HMS Leander (1813)
_-_HMS_%27Leander%27_at_Sea_-_BHC3442_-_Royal_Museums_Greenwich.jpg) HMS Leander at Sea, Thomas Buttersworth
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Leander |
| Ordered | 6 May 1813 |
| Builder | Wigram, Wells & Green, Blackwall |
| Laid down | June 1813 |
| Launched | 10 November 1813 |
| Completed | By 18 February 1814 |
| Fate | Broken up in March 1830 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | 50-gun fourth rate |
| Tons burthen | 1,57210⁄94 bm |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 45 ft 1+1⁄2 in (13.754 m) |
| Depth of hold | 14 ft 4 in (4.37 m) |
| Sail plan | Full-rigged ship |
| Crew | 450 |
| Armament |
|
HMS Leander was a 50-gun
Leander and her near sister
Construction and commissioning
HMS Leander was ordered from the
Leander was a spar-deck frigate, designed to carry thirty 24-pounder guns on her main deck, and twenty-six 42-pounder carronades on her spar deck, with four 24-pounders on her forecastle.[1] This nominal armament was slightly altered during her 1813–18 commission, when two extra 24-pounders replaced two of the carronades on the spar deck.[3] Unusually, the ship was designed with her upper gun ports directly above the lower, instead of offset.[5] She was reported to be fast, exceeding 13 knots, but had a reputation for heavy and violent movements, probably due to poor stowage; this was fixed in her 1820 commission.[3] In 1815, after the War of 1812 and Napoleonic Wars, Newcastle and Leander were fitted with accommodation for a flag officer with a poop deck built over the quarterdeck, and were mostly used as flagships on foreign stations, replacing older 50-gun ships that had previously filled this role.[1][3] Both ships were re-rated as 60-gun fourth rates in February 1817.[1][6]
Leander was commissioned under her first commander, Captain George Collier, in December 1813. Collier had commissioned Newcastle the previous month, but then moved to Leander.[1]
Service off America
Leander went out to North America under Collier's command, and formed part of a powerful squadron assigned to deal with the American super-frigates. Collier had previously served with distinction off the Spanish coast during the
Leander recaptured the British merchant vessel John on 4 January 1815, just before the end of the war.[Note 3]
Later service
Leander's next commander, from August 1815, was Captain William Skipsey. She underwent a repair and refit at Woolwich between August 1815 and February 1816, after which she went out to the Mediterranean under Captain Edward Chetham.[1] She was active in the Second Barbary War, as part of the British fleet under Admiral Edward Pellew. She took part in the bombardment of Algiers on 27 August 1816, firing 3,680 round shot and sustaining casualties of 17 men killed and 118 wounded.[1]
Leander then became the flagship of the commander of the
Notes
- ^ Though similar in concept, Newcastle and Leander were not sister ships. Newcastle's designer was the émigré shipwright Jean-Louis Barrallier.[1]
- ^ The naval historian William James heavily criticized Collier's failure to capture Constitution in James's 1823 Naval History. Collier tried to clear his name by asking for a court-martial. When the Admiralty denied the request, Collier killed himself on 24 March 1824.[9]
- d; a sixth-class share, that of an ordinary seaman, was worth 4s 4+3⁄4d.[12]
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Winfield 2008, p. 112.
- ^ Colledge & Warlow 2006, p. 196.
- ^ a b c d Gardiner 2006, pp. 53–55.
- ^ Gardiner 2006, pp. 48, 53.
- ^ Gardiner (2004) p. 68
- ^ Gardiner 2006, p. 67.
- ^ Gardiner 2006, pp. 170–171.
- ^ "No. 16941". The London Gazette. 1 October 1814. p. 1964.
- ^ a b c d e Tracy 2006, p. 89.
- ^ a b c Toll 2007, pp. 150–151.
- ^ "No. 17010". The London Gazette. 9 May 1815. p. 871.Copy of a Letter sent to Sir Alexander Cochrane, signed on-board HMS Leander
- ^ "No. 17284". The London Gazette. 9 September 1817. p. 1923.
- ^ Mrs M'Mullan (1817). "An Impromptu". The Naval Chronicle. XXXVII: 336.
References
- ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
- Gardiner, Robert (2006). Frigates of the Napoleonic Wars. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 1-86176-292-5.
- Toll, Ian W. (2007). Six Frigates: How Piracy, War and British Supremacy at Sea gave Birth to the World's Most Powerful Navy. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-101456-2.
- Tracy, Nicholas (2006). Who's who in Nelson's Navy: 200 Naval Heroes. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 1-86176-244-5.
- Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. London: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-84415-717-4.