Frigates-Sloops & Brigs

James Henderson

• Publisher: Pen & Sword Maritime
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781848845268
• eBook ISBN: 9781781596418
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: 19th Century History
• Index: History

Admiral Nelson's most frequent cry was for more frigates. Though not ships of the line these fast and powerful warships were the 'eyes of the fleet'. They enabled admirals to find where the enemy lay and his likely intentions, as well as patrolling vital trade routes and providing information from far-flung colonies. Together with their smaller cousins, the sloops and brigs of the Royal Navy, they performed a vital function.Generally commanded by ambitious young men, these were the ships that could capture enemy prizes and earn their officers and men enough prize-money to set them up for life. The fictional characters Horatio Hornblower and Jack Aubrey hardly surpassed some of the extraordinary deeds of derring-do and tragedy described in these pages.Originally published in two volumes, this book is a bargain for all who want the factual low-down on the Brylcreem Boys of Nelson's navy.

The Frigates was first published in Great Britain in 1970 Sloops and Brigs was first published in Great Britain in 1972, both by Adlard Coles Ltd

Reprinted in 2005 by Pen & Sword Military Classics

Published in this format in Great Britain in 2011 by

Pen & Sword Maritime

an imprint of

Pen & Sword Books Ltd

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Barnsley

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Copyright © Estate of James Henderson CBE, 1970, 1972, 2005, 2011

ISBN 978-1-84884-526-8

eISBN 9781844682690

The right of James Henderson CBE to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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To Captain James Rowland, DSO and bar,
RN (retd) whose feats of warfare in command
of HMS Wolverine and her consorts in the
North Atlantic showed that the lights kindled
by the frigate captains still burn undiminished

Contents

Author’s Notes

Foreword

Chapter 1		The Frigates
Chapter 2		Success Story
Chapter 3		Mutiny and Retribution
Chapter 4		Invasion
Chapter 5		The East India Station: The Far East
Chapter 6		The East India Station: Bay of Bengal
Chapter 7		Inglorious Defeat
Chapter 8		Successful Defeat
Chapter 9		The Young Star-Captains
Chapter 10		The Last Viking
Chapter 11		Prize Money
Chapter 12		Squadron Action
Chapter 13		The Big Frigates
Chapter 14		Challenge Encounter
Chapter 15		South Pacific
Chapter 16		Shipwreck

Glossary

Appendix I: Notes on the Plates

Appendix II: Tonnage

Tables

Plates

1		Droits de l’Homme engaged by INDEFATIGABLE: AMAZON coming up
2		AMBUSCADE boarded and captured by Bayonnaise
3		SAN FIORENZE and Piémontaise
4		FISGARD and Immortalité
5		Boats of the SURPRISE cutting out the Hermione
6		SYBILLE taking the Forte
7		Basque Roads, IMPERIEUSE leading in
8		IMPERIEUSE and Calcutta
9		SAN FIORENZE taking possession of Piémontaise
10		ALCESTE and ACTIVE capturing the Potnone
11		Constitution escaping from a British squadron
12		GUERRIERE captured by Constitution
13		MACEDONIAN captured by United States
14		JAVA captured by Constitution
15		Chesapeake boarded and captured by SHANNON
16		Essex (left) engaged and captured by PHOEBE and CHERUB

Notes on the plates, are on Appendix I.

The author is indebted to the Trustees of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich for their kind permission to publish the plates reproduced in this book.

Plate 1: Droits de l’homme engaged by INDEFATIGABLE: AMAZON coming up.

Plate 2: AMBUSCADE boarded and captured by Bayonnaise.

Plate 3: SAN FIORENZE and Piémontaise.

Plate 4: FISGARD and Immortalité.

Plate 5: Boats of the SURPRISE cutting out the Hermione.

Plate 6: SYBILLE taking the Forte.

Plate 7: Basque Roads. IMPERIEUSE leading in.

Plate 8: IMPERIEUSE and Calcutta.

Plate 9: SAN FIORENZE taking possession of Piémontaise.

Plate 10: ALCESTE and ACTIVE capturing the Pomone.

Plate 11: Constitution escaping from a British squadron.

Plate 12: GUERRIERE captured by Constitution.

Plate 13: MACEDONIAN captured by United States.

Plate 14: JAVA captured by Constitution.

Plate 15: Chesapeake boarded and captured by SHANNON.

Plate 16: Essex (left) engaged and captured by PHOEBE and CHERUB.

Author’s Notes

A good deal of confusion often arises in reading early accounts of this period, due to the fact that so many ships were captured from the enemy and put into service under the same name. Thus at Trafalgar there were both an English and a French ‘Swift-Sure’, an English and a French ‘Neptune’, with a Spanish ‘Neptuno’ to make it more difficult. To avoid all difficulty, the name of any ship under British command is printed in SMALL CAPITALS, while the ships of all other nations are printed in italics. At the moment a ship changes hands it changes typography. Thus there is no difficulty in knowing immediately under which command the BONNE-CITOYENNE was in May 1798.

An awkwardness often arises from the fact that many of the best early histories are compiled directly from the log of the ship engaged, an excellent method up to a point. The log noted the change of the year on 1 st January, and the month on its first day but no other day; this was reasonable in a log which was intended to be read through, when submitted to Admiralty; but it can be intensely annoying when one reads, ‘On the 21st., at 6 a.m., sighted a large sail, ENE about 8 leagues’, and then has to turn back page after page to find out what month it was, and as many more to find out what year. I have therefore been particular in writing the full date unless obviously redundant.

The term ‘starboard’ has always been used for that side of the ship which is on your right as you face forward; at the time about which I write, and earlier, the other side was called ‘larboard’. During most of the nineteenth century this was the name, but owing to the verbal difficulty of distinguishing larboard from starboard, it became customary to call larboard ‘port’; this was easier, since not only was the port light red, but after dinner one passed the port to the left. However, I have retained ‘larboard’, because in print there is no confusion, and it corresponds with the contemporary accounts.

In helm orders one has to recall that all ships were steered by a tiller; in small ships this might appear on deck, and the sweep of deck-space required for the tiller was quite a serious tactical consideration. In larger ships the tiller was well below decks, perhaps twelve or fifteen feet long, operated by rope and tackle from the wheel on the quarterdeck, but still a tiller. Hence if one put the tiller over to starboard, the rudder and consequently the ship’s head went round to larboard; therefore the helm order ‘starboard’ meant that the ship was to go to larboard. Much later, after steam and steam steering became almost universal, helm orders were changed by international agreement; the order ‘port’ meant ‘turn to port’ and the order ‘starboard’ meant ‘turn to starboard’. I have retained the helm orders of the period, but have done what I can to avoid confusion.

The most important moment in an officer’s career was his promotion to post captain; from this point on his seniority was assured. No other post captain could get ahead of him, however strong his ‘interest’. At the same time, a lieutenant commanding a small ship, or promoted ‘Commander’ into a ship of less than post rank (twenty guns) was called ‘Captain’ so long as he was in command. To avoid confusion between an actual post captain, on the ladder which must inevitably lead him to flag rank if he survived long enough, and a junior officer in temporary command; I have used the substantive ranks of commander and lieutenant to indicate non-post captains, and ‘Mr’ to denote a warrant officer in temporary command. This is only of interest as regards ancillary ships, as a frigate could only be commanded by a post captain except in case of incapacity (wounds or death) in which case the lieutenants assumed command according to seniority. It was usual that after a meritorious action the first lieutenant of the British ship should be promoted commander, and given some ship of less than post force to show what he could do in actual command; thus gradually, as the war went on, was built the best cadre of naval officers that the world has ever seen.

It is a difficult point to determine how far a writer should interrupt himself to explain terms that are probably familiar to most of his readers. This I have dealt with by a fairly copious first chapter giving a sufficiently detailed general description of the frigates; an indexed sail plan (see endpapers) and a glossary. Thus the reader new to the period can inform himself as fully as he wishes, while those who know it well are not irritated by incessant explanations in the text.

Foreword

by Admiral of the Fleet
Sir Algernon Willis G.C.B., K.B.E., D.S.O., D.L.

This book by Mr James Henderson is particularly commended to those interested in the sea and in national defence.

In the 22 years of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1793 to 1815) this country was engaged almost continuously in hostilities with France and, at times, with Spain, the Netherlands, and America as well. Our survival depended on supremacy at sea and this island produced a magnificent body of fighting seamen, who raised the efficiency of the British Navy to a state which has seldom been equalled. While the great victories over the enemy’s battle fleets, such as St Vincent, the Nile and Trafalgar, gave us command of the sea, it was the smaller ships, notably the frigates, which exercised the control of sea communications enabling our trade to flow freely while cutting off most of that of the enemy.

These efforts led to countless frigate actions which our sailors fought with success, often against odds.

The graphic accounts of these actions and of other activities of the frigates related by Mr Henderson in this book make stirring reading, and take one back to the great days when, in the words of the younger Pitt: ‘England saved herself by her exertions and Europe by her example.’ Pitt, of course, intended to include the Scots, the Welsh and the Irish in this eulogy!

I wish this book the success it certainly deserves.

			A. U. WILLIS
Petersfield			Admiral of the Fleet
Hampshire			August 1970

Chapter One

The Frigates

‘Frigates!’ cried Nelson, ‘Were I to die this moment, want of frigates would be found engraved on my heart!’ He was chasing round the Mediterranean in search of the French expedition to Egypt, the biggest overseas invasion ever mounted, with 75 warships, 400 transports, 10,000 sailors and 36,000 troops, horse, foot and artillery. Had Nelson had the four frigates which were originally detailed to join his squadron, he would inevitably have caught the expedition on the high seas and the whole of history would have been different; General Buonaparte would have ended his career,...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• The Frigates
• The Sloops and Brigs