HMS Orpheus (1809)

HMS Orpheus was a 36-gun Apollo-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy launched in 1809 from Deptford Dockyard. She was broken up in 1819.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Orpheus.

History
United Kingdom
Name: HMS Orpheus
Ordered: 27 February 1808
Builder: Deptford Dockyard
Laid down: August 1808
Launched: 12 August 1809
Completed: By 21 September 1809
Fate: Broken up in August 1819
General characteristics
Class and type: Apollo-class frigate
Tons burthen: 947​28⁄94 (bm)
Length: 145 ft (44.2 m) (gundeck); 121 ft 8 3⁄4 in (37.1 m) (keel)
Beam: 38 ft 3 in (11.7 m)
Depth of hold: 13 ft 4 in (4.1 m)
Sail plan: Full-rigged ship
Complement: 264
Armament:
  • Upper deck: 26 × 18-pounder guns
  • QD: 2 × 9-pounder guns + 10 × 32-pounder carronades
  • Fc: 2 × 9-pounder guns + 4 × 32-pounder carronades
Plan of an Apollo-class frigate dated 1803

Construction

Ordered on 27 February 1807 and laid down in August 1808 at Deptford Dockyard. Launched on 12 August 1809 and completed on 21 September 1809.

Service

Orpheus also saw service in the War of 1812. While in Long Island Sound, she chased the American privateer Holkar and ran her aground, before destroying Holkar by cannon fire.[1]

Orpheus was part of the British patrolling squadron in Long Island Sound. When the British fleet encountered an American fleet, commanded by Stephen Decatur it chased them to New London where the American fleet escaped. The British squadron there formed a blockade, confining the American fleet until the end of the war.[2]

On 27 April Orpheus chased the American ship Whampoa on shore near Newport, Rhode Island. Whampoa had been sailing from Lorient. The British took possession of Whampoa but then abandoned her due to fire from the shore.[3]

Fate

She was broken up at Chatham Dockyard in August 1819.

Citations and references

Citations

  1. Maclay, p.441-442.
  2. Tucker, 2012 pp.293-304
  3. Lloyd's List №4778.

References

  • Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
  • Gardiner, Robert; The Heavy Frigate, Conway Maritime Press, London 1994.
  • Lyon, David and Winfield, Rif; The Sail and Steam Navy List, 1815–1889, Chatham Publishing, 2004. ISBN 1-86176-032-9.
  • Maclay, Edgar Stanton, 1863-1919 (1924), A history of American privateers / by Edgar Stanton Maclay, AppletonCS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Tucker, Spencer C. (2012). The Encyclopedia Of the War of 1812. ABC-CLIO. p. 1034. ISBN 9781851099573.
  • Winfield, Rif; British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates, 2nd edition, Seaforth Publishing, 2008. ISBN 978-1-84415-717-4.
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