HMS ''Europa'' was a 50-gun

fourth-rate In 1603 all English warships with a compliment of fewer than 160 men were known as 'small ships'. In 1625/26 to establish pay rates for officers a six tier naval ship rating system was introduced.Winfield 2009 These small ships were divided i ...

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 ...

, built by

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 ...

in 1783. ''Europa'' was based out of Jamaica, and ran aground at

Montego Bay Montego Bay is the capital of the Parishes of Jamaica, parish of Saint James Parish, Jamaica, St. James in Jamaica. The city is the fourth-largest urban area in the country by population, after Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, Spanish Town, and Por ...

in 1785, but was not seriously damaged. When reports of the outbreak of the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...

reached the British posts in Jamaica, ''Europa'' was sent into action along with the entire British squadron based at Jamaica, which consisted of several 12-pounder frigates and a number of smaller vessels, under the command of Commodore

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...

Service

In April 1793, when the Royal Navy station in Jamaica received word of the

War of the First Coalition The War of the First Coalition (french: Guerre de la Première Coalition) was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797 initially against the Kingdom of France (1791-92), constitutional Kingdom of France and then t ...

, the naval squadron based at Jamaica, under the command of Commodore

, became active. ''Europa'' served as a troop transport, and also helped capture French merchant vessels, carrying produce and supplies. On 1 June 1794, ''Europa'' assisted , , and in attacking French fortifications during the capture of

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is define ...

, Haiti. ''Europa'', under the command of James Stephenson, served as a troopship during the British expedition to Egypt in 1801. There she participated in the landing at

Aboukir Bay The Abū Qīr Bay (sometimes transliterated Abukir Bay or Aboukir Bay) (; Arabic transliteration, transliterated: Khalīj Abū Qīr) is a spacious bay on the Mediterranean Sea near Alexandria in Egypt, lying between the Rosetta mouth of the Nile a ...

, an overwhelming attack that defeated the French and led to the British capture of

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

. Because ''Europa'' served in the navy's Egyptian campaign between 8 March 1801 and 2 September, her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal, which the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

issued in 1847 to all surviving claimants.

Fate

The Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy offered the "Europa, of 50 guns and 1047 tons", lying at Portsmouth, for sale on 11 August 1814. The buyer had to post a bond of £3,000, with two guarantors, that they would break up the vessel within a year of purchase. ''Europa'' was sold in 1814.Index of 19th Century Naval Vessels and a few of their movements

Notable crew members

Joseph Whidbey Joseph Whidbey FRS (1757 – 9 October 1833) was a member of the Royal Navy who served on the Vancouver Expedition 1791–95, and later achieved renown as a naval engineer. He is notable for having been the first European to discover and char ...

- Royal Navy officer, served on the

Vancouver Expedition The Vancouver Expedition (1791–1795) was a four-and-a-half-year voyage of exploration and diplomacy, commanded by Captain George Vancouver of the Royal Navy. The British expedition circumnavigated the globe and made contact with five continen ...

, namesake of

Whidbey Island, Washington Whidbey Island (historical spellings Whidby, Whitbey, or Whitby) is the largest of the islands composing Island County, Washington, Island County, Washington (state), Washington, in the United States, and the largest island in Washington Sta ...

, Joseph Whidbey State Park, also in

Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

and Whidbey Reach, Gardner Canal, British Columbia. *

George Vancouver Captain George Vancouver (22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a British Royal Navy officer best known for his 1791–1795 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of what a ...

- Royal Navy officer, commanded the 1791-95 expedition along North America's

Pacific Coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western or southwestern border, except for Panama, where the Pac ...

. Namesake of

Vancouver Island, British Columbia Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest by ...

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, located in Clark County. Incorporated in 1857, Vancouver has a population of 190,915 as of the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Was ...

, Mount Vancouver, and Mount Vancouver (New Zealand). *

James Vashon Admiral James Vashon (9 August 1742 – 20 October 1827)Memorial plaque in St. Laurence Churchyard, Ludlow. Find a Grave memorial I160048028/ref> was a British officer of the Royal Navy. He saw service during the Seven Years' War, the American ...

- Royal Navy officer, served on the

, namesake of

Vashon Island, Washington Vashon is a census-designated place (CDP) in King County, Washington, United States. It covers an island alternately called Vashon Island or Vashon–Maury Island, the largest island in Puget Sound south of Admiralty Inlet. The population was 10,6 ...

. * Henry Digby - Senior Royal Navy officer, nephew of Admiral Robert Digby, notably saved the crew of when it was accidentally set on fire at

Spithead Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds except those from the southeast. It receives its name from the Spit, a sandbank stretching south from the Hampshire ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

. *

Peter Puget Peter Puget (1765 – 31 October 1822) was an officer in the Royal Navy, best known for his exploration of Puget Sound. Midshipman Puget Puget's ancestors had fled France for Britain during Louis XIV's persecution of the Huguenots. His father, ...

- Royal Navy officer, namesake of the

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...

, which he explored. Also named after him is

Puget Island Puget Island is a 7.5 sq mi(4,785 acre; 19.365 km) island and Census-designated place (CDP) in the Columbia River in Wahkiakum County, Washington, United States. The Julia Butler Hansen Bridge (built in 1938) carries State Route 409 acros ...

. * Joseph Baker - Royal Navy officer, served on the

as a mapmaker and surveyor. Namesake of

Mount Baker Mount Baker (Lummi: '; nok, Kw’eq Smaenit or '), also known as Koma Kulshan or simply Kulshan, is a active glacier-covered andesitic stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the North Cascades of Washington in the United States. Mount ...

. * John Bligh - Royal Navy officer, served during the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

and 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 ...

. * John Cooke - Royal Navy officer, served during the

, the

, and the

. Killed 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 ...

in 1805, in hand-to-hand combat.

References

External links

Britainsnavy.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Europa (1783), Hms 1783 ships Ships of the Royal Navy Ships built in Woolwich