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HMS Melampus (1785)
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HMS Melampus (1785)
HMS Melampus was a Royal Navy fifth-rate frigate that served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. She captured numerous prizes before the British sold her to the Royal Netherlands Navy in 1815. With the Dutch, she participated in a major action at Algiers and, then, in a number of colonial punitive expeditions in the Dutch East Indies.
The Admiralty ordered Melampus from James Martin Hillhouse, of Bristol on 17 April 1782 as a 38-gun fifth rate. After she had been laid down in December 1782, 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 fitted between 3 July and 8 September 1785 for ordinary at Plymouth. She was again fitted between May and 2 July 1790 for Channel service. She had cost £20,785 13s 0d to build, with a further £2,985 being spent in 1790 for fitting out.
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. Melampus had five men killed and five wounded.
She came under the command of Sir Richard Strachan in September 1794 and was recommissioned in April 1795. She was part of Strachan's force that attacked and destroyed a French convoy in Cartaret Bay on 9 May 1795. The British squadron spotted a convoy of 13 vessels and immediately gave chase. Twelve of the quarry escaped and got close to the shore where a small shore battery, their own armed escorts, and a brig and a lugger offered some protection. Strachan sent in the boats from the vessels in his squadron while Melampus and the ships provided covering fire. The French crews abandoned their vessels at the approach of the British and eventually the shore battery also stopped firing. The cutting out party retrieved all the vessels, save a small sloop, which was hard ashore and which they burnt. Melampus had eight men wounded and in all the British lost one man killed and 14 wounded. They captured a gun brig and a gun lugger, each armed with three 18-pounder guns. They also captured the convoy, which consisted of: Prosperitte (80 tons and carrying cordage), Montagne (200 tons and carrying timber, lead and tin plates), Catharine (200 tons and carrying ship timber), Hyrondelle (220 tons and carrying ship timber and pitch), Contente (250 tons, carrying powder), Nymphe (120 tons carrying fire wood), Bonne-Union (150 tons), Fantazie (45 tons carrying coals), Alexandre (397 and carrying ship timber, cordage, hemp and cannon), and Petit Neptune (113 tons and carrying ship timber). A later prize money report added the names of the escorts, the gun-brig Crachefeu and the gun-lugger Eclair, both of which the Royal Navy took into service under their existing names.
On 3 July 1795 Melampus and Hebe intercepted a convoy of 13 vessels off St Malo. Melampus captured an armed brig and Hebe captured six merchant vessels: Maria Louisa, Abeille. Bon Foi, Patrouille, Eleonore, and Pecheur. The brig of war was armed with four 24-pounders and had a crew of 60 men. Later she was identified as the 4-gun Vésuve. The convoy had been on its way from Île-de-Bréhat to Brest. Seaflower, Daphne and the cutter Sprightly shared in the prize and head money. The Royal Navy took Vésuve into service as HMS Vesuve.
Melampus came under the command of Captain Graham Moore in August 1796. On 13 November she and Minerva drove a French navy corvette ashore near Barfleur. However the British were not able to get close enough to assure her destruction. Then Melampus and Childers captured another corvette, the Etna. Etna was armed with eighteen 12-pounder guns and had a crew of 137 men under the command of Citizen Joseph La Coudrais. The prisoners stated that both corvettes were carrying military and naval stores and that the corvette that had run ashore was the Etonnant, of eighteen 18-pounder guns. Both were new ships on their first cruise. The Royal Navy took Etna into service as the 20-gun post ship HMS Cormorant.
Melampus was also active in operations against French privateers. On 5 October 1797 she captured the French privateer lugger Rayon off the Casquets after a chase of four hours. Rayon was armed with six carriage guns and eight coehorns, and had a crew of 54 men under the command of Jean Baptiste Leonard Gosselin. She had sailed from Cherburg ten hours earlier intending to cruise between the Lizard and Cape Clear for six weeks.
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HMS Melampus (1785)
HMS Melampus was a Royal Navy fifth-rate frigate that served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. She captured numerous prizes before the British sold her to the Royal Netherlands Navy in 1815. With the Dutch, she participated in a major action at Algiers and, then, in a number of colonial punitive expeditions in the Dutch East Indies.
The Admiralty ordered Melampus from James Martin Hillhouse, of Bristol on 17 April 1782 as a 38-gun fifth rate. After she had been laid down in December 1782, 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 fitted between 3 July and 8 September 1785 for ordinary at Plymouth. She was again fitted between May and 2 July 1790 for Channel service. She had cost £20,785 13s 0d to build, with a further £2,985 being spent in 1790 for fitting out.
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. Melampus had five men killed and five wounded.
She came under the command of Sir Richard Strachan in September 1794 and was recommissioned in April 1795. She was part of Strachan's force that attacked and destroyed a French convoy in Cartaret Bay on 9 May 1795. The British squadron spotted a convoy of 13 vessels and immediately gave chase. Twelve of the quarry escaped and got close to the shore where a small shore battery, their own armed escorts, and a brig and a lugger offered some protection. Strachan sent in the boats from the vessels in his squadron while Melampus and the ships provided covering fire. The French crews abandoned their vessels at the approach of the British and eventually the shore battery also stopped firing. The cutting out party retrieved all the vessels, save a small sloop, which was hard ashore and which they burnt. Melampus had eight men wounded and in all the British lost one man killed and 14 wounded. They captured a gun brig and a gun lugger, each armed with three 18-pounder guns. They also captured the convoy, which consisted of: Prosperitte (80 tons and carrying cordage), Montagne (200 tons and carrying timber, lead and tin plates), Catharine (200 tons and carrying ship timber), Hyrondelle (220 tons and carrying ship timber and pitch), Contente (250 tons, carrying powder), Nymphe (120 tons carrying fire wood), Bonne-Union (150 tons), Fantazie (45 tons carrying coals), Alexandre (397 and carrying ship timber, cordage, hemp and cannon), and Petit Neptune (113 tons and carrying ship timber). A later prize money report added the names of the escorts, the gun-brig Crachefeu and the gun-lugger Eclair, both of which the Royal Navy took into service under their existing names.
On 3 July 1795 Melampus and Hebe intercepted a convoy of 13 vessels off St Malo. Melampus captured an armed brig and Hebe captured six merchant vessels: Maria Louisa, Abeille. Bon Foi, Patrouille, Eleonore, and Pecheur. The brig of war was armed with four 24-pounders and had a crew of 60 men. Later she was identified as the 4-gun Vésuve. The convoy had been on its way from Île-de-Bréhat to Brest. Seaflower, Daphne and the cutter Sprightly shared in the prize and head money. The Royal Navy took Vésuve into service as HMS Vesuve.
Melampus came under the command of Captain Graham Moore in August 1796. On 13 November she and Minerva drove a French navy corvette ashore near Barfleur. However the British were not able to get close enough to assure her destruction. Then Melampus and Childers captured another corvette, the Etna. Etna was armed with eighteen 12-pounder guns and had a crew of 137 men under the command of Citizen Joseph La Coudrais. The prisoners stated that both corvettes were carrying military and naval stores and that the corvette that had run ashore was the Etonnant, of eighteen 18-pounder guns. Both were new ships on their first cruise. The Royal Navy took Etna into service as the 20-gun post ship HMS Cormorant.
Melampus was also active in operations against French privateers. On 5 October 1797 she captured the French privateer lugger Rayon off the Casquets after a chase of four hours. Rayon was armed with six carriage guns and eight coehorns, and had a crew of 54 men under the command of Jean Baptiste Leonard Gosselin. She had sailed from Cherburg ten hours earlier intending to cruise between the Lizard and Cape Clear for six weeks.
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