HMS Indefatigable (1784)

HMS ''Indefatigable'' was one of the 64-gun third-rate ships-of-the-line designed by Sir Thomas Slade in 1761 for the Royal Navy. She was built as a ship-of-the-line, but most of her active service took place after her conversion to a 44-gun razee frigate. She had a long career under several distinguished commanders, serving throughout the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. She took some 27 prizes, alone or in company, and the Admiralty authorised the issue of four clasps to the Naval General Service Medal in 1847 to any surviving members of her crews from the respective actions. She was broken up in 1816.

Construction

''Indefatigable'' was ordered on 3 August 1780 (long after Slade's death), and her keel was laid down in May 1781 at the Bucklers Hard shipyard in Hampshire owned by Henry Adams. She was launched in early July 1784 and completed from 11 July to 13 September of that year at Portsmouth Dockyard as a 64-gun two-decked third rate for the Royal Navy. She had cost £25,210 4 s 5 d to build; her total initial cost including fitting out and coppering was £36,154 18s 7d. By that time, she was already anachronistic for the role of a ship of the line as the French only built the more powerful 74-gun ships, and was never commissioned in that role.

Design modification

In 1794, she was razéed; her upper gun deck was cut away to convert her into a large and heavily armed frigate. The original intention was to retain her twenty-six 24-pounder guns on her gundeck, and to mount eight 12-pounder guns on her quarterdeck and a further four on her forecastle, which would have rated her as a 38-gun vessel. However, it was at this time that the carronade was becoming more popular in the Navy, and her intended armament was altered on 5 December 1794 with the addition of four 42-pounder carronades to go on her quarterdeck and two on her forecastle. ''Indefatigable'' was thereafter rated as a 44-gun fifth-rate frigate, along with and , which were converted at about the same time. The work was carried out at Portsmouth from September 1794 to February 1795 at a cost of £8,764. On 17 February 1795, a further two 12-pounder guns were added to her quarterdeck, though her official rating remained unchanged.Gardiner (2006), p. 41.

French Revolutionary Wars

Captain Sir Edward Pellew

''Indefatigable'' was first commissioned in December 1794 under Captain Sir Edward Pellew. He commanded her until early 1799.

On 9 March 1795, ''Indefatigable'', , and captured numerous French prizes: ''Temeraire'', ''Minerve'', ''Gentille'', ''Regeneration'', and a brig and sloop of unknown names. In October, the Dutch East Indiaman ''Zeelilee'' was wrecked in the Isles of Scilly with the loss of 25 of her 70 crew. ''Indefatigable'' rescued the survivors.

On 20 March 1796, ''Indefatigable'' and her squadron chased three French corvettes, of which the ''Volage'' of 26 guns ran ashore under a battery at the mouth of the Loire. ''Volage'' lost her masts in running ashore, but the French were later able to refloat her. Her two consorts and ''Eclatant'' escaped into the river. In this action, had four men wounded.

Between 11 and 21 March ''Indefatigable''s squadron captured the vessels ''Favorite Sultana'', ''Friends'', ''Providence'', ''Four Marys'', ''Aimable Justine'', and ''Nouvelle Union''. They also destroyed two unnamed brigs and a chasse maree. The vessels sharing in the prize money were: ''Indefatigable'', ''Concorde'', , ''Amazon'', , and the hired armed cutter ''Dolly'' and hired armed lugger ''Duke of York''.

On 13 April 1796, ''Indefatigable'' was in pursuit of a French frigate. Pellew signalled to ''Révolutionnaire'' to cut her off from the shore. ''Révolutionnaire'' then captured the French frigate ''Unité'' after having fired two broadsides into her. ''Unité'' had nine men killed and 11 wounded; ''Révolutionnaire'' had no casualties. The Royal Navy took the frigate into service as HMS ''Unite''.

On the morning of 20 April 1796, ''Indefatigable'' sighted the French 44-gun frigate off the Lizard. ''Indefatigable'', ''Amazon'', and ''Concorde'' chased ''Virginie'', with ''Indefatigable'' catching her just after midnight on 21 April after a chase of 15 hours and . After an hour and three quarters of fighting, she still had not struck and had somewhat outmaneuvered ''Indefatigable'' when ''Concorde'' arrived. Seeing that she was outnumbered, ''Virginie'' struck.

''Virginie'' carried 44 guns, 18 and 9-pounders, and had a crew of 340 men under the command of Citizen Bergeret, Capitaine de Vaisseau. She had 14 or 15 men killed, 17 badly wounded, and 10 slightly. She also had four feet of water in her hold from shot holes. ''Indefatigable'' had no casualties. Pellew sent ''Virginie'' into Plymouth under the escort of ''Concorde'', and followed the next day with ''Amazon'', which had sustained some damage. The Royal Navy took ''Virginie'' into service as .

In July 1796, there was an initial distribution of £20,000 of prize money for the capture of ''Unite'' and ''Virginie''. ''Indefatigable'' shared this with ''Amazon'', ''Révolutionnaire'', ''Concorde'', and ''Argo''. Apparently, ''Duke of York'' also shared in some or all of the prize money. In 1847, the Admiralty authorised the issue of the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Indefatigable 20 Apl. 1796".

On 12 June, ''Indefatigable'', ''Amazon'', ''Concorde'', ''Revolutionaire'', and took two French brigs off Ushant – the ''Trois Couleurs'' and the ''Blonde'' (alias ''Betsey'') – after a chase of 24 hours. ''Trois Couleurs'' carried 10 guns and a crew of 70. ''Blonde'' had 16 guns and a crew of 95 men. Each was under the command of an ''ensign de vaisseau'' and both vessels had left Brest two days earlier for a six-week cruise, but had not yet taken any prizes.

In September 1796, ''Indefatigable'', ''Phoebe'', ''Révolutionnaire'', and ''Amazon'' captured five Spanish ships.

On 1 October, ''Indefatigable'', ''Amazon'', ''Révolutionnaire'', ''Phoebe'', and ''Jason'' shared in the capture of the ''Vrow Delenea Maria''. The next day, Pellew and ''Indefatigable'' captured the privateer schooner ''Ariel'' of Boston off Corunna. Earlier, Pellew had recaptured the brig ''Queen of Naples'', which had been sailing from Lisbon to Cork. From her, he learned that there were two privateers around Corunna, one of which had captured a brig from Lisbon with a cargo of bale goods two days earlier. Pellew immediately set off towards Corunna and was able to intercept the ''Ariel''. She had 12 guns and a crew of 75 men. She was 14 days out of Bordeaux. Her consort, the schooner ''Vengeur'', was of the same strength, and Pellew yet hoped to catch her, too. The brig from Bristol, however, had made it into the port of Ferrol, where Pellew had earlier chased two French frigates.

In January 1797, ''Indefatigable'' and ''Amazon'' captured the packet ''Sangossee''. On 7 January, ''Indefatigable'' and ''Amazon'' captured the ''Emanuel''. Later that month, ''Indefatigable'' fought her most famous battle.

The Action of 13 January 1797 was an engagement off the Penmarks ship of the line. The battle ended with ''Droits de l'Homme'' being driven onto shore in a gale. ''Amazon'' also ran onto the shore; still, almost her entire crew survived both the battle and the grounding and were captured. Despite being embayed and having damaged masts and rigging, ''Indefatigable'' was able to repair the damage and beat off the lee shore, showing excellent seamanship. She had only 19 officers and men wounded, with most of those not being serious. This action resulted the award of the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Indefatigable 13 Jany. 1797" for any crew surviving in 1847.

On 18 January ''Indefatigable'' was at Falmouth. There she saved all on board when a fire destroyed the American merchantman .

Subsequently, ''Indefatigable'' or Pellew's squadron took more vessels, including privateers, primarily in the Channel. Thus, Pellew reported that, on 30 April 1797, "we" captured the French brigantine privateer ''Basque''. She was armed with eight guns and carried a crew of 50 men.

On 11 May, ''Indefatigable'' in company with ''Phoebe'', , , and ''Duke of York'' captured ''Nouvelle Eugénie''. She was a razee privateer of 16 guns and carried a crew of 120 men. She was four days out of Nantes on a 30-day cruise, but had taken no prizes. The Royal Navy took her into service as .

On 21 July, the ''Duke of York'' returned, having chased a French privateer lugger into the hands of Lieutenant Bray, who commanded the Revenue Cutter ''Hind''. ''Hind'' also recaptured a sloop that the privateer had captured. The lugger was armed with two guns and carried a crew of 25 men.

On 14 October, ''Indefatigable'' arrived at Teneriffe. There at midnight she captured the French brig corvette . ''Ranger'' was armed with 14 guns and carried a crew of 70 men. She had been carrying dispatches to the West Indies, which she was able to destroy before capture. The next day, Pellew captured a Spanish schooner carrying a cargo of fish. ''Indefatigable'' was short of water, so he put the crew of ''Ranger'' on board the schooner (though not ''Ranger''s officers) and sent them ashore at Santa Cruz.

Ten days after that, ''Indefatigable'' captured the privateer ''Hyène'' after a chase of eight hours. She was armed with twenty-four 9-pounder guns and had a crew of 230 men. She was two weeks out of Bayonne but had not captured anything. ''Hyène'' had apparently mistaken ''Indefatigable'' for a vessel from Portuguese India. Pellew estimated that, had she not lost her foretopmast in the chase, she might have escaped. She had been the post-ship until her capture in 1793; the Royal Navy took her back into service under her original name.

''Indefatigable'' returned to the Channel. On 11 January 1798, she was in company with and ''Childers'' when they captured the French privateer schooner ''Vengeur''. ''Vengeur'' was a new vessel of 12 guns and 72 men. She was eight days out of Ostend but had taken no prizes. Pellew sent her into Falmouth.

Five days later, in the evening of the 16th, Pellew's squadron captured the French privateer ''Inconcevable''. She was armed with eight guns and had a crew of 55 men. She was 10 days out of Dunkirk and had taken nothing. Prize money was paid to ''Indefatigable'', ''Cambrian'', and .

On 28 January, ''Indefatigable'' and ''Cambrian'' captured the privateer ''Heureuse Nouvelle''. She was armed with 22 guns and had a crew of 130 men. She was 36 days out of Brest and, during that time, had captured only one ship, a large American vessel named the ''Providence'' which had a cargo of cotton and sugar. Pellew sent ''Cambrian'' in pursuit. ''Duke of York'' also shared in the capture.

On 30 April 1798, ''Indefatigable'' captured the brigantine privateer ''Basque''. She was armed with eight guns and had a crew of 50 men. ''Indefatigable'' and ''Cleopatra'' captured the ''Hope'' on 11 July.

At daylight on 4 August, ''Indefatigable'' sighted the privateer ''Heureux'' together with a prize and gave chase. The two separated, with the prize heading directly for Bayonne. After a chase of 32 hours on a great circular route, ''Indefatigable'' and her quarry found themselves off Bayonne where ''Indefatigable'' intercepted the prize and captured her. The privateer was the ''Heureux'', of 16 guns and 112 men. Her prize was the ''Canada'', John Sewell Master, which had been sailing from Jamaica to London, having stopped in Charlestown, with a cargo of sugar, rum, and coffee. Pellew exchanged prisoners, taking off the crew of the ''Canada'' and putting on her the crew of ''Heureux''. He then drove ''Canada'' on shore where he hoped that her cargo at least would be destroyed.

''Indefatigable'' captured the French corvette ''Vaillante'' while cruising in the Bay of Biscay on 8 August, after a chase of 24 hours, which was under the command of Lieutenant de Vaisseau La Porte. The corvette fired a few shots before she struck. She was armed with twenty-two 9-pounder guns and had a crew of 175 men. She had left Rochefort on 1 August, and the Île de Ré on the 4th, where she had picked up 25 banished priests, 27 convicts, and a Madame Rovere and family, all of whom she was taking to Cayenne. She was only 18 months old, coppered, and a fast sailer. The British took her into service as . On 15 November 1798, ''Indefatigable'' captured ''Mercurius''.

At dawn on 31 December 1798, ''Indefatigable'' captured the ''Minerve'', five leagues off Ushant. She was armed with 16 guns and carried a crew of 140 men. She was four weeks out of Saint-Malo and was waiting to enter Brest when captured. She had taken several prizes, one of which, the ''Asphalon'', ''Indefatigable'' captured on 1 January 1799. ''Aspahalon'', a Newcastle vessel, had been sailing from Halifax to London with a cargo of sugar, coffee, and tobacco. Other vessels which ''Minerve'' had captured included ''Martinus'' (Bremen brig), ''Tagus'' (Portuguese brig ), ''Minerva'' (English snow), and ''Ann and Dorothea'' (aka ''Beata Maria'', Danish schooner).

On 14 January 1799, ''Indefatigable'' recaptured ''Argo'', Rich, master, which had been sailing from Gothenburg for Boston when a French privateer had captured her. After her recapture ''Argo'' arrived at Falmouth.

More captures or recaptures of merchantmen followed. ''Indefatigable'', , and recaptured the ''Providence'' on 10 January 1799, the ''Pomona'' on 5 February, and the ''Wohlfarden'' on 9 February.

Subsequent commanders

From March 1799 until the end of 1800 ''Indefatigable'' was under the command of Captain Henry Curzon. On 31 May she captured the brig ''Vénus''. ''Venus'' was armed with twelve 4-pounder guns and two 9-pounders, and carried a crew of 101 men. She was nine weeks out of Rochefort and had captured two prizes, the schooner ''Clarence'', sailing from Lisbon to London, and a ship from Lisbon sailing to Hamburg with a cargo of salt. ''Indefatigable'' was apparently also in company with ''Fisgard'' and ''Diamond''.

On 9 October 1799 ''Indefatigable'', ''Diamond'', ''Cambrian'', , ''Nymphe'' and shared in the capture of the Spanish brig ''Nostra Senora de la Solidad''. Then on 7 November ''Nymphe'', ''Indefatigable'' and ''Diamond'' shared in the recapture of the ship ''Brailsford''.

Then on 6 January 1800 ''Indefatigable'' shared with , , and ''Stag'' in the capture of the French brig ''Ursule''. On 11 February ''Indefatigable'' captured the ''Vidette''.

On 12 June 1800, ''Indefatigable'' captured the French privateer brig ''Vengeur''. She was armed with six long 4-pounders and ten 18-pounder carronades, and carried a crew of 102 men. She was two days out of Bordeaux and sailing for the coast of Brazil. ''Vengeur'' was sailing in company with three letters of marque – a ship, a brig and a schooner – that were bound for Guadeloupe. On 11 June ''Vengeur'' had captured the Jersey-privateer lugger ''Snake''. ''Indefatigable'' shared the prize money with ''Sirius''.

On 3 July ''Indefatigable'' recaptured the brig ''Cultivator'', from the French. Eleven days later, ''Indefatigable'' and ''Sirius'' captured the French ship ''Favori''. The next day ''Bordelais'' (or ''Bourdelois'') captured the ''Phoenix''. ''Indefatigable'', ''Sirius'' and shared with ''Bordelais'' by agreement, and further shared with ''Bordelais''.

''Indefatigable'' then was with Sir John Borlase Warren's squadron at Ferrol. She apparently did not participate in the attack on a fort at the bay of Playa de Dominos (Doniños) on 25 August 1800.

On 22 October ''Indefatigable'', took the French 28-gun frigate off the Portuguese coast. ''Indefatigable'' had been chasing ''Venus'' from the morning when in the afternoon ''Fisgard'' came in sight and forced ''Venus'' to turn. Both British vessels arrived at ''Venus'' at almost the same time (7pm). ''Venus'' was armed with 32-guns and had a crew of 200 men. She was sailing from Rochefort to Senegal. ''Indefatigable'' and ''Fisgard'' shared the prize money with ''Boadicea'', ''Diamond'', , and the hired armed schooner .

In January 1801 ''Indefatigable'' was under Captain Matthew Scott. ''Indefatigable'' was part of the squadron that shared by agreement in the prize money from the ''Temeraire'', which had captured on 30 May. Similarly, the same vessels shared by agreement in ''Dasher''s capture of ''Bien Aimé'' on 23 July 1801. ''Indefatigable'' was then paid off later that year. ''Indefatigable'' was laid up in ordinary at Plymouth in March to April 1802, as a result of the peace of October 1801.

Napoleonic Wars

Following the resumption of hostilities, ''Indefatigable'' was fitted out for sea between July and September 1803. She was recommissioned under Captain Graham Moore, younger brother of Sir John Moore of Rifle Brigade and Corunna fame.

On 9 August 1804 ''Indefatigable'' was in sight when recaptured the West Indiaman off Bayonne.

Action of 5 October 1804

''Indefatigable'', with Moore as commodore, and frigates , , and intercepted four Spanish frigates off Cadiz under the command of Rear-Admiral Don Joseph Bustamente, Knight of the Order of St. James, on 5 October 1804. They were carrying bullion from Montevideo, South America to Spain. Spain was a neutral country at the time, but was showing strong signs of declaring war in alliance with Napoleonic France. Acting on Admiralty orders, Moore required the Spaniards to change their course and sail for England. Admiral Bustamente refused and a short engagement ensued.

First ''Mercedes'' blew up. Then ''Indefatigable'' captured ''Medée'', and ''Lively'' captured ''Clara''. After a further chase, ''Lively'' and ''Medusa'' captured ''Fama''.
* ''Medée'' the flagship was armed with forty-two 18-pounder guns on her main deck and had a crew of 300 men. She lost two men killed and 10 wounded.
* ''Fama'', the Commodore's ship, was armed with thirty-six 12-pounder guns on her main deck and had a crew of 180 men. She lost 11 killed and 50 wounded.
* ''Clara'' was armed with thirty-six 12-pounder guns on her main deck and had a crew of 300 men. She lost seven killed and 20 wounded.
* ''Mercedes'' was armed with thirty-six 12-pounder guns on her main deck and had a crew of 280 men. After she exploded, the British were only able to rescue her second captain and 40 men.

''Indefatigable'' had no casualties. ''Amphion'' had five men wounded, one badly. ''Lively'' had two killed and four wounded. ''Indefatigable'' and ''Amphion'' escorted ''Medée'' and ''Fama'' to Plymouth. ''Medusa'' and ''Lively'' brought in ''Clara''. The Royal Navy took ''Medea'' into service as and ''Clara'' as .

The value of the treasure was very large and, if it had been treated as Prize of War, then Moore and his fellow captains would have become extremely wealthy. As it was, the money and ships were declared to be "Droits of Admiralty" on the grounds that war had not been declared. Hence the captains and crew shared a relatively small ''ex gratia'' payment of £160,000 for the bullion, plus the proceeds of the sale of the hull and cargo.

Normal operations

In October 1805 ''Indefatigable'', now under Captain John Tremayne Rodd (−1809), was part of the blockade of Brest. One boat each from the ships of the line of the squadron, plus three boats each from ''Indefatigable'' and entered the Gironde on 15 July 1806 to attack two French corvettes and a convoy. A change in the wind permitted all but one corvette to escape. The British captured the French corvette (or ''Caesar''), which the Royal Navy took into service as HMS ''Cesar''. She was armed with 18 guns, had a crew of 86 men, and was under the command of Monsieur Louis Francois Hector Fourré, ''lieutenant de vaisseau''. The French were expecting the attack and put up a strong resistance. The British lost six men killed, 36 wounded and 21 missing. ''Indefatigable'' alone lost two killed and 11 wounded. The 21 missing men were in a boat from ; a later report suggested that most, if not all, had been taken prisoner. Most of the boats in the attack were so shot through that the British later abandoned them. The vessels claiming prize money included and the hired armed lugger , in addition to the various ships of the line and frigates. This cutting out expedition resulted in the participants qualifying for the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "16 July Boat Service 1806".

About a year later, on 19 October 1806, ''Indefatigable'', , and captured the chasse marees ''Achille'', ''Jenny'', and ''Marianne''. On 5 December 1807 ''Indefatigable'' captured the ''Pamelia''. Then on the day after Christmas, ''Indefatigable'' and captured the American ship ''Eliza''.

On 7 January 1808 ''Indefatigable'' and ''Tribune'' captured the French galiot ''Fanny'' and her cargo.

Then on 31 July, ''Indefatigable'', in company with the gun-brig , captured the letter of marque ''Diane'', which was on her way to Île de France, carrying naval stores, as well as letters and dispatches that she threw overboard during the chase. She was six years old, had a burthen of 482 tons (bm), was armed with fourteen 9 and 6-pounder guns, and had a crew of 68 men. She had left the Gironde the evening before on this, her second voyage, to India.

On 19 August ''Indefatigable'', still in company with ''Conflict'', captured ''Adele''. In December a distribution of £10,000 was payable for the proceeds from ''Diane'' and ''Adele''. On 1 and 9 September 1808 ''Indefatigable'' captured two American ships, ''Sally'' and ''Peggy''. and were in company with ''Indefatigable'' at the time. On 1 November ''Indefatigable'' captured ''Bonne Louise''.

On 14 January 1809 ''Indefatigable'' captured French privateer lugger ''Clarisse'' in the Channel. She was pierced for 14 guns but had only three mounted. She had left Saint-Malo the evening before and had not made any captures. At the time of the capture, ''Amazon'', ''Iris'', , and ''Goldfinch'' were in sight. They shared with ''Indefatigable'' in the proceeds for the hull, but not the bounty money for the captured crew. On 20 February captured the French schooner ''Matilda''. ''Indefatigable'' was in company.

''Indefatigable'' arrived at the Basque Roads on 25 February. While there she captured two vessels, the Danish ship ''Neptunus'' on 24 March and the French ship ''Nymphe'' on 28 March. For the capture of ''Neptunus'', ''Indefatigable'' was in company with the sloops and . ''Foxhound'' was also in company for the capture of ''Nymphe''.

In April 1809 ''Indefatigable'' participated in the battle of the Basque Roads. The action earned her crew another clasp to the Naval General Service Medal: "Basque Roads 1809".

In October 1809 ''Indefatigable'' was under Captain Henry E. R. Baker. Captain John Broughton succeeded him in December 1809 and remained in command until 1812.

On 11 January 1810, ''Indefatigable'' captured ''Mouche № 26'' near Cap de Peñas. Under the command of ''Enseigne de vausseau provisorie'' Fleury, she had sailed from Pasajes with despatches for Île de France. The next day ''Mouche № 26'' foundered near the Penmarks

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