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HMS St Fiorenzo (1794)
Encyclopedia
HMS St Fiorenzo (also San Fiorenzo) was a 38-gun fifth rate of the Royal Navy
. She had previously served with the French Navy
as the Minerve, before the British captured her during the French Revolutionary Wars
. She went on to serve under a number of the most distinguished naval commanders of her age, in theatres ranging from the English Channel
to the East Indies
. During this time she was active against enemy privateers, and on several occasions she engaged ships larger than herself, being rewarded with victory on each occasion. She captured the 40-gun Résistance and the 22-gun Constance in 1797, the 36-gun Psyché
in 1805, and the 40-gun Piémontaise
in 1808. (These actions would earn the crewmembers involved clasps to the Naval General Service Medal.) Conversion into a number of roles then followed. She initially became a troopship
, then a receiving ship, and lastly, a lazarette
. She was finally broken up in 1837 after a long period in the latter role.
, laying her down on 10 February 1782 and launching her on 21 July 1782. She was the lead ship of her class.
Minerve began her career in the Mediterranean, in particular operating in the Levant campaign from 1790 to 1791. In March 1793 she and Melpomène escorted from Toulon to Algiers two xebec
s that the French had outfitted for the Dey
. On Minerve’s return to Toulon her commander was arrested following an insurrection on board. On 18 February 1794, her commander scuttled her before the British under Sir David Dundas
captured the town of San Fiorenzo (San Fiurenzu or Saint-Florent, Haute-Corse
) in the Gulf of St. Florent in Corsica. (Other accounts suggest that gunfire from British shore batteries sank her.) The British found Minerve on 19 February 1794, and were able to refloat her. They then took her into service as a 38-gun frigate under the name St Fiorenzo.
, but passed under Captain Sir Charles Hamilton in July 1794. Hamilton sailed her back to Chatham
, where she arrived on 22 November and was registered as a Royal Navy ship on 30 May 1795. She was then commissioned in June that year under Captain Sir Harry Neale. Neale was to command her for the next five years.
St Fiorenzo was among the 25 British warships in the fleet under the command of Admiral John Colpoys
that shared in the capture on 2 November 1796 of the French privateer Franklyn. Twenty-six days later, St Fiorenzo was in company with when they captured the French brig Anne. At some point, St Fiorenzo also captured the brig Cynthia.
's , when they sighted two sails heading for Brest
. These turned out to be the French frigate Résistance and the corvette
Constance, returning from the short-lived, quixotic and unsuccessful French raid
on Fishguard
in Wales
, where they had landed troops. Cooke and Neale chased after them, and engaged them for half an hour, after which both French ships surrendered.
There were no casualties or damage on either of the British ships. Resistance had ten men killed and nine wounded; Constance had eight men killed and six wounded.
Resistance had 48 guns, with 18-pounders on her main deck, and a crew of 345 men. Constance had twenty-four 9-pounder guns, and a crew of 181 men. The Royal Navy took both into service. Résistance became , while retained her name. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General service Medal with clasp "San Fiorenzo 8 March 1797" to surviving claimants from the action.The reason for the discrepancy in between the date of the action and the date on the clasp was that the Admiralty considered that a day ran from noon to noon. Thus the morning of 9 March was, to the Admiralty, the end of 8 March.
, but was one of the few ships to remain loyal to her commander. She subsequently escaped to Harwich
after enduring musket and grapeshot fire from the mutinous ships that left four of the crew wounded.
Further successes followed later that year. She captured the French privateer
lugger
Unité off The Owers on 3 June 1797. Unité was armed with 14 guns and had a crew of 58 men commanded by Citizen Charles Roberts. She was three days out of Morlaix
without having captured anything.
Then on 1 July St Fiorenzo captured the French privateer lugger Castor off the Scilly Isles. Castor too had been armed with 14 guns, all of which she had thrown overboard during the chase in an attempt to lighten herself and so gain speed, and had a crew of 57 men. She was 18 days out of Saint Malo and in that time had captured the brig Resolution, which had been carrying a cargo of salt.
St Fiorenzo and shared in the capture in November and December 1797 of the French brigs Minerva and Succes. In addition to the capture of the privateer Succes on 14 December, St Fiorenzo and Clyde captured the privateer Dorade two days later. The actual captor of Dorade was Clyde. Dorade was from Bordeaux and was pierced for 18 guns, though she only had 12. She had been out 50 days and had been cruising off the Azores and Madeira, but had captured nothing. She and her crew of 93 men were on their way home when Clyde captured her. Unfortunately, the commander of the prize crew hoisted too much sail with the result that Dorade overturned, drowning all 19 members of the prize crew.
St Fiorenzo, and shared in the recapture of the American brig Betty on 16 February 1798. On 9 March St Fiorenzo recaptured the brig Cynthia.Almost a month later, on 7 April, St Fiorenzo, in company with Impetueux
, recaptured the Ulysses.
On 23 May St Fiorenzo captured the pram (chasse maree) Maria. two days later, St Fiorenzo and Impetueux
captured the ship Fair American. On 1 June, she added the brig Zeniphe to her list of captures, and then six days later, two empty sloops. , St Fiorenzo, and shared in the capture of the French sloop Marie Catharine. St Fiorenzo, Phaeton, Anson and Stagg shared in the proceeds of the capture on 23 June of the Jonge Marius. That same day Phaeton captured the Specuulation; San Fiorenzos officers entitled to first or second-class shares in prize money shared by agreement.
On 29 June , and chased a French frigate. Pique and Jason chased her down and captured her in the Breton Passage on 30 June 1798, after an engagement in which the French suffered some 170 men killed. The French vessel was the , which the Royal Navy took into service under her existing name. In the fight Jason, Pique and Seine ran aground. Mermaid arrived and retrieved Jason, but Pique had to be destroyed. St Fiorenzo too arrived and was instrumental in recovering Seine.
On 9 November, St Fiorenzo captured the French privateer Resource. Head money for the men on the privateer and salvage for the Cynthia in March was paid in February 1810.
On 11 and 12 December 1798 St Fiorenzo and captured and sent into Plymouth the Spanish privateer St Joseph y Animas and the French privateer Rusée, and recaptured the brig George, of London, which had originally been sailing from Bristol to Lisbon, loaded with a cargo of coals, copper, and bottles. St Joseph y Animas was armed with four brass 6-pounder guns and had a crew of 64 men. Rusée was coppered and just off the stocks she carried fourteen 4-pounder guns and a crew of 60. Neale recommended that the Navy take her into service. On 15 December St Fiorenzo captured the Spanish brig Nostra Senora Del Carmen y Animas.
In late 1798 or early 1799, San Fiorenzo, , , Clyde, Mermaid, and , shared in the capture of the chasse maree Marie Perotte and a sloop of unknown name, as well as the recapture of the Sea Nymphe and the Mary. On 9 March 1799, St Fiorenzo and Clyde captured the French sloop St Joseph. Three days later Triton, St Fiorenzo, and captured the French merchant ship Victoire.
On 9 April 1799, after reconnoitering two French frigates in L'Orient, St Fiorenzo and HMS Amelia
sailed towards Belle Île
. Conditions were hazy and although Neale had sighted some vessels, it was only when he had passed the island that he discovered three French frigates and a large gun vessel. At that instant a sudden squall
carried away Amelias main
-top-mast and fore
and mizzen top-gallant masts
; the fall of the main-top-mast tore away much of the mainsail
from the yard. Neale shortened St Fiorenzos sail and ordered Amelia to keep close to St Fiorenzo to maintain the weather gage
, and to prepare for battle. An action commenced but the French vessels avoided close-quarter action and, although the British ships came under fire from shore batteries, they had to bear down on the French three times to engage them. After nearly two hours the French wore ship
and sailed away to take refuge in the Loire, with the gun-vessel returning to Belle Île.
Amelia lost two killed and 17 wounded in the engagement. St Fiorenzo lost one man killed and eighteen wounded.
That evening St Fiorenzo captured a French brig and learned that the French frigates were the Vengeance, Sémillante
and Cornélie. The British further learned that Cornélie had lost some 100 men dead and wounded, with one of the wounded being her commodore. Later reports mentioned that Captain Caro of Vengeance had been mortally wounded and that Sémillante had 15 dead.
Then on 13 April, St Fiorenzo captured the French ship Entreprenant. On 17 April St Fiorenzo returned to Plymouth, bringing with her a French brig that she had captured. The French vessel had been sailing from San Domingo to Lorient
with a cargo of sugar and coffee. St Fiorenzo had also captured another French brig, sailing in ballast, but she had not yet arrived. That same month St Fiorenzo captured the Prussian brig Vrou Helena Catherina. On 2 July 1799 St Fiorenzo took part in an attack on a Spanish squadron anchored in the Aix Roads.
On 13 November 1800 St Fiorenzo and Cambrian recaptured the merchantman Hebe, which the 18-gun French privateer
Grande Decide had captured about a week earlier.
Captain Charles Paterson took over command in January 1801, serving in the Mediterranean. St Fiorenzo, Loire
, , , , and hired armed
cutter Swift shared in the capture on 11 and 12 August 1801 of the Prussian brigs Vennerne and Elizabeth. On 30 September 1801 St Fiorenzo captured the schooner Worcester.
In May 1802 Captain Joseph Bingham succeeded Paterson. He would serve as St Fiorenzos commander until 1804.
, and spent the next couple of years operating in the Indian Ocean. On 14 January 1804, St Fiorenzo gave chase to the French naval chasse-marée
and aviso
Passe-Partout off Mount Dilly on the Malabar Coast
. When the wind began to fail, Bingham sent three of his boats after the quarry. Once alongside, in two minutes the British had captured the French vessel, despite fire from two brass six-pounder guns, six brass swivel gun
s and small arms. Out of her 25-man crew, Passe-Portout had two dead and five seriously wounded, including the captain, who was mortally wounded; the British suffered only one man slightly wounded. Bingham discovered that the French had outfitted Passe Partout to land three officers on the coast to incite the Mahratta
states to attack the British. Bingham passed on the intelligence with the result that the British at Poona were able to capture the Frenchmen.
Bingham's successor was Captain Walter Bathurst, who commanded St Fiorenzoin 1805. Captain Henry Lambert
(acting), replaced Bathurst.
Psyché
On 13 February 1805, St Fiorenzo found the French frigate
and two vessels that looked like merchantmen, off Vishakhapatnam. On the evening of the 14th, St Fiorenzo recaptured one of the merchantmen, the Thetis, which was a prize to Psyché and which the French had abandoned. He put a prize crew aboard her and then engaged the other two vessels. After a fierce battle of more than three hours, Captain Bergeret, the French commander of Psyché, sent a boat to announce that she had struck her colours. She had lost 57 men killed and 70 men wounded; St Fiorenzo had 12 killed and 56 wounded. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "San Fiorenzo 14 Feby. 1805" to any surviving claimants from the action.
During the engagement the third vessel, the Equivoque, occasionally intervened, firing at St Fiorenzo. She was a privateer of ten guns and a crew of forty men under the command of a lieutenant. She was the former local ship Pidgeon, which Bergeret had captured and fitted out as a privateer. she escaped.
Lambert was promoted to another command. Captain Patrick Campbell
then commanded St Fiorenzo between 1806 and 1807.
, who on 6 March 1808 encountered the 50-gun French frigate Piémontaise
, which had been raiding British shipping off the Indian coast. Piémontaise was under the command of Captain Jacques Epron and had sailed from Île de France
on 30 December with a crew of 366 Frenchmen, together with almost 200 lascars
to work the sails.
Hardinge was patrolling when, after having passed three East Indiamen
, he spotted a frigate that would not identify itself. St Fiorenzo sailed towards the Frenchman, who attempted to escape. St Fiorenzo chased the Piémontaise for the next several days, with intermittent fighting as the French turned to engage their pursuer, before sailing away again. On 7 March the British lost eight men killed and suffered many wounded, two of whom died later.
St Fiorenzo finally brought Piémontaise to a decisive battle late on 8 March in the Gulf of Mannar
, where after an hour and twenty minutes of fierce fighting, the French surrendered. French losses amounted to 48 dead and 112 wounded, while over the three days the British lost 13 dead and 25 wounded. Captain Hardinge was among the dead, killed by grapeshot from the second broadside in the last engagement. Lieutenant William Dawson took command and brought both vessels back to Colombo
, even though Piémontaise's three masts fell over her side early in the morning of the 9th.
Piémontaise also had on board British army officers and captains and officers from prizes that she had taken. These men helped organize the lascars to jury-rig masts and bring Piémontaise into port. St Fiorenzo had too few men and too many casualties and prisoners to guard to provide much assistance.
Aftermath
On 29 November 1809, His Majesty George III
granted to the Hardinge family an augmentation to their coat of arms commemorating both the victory over Piemontaise and Hardinge's earlier victory over Atalante. The merchants, shipowners, and underwriters of Bombay voted the sum of £500 to be "distributed to the Sufferers in the Action on the 8th March 1808". Sixteen men died without receiving their portion and the grantors paid for a notice in the London Gazette calling on the relatives of the men to claim their shares. When for eight seamen and marines no one had forward for the money by September 1818 the Treasury agreed to hold £160 in trust (£20 per man) should any relative come forward later. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "San Fiorenzo 8 March 1808" to any surviving claimants from the action.
Hardinge's successor was Captain John Bastard
, who commanded St Fiorenzo until she was paid off later in 1808.
for service in the Baltic
, under the command of Henry Matson. She took part in the Walcheren Campaign
in 1809. Her crew therefore qualified for the prize money from the expedition.
St Fiorenzo was then refitted as a 22-gun troopship
and sent to Lisbon
under Commander Edmund Knox. She was further fitted in 1812, this time to serve as a receiving ship at Woolwich, before being laid up in ordinary at Chatham. Her final service was as a lazarette
at Sheerness
, where she remained between 1818 and 1837. She was broken up at Deptford
in September 1837, after 43 years with 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...
. She had previously served with 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...
as the Minerve, before the British captured her during 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...
. She went on to serve under a number of the most distinguished naval commanders of her age, in theatres ranging from 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...
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...
. During this time she was active against enemy privateers, and on several occasions she engaged ships larger than herself, being rewarded with victory on each occasion. She captured the 40-gun Résistance and the 22-gun Constance in 1797, the 36-gun Psyché
French frigate Psyché (1804)
Psyché was a 36-gun vessel built between February 1798 and 1799 at Basse-Indre as a privateer. As a privateer she had an inconclusive but bloody encounter with HMS Wilhelmina of the Royal Navy, commanded by Commander Henry Lambert, off the Indian coast in April 1804. The French then brought her...
in 1805, and the 40-gun Piémontaise
French frigate Piémontaise (1804)
The Piémontaise was a 40-gun Consolante-class frigate of the French Navy. She served as a commerce raider in the Indian Ocean until her capture in March 1808...
in 1808. (These actions would earn the crewmembers involved clasps to the Naval General Service Medal.) Conversion into a number of roles then followed. She initially became a troopship
Troopship
A troopship is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime...
, then a receiving ship, and lastly, a lazarette
Lazaretto
A lazaretto or lazaret is a quarantine station for maritime travellers. Lazarets can be ships permanently at anchor, isolated islands, or mainland buildings. Until 1908, lazarets were also used for disinfecting postal items, usually by fumigation...
. She was finally broken up in 1837 after a long period in the latter role.
French career
The French built Minerve at ToulonToulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
, laying her down on 10 February 1782 and launching her on 21 July 1782. She was the lead ship of her class.
Minerve began her career in the Mediterranean, in particular operating in the Levant campaign from 1790 to 1791. In March 1793 she and Melpomène escorted from Toulon to Algiers two xebec
Xebec
A xebec , also spelled zebec, was a Mediterranean sailing ship that was used mostly for trading. It would have a long overhanging bowsprit and protruding mizzen mast...
s that the French had outfitted for the Dey
Dey
Dey was the title given to the rulers of the Regency of Algiers and Tripoli under the Ottoman Empire from 1671 onwards...
. On Minerve’s return to Toulon her commander was arrested following an insurrection on board. On 18 February 1794, her commander scuttled her before the British under Sir David Dundas
Sir David Dundas, 1st Baronet
General Sir David Dundas, 1st Baronet, GCB was a British general who served as Commander-in-Chief of the Forces from 1809 to 1811.-Military service:...
captured the town of San Fiorenzo (San Fiurenzu or Saint-Florent, Haute-Corse
Saint-Florent, Haute-Corse
Saint-Florent is a commune in Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica. It is a fishing port located on the gulf of the same name....
) in the Gulf of St. Florent in Corsica. (Other accounts suggest that gunfire from British shore batteries sank her.) The British found Minerve on 19 February 1794, and were able to refloat her. They then took her into service as a 38-gun frigate under the name St Fiorenzo.
Service in the Channel
She was initially under the command of Captain Charles TylerCharles Tyler
Admiral Sir Charles Tyler, GCB was a British admiral who gained fame during the Napoleonic Wars as one of the Nelsonic Band of Brothers and a naval officer of great reputation and success who fought at the battles of Copenhagen and Trafalgar.-Early life:Tyler was born in 1760, the son of Captain...
, but passed under Captain Sir Charles Hamilton in July 1794. Hamilton sailed her back to Chatham
Chatham 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...
, where she arrived on 22 November and was registered as a Royal Navy ship on 30 May 1795. She was then commissioned in June that year under Captain Sir Harry Neale. Neale was to command her for the next five years.
St Fiorenzo was among the 25 British warships in the fleet under the command of Admiral John Colpoys
John Colpoys
Admiral Sir John Colpoys, GCB was an officer of the British Royal Navy who served in three wars but is most notable for being one of the catalysts of the Spithead Mutiny in 1797 after ordering his marines to fire on a deputation of mutinous sailors...
that shared in the capture on 2 November 1796 of the French privateer Franklyn. Twenty-six days later, St Fiorenzo was in company with when they captured the French brig Anne. At some point, St Fiorenzo also captured the brig Cynthia.
Capture of Résistance and Constance
On 9 March 1797 St Fiorenzo was sailing in company with Captain John CookeJohn Cooke (Royal Navy officer)
Captain John Cooke was an experienced and highly regarded officer of the British Royal Navy during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary Wars and the first years of the Napoleonic Wars. Cooke is best known for his death in hand-to-hand combat with French forces during the...
's , when they sighted two sails heading for 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...
. These turned out to be the French frigate Résistance and the corvette
Corvette
A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role...
Constance, returning from the short-lived, quixotic and unsuccessful French raid
Last invasion of Britain
The Battle of Fishguard was a military invasion of Great Britain by Revolutionary France during the War of the First Coalition. The brief campaign, which took place between 22 February and 24 February 1797, was the most recent effort by a foreign force that was able to land on Britain, and thus is...
on Fishguard
Fishguard
Fishguard is a coastal town in Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales, with a population of 3,300 . The community of Fishguard and Goodwick had a population of 5043 at the 2001 census....
in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, where they had landed troops. Cooke and Neale chased after them, and engaged them for half an hour, after which both French ships surrendered.
There were no casualties or damage on either of the British ships. Resistance had ten men killed and nine wounded; Constance had eight men killed and six wounded.
Resistance had 48 guns, with 18-pounders on her main deck, and a crew of 345 men. Constance had twenty-four 9-pounder guns, and a crew of 181 men. The Royal Navy took both into service. Résistance became , while retained her name. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General service Medal with clasp "San Fiorenzo 8 March 1797" to surviving claimants from the action.The reason for the discrepancy in between the date of the action and the date on the clasp was that the Admiralty considered that a day ran from noon to noon. Thus the morning of 9 March was, to the Admiralty, the end of 8 March.
Channel
St Fiorenzo was one of the ships caught up in the mutiny at the NoreSpithead and Nore mutinies
The Spithead and Nore mutinies were two major mutinies by sailors of the Royal Navy in 1797. There were also discontent and minor incidents on ships in other locations in the same year. They were not violent insurrections, being more in the nature of strikes, demanding better pay and conditions...
, but was one of the few ships to remain loyal to her commander. She subsequently escaped to Harwich
Harwich
Harwich is a town in Essex, England and one of the Haven ports, located on the coast with the North Sea to the east. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the northeast, Ipswich to the northwest, Colchester to the southwest and Clacton-on-Sea to the south...
after enduring musket and grapeshot fire from the mutinous ships that left four of the crew wounded.
Further successes followed later that year. She captured the 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...
lugger
Lugger
A lugger is a class of boats, widely used as traditional fishing boats, particularly off the coasts of France, Scotland and England. It is a small sailing vessel with lugsails set on two or more masts and perhaps lug topsails.-Defining the rig:...
Unité off The Owers on 3 June 1797. Unité was armed with 14 guns and had a crew of 58 men commanded by Citizen Charles Roberts. She was three 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 having captured anything.
Then on 1 July St Fiorenzo captured the French privateer lugger Castor off the Scilly Isles. Castor too had been armed with 14 guns, all of which she had thrown overboard during the chase in an attempt to lighten herself and so gain speed, and had a crew of 57 men. She was 18 days out of Saint Malo and in that time had captured the brig Resolution, which had been carrying a cargo of salt.
St Fiorenzo and shared in the capture in November and December 1797 of the French brigs Minerva and Succes. In addition to the capture of the privateer Succes on 14 December, St Fiorenzo and Clyde captured the privateer Dorade two days later. The actual captor of Dorade was Clyde. Dorade was from Bordeaux and was pierced for 18 guns, though she only had 12. She had been out 50 days and had been cruising off the Azores and Madeira, but had captured nothing. She and her crew of 93 men were on their way home when Clyde captured her. Unfortunately, the commander of the prize crew hoisted too much sail with the result that Dorade overturned, drowning all 19 members of the prize crew.
St Fiorenzo, and shared in the recapture of the American brig Betty on 16 February 1798. On 9 March St Fiorenzo recaptured the brig Cynthia.Almost a month later, on 7 April, St Fiorenzo, in company with Impetueux
French ship America (1788)
America was a Téméraire-class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. The Royal Navy captured her in 1794 at the Battle of the Glorious First of June. She then served with the British under the name HMS Impetueux until she was broken up in 1813...
, recaptured the Ulysses.
On 23 May St Fiorenzo captured the pram (chasse maree) Maria. two days later, St Fiorenzo and Impetueux
French ship America (1788)
America was a Téméraire-class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. The Royal Navy captured her in 1794 at the Battle of the Glorious First of June. She then served with the British under the name HMS Impetueux until she was broken up in 1813...
captured the ship Fair American. On 1 June, she added the brig Zeniphe to her list of captures, and then six days later, two empty sloops. , St Fiorenzo, and shared in the capture of the French sloop Marie Catharine. St Fiorenzo, Phaeton, Anson and Stagg shared in the proceeds of the capture on 23 June of the Jonge Marius. That same day Phaeton captured the Specuulation; San Fiorenzos officers entitled to first or second-class shares in prize money shared by agreement.
On 29 June , and chased a French frigate. Pique and Jason chased her down and captured her in the Breton Passage on 30 June 1798, after an engagement in which the French suffered some 170 men killed. The French vessel was the , which the Royal Navy took into service under her existing name. In the fight Jason, Pique and Seine ran aground. Mermaid arrived and retrieved Jason, but Pique had to be destroyed. St Fiorenzo too arrived and was instrumental in recovering Seine.
On 9 November, St Fiorenzo captured the French privateer Resource. Head money for the men on the privateer and salvage for the Cynthia in March was paid in February 1810.
On 11 and 12 December 1798 St Fiorenzo and captured and sent into Plymouth the Spanish privateer St Joseph y Animas and the French privateer Rusée, and recaptured the brig George, of London, which had originally been sailing from Bristol to Lisbon, loaded with a cargo of coals, copper, and bottles. St Joseph y Animas was armed with four brass 6-pounder guns and had a crew of 64 men. Rusée was coppered and just off the stocks she carried fourteen 4-pounder guns and a crew of 60. Neale recommended that the Navy take her into service. On 15 December St Fiorenzo captured the Spanish brig Nostra Senora Del Carmen y Animas.
In late 1798 or early 1799, San Fiorenzo, , , Clyde, Mermaid, and , shared in the capture of the chasse maree Marie Perotte and a sloop of unknown name, as well as the recapture of the Sea Nymphe and the Mary. On 9 March 1799, St Fiorenzo and Clyde captured the French sloop St Joseph. Three days later Triton, St Fiorenzo, and captured the French merchant ship Victoire.
On 9 April 1799, after reconnoitering two French frigates in L'Orient, St Fiorenzo and HMS Amelia
HMS Amelia (1796)
Proserpine was a 38-gun Hébé-class frigate of the French Navy captured by on 13 June 1796. The Admiralty commissioned Prosperine into the Royal Navy as the fifth rate, HMS Amelia...
sailed towards Belle Île
Belle Île
Belle-Île or Belle-Île-en-Mer is a French island off the coast of Brittany in the département of Morbihan, and the largest of Brittany's islands. It is 14 km from the Quiberon peninsula.Administratively, the island forms a canton: the canton of Belle-Île...
. Conditions were hazy and although Neale had sighted some vessels, it was only when he had passed the island that he discovered three French frigates and a large gun vessel. At that instant a sudden squall
Squall
A squall is a sudden, sharp increase in wind speed which is usually associated with active weather, such as rain showers, thunderstorms, or heavy snow. Squalls refer to an increase in the sustained winds over a short time interval, as there may be higher gusts during a squall event...
carried away Amelias main
Mast (sailing)
The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall, vertical, or near vertical, spar, or arrangement of spars, which supports the sails. Large ships have several masts, with the size and configuration depending on the style of ship...
-top-mast and fore
Mast (sailing)
The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall, vertical, or near vertical, spar, or arrangement of spars, which supports the sails. Large ships have several masts, with the size and configuration depending on the style of ship...
and mizzen top-gallant masts
Mast (sailing)
The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall, vertical, or near vertical, spar, or arrangement of spars, which supports the sails. Large ships have several masts, with the size and configuration depending on the style of ship...
; the fall of the main-top-mast tore away much of the mainsail
Mainsail
A mainsail is a sail located behind the main mast of a sailing vessel.On a square rigged vessel, it is the lowest and largest sail on the main mast....
from the yard. Neale shortened St Fiorenzos sail and ordered Amelia to keep close to St Fiorenzo to maintain the weather gage
Weather gage
The weather gage is a nautical term used to describe the advantageous position of a fighting sailing vessel, relative to another. The term is from the Age of Sail, and is now antiquated. A ship is said to possess the weather gage if it is in any position, at sea, upwind of the other vessel...
, and to prepare for battle. An action commenced but the French vessels avoided close-quarter action and, although the British ships came under fire from shore batteries, they had to bear down on the French three times to engage them. After nearly two hours the French wore ship
Jibe
A jibe or gybe is a sailing maneuver where a sailing vessel turns its stern through the wind, such that the wind direction changes from one side of the boat to the other...
and sailed away to take refuge in the Loire, with the gun-vessel returning to Belle Île.
Amelia lost two killed and 17 wounded in the engagement. St Fiorenzo lost one man killed and eighteen wounded.
That evening St Fiorenzo captured a French brig and learned that the French frigates were the Vengeance, Sémillante
French frigate Sémillante (1792)
The Sémillante was a 32-gun frigate of the French Navy, lead ship of her class. She was involved in a number of multi-vessel actions against the Royal Navy, particularly in the Indian Ocean. She captured a number of East Indiamen before the she became so damaged that the French disarmed her and...
and Cornélie. The British further learned that Cornélie had lost some 100 men dead and wounded, with one of the wounded being her commodore. Later reports mentioned that Captain Caro of Vengeance had been mortally wounded and that Sémillante had 15 dead.
Then on 13 April, St Fiorenzo captured the French ship Entreprenant. On 17 April St Fiorenzo returned to Plymouth, bringing with her a French brig that she had captured. The French vessel had been sailing from San Domingo to Lorient
Lorient
Lorient, or L'Orient, is a commune and a seaport in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France.-History:At the beginning of the 17th century, merchants who were trading with India had established warehouses in Port-Louis...
with a cargo of sugar and coffee. St Fiorenzo had also captured another French brig, sailing in ballast, but she had not yet arrived. That same month St Fiorenzo captured the Prussian brig Vrou Helena Catherina. On 2 July 1799 St Fiorenzo took part in an attack on a Spanish squadron anchored in the Aix Roads.
On 13 November 1800 St Fiorenzo and Cambrian recaptured the merchantman Hebe, which the 18-gun 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...
Grande Decide had captured about a week earlier.
Captain Charles Paterson took over command in January 1801, serving in the Mediterranean. St Fiorenzo, Loire
French frigate Loire (1797)
The Loire was a 44-gun frigate of the French Navy.-French service and capture:She took part in the Expédition d'Irlande, and in the Battle of Tory Island, where she battled , , and . After the battle, Loire and Sémillante escaped into Black Sod Bay, where they hoped to hide until they had a clear...
, , , , and 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 Swift shared in the capture on 11 and 12 August 1801 of the Prussian brigs Vennerne and Elizabeth. On 30 September 1801 St Fiorenzo captured the schooner Worcester.
In May 1802 Captain Joseph Bingham succeeded Paterson. He would serve as St Fiorenzos commander until 1804.
East Indies
Bingham sailed to the Cape of Good HopeCape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...
, and spent the next couple of years operating in the Indian Ocean. On 14 January 1804, St Fiorenzo gave chase to the French naval chasse-marée
Chasse-marée
In English, a chasse-marée is a specific, archaic type of decked commercial sailing vessel.In French, un chasse-marée was 'a wholesale fishmonger', originally on the Channel coast of France and later, on the Atlantic coast as well. He bought in the coastal ports and sold in inland markets. However,...
and aviso
Aviso
An aviso , a kind of dispatch boat or advice boat, survives particularly in the French navy, they are considered equivalent to the modern sloop....
Passe-Partout off Mount Dilly on the Malabar Coast
Malabar Coast
The Malabar Coast is a long and narrow coastline on the south-western shore line of the mainland Indian subcontinent. Geographically, it comprises the wettest regions of southern India, as the Western Ghats intercept the moisture-laden monsoon rains, especially on their westward-facing mountain...
. When the wind began to fail, Bingham sent three of his boats after the quarry. Once alongside, in two minutes the British had captured the French vessel, despite fire from two brass six-pounder guns, six brass 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 and small arms. Out of her 25-man crew, Passe-Portout had two dead and five seriously wounded, including the captain, who was mortally wounded; the British suffered only one man slightly wounded. Bingham discovered that the French had outfitted Passe Partout to land three officers on the coast to incite the Mahratta
Maratha Empire
The Maratha Empire or the Maratha Confederacy was an Indian imperial power that existed from 1674 to 1818. At its peak, the empire covered much of South Asia, encompassing a territory of over 2.8 million km²....
states to attack the British. Bingham passed on the intelligence with the result that the British at Poona were able to capture the Frenchmen.
Bingham's successor was Captain Walter Bathurst, who commanded St Fiorenzoin 1805. Captain Henry Lambert
Henry Lambert
Captain Henry Lambert RN was an officer of the British Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. During his career, Lambert served in numerous ships and several military actions with success, participating in the capture of Île Bonaparte in the Indian Ocean as second in...
(acting), replaced Bathurst.
Psyché
On 13 February 1805, St Fiorenzo found the French frigate
French frigate Psyché (1804)
Psyché was a 36-gun vessel built between February 1798 and 1799 at Basse-Indre as a privateer. As a privateer she had an inconclusive but bloody encounter with HMS Wilhelmina of the Royal Navy, commanded by Commander Henry Lambert, off the Indian coast in April 1804. The French then brought her...
and two vessels that looked like merchantmen, off Vishakhapatnam. On the evening of the 14th, St Fiorenzo recaptured one of the merchantmen, the Thetis, which was a prize to Psyché and which the French had abandoned. He put a prize crew aboard her and then engaged the other two vessels. After a fierce battle of more than three hours, Captain Bergeret, the French commander of Psyché, sent a boat to announce that she had struck her colours. She had lost 57 men killed and 70 men wounded; St Fiorenzo had 12 killed and 56 wounded. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "San Fiorenzo 14 Feby. 1805" to any surviving claimants from the action.
During the engagement the third vessel, the Equivoque, occasionally intervened, firing at St Fiorenzo. She was a privateer of ten guns and a crew of forty men under the command of a lieutenant. She was the former local ship Pidgeon, which Bergeret had captured and fitted out as a privateer. she escaped.
Lambert was promoted to another command. Captain Patrick Campbell
Patrick Campbell (Royal Navy officer)
Vice-Admiral Sir Patrick Campbell, KCB was a senior British Royal Navy officer of the early nineteenth century who was distinguished by his service in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars...
then commanded St Fiorenzo between 1806 and 1807.
Capture of the Piémontaise
St Fiorenzos next commander was Captain George Nicholas HardingeGeorge Nicholas Hardinge
George Nicholas Hardinge was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Possessing an ability to endear himself to senior officers through his intellect and good manners, he served under several important naval commanders, whose patronage allowed...
, who on 6 March 1808 encountered the 50-gun French frigate Piémontaise
French frigate Piémontaise (1804)
The Piémontaise was a 40-gun Consolante-class frigate of the French Navy. She served as a commerce raider in the Indian Ocean until her capture in March 1808...
, which had been raiding British shipping off the Indian coast. Piémontaise was under the command of Captain Jacques Epron and had sailed from 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...
on 30 December with a crew of 366 Frenchmen, together with almost 200 lascars
Lascars
See also Lashkar, LaskarA lascar and was a sailor or militiaman from the Indian Subcontinent or other countries east of the Cape of Good Hope, employed on European ships from the 16th century until the beginning of the 20th century...
to work the sails.
Hardinge was patrolling when, after having passed three East Indiamen
East Indiamen
An East Indiaman was a ship operating under charter or license to any of the East India Companies of the major European trading powers of the 17th through the 19th centuries...
, he spotted a frigate that would not identify itself. St Fiorenzo sailed towards the Frenchman, who attempted to escape. St Fiorenzo chased the Piémontaise for the next several days, with intermittent fighting as the French turned to engage their pursuer, before sailing away again. On 7 March the British lost eight men killed and suffered many wounded, two of whom died later.
St Fiorenzo finally brought Piémontaise to a decisive battle late on 8 March in the Gulf of Mannar
Gulf of Mannar
The Gulf of Mannar is a large shallow bay forming part of the Laccadive Sea in the Indian Ocean. It lies between the southeastern tip of India and the west coast of Sri Lanka. A chain of low islands and reefs known as Adam's Bridge, also called Ramsethu, which includes Mannar Island, separates the...
, where after an hour and twenty minutes of fierce fighting, the French surrendered. French losses amounted to 48 dead and 112 wounded, while over the three days the British lost 13 dead and 25 wounded. Captain Hardinge was among the dead, killed by grapeshot from the second broadside in the last engagement. Lieutenant William Dawson took command and brought both vessels back to Colombo
Colombo
Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...
, even though Piémontaise's three masts fell over her side early in the morning of the 9th.
Piémontaise also had on board British army officers and captains and officers from prizes that she had taken. These men helped organize the lascars to jury-rig masts and bring Piémontaise into port. St Fiorenzo had too few men and too many casualties and prisoners to guard to provide much assistance.
Aftermath
On 29 November 1809, His Majesty George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
granted to the Hardinge family an augmentation to their coat of arms commemorating both the victory over Piemontaise and Hardinge's earlier victory over Atalante. The merchants, shipowners, and underwriters of Bombay voted the sum of £500 to be "distributed to the Sufferers in the Action on the 8th March 1808". Sixteen men died without receiving their portion and the grantors paid for a notice in the London Gazette calling on the relatives of the men to claim their shares. When for eight seamen and marines no one had forward for the money by September 1818 the Treasury agreed to hold £160 in trust (£20 per man) should any relative come forward later. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "San Fiorenzo 8 March 1808" to any surviving claimants from the action.
Hardinge's successor was Captain John Bastard
John Bastard (Royal Navy officer)
John Bastard 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 post-captain...
, who commanded St Fiorenzo until she was paid off later in 1808.
Later career and fate
St Fiorenzo was then fitted out at WoolwichWoolwich
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...
for service in the Baltic
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
, under the command of Henry Matson. She took part in the Walcheren Campaign
Walcheren Campaign
The Walcheren Campaign was an unsuccessful British expedition to the Netherlands in 1809 intended to open another front in the Austrian Empire's struggle with France during the War of the Fifth Coalition. Around 40,000 soldiers, 15,000 horses together with field artillery and two siege trains...
in 1809. Her crew therefore qualified for the prize money from the expedition.
St Fiorenzo was then refitted as a 22-gun troopship
Troopship
A troopship is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime...
and sent to 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...
under Commander Edmund Knox. She was further fitted in 1812, this time to serve as a receiving ship at Woolwich, before being laid up in ordinary at Chatham. Her final service was as a lazarette
Lazarette
A lazarette is a special area on a boat. It is often an area near or aft of the cockpit. The word is similar to and probably derived from Lazaretto....
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....
, where she remained between 1818 and 1837. 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 September 1837, after 43 years with the Royal Navy.