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HMS ''Endymion'' was a 40-gun fifth rate that served in the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars, the War of 1812 and during the First Opium War. She was built to the lines of the French prize captured in 1794. She was the lead ship of her class of six 24-pounder frigates, although the other five ships built to this design were not built until nearly the end of the Napoleonic War. She was famous for her battle with on 15 January 1815, in which she caught the American frigate and crippled her, which led to the ''President's'' final capture some hours later. Apart from this, ''Endymion'' was known as the fastest sailing-ship in the Royal Navy during the Age of Sail, logging sailing large, and nearly close-hauled.〔Gardiner, p. 145〕 ''Endymion''s last active duty came during the First Opium War and included operations on the Yangtze river. She became a receiving ship in 1859 and was broken up in June 1868. Throughout her career, ''Endymion'' was praised for her remarkable sailing qualities. She therefore was a highly desirable command for frigate captains. Even in the 1830s, long after her war service, she was regarded as the benchmark for Royal Navy frigates. She was still capable of outsailing much newer ships with which she sailed in company. ==French Revolutionary Wars== In April 1797, Captain Thomas Williams commissioned the ''Endymion'' for the Channel and Irish station.〔Winfield (2008), p.133.〕 In October ''Endymion'' joined the North Sea fleet with orders to pursue the scattered Dutch ships in the aftermath of the Battle of Camperdown. With hours, ''Endymion'' encountered the ship of the line ''Brutus'' close inshore, but the protected anchorage prevented Williams from successfully attacking the Dutch ship and she was able to escape. For the next three years, Williams was employed off Ireland and on convoy to the island of St Helena. In early 1798 ''Endymion'' captured four privateers while cruising off the Irish coast. *French schooner ''Revanche'', of 12 brass six-Pounders and 88 men. She was coppered, and provisoned for a three-month cruise. She had been out 21 days but had taken nothing.〔 *French privateer lugger ''Brutus'', of six 6-pounders and 50 men. She was provisioned for a two-months cruise, had been out 15 days, and had captured two neutral ships.〔 *Spanish schooner ''St. Antonia'', pierced for 16 guns but with only six 6-pounders mounted. She was from Havana, and was carrying dispatches from there and elsewhere in South America. Her crew had thrown the dispatches overboard, tied to one of her anchors, but ''Endymion''s boat retrieved them.〔 *French ship privateer ''Huit Amis'', of twenty 6-pounder guns and 160 men. She was purpose-built for privateering, quite new, and on her first cruise. She was provisioned for a four-month cruise, had been out 20 days, but had taken nothing. On 5 September 1798, Williams reported capturing or recapturing three vessels: *''Britannia'', an "extra ship" sailing from Bengal to London on behalf of the British East India Company. The French privateer ''Huron'' had captured ''Britannia''. ''Endymion'' was in company with ''Amaranthe'' at the time. *''Sophie'', a French privateer of 20 guns and 130 men. She had been out 82 days but had captured nothing. Williams described her as "a very fine Ship, quite new, and well adapted for His Majesty's Service, being an extraordinary fast Sailer; she having been chased Eight different Times during her last Cruize by our Ships of War, and each time escaped by superior Sailing." The Royal Navy took ''Sophie'' into service as HMS ''Sophie''. *''May Flower'', of New York, that had been sailing from Lisbon to London when the French privateer cutter ''Telemaque'' had captured her. In late 1799 to May 1800 ''endymion'' captured a number of French and Spanish privateers. *Spanish privateer lugger ''Saint Joseph'' armed with four long brass six-pounder guns, swivels, and small arms, and carrying 38 men. *Spanish lugger privateer ''Intripido'', armed with two 6-pounders, swivels, and small arms, and carrying 21 men. *French letter of marque ''Paix'', armed with ten 6-pounders, and carrying 44 men. She was carrying a cargo from Nantes for Île de France. She had been built as a man-of-war and so was pierced for twenty 9-pounder guns. Williams described her as "quite new, and falls fast." *Privateer ship ''Scipio'', armed with eighteen brass 9-pounders and carrying a crew of 149 men. She was from Bordeux, three days out of St. Andero, but had taken nothing. Williams described her as "quite new, very complete, and sails extremely fast." ''Scipio'' led ''Endymion'' on an "arduous Chace". Finally, then Lieutenant Charles Austen set off in a small boat in a gale with only four other men, and succeeded in boarding and taking possession her; he kept control of ''Scipio'' until the following day when ''Endymion'' could complete the capture. ''Endymion'' was sailing in company with and a convoy for the Mediterranean when they came upon a heavily laden Portuguese ship from Brazil, totally dismasted and abandoned. The British, after considerable exertion, were able to put her into a navigable state. ''Champion'' then towed her into Gibraltar.〔 In 1801, Williams assumed command of the 74-gun third-rate ship of the line . Captain Philip Charles Durham replaced Williams. 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 Endymion (1797)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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