HMS Apollo (1794): Difference between revisions
m →Fate: fix wikilink |
→Fate: expand |
||
Line 61: | Line 61: | ||
An accident at sea in late 1798 forced ''Apollo'' back to port in Great Yarmouth and left her with a severely depleted crew. A [[capstan (nautical)|capstan]] pawl, or crossbar, had broken while the crew were raising the anchor, and the weight of the anchor and chain caused the remaining pawls to turn sharply as the anchor ran back out. Around thirty men were injured after being struck by the pawls.<ref name="Grocott67">Grocott 1997, p67</ref> Halkett gave orders for a prompt return to port, where the injured men were discharged from ''Apollo''{{'}}s service and entrusted to local medical care. The ship then put back to sea on 5 January, without replacing the injured crew.<ref name="Grocott67"/> |
An accident at sea in late 1798 forced ''Apollo'' back to port in Great Yarmouth and left her with a severely depleted crew. A [[capstan (nautical)|capstan]] pawl, or crossbar, had broken while the crew were raising the anchor, and the weight of the anchor and chain caused the remaining pawls to turn sharply as the anchor ran back out. Around thirty men were injured after being struck by the pawls.<ref name="Grocott67">Grocott 1997, p67</ref> Halkett gave orders for a prompt return to port, where the injured men were discharged from ''Apollo''{{'}}s service and entrusted to local medical care. The ship then put back to sea on 5 January, without replacing the injured crew.<ref name="Grocott67"/> |
||
Halkett's orders were to take ''Apollo'' to a point off the coast of Holland, and there to seek out Dutch vessels for capture. One such vessel was sighted on 6 January, and ''Apollo'' was turned to give chase. The pursuit lasted throughout the evening, but the Dutch ship escaped on the morning of 7 January when heavy fog descended and obscured her path. At 7am that morning, ''Apollo'' ran aground on the Haak Sandbank adjacent to [[Texel]]. Efforts to lighten the ship and drag her free, but these were unsuccessful and it was evident the ship could not be freed from the sands. |
|||
⚫ | |||
In the late afternoon, a Prussian [[galliot]] was sighted and hailed by ''Apollo''{{'}}s crew. After some negotiation, the Prussian captain agreed to jettison the bulk of his cargo of wines and take 250 of ''Apollo''{{'}}s crew back to England. The remaining crew members went aboard ''Apollo''{{'}}s cutter with plans to make their own way to port. By 9pm all crew members had left the British ship, which was then abandoned to the tides. The Prussian ship reached Yarmouth on 11 January, followed three days later by the cutter.<ref name="Grocott67"/> |
|||
⚫ | In a subsequent court martial, the pilot was found guilty of negligence and Captain Halkett exonerated; he was appointed to a newly completing 36-gun frigate, which was also named {{HMS|Apollo|1799|2}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ageofnelson.org/MichaelPhillips/info.php?ref=0188 |title=Apollo (38), 1794 |publisher=Ships of the Old Navy|accessdate=3 November 2009 }}</ref> |
||
==References== |
==References== |
Revision as of 06:30, 3 January 2015
History | |
---|---|
UK | |
Name | HMS Apollo |
Ordered | 28 March 1793 |
Builder | Perry & Hankey, Blackwall |
Laid down | March 1793 |
Launched | 18 March 1794 |
Completed | 23 September 1794 at Woolwich Dockyard |
Commissioned | August 1794 |
Fate | Wrecked on 7 January 1799 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | 38-gun Artois-class fifth rate frigate |
Tons burthen | 994 12⁄94 (bm) |
Length | list error: <br /> list (help) 146 ft 3 in (44.6 m) (overall) 121 ft 10 in (37.1 m) (keel) |
Beam | 39 ft 2 in (11.9 m) |
Depth of hold | 13 ft 9 in (4.19 m) |
Propulsion | Sails |
Sail plan | Full rigged ship |
Complement | 270 |
Armament | list error: <br /> list (help) Upper deck (UD): 28 × 18-pounder guns QD: 2 × 9-pounder guns + 12 × 32-pounder carronades |
HMS Apollo, the third ship of the Royal Navy to be named for the Greek god Apollo, was a 38-gun Artois-class fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She served during the French Revolutionary Wars, but her career ended after just four years in service when she was wrecked on the Haak sands off the Dutch coast.
Construction
Apollo was ordered on 28 March 1793 and was laid down that month at the yards of John Perry & Hanket, at Blackwall.[1] She was launched on 18 March 1794 and was completed at Woolwich Dockyard on 23 September 1794.[1][2] She cost £13,577 to build; this rising to a total of £20,779 when the cost of fitting her for service was included.[1]
Career
Apollo was launched in March 1794 and commissioned in August under her first commander, Captain John Manley.[1] Her career began inauspiciously, when Manley accidentally ran her aground on sandbanks in the mouth of the Wash in late 1794. On Manley's orders the ship was lightened by the disposal over the side of her stores and several of her guns, after which she floated free of the sand. Her rudder had broken in the process, and after some difficulty she was sailed to Great Yarmouth for repairs.[3]
In June 1796, she and Doris captured a French ship - the Légère of 22 guns - which was taken into service by the Navy as Legere. Then in December, Apollo and Polyphemus were off the Irish coast when they captured the 14-gun French privateer schooner Deux Amis, of 100 tons bm and 80 men.[4] The Royal Navy took her into service under her existing name.
In 1798 Captain Peter Halkett was appointed to the command of Apollo.
Fate
An accident at sea in late 1798 forced Apollo back to port in Great Yarmouth and left her with a severely depleted crew. A capstan pawl, or crossbar, had broken while the crew were raising the anchor, and the weight of the anchor and chain caused the remaining pawls to turn sharply as the anchor ran back out. Around thirty men were injured after being struck by the pawls.[5] Halkett gave orders for a prompt return to port, where the injured men were discharged from Apollo's service and entrusted to local medical care. The ship then put back to sea on 5 January, without replacing the injured crew.[5]
Halkett's orders were to take Apollo to a point off the coast of Holland, and there to seek out Dutch vessels for capture. One such vessel was sighted on 6 January, and Apollo was turned to give chase. The pursuit lasted throughout the evening, but the Dutch ship escaped on the morning of 7 January when heavy fog descended and obscured her path. At 7am that morning, Apollo ran aground on the Haak Sandbank adjacent to Texel. Efforts to lighten the ship and drag her free, but these were unsuccessful and it was evident the ship could not be freed from the sands.
In the late afternoon, a Prussian galliot was sighted and hailed by Apollo's crew. After some negotiation, the Prussian captain agreed to jettison the bulk of his cargo of wines and take 250 of Apollo's crew back to England. The remaining crew members went aboard Apollo's cutter with plans to make their own way to port. By 9pm all crew members had left the British ship, which was then abandoned to the tides. The Prussian ship reached Yarmouth on 11 January, followed three days later by the cutter.[5]
In a subsequent court martial, the pilot was found guilty of negligence and Captain Halkett exonerated; he was appointed to a newly completing 36-gun frigate, which was also named Apollo.[6]
References
- Citations
- ^ a b c d Winfield. British Warships in the Age of Sail. p. 135.
- ^ Colledge. Ships of the Royal Navy. p. 178.
- ^ Grocott 1997, p.13
- ^ "No. 13970". The London Gazette. 10 January 1797.
- ^ a b c Grocott 1997, p67
- ^ "Apollo (38), 1794". Ships of the Old Navy. Retrieved 3 November 2009.
- Bibliography
- Clowes, William Laird (1997) [1900]. The Royal Navy, A History from the Earliest Times to 1900, Volume IV. Chatham Publishing. ISBN 1-86176-013-2.
- 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 Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
- Gardiner, Robert (2006). Frigates of the Napoleonic Wars. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 1-86176-292-5.
- Grocott, Terence (1997). Shipwrecks of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Eras. Chatham Publishing. ISBN 1861760302.
- Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1794–1817 : Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 1-86176-246-1.