HMS ''Hussar'' was a 28-gun

sixth-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a sixth-rate was the designation for small warships mounting between 20 and 28 carriage-mounted guns on a single deck, sometimes with smaller guns on the upper works and ...

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 ...

. ''Hussar'' was first commissioned in May 1790 under the command of Captain

Eliab Harvey Admiral Sir Eliab Harvey (5 December 1758 – 20 February 1830) was an eccentric and hot-tempered officer of the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars who was as distinguished for his gambling and dueling as fo ...

Career

From 1792-1794, Captain Sir

Rupert George Captain Sir Rupert George, 1st Baronet (16 January 1749, St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin, Ireland – 25 January 1823, Willesden, London Borough of Brent, Greater London, England) was a British naval officer in the American Revolution, became the ...

used the Hussar as his flagship when he was the

Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore, a ...

of the

North America Station The North America and West Indies Station was a formation or command of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy stationed in North American waters from 1745 to 1956. The North American Station was separate from the Jamaica Station until 1830 when the t ...

. On 2 May 1795 Rear Admiral George Murray sent Captain

Alexander Cochrane Admiral of the Blue Sir Alexander Inglis Cochrane (born Alexander Forrester Cochrane; 23 April 1758 – 26 January 1832) was a senior Royal Navy commander during the Napoleonic Wars and achieved the rank of admiral. He had previously captain ...

in , together with ''Hussar'', to intercept three French supply ships reported at

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's ...

. At daybreak on 17 May the British came upon five ships west by south from

Cape Henry Cape Henry is a cape on the Atlantic shore of Virginia located in the northeast corner of Virginia Beach. It is the southern boundary of the entrance to the long estuary of the Chesapeake Bay. Across the mouth of the bay to the north is Cape Cha ...

. The French made a line of battle to receive the British frigates. An action commenced, with three of the French vessels eventually striking their colours. ''Thetis'' took possession of the largest, which turned out to be , pierced for 36 guns but only mounting 24. ''Hussar'' captured a second, ''Raison'', pierced for 24 guns but only mounting 18. One of the vessels that had struck nonetheless sailed off. Two of the five had broken off the fight and sailed off earlier. (The three that escaped were ''Normand'', ''Trajan'', and ''Hernoux''.) An hour after she had struck, ''Prévoyante''s main and foremasts fell over the side. In the battle, ''Thetis'' had lost eight men killed and 9 wounded; ''Hussar'' had only two men wounded. Four of the French ships had escaped from Guadeloupe on 25 April. They had sailed to American ports to gather provisions and naval stores to bring back to France. Cochrane had intended to leave the prizes in charge of the cutter ''Prince Edward'' after repairing the damage to his vessel during the night. However, a breeze picked up and by morning the escaping French vessels were out of sight. The British sailed with their prizes to Halifax. The British took ''Prévoyante'' into the Royal Navy as HMS ''Prevoyante''. On 20 July, ''Hussar'' was in company with ''Thetis'' and when they intercepted the American vessel ''Cincinnatus'', of Wilmington, sailing from Ireland to Wilmington. They pressed many men on board, narrowly exempting the Irish revolutionary

Wolfe Tone Theobald Wolfe Tone, posthumously known as Wolfe Tone ( ga, Bhulbh Teón; 20 June 176319 November 1798), was a leading Irish revolutionary figure and one of the founding members in Belfast and Dublin of the United Irishmen, a republican socie ...

, who was going to Philadelphia.''

New Monthly Magazine ''The New Monthly Magazine'' was a British monthly magazine published from 1814 to 1884. It was founded by Henry Colburn and published by him through to 1845. History Colburn and Frederic Shoberl established ''The New Monthly Magazine and Univer ...

'', Volume 19, p. 487.

Citations

References

* Robert Gardiner, ''The First Frigates'', Conway Maritime Press, London 1992. . * David Lyon, ''The Sailing Navy List'', Conway Maritime Press, London 1993. . * Rif Winfield, ''

British Warships in the Age of Sail ''British Warships in the Age of Sail'' is a series of four books by maritime historian Rif Winfield comprising a historical reference work providing details of all recorded ships that served or were intended to serve in the (British) Royal Navy ...

, 1714 to 1792'', Seaforth Publishing, London 2007. .

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hussar (1784) 1784 ships Sixth-rate frigates of the Royal Navy Ships built in Kent