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HMS ''Circe'' was a Royal Navy 32-gun fifth-rate ''Thames''-class frigate, built by Master Shipwright Joseph Tucker at Plymouth Dockyard, and launched in 1804.〔Winfield (2008), p.212.〕 She served in the Caribbean during the Napoleonic Wars, and participated in an action and a campaign for which in 1847 in the Admiralty authorised the issuance of the Naval General Service Medal with clasps. The action, off the Pearl Rock, near Saint-Pierre, Martinique, was a debacle that cost ''Circe'' dearly. However, she also had some success in capturing privateers and a French brig. She was sold in 1814. ==Service== ''Circe'' entered service in November 1804 under Captain Jonas Rose. She then began operating off Portugal.〔 On 1 March 1805 she captured the Spanish privateer schooner ''Fama'' off Oporto. ''Fama'' was armed with four brass guns and had a crew of 62 men. She had left Vigo eight days earlier but had not yet taken any prizes. ''Circe''s crew received headmoney for the 62 men in 1829. Next, on 21 June, ''Circe'' captured the privateer ''Constance'' in the Leeward Islands. ''Constance'' was armed with 10 guns and had a crew of 75 men. She was just out of Guadeloupe. However, she may have been the same ''Constance'' that ''Circe'' had earlier captured off the coast of Spain. The Admiralty took her in as the schooner ''Maria''.〔Winfield (2008), p.365.〕 On 9 May ''Circe'' and captured the ''Charles''. Then on 11 September ''Circe'' was one of several British warships that shared in the capture of the ''Hiram''. ;West Indies In 1806, command passed to Hugh Pigot, who took ''Circe'' to the West Indies.〔 On 9 December ''Circe'' captured the ''Belle Eliza''. On 2 January 1807 ''Circe''s boats took the privateer ''Creole'', of one gun and 28 men.〔 On 5 April she took the ''Austerlitz'' after an 18-hour pursuit. ''Austerlitz'' was armed with eighteen 6-pounder guns and had a crew of 125 men. Pigot reported that "This Vessel has done more Mischief to the Trade than any other from Guadaloupe during the War". The British had chased her several times without catching her and she would have escaped this time too had she not sprung her main topsail-yard and fore-top-gallant mast. The Royal Navy took ''Austerlitz'' into service as . Next, ''Circe'' was among the British ships sharing in the capture on 20 October 1807 of the Danish schooner ''Danske Patriot''. In December ''Circe'' was part of the squadron under Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane that captured the Danish islands of St Thomas on 22 December and Santa Cruz on 25 December. The Danes did not resist and the invasion was bloodless. In 1808 ''Circe'' participated in the blockade of Guadeloupe. In March Pigot took command of a landing party made up of seamen and marines from ''Circe'', and . They captured Marie Galante after having met no resistance. Neither side suffered any casualties. At some point ''Circe'' came under the command of Commander Charles Kerr (acting).〔 Then on 31 October 1808 ''Circe'' encountered a French brig near Diamond Rock. At ''Circe''s approach the brig took shelter under the guns of a battery. Still, after an engagement of no more than 15 minutes, ''Circe'' captured the ''Palinure'', which was under the command of M. Fourniers. ''Palinure'' was armed with fourteen 24-pounder carronades and two 6-pounder guns. She had 79 men aboard, most of whom were troops from the 83 Regiment.〔 She had lost seven killed and eight wounded; ''Circe'' had lost one man killed and one wounded. The guns of the battery were so much higher than the vessels beneath them that they could not bring their guns to bear and fired few, if any shots.〔 Earlier that month ''Palinure'' had captured the ''Cruizer''-class brig-sloop . On 11 November, ''Circe'', ''Epervier'', and captured the ''Intrepid''. Nine days later, ''Amaranthe'', ''Circe'', , ''Epervier'' and captured the American ships ''Bonetta'' and ''Mary and Allen''. ;Off the Pearl Rock ''Circe''s greatest action commenced on 12 December 1808, when under Commander Francis Augustus Collier, ''Circe'' was in charge of a squadron that included , ''Epervier'', and . The vessels joined together to attack the French 16-gun brig ''Cygne'' and two schooners off Saint-Pierre, Martinique. ''Circe'' sent in her boats, which the French repelled, causing her 56 casualties, dead, wounded and missing.〔 That evening ''Amaranthe'', under the command of Captain Edward Pelham Brenton, joined ''Circe'' and ''Stork''.〔 The next day fire from ''Amaranthe'' compelled the crew of ''Cygne'' to abandon her and ''Amaranthe''s boats boarded and destroyed the French vessel. For her part ''Amaranthe'' lost one man killed and five wounded due to fire from shore batteries. One schooner ran ashore and was destroyed.〔 ''Amaranthe's'' boats, assisted by boats from the schooner ''Express'', boarded the second schooner and set fire to her too.〔 This expedition cost ''Amaranthe'' her sailing master, Joshua Jones, who was severely wounded. The other British vessels that contributed boats also had casualties. Including the losses in the earlier fighting before ''Amaranthe'' arrived, the British had lost some 12 men killed, 31 wounded, and 26 missing (drowned or prisoners) for little gain.〔 Brenton was promoted to Post-captain soon after the battle, with the promotion being back dated to 13 December, the date of the battle. In 1847 the Admiralty authorised the award of the NGSM with the clasp "Off the Pearl Rock 13 Decr. 1808". ;1809 ''Circe'' was in company with , , and when ''Wolverine'' captured the French brig ''Josephine'' on 15 January 1809. Then in February ''Circe'' was in the squadron that took part in the successful invasion of Martinique.〔 In 1847 the Admiralty authorised the NGSM with clasp "Martinique" to all surviving claimants from the campaign. On 31 March ''Circe'' and captured the ''Frederique''. In April 1809, a strong French squadron arrived at the Îles des Saintes, south of Guadeloupe. There they were blockaded until 14 April, when a British force under Major-General Frederick Maitland and Captain Philip Beaver in , invaded and captured the islands. ''Circe'' was among the naval vessels that shared in the proceeds of the capture of the islands. ''Circe'' was also among the vessels sharing in the prize money from ''Pompee''s capture of the ''Hautpoule'' on 17 April. In July, Captain Edward Woolcombe took command. ''Circe'' was among the vessels listed as having participated in the ill-fated Walcheren Campaign that took place between 30 July and 10 August. She shared in the proceeds of the property captured at Walcheren and the adjacent islands in the Scheldt. Woolcombe sailed ''Circe'' to the Mediterranean on 17 February 1810. She remained there in 1811 before returning to Portsmouth in July 1812.〔 ''Circe'' sailed for the Leeward Islands on 15 November. There, in company with , she took the American privateer ''Lovely Lass'' on 14 May 1813 after a nineteen-hour chase. ''Lovely Lass'' was under the command of Mr. John Smith, an officer in the American navy. She had been armed with five guns but had thrown four overboard during the chase. She had a crew of 60 men and had been out for forty days without having made any captures. A later report gave her tonnage as 80 tons and her crew as 73 men. She was from Wilmington and ''Circe'' sent her to Kingston. Four days later ''Circe'' captured the American schooner ''William'', of 145 tons and 7 men. She was carrying staves and lumber from Boston to Porto Bello and ''Circe'' sent her too to Kingston.〔 The prize court restored the ''William'' to her owners and deducted certain expenses of the detention from ''Circe''s prize money for the ''Lovely Lass''. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「HMS Circe (1804)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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