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Loire, † 1798
Type: 5th Rate ; Armament 40 (28 x 18 pdr ; 10 x 8 pdr ; 4 x 36 pdr carronades)
Completed ‡ : Taken 1798 ;
Disposal date or year § : 1818
Disposal Details : BU
BM: 1100 tons
Propulsion: Complement: 284
Notes:
5-6 Feb. 1800 Action between the Fairy, Commander Sydney Horton, Harpy, Henry Basely and the French frigate Pallas, and her consequent capture by the Loire, Danaé, and Railleur, near the Seven islands, coast of France. (see below)
1805 On a cruise westward
24 Dec 1805 With the Egyptienne captured the French frigate Libre - see Egyptienne for details
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5th February 1800
On the 5th of February, at 6 A. M., the British 16-gun ship-sloop Fairy (armed similarly to Rattlesnake, vol. ii., p. 348), Captain Joshua Sydney Horton, and 18-gun brig-sloop, Harpy (same force as Racoon, vol. ii., p. 369), Captain Henry Bazely, weighed and set sail from St.-Aubin's bay in the island of Jersey, with the wind a fresh breeze at north-west, to reconnoitre the port of St.-Malo, and discover if a French frigate, which on the preceding evening had chased the 14-gun brig Seaflower, Lieut. Murray, had got into that harbour. At 11 h.30 m A.M., Cape Frehel bearing south-east distant five or six miles, a large ship, evidently a frigate, was discovered in the south-south-west quarter, running down close alongshore to the westward, with a light breeze nearly aft, or from the south-south-east. This was the French 38-gun frigate Pallas, Captain Jacques Epron, from St.-Malo bound to Brest, and the same, as it appears, that had chased the Seaflower.
At about 20 m. P. M., seeing no chance of bringing the Pallas to action while she remained so close under the land, Captain Horton tacked and stood off, in the hope that the frigate would follow the two sloops to an offing. This the Pallas immediately did ; and at 1 P. M. an engagement, within pistol-shot, commenced between her and the Fairy and Harpy, the latter close astern of her companion. The action, during which the Harpy obtained several opportunities of raking the Pallas, continued until 3 P.M.; when the French frigate ceased firing, and made all sail to the northward and eastward, having the wind now from the south-west.
So great were the damages which the Fairy and Harpy had received in their rigging and sails, that it was not until 3 h. 15 m. P. M. that the sloops were in a condition to make sail in chase. About this time the Pallas, observing two sail nearly ahead, or in the north-east by north, hauled up to the northward and westward. Captain Horton immediately made the signal for the Harpy, who was the more advanced in the chase, to endeavour to gain the wind of the enemy. At 4 P. M. three sail, including the two already noticed as seen by the Pallas, were discovered by the two sloops. No doubt being entertained that the vessels approaching were friends, the Fairy made the signal for an enemy; which was repeated by the Harpy, both sloops firing guns every five minutes to enforce attention to it.
These ships, then working up from the northward with a light wind from the south-east by south, were the British 38-gun frigate Loire, Captain James Newman Newman, 20-gun ship Danaé, Captain Lord Proby, and 16-gun ship-sloop Railleur, Captain William James Turquand ; and all of which had sailed from Plymouth on the 27th and 28th of January, purposely to intercept the Pallas and a corvette, expected to be on their way from St.-Malo to Brest. At 4 h. 15 m. P. M. the Dallas bore away large; and, in order to deceive her new pursuers and distract their attention, hoisted English colours, and endeavoured to repeat the signal made by the Fairy and Harpy. At 4 h. 30 m. P. M. Roche Douvre bore from the Fairy north-north-east distant six or seven miles; and at 5 h. 30 m. P. M. the Pallas bore west, and the Harpy west by south, the breeze now light from the south-east.
At 7 P. M. Captain Bazely received orders to go ahead, as far as signals were discernible between the two sloops, and make the private signal to the two ships, the Loire and Danae, upon her lee bow. This was done, and subsequently the Fairy also made the private signal; but it was not answered by either the Loire, Danae, or Railleur, which latter was considerably ahead and to windward of her two consorts. Notwithstanding this apparent remissness, Captain Horton was tolerably satisfied that the ships approaching were friends, and therefore stood on in chase of the Pallas. We may add to this, that Captain Newman also knew (although that is no excuse for not answering the private signal), that the two ships and brig in sight were the Pallas, Fairy, and Harpy; having learnt from Lord Proby, who bad been detached for information to Jersey, upon what mission the two sloops had sailed.
At about 7 h. 45 m. P. M., observing ahead, and close under the Seven Islands, a ship approaching, which was the Railleur, the Pallas tacked; and at 8 P. M., while passing about three miles to windward of the Harpy, and at a still greater distance from the Loire, both on the opposite or larboard tack, was fired. at, of course, without effect, by the Loire. The latter and the Harpy then tacked in chase; and at about 9 P. M. the Loire spoke the Fairy, who had also just tacked, and whose commander informed Captain Newman of the name and force of the Pallas, at that time " about a gun-shot and a half " upon the Fairy's weather quarter. Whether owing to bad management, bad sailing, or disabled rigging from her previous action with the two sloops, the Pallas was gradually gained upon by the chasing ships, the Loire, Railleur, and Harpy especially.
At about 10 h. 30 m. P. M. the Loire had weathered, her opponent so much as to be able to set her topgallant studdingsails, and at 11 P. M. arrived up with the Pallas. The Railleur, being ahead of the Loire, was directed to fire her broadside and drop astern. This the sloop did ; and immediately afterwards, the nearest of the Seven Islands bearing south-west by south distant about 750 yards, the Loire commenced a close action with the Pallas, who opened a spirited fire in return. In a little time a battery upon the island, of several guns and a howitzer, began a smart fire upon the British ships, and did considerable damage to the Loire. In this way the action continued between the French frigate and shore-battery on one side, and the Loire, Railleur, Harpy, and Fairy on the other; the combatants all on the starboard tack, with the wind, as before, blowing moderately from the south-east.
At about 1 h. 30 m. A. M. on the 6th, the Harpy fetched close under the stern of the Railleur, then engaging the Pallas with great gallantry, and poured her broadside into the French frigate's quarter. This was repeated with such destructive effect, as to induce some one on board the frigate (especially as a man had been shot while ascending the mizen shrouds with a lantern to repeat the signal of surrender) to hail the brig with the exclamation, " Ne tirez pas encore, messieurs, nous sommes a vous." The Harpy then ceased her fire, as about the same time did the Loire, Railleur, and Fairy. The Loire and Harpy each lowered down a boat and sent her first lieutenant (Edmund Rayner and James Watson) to take possession of the prize. Conceiving, from a bustle abaft on board the Railleur, that a man had fallen into the water, Lieutenant Watson yawed out of his course : in consequence of this, the Loire's boat reached the Pallas a few minutes before the Harpy's ; but the latter had the honour of conveying Captain Epron to the Loire.
The established complement of the Loire was 284 men and boys; but she had on board no more than 260, about 100 of whom had " volunteered " from the prison-ships, and ran from their quarters almost as soon as the action commenced. Of those 260 in crew, the Loire lost three seamen killed, and three midshipmen (Watkins Owen Pell, Francis William Eves, and John Allen Medway), 15 seamen, and one marine wounded. The Railleur, out of a complement of 76 men and boys, had one midshipman (William Prothers) and one gunner's mate killed, and three seamen and one marine wounded. The Fairy, out of a complement of 120 men and boys, had, in the day action, four seamen killed, her commander (slightly), purser (Mr. Hughes), and six seamen wounded, four of them badly; but in the night action the Fairy had only one seaman wounded. The Harpy, out of a crew the same as the Fairy's, had one seaman killed and three wounded in her first action, but escaped without any casualty in her second ; making the total loss on the British side nine killed and 36 wounded.
The official letter of Captain Newman does not mention a word of any loss having been sustained by the Pallas: a very improper omission, as it leads to an inference that the enemy's frigate struck her colours without having lost a man in the action. That such was not the case is clear, as well from the state of the ship's hull, which was pierced by shot in several places, as from the state of her lower masts, all three of which, just before daylight on the 7th, went over her side in a squall.
Captain Newman states that the crew of the Pallas numbered 350 ; but the officers of the latter swore, in the prize-court, that they had 362 men when the action, meaning, we presume, that with the two sloops, commenced. Hence the 12 men constituting the difference between the two statements, were, in all probability, killed in the preceding or day action. A greater loss than that must, we suppose, have been incurred in the night action, when the Loire's heavy broadsides came into play; but, for the reason already stated, we are unable to give the particulars.
Instead of exhibiting the usual comparative statement, we shall merely say, that, unaided by any of her consorts, the Loire, mounting 46 guns (tong 18 and 9 pounders, with 32-pounder carronades), was more than a match for the Pallas ; and that the latter's defence was highly creditable to her officers and crew.
The Pallas was a remarkably handsome frigate of 1029 tons, and had never before been at sea. She was of course purchased by government; and, under the name of Pique, long continued a favourite 36-gun frigate in the lists of the British navy.
For what, on one side at least, may be called a single-ship action, the details of the occurrences which led to the capture of the French frigate Pallas have given us considerable trouble, and are not yet drawn up to our entire satisfaction. Not, however, because there has been so little said or written on the subject, for few actions of the kind have given rise to so much discussion, as the pages of the Naval Chronicle can testify; but owing to the obscure and contradictory statements which have been published, all resting upon authority equally respectable. At all events, no one can deny that the conduct of Captains Horton and Bazely was highly gallant and praiseworthy. Nor must the efforts of the Harpy be disparaged simply because she was an 18-gun sloop. The Harpy was armed in the same manner as the Pelican, that had rendered herself so famous in beating off the Médée ; and the former's 32-pounder carronades, in the close and raking position in which they were frequently fired, did considerable mischief to the Pallas, as Captain Epron himself was candid enough to acknowledge. Although, owing to some omission in Captain Newman's letter, a little delay occurred in doing justice to the claims of Captain Bazely, that officer, as well as his brother commander, Captain Horton, was at length promoted to post-rank.
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27th of June 1803
On the 27th of June, at night, three boats belonging to the British 38-gun frigate Loire, Captain Frederick Lew Lewis Maitland, cruising off the Isle of Bas, was despatched, under the orders of Lieutenants Francis Temple and James Bowen, assisted among others by Midshipman Philip Henry Bridges, to attack the French 10-gun brig Venteux, Lieutenant Gilles-Francois Montfort, lying close under the batteries of the island. Owing to the heavy rowing of one of the boats, two only could get up. These, in the most gallant manner, boarded, and after a severe conflict of 10 minutes carried, the French brig; whose 10 guns consisted of four long 18-pounders, and six 36-pounder brass carronades. The Venteux was perfectly prepared for the attack, and had her deck covered with men. Of these she lost her second officer and two seamen killed, her commander, with her four remaining officers, and eight seamen, wounded. The British loss amounted to the boatswain (Mr. M'Gwier), four seamen, and one marine wounded, two of the seamen dangerously.
Even without reckoning the force of the batteries, the capture, by two boats' crews, of a brig armed and manned like the Venteux, was a truly gallant exploit; and Lieutenant Temple; the leader of the party, well merited the promotion which he in consequence obtained. Mr. Bridges, also, of whose conduct on the occasion Lieutenant Temple spoke in the highest terms, was made a lieutenant.
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17th of August, 1804
On the 17th of August, in latitude 49° 30' north, longitude 12° 20' west, the British 38-gun frigate Loire, Captain Frederick Lewis Maitland, fell in with the French ship privateer Blonde, of Bordeaux, mounting 30 guns, 8-pounders on the main deck, with a crew of 240 men ; the same ship that, about five months previous, captured the Wolverine. After a 20 hours' chase, including a running fight of a quarter of an hour, during which the Loire had one midshipman (Ross Connor) and five men wounded, and the Blonde two men killed and five wounded, the latter hauled down her colours.
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On the 1st of June 1805, the British 38-gun frigate Loire, Captain Frederick Lewis Maitland, being off the coast of Spain, discovered and chased a small privateer, standing into the bay of Camarinas, situated to the eastward of Cape Finisterre. The weather becoming quite calm after dark, Captain Maitland despatched the launch and two cutters, with 35 officers and men, under the command of Lieutenant James Lucas Yeo, assisted by Lieutenant of marines Samuel Mallock, master's mate Charles Clinch, and midshipmen, Massey Hutchinson, Herbert and Matthew Mildridge, to endeavour to bring the vessel out. Owing to the intricacy of the passage, the boats did not reach the point of attack until break of day on the 2nd ; when, instead of one, they found two privateers, and these moored under a battery of 10 guns. Ordering the launch, commanded by Mr. Clinch, to board the smaller vessel, Lieutenant Yeo, with the two cutters, gallantly attacked and carried, without loss, the other ; which was the Spanish felucca Esperanza, alias San-Pedro, armed with three long 18-pounders, four 4- pounder brass swivels, and 50 men. Of her complement, when mustered, 19 were found missing including several that had been killed by the pike and sabre, the only weapons, to prevent discovery on the part of the battery, used by the British. The launch attacked her opponent, a lugger of two 6-pounders and 32 men, with equal success and freedom from loss.
The weather being still perfectly calm, the two prizes close under the guns of the battery, which, since the moment of their capture, had opened an ill-directed fire upon the British, and the distance from the ship precluding all chance of assistance, Lieutenant Yeo was obliged to abandon the small vessel to secure the other. This he at length effected, with the loss of only three men slightly wounded. In his way out with the felucca, Lieutenant Yeo took possession of three small merchant vessels, laden with wine for the combined squadron at Ferrol.
Receiving information, from some of the Spanish prisoners probably, that a French privateer of 26 guns was fitting out at Muros and nearly ready for sea, and being acquainted, by having formerly entered it on service, with the navigation of the bay, Captain Maitland resolved to attempt the capture or destruction of the vessel. Accordingly, on the 4th, at 9 A.M., having prepared the Loire for anchoring with springs and settled the plan of attack, Captain Maitland stood into the bay, with the sea breeze, having in tow the boats, containing 50 officers and men, under the command of Lieutenant Yeo, assisted by Lieutenants of marines Samuel Mallock and Joseph Douglas, and master's mate Charles Clinch.
As the Loire hauled round the point of Muros road, a small battery of two long 18-pounders opened a fire upon her. A few shot were returned ; but, perceiving that the battery, from its commanding situation, would considerably annoy the ship, Captain Maitland directed Lieutenant Yeo to push for the shore and spike the guns. That active officer, with his men, quickly departed, and the Loire stood on. As she opened the bay, the frigate discovered at anchor within it a long corvette, pierced with 13 ports of a side, apparently ready for sea, and a brig pierced with 10, in a state of fitting ; but, as neither of them fired, they were considered to be, and were, in fact, without their guns. This circumstance enabled the Loire to bestow the whole of her attention upon a fort of 12 long 18-pounders, which now opened to view within less than a quarter of a mile of her, and which immediately commenced a well-directed fire at the frigate, almost every shot striking her hull. Perceiving that, by standing further on, more guns would be brought to bear upon her, and that the Loire would still be at too great a distance to fire her guns with any effect, Captain Maitland ordered the helm to be put down ; and, as soon as she had run a little closer in, the frigate anchored with a spring, and opened her broadside. So completely, however, were the Spaniards in the fort covered by their embrasures, that the frigate's fire, although well directed, was comparatively ineffectual. After a few minutes of this unequal warfare, during which the Loire had nine of her seamen wounded, three of them dangerously (one having his leg above the knee, and another the calf of his leg, shot off), the fire from the fort ceased ; and, as a reason for it, the British union was just then making its appearance above the walls.
We will now quit the frigate awhile, and attend to the party on shore. Lieutenant Yeo, whom we left proceeding to storm the battery on the point, landed under it ; but, as he and his men advanced to execute the service, the Spaniards in the battery, amounting to 18, including eight artillerymen, abandoned their guns and fled. Scarcely had the British seamen time to spike the two 18-pounders, when, at the distance of about a quarter of a mile, and close to the entrance of the town of Muros, was descried the fort, whose destructive cannonade upon the frigate has already been related, and which had just then commenced its fire. Notwithstanding that it was a regular ditched fort, and appeared a very strong one, relying upon the bravery of his followers, and, in a case of such imminent danger to the ship, readily incurring the responsibility of exceeding his orders, Lieutenant Yeo resolved to attempt its immediate reduction.
Not suspecting an attack by land, and being wholly occupied in firing at the frigate, the garrison had left open the outer gate of the fort. Through this a French sentinel, having fired his musket, retreated, and was quickly followed by the van of the storming party. At the inner gate the garrison, headed by the governor, stood ready to oppose the British ; but Lieutenant Yeo, setting a noble example to his men, sprang forward, and, attacking the governor sword in hand, laid him dead at his feet, breaking his own sabre by the force of the blow. The contest now became most severe ; the greater part of the officers, who had advanced with the governor, shortly experiencing a similar fate from such of the British, as the narrowness of the entrance had permitted to be at hand to second their gallant leader. The boldness and vigour of the assault was irresistible, and the remainder of the garrison, although numbering, at that time, 90 or 100 effective men, fled to the farther end of the fort ; from the embrasures of which many of them leaped upon the rocks, a height of about 25 feet. Shortly after this, the survivors within the fort laid down their arms, and the British colours were hoisted on the flagstaff.
Considering the force opposed to them, which, at the beginning of the attack, consisted of 22 Spanish soldiers, several Spanish gentlemen and townsmen, volunteers, and about 100 of the crew of the French privateer Confiance, at anchor in the harbour, the British were fortunate in escaping with only six slightly wounded ; Lieutenant Yeo, Mr. Clinch the master's mate, three seamen, and one marine. The loss on the part of the garrison was extremely severe : the governor of the fort, a Spanish gentleman who had volunteered, the second captain of the Confiance, and nine others were killed ; and 30, including nearly all the officers of the privateer, were wounded.
The character of this achievement, as it here has been detailed, is too obvious to need elucidation by any remarks that can be offered. Yet we cannot quit the subject without showing, to what an extent the brave man's attributes, modesty and humanity, were possessed by the officer who had so distinguished himself on the occasion. Not a word is to be found in Lieutenant Yeo's letter, respecting the personal conflict between himself and the Spanish governor. It is Captain Maitland who discloses the fact, and who states that he derived it from the testimony of the prisoners, and of those who accompanied his first lieutenant to the attack. As a proof that the tenderest sympathy may exist in the boldest heart, we here quote the concluding words of Lieutenant Yeo's letter to Captain Maitland : " To their credit as Englishmen, as well as (to the credit of) their profession, the instant the fort was in our possession, they (the seamen and marines) seemed to try who could be the first to relieve and assist the poor wounded prisoners, who were lying in numbers in different parts of the fort ; and I had the pleasure to see their humanity amply repaid by the gratitude the unfortunate men's friends expressed when they came to take them away. "
The twelve 18-pounders being spiked and thrown over the parapet, the carriages broken, and the embrasures, with a part of the fort, blown up, the British, taking with them 40 barrels of powder, two small brass cannon, and 50 stands of arms, retired from the scene of their exploits to their beats on the beach, and soon pulled back to the Loire. Captain Maitland, meanwhile, had, by an officer and boat's crew, taken quiet possession of the two unarmed French privateers, also of a Spanish merchant brig in ballast. The Confiance was a ship of 490 tons, and had carried 24 guns on a flush deck ; probably long 6-pounders, or 18-pounder carronades ; * her ports being too close together and too small for any higher caliber of long gun or carronade. The brig was the Belier, the same probably that, in the spring of 1803, carried out despatches to Rear-admiral Linois in the East Indies. Her guns, stated to be 18-pounder carronades, were also on shore ; and the vessel herself was quite in an unprepared state, having only her lower rigging overhead.
As soon as possession had been taken of these vessels, Captain Maitland sent a flag of truce to the town, with a message to the effect that, if the inhabitants would deliver up such stores of the ship as were on shore, they should receive no further molestation. This proposal was readily agreed to ; and the British brought off all the stores of the Confiance, except her guns ; which, as the embarkation of them would have occupied some time, and a large body of troops was in the vicinity, were left behind. A great many small merchant vessels were afloat in the bay, and hauled up on the beach ; but, having a just sense of the inhumanity of depriving the poorer inhabitants of the means of gaining a livelihood, and knowing that the cargoes of such vessels as had any would be worth little or nothing to the captors (of which others, besides himself and his ship's company, formed apart), Captain Maitland left them untouched. As if to give the finish to an exploit so gallantly begun, and so handsomely concluded, the bishop and one of the principal inhabitants of Muros came off to the Loire, to express their gratitude for the orderly behaviour of the British seamen and marines, who had not, they acknowledged, committed one act of pillage, and to offer to Captain Maitland and his officers every refreshment which the place afforded.
Immediately on arriving home, Lieutenant Yeo received his well-earned reward in the commission of commander, and sailed upon his first cruise in the ship which he had been so instrumental in capturing. On the 21st of December, 1807, Captain Yeo was promoted to post-rank, but retained the command of the Confiance, by her captain's elevation, now raised in rank from a sloop to a post-ship. It is singular that, although no increase was or could be made in her armament (22 carronades, 18-pounders, and two sixes), the Confiance had her complement increased from 121 to 140 men and boys.