Austin Bissell (died 1807) was an officer of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

. He was captain of the captured French

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

''Créole'' when she sank on a journey from

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

to England.Clowes, p. 318

Naval career

HMS ''Racoon''

On 18 October 1802,

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

Bissell was given command of the 16-gun

brig-sloop During the 18th and 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship of the Royal Navy with a single gun deck that carried up to 18 guns. The rating system of the Royal Navy covered all vessels with 20 or more guns; thus, the term encompassed all ...

.Winfield While under his command, ''Racoon'' took part in several notable actions.

HMS ''Creole''

On Tuesday 3 January 1804, Bissell took command of the captured French frigate ''Créole'' in

Port Royal Port Royal () was a town located at the end of the Palisadoes, at the mouth of Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1494 by the Spanish, it was once the largest and most prosperous city in the Caribbean, functioning as the cen ...

, Jamaica. However, the ship foundered en route to Britain; nearby British vessels saved Bissell and his crew.

Death

Bissell died in 1807 when the

74-gun The "seventy-four" was a type of two- decked sailing ship of the line, which nominally carried 74 guns. It was developed by the French navy in the 1740s, replacing earlier classes of 60- and 62-gun ships, as a larger complement to the recently de ...

, of which he was then captain, foundered in the Indian Ocean.

Bissell as an author

Bissell wrote a biography of

Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (India), in India ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ' ...

John Blankett Rear-Admiral John Blankett, (c. 1740 – 14 July 1801) was a Royal Navy officer of the late eighteenth century who served in three major wars, but was best known for his service in the Red Sea during the late stages of the French Revolutiona ...

's voyages in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

.Bissell The book was published in 1806 at the expense of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

Austin Bissell on Three Decks
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bissell, Austin Royal Navy officers 1807 deaths Year of birth unknown Deaths due to shipwreck at sea