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HMS Pomone (1811)
Encyclopedia
The Astrée was a 44-gun Pallas-class frigate of the French Navy
French Navy
The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...
, launched at Cherbourg in 1809. In December of the next year she captured HMS Africaine. 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...
captured Astrée in 1810 and took her into service under her French name, but then in 1811 recommissioned her as HMS Pomone. She served during 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...
and was broken up in 1816.
French service
She took part in the campaign in the Indian OceanIndian 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...
under Captain Le Marant, part of Hamelin's squadron. She also was present in the final stages of the Battle of Grand Port
Battle of Grand Port
The Battle of Grand Port was a naval battle between squadrons of frigates from the French Navy and the British Royal Navy. The battle was fought during 20–27 August 1810 over possession of the harbour of Grand Port on Île de France during the Napoleonic Wars...
.
Astrée came to be part of a squadron under Pierre Bouvet
Pierre François Étienne Bouvet de Maisonneuve
Pierre François Étienne Bouvet de Maisonneuve was a French admiral.Born in Saint-Benoît, Réunion, to a family of sailors, Bouvet started sailing at the age of 12 on the Nécessaire. He was midshipman at 17 on the frigate Aréthuse...
, who had assumed command of the French squadron at Grand Port
Grand Port
Grand Port is a district encompassing much of the south-eastern part of the island of Mauritius. Its capital is Rose-Belle but the most important town of the district is Mahebourg...
after Duperré was wounded, and had been promoted to capitaine de frégate. The squadron also comprised Iphigenia as a flagship, and the sloop Entreprenant.
At midnight
Midnight
Midnight is the transition time period from one day to the next: the moment when the date changes. In the Roman time system, midnight was halfway between sunset and sunrise, varying according to the seasons....
Bouvet sent Astrée forwards, creating the impression that Iphigénie was to slow Africaine down to allow the rest of the squadron to flee. At 3 AM, Astrée regained her place at the rear of the squadron. The weather, which had been rough, improved somewhat, and in the moonlight Astrée suddenly found herself at gun range of Africaine.
A gunnery duel followed immediately, which damaged Astrées rigging
Rigging
Rigging is the apparatus through which the force of the wind is used to propel sailboats and sailing ships forward. This includes masts, yards, sails, and cordage.-Terms and classifications:...
. She closed in to Iphigénie with Africaine in close pursuit. Africaine, her guns still trained at Astrée, soon found herself under fire from Iphigénie. After half an hour of exchanging fire at point-black range, an exchange in which the French had the upper hand, the British attempted a boarding, which Iphigénie easily eluded. The boarding attempt gave Astrée an opportunity to rake Africaines bow. At 4:30, Africaine struck her colours.
All officers of Africaine had been killed or wounded in the action, save for Colonel Barry, and only 69 men were uninjured. Bouvet was given Corbett's dagger
Dagger
A dagger is a fighting knife with a sharp point designed or capable of being used as a thrusting or stabbing weapon. The design dates to human prehistory, and daggers have been used throughout human experience to the modern day in close combat confrontations...
, which he kept ever since . The French abandoned Africaine and the next day HMS Boadicea
HMS Boadicea (1797)
HMS Boadicea was a frigate of the Royal Navy. She served in the Channel and in the East Indies during which service she captured many prizes. She participated in one action for which the Admiralty would award the Naval General Service Medal...
recaptured her.
On 3 December 1810, 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...
fell to the British. The ships moored at the island were surrendered, including Iphigénie, Bellone and Astrée. The British took Astrée into service as a 38-gun fifth rate and renamed her HMS Pomone on 26 October 1811, the previous HMS Pomone having been wrecked earlier in the month.
British service
Pomone underwent repairs at PortsmouthPortsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
from November 1811 to April 1812. She was commissioned under Captain Robert Lambert
Robert Lambert
Robert Lambert was an Irish politician. He was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Sinn Féin Teachta Dála for the Wexford constituency at the 1923 general election. He did not take his seat in the Dáil due to Sinn Féin's abstentionist policy. He did not contest the June 1927 general election.-References:...
in February 1812. At some point Captain Francis William Fane
Francis William Fane
Rear-Admiral Francis William Fane son of John Fane was a British Royal Navy officer of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars who served in several engagements while commissioned on the frigate HMS Terpsichore, including the blockade of Alexandria...
took command, and on 23 May 1812 sailed her for Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
. Captain Philip Cartaret took command in December 1812.
On 26 May 1813, Pomone received salvage from the owners on the recapture of the two Spanish vessels El Correv Diligente de Carraccas and Nostra Senora de los Desemperados. She apparently shared the reward with and some three other vessels.
Early on the morning of 21 October 1813, Pomone was in the Bay of Biscay
Bay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest south to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal, and is named in English after the province of Biscay, in the Spanish...
repairing damage following a gale in which she had lost her fore-yard. By chance she fell in with a ship under jury masts that proved to be a French frigate.
Carteret was about to attack when another vessel, which also appeared to be a frigate, and a brig flying French colours, emerged from the haze, followed by three more indistinct vessels. To avoid hazarding Pomone, Carteret got well to windward of them. However, when the wind cleared in the afternoon it was discovered that they were all merchantmen except for the frigate under jury masts and the second frigate.
Carteret moved to attack the second frigate but she turned out to be a large Portuguese East Indiaman, which the French had taken and the British retaken. Carteret then sailed for four days in a fruitless search for the frigate under jury masts before he was able to find out that Andromache had captured her on 23 October. She was the , and the Royal Navy took her into service under the same name.
An anonymous letter from "The Pomone's Ship's Company" was passed to the Admiral at Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
asserting with respect to Carteret that "he had run from a French frigate". Carteret asked for a court martial to clear his name. The court martial took place at Plymouth on on 31 December. When no one could be found to offer testimony against him, Carteret summoned those he suspected, plus one quarter of the ship's company chosen by lot. After the board had examined the witnesses it acquitted Carteret of all blame.
After service 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...
and the waters around France
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...
, Pomone sailed to the east coast of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to serve during 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...
. With , Pomone captured the American 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...
Bunker's Hill on 4 March 1814. Bunker's Hill carried 14 guns and had a crew of 86 men. Previously very successful, she had been cruising for eight days out of Morlaix
Morlaix
Morlaix is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.-Leisure and tourism:...
without making a single capture. Bunkers Hill was the former Royal Navy cutter , which the French ship Gloire
French frigate Gloire (1803)
Gloire was a 44-gun frigate of the French Navy.She took part in Allemand's expedition of 1805. On 18 July, she captured and burnt a Prussian cutter to maintain the secrecy of the movements of the fleet, in spite of the neutrality of Prussia at the time...
had taken about a year earlier on 25 February 1813 near Madeira
Madeira
Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies between and , just under 400 km north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the north Atlantic Ocean and an outermost region of the European Union...
.
Pomone was also part of the squadron that captured the USS President
USS President (1800)
USS President was a nominally rated 44-gun wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy. She was named by George Washington to reflect a principle of the United States Constitution. Forman Cheeseman was in charge of her construction, and she was launched in April 1800 from a...
on 15 January 1815. In April 1815 Carteret moved to Desiree and Captain John Lumley took over command.
Fate
In the summer of 1815 Pomone was paid off at ChathamChatham Dockyard
Chatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway and of which two-thirds is in Gillingham and one third in Chatham, Kent, England, came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, leading to a requirement for additional...
. She was 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...
in June of 1816.