George Heneage Dundas
Encyclopedia
Rear Admiral
George Heneage Lawrence Dundas CB
(8 September 1778 – 7 October 1834) was a senior naval officer and First Naval Lord
.
(created Baron Dundas in 1794) by his wife Charlotte, daughter of the third Earl Fitzwilliam
.
. Dundas was junior to Lieutenant Lord Cochrane
but Cochrane had taken command of Nelson
's prize, the Genereaux, in late 1799 to take her into port; Dundas therefore became 5th Lieutenant of the Queen Charlotte. One month later, early in the morning of 17 March, cries of "Fire" rang out throughout the vessel. Some hay lying under the half-deck had been set on fire by a match kept there for the signal guns. Dundas was in the forecastle where he organized fire-fighting efforts. Dundas led a party below decks where they secured the main and fore hatches and then opened the lower-deck ports and the sea cocks to flood the lower decks to prevent the fire spreading down. These efforts delayed the fire from reaching the two magazines
. Dundas continued working below decks until some middle-deck guns fell through the deck. At about 9am Dundas climbed out the foremost lower-deck port and climbed up to the forecastle, joining the about 150 men there who were throwing water on the fire. Despite the crew's exertions, the Queen Charlotte eventually blew up with the loss of 673 people out of its complement of 840 officers, men and boys, including the Captain and her first Lieutenant. Dundas survived, and was promoted to Commander the following December.
, where she joined a French privateer brig. On the night of the 27 October, Francis Beaufort
, inventor of the Beaufort Wind-Scale
, led Phaeton's boats on a cutting out expedition. The boarding party suffered one man killed and three wounded, including Beaufort who received, but survived, 19 wounds. The boarding party succeeded in securing the polacca. The captured ship was the San José, alias Aglies, of 14 guns and was a packet carrying provisions between Malaga
and Velilla
. The British immediately commissioned San José as a British sloop-of-war
under the name of Calpe
, the ancient name of Gibraltar. Although it would have been usual to promote Beaufort, the successful and heroic leader of the expedition, to command Calpe, Lord Keith chose instead to promote Dundas who not only was not present at the battle, but was junior to Beaufort.
In July 1801 as a commander he was captain of Calpe at the Battle of Algeciras Bay
. After Hannibal grounded, Dundas, deceived by a signal from her, sent his boats to save Hannibals crew. The French detained the boats and their crews, including Calpes lieutenant, Thomas Sykes; after firing several broadsides at the enemy's shipping and batteries, Dundas and Calpe returned to Gibraltar.
On 8 July a squadron of five Spanish ships-of-the-line, a French 74, three frigates and a large number of gunboats reinforced the French ships. The British ships at Gibraltar followed the Franco-Spanish fleet when it sailed on 12 July. In the subsequent second phase of the Battle of Algeciras Bay, the two First Rates
Real Carlos and Hermenegildo fired upon each other during the night, caught fire and exploded, with tremendous loss of life. The British captured the Third Rate
St Antoine, with Superb
and Calpe then assisting in securing the prize and removing the prisoners. Rear Adm. James Saumarez made Dundas Post-captain
on 9 August and he took command of St Antoine, which he sailed back to England.
, Dundas apparently held no command until February 1805 when he was appointed to the 32-gun Active class frigate Quebec. Eleven months later he removed to Euryalus
.
Euryalus and sailed with Ocean
and other warships as escorts to a large convoy bound for Oporto, Lisbon and the Mediterranean. Towards the end of 1807 Euryalus returned to England with Niger as escort to a convoy of several thousand troops under Sir John Moore
from Gibraltar. She went into dock at Plymouth for a refit and was then stationed in the North Sea. She carried the Duke d'Angoulême
from Yarmouth to Gottenburg and escorted the Baltic convoys through the Great Belt
.
After seeing one convoy clear on 11 June 1808, she and another vessel discovered several vessels at anchor at the entrance of Nakskov
close into the shore. Dundas anchored and sent four boats from the two ships to destroy them. They burnt two large troop transports and captured a gun-vessel armed with two 18-pounders and carrying 64 men. The enemy lost seven men killed and twelve wounded, as well as many drowned; the British had one man slightly wounded.
During the same year Dundas went to Elbing
, a small port in West Prussia about 60 kilometers east of Dantzig
(now in Poland) to embark Princess Marie Josephine Louise of Savoy (the consort of Louis XVIII
), the Duc du Berry and other members of the French royal family. He took them to Carlscrona
in southern Sweden and, after re-embarking them at Gottenburg, finally to Harwich.
On July 30, 1809, a British armed force of 39,000 men landed on Walcheren
in what became the Walcheren Campaign
. Dundas and Euryalus took part in the disastrous expedition where, under the orders of Captain Lord William Stuart
in Lavinia, she joined the squadron which forced the passage of the Scheldt
between the batteries at Flushing and Cadsand on 11 August. Euryalus had no casualties although two men were killed and nine wounded in the other ships.
Later she was stationed off Cherbourg under the orders of Capt. Sir Richard King, and in November captured the French privateer lugger Etoile of 14 guns and 48 men.
In the spring of 1810 Euryalus escorted a large convoy from Spithead to Portugal and the Mediterranean and was then attached to Captain Blackwood's inshore squadron off Toulon. This consisted of Warspite
, Ajax
, Conqueror
, Euryalus and Shearwater. A strong gale from the north-west on 15 July forced the fleet to take shelter behind the Ile du Levant and drove the commander-in-chief's ship, San Josef
, as far to the east as Villefranche
.
On 20 July a division of the French fleet consisting of six ships of the line and four frigates came out from Toulon. Their aim was to enable a frigate and her convoy to escape from Bandol
where they had been forced to take refuge. Because the wind was now light and variable, Capt. Blackwood was unable to prevent the junction with the frigate and, while he was trying to concentrate his squadron, Euryalus and Shearwater were obliged to cross ahead of the French ships.
When the wind failed it seemed certain that the enemy, which still had wind, would be able to capture them. Blackwood, in the absence of the admiral, resolved to risk action.
He brought to with Conqueror and Ajax astern of him and exchanged broadsides with the enemy ships as they hauled up in succession. When the French tacked, the British line followed their example. Euryalus and Shearwater made their escape and the squadron stood a little way to the south but the French did not take advantage of their superiority. Instead, they returned to harbour. During the action, Shearwater received three broadsides from one of the French line-of-battle ships and a frigate without actually being struck.
Early in 1811 Dundas temporarily took command of the 74-gun Third Rate
Achille
until relieved by Capt. Askew Paffard Hollis, who had transferred from Standard
. He then returned to Euryalus. On 7 June 1811 the boats of Euryalus and Swallow captured the French privateer Intrepide off Corsica after a long chase. She had a crew of 58 and was armed with two 8-pounders.
Edinburgh
. In 1813 Dundas and Edinburgh were in the Mediterranean. On the morning of 5 October, Edinburgh joined Capt. Duncan of Imperieuse off Porto D'Anzo
where he and Resistance, Swallow, Eclair and Pylades had been watching a convoy for some days with the intention of attacking it.
The place was defended by two batteries mounting three heavy guns each on the mole, a tower with one gun and a battery with two guns. During the attack in the afternoon, Edinburgh supported Eclair and Pylades as they bore up against the battery to the south. After the ships opened fire, landing parties brought out the 29 vessels of the convoy, 20 of which were laden with wood for the arsenal at Toulon. All the works were blown up.
On 30 November. Edinburgh, Furieuse
and Mermaid
embarked 1,000 men of the Italian levy at Milazzo
. America
and Termagant joined them. They sailed the same evening and, accompanied by Armada
and Imperieuse, landed them at Viareggio
. Some 600 cavalry and infantry from the Livorno
garrison attacked the troops, who routed them, capturing two field pieces and a howitzer. From the prisoners they learned of the weak state of the garrison and asked to be re-embarked to be taken to Livorno. Boats of the squadron towed them off the shore in country vessels and the ships towed the whole to the Livorno roads. The troops and Marines landed on the evening of 13 December and they occupied the suburbs of the town. Some 700 cavalry and infantry attacked the marines, who opened to let the cavalry pass through them, killing all but 14 and 2 officers. Of these, the Italian levy killed all but one officer. The marines charged and routed the remainder, killing, wounding or taking prisoner between 250 and 300 men. Edinburgh had three marines wounded.
At the end of April 1814 Edinburgh and Swallow accompanied the troops as they advanced along the coast in the Gulf of Spezia. Dundas landed marines and seamen who manhandled six 18-pounders to the heights above the fortress of Santa Maria near La Spezzia. Preparations were being made to storm the fortress when the enemy showed a flag of truce and surrendered on 30 March. Edinburgh had the only casualties: one seaman killed and two wounded.
in 1815, joined the Lambeth Hunt, and was a Member of Parliament
(MP). He served as MP for Richmond in 1802, 1806, and 1812. Later, that is from 1818–20 and 1826–30, he served as an MP for Orkney and Shetland
.
Dundas rose to the most senior offices in the Royal Navy
. He served as First Naval Lord
from August to October 1834.
He died on 6 or 7 October 1834 (accounts differ), of apoplexy, at Upleatham
, Cleveland
, Yorkshire
. He had apparently never married.
Rear Admiral
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...
George Heneage Lawrence Dundas CB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
(8 September 1778 – 7 October 1834) was a senior naval officer and First Naval Lord
First Sea Lord
The First Sea Lord is the professional head of the Royal Navy and the whole Naval Service; it was formerly known as First Naval Lord. He also holds the title of Chief of Naval Staff, and is known by the abbreviations 1SL/CNS...
.
Family
He was the fifth son of Thomas DundasThomas Dundas, 1st Baron Dundas
Thomas Dundas, 1st Baron Dundas FRS , known as Sir Thomas Dundas, 2nd Baronet, from 1781 to 1794, was a powerful figure in the Kingdom of Great Britain, now remembered for commissioning the Charlotte Dundas, the world's "first practical steamboat".-Biography:Thomas was the only son of Sir Lawrence...
(created Baron Dundas in 1794) by his wife Charlotte, daughter of the third Earl Fitzwilliam
William Fitzwilliam, 3rd Earl Fitzwilliam
William FitzWilliam, 3rd Earl FitzWilliam was a British peer.He was the son of John Fitzwilliam, 2nd Earl Fitzwilliam by his wife Anne, daughter of John Stringer of Sutton cum Lound, Nottinghamshire...
.
HMS Queen Charlotte
In February 1800 George Heneage Dundas was aboard Lord Keith's flagship, HMS Queen CharlotteHMS Queen Charlotte (1790)
HMS Queen Charlotte was a 100-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 15 April 1790 at Chatham. She was built to the draught of designed by Sir Edward Hunt, though with a modified armament....
. Dundas was junior to Lieutenant Lord Cochrane
Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald
Admiral Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, 1st Marquess of Maranhão, GCB, ODM , styled Lord Cochrane between 1778 and 1831, was a senior British naval flag officer and radical politician....
but Cochrane had taken command of Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, KB was a flag officer famous for his service in the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. He was noted for his inspirational leadership and superb grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics, which resulted in a number of...
's prize, the Genereaux, in late 1799 to take her into port; Dundas therefore became 5th Lieutenant of the Queen Charlotte. One month later, early in the morning of 17 March, cries of "Fire" rang out throughout the vessel. Some hay lying under the half-deck had been set on fire by a match kept there for the signal guns. Dundas was in the forecastle where he organized fire-fighting efforts. Dundas led a party below decks where they secured the main and fore hatches and then opened the lower-deck ports and the sea cocks to flood the lower decks to prevent the fire spreading down. These efforts delayed the fire from reaching the two magazines
Magazine (artillery)
Magazine is the name for an item or place within which ammunition is stored. It is taken from the Arabic word "makahazin" meaning "warehouse".-Ammunition storage areas:...
. Dundas continued working below decks until some middle-deck guns fell through the deck. At about 9am Dundas climbed out the foremost lower-deck port and climbed up to the forecastle, joining the about 150 men there who were throwing water on the fire. Despite the crew's exertions, the Queen Charlotte eventually blew up with the loss of 673 people out of its complement of 840 officers, men and boys, including the Captain and her first Lieutenant. Dundas survived, and was promoted to Commander the following December.
HMS Calpe
On 25 October 1800 the frigate Phaeton chased a Spanish polacca to an anchorage under a battery of five heavy guns at FuengirolaFuengirola
Fuengirola, in ancient times known as Suel and then Suhayl, is a large town and municipality on the Costa del Sol in the province of Málaga, autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. It is a major tourist resort, with more than 8 km of beaches, and home to a mediæval Moorish fortress...
, where she joined a French privateer brig. On the night of the 27 October, Francis Beaufort
Francis Beaufort
Rear-Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort, FRS, FRGS was an Irish hydrographer and officer in Britain's Royal Navy...
, inventor of the Beaufort Wind-Scale
Beaufort scale
The Beaufort Scale is an empirical measure that relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea or on land. Its full name is the Beaufort Wind Force Scale.-History:...
, led Phaeton's boats on a cutting out expedition. The boarding party suffered one man killed and three wounded, including Beaufort who received, but survived, 19 wounds. The boarding party succeeded in securing the polacca. The captured ship was the San José, alias Aglies, of 14 guns and was a packet carrying provisions between Malaga
Málaga
Málaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...
and Velilla
Velilla
Velilla is a municipality located in the province of Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 138 inhabitants....
. The British immediately commissioned San José as a British sloop-of-war
Sloop-of-war
In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. As the rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above, this meant that the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all the unrated combat vessels including the...
under the name of Calpe
HMS Calpe (1800)
HMS Calpe was the former 14-gun polacca San José of the Spanish Navy, originally built in 1796 in Greece. The British captured her in 1800 and commissioned her as a sloop-of-war...
, the ancient name of Gibraltar. Although it would have been usual to promote Beaufort, the successful and heroic leader of the expedition, to command Calpe, Lord Keith chose instead to promote Dundas who not only was not present at the battle, but was junior to Beaufort.
In July 1801 as a commander he was captain of Calpe at the Battle of Algeciras Bay
Battle of Algeciras Bay
The Battle of Algeciras Bay refers to two separate battles in July 1801 between an allied French-Spanish fleet and the British near Gibraltar. In the first battle, the French drove off an attack by the larger British fleet and captured one ship of the line...
. After Hannibal grounded, Dundas, deceived by a signal from her, sent his boats to save Hannibals crew. The French detained the boats and their crews, including Calpes lieutenant, Thomas Sykes; after firing several broadsides at the enemy's shipping and batteries, Dundas and Calpe returned to Gibraltar.
On 8 July a squadron of five Spanish ships-of-the-line, a French 74, three frigates and a large number of gunboats reinforced the French ships. The British ships at Gibraltar followed the Franco-Spanish fleet when it sailed on 12 July. In the subsequent second phase of the Battle of Algeciras Bay, the two First Rates
First-rate
First rate was the designation used by the Royal Navy for its largest ships of the line. While the size and establishment of guns and men changed over the 250 years that the rating system held sway, from the early years of the eighteenth century the first rates comprised those ships mounting 100...
Real Carlos and Hermenegildo fired upon each other during the night, caught fire and exploded, with tremendous loss of life. The British captured the Third Rate
Third-rate
In the British 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 . Years of experience proved that the third rate ships embodied the best compromise between sailing ability , firepower, and cost...
St Antoine, with Superb
HMS Superb (1798)
HMS Superb was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, and the fourth vessel to bear the name. She was launched on 19 March 1798 from Northfleet, and was eventually broken up in 1826. Superb is mostly associated with Richard Goodwin Keats who commanded her as captain from 1801 until...
and Calpe then assisting in securing the prize and removing the prisoners. Rear Adm. James Saumarez made Dundas Post-captain
Post-Captain
Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy.The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from:...
on 9 August and he took command of St Antoine, which he sailed back to England.
HMS Quebec
After the peace of 1802Treaty of Amiens
The Treaty of Amiens temporarily ended hostilities between the French Republic and the United Kingdom during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was signed in the city of Amiens on 25 March 1802 , by Joseph Bonaparte and the Marquess Cornwallis as a "Definitive Treaty of Peace"...
, Dundas apparently held no command until February 1805 when he was appointed to the 32-gun Active class frigate Quebec. Eleven months later he removed to Euryalus
HMS Euryalus (1803)
HMS Euryalus was a Royal Navy Apollo Class frigate of 36 guns, which saw service in the Battle of Trafalgar and the War of 1812. During her career she was commanded by three prominent naval personalities of the Napoleonic and post-Napoleonic period, Henry Blackwood, George Heneage Dundas and...
.
HMS Euryalus
In January 1806 Dundas took command of 38-gun Apollo class frigateApollo class frigate
The Apollo-class sailing frigates were a series of twenty-seven ships that the British Admiralty commissioned be built to a 1798 design by Sir William Rule. Twenty-five served in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, two being launched too late....
Euryalus and sailed with Ocean
HMS Ocean
Six ships that were built for the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Ocean. The name Ocean entered the list from which names are selected for British ships in 1759, when the Royal Navy captured the French ship named Océan...
and other warships as escorts to a large convoy bound for Oporto, Lisbon and the Mediterranean. Towards the end of 1807 Euryalus returned to England with Niger as escort to a convoy of several thousand troops under Sir John Moore
Sir John Moore, 1st Baronet
Sir John Moore, 1st Baronet KB was a British officer of the Royal Navy during the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years War. He eventually rose to the rank of Admiral.-Childhood:...
from Gibraltar. She went into dock at Plymouth for a refit and was then stationed in the North Sea. She carried the Duke d'Angoulême
Charles X of France
Charles X was known for most of his life as the Comte d'Artois before he reigned as King of France and of Navarre from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. A younger brother to Kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported the latter in exile and eventually succeeded him...
from Yarmouth to Gottenburg and escorted the Baltic convoys through the Great Belt
Great Belt
The Great Belt is a strait between the main Danish islands of Zealand and Funen . Effectively dividing Denmark in two, the Belt was served by the Great Belt ferries from the late 19th century until the islands were connected by the Great Belt Fixed Link in 1997–98.-Geography:The Great Belt is the...
.
After seeing one convoy clear on 11 June 1808, she and another vessel discovered several vessels at anchor at the entrance of Nakskov
Nakskov
Nakskov is a town in south Denmark. It is in Lolland municipality in Region Sjælland on the western coast of the island of Lolland. The town has a population of 13,560 . To the west is Nakskov Fjord, an inlet from the Langeland Belt that runs between the islands of Lolland and Langeland...
close into the shore. Dundas anchored and sent four boats from the two ships to destroy them. They burnt two large troop transports and captured a gun-vessel armed with two 18-pounders and carrying 64 men. The enemy lost seven men killed and twelve wounded, as well as many drowned; the British had one man slightly wounded.
During the same year Dundas went to Elbing
Elblag
Elbląg is a city in northern Poland with 127,892 inhabitants . It is the capital of Elbląg County and has been assigned to the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship since 1999. Before then it was the capital of Elbląg Voivodeship and a county seat in Gdańsk Voivodeship...
, a small port in West Prussia about 60 kilometers east of Dantzig
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
(now in Poland) to embark Princess Marie Josephine Louise of Savoy (the consort of Louis XVIII
Louis XVIII of France
Louis XVIII , known as "the Unavoidable", was King of France and of Navarre from 1814 to 1824, omitting the Hundred Days in 1815...
), the Duc du Berry and other members of the French royal family. He took them to Carlscrona
Karlskrona
Karlskrona is a locality and the seat of Karlskrona Municipality, Blekinge County, Sweden with 35,212 inhabitants in 2010. It is also the capital of Blekinge County. Karlskrona is known as Sweden's only baroque city and is host to Sweden's only remaining naval base and the headquarters of the...
in southern Sweden and, after re-embarking them at Gottenburg, finally to Harwich.
On July 30, 1809, a British armed force of 39,000 men landed on Walcheren
Walcheren
thumb|right|250px|Campveer Tower in Veere, built in 1500Walcheren is a former island in the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands at the mouth of the Scheldt estuary. It lies between the Oosterschelde in the north and the Westerschelde in the south and is roughly the shape of a rhombus...
in what became the Walcheren Campaign
Walcheren Campaign
The Walcheren Campaign was an unsuccessful British expedition to the Netherlands in 1809 intended to open another front in the Austrian Empire's struggle with France during the War of the Fifth Coalition. Around 40,000 soldiers, 15,000 horses together with field artillery and two siege trains...
. Dundas and Euryalus took part in the disastrous expedition where, under the orders of Captain Lord William Stuart
Lord William Stuart
Captain Lord William Stuart , was a British naval commander and Tory politician.Stuart was the fifth son of John Stuart, 1st Marquess of Bute, son of Prime Minister John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute. His mother was the Hon. Charlotte Jane, daughter of Herbert Windsor, 2nd Viscount Windsor. He served in...
in Lavinia, she joined the squadron which forced the passage of the Scheldt
Scheldt
The Scheldt is a 350 km long river in northern France, western Belgium and the southwestern part of the Netherlands...
between the batteries at Flushing and Cadsand on 11 August. Euryalus had no casualties although two men were killed and nine wounded in the other ships.
Later she was stationed off Cherbourg under the orders of Capt. Sir Richard King, and in November captured the French privateer lugger Etoile of 14 guns and 48 men.
In the spring of 1810 Euryalus escorted a large convoy from Spithead to Portugal and the Mediterranean and was then attached to Captain Blackwood's inshore squadron off Toulon. This consisted of Warspite
HMS Warspite (1807)
HMS Warspite was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched in 1807. She served in the Napoleonic Wars and was decommissioned in 1815. After conversion to a 76-gun ship in 1817 she circumnavigated the world, visiting Australia. She was cut down to a single decker 50-gun...
, Ajax
HMS Ajax (1809)
HMS Ajax was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 2 May 1809 at Blackwall Yard.She was converted to a blockship with screw propulsion for coastal defence in 1846....
, Conqueror
HMS Conqueror (1801)
HMS Conqueror was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 23 November 1801 at Harwich. She was designed by Sir John Henslow as part of the Middling class of 74s, and was the only ship built to her draught...
, Euryalus and Shearwater. A strong gale from the north-west on 15 July forced the fleet to take shelter behind the Ile du Levant and drove the commander-in-chief's ship, San Josef
HMS San Josef
HMS San Josef was a 114-gun first rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was captured from the Spanish Navy at the Battle of Cape St Vincent on 14 February 1797...
, as far to the east as Villefranche
Villefranche-sur-Mer
Villefranche-sur-Mer is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera.-Geography:...
.
On 20 July a division of the French fleet consisting of six ships of the line and four frigates came out from Toulon. Their aim was to enable a frigate and her convoy to escape from Bandol
Bandol
Bandol is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.-References:*...
where they had been forced to take refuge. Because the wind was now light and variable, Capt. Blackwood was unable to prevent the junction with the frigate and, while he was trying to concentrate his squadron, Euryalus and Shearwater were obliged to cross ahead of the French ships.
When the wind failed it seemed certain that the enemy, which still had wind, would be able to capture them. Blackwood, in the absence of the admiral, resolved to risk action.
He brought to with Conqueror and Ajax astern of him and exchanged broadsides with the enemy ships as they hauled up in succession. When the French tacked, the British line followed their example. Euryalus and Shearwater made their escape and the squadron stood a little way to the south but the French did not take advantage of their superiority. Instead, they returned to harbour. During the action, Shearwater received three broadsides from one of the French line-of-battle ships and a frigate without actually being struck.
Early in 1811 Dundas temporarily took command of the 74-gun Third Rate
Third-rate
In the British 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 . Years of experience proved that the third rate ships embodied the best compromise between sailing ability , firepower, and cost...
Achille
HMS Achille (1798)
HMS Achille was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was built by Cleverley Bros., a private shipyard at Gravesend, and launched on 16 April 1798. Her design was based on the lines of the captured French ship...
until relieved by Capt. Askew Paffard Hollis, who had transferred from Standard
HMS Standard (1782)
HMS Standard was a 64-gun Royal Navy third-rate ship of the line, launched on 8 October 1782 at Deptford. She was the last of the 15 Intrepid class vessels, which were built to a design by John Williams.-Early career:...
. He then returned to Euryalus. On 7 June 1811 the boats of Euryalus and Swallow captured the French privateer Intrepide off Corsica after a long chase. She had a crew of 58 and was armed with two 8-pounders.
HMS Edinburgh
In October 1812 Dundas transferred to the 74-gun Third RateThird-rate
In the British 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 . Years of experience proved that the third rate ships embodied the best compromise between sailing ability , firepower, and cost...
Edinburgh
HMS Edinburgh (1811)
HMS Edinburgh was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 26 November 1811 at Rotherhithe.Between 1837 and 1841 she served in the Mediterranean, including operations off the coast of Syria and Lebanon in the Syrian War. In 1846 she was taken in hand at Portsmouth...
. In 1813 Dundas and Edinburgh were in the Mediterranean. On the morning of 5 October, Edinburgh joined Capt. Duncan of Imperieuse off Porto D'Anzo
Anzio
Anzio is a city and comune on the coast of the Lazio region of Italy, about south of Rome.Well known for its seaside harbour setting, it is a fishing port and a departure point for ferries and hydroplanes to the Pontine Islands of Ponza, Palmarola and Ventotene...
where he and Resistance, Swallow, Eclair and Pylades had been watching a convoy for some days with the intention of attacking it.
The place was defended by two batteries mounting three heavy guns each on the mole, a tower with one gun and a battery with two guns. During the attack in the afternoon, Edinburgh supported Eclair and Pylades as they bore up against the battery to the south. After the ships opened fire, landing parties brought out the 29 vessels of the convoy, 20 of which were laden with wood for the arsenal at Toulon. All the works were blown up.
On 30 November. Edinburgh, Furieuse
HMS Furieuse (1809)
Furieuse was a 38-gun frigate of the French Navy. She was captured by the Royal Navy in 1809 and taken into servive as the fifth rate HMS Furieuse.-French career and capture:...
and Mermaid
HMS Mermaid (1782)
HMS Mermaid was a 32-gun Active-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy .-Design and construction:Mermaid was one of the eight ship Active class, designed by Edward Hunt. She was initially ordered from the shipwright George White, of Woolwich Dockyard Shipwright on 27 August 1778, and laid down...
embarked 1,000 men of the Italian levy at Milazzo
Milazzo
Milazzo is a town and comune in the province of Messina, Sicily, Italy.The city is situated between two bays, one of Milazzo and the east to the west of Patti, in a strategic place in the north-eastern Sicily.Located 43 km from the provincial capital, is part of the metropolitan area of the Strait...
. America
HMS America (1810)
HMS America was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 21 April 1810 at Blackwall Yard.In 1827 America was cut down into a fourth rate, and was broken up in 1867....
and Termagant joined them. They sailed the same evening and, accompanied by Armada
HMS Armada (1810)
HMS Armada was a Royal Navy 74-gun third-rate ship of the line. She was launched on 23 March 1810 by Mrs Pridham, the wife of the Mayor of Plymouth, Mr Joseph Pridham. After a relatively undistinguished career, Armada was sold out of the Navy in 1863 and broken up at Marshall's ship breaking yard...
and Imperieuse, landed them at Viareggio
Viareggio
Viareggio is a city and comune located in northern Tuscany, Italy, on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. With a population of over 64,000 it is the main centre of the northern Tuscan Riviera known as Versilia, and the second largest city within the Province of Lucca.It is known as a seaside resort...
. Some 600 cavalry and infantry from the Livorno
Livorno
Livorno , traditionally Leghorn , is a port city on the Tyrrhenian Sea on the western edge of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of approximately 160,000 residents in 2009.- History :...
garrison attacked the troops, who routed them, capturing two field pieces and a howitzer. From the prisoners they learned of the weak state of the garrison and asked to be re-embarked to be taken to Livorno. Boats of the squadron towed them off the shore in country vessels and the ships towed the whole to the Livorno roads. The troops and Marines landed on the evening of 13 December and they occupied the suburbs of the town. Some 700 cavalry and infantry attacked the marines, who opened to let the cavalry pass through them, killing all but 14 and 2 officers. Of these, the Italian levy killed all but one officer. The marines charged and routed the remainder, killing, wounding or taking prisoner between 250 and 300 men. Edinburgh had three marines wounded.
At the end of April 1814 Edinburgh and Swallow accompanied the troops as they advanced along the coast in the Gulf of Spezia. Dundas landed marines and seamen who manhandled six 18-pounders to the heights above the fortress of Santa Maria near La Spezzia. Preparations were being made to storm the fortress when the enemy showed a flag of truce and surrendered on 30 March. Edinburgh had the only casualties: one seaman killed and two wounded.
Post-war
At the end of the war, Dundas left the Edinburgh at Genoa and traveled overland back to Britain. He became a Companion of the BathOrder of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
in 1815, joined the Lambeth Hunt, and was a Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP). He served as MP for Richmond in 1802, 1806, and 1812. Later, that is from 1818–20 and 1826–30, he served as an MP for Orkney and Shetland
Orkney and Shetland (UK Parliament constituency)
Orkney and Shetland is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
.
Dundas rose to the most senior offices in the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. He served as First Naval Lord
First Sea Lord
The First Sea Lord is the professional head of the Royal Navy and the whole Naval Service; it was formerly known as First Naval Lord. He also holds the title of Chief of Naval Staff, and is known by the abbreviations 1SL/CNS...
from August to October 1834.
He died on 6 or 7 October 1834 (accounts differ), of apoplexy, at Upleatham
Upleatham
Upleatham is a village in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland and the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England.It has a small church, believed by some to be the smallest in the world. The village is located near New Marske, between Saltburn and Guisborough; there are a few rows of houses which...
, Cleveland
Cleveland, England
Cleveland is an area in the north east of England. Its name means literally "cliff-land", referring to its hilly southern areas, which rise to nearly...
, Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
. He had apparently never married.