HMS ''Santa Dorothea'' 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 ...

34-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 ...

. This

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 ...

had previously served in the

Spanish Navy The Spanish Navy or officially, the Armada, is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation, ...

under the name ''Santa Dorotea''. Built in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

in 1775, she served during the early years of 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 ...

until being captured while sailing as part of a squadron off Cartagena. Taken into British service, she spent the rest of the French Revolutionary and most of 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 ...

under the

white ensign The White Ensign, at one time called the St George's Ensign due to the simultaneous existence of a cross-less version of the flag, is an ensign worn on British Royal Navy ships and shore establishments. It consists of a red St George's Cross on ...

, until being broken up in 1814.

Spanish career and capture

''Santa Dorotea'' was built in Ferrol in 1775. In 1798 she was assigned to a small frigate squadron under Commodore Don

Felix O'Neil Felix may refer to: * Felix (name), people and fictional characters with the name Places * Arabia Felix is the ancient Latin name of Yemen * Felix, Spain, a municipality of the province Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, ...

and departed Cartagena in company with the frigates ''Pomona'', ''Proserpine'' and ''Santa Cazilda'' on 8 July. ''Santa Dorotea''s captain for the expedition was Don Manuel Gerraro. Their attempts to raid shipping in the area were unsuccessful, and while returning to port at 09:00 on 15 July, the 64-gun HMS ''Lion'', under Captain

Manley Dixon Admiral Sir Manley Dixon, KCB (3 January 1757; 8 February 1837) was a prominent Royal Navy officer during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Born into a military family in the late 1750s or early 1760s, Dixon joined the Navy an ...

, spotted them.James, p. 225 Dixon approached the squadron, closing on ''Santa Dorotea'', which had begun to fall behind her consorts, having lost a topmast sometime earlier. Realizing that Manley was attempting to cut off and engage ''Santa Dorotea'', O'Neil ordered the front three frigates to turn around and sail to her defence. They passed close to ''Lion'', commencing fire at 11:15. ''Lion'' replied, and O'Neil made two further attempts to distract ''Lion'', while ''Santa Dorotea'' tried to damage her pursuer with her stern guns. The Spanish broadsides had no real effect, and Dixon was able to come alongside and exchange broadsides with ''Santa Dorotea''.Gardiner, p. 54 ''Lion'' outgunned ''Santa Dorotea'' by nearly two to one and was able rapidly to inflict severe damage on her. Within minutes her mizzenmast had fallen and her mainmast and rudder were severely battered.James, p. 226 O'Neil gave up attempting to relieve the beleaguered ''Santa Dorotea'' and made for Cartagena at 13:10.Clowes, p. 512 Isolated and unable to escape, Gerraro surrendered. ''Santa Dorotea'' had been badly damaged with at least 20 men killed and 32 wounded from a crew of 371. ''Lion'' had lost just two men wounded in the exchange: a seaman lost a leg and 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 ...

was shot in the shoulder. Although ''Lion's'' rigging had been badly torn, there was no structural damage at all. Securing his prize, Dixon spent the next day conducting extensive repairs before sending ''Santa Dorotea'' to Earl St Vincent off Cadiz.Clowes, p. 560 One of the Spanish prisoners taken was the future

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

general

José de San Martín José Francisco de San Martín y Matorras (25 February 177817 August 1850), known simply as José de San Martín () or '' the Liberator of Argentina, Chile and Peru'', was an Argentine general and the primary leader of the southern and cent ...

, who at the time was a staff member on ''Santa Dorothea''. In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the issuance of the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "LION 15 JULY 1798" to the remaining British survivors of the action.

British career

''Santa Dorothea'' was registered on 25 December 1798 and commissioned for service that month in the Mediterranean under Captain

Hugh Downman Hugh Downman (c. 1765 – 4 January 1858) was an officer of the Royal Navy who saw service during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, eventually rising to the rank of admiral. Downman spent mos ...

. On 28 November that year ''Santa Dorothea'', operating in company with , and captured the 16-gun Spanish naval brig ''San Leon'' on the

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

station. She was armed with sixteen 6-pounder guns and had a crew of 82 men. Captain William Brown was to have succeeded Downman in 1799, but he was given another ship instead, and Downman retained ''Santa Dorothea''. He cut out vessels from Bordiguera on 11 January 1800 and Hospitallier on 11 February 1800, before taking command of a three-vessel squadron blockading

Savona Savona (; lij, Sann-a ) is a seaport and ''comune'' in the west part of the northern Italy, Italian region of Liguria, capital of the Province of Savona, in the Riviera di Ponente on the Mediterranean Sea. Savona used to be one of the chie ...

.''The Gentleman's Magazine'', p. 220. (The other two vessels were the sloop , and the Neapolitan brig ''Strombolo''.) The town surrendered after 41 days, on 15 May. Downman then destroyed all the fortifications on the

Gulf of Spezia The Gulf of La Spezia (Italian: ''Golfo della Spezia'' or ''Golfo dei poeti'') is a body of water on the north-western coast of Italy and part of the northern Tyrrhenian Sea, specifically of Ligurian Sea. It measures some 4.5 (length) by 3-3.5 (wi ...

. He went on to land the

Duke of Savoy The titles of count, then of duke of Savoy are titles of nobility attached to the historical territory of Savoy. Since its creation, in the 11th century, the county was held by the House of Savoy. The County of Savoy was elevated to a Duchy of Sav ...

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and evacuated the gallery of

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

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, ahead of the invading French. In July 1800 he conveyed troops to Egypt and received the

Order of the Crescent The Imperial Order of the Crescent ( ota, نشانِ خلال) was a chivalric order of the Ottoman Empire. History The order was instituted in 1799 by Sultan Selim III when he wished to reward Horatio Nelson, an Anglican Christian, for his vi ...

. Also during this time Downman captured three vessels sailing from Egypt carrying General Dessaix and some of

Napoleon's Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

staff. Because ''Santa Dorothea'' 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 ...

authorised in 1850 to all surviving claimants.

Fate

Captain

Jahleel Brenton Vice-admiral (Royal Navy), Vice Admiral Sir Jahleel Brenton, 1st Baronet, Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, KCB (22 August 1770 – 21 April 1844) was a British officer in the Royal Navy who served during the French Revolutionary Wars, F ...

took command in 1802, and took ''Santa Dorothea'' back to England, arriving at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

on 30 April. She was laid up there

in ordinary ''In ordinary'' is an English phrase with multiple meanings. In relation to the Royal Household, it indicates that a position is a permanent one. In naval matters, vessels "in ordinary" (from the 17th century) are those out of service for repair o ...

, moving to

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 ...

, still in ordinary, between 1807 and 1813. She was broken up at Portsmouth in June 1814.

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