HMSVanguardwas a 74-gunthird-rateship of the lineof theRoyal Navy,launched on 6 March 1787 atDeptford.[1]She was the sixth vessel to bear the name.
 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth forVanguardcourtesy of theNational Maritime Museum,Greenwich, London
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain | |
| Name | HMSVanguard |
| Ordered | 9 December 1779 |
| Builder | Deptford Dockyard |
| Laid down | 16 October 1782 |
| Launched | 6 March 1787 |
| Honours and awards |
|
| Fate | Broken up, 1821 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Arrogant-classship of the line |
| Tons burthen | 160941⁄94bm |
| Length | 168 ft 0 in (51.21 m) (gundeck) |
| Beam | 46 ft 10 in (14.27 m) |
| Depth of hold | 19 ft 9 in (6.02 m) |
| Propulsion | Sails |
| Sail plan | Full-rigged ship |
| Complement | 600 |
| Armament | |
In December 1797,Captain Edward Berrywas appointedflag captain,flying Rear Admiral SirHoratio Nelson's flag.
French Revolutionary Wars
editOn 27 November 1793, the ships of a squadron under the command of Captain Thomas Pasley ofHMSBellerophoncapturedBlonde.At the time of her captureBlondewas armed with 28 guns and had a crew of 210 men under the command of Citizen Gueria.[2]A subsequent prize money notice listed the vessels that shared in the proceeds asBellerophon,Vanguard,Phoenix,Latona,andPhaeton.[3]
In 1798 Nelson was detached into the Mediterranean byEarl St. VincentwithHMSOrion,Alexander,Emerald,Terpsichore,andBonne Citoyenne.They sailed fromGibraltaron 9 May and on 12 May were struck by a violent gale in theGulf of Lionthat carried awayVanguard'stopmasts and foremast. The squadron bore up for Sardinia,AlexandertakingVanguardin tow.
On 19 May, while Nelson was off station repairing his storm damage,Napoleon Bonapartesailed fromToulonwith a force of 72 warships and 400 transports to strike atEgyptwith the intention of eventually invading India. On 13 June he occupiedMaltaand, on 19 June, continued the passage to Egypt arriving offAlexandriaon 1 July. On 31 May, Nelson returned to Toulon to find that the French had left 13 days earlier. Searching for the enemy he reachedNapleson 17 June andMessinaon 20 June. Here he learnt of the fall of Malta and the probable destination of the French. He sailed forAlexandriabut overtook the French and arrived on 29 June, two days before them. Finding no enemy he returned toSicilyviaAsia Minor.Convinced that the French were going to Egypt he set sail once more for Alexandria.
On the evening of 1 August 1798, half an hour before sunset, theBattle of the Nilebegan when Nelson attacked the French fleet which was moored in a strong line of battle inAboukir Baywith gunboats, fourfrigates,and batteries onAboukir Islandto protect their flanks.Goliath(1781)was the leading ship and, followed by four others, she broke through the French line to anchor and fight from the shoreward side.Vanguardremained on the seaward side and soon the French van and centre were being overwhelmed by six ships on either side of their line. The French lost 11 ships of the line and two frigates. Their dead numbered 1700 and the wounded 1500. The British lost 218 killed and 678 wounded.
Vanguardlost three officers killed, Thomas Seymour and John Taylor, midshipmen, and Captain Faddy of the marines. Lieutenants N. Vassal and J. Ayde, J. Campbell, the Admiral's secretary, M. Austin, the boatswain, and J. Weatherspoon and George Antrim, midshipmen, were wounded. Twenty seamen and seven marines were killed and sixty seamen and eight marines were wounded. Nelson was also wounded. On 3 August the captains of the squadron met on boardOrionand agreed to present Nelson with a sword.
Vanguardsailed for Naples on 19 August and arrived on 22 September. She was in need of new masts and a bowsprit but Nelson deferred getting them until he knew the situation ofCulloden(1783)which was to be careened at Naples after grounding during the battle. The King of Naples came out to meet her.
In September, CaptainThomas Hardytook command, still under Nelson's flag. Two months later a formidable French army had invadedNaplesand on 16 DecemberVanguardwas shifted out of gunshot of the ports. On 20 December Nelson, in order to evacuate the royal family and other important people, ordered the small barge ofVanguard,covered by three barges and the frigateHMSAlcmene,armed with cutlasses only, to be at the Victoria wharf. All the other boats ofVanguardandAlcmene,and the launches andcarronades,were ordered to assemble on boardVanguardunder the direction of Captain Hardy and row halfway to theMola Figlio.
By 21 December the Neapolitan Royal Family, the British Ambassador and his family, several Neapolitan nobles and most of the English gentlemen and merchants had been embarked, numbering in all about 600 persons in the ships of the squadron.Vanguardsailed on 23 December and arrived, after a stormy passage, inPalermoon 26 December.
The ship had been the scene of the death ofPrince Alberto of Naples and Sicily,one of the royal entourage on board, son of KingFerdinand VIand his wifeMaria Carolina of Austriawho were on board. Other royals on board were theDuke of Calabria,Prince of Salernoand their sisters the PrincessesMaria Cristina,Maria AmaliaandPrincess Maria Antonia
Nelson shifted his flag fromVanguardtoFoudroyanton 6 June 1799, taking with him Captain Hardy and a number of other officers, leaving Captain W. Brown in command. In 1800,Vanguardwas taken out of commission atPortsmouth.
In 1801, under the command of CaptainSir Thomas Williams.Vanguardsailed fromPortsmouthon 20 April to join theBalticfleet. The fleet, under Vice Admiral Pole, returned on 10 August.Vanguard,St George,Spencer,Powerful,Dreadnought,Ramillies,andZealoussailed again on 19 August to cruise offCádiz.The first four were victualled and provisioned for five months atGibraltarand sailed forJamaicain December.Warriorfollowed them as soon as she had watered atTetuan.
Napoleonic Wars
editIn 1803, under the command of CaptainJames Walker,Vanguardwas operating out ofJamaicaon theBlockade of Saint-Domingue.On 30 June,Cumberlandand her squadron under CaptainHenry William Bayntunwere betweenJean-RabelandSt. Nichola Molein the West Indies, having just parted with a convoy when they spotted a sail of what appeared to be a large French warship.CumberlandandVanguardapproached her and after a few shots fromVanguardthe French vessel surrendered, having suffered two men badly wounded, and being greatly outgunned. She proved to be the frigateCréole,of 44 guns, primarily 18-pounders, under the command of Citizen Le Ballard. She had been sailing fromCape FrançoistoPort au Princewith General Morgan (the second in command inSan Domingo), his staff, and 530 soldiers, in addition to her crew of 150 men. The Royal Navy took her into service as HMSCreole.
While the British were taking possession ofCréole,a small French navy schooner, under the command of a lieutenant and sailing the same course asCréole,sailed into the squadron; she too was seized. She had on board 100 bloodhounds from Cuba, which were "intended to accompany the Army serving against the Blacks."[4]
On 2 July 1803, Bayntun's squadron captured the French privateerSuperieure.[4]Vanguardwas the actual captor.[5]The British took her into the Royal Navy asSuperieure.The squadron also captured the privateerPoisson Vollant,[4]which the Royal Navy also took into service.
About three weeks later, on 24 July, two French 74s,DuquesneandDuguay Trouin,and the frigateGuerrièreput to sea from Cap-Français during a squall in an effort to evadeBellerophon,Elephant,Theseus,Tartarunder CaptainPerkins,andVanguard,which were blockading the port. The French ships separated during the night but the British overtookDuquesnethe following day and captured her after a short exchange of fire withVanguard,which lost one man killed and one wounded. The prize was broken up on arrival in England after being damaged running on to theMorant Cays.
In September the French troops in northwestSaint Dominguewere being closely pressed by the rebel slaves under GeneralJean-Jacques Dessalines.Captain Walker, off theMole St. Nicholas,persuaded the General not to put the garrison ofSaint-Marcto death but to march them to the Mole in safety whereVanguardwould take possession of the shipping in the bay. The 850 men of the garrison, all very emaciated, were successfully evacuated, and thebrigPapillon,pierced for 12 guns but only mounting 6, thebrigTrois Amis,transport, and theschoonerMary Sallywith 40 or 50 barrels of powder were brought out.[6]The British tookPapilloninto service under her existing name.[7]Then on 5 SeptemberVanguardcaptured the French navy's schoonerCourier de Nantes,of two guns and fourswivel guns.She had a crew of 15 men under the command of anenseigne de vaisseau,and was carrying 30 barrels of flour to Saint-Marc.[6][Note 1]
Vanguardcaptured the American schoonerIndependenceon 16 November. Six days laterVanguardtook the two French schoonersRosalle,laden withsaltpeterandlignum vitae,andSt Rosario.
Fate
editVanguardwas paid off by the end of 1805. In 1807 she was repaired atPlymouth.
On 16 November 1807Leeds,of London, was returning to London from Petersburg when she was on shore on the Middle Ground.HMSQuailand boats fromVanguardwere able to getLeedsoff after she had been stuck for 36 hours.[9]
Under the command of CaptainThomas Baker,Vanguardbecame the flagship of Rear AdmiralThomas Bertiein 1808. In 1812 she was made aprison shipat Plymouth and in 1814 she became apowder hulk.Vanguardwas broken up in 1821.[1]
Legacy
editThe American investment firmVanguardtakes its name from HMSVanguardafter founderJohn Boglechose the name from an antique book chronicling historical British naval achievements.[10]A likeness of the ship served as the company's logo from 1981 to 2020.
Sails of Glory: Napoleonic Warsminiatures by Ares Games includes HMSVanguardas one of the ships in its starter set. It is the British counterpart to the French ship-of-the-lineGenereux.[citation needed]
Notes
edit- ^Vanguardhad aship's tendernamedGrowler,perhaps a renamed prize, that shared in the prize money forTrois AmisandCourier de Nantes.[8]
Citations
edit- ^abLavery,Ships of the Linevol.1, p180.
- ^"No. 13601".The London Gazette.7 December 1793. p. 1100.
- ^"No. 13704".The London Gazette.16 September 1794. p. 946.
- ^abc"No. 15620".The London Gazette.13 September 1803. p. 1228.
- ^Naval Chronicle,Vol. 14, p.344.
- ^ab"No. 15654".The London Gazette.8 December 1803. p. 1724.
- ^Colledge & Warlow (2006), p.298.
- ^"No. 16032".The London Gazette.26 May 1807. p. 718.
- ^"The Marine List".Lloyd's List.No. 4269. 8 December 1807.hdl:2027/uc1.c2735023.Retrieved22 February2021.
- ^Reklaitis, Victor."5 things you don't know about Vanguard".MarketWatch.Retrieved1 August2017.
References
edit- Colledge, J. J.;Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969].Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy(Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing.ISBN978-1-86176-281-8.
- Lavery, Brian (1983)The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650–1850.Conway Maritime Press.ISBN0-85177-252-8.
- Winfield, Rif & Stephen S Roberts (2015)French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786 - 1861: Design Construction, Careers and Fates.(Seaforth Publishing).ISBN9781848322042
External links
edit
Media related toHMS Vanguard (1787)at Wikimedia Commons
