HMS Cleopatra 1778

HMS Cleopatra was a 32-gun Amazon-class fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She had a long career, seeing service during the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. During the latter wars she fought two notable engagements with larger French opponents. In the first engagement she was forced to surrender, but succeeded in damaging the French ship so badly that she was captured several days later, while the Cleopatra was retaken. In the second she forced the surrender of a 40-gun frigate. After serving under several notable commanders she was broken up towards the end of the Napoleonic Wars.

Construction
Cleopatra was ordered on 13 May 1778 and was laid down on 6 July 1778 at the yards of James Martin Hillhouse, Bristol.She was launched on 26 November 1779 and had been completed by 9 September 1780. £9,202 (approximately £980 thousand at today's prices)was paid to the builder, with another £5,563.1.5d (approximately £590 thousand at today's prices)spent on dockyard expenditures. Cleopatra was commissioned in October 1779 under her first commander, Captain George Murray.
Career
Fourth Anglo Dutch War

Cleopatra was initially assigned to serve with the Western squadron and was soon active in activities to suppress French cruisers and privateers. On 15 June 1780 Cleopatra and HMS Apollo captured the 26-gun Stanisland off Ostend; while the privateer Comtesse de Provence fell to Cleopatra on 11 November 1780.Cleopatra escorted a convoy to the Baltic on 1781, becoming involved in the Battle of Dogger Bank on 5 August.She passed under the command of Captain Henry Harvey in January 1783, but was paid off in April that year and fitted for ordinary at Sheerness. She remained laid up until 1790 when she began a Great Repair, and was recommissioned in January 1793 under Captain Alexander Ball.

French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
Cleopatra continued her effective career against raiders by capturing the privateer Trois Amis on 24 March 1793 in company with HMS Lizard. She was operating from Nova Scotia from 1794, and was under Captain Charles Penrose in June 1795. He took the privateer Aurore on 3 March 1796, before passing command to Captain Charles Rowley who coincidentally took another French ship named Aurore on 22 April that year. Rowley went on to capture the 12-gun privateer Hirondelle during his tenure, before Captain Israel Pellew took over command of the Cleopatra in September 1797. Pellew served briefly in the English Channel, taking the 16-gun privateer Emilie on 26 March 1798. He then returned the Cleopatra to Halifax in August that year. She operated off the American coasts, ranging as far as the Caribbean and Cuba, where she and HMS Andromache captured a Spanish gunboat on 22 March 1801. Pellew then returned the Cleopatra to Britain, where she spent between 1802 and 1804 under repair at Woolwich, recommissioning in July 1804 under Captain Charles Elphinstone. Elphinstone's tenure lasted less than a month, by August Cleopatra was sailing under Captain Sir Robert Laurie.

Fight with Ville de Milan
Cleopatra spent some time in the West Indies, and was homeward bound in February 1805. While sailing off Bermuda Cleopatra sighted a sail--the 40-gun French frigate Ville de Milan. She had sailed from Martinique on 28 January under Captain Jean-Marie Renaud and was bound for France with several important dispatches. Despite identifying his quarry as a superior opponent, Laurie ordered a chase. Renaud had orders to avoid combat and pressed on sail to escape Laurie. The chase covered 180 miles and lasted until the following morning, when Renaud reluctantly came about to meet the Cleopatra, which was overhauling the Ville de Milan. The engagement began in earnest at 2:30pm, and a heavy cannonade was maintained between the two frigates until 5pm, when the Cleopatra had her wheel shot away and her rudder jammed. The Ville de Milan approached from windward and ran aboard the Cleopatra, jamming her bowsprit over the quarterdeck while raking the Cleopatra's decks with musket fire. The British resisted one attempt to board, but on being unable to break free, were forced to surrender to a second boarding party. The Cleopatra had 22 killed and 36 wounded, with the loss of her foremast, mainmast and bowsprit. The Ville de Milan probably had about 30 killed and wounded, with Captain Renaud among the dead. She also lost her mainmast and mizzenmast. Three days were spent transferring a prize crew and prisoners, and patching up the ships, before the two got underway on 21 February.

However, on 23 February they were discovered by the 50-gun HMS Leander, under Captain John Talbot. Leander ran up to them, whereupon they separated. Talbot chased Cleopatra, brought her to with a shot and took possession. The freed crew reported the situation to Talbot, and left him to pursue the fleeing Ville de Milan. Talbot soon overtook her and she surrendered without a fight. Both were taken back to Halifax, where the Ville de Milan was taken into service as HMS Milan, with Laurie as her captain. Laurie's engagement with the superior opponent had initially cost him his ship, but had rendered her easy prey to any other Royal Navy frigate in the vicinity. Had he not brought her to battle, the Ville de Milan could have easily outsailed the Leander or even engaged her on fairly equal terms. Instead the damage and losses incurred in breaking down the Cleopatra had left her helpless to resist.

Later actions
With the loss of her captain to the command of the Milan, Cleopatra was recommissioned in July 1805 under Captain John Wright. She remained on the Halifax station, from September 1806 under Captain Robert Simpson, and from August 1808 under Captain Samuel Pechell. On 22 January 1809 she fought an action with the 40-gun Topaze and with the support of HMS Jason and HMS Hazard captured her. Cleopatra was then present at the Invasion of Martinique in February 1809. Captain Charles Austen took command in October 1810, with command reverting to Pechell in July 1811. Captain Charles Gill took over in December 1812, followed in an acting capacity by Captain William M'Culloch in 1814.

Cleopatra was paid off in July 1814 and broken up at Deptford by 21 September 1814.

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Golden Hind 1577

The Golden Hind (or Golden Hinde) was an English galleon best known for its circumnavigation of the globe between 1577 and 1580, captained by Sir Francis Drake. She was originally known as the Pelican, but was renamed by Drake mid-voyage in 1578, as he prepared to enter the Strait of Magellan, calling it the Golden Hind to compliment his patron, Sir Christopher Hatton, whose armorial crest was a golden 'hind' (the heraldic term for a female deer). Hatton was one of the principal sponsors of Drake's world voyage.

History

In 1577 Elizabeth I of England chose Sir Francis Drake as the leader of an expedition intended to pass around South America through the Strait of Magellan and to explore the coast that lay beyond. The queen's support was advantageous; Drake had official approval to benefit himself and the queen as well as to cause the maximum damage to the Spaniards. This would eventually culminate in the Anglo–Spanish War. Before setting sail, Drake met the queen face-to-face for the first time and she said to him, "We would gladly be revenged on the King of Spain for divers injuries that we have received." The explicit object was to "find out places meet to have traffic." Drake, however, acted as a privateer, with unofficial support from Queen Elizabeth. He set sail in December with five small ships, manned by 164 men, and reached the Brazilian coast in the spring of 1578. His flagship, the Pelican, which Drake renamed the Golden Hinde, displaced only about 100 tons.
On 1 March 1579, the Golden Hind took the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de la Concepción, which had the largest treasure captured to that date: over 360,000 Pesos.The six tons of treasure took six days to transship. Subsequently Drake sailed North, probably to around San Francisco Bay, claiming this land as 'Nova Albion', leaving on 23 July. He then came back across the Pacific, reaching the Cape of Good Hope on 18 June 1580 and Sierra Leone on 22 July.On 26 September 1580, Francis Drake took his ship into Plymouth Harbour with only 56 of the original crew of 80 left aboard. Despite his piratical conduct on his voyages, Queen Elizabeth herself went aboard the Golden Hind, which was lying at Deptford in the Thames estuary, and personally bestowed a knighthood on him; her share of the treasure came to almost £160,000: "enough to pay off her entire foreign debt and still have £40,000 left over to invest in a new trading company for the Levant. Her return and that of other investors came to £47 for every £1 invested, or a total return of 4,700%."
After Drake's circumnavigation, the Golden Hind was maintained for public exhibition in Deptford. This is the earliest known example of a ship being maintained for public display because of its historic significance. Golden Hind remained there for nearly 100 years before she eventually rotted away and was finally broken up.

The table in the Middle Temple Hall (in London) is reputed to have been made from the wood of the Golden Hind, as is a chair in the Great Hall, Buckland Abbey, Devon.

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HMS President 1760

18th century English frigate. Built between 1730 & 1760, one of many light frigates of 'economical build' due to the frequent wars of those days.

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USS Lexington 1776

 
History

Originally named the Wild Duck, Abraham van Bibber purchased her for the Maryland Committee of Safety, at St. Eustatius in the Dutch West Indies in February 1776. She soon got underway for the Delaware Capes and reached Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 9 March with a cargo of sorely needed gunpowder for the patriot forces. Four days later the Marine Committee purchased Wild Duck, renamed her Lexington after the Battle of Lexington (the first battle of the war), and turned her over to Wharton and Humphry for fitting out.

Commanded by Capt. John Barry, Lexington dropped down the Delaware River 26 March and slipped through the British blockade 6 April. The following day she fell in with British sloop Edward, a tender to the frigate Liverpool. After a fierce fight which lasted about an hour Edward struck her colors. Lexington took her prize into Philadelphia and as soon as the ship was back in fighting trim, Barry put to sea again. On 26 April Lexington encountered Sir Peter Parker's fleet sailing to attack Charleston, South Carolina. Two of the British ships gave chase on 5 May off the Delaware Capes. HMS Roebuck and Liverpool chased Lexington for eight hours and came close enough to exchange fire with the American ship before Barry managed to elude his pursuers and reach Philadelphia safely.

Lexington and Reprisal dropped down the Delaware to Cape May on the 20th, there joining Wasp and Hornet. Liverpool stood off the Delaware Capes preventing the American ships from escaping to sea. On 28 June Pennsylvania's brig Nancy arrived in the area with 386 barrels of powder in her hold and ran aground while attempting to elude British blockader Kingfisher. Barry ordered the precious powder rowed ashore during the night leaving only 100 barrels in Nancy at dawn. A delayed action fuse was left inside the brig, which exploded the powder just as a boatload of British seamen boarded Nancy.

On 10 July Lexington slipped to sea. On the 27th she
captured Lady Susan, a ship of Lord Dunmore's Tory Fleet which operated out of the Chesapeake Bay. This privateer was commanded by William Goodrich, a member of the notorious Tory family which had plagued the shipping of Virginia and Maryland. (Richard Dale, one of seven members of the Lady Susan crew who signed on Lexington, later won fame under John Paul Jones.) Early in September, Lexington took another sloop, Betsy. About a fortnight later lightning struck Lexington forcing the brigantine home for repairs. Lexington anchored off Philadelphia 26 September, and two days later Barry relinquished command.


With repairs completed, Lexington, Capt. William Hallock in command, got underway for Cape Francois to obtain military cargo. On the return voyage, British frigate Pearl overhauled the brigantine just short of the Delaware Capes 20 December and captured her. The commander of the frigate removed Lexington's officers, but left 70 of her men on board under hatches with a prize crew. But by luring their captors with a promise of rum, the Yankee sailors recaptured the ship and brought her to Baltimore.

Lexington, now with Capt. Henry Johnson in command, sailed for France 20 February 1777 and took two prizes before reaching Bordeaux in March. In France, the brigantine joined Reprisal and Dolphin for a cruise seeking the Irish linen fleet scheduled to leave Dublin early in June. The American ships, commanded by Capt. Lambert Wickes, got underway 28 May and were carried far to westward by heavy winds. Approaching Dublin from the north they entered the north channel 18 June and hove to off the Mull of Kintyre. During the next four days they captured nine prizes, sinking three, releasing one, and retaining five. Heading south again on the 22nd, they took and scuttled a brig before arriving off Dublin Bay. The next morning they took another brig and released a ship bringing sugar, rum, and cotton from Jamaica. After placing prize crews on both vessels, they resumed their voyage around Ireland. On the 24th they stopped and released a smuggler and the next day took their last prize, a snow.

When they sighted ship-of-the-line HMS Burford near Ushant on the 26th, the American ships scattered and made their way individually to safety in France. Lexington remained at Morlaix, a Brittany fishing village, throughout the summer, hemmed in by British warships. However, France, under strong British diplomatic pressure, ordered the American ships out of French waters 12 September. Lexington got underway the next morning but made little headway because of light wind. She lay becalmed near Ushant on the morning of 19 September when British 10-gun cutter Alert, commanded by John Bazely, came into view. In the ensuing fight, Lexington's rigging was seriously damaged precluding flight. When the American brigantine ran out of powder Captain Johnson reluctantly struck his colors.

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HMS Royal William 1719

British Warship launched in 1719 at Plymouth. She was withstood many of battles including a seven year's war against the French and she was the one of the first ships that has active served, nearly a hundred years, thanks to new technique development of hull.

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HMS Seraphis 1779

HMS Serapis was a Royal Navy two-decked, Roebuck-class fifth rate. She was built by Daniel Brent at Greenland South Dockyard, Rotherhithe and launched her in 1779. She was armed with 44 guns (twenty 18-pounders, twenty 9-pounders, and four 6-pounders). Serapis was named after the god Serapis in Greek and Egyptian mythology. The Americans captured her during the American Revolutionary War. They transferred her to the French, who commissioned her as a privateer. She was lost off Madagascar in 1781 to a fire.

American Revolutionary War battle
On 23 September 1779, commanded by Captain Richard Pearson, she engaged the American warship USS Bonhomme Richard under the command of Captain John Paul Jones in the North Sea at the Battle of Flamborough Head, England. At the time of this battle, the ship carried 50 guns, having an extra six 6-pounders. The two vessels exchanged heavy fire and Bonhomme Richard lost most of her fire power, but by attaching the two ships together, Jones was able to overcome much of Pearson's advantage of greater firepower (although the Bonhomme Richard was a larger ship with a considerably greater crew). The famous quote, "I have not yet begun to fight!" was Jones's response to Pearson's premature call for Bonhomme Richard to surrender. The battle raged on for three hours as the crew of Bonhomme Richard tenaciously fought Serapis, raking her deck with gunfire. Eventually, Alliance, a frigate in Jones's squadron, began firing at both the attached ships indiscriminately. Bonhomme Richard began to sink, but Captain Pearson, unable to aim his guns at the frigate because he was tied to Jones's ship, surrendered, handing Serapis over to the Americans.

Aftermath
Jones sailed to the neutral United Provinces (the Netherlands), but diplomatic complications arose because the Dutch authorities did not recognize the United States. The Serapis was renamed by Jones after her capture as the USS Serapis. An improvised Serapis flag was secretly entered into the Dutch records to avoid the charges of piracy. Serapis and her consort Countess of Scarborough were later declared as French captures.

Although the two British vessels had lost the battle, they had succeeded perfectly in protecting the very valuable convoy, and both captains were well rewarded.

Loss of Serapis
The French commissioned Serapis as a privateer under a master named Roche who planned to use the ship against the British in the Indian Ocean. However, in July 1781 the ship was lost off the coast of Madagascar when a sailor accidentally dropped a lantern into a tub of brandy. The crew fought the fire for two and one half hours, but the flames eventually burned through the spirit locker walls and reached a powder magazine. The resulting explosion blew the stern off the ship and the vessel sank.

Discovery of the wreck
In November 1999 American nautical archeologists Richard Sweet and Michael Tuttle located the remains of the Serapis.

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