HMS ''Albion'' was a

74-gun The "seventy-four" was a type of two- decked sailing ship of the line, which nominally carried 74 guns. It was developed by the French navy in the 1740s, replacing earlier classes of 60- and 62-gun ships, as a larger complement to the recently-de ...

third-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker). Years of experience proved that the third r ...

ship of the line of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

. She was launched at Perry's

Blackwall Yard Blackwall Yard is a small body of water that used to be a shipyard on the River Thames in Blackwall, engaged in ship building and later ship repairs for over 350 years. The yard closed in 1987. History East India Company Blackwall was a sh ...

on the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

on 17 June 1802. She was broken up at

Chatham Dockyard Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham (at its most extensive, in the early 20th century ...

in 1836.

Napoleonic Wars

In May 1803 she was under the command of Captain John Ferrier and joined Admiral Cornwallis' fleet, which was blockading the vital French naval port of

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...

. ''Albion'' was among the vessels of the squadron that shared in the proceeds of the capture of: :''Juffrow Bregtie Kaas'' (30 May 1803); :''Eendraght'' (31 May); :''Morgen Stern'' (1 June); :''Goede ferwachting'' (4 June); :''De Vriede'' (5 June). ''Albion'' was soon detached from the fleet to deploy to the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...

where she was to remain for several years. ''Albion'' and left Rio de Janeiro on 13 October, escorting ''Lord Melville'', ''Earl Spencer'', ''Princess Mary'', ''Northampton'', ''Anna'', ''Ann'', ''Glory'', and ''Essex''. They were in company with the

third rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker). Years of experience proved that the third ...

ship of the line , and the

fourth rate In 1603 all English warships with a compliment of fewer than 160 men were known as 'small ships'. In 1625/26 to establish pay rates for officers a six tier naval ship rating system was introduced.Winfield 2009 These small ships were divided i ...

. Three days later ''Albion'' and ''Sceptre'' separated from the rest of the ships. On 21 December 1803, ''Albion'' and ''Sceptre'' captured the French privateer ''Clarisse'' at in the eastern

. ''Clarisse'' was armed with 12 guns and had a crew of 157 men. She had sailed from

Isle de France (Mauritius) Isle de France () was the name of the Indian Ocean island which is known as Mauritius and its dependent territories between 1715 and 1810, when the area was under the French East India Company and a part of the French colonial empire. Under ...

on 24 November with provisions for a six-month cruise to the Bay of Bengal. At the time of her capture she had not captured anything. ''Albion'', ''Sceptre'', and ''Clarisse'' arrived at Madras on 8 January 1804.''

Lloyd's List ''Lloyd's List'' is one of the world's oldest continuously running journals, having provided weekly shipping news in London as early as 1734. It was published daily until 2013 (when the final print issue, number 60,850, was published), and is ...

'', n°446

Accessed 13 August 2016. On 28 February 1804, ''Albion'' and ''Sceptre'' met up in the straits of Malacca with the fleet of Indiamen that had just emerged from the

Battle of Pulo Aura The Battle of Pulo Aura was a minor naval engagement of the Napoleonic Wars, fought on 14 February 1804, in which a large convoy of Honourable East India Company (HEIC) East Indiamen, well-armed merchant ships, intimidated, drove off and chase ...

and conducted them safely to Saint Helena. From there escorted the convoy to England.''

'', n°447

Accessed 13 August 2016. On 28 August 1808, ''Albion'' recaptured ''Swallow'', which was carrying among other things, a quantity of gold dust. Next, ''Albion'' escorted a fleet of nine East Indiaman, East Indiamen returning to Britain. They left Madras on 25 October, but a gale that commenced around 20 November at by 22 November had dispersed the fleet. By 21 February three of the Indiamen — ''Lord Nelson'', ''Glory'', and ''Experiment''— had not arrived at Cape Town. Apparently all three had foundered without a trace. ''Caroline'', of Riga, arrived at Yarmouth on 17 August 1810 having been detained by ''Albion''.

War of 1812

In 1814, the year that

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

was finally toppled, and after a long period under extensive repair, she became flagship of Rear Admiral

George Cockburn Admiral of the Fleet Sir George Cockburn, 10th Baronet, (22 April 1772 – 19 August 1853) was a British Royal Navy officer. As a captain he was present at the Battle of Cape St Vincent in February 1797 during the French Revolutionary Wars an ...

, taking part in a war (

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

) against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

— a duty that the first ''Albion'' had once undertaken. In the summer of 1814, she was involved in the force that harried the coastline of

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / ...

, where she operated all the way up to the Potomac and Patuxent Rivers, destroying large amounts of American shipping, as well as US government property. The operations ended once peace was declared in 1815.

Post-war

Just a year later, ''Albion'' was part of a combined

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

fleet taking part in the bombardment of Algiers on 27 August 1816, which was intended to force the

Dey of Algiers Dey (Arabic: داي), from the Turkish honorific title ''dayı'', literally meaning uncle, was the title given to the rulers of the Regency of Algiers (Algeria), Tripoli,Bertarelli (1929), p. 203. and Tunis under the Ottoman Empire from 1671 o ...

to free Christian slaves. She fired 4,110 shots at the city, and suffered 3 killed and 15 wounded by return fire. In 1827, she was part of a combined British-French-

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

fleet under the command of Admiral Codrington at the Battle of Navarino, where a Turkish-

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

ian fleet was obliterated, securing

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

independence. ''Albion'' suffered 10 killed and 50 wounded, including her second-in-command, Commander John Norman Campbell. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with the clasps "Algiers", and "Navarino" to all surviving claimants from the battles.

Fate

''Albion'' was hulked as a quarantine ship in 1831, and finally broken up in 1836.

References

Citations Bibliography * *Lavery, Brian (2003) ''The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. .

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Albion (1802) Ships of the line of the Royal Navy Fame-class ships of the line 1802 ships Ships built by the Blackwall Yard War of 1812 ships of the United Kingdom