|
} |} HMS ''Leander'' was a ''Portland''-class 50-gun fourth rate of the Royal Navy, launched at Chatham on 1 July 1780. She served on the West Coast of Africa, West Indies, and the Halifax station. During the French Revolutionary Wars she participated in the Battle of the Nile before a French ship captured her. The Russians and Turks recaptured her and returned her to the Royal Navy in 1799. On 23 February 1805, while on the Halifax station, ''Leander'' captured the French frigate ''Ville de Milan'' and recaptured her prize, . On 25 April 1805 cannon fire from ''Leander'' killed an American seaman while ''Leander'' was trying to search an American vessel off the US coast for contraband. The resulting "Leander Affair" contributed to the worsening of relations between the United States and Great Britain. In 1813 the Admiralty converted ''Leander'' to a hospital ship under the name ''Hygeia''. ''Hygeia'' was sold in 1817. ==Early service== She was commissioned in June 1780 under Captain Thomas Shirley.〔Winfield (2008), p.159.〕 ''Leander'' cruised for some time in the North Sea. At the end of 1781 ''Leander'' and the sloop-of-war HMS ''Alligator'' sailed for the Dutch Gold Coast with a convoy, consisting of a few merchant-vessels and transports. Britain was at war with the Dutch Republic and Shirley launched an unsuccessful attack on 17 February on the Dutch outpost at Elmina, being repulsed four days later. ''Leander '' and Shirley then went on to capture the small Dutch forts at Mouri (Fort Nassau - 20 guns), Kormantine (Courmantyne or Fort Amsterdam - 32 guns; 6 March), Apam (Fort Lijdzaamheid or Fort Patience - 22 guns; 16 March), Senya Beraku (Berricoe, Berku, Fort Barracco or Fort Goede Hoop - 18 guns; 23 March), and Accra (Fort Crèvecœur or Ussher Fort - 32 guns; 30 March).〔Crooks (1973), pp.51 and 62.〕〔 〕 ''Leander'' also destroyed the French store-ship ''Officeuse'', off Senegal, supposed to be worth £30,000. Shirley garrisoned those facilities with personnel from Cape Coast.〔Creek, p. 62〕 Shirley sent two sets of dispatches back to Britain. One set went in the transport sloop ''Ulysses'', which was under the command of Captain Frodsham. The French frigate ''Fée'' captured ''Ulysses'' and took her into Brest, but not before her captain had weighted the dispatches and thrown them overboard. Shirley's first lieutenant, Mr. Van court, took the second set in the cartel transport ''Mackerel'', which also carried the Dutch governors of the forts to Europe.〔 Shirley then sailed to the West Indies where towards the end of 1782 as senior captain he became commanding officer prior to the arrival of Admiral Hugh Pigot. Pigot promoted him to captain of the 90-gun . Pigot appointed Captain John Willet Payne to replace Shirley. On 18 January 1783, ''Leander'' was escorting a cartel when the two vessels encountered a large French warship at midnight. After an inconclusive engagement of two hours, ''Leander'' and her opponent separated. Pigot reported that the French vessel was probably a 74-gun ship of the line. Furthermore, rumour had it that she was the ''Couronne'' and that she had gone on to Puerto Rico. On 4 March ''Leander'' captured the brig ''Bella Juditta''. ''Leander'' was one of the five warships and the armed storeship ''Sally'' that shared in the proceeds of the capture on 23 March of the ship ''Arend op Zee''. Captain J. Reynolds took command briefly in 1784 before ''Leander'' was paid-off in Portsmouth in April.〔 She was recommissioned in August 1786, after repairs in 1785. Captain Sir James Barclay commissioned ''Leander'' in August 1786 and then sailed her for Nova Scotia on 9 April 1787.〔 She served as flagship for Sir Herbert Sawyer in 1788 until paid off in September. Captain Joseph Peyton, Jr. immediately recommissioned her as the flagship for his father Rear-Admiral Joseph Peyton, Sr. She sailed for the Mediterranean on 22 December.〔 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 Leander (1780)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|