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HMS Seahorse (1748)
Encyclopedia
HMS Seahorse was a 24-gun sixth-rate
Sixth-rate
Sixth rate was the designation used by the Royal Navy for small warships mounting between 20 and 24 nine-pounder guns on a single deck, sometimes with guns on the upper works and sometimes without.-Rating:...
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"...
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...
, famous as the ship on which a young Horatio Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, KB was a flag officer famous for his service in the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. He was noted for his inspirational leadership and superb grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics, which resulted in a number of...
served as a midshipman
Midshipman
A midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya...
.
Construction and commissioning
Seahorse was ordered on 4 February 1748, with the contract being awarded to John Barnard, of HarwichHarwich
Harwich is a town in Essex, England and one of the Haven ports, located on the coast with the North Sea to the east. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the northeast, Ipswich to the northwest, Colchester to the southwest and Clacton-on-Sea to the south...
, on 23 February 1748, with the keel being laid that very day. She was built to a design by the Surveyor of the Navy
Surveyor of the Navy
The Surveyor to the Navy was a civilian officer in the Royal Navy. He was a member of the Navy Board from the inauguration of that body in 1546, and held overall responsibility for the design of British warships, although until 1745 the actual design work for warships built at each Royal Dockyard...
Jacob Acworth, named Seahorse on 23 August, launched on 13 September 1748 and commissioned in November 1748, being completed on 17 February 1749 at Sheerness
Sheerness
Sheerness is a town located beside the mouth of the River Medway on the northwest corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 12,000 it is the largest town on the island....
Dockyard, having cost £4,063.10.0d to build, and with a further £1,264.14.8d spent on fitting her out.
Career
Her first commander was Captain Samuel BarringtonSamuel Barrington
Rear Admiral Samuel Barrington RN was a British admiral.Samuel was the fourth son of John Shute Barrington, 1st Viscount Barrington of Beckett Hall at Shrivenham in Berkshire...
, who took over in November 1748, and sailed her to the Mediterranean in 1749. Seahorse was back 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...
in 1752, with Barrington being succeeded by Hugh Palliser
Hugh Palliser
Admiral Sir Hugh Palliser, 1st Baronet was an officer of the British Royal Navy during the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War...
in April 1753. Seahorse then served initially in Home waters, before sailing to North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
in January 1755. She returned to Britain in July that year, carrying the flag of Admiral Augustus Keppel
Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel
Admiral Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel PC was an officer of the Royal Navy during the Seven Years' War and the War of American Independence...
. Captain George Darby
George Darby
Vice Admiral George Darby was an officer in the Royal Navy. He was the second son of Jonathan Darby III Esq. , of Leap Castle, in King's County, Ireland.-Early career:Darby joined the Royal Navy as a volunteer...
took command in 1756, and sailed from Britain bound for Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
on 15 May 1756. Darby was succeed by Captain Thomas Taylor in March 1757, under whom Seahorse was active in the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
, later fighting an engagement
with the sloops
Sloop-of-war
In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. As the rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above, this meant that the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all the unrated combat vessels including the...
HMS Raven and HMS Bonetta against two enemy frigates off Ostend
Ostend
Ostend is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke , Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the largest on the Belgian coast....
. Seahorse was then briefly under the command of acting Commander James Hackman from July 1758, before Captain James Smith took over command in October. The Seahorse then left for North America on 14 February 1759, and spent the rest of the year at Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
.
The Seahorse was surveyed on 24 January 1760 and declared in need of repairs. A large repair was carried out 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...
between March and August that year, at a cost of £5,765.19.8d. She fought an action with the 32-gun L’Aigrette on 10 January 1761, before passing under the command of Captain Charles Cathcart Grant later in the month. She sailed for India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
on 4 February 1761 to observe the transit of Venus
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...
, and then moved to Manilla
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
until October 1762. Captain Robert Jocelyn took command on 1763, after which the Seahorse returned to England and was paid off in June 1763. Further repairs were carried out in 1770, before she was recommissioned in January 1771 under Thomas Pasley
Sir Thomas Pasley, 1st Baronet
Admiral Sir Thomas Pasley, 1st Baronet was a senior and highly-experienced British Royal Navy officer of the eighteenth century, who served with distinction at numerous actions of the Seven Years War, American Revolutionary War and French Revolutionary Wars...
. She then sailed to the Leeward Islands
Leeward Islands
The Leeward Islands are a group of islands in the West Indies. They are the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles chain. As a group they start east of Puerto Rico and reach southward to Dominica. They are situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean...
in August that year. In 1773 Digby Dent took command, before Seahorse was paid off to undergo another refit. She was recommissioned in August 1773 under George Farmer. A young Horatio Nelson was assigned to the ship as a midshipman
Midshipman
A midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya...
through the influence of his uncle, Maurice Suckling
Maurice Suckling
Captain Maurice Suckling was a Royal Navy officer who was instrumental in the training of his nephew, Horatio Nelson.-Seven Years War:...
. Also a midshipman aboard the Seahorse at this time was Thomas Troubridge
Sir Thomas Troubridge, 1st Baronet
Sir Thomas Troubridge, 1st Baronet was a British naval commander and politician.Troubridge was educated at St Paul's School, London. He entered the Royal Navy in 1773 and, together with Nelson, served in the East Indies in the frigate Seahorse. In 1785 he returned to England in the Sultan as...
, another future admiral.
Farmer sailed to the East Indies
East Indies
East Indies is a term used by Europeans from the 16th century onwards to identify what is now known as Indian subcontinent or South Asia, Southeastern Asia, and the islands of Oceania, including the Malay Archipelago and the Philippines...
in November 1773. On 19 February 1775 Seahorse fought a battle with two of Hyder Ali
Hyder Ali
Hyder Ali was the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born Hyder Naik, he distinguished himself militarily, eventually drawing the attention of Mysore's rulers...
's ketch
Ketch
A ketch is a sailing craft with two masts: a main mast, and a shorter mizzen mast abaft of the main mast, but forward of the rudder post. Both masts are rigged mainly fore-and-aft. From one to three jibs may be carried forward of the main mast when going to windward...
es off Anjengo. Farmer was succeeded by John Panton in June 1777, though by February 1779 Seahorse seems to have been under the command of Alexander M’Coy. Seahorse was present at an engagement off Pondicherry on 10 August 1780, and on 25 August 1780, she and HMS Coventry
HMS Coventry (1757)
HMS Coventry was a 28-gun sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The ship was designed by Sir Thomas Slade "to the draught of the Tartar with such alterations withinboard as may be judged necessary", making her a further development of the Lyme...
captured the 32-gun Le Sartine. Captain Robert Montagu took over command in March 1781, and under him Seahorse was present at the Battles of Sadras
Battle of Sadras
The Battle of Sadras was the first of five largely indecisive naval battles fought between a British fleet under Admiral Sir Edward Hughes and French fleet under the Bailli de Suffren off the east coast of India during the American War of Independence...
on 17 February 1782, Providien
Battle of Providien
The Battle of Providien was the second in a series of naval battles fought between a British fleet under Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes and a French fleet under the Bailli de Suffren near India during the American Revolutionary War...
on 12 April, Negapatam
Battle of Negapatam (1782)
The Battle of Negapatam was the third in the series of battles fought between a British fleet under Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes and a French fleet under the Bailli de Suffren off the coast of India during the American Revolutionary War...
on 6 July, Trincomalee
Battle of Trincomalee
The Battle of Trincomalee was the fourth in the series of battles fought between a British fleet under Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes and a French fleet under the Bailli de Suffren off the coast of India during the American Revolutionary War...
on 3 September and Cuddalore
Battle of Cuddalore (1783)
The Battle of Cuddalore was a battle between a British fleet under Admiral Sir Edward Hughes and a slightly smaller French fleet under the Bailli de Suffren off the coast of India near Cuddalore during the American Revolutionary War, which in 1780 had sparked the Second Mysore War in India...
on 20 June 1783. Charles Hughes took command in 1783, followed by John Drew in 1784.
Decommissioning and sale
Seahorse was paid off for the final time in March 1784, and was sold on 30 December 1784 for the sum of £1,115, to Richard Buller. Seahorse was subsequently rebuilt by John Randall, of RotherhitheRotherhithe
Rotherhithe is a residential district in inner southeast London, England and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is located on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping and the Isle of Dogs on the north bank, and is a part of the Docklands area...
, and entered mercantile service under the name Ravenscroft.