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HMS Vanguard (1787)
Encyclopedia
HMS Vanguard was a 74-gun third-rate
ship of the line
of the Royal Navy
, launched on 6 March 1787 at Deptford
. She was the sixth vessel to bear the name.
In December 1797, Captain Edward Berry
was appointed flag captain
, flying Rear Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson's flag.
In 1798 Nelson was detached into the Mediterranean by Earl St. Vincent
with , , , , and . They sailed from Gibraltar
on 9 May and on 12 May were struck by a violent gale in the Gulf of Lion
that carried away Vanguard's topmasts and foremast. The squadron bore up for Sardinia, Alexander taking Vanguard in tow.
On 19 May, while Nelson was off station repairing his storm damage, Napoleon Bonaparte sailed from Toulon
with a force of 72 warships and 400 transports to strike at Egypt
with the intention of eventually invading India. On 13 June he occupied Malta
and, on 19 June, continued the passage to Egypt arriving off Alexandria
on 1 July. On 31 May, Nelson returned to Toulon to find that the French had left 13 days earlier. Searching for the enemy he reached Naples
on 17 June and Messina on 20 June. Here he learnt of the fall of Malta and the probable destination of the French. He sailed for Alexandria
but overtook the French and arrived on 29 June, two days before them. Finding no enemy he returned to Sicily
via Asia Minor
. Convinced that the French were going to Egypt he set sail once more for Alexandria.
On the evening of 1 August 1798, half an hour before sunset, the Battle of the Nile
began when Nelson attacked the French fleet which was moored in a strong line of battle in Aboukir Bay with gunboats, four frigate
s, and batteries on Aboukir Island to protect their flanks. was the leading ship and, followed by four others, she broke through the French line to anchor and fight from the shoreward side. Vanguard remained on the seaward side and soon the French van and centre were being overwhelmed by six ships on either side of their line. The French lost 11 ships of the line and two frigates. Their dead numbered 1700 and the wounded 1500. The British lost 218 killed and 678 wounded.
Vanguard lost three officers killed, Thomas Seymour and John Taylor, midshipmen, and Captain Taddy of the marines. Lieutenants N. Vassal and J. Ayde, J. Campbell, the Admiral's secretary, M. Austin, the boatswain, and J. Weatherspoon and George Antrim, midshipmen, were wounded. Twenty seamen and seven marines were killed and sixty seamen and eight marines were wounded. Nelson was also wounded. On 3 August the captains of the squadron met on board Orion and agreed to present Nelson with a sword.
Vanguard sailed for Naples on 19 August and arrived on 22 September. She was in need of new masts and a bowsprit but Nelson deferred getting them until he knew the situation of which was to be careened at Naples after grounding during the battle. The King of Naples came out to meet her.
In September, Captain Thomas Hardy
took command, still under Nelson's flag. Two months later a formidable French army had invaded Naples
and on 16 December Vanguard was shifted out of gunshot of the ports. On 20 December Nelson, in order to evacuate the royal family and other important people, ordered the small barge of Vanguard, covered by three barges and the small cutter , armed with cutlasses only, to be at the Victoria wharf. All the other boats of Vanguard and Alcmene, and the launches and carronade
s, were ordered to assemble on board Vanguard under the direction of Captain Hardy and row halfway to the Mola Figlio.
By 21 December the Neapolitan Royal Family, the British Ambassador and his family, several Neapolitan nobles and most of the English gentlemen and merchants had been embarked, numbering in all about 600 persons in the ships of the squadron. Vanguard sailed on 23 December and arrived, after a stormy passage, in Palermo
on 26 December.
The ship had been the scene of the death of Prince Alberto of Naples and Sicily
, one of the royal entourage onboard, son of King Ferdinand VI
and his wife Maria Carolina of Austria
who were on board. Other royals on board were the Duke of Calabria
, Prince of Salerno
and their sisters the Princesses Maria Cristina
, Maria Amalia and Princess Maria Antonia
Nelson shifted his flag from Vanguard to on 6 June 1799, taking with him Captain Hardy and a number of other officers, leaving Captain W. Brown in command. In 1800, Vanguard was taken out of commission at Portsmouth
.
In 1801, under the command of Captain Sir Thomas Williams
. Vanguard sailed from Portsmouth
on 20 April to join the Baltic
fleet. The fleet, under Vice Admiral Pole, returned on 10 August. Vanguard, , , , , , and sailed again on 19 August to cruise off Cádiz
. The first four were victualled and stored for five months at Gibraltar
and sailed for Jamaica
in December. followed them as soon as she had watered at Tetuan.
In 1803, under the command of Captain James Walker
, Vanguard was operating out of Jamaica
. On 24 July, two French 74s, Duquesne
and Duguay Trouin
, and the frigate Guerrière put to sea from Cap-Français in San Domingo during a squall in an effort to evade , , , under Captain Perkins
, and Vanguard, which were blockading the port. The French ships separated during the night but Duquesne was overtaken the following day and captured after a short exchange of fire with Vanguard which lost one man killed and one wounded. The prize was broken up on arrival in England after being damaged running on to the Morant Keys.
In September the French troops in northwest Saint Domingue were being closely pressed by the rebel slaves under General Jean-Jacques Dessalines
. Captain Walker, off the Mole St. Nicholas, persuaded the General not to put the garrison of Saint-Marc
to death but to march them round to the Mole in safety where Vanguard would take possession of the shipping in the bay. The 850 men of the garrison, all very emaciated, were successfully evacuated, and the corvette
Papillon, pierced for 12 guns but only mounting 6, the brig
Trois Amis, transport, and the schooner
Mary Sally with 40 or 50 barrels of powder were brought out.
The American schooner was captured by Vanguard on 16 November, and the two French schooners Rosalle, laden with saltpeter
and lignum vitae
, and St Rosario, in ballast, were taken on 22 December.
Vanguard was paid off by the end of 1805. In 1807 she was repaired at Plymouth
, and under the command of Captain Thomas Baker
became the flagship of Rear Admiral Thomas Bertie
in 1808. In 1812 she was made a prison ship
at Plymouth and in 1814 she became a powder hulk. Vanguard was broken up in 1821.
Third-rate
In the British Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks . Years of experience proved that the third rate ships embodied the best compromise between sailing ability , firepower, and cost...
ship of the line
Ship of the line
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...
of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
, launched on 6 March 1787 at Deptford
Deptford
Deptford is a district of south London, England, located on the south bank of the River Thames. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne, and from the mid 16th century to the late 19th was home to Deptford Dockyard, the first of the Royal Navy Dockyards.Deptford and the docks are...
. She was the sixth vessel to bear the name.
In December 1797, Captain Edward Berry
Edward 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...
was appointed flag captain
Flag captain
In the Royal Navy, a flag captain was the captain of an admiral's flagship. During the 18th and 19th centuries, this ship might also have a "captain of the fleet", who would be ranked between the admiral and the "flag captain" as the ship's "First Captain", with the "flag captain" as the ship's...
, flying Rear Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson's flag.
In 1798 Nelson was detached into the Mediterranean by Earl St. Vincent
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...
with , , , , and . They sailed from 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 9 May and on 12 May were struck by a violent gale in the Gulf of Lion
Gulf of Lion
The Gulf of Lion is a wide embayment of the Mediterranean coastline of Languedoc-Roussillon and Provence in France, reaching from the border with Catalonia in the west to Toulon.The chief...
that carried away Vanguard's topmasts and foremast. The squadron bore up for Sardinia, Alexander taking Vanguard in tow.
On 19 May, while Nelson was off station repairing his storm damage, Napoleon Bonaparte sailed from Toulon
Toulon
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....
with a force of 72 warships and 400 transports to strike at Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
with the intention of eventually invading India. On 13 June he occupied Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
and, on 19 June, continued the passage to Egypt arriving off Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
on 1 July. On 31 May, Nelson returned to Toulon to find that the French had left 13 days earlier. Searching for the enemy he reached Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
on 17 June and Messina on 20 June. Here he learnt of the fall of Malta and the probable destination of the French. He sailed for Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
but overtook the French and arrived on 29 June, two days before them. Finding no enemy he returned to Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
via Asia Minor
Asia Minor
Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...
. Convinced that the French were going to Egypt he set sail once more for Alexandria.
On the evening of 1 August 1798, half an hour before sunset, 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...
began when Nelson attacked the French fleet which was moored in a strong line of battle in Aboukir Bay with gunboats, four 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, and batteries on Aboukir Island to protect their flanks. was the leading ship and, followed by four others, she broke through the French line to anchor and fight from the shoreward side. Vanguard remained on the seaward side and soon the French van and centre were being overwhelmed by six ships on either side of their line. The French lost 11 ships of the line and two frigates. Their dead numbered 1700 and the wounded 1500. The British lost 218 killed and 678 wounded.
Vanguard lost three officers killed, Thomas Seymour and John Taylor, midshipmen, and Captain Taddy of the marines. Lieutenants N. Vassal and J. Ayde, J. Campbell, the Admiral's secretary, M. Austin, the boatswain, and J. Weatherspoon and George Antrim, midshipmen, were wounded. Twenty seamen and seven marines were killed and sixty seamen and eight marines were wounded. Nelson was also wounded. On 3 August the captains of the squadron met on board Orion and agreed to present Nelson with a sword.
Vanguard sailed for Naples on 19 August and arrived on 22 September. She was in need of new masts and a bowsprit but Nelson deferred getting them until he knew the situation of which was to be careened at Naples after grounding during the battle. The King of Naples came out to meet her.
In September, Captain Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy (naval officer)
Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy, 1st Baronet GCB was an officer of the Royal Navy. He served as flag captain to Admiral Lord Nelson, and commanded HMS Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar...
took command, still under Nelson's flag. Two months later a formidable French army had invaded Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
and on 16 December Vanguard was shifted out of gunshot of the ports. On 20 December Nelson, in order to evacuate the royal family and other important people, ordered the small barge of Vanguard, covered by three barges and the small cutter , armed with cutlasses only, to be at the Victoria wharf. All the other boats of Vanguard and Alcmene, and the launches and carronade
Carronade
The carronade was a short smoothbore, cast iron cannon, developed for the Royal Navy by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, UK. It was used from the 1770s to the 1850s. Its main function was to serve as a powerful, short-range anti-ship and anti-crew weapon...
s, were ordered to assemble on board Vanguard under the direction of Captain Hardy and row halfway to the Mola Figlio.
By 21 December the Neapolitan Royal Family, the British Ambassador and his family, several Neapolitan nobles and most of the English gentlemen and merchants had been embarked, numbering in all about 600 persons in the ships of the squadron. Vanguard sailed on 23 December and arrived, after a stormy passage, in Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
on 26 December.
The ship had been the scene of the death of Prince Alberto of Naples and Sicily
Prince Alberto of Naples and Sicily
Alberto of Naples and Sicliy was a Prince of Naples and Sicily. He died on board HMS Vanguard, a British Royal navy vessel.-Biography:...
, one of the royal entourage onboard, son of King Ferdinand VI
Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
Ferdinand I reigned variously over Naples, Sicily, and the Two Sicilies from 1759 until his death. He was the third son of King Charles III of Spain by his wife Maria Amalia of Saxony. On 10 August 1759, Charles succeeded his elder brother, Ferdinand VI, as King Charles III of Spain...
and his wife Maria Carolina of Austria
Maria Carolina of Austria
Maria Carolina of Austria was Queen of Naples and Sicily as the wife of King Ferdinand IV & III. As de facto ruler of her husband's kingdoms, Maria Carolina oversaw the promulgation of many reforms, including the revocation of the ban on Freemasonry, the enlargement of the navy under her...
who were on board. Other royals on board were the Duke of Calabria
Francis I of the Two Sicilies
-Biography:Francis was born in Naples, the son of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies and his wife Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria. He was also the nephew of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI the last King and Queen of France before the first French Republic....
, Prince of Salerno
Leopold, Prince of Salerno
Prince Leopoldo Giovanni Giuseppe Michele of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Prince of Salerno was a member of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies and a Prince of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.-Biography:Born Leopoldo of Naples and Sicily, he was the sixth son of Ferdinand IV of Naples and wife Maria...
and their sisters the Princesses Maria Cristina
Maria Cristina of Naples and Sicily
Maria Cristina of Naples and Sicily was a Princess of Naples and Sicily and later Queen of Sardinia as wife of Charles Felix of Sardinia.-Princess of Naples and Sicily:...
, Maria Amalia and Princess Maria Antonia
Nelson shifted his flag from Vanguard to on 6 June 1799, taking with him Captain Hardy and a number of other officers, leaving Captain W. Brown in command. In 1800, Vanguard was taken out of commission at Portsmouth
Portsmouth
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...
.
In 1801, under the command of Captain Sir Thomas Williams
Thomas Williams (Royal Navy officer)
Admiral Sir Thomas Williams GCB was a senior British Royal Navy officer of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, who served in numerous theatres during the American Revolutionary War, French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars...
. Vanguard sailed from Portsmouth
Portsmouth
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...
on 20 April to join 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...
fleet. The fleet, under Vice Admiral Pole, returned on 10 August. Vanguard, , , , , , and sailed again on 19 August to cruise off Cádiz
Cádiz
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
. The first four were victualled and stored for five months at 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...
and sailed for Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
in December. followed them as soon as she had watered at Tetuan.
In 1803, under the command of Captain James Walker
James Walker (Royal Navy officer)
James Walker CB, CavTe was an officer of the Royal Navy. He served during the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, rising to the rank of Rear-Admiral....
, Vanguard was operating out of Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
. On 24 July, two French 74s, Duquesne
Duquesne
-Individuals:* Abraham de Bellebat, marquis du Quesne, governor of Martinique in 1716* Abraham Duquesne, French admiral* Calleigh Duquesne, a character in the television series CSI: Miami...
and Duguay Trouin
HMS Implacable (1805)
HMS Implacable was a 74-gun third rate of the Royal Navy. She was originally the French Navy's Téméraire-class ship of the line Duguay-Trouin, launched in 1800....
, and the frigate Guerrière put to sea from Cap-Français in San Domingo during a squall in an effort to evade , , , under Captain Perkins
John Perkins (Royal Navy officer)
Captain John Perkins, Royal Navy was a British naval officer.Perkins, nicknamed Jack Punch, was the first black commissioned officer in the Royal Navy. He rose from obscurity to be one of the most successful ship captains of the Georgian navy...
, and Vanguard, which were blockading the port. The French ships separated during the night but Duquesne was overtaken the following day and captured after a short exchange of fire with Vanguard which lost one man killed and one wounded. The prize was broken up on arrival in England after being damaged running on to the Morant Keys.
In September the French troops in northwest Saint Domingue were being closely pressed by the rebel slaves under General Jean-Jacques Dessalines
Jean-Jacques Dessalines
Jean-Jacques Dessalines was a leader of the Haitian Revolution and the first ruler of an independent Haiti under the 1801 constitution. Initially regarded as Governor-General, Dessalines later named himself Emperor Jacques I of Haiti...
. Captain Walker, off the Mole St. Nicholas, persuaded the General not to put the garrison of Saint-Marc
Saint-Marc
Saint-Marc is a coastal port town in western Haiti in the Artibonite Department. Its geographic coordinates are . At the 2003 Census the municipality had 160,181 inhabitants....
to death but to march them round to the Mole in safety where Vanguard would take possession of the shipping in the bay. The 850 men of the garrison, all very emaciated, were successfully evacuated, 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...
Papillon, pierced for 12 guns but only mounting 6, the brig
Brig
A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...
Trois Amis, transport, and the schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
Mary Sally with 40 or 50 barrels of powder were brought out.
The American schooner was captured by Vanguard on 16 November, and the two French schooners Rosalle, laden with saltpeter
Potassium nitrate
Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with the formula KNO3. It is an ionic salt of potassium ions K+ and nitrate ions NO3−.It occurs as a mineral niter and is a natural solid source of nitrogen. Its common names include saltpetre , from medieval Latin sal petræ: "stone salt" or possibly "Salt...
and lignum vitae
Lignum vitae
Lignum vitae is a trade wood, also called guayacan or guaiacum, and in parts of Europe known as pockenholz, from trees of the genus Guaiacum. This wood was once very important for applications requiring a material with its extraordinary combination of strength, toughness and density...
, and St Rosario, in ballast, were taken on 22 December.
Vanguard was paid off by the end of 1805. In 1807 she was repaired at Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
, and under the command of Captain Thomas Baker
Thomas Baker (Royal Navy officer)
Sir Thomas Baker KCB, KWN was an officer of the Royal Navy, who saw service during the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars...
became the flagship of Rear Admiral Thomas Bertie
Thomas Bertie
Sir Thomas Bertie RSO , born Thomas Hoar, was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars....
in 1808. In 1812 she was made a prison ship
Prison ship
A prison ship, historically sometimes called a prison hulk, is a vessel used as a prison, often to hold convicts awaiting transportation to penal colonies. This practice was popular with the British government in the 18th and 19th centuries....
at Plymouth and in 1814 she became a powder hulk. Vanguard was broken up in 1821.