HMS Active was a 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...

 fifth-rate

Fifth-rate

In Britain's Royal Navy during the classic age of fighting sail, a fifth rate was the penultimate class of warships in a hierarchal system of six "ratings" based on size and firepower.-Rating:...

 frigate launched on 14 December 1799 at Chatham Dockyard

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...

. Sir John Henslow

John Henslow

Sir John Henslow was Surveyor to the Navy a post he held jointly or solely from 1784 to 1806.-Career:He was 7th child of John Henslow a master carpenter in the dockyard at Woolwich...

 designed her as an improvement on the Artois-class frigates. She served 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...

 and the Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

, capturing numerous enemy vessels. Her crews participated in three actions that would later qualify them for the Naval General Service Medal. She returned to service after the wars and finally was broken up in 1860.

French Revolutionary Wars

Active was commissioned under Captain Charles Davers in December 1799 and convoyed East Indiamen in 1800. Then she began operating in the English Channel as part of the Channel Fleet

Channel Fleet

The Channel Fleet was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1690 to 1909.-History:The Channel Fleet dates back at least to 1690 when its role was to defend England against the French threat under the leadership of Edward Russell, 1st Earl of...

. She later sailed with a convoy for the Mediterranean. In September 1800 she was under the temporary command of Captain John Giffard. On 2 October Active and Castor

HMS Castor (1785)

HMS Castor was a 32-gun Amazon-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. The French briefly captured her during the Atlantic Campaign of May 1794 but she spent just 20 days in French hands as a British ship retook her before her...

 recaptured the brig Stout.

On 26 January 1801 Active captured the 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...

 Quinola, of 48 men, after a two-hour chase. She was armed with 14 guns, 6 and 2-pounders, and carried a crew of 48 men. She had sailed from Morlaix the morning before and had not made any captures.

Giffard then removed to the third rate Magnificent on 23 February. From October Active came under Commander Thomas Shortland, also temporary. On 25 October she captured the Genoese pinco St Anna.

In 1802 Active sailed to Egypt with specie. On 7 March she arrived in Lisbon from Gibraltar, together with . While the captains were ashore the police of the Guard threw the crews of their barges into subterranean holding cells. When the captains went to the office of the Captain of the Regiment of Lisbon, he had the two captains detained as well. Although the British consul and others remonstrated, the captains were held overnight before being released. The underlying issue may have been a violation of quarantine rules that applied to all vessels coming from the Mediterranean. After her return to Britain from Gibraltar on 13 July she sailed to the West Indies and then the waters off Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

.

Napoleonic Wars

In August 1804, Active was under the command of Captain Richard Mowbray, for the blockade of 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....

, in the Mediterranean. (Captain Davers had resigned his command due to ill-health caused by yellow fever, which he had caught on the Leeward Islands station. He died in 1805.) On 27 April Active captured the French letter of marque

Letter of marque

In the days of fighting sail, a Letter of Marque and Reprisal was a government licence authorizing a person to attack and capture enemy vessels, and bring them before admiralty courts for condemnation and sale...

 schooner Les Amis. She was armed with four 6-pounder guns and was carrying a cargo of wine and merchandise from Bordeaux to Cayenne.

At some point Active captured the Prussian vessels Ida Margaretta, Anna Dorothea, and
Norberg. On 12 March 1807, Active and Endymion

HMS Endymion (1797)

HMS Endymion was a 40-gun fifth rate that served in the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars, the War of 1812 and during the First Opium War. She was built to the lines of the French prize captured in 1794...

 captured the Danish vessel Henrie and Maria. The prize money was remitted from Malta.

In 1807, Active returned to the Mediterranean. An initial assignment was her participation in Thomas Louis

Thomas Louis

Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Louis, 1st Baronet was an officer of the British Royal Navy who served in three wars and saw numerous actions, notably as one of Horatio Nelson's "Band of Brothers" in the Mediterranean in 1798 who commanded ships at the Battle of the Nile...

's squadron in Admiral Duckworth's Dardanelles Operation

Dardanelles Operation

The Dardanelles Operation was the Royal Navy's unsuccessful attempt to impose British demands on the Ottoman Empire as part of the Anglo-Turkish War ....

. On the way in on 19 February Active drove a frigate aground and then burnt her, all without suffering any casualties. However, Active had eight men wounded on 3 March during the withdrawal from the Dardanelles, one of whom, the boatswain, later died. During the withdrawal she suffered a hit from an 800-pound stone cannonball, 6'6" in diameter, which did damage but caused no casualties.

On 27 April she took the letter of marque

Letter of marque

In the days of fighting sail, a Letter of Marque and Reprisal was a government licence authorizing a person to attack and capture enemy vessels, and bring them before admiralty courts for condemnation and sale...

 schooner Les Amis. Less Amis was armed with four 6-pounder guns and had a crew of 20 men. She had been sailing from Bordeaux to her home port of Cayenne with a cargo of wine and merchandise.

Almost a year later, on 26 March 1808, she and the 64-gun Standard

HMS Standard (1782)

HMS Standard was a 64-gun Royal Navy third-rate ship of the line, launched on 8 October 1782 at Deptford. She was the last of the 15 Intrepid class vessels, which were built to a design by John Williams.-Early career:...

 captured the Italian brig Friedland. Mowbray took possession of Friedland after a chase of several hours. The brig might have escaped had she not lost her topmast. She was one year old and was armed with 16 French 12-pounder guns. Active took her prize to Malta, together with the prisoners, who included Commodore Don Amilcar Paolucci, commander in chief of the Italian Marine, and Knight of the Iron Crown.

In 1809 Active returned to Britain and was paid off.

Recommissioned later in 1809, Active, under Captain James Alexander Gordon

James Alexander Gordon

Admiral of the Fleet Sir James Alexander Gordon, KCB, RN was a distinguished British officer in the Royal Navy. His 75 years in the service, from Midshipman to Admiral of the Fleet was unprecedented in its duration. He served in the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812...

, sailed for the Adriatic. In 1810 she participated in a raid on Grao

Grado, Italy

Grado is a town and comune in the north-eastern Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located on a peninsula of the Adriatic Sea between Venice and Trieste....

 near Trieste

Trieste

Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...

. Together with Cerberus

HMS Cerberus (1794)

HMS Cerberus was a 32-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She served in the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars in the Channel, the Mediterranean, the Adriatic, and even briefly in the Baltic against the Russians. She participated in one boat action that won for her crew a clasp to...

 and Amphion

HMS Amphion (1798)

HMS Amphion was a 32-gun fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She served during the Napoleonic Wars.Amphion was built by Betts, of Mistleythorn, and was launched on 19 March 1798....

 she seized a coastal convoy of trabaccolos

Trabaccolo

The Trabaccoló, Trabaccalo, or Trabakul, is a type of Adriatic Sea sailing coaster. The name comes from the word trabacca, which means tent, which in turn recalls the vessel's sails. The trabaccoló was a typical Venetian boat-form that dates back to the first half of the 15th Century, and which...

 and other vessels. Active did not report casualties. In 1847 the Admiralty issued the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "28 June Boat Service 1810" to all surviving claimants from the action.

On 14 June Cerberus, in company with Active and Swallow, captured three gunboat

Gunboat

A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...

s - the Vincentina, Modanese and Elvetica (or Elvetria).

On 4 February 1811 Active and Cerbrus sent in their boats to raid Pescara

Pescara

Pescara is the capital city of the Province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. As of January 1, 2007 it was the most populated city within Abruzzo at 123,059 residents, 400,000 with the surrounding metropolitan area...

. The British destroyed one trabaccalo, after first transferring its cargo to Active, and sent another three to Lissa. All four were from Ancona. Active lost one man wounded.

Five days later the boats from Active and Cerbrus raided Ortona

Ortona

Ortona is a coastal town and municipality of the Province of Chieti in the Italian region of Abruzzo, with some 23,000 inhabitants.Ortona was the site of fierce fighting between German and Canadian forces during the Italian campaign in World War II...

. Despite facing heavy fire, the British suffered only four men wounded. They captured one trabaccolo and ten Venetian transports that were carrying supplies from Ancona to the French at Corfu. The British sent all the vessels they captured to Lissa, or destroyed them. The vessels were:

• Eugenie, of six guns, commanded by a Lieutenant;
• Transport Fortunée, No. 52, laden with Corn, burnt after her cargo was transferred to another vessel;
• Transport, name unknown, laden with Oil;
• Transport, name unknown, No. 2, laden with plank and corn;
• Transport St. Anongiato, laden with Hemp and Cordage;
• Transport, name unknown, No. 50, laden with Wheat;
• Transport, name unknown, No. 55, partly laden with sundries;
• Transport Anime del Purgatorio, laden with rice, cargo taken on board and vessel burnt;
• Transport, name, unknown, laden with wheat.
• Two transports, names unknown, burnt in the port.

In addition, the British were able to burn two warehouses holding oil, soldiers' clothing, ammunition, and naval stores, including cables, blocks, hawsers, hemp, and the like.

On 14 March Active participated in the Battle of Lissa

Battle of Lissa (1811)

The Battle of Lissa was a naval action fought between a British frigate squadron and a substantially larger squadron of French and Venetian frigates and smaller ships on 13 March 1811 during the Adriatic campaign of the Napoleonic Wars...

, where she lost nine men killed and 26 wounded, but together with Cerberus captured the French frigate Corona

French frigate Corona (1807)

The Corona was a 40-gun Hortense-Class frigate of the French Navy. The French built her in 1807 for the Venetian Navy but took her over in 1810. The British captured Corona at the Battle of Lissa and took her into the Royal Navy as HMS Daedalus...

. Active, Amphion, Cerberus and Volage

HMS Volage (1807)

HMS Volage was a Laurel-class sixth-rate post-ship of the Royal Navy. She served during the Napoleonic War, capturing four privateers and participating in the Battle of Lissa . She was sold in 1818.-Career:...

 encountered a French force consisting of five frigates, one corvette, one brig, two schooners, one gun boat and one 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...

, all under M. Dubourdieu, Captain de Vaisseux. In all, the French force had double the guns and triple the number of men relative to the British force. The British also captured the frigate Bellona and caused the frigate Favorite to run ashore where she blew up. The Flora (or Flore) also surrendered but then sailed off again while Amphion, to which she had struck, was capturing the Bellona. Captain William Hoste wrote a letter to the captain of the Flora arguing that he was honor bound to give up his vessel to Amphion. The acting captain of Flora replied that she had not struck but rather that a shot had carried away her flag and that therefore the French were not going to surrender her. Active lost nine men killed and 26 wounded in the battle. In 1847 the Admiralty issued the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Lissa" to all surviving claimants.

On 23 July Active, Alceste and Acorn captured French property on Lissa.

On 27 July Actives boats attacked a convoy in the port of Rogoznica

Rogoznica

Rogoznica is a popular tourist village on the Dalmatian coast in Croatia that lies in the southernmost part of the Šibenik-Knin County, in a deep bay sheltered from wind, about 30 km from Šibenik. In the 2001 census, the population of the village was 2,391, with 96% declaring themselves Croats...

 on the Dalmatian

Dalmatia

Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....

 coast that was carrying grain to the garrison at Ragusa. A landing party captured a fort on a hill overlooking the port and the remaining boats then entered. There they found three gunboat

Gunboat

A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...

s and 28 transports. The British brought out the three gunboats and 18 transports after burning 10 of the transports. Active suffered only four men wounded; the French appeared to have lost a number of men killed and wounded.

Next, Active participated in the destruction of a French convoy at the Action of 29 November 1811

Action of 29 November 1811

The Action of 29 November 1811 was a minor naval engagement fought between two frigate squadrons in the Adriatic Sea during the Adriatic campaign of the Napoleonic Wars. The action was one of a series of operations conducted by the British Royal Navy and the French Navy to contest dominance over...

. In the engagement, the British captured the frigate Pomone

French frigate Pomone (1805)

The Pomone was a 40-gun Hortense-class frigate of the French Navy, built at Genoa for the puppet government of the Ligurian Republic, which was annexed as part of France in June 1805, a month after the Pomone was completed...

 and the storeship Persanne

French ship Persanne (1809)

The Persanne was a 24-gun Mérinos class transport of the French Navy.On 29 November 1811, Pauline ferried a cargo of 201 bronze and iron cannon, 220 iron wheels for gun carriages and numerous other military stores from Corfu to Trieste, escorted by frigates Pomone and Pauline...

. The action cost Active eight men dead and 27 wounded, with Captain Gordon hit by a cannonball that severed his knee, leaving his leg hanging by a thread. Amputation proved necessary but Captain Gordon, complete with a wooden leg, was still able to sail within the year. Active shared the prize money with Alceste

HMS Alceste (1806)

The Minerve was a 38-gun Armide class frigate of the French Navy, captured by the British in 1806 and brought into Royal Navy service as HMS Alceste. She was wrecked in 1817.-French service:...

, Unite

HMS Imperieuse (1793)

The Impérieuse was a 40-gun Minerve class frigate of the French Navy. She later served in the Royal Navy as HMS Imperieuse and HMS Unite.-French service and capture:...

, Kingfisher

HMS Kingfisher (1804)

HMS Kingfisher was a Royal Navy 18-gun Merlin-class ship sloop, built by John King and launched in 1804 at Dover. She served during the Napoleonic Wars, first in the Caribbean and then in the Mediterranean before being broken up in 11816.-Caribbean:Kingfisher was commissioned under Commander...

 and Acorn, which were either in sight, or sharing by agreement. In 1847 the Admiralty issued the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Pelagosa 29 Novr. 1811" to all surviving claimants from the action.

In 1812 Active returned to Britain.

Post-war service

In 1815 Active came under Captain William King, and then in October Captain Phillip Carteret. She was fitted for sea from November 1815 to April 1816 and then was on the Jamaica station in 1817. In 1819 she was fitted with man-powered paddles, an experiment a design by Lieutenant Burton.

In January 1819 she was recommissioned under Captain Sir James Gordon on the Halifax station. In December 1821 she was under Captain Richard King "on particular service". In September 1824 she was on the Lisbon station under Captain Robert Rodney.

Fate

Active was fitted as a receiving ship at Plymouth between October 1825 and February 1826. She was renamed Argo on 15 November 1833. Her breaking up was completed on 21 October 1860 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...

.