roads of Brest to reconnoitre. At night she was involved in a scuffle with a French guard boat but succeeded in beating them off with the loss of one man. They then boarded a small sloop and discovered that the French fleet were in the Inner Roads and that the Spaniards were very sickly.
On 2 July the GYPSEY sloop of Liverpool arrived in Plymouth. She had been taken by the French privateer BRAVE (36) Capt. Le Bee, on her passage from the West Indies and had been recaptured by BOADICEA.
Later in the month BOADICEA and INDEFATIGABLE recaptured the West Indiaman CULTIVATEUR close in with the French coast after she had been taken by a French privateer. She was carrying a cargo valued at 20,000 pounds from Demerara and Issiquibo. - On 16 January 1801 No. 69 BOMBARD, a prize to BOADICEA, arrived in Plymouth. A lugger-rigged raft drawing only three and a half feet of water, she was armed with one 13" mortar, one long 24-pounder and four swivels and carrying 30 men. She was meant to carry 150 soldiers on the invasion of England and was one of 200 sail which had been lying at Le Havre for two years. Capt. KEATES captured her while she was on passage to Brest.
BOADICEA arrived in Plymouth on 28 January after a long cruise of ten weeks off the Black Rocks. She sprung her main-top-mast in a severe gale. - 1801 Capt. Charles ROWLEY, in charge of a light squadron in Quiberon Bay.
- On 21 August 1801 the boats of BOADICEA, FISGARD and DIAMOND attacked the enemy vessels lying in the harbour of Corunna and brought out the NEPTUNO (20) a gunboat mounting a single long 32-pounder and a merchant ship. The prizes were moored within the strong batteries that protected the port and so near them that the sentinels on the ramparts challenged the boats before opening fire on them.
- 1803 Capt. John MAITLAND, Channel.
On 9 June he sent a small French privateer into Plymouth and on 24 November, off Cape Finisterre he captured the French national lugger VAUTOUR. Forty-three days out of San Domingo she was carrying dispatches from Gen. Rochambeau at Cape Francois. She had twelve 6-pounders mounted, ten of which were thrown overboard during the chase. - BOADICEA, ARETHUSA and WASP sailed from Cove, Ireland, on 12 December 1805 with a convoy of 23 ships. On the 16th. they sighted a squadron of enemy ships, consisting of 5 sails of the line and 3 frigates. They had with them 9 sails which they had captured from an African convoy a little time before. Capt. BRISBANE of ARETHUSA ordered the convoy to disperse and the French chased after the men-of war and 6 sails which made for the N. W. without detaching any after the 17 that stood to the S. W. When the enemy gave up the chase at nightfall BOADICEA was ordered to shadow them. She was later replaced by ACTIVE which had joined them and sent to warn Ad. CORNWALLIS. The convoy arrived safely in Carlisle Bay, Barbados, on 13 January 1806.
- In the autumn of 1806 BOADICEA and TOPAZE were employed protecting the whale fishery in the Davis Strait.
- 1807 Ditto, Irish station.
- 1808 Capt. John HATLEY, Portsmouth, for the Indian Ocean.
In August 1809, whilst cruising off Mauritius, IPHEGENIA accidentally ran on board BOADICEA and lost her bowsprit and foremast in the process. - On 20 September 1809 Capt. ROWLEY in RAISONABLE led an expedition against the Isle of Bourbon (Reunion). 368 soldiers, 100 seamen and 136 marines were put on board NEREIDE at Roderiguez and she preceded BOADICEA, SIRIUS, OTTER, SAPPHIRE and WASP, to anchor close inshore off St. Paul's. The detachment landed without alarming the batteries which were stormed and carried. The rest of the squadron then stood into the bay and exchanged fire with the frigate CAROLINE (46), and STREATHAM and EUROPE, her two East Indiamen prizes. Soon the batteries, town and shipping were all in British hands for the total loss of 22 killed, 76 wounded and 4 missing.
One private marine of BOADICEA was killed and Lieut. Pye, one corporal and two marines were wounded. - When RAISONABLE was found to be defective, Capt. ROWLEY moved to BOADICEA and, on 7 July 1810, with IPHEGENIA, SIRIUS, MAGICIENNE and NEREIDE, he escorted a force of 1650 Europeans and 1600 Sepoys from Madras and 1,000 from Roderiguez to make a major assault on Reunion. SIRIUS landed troops at Grande Chaloupe, 6 miles westward of St. Denis, as a diversion. Before the main landing could take place the weather deteriorated and high surf permitted only a partial debarkation at St. Marie, 6 miles eastward of St. Denis. Lieut. LLOYD of BOADICEA placed a light transport which provided cover for a few boats before a cable parted and Capt. WILLOUGHBY of NEREIDE landed with a party of seamen and light troops to capture the battery.
When conditions did not improve the following day Capt. ROWLEY weighed and moved to Grande Chaloupe where he landed the rest of the troops and guns. Before an attack could be mounted on St. Denis the French governor capitulated and the whole island surrendered on 9 July. - On 12 September BOADICEA, OTTER and STAUNCH sailed from St. Paul's Bay to attack two French frigates, ASTREA and IPHIGENIA. AFRICAINE joined them and gained rapidly on the enemy, starting an action in the early hours of the morning. She became unmanageable when the wind became light and she lost her mizzen-top-mast and was forced to surrender.
The following day the British frigate, sloop and gunbrig headed towards the enemy who abandoned AFRICAINE with an officer and 9 men of the prize crew on board plus most of the wounded and 83 of her crew. - The same three ships sailed from St. Paul's on the 18 September after three sail in the offing, two of which seemed to have suffered in their masts and rigging. One of them cast off the damaged frigate she was towing and made off, BOADICEA ran the other along-side and forced her to strike after losing 9 men killed and 15 wounded. She was the 40-gun VENUS which, in company with the corvette VICTOR, had captured the CEYLON (38) earlier in the day. CLEOPATRA had two men wounded and her standing and running rigging were much cut. OTTER re-possessed CEYLON while CLEOPATRA took VENUS in tow. They were all safely in St. Paul's on the 21st. and, with AFRICAINE, ready for service in a few days. The captures provided the British squadron with much needed stores.
- On 21 November 1810 Vice Ad. BERTIE led a large fleet of warships and transports to attack Mauritius.
A safe anchorage was found by Capt. ROWLEY, assisted by Lieut. STREET of STAUNCH, Lieut. Blackiston of the Madras Engineers and the masters of BOADICEA and AFRICAINE, who took soundings by moonlight. It was in the narrow passage between the small island of Gunner's Quoin, two miles north of Mauritius and the mainland where there were openings in the reef which would allow boats to land. - Owing to light winds it was the morning of the 29th. before any of the ships came to anchor and the troops under Major Gen. Aberchromby landed. The army moved towards Port Louis, drawing supplies from the fleet on the way. The French surrendered on 7 December on terms agreed by Major Gen Henry Warde and Capt. ROWLEY. Six large frigates, three smaller ships of war, five gunboats, three captured Indiamen and twenty-eight merchantmen were captured.
BELLONE (40), was taken into the Royal Navy as JUNON and the ex-British IPHIGENIE rejoined. - Capt. ROWLEY returned to England with Vice Ad. BERTIE's dispatches.
- 1811 Capt. Viscount NEVILLE, 02/1811, Plymouth.
- 1824 Capt. James BRISBANE, 10/1824, East Indies.
BOADICEA returned home on 19 July 1827.
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