HMS Eclipse 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...

  built by John King at Dover and launched in 1807. She served off Portugal and then in the Indian Ocean at the capture of the Île de France

Mauritius

Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...

. Shortly thereafter she captured Tamatave

Toamasina

Toamasina , meaning "like salt" or "salty", unofficially and in French also Tamatave, is a city on the east coast of Madagascar on the Indian Ocean. The city is the chief seaport of the country, situated northeast of its capital and biggest city Antananarivo, near the centre of the eastern coast...

. She was sold for mercantile service in 1815.

Service

Eclipse entered service in September 1807 under Commander John Douglas. In December Captain George A. Creyke took command immediately sailed her for the Portuguese

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 coast on 2 January 1808,. There Eclipse observed the seizure of Oporto by the French and the subsequent uprising that led to the First Battle of Oporto. Creyke rescued several of the French administrators from death at the hands of the populace by taking the administrators prisoner. He also mounted cannon on a Brazilian ship in the harbour to create a floating battery, under a British officer, to defend a bridge, should the French advance.

On 26 February 1808 Eclipse was in company with when they captured the Sally and Hetty, William Fleming, Master. Then on 3 March Eclipse sailed for the Leeward Islands. On 7 March , with Eclipse and Blossom in company, captured the Hetty.

On 29 May 1808 she captured the American ship Romeo. It is not clear on what grounds she seized the American vessel, but prize money was awarded.

On 6 February 1810 she recaptured Unanimity. That same day, she and also recaptured Dobridge and Hercules.

Command then passed to George Henderson who sailed Eclipse to the Indian Ocean

Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...

, leaving on 16 June. There she joined the squadron that successfully prepared and launched the Invasion of Île de France

Invasion of Île de France

The Invasion of Île de France was a complicated but successful amphibious operation in the Indian Ocean, launched in November 1810 during the Napoleonic Wars. During the operation, a substantial British military force was landed by the Royal Navy at Grand Baie on Île de France...

 in December 1810. Henderson was subsequently promoted to command the 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"...

 Nereide

French frigate Vénus (1808)

The Vénus was a Junon class frigate of the French Navy.On 10 November 1808, she departed Cherbourg, bound for Île de France, where she served as Hamelin's flagship, leading a squadron also comprising the frigate Manche and the sloop Créole....

, and Eclipse remained in the Indian Ocean. From December on she was under the command of Commander Henry Lynne.On taking command he was an acting commander, but he was confirmed in the rank in April 1811.

On 18 February 1811 Eclipse, with a detachment of British troops of the 22nd Regiment

Cheshire Regiment

The Cheshire Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division.The regiment was created in 1881 as part of the Childers reforms by the linking of the 22nd Regiment of Foot and the militia and rifle volunteers of Cheshire...

 and Bourbon rifle corps, took first Tamatave

Toamasina

Toamasina , meaning "like salt" or "salty", unofficially and in French also Tamatave, is a city on the east coast of Madagascar on the Indian Ocean. The city is the chief seaport of the country, situated northeast of its capital and biggest city Antananarivo, near the centre of the eastern coast...

 and then Foule Point, the last French settlements on the east coast of Madagascar

Madagascar

The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...

. Somewhere around this time she reportedly captured a French 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...

 brig with dispatches. In 1811 she also captured the Maria Louisa, and recaptured the Donna Emilia, with in company.

By March Eclipse was under the command of Commander W. Steed. By agreement, Eclipse and Nisus shared in the prize money for the capture of the Renommée

HMS Java (1811)

HMS Java was a British Royal Navy 38-gun fifth-rate frigate. She was originally launched in 1805 as the Renommée, described as a 40-gun Pallas-class French Navy frigate, but the vessel actually carried 46 guns...

 on 20 May 1811 at the Battle of Tamatave

Battle of Tamatave

The Battle of Tamatave was fought off Tamatave in Madagascar between British and French frigate squadrons during the Napoleonic Wars...

, and one week later of the Néréide

HMS Madagascar (1811)

The Néréide was a 38-gun frigate of the French Navy designed by Sané.In 1810, she sailed to Guadeloupe but was repelled by the blockade off Basse-Terre, and returned to Brest after a fight with HMS Rainbow and HMS Avon....

.

On 5 January 1812 Eclipse, again with Racehorse in company, took the lugger Eliza with 145 slaves, which she sent to the Cape of Good Hope.

On 9 September 1812 Eclipse arrived in Portsmouth from the Cape of Good Hope. She sailed for the Leeward Islands on 6 February 1813.

Eclipse was in company with when, on 13 March 1814, they captured the brigantine

Brigantine

In sailing, a brigantine or hermaphrodite brig is a vessel with two masts, only the forward of which is square rigged.-Origins of the term:...

 Admiral Martin, which they sent in to Antigua.

Fate

In 1815 Eclipse was laid up 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...

. On 24 January the Admiralty offered her for sale and on 31 August she was sold there for ₤1,400 for mercantile use.