 Triton in three views, 1797 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain | |
| Name | HMSTriton |
| Namesake | Triton |
| Ordered | 7 April 1796 |
| Cost | £20,722[1] |
| Laid down | April 1796 |
| Launched | 5 September 1796 |
| Completed | 31 October 1796 |
| Commissioned | September 1796 |
| Fate | Sold, 3 November 1814 OR broken up, 1820 |
| General characteristics[1] | |
| Class & type | Triton-classfifth-ratefrigate |
| Tons burthen | 85580⁄94 (bm) |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 36 ft 2 in (11 m) |
| Propulsion | Sails |
| Complement | 220 |
| Armament |
|
HMSTriton was a 32-gunfifth-ratefrigate of theRoyal Navy designed byJames Gambier and launched in 1796 atDeptford.Triton was an experimental ship and the only one built to that design; she was constructed out offir due to wartime supply shortages of more traditional materials and had some unusual features such as notumblehome. Her namesake was the Greek godTriton, a god of the sea. She wascommissioned in June 1796 under CaptainJohn Gore, with whom she would spend the majority of her active service, to serve in theChannel in the squadron ofSir John Warren.
Triton was a successful ship, serving throughout the majority of theFrench Revolutionary Wars andNapoleonic Wars in several capacities. She took a large number of warships and traders asprizes in the Channel andMediterranean Sea during her service as ablockade ship andcruiser.Triton also played a prominent role in several small-scale battles, including theaction of 16 October 1799 where she assisted in the capture of two powerful Spanish frigates and earned her captain one of the largest sums ofprize money of the war. Her unique design was ultimately flawed, limiting her sailing abilities, andTriton only served at sea for seven years before being converted into ahulk in 1803. She served as a receiving ship andguard ship before being either sold atPlymouth in 1814 or broken up inNewfoundland in 1820.
Triton was a 32-gun, 12-pounder frigate. She was a 'one-off' ship, built to the designs of theFirst Naval LordJames Gambier.[Note 1][1] She was unusually constructed offir instead ofoak due to financial and operational necessity.[Note 2][4][5] As per her nature as a 'one-off' experimental ship, she had a number of unique features, being described as 'the most singular frigate design of the period'.[6] She was wall-sided instead of incorporating atumblehome, had almost nosheer, and had a sharply overhangingbow.[1] These uniquely squared off elements of the ship came about because of the difficulties the Royal Navy had in obtaining naturally curved pieces of wood and as an experiment for improving sailing qualities.[7][3]Triton was also fitted with 'air pipes' which ran to the lower deck to assist in ventilating the usually stuffy area.[3]Triton was ordered on 7 April 1796 and completed with the following dimensions: 142 feet (43.3 m) along thegun deck,123 feet0+1⁄8 inch (37.5 m) at thekeel, with abeam of 36 ft 2 in (11 m) and a depth in thehold of11 feet10+1⁄2 inches (3.6 m). She measured 85580⁄94tons burthen.[1][8]
Triton was launched on 5 September 1796 andfitted out between 6 September and 31 October atDeptford.[1] She had originally been intended to hold 18-pound guns rather than the 12-pounders she actually had; this was changed because of fears that the power of the larger guns would have been too much for the ship to withstand when firing.[Note 3][1] While 32-gun 12-pounder frigates had been the standard of the Royal Navy for years prior, the advent of larger French 38-gun frigates meant that by the time ofTriton's construction her armament was a rarity, and she was the only such example built until 1804.[10] Worries overTriton would continue, with later proposals looking to downgrade her further to 9-pounders.[Note 4][1] The experimental vertical sides and the very limited sheer meant thatTriton was not aweatherly ship, while her peculiar bow caused her to slam heavily into waves.[12] She required a very large amount ofballast, as she was also the shallowest frigate of the period, which made the ship roll greatly.[12][13] Furthermore, her steering issues would have been exacerbated by her being designed to float on an even keel, rather than with more weight to thestern as was traditional.[5]
In March 1797Triton was slightly adapted; her foremast was moved forward by 4 feet 6 inches (1.4 m) and herrudder was narrowed, greatly improving the responsiveness of the ship.[14][15] Gambier was keen to learn about his personal design, and had the ship's first captain,John Gore, report the qualities ofTriton to him.[12] While Gore noted the difficulties with rolling and the bow he was pleased with the speed of the ship, saying that ‘we have fore-reached on everything we have met with’.[12] The ship's surgeon was also pleased with the new 'air pipes', reporting that they had a positive effect on the health of the crew and rid the ship of the ‘thick noxious foul air’ that could usually be found on lower decks.[12] Despite these benefits provided by Gambier's design, the timbers of the ship were put under considerable wear byTriton's abnormal sailing qualities, directly impacting her length of active service.[Note 5][12]
Triton was commissioned in September 1796 by Captain John Gore, who would command her almost unbrokenly until 1801.[17] Gore had recently returned from French captivity after he had been forced to surrender his command of the newly capturedLe Censeur in 1795.[18] From the launching ofTriton until March 1797, the brother ofJane Austen and futureAdmiral of the FleetFrancis Austen served on board as a lieutenant.[19][20]
Triton began active service in early 1797 by joining the blockading squadron ofSir John Warren in theEnglish Channel.[1] On 10 February she captured the French 14-gunprivateercutterRecovery, which was recently out ofLe Havre and with a crew of forty-six had already taken a British smuggler and the American traderAtlantic which was retaken the same day.[21][22] On 11 February she took the 10-gun privateerbrigJeune Emilie, which was forty days out ofSaint-Malo and had taken thesloopFriendship as well as the 10-gunletter of marqueBattalion.[21][23][Note 6] Continuing her string of successes,Triton took the 18-gun privateerLa Difficile only a day after this.[Note 7][25][26]
On 9 March 1797 the British frigatesHMSSt Fiorenzo andHMSNymphe spotted two French ships while returning from a reconnoitre ofBrest.[27] These ships were the 40-gun frigateRésistance and 22-guncorvetteConstance.[28] The two ships were attempting to return to France after participating in thelanding of French troops at Fishguard on 22 February.[27]St Fiorenzo andNymphe quickly engaged the ships, despite the French Brest fleet being just over the horizon, first attackingRésistance which soon surrendered, followed around ten minutes later byConstance.[28] At the close of the action, which would seeRésistance purchased into the navy asFishguard,Triton hove into sight alongside theship-of-the-lineHMSRobust; it has been suggested that the arrival ofTriton andRobust facilitated the quick capture of the two French ships, however they did not play any part in the action itself.[Note 8][28] Triton was more successful in reaching action after this, capturing the traderLa Zoes on 12 June while sailing with a number of Warren's ships, andBoston on 25 July, now with a different part of the squadron.[Note 9][30][32][31][33]
On 11 AugustTriton was sailing under Warren, with the frigatesHMSPomone andHMSJason, and thebrig-sloopHMSSylph, off the coast ofLa Vendée.[34] There, the squadron encountered a Frenchconvoy of brigs andchasse-marées protected by the 20-gun corvetteRéolaise and a number of gun-boats.[35] Upon seeing the threat, the convoy ran towards theLes Sables-d'Olonne river.[34] The mouth of the river was protected by a fort which the convoy hoped would deter the squadron; however, CommanderJohn Chambers White ofSylph volunteered to go in and attack the anchored ships, and was followed byPomone andJason half an hour later.[34] The bombardment from the three ships sank the gun-boat guarding the river and heavily damagedRéolaise;Triton meanwhile had been chasing other ships of the convoy away.[Note 10][34][35] The attack on the convoy heavily disrupted the supplying of the naval base at Brest.[37] The next day, the four ships took the traderAdmiralitat.[38]
Triton continued as part of the same squadron, and on 27 August discovered another French convoy around the mouth of the riverGironde.[34] The squadron chased the convoy overnight;Triton andJason were the fastest of the British and were able to capture five of the ships, which were likelyTrois Soeurs,Egalité,St. Peter,St. Ann, andDauphin.[39][40] The convoy was carrying ship timbers,rosin, and tar, intended to help fit out new French privateers.[41]
After these convoy actionsTriton continued to patrol the Channel as a part of Warren's squadron, which for a brief period of time from March 1798 was commanded by CommodoreJohn Willett Payne.[42] The independent nature of the squadron had by this time been curtailed by the arrival of AdmiralLord Bridport to command the Brest blockade, withTriton now involving herself more in close blockade work.[43] On 14 October 1797 while in company with the brig-sloopHMSChilders, she took the 4-gun privateerLe Furet nearÎle de Batz which was twenty-three days out ofTréguier and had fifty-three men on board.[Note 11][45][46] Near the end of the year she also took the privateerLa Helene.[1][47]
_-_Captain_John_Borlase_Warren_(1753%25E2%2580%25931822)_-_BHC3078_-_Royal_Museums_Greenwich.jpg)
On 24 April 1798 the French 40-gun frigateSeine sailed fromPort Louis, the capital ofMauritius, with 280 garrison troops onboard after being recalled from theIndian Ocean.[48] At 7 a.m. on 29 June,Seine was sighted byJason and the frigatesHMSPique, andHMSMermaid offBrittany.[48] At around 1:35 a.m. a long chase by the three frigates was concluded whenJason,Pique, andSeine all grounded on rocks offLa Tranche-sur-Mer; dismasted,Seine surrendered asMermaid approached.[48] At this timeTriton was serving in a small blockading squadron commanded by CaptainRobert Stopford and consisting of Stopford's frigateHMSPhaeton alongsideSt Fiorenzo andTriton; all part of Warren's larger squadron.[49][48][50] The squadron was called in by signal gun byJason, as a force of French ships including two large frigates and a brig were leavingRochelle with the intent of attacking the captors ofSeine.[48][51] The arrival of Stopford's squadron saved them from French attack, withWilliam James arguing that without the intervention ofTriton and the squadron, the situation 'would have been extremely critical'.[48]
On 28 SeptemberTriton took the 5-gunschoonerL'Arraigne as she attempted a passage fromBermeo to theGulf of Saint Lawrence.[52] Towards the end of 1798, Captain Gore was indisposed and temporarily replaced withEdward Griffith.[1] Throughout this periodTriton continued to serve alongsideSt Fiorenzo; on 11 and 12 December the ships captured the Spanish 4-gun privateerSt. Joseph, the brand new French 14-gun brigLa Rosée, and recaptured the traderGeorge which had been captured while sailing to Lisbon with coal, copper, and bottles.[49][53] On 31 DecemberTriton had parted company withSt Fiorenzo, and captured the 14-gun privateer brigL'Impromptu which had recently leftCorunna.[54][55]
From late January 1799, Gore returned to commandTriton as part of the squadron of Vice-AdmiralSir Charles Thompson.[56] On 29 January Gore forced a 16-gun cutter under the guns of the garrison ofGuernsey, which then surrendered to the soldiers there.[57] She took the 18-gunL'Aimable Victoire the next day after a chase of eight and a half hours.[56][57]Victoire had sailed fromCherbourg on 28 January and had eighty-six men on board.[1][55][58] By 13 MarchTriton was sailing with the frigatesHMSCambrian,HMSNaiad, andSt Fiorenzo, together taking the merchant brigVictoire.[59] A prize crew fromTriton was assigned to takeVictoire toPlymouth, but shefoundered at her moorings offSt Nicholas Island with her cargo of wine, brandy, andcordage still on board.[60] In this periodTriton also took the Spanish brigSan Joachim withCambrian.[61]
On 25 AprilTriton was dispatched to AdmiralLord St Vincent in theMediterranean Sea with news that the French fleet at Brest had escaped the blockade.[62][63] This information was communicated to St Vincent's second in command, Vice-AdmiralLord Keith, whose fleetTriton then joined.[62] In JuneTriton was still a part of this fleet of twenty-nine ships under Lord Keith.[64] On 18 June the fleet encountered a squadron of French frigates under the command of Rear-AdmiralJean-Baptiste Perrée attempting to return toToulon from Syria. A chase ensued and the frigatesCourageuse,Alceste, andJunon, along with the brigsSalamine andAlerte were captured.[64] It was deemed thatTriton was one of the nine 'actual captors' of the French ships at the action.[Note 12][65]
During this period Lord Keith hadTriton and two other frigates search for the escaped French fleet from Toulon toCadiz.[62][63] The three ships discovered them in Cadiz, where the combined fleet amounted to thirty-eightships of the line.[62][66] The enemy fleet left Cadiz on 21 July, and after its frigates failed to chaseTriton off her station Captain Gore ascertained that the fleet was sailing for Brest again.[66]Triton overtook the enemy and arrived at Plymouth with the news of the fleet five days before it reached Brest.[62]Triton was then sent to watch over the fleet in Brest with a squadron of frigates.[66] While doing so, they deterred a Spanish squadron of five ships of the line and two frigates from entering the port through thePassage du Raz.[67]Triton was then involved in the chase of the Spaniards, again in a squadron commanded by (now Rear-Admiral) Warren, who retreated toFerrol and dismantled their ships.[67]
Warren orderedTriton to watch the Spanish ships inside Ferrol with the frigateHMSEthalion.[66] On 13 September she took the 6-gunluggerLe St Jacques after she was sighted while leavingL'Orient;St Jacques was carrying 662 13-inch shells toRochefort.[55][68][69][70]
On 15 October at 8 p.m. the Spanish 34-gun frigatesThetis andSanta Brigida were sighted byNaiad aroundCape Finisterre.[71][72] The two were travelling from the area ofVera-Cruz inNew Spain with cargoes of treasure bound for any accessible Spanish port.[73][71][74]Naiad began a chase of the Spaniards, and by the morning of 16 October had been joined by another frigate,HMSAlcmene; these two ships were then spotted byTriton andEthalion who also joined the chase.[73][72][75][66] At 7 a.m.Thetis andSanta Brigida split up to make their capture more difficult; the senior British officer CaptainWilliam Pierrepoint ofNaiad ordered the leading ship,Ethalion, to ignore the closerSanta Brigida and instead chaseThetis.[71][73] By 11:30 a.m.Ethalion was so close toThetis that she was forced to engage and after a running fight of one hour, in which no Britons and only one Frenchman were killed,Thetis surrendered toEthalion.[73][74][72]
WhileEthalion chasedThetis,Santa Brigida took a more southerly route of escape and by 17 October had managed to round Cape Finisterre.[71][75][Note 13] In order to do so she had run incredibly close to the rocks of the coast.Triton was the closest of the three British ships in pursuit, and took a similar course toSanta Brigida, however at 5 a.m. she grounded while going at a rate of sevenknots, causing damage to her hull.[71][74] By 7 a.m. Gore had managed to getTriton off of the rocks, and she began to fire atSanta Brigida.[73]Alcmene in the meanwhile had sailed to cutSanta Brigida off from the coast, and the two British frigates began to attack her from either side.[72]Santa Brigida attempted to escape, throwing her boats and anchors overboard to save weight and making elaborate manoeuvres among the rocks of Commarurto, but by 8 a.m.Naiad had engaged as well, andSanta Brigida surrendered off the entrance toMuros.[76][71][73][75] Similarly toEthalion's fight, the casualties involved were very limited.Triton was severely damaged with much water coming in from her grounding, but only had one man wounded during the action.[74][77]Naiad did not close enough to receive casualties, whileAlcmene had one seaman killed and nine wounded, andSanta Brigida two killed and eight wounded.[78]
The action took place within sight of the Spanish squadron atVigo. Upon seeingSanta Brigida captured, five of the squadron left port in an attempt to recapture her.[66]Santa Brigida was taken in tow byTriton withNaiad ahead andAlcmene behind her.[79] The ships prepared to fight off the Spanish squadron, but upon seeing their intent to defend theirprize, the Spanish returned to Vigo.[79] Around this time,Triton recaptured the American shipAbigail while in company with the same three frigates and detained another American,Polly.[76][80]
On 21 OctoberThetis arrived at Plymouth, withSanta Brigida following one day later.[72] While the ships were not bought into the Royal Navy, their true value was in their cargo. The treasure on board the two frigates exceeded £600,000 and included around 877 boxes ofSpanish dollars, two bales ofindigo, twenty-six ofcochineal, twenty-three of cocoa, and sixteen of sugar.[73][78] Sixty-three wagons were required to hold the large amount of treasure when it was transported to London.[78] When proportioned for the crews this meant that Captain Gore alone received £40,730, which was an incredible amount.[71][55][Note 14]
.jpg)
Triton was docked and repaired and then sent to join theChannel Fleet off Brest once more.[79] On 11 February 1800 she took the 14-gun brigLa Vidette, which had previously been the British privateerThought, as she travelled from Brest to L'Orient.[1][55][82][83]
Around 12 March,Triton was chasing a cutter off thePenmarks when one of her 12-pounder guns burst upon firing.[55][82] The explosion created a number of large splinters which killed the ship's second lieutenant, Lieutenant Alford, and a gunner's mate.[74] Alford had been dining with Captain Gore, and was opening the door to leave the captain's cabin when the explosion blew his head off.[55] Eighteen other members ofTriton's crew were wounded in the accident, and a large section of the deck was ripped up as well as the captain's cabin being damaged.[74] The wounded were taken to theRoyal Naval Hospital; Alford and the gunner's mate were buried there on 13 March.[55]
By 15 MarchTriton was cruising with thegun boatHMSFowey and the cutterJoseph.Fowey was damaged in a gale and left the station off Brittany, leavingTriton andJoseph to attempt to burn the remains of the ship-of-the-lineHMSRepulse which had been lost on rocks off the coast on 10 March.[84][85][Note 15] The ships failed in doing so, as the French brought a battery of guns to bear on them from above the wreck ofRepulse.[85] On 15 April the traderSan Sebastian arrived at Plymouth having been taken byTriton and fellow frigateHMSStag while attempting a voyage fromSantander.[55] By JulyTriton was the lead frigate of the inshore squadron, reporting the movements of the combined fleet in Brest to Lord St Vincent.[87]
In the spring of 1801 Captain Gore was replaced inTriton by CaptainRobert Lewis Fitzgerald after reporting himself too fatigued from the heavy service ofTriton to go back to sea.[74][1][79][Note 16] She continued to serve in the Channel, taking the French letter of marqueLe Jeune Theodore on 15 September 1801.[55][88]Triton was not deemed a success on this commission and waspaid off in April 1802.[1]
From July 1803 to 1809Triton was commanded by Commander William Cashman; she was fitted as areceiving ship atWoolwich in September 1803, likely because of the wear on the ship caused by her experimental design.[1][12] By this time the ship's armament had been decreased to twelve nine-pounders and ten twenty four-pound carronades only.[89] In 1807Triton was theguard ship atWaterford; at the beginning of theAnglo-Russian War on 2 September she successfully detained the shipsNorway Lion andKaren Helena.[1][90] Her final service was as receiving ship at Plymouth from August 1810.[55][1]
Triton was either sold atPlymouth for £1,870 on 3 November 1814 orhulked in 1817 and broken up inNewfoundland in 1820.[1][8]
| Vessels captured or destroyed for whichTriton's crew received full or partial credit | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Ship | Nationality | Type | Fate | Ref. |
| 10 February 1797 | Recovery |  French | 14-gun privateer cutter | Captured | [21] |
| 10 February 1797 | Atlantic |  American | Merchant vessel | Recaptured | [21] |
| 11 February 1797 | Jeune Emilie | French | 10-gun privateer brig | Captured | [21] |
| 12 February 1797 | La Difficile | French | 18-gun privateer | Captured | [25] |
| 12 June 1797 | La Zoes | French | Merchant vessel | Captured | [30] |
| 25 July 1797 | Boston | Not recorded | Not recorded | Captured | [31] |
| 11 August 1797 | Not recorded | French | Gun boat | Destroyed | [37] |
| 12 August 1797 | Admiralitat |  Dutch | Merchant vessel | Captured | [38] |
| 4–29 August 1797 | Trois Soeurs | French | Not recorded | Captured | [39] |
| 4–29 August 1797 | Egalité | French | Not recorded | Captured | [39] |
| 4–29 August 1797 | St. Peter | French | Not recorded | Captured | [39] |
| 4–29 August 1797 | St. Ann | French | Not recorded | Captured | [39] |
| 4–29 August 1797 | Furet | French | Not recorded | Captured | [39] |
| 4–29 August 1797 | Dauphin | French | Not recorded | Captured | [39] |
| 28 August 1797 | Le Petit Diable | French | 18-gun cutter | Destroyed | [41] |
| 14 October 1797 | Le Furet | French | 4-gun privateer | Captured | [45] |
| December 1797 | La Helene | French | Privateer | Captured | [1] |
| 28 September 1798 | L'Arraigne | French | 5-gun schooner | Captured | [52] |
| 11–12 December 1798 | St. Joseph |  Spanish | 4-gun privateer | Captured | [49] |
| 11–12 December 1798 | La Rosée | French | 14-gun privateer brig | Captured | [49] |
| 11–12 December 1798 | George | .svg) British | Merchant vessel | Recaptured | [49] |
| 31 December 1798 | L'Impromptu | French | 14-gun privateer brig | Captured | [54] |
| December 1798 | Succés | French | Privateer | Captured | [91] |
| 29 January 1799 | Not recorded | Not recorded | 16-gun cutter | Captured | [57] |
| 30 January 1799 | L'Aimable Victoire | French | 18-gun ship | Captured | [56] |
| 13 March 1799 | Victoire | French | Merchant brig | Captured | [59] |
| March 1799 | San Joachim | Spanish | Merchant brig | Captured | [61] |
| 18 June 1799 | Courageuse | French | 32-gun frigate | Captured | [64] |
| 18 June 1799 | Alceste | French | 32-gun frigate | Captured | [64] |
| 18 June 1799 | Junon | French | 40-gun frigate | Captured | [64] |
| 18 June 1799 | Salamine | French | 18-gun brig | Captured | [64] |
| 18 June 1799 | Alerte | French | 14-gun brig | Captured | [64] |
| 13 September 1799 | Le St Jacques | French | 6-gun lugger | Captured | [68] |
| 16 October 1799 | Santa Brigida | Spanish | 34-gun frigate | Captured | [76] |
| October 1799 | Abigail | American | Merchant vessel | Recaptured | [76] |
| October 1799 | Polly | American | Not recorded | Detained | [80] |
| 11 February 1800 | La Vidette | French | 14-gun brig | Captured | [82] |
| April 1800 | San Sebastian | Spanish | Merchant vessel | Captured | [55] |
| 15 September 1801 | Le Jeune Theodore | French | Letter of marque | Captured | [88] |
| 2 September 1807 | Norway Lion |  Danish | Merchant vessel | Detained | [90] |
| 2 September 1807 | Karen Helena | Danish | Merchant vessel | Detained | [90] |
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
Media related toHMS Triton (ship, 1796) at Wikimedia Commons