Dutch Frigate Alliantie (1788)

The Dutch frigate ''Alliantie'' was launched in 1788 in Amsterdam. captured her in 1795 and the British Royal Navy took her into service as HMS ''Alliance''. The Admiralty converted her to a storeship shortly after her capture and fitting. She participated in the siege of Acre in 1799 with the result that her crew qualified for the Naval General Service Medal issued in 1847. She was sold in 1802.

Dutch service

In 1795, French cavalry captured ''Alliantie'' during the French capture of the Dutch fleet at Den Helder. In February 1795, she received a French crew but was probably too undermanned to be serviceable. In May, the Batavian Republic signed a peace and alliance treaty with France and the French returned ''Alliantie'' against payment.

Capture

On 22 August 1795 a squadron of four British Royal Navy frigates consisting of , , , and , encountered two frigates and a cutter from the Navy of the Batavian Republic. The engagement was fought off the Norwegian coastal island of Eigerøya, then in Danish Norway.

At 16:15 the leading British ship, ''Stag'', under Captain Joseph Sydney Yorke, caught and engaged the rearmost Batavian ship, ''Alliante''; the remainder of the British squadron continued in pursuit of the Batavian squadron. For an hour ''Alliante'' held out against the more powerful ''Stag'' but eventually struck. The remainder of the Batavian squadron escaped due to a fierce rearguard action by the frigate , safely reaching Eigerøya.

Casualties on ''Stag'' numbered four men killed and 13 wounded; Dutch casualties on ''Alliantie'' are unknown. ''Alliante'' sailed to Britain under the command of Lieutenant Patrick Tonyn of ''Stag''. ''Alliante'' was subsequently taken to Spithead where the Admiralty purchased her for the Royal Navy as the frigate HMS ''Alliance''.

British service

The British fitted ''Alliance'' at Sheerness and Deptford. She had arrived at Sheerness Dockyard to be fitted on 24 September 1795, was launched on 15 October and sailed on 7 December 1795. The Admiralty registered her on 25 November 1795. She was commissioned as a storeship of 22 guns in December under Commander William Cuming (or Cumming).

Cumming received promotion to post captain on 13 October 1797. His replacement on ''Alliance'' was Commander Henry Heathcote, who was appointed in August. He received promotion to post captain on 5 February 1798.

''Alliance'' underwent fitting at Blackwall in February and March, with Commander John Baker Hay assuming command of her in March. He sailed her to the Mediterranean Sea in June. On 2 February 1799 she was with Captain Sir Thomas Troubridge's squadron as they arrived at Alexandria. Troubridge and his squadron left Acre for Alexandria, with Sir Sidney Smith in replacing them. In March Commander David Wilmot replaced Hay. On 24 March, ''Alliance'' arrived at Acre with orders from Troubridge to discharge her cargo and return immediately. When Wilmot arrived at Acre, Smith quoted the Articles of War to the effect that His Majesty's ships were required to assist a known friend in need; he commandeered ''Alliance'' while Wilmot agreed with enthusiasm.

In the first week of April, a gale forced ''Tigre'' to stand off, but Smith reported ''Alliance'' and the gun-vessels he had captured, all except one, rode out the gale. Smith anchored ''Tigre'' and , one on each side of the town, so their broadsides could assist the defence. ''Alliance'' and the gun-vessels were of shallower draft and so could come in closer. Together, they helped repel repeated French assaults.

However, on 8 April Wilmot received a fatal shot through the neck from a rifleman as Wilmot mounted a howitzer on the breach in the wall at Acre. Additionally, the day before ''Alliance'' had three men wounded. The French attacked multiple times between 19 March and 10 May before Napoleon finally gave up. On 21 May he destroyed his siege train and retreated back to Egypt, having lost 2,200 men dead, 1,000 of them to the plague.

Smith sailed with his squadron on 12 June. He proceeded first to Beruta road, and then to Larnica road, Cyprus, in order to refit his little squadron. He and ''Tigre'' then departed for Constantinople, ''Alliance'' and the gun-vessels remaining in the theatre. By 11 September 1800, ''Alliance'' was at Portsmouth, because on that day Lieutenant E. H. Clark of ''Alliance'' underwent a court martial on board ''Gladiator'' for being absent without leave. Clark was found guilty; he was dismissed from service, and from serving in any capacity whatever in the Royal Navy. Commander John Melhuish assumed command in December.

''Alliance'' continued to serve on the Lisbon, Gibraltar, and Mediterranean station, traveling back and forth between Britain and the station. On 10 May 1801 ''Alliance'' arrived at Portsmouth from the Mediterranean, via Gibraltar. A week later she sailed for the Downs.''Naval Chronicle'', Vol. 5, p.468-9.

Fate

''Alliance'' was sold at Sheerness in May 1802.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Alliantie (1788)
1788 ships
Ships built in Amsterdam
Frigates of the Royal Navy
Storeships of the Royal Navy
Captured ships