HMS Diomede (1781)

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drawing
French frigates Cybèle and Prudente in sea battle with HMS Centurion and HMS Diomede
career White Ensign
Commissioned: August 14, 1779
Laid on the keel: March 1780
Launch: October 18, 1781
Sister ships: 19 Roebuck-class ships
Fate: Accumulated on a rock and sunk
General data
Tonnage: 887 tons
Length: 47 m (cannon deck)
Width: 9.5 m
Draft: 5.40 m
Drive: sail
Speed: 12-13 knots
Crew: 280–300 officers and ranks
Armament: 20 × 18-pounder cannons
(lower battery deck)
22 × 9-pounder cannons,
(upper battery deck)
Six 6-pounders on upper deck
Broadside weight: 279 pounds

The Diomede was a 44-gun two-decker ship of the line of the Roebuck class . It was built at the shipyard of James Martin Hillhouse in Bristol and was completed on March 4, 1782 there. It was one of the smaller ships of the line with a shallower draft that had been specially built for operations against the insurgent colonies in North American waters. As a so-called two - decker , it had two gun arrangements in the ship's hull, an upper and a lower battery deck. It was classified as a "fifth rate".

The "HMS Diomede" was involved in two larger operations, in the first of which she captured the frigate "South Carolina" of the South Carolina Navy (ex "India" of the French Navy) in 1782 . The second major action took place in the Indian Ocean in 1794 . Here the "HMS Diomede" was involved in the blockade of Île de France . Although the French had withdrawn after a naval battle due to their heavy losses, they still managed to break through the blockade and so save their bases from starvation.

Capture of the South Carolina

On December 20, 1782, the "HMS Diomede" under Captain Thomas L. Frederick together with the frigates HMS Quebec under Captain Christopher Mason and HMS Astraea under Captain Matthew Squires off the mouth of the Delaware River captured the frigate South Carolina under Captain John Joyner. This had tried to leave Philadelphia and break through the British blockade. The brig Constance , the schooner Seagrove and the ship Hope sailed under her protection .

After an 18-hour hunt for the "South Carolina" and two hours of bombardment, she surrendered and dropped her flag. Six of their 466-strong crew had been killed or wounded, and the British had no casualties.

The "Astraea" and the "Quebec" then managed to raise the tobacco-laden "Constance". Both ships were manned with prize crews and sent to New York City . The prize money for the "South Carolina" was paid in 1784.

Battle on October 22, 1794

On October 25, 1793, Captain Matthew Smith received the order to sail with the "Diomede" to Madras . A year later, together with the British 50 cannon ship of the line "HMS Centurion" under Captain Samuel Osborne , she blocked the French island of Île de France .

Here the French naval commander, Commodore Jean-Marie Renaud, had decided to break through the blockade.

On October 22nd, 1794 the "HMS Centurion" and the "HMS Diomede" were standing in front of the Île Ronde when they sighted the sails of four ships in the west and took up the chase. These ships were the 40-gun frigate Cybèle , the 36-gun frigate Prudente , the 22-gun corvette “Jean-Bart” (a confiscated private ship) and the 16-gun brig “Coureur”, under command by Renaud, who embarked on the "Prudente".

The "Centurion" lay side by side with the two frigates, concentrating their firepower on the "Prudente". The "Diomede" took a similar position to the "Cybèle" and "Jean-Bart", where they fired primarily on the "Cybèle". Finally, the French association broke off the battle without being followed by the British. Captain Smith proceeded only half-heartedly, otherwise the “Cybèle” could have been taken away.

The "HMS Centurion" lost three sailors and 24 were wounded, on the "HMS Diomede" there were no losses. The "Prudente" lost 15 men dead, including the 1st and 2nd officers, and had 20 wounded including the Commodore Renaud. The "Cybèle" suffered 21 deaths including the chief officer and 63 wounded (37 of them seriously). On the "Jean-Bart" there was one dead and five wounded, the "Coureur" had no losses.

Loss of the ship

On February 25, 1795, Commodore Rainier ordered the "HMS Diomede" and the HMS Heroine to a position between Malacca and the Banda Islands . They were to stay there until all the merchant ships from the east had passed. Then she was ordered through the Sunda Strait and the "HMS Heroine" through the Strait from Malacca to Madras . On July 23, 1795 she met the squadron of Commodore Rainier, which consisted of the HMS Suffolk , the HMS Hobart , the "HMS Centurion", and troop carriers. Together with this association, the "HMS Diomede" sailed to Ceylon to take Trincomalee and other Dutch settlements there.

On August 2, 1795, the ship of the line with a transport brig in tow hit an underwater rock in Black Bay , struck a leak and immediately began to sink. She crossed here against strong offshore winds and one suspected on board, misled by the high waves, these rocks half a mile northwards. The ship sank so quickly that the crew members barely managed to save themselves. All material on board was lost.

Although the landing on Ceylon was delayed by a day due to the loss of the "HMS Diomede", the British forces managed to take Fort Ostenburg and Trincomalee on August 31, 1795. Further settlements in Ceylon and India were taken from the Dutch, but the most important thing was without question that the French had been forestalled in Trincomalee.

Aftermath

In his report to the Admiralty on the battle of October 22, 1794, the senior Osborne complained about Smith's behavior. Smith then asked Osborne for an explanation. Osborne reiterated his allegation and requested that a naval court trial be held to investigate Smith's style of leadership during the engagement. As a result, Smith was expelled from the Navy. The court had come to the conclusion that it was not a lack of courage but rather aversion and envy towards Osborn that had led to his behavior. Upon returning to Britain in 1798, Smith obtained a retrial. Because of formal errors in the first trial, its verdict was overturned and Smith was reinstated in the Navy with his old rank, but was never again given command.

literature

  • David J. Hepper: British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail. 1650-1859. Jean Boudriot, Rotherfield 1994, ISBN 0-948864-30-3 .
  • William James : The Naval History of Great Britain, from the Declaration of War by France in 1793, to the Accession of George IV. Volume 1. A new Edition, with Additions and Notes, and an Account of the Burmese War and the Battle of Navarino by Captain Chamier. Richard Bentley, London 1837.
  • James A. Lewis: Neptune's militia. The frigate South Carolina during the American Revolution. Kent State University Press, Kent OH 1999, ISBN 0-87338-632-9 .
  • John Marshall: Royal naval biography; or, Memoirs of the services of all the flag-officers, superannuated rear-admirals, retired-captains, post-captains, and commanders, Whose names appeared on the Admiralty List of Sea Officers at the commencement of the present year, or who have since been promoted; illustrated by a series of historical and explanatory notes, Which will befound to contain an account of all the naval actions, and other important events, from the commencement of the late reign, in 1760, to the present period. Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, London 1823-1835.
  • C. Northcote Parkinson : War in the Eastern Seas, 1793-1815. George Allen & Unwin, London 1954.
  • Rif Winfield: British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1714-1792. Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing, Barnsley 2007, ISBN 978-1-84415-700-6 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The so-called rates from 1 to 6 were a classification according to size, combat strength and firepower.
  2. ^ C. Northcote Parkinson: War in the Eastern Seas, 1793-1815. 1954, p. 76.
  3. ↑ a b James A. Lewis: Neptune's militia. 1999, pp. 92-94.
  4. ↑ James A. Lewis: Neptune's militia. 1999, pp. 96-98.
  5. ↑ London Gazette . No. 12556, HMSO, London, 29 Jun 1784, p. 5 ( PDF , English).
  6. ↑ French and American frigates were larger than British ones, as the British Admiralty had issued binding regulations in 1750 that frigates only have one battery deck and that they could be equipped with 14, 26 or 28 guns.
  7. ^ C. Northcote Parkinson: War in the Eastern Seas, 1793-1815. 1954, p. 75.
  8. ^ William James: The Naval History of Great Britain, from the Declaration of War by France in 1793, to the Accession of George IV. Volume 1. A new edition. 1837, p. 213.
  9. ^ C. Northcote Parkinson: War in the Eastern Seas, 1793-1815. 1954, p. 76.
  10. ↑ a b c London Gazette . No. 13852, HMSO, London, 8 January 1796, pp. 33-34 ( PDF , English).
  11. ^ David J. Hepper: British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail. 1650-1859. 1994, p. 78.
  12. ^ C. Northcote Parkinson: War in the Eastern Seas, 1793-1815. 1954, p. 80.
  13. ^ John Marshall: Royal naval biography. Volume 2. 1824, pp. 73-75 .