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GANYMEDE
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The French L'HEBE taken by Capt. SCHOMBERG in LOIRE in the Atlantic on 5 January 1809.
Broken up in 1838. |
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- At the end of the year seaman Thomas SMITH was sentenced to receive 150 lashes for desertion.
- 1811 Capt. Charles DILKES was appointed to her but he remained in CASTOR.
- Capt. Robert PRESTON, Portsmouth.
On 12 and 23 October 1812 a court martial was held on board GLADIATOR at which Capt. PRESTON was charged with acts of cruelty, tyranny and oppression. On 23 September a letter had been addressed to the Lord Commissioners by the ship's company requesting a change of ship or officers.
Ad. HARGOOD and Capts. OTWAY and HALLIDAY carried out an investigation on board and asked if 12 of the crew would step forward as prosecutors but they stated their wish to prosecute in a body.
John M'GOWRIE, William LOWRIE, George TOWNSEND and 17 other seamen were examined by the Court and their evidence went to prove that Capt. PRESTON was more in the habit of adopting the summary punishment known as 'starting' than the witnesses had known to have prevailed on other ships; and to have frequently uttered very intemperate language.
Fellow captains deposed that Capt. PRESTON's manners were very gentlemanly and he tried unsuccessfully to introduce evidence that Sir Home POPHAM gave more than four dozen lashes as a summary punishment at his own discretion. He also stated that the crew of GANYMEDE, being in a poor state, needed discipline.
The Court acquitted him of the charges but strongly recommended the captain to change his future conduct regarding punishment. - 1812 Capt. John Brett PURVIS, 10/1811, Mediterranean.
On 18 August 1813, off Cape Tinoso, she captured the French privateer VAUTOUR of Cette with only 47 of her complement of 80 men on board. They were in a state of mutiny and had confined their officers. She was armed with four 18-pounder carronades, two long sixes and a brass 36-pounder. - 1815 Ditto, North America.
- 1816 Capt. William M'CULLOCH, Portsmouth Downs.
- 1818 Capt. Robert Cavendish SPENCER, 05/1817, Mediterranean.
On 12 July 1818 GANYMEDE left Malta for Gibraltar with Commissioner Wolley and his retinue as passengers. The passage took her 16 days. From Gibraltar she sailed for Madeira and during the 2nd and 3rd. of August gave chase to a brig, suspected of being a pirate. The suspect escaped in the fluky winds and calms and two days later GANYMEDE arrived off Funchal only to retreat out to sea when fired on by the shore batteries. She made another attempt the following day and found the Governor full of apologies. - The ship spent four days at Madeira then sailed for Cadiz, a passage of 7 days. Here the Governor answered a 17 gun salute with only 15. Captain SPENCER was assured that the remaining two shots would be fired but it took visits by two officers before they were forthcoming.
During the passage back to Gibraltar to pick up Commissioner Wolley the Gunner committed suicide by jumping through a gun-port into the sea. - GANYMEDE spent six weeks in the dockyard at Malta undergoing a refit before undertaking a cruise to Syracuse and Naples.
Here they waited to hear from Sir Thomas FREMANTLE, the new Commander in Chief at Malta.
He was living in Florence and waiting, with no particular urgency, for his flagship to arrive at Livorno.
GANYMEDE sailed for Livorno in January 1919 and here Capt. SPENCER was lucky enough to augment his ship's company from the disgruntled crew of a merchant ship whose master was refusing to pay them. - Since Sir Thomas did not wish to sail in the winter GANYMEDE returned to Naples, were the Captain had a married sister, with Lord and Lady Ponsonby as passengers.
- The next time they returned to Livorno they found new officers waiting to join the ship, and 200 soldiers and a young woman going to be married waiting for passage to Malta. After a slow passage with contrary winds and short rations these passengers were delivered and a re-provisioned GANYMEDE returned to Naples to find Sir Thomas in his flagship ROCHFORT.
- Anticipating a long stay, the Admiral gave his permission for a refit and the ship was stripped and painted inside and out. While the paint dried more than half the crew were allowed ashore only to be called back by the Admiral who issued orders that the ship was to sail at dawn on an unknown mission. The few on board were put to work to make her shipshape while the officers began the task of rounding up the remainder.
Nine hours later they were at sea and the sealed orders sent them, via Malta, to reinforce GLASGOW in the Ionian Islands where there was trouble on Parga, a small island so close to the mainland that they were connected by a causeway. The local Albanian ruler, Ali Pasha, was threatening to storm the island when haggling over a purchase price for the place reached deadlock and Sir Thomas needed naval force to back up the troops he had put into the town. - GLASGOW was forced to return temporarily to Malta but GANYMEDE arrived of Parga with two gun boats and AID which she had encountered on the way.
When GLASGOW arrived to complete an impressive looking squadron, the Albanian decided that it would be easier to settle and sent the money aboard GAMYMEDE.
Capt. SPENCER took the money to Corfu then returned to take off the troops and any inhabitants (the majority as it turned out) who wished to leave. - Following this episode GANYMEDE took Count Capo d'Istria, a Greek who was opposed to Sir Thomas's method of government, to Trieste on his way to Russia for a short visit before going to London. She then returned to Corfu to pick up Sir Thomas, who was anxious to get to London first and put his side of the story, and take him to Ancona where they had to wait for quarantine.
Afterwards she sailed for Trieste to collect 100,000 dollars for Corfu and took them to Malta. - The next voyage was to Gibraltar with Commissioner Wolley and his family. Here they found orders to return home and arrived in Portsmouth on 16 August 1819.
Capt. SPENCER was detained for some time at Spithead on a court martial (see PHAETON) before she finally sailed for the Nore where Capt. SPENCER took command of the OWEN GLENDOWER, taking most of his officers with him. - Convict ship from 1819.
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