Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!
THE H.M.S. AMAZON & THE DEATH OF EDWARD

more pics at bottom of page

AMAZON,38. (1799 Woolwich. BU 1817) 1800 Capt. Edward RIOU, 6/99. Spithead. AMAZON sailed from Cork for Portsmouth on 12 February 1800 and on the 14th captured the French privateer BOUGAINVILLE of St. Malo. She was armed with eighteen 6-pounders and carried 82 men commanded by Pierre Dupont. On the following night when, with arough sea and a high wind, AMAZON was brought to to take soundings, the BOUGAINVILLE ran on board her at speed so damaging the prize's hull that she was in immediate danger of sinking. AMAZON's boats were hoisted out and all the men saved except for one as the prize went down by the stern. On 1 March a court martial was held on board GLADIATOR at Portsmouth to try Mr Joseph COLLINGWOOD, gunner of AMAZON, for drunkeness. He was found guilty and sentenced to be dismissed his ship. In April AMAZON convoyed the outward bound West Indies fleet through the western approaches and left them on 1 June. On 16 June in the vicinity of Madeira she captured the French letter of marque JULIE pierced for 16 guns and bound for Cayenne from Bordeaux and brought her in to Plymouth on 9 July. She also brought in the AMELIA which had been bound from Savannah to London with a cargo of rice and cotton and had been taken by the French privateer MINERVE,20, on 28 June and recaptured by AMAZON the same day. Unfortunately her captain, Mr Donaldson, and boatswain were drowned when the boat swamped when shifting them from AMELIA to AMAZON. AMAZON sailed for Spithead with her two prizes on 17 July. 1801 Baltic. AMAZON was with Admiral Sir HYDE PARKER's squadron at Copenhagen on 2 April. AMAZON suffered considerably when she was anchored alongside BLANCHE with the other frigates and sloops abreast the Trekroner batteries. As she exposed her stern as she hauled off after the bombardment Capt. RIOU was cut in half by Danish fire.George TUCKER, midshipman, Mr Jos. ROSE, captain's clerk, and ten seamen and one marine were killed during the action and Master's mates James HARRY and Phillip HORN, sixteen seamen and five marines were wounded Captain Samuel SUTTON removed from ALCMENE to command her. In September 1802 AMAZON was fitting for sea in Plymouth. She was to carry Rear Ad. WARREN to St. Petersburg as Ambassador to the Emperor of all the Russias. During the morning of 28 October AMAZON, GALATEA and MAGICIENNE arrived in Plymouth Sound from Long Reach with part of the 9th regiment of foot to be landed at Millbay to relieve the 26th or Cameronian regiment. The ships sailed again on 3 November and AMAZON arrived at Portsmouth on the 8th. On the 20th ALARM paid off at Portsmouth and her crew were turned over to AMAZON and DONNEGAL. ALARMS's Capt. William PARKER, 11/02, a nephew of Lord ST. VINCENTsucceeded Capt. SUTTON in AMAZON. On 11 December she went to St Helen's with orders to sail at a moment's notice but she was still there at the end of January. At the beginning of February she took on six month's provisions and a great quantity of large dimension planks. She finally sailed on 9 March for Gibraltar with dispatches as a big impressment of seamen got underway in Portsmouth. On 16 April orders arrived in Portsmouth to make preparations to receive the Duke of Kent, hourly expected to arrive aboard AMAZON from Gibraltar. In the event the Duke was landed at Falmouth and AMAZON did not return until 28May. She had not left Gibraltar until 8 May and had spent two days in Lisbon. AMAZON, HYDRA and CERBERUS sailed for Guernsey on 21 June when an attack by the French on the Channel Islands was expected. She returned when the threat diminished and on 11 July she sailed from Spithead with the storeship PREVOYANTE and the Mediterranean convoy. On 16 July 1803 AMAZON captured, and sent into Portsmouth on the 25th, a French privateer schooner, the FELIX, after a chase of 4 hours. She carried a crew of 96 men and fourteen of her sixteen 4-pounders were thrown overboard during the chase. During the 24 days she had been out from La Rochelle she had made only one capture, the ESTHER, bound for London from Honduras. Her master and part of the crew were found on board. The ESTHER was recaptured by two privateers and taken into Guernsey. AMAZON returned from Lisbon on 30 August. On 20 September Capt. SOTHERON of EXCELLENT took AMAZON and REVOLUTIONAIRE under his orders and they were ordered to fit out for foreigh service. They sailed to join the fleet under Lord NELSON in the Mediterranean. AMAZON took part in the blockade of Toulon and on 12 February 1804 Capt. PARKER saw a French frigate coming round the island of Porquerolle. As AMAZON approached, the enemy ship ran though the Grande Passe and took shelter under Fort Breganson. AMAOON, AMPHION and DECADE were the three frigates which accompanied NELSON's ten sail-of-the-line in the pursuit of the French fleet to the West Indies in the spring and early summer of 1805 During a north-west gale on 31 August 1805, 250 miles west of Scilly, AMAZON fell in with the homeward bound Jamaica convoy. When he learned that some of the convoy had separated during a gale, he went in search of the stragglers. He did not find any but on 12 September, some 250 miles S.W. of Cape Clear he captured the Spanish privateer corvette PRINCIPE DE LA PAZ. She mounted twenty-four 9-pounders and four brass swivels and had 160 men on board, mostly French. Under Capt. Francois Beck she had sailed from Vigo five weeks previously, stored for a three month cruise. She had taken the PRINCE OF WALES from Lisbon and the LADY NELSON, letter of marque, fromVirginia for Glasgow. Part of the crew of the latter ship were found in the privateer together with a considerable quantity of specie. On 13 March 1806 AMAZON was the advanced ship in Sir John Borlase WARREN's squadron in the Atlantic when LONDON, to the windward, made the signal for some strange sails. At daylight the signal was made for a general chase when LONDON was observed in action with a large ship and a frigate. AMAZON, arriving first, emgaged the frigate. The rest of the squadron joined in the action as they came up until finally the two enemy ships struck. They were the MARENGO,8O, bearing the flag of Rear Ad. Linois, and BELLE POULE of forty 18-pounders. They were returning to France from the East Indies. AMAZON lost Mr Richard SEYMOUR, first Lieutenant; Mr Edward PRIOR, second Lieutenant royal marines; William GRUNDY, able seaman, and George ROYAL, marine, killed. Six other men werewounded. Medals were awarded to the surviving crew of AMAZON and LONDON in 1849. Following the death of Lieut. SEYMOUR, Mr Philip WESTPHAL became senior lieutenant and he was appointed to command the prize as acting captain to bring her into port. This would normally have ensured his promotion to commander but Capt. PARKER lost his influence when ST. VINCENT left command of the Channel fleet and hecontinued as a lieutenant in AMAZON until she paid off in 1812. Following the evacuation of Corunna and Ferrol by the French in June 1809, Capt. HOTHAM of DEFIANCE sent AMAZON to Ferrol on the 26th. He was well received by the people there but the castle of San Felipe was still occupied by a garrison loyal to Marshal Ney. Marines and seamen from AMAZON and DEFIANCE were landed under the command of Capt. PARKER and entered the castle without opposition and hoisted the Spanish colours. Since the Spanish governor had no means of garrisoning the castle, the guns were spiked. 1810 Capt. John JOYCE, 5/10, was appointed acting captain and for nine months cooperated with the Spanish patriotsin harassing the French along the coast. Capt. PARKER returned in the spring of 1811. On 23 May 1811 AMAZON captured the French privateer brig CUPIDON,14. She was two days out of Bayonne. Four Englishmen representing themselves as Americans were found among the crew of 82. They were tried at the Old Baily in February 1812 and pleaded that they had only gone on board to escape and had planned to overpower the French crew and take CUPIDON into a British port. This could be corroborated but two of them who had served in the NAPOLEON privateer were sentenced to death. On 30 July the boats of the ship, under the direction of Lieut. WESTPHALL, made a successful attack on a French convoy near the Penmarks. One of the enemy was cut off and the other eight ran ashore under the protection of a battery.Lieut. WESTPHALL brought out three and destroyed the remainder without loss. 1812- out of commission at Plymouth, she was broken up there in May 1817.

SEE

click banner