HMS Grampus (1802)

	H.M.S. Grampus lying off Deptford Creek, Greenwich
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Grampus
Ordered	9 December 1790
Builder	Portsmouth Dockyard
Laid down	October 1792
Launched	20 March 1802
Commissioned	March 1803
Renamed	Built as Tiger; Renamed Grampus on 4 March 1802;
Fate	Sold in late 1832
General characteristics
Class and type	Diomede-class ship of the line
Tons burthen	1,114 31⁄94 (bm)
Length	151 ft (46.0 m) ( gundeck); 124 ft 7+1⁄2 in (38.0 m) (keel);
Beam	41 ft 10+1⁄2 in (12.8 m)
Depth of hold	17 ft 8 in (5.4 m)
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	343
Armament	Lower gundeck: 22 × 24-pounder guns; Upper gundeck: 22 × 12-pounder guns; QD: 4 × 6-pounder guns; Fc: 2 × 6-pounder guns;

HMS Grampus was a 50-gun fourth-rate ship of the line of the Diomede class of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1802

Napoleonic Wars

She was commissioned in March 1803 at Portsmouth by Captain Hugh Downman, but in the following month command passed to Captain Thomas Gordon Caulfield. The ship was completed on 11 April 1803 and was ordered to the Downs on 7 May. As soon as her complement of men was completed and her bounty paid she sailed to join Admiral Edward Thornbrough's squadron off Goree.

On 19 May 1803 Jalouse captured Jong Jan Pieter.^[1] Jalouse shared the prize money with Grampus and the gun-brigs Censor and Vixen, with whom she had been in company.^[2]

Grampus returned to Portsmouth from

East Indiamen they were escorting were Northampton, Lord Melville, Earl Spencer, Princess Mary, Anna, Ann, Glory, and Essex.^[3]

Grampus spent 1805 in the East Indies.

In March 1806 Captain

St. Helena

. He was presented by the Court of directors with a sum of money for the purchase of a piece of plate. Grampus was paid off because of her poor condition at the end of 1809.

Grampus underwent a repair and refit at Chatham between then and February 1810; in January 1810 she was recommissioned under the command of Captain William Hanwell.

On 28 April 1811 Grampus joined an East India convoy to see them through to the coast of Africa. On 30 September, back at

court martial was convened on board Raisonnable in Sheerness

harbour to try Lieutenant John Cheshire of Grampus. Captain Hanwell accused him of insolence, contempt, and disrespect on 11 April and similar conduct, coupled with neglect of duty, on 15 April. The court found the charges unfounded and acquitted Lieutenant Cheshire.

In November 1811 Commodore

Prince Regent to mediate between Spain and her colonies. They received final instructions on 2 April 1812, and arrived in Cádiz on 21 April to find the Spanish government and the majority of the Cortes

resolved to retain absolute control over their South American possessions instead of taking a liberal view as proposed by the British government. He returned from his unsuccessful mission on 4 August.

Post-war and fate

In 1816 Grampus was taken out of commission at

St Thomas's Hospital

.

Citations

^ "No. 15859". The London Gazette. 5 November 1805. p. 1380.
^ "No. 15875". The London Gazette. 24 December 1805. p. 1616.
^ Lloyd's List, no. 44463,[1]^{[permanent dead link]} - accessed 5 December 2014.

References

Winfield, Rif.
ISBN 978-1-84415-717-4
.

Winfield, Rif. The 50-Gun Ship: A Complete History. 3rd edition, Mercury Books, 2005.
ISBN 1-84560-009-6
.

External links

Media related to HMS Grampus (ship, 1802) at Wikimedia Commons

[1] "No. 15859". The London Gazette. 5 November 1805. p. 1380.

[2] "No. 15875". The London Gazette. 24 December 1805. p. 1616.

[3] Lloyd's List, no. 44463,[1]^{[permanent dead link]} - accessed 5 December 2014.

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