HMS Amazon (1795)
 Amazon (right) and Indefatigable (left) in action with Droits de l'Homme (center), painting by Léopold Le Guen (1853) |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Type | Fifth rank frigate |
| Shipyard |
Wells & Co., Rotherhithe |
| Order | March 24, 1794 |
| Keel laying | June 1794 |
| Launch | 25 September 1795 at Deptford Dockyard |
| 1. Period of service |
|
| Decommissioning | January 17, 1797 |
| Whereabouts | wreck |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
933 67/94 tons builder's measurment |
| length |
143 feet 2.5 inches on gun |
| width | |
| Draft | |
| crew |
264 |
| drive |
sail |
| Armament |
36 cannons |
The HMS Amazon was a frigate of the Royal Navy with 36 cannons. It was built in 1795 by John and William Wells & Co based on a design by Sir William Rule. She was the first ship in a series of four identical frigates.
Under the command of Captain Robert Carthew Reynolds , she was part of the coastal squadron under Sir Edward Pellew in 1795 , who watched the French port of Brest to report any attempts by the French fleet to leave the port. On April 20, she took part in the hunt for the Virginie with 40 cannons, which the frigate HMS Indefatigable finally took over. On June 13th, the Amazon took part in the capture of Les Trois Couleurs with 14 cannons near Brest.
On December 11, 1796, the Amazon was able to announce that seven French ships of the line had reached the port of Brest. This was part of the preparations for the invasion of Ireland. The French fleet left port, evaded the main body of the British blockade fleet and sailed to Bantry Bay . Even so, storms scattered the fleet and many ships returned to France without having achieved much.
In the maneuver of January 13, 1797, the Amazon , accompanied by Pellews Indefatigable, encountered the French ship Droits de l'Homme , a ship of the line with 74 cannons. Normally, no frigate attacks a ship of the line because it would come under heavy fire. However, the sea was stormy and the French ship could not open the cannon hatches on the lower deck, otherwise there was a risk of being flooded. This reduced their broadsides considerably.
Pellew was seven miles from the Amazon when he first attacked the Droits de l'Homme . An hour and a half later, the Amazon moved up and shot a broadside into the French quarters. The two frigates attacked her from both sides, trying to throw her off course while avoiding most of the counterfire. At 4:20 am on the morning of January 14th, land was suddenly sighted and the frigates broke off their attack and sailed away in opposite directions. The Amazon held to the north and due to severe damage she could no longer stay afloat and ran aground at Audierne Bay from Île de Batz . Three crew members had been killed in the fight and six others drowned, but the rest of them managed to escape to the coast. There they were taken prisoner by the French. The Droits de l'Homme , badly damaged in battle, also ran aground.
The military tribunal of September 29, 1797, which was routinely convened after the loss of a ship, honored Captain Reynolds and his officers from any negligence in connection with the loss of the ship.
literature
- Rif Winfield: British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1793-1817: design, construction, careers and fates . 2nd Edition. Seaforth Publishing 2008. ISBN 978-1-84415-717-4 (English)
Web links
- HMS Amazon , Naval Database (English)