HMS ''Doris'' was a 36-gun ''Perseverance''-class

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 ...

frigate 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 ...

that served between 1808 and 1829.

Career

''Doris'' was built for the Royal Navy in the East India Company Dockyard in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

in 1807. She was launched as ''Salsette'', and was renamed locally as ''Pitt'' later that year. However, because the Royal Navy already had an HMS ''Pitt'' in service, the Admiralty renamed her again as HMS ''Doris''. HMS ''Doris'' initially saw service in the

Malacca Straits The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, 500 mi (800 km) long and from 40 to 155 mi (65–250 km) wide, between the Malay Peninsula (Peninsular Malaysia) to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, connec ...

and the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phi ...

. ''Doris'' and captured in the China Sea an American ship named ''Rebecca''. They brought her into Bombay where the new

Vice admiralty court Vice Admiralty Courts were juryless courts located in British colonies that were granted jurisdiction over local legal matters related to maritime activities, such as disputes between merchants and seamen. American Colonies American maritime ac ...

condemned her. Her cargo of 4,000 bags of Batavian sugar and 13,710 pieces of sapan-wood were auctioned on 7 March 1810. Then on 10 March ''Rebecca'', of 600 tons burthen, teak-built at

Pegu Bago (formerly spelt Pegu; , ), formerly known as Hanthawaddy, is a city and the capital of the Bago Region in Myanmar. It is located north-east of Yangon. Etymology The Burmese name Bago (ပဲခူး) is likely derived from the Mon langua ...

, too was auctioned off.Robert Houghton: ''A Peoples' History 1793 – 1844 from the newspapers: Prize-taking''. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
/ref> Towards the end of 1810 ''Doris'' was involved in the Mauritius campaign. In 1811 she participated in the invasion of Java. On 18 March 1814 ''Doris'' captured the American merchant ship ''Hunter'' off Macau. On 8 May chased an American schooner from New York through the estuary and into

Pearl River The Pearl River, also known by its Chinese name Zhujiang or Zhu Jiang in Mandarin pinyin or Chu Kiang and formerly often known as the , is an extensive river system in southern China. The name "Pearl River" is also often used as a catch-a ...

. The American succeeded in reaching Whampoa where she anchored. ''Doris'' than sent her boats with 70 men into the river and captured the American ship. Only one British seaman was killed but several of the Americans died. The boarding party from ''Doris'' cut the schooner’s cables to sail her out from Chinese jurisdiction but the ship went aground. The boarding party then abandoned her. ''Doris'' finally brought ''Hunter'' into Bombay on 12 August for the recently-established

to condemn. ''Doris'' apparently returned to Canton because around mid-September her boats recaptured ''Arabella'', which the Portuguese had moved just outside Macanese waters. The American letter of marque ship had captured ''Arabella'' as ''Arabella'' was sailing from Bengal to Sumatra. ''Rambler'' brought ''Arabella'' with her as ''Rambler'' sailed onto Canton, but sent her into Macao when the Americans realized that ''Doris'' was at Canton. ''Doris''s retaking of ''Arabella'' sparked a small incident between the British

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

and the local authorities, who eventually accepted that ''Arabella'' was a lawful prize to ''Doris''. Captain O'Brien, of ''Doris'' found he could not sell his prize, ''Arabella'', on the China coast. When he received orders to proceed to Malacca after his replacement had arrived he wanted to take ''Arabella'' with him to try to sell her in Malaya. However, the night before they were to leave a severe gale caused ''Arabella'' to break her cables. She then broke up on nearby rocks.Sweetman (1993), p.141.

Post-war

''Doris'' place in ordinary in 1815. She was recommissioned in 1821 and served two tours of duty on the South America station during the Chilean and Brazilian wars of independence and the

Cisplatine War The Cisplatine War (), also known as the Argentine-Brazilian War () or, in Argentine and Uruguayan historiography, as the Brazil War (''Guerra del Brasil''), the War against the Empire of Brazil (''Guerra contra el Imperio del Brasil'') or t ...

of 1825-1828 between Argentina and Brazil.

Fate

By the late 1820s, decayed timbers in her bow made her unfit for further service, and she was sold at Valparaiso in April 1829.Vale (2001).

Captains

During her 21 years in the Royal Navy she had eight captains. One of them was Barrington Reynolds, who commanded her for a short period in 1812, between his commands of and . Another was Thomas Graham, who died en route to Chile in 1822, with his wife, the

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Maria Graham, on board.

Notes, citations, and references

Notes Citations References * * Lyon, David and Winfield, Rif (2004) ''The Sail and Steam Navy List, All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815-1889''. (Chatham). * Vale, Brian, (2001) ''A Frigate of King George: Life and Duty on a British Man-of-war''. (I B Tauris). * Sweetman, Jack (1993) ''New Interpretations in Naval History: Selected Papers from the Tenth Naval History Symposium Held at the United States Naval Academy, 11–13 September 1991''. (Naval Institute Press).

External links

Ships of the Old Navy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doris Frigates of the Royal Navy 1807 ships Maritime incidents in 1828