HMS ''Royal Oak'' was a 74-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 ...

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 4 March 1809 at Dudman's yard at Deptford Wharf. Her first commanding officer was Captain

Pulteney Malcolm Admiral Sir Pulteney Malcolm (20 February 1768 – 20 July 1838) was a British naval officer. He was born at Douglan, near Langholm, Scotland, on 20 February 1768, the third son of George Malcolm of Burnfoot, Langholm, in Dumfriesshire, a sheep ...

Napoleonic Wars

In 1812 ''Royal Oak'' was under the command of Captain Thomas George Shortland, who was superseded by Captain Edward Dix in 1813. During this time she was the

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

of Rear-Admiral Lord Amelius Beauclerk, of the

Texel Texel (; Texels dialect: ) is a municipality and an island with a population of 13,643 in North Holland, Netherlands. It is the largest and most populated island of the West Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea. The island is situated north of Den ...

War of 1812

''Royal Oak'' shared with other vessels in the proceeds of the capture on 17 December 1813 of the American vessel ''Maria Antoinette''. On 1 June 1814 Rear-Admiral

, who had hoisted his flag aboard ''Royal Oak'', proceeded with troops under Brigadier-General Robert Ross to North America. Malcolm accompanied Sir

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 ...

on the expedition up the Chesapeake and regulated the debarkation and embarkation of the troops employed against Washington and Baltimore. Ross was killed on 12 September 1814 in Baltimore, Maryland, ''Royal Oak'' would carry his body to Halifax, Nova Scotia, for interment on 29 September 1814. In December ''Royal Oak'' was with the fleet under Cochrane preparing for the attack on New Orleans. Before the attack, her boats participated in the

Battle of Lake Borgne The Battle of Lake Borgne was a coastal engagement between the Royal Navy and the U.S. Navy in the American South theatre of the War of 1812. It occurred on December 14, 1814 on Lake Borgne. The British victory allowed them to disembark their tro ...

. On 8 December 1814, two US gunboats fired on , and the

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 while they were passing the chain of small islands that runs parallel to the shore between Mobile and

Lake Borgne Lake Borgne (french: Lac Borgne, es, Lago Borgne) is a lagoon of the Gulf of Mexico in southeastern Louisiana. Although early maps show it as a lake surrounded by land, coastal erosion has made it an arm of the Gulf of Mexico. Its name comes fro ...

. Between 12 and 15 December 1814, Captain Lockyer of ''Sophie'' led a flotilla of some 50 boats, barges, gigs and launches to attack the US gunboats. Lockyer drew his flotilla from the fleet that was massing against New Orleans, including the 74-gun Third Rates ''Royal Oak'' and , and a number of other vessels including '' Armide'', ''Seahorse'', and ''Meteor''. Lockyer deployed the boats in three divisions, of which he led one. Captain Montresor of the gun-brig ''Manly'' commanded the second, and Captain Roberts of ''Meteor'' commanded the third. After rowing for 36 hours, the British met the Americans at St. Joseph's Island. On 13 December 1814, the British attacked the one-gun schooner USS ''Sea Horse''. On the morning of the 14th, the British engaged the Americans in a short, violent battle. The British captured the entire American force, including the tender, USS ''Alligator'', and five gunboats. The British lost 17 men killed and 77 wounded; ''Royal Oak'' had only one man wounded. then evacuated the wounded. In 1821 the survivors of the flotilla shared in the distribution of head-money arising from the capture of the American gun-boats and sundry bales of cotton. In 1847 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 a clasp (or bar) marked "14 Dec. Boat Service 1814" to survivors of the boat service who claimed the clasp to the Naval General Service Medal. In support of the attack on New Orleans, sixty Royal Marines from ''Royal Oak'' were disembarked. One of these men was killed in action on 8 January 1815,Ship muster for HMS Royal Oak Jan - June 1815. UK National Archives reference ADM 37/5136 as a force of marines, sailors, and soldiers of the 85th Regiment of Foot commanded by Colonel

William Thornton William Thornton (May 20, 1759 – March 28, 1828) was a British-American physician, inventor, painter and architect who designed the United States Capitol. He also served as the first Architect of the Capitol and first Superintendent of the ...

successfully assaulted American positions on the west bank of the Mississippi. The naval contingent was under the command of Commander Rowland Money, of ''Trave'', who was severely wounded in the attack.

Fate

From 1825 ''Royal Oak'' was employed on harbour service, until in 1850 she was broken up.

Notes

References

Citations Bibliography *Lavery, Brian (2003) ''The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. .

External links

Two Royal Navy Records for Dr. William Todd
{{DEFAULTSORT:Royal Oak (1809) Ships of the line of the Royal Navy Fame-class ships of the line 1809 ships Ships built in Deptford War of 1812 ships of the United Kingdom