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HMS Leda (1800)
Encyclopedia
HMS Leda, launched in 1800, was the lead ship of a successful class
of forty-seven British
Royal Navy
38-gun sailing frigate
s. Ledas design was based on the French
frigate Hébé, which the British had captured in 1782. (Hébé herself was the name vessel for the French Hébé-class frigates
. Hébé, therefore, has the rare distinction of being the model for both a French and a British frigate class.) Leda was wrecked at the mouth of Milford Haven in 1808.
commissioned Leda in November 1800. In 1801 he sailed her in the Channel and to the coast of Egypt.
On 12 March 1801, Leda recaptured the Bolton, Captain Watson, a 20-gun letter of marque
that had sailed from Demerara to Liverpool some 6 weeks previously in company with the Union and Dart. These two vessels were also letters of marque, all carrying valuable cargoes of sugar, coffee, indigo and cotton. During the voyage Union started to take on water so her crew transferred to Bolton. Then Bolton and Dart parted company in a gale. Next, Bolton had the misfortune to meet the French privateer Gironde, which was armed with 26 guns and had a crew of 260 men. Gironde captured Bolton in an hour-long fight fight that killed two passengers and wounded Watson and five men. Although Gironde was damaged, she had suffered no casualties. Bolton was also carrying ivory, a tiger, and a large collection of birds, monkeys, and the like.
Then on 5 April Leda captured the French ship Desiree, of eight men and 70 tons. She was sailing from Bordeaux to Brell with a cargo of wheat. Four days later Leda recaptured the Portuguese ship Cæsar, of 10 men and 100 tons. Cæsar had been sailing from Bristol to Lisbon with a cargo of sundries when the French privateer Laura had captured her.
Lastly, on 1 May, Leda captured the French privateer Jupiter. Jupiter, of 90 tons, was armed with 16 guns and had a crew of 60 men. She was from Morlaix on cruise. On the same day Leda recaptured the Portuguese vessel Tejo. Then on 2 September Leda captured the Venturose.
In September 1802 Leda came under the command of Captain John (or James) Hardy. Captain Robert Honyman (or Honeyman) recommissioned her in August 1803 for the North Sea. At various times though Leda was under the temporary command of Captain Henry Digby in 1804 and Captain John Hartley in February 1805.
Five days after that, Leda, Amelia, and were in company at the capture of the Dutch ship Twee Vrienden.
On 29 September Honyman and his squadron attacked a division of 26 enemy gun boats> The engagement lasted several hours until the gunboats took refuge off the pier in Boulogne. Honyman wanted to have his bomb vessel
s engage them, but winds and tide were unfavorable. The next day 25 more French gunboats arrived. However, before they could join the division that had arrived the night before, the British were able to drive two on shore where they were wrecked. The British suffered no casualties or material damage though a shell did explode in Ledas hold. Fortunately, this did little damage and caused no casualties.
On 21 October Honyman sighted a convoy of six French sloops, some armed, under the escort of a gun-brig. He sent and to pursue them but the winds were uncooperative and the squadron was unable to engage. Instead, the hired armed
cutter Admiral Mitchell, which had only 35 men and twelve 12-pounder carronades, came up and attacked the convoy. After two and a half hours of cannonading, Admiral Mitchell succeeded in driving one sloop and the brig, which was armed with twelve 32-pounder guns, on the rocks. Admiral Mitchell had one gun dismounted, suffered damage to her mast and rigging, and had five men wounded, two seriously.
At the end of July 1804, a boarding party under Lieutenant M'Lean took Ledas boats to mount an unsuccessful attack on a French gunvessel in Boulogne Roads. The attackers succeeded in capturing their target, but the strong tide prevented them from retrieving her. Casualties were heavy in the cutting out party and M'Lean was among the dead; in all, only 14 out of the 38 men in the boarding party returned to Leda.
Early in the morning of 24 April 1805 Leda sighted twenty-six French vessels rounding Cap Gris Nez
. Honyman immediately ordered , Harpy, , , , , , , , , and to intercept. After a fight of about two hours, Starling and Locust had captured seven armed schuyts in an action within pistol-shot of the shore batteries on Cap Gris Nez.A schuyt was a Dutch flat-bottomed sailboat, broad in the beam, with square stern; usually equipped with leeboards to serve for a keel. The schuyts were all of 25 to 28 tons burthen, and carried in all 117 soldiers and 43 seamen under the command of officers from the 51st. Infantry Regiment. The French convoy had been bound for Ambleteuse
from Dunkirk. On the British side the only casualty was one man wounded on Archer. The seven schyuts were:
before the British took possession of her;
The next day Archer brought in two more schuyts, No.s 44 and 58, each armed with one 24-pounder and two 12-pounders. On 25 April 1805 Railleur towed eight of the French schuyts into the Downs. Starling, which had received a great deal of damage, followed Railleur in.
In early 1806 Leda was with Sir Home Popham's squadron at the reduction of the Cape of Good Hope, where she supported the landing of the troops. She shared in the capture of the Rolla on 21 February. On 4 March she was at Table Bay and in sight when captured the French frigate Volonaire
and the two transports that Volontaire was escorting, which turned out to be two British transports that the frigate had captured in the Bay of Biscay, together with the British troops on board. On 19 March the squadron captured the General Izidro.
In June 1810 the prize money for the capture of the Cape of Good Hope was payable. Then in July 1810 there was further distribution of money for the capture of the Volontaire and Rolla. In December 1810 prize money for the General Izidro was payable.
Leda then accompanied Home Popham across the Atlantic for his expedition to the River Plate. On 9 September 1806 Leda pursued a brigantine on her way to Montevideo
until the brigantine's crew beached her. Leda then sent her boats to retrieve or destroy the brigantine. However, when the boarding party reached the brigantine they discovered that her crew had already abandoned her. They also found that she was unarmed, though pierced for 14 guns. Because of the heavy seas the boarding party could not retrieve the brigantine, or even burn her. Instead they simply set her adrift among the breakers. During the operation small arms fire from the shore wounded four men.
Leda remained in South America until the final British evacuation in about September 1807. On 22 August she was in sight, together with a number of other warships, when captured the Minerva. Leda then returned to Sheerness and served in the Channel.
At eight o'clock on the morning of 4 December, some four leagues
off Cap de Caux, Leda sighted a privateer lugger making for the French coast, as well as a brig that appeared to be her prize. The brig ran for Havre de Grace but the lugger sailed in another direction as Leda pursued her. After six hours Leda succeeded in capturing the lugger, which turned out to be the brand new vessel Adolphe, under the command of Nicholas Famenter. Adolphe was armed with ten 18-pound carronades, four 4-pounder guns, two 2-pounder guns and two swivel gun
s. She was eight days out of Boulogne. She had only 25 men on board as she had already put another 45 men of her crew on prizes.
A court martial held on board the HMS Salvador del Mundo in the Hamoaze
acquitted Honeyman and his crew of all blame. It found that the pilot, James Garretty, had laid a wrong course after mistaking Thorn Island for the Stack Rocks, a mistake that was due to the bad weather and poor visibility.
Leda class frigate
The Leda-class frigates, were a successful class of forty-seven British Royal Navy 38-gun sailing frigates. The design of Leda was based on the Sané-designed Hébé, a French Hébé class frigate that the British 44-gun fifth rate HMS Rainbow captured in 1782...
of forty-seven British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
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...
38-gun sailing 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"...
s. Ledas design was based on the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
frigate Hébé, which the British had captured in 1782. (Hébé herself was the name vessel for the French Hébé-class frigates
Hébé class frigate
The Hébé class was a class of six 38-gun frigates of the French Navy, designed in 1781 by Jacques-Noël Sané.* HébéThe Hébé class was a class of six 38-gun frigates of the French Navy, designed in 1781 by Jacques-Noël Sané.* Hébé...
. Hébé, therefore, has the rare distinction of being the model for both a French and a British frigate class.) Leda was wrecked at the mouth of Milford Haven in 1808.
French Revolutionary Wars
Captain George Johnstone HopeGeorge Johnstone Hope
Rear-Admiral Sir George Johnstone Hope, KCB was a British naval officer, who served with distinction in the Royal Navy throughout the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, including service at the Battle of Trafalgar...
commissioned Leda in November 1800. In 1801 he sailed her in the Channel and to the coast of Egypt.
On 12 March 1801, Leda recaptured the Bolton, Captain Watson, a 20-gun 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...
that had sailed from Demerara to Liverpool some 6 weeks previously in company with the Union and Dart. These two vessels were also letters of marque, all carrying valuable cargoes of sugar, coffee, indigo and cotton. During the voyage Union started to take on water so her crew transferred to Bolton. Then Bolton and Dart parted company in a gale. Next, Bolton had the misfortune to meet the French privateer Gironde, which was armed with 26 guns and had a crew of 260 men. Gironde captured Bolton in an hour-long fight fight that killed two passengers and wounded Watson and five men. Although Gironde was damaged, she had suffered no casualties. Bolton was also carrying ivory, a tiger, and a large collection of birds, monkeys, and the like.
Then on 5 April Leda captured the French ship Desiree, of eight men and 70 tons. She was sailing from Bordeaux to Brell with a cargo of wheat. Four days later Leda recaptured the Portuguese ship Cæsar, of 10 men and 100 tons. Cæsar had been sailing from Bristol to Lisbon with a cargo of sundries when the French privateer Laura had captured her.
Lastly, on 1 May, Leda captured the French privateer Jupiter. Jupiter, of 90 tons, was armed with 16 guns and had a crew of 60 men. She was from Morlaix on cruise. On the same day Leda recaptured the Portuguese vessel Tejo. Then on 2 September Leda captured the Venturose.
In September 1802 Leda came under the command of Captain John (or James) Hardy. Captain Robert Honyman (or Honeyman) recommissioned her in August 1803 for the North Sea. At various times though Leda was under the temporary command of Captain Henry Digby in 1804 and Captain John Hartley in February 1805.
Napoleonic Wars
In 1803 Leda was in the Channel under Captain Robert Honyman. When the war with France recommenced, Honeyman was put in charge of a small squadron of gun-brigs off Boulogne. On 18 May Leda and detained the Dutch ship Phoenix. The next day Leda captured the Bodes Lust.Five days after that, Leda, Amelia, and were in company at the capture of the Dutch ship Twee Vrienden.
On 29 September Honyman and his squadron attacked a division of 26 enemy gun boats> The engagement lasted several hours until the gunboats took refuge off the pier in Boulogne. Honyman wanted to have his bomb vessel
Bomb vessel
A bomb vessel, bomb ship, bomb ketch, or simply bomb was a type of wooden sailing naval ship. Its primary armament was not cannon —although bomb vessels carried a few cannon for self-defence—but rather mortars mounted forward near the bow and elevated to a high angle, and projecting their fire in a...
s engage them, but winds and tide were unfavorable. The next day 25 more French gunboats arrived. However, before they could join the division that had arrived the night before, the British were able to drive two on shore where they were wrecked. The British suffered no casualties or material damage though a shell did explode in Ledas hold. Fortunately, this did little damage and caused no casualties.
On 21 October Honyman sighted a convoy of six French sloops, some armed, under the escort of a gun-brig. He sent and to pursue them but the winds were uncooperative and the squadron was unable to engage. Instead, the hired armed
Hired armed vessels
right|thumb|250px|Armed cutter, etching in the [[National Maritime Museum]], [[Greenwich]]During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the Royal Navy made use of a considerable number of hired armed vessels...
cutter Admiral Mitchell, which had only 35 men and twelve 12-pounder carronades, came up and attacked the convoy. After two and a half hours of cannonading, Admiral Mitchell succeeded in driving one sloop and the brig, which was armed with twelve 32-pounder guns, on the rocks. Admiral Mitchell had one gun dismounted, suffered damage to her mast and rigging, and had five men wounded, two seriously.
At the end of July 1804, a boarding party under Lieutenant M'Lean took Ledas boats to mount an unsuccessful attack on a French gunvessel in Boulogne Roads. The attackers succeeded in capturing their target, but the strong tide prevented them from retrieving her. Casualties were heavy in the cutting out party and M'Lean was among the dead; in all, only 14 out of the 38 men in the boarding party returned to Leda.
Early in the morning of 24 April 1805 Leda sighted twenty-six French vessels rounding Cap Gris Nez
Cap Gris Nez
Cap Gris Nez is a cape on the Côte d'Opale in the Pas-de-Calais département in northern France....
. Honyman immediately ordered , Harpy, , , , , , , , , and to intercept. After a fight of about two hours, Starling and Locust had captured seven armed schuyts in an action within pistol-shot of the shore batteries on Cap Gris Nez.A schuyt was a Dutch flat-bottomed sailboat, broad in the beam, with square stern; usually equipped with leeboards to serve for a keel. The schuyts were all of 25 to 28 tons burthen, and carried in all 117 soldiers and 43 seamen under the command of officers from the 51st. Infantry Regiment. The French convoy had been bound for Ambleteuse
Ambleteuse
Ambleteuse is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France.-History:Ambleteuse began as a hamlet of a few huts in the middle of the dunes, from which the derisory name of “carcahuttes" was once given to its inhabitants by their neighbors at Audresselles...
from Dunkirk. On the British side the only casualty was one man wounded on Archer. The seven schyuts were:
- Schuyt No. 52, under the command of a Sub-Lieutenant of Infantry Loriol, armed with three 24-pounders;
- Schuyt No. 48, under the command of A. Joron of the 51st the Infantry, armed with two 6-pounders, one 24-pounder and one brass howitzer;
- Schuyt No. 57, under the command of Lieutenant Loriol of 51st Infantry, armed with one 24-pounder and two 6-pounders;
- Schuyt No. 45 under the command of Sub-Lieutenant Litner of the 51st Infantry, armed with one 24-pounder, one 12-pounder and one 6-pounder;
- Schuyt No. 3. under the command of Mr. Calder, the senior commander, who left her
before the British took possession of her;
- Schuyt No. 54, under the command of Sub-Lieutenant Bragur of the 51st Infantry, armed with one 24-pounder and two 6-pounders;
- Schuyt No.43, Sub Lieutenant Billa of the 51st Infantry, armed with one 24-pounder and two 6-pounders.
The next day Archer brought in two more schuyts, No.s 44 and 58, each armed with one 24-pounder and two 12-pounders. On 25 April 1805 Railleur towed eight of the French schuyts into the Downs. Starling, which had received a great deal of damage, followed Railleur in.
In early 1806 Leda was with Sir Home Popham's squadron at the reduction of the Cape of Good Hope, where she supported the landing of the troops. She shared in the capture of the Rolla on 21 February. On 4 March she was at Table Bay and in sight when captured the French frigate Volonaire
French frigate Volontaire (1796)
The Volontaire was a 44-gun Virginie class frigate of the French Navy.She took part in the Atlantic campaign of 1806, and was captured by HMS Diadem in March 1806. She was brought into Royal Navy service as HMS Volontaire....
and the two transports that Volontaire was escorting, which turned out to be two British transports that the frigate had captured in the Bay of Biscay, together with the British troops on board. On 19 March the squadron captured the General Izidro.
In June 1810 the prize money for the capture of the Cape of Good Hope was payable. Then in July 1810 there was further distribution of money for the capture of the Volontaire and Rolla. In December 1810 prize money for the General Izidro was payable.
Leda then accompanied Home Popham across the Atlantic for his expedition to the River Plate. On 9 September 1806 Leda pursued a brigantine on her way to Montevideo
Montevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
until the brigantine's crew beached her. Leda then sent her boats to retrieve or destroy the brigantine. However, when the boarding party reached the brigantine they discovered that her crew had already abandoned her. They also found that she was unarmed, though pierced for 14 guns. Because of the heavy seas the boarding party could not retrieve the brigantine, or even burn her. Instead they simply set her adrift among the breakers. During the operation small arms fire from the shore wounded four men.
Leda remained in South America until the final British evacuation in about September 1807. On 22 August she was in sight, together with a number of other warships, when captured the Minerva. Leda then returned to Sheerness and served in the Channel.
At eight o'clock on the morning of 4 December, some four leagues
League (unit)
A league is a unit of length . It was long common in Europe and Latin America, but it is no longer an official unit in any nation. The league originally referred to the distance a person or a horse could walk in an hour...
off Cap de Caux, Leda sighted a privateer lugger making for the French coast, as well as a brig that appeared to be her prize. The brig ran for Havre de Grace but the lugger sailed in another direction as Leda pursued her. After six hours Leda succeeded in capturing the lugger, which turned out to be the brand new vessel Adolphe, under the command of Nicholas Famenter. Adolphe was armed with ten 18-pound carronades, four 4-pounder guns, two 2-pounder guns and two swivel gun
Swivel gun
The term swivel gun usually refers to a small cannon, mounted on a swiveling stand or fork which allows a very wide arc of movement. Another type of firearm referred to as a swivel gun was an early flintlock combination gun with two barrels that rotated along their axes to allow the shooter to...
s. She was eight days out of Boulogne. She had only 25 men on board as she had already put another 45 men of her crew on prizes.
Loss
On 31 January 1808, Leda was caught in a gale that did much damage to the ship. Honeyman decided to try to take refuge at Milford Haven but she was wrecked at the mouth of the harbour. The quarantine master for the port came aboard Leda to urge her abandonment. The entire crew was able to get off safely.A court martial held on board the HMS Salvador del Mundo in the Hamoaze
Hamoaze
The Hamoaze is an estuarine stretch of the tidal River Tamar, between the River Lynher and Plymouth Sound, England.The Hamoaze flows past Devonport Dockyard, which belongs to the Royal Navy...
acquitted Honeyman and his crew of all blame. It found that the pilot, James Garretty, had laid a wrong course after mistaking Thorn Island for the Stack Rocks, a mistake that was due to the bad weather and poor visibility.