HMS Gorgon (1785): Difference between revisions
Acad Ronin (talk | contribs) |
Acad Ronin (talk | contribs) →Notes, citations, and references: removing redundancy |
||
| (25 intermediate revisions by 12 users not shown) | |||
| Line 4: | Line 4: | ||
{|{{Infobox ship begin}} |
{|{{Infobox ship begin}} |
||
{{Infobox ship image |
{{Infobox ship image |
||
| Ship image= |
| Ship image=Gorgon (1785) RMG J3678.jpg |
||
| Ship caption= |
| Ship caption=''Gorgon'' |
||
}} |
}} |
||
{{Infobox ship career |
{{Infobox ship career |
||
| Hide header= |
| Hide header= |
||
| Ship country= |
| Ship country=Great Britain |
||
| Ship flag={{shipboxflag| |
| Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Kingdom of Great Britain|naval}} |
||
| Ship name=HMS ''Gorgon'' |
| Ship name=HMS ''Gorgon'' |
||
| Ship namesake=[[Gorgon]] |
| Ship namesake=[[Gorgon]] |
||
| Line 43: | Line 43: | ||
| Ship motto= |
| Ship motto= |
||
| Ship nickname= |
| Ship nickname= |
||
| Ship honours=[[Naval General Service Medal (1847)| |
| Ship honours=[[Naval General Service Medal (1847)|Naval General Service Medal]] with clasp "Egypt"<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=21077|pages=791–792|date=15 March 1850}}</ref> |
||
| Ship fate=Broken up, February 1817 |
| Ship fate=Broken up, February 1817 |
||
| Ship notes= |
| Ship notes= |
||
| Line 50: | Line 50: | ||
{{Infobox ship characteristics |
{{Infobox ship characteristics |
||
| Hide header= |
| Hide header= |
||
| Header caption= |
| Header caption={{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=130}} |
||
| Ship class= |
| Ship class= |
||
| Ship type= |
| Ship type= |
||
| Ship tonnage= |
| Ship tonnage= |
||
| Ship displacement= |
| Ship displacement= |
||
| Ship tons burthen= |
| Ship tons burthen= {{frac|896|54|94}} tons [[Builder's Old Measurement|bm]] (as designed) |
||
| Ship length=*{{Convert|140|ft|abbr=on}} (gundeck) |
| Ship length=*{{Convert|140|ft|abbr=on}} (gundeck) |
||
*{{Convert|115|ft|2+1/2|in|2|abbr=on}} (keel) |
*{{Convert|115|ft|2+1/2|in|2|abbr=on}} (keel) |
||
| Line 75: | Line 75: | ||
}} |
}} |
||
|} |
|} |
||
'''HMS ''Gorgon''''' was a 44-gun [[fifth-rate]] [[two-decker]] ship of the |
'''HMS ''Gorgon''''' was a 44-gun [[fifth-rate]] [[two-decker]] ship of the {{sclass|Adventure|ship|4}} of 911 tons, launched at [[Blackwall Yard]] in 1785 and completed as a [[troopship]]. She was subsequently converted to a storeship. She also served as a guardship and a hospital ship at various times before being broken up in 1817. |
||
==Troopship== |
==Troopship== |
||
''Gorgon'' was fitted as a troopship at Portsmouth at a cost of £5,210, the work being completed on 15 December 1787. |
''Gorgon'' was fitted as a troopship at Portsmouth at a cost of £5,210, the work being completed on 15 December 1787.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=130}} Lieutenant Charles Craven commissioned her in October 1787. She then was paid off one year later.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=130}} One year after that, she was fitted for foreign service at an additional cost of £5,200 and recommissioned under Lieutenant William Harvey in October 1789. |
||
==New South Wales== |
==New South Wales== |
||
Under Commander John Parker (c1749–1794),<ref>Deirdre Coleman, |
Under Commander John Parker (c1749–1794),<ref>Deirdre Coleman, 'Parker, Mary Ann (1765/6–1848)', ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', OUP, 2004</ref> she went to [[New South Wales]] on 15 March 1791, along with the [[Third Fleet (Australia)|Third Fleet]], arriving on 21 September 1791. She carried six months provisions for 900 people in the starving colony. She also carried about 30 [[convicts]], and [[Philip Gidley King]], who was returning to the colony to take up the post of lieutenant-governor of [[Norfolk Island]]. This voyage is described in a 1795 book<ref>Parker, 1795</ref> by [[Mary Ann Parker]], who travelled with her husband, the ship's captain. |
||
On 18 December 1791 |
On 18 December 1791 ''Gorgon'' left [[Port Jackson]], taking home the last company of the [[New South Wales Marine Corps]], which had accompanied the [[First Fleet]] to guard the [[convicts]] and act as guard force for the new settlement. The marines leaving included [[Watkin Tench]], [[Robert Ross (British Marines officer)|Robert Ross]], [[William Dawes (British Marines officer)|William Dawes]], and [[Ralph Clark]]. Of the departure, Tench said, "we hailed it with rapture and exhilaration". |
||
''Gorgon'' also carried samples of animals, birds, and plants from New South Wales. At the [[Cape of Good Hope]] ''Gorgon'' took on board William Allen, Samuel Broom, [[Mary Bryant]], her daughter Charlotte, Nathaniel Lillie, and [[Journals of the First Fleet#Convict narrative|James Martin]], the survivors of a party of convicts who absconded from New South Wales in March 1791 and made it all the way to Kupang in West Timor. She also took on board ten of the mutineers from [[Mutiny on the Bounty|HMS ''Bounty'']] that {{HMS|Pandora|1779|6}} had seized in [[Tahiti]] and who had survived the wreck of that vessel. During the voyage many of the children on board, including Charlotte Bryant, died of heat and illness. ''Gorgon'' arrived at [[Portsmouth]] on 18 June 1792,<ref>[http://www.fatefulvoyage.com/pandora/pandoraHEdwardsFinal.html Edwards, Edward]</ref> discharging her mixed passenger list of marines, escaped convicts, and mutineers. |
''Gorgon'' also carried samples of animals, birds, and plants from New South Wales. At the [[Cape of Good Hope]] ''Gorgon'' took on board William Allen, Samuel Broom, [[Mary Bryant]], her daughter Charlotte, Nathaniel Lillie, and [[Journals of the First Fleet#Convict narrative|James Martin]], the survivors of a party of convicts who absconded from New South Wales in March 1791 and made it all the way to Kupang in West Timor. She also took on board ten of the mutineers from [[Mutiny on the Bounty|HMS ''Bounty'']] that {{HMS|Pandora|1779|6}} had seized in [[Tahiti]] and who had survived the wreck of that vessel. During the voyage many of the children on board, including Charlotte Bryant, died of heat and illness. ''Gorgon'' arrived at [[Portsmouth]] on 18 June 1792,<ref>[http://www.fatefulvoyage.com/pandora/pandoraHEdwardsFinal.html Edwards, Edward]</ref> discharging her mixed passenger list of marines, escaped convicts, and mutineers. |
||
==French Revolutionary Wars== |
==French Revolutionary Wars== |
||
Between March and July 1793 ''Gorgon'' was fitted as a 20-gun storeship at Woolwhich, for a cost of £5,709. |
Between March and July 1793 ''Gorgon'' was fitted as a 20-gun storeship at Woolwhich, for a cost of £5,709.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=130}} She then was recommissioned under Commander Charles Patterson, who sailed her for the Mediterranean on 15 October 1793. |
||
In February 1794 ''Gorgon'' was part of the fleet under Vice-Admiral Lord [[Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood|Samuel Hood]] at the taking of the Port of San Fiorenzo and [[Bastia]], which eventually led to the capture of the island of [[Corsica]] by forces under [[Admiral Lord Nelson]]. Hood assigned ''Gorgon'' the task of protecting the convoy of transports carrying the troops and horses under the command of Lieutenant-General [[David Dundas (British Army officer)|David Dundas]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=13631| |
In February 1794 ''Gorgon'' was part of the fleet under Vice-Admiral Lord [[Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood|Samuel Hood]] at the taking of the Port of San Fiorenzo and [[Bastia]], which eventually led to the capture of the island of [[Corsica]] by forces under [[Admiral Lord Nelson]]. Hood assigned ''Gorgon'' the task of protecting the convoy of transports carrying the troops and horses under the command of Lieutenant-General [[David Dundas (British Army officer)|David Dundas]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=13631|page=221|date=11 March 1794}}</ref> |
||
At some point in 1794 Commander James Wallis replaced Patterson in command. However, in March 1795 ''Gorgon'' was paid off. |
At some point in 1794 Commander James Wallis replaced Patterson in command. However, in March 1795 ''Gorgon'' was paid off.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=130}} |
||
Commander Edward Tyrell recommissioned her in May 1795 and sailed her to the Mediterranean on 11 November 1795. |
Commander Edward Tyrell recommissioned her in May 1795 and sailed her to the Mediterranean on 11 November 1795.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=130}} |
||
On 10 June 1796, ''Gorgon'' was in company with {{HMS|Courageaux|1761|2}} and the [[Hired armed vessels|hired armed]] [[Cutter (boat)|cutter]] |
On 10 June 1796, ''Gorgon'' was in company with {{HMS|Courageaux|1761|2}} and the [[Hired armed vessels|hired armed]] [[Cutter (boat)|cutter]] {{ship|Hired armed cutter|Fox||2}}. They were with the British fleet outside Toulon and were present when {{HMS|Southampton|1757|2}} captured the French corvette {{ship||Utile|1784 ship|2}} at [[Hyères]] Roads.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=15557|page=165|date=8 February 1803}}</ref> Later that month ''Gorgon'' was at the evacuation of [[Livorno|Leghorn]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=13924|pages=802–803|date=23 August 1796}}</ref> |
||
In September 1796 [[Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Earl of Minto|Gilbert Elliot]], the British viceroy of the [[Anglo-Corsican Kingdom]], decided that it was necessary to clear out [[Capraia|Capraja]], which belonged to the Genoese and which served as a base for privateers. He sent [[Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson|Lord Nelson]] in {{HMS|Captain|1787|2}}, together with ''Gorgon'', |
In September 1796 [[Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Earl of Minto|Gilbert Elliot]], the British viceroy of the [[Anglo-Corsican Kingdom]], decided that it was necessary to clear out [[Capraia|Capraja]], which belonged to the Genoese and which served as a base for privateers. He sent [[Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson|Lord Nelson]] in {{HMS|Captain|1787|2}}, together with ''Gorgon'', {{ship||Vanneau|1782 ship|2}}, the cutter ''Rose'', and troops of the [[King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry|51st Regiment of Foot]] to accomplish this task in September. On their way, {{HMS|Minerva|1780|2}} joined them. The troops landed on 18 September and the island surrendered immediately. |
||
In April 1797 Captain John W.T. Dixon took command. Captain John Williams replaced him in October 1797. |
In April 1797 Captain John W.T. Dixon took command. Captain John Williams replaced him in October 1797.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=130}} ''Gorgon'' sailed for the Leeward Islands in January 1798. |
||
On 13 January 1798 ''Gorgon'' was 70 [[League (unit)|leagues]] from [[Cape Finisterre]] when she caught up with and recaptured the brig ''Ann'', of Dartmouth. Fifteen days earlier ''Ann'' had been sailing from [[Newfoundland and Labrador|Newfoundland]] to Lisbon when a French privateer had captured her. While ''Gorgon'' was exchanging people with the brig, another brig, this one exhibiting French colours, arrived. After ''Gorgon'' fired a few shots, the brig [[Striking the colours|struck]].<ref name=LG14088>{{London Gazette|issue=14088| |
On 13 January 1798 ''Gorgon'' was 70 [[League (unit)|leagues]] from [[Cape Finisterre]] when she caught up with and recaptured the brig ''Ann'', of Dartmouth. Fifteen days earlier ''Ann'' had been sailing from [[Newfoundland and Labrador|Newfoundland]] to Lisbon when a French privateer had captured her. While ''Gorgon'' was exchanging people with the brig, another brig, this one exhibiting French colours, arrived. After ''Gorgon'' fired a few shots, the brig [[Striking the colours|struck]].<ref name=LG14088>{{London Gazette|issue=14088|page=111|date=3 February 1798}}</ref> |
||
The newcomer turned out to be the French privateer ''Henri'', from Nantes. She carried 14 guns, five of which she had thrown overboard. She also had a crew of 108 men. She had been cruising for five days but had taken nothing. Captain Richard Williams put a [[prize (law)|prize]] crew aboard and took her with him into Lisbon. The prize crew consisted mostly of men from |
The newcomer turned out to be the French privateer ''Henri'', from Nantes. She carried 14 guns, five of which she had thrown overboard. She also had a crew of 108 men. She had been cruising for five days but had taken nothing. Captain Richard Williams put a [[prize (law)|prize]] crew aboard and took her with him into Lisbon. The prize crew consisted mostly of men from {{ship|French frigate|Aigle|1782|2}}, which had captured a prize and taken her to Lisbon.<ref name=LG14088/> |
||
Between 1799 and 1800 ''Gorgon'' continued to serve as a storeship under Commander Henry Hill. Then |
Between 1799 and 1800 ''Gorgon'' continued to serve as a storeship under Commander [[Henry Hill (Vice-Admiral)|Henry Hill]]. Then on 16 June 1801 Commander George Ross and ''Gorgon'', together with {{ship||Good Design|1793 ship|2}}, sailed from [[Cork (city)|Cork]]. They were carrying the [[22nd Dragoons|22nd Regiment of Light dragoons]] to Egypt. Because ''Gorgon'' served in the Egyptian campaign (8 March to 8 September 1801), her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal that the [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] issued in 1847 to all surviving claimants. |
||
==Napoleonic Wars== |
==Napoleonic Wars== |
||
Commander William Wilkinson recommissioned ''Gorgon'' in May 1803 on the Irish station. In 1805, she served as a floating battery or guardship on the [[River Shannon]]. In October 1805 she was under Commander Francis Stanfell, with Commander Charles Ryder replacing him in May 1806. |
Commander William Wilkinson recommissioned ''Gorgon'' in May 1803 on the Irish station. In 1805, she served as a floating battery or guardship on the [[River Shannon]]. In October 1805 she was under Commander Francis Stanfell, with Commander Charles Ryder replacing him in May 1806.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=130}} |
||
''Lloyd's List'' reported on 14 February 1806 that {{ship||Rosina|1796 ship|2}}, M'Kinley, master, had foundered on her return journey to England from Surinam. ''Gorgon'' rescued the crew and took them into Milford.<ref>[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.c2735022?urlappend=%3Bseq=243 ''LL'' 14 February 1806, No. 4297.]</ref> |
|||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | |||
Even so, on 12 May 1809, she captured the Danish vessel the ''Petrena''.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=16330|startpage=26|date=2 January 1810}}</ref> Then on 21 May she was in company with the gun-brig {{HMS|Strenuous|1805|2}} when they captured the Danish boat ''Helden''.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=16456|startpage=319|date=16 February 1811}}</ref> |
|||
Even so, on 12 May 1809, she captured the Danish vessel ''Petrena''.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=16330|page=26|date=2 January 1810}}</ref> Then on 21 May she was in company with the gun-brig {{HMS|Strenuous|1805|2}} when they captured the Danish boat ''Helden''.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=16456|page=319|date=16 February 1811}}</ref> |
|||
By November 1809 she was a hospital ship under Commander Charles Webb. Still, on 24 October 1810, ''Gorgon'', {{HMS|Victory|1764|2}}, {{HMS|Alonzo|1801|2}}, and the gun-brig {{HMS|Martial|1805|2}} were present at the capture of the brig ''Hoppet''.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=16562|page=92|date=14 January 1812}}</ref>{{efn|The prize money for an ordinary seaman was 8[[Shilling|s]] {{frac|2|1|4}}[[pence|d]]; a captain received [[Pound sterling|£]]51 3s 6d.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=16965|page=2452|date=13 December 1814}}</ref>}} |
|||
| ⚫ | Commander Alexander Milner had replaced Webb by April 1811. |
||
| ⚫ | Commander Alexander Milner had replaced Webb by April 1811.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=130}} He sailed ''Gorgon'' to the Mediterranean on 10 March 1812. She came under the command of Commander Rowland Mainwaring in September. She then served as the flagship for Vice Admiral [[Francis Pickmore]] off Toulon. Commander Claude de Crespigny replaced Mainwaring at [[Mahón|Port Mahon]] in 1813, but he died in July.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=130}} Commander John Cornish replaced de Crespigny and in turn Commander Richard Booth Bowden replaced him in 1814.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=130}} |
||
==War of 1812== |
==War of 1812== |
||
| ⚫ | Bowden then sailed ''Gorgon'' to America where she was Cochrane's British fleet's hospital ship, moored off the coast while the [[Battle of New Orleans]] was being fought on land.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=130}} Before that battle her boats participated in the [[Battle of Lake Borgne]] on 14 December 1814. ''Gorgon'' had one master's mate slightly wounded.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=16991|date=9 March 1815|pages=446–449}}</ref>{{efn|The prize money for an ordinary seaman was 7s {{frac|10|3|4}}d; the amount for a captain was £34 12s {{frac|9|1|4}}.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=17730|page=1561|date=28 July 1821}}</ref>}} In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the issue of the [[Naval General Service Medal (1847)|Naval General Service Medal]] with clasp "14 Dec. Boat Service 1814" to all surviving claimants from the action.{{efn|The 'Names of Ships for which Claims have been proved' are as follows: warships ''Tonnant'', ''Norge'', ''Royal Oak'', ''Ramillies'', ''Bedford'', ''Armide'', ''Cydnus'', ''Trave'', ''Seahorse'', ''Sophie'', and ''Meteor''; troopships ''Gorgon'', ''Diomede'', ''Alceste'', and ''Belle Poule''.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=20939|page=247|date=26 January 1849}}</ref>}} |
||
| ⚫ | Bowden then sailed ''Gorgon'' to America where she was |
||
==Fate== |
==Fate== |
||
''Gorgon'' was finally broken up in 1817. |
''Gorgon'' was finally broken up in 1817.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=130}} |
||
==Notes |
==Notes== |
||
{{Notelist}} |
|||
'''Notes''' |
|||
| ⚫ | |||
{{reflist|group=Note}} |
|||
| ⚫ | |||
{{reflist|30em}} |
{{reflist|30em}} |
||
'''References''' |
|||
==References== |
==References== |
||
* {{cite book |title =The Convict Ships | first =Charles | last =Bateson | author-link=Charles Bateson | year =1959 | publisher =Brown, Son & Ferguson | oclc =3778075}} |
|||
* Bateson, Charles (1974) ''The Convict Ships, 1787–1868''. (Sydney). ISBN 0-85174-195-9 |
|||
* [[Mollie Gillen|Gillen, Mollie]], ''The Founders of Australia: a biographical dictionary of the First Fleet'', Sydney, Library of Australian History, 1989, pp. 433. |
* [[Mollie Gillen|Gillen, Mollie]], ''The Founders of Australia: a biographical dictionary of the First Fleet'', Sydney, Library of Australian History, 1989, pp. 433. |
||
| ⚫ | |||
* |
* {{cite book |first=Rif|last=Winfield|title=British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates|publisher=Seaforth Publishing|year=2008|isbn=978-1-86176-246-7}} |
||
| ⚫ | |||
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gorgon (1785)}} |
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gorgon (1785)}} |
||
| Line 143: | Line 141: | ||
[[Category:Troop ships of the Royal Navy]] |
[[Category:Troop ships of the Royal Navy]] |
||
[[Category:1785 ships]] |
[[Category:1785 ships]] |
||
[[Category: |
[[Category:Military history of New South Wales]] |
||
[[Category:Ships of the Third Fleet]] |
[[Category:Ships of the Third Fleet]] |
||
[[Category:War of 1812 ships of the United Kingdom]] |
[[Category:War of 1812 ships of the United Kingdom]] |
||
[[Category:Floating batteries of the Royal Navy]] |
|||
Latest revision as of 15:28, 17 July 2023
_RMG_J3678.jpg) Gorgon
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain | |
| Name | HMS Gorgon |
| Namesake | Gorgon |
| Ordered | 19 June 1782 |
| Builder | Perry & Hankey, Blackwall Yard |
| Laid down | December 1782 |
| Launched | 27 January 1785 |
| Completed | 15 December 1787 at Portsmouth Dockyard |
| Honours and awards | Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Egypt"[1] |
| Fate | Broken up, February 1817 |
| General characteristics [2] | |
| Tons burthen | 896+54⁄94 tons bm (as designed) |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 38 ft 3 in (11.66 m) |
| Depth of hold | 16 ft 10 in (5.13 m) |
| Sail plan | Full-rigged ship |
| Complement | 300 (294 from 1794) |
| Armament |
|
HMS Gorgon was a 44-gun fifth-rate two-decker ship of the Adventure class of 911 tons, launched at Blackwall Yard in 1785 and completed as a troopship. She was subsequently converted to a storeship. She also served as a guardship and a hospital ship at various times before being broken up in 1817.
Troopship
[edit]Gorgon was fitted as a troopship at Portsmouth at a cost of £5,210, the work being completed on 15 December 1787.[2] Lieutenant Charles Craven commissioned her in October 1787. She then was paid off one year later.[2] One year after that, she was fitted for foreign service at an additional cost of £5,200 and recommissioned under Lieutenant William Harvey in October 1789.
New South Wales
[edit]Under Commander John Parker (c1749–1794),[3] she went to New South Wales on 15 March 1791, along with the Third Fleet, arriving on 21 September 1791. She carried six months provisions for 900 people in the starving colony. She also carried about 30 convicts, and Philip Gidley King, who was returning to the colony to take up the post of lieutenant-governor of Norfolk Island. This voyage is described in a 1795 book[4] by Mary Ann Parker, who travelled with her husband, the ship's captain.
On 18 December 1791 Gorgon left Port Jackson, taking home the last company of the New South Wales Marine Corps, which had accompanied the First Fleet to guard the convicts and act as guard force for the new settlement. The marines leaving included Watkin Tench, Robert Ross, William Dawes, and Ralph Clark. Of the departure, Tench said, "we hailed it with rapture and exhilaration".
Gorgon also carried samples of animals, birds, and plants from New South Wales. At the Cape of Good Hope Gorgon took on board William Allen, Samuel Broom, Mary Bryant, her daughter Charlotte, Nathaniel Lillie, and James Martin, the survivors of a party of convicts who absconded from New South Wales in March 1791 and made it all the way to Kupang in West Timor. She also took on board ten of the mutineers from HMS Bounty that HMS Pandora had seized in Tahiti and who had survived the wreck of that vessel. During the voyage many of the children on board, including Charlotte Bryant, died of heat and illness. Gorgon arrived at Portsmouth on 18 June 1792,[5] discharging her mixed passenger list of marines, escaped convicts, and mutineers.
French Revolutionary Wars
[edit]Between March and July 1793 Gorgon was fitted as a 20-gun storeship at Woolwhich, for a cost of £5,709.[2] She then was recommissioned under Commander Charles Patterson, who sailed her for the Mediterranean on 15 October 1793.
In February 1794 Gorgon was part of the fleet under Vice-Admiral Lord Samuel Hood at the taking of the Port of San Fiorenzo and Bastia, which eventually led to the capture of the island of Corsica by forces under Admiral Lord Nelson. Hood assigned Gorgon the task of protecting the convoy of transports carrying the troops and horses under the command of Lieutenant-General David Dundas.[6]
At some point in 1794 Commander James Wallis replaced Patterson in command. However, in March 1795 Gorgon was paid off.[2]
Commander Edward Tyrell recommissioned her in May 1795 and sailed her to the Mediterranean on 11 November 1795.[2]
On 10 June 1796, Gorgon was in company with Courageaux and the hired armed cutter Fox. They were with the British fleet outside Toulon and were present when Southampton captured the French corvette Utile at Hyères Roads.[7] Later that month Gorgon was at the evacuation of Leghorn.[8]
In September 1796 Gilbert Elliot, the British viceroy of the Anglo-Corsican Kingdom, decided that it was necessary to clear out Capraja, which belonged to the Genoese and which served as a base for privateers. He sent Lord Nelson in Captain, together with Gorgon, Vanneau, the cutter Rose, and troops of the 51st Regiment of Foot to accomplish this task in September. On their way, Minerva joined them. The troops landed on 18 September and the island surrendered immediately.
In April 1797 Captain John W.T. Dixon took command. Captain John Williams replaced him in October 1797.[2] Gorgon sailed for the Leeward Islands in January 1798.
On 13 January 1798 Gorgon was 70 leagues from Cape Finisterre when she caught up with and recaptured the brig Ann, of Dartmouth. Fifteen days earlier Ann had been sailing from Newfoundland to Lisbon when a French privateer had captured her. While Gorgon was exchanging people with the brig, another brig, this one exhibiting French colours, arrived. After Gorgon fired a few shots, the brig struck.[9]
The newcomer turned out to be the French privateer Henri, from Nantes. She carried 14 guns, five of which she had thrown overboard. She also had a crew of 108 men. She had been cruising for five days but had taken nothing. Captain Richard Williams put a prize crew aboard and took her with him into Lisbon. The prize crew consisted mostly of men from Aigle, which had captured a prize and taken her to Lisbon.[9]
Between 1799 and 1800 Gorgon continued to serve as a storeship under Commander Henry Hill. Then on 16 June 1801 Commander George Ross and Gorgon, together with Good Design, sailed from Cork. They were carrying the 22nd Regiment of Light dragoons to Egypt. Because Gorgon served in the Egyptian campaign (8 March to 8 September 1801), her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal that the Admiralty issued in 1847 to all surviving claimants.
Napoleonic Wars
[edit]Commander William Wilkinson recommissioned Gorgon in May 1803 on the Irish station. In 1805, she served as a floating battery or guardship on the River Shannon. In October 1805 she was under Commander Francis Stanfell, with Commander Charles Ryder replacing him in May 1806.[2]
Lloyd's List reported on 14 February 1806 that Rosina, M'Kinley, master, had foundered on her return journey to England from Surinam. Gorgon rescued the crew and took them into Milford.[10]
Between November 1806 and July 1808 Gorgon was back in Woolwich, where she underwent a large repair and was fitted as a victualler. Commander Robert Brown Tom recommissioned her in May 1808 and sailed her to the Baltic where she again served as a storeship.[2]
Even so, on 12 May 1809, she captured the Danish vessel Petrena.[11] Then on 21 May she was in company with the gun-brig Strenuous when they captured the Danish boat Helden.[12]
By November 1809 she was a hospital ship under Commander Charles Webb. Still, on 24 October 1810, Gorgon, Victory, Alonzo, and the gun-brig Martial were present at the capture of the brig Hoppet.[13][a]
Commander Alexander Milner had replaced Webb by April 1811.[2] He sailed Gorgon to the Mediterranean on 10 March 1812. She came under the command of Commander Rowland Mainwaring in September. She then served as the flagship for Vice Admiral Francis Pickmore off Toulon. Commander Claude de Crespigny replaced Mainwaring at Port Mahon in 1813, but he died in July.[2] Commander John Cornish replaced de Crespigny and in turn Commander Richard Booth Bowden replaced him in 1814.[2]
War of 1812
[edit]Bowden then sailed Gorgon to America where she was Cochrane's British fleet's hospital ship, moored off the coast while the Battle of New Orleans was being fought on land.[2] Before that battle her boats participated in the Battle of Lake Borgne on 14 December 1814. Gorgon had one master's mate slightly wounded.[15][b] In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the issue of the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "14 Dec. Boat Service 1814" to all surviving claimants from the action.[c]
Fate
[edit]Gorgon was finally broken up in 1817.[2]
Notes
[edit]- ^ The prize money for an ordinary seaman was 8s 2+1⁄4d; a captain received £51 3s 6d.[14]
- ^ The prize money for an ordinary seaman was 7s 10+3⁄4d; the amount for a captain was £34 12s 9+1⁄4.[16]
- ^ The 'Names of Ships for which Claims have been proved' are as follows: warships Tonnant, Norge, Royal Oak, Ramillies, Bedford, Armide, Cydnus, Trave, Seahorse, Sophie, and Meteor; troopships Gorgon, Diomede, Alceste, and Belle Poule.[17]
Citations
[edit]- ^ "No. 21077". The London Gazette. 15 March 1850. pp. 791–792.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Winfield (2008), p. 130.
- ^ Deirdre Coleman, 'Parker, Mary Ann (1765/6–1848)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, OUP, 2004
- ^ Parker, 1795
- ^ Edwards, Edward
- ^ "No. 13631". The London Gazette. 11 March 1794. p. 221.
- ^ "No. 15557". The London Gazette. 8 February 1803. p. 165.
- ^ "No. 13924". The London Gazette. 23 August 1796. pp. 802–803.
- ^ a b "No. 14088". The London Gazette. 3 February 1798. p. 111.
- ^ LL 14 February 1806, No. 4297.
- ^ "No. 16330". The London Gazette. 2 January 1810. p. 26.
- ^ "No. 16456". The London Gazette. 16 February 1811. p. 319.
- ^ "No. 16562". The London Gazette. 14 January 1812. p. 92.
- ^ "No. 16965". The London Gazette. 13 December 1814. p. 2452.
- ^ "No. 16991". The London Gazette. 9 March 1815. pp. 446–449.
- ^ "No. 17730". The London Gazette. 28 July 1821. p. 1561.
- ^ "No. 20939". The London Gazette. 26 January 1849. p. 247.
References
[edit]- Bateson, Charles (1959). The Convict Ships. Brown, Son & Ferguson. OCLC 3778075.
- Gillen, Mollie, The Founders of Australia: a biographical dictionary of the First Fleet, Sydney, Library of Australian History, 1989, pp. 433.
- Parker, Mary Ann (1795), A voyage round the world in the Gorgon man of war, Captain John Parker, Printed by John Nichols
- Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-246-7.