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HMS Leander (1780)
Encyclopedia
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. The Russians and Turks recaptured her and returned her to the Royal Navy in 1799. On 23 February 1805, while on the Halifax station, Leander captured Ville de Milan and recaptured her prize, . On 25 April 1805 cannon fire from Leander killed an American seaman while Leander was trying to impress men from an American vessel off the US coast. The resulting "Leander Affair" contributed to the worsening of relations between the United States and Great Britain. In 1813 the Admiralty converted Leander to a hospital ship under the name Hygeia. Hygeia was sold in 1817.
At the end of 1781 Leander and the sloop-of-war
Alligator sailed for the Dutch Gold Coast
with a convoy, consisting of a few merchant-vessels and transports. Britain was at war
with the Dutch Republic
and Shirley launched an unsuccessful attack
on 17 February on the Dutch outpost at Elmina
, being repulsed four days later. Leander and Shirley then went on to capture 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 (Berricoe, Berku or Fort Barracco - 18 guns), and Accra
(Fort Creve Cour - 32 guns). Leander also destroyed the French store-ship Officeuse, off Senegal, supposed to be worth £
30,000.
Shirley sent two sets of dispatches back to Britain. One set went in the transport sloop Ulysses, which was under the command of Captain Frodsham. The French frigate Fée captured Ulysses and took her into Brest
, but not before her captain had weighted the dispatches and thrown them overboard. Shirley's first lieutenant
, Mr. Van court, took the second set in the cartel transport Mackerel, which also carried the Dutch governors of the forts to Europe.
Shirley then sailed to the West Indies where towards the end of 1782 as senior captain he became commanding officer prior to the arrival of Admiral Hugh Pigot. Pigot promoted him to captain of , a second rate of 90 guns.
Pigot appointed Captain John Willet Payne to replace Shirley. On 18 January 1783, Leander was escorting a cartel when the two vessels encountered a large French warship at midnight. After an inconclusive engagement of two hours, Leander and her opponent separated. Pigot reported that the French vessel was probably a 74-gun ship of the line. Furthermore, rumour had it that she was the Couronne and that she had gon on to Puerto Rico. On 4 March Leander captured the brig Bella Juditta. Leander was one of the five warships and the armed storeship Sally that shared in the proceeds of the capture on 23 March of the ship Arend op Zee. Leander was paid-off in Portsmouth in 1784.
She was recommissioned in August 1786, after repairs in 1785. Captain Sir James Barclay
then sailed her for Nova Scotia
on 9 April 1787. She served as flagship for Sir Hubert Sawyer in 1788 until paid off in September. Captain Joseph Peyton, Jr. immediately recommissioned her as the flagship for his father Rear-Admiral Joseph Peyton, Sr. She sailed for the Mediterranean on 22 December.
In November 1796 Leander came under the command of Captain Thomas Boulden Thompson. She then escorted a convoy to Gibraltar
on 7 January 1797.
Leander joined the Mediterranean Fleet under John Jervis
, and was assigned to the squadron under Horatio Nelson. Thompson took part in Nelson's attack on Santa Cruz
in July 1797. Thompson was among the leaders of the landing parties, under the overall direction of Nelson and Thomas Troubridge
. Wind hampered the initial attempts to force a landing; the Spanish defenders immediately subjected the successful landing in the evening of 22 July to heavy fire. Still, Thompson's party were able to advance and spike several of the enemy's cannon. However, the British forces had become dispersed throughout the town, and were forced to negotiate a truce to allow them to withdraw. Thompson himself was wounded in the battle. Leander lost seven men killed, 6 wounded (including Thompson), and one missing.
Leander took part in the Battle of the Nile
on 1 August 1798. She was able to exploit a gap in the French line and anchor between Peuple Souverain
and Franklin, from which position she raked both enemy ships while protected from their broadsides. In the battle she suffered only 14 men wounded.
, she encountered the French ship Généreux
off Crete. In the subsequent Action of 18 August 1798
Leander lost 35 men killed and 57 wounded, including Thompson. The French suffered 100 killed and 180 wounded. Still, the French prevailed and took her into service under existing name.
The French treated the prisoners badly and plundered almost everything but the clothes the British had on their backs. When Thompson remonstrated with Captain Lejoille of Généreux, Lejoille answered nonchalantly, "J'en suis fâché, mais le fait est, que les Français sont bons au pillage." ("It makes me angry, but the fact is, the French are good at pillaging.") They refused treatment for Thompson, who had been badly wounded. Leanders surgeon, Mr. Mulberry, was only able to remove a musket ball from Thompson's arm after the vessels reached Corfu on 1 September and he was smuggled aboard the vessel where the French were holding Thompson. Most of the officers returned to Britain on parole but the French detained a number of seamen, and in particular Thomas Jarrat, the carpenter, after he refused to reveal to them the dimensions of Leanders masts and spars. Captain Lejoille tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to get some of the British crew that he had detained to assist him when a Turko-Russian fleet appeared off Corfu. The British refused.
The subsequent court-martial aboard at Sheerness
most honourably acquitted Thompson, his officers and his crew. The court also thanked Berry for the assistance he gave during the battle. As Thompson was rowed back to shore the crews of all the ships Sheerness saluted him with three cheers. He was subsequently knighted and awarded a pension of £200 per annum.
The Russians and the Turks recaptured Leander and captured the frigate Brune when Corfu
capitulated to them on 3 March 1799. The Russians restored Leander to the Royal Navy.
From July 1801 to June 1802 she refitted at Deptford. She recommissioned in May under Captain James Oughton as flagship for Vice-Admiral Sir Andrew Mitchell
. In July she sailed for Halifax
. Captain Francis Fane took command a year later, in August 1803, with Captain Alexander Skene replacing him in November. On 16 August 1804 Leander was in company with when they recaptured the Hibberts.
She then had three more captains within the year: George Ralph Collier
, Oughton again, and from November, John Talbot
.
On 23 February 1805, while on the Halifax station, Leander discovered the French frigate Ville de Milan, under Captain Pierre Guillet, and the British Cleopatra, which the Ville de Milan had captured the day before. The engagement between Ville de Milan and Cleopatra had left both ships greatly damaged. Consequently, when they encountered Leander they struck to Leander without a fight. Leander came upon Cleopatra first, and as soon as she struck, the British prisoners on board her, i.e., her original crew, took possession of her. She then followed Leander towards Ville de Paris, which too struck. The Navy took Ville de Milan into service as .
On 3 June Leander captured the Nancy. Three days later she captured the Elizabeth. The next day Leander captured the Volunteer. On 12 October, Leander captured the Vengeance.
Thereafter, in recognition of the capture of Ville de Milan and the recapture of Cleopatra, the Admiralty promoted Talbot to command of ship of the line .
, stopping and searching all American vessels going into New York harbour. At the time Britain followed a policy of impressment of British seamen on American ships; American anger at this policy was one of the causes
of the War of 1812
. Leander fired on the American coaster Richard off New York to signal that she should stop for a search. Reportedly, the shot killed an American seaman (John Pearce), which caused a great furor in New York. On 14 June President Thomas Jefferson
issued a proclamation against Captain Whitby. He ordered Leander, Driver and Cambrian immediately to quit US waters and forbade them ever to return. He extended the same prohibition to all vessels that Captains Whitby, John Nairne and Simpson might command.
On 26 April Leander, Cambrian and Driver captured the American ship Aurora..
In May Captain Salusbury Pryce Humphreys
took command of Leander at Halifax as she became the flagship for Admiral George Berkeley
. Captain Richard Raggett then sailed her back to Britain.
so the old Leander was converted to a hospital ship under the name Hygeia. Hygeia was sold in 1817.
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...
, launched at Chatham on 1 July 1780. She served on the West Coast of Africa, West Indies, and the 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...
station. During the French Revolutionary Wars she participated in the Battle of the Nile
Battle of the Nile
The Battle of the Nile was a major naval battle fought between British and French fleets at Aboukir Bay on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt from 1–3 August 1798...
before a French ship captured her. The Russians and Turks recaptured her and returned her to the Royal Navy in 1799. On 23 February 1805, while on the Halifax station, Leander captured Ville de Milan and recaptured her prize, . On 25 April 1805 cannon fire from Leander killed an American seaman while Leander was trying to impress men from an American vessel off the US coast. The resulting "Leander Affair" contributed to the worsening of relations between the United States and Great Britain. In 1813 the Admiralty converted Leander to a hospital ship under the name Hygeia. Hygeia was sold in 1817.
Early service
She was commissioned in June 1780 under Captain Thomas Shirley. Leander cruised for some time in the North Sea.At the end of 1781 Leander 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 sailed for 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...
with a convoy, consisting of a few merchant-vessels and transports. Britain was at 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...
with the Dutch Republic
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
and Shirley launched an unsuccessful attack
Shirley's Gold Coast expedition
In 1781, Great Britain's declared war on the Dutch Republic, opening the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War. As part of its offensive strategy, the British organized an expedition against Dutch colonial outposts on the Gold Coast of Africa...
on 17 February on the Dutch outpost at Elmina
Elmina
Elmina, is a town in the Central Region, situated on a south-facing bay on the Atlantic Ocean coast of Ghana, about 12 km west of Cape Coast...
, being repulsed four days later. Leander and Shirley then went on to capture 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 or Fort Patience - 22 guns), Senya Beraku (Berricoe, 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). Leander also destroyed the French store-ship Officeuse, off Senegal, supposed to be worth £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
30,000.
Shirley sent two sets of dispatches back to Britain. One set went in the transport sloop Ulysses, which was under the command of Captain Frodsham. The French frigate Fée captured Ulysses and took her into Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
, but not before her captain had weighted the dispatches and thrown them overboard. Shirley's first lieutenant
First Lieutenant
First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...
, Mr. Van court, took the second set in the cartel transport Mackerel, which also carried the Dutch governors of the forts to Europe.
Shirley then sailed to the West Indies where towards the end of 1782 as senior captain he became commanding officer prior to the arrival of Admiral Hugh Pigot. Pigot promoted him to captain of , a second rate of 90 guns.
Pigot appointed Captain John Willet Payne to replace Shirley. On 18 January 1783, Leander was escorting a cartel when the two vessels encountered a large French warship at midnight. After an inconclusive engagement of two hours, Leander and her opponent separated. Pigot reported that the French vessel was probably a 74-gun ship of the line. Furthermore, rumour had it that she was the Couronne and that she had gon on to Puerto Rico. On 4 March Leander captured the brig Bella Juditta. Leander was one of the five warships and the armed storeship Sally that shared in the proceeds of the capture on 23 March of the ship Arend op Zee. Leander was paid-off in Portsmouth in 1784.
She was recommissioned in August 1786, after repairs in 1785. Captain Sir James Barclay
James Barclay
James Barclay is a high fantasy authorHe has written two trilogies, Chronicles of The Raven and Legends of The Raven, and a related novella, Light Stealer....
then sailed her for 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...
on 9 April 1787. She served as flagship for Sir Hubert Sawyer in 1788 until paid off in September. Captain Joseph Peyton, Jr. immediately recommissioned her as the flagship for his father Rear-Admiral Joseph Peyton, Sr. She sailed for the Mediterranean on 22 December.
French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
Leander was recommissioned in May 1795 under Captain Maurice Delgano. On 12 May 1796 she was part of Admiral Duncan's squadron, when , of the squadron, captured the Dutch frigate Argo and the brig Mercury. The Royal Navy took both Argo and Mercury into service, Argo became while Mercury became . Leander shared by agreement in the proceeds of the capture of the Vrow Hendrica, captured on 22 October.In November 1796 Leander came under the command of Captain Thomas Boulden Thompson. She then escorted a convoy to Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
on 7 January 1797.
Leander joined the Mediterranean Fleet under John Jervis
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...
, and was assigned to the squadron under Horatio Nelson. Thompson took part in Nelson's attack on Santa Cruz
Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (1797)
The Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife was an amphibious assault by the Royal Navy on the Spanish port city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands. Launched by Rear-Admiral Horatio Nelson on 22 July 1797, the assault was heavily defeated, and on 25 July the remains of the landing party ...
in July 1797. Thompson was among the leaders of the landing parties, under the overall direction of Nelson and Thomas Troubridge
Sir Thomas Troubridge, 1st Baronet
Sir Thomas Troubridge, 1st Baronet was a British naval commander and politician.Troubridge was educated at St Paul's School, London. He entered the Royal Navy in 1773 and, together with Nelson, served in the East Indies in the frigate Seahorse. In 1785 he returned to England in the Sultan as...
. Wind hampered the initial attempts to force a landing; the Spanish defenders immediately subjected the successful landing in the evening of 22 July to heavy fire. Still, Thompson's party were able to advance and spike several of the enemy's cannon. However, the British forces had become dispersed throughout the town, and were forced to negotiate a truce to allow them to withdraw. Thompson himself was wounded in the battle. Leander lost seven men killed, 6 wounded (including Thompson), and one missing.
Nile
Under Captain Thomas ThompsonSir Thomas Thompson, 1st Baronet
Sir Thomas Boulden Thompson, 1st Baronet GCB was an officer of the Royal Navy. He served during the American Revolutionary, French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, eventually rising to the rank of Vice-Admiral...
Leander took part in the Battle of the Nile
Battle of the Nile
The Battle of the Nile was a major naval battle fought between British and French fleets at Aboukir Bay on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt from 1–3 August 1798...
on 1 August 1798. She was able to exploit a gap in the French line and anchor between Peuple Souverain
French ship Souverain (1757)
The Souverain was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, lead ship of her class.She took part in the Battle of the Chesapeake, in 1781. In 1792, she was renamed Peuple Souverain ....
and Franklin, from which position she raked both enemy ships while protected from their broadsides. In the battle she suffered only 14 men wounded.
Capture
Carrying Nelson's dispatches from the Nile and accompanied by Sir Edward BerryEdward Berry
Rear Admiral Sir Edward Berry, 1st Baronet, KCB was an officer in Britain's Royal Navy primarily known for his role as flag captain of Rear Admiral Horatio Nelson's ship HMS Vanguard at the Battle of the Nile, prior to his knighthood in 1798...
, she encountered the French ship Généreux
French ship Généreux (1785)
The Généreux was a French Téméraire class ship of the line.She was launched in 1785 at Rochefort. With the Guillaume Tell, she was one of only two ships to escape the British attack at the Battle of the Nile in August 1798....
off Crete. In the subsequent Action of 18 August 1798
Action of 18 August 1798
The Action of 18 August 1798 was a minor naval engagement of the French Revolutionary Wars, fought between the British fourth rate ship HMS Leander and the French ship of the line Généreux...
Leander lost 35 men killed and 57 wounded, including Thompson. The French suffered 100 killed and 180 wounded. Still, the French prevailed and took her into service under existing name.
The French treated the prisoners badly and plundered almost everything but the clothes the British had on their backs. When Thompson remonstrated with Captain Lejoille of Généreux, Lejoille answered nonchalantly, "J'en suis fâché, mais le fait est, que les Français sont bons au pillage." ("It makes me angry, but the fact is, the French are good at pillaging.") They refused treatment for Thompson, who had been badly wounded. Leanders surgeon, Mr. Mulberry, was only able to remove a musket ball from Thompson's arm after the vessels reached Corfu on 1 September and he was smuggled aboard the vessel where the French were holding Thompson. Most of the officers returned to Britain on parole but the French detained a number of seamen, and in particular Thomas Jarrat, the carpenter, after he refused to reveal to them the dimensions of Leanders masts and spars. Captain Lejoille tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to get some of the British crew that he had detained to assist him when a Turko-Russian fleet appeared off Corfu. The British refused.
The subsequent court-martial aboard 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....
most honourably acquitted Thompson, his officers and his crew. The court also thanked Berry for the assistance he gave during the battle. As Thompson was rowed back to shore the crews of all the ships Sheerness saluted him with three cheers. He was subsequently knighted and awarded a pension of £200 per annum.
The Russians and the Turks recaptured Leander and captured the frigate Brune when Corfu
Corfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
capitulated to them on 3 March 1799. The Russians restored Leander to the Royal Navy.
Return to British service
Leander was recommissioned in the Mediterranean under Commander Adam Drummond. In September Captain Michael Halliday took command.From July 1801 to June 1802 she refitted at Deptford. She recommissioned in May under Captain James Oughton as flagship for Vice-Admiral Sir Andrew Mitchell
Andrew Mitchell
The Right Honourable Andrew John Bower Mitchell MP is a British Conservative Party politician and the Member of Parliament for Sutton Coldfield...
. In July she sailed 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...
. Captain Francis Fane took command a year later, in August 1803, with Captain Alexander Skene replacing him in November. On 16 August 1804 Leander was in company with when they recaptured the Hibberts.
She then had three more captains within the year: George Ralph Collier
Sir George Collier, 1st Baronet
Sir George Ralph Collier, 1st Baronet KCB was an officer of the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and the War of 1812. He had an eventful early life, being shipwrecked early in his career and later captured by the French...
, Oughton again, and from November, 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...
.
On 23 February 1805, while on the Halifax station, Leander discovered the French frigate Ville de Milan, under Captain Pierre Guillet, and the British Cleopatra, which the Ville de Milan had captured the day before. The engagement between Ville de Milan and Cleopatra had left both ships greatly damaged. Consequently, when they encountered Leander they struck to Leander without a fight. Leander came upon Cleopatra first, and as soon as she struck, the British prisoners on board her, i.e., her original crew, took possession of her. She then followed Leander towards Ville de Paris, which too struck. The Navy took Ville de Milan into service as .
On 3 June Leander captured the Nancy. Three days later she captured the Elizabeth. The next day Leander captured the Volunteer. On 12 October, Leander captured the Vengeance.
Thereafter, in recognition of the capture of Ville de Milan and the recapture of Cleopatra, the Admiralty promoted Talbot to command of ship of the line .
The Leander Affair
Leander then came under the command of Captains William Lyall and Henry Whitby. On 25 April 1806, HMS Leander, HMS Driver under Slingsby Simpson, and HMS Cambrian under John Nairne were off Sandy HookSandy Hook
Sandy Hook is a barrier spit along the Atlantic coast of New JerseySandy Hook may also refer to:-Places:United States* Sandy Hook , a village in the town of Newtown, Connecticut* Sandy Hook, Kentucky, a city in Elliott County...
, stopping and searching all American vessels going into New York harbour. At the time Britain followed a policy of impressment of British seamen on American ships; American anger at this policy was one of the causes
Origins of the War of 1812
The War of 1812, between the United States of America and the British Empire , and Britain's Indian allies, lasted from 1812 to 1815. It was fought chiefly on the Atlantic Ocean and on the land, coasts and waterways of North America.There were several immediate stated causes for the U.S...
of the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
. Leander fired on the American coaster Richard off New York to signal that she should stop for a search. Reportedly, the shot killed an American seaman (John Pearce), which caused a great furor in New York. On 14 June President Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
issued a proclamation against Captain Whitby. He ordered Leander, Driver and Cambrian immediately to quit US waters and forbade them ever to return. He extended the same prohibition to all vessels that Captains Whitby, John Nairne and Simpson might command.
On 26 April Leander, Cambrian and Driver captured the American ship Aurora..
In May Captain Salusbury Pryce Humphreys
Salusbury Pryce Humphreys
Sir Salusbury Pryce Humphreys, CB, KCH was an officer of the Royal Navy who saw service during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812, rising to the rank of rear-admiral....
took command of Leander at Halifax as she became the flagship for Admiral George Berkeley
George Cranfield-Berkeley
Admiral Sir George Cranfield Berkeley GCB , often known as George Berkeley, was a highly experienced, popular, yet controversial naval officer and politician in late eighteenth and early nineteenth century Britain...
. Captain Richard Raggett then sailed her back to Britain.
Fate
By 1807 Leander was out of commission at Portsmouth. In 1808 she was in Plymouth, but was back in Portsmouth in 1811. In 1813 the Admiralty commissioned a new LeanderHMS Leander (1813)
HMS Leander was a 4th rate Ship-of-the-Line of 60 guns of the Royal Navy, launched on 10 November 1813.In the War of 1812 she took part in the battle of Fort McHenry....
so the old Leander was converted to a hospital ship under the name Hygeia. Hygeia was sold in 1817.