HMS Melampus (1785)
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| Career (United Kingdom) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS Melampus |
| Ordered: | 17 April 1782 |
| Builder: | James Martin Hillhouse, Bristol |
| Laid down: | December 1782 |
| Launched: | 8 June 1785 |
| Fate: | Sold to Dutch Navy in June 1815 |
| General characteristics as built | |
| Class and type: | 36-gun Fifth Rate |
| Tons burthen: | 938 long tons (953.1 t) |
| Length: | 141 ft (43.0 m) |
| Beam: | 38 ft 10 in (11.8 m) |
| Draught: | 13 ft 11 in (4.2 m) |
| Propulsion: | Sails |
| Sail plan: | Full rigged ship |
| Complement: | 270 |
| Armament: |
36 guns:
Upper deck:
|
HMS Melampus was a Royal Navy Fifth Rate. This frigate served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. She captured numerous prizes before she was sold in 1815.
Contents
Design and construction
The Admiralty ordered Melampus James Martin Hillhouse, of Bristol on 17 April 1782 as a 38-gun fifth rate. After she had been laid down in December 1793, the Admiralty reduced her armament to 36 guns on 11 January 1783, as captains of earlier 38 gun frigates had complained that the extra guns made the upper gundeck too cramped. Melampus was launched on 8 June 1785, and commissioned between 3 July and 8 September 1785 for Ordinary at Plymouth. She was again commissioned between May and 2 July 1790 for Channel service. She had cost £20,785.13.0d to build, with a further £2,985 being spent in 1790 for fitting out.
Early service
Her first captain following her May 1790 commissioning was Charles M. Pole. Melampus was paid off again in November 1790, but by 1793 she had been moved to Plymouth, where she was refitted between March and June for £4,726.
She recommissioned in April 1793 under the command of Isaac Coffin, and by April the following year she was under Captain Thomas Wells, serving in Sir John Borlase Warren's squadron. During this time Melampus participated in the Action of 23 April 1794, during which the British took three vessels, Engageante, Pomone, and Babet.
She came under the command of Sir Richard Strachan in September 1794, and was subsequently recommissioned in April 1794. She was part of Strachan's force that attacked and destroyed a French convoy in Cartaret Bay on 9 May 1795. On 3 July that year Melampus and HMS Hebe captured the 4-gun French vessel Vésuve off St Malo.
Off the French and Irish coasts
Melampus came under the command of Captain Graham Moore in August 1796, and on 13 November 1796 she was involved in the capture of the 18-gun Etna, and together with Minerva, in the destruction of the 18-gun Etonnant off Barfleur. She was also active in operations against French privateers, capturing the 6-gun Le Rayon off the Casquets on 5 October 1797, working in company with HMS Seahorse to capture the 18-gun Belliqueuse off the Irish coast on 16 January 1798, and the 22-gun Volage on 23 January 1798.
Melampus was present at the Battle of Tory Island in October that year, fighting in the main action and then subsequently capturing the French frigate Résolue in a night action two days later. Together with Ethalion she captured the 40-gun Bellone, which the Royal Navy took into service.
The following year she captured the 16-gun Mercure and the 14-gun Papillon, and destroyed the 14-gun privateer Nantois. She was then assigned to the Caribbean, sailing for Jamaica in March 1800, coming under the command of Capt. Thomas Gosselin in November 1801, before being paid off in June 1802.
Service off America
Melampus returned to England, and underwent a large repair at Deptford between August 1803 and October 1804. She was recommissioned in August 1804 under the command of Captain Stephen Poyntz, and commenced cruises off the French coast.
On 13 July 1805 she captured the Spanish privateer schooner Hydra at sea. Hydra was armed with 28 guns and carried a crew of 192 men.
Melampus was present, whilst serving as part of a squadron under her old commander Sir Richard Strachan, at the destruction of the 74-gun French ship Impétueux on 14 September 1806. In September 1807 Captain Edward Hawker took over command, sailing her to North America in 1808, and then to the Leeward Islands in 1809. On 16 January 1809 he captured the 16-gun Colibri off Barbuda, followed by the 16-gun Bernais off Guadeloupe on 14 December 1809 while escorting merchant shipping from Halifax, Nova Scotia. She captured the 20-gun privateer Fantôme on 28 May 1810, and was involved in the capture of Guadeloupe, before returning to North America between 1811 and 1812.
Last years
Melampus returned to Britain, and by December 1812 was under repair at Isaac Blackburn's yards, at Turnchapel. Work was completed by March 1814, and she was again fitted for sea, between April 1814 and May 1815 at Plymouth Dockyard. She was then sold to the Dutch government in June 1815 for the sum of £35,364.
References
- Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: the complete record of all fighting ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham. ISBN 9781861762818. OCLC 67375475.
- Winfield, Rif, British Warships of the Age of Sail 1714-1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates, pub Seaforth, 2007, ISBN 1-86176-295-X
- Ships of the Old Navy
