HMS ''Amazon'' was a 38-gun
fifth-rate
In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a fifth rate was the second-smallest class of warships in a hierarchical system of six " ratings" based on size and firepower.
Rating
The rating system in the Royal N ...
''Amazon''-class 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 ...
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 F ...
. She served during the
French Revolutionary
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are consider ...
and
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
under several notable naval commanders and played a key role in the
Battle of Copenhagen under
Edward Riou
Edward Riou FRS (20 November 17622 April 1801) was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the French Revolutionary Wars under several of the most distinguished naval officers of his age and won fame and honour for two incidents in part ...
, who commanded the frigate
squadron
Squadron may refer to:
* Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies
* Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, de ...
during the attack. After Riou was killed during the battle, command briefly devolved to
John Quilliam
Captain John Quilliam RN; MHK ( Marown, Isle of Man 29 September 1771 – Kirk Michael, Isle of Man 10 October 1829) was a Royal Navy officer who served as first lieutenant on HMS ''Victory'' at the Battle of Trafalgar. He was a farmer's son w ...
. Quilliam made a significant impression on
Horatio Nelson
Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strategy, and unconventional tactics brought abo ...
, who appointed Quilliam to serve on the
flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...
. ''Amazon'' passed to
William Parker, who continued the association with Nelson with service in the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
and participation in the chase to the
West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...
during the
Trafalgar Campaign. ''Amazon'' went on to join
Sir John Borlase Warren
Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren, 1st Baronet (2 September 1753 – 27 February 1822) was a British Royal Navy officer, diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1774 and 1807.
Naval career
Born in Stapleford, Nottinghamsh ...
's squadron in the
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
and took part in the defeat of
Charles-Alexandre Léon Durand Linois
Charles-Alexandre Léon Durand, Comte de Linois (27 January 1761 – 2 December 1848) was a French admiral who served in the French Navy during the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte. He commanded the combined Franco-Spanish fleet during the Algec ...
's forces at the
action of 13 March 1806
The action of 13 March 1806 was a naval engagement of the Napoleonic Wars, fought when a British and a French squadron met unexpectedly in the mid-Atlantic. Neither force was aware of the presence of the other prior to the encounter and were pa ...
. During the battle, she hunted down and captured the 40-gun frigate .
''Amazon'' continued in service for several more years, being active in combating raiders and
privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...
s, before being withdrawn from active service in late 1811. She was retained
in ordinary
''In ordinary'' is an English phrase with multiple meanings. In relation to the Royal Household, it indicates that a position is a permanent one. In naval matters, vessels "in ordinary" (from the 17th century) are those out of service for repair o ...
for several years after the end of the Napoleonic Wars, before being
broken up
Ship-breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for either a source of parts, which can be sold for re-use, or for the extraction ...
in 1817.
Design and construction
''Amazon'' was a 38-gun,
18-pounder
The Ordnance QF 18-pounder,British military traditionally denoted smaller ordnance by the weight of its standard projectile, in this case approximately or simply 18-pounder gun, was the standard British Empire field gun of the First World War ...
,
fifth-rate
In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a fifth rate was the second-smallest class of warships in a hierarchical system of six " ratings" based on size and firepower.
Rating
The rating system in the Royal N ...
''Amazon''-class 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 ...
. The ship was one of two built to the design, along with
HMS ''Hussar''. The ship's plans were drawn up by the
Surveyor of the Navy
The Surveyor of the Navy also known as Department of the Surveyor of the Navy and originally known as Surveyor and Rigger of the Navy was a former principal commissioner and member of both the Navy Board from the inauguration of that body in 15 ...
Sir William Rule
''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...
, who submitted the design on 19 April 1796. They were an enlarged version of a previous design by Rule, the 38-gun
HMS ''Naiad''. ''Naiad'' was in turn an expanded version of another, older, Rule ship class, this being the
''Amazon'' class designed in 1794.
''Amazon'' was ordered on 27 April 1796 to be built at
Woolwich Dockyard
Woolwich Dockyard (formally H.M. Dockyard, Woolwich, also known as The King's Yard, Woolwich) was an English Royal Navy Dockyard, naval dockyard along the river Thames at Woolwich in north-west Kent, where many ships were built from the early 1 ...
by the
shipwright
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...
John Tovery. ''Amazon'' was laid down in the same month, and launched on 18 May 1799 with the following dimensions: along the
upper deck
The Upper Deck Company, LLC (colloquially as Upper Deck and Upper Deck Authenticated, Ltd. in the UK), founded in 1988, is a private company primarily known for producing trading cards. Its headquarters are in Carlsbad, California, United State ...
, at 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 ...
, with a
beam
Beam may refer to:
Streams of particles or energy
*Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy
**Laser beam
*Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles
**Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...
of and a depth in the
hold
Hold may refer to:
Physical spaces
* Hold (ship), interior cargo space
* Baggage hold, cargo space on an airplane
* Stronghold, a castle or other fortified place
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Hold (musical term), a pause, also called a Fermat ...
of . The ship had a
draught of forward and aft, and measured 1,038
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 ...
. She was built precisely to Rule's design. The
fitting out
Fitting out, or outfitting, is the process in shipbuilding that follows the float-out/launching of a vessel and precedes sea trials. It is the period when all the remaining construction of the ship is completed and readied for delivery to her o ...
process was completed on 5 July, with the final cost of construction totalling £33,972.
''Amazon''s class was described in sailing reports as "fast and very
weatherly", as well as being highly manoeuvrable. They were capable of reaching up to and showed sailing qualities superior to most other vessels, especially when in a "stiff breeze". The ships were, however, known for "deep and uneasy rolling and pitching", which naval historian Robert Gardiner suggests was because they were built very stiffly.
The frigate had a crew complement of 284, which would later be raised to 300, and held twenty-eight 18-pounder guns on the upper deck. Rule had originally planned for the
quarterdeck
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 ...
to hold eight 9-pounder guns and 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 ...
to hold a further two, but on 6 May 1797 six 32-pounder
carronade
A carronade is a short, smoothbore, cast-iron cannon which was used by the Royal Navy. It was first produced by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, and was used from the mid-18th century to the mid-19th century. Its main func ...
s were added to the quarterdeck armament and two more to the forecastle. ''Amazon''s armament was changed again on 6 June and 2 July 1799, with all but two 9-pounders on each of the quarterdeck and forecastle replaced by more carronades. This resulted in a final armament of twelve 32-pounder carronades and two 9-pounder guns on the quarterdeck, and two 32-pounder carronades and two 9-pounder guns on the forecastle, in addition to ''Amazon''s main 18-pounder guns.
Service
British waters and the Baltic
![Captain Edward Riou engraving](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/Captain_Edward_Riou_engraving.jpg)
''Amazon'' was
commissioned in May 1799 by Captain
Edward Riou
Edward Riou FRS (20 November 17622 April 1801) was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the French Revolutionary Wars under several of the most distinguished naval officers of his age and won fame and honour for two incidents in part ...
. On 14 February 1800 and ''Amazon'' recaptured the merchant ship ,
which had been sailing from
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
to
Leghorn when the French
Saint Malo
Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast.
The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the Alli ...
privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...
''Bougainville'' captured her. ''Amazon'' also captured ''Bougainville'', of eighteen 6-pounder guns and eighty-two men. The next day ''Bougainville'' ran into ''Amazon'', lost her
masts and foundered, but all but one man of her crew were saved.
''Amazon'', including ''Bougainville''s crew, ''Endymion'', and ''Trelawney'' arrived at
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
on 21 February.
''Amazon'' sailed from Portsmouth for Jamaica alongside the 44-gun ship and 16-gun
sloop
A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...
on 26 April as escorts for a large convoy. ''Amazon'' would only accompany the convoy to "a certain latitude." On 15 June, ''Amazon'' captured the French
letter of marque ''Julie'' at , as the latter attempted to sail from
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...
to
Cayenne
Cayenne (; ; gcr, Kayenn) is the capital city of French Guiana, an overseas region and Overseas department, department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Cayenne River on the Atlantic Oc ...
.
In November 1827
head money
Prize money refers in particular to naval prize money, usually arising in naval warfare, but also in other circumstances. It was a monetary reward paid in accordance with the prize law of a belligerent state to the crew of a ship belonging to ...
was paid for twenty-one men. ''Amazon'' also recaptured the merchantman ''Amelia'', Donaldson, late master, which the French privateer
''Minerve'' had captured. ''Amazon'' sent ''Amelia'' into
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 ...
, which she reached in early July.
Riou and ''Amazon'' were then assigned to Admiral
Sir Hyde Parker's expedition to the
Baltic
Baltic may refer to:
Peoples and languages
* Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian
*Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...
in 1801, to compel the Danes to abandon the
League of Armed Neutrality. Riou worked closely with Parker's second-in-command, Rear-Admiral
Horatio Nelson
Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strategy, and unconventional tactics brought abo ...
, and Captain
Thomas Foley in the lead-up to the
Battle of Copenhagen, and Nelson appointed Riou commander of the frigates and smaller vessels, instructing him to deploy his ships in support of the main fleet. As the battle began on 2 April, several of Nelson's
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 ...
ran aground on
shoal
In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. It ...
s in the harbour, forcing the improvisation of a new plan of attack. As Nelson's ships engaged their Danish counterparts, Riou took his frigates in to harass the
Trekroner Fort
Trekroner Søfort (literally ''Three Crowns Sea Fortress'') is a Coastal defence and fortification#Sea forts, sea fort at the entrance to the Copenhagen#Harbour, Copenhagen harbour. From 1713 until after World War I, Trekroner Fort was part of th ...
and
blockship
A blockship is a ship deliberately sunk to prevent a river, channel, or canal from being used. It may either be sunk by a navy defending the waterway to prevent the ingress of attacking enemy forces, as in the case of at Portland Harbour in 1914; ...
s. Although the frigates were heavily outmatched and dangerously exposed, they maintained the engagement for several hours. The ships suffered heavy casualties, and a splinter hit Riou on the head.
At 1:15 p.m., Parker was waiting outside the harbour with the reserve and raised a signal ordering Nelson to withdraw. Nelson acknowledged the signal but ignored it, while Nelson's second in command, Rear-Admiral
Thomas Graves, repeated the signal but too did not obey it. Riou now found himself in a difficult position. Too junior an officer to risk disobeying a direct order, he gave the order for his small squadron to withdraw.
Withdrawing forced Riou's ships to turn their
sterns Sterns may refer to:
*Sterns (surname)
*Stern's, defunct U.S. department store chain
*Sterns Nightclub, defunct nightclub in Worthing, West Sussex, England
*Stern's Pickle Works, defunct pickle factory based in New York
*The Sterns, American band
S ...
to the Danish guns, thereby exposing their most vulnerable area. When the 32-gun frigate and then the 36-gun frigate withdrew, this reduced the thick cloud of gunsmoke that was helping to obscure the British ships and left ''Amazon'' exposed to the full force of the Danish guns. Lieutenant-Colonel William Stuart, commanding the soldiers of the
48th Regiment of Foot
The 48th (Northamptonshire) Regiment of Foot was a regiment of the British Army, raised in 1741. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 58th (Rutlandshire) Regiment of Foot to form the Northamptonshire Regiment in 1881.
History Early ...
, recorded that Riou was killed:
e/nowiki> was sitting on a gun, was encouraging his men, and had been wounded in the head by a splinter. He had expressed himself grieved at being thus obliged to retreat, and nobly observed, 'What will Nelson think of us?' His clerk was killed by his side; and by another shot, several marines, while hauling on the main-brace, shared the same fate. Riou then exclaimed, 'Come, then, my boys, let us all die together!' The words were scarcely uttered, when the fatal shot severed him in two.
Command of ''Amazon'' devolved to her
first lieutenant
First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment.
The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a s ...
,
John Quilliam
Captain John Quilliam RN; MHK ( Marown, Isle of Man 29 September 1771 – Kirk Michael, Isle of Man 10 October 1829) was a Royal Navy officer who served as first lieutenant on HMS ''Victory'' at the Battle of Trafalgar. He was a farmer's son w ...
, who completed the withdrawal. Nelson went aboard the badly damaged ''Amazon'' after the battle and asked Quilliam how he was doing. Quilliam replied 'Middlin', a response that apparently amused Nelson and may have contributed to Nelson's subsequent appointment of Quilliam as first lieutenant aboard . After the battle, command of ''Amazon'' passed to Captain
Samuel Sutton
Rear-Admiral Samuel Sutton (1760 – June 1832) was an officer in the Royal Navy. He entered the service shortly after the start of the American War of Independence, and spent most of his early career serving with Captain and later Admiral ...
. On 22 January 1802, the British mercantile sloop ''Lovell'' was driven in to ''Amazon'' in the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
off
Deal
A deal, or deals may refer to:
Places United States
* Deal, New Jersey, a borough
* Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* Deal Lake, New Jersey
Elsewhere
* Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia
* Deal, Kent, a town in England
* Deal, ...
. ''Lovell's''s crew was rescued.
With Nelson
Mediterranean
In November Sutton was succeeded by Captain
William Parker. Under Parker, ''Amazon'' captured the French 16-gun privateer ''Felix'' on 26 July 1803, and survived a brush with a French fleet off Cape Capet on 2 May 1804. ''Amazon'' was subsequently one of the ships that took part in the
Trafalgar Campaign, serving with Nelson in the Mediterranean into 1805. On one occasion in December 1804 Nelson ordered Parker to bring a consignment of live
bullocks to supply the fleet off
Toulon
Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...
. ''Amazon'' was a notably smart ship, and had just been repainted, making it likely that the instruction was not received with much enthusiasm. Parker duly returned with the shipment, prompting Nelson to enquire with gentle humour 'Well, Parker, of course you would not dirty the ''Amazon'' for much for anything; have you brought a dozen and a half, or a dozen?' Parker had in fact brought sixty bullocks and thirty sheep, prompting Nelson to promise a reward for his good service.
Parker and ''Amazon'' remained with Nelson after the division of the Mediterranean commands left the Spanish coasts under the supervision of Vice-Admiral
Sir John Orde. Nelson suspected that Orde was intercepting his despatches and commandeering Nelson's frigates to use himself. Nelson therefore ordered Parker not to stop for any of Orde's ships if this was possible. Parker attempted this but was intercepted by the 24-gun
post ship
Post ship was a designation used in the Royal Navy during the second half of the 18th century and the Napoleonic Wars to describe a ship of the sixth rate (see rating system of the Royal Navy) that was smaller than a frigate (in practice, carry ...
. He was able to convince ''Eurydice''s commander, Captain
William Hoste
Captain Sir William Hoste, 1st Baronet KCB RN (26 August 17806 December 1828) was a Royal Navy captain. Best known as one of Lord Nelson's protégés, Hoste was one of the great frigate captains of the Napoleonic wars, taking part in six majo ...
, to turn a blind eye. Having delivered his despatches to
Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
, Parker acted on Nelson's hint that he was not expected back until February and carried out a
cruise
A cruise is any travel on a cruise ship.
Cruise or Cruises may also refer to:
Tourism
* Booze cruise
* Music cruise
* River cruise
Aeronautics and aircraft
* Cruise (aeronautics), a distinct stage of an aircraft's flight
* Aviasouz Cruise, a R ...
that netted him several
prizes
A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements. worth a total of £20,000. Orde complained about the 'poaching' taking place on his station, but the prize money went to Parker and Nelson.
West Indies and Atlantic
''Amazon'' went on to join Nelson in the chase to the
West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...
and back of
Pierre-Charles Villeneuve
Pierre-Charles-Jean-Baptiste-Silvestre de Villeneuve (31 December 1763 – 22 April 1806) was a French naval officer during the Napoleonic Wars. He was in command of the French and the Spanish fleets that were defeated by Nelson at the Batt ...
's fleet during the Trafalgar Campaign. During the voyage across the Atlantic, Nelson wanted to pass on specific instructions to his captains about how he wished to engage the French, but did not want to lose time by ordering his ships to stop. Instead he gave the plans to Parker, who the naval officer
Pulteney Malcolm
Admiral Sir Pulteney Malcolm (20 February 1768 – 20 July 1838) was a British naval officer. He was born at Douglan, near Langholm, Scotland, on 20 February 1768, the third son of George Malcolm of Burnfoot, Langholm, in Dumfriesshire, a sheep ...
described as the 'best frigate captain in the service', and Parker sped along the line in ''Amazon'', delivering the instructions so efficiently that the fleet lost 'hardly a yard of ground'. Once more in European waters after the fleet's return, ''Amazon'' captured the Spanish privateer ''Principe de la Paz'' off
Ushant
Ushant (; br, Eusa, ; french: Ouessant, ) is a French island at the southwestern end of the English Channel which marks the westernmost point of metropolitan France. It belongs to Brittany and, in medieval terms, Léon. In lower tiers of governm ...
on 17 September 1805. ''Principe'' was armed with twenty-four 9-pounder guns and four
swivels. Her crew of 160 men were principally French. She had been out five weeks and had captured the
packet
Packet may refer to:
* A small container or pouch
** Packet (container), a small single use container
** Cigarette packet
** Sugar packet
* Network packet, a formatted unit of data carried by a packet-mode computer network
* Packet radio, a form ...
''Prince of Wales'' from Lisbon, and the letter of marque ''Lady Nelson'', which had been sailing from
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
to
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
. A number of ''Lady Nelson''s crew were aboard ''Principe'', as was a considerable amount of
specie
Specie may refer to:
* Coins or other metal money in mass circulation
* Bullion coins
* Hard money (policy)
* Commodity money
* Specie Circular, 1836 executive order by US President Andrew Jackson regarding hard money
* Specie Payment Resumption Ac ...
.
![HMS Amazon (1799) pursuing possible Belle Poule](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/HMS_Amazon_%281799%29_pursuing_possible_Belle_Poule.jpg)
''Amazon'' was not present for the
Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (180 ...
on 21 October. The ship was back in the Atlantic in the following year, this time as part of Vice-Admiral
Sir John Borlase Warren's pursuit of
Jean-Baptiste Philibert Willaumez
Jean-Baptiste Philibert Willaumez (7 August 1763 – 17 May 1845) was a French sailor, Navy officer, and admiral of the First French Empire.
Willaumez joined the French Navy at the age of 14, and proved a competent sailor. Having risen to the ra ...
. When Warren's fleet unexpectedly encountered a separate French fleet under
Charles-Alexandre Léon Durand Linois
Charles-Alexandre Léon Durand, Comte de Linois (27 January 1761 – 2 December 1848) was a French admiral who served in the French Navy during the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte. He commanded the combined Franco-Spanish fleet during the Algec ...
, ''Amazon'' became involved in the resulting
action of 13 March 1806
The action of 13 March 1806 was a naval engagement of the Napoleonic Wars, fought when a British and a French squadron met unexpectedly in the mid-Atlantic. Neither force was aware of the presence of the other prior to the encounter and were pa ...
. During the battle she hunted down and captured the French 40-gun frigate in a running engagement. ''Amazon'' lost four killed and five wounded during the engagement, while ''Belle Poule'' lost six killed and 24 wounded.
On 28 August 1807 ''Amazon'' and the 14-gun
cutter were in company at the capture of the Danish ship ''Speculation'' and so shared in the prize money for her.
''Amazon'' captured the French 14-gun privateer
''Général Pérignon'' on 21 January 1810, after a chase of 160 miles. ''Général Pérignon'', of eighty-three men, had left Saint Malo on 8 January and captured the brig ''Unanimity'', from
Oporto
Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...
. Parker stated that ''Général Pérignon''s superior sailing had enabled her to cruise successfully against British trade since the commencement of the war.
Captain John Joyce succeeded Parker as captain in May, however Parker resumed command in February 1811 and captured the French 14-gun privateer ''Cupidon'' on 23 March of the same year. ''Cupidon'', of eighty-two men, was two days out of
Bayonne
Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine re ...
.
Fate
In December 1811 ''Amazon'' was laid up at Plymouth. She was
paid off
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to placing a warship in ...
the following year and saw out the remainder of the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
in ordinary
''In ordinary'' is an English phrase with multiple meanings. In relation to the Royal Household, it indicates that a position is a permanent one. In naval matters, vessels "in ordinary" (from the 17th century) are those out of service for repair o ...
. ''Amazon'' was finally
broken up
Ship-breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for either a source of parts, which can be sold for re-use, or for the extraction ...
at Plymouth in May 1817.
Prizes
Notes
Citations
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Amazon (1799), Hms
Frigates of the Royal Navy
1799 ships
Ships built in Woolwich
Maritime incidents in 1802