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SEAHORSE
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Built in 1794, Rotherhithe.
Broken up in 1819. |
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- Capt. R. D. OLIVER, 06/1796. Capt. G. OAKES, 12/1796. Capt. S. FREEMANTLE, 07/1797. Capt. Edward James FOOTE, 10/1797. Sheerness.
- On 13 May 1800 SEAHORSE sailed from Portsmouth With Ad. Sir Richard BICKERTON and Generals Sir R. Abercrombie, Moore and Hutchison and the Hon.
Col. Hope, with their suite, for the Mediterranean. She had the armed transports DOVER and CALCUTTA under convoy. - In December 1800 SEAHORSE, MAIDSTONE, ALLIANCE, CHICHESTER, SERAPIS, PIQUE HARPY and DROMEDARY escorted through the Channel a vast convoy of nearly 550 ships bound for Oporto, the Straits, Lisbon and the West Indies.
On the 10th. a dead calm took them all aback off the Eddystone and, when the fog lifted about noon, spectators crowded the heights to see the whole horizon covered in sails. - On 14 August she returned to Portsmouth from a cruise off Havre and sailed again four days later with St. FIORENZO to attend on his Majesty at Weymouth. She was back on the 23rd. and sailed again on 9 September with the following ships under convoy: ANN, CALEDONIA, Gen. STUART and MONARCH for Madras; NORTHAMPTON and SOVEREIGN for Bombay; SARAH CHRISTIAN and COMET for Bengal; MANSHIP for Ceylon and Bengal, and PRINCESS MARY for St. Helena and Bengal.
- SEAHORSE left the Madras Roads to return to England on 31 May 1802 in company with ANNA and arrived at St. Helena on 21 August. When she sailed from there five days later there were no other ships at the island.
SEAHORSE arrived back at Portsmouth on 4 October 1802. On the 8th. she went into harbour to be paid off. - 1803 Capt. Courtenay BOYLE.
On 13 July 1803, in a fine breeze, SEAHORSE, ARROW, WASP and the storeship PREVOYANTE sailed from Portsmouth with a large convoy for Lisbon and the Mediterranean. Several outward bound Indiamen and Whalers sailed with them to join a convoy at Plymouth. - During the night of 10-11 July 1804 the boats of NARCISSUS (Lieut. Hyde PARKER), SEAHORSE (Lieut. John R. LUMLEY), and MAIDSTONE (Lieut. Ogle MOORE), the whole under the direction of Lieut. John THOMPSON of NARCISSUS, attacked, boarded and destroyed a dozen enemy vessels at La Vandour in Hyeres Bay. The enemy were fully prepared and had secured the vessels on the beach under cover of a battery and musket fire from the houses of the town. Nevertheless one was towed out and the rest burnt. SEAHORSE lost one killed, Lieut. William Wiltshire of the marines, and five wounded, Lieut LUMLEY, Thomas Alex.
WATT, midshipman, John WILLIAMS, able seaman and John Fisher and John Williams private marines.
Lieut. THOMPSON feared that Lieut. LUMLEY had been mortally wounded but Lord NELSON was able to report to the Admiralty on the 12th. that, although he had had to suffer amputation at the shoulder joint, he was fast recovering. In all 4 were killed and 23 wounded. - On 4 May 1805 Capt. BOYLE learned that a Spanish convoy, laden with gunpowder and stores for the gunboats at Malaga, Ceuta and Algeciras, was on the coast to the westward of Cartagena. In the afternoon they were discovered from the masthead and seen to haul into St. Pedro, an anchorage to the eastward of Cape de Gatte, where they were protected by a fort, two schooners and three gun and mortar launches.
While SEAHORSE kept up a well directed covering fire, Lieut. DOWNIE in the 6-oar cutter assisted by Mr Thomas NAPPER, midshipman, in a 4-oared boat succeeded in capturing and bringing out the largest vessel, a brig laden with 1170 quintals of powder and other stores. SEAHORSE's gunfire sank one of the launches and several of the convoy but, with night coming on, light airs and damaged rigging, Capt. BOYLE thought it prudent to break off the attack. Among those who took part were Lieut. Ogle MOORE, Lieut. Charles Brown YONGE, Mr SPRATT, master, Lieut. Clarke of the marines and Lieut. Hagemeister of the Russian navy. SEAHORSE lost one seaman killed. - 1805 Capt. Robert CORBETT, Mediterranean.
- Capt. John STEWART, 04/1806. He superseded Capt. CORBETT, who had made an unauthorised trip to the West Indies, off Cadiz.
- SEAHORSE was re-fitted at Sheerness and, in March 1807, was ordered back to the Mediterranean.
While beating through the Straits of Dover in thick weather she struck on the Varne shoal and knocked off her false keel and rudder as she went over it. Capt. STEWART and Lieut. Thomas BENNETT were injured by a breaking hawser while attempting to rehang the rudder. She anchored for the night and the following day worked back into the Downs with a brig and a pilot cutter towed behind to enable her to steer. After temporary rudder had been fitted she made her way to Plymouth for permanent repairs and finally sailed for the Mediterranean with a convoy. - SEAHORSE called at Malta and at Messina where she took on board two long, brass 18-pounders in lieu of her four 9-pounders. (She also mounted twenty-eight iron 18-pounders and twelve 32-pounder carronades) She then joined Lord COLLINGWOOD with the fleet at Imbros near the entrance to the Dardanelles. After a week there the fleet moved over to Tenedos for more shelter from the southerly winds.
At the end of August she was sent to examine Porto Trio in Paros to see if it was fit for sheltering a squadron. - On 17 September Capt. STEWART sailed for the Cyclades with orders to drive out the Ionian privateers which had been sailing under the Russian flag and were now preying on the islanders as pirates. This task was completed by the middle of October.
- Capt. STEWART was subsequently senior officer in the Archipelago where he destroyed many small vessels.
Although he was ordered to destroy the Turkish trade the Admiralty Courts would not condemn so he rather felt that he was wasting his time. But, when the Turks asked if he would interfere if they sent out a force to crush the Epirots who were making a prize of all vessels going to Constantinople, he replied that he would repel it.
When the Turks did come out the Epirots sent word to Capt. STEWART at the island of Syra. He feared that the Turkish squadron might include line-of-battle ships but on the evening of 5 July 1808 he saw a large Turkish frigate and a corvette coming through the passage between the islands of Scopulo Killidroni, followed by a galley. Since this force seemed to be within his compass he waited until dark and then brought them to action. The enemy ships attempted to run them on board but Capt. STEWART manoeuvred to avoid this and dropped alongside the smaller ship and poured shot into her for about a quarter of an hour at half pistol-shot range. By the time they left her she was silent and had partially blown up forward. The action with the frigate lasted for a longer time before the enemy was silenced and Capt. STEWART decided to wait until daylight before taking possession.
The next morning the Turkish colours were still on the stump of the mizzen mast so SEAHORSE fired a broadside into her stern, when she struck. She was the BADERE ZAFFER with 52 long brass guns 24 pounders on the main deck plus two 42-pounders, 12-pounders on the quarterdeck and forecastle. She had on board 543 men, including some from the galley, and was commanded by Scanderli Kichue Ali. Of these 165 were killed and 195 wounded. The smaller ship was the ALIS FEZAN armed with twenty-four 12-pounders and two mortars and carrying 230 men. She rolled over and sank as the action with the frigate ended. SEAHORSE lost five killed and ten wounded.
SEAHORSE was thirty short of her establishment of 281 officers, men and boys. Her officers were Lieuts. George DOWNIE, Thomas BENNETT and Richard Glinn VALLACK; Thomas CURTIS, master, and Lieut. John COOK, RM - Capt. STEWART took his prize first to Miconi on the 9th., and then to Malta where the prisoners were set at liberty. Here a British diplomat, Mr Robert Adair, who had come out to renew discussions with Turkey, was embarrassed by the news. He embarked on board SEAHORSE on 3 September and they sailed to Tenedos to await the Turkish plenipotentiary and then to Barbieri Bay in the Straits. On the day before the first meeting an insurrection took place in Constantinople resulting in the slaughter of ten of fifteen thousand Turks and the burning of a third of the city.
- A peace treaty was signed on 5 January 1809 and SEAHORSE proceeded to Constantinople where she remained for nearly three months. Capt. STEWART then visited Smyrna to see the British Factory re-established. When he returned to Malta Capt. STEWART received the naval medal from the Admiralty. Lieut. DOWIE was promoted to commander,(He was killed in action on Lake Champlain September 1814) Mr William LESTER to lieutenant, Thomas HULLY to gunner. Mr George FLINTOF, purser, the boatswain and the carpenter were to be appointed to ships of higher rate.
- SEAHORSE was next employed cruising between Corsica and the Italian coast.
On 10 May 1809 the boats of SEAHORSE and HALCYON under Lieuts. BENNETT and PEARSE destroyed the enemy forts on the the small islands of Gianuti and Pianoza (Gianutri and Pianosa). About 100 of the enemy were made prisoner during four hours fighting for the loss of one marine killed and one wounded. - In the summer of 1811 SEAHORSE brought Lord Amherst and his family home from Palermo. As they were passing through the Channel only Lieut. BENNETT going on deck before daylight prevented them hitting the Varne Shoal for a second time.
- SEAHORSE paid off at Woolwich to be repaired and re-fitted for foreign service. Capt. James Alexander GORDON was appointed to her in the autumn of 1812 after losing his leg in ACTIVE.
- Capt. GORDON gave chase to the large French privateer lugger SUBTILE (16), on 13 November 1813.
When she surrendered after 3 hours she was so damaged by shot that she sank.
Only 28 of her crew could be saved. - SEAHORSE subsequently crossed the Atlantic to join Vice Ad. Sir Alexander COCHRANE.
On 17 August 1814 Capt. GORDON, with EURYALUS, DEVASTATION, ETNA, METEOR, EREBUS and the ANNA MARIA tender under his orders, entered the Potomac to bombard Fort Washington some 10 miles below the capital. Without pilots they found the navigation through 'Kettle Bottoms' difficult and, with contrary winds, it took them ten days to reach Fort Washington. For five consecutive days they had to warp over a distance of 50 miles, each of the vessels going aground many times. The bombs opened fire on the fort on the evening of the 27th. and the Americans were seen to retreat. The powder magazine blew up at eight o'clock and the following morning Capt. GORDON landed and took possession. Twenty-one heavy cannon and six field pieces were found, already spiked they were completely destroyed. - On the morning of the 29th he accepted the capitulation of Alexandria and twenty-one vessels taken as prizes were fitted out ready to be taken down river.
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