''Castor'' was built at Delfshaven and launched in 1786. The British captured her at the

capitulation of Saldanha Bay The capitulation of Saldanha Bay was the surrender to the British of a Batavian expeditionary force sent to recapture the Dutch Cape Colony in 1796. In 1795, early in the War of the First Coalition, French troops overran the Dutch Republic wh ...

in August 1796. Because there was already an HMS ''Castor'', they renamed her HMS ''Saldanha''. After she arrived at Plymouth 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 ...

fitted her as a receiving ship in November 1797; she was sold in 1806.

Career

In 1796 the

Batavian Republic The Batavian Republic (; ) was the Succession of states, successor state to the Dutch Republic, Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on 19 January 1795 after the Batavian Revolution and ended on 5 June 1806, with the acce ...

decided to make an attempt to reconquer the Cape. To that end it sent nine ships of the

Batavian Navy The Batavian Navy () was the navy of the Batavian Republic which existed from 1795 to 1806. Founded in May 1795 after the Dutch Republic was Low Countries theatre of the War of the First Coalition, overrun by France during the French Revolutionar ...

(including ''Castor'', under Captain Claris), with 2,000 sailors and soldiers under the command of (temporary) Rear-Admiral Engelbertus Lucas in February 1796. This expedition arrived at Saldanha Bay on 6 August 1796, though ''Castor'' may have arrived a few days earlier. On 17 August the British captured the Dutch expeditionary force at Saldanha Bay in a bloodless "battle". Most of the sailors and soldiers in the Dutch force were Germans and nearly all entered British service, either with the Royal Navy or 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 ...

. Admiral Lucas and the Dutch officers returned to Europe in the

cartel A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collaborate with each other as well as agreeing not to compete with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. A cartel is an organization formed by producers ...

''Gertruida''. The Royal Navy commissioned ''Saldanha'' under Captain

George Burlton Rear-Admiral Sir George Burlton KCB (died 21 September 1815) was an officer of the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. Naval career Burlton was commissioned as a Lieutenant on 15 September 1777David Bonner Smith, The Commissioned Sea Offic ...

in November. (He and three other

post captain Post-captain or post captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy. The term "post-captain" was descriptive only; it was never used as a title in the form "Post-Captain John Smith". The term served to di ...

s had sailed as passengers on to Cape Town late in the year to take command of captured ships.) In April 1797 Burlton then sailed ''Saldanha'' back to Britain escorting a convoy. In November she was fitted at Plymouth as a receiving ship. She was formally named and registered on 22 November 1797.

Fate

By May 1805, ''Saldanha'' was in

ordinary Ordinary or The Ordinary often refer to: Music * ''Ordinary'' (EP) (2015), by South Korean group Beast * ''Ordinary'' (album) (2011), by Every Little Thing * "Ordinary" (Alex Warren song) (2025) * "Ordinary" (Two Door Cinema Club song) (2016 ...

. The Admiralty offered ''Saldahna'' for sale at

Hamoaze The Hamoaze (; ) is an estuarine stretch of the English tidal River Tamar, between its confluence with the River Lynher and Plymouth Sound. Etymology The name first appears as ''ryver of Hamose'' in 1588. The first element is thought to refer ...

in December 1805; she was sold the following year.

Citations

References

* ''Records of the Cape Colony from February 1793, Volume 5'' (1899). * ''Rotterdams jaarboekje'' (1900). Historisch Genootschap Roterodamum. (W. L. & J. Brusse). * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Castor (1786) 1786 ships Captured ships Frigates of the Royal Navy Ships built in Rotterdam Frigates of the Dutch Republic Frigates of the Batavian Republic