HMS Nymphe was a 38-gun fifth ratefrigate of the Royal Navy, launched on 13 April 1812 at Woolwich Dockyard, and commissioned later that month. She was a Lively class of 18-pounder frigates, designed by the Surveyor of the Navy, Sir William Rule. It was probably the most successful British frigate design of the Napoleonic Wars, to which fifteen more sister ships would be ordered between 1803 and 1812.[1]
War of 1812
The Nymphe's first captain was Farmery Predam Epworth. The Nymphe sailed for North America on 9 July 1812. The French Navy's namesake Nymphe, accompanied by the Meduse was chased by USS President and USS Congress on 10 October 1812.[2] Whilst on the American station, she took the US privateers Montgomery on 5 May 1813, and Juliana Smith on 12 May 1813. Later that year, she took the Thomas on 29 June 1813 and Paragon on 14 August 1813.[1]
On 10 October 1813, the Nymphe gave chase to three frigates and a brig-sloop commanded by Commodore Rodgers that had slipped out of Boston two days prior.[3] At the start of 1814, the Nymphe was blockading Boston when USS Constitution broke out.[4] Present aboard the Nymphe was the future historian Henry Edward Napier who kept a journal from March 1814 to September 1814, whilst blockading New England. From June 1814, she was commanded by Captain Joseph Price, and thereafter by Captain Hugh Pigot from October 1814 onwards.[5]
Under the rules of prize-money, Herald shared in the proceeds of the capture of six American vessels in the Battle of Lake Borgne on 14 December 1814. The British lost 17 men killed and 77 wounded. Anaconda then evacuated the wounded. In 1821 the survivors of the flotilla shared in the distribution of head-money arising from the capture of the American gun-boats and sundry bales of cotton.[6][a][b]
In February 1815, following news of ratification of the peace treaty, the Nymphe was sent to Jamaica, to fetch the prisoners taken at Lake Borgne, and to repatriate the prisoners.[10]
Later service
From July 1815 to May 1816, the Nymphe underwent Middling Repair at Portsmouth, and was then laid up in Ordinary. In August 1831, she was fitted as a temporary hospital ship at Portsmouth, and was at Leith by 1834. From December 1835 to May 1837, she was fitted at Chatham as a receiving ship, at a cost of £2,744. She was moored at Sheerness as a receiving ship from 1838 to 1855. She was fitted for use by the Water Police at Sheerness in July 1861. She was altered at Sheerness to a Roman Catholic Chapel from January to March 1863. In accordance with Admiralty Order dated 7 September 1871, she was renamed Handy.[1]
Fate
She was broken up at Chatham, as per Admiralty Order dated 31 December 1874. This was completed by 9 March 1875.[1]
Notes
^ A first-class share of the prize money was worth £34 12s9+1⁄4d; a sixth-class share, that of an ordinary seaman, was worth 7s 10+3⁄4d.[7]
^Letter from Cochrane to the Admiralty dated January 18, reproduced in "No. 16991". The London Gazette. 9 March 1815. pp. 449–451. stating 'I have not yet received any official report from the Captain of the Nymphe, which ship with the [other] vessels [Herald, Aetna, Volcano, Thistle, Pigmy] were sent into the Mississippi to create a diversion in that quarter.'
^James (1818), p. 387 'Of the six vessels ordered up the Mississippi to bombard Fort-St. Philip, the Herald, two bomb vessels, and Thistle and Pigmy only could ascend the river.'
Whitehill, Walter Muir, ed. (1939). New England blockaded in 1814 : the journal of Henry Edward Napier, Lieutenant in HMS Nymphe. Salem, Massachusetts: Peabody Museum. OCLC861242124.
Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN978-1-86176-246-7.
External links
Paul Benyon 1940-2019. "Nymphe 1812". Index of 19th Century Naval Vessels and some of their movements. Retrieved 15 March 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
