HMS ''Amphion'' was a

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 ...

32-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 ...

frigate of the ''Amazon'' class built in

Chatham Chatham may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Chatham Islands (British Columbia) * Chatham Sound, British Columbia * Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi * Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...

in 1780 which blew up on 22 September 1796.

Service

On 6 September 1781, a small squadron under the command of ''Amphion''s captain,

John Bazely Admiral John Bazely (March 1740 – 22 April 1809) was an experienced and highly respected officer of the British Royal Navy who served in three wars and saw numerous actions, notably during the American War of Independence. He first gained notice ...

, in conjunction with General

Benedict Arnold Benedict Arnold ( Brandt (1994), p. 4June 14, 1801) was an American military officer who served during the Revolutionary War. He fought with distinction for the American Continental Army and rose to the rank of major general before defect ...

, completely destroyed the town of

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decades ...

, together with stores and shipping in the harbour. On 3 January 1782 ''Amphion'' recaptured the British sloop , which the French had captured at the capitulation of Yorktown on 19 October 1781.

Sinking

On 22 September 1796, ''Amphion'' was completing repairs at

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 ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. She was lying alongside a

sheer hulk A hulk is a ship that is afloat, but incapable of going to sea. Hulk may be used to describe a ship that has been launched but not completed, an abandoned wreck or shell, or to refer to an old ship that has had its rigging or internal equipment ...

close to the dockyard

jetty A jetty is a structure that projects from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French word ', "thrown", signifying somet ...

. Being due to sail the next day, she had more than a hundred relatives and visitors on board in addition to her crew. At about 4 p.m. she exploded without warning, killing 300 out of the 312 aboard. Among the few survivors was her captain,

Israel Pellew Admiral Sir Israel Pellew, KCB, RN (25 August 1758 – 19 July 1832), was an English naval officer who spent his career under the shadow of his more successful older brother Edward Pellew. Early naval service Pellew first went to sea aboard t ...

, who went on to command a ship at 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 ...

and ended the Napoleonic Wars as a Rear-Admiral. Pellew had been dining in his cabin with Captain Swaffield of ''Overyssel'' and the first lieutenant of ''Amphion'' when the explosion threw them about; Pellew managed to rush to the cabin window before a second explosion blew him into the water, whence he was rescued. Apart from Pellew, two lieutenants, a

boatswain A boatswain ( , ), bo's'n, bos'n, or bosun, also known as a deck boss, or a qualified member of the deck department, is the most senior rate of the deck department and is responsible for the components of a ship's hull. The boatswain supervi ...

, three or four seamen, a marine, one woman, and a child were the only survivors. The cause of the disaster was never fully proven, but it was thought that the ship's gunner had accidentally spilled

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). ...

near the fore

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

which had then accidentally ignited and set off the magazine itself. The gunner had been suspected of stealing gunpowder, and on the day of the disaster he was reported to have been drunk and probably as a result less careful than usual.

Citations

References

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Amphion (1780) Frigates of the Royal Navy Shipwrecks of England Maritime incidents in 1796 Ships built in Chatham 1780 ships