Sir Henry Hope KCB (10 May 1787 – 23 September 1863) was an English officer 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 ...

whose distinguished service in the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

and the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

earned him acclaim. As captain of HMS ''Endymion'', he was involved in the action on 14 January 1815 which ended in the capture of the American warship USS ''President''.

Early years

Hope was the eldest son of Charles Hope, the grandson of Charles Hope-Vere, and the nephew of the army officer

Henry Hope Henry Hope (1735–1811) was an Amsterdam merchant banker born in Braintree, Massachusetts. He emigrated to the Netherlands to join the family business Hope & Co. at a young age. From 1779, Henry became the manager of Hope & Co. and he participa ...

who became lieutenant-governor of the

Province of Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirteen p ...

. On 2 April 1798, he joined the yacht on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

as a 3rd Class volunteer. In May 1800, he transferred as a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...

to the 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 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 ...

, which was under the command of his cousin, Captain

William Johnstone Hope Vice Admiral Sir William Johnstone Hope, GCB (16 August 1766 – 2 May 1831) was a prominent and controversial British Royal Navy officer and politician in late eighteenth and early nineteenth century Britain, whose career experienced fleet ...

. ''Kent'' took Lieutenant-General Sir Ralph Abercrombie to Egypt where he commanded the British campaign to dislodge the

French invasion of Egypt The French campaign in Egypt and Syria (1798–1801) was Napoleon Bonaparte's campaign in the Ottoman territories of Egypt and Syria, proclaimed to defend French trade interests, to establish scientific enterprise in the region. It was the ...

. She then served in blockade of

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 ...

. Hope transferred to , another 74-gun third rate. Whilst ''Swiftsure'' was at sea, her captain, Benjamin Hallowell, learnt that a French squadron under Admiral

Ganteaume Ganteaume is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Andy Ganteaume (1921–2016), Trinidadian cricketer *Honoré Joseph Antoine Ganteaume (1755–1818), French Navy officer **Ganteaume's expeditions of 1801 Ganteaume's expedition ...

had put to sea. Hallowell decided to return to reinforce Sir John Warren's squadron, but on 24 June 1801 ''Swiftsure'' encountered Ganteaume's force, which quickly overtook the damaged, slow, and undermanned ''Swiftsure''. The French force consisted of four ships of the line and a frigate. The '' Indivisible'' and '' Dix-Août'' succeeded in shooting away ''Swiftsure''s yards and masts, forcing her to surrender. Two men were killed, two were mortally wounded, and another six were wounded aboard ''Swiftsure'', whilst the French lost 33 killed and wounded. Hope was taken prisoner. (The French Navy took ''Swiftsure'' into service under her existing name.) Hope was freed in September and joined the frigate , which was under the command of Captain

George Johnstone Hope Rear-Admiral Sir George Johnstone Hope, KCB, KSO (6 July 1767 – 2 May 1818) was a British naval officer, who served with distinction in the Royal Navy throughout the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, including service at the Battle of ...

. He continued to serve on ''Leda'' in the Mediterranean and the Home station under Captains John (or James) Hardy and Robert Honyman (or Honeyman). In June 1803 Hope left ''Leda'' and transferred to the 74-gun third rates and later the under captains George Johnstone Hope and William Johnstone Hope.

Commissioned officer

Henry Hope was appointed

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

on 3 May 1804. He then joined Captain

George Burlton Rear-Admiral Sir George Burlton KCB (died 21 September 1815) was an officer of the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. Naval career Burlton was commissioned as a Lieutenant on 15 September 1777David Bonner Smith, The Commissioned Sea Offic ...

in the 50-gun fourth rate , which had just spent a year undergoing refitting. Hope then sailed with Captain Ross Donnelly on the 32-gun frigate . He was with ''Narcissus'' when the British re-occupied the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

on 16 January 1806. Hope was promoted to

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

on 22 January 1806 and was appointed to command the . He served on her until January 1808. Hope then served under Captain Thomas Seccombe aboard the 56-gun . In January 1808 ''Glatton'' and the brig-sloop had received information that the French had captured four Sicilian gunboats and taken them into

Scylla In Greek mythology, Scylla), is obsolete. ( ; grc-gre, Σκύλλα, Skúlla, ) is a legendary monster who lives on one side of a narrow channel of water, opposite her counterpart Charybdis. The two sides of the strait are within an arrow's r ...

, near Reggio,

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

.Hepper (1994), p.122. On 31 January 1808, as ''Delight'' approached the port, a strong current pushed her towards the shore and she grounded. Seccombe went on board ''Delight'' to supervise the recovery effort. As they were trying to free ''Delight'', her boats and those of ''Glatton'' came under intense fire from the shore. They were unsuccessful in freeing ''Delight'', and ''Delight''s captain, Commander Phillip Crosby Handfield, late of , and many of his crew were killed. Although the crew took to the boats, not all were able to escape and a number of the men on her, including Seccombe, became

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

. ''Glatton'' came under the command of Commander Henry Hope (acting) until March 1808.Winfield (2008) On 22 May 1808 Hope was made post captain. He took command of the 36-gun fifth rate frigate on 17 November. Next, Hope took command of the 32-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 ...

on 4 May 1809. In October 1809, a squadron under Rear-Admiral

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the B ...

, of Cuthbert Collingwood's fleet, chased an enemy convoy off the south of France. They succeeded in driving two of the three escorting ships of the line, and , ashore near Frontignan, where their crews burnt them after dismantling them and stripping them of all usable material. The crews of the third ship of the line, , and the frigate ''Pauline'' escaped into

Sète Sète (; oc, Seta, ), also historically spelt ''Cette'' (official until 1928) and ''Sette'', is a commune in the Hérault department, in the region of Occitania, southern France. Its inhabitants are called ''Sétois'' (male) and ''Sétoises' ...

.James (1837), Vol. 5, pp.143-4. The transports that had been part of the convoy, including the armed storeship ''Lamproie'', of 18 guns, two bombards (''Victoire'' and ''Grondeur''), and the xebec ''Normande'', sailed into the Bay of Rosas where they hoped that the castle of Rosas, Fort Trinidad and several shore batteries would protect them. On 30 October ''Topaze'', and other ships sent in their boats. By the following morning the British had accounted for all eleven vessels in the bay, burning those they did not bring out. Some of the British boats took heavy casualties; ''Topaze'' lost four men killed and eight men wounded. On 21 June 1810, the boats of and ''Topaze'' captured two vessels in the bay of Martino in Corsica.This may be San-Martino-di-Lota, near Bastia. A landing party captured a battery of three guns that protected the entrance to the bay. They were able to capture and render the guns unserviceable, and kill or wound a number of the garrison. The British lost one man killed and two wounded in the action. On 24 August ''Topaze'' captured the ''Centinelle''. ''Topaze'' was also involved in the Battle of Fuengirola in October 1810. In 1811 Captain Hope took command of , a ''Perseverance''-class fifth-rate frigate of a nominal 36 guns. On 29 June 1811 she captured the

slave ship Slave ships were large cargo ships specially built or converted from the 17th to the 19th century for transporting slaves. Such ships were also known as "Guineamen" because the trade involved human trafficking to and from the Guinea coast ...

''Expedition'' off Mauritius. On 21 April 1812, ''Salsette'' captured the French privateer ''Comète'' in the Mediterranean. She carried two 18-pounder guns and had a crew of 45 men. Then on 14 October 1812 ''Salsette'' captured the three-masted lugger ''Mercure'' off the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

.Ouseley reports that she was the former ''Marie Louise'' of Cherbourg. This vessel carried 16 guns and had a crew of 70, and ''Salsette'' took her into Portsmouth.

War of 1812

Captain Hope took command of on 13 May 1813. ''Endymion'' was a 40-gun fifth rate frigate that was being fitted out at Plymouth to counter the American 44-gun frigates, which had made an impact during the early engagements during the

. Hope then sailed ''Endymion'' to the Halifax station. On 7 March 1814, ''Endymion'', and captured the American

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

''Mars'', which was armed with 15 guns and had a crew of 70 men. In August 1814, together with ''Armide'', ''Endymion'' captured the American privateer ''Herald'', of 17 guns and 100 men. In late 1814, ''Endymion'' joined the blockading-squadron off

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. On 11 October 1814 ''Endymion's'' boats attempted to capture the notorious American privateer ''

Prince de Neufchatel The ''Prince de Neufchatel'' was a fast sailing United States schooner-rigged privateer, built in New York by Adam and Noah Brown in approximately 1812. She is a fine example of the peak of development of the armed schooner. ''Neufchatel'' operat ...

'', but were unsuccessful. Becalmed on the south side of

Nantucket Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachuse ...

, the ''Prince de Neufchatel'' appeared vulnerable. Captain Henry Hope thereupon sent 111 men in five boats to cut out the privateer, which was defended by 40 Americans. After 20 minutes of savage fighting British casualties amounted to 28 killed, 37 wounded, and 28 taken prisoner. The Americans reported losing 7 men killed and 24 wounded.

Capture of USS ''President''

On 14 January 1815, , under the command of Commodore

Stephen Decatur Stephen Decatur Jr. (; January 5, 1779 – March 22, 1820) was an American naval officer and commodore. He was born on the eastern shore of Maryland in Worcester County. His father, Stephen Decatur Sr., was a commodore in the Unite ...

, left

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 ...

. She then fell in with the British blockading squadron, consisting of the

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 ...

(56 guns, Captain John Hayes), and the frigates ''Endymion'' (Captain Henry Hope), ''Pomone'' (38 guns, Captain John Richard Lumley), and (38 guns, Captain Hyde Parker). Immediately, the British squadron gave chase with ''Majestic'' leading. At noon, ''Endymion'', being the much better sailer, overhauled her squadron and left them behind. At 2 pm she gained on the ''President'' and shortly afterwards both ships exchanged

broadside Broadside or broadsides may refer to: Naval * Broadside (naval), terminology for the side of a ship, the battery of cannon on one side of a warship, or their near simultaneous fire on naval warfare Printing and literature * Broadside (comic ...

s, with ''President'' still trying to escape. ''Endymion'' was able to rake ''President'' three times and did considerable damage to her; by contrast, ''President'' primarily directed her fire at ''Endymion's''

rigging Rigging comprises the system of ropes, cables and chains, which support a sailing ship or sail boat's masts—''standing rigging'', including shrouds and stays—and which adjust the position of the vessel's sails and spars to which they are ...

in order to slow her down. At 7.58pm, ''President'' struck, hoisting a light in her rigging to signify her surrender. ''Endymion'' hove to and commenced repairs to her rigging. Captain Hope was unable to take immediate possession of his prize as he had no boats available that would "swim". Seeing ''Endymion'' hove to, Decatur attempted to escape, making sail at 8.30pm and running downwind. ''Endymion'' completed her hasty repairs and got under way at 9.05pm. In the meantime both ''Pomone'' and ''Tenedos'' were closing on ''President'' and by 9.05pm, ''Pomone'' had caught up, firing two broadsides at ''President'', after which Decatur once again indicated his surrender. According to British accounts, ''President'' had lost 35 men killed and 70 wounded, including Decatur. American sources give their losses as 24 killed and 55 wounded. ''Endymion'' had 11 killed and 14 wounded. Following the arrival of ''Endymion'' and the ''President'' in Bermuda, Captain Henry Hope was presented with a silver plate in honour of his success. Soon after Hope presented his officers with silver crooks that were probably made from that plate. The design of a crook was a play on the name ''Endymion'', which had been named after a shepherd of Classical legend. These silver crooks have been named as the Midshipman's Badge, however they were given to the Endymion's 24 officers rather than the

. On 15 January 1815 Hope was made a Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

for his role in the capture of ''President''. ''Endymion'' and ''President'' arrived at

Spithead Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds except those from the southeast. It receives its name from the Spit, a sandbank stretching south from the Hampshire ...

on 28 March 1815. In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the issue to any still surviving crew from ''Endymion'' of the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Endymion wh. President".

Personal life

On 21 July 1828 Hope married Jane Sophia Sawyer, the youngest daughter of Admiral Sir Herbert Sawyer. She died in 1829.

Later career

Henry Hope was named to be an Extra Naval Aide-de-Camp to His Majesty, on 5 September 1831, and he was named to be a Naval Aide-de-Camp to His Majesty on 9 November 1846. He was appointed rear-admiral on 9 November 1846, vice-admiral on 2 April 1853, and

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

on 20 January 1858.

References

;Footnotes ;Citations ;See Also * ;Sources *Ellis, James H. (2009) ''A Ruinous and Unhappy War: New England and the War of 1812''. (New York: Algora Publishing). *Gardiner, Robert (2006) ''Frigates of the Napoleonic Wars''. (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press). *Grocott, Terence (1997) ''Shipwrecks of the revolutionary & Napoleonic eras''. (London: Chatham). *Hepper, David J. (1994) ''British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650-1859''. (Rotherfield: Jean Boudriot). *Norman, Charles Boswell (1887) ''The Corsairs of France''. (London:S. Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington) *Ouseley, William (1823) ''Travels in various countries of the East, more particularly Persia''. (London:Rodwell and Martin). * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hope, Henry 1787 births 1863 deaths Royal Navy admirals Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Royal Navy personnel of the War of 1812 Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath