HMS Cleopatra was a 32-gun Amazon-class fifth rate frigate

Frigate

A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...

 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 had a long career, seeing service during the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War

Fourth Anglo-Dutch War

The Fourth Anglo–Dutch War was a conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Dutch Republic. The war, tangentially related to the American Revolutionary War, broke out over British and Dutch disagreements on the legality and conduct of Dutch trade with Britain's enemies in that...

, and the French Revolutionary

French Revolutionary Wars

The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...

 and Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

. During the latter wars she fought two notable engagements with larger French opponents. In the first engagement she was forced to surrender, but succeeded in damaging the French ship so badly that she was captured several days later, while the Cleopatra was retaken. In the second she forced the surrender of a 40-gun frigate. After serving under several notable commanders she was broken up towards the end of the Napoleonic Wars.

Construction

Cleopatra was ordered on 13 May 1778 and was laid down on 6 July 1778 at the yards of James Martin Hillhouse

Hilhouse

Hilhouse was a shipbuilder in Bristol, England who built merchantman and men-of-war during the 18th and 19th centuries...

, Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

. She was launched on 26 November 1779 and had been completed by 9 September 1780. £9,202 (approximately £ at today's prices)was paid to the builder, with another £5,563.1.5d (approximately £ at today's prices)spent on dockyard expenditures. Cleopatra was commissioned in October 1779 under her first commander, Captain George Murray

George Murray (MP)

Vice Admiral George Murray was a Royal Navy officer and politician. He was the third son of the Jacobite general Lord George Murray.-Naval career:...

.

Fourth Anglo Dutch War

Cleopatra was initially assigned to serve with the Western squadron and was soon active in activities to suppress French cruisers and privateer

Privateer

A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...

s. On 15 June 1780 Cleopatra and HMS Apollo captured the 26-gun Stanisland off Ostend

Ostend

Ostend  is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke , Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the largest on the Belgian coast....

; while the privateer Comtesse de Provence fell to Cleopatra on 11 November 1780. Cleopatra escorted a convoy to the Baltic

Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...

 on 1781, becoming involved in the Battle of Dogger Bank

Battle of Dogger Bank (1781)

The naval Battle of the Dogger Bank took place on 5 August 1781 during the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War, part of the American War of Independence, in the North Sea...

 on 5 August. She passed under the command of Captain Henry Harvey

Henry Harvey

Admiral Sir Henry Harvey, KB was a long-serving officer of the British Royal Navy during the second half of the eighteenth century. Harvey participated in numerous naval operations and actions and especially distinguished himself at the Glorious First of June in command of...

 in January 1783, but was paid off in April that year and fitted for ordinary at Sheerness

Sheerness

Sheerness is a town located beside the mouth of the River Medway on the northwest corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 12,000 it is the largest town on the island....

. She remained laid up until 1790 when she began a Great Repair, and was recommissioned in January 1793 under Captain Alexander Ball

Alexander Ball

Sir Alexander John Ball, 1st Baronet was a British Admiral and the first British governor of Malta. He was born in Ebworth Park, Sheepscombe, Gloucestershire. He was the fourth son of Robert and Mary Ball....

.

French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars

Cleopatra continued her effective career against raiders by capturing the privateer Trois Amis on 24 March 1793 in company with . She was operating from Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

 from 1794, and was under Captain Charles Penrose

Charles Penrose (Royal Navy officer)

Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Vinicombe Penrose KCB KCMG was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet.-Naval career:...

 in June 1795. He took the privateer Aurore on 3 March 1796, before passing command to Captain Charles Rowley

Sir Charles Rowley, 1st Baronet

Admiral Sir Charles Rowley GCB GCH was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth.-Naval career:...

 who coincidentally took another French ship named Aurore on 22 April that year. Rowley went on to capture the 12-gun privateer Hirondelle during his tenure, before Captain Israel Pellew

Israel Pellew

Admiral Sir Israel Pellew, KCB, RN , was an English naval officer who spent his career under the shadow of his more successful older brother Edward Pellew.-Early naval service:...

 took over command of the Cleopatra in September 1797. Pellew served briefly in the English Channel

English Channel

The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...

, taking the 16-gun privateer Emilie on 26 March 1798. He then returned the Cleopatra to 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...

 in August that year. She operated off the American coasts, ranging as far as the Caribbean and Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

, where she and captured a Spanish gunboat

Gunboat

A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...

 on 22 March 1801. Pellew then returned the Cleopatra to Britain, where she spent between 1802 and 1804 under repair at Woolwich

Woolwich

Woolwich is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.Woolwich formed part of Kent until 1889 when the County of London was created...

, recommissioning in July 1804 under Captain Charles Elphinstone. Elphinstone's tenure lasted less than a month, by August Cleopatra was sailing under Captain Sir Robert Laurie

Sir Robert Laurie, 6th Baronet

Sir Robert Laurie, 6th Baronet KCB was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He rose through the ranks after his entry, fighting as a lieutenant under Howe at the Glorious First of June, and being wounded in the action...

.

Fight with Ville de Milan

Cleopatra spent some time in the West Indies, and was homeward bound in February 1805.
While sailing off Bermuda

Bermuda

Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...

 Cleopatra sighted a sail--the 40-gun French frigate Ville de Milan

HMS Milan (1805)

HMS Milan was a 38-gun fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She had previously been the Ville de Milan, a 40-gun frigate of the French Navy, but served for only a year before being chased down and engaged by the smaller 32-gun frigate...

. She had sailed from 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...

 on 28 January under Captain Jean-Marie Renaud and was bound for France with several important dispatches. Despite identifying his quarry as a superior opponent, Laurie ordered a chase. Renaud had orders to avoid combat and pressed on sail to escape Laurie. The chase covered 180 miles and lasted until the following morning, when Renaud reluctantly came about to meet the Cleopatra, which was overhauling the Ville de Milan. The engagement began in earnest at 2:30pm, and a heavy cannonade was maintained between the two frigates until 5pm, when the Cleopatra had her wheel shot away and her rudder jammed. The Ville de Milan approached from windward and ran aboard the Cleopatra, jamming her bowsprit over the quarterdeck while raking the Cleopatras decks with musket fire. The British resisted one attempt to board, but on being unable to break free, were forced to surrender to a second boarding party. The Cleopatra had 22 killed and 36 wounded, with the loss of her foremast, mainmast and bowsprit. The Ville de Milan probably had about 30 killed and wounded, with Captain Renaud among the dead. She also lost her mainmast and mizzenmast. Three days were spent transferring a prize crew and prisoners, and patching up the ships, before the two got underway on 21 February.
However, on 23 February they were discovered by the 50-gun , under Captain John Talbot

John Talbot (Royal Navy officer)

Admiral Sir John Talbot, GCB was a senior British Royal Navy officer who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and was engaged in several prominent single ship actions, all of which were successful...

. Leander ran up to them, whereupon they separated. Talbot chased Cleopatra, brought her to with a shot and took possession. The freed crew reported the situation to Talbot, and left him to pursue the fleeing Ville de Milan. Talbot soon overtook her and she surrendered without a fight. Both were taken back to Halifax, where the Ville de Milan was taken into service as HMS Milan, with Laurie as her captain. Laurie's engagement with the superior opponent had initially cost him his ship, but had rendered her easy prey to any other Royal Navy frigate in the vicinity. Had he not brought her to battle, the Ville de Milan could have easily outsailed the Leander or even engaged her on fairly equal terms. Instead the damage and losses incurred in breaking down the Cleopatra had left her helpless to resist.

Later actions

With the loss of her captain to the command of the Milan, Cleopatra was recommissioned in July 1805 under Captain John Wright. She remained on the Halifax station, from September 1806 under Captain Robert Simpson, and from August 1808 under Captain Samuel Pechell

Samuel Pechell

Rear-Admiral Sir Samuel John Brooke Pechell, 3rd Baronet CB, KCH, FRS was a prominent British Royal Navy officer of the early nineteenth century...

. On 22 January 1809 she fought an action

Action of 22 January 1809

The Action of 22 January 1809 was a minor naval engagement fought off the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe during the Napoleonic Wars. The action was fought as part of the blockade of Guadeloupe and neighbouring Martinique by a large British Royal Navy squadron, which was seeking to cut the islands...

 with the 40-gun Topaze

French frigate Topaze (1805)

The Topaze was a 44-gun frigate of the French Navy. The British captured her in 1809 and she the served with the Royal Navy under the name Alcmene until she was broken up in 1816.-French service:...

 and with the support of and captured her. Cleopatra was then present at 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 February 1809. Captain Charles Austen

Charles Austen

Rear Admiral Sir Charles John Austen CB was an officer in the Royal Navy. He served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and beyond, eventually rising to the rank of rear-admiral.-Family and early life:...

 took command in October 1810, with command reverting to Pechell in July 1811. Captain Charles Gill took over in December 1812, followed in an acting capacity by Captain William M'Culloch in 1814.

Cleopatra was paid off in July 1814 and broken up at Deptford

Deptford

Deptford is a district of south London, England, located on the south bank of the River Thames. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne, and from the mid 16th century to the late 19th was home to Deptford Dockyard, the first of the Royal Navy Dockyards.Deptford and the docks are...

by 21 September 1814.