HMS ''Nisus'' was a

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 ...

38-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 ...

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 ...

, launched in 1810 at

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

, named for Virgil's character Nisus from ''The Aeneid''. ''Nisus'' entered service in 1810 under the command of Captain

Philip Beaver Philip Beaver (28 February 1766 – 5 April 1813) was an officer of the Royal Navy, serving during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. He played a varied and active role in several notable engagements, and served under a num ...

, and sailed for the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

, where she participated in the squadron led by Admiral Albemarle Bertie which landed troops on Île de France and captured the island from the French in December 1810. By agreement, ''Eclipse'' and ''Nisus'' shared in the prize money for the capture of the ''Renommée'' on 20 May 1811 at the

Battle of Tamatave The Battle of Tamatave (sometimes called the Battle of Madagascar or the Action of 20 May 1811) was fought off Tamatave in Madagascar between British and French frigate squadrons during the Napoleonic Wars. The action was the final engagement o ...

, and one week later of the ''Néréide''. In August 1811, ''Nisus'' supported the Invasion of Java and was involved in a successful attack on the French fortified port of

Cheribon Cirebon (, formerly rendered Cheribon or Chirebon in English) is a port city on the northern coast of the Indonesian island of Java. It is the only coastal city of West Java, located about 40 km west of the provincial border with Central Jav ...

, seizing the fort and defeating a French army sent to drive the British off. In September the force captured

Surabaya Surabaya ( jv, ꦱꦸꦫꦧꦪ or jv, ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ; ; ) is the capital city of the Provinces of Indonesia, Indonesian province of East Java and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. L ...

. In 1814 command passed to

Charles Marsh Schomberg Captain Sir Charles Marsh Schomberg (1779 – 2 January 1835) was an officer of the British Royal Navy, who served during French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and later served as Lieutenant-Governor of Dominica. Biography Family backgro ...

and in 1815 she was laid up at Plymouth, prior to being broken up in 1822.

Notes, citations, and references

;Notes ;Citations ;References
Ships of the Old Navy
PRIOR(1819) Voyage ... to St. Helena, to Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, and Pernambuco in Brazil, in the NISUS Frigate..jpg, James Prior (1819) Voyage ... in the HMS NISUS PRIOR(1819 Chart of the Route of HMS NISUS.jpg, Chart of the Routes of HMS NISUS (1810–13) Ships built in Plymouth, Devon Frigates of the Royal Navy Royal Navy ship names {{UK-mil-ship-stub