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French frigate Psyché (1804)
Encyclopedia
Psyché was a 36-gun vessel built between February 1798 and 1799 at Basse-Indre (Nantes
) 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 into service in June 1804 as the frigate Psyché. In February 1805 she encountered San Fiorenzo
, under the command of the same Henry Lambert, now an acting captain. After a sanguinary engagement of over three hours, Psyché surrendered. The British took her into service as HMS Psyche. In British service she captured several prizes and took part in the capture of Mauritius
and in an operation in Java
. She was broken up at Ferrol in 1812.
, which was escorting the country ship William Petrie to Trincomalee
. The Psyché out-gunned the Wilhelmina, which was armed en flûte
. She had only 21 guns: eighteen 9-pounder and two 6-pounder cannon, and one 12-pounder carronade
. Psyché carried 36 cannon, a broadside that was more than double that of Wilhelmina: twenty-four 12-pounder guns, two 6-pounders and ten 18-pounder carronades. Psyché also had a crew of 250 men, compared with Wilhelminas 124. Nevertheless Captain Henry Lambert of Wilhelmina sailed towards Psyché to give the William Petrie a chance to escape.
Light winds meant that the engagement did not begin until 11 April, when both ships opened fire, exchanging broadsides and attempting to tack around to rake their opponent. After several hours fighting, Psyché broke off and fled. Both ships had sustained heavy damage, the Wilhelmina to her masts and rigging, while Psyché was reduced to a near-sinking condition. Wilhelmina had nine of her crew wounded, three mortally and six slightly, while Psyché lost ten killed and 32 wounded, 13 of them mortally. Wilhelmina put into port, while the William Petrie also arrived safely at her destination.
In June 1804 Decaen purchased Psyché for the French Navy at Réunion
.
On 14 February, Psyché, Équivoque and Thetis encountered HMS San Fiorenzo
, now under the command of Captain Henry Lambert (acting), off the Malabar Coast
of India. The French abandoned Thetis as San Fiorenzo approached and Lambert put a prize crew aboard her under the command of a midshipman, and continued his pursuit.
At ten minutes past eight, San Fiorenzo and Psyché started to exchange broadsides at about a cable length
(185 m.) from each other. The battle continued until 11:30 when Lambert broke off the engagement to repair damage. At midnight, as Lambert was about to re-engage, a boat from Psyché arrived and reported that she had struck.
Psyché had 57 killed and 70 wounded out of her crew of 240 men. San Fiorenzo had 12 killed and 36 wounded. During the action the Équivoque occasionally annoyed San Fiorenzo with gunfire. At some point she escaped into the night. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "San Fiorenzo 14 Feby. 1805" to any still surviving claimants from the action.
Captain Fleetwood Pellew
took command in 1807. His father, Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Pellew
, "Commander in Chief of His Majesty's Ships and Vessels in the East Indies", sent Psyche and Caroline to reconnoitre the port of Surabaya
. On 30 August they captured a ship from Batavia and from her learned the disposition of the Dutch military ships in the area. Psyche proceeded to Samarang while Caroline pursued another vessel. Psyche arrived at Samarang at midnight and next morning her boats captured and brought out from under the fire of shore batteries an armed 8-gun schooner and a large merchant brig. However, Psyche had seen three more Dutch vessels, one of them a warship, and so Pellew destroyed the two captured vessels and at mid-day set out after the three other vessels.
By 3:30 on 1 September Psyche had caught up with the Dutch vessels and run them ashore. She went as close as the water depth would allow, anchored and exchanged fire with them. All three surrendered quickly. One that she captured was the 24-gun corvette Scipio, which had a crew of 150 men. Scipio was badly shot up and her commander, Monsieur Carrege, had been mortally wounded. The largest armed merchant ship was the Resolutie, of 700 tons. She had a valuable cargo and as passengers the colours and staff of the Dutch 23rd European Battalion. The third vessel was the brig Ceres, of 12 guns and 70 men. Pellew had too few men to be able to deal with the prisoners so he paroled the officers to the governor of Samarang and gave up the all the other men against a receipt.
Captain John Edgcumbe assumed command at Bombay in 1808. He then sailed Psyche to the Persian Gulf
with Brigadier-General John Malcolm
and his staff on an embassy to the Persian Empire. There, during the four hottest months of the year, Psyche provided protection for the British embassy at Abusheer
. At the beginning of 1809, a detachment of troops from the 56th (West Essex) Regiment of Foot came on board Psyche to serve as marines.
Psyche returned to Bombay and then convoyed troops to Pointe de Galle
. From there she went to Columbo to embark troops for Travancore to suppress a mutiny among the native troops in 1809. Psyche silenced some batteries and her boats destroyed several vessels, suffering one man wounded in the process. Later, Psyche captured two vessels transporting elephants to the mutineers.
Next, Psyche accompanied Doris
to Manila in search of two French frigates, and to induce the government of the Philippines to side with Spain against France. After they returned to Prince of Wales Island
, Psyche escorted their Dutch prize to Bombay.
In 1810 Psyche transported Brigadier-General Malcolm on a second embassy to Persia. She then sailed to the Cape of Good Hope before sailing to Rodrigues
where the British were assembling a fleet to attack Île de France
. On 29 November the force landed at Grande Baie; the island surrendered on 3 December.
Between May and August 1811 Psyche participated in an expedition to Java under Rear Admiral Sir Robert Stopford. While there, Edgcumbe succumbed to hepatitis and had to be invalided back to Britain. Captain Robert Worgan George Festing, who had been serving on shore with the Army, received promotion to Post-captain
on 9 October 1811 and assumed command of Psyche. In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the award of the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Java" to any surviving participants that claimed it.
Nantes
Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....
) as a 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...
. As a privateer she had an inconclusive but bloody encounter with HMS Wilhelmina
HMS Wilhelmina (1798)
HMS Wilhelmina was a 32-gun fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was previously a Dutch ship and had been built in 1787 for the Dutch Republic as the Wilhelmina...
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...
, commanded by Commander 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...
, off the Indian coast in April 1804. The French then brought her into service in June 1804 as the frigate Psyché. In February 1805 she encountered San Fiorenzo
HMS St Fiorenzo (1794)
HMS St 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...
, under the command of the same Henry Lambert, now an acting captain. After a sanguinary engagement of over three hours, Psyché surrendered. The British took her into service as HMS Psyche. In British service she captured several prizes and took part in the capture of Mauritius
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...
and in an operation in Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
. She was broken up at Ferrol in 1812.
Privateer
On 9 April 1804, while under the command of Captain Trogoff, she encountered HMS WilhelminaHMS Wilhelmina (1798)
HMS Wilhelmina was a 32-gun fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was previously a Dutch ship and had been built in 1787 for the Dutch Republic as the Wilhelmina...
, which was escorting the country ship William Petrie to Trincomalee
Trincomalee
Trincomalee is a port city in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka and lies on the east coast of the island, about 113 miles south of Jaffna. It has a population of approximately 100,000 . The city is built on a peninsula, which divides the inner and outer harbours. Overlooking the Kottiyar Bay,...
. The Psyché out-gunned the Wilhelmina, which was armed en flûte
En flûte
Arming a ship en flûte means removing some or all of the artillery. Since ships have a limited amount of cargo space, they may be armed en flûte to make room for other cargo, such as troops and ammunition...
. She had only 21 guns: eighteen 9-pounder and two 6-pounder cannon, and one 12-pounder 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...
. Psyché carried 36 cannon, a broadside that was more than double that of Wilhelmina: twenty-four 12-pounder guns, two 6-pounders and ten 18-pounder carronades. Psyché also had a crew of 250 men, compared with Wilhelminas 124. Nevertheless Captain Henry Lambert of Wilhelmina sailed towards Psyché to give the William Petrie a chance to escape.
Light winds meant that the engagement did not begin until 11 April, when both ships opened fire, exchanging broadsides and attempting to tack around to rake their opponent. After several hours fighting, Psyché broke off and fled. Both ships had sustained heavy damage, the Wilhelmina to her masts and rigging, while Psyché was reduced to a near-sinking condition. Wilhelmina had nine of her crew wounded, three mortally and six slightly, while Psyché lost ten killed and 32 wounded, 13 of them mortally. Wilhelmina put into port, while the William Petrie also arrived safely at her destination.
In June 1804 Decaen purchased Psyché for the French Navy at Réunion
Réunion
Réunion is a French island with a population of about 800,000 located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about south west of Mauritius, the nearest island.Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas departments of France...
.
French naval service
On 10 January 1805, under Captain Jacques Bergeret, she captured the country ship Elisa. On 14 February 1805, she captured the country ships Pigeon and Thetis. Bergeret employed Pigeon as a privateer under the name Équivoque. She was armed with 10 guns and had a crew of 40 men under the command of a lieutenant.On 14 February, Psyché, Équivoque and Thetis encountered HMS San Fiorenzo
HMS St Fiorenzo (1794)
HMS St 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...
, now under the command of Captain Henry Lambert (acting), off 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...
of India. The French abandoned Thetis as San Fiorenzo approached and Lambert put a prize crew aboard her under the command of a midshipman, and continued his pursuit.
At ten minutes past eight, San Fiorenzo and Psyché started to exchange broadsides at about a cable length
Cable length
A cable length or cable's length is a nautical unit of measure equal to one tenth of a nautical mile or 100 fathoms, or sometimes 120 fathoms. The unit is named after the length of a ship's anchor cable in the age of sail...
(185 m.) from each other. The battle continued until 11:30 when Lambert broke off the engagement to repair damage. At midnight, as Lambert was about to re-engage, a boat from Psyché arrived and reported that she had struck.
Psyché had 57 killed and 70 wounded out of her crew of 240 men. San Fiorenzo had 12 killed and 36 wounded. During the action the Équivoque occasionally annoyed San Fiorenzo with gunfire. At some point she escaped into the night. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "San Fiorenzo 14 Feby. 1805" to any still surviving claimants from the action.
British naval service
She was brought into British service as HMS Psyche, being commissioned under Commander William Woolridge in about August 1805. Under Woolridge Psyche took a number of small prizes in 1806:- 26 March - French sloop packet shipPacket shipA "packet ship" was originally a vessel employed to carry post office mail packets to and from British embassies, colonies and outposts. In sea transport, a packet service is a regular, scheduled service, carrying freight and passengers...
Alexandriane, taken at sea while sailing from Île BourbonRéunionRéunion is a French island with a population of about 800,000 located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about south west of Mauritius, the nearest island.Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas departments of France...
; - 20 May - French schooner Celestine, taken at sea while carrying a cargo of plank, corn, and cloves;
- 26 May - A French brig, (Name unknown), which Psyche ran on shore where she wrecked under the batteries of St. Gilles;
- 26 May - French lugger Uranie, taken at sea with a cargo of rice;
- 26 May - French lugger Sophie, taken at sea and burnt after her cargo of rice was removed;
- 1 June - Brig Paque Bot, taken at sea with a cargo of gum and rice;
- 2 June - French schooner Etoile, taken at sea and scuttled after her cargo of rice had been removed;
- 10 June - French brig Coquette, taken at sea with a cargo of rice;
- 10 June - French lugger Grange, taken at sea and scuttled;
Captain Fleetwood Pellew
Fleetwood Pellew
Admiral Sir Fleetwood Broughton Reynolds Pellew CB KCH was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He was the son of Captain Edward Pellew, who later became an admiral and first Viscount Exmouth...
took command in 1807. His father, Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Pellew
Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth
Admiral Sir Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, GCB was a British naval officer. He fought during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary, and the Napoleonic Wars...
, "Commander in Chief of His Majesty's Ships and Vessels in the East Indies", sent Psyche and Caroline to reconnoitre the port of Surabaya
Surabaya
Surabaya is Indonesia's second-largest city with a population of over 2.7 million , and the capital of the province of East Java...
. On 30 August they captured a ship from Batavia and from her learned the disposition of the Dutch military ships in the area. Psyche proceeded to Samarang while Caroline pursued another vessel. Psyche arrived at Samarang at midnight and next morning her boats captured and brought out from under the fire of shore batteries an armed 8-gun schooner and a large merchant brig. However, Psyche had seen three more Dutch vessels, one of them a warship, and so Pellew destroyed the two captured vessels and at mid-day set out after the three other vessels.
By 3:30 on 1 September Psyche had caught up with the Dutch vessels and run them ashore. She went as close as the water depth would allow, anchored and exchanged fire with them. All three surrendered quickly. One that she captured was the 24-gun corvette Scipio, which had a crew of 150 men. Scipio was badly shot up and her commander, Monsieur Carrege, had been mortally wounded. The largest armed merchant ship was the Resolutie, of 700 tons. She had a valuable cargo and as passengers the colours and staff of the Dutch 23rd European Battalion. The third vessel was the brig Ceres, of 12 guns and 70 men. Pellew had too few men to be able to deal with the prisoners so he paroled the officers to the governor of Samarang and gave up the all the other men against a receipt.
Captain John Edgcumbe assumed command at Bombay in 1808. He then sailed Psyche to the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
with Brigadier-General John Malcolm
John Malcolm
Major-general Sir John Malcolm was a Scottish soldier, statesman, and historian-Early life:Born at Burnfoot, Dumfriesshire, Malcolm was the son of George Malcolm, a gentleman farmer of Eskdale and Burnfoot. Jock, as he was then known, was one of the four Malcolm brothers who attained knighthoods...
and his staff on an embassy to the Persian Empire. There, during the four hottest months of the year, Psyche provided protection for the British embassy at Abusheer
Bushehr
Bushehr Bushehr lies in a vast plain running along the coastal region on the Persian Gulf coast of southwestern Iran. It is the chief seaport of the country and the administrative centre of its province. Its location is about south of Tehran. The local climate is hot and humid.The city...
. At the beginning of 1809, a detachment of troops from the 56th (West Essex) Regiment of Foot came on board Psyche to serve as marines.
Psyche returned to Bombay and then convoyed troops to Pointe de Galle
Galle
Galle is a city situated on the southwestern tip of Sri Lanka, 119 km from Colombo. Galle is the capital city of Southern Province of Sri Lanka and it lies in Galle District....
. From there she went to Columbo to embark troops for Travancore to suppress a mutiny among the native troops in 1809. Psyche silenced some batteries and her boats destroyed several vessels, suffering one man wounded in the process. Later, Psyche captured two vessels transporting elephants to the mutineers.
Next, Psyche accompanied Doris
HMS Doris (1808)
HMS Doris was a 36-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy that served between 1808 and 1829. She was the second ship of the Royal Navy to be named after the mythical Greek sea nymphe Doris....
to Manila in search of two French frigates, and to induce the government of the Philippines to side with Spain against France. After they returned to Prince of Wales Island
Penang
Penang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the...
, Psyche escorted their Dutch prize to Bombay.
In 1810 Psyche transported Brigadier-General Malcolm on a second embassy to Persia. She then sailed to the Cape of Good Hope before sailing to Rodrigues
Rodrigues
Rodrigues is a common surname in the Portuguese language. It was originally a Patronymic, meaning Son of Rodrigo or Son of Rui. The "es" signifies "son of". The name Rodrigo is the Portuguese form of Roderick, meaning "famous power" or "famous ruler", from the Germanic elements "hrod" and "ric" ,...
where the British were assembling a fleet to attack 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 29 November the force landed at Grande Baie; the island surrendered on 3 December.
Between May and August 1811 Psyche participated in an expedition to Java under Rear Admiral Sir Robert Stopford. While there, Edgcumbe succumbed to hepatitis and had to be invalided back to Britain. Captain Robert Worgan George Festing, who had been serving on shore with the Army, received promotion to Post-captain
Post-Captain
Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy.The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from:...
on 9 October 1811 and assumed command of Psyche. In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the award of the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Java" to any surviving participants that claimed it.