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CAROLINE (36) Built in 1795, Rotherhithe.
Broken up in 1815.

  • Capt. LUKE, 11/1795.Capt. Lord PAULET, 11/1798.
    Capt. William BOWEN, 01/1799.
    Mediterranean.
    On 15 January 1800 some 200 miles west of Lisbon CAROLINE sighted a vessel she suspected of being a cruiser bearing down on a brig and a ship. She gave chase and in the evening the other struck without firing a shot. She was the French privateer VULTURE of Nantz (Nantes) commanded by Bazile Laray.
    Pierced for twenty-two guns and mounted four 12-pounders, two 36-pound brass carronades and sixteen iron 6-pounders, two of which she threw overboard during the chase. She had 137 men on board.
    The brig she was intent on capturing was the FLORA of London.
  • 1804 Capt. B. W. PAGE, East Indies.
    He captured the French privateer brig FRERES UNIS of eight 9 and 6-pounders and 134 men on 5 January 1804 in the Bay of Bengal some 60 miles south west of Little Andaman.
    Her crew included 15 officers and 40 soldiers who had come out to Mauritius from Bordeaux in July.
    They had been cruising since 11 November but had made no captures.
    One of the enemy was shot by musketry from CAROLINE and both vessels received damage to boats and rigging.
  • On 4 February 1804, when CAROLINE was in the Preparis South Channel between the Cocos and Preparis Is., she succeeded in capturing the French privateer ship GENERAL DE CAEN by superior sailing.
    Although both were under all possible sail, CAROLINE's chase guns managed to hole her opponent and she struck.
    The privateer from Mauritius was stared and victualled for five months but had made no captures. She was armed with 22 guns and carried 200 men.
  • 1806 Capt. Peter RAINIER, East Indies.
    CAROLINE was off Batavia (Djakarta) in Java on 18 October 1806 and in the morning captured a small brig from Bantam.
    From her Capt. RAINIER learnt that a Dutch frigate, the PHOENIX, was under repair at Omust and resolved to bring her out.
    Between Middleby and Amsterdam Is.
    he discovered two brigs at anchor and captured one, the ZEEROP of 16 guns, the other making her escape into Batavia where she joined the MARIA REYGERSBERGEN frigate, the WILLIAM 20-gun sloop, the 18-gun PATRIOT and the 14-gun ZEEPLONG.
    CAROLINE ran for the MARIA and opened fire when within half-pistol-shot and after about half an hour the enemy hauled down her colours. She was armed with 36 guns, 18-pounders on the main deck, and carried a crew of 270 men.
    CAROLINE was 57 below complement with men away in prizes or sick in hospital.
  • Three seamen were killed: John LAWSON, William WILLIAMS and William RICKETTS, as well as four Dutch prisoners who were in the hold.
    Lieut. WILLIAMS,RM, marine Edward BARNES and seamen William GIBBS, William LONGMORE, John TERYL and Daniel SULIVAN, were mortally wounded.
    Twelve other seamen were wounded.
  • Because the action took place in four fathoms amid dangerous shoals it was not possible to capture the other vessels but they and the PHOENIX were seen to run themselves on shore.
    MARIA was taken into the Royal navy as JAVA.
  • On 29 August PSYCHE, Lieut. Fleetwood PELLEW (act.
    Capt.) and CAROLINE reconnoitred the port of Sourabaya and, on the following day, they learnt from a captured ship that the enemy's line-of-battle ships were inactive there in a bad state of repair.
    While CAROLINE parted company in chase of a strange sail, PSYCHE's boats captured and destroyed the vessels in the roads.
  • 1809 Capt. Charles GORDON.
    He assisted at the destruction of more than fifty pirate vessels at Ras-al-Khyma in the Persian Gulf during November 1809.
    The squadron, CHIFFONNE, CAROLINE and some H. E.I. Co.
    cruisers, arrived off the place on the 11th. and, after a bombardment by the small cruisers and gunboats on the 12th., troops under Lieut. Col. Smith, Capt. WAINWRIGHT of CHIFFONE and Capt. GORDON were landed the following day.
    One seaman from CAROLINE, James BRYANT, was severely wounded.
    The troops were back on board the transports by noon on the 14th.
    CAROLINE was then detached with the transports to Burka Roads while CHIFFONE burnt pirate vessels at Linga and Luft before joining her at Burka on 7 December.
    Capt. GORDON moved to CEYLON (38).
  • 1810 Capt. Christopher COLE, who removed to CAROLINE from DORIS at his own request.
    His officers were: Lieuts. John GILMOUR, Samuel ALLEN and George PRATT; Andrew SMART, master; T. DODDS, surgeon, and J. SEWARD, purser.
  • On 10 May, with PIEDMONTAISE, BARRACOUTA and the MANDARIN transport under his orders, he left Madras to support the garrison at Amboyna which had been captured in February by Capt. TUCKER in DOVER.
    The squadron carried 100 European troops, money and provisions.
    They arrived at Poulo Penang on the 30th. and embarked a lieutenant and 20 men from the artillery with two field-pieces and 20 scaling ladders to attempt an assault on the Banda (or Spice) Islands on their way to Amboyna.
  • The passage through the Straits of Malacca against the S. E. monsoon took six weeks and they entered the Java Sea on 23 July.
    As they approached Banda Neira on the evening of 8 August the boats were hoisted out.
    It was intended that the ships would run undetected into the harbour before daylight but they were fired at by a battery on Rosensgen Island during the night.
    The weather, which had been calm and clear, now turned squally with rain and thunder, and when the boats assembled off Great Banda, Capt. COLE found that instead of nearly 000 officers and men, less than 200 had reached the rendezvous.
    The few boats there held seamen and marines and 40 of the Madras European regiment, all the rest having been driven to leeward.
  • In order that something should be accomplished before daybreak this small force pulled across the harbour to attack two batteries which would hinder the ships entering in the morning.
    They landed in the rain and, led by Capt. KENAH of BARRACOUTA, attacked the first battery of ten 18-pounders from the rear, killing a sentinel and and taking an officer and 60 men prisoners without firing a shot.
    Twenty minutes later they attempted an assault on the citadel, Fort Belgica, a pentagon shaped fortification with inner and outer works surrounded by a ditch.
    Their approach and placing of the scaling ladders was covered by the bad weather and they were soon over and poised for an attack on the inner work.
    The priming in the enemy's guns was wet and they were only able to fire three rounds but they kept up a discharge of musketry during the assault.
    When the scaling ladders were found to be too short for the inner wall the attackers rushed the main gateway which had been opened to admit Dutch officers who lived outside.
    The commandant died there, sword in hand, with ten of the guard, but the majority of the garrison jumped over the walls and escaped.
    Four officers and 40 men surrendered and the British flag was hoisted over the fort which had 52 pieces of ordnance mounted on the walls.
  • Capt. KENAH, with Lieuts. CAREW, ALLEN, PRATT, WALKER and LYONS of the navy, and Lieut. Yates and Ensign Allen of the Madras regiment led the assault over the ramparts.
  • The following morning the ships entered the harbour, CAROLINE under her first lieutenant, Mr John GILMOUR, and were fired on from the remaining Dutch batteries but a threat to the governor to storm the town of Nassau and a well-placed shot from Fort Belgica soon silenced them.
    In all they captured 120 guns and 1,500 troops and militia, this without loss to the attackers.
  • Capt. Charles FOOTE of PIEDMONTAISE was appointed Lieut. Governor of Banda Neira and on 15 August CAROLINE sailed for Madras.
    To commemorate the action the captains of PIEDMONTAISE and BARRACOUTA offered Capt. COLE a silver cup to be made in England and the officers of the three ships presented him with sword worth 100 guineas as did the officers of the Madras regiment and the artillery.
  • Rear Ad. DRURY was absent from Madras so CAROLINE proceeded to Bombay for a refit.
  • In 1811 CAROLINE sailed to join Rear Ad. DRURY (he was promoted to Vice Ad. on 1 August) off the Malabar coast where preparations were being made for an attack on the island of Java.
    During the Vice Admiral's illness and following his subsequent death, the preparations were under the control of Capt. COLE until the arrival of Capt. W. R. BROUGHTON.
    Rear Ad. STOPFORD subsequently became the new Commander-in Chief.
    The fleet employed consisted of four sail of the line, thirteen frigates and seven sloops, with eight cruisers of the H. E.I.
    Co.
    With transports this amounted to nearly 100 sail.
  • The invading forces arrived in Chillingching Bay some 10 miles east of Batavia on 4 August 1811 with Capt. COLE in command of the frigates covering the debarkation, CAROLINE, MODESTE and BUCEPHALUS.
    When he discovered that there were no enemy forces in the vicinity of the landing beach Capt. COLE ordered the troops to be landed immediately and 8,000 men with their guns and supplies were landed in the boats of the men of war, each boat being ordered to shove off as soon it was filled without waiting to land in the correct order.
    If they had landed later they would have suffered from the fire of enemy troops who were rushing to the beachhead.
  • CAROLINE brought home Rear Ad. STOPFORD's dispatches and paid off in January 1812.
    Capt. COLE was knighted on 29 May by the Prince Regent and CAROLINE's crew presented Capt. COLE with a sword worth 100 guineas made by Mr Barker of Portsmouth.
    Later in the year the East India Company presented him with a piece of plate worth 300 guineas.
  • CAROLINE remained in ordinary at Portsmouth before being broken up.


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