frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

Rotherhithe Rotherhithe () is a district of south-east London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping, Shadwell and Limehouse on the north bank, as well as the Isle of Dogs ...

the Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or (Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kanaa ...

Sir Edward Pellew Admiral Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, GCB (19 April 1757 – 23 January 1833) was a British naval officer. He fought during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary Wars, and the Napoleonic Wars. His younger brother I ...

Audierne Audierne (; br, Gwaien) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France. On 1 January 2016 the former commune of Esquibien merged into Audierne.''Droits de l'Homme''.

Armament and construction

''Amazon'' was one of four 36-gun, 18-pound, ''Amazon''-class frigates built to a design by William Rule. She, and her sister ship , were ordered on 24 May 1794. Built to the same dimensions, they were: along the

gun deck The term gun deck used to refer to a deck aboard a ship that was primarily used for the mounting of cannon to be fired in broadsides. The term is generally applied to decks enclosed under a roof; smaller and unrated vessels carried their guns o ...

with a beam of and a depth in the hold of . They were 933

tons burthen Builder's Old Measurement (BOM, bm, OM, and o.m.) is the method used in England from approximately 1650 to 1849 for calculating the cargo capacity of a ship. It is a volumetric measurement of cubic capacity. It estimated the tonnage of a ship bas ...

a piece.Winfield p. 148 Work began in June at

Rotherhithe Rotherhithe () is a district of south-east London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping, Shadwell and Limehouse on the north bank, as well as the Isle of Dogs ...

by Wells & Co, when the

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

was laid down. Launched on 4 July 1795 ''Amazon'' was taken to

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home to Deptford Dock ...

where she was completed from 3–25 September. Including fitting, her construction had cost £24,681. ''Amazon'' was built to carry a main battery of twenty-six on her upper

gun deck The term gun deck used to refer to a deck aboard a ship that was primarily used for the mounting of cannon to be fired in broadsides. The term is generally applied to decks enclosed under a roof; smaller and unrated vessels carried their guns o ...

, eight on the

quarter deck The quarterdeck is a raised deck behind the main mast of a sailing ship. Traditionally it was where the captain commanded his vessel and where the ship's colours were kept. This led to its use as the main ceremonial and reception area on bo ...

and two on the

forecastle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is the phrase " be ...

. She additionally carried ten carronades, six on the quarter deck and two on the forecastle. When fully manned, she had a complement of 264.

Service

In 1795, while under the command of Captain

Robert Carthew Reynolds Rear-Admiral Robert Carthew Reynolds (''bap.'' 30 July 1745 – 24 December 1811) was a long serving and widely respected officer of the British Royal Navy who served in four separate major wars in a 52-year career. During this time he saw only ...

, she was part of the Inshore Squadron under

Sir Edward Pellew Admiral Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, GCB (19 April 1757 – 23 January 1833) was a British naval officer. He fought during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary Wars, and the Napoleonic Wars. His younger brother I ...

watching the French 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 ...

to report any attempt by the French fleet to leave port. Pellew's force comprised the 44-gun ships and , the 38-gun frigate , ''Amazon'', and a second 36-gun frigate, . Cruising off Ushant, late in the afternoon of 13 April 1796, a ship was seen to windward. Pellew, ordered ''Révolutionnaire'' to sail an intercepting course while the rest of the squadron gave chase. ''Révolutionnaire'' eventually cut off the quarry, which turned out to be the French frigate, ''Unité'', and after a brief exchange of fire, forced her to surrender.James (Vol.I) p. 321 A week later, on 20 April, ''Amazon'' was again in pursuit of an enemy frigate. With ''Argo'' in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

and ''Révolutionnaire'' on her way home with her prize, the three remaining British frigates were lying-to off

The Lizard The Lizard ( kw, An Lysardh) is a peninsula in southern Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The most southerly point of the British mainland is near Lizard Point at SW 701115; Lizard village, also known as The Lizard, is the most southerl ...

, when 40-gun ''Virginie'' was spotted. ''Indefatigable'', being the best sailer, was first to engage, after a chase, lasting 15 hours. When ''Amazon'' and ''Concorde'' caught up, the French ship surrendered.James (Vol.I) p. 325 Then on 13 June, ''Amazon'' contributed to the capture of the 16-gun ''Betsy'' and the 14-gun ''Les Trois Couleurs'' off

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 ...

. The squadron sighted two French navy corvettes about eight leagues of Ushant and after a 24-hour chase on 12 June 1796 succeeded in capturing both. One was ''Blonde'', of ten guns and 95 men, and the other was ''Trois Couleurs'', of ten guns and 75 men. They were provisioned for a six-week cruise, and two days out of Brest but had captured nothing. ''Amazon'' shared the prize money with the rest of the squadron. The prize money notice referred to "La Blonde, alias Le Betsey". On 11 December, ''Amazon'' was despatched with news that seven French

ships of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colum ...

had arrived in Brest. This was part of the preparation for an invasion of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

.James (Vol.II) p. 6 The French fleet left harbour and evaded the main British blockade fleet and sailed for

Bantry Bay Bantry Bay ( ga, Cuan Baoi / Inbhear na mBárc / Bádh Bheanntraighe) is a bay located in County Cork, Ireland. The bay runs approximately from northeast to southwest into the Atlantic Ocean. It is approximately 3-to-4 km (1.8-to-2.5 mi ...

. However, storms scattered them and most returned to France having accomplished very little. In the

action of 13 January 1797 The action of 13 January 1797 (known by the French as the Naufrage du ''Droits de l'Homme''; "shipwreck r sinkingof the ''Droits de l'Homme''") was a minor naval battle fought between a French ship of the line and two British frigates off the co ...

, ''Amazon'', in company with Pellew's ship ''Indefatigable'', encountered the French ship ''Droits de l'Homme'', a 74-gun ship of the line.James (Vol.II) p. 11 Normally, frigates would not engage a ship of the line as they would be severely outgunned. However, there was a heavy sea and the French ship could not open her lower deck gunports for fear of flooding. This reduced her

broadside Broadside or broadsides may refer to: Naval * Broadside (naval), terminology for the side of a ship, the battery of cannon on one side of a warship, or their near simultaneous fire on naval warfare Printing and literature * Broadside (comic ...

considerably.James (Vol.II) p. 12 Pellew was seven miles ahead of ''Amazon'' when he first attacked the ''Droits de l'Homme''. An hour and a half later ''Amazon'' came up and poured a broadside into the Frenchman's quarter. The two frigates attacked her from either side yawing to rake her while avoiding much of her return fire.James (Vol.II) p. 13 At 4.20 am on 14 January land was suddenly sighted ahead and the frigates broke off the attack and headed in opposite directions. ''Amazon'', going north, and more severely damaged, was unable to

wear Wear is the damaging, gradual removal or deformation of material at solid surfaces. Causes of wear can be mechanical (e.g., erosion) or chemical (e.g., corrosion). The study of wear and related processes is referred to as tribology. Wear in m ...

and ran aground at

Audierne Audierne (; br, Gwaien) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France. On 1 January 2016 the former commune of Esquibien merged into Audierne.Isle Bas.James (Vol.II) p. 16 Three crew had been killed during the battle and six more drowned, but the rest were able to reach shore. There the French captured them. The heavy seas pounding her on the beach destroyed ''Amazon''; the ''Droits de l'Homme'', badly damaged in the battle, was also wrecked, with heavy casualties.James (Vol.II) pp. 17–19 The

court martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

on 29 September 1797, routinely held by the Navy after the loss of any vessel, honourably acquitted Captain Reynolds and his officers of negligence in the loss of the ship.James (Vol.II) p. 17

Citations

References

* * * Winfield, Rif (2008) ''British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1793-1817: design, construction, careers and fates''; 2nd ed. Seaforth Publishing

External links

HMS ''Amazon''
Naval Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Amazon (1795) Maritime incidents in 1797 Frigates of the Royal Navy Shipwrecks in the Bay of Biscay Ships built in Rotherhithe 1795 ships