HMS Nymphe (1812)

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

HMS Nymphe was a 38-gun fifth rate frigate 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]

History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Nymphe
Ordered	14 December 1810
Builder	George Parsons, Bursledon
Laid down	November 1811
Launched	13 April 1812
Commissioned	May 1812
Fate	Broken up
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	38-gun Fifth rate frigate
Tons burthen	1087+9⁄94 (bm)
Length	154 ft 2 in (47.0 m) (gundeck)
Beam	39 ft 8 in (12.1 m)
Depth of hold	14 ft 4 in (4.4 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	284 officers and men (later 300)
Armament	Upper deck: 28 × 18-pounder guns QD: 2 × 9-pounder guns + 12 × 32-pounder carronades Fc: 2 × 9-pounder guns + 2 × 32-pounder carronades

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]

The Nymphe, accompanied by the sloop-of-war HMS Herald (18 guns), the brig-of-war HMS Thistle (12 guns), the schooner HMS Pigmy (10 guns), and two bomb vessels, was ordered to create a distraction near the Mississippi.^[8] The Nymphe did not proceed up river.^[9]

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

1. A first-class share of the prize money was worth £34 12s 9+1⁄4d; a sixth-class share, that of an ordinary seaman, was worth 7s 10+3⁄4d.^[7]
2. 'Notice is hereby given to the officers and companies of His Majesty's ships Aetna, Alceste, Anaconda, Armide, Asia, Bedford, Belle Poule, Borer, Bucephalus, Calliope, Carron, Cydnus, Dictator, Diomede, Dover, Fox, Gorgon, Herald, Hydra, Meteor, Norge, Nymphe, Pigmy, Ramillies, Royal Oak, Seahorse, Shelburne, Sophie, Thames, Thistle, Tonnant, Trave, Volcano, and Weser, that they will be paid their respective proportions of prize money.'

Citations

1. Winfield 2008, p. 173.
2. James 1902b, p. 163.
3. James 1902a, p. 414.
4. James 1902b, p. 214.
5. Letter dated 9 October 1914 within ADM 1/2347 - Letters from Captains, Surnames P: 1814 stating 'the Commander in Chief has already appointed Captain Hugh Pigot to the command of that ship. [Nymphe]'
6. "No. 17719". The London Gazette. 26 June 1821. pp. 1353–1354.
7. "No. 17730". The London Gazette. 28 July 1821. p. 1561.
8. 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.'
9. 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.'
10. James 1818, p. 574.

References

• James, William (1818). A full and correct account of the military occurrences of the late war between Great Britain and the United States of America; with an appendix, and plates. Volume II. London: Printed for the author and distributed by Black et al. OCLC 2226903.
• James, William (1902a) [1837]. The naval history of Great Britain (1809–1813). Vol. 5 (New six volume ed.). London: Macmillan.
• James, William (1902b) [1837]. The naval history of Great Britain (1813–1827). Vol. 6 (New six volume ed.). London: Macmillan.
• O'Byrne, William Richard (1849). "Pigot, Hugh" . A Naval Biographical Dictionary . John Murray – via Wikisource.
• Marshall, John (1825). "Epworth, Farmery Predam" . Royal Naval Biography. Vol. 2, part 2. London: Longman and company. p. 564.
• Whitehill, Walter Muir, ed. (1939). New England blockaded in 1814 : the journal of Henry Edward Napier, Lieutenant in HMS Nymphe. Salem, Massachusetts: Peabody Museum. OCLC 861242124.
• Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-86176-246-7.

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)