HMS Eurydice was a 24-gun Porcupine-class

Porcupine class post ship

The Porcupine-class sailing sixth rates were a series of ten post ships built to a 1776 design by John Williams, which served in the Royal Navy during the American Revolutionary War, some surviving to see more service in the Napoleonic Wars. The 24-gun design was a development of his 1773 design...

 post ship

Post ship

Post ship was a designation used in the Royal Navy during the Age of Sail to describe a ship of the sixth-rate that was smaller than a frigate , but by virtue of being a rated ship , had to have as its captain a post captain rather than a lieutenant or commander...

 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...

 built in 1781 and broken up in 1834. During her long career she saw service in the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary Wars

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 the 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...

. She captured a number of enemy 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 and served in the East and West Indies, the Mediterranean and British and American waters.

Construction and commissioning

Eurydice was ordered from Portsmouth Dockyard on 24 July 1776, and was laid down in February 1777. She was initially worked on by Master Shipwright Nicholas Phillips until April 1779, and then by George White. She was launched on 26 March 1781 and completed for service on 3 June 1781. She had cost £12,391.4.0d to build, this sum including fitting and coppering. She was commissioned under her first captain, George Wilson, in March 1781.

American War of Independence

Wilson sailed initially to the Leeward Islands

Leeward Islands

The Leeward Islands are a group of islands in the West Indies. They are the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles chain. As a group they start east of Puerto Rico and reach southward to Dominica. They are situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean...

, arriving in Frigate Bay

Frigate Bay

Frigate Bay is the name of two bays located close together on the island of Saint Kitts. The two bays are located southeast of the capital Basseterre, at the northern end of the isthmus joining the Southeast Peninsula with the rest of the island....

, St Kitts on either 25 or 26 January 1782. Eurydice was present at the Battle of the Saintes

Battle of the Saintes

The Battle of the Saintes took place over 4 days, 9 April 1782 – 12 April 1782, during the American War of Independence, and was a victory of a British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney over a French fleet under the Comte de Grasse forcing the French and Spanish to abandon a planned...

 on 12 April 1782, and then returned to Britain carrying the dispatches.

She came under the command of Captain George Courtnay in April 1782, under whom she served 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...

 and off the Channel Islands

Channel Islands

The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...

. She joined John Elliot’s squadron in Autumn 1782 and on 14 October 1782 she captured the French Amis off Île de Batz

Île de Batz

The Île de Batz is an island off Roscoff in Brittany, France. Administratively, it is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.-Population:...

.

Eurydice was paid off between 1782 and 1783 but recommissioned in April 1783. An 18 year old Fletcher Christian

Fletcher Christian

Fletcher Christian was a master's mate on board the Bounty during William Bligh's fateful voyage to Tahiti for breadfruit plants...

, later to be the instigator of the mutiny on the Bounty

Mutiny on the Bounty

The mutiny on the Bounty was a mutiny that occurred aboard the British Royal Navy ship HMS Bounty on 28 April 1789, and has been commemorated by several books, films, and popular songs, many of which take considerable liberties with the facts. The mutiny was led by Fletcher Christian against the...

, signed on aboard HMS Eurydice on 25 April 1783 at Spithead

Spithead

Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds, except those from the southeast...

. She was the first Royal Navy ship that Christian signed on to.

Eurydice's next posting was to the East Indies

East Indies

East Indies is a term used by Europeans from the 16th century onwards to identify what is now known as Indian subcontinent or South Asia, Southeastern Asia, and the islands of Oceania, including the Malay Archipelago and the Philippines...

, to which she sailed on 10 April 1783. On 24 May 1784, in Madras, Christian was promoted to Acting Lieutenant and Watch Leader.

Eurydice returned to Britain and was again paid off in July 1785, and spent between January and April 1786 undergoing a Small Repair at Woolwich Dockyard

Woolwich Dockyard

Woolwich Dockyard was an English naval dockyard founded by King Henry VIII in 1512 to build his flagship Henri Grâce à Dieu , the largest ship of its day....

 at a cost of £2,290. She was fitted for sea at Woolwich at a cost of £3,386 between May and July 1788, during which she was recommissioned in June 1788 under Captain George Lumsdaine.

French Revolutionary Wars

Lumsdaine sailed for service in the Mediterranean on 27 November 1788. With war with Revolutionary France

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...

 looming she was fitted out by Wells & Co for £1,856 between February and March 1793, and then at Woolwich for a further £3,507 between March and June 1793. Eurydice was then recommissioned under Captain Francis Cole in April 1793.

On 8 June 1794, Eurydice, along with the 36-gun Crescent, the 32-gun Druid

HMS Druid (1783)

HMS Druid was a 32-gun Hermione-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy, launched in 1783 at Bristol. She served in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, capturing numerous small prizes. One of her commanders, Captain Phillip Broke, described Druid as a "point of honour ship",...

 and five smaller vessels, all under the command of Sir James Saumarez

James Saumarez, 1st Baron de Saumarez

Admiral James Saumarez, 1st Baron de Saumarez , GCB was an admiral of the British Royal Navy, notable for his victory at the Battle of Algeciras.-Early life:...

 were sent from 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...

 to reconnoitre the French coast. Off the north-west coast of Guernsey

Guernsey

Guernsey, officially the Bailiwick of Guernsey is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.The Bailiwick, as a governing entity, embraces not only all 10 parishes on the Island of Guernsey, but also the islands of Herm, Jethou, Burhou, and Lihou and their islet...

 they encountered the two 50-gun French ships of the line - Scévola

French ship Illustre (1781)

The Illustre was a 74-gun Magnanime class ship of the line of the French Navy.She took part in the campaigns of Suffren before staying in Brest between 1788 and 1791. She was razeed into a 44-gun frigate in 1793....

 and Brutus

French ship Diadème (1756)

The Diadème was the lead ship of the Diadème class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.On 17 March 1757, along with the 64-gun Éveillé, she captured HMS Greenwich, commanded by Captain Robert Roddam, off Saint-Domingue....

 - the two 36-gun frigates Danaé and Félicité

French frigate Félicité (1785)

The Félicité was a 32-gun frigate of the French Navy, lead ship of her class. Captured by the British Navy and sold to the State of Haiti, she entered Haitian service as Améthyste.-French service:In 1792, she traveled to the Caribbean Sea...

, and a 14-gun brig. Saumarez ordered Eurydice, his slowest ship, into port to avoid her capture and then lured the French ships into range of Guernsey's shore-based guns. He then turned across the line of the French ships and through a narrow passage between the rocks, which enabled him to escape. A memorial plaque at Castle Cornet

Castle Cornet

Castle Cornet is a large island castle in Guernsey, and former tidal island, also known as Cornet Rock or Castle Rock, which has been part of one of the breakwaters of St Peter Port's harbour, the main one in the island, since 1859.- Geography :...

 in St. Peter Port, Guernsey

Guernsey

Guernsey, officially the Bailiwick of Guernsey is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.The Bailiwick, as a governing entity, embraces not only all 10 parishes on the Island of Guernsey, but also the islands of Herm, Jethou, Burhou, and Lihou and their islet...

, depicts the encounter.

Eurydice came under the command of Captain Thomas Twysden in 1795, with Twysden being succeeded by Captain Richard Bennet in 1796. During this time she operated on convoy and cruising duties.

Eurydice was recommissioned in August 1796 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...

 and was deployed in the North Sea

North Sea

In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...

. She went on to capture a number of French 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. She took Sphinx on 15 December 1796, the 14-gun Flibustier on 6 February 1797 and Voligeur on 7 March.

On the morning of 10 November 1799 Eurydice was some 9 miles south-east of Beachy Head

Beachy Head

Beachy Head is a chalk headland on the south coast of England, close to the town of Eastbourne in the county of East Sussex, immediately east of the Seven Sisters. The cliff there is the highest chalk sea cliff in Britain, rising to 162 m above sea level. The peak allows views of the south...

, when she sighted a schooner and a brig. The schooner made off as soon as she saw the ship and the brig hove to and hoisted her ensign upside down. She reported that she had been attacked by the schooner and that one of her men was badly wounded. Talbot sent his surgeon, Mr Price, on board the brig and made sail after the privateer. The sloop Snake joined in the chase later in the morning. Half way through the afternoon Eurydice came nearly within gunshot of the privateer which bore up and tried to cross Snake. When this maneuver failed, the vessel lowered her sails and surrendered. She was the Hirondelle of Calais, commanded by Pierre Merie Dugerdin with a crew of 50 men, one of whom was found to be an Englishman. She was armed with fourteen 3 and 4-pounders and had sailed on the Saturday morning. The brig Eurydice had recaptured was the collier Diana, from Sunderland bound for Portsmouth. Her wounded man was brought on board Eurydice where the surgeon had to remove an arm.

Eurydice was refitted at Portsmouth and in January 1801 came under the command of Captain Walter Bathurst. Bathurst captured the privateer Bougainville, of Saint Malo, in the Atlantic on 8 May 1801. She was under the command of Jaques le Bon, had a crew of 67 men, and was armed with 14 guns of different calibre. She was out three days and had made no captures.

Eurydice sailed for the East Indies on 20 October 1801.

After her return to Britain she was refitted in 1803, and commissioned in September 1803 under Captain John Nicholas. Under Nicolas she escorted a convoy to Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, departing Britain on 16 May 1804.

Napoleonic Wars

Captain William Hoste

William Hoste

Captain Sir William Hoste, 1st Baronet KCB RN , Royal Navy captain, was the son of Dixon Hoste, rector of Godwick and Tittleshall in Norfolk...

 took command in November 1804, and Eurydice served under him in the Mediterranean throughout 1805. She captured the 6-gun privateer Mestuo La Solidade on 6 October 1805, before passing under the command of Captain Sir William Bolton in December that year. Eurydice spent 1806 and 1807 in the Channel, before acting-Captain David Ramsey took over in August 1808.

She was later under Captain James Bradshaw and was present at the capture 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. In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the clasp "MARTINIQUE" to the Naval General Service Medal to all surviving participants in that campaign.

Eurydice spent 1809 to 1811 on the North American Station, undertaking a number of cruises out of Halifax, Nova Scotia

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 company with the ships at the station. She then returned to Britain and spent 1812 to 1814 in ordinary

Reserve fleet

A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed, and thus partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; an equivalent expression in unofficial modern U.S....

 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...

. She underwent a temporary repair at Deptford between September 1813 and June 1814; and was subsequently fitted for sea there between August and October 1814.

Post-war and fate

Eurydice was recommissioned in August 1814 under Captain Valentine Gardner and by June 1815 was under Captain Robert Spencer and serving on the Irish Station. Her final seagoing service was off St Helena under Captain Robert Wauchope

Robert Wauchope (Royal Navy officer)

Robert Wauchope, was a British admiral and inventor of the time ball. He was the fifth son of Andrew Wauchope of Niddrie-Marischall, Midlothian, Scotland, and Alice Baird , daughter of William Baird of Newbyth....

, who took command in April 1816.

Eurydice was laid up at Deptford in December 1819 but moved in 1821 to Woolwich. She was fitted as a receiving ship there between August 1823 and January 1824, spending the rest of her career in this role. She was finally broken up at Deptford in March 1834.