HMS Carnation was a 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...

 18-gun Cruizer class

Cruizer class brig-sloop

The Cruizer class was an 18-gun class of brig-sloops of the Royal Navy. Brig-sloops were the same as ship-sloops except for their rigging...

 brig-sloop built by Taylor at Bideford

Bideford

Bideford is a small port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is also the main town of the Torridge local government district.-History:...

 and launched in 1807. After the French brig Palinure

French brig Palinure (1804)

Palinure was a Palinure-class 16-gun brig of the French Navy, built by Caudan at Lorient and launched in 1804. In French service she captured before captured her in turn. Taken into the Royal Navy as HMS Snap, she participated in two campaigns that qualified for the Naval General Service Medal...

 captured her, she was burned by the French to prevent her recapture.

Career

Carnation entered service at Plymouth

Plymouth

Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...

 in 1807 under Commander Charles Mars Gregory, who sailed her to the West Indies in 1808. On 3 October, the French brig Palinure engaged Carnation 180 miles northeast of Martinique

Martinique

Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...

. Gregory and all his officers were killed or wounded in the opening exchanges and Palinure's crew attempted to board. Carnation's crew were mustered to resist, but a Royal Marine sergeant named John Chapman refused the order and led over 30 men below decks to await capture. The remaining crew men were outnumbered and had to surrender.

Carnation had lost 10 killed and 30 wounded, perhaps half mortally; the French lost about 15 men killed and wounded. The French then took Carnation to Marin Bay, Martinique.

The French commissioned Carnation on 31 January 1809 under Ensign de vaisseau Simon-Auguste Huguet. He had distinguished himself in the engagement as Capitaine de frègate Pierre-François Jance had been debilitated by yellow fever and reportedly died within an hour of the victory after transferring to Carnation, which was the better vessel.

Fate

During the invasion of Martinique

Invasion of Martinique (1809)

The invasion of Martinique of 1809 was a successful British amphibious operation against the French West Indian island of Martinique that took place between 30 January and 24 February 1809 during the Napoleonic Wars...

 in January 1809, British troops landed close to where she was berthed and several days later, her crew set the ship on fire, destroying her.

Postscript

The British arrested Chapman and 31 of the crew who had deserted the deck during the battle. A court martial convicted them of cowardice; Chapman was hanged from the yardarm of the day after his sentence was passed. The others were sentenced to floggings and transportation as convicts to Botany Bay for 14 years, though it is not clear this part of their sentence was ever carried out. One man was acquitted.

On 31 October 1808, the frigate encountered Palinure near Diamond Rock

Diamond Rock

Diamond Rock is a 175 meter high basalt island located south of Fort-de-France, the main port of the Caribbean island of Martinique. The uninhabited island is about three kilometers from Pointe Diamant. The island gets its name from the reflections that its sides cast at certain hours of the day,...

. A short engagement followed in which Circe captured Palinure. She had lost seven killed and eight wounded; Circe had lost one man killed and one wounded. The British took Palinure into service as HMS Snap.