HMS Beaulieu

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Drawn diagram showing the profile of the ship from the starboard side
1790 diagram of Beaulieu
History
Great Britain
NameBeaulieu
NamesakeEdward Hussey-Montagu, 1st Earl Beaulieu
Laid down1790
Launched4 May 1791
Completed31 May 1791
AcquiredPurchased 16 June 1790
CommissionedJanuary 1793
Out of serviceMarch/April 1806
Nickname(s)Bowly
FateBroken up 1809
General characteristics [1]
Class and typeFifth-rate frigate
Tons burthen1,01979⁄94 (bm)
Length
  • 143 ft 3 in (43.7 m) (
    gundeck
    )
  • 122 ft 10+5⁄8 in (37.5 m) (keel)
Beam39 ft 6 in (12 m)
Draught
  • 9 ft 5+1⁄2 in (2.9 m) (forward)
  • 13 ft 9+1⁄2 in (4.2 m) (aft)
Depth of hold15 ft 2+5⁄8 in (4.6 m)
PropulsionSails
Complement280 (274 from 1794)
Armament

HMS Beaulieu (

North America Station to allow them to recuperate, returning to the Leeward Islands in 1795. In the following two years the ship found success in prizetaking
and briefly took part in more operations at Saint Lucia. She returned to Britain at the end of 1796.

In 1797 Beaulieu joined the

cutting out expedition capturing the French corvette Chevrette in Camaret Bay
.

Beaulieu was put

paid off in March or April of that year, and sent to Deptford Dockyard where she was broken up
in 1809.

Design and construction

A wooden 1:48 model of the ship
Model of Beaulieu at Buckler's Hard

HMS Beaulieu was a 40-gun,

French Revolutionary War. There being a slump in ship construction between the wars, the ship was a private venture by Adams to ensure that his workmen were kept in employment.[7][8] She was the only 18-pounder frigate procured by the Royal Navy during this period and would continue to be a rarity; in 1793 she was one of only eight serving British frigates to have thirty-eight or more guns.[3][4][9]

Beaulieu was laid down some time in the first half of 1790, and was purchased by the Royal Navy on 16 June mid-way through construction, after an

Spanish Armament that saw it begin to bolster the fleet.[10][11] The ship was named by Adams as a compliment to the local landowner Edward Hussey-Montagu, 1st Earl Beaulieu, and this name was kept on by the Royal Navy.[3][12] In service the crew nicknamed the ship "Bowly".[13]

Beaulieu was launched by

Portsmouth Dockyard because the navy was on peacetime mobilisation levels, and this work was completed on 31 May. She stayed in ordinary until the French Revolutionary War began, and was finally fitted for sea on 14 March 1793.[10][11] Her construction and initial fittings cost a total of £17,788.[3]

While the ship was fitted out to Royal Navy standards after her purchase, the initial design had been down to Adams. As such, Beaulieu was not built in the slim fashion of other frigates, and was instead closer in proportion to a merchant ship of the period. This meant that her hold space was much greater than the average frigate, providing the capacity to store around double the amount of drinking water and ballast.[a] While no official report on Beaulieu's sailing survives, her unusual proportions have led the naval historian Robert Gardiner to suggest that it is "unlikely she was much of a sailer".[9]

Beaulieu held forty long guns.[10] The ship was internally laid out in the standard fashion for a 38-gun frigate, but with the addition of two extra gun ports.[9] Twenty-eight 18-pounders were held on the upper deck, with eight 9-pounders on the quarterdeck and a further four on the forecastle.[10] On 20 February 1793 an Admiralty Order had Beaulieu take on a number of carronades, with two 32-pounders on the upper deck and six 18-pounders on the quarterdeck. On 29 December six of the carronades were replaced with newer models, but they were all removed from the ship later on.[10][16] Beaulieu's upper deck had fifteen gun ports on each side, but only fourteen of these were ever put into regular use, with the final pair briefly holding the 1793 carronades but otherwise being left empty.[3]

The ship was designed with a crew complement of 280. On 12 December 1794 the Admiralty reorganised ship complements, taking into account the increased use of carronades, and Beaulieu's was lowered to 274 men.[10][17] This was because carronades were lighter than long guns and required a smaller gun crew to operate.[18] Many captains found this decrease unacceptable and frigate crews were often bolstered, although this is not recorded in Beaulieu's case.[17]

Service

West Indies

A printed recruitment poster for the ship that reads "All Seamen and able-bodied Landmen, Willing to serve on Board His Majesty's Ship Beaulieu, Of 40 Guns, The largest and finest Frigate in the Service The Right Honourable W. Earl of Northesk Commander Now fitting out in Portsmouth Harbour, Let them repair on Board the said Ship or to any neighbouring Rendezvous, where they will be met with every Encouragement, and be entitled to His Majesty's Bounty: Able Seamen £5 0 Ordinary Seamen £2 10 Landmen £1 10 God Save The King"
Recruiting broadsheet for Beaulieu while commanded by Lord Northesk

Beaulieu was

Vice-Admiral Sir John Jervis's Leeward Islands fleet; she then captured the French merchant ship America on 31 December.[10][20]

Jervis was undertaking a campaign to capture the valuable French-held islands in the West Indies, which accounted for a third of all French trade and supported (directly or indirectly) a fifth of the population.

gun batteries and mortars in the fighting.[24][25] Beaulieu received no casualties during the campaign.[26]

Beaulieu continued on with the expedition which arrived off

Newfoundland.[30][19]

On 2 December the frigate captured a fast-sailing French 10-gun

prisoners of war and set her on fire. For this Littlehales was promoted to serve in the 74-gun ship of the line HMS Majestic.[32]

Riou was invalided home and replaced by Captain

foremast damaged.[36]

Beaulieu arrived at the aftermath of an inconclusive duel between the 32-gun frigate HMS Mermaid and the French 40-gun frigate Vengeance off Basseterre on 8 August. Her presence forced the French vessel to disengage and retreat to safety under the guns of a battery in Basseterre Roads.[10][37] Towards the end of the year Beaulieu returned to Britain, carrying as passengers Rear-Admiral Sir Hugh Christian, who had been replaced as commander-in-chief of the Leeward Islands, and Rear-Admiral Charles Pole.[38][39]

Nore mutiny

Main article: Spithead and Nore mutinies

Beaulieu received a refit at

brig-sloop HMS Harpy on 8 May, sharing in the capture with the 14-gun sloop HMS Savage.[40][41] Leyden and Fourcoing had been sailing with a cargo of madder, white lead, and smalt, from Rotterdam to Rouen.[42]

Beaulieu was serving as a

flogging, but soldiers posted at Rochester blocked their route on 31 May.[48] Delegates from the mutinying Nore ships visited Beaulieu on 4 June, and it is likely that she conveyed them back to the Nore on the following day.[45][49]

Having sailed from the Nore, despite the authorities removing the marker buoys to make navigation out of the anchorage more difficult, off Margate on 11 June the mutinous members of Beaulieu were overpowered. Five escaped in a cutter but were caught when they landed in Kent on the following day. Five were also arrested on 15 June for having served as delegates of the crew during the mutiny.[45] The Admiralty pardoned all of the crew, bar the men arrested.[50] Soon after this Captain Francis Fayerman assumed command.[51]

In the aftermath two men remained imprisoned in the ship, and in order to release them the crew mutinied again on 25 June under Redhead.[52][51] He announced that his aim was "to turn every bastard of an officer on shore, and if any of the seamen were not true to the cause to hang them immediately".[53] Fayerman was on shore, and so Lieutenant John Burn received their demands for the release of the two men. Burn refused, and at 9 p.m. the men went to forcibly release their colleagues.[51] Burn armed his officers and marines and met the mutineers; after refusing a request to go back to bed, one of them ran at Burn with a cutlass. He was shot in the neck by the ship's purser and in the body by Burn.[54]

The mutineers made a second attempt to attack the officers and marines, stabbing one of them and attempting to gain control of more cutlasses. The defenders shot at them again, hitting two, and the survivors ran to Beaulieu's forecastle where they started turning her 9-pounders around to point back into the ship. Before they could fire Burn caught up with them again and all but one, who he shot in the shoulder, ran off. Burn then returned to the quarterdeck where he was attacked by one more mutineer, bruising his stomach with a cutlass. By 10:30 p.m. the mutiny had been quelled, and thirteen mutineers arrested. Thirteen men in total were wounded in the fight, of which at least one, the man shot by Burn and the purser, died.[54]

The loyal members of Beaulieu's crew were assisted in the fight by the 40-gun frigate

court martial. Four were executed, with another four imprisoned. Of the final two, one was flogged and the other given a lesser punishment.[56][57] Redhead was stripped of his warrant as a boatswain and sent back to sea as a common seaman.[58] Burn was awarded a silver-gilt presentation sword by the Committee of London Merchants for his "heroic conduct" during the mutiny.[59]

Camperdown

Main article: Battle of Camperdown
An aquatint etching depicting the Battle of Camperdown, with Beaulieu's bow on the far right of the image
Depiction of the Battle of Camperdown with Beaulieu's bow on the far right

News reached Duncan on 9 October that the French-aligned Dutch fleet was at sea, and his fleet sailed from

larboard division of the fleet during the battle. The Dutch commander surrendered his ship at 3 p.m.[67][68][69] Beaulieu received no casualties while performing her duties.[63]

As the battle ended Beaulieu sailed up to the Dutch 44-gun frigate Monnikkendam, which surrendered to her.[70] A prize crew was put on board for the journey back to Britain under the command of Lieutenant James Robert Philips. While making this journey the frigate was wrecked on sands off West Capel.[71][72] Philips and his crew survived, but were all taken as prisoners of war.[72] After the battle bad sea conditions meant that many damaged warships were struggling to stay away from the shore, and Beaulieu was sent by Duncan to search out and assist any distressed ships that she could find.[68]

The 40-gun frigate HMS Endymion had joined the fleet after the battle, and on 12 October discovered the Dutch 74-gun ship of the line Brutus, which had escaped the battle, close to shore. Endymion attempted to attack her but with the Dutch ship well-positioned close to the coastline and the tide pulling Endymion into the line of her broadside, she chose to look for assistance. Endymion sailed back towards Duncan's fleet firing rockets to attract attention, and at 10:30 p.m. on 13 October these were spotted by Beaulieu.[73][71] Together the frigates returned to Brutus, arriving at 5 a.m. on the following day.[74] The two frigates chased the ship of the line, but she succeeded in reaching the safety of the port of Goree before they were able to engage her; Brutus was one of seven ships of the line to escape Camperdown.[73] Beaulieu was sent out again by Duncan to assist damaged ships on 15 October, in company with the 64-gun ship of the line HMS Lancaster.[75]

Having completed these duties, Beaulieu was subsequently sent to join a squadron commanded by Captain Sir Richard Strachan in 1798.[10] Strachan's squadron was employed in patrolling the coasts of Normandy and Brittany.[76] When the Irish Rebellion of 1798 began fears grew amongst officers that sailors would again take the opportunity to mutiny, and for a period officers in Beaulieu each kept two pistols in their cabin in case such an insurrection began.[77]

English Channel

On 1 June 1799 Fayerman sailed Beaulieu to the Mediterranean Sea, but by 10 August the ship had returned to home waters, serving in the English Channel.[10][78] She recaptured the British merchant brig Harriet on 3 December, and soon afterwards began serving with the 36-gun frigate HMS Amethyst. Together they recaptured the British merchant ships Cato, on 6 December; Dauphin, on 14 December; and Cabrus and Nymphe, on 15 December.[10][79][80] Continuing their spree of recaptures, the two frigates took the British merchant brig Jenny on 18 December.[80] Some time before 24 December Beaulieu also recaptured the American merchant ship Nonpareil.[81]

Beaulieu was sailing in company with the 18-gun

sloop of war HMS Sylph on the morning of 27 August 1800 when they captured the French letter of marque sloop Dragon, which had been attempting to reach Bordeaux with a cargo of sugar, coffee, and cotton.[c][10][83] Beaulieu was then present at, but did not participate in, the capture of the French 16-gun privateer Diable á Quatre by the 32-gun frigate HMS Thames and 40-gun frigate HMS Immortalité off Cordouan Lighthouse on 26 October.[84][85] Still serving in the English Channel in 1801, on 1 January Fayerman was replaced by Captain Stephen Poyntz.[10][86]

Chevrette action

A painting of Chevrette being attacked by British sailors climbing up from rowing boats
Chevrette is cut out

By July Beaulieu was serving on the blockade of

cutting out expedition. With volunteer boat crews from Beaulieu and Doris under his command (Uranie having left the station), Losack set out on 20 July for Chevrette. While rowing for the bay the group of boats was split up, and some returned to the frigates instead of continuing. Unaware of this, the remaining boats waited until the morning of 21 July for the others, at which point the daylight revealed them to Chevrette, which began to prepare to defend herself.[88][89]

Chevrette sailed a mile closer to Brest, taking advantage of the protection of more gun batteries on shore, and brought on board a group of soldiers that increased her complement to 339 men.

grape shot and muskets.[90][91][92] The boats containing Beaulieu's crew rowed up to the starboard side of the French vessel, with the remainders of the British force going to her port side.[93]

The French resisted the boarding in hand-to-hand fighting, by both attacking the British as they came aboard and by attempting in turn to board their boats.[94] Despite this, members of the British force succeeded in both cutting Chevrette's anchor cable and in setting her sails. After Maxwell's force had been on board Chevrette for three minutes, the ship began to drift out of the bay. A quartermaster from Beaulieu took control of the helm, and the remaining French defenders chose to either jump overboard or run below into the ship.[95] Those defenders hiding below deck began to fire up at the British with muskets, but they were forced to surrender upon the threat of them all being killed.[94][96] Chevrette resisted the fire of the French batteries on the coast and successfully left the bay. Here Losack joined the ship and took command. In the battle the British had lost eleven men killed, with a further fifty-seven wounded and one drowned when one of Beaulieu's boats was sunk by Chevrette.[95][10][91] Ninety-two Frenchmen were killed with sixty-two wounded.[97][98] Chevrette was taken to Plymouth, arriving on 26 July.[99]

The historian

London Gazette outlining the action named Losack as the commander, and Maxwell wrote to Cornwallis explaining the unfairness of the situation. The admiral held a court of enquiry on board the 74-gun ship of the line HMS Mars to investigate Losack's conduct on 9 August. Both lieutenants were found to have behaved correctly, and Maxwell too was promoted.[100][101][102]

Later service

Beaulieu continued to serve in the Channel until the end of the French Revolutionary War.

paid off in March or April 1806. She was sent to Deptford Dockyard to be broken up on 3 June; this was completed some time during 1809.[10][11][107][108]

Prizes

Vessels captured or destroyed for which Beaulieu's crew received full or partial credit
Date Ship Nationality Type Result Ref.
31 December 1793 America French Merchant vessel Captured [20]
2 December 1794 Not recorded French 10-gun privateer sloop Captured [31]
14 April 1795 Spartiate French Schooner Captured [10]
Unknown date 1795 Not recorded French 18-gun store ship Destroyed [32]
11 March 1796 Marsouin French 26-gun ship Captured [10]
8 May 1797 Leyden and Fourcoing Russian Merchant hoy Captured [40]
3 December 1799 Harriet British Merchant brig Recaptured [80]
6 December 1799 Cato British Merchant vessel Recaptured [79]
14 December 1799 Dauphin British Merchant vessel Recaptured [79]
15 December 1799 Cabrus British Merchant vessel Recaptured [79]
15 December 1799 Nymphe British Merchant vessel Recaptured [79]
18 December 1799 Jenny British Merchant brig Recaptured [80]
Before 24 December 1799 Nonpareil American Merchant vessel Recaptured [81]
27 August 1800 Dragon French Letter of marque sloop Captured [83]
26 October 1800 Diable á Quatre French 16-gun privateer Captured [84]
21 July 1801 Chevrette French 20-gun corvette Captured [10]
January 1805 Peggy British Merchant brig Recaptured [106]

Notes

  1. ^ In 1800 this equated to 134 tons of iron ballast and 238 tons of shingle ballast, with 207 tons of water.[15]
  2. ^ Repeating frigates stationed out of the line of battle mirrored the flag signals sent out by their admirals so that messages could be more easily spread throughout the fleet.[66]
  3. ^ Dragon alternatively recorded as a cutter captured by Beaulieu and Sylph in September.[82]
  4. ^ Biographer John Marshall instead records that Ekins had been in command of Beaulieu since 1801.[104]

Citations

  1. ^ Winfield (2007), pp. 983–984.
  2. ^ "Beaulieu". Oxford Learner's Dictionaries. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e Winfield (2007), p. 983.
  4. ^ a b Winfield (2007), p. 986.
  5. ^ "Frigate". Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. 2022. Archived from the original on 12 July 2022. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  6. ^ Gardiner (1999), p. 56.
  7. ^ Holland (2013), p. 284.
  8. ^ Wareham (1999), p. 30.
  9. ^ a b c d Gardiner (1994), p. 25.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae Winfield (2007), p. 984.
  11. ^ a b c Gardiner (1994), p. 28.
  12. ^ Beaulieu's Figurehead (Sign in museum). Buckler's Hard, Hampshire: Buckler's Hard Maritime Museum.
  13. ^ Kennedy (1974), p. 100.
  14. ^ Holland (1985), p. 83.
  15. ^ Gardiner (1994), p. 86.
  16. ^ Gardiner (1994), p. 102.
  17. ^ a b Gardiner (1994), p. 100.
  18. ^ Henry (2004), p. 17.
  19. ^ a b Gardiner (1999), p. 58.
  20. ^ a b c "No. 13972". The London Gazette. 17 January 1797. p. 57.
  21. ^ Marley (1998), p. 358.
  22. ^ Brown (2017), p. 45.
  23. ^ Howard (2015), p. 30.
  24. ^ Clowes (1899), p. 247.
  25. ^ James (1837a), p. 216.
  26. ^ Brown (2017), p. 226.
  27. ^ "No. 15976". The London Gazette. 18 November 1806. p. 1511.
  28. ^ Clowes (1899), p. 248.
  29. ^ Clowes (1899), pp. 248–249.
  30. ^ a b c Marshall (1824), p. 284.
  31. ^ a b "No. 13751". The London Gazette. 10 February 1795. p. 147.
  32. ^ a b Marshall (1824), p. 285.
  33. ^ Nash (2008).
  34. ^ Marshall (1823b), p. 448.
  35. ^ Winfield (2008), p. 611.
  36. ^ "No. 13903". The London Gazette. 21 June 1796. p. 593.
  37. ^ James (1837a), p. 341.
  38. ^ Clowes (1899), p. 293.
  39. ^ Marshall (1823d), p. 864.
  40. ^ a b "No. 15268". The London Gazette. 17 June 1800. p. 698.
  41. ^ "No. 15252". The London Gazette. 26 April 1800. p. 409.
  42. ^ "To be Sold by Auction". Kentish Weekly Post. No. 1956. Canterbury. 23 October 1798. p. 1. Retrieved 15 November 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  43. ^ Coats & MacDougall (2011), p. 171.
  44. ^ Coats & MacDougall (2011), p. 145.
  45. ^ a b c d Brown (2006), p. 69.
  46. ^ Brown (2006), p. 74.
  47. ^ Hechter, Pfaff & Underwood (2016), p. 172.
  48. ^ Coats & MacDougall (2011), pp. 171–172.
  49. ^ Brown (2006), p. 60.
  50. ^ Dugan (1965), p. 363.
  51. ^ a b c Holland (1985), p. 128.
  52. ^ Glasco (2001), p. 508.
  53. ^ Glasco (2001), pp. 508–509.
  54. ^ a b Holland (1985), p. 129.
  55. ^ Marshall (1828), p. 249.
  56. ^ Glasco (2001), p. 559.
  57. ^ Glasco (2001), p. 563.
  58. ^ Glasco (2001), p. 509.
  59. ^ Nickel (1991), p. 39.
  60. ^ a b Allen (1852a), p. 458.
  61. ^ Camperdown (1898), p. 191.
  62. ^ Camperdown (1898), p. 198.
  63. ^ a b Clowes (1899), p. 326.
  64. ^ Winfield (2008), p. 32.
  65. ^ Allen (1852a), p. 459.
  66. ^ Lavery (1989), p. 262.
  67. ^ Allen (1852a), p. 461.
  68. ^ a b "No. 14055". The London Gazette. 16 October 1797. p. 987.
  69. ^ Camperdown (1898), p. 212.
  70. ^ Jackson (1899), p. 304.
  71. ^ a b James (1837b), p. 77.
  72. ^ a b Marshall (1827), p. 252.
  73. ^ a b Willis (2013), p. 140.
  74. ^ James (1837b), p. 78.
  75. ^ Camperdown (1898), p. 214.
  76. ^ Laughton & Duffy (2008).
  77. ^ Wells (1986), p. 148.
  78. ^ Ward (1979), p. 3.
  79. ^ a b c d e "No. 15242". The London Gazette. 25 March 1800. p. 303.
  80. ^ a b c d "No. 15425". The London Gazette. 7 November 1801. p. 1341.
  81. ^ a b "No. 15221". The London Gazette. 11 January 1800. p. 38.
  82. ^ "No. 15335". The London Gazette. 7 February 1801. p. 164.
  83. ^ a b "No. 15294". The London Gazette. 16 September 1800. p. 1062.
  84. ^ a b "No. 15420". The London Gazette. 20 October 1801. p. 1284.
  85. ^ "No. 15308". The London Gazette. 4 November 1800. p. 1256.
  86. ^ a b O'Byrne (1849b), p. 921.
  87. ^ James (1837c), p. 148.
  88. ^ Allen (1852b), p. 50.
  89. ^ a b Clowes (1899), p. 539.
  90. ^ a b Allen (1852b), p. 51.
  91. ^ a b Clowes (1899), p. 540.
  92. ^ Morriss (2001), p. 137.
  93. ^ Allen (1852b), pp. 51–52.
  94. ^ a b James (1837c), p. 150.
  95. ^ a b Allen (1852b), p. 52.
  96. ^ a b Mostert (2007), p. 413.
  97. ^ Allen (1852b), pp. 52–53.
  98. ^ Ireland (2000), p. 164.
  99. ^ Mostert (2007), p. 414.
  100. ^ a b Allen (1852b), p. 53.
  101. ^ Cornwallis-West (1927), p. 361.
  102. ^ James (1837c), p. 152.
  103. ^ Marshall (1823c), p. 753.
  104. ^ Marshall (1823a), p. 766.
  105. ^ a b O'Byrne (1849a), p. 330.
  106. ^ a b "No. 15794". The London Gazette. 2 April 1805. p. 436.
  107. ^ Gardiner (2000), p. 188.
  108. ^ Tracy (2006), p. 134.

References

External links
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