HMS Beagle (1804)
Encyclopedia
HMS Beagle was an 18-gun Cruizer-class
Cruizer class brig-sloop
The Cruizer class was an 18-gun class of brig-sloops of the Royal Navy. Brig-sloops were the same as ship-sloops except for their rigging...
brig-sloop 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...
. She was launched in 1804, during 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...
. She played a major role in the Battle of the Basque Roads
Battle of the Basque Roads
The Battle of the Basque Roads, also Battle of Aix Roads was a naval battle during the Napoleonic Wars off the Island of Aix...
. Beagle was laid up in ordinary
Reserve fleet
A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed, and thus partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; an equivalent expression in unofficial modern U.S....
in 1813 and sold in 1814.
Career
Beagle was commissioned in August 1804 under Commander John Burn, who sailed her to the Mediterranean. On 5 December Burn and Beagle captured the Spanish ship Fuenta Hermosa. Burn was temporarily relieved by Commander George Digby between June and August 1805, after which she joined Sir John Orde’sSir John Orde, 1st Baronet
Sir John Orde, 1st Baronet was the third son of John Orde, of Morpeth, Northumberland, and the brother of Thomas Orde-Powlett, 1st Baron Bolton...
squadron off Cadiz
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....
.
On 14 January 1805, Beagle captured the Spanish ship Pastora Hermosa, which was carrying bullion.
Commander Francis Newcombe replaced Burn in February 1806 and Beagle remained in the Mediterranean until 1807. On 27 April 1806, Beagle and a number of other vessels were in company with Termagant when Termagant captured the Anna Maria Carolina. Beagle then moved to the Downs
The Downs
The Downs are a roadstead or area of sea in the southern North Sea near the English Channel off the east Kent coast, between the North and the South Foreland in southern England. In 1639 the Battle of the Downs took place here, when the Dutch navy destroyed a Spanish fleet which had sought refuge...
where she operated between 1808 and 1809.
While under Newcombe's command Beagle captured three 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...
s in 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...
. She captured the Hazard, of 14 guns and 49 men, on 2 October 1808, the Vengeur, of 16 guns and 48 men, on 24 January 1809 and the Fortune, of 14 guns and 58 men, on 18 February.
- Hazard, which was under the command of Joseph Marie Lelong, had one man badly wounded before Beagle was able to capture her after a three-hour chase. Hazard had left Dieppe the day before and had captured two light colliers (the Trinity Yacht and Assistance), but Newcombe was unable to find and recapture them. Hazard had been the Matthew, of Sunderland, and was carrying a cargo of coals.
- Vengeur was in company with Grand Napoleon, which escaped. Vengeur herself did not surrender, though her captain, M. Bourgnie, was wounded, until Beagle came alongside. Vengeur had made no captures.
- Fortune, under Captain Tucker, had one man badly wounded. She was out of Calais and had made no captures.
Participation at the Battle of the Basque Roads
Beagle arrived at Basque Roads on 10 April, having escorted from the Downs the convoy of fireships that were to attack the French anchorage the next day. Beagle was the second ship (after the bomb vessel AetnaHMS Aetna (1803)
HMS Aetna was one of the Royal Navy bomb vessels involved in the attack on Fort McHenry in the Battle of Baltimore and the bombardment of Fort Washington, Maryland in 1814, during the War of 1812. In these actions she was commanded by Richard Kenah. Prior to this, Aetna participated in the second...
) to voluntarily arrive to aid Cochrane's
Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald
Admiral Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, 1st Marquess of Maranhão, GCB, ODM , styled Lord Cochrane between 1778 and 1831, was a senior British naval flag officer and radical politician....
Imperieuse after the successful fireship attack, her crew reportedly giving Cochrane three cheers upon arriving. The prize crew that took possession, and later burnt, the French ship-of-the-line Calcutta
HMS Calcutta (1795)
HMS Calcutta was an East Indiaman converted to a Royal Navy 56-gun fourth rate. This ship of the line served for a time as an armed transport. She also transported convicts to Australia in a voyage that became a circumnavigation of the world. The French 74-gun Magnanime captured Calcutta in 1805...
, was under the command of a lieutenant from Beagle and a midshipman from Imperieuse. Beagle also took part in the bombardment of the French ships Aquilon
French ship Nestor (1793)
The Nestor was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.In the night of the 30th December 1794, Nestor was dismasted due to the poor quality of her masts, and had to return to Brest for repairs. On her journey back, the Nestor met a British frigate under a false flag...
and Ville de Varsovie
French ship Ville de Varsovie (1808)
The Ville de Varsovie was an 80-gun Bucentaure-class 80-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, designed by Chaumont from original plans by Sané.Built as Tonnant, she was renamed Ville de Varsovie while still under construction...
, skilfully manoeuvring to fire, unlike other British ships that were anchoring to engage.
Beagle was one of the few ships joining Cochrane in ignoring Rear-Admiral Robert Stopford's recall order. Cochrane tasked her with protecting Aetna during the move upriver. Newcombe therefore placed Beagle between Aetna and the grounded French battleships. As a result, Beagle took heavy damage to her rigging and expended nearly all of her powder. Beagle had one man wounded.
Newcombe's achievements and valour resulted in his receiving 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:...
after the battle. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the then-surviving participants in the battle the Naval General Service Medal with the clasp "Basque Roads 1809". Two of Beagles sister ships, and were also present at the Basque Roads.
Later years
Later in 1809 Commander William Dolling took command of Beagle, following Newcombe's promotion. In July and August, Beagle took part in the Scheldt operationsWalcheren 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...
.
On 4 November Beagle and Echo recaptured the Mount Royal, of Pool. On 8 February 1810 Beagle recaptured the brig Resource. Then on 10 October Dollin and Beagle captured the smuggling lugger Ox, for which they received a reward from the Commissioners of His Majesty's Customs. Then on 13 June Beagle captured the smuggling boat Fly, of Bexhill. Three days later she captured several smuggling galleys. Apparently the officers and crew of Beagle purchased the cargo of two of the galleys and sold it.
Commander John Smith took command of Beagle in August 1811. On 14 August 1813, Beagle, in company with President, the gun-brig Urgent and the schooner Juniper, captured the Marmion.
Beagle and participated in the Siege of San Sebastián
Siege of San Sebastian
In the Siege of San Sebastián Allied forces under the command of General Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington captured the city of San Sebastián in northern Spain from its French garrison under Brigadier-General Louis Rey...
(7 July - 8 September 1813) as part of the fleet under Captain George Collier
Sir George Collier, 1st Baronet
Sir George Ralph Collier, 1st Baronet KCB was an officer of the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and the War of 1812. He had an eventful early life, being shipwrecked early in his career and later captured by the French...
assigned to help Sir Arthur Wellesley's
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
campaigns in Portugal and Spain
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
. Beagle had one man dangerously wounded in the taking of the battery on Santa Clara Island. Later, the seamen from the squadron, under Smith's command, maneuvered 24-pounder guns from Surveillante
French frigate Surveillante (1802)
The Surveillante entered service as a 40-gun Virginie class frigate of the French Navy. She was surrendered to the British in 1803, after which she served in the Royal Navy, classed under the British system as a 38 gun vessel, until 1814 when she was decommissioned...
up the steep scarp of Saint Clara Island to assemble their own battery facing San Sebastian, which allowed them to silence the guns there. Smith was slightly wounded while being in charge of the seamen on shore engaged in taking the French battery on Saint Clara Island and in the subsequent operations. In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the issuance of the Naval General service Medal with clasp "St. Sebastian" to surviving participants in the campaign.
On 30 November Beagle was in company with Rover when Rover captured the American brig Empress.
Fate
Beagle was laid up in ordinaryReserve fleet
A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed, and thus partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; an equivalent expression in unofficial modern U.S....
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...
in 1813. She was sold there on 21 July 1814 for the sum of £900.