HMS Endymion (1797)

career
Commissioned:	April 30, 1795
Laid on the keel:	November 1795
Launch:	March 29, 1797
Commissioning:	June 12, 1797
Sister ships:	HMS Severn , HMS Liffey , HMS Liverpool , HMS Glasgow , HMS Forth
Fate:	1868 in Plymouth scrapped
Decommissioning:	1859
General data
Displacement:	1,277 tons
Length:	49 m (cannon deck)
Width:	13 m
Draft:	4.8 m
Drive:	sail
Speed:	over 14 knots (26 km / h) ahead of the wind
Range:
Crew:	approx. 300-340 men
Armament:	nominally 40 cannons, actually. : 2 × 9-pounder, 26 × 24-pounder, 18 × 32-pounder carronades (original armament)
Armor:
Motto:

HMS Endymion drawn by Admiral Sir Charles Paget on January 23, 1809

The HMS Endymion was a warship than the fifth rank classified frigate of the British Royal Navy with nominally 40 cannons in the coalition wars against France , the War of 1812 against the United States and in the First Opium War against China was used.

History of the ship

Coalition wars

The HMS Endymion , the second ship of this name, was launched on March 29, 1797 at the shipyard of John Randall & Co. in Rotherhithe . It was named after the six ships of the Endymion class, which were modeled on the French frigate Pomone captured in 1794 . She was not only the fastest ship in her class, but was also the Royal Navy's fastest sailing warship with a speed of 14.4 knots .

After its commissioning on June 12, 1797, the Endymion was initially used in the canal fleet . On October 13, 1797, two days after the sea victory at Kamperduin (English Battle of Camperdown ), she sighted the Dutch ship of the line Brutus (74 cannons), which had escaped the battle, off Den Helder . After a brief exchange of fire, with Endymion trying to stop the Brutus and at the same time summoning other British ships through their artillery fire, their commander had to give up the unequal fight, as the current conditions threatened to drive the Endymion just below the heavy broadside of the Brutus . She then served off the coast of Ireland and in the Mediterranean , from where she was recalled to Great Britain after the Peace of Amiens . After the war against France broke out again in 1803, she took part in the blockade of Brest under the command of Captain Charles Paget , during which she took as prizes some French and Spanish merchant ships, privateers and smaller warships . Typical for these mostly one-sided actions was e.g. B. the conquest of the French corvette Colombe (16 cannons), which had to surrender to the Endymion and the Dragon on June 18, 1803 , or a few days later the fall of the Bacchante (18 cannons), also a French corvette, which after an eight-hour Hunt and an exchange of fire with the far superior British ship canceled their flag. On July 16, the Adour (20 cannons) was taken away . Successes of this kind were also a source of considerable income for the crew, especially the captain, as they brought in rich prize money payments.

In the autumn of 1805, the Endymion became part of the squadron of Rear Admiral Sir Thomas Louis cruising off Cadiz and thus part of the fleet of Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson . In early October, Nelson Louis' unit sent to Gibraltar to take in water and provisions, which is why the Endymion could not take part in the Battle of Trafalgar on October 21. However, it is very likely that she and her association favored the meeting at Trafalgar, because the ships of Admiral Louis' separated from Nelson (including 5 ships of the line) were sighted by Spanish observers on the coast. This obvious weakening of the British fleet may - according to the British historian Brian Lavery in his book Nelson's Fleets at Trafalgar - have encouraged the Franco-Spanish fleet to sail. 1807 she was under the command of Captain Thomas Bladen Capel to Admiral John Thomas Duckworth's Dardanelles operation involved and brought the British envoy to (fruitless) negotiations with the Ottoman Empire after Istanbul . When breaking through the Dardanelles under fire from Turkish coastal batteries, three crew members of the frigate were killed and nine wounded. From 1808 the Endymion served in British waters, where it again brought a number of French privateers.

War of 1812

In 1812/13 the ship was overhauled in Plymouth and armed with two additional 32 pounder carronades , and the crew increased to 340 men. The Admiralty then moved them to North America , where war with the United States had broken out. There she first brought up several American privateers until she joined the British blockade squadron off New York in 1814. It was here that the most famous battle in the Endymion's career took place when, on January 14, 1815, the heavy American frigate USS President (nominally 44 guns) under Commodore Stephen Decatur attempted a breakout in bad weather. The US warship had to abandon its mission after being badly damaged by a grounding near Sandy Hook , but was unable to return to New York due to adverse winds. On the morning of January 15, the frigate encountered the British blockade squadron, which, in addition to the Endymion, included the HMS Majestic ( Razee , 56 guns) and the frigates HMS Pomone and HMS Tenedos (both 38 guns). The British immediately began pursuing the US frigate.

The Endymion was the fastest ship in its squadron and was able to catch up with the President at around 2:00 p.m. Shortly afterwards, Captain Henry Hope opened fire on the Americans. Endymion was able to cross behind the President's stern three times and fire as many extremely destructive broadsides lengthways through the enemy ship, causing significant damage to the hull and killing or wounding large numbers of crew members. With Captain Decatur still hoping to escape the British, the battle did not develop into a classic broadside against broadside duel. Such a battle, which would have required the President to turn, would have lost the lead of the US ship over the rest of the British squadron. Decatur was therefore unable to bring his superior artillery to bear, but the damage was so severe that he accepted the fight at around 7:30 p.m. The Endymion's rigging was soon so badly damaged by chain projectiles that it had to turn away. However, Captain Hope had achieved his goal, as the battered American frigate was overtaken by the Pomone at around 11 p.m. and the latter surrendered after a brief exchange of fire because Decatur considered further resistance to be pointless.

According to US sources, the losses on board the American ship amounted to 24 dead and 55 wounded, according to British figures 35 dead and 70 wounded. Endymion lost 25 crew members, including 11 dead and 14 wounded. The ratings of the battle vary, as do the details of the course; the American side occasionally claims that the President was victorious in the battle with the Endymion because she forced it to turn away. But in view of the subsequent surrender of the American ship - in which the damage caused by the Endymion played a decisive role - this is hardly a very convincing view. The naval historian and later US President Theodore Roosevelt also praised Hope's masterful warfare with his clearly inferior ship in his portrayal of the naval war of 1812–1815 (for comparison data see below), which helped the British to become one of the superior heavy US frigates got hands. However, it must be noted that the President was ultimately captured by a British squadron and not by a single ship.

Shortly after the battle, both ships were dismasted by a squall and could only be brought into a port with considerable difficulty.

Comparison between HMS Endymion and USS President

	HMS Endymion	USS President
Length (artillery deck):	approx. 49 m	approx. 53 m
Width :	13 m	13.5 m
Tonnage :	1,277 tons	1,533 tons
Displacement :	unknown	approx. 2,200 tons
Crew :	346 men	at least 450 men
Armament :
Cannon deck :	26 × 24 pounder	30 × 24 pounder
Aft deck :	16 × 32 pounder carronades	14 × 42-pounder carronades 1 × 24-pounder
Forward deck :	6 × 32 pounder carronades (1 × 18 pounder)	1 × 24 pounder 6 × 42 pounder carronades
Other :	(1 × 18 pounder carronade)	(1 × 8 ″ howitzer, 203mm, about 68 pounds)
Broadside weight cannons :	312 pounds	408 pounds
Broadside weight carrons :	352 pounds	420 pounds
Total weight of a broadside :	664 pounds (301 kg)	828 pounds (375 kg)

Later history of the ship

After the end of the war, the Endymion was taken out of active service and belonged to the reserve until 1833. It was later reactivated and took part in the First Opium War from 1840 to 1842, u. a. of operations on the Yangtze . In 1859 she was converted into a residential ship for recruits in Plymouth (a so-called "receiving ship"), and in June 1868 the ship was scrapped.

Throughout her career, the Endymion was known for her excellent sailing characteristics and therefore one of the most sought-after commands in the Royal Navy. In the 1830s it was still used as a benchmark and also surpassed considerably newer ships.

literature

William James, Naval History of Great Britain 1793-1827, in Six Volumes
Robert Gardiner, Frigates of the Napoleonic Wars (Chatham Publishing, 2000)
Rif Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793-1817 (Chatham Publishing, 2005)
William Laird Clowes, The Royal Navy. A History from the Earliest Times to 1900, Vol. V (Chatham Publishing, 1997 - reprint of the 1900 edition)
Theodore Roosevelt : The War with the United States, 1812-1815, in: William Laird Clowes, The Royal Navy. A History from the Earliest Times to 1900, Vol. VI, pp. 1–180 (Chatham Publishing, 1997 - reprint of the 1901 edition)

Notes and individual references

Remarks

↑ For better comparability, the size and tonnage of the President are given according to English calculation bases after their measurement in England. The armament of the Endymion was changed again shortly before or during its America mission. Her 9-pounders have been removed and replaced with a pair of additional 32-pounder carronades. Instead, a single French 18-pounder made of bronze (bullet weight approx. 19½ British pounds) was installed as a bow hunting gun. The single 18-pounder carronade was the (mobile) gun for the dinghies. These two guns are not included in the broadside strength, since Endymion's broadside gates (11 on each side of the superstructure) were already occupied by the 22 32-pounder carronades. The two individual 24-pounders on the fore and aft deck of the President could be used in their broadside, as there were free gates. Whether an 8 ″ howitzer was installed is uncertain after comparing the British and American sources. In any case, there would no longer have been a free gate on the superstructure for this (a total of 12 gates on each side). With regard to the available broadside gates, cf. original ship plans from the archives of the British Admiralty, reprinted in Robert Gardiner, Warships of the Napoleonic Era, and Gardiner, Frigates of the Napoleonic Wars. Information about the weapons actually present during the battle from William James, Naval History of Great Britain Vol. 6, pages 323 u. 366. HMS Majestic , Tenedos and Pomone are not included in the table above, as no battle developed between them and the President (when Pomone fired at the President , the latter had already capitulated). HMS Majestic fired a broadside of 1048 pounds, the two 38 frigates had a broadside weight of about 530 pounds each.

Individual evidence

Web links

[1] For better comparability, the size and tonnage of the President are given according to English calculation bases after their measurement in England. The armament of the Endymion was changed again shortly before or during its America mission. Her 9-pounders have been removed and replaced with a pair of additional 32-pounder carronades. Instead, a single French 18-pounder made of bronze (bullet weight approx. 19½ British pounds) was installed as a bow hunting gun. The single 18-pounder carronade was the (mobile) gun for the dinghies. These two guns are not included in the broadside strength, since Endymion's broadside gates (11 on each side of the superstructure) were already occupied by the 22 32-pounder carronades. The two individual 24-pounders on the fore and aft deck of the President could be used in their broadside, as there were free gates. Whether an 8 ″ howitzer was installed is uncertain after comparing the British and American sources. In any case, there would no longer have been a free gate on the superstructure for this (a total of 12 gates on each side). With regard to the available broadside gates, cf. original ship plans from the archives of the British Admiralty, reprinted in Robert Gardiner, Warships of the Napoleonic Era, and Gardiner, Frigates of the Napoleonic Wars. Information about the weapons actually present during the battle from William James, Naval History of Great Britain Vol. 6, pages 323 u. 366. HMS Majestic , Tenedos and Pomone are not included in the table above, as no battle developed between them and the President (when Pomone fired at the President , the latter had already capitulated). HMS Majestic fired a broadside of 1048 pounds, the two 38 frigates had a broadside weight of about 530 pounds each.