HMS ''Magnanime'' was a 64-gun

third-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker). Years of experience proved that the third r ...

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 ...

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 ...

, launched on 14 October 1780 at

Deptford Dockyard Deptford Dockyard was an important naval dockyard and base at Deptford on the River Thames, operated by the Royal Navy from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. It built and maintained warships for 350 years, and many significant events a ...

. She belonged to the designed by Sir

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and later was

razee A razee or razée is a sailing ship that has been cut down (''razeed'') to reduce the number of decks. The word is derived from the French ''vaisseau rasé'', meaning a razed (in the sense of shaved down) ship. Seventeenth century During the ...

d into a 44 gun

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 ...

Career

Commissioned in October 1780 under Captain Charles Wolseley, ''Magnanime'' sailed in 1781 with the Relief Expedition to Gibraltar, and subsequently to the Indian Ocean, where she participated in several of the series of battles against French forces off India – including those of Providien,

Negapatam Nagapattinam (''nākappaṭṭinam'', previously spelt Nagapatnam or Negapatam) is a town in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Nagapattinam District. The town came to prominence during the period of Medieval ...

and

Trincomalee Trincomalee (; ta, திருகோணமலை, translit=Tirukōṇamalai; si, ත්‍රිකුණාමළය, translit= Trikuṇāmaḷaya), also known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee Dis ...

in 1782 and

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in 1783. She returned to the United Kingdom and paid off into ordinary in June 1784. From 1794–95, she was cut down into a 44-gun

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 N ...

and recommissioned in November 1794 under Captain Isaac Schomberg. On 16 March 1798 ''Magnanime'' was escorting a small convoy when she spied a privateer lurking about, seeking an opportunity to pick off a prize. Captain The Hon. Michael de Courcy set ''Magnanime'' in chase. Twenty-three hours and 256 miles later, he captured ''Eugénie'' at Latitude 42 and Longitude 12. She was armed with 18 guns, eight of which she had thrown overboard during the chase, and had a crew of 107 men. She was coppered and appeared completely new. The Royal Navy took her into service under the name HMS ''Pandour'', but never commissioned her. On 1 April ''Magnanime'' was again involved in a successful chase. This time one of 180 miles in 18 hours. The captured privateer was the ''Audacieux'', of 20 guns, though pierced for 22, and carrying a crew of 137 men. She too was coppered and new. de Courcy remarked that ''Audacieuz'' was so fast that if her captain had done a better job of steering she would have escaped. She was taken into the Royal Navy as HMS ''Audacieux'' but apparently was never commissioned. Tory Island, 1798 RCIN 735074

''Magnanime'' passed under the command of Captain William Taylor in spring 1799, and commanded her on African coast. He took part in the capture of

Gorée (; "Gorée Island"; Wolof: Beer Dun) is one of the 19 (i.e. districts) of the city of Dakar, Senegal. It is an island located at sea from the main harbour of Dakar (), famous as a destination for people interested in the Atlantic slave trade ...

from the French in April 1801, while cruising with a squadron under the command of Captain Sir Charles Hamilton. Hamilton, in command of the 44-gun had received intelligence that there were three French frigates at anchor there. Hamilton sailed to investigate, taking with him Taylor in ''Magnanime'', and Captain

Solomon Ferris Solomon Ferris (c. 1748 – May 1803) was an officer in the Royal Navy who served during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Ferris's rise through the ranks brought him the commands of severa ...

, in command of the 64-gun . The frigates were not there, so Hamilton summoned the governor and ordered him to surrender. The governor agreed, and Hamilton and his force took possession on 5 April. ''Magnanime'' was later in the

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, where she remained for the rest of the French Revolutionary Wars, paying off into ordinary again in 1802. During the Napoleonic Wars she served in a variety of ancillary capacities – as a floating battery, then as a hospital ship.

Fate

''Magnanime'' was eventually broken up in July 1813.

Citations and references

Citations References * * *Gardiner, Robert (2000) ''Frigates of the Napoleonic Wars.'' Chatham Publishing, London. *Lavery, Brian (2003) ''The Ship of the Line – Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650–1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. . * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Magnanime (1780) Frigates of the Royal Navy Ships of the line of the Royal Navy Intrepid-class ships of the line 1780 ships Ships built in Deptford Floating batteries of the Royal Navy