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DIANA
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(38) |
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Built in 1794, Rotherhithe.
Sold in 1815. |
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- 1794 Capt. Jonathan FAULKNOR, 04/1794, cruising in the Channel.
- 1799 Capt. FRASER, 03/1799. West Indies.
PRINCE OF WALES, INVINCIBLE, UNITE and DIANA were at Martinique on 3 April 1800. - 1800 Capt. John Poo BERESFORD, Leeward Is.
- 1803 Capt. T. J. MALLING, Mediterranean.
The Spanish brig DESTINO bound for Carthagena from Cadiz with wine and dry goods was detained by DIANA and arrived in Port Royal on 12 February 1805. - 1807 Ditto, Irish station.
By following a course suggested by Ad. GARDNER, Capt. MALLING fell in with the French privateer ship CHARLOTTE about 90 miles south-west of Scilly on 18 February 1807.
The privateer was deceived by the sail DIANA was carrying and approached to nearly within gun-shot before discovering her mistake.
After a five hour chase through a freshening gale she was carried. She had fitted out at St. Malo and, on the present cruise, had sailed 20 days before from Nantes under Lieut. Quimper with a crew of 118 men.
Pierced for 20 guns she had only 14 mounted.
Although her previous cruises had been very successful, this time she had only taken a Swedish barque and a ship and recaptured a chasse-maree taken by a Jersey privateer.
The capture of CHARLOTTE probably saved three valuable Liverpool ships DIANA met the following day. - 1807 Capt. Charles GRANT, Channel.
DIANA's 6-oared cutter was overturned three miles off shore between Sandwich Bay and Ramsgate, those on board, which included the second lieutenant, Mr Robert BARCLAY, were rescued by a boat which came out from Ramsgate. Shortly afterwards Lieut. BARCLAY lost his left arm while commanding a detachment of boats against a French convoy from Nantes to Rochefort. - 1809 South America.
DIANA arrived at Portsmouth on 7 August 1809 bringing home from Rio de Janeiro Rear Ad. Sir Sidney SMITH who had been succeeded by Ad. DE COURCY. - DIANA was commanded by Capt. John CRAMER (later known as Sir Josiah Coghill COGHILL) during the Walcheren expedition.
- At the beginning of December 1809 DIANA was in the West Scheldt off the island of Borselen (the three islands Walcheren, Borselen and Beverland now form a single island) and, learning that the enemy were disembarking guns at Odenskirk, he sent away his boats to cut them off.
Under the command of Lieut. Daniel MILLER, accompanied by Lieut. SPARROW and Messrs. ROBERTSON, KNOCKER, KING and M'CARTTEY, they landed under a heavy fire of round and grape to beat off the French guard and bring off three vessels laden with a battery train and field pieces, together with wood to build a platform. - On 10 March 1810 the privateer lugger CAMILLE was captured by OWEN GLENDOWER.
In the six hours the lugger had been out from Boulogne she had taken the schooner FAME of London, William Proper, master, bringing fruit from Lisbon. DIANA recaptured the prize before she could reach Boulogne. - At the end of the year Capt. GRANT was back in command and with NIOBE, DONEGAL and REVENGE, DIANA was blockading two French frigates in Le Havre.
On Monday 12 November, with a very heavy sea, he suspected that the enemy might make a run for it and indeed, on the Tuesday morning, the two frigates were seen off shore and DIANA was able to fire two broadsides before they got under the batteries on the two islands of Marcouf. The wind, tide and heavy sea frustrated NIOBE's efforts to cut off the sternmost frigate and on Tuesday forenoon the enemy ships weighed and, after a few hours under the batteries, ran for La Hogue Roads while the British ships were driven to the north of Barfleur.
(La Hogue is St. Vaast in the Baie de la Hougue on the eastern side of the Cherbourg peninsular) - On Wednesday Capt. GRANT sent NIOBE to bring up DONEGAL while he went in close to reconnoitre.
He found that one of the frigates had run ashore and that the other was anchored between the batteries of La Hogue and the isle of Tatilion. He closed and stood in close to the second one but had to retire under heavy fire. When DONEGAL arrived with NIOBE and REVENGE, the four ships resumed the attack, which included Congreve's rockets from DONEGAL, until the enemy was laying on a shoal near the fort of St Vaast. DIANA had one marine private slightly wounded. She and NIOBE remained to watch the port.
ELIZE, the frigate which had run ashore was protected by the island and the heavy batteries on the north shore and, although completely bilged, Capt. GRANT resolved to burn her so, after dark on the night of the 23 December, he anchored DIANA off shore and sent in his boats. Lieut. ROWE in the barge with Mr DEAN, the gunner, and Mr NOBLE, the boatswain, who always volunteered. Lieut. SPARROW went in the gig to reconnoitre and watch three armed brigs lying within hail of ELIZE, and Mr KNOCKER, master's mate, went in the cutter. They took with them two barrels of combustible matter. The batteries and the brigs opened up with a very heavy fire of round and grape as they boarded the enemy frigate but there were no casualties, and they did not leave until she was completely on fire. - 1811 Capt. William FERRIS, Channel.
When DIANA and SEMIRAMIS stood in towards the mouth of the Gironde on the afternoon of 24 August 1811 they saw four sail inside the shoals under escort of a brig of war. The two frigates hoisted French colours and DIANA a commodore's broad pendant. The French were taken in and actually sent out two pilots to assist them. Capt. FERRIS anchored near another brig and, after dark, sent off three boats under Lieuts. SPARROW and HOLMES and Mr William Holmes, master's mate from DIANA and another four from SEMIRAMIS to attack the convoy, some 4 miles up the river. The tide was against them and at daylight, when the boats and the vessels they had captured were still far up the river, Capt. FERRIS determined to capture the two brigs, which were still convinced that the frigates were French. Indeed the the captain of the port, Mons. Dubourg, who also commanded the inshore brig, came on board DIANA and was not undeceived until he reached the quarter-deck.
DIANA ran on board the outer brig and Capt. RICHARDSON of SEMIRAMIS chased after her consort which had cut and made for the beach near the battery of Royan. He brought his broadside to bear on the brig and his bow guns on the battery. By this time his barge, pinnace and cutter had rejoined and he sent them to board the enemy. The prize, LE PLUVIER (16), was fast on the shore so she was burnt. Meanwhile Lieut. Robert White PARSONS, Lieut. Madden. RM and Mr George NOBLE, Boatswain, with the 30 seamen and marines who could be spared, had taken possession of a prize which turned out to be the British gunbrig TEAZER which had been captured off St. Malo on 16 July 1805. - On 27 February 1812 William HOLMES, was promoted to lieutenant for jumping overboard and saving the life of a seaman who had fallen from the masthead while DIANA was in Plymouth Sound.
- 1812 In ordinary at Plymouth. At the end of 1813 DIANA underwent a thorough repair at Mr Blackburn's Yard in the Catwater,
- 1814 Plymouth.
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