|
HMS ''Leander'' was a 50-gun fourth rate of the Royal Navy which saw service in the Napoleonic Wars, the War of 1812, and the Second Barbary War. A new type of ship, a large spar-decked frigate, ''Leander'' and her near sister were ordered in response to the threat posed by the heavy American spar-decked frigates, during the War of 1812. ''Leander'' proved a successful ship, which operated in squadrons which chased the American frigates, but ultimately failed to catch them before the war ended. Refitted to serve as flagships for admirals on foreign stations, ''Leander'' saw action with Admiral Edward Pellew's fleet at the bombardment of Algiers in 1816, firing over 3,000 round shot and sustaining severe casualties. She spent some time as the flagship on the North American Station, followed by in the East Indies, before returning to Britain in 1822 and being laid up the following year as a receiving ship. She spent the rest of her career in this role, until being broken up in 1830. ==Construction and commissioning== HMS ''Leander'' was ordered from the Blackwall-based firm of Wigram, Wells & Green on 6 May 1813.〔 She was laid down in June 1813 and built of pitch pine to a design by Sir William Rule. Built of softwood to get her into service as quickly as possible, ''Leander'' was launched on 10 November 1813, less than five months after laying down.〔 She was moved to Woolwich Dockyard and completed there by 18 February 1814. The construction of fourth rates, a type that had fallen out of favour prior to the French Revolutionary Wars, was a response to the American spar-decked frigates, like and .〔 A spar-decked frigate was one with a continuous row of cannon on the uppermost deck, conventional frigates had an open waist amidships where no guns were mounted.〔Gardiner, pp. 48, 53〕 Ordered alongside ''Leander'' was the similar 50-gun . ''Leander'' was a spar-deck frigate, designed to carry thirty 24 pounders on her main deck, and twenty-six 42 pounder carronades on her spar deck, with four 24 pounders on her forecastle.〔 This nominal armament was slightly altered during her 1813-18 commission, when two of the carronades on the spar deck were replaced with two extra 24 pounders. She was reported to be fast, exceeding 13 knots, but had a reputation for heavy and violent movements, probably due to poor stowage, until this was fixed in her 1820 commission.〔 In 1815, after the War of 1812 and Napoleonic Wars, ''Newcastle'' and ''Leander'' were fitted with accommodation for a flag officer with a poop deck built over the quarterdeck, and were mostly used as flagships on foreign stations, replacing older 50-gun ships which had previously filled this role.〔 Both ships were re-rated as 60-gun fourth rates in February 1817.〔 ''Leander'' was commissioned under her first commander, Captain George Collier, in December 1813. Collier had commissioned ''Newcastle'' the previous month, but then moved to ''Leander''.〔 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 (1813)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|