.gif)
HMS Argo (1781)
Encyclopedia
HMS Argo was a 44-gun fifth-rate
Roebuck-class ship
of the Royal Navy
. She was launched in 1781 from Howdon Dock. She was the largest vessel that had been launched on the River Tyne. After having served for 36 hours under the French flag, she returned to British service, distinguishing herself in the French Revolutionary Wars when she captured several prizes, though she did not participate in any major actions. She also served in the Napoleonic Wars. She was sold in 1816.
and the sloop-of-war
Alligator off the Dutch Gold Coast
. Britain was at war with The Netherlands and before Argo arrived Shirley captured the small Dutch forts at Mouri (Fort Nassau - 20 guns), Kormantin (Courmantyne or Fort Amsterdam - 32 guns), Apam
(Fort Lijdzaamheid
or Fort Patience - 22 guns), Senya Beraku (Berku or Fort Barracco - 18 guns), and Accra
(Fort Creve Cour - 32 guns). Argo provided a landing party of 50 men that assisted Governor Mills to take the Fort at Komenda
.
and so sailing with only 26 guns mounted. Dauphin had a cargo of military stores and provisions, some brass cannons and mortars, and two hundred soldiers, all bound for Martinique.
Governor Thomas Shirley of the Leeward Islands had Argo carry him to Tortola where he had official business. Argo stayed there three weeks until Shirley was ready to return to Antigua. The French found out about and sent the French 36-gun frigate Nymphe and the 32-gun Amphitrite to intercept him.
On 16 February 1783, Argo and the two French frigates met. After a five hour action they captured her. Not only did they outgun Argo, but the sea was so rough that she could not open her lower ports. Argo had lost 13 men killed and had suffered a number of wounded, as well as having suffered damage to her masts and rigging. Governor Shirley had stayed on deck throughout the engagement.
About 36 hours later, the 74-gun third rate was coming from Jamaica when she encountered the two French frigates and their prize, Argo. The frigates fled, leaving Invincible to recapture Argo. Captain J. Douglas briefly took command.
After a court martial acquitted her officers, Admiral Sir Hugh Pigot reappointed them. Then Captain J. Douglas briefly took command. She returned to England after the Peace of Paris (1783)
and was paid off in April 1784.
Argo underwent repairs at Sheerness between July 1785 and October 1786. She then was fitted as a troopship at Chatham from about June 1790 to April 1791. She was recommissioned in February 1791 under Commander Sandford Tatham, who sailed her for Halifax
on 11 May. Argo was paid off in June 1792.
Captain John Stevens Hall took command of Argo in June 1796. In March 1798 Captain James Bowen took over command of Argo. On 5 May she encountered Captain Sir Sidney Smith, who was in an open boat in the Channel, having escaped via Havre de Grace from "the Temple" in Paris. Argo sailed for the Mediterranean in October 1798.
In the Mediterranean Argo served with Commodore Duckworth
. In November Argo participated in the reduction of Minorca
. Argo supported the landing of British troops. When four or five Spanish vessels were spotted, the British squadron sailed to catch them. The Spaniards consisted of four frigates and a sloop. The four Spanish frigates - the Flora, Casilda, Proserpine and Pomona - had been on their way from Barcelona to Mahon with the payroll of eight million reales for the troops there when they encountered sloop-of-war
and captured her on 12 November. The Spanish frigates escaped their pursuers and sailed back to Cartagena, Spain
.
Duckworth detached Argo to pursue the sloop and on 13 November she retook Peterel and her 72-man Spanish prize crew under the command of Don Antonio Franco Gandrada, Second Captain of Flora. Bownen put his own prize crew of 46 officers seamen and marines aboard.
On 29 September Argo captured the Nostra Seniora de la Aldea. On 22 November Argo captured the Spanish ship Virgin Solidad at sea. The Virgin Solidad was carrying a cargo of rags to Barcelona. At some point Argo also captured the Madona del Rosario.
On 6 February 1799, Argo and surprised two Spanish frigates at anchor near the south point of the Bahia de Alcudia on Majorca. The Spanish set sail with the British in pursuit. A violent westerly gale came up that took away Leviathans main top-sail. After dark the Spanish frigates separated but Leviathan had fallen behind and saw neither the separation nor Argos signal that she chase the one to port. Leviathan had nearly caught up with Argo when Argo got alongside the Santa Theresa about midnight. Argo fired a broadside that wounded two men and badly damaged Santa Theresas rigging. At this point the Spaniard surrendered. She was of upwards of 950 tons burthen, carrying 42 guns plus coehorns and swivel guns. In addition to her crew of 280 seamen and marines under the command of Don Pablo Perez, she had 250 soldiers on board. Santa Theresa had recently been completely refurbished and provisioned for a four-month cruise. Her consort Proserpine, which had escaped, though smaller, was equally well-armed.
Then on 16 February , Argo and Leviathan attacked the town of Cambrelles
. Once the defenders had abandoned their battery, the boats went in. The British dismounted the guns, burnt five settees and brought out another five settees or tartans laden with wine and wheat. One tartan, the Velon Maria, was a letter of marque
, armed with one brass and two iron 12-pounders and two 3-pounders. She had a crew of 14 men.
In May Argo sailed to Algiers
to arrange with the Dey
for a supply of fresh provisions for the British forces in Minorca. While there Bowen achieved the release of six British subjects that the Algerians had held as slaves for more than 14 years.
On 6 August Argo captured the Spanish sloop Infanta Amelia off Portugal. She was a packet ship
, which the Royal Navy took in as . After her capture, Infanta Amelia took Earl St Vincent
, who had been aboard Argo after resigning his command of the Mediterranean station, to Portsmouth, arriving there on 18 August.
In early 1800 Argo captured three privateers: Independente (1 March), San Antonio (2 March) and Arlequin (1 May). On 19 August 1800 Argo captured the Spanish lugger St Antonio in ballast. Argo sent her in to Plymouth.
On 21 October, after a 15 hour chase, Argo captured the Spanish letter of marque
San Fernando, which was pierced for 22 guns but carried twelve long 6-pounders. She had a crew of 53 men. San Fernando was five days out of Santander
and sailing to Vera Cruz with a cargo of iron bars and bale goods that belonged to the Royal Philippine Company. She was also carrying government dispatches but had thrown them overboard before the British boarded her.
Bowen also reported, but without giving further details, that during the same cruise he had captured four merchant vessels, two of which he sent in to port as prizes and two of which he sank. The two sent in were the French brig Maria Louisa, in ballast, and the Spanish barque Vincento, carrying iron ore. The vessels that were sunk were also Spanish barques carrying iron ore.
Argo and escorted five transports carrying the 85th Regiment of Foot and forty artillerymen from Cowes
on 24 June. They arrived in Portsmouth on 28 June and then sailed again on a "secret mission". They had to put back into Torbay
on 11 July.
In 1801 the East India Company gave Bowen 400 guineas for the purchase of plate in gratitude for his having escorted from St Helena to England ten vessels either belonging to the company or carrying its cargo. Then in January 1802 the British merchants of Madeira gave Captain Bowen a sword for his services.
.
On 12 September Argo captured the French privateer cutter Oiseau. Oiseau was armed with ten guns and had a crew of 68 men under the command of Nicholas Brune Daubin, Enseigne de Vaisseau. During the pursuit fire from Argo killed Oiseaus second lieutenant. She was nine days out of Rochfort and taken nothing.
On 25 December a tremendous gale of wind hit Portsmouth and several outward-bound West Indiamen drifted
from their anchors. One of them, the Matthew, bound to Jamaica, ran into Argo. In doing so, she carried away Argos top mast and yards. Other West Indiamen came on shore. Captain Thomas le Marchant Gosselin commanded her briefly in 1804 before taking command of in February 1804.
Captain Edward Codrington
took command in July 1804 and Captain George Aldham replaced him in May 1805. A Captain Rickets briefly took command in July 1806 only to Captain Stephen Thomas Digby replace him within the month.
In 1806 Digby again sailed Argo to the coast of Africa. In 1808 she was at Jamaica. In 1809, Argo and the brig-sloop were blockading the town of Santo Domingo
while a Spanish force invested it from the landward side. The British and Spaniards agreed a joint attack. The two British vessels came in close to the detached fort of St. Jerome and silenced it with their guns while losing only two men wounded. However the Spanish land attack failed.
On 9 March 1809, Argos boats cut out the French navy felucca
Joseph. Joseph was armed with a brass 9-pounder gun and two 3-pounders. She had a crew of 53 men under the command of Enseign de Vaisseau Jean Botin. Joseph was anchored under the guns of several shore batteries at st. Domingo. Her crew put up a strong resistance that, together with the fire from the batteries, wounded seven of Argos men. However, most of the French crew then fled ashore with the result that Argo only captured 19 of them.
In January 1810 Captain Frederick Warren became captain of Argo, after serving as acting captain of . He sailed her for St. Helena and from there he convoyed a large fleet of East Indiamen to England.
On 28 November he faced a court martial on board Gladiator
at Portsmouth. The charge was that he had failed to follow orders to proceed to Quebec to bring home a convoy. He argued that the reason he had not sailed was that it was late in the year and that the weather was bad. The court accepted his reasoning and acquitted him.
Early in 1811 Argo carried Sir Joseph Sydney Yorke
to Portugal, together with reinforcements for the British army there. Argo then took out an Algerine Ambassador. Lastly, she sailed for Constantinople with Sir Robert Liston and his suite on 6 April 1812.
Captain Cornelius Quinton replaced Warren in October 1812. Argo then served as the flagship for Vice-Admiral Charles Stirling. Argosailed for Jamaica on 22 January 1813.
In April 1813 Captain William Fothergill took command of Argo. She then served as Rear-Admiral W. Brown's flagship on the Jamaica station. Two years later Captain Donald M'Cloud took command. Argo then served on the Downs station as flagship for Rear-Admiral Matthew Scott.
Fifth-rate
In Britain's Royal Navy during the classic age of fighting sail, a fifth rate was the penultimate class of warships in a hierarchal system of six "ratings" based on size and firepower.-Rating:...
Roebuck-class ship
Roebuck class ship
The Roebuck class ship was a class of twenty 44-gun sailing two-decker warships of the Royal Navy. The class carried two complete decks of guns, a lower battery of 18-pounders and an upper battery of 9-pounders. This battery enabled the vessel to deliver a broadside of 285 pounds...
of 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...
. She was launched in 1781 from Howdon Dock. She was the largest vessel that had been launched on the River Tyne. After having served for 36 hours under the French flag, she returned to British service, distinguishing herself in the French Revolutionary Wars when she captured several prizes, though she did not participate in any major actions. She also served in the Napoleonic Wars. She was sold in 1816.
Baltic
Argo was commissioned in March 1781 under Captain John Butchart. On 29 October Argo sailed for the Baltic with , under the command of Captain Horatio Nelson and , arriving at Elsinor on 4 November. On 8 December the squadron, now under the command of Captain Douglas in , escorted a convoy of 280 vessels to Britain, arriving on 22 December.Gold Coast
Early in 1782, Argo joined Captain Thomas Shirley in the 50-gun ship LeanderHMS Leander (1780)
HMS Leander was a Portland-class 50-gun fourth rate of the Royal Navy, launched at Chatham on 1 July 1780. She served on the West Coast of Africa, West Indies, and the Halifax station. During the French Revolutionary Wars she participated in the Battle of the Nile before a French ship captured her....
and the 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...
Alligator off the Dutch Gold Coast
Dutch Gold Coast
The Dutch Gold Coast or Dutch Guinea, officially Dutch possessions on the Coast of Guinea was a portion of coastal West Africa that was gradually colonized by the Dutch, beginning in 1598...
. Britain was at war with The Netherlands and before Argo arrived Shirley captured the small Dutch forts at Mouri (Fort Nassau - 20 guns), Kormantin (Courmantyne or Fort Amsterdam - 32 guns), Apam
Apam
Apam is a coastal town in the Central Region of Ghana, located approximately 45km east of the regional capital of Cape Coast.Apam is the site of Fort Lijdzaamheid, a Dutch-built fort which was completed in 1702, which dominates the fishing harbour and town from a rocky peninsula located on the...
(Fort Lijdzaamheid
Fort Lijdzaamheid
Fort Lijdzaamheid is a Dutch-built fort located in the township of Apam, in the Central Region of Ghana.Commenced as a stone trading lodge in 1697, the lodge was later fortified to secure the Dutch state of Acorn, which was tenuously held between the two British-held territories of Fante & Agona...
or Fort Patience - 22 guns), Senya Beraku (Berku or Fort Barracco - 18 guns), and Accra
Accra
Accra is the capital and largest city of Ghana, with an urban population of 1,658,937 according to the 2000 census. Accra is also the capital of the Greater Accra Region and of the Accra Metropolitan District, with which it is coterminous...
(Fort Creve Cour - 32 guns). Argo provided a landing party of 50 men that assisted Governor Mills to take the Fort at Komenda
Komenda/Edina/Eguafo/Abirem District
The Komenda/Edina/Eguafo/Abirem District is a district of Ghana in the Central Region.-Sources:*...
.
Capture and recapture
In 1782 Argo was on her passage to the West Indies under Captain Butchart when she captured the French ship Dauphin, nominally of 64 guns but armed en fluteEn flûte
Arming a ship en flûte means removing some or all of the artillery. Since ships have a limited amount of cargo space, they may be armed en flûte to make room for other cargo, such as troops and ammunition...
and so sailing with only 26 guns mounted. Dauphin had a cargo of military stores and provisions, some brass cannons and mortars, and two hundred soldiers, all bound for Martinique.
Governor Thomas Shirley of the Leeward Islands had Argo carry him to Tortola where he had official business. Argo stayed there three weeks until Shirley was ready to return to Antigua. The French found out about and sent the French 36-gun frigate Nymphe and the 32-gun Amphitrite to intercept him.
On 16 February 1783, Argo and the two French frigates met. After a five hour action they captured her. Not only did they outgun Argo, but the sea was so rough that she could not open her lower ports. Argo had lost 13 men killed and had suffered a number of wounded, as well as having suffered damage to her masts and rigging. Governor Shirley had stayed on deck throughout the engagement.
About 36 hours later, the 74-gun third rate was coming from Jamaica when she encountered the two French frigates and their prize, Argo. The frigates fled, leaving Invincible to recapture Argo. Captain J. Douglas briefly took command.
After a court martial acquitted her officers, Admiral Sir Hugh Pigot reappointed them. Then Captain J. Douglas briefly took command. She returned to England after the Peace of Paris (1783)
Peace of Paris (1783)
The Peace of Paris was the set of treaties which ended the American Revolutionary War. On 3 September 1783, representatives of King George III of Great Britain signed a treaty in Paris with representatives of the United States of America—commonly known as the Treaty of Paris —and two treaties at...
and was paid off in April 1784.
Argo underwent repairs at Sheerness between July 1785 and October 1786. She then was fitted as a troopship at Chatham from about June 1790 to April 1791. She was recommissioned in February 1791 under Commander Sandford Tatham, who sailed her for Halifax
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
on 11 May. Argo was paid off in June 1792.
French Revolutionary Wars
Captain William Clarke recommissioned Argo in May 1793. Captain Richard Rundle Burgess (or Burges) replaced him in February 1795. On 17 October 1795 Argo and brought in a convoy of 32 vessels from Gibraltar.Captain John Stevens Hall took command of Argo in June 1796. In March 1798 Captain James Bowen took over command of Argo. On 5 May she encountered Captain Sir Sidney Smith, who was in an open boat in the Channel, having escaped via Havre de Grace from "the Temple" in Paris. Argo sailed for the Mediterranean in October 1798.
In the Mediterranean Argo served with Commodore Duckworth
John Thomas Duckworth
Admiral Sir John Thomas Duckworth, 1st Baronet, GCB was a British naval officer, serving during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, as the Governor of Newfoundland during the War of 1812, and a member of the British House of Commons during his...
. In November Argo participated in the reduction of Minorca
Minorca
Min Orca or Menorca is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. It takes its name from being smaller than the nearby island of Majorca....
. Argo supported the landing of British troops. When four or five Spanish vessels were spotted, the British squadron sailed to catch them. The Spaniards consisted of four frigates and a sloop. The four Spanish frigates - the Flora, Casilda, Proserpine and Pomona - had been on their way from Barcelona to Mahon with the payroll of eight million reales for the troops there when they encountered 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...
and captured her on 12 November. The Spanish frigates escaped their pursuers and sailed back to Cartagena, Spain
Cartagena, Spain
Cartagena is a Spanish city and a major naval station located in the Region of Murcia, by the Mediterranean coast, south-eastern Spain. As of January 2011, it has a population of 218,210 inhabitants being the Region’s second largest municipality and the country’s 6th non-Province capital...
.
Duckworth detached Argo to pursue the sloop and on 13 November she retook Peterel and her 72-man Spanish prize crew under the command of Don Antonio Franco Gandrada, Second Captain of Flora. Bownen put his own prize crew of 46 officers seamen and marines aboard.
On 29 September Argo captured the Nostra Seniora de la Aldea. On 22 November Argo captured the Spanish ship Virgin Solidad at sea. The Virgin Solidad was carrying a cargo of rags to Barcelona. At some point Argo also captured the Madona del Rosario.
On 6 February 1799, Argo and surprised two Spanish frigates at anchor near the south point of the Bahia de Alcudia on Majorca. The Spanish set sail with the British in pursuit. A violent westerly gale came up that took away Leviathans main top-sail. After dark the Spanish frigates separated but Leviathan had fallen behind and saw neither the separation nor Argos signal that she chase the one to port. Leviathan had nearly caught up with Argo when Argo got alongside the Santa Theresa about midnight. Argo fired a broadside that wounded two men and badly damaged Santa Theresas rigging. At this point the Spaniard surrendered. She was of upwards of 950 tons burthen, carrying 42 guns plus coehorns and swivel guns. In addition to her crew of 280 seamen and marines under the command of Don Pablo Perez, she had 250 soldiers on board. Santa Theresa had recently been completely refurbished and provisioned for a four-month cruise. Her consort Proserpine, which had escaped, though smaller, was equally well-armed.
Then on 16 February , Argo and Leviathan attacked the town of Cambrelles
Cambrils
Cambrils is a coastal town in the comarca of Baix Camp, province of Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain. The town is nearby the tourist town, Salou and is frequently visited by those travelling by air using Reus Airport and major transport links such as the Plana Bus and the RENFE.-History:-Roman empire...
. Once the defenders had abandoned their battery, the boats went in. The British dismounted the guns, burnt five settees and brought out another five settees or tartans laden with wine and wheat. One tartan, the Velon Maria, was a letter of marque
Letter of marque
In the days of fighting sail, a Letter of Marque and Reprisal was a government licence authorizing a person to attack and capture enemy vessels, and bring them before admiralty courts for condemnation and sale...
, armed with one brass and two iron 12-pounders and two 3-pounders. She had a crew of 14 men.
In May Argo sailed to Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
to arrange with the Dey
Dey
Dey was the title given to the rulers of the Regency of Algiers and Tripoli under the Ottoman Empire from 1671 onwards...
for a supply of fresh provisions for the British forces in Minorca. While there Bowen achieved the release of six British subjects that the Algerians had held as slaves for more than 14 years.
On 6 August Argo captured the Spanish sloop Infanta Amelia off Portugal. She was a packet ship
Packet ship
A "packet ship" was originally a vessel employed to carry post office mail packets to and from British embassies, colonies and outposts. In sea transport, a packet service is a regular, scheduled service, carrying freight and passengers...
, which the Royal Navy took in as . After her capture, Infanta Amelia took Earl St Vincent
John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent
Admiral of the Fleet John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent GCB, PC was an admiral in the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom...
, who had been aboard Argo after resigning his command of the Mediterranean station, to Portsmouth, arriving there on 18 August.
In early 1800 Argo captured three privateers: Independente (1 March), San Antonio (2 March) and Arlequin (1 May). On 19 August 1800 Argo captured the Spanish lugger St Antonio in ballast. Argo sent her in to Plymouth.
On 21 October, after a 15 hour chase, Argo captured the Spanish letter of marque
Letter of marque
In the days of fighting sail, a Letter of Marque and Reprisal was a government licence authorizing a person to attack and capture enemy vessels, and bring them before admiralty courts for condemnation and sale...
San Fernando, which was pierced for 22 guns but carried twelve long 6-pounders. She had a crew of 53 men. San Fernando was five days out of Santander
Santander, Cantabria
The port city of Santander is the capital of the autonomous community and historical region of Cantabria situated on the north coast of Spain. Located east of Gijón and west of Bilbao, the city has a population of 183,446 .-History:...
and sailing to Vera Cruz with a cargo of iron bars and bale goods that belonged to the Royal Philippine Company. She was also carrying government dispatches but had thrown them overboard before the British boarded her.
Bowen also reported, but without giving further details, that during the same cruise he had captured four merchant vessels, two of which he sent in to port as prizes and two of which he sank. The two sent in were the French brig Maria Louisa, in ballast, and the Spanish barque Vincento, carrying iron ore. The vessels that were sunk were also Spanish barques carrying iron ore.
Argo and escorted five transports carrying the 85th Regiment of Foot and forty artillerymen from Cowes
Cowes
Cowes is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east Bank...
on 24 June. They arrived in Portsmouth on 28 June and then sailed again on a "secret mission". They had to put back into Torbay
Torbay
Torbay is an east-facing bay and natural harbour, at the western most end of Lyme Bay in the south-west of England, situated roughly midway between the cities of Exeter and Plymouth. Part of the ceremonial county of Devon, Torbay was made a unitary authority on 1 April 1998...
on 11 July.
In 1801 the East India Company gave Bowen 400 guineas for the purchase of plate in gratitude for his having escorted from St Helena to England ten vessels either belonging to the company or carrying its cargo. Then in January 1802 the British merchants of Madeira gave Captain Bowen a sword for his services.
Napoleonic Wars
Captain Benjamin Hallowell commissioned Argo in August 1802, and in November sailed to the African coast, returning the next year. Next, she sailed to the West Indies where she participated in the captures of St Lucia and TobagoTobago
Tobago is the smaller of the two main islands that make up the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located in the southern Caribbean, northeast of the island of Trinidad and southeast of Grenada. The island lies outside the hurricane belt...
.
On 12 September Argo captured the French privateer cutter Oiseau. Oiseau was armed with ten guns and had a crew of 68 men under the command of Nicholas Brune Daubin, Enseigne de Vaisseau. During the pursuit fire from Argo killed Oiseaus second lieutenant. She was nine days out of Rochfort and taken nothing.
On 25 December a tremendous gale of wind hit Portsmouth and several outward-bound West Indiamen drifted
from their anchors. One of them, the Matthew, bound to Jamaica, ran into Argo. In doing so, she carried away Argos top mast and yards. Other West Indiamen came on shore. Captain Thomas le Marchant Gosselin commanded her briefly in 1804 before taking command of in February 1804.
Captain Edward Codrington
Edward Codrington
Admiral Sir Edward Codrington GCB RN was a British admiral, hero of the Battle of Trafalgar and the Battle of Navarino.-Early life and career:...
took command in July 1804 and Captain George Aldham replaced him in May 1805. A Captain Rickets briefly took command in July 1806 only to Captain Stephen Thomas Digby replace him within the month.
In 1806 Digby again sailed Argo to the coast of Africa. In 1808 she was at Jamaica. In 1809, Argo and the brig-sloop were blockading the town of Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo, known officially as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic. Its metropolitan population was 2,084,852 in 2003, and estimated at 3,294,385 in 2010. The city is located on the Caribbean Sea, at the mouth of the Ozama River...
while a Spanish force invested it from the landward side. The British and Spaniards agreed a joint attack. The two British vessels came in close to the detached fort of St. Jerome and silenced it with their guns while losing only two men wounded. However the Spanish land attack failed.
On 9 March 1809, Argos boats cut out the French navy felucca
Felucca
A felucca is a traditional wooden sailing boat used in protected waters of the Red Sea and eastern Mediterranean including Malta, and particularly along the Nile in Egypt, Sudan, and also in Iraq. Its rig consists of one or two lateen sails....
Joseph. Joseph was armed with a brass 9-pounder gun and two 3-pounders. She had a crew of 53 men under the command of Enseign de Vaisseau Jean Botin. Joseph was anchored under the guns of several shore batteries at st. Domingo. Her crew put up a strong resistance that, together with the fire from the batteries, wounded seven of Argos men. However, most of the French crew then fled ashore with the result that Argo only captured 19 of them.
In January 1810 Captain Frederick Warren became captain of Argo, after serving as acting captain of . He sailed her for St. Helena and from there he convoyed a large fleet of East Indiamen to England.
On 28 November he faced a court martial on board Gladiator
HMS Gladiator (1783)
HMS Gladiator was a 44-gun fifth-rate Roebuck-class ship of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 20 January 1783 by Henry Adams of Bucklers Hard. She spent her entire career on harbour service, never putting to sea. Even so, her crew earned prize money for the seizure of two Russian and five...
at Portsmouth. The charge was that he had failed to follow orders to proceed to Quebec to bring home a convoy. He argued that the reason he had not sailed was that it was late in the year and that the weather was bad. The court accepted his reasoning and acquitted him.
Early in 1811 Argo carried Sir Joseph Sydney Yorke
Joseph Sydney Yorke
Sir Joseph Sydney Yorke KCB was an officer of the Royal Navy. He served during the American Revolutionary, the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars, eventually rising to the rank of Admiral.-Family and early life:...
to Portugal, together with reinforcements for the British army there. Argo then took out an Algerine Ambassador. Lastly, she sailed for Constantinople with Sir Robert Liston and his suite on 6 April 1812.
Captain Cornelius Quinton replaced Warren in October 1812. Argo then served as the flagship for Vice-Admiral Charles Stirling. Argosailed for Jamaica on 22 January 1813.
In April 1813 Captain William Fothergill took command of Argo. She then served as Rear-Admiral W. Brown's flagship on the Jamaica station. Two years later Captain Donald M'Cloud took command. Argo then served on the Downs station as flagship for Rear-Admiral Matthew Scott.