HMS Antelope was a

ship 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 colu ...

in 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 ...

launched in 1802 during 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 ...

Service history

She was designed by

Sir John Henslow Sir John Henslow (9 October 1730 – 22 September 1815) was Surveyor to the Navy (Royal Navy) a post he held jointly or solely from 1784 to 1806. Career He was 7th child of John Henslow a master carpenter in the dockyard at Woolwich

and built by

Nicholas Diddams Nicholas Diddams (c.1760–1823) was a Master Shipwright mainly building for the Royal Navy. Life He was born around 1760 the son of Nicholas Diddams (b.1731) and grandson of John Diddams (1687-1766) and his wife Mary Rolfe (1702-1777). He a ...

Sheerness Dockyard Sheerness Dockyard also known as the Sheerness Station was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the Sheerness peninsula, at the mouth of the River Medway in Kent. It was opened in the 1660s and closed in 1960. Location In the Age of Sail, the R ...

. Her keel was laid in June 1790, but she took many years to complete, and was not launched until 10 November 1802. She had a nominal 50 guns and a huge crew of 350 men. Her first commander was Captain John Melhuish. Her first action was the blockade of

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

in 1803. In May 1804 she was the lead ship in a unsuccessful four-day attack on the French fleet under Ver Huell. On 8 December 1804, she made an unsuccessful attack on Fort Rouge, protecting

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

harbour. In June 1805, she sailed for the

East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and around t ...

and on her return in 1807 spent some time at the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

. She spent most of 1808 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 in June 1809 sailed over the Atlantic to serve off the

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

coast, staying there until the very end of 1810 when she then escorted a trans-Atlantic convoy to

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

, returning to Newfoundland in June 1812. On 21 December 1812, Admiral Butcher took command and began a period of intense action. Butcher was charged with protecting English shipping in the

Great Belt The Great Belt ( da, Storebælt, ) is a strait between the major islands of Zealand (''Sjælland'') and Funen (''Fyn'') in Denmark. It is one of the three Danish Straits. Effectively dividing Denmark in two, the Belt was served by the Great Be ...

, and was particularly successful in capturing the enemy's gun-boats and privateers. For example: * On 6, 25 and 30 October 1813, ''Antelope'' captured and destroyed the Danish armed rowboats ''Buonaparte'', ''Nye'', ''Prove'', ''Fera Venner'', ''No.25'', and ''Morgan Stierner''. * On 23 October 1813 and ''Antelope'' recaptured the ''Alida''. * On 24 October 1813 ''Antelope'' and ''Bruizer'' captured the Danish privateer ''Eleonora''. On 1 March 1814, Butcher and HMS Antelope joined the fleet of Admiral

William Young William, Will, Bill or Billy Young may refer to: Arts and entertainment * William Young (composer) (died 1662), English composer and viola da gambist * William Young (architect) (1843–1900), Scottish architect, designer of Glasgow City Chambers ...

off the mouth of the Eastern

Scheldt The Scheldt (french: Escaut ; nl, Schelde ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of Netherlands, the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corr ...

in the Netherlands. ''Antelope'' was sent with two other ships to reinforce the squadron of frigates in the

Western Scheldt The Western Scheldt ( nl, Westerschelde) in the province of Zeeland in the southwestern Netherlands, is the estuary of the Scheldt river. This river once had several estuaries, but the others are now disconnected from the Scheldt, leaving the W ...

, but owing to the illness of one pilot and the desertion of the other, ''Antelope'' ran aground off

Flushing Flushing may refer to: Places * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom * Flushing, Queens, New York City ** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens ** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens ** Flushing ...

. For 48 hours she lay exposed to continuous barrage of shells from enemy batteries on shore, but was (to the astonishment of the whole fleet) eventually able to free herself and escape. In November 1814, she began an upgrade refit at

Portsmouth Dockyard His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth (HMNB Portsmouth) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport). Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth; it is l ...

, partly repairing damage sustained at the Scheldt and partly as a cosmetic upgrade to serve as the official flagship for Admiral Butcher. The refit took 13 months but, beyond a single voyage to

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Butcher made little use of the ship after 22 December 1815.London Gazette December 1815 She was officially paid off in April 1819 and languished several years moored off the

Thames Estuary The Thames Estuary is where the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea, in the south-east of Great Britain. Limits An estuary can be defined according to different criteria (e.g. tidal, geographical, navigational or in terms of salini ...

before undergoing conversion to a

prison ship A prison ship, often more accurately described as a prison hulk, is a current or former seagoing vessel that has been modified to become a place of substantive detention for convicts, prisoners of war or civilian internees. While many nation ...

from August to November 1823 at

Chatham Docks Medway Ports, incorporating the Port of Sheerness and Chatham Docks is part of Peel Ports, the second largest port group in the United Kingdom. The Ports authority is also responsible for the harbour, pilotage and conservancy matters for of ...

. The ship remained seaworthy (unlike most of the "prison hulks" of the period). Her last main recorded task is transportation of prisoners to

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

in January 1824. As the ship was no longer in

possession records then disappear. It would appear that she remained moored off the coast of Bermuda from 1824 until July 1845 when she was broken up.

Notable officers

Through a mixture of coincidence and providence a long list of illustrious officers commanded or served on the Antelope: *

Septimus Arabin Septimus Arabinus Arabin (1785–1855) was an admiral in the Royal Navy of Irish/French descent. Life He was born in West Drayton a younger son of Colonel (later General) William John Arabin. His paternal grandfather, John Arabin was famed ...

midshipman on Antelope 1802 to 1806 *Captain John Melhuish *Captain

Home Riggs Popham Rear Admiral Sir Home Riggs Popham, KCB, KCH (12 October 1762 – 20 September 1820), was a Royal Navy commander who saw service against the French during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He is remembered for his scientific accomplishme ...

*Captain

Robert Plampin Vice-Admiral Robert Plampin (1762 – 14 February 1834) was a British Royal Navy officer during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, serving in the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, but best know ...

*Captain Henry Bazely *Captain

Barrington Dacres Barrington Dacres (died 25 October 1806) was an officer of the Royal Navy, who saw service during the French Revolutionary War, French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He eventually rose to the rank of Post-Captain. He did not see action in man ...

*Captain Edward Galway *Captain

Edward Hawker Edward Hawker (7 November 1782 – 8 June 1860) was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Born as the son of a naval officer in 1782, Edward Hawker was first entered in the books of a ...

* Captain Samuel Butcher *Captain Richard Booth Bowden * Captain George Sayer *Commodore

William Sidney Smith Admiral Sir William Sidney Smith (21 June 176426 May 1840) was a British naval and intelligence officer. Serving in the American and French revolutionary wars and Napoleonic Wars, he rose to the rank of Admiral. Smith was known for his offe ...

*Rear Admiral

William Domett Admiral Sir William Domett, GCB (1752 – 19 May 1828) was a senior officer of the British Royal Navy who saw extensive service during the American Revolutionary, French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Throughout his career, Domett was under t ...

* Vice Admiral John Holloway *Vice Admiral

John Thomas Duckworth Sir John Thomas Duckworth, 1st Baronet, GCB (9 February 174831 August 1817) was an officer of the Royal Navy, serving during the Seven Years' War, the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, as the Governor ...

*Vice Admiral

Sir Edmund Nagle Admiral Sir Edmund Nagle, KCB (1757 – 14 March 1830) was an Irish officer in Royal Navy during the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries who is best known for his capture of the French frigate at the action of 21 October 1794 and his close ...

*Rear Admiral

John Harvey John Harvey may refer to: People Academics * John Harvey (astrologer) (1564–1592), English astrologer and physician * John Harvey (architectural historian) (1911–1997), British architectural historian, who wrote on English Gothic architecture ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Antelope (1802) 1802 ships Ships of the Royal Navy Prison ships