HMS St Fiorenzo (1794)

''Minerve'' was a 40-gun frigate of the French Navy, lead ship of her class. She operated in the Mediterranean during the French Revolutionary Wars. Her crew scuttled her at Saint-Florent to avoid capture when the British invaded Corsica in 1794, but the British managed to raise her and recommissioned her in the Royal Navy as the 38-gun fifth rate HMS ''St Fiorenzo'' (also ''San Fiorenzo'').

She went on to serve under a number of the most distinguished naval commanders of her age, in theatres ranging from the English Channel to the East Indies. During this time she was active against enemy privateers, and on several occasions she engaged ships larger than herself, being rewarded with victory on each occasion. She captured the 40-gun and the 22-gun in 1797, the 36-gun in 1805, and the 40-gun in 1808. (These actions would earn the crew members involved clasps to the Naval General Service Medal.) After she became too old for frigate duties, the Admiralty had her converted for successively less active roles. She initially became a troopship and then a receiving ship. Finally she was broken up in 1837 after a long period as a lazarette.

French career

The French built ''Minerve'' at Toulon, laying her down on 10 February 1782 and launching her on 21 July 1782. She was the lead ship of her class.

''Minerve'' began her career in the Mediterranean, in particular operating in the Levant campaign from 1790 to 1791. In March 1793 she and ''Melpomène'' escorted from Toulon to Algiers two xebecs that the French had outfitted for the Dey. On ''Minerve''s return to Toulon her commander was arrested following an insurrection on board. On 18 February 1794, her commander scuttled her before the British under Sir David Dundas captured the town of San Fiorenzo (San Fiurenzu or Saint-Florent, Haute-Corse) in the Gulf of St. Florent in Corsica. (Other accounts suggest that gunfire from British shore batteries sank her.) The British found ''Minerve'' on 19 February 1794, and were able to refloat her. They then took her into service as a 38-gun frigate under the name ''St Fiorenzo''.

British career

Service in the Channel

She was initially under the command of Captain Charles Tyler, but passed under Captain Sir Charles Hamilton in July 1794. Hamilton sailed her back to Chatham, where she arrived on 22 November and was registered as a Royal Navy ship on 30 May 1795. She was then commissioned in June that year under Captain Sir Harry Neale. Neale was to command her for the next five years.

''St Fiorenzo'' was among the 25 British warships in the fleet under the command of Admiral John Colpoys that shared in the capture on 2 November 1796 of the French privateer ''Franklyn''. Twenty-six days later, ''St Fiorenzo'' was in company with when they captured the French brig ''Anne''. At some point, ''St Fiorenzo'' also captured the brig ''Cynthia''.

Capture of ''Résistance'' and ''Constance''

On 9 March 1797 ''St Fiorenzo'' was sailing in company with Captain John Cooke's , when they sighted two sails heading for Brest. These turned out to be the French frigate and the corvette ''Constance'', returning from the short-lived, quixotic and unsuccessful French raid on Fishguard in Wales, where they had landed troops. Cooke and Neale chased after them, and engaged them for half an hour, after which both French ships surrendered.

There were no casualties or damage on either of the British ships. ''Resistance'' had ten men killed and nine wounded; ''Constance'' had eight men killed and six wounded.

''Resistance'' had 48 guns, with 18-pounders on her main deck, and a crew of 345 men. ''Constance'' had twenty-four 9-pounder guns, and a crew of 181 men. The Royal Navy took both into service. ''Résistance'' became HMS ''Fisgard'', while ''Constance'' retained her name. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General service Medal with clasp "San Fiorenzo 8 March 1797" to surviving claimants from the action.

Channel

''St Fiorenzo'' was one of the ships caught up in the mutiny at the Nore, but was one of the few ships to remain loyal to her commander. She subsequently escaped to Harwich after enduring musket and grapeshot fire from the mutinous ships that left four of the crew wounded.

Further successes followed later that year. She captured the French privateer lugger ''Unité'' off The Owers on 3 June 1797. ''Unité'' was armed with 14 guns and had a crew of 58 men commanded by Citizen Charles Roberts. She was three days out of Morlaix without having captured anything.

Then on 1 July ''St Fiorenzo'' captured the French privateer lugger ''Castor'' off the Scilly Isles. ''Castor'' too had been armed with 14 guns, all of which she had thrown overboard during the chase in an attempt to lighten herself and so gain speed, and had a crew of 57 men. She was 18 days out of Saint Malo and in that time had captured the brig ''Resolution'', which had been carrying a cargo of salt.

''St Fiorenzo'' and shared in the capture in November and December 1797 of the French brigs ''Minerva'' and ''Succès''. In addition to the capture of the privateer ''Succès'' on 14 December, ''St Fiorenzo'' and ''Clyde'' captured the privateer ''Dorade'' two days later. The actual captor of ''Dorade'' was ''Clyde''. ''Dorade'' was from Bordeaux and was pierced for 18 guns, though she only had 12. She had been out 50 days and had been cruising off the Azores and Madeira, but had captured nothing. She and her crew of 93 men were on their way home when ''Clyde'' captured her. Unfortunately, the commander of the prize crew hoisted too much sail with the result that ''Dorade'' overturned, drowning all 19 members of the prize crew.

''St Fiorenzo'', and shared in the recapture of the American brig ''Betty'' on 16 February 1798. On 9 March ''St Fiorenzo'' recaptured the brig ''Cynthia''. Almost a month later, on 7 April, ''St Fiorenzo'', in company with ''Impetueux'', recaptured the ''Ulysses''. ''Ulysses'', Smith, master, had been on her way from Santo Domingo to London when the French privateer ''Grande Buonaparte'', of 22 guns and 200 men, captured her on 2 April. ''St Fiorenzo'' sent ''Ulysses'' into Plymouth.

On 23 May ''St Fiorenzo'' captured the pram ( chasse maree) ''Maria''. two days later, ''St Fiorenzo'' and ''Impetueux'' captured the ship ''Fair American''. On 1 June, she added the brig ''Zeniphe'' to her list of captures, and then six days later, two empty sloops. , ''St Fiorenzo'', and shared in the capture of the French sloop ''Marie Catharine''. ''St Fiorenzo'', ''Phaeton'', ''Anson'' and ''Stagg'' shared in the proceeds of the capture on 23 June of ''Jonge Marius''. That same day ''Phaeton'' captured the ''Speculation''; ''San Fiorenzo''s officers entitled to first or second-class shares in prize money shared by agreement.

On 29 June , and chased a French frigate. ''Pique'' and ''Jason'' chased her down and captured her in the Breton Passage on 30 June 1798, after an engagement in which the French suffered some 170 men killed. The French vessel was , which the Royal Navy took into service under her existing name. In the fight ''Jason'', ''Pique'' and ''Seine'' ran aground. ''Mermaid'' arrived and retrieved ''Jason'', but ''Pique'' had to be destroyed. ''St Fiorenzo'' too arrived and was instrumental in recovering ''Seine''.

On 9 November, ''St Fiorenzo'' captured the French privateer ''Resource''. Head money for the men on the privateer and salvage for ''Cynthia'' in March was paid in February 1810.

On 11 and 12 December 1798 ''St Fiorenzo'' and captured and sent into Plymouth the Spanish privateer ''St Joseph y Animas'' and the French privateer ''Rusée'', and recaptured the brig ''George'', of London, which had originally been sailing from Bristol to Lisbon, loaded with a cargo of coals, copper, and bottles. ''St Joseph y Animas'' was armed with four brass 6-pounder guns and had a crew of 64 men. ''Rusée'' was coppered and just off the stocks, she carried fourteen 4-pounder guns and a crew of 60. Neale recommended that the Navy take her into service. On 15 December ''St Fiorenzo'' captured the Spanish brig ''Nostra Senora Del Carmen y Animas''.

In late 1798 or early 1799, ''San Fiorenzo'', , , ''Clyde'', ''Mermaid'', and , shared in the capture of the chasse maree ''Marie Perotte'' and a sloop of unknown name, as well as the recapture of ''Sea Nymphe'' and ''Mary''. On 9 March 1799, ''St Fiorenzo'' and ''Clyde'' captured the French sloop ''St Joseph''. Three days later ''Triton'', ''St Fiorenzo'', and captured the French merchant ship ''Victoire''.

On 9 April 1799, after reconnoitering two French frigates in L'Orient, ''St Fiorenzo'' and sailed towards Belle Île. Conditions were hazy and although Neale had sighted some vessels, it was only when he had passed the island that he discovered three French frigates and a large gun vessel. At that instant a sudden squall carried away ''Amelia''s main-top-mast and fore and mizzen top-gallant masts; the fall of the main-top-mast tore away much of the mainsail from the yard. Neale shortened ''St Fiorenzo''s sail and ordered ''Amelia'' to keep close to ''St Fiorenzo'' to maintain the weather gage, and to prepare for battle. An action commenced but the French vessels avoided close-quarter action and, although the British ships came under fire from shore batteries, they had to bear down on the French three times to engage them. After nearly two hours the French wore ship and sailed away to take refuge in the Loire, with the gun-vessel returning to Belle Île.

''Amelia'' lost two killed and 17 wounded in the engagement. ''St Fiorenzo'' lost one man killed and eighteen wounded.

That evening ''St Fiorenzo'' captured a French brig and learned that the French frigates were , and . The British further learned that ''Cornélie'' had lost some 100 men dead and wounded, with one of the wounded being her commodore. Later reports mentioned that Captain Caro of ''Vengeance'' had been mortally wounded and that ''Sémillante'' had 15 dead.

Then on 13 April, ''St Fiorenzo'' captured the French ship ''Entreprenant''. On 17 April ''St Fiorenzo'' returned to Plymouth, bringing with her a French brig that she had captured. The French vessel had been sailing from San Domingo to Lorient with a cargo of sugar and coffee. ''St Fiorenzo'' had also captured another French brig, sailing in ballast, but she had not yet arrived. That same month ''St Fiorenzo'' captured the Prussian brig ''Vrou Helena Catherina''. On 2 July 1799 ''St Fiorenzo'' took part in an attack on a Spanish squadron anchored in the Aix Roads.

On 13 November 1800 ''St Fiorenzo'' and ''Cambrian'' recaptured the merchantman ''Hebe'', which the 18-gun French privateer ''Grande Decide'' had captured about a week earlier.

Captain Charles Paterson took over command in January 1801, serving in the Mediterranean. ''St Fiorenzo'', , , , , and hired armed cutter shared in the capture on 11 and 12 August 1801 of the Prussian brigs ''Vennerne'' and ''Elizabeth''. On 30 September 1801 ''St Fiorenzo'' captured the schooner ''Worcester''.

In May 1802 Captain Joseph Bingham succeeded Paterson. He would serve as ''St Fiorenzo''s commander until 1804.

East Indies

Bingham sailed to the Cape of Good Hope, and spent the next couple of years operating in the Indian Ocean. On 14 January 1804 ''St Fiorenzo'' gave chase to the French naval chasse-marée and aviso ''Passe-Partout'' off Mount Dilly on the Malabar Coast. When the wind began to fail, Bingham sent three of his boats after the quarry. Once alongside, in two minutes the British had captured the French vessel, despite fire from two brass six-pounder guns, six brass swivel guns and small arms. Out of her 25-man crew, ''Passe-Portout'' had two dead and five seriously wounded, including the captain, who was mortally wounded; the British suffered only one man slightly wounded. Bingham discovered that the French had outfitted ''Passe Partout'' to land three officers on the coast to incite the Mahratta states to attack the British. Bingham passed on the intelligence with the result that the British at Poona were able to capture the Frenchmen.

Bingham's successor was Captain Walter Bathurst, who commanded ''St Fiorenzo'' in 1805. Captain Henry Lambert (acting), replaced Bathurst.

''Psyché''

On 13 February 1805 ''St Fiorenzo'' found the and two vessels that looked like merchantmen, off Vishakhapatnam. On the evening of the 14th, ''St Fiorenzo'' recaptured one of the merchantmen, ''Thetis'', which was a prize to ''Psyché'' and which the French had abandoned. He put a prize crew aboard her and then engaged the other two vessels. After a fierce battle of more than three hours, Captain Bergeret, the French commander of ''Psyché'', sent a boat to announce that she had struck her colours. She had lost 57 men killed and 70 men wounded; ''St Fiorenzo'' had 12 killed and 56 wounded. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "San Fiorenzo 14 Feby. 1805" to any surviving claimants from the action.

During the engagement the third vessel, ''Equivoque'', occasionally intervened, firing at ''St Fiorenzo''. She was a privateer of ten guns and a crew of forty men under the command of a lieutenant. She was the former local ship ''Pidgeon'', which Bergeret had captured and fitted out as a privateer. She escaped.

Lambert was promoted to another command. Captain Patrick Campbell then commanded ''St Fiorenzo'' between 1806 and 1807.

Capture of ''Piémontaise''

''St Fiorenzo''s next commander was Captain George Nicholas Hardinge, who on 6 March 1808 encountered the 50-gun French frigate , which had been raiding British shipping off the Indian coast. ''Piémontaise'' was under the command of Captain Jacques Epron and had sailed from Île de France on 30 December with a crew of 366 Frenchmen, together with almost 200 lascars to work the sails.

Hardinge was patrolling when, after having passed three East Indiamen, he spotted a frigate that would not identify itself. ''St Fiorenzo'' sailed towards the Frenchman, who attempted to escape. ''St Fiorenzo'' chased ''Piémontaise'' for the next several days, with intermittent fighting as the French turned to engage their pursuer, before sailing away again. On 7 March the British lost eight men killed and suffered many wounded, two of whom died later.

''St Fiorenzo'' finally brought ''Piémontaise'' to a decisive battle late on 8 March in the Gulf of Mannar, where after an hour and twenty minutes of fierce fighting, the French surrendered. French losses amounted to 48 dead and 112 wounded, while over the three days the British lost 13 dead and 25 wounded. Captain Hardinge was among the dead, killed by grapeshot from the second broadside in the last engagement. Lieutenant William Dawson took command and brought both vessels back to Colombo, even though ''Piémontaise''s three masts fell over her side early in the morning of the 9th.

''Piémontaise'' also had on board British army officers and captains and officers from prizes that she had taken. These men helped organize the lascars to jury-rig masts and bring ''Piémontaise'' into port. ''St Fiorenzo'' had too few men and too many casualties and prisoners to guard to provide much assistance.

Aftermath

On 29 November 1809, His Majesty George III granted to the Hardinge family an augmentation to their coat of arms commemorating both the victory over ''Piémontaise'' and Hardinge's earlier victory over ''Atalante''. The merchants, shipowners, and underwriters of Bombay voted the sum of £500 to be "distributed to the Sufferers in the Action on the 8th March 1808". Sixteen men died without receiving their portion and the grantors paid for a notice in the ''London Gazette'' calling on the relatives of the men to claim their shares. When for eight seamen and marines no one had forward for the money by September 1818 the Treasury agreed to hold £160 in trust (£20 per man) should any relative come forward later. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "San Fiorenzo 8 March 1808" to any surviving claimants from the action.

Hardinge's successor was Captain John Bastard, who commanded ''St Fiorenzo'' until she was paid off later in 1808.

Later career and fate

''St Fiorenzo'' was then fitted out at Woolwich for service in the Baltic, under the command of Henry Matson. She took part in the Walcheren Campaign in 1809. Her crew therefore qualified for the prize money from the expedition.

''St Fiorenzo'' was then refitted as a 22-gun troopship and sent to Lisbon under Commander Edmund Knox. She was further fitted in 1812, this time to serve as a receiving ship at Woolwich, before being laid up in ordinary at Chatham. Her final service was as a lazarette at Sheerness, where she remained between 1818 and 1837. She was broken up at Deptford in September 1837, after 43 years with the Royal Navy.

Notes, citations, and references

Notes

Citations

References

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* James, William (1837) ''The Naval History of Great Britain from the Declaration of War by France in 1793 to the Accession of George IV''. (London: Richard Bentley),
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External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Fiorenzo (1794)
Age of Sail frigates of France
Ships built in France
1782 ships
Frigates of the French Navy
Fifth-rate frigates of the Royal Navy
Maritime incidents in 1794
Minerve-class frigates