HMS ''Termagant'' was an 18-gun
sloop
A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...
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 ...
. She was launched in 1796 and sold in 1819.
Career
''Termagant'' performed convoy duty during the
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...
, shuttling between
The Nore
The Nore is a long bank of sand and silt running along the south-centre of the final narrowing of the Thames Estuary, England. Its south-west is the very narrow Nore Sand. Just short of the Nore's easternmost point where it fades into the cha ...
and
Riga
Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...
under Commander David Lloyd in mid-1797 in the company of .
On 28 December 1797 ''Termagant'' was four
leagues off
Spurn Head
Spurn is a narrow sand tidal island located off the tip of the coast of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England that reaches into the North Sea and forms the north bank of the mouth of the Humber Estuary. It was a spit with a semi-permanent co ...
when she sighted and gave chase to a French privateer. After four hours ''Termagant'' succeeded in capturing the schooner ''Victoire'', of 14 guns and 74 men. She had been out ten days during which time she had captured two
colliers; she had been in pursuit of a British merchantman when ''Termagant'' first sighted her. The Royal Navy took ''Victoire'' into service as .
On 1 September 1800, ''Termagant'', Captain Skipsey, captured the French Navy
polacca
A polacca (or ''polacre'') is a type of seventeenth- to nineteenth-century sailing vessel, similar to the xebec. The name is the feminine of "Polish" in the Italian language. The polacca was frequently seen in the Mediterranean. It had two or th ...
''Capricieuse'' some 30
leagues west of Corsica after a two-hour chase. ''Capricieuse'' was armed with six guns and had a crew of 68 men under the command of ''enseigne de vaisseau'' Gandserrand. She was three days out of Toulon and was sailing to Egypt with 350 stands of arms, shot, a French general, and a ''Chef de Bataillon''. She was also carrying dispatches, which however she was able to destroy before the British boarded her.
[
Three days later and some 10 leagues away, ''Termagant'' captured the privateer ''General Holtz'', of two guns and 26 men. Skipsey scuttled and sank the privateer.]xebec
A xebec ( or ), also spelled zebec, was a Mediterranean sailing ship that was used mostly for trading. Xebecs had a long overhanging bowsprit and aft-set mizzen mast. The term can also refer to a small, fast vessel of the sixteenth to nineteenth ...
''Guerrier''. ''Guerrier'' was sailing from Toulon to Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
, Egypt, with a cargo of arms and ammunition.
Because ''Termagant'' served in the navy's Egyptian campaign (8 March to 2 September 1801), her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal that 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 ...
authorized in 1850 to all surviving claimants.
In May 1812, ''Termagant'', Captain Gawen William Rowan-Hamilton, , and , supported Spanish guerrillas on the coast of Granada
Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...
. ''Termagant'' destroyed the castle at Nerja
Nerja () is a municipality on the Costa del Sol in the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. It is part of the comarca of La Axarquía. It is on the country's southern Mediterranean coast, about 50 k ...
on 20 May. The British squadron then supported a guerrilla offensive against Almuñécar
Almuñécar () is a Spanish city and municipality located in the southwestern part of the comarca of the Costa Granadina, in the province of Granada. It is located on the shores of the Mediterranean sea and borders the Granadin municipalities of O ...
. On 24 May with ''Hyacinth'' and ''Basilisk'', ''Termagant'' took a French privateer of two guns and 30 or 40 men under the castle. The British squadron bombarded the castle, breaching the walls. The French then retreated to Grenada. ''Termagant''s only casualty was one man wounded. Prize money for the "capture of a brass gun and the destruction of a French privateer, name unknown" was payable in March 1836.
Fate
On 3 February 1819 the "Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy" offered "Termagant, of 28 guns and 427 tons", "lying at Chatham" for sale.
Notes
Citations
References
* Fonds Marine. Campagnes (opérations; divisions et stations navales; missions diverses). Inventaire de la sous-série Marine BB4. Tome premier : BB4 1 à 209 (1790-1804
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Termagant (1796)
1796 ships
Ships built in Deptford
Sloops of the Royal Navy
Sixth rates of the Royal Navy