HMS Endymion (1797)

The ship was built on the model of the French Pomone , taken from the enemy in 1794. Ordered on April 30, 1795 . Laid down in November of that year, launched on March 29, 1797 .

By British standards, the ship was larger than the usual 18-fn frigate. A displacement of about 1200 tons and a sturdy hull with 26 ports on the battery deck made it possible to accommodate a heavy battery. There were no linear guns in the battery deck. This small decrease in firepower turned into additional strength of the hull. For all this, he was referred to as “large” or “super-frigates” ^[5]

He was very fast (speeds of 14.4 knots in the backstop and 11 knots in the badewind under all sails in the fresh breeze were recorded), he listened well to the helm and could carry 24-guns if necessary. This was used in May 1813 , when commissioning after repair "between medium and large." Such qualities, even among super-frigates, have long been unique. He was so good that he served as a model even for experimental squadrons of the 1830s . ^[five]

It went into operation in July 1797, the captain - Sir Thomas Williams ( born Sir Thomas Williams ). He joined the Fleet of the Canal , acted off the coast of Ireland , then in the Mediterranean Sea , until the conclusion of the Amiens Peace .

Napoleonic Wars

With the resumption of the war in 1803, he joined the besieged squadron near Brest and served in it until 1805. During this time he took several French and Spanish prizes, most of which were merchants and privatists , but also included small warships (up to 20 cannon).

In the fall of 1805, he entered the squadron of Rear Admiral Luis near Cadiz (as part of the Nelson fleet), which guarded the Franco-Spanish fleet of Admiral Villeneuve . On October 2, Nelson ordered a squadron of Louis (5th Line and Endymion ) to go to Gibraltar to replenish supplies. As a result, Endymion was not with Trafalgar .

In 1807 he took part in the Dardanelles operation . In the course of it he was detached to Constantinople at the disposal of the English ambassador. The mission was unsuccessful. When the British squadron headed back through the Dardanelles , it was fired at by coastal batteries. Endymion lost 3 people killed and 9 wounded.

Since 1808, he again served in British waters, where he took several French privatists.

Rockall Rock Expedition

In 1810, together with the frigate HMS Princess Charlotte , he went on an exploration of a little-known island, essentially a rock, Rockall in the North Atlantic . The first step was to clarify the coordinates: the rock was mapped with an error of about 7 miles . The following year, 1811, Endymion took measurements of the depths of the surrounding banks , and the expedition landed on a rock. Due to weather conditions, the landing was limited to one day. Lt. Basil Gall was a member of a group led by Assistant Captain Richard Israel Alleyn , who landed on Rockall Rock. He described this event in Fragments of voyages and travels (London, 1831-1833).

War of 1812 ^[6]

At the beginning of the war of 1812, Endymion was not ready, as it needed repair. The first victories of large American frigates over British ones only emphasized the lack of ships like him. President Madison’s calculation was initially justified: tied up by a larger war in Europe, Britain was forced to act in America “with one hand”. In January 1813, the Robert Wigram shipyard was commissioned with five ships modeled after Endymion , with HMS Forth leading the way. ^[five]

In July 1813 Endymion finally left the dock. He carried two additional 32-fn carronades, and the team was increased to 340 people. The ship headed for American waters, where it carried out a blockade and took several privatists. He entered the blockade squadron of Captain Hayes , along with HMS Majestic ( rasée , 56) and HMS Pomone (38).

October 9, 1814 chased after the 18-gun schooner Prince de Neufchatel (120-130 team people). Despite the superiority in armament, the attempt to take the schooner ended in failure. In calm weather, the frigate itself could not get close for battle. For boarding a party was sent on boats, led by 1st Lieutenant Abel Hawkins ( born Abel Hawkins ). The attempt was repelled with heavy losses: 28 sailors and marines killed, including Hawkins himself and one midshipman . 2nd lieutenant, navigational assistant and another 35 people were injured; one boat was captured with the crew. On October 31, Endymion met the 56-gun HMS Saturn bound for Halifax (captain James Nash ). 28 wounded were escorted to him, accompanied by a doctor and his assistant, and to replenish him, a lieutenant, four warrant officers and 33 sailors and marines were received. ^[four]

USS President Capture

On January 13, 1815 , HMS Tenedos (38), Captain Hyde Parker, joined the squadron. The squadron, held by Sandy Hook, was driven away from the position by a strong wind from the west-north-west. Hayes had no doubt that the New York Descent would take advantage of the weather to seep through the blockade. Therefore, as soon as the wind tempered, he lay down on the south-west course, hoping to cut off the likely path of the Americans' breakthrough. Indeed, at 05:00 on the morning of January 15 , in the 15 leagues to the ESE from Sandy Hook, the frigate USS President and the Macedonian trade brig were discovered. ^[four]

Seeing the enemy right on the course, the Speaker on President fell off and walked from him two miles to the northwest, heading offshore. Majestic was at his stern, behind him and a little further Endymion . Tenedos chased after the second ship, and Hayes sent Pomone after him.

At 06:30, Majestic fired three shots at President , but to no avail: the distance was too great. Probably for the same reason, there was no answer. By noon, the wind was falling, and Endymion , being lighter on the go, began to move away from Majestic and catch up with the President . At 13:15, the Speaker began to lighten the ship: drain drinking water, dump supplies, anchors, a spare mast, boats and other cargo. In addition, he continuously wetted the sails to better keep their shape. At 2:00 p.m. he opened fire from retailers. At 14:30 Endymion answered from running. At 14:39, the President’s core pierced the left foxel at the upper crib , the mainsail at the lower one, broke the stern of the longboat on the Spardeck and, breaking through the dowels , got stuck in the battery deck without causing any other harm.

By 5:00 p.m., the President who was catching up began to be brought in from time to time to direct the stern guns at the enemy, from which he applied very much, and most of the cores passed higher. At 5:30 p.m., seeing that the enemy was firmly seated on the right aft at a distance of half a cannon shot, President carried the mizzen into the wind and drove off to the south, trying to bring Endymion into the airborne volley and, taking advantage of this, leave. But he, having put the steering wheel on the oval himself, prevented maneuver, and the frigates engaged in close combat at parallel courses. At 6:04 p.m. President opened musket fire from Mars, the Marines with Endymion also answered from the muskets. The opponents were half the musket shot from each other, the Endymion rigging was noticeably cut, and President’s body was mostly damaged.

At 18:45, the President was brought in, apparently to avoid a point blank fire. Taking advantage of this, Endymion fired two longitudinal salvos, then it also led down and again ended up on the enemy’s sink. At 7:15 p.m. , President’s fire knocked the boat from the left Endymion bollards , as well as the left grotto and grotto-bram-fox. From 19:18 to 19:25, the President did not respond to the fire, then knocked down the fox grotto-mars and broke the enemy’s main battle-belt, and at 19:32 he suddenly led down, as if testing the strength of his masts. Not fearing for them, Endymion picked up the sails, also led down and fired another longitudinal salvo, to which the President answered noticeably beaten with a shot from one stern cannon. For 10 minutes, the American frigate tried to increase the distance by firing randomly, and at 19:58 he ceased fire and showed (according to Endymion officers) a signal with a flashlight. Deciding that the enemy had lowered the flag, Endymion also ceased fire, began replacing the sails with new ones, and therefore lagged behind.

President went under all sails to the ost. At 23:15, Pomone took a position and, being brought in, fired a volley on the starboard side, but with almost no result. The President immediately reduced the sails and was led too, as if about to answer, but instead he said in a voice that he was surrendering, and raised fire on his mizzen. However, Pomone , not hearing it and not understanding the meaning of fire, gave a new salvo, equally ineffective. Then the President got even cooler, as if for boarding, he lowered the fire and repeated in a voice about surrender. At that moment, Tenedos came up from the other side, having already understood the situation with the help of Endymion , and at 23:30 he received a response with his voice: “American frigate President ; give up. " Captain Parker immediately sent the boat and won the prize; soon the second came from Captain Pomone , Lymely. Endymion managed to arm new sails and was already nearby.

In this battle, Endymion lost 10 sailors and a Marine sergeant killed and 12 sailors and 2 Marines wounded. President , from a team of 465 people and 4 Jungs, lost 35 killed and 70 wounded. The total number of prisoners handed over to the agent in Bermuda was 434. ^[4]

Pax Bitannica

From 1816 to 1833 he was in reserve. In 1817 , under the new rules (including carronades), he received a 50-gun rating and was upgraded to rank 4 . From 1840 to 1842 he participated in the First Opium War , including operations on the Yangtze River . After returning to service, he remained one of the fleet's best walkers, and in joint sailing he could bypass many newer ships. Thanks to this, many captains sought to command them, and William Rule took his drawing as a model for his experimental ships, already built using the diagonal set and other new methods.

In 1859, the ship was withdrawn from active composition and turned into a floating barracks for recruits in Plymouth. He remained in this role until 1868 , after which he was sold for scrap and disassembled.

• 1797 Captain Thomas Williams
• 1801 Captain Philip Charles Durham
• 1803 Captain Charles Paget
• 1805 Captain Edward Durnford King
• 1806 Captain Thomas Bladen Capel
• 1810 Captain William Bolton
• 1813 Captain Henry Hope

(1816 - 1833 in reserve)

• 1833 Captain Samuel Roberts
• 1840 Captain Frederick Gray
• 1845 captain George R. Lambert