HMS ''Andromeda'' was a 32-gun ''Hermione''-class

fifth rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a fifth rate was the second-smallest class of warships in a hierarchical system of six " ratings" based on size and firepower. Rating The rating system in the Royal N ...

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 ...

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 ...

. She was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

in 1781 and launched in 1784 . She was commissioned for the first time in 1788 when Captain

Prince William Henry Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh (25 November 1743 – 25 August 1805), was a grandson of George II and a younger brother of George III of the United Kingdom. Life Youth Prince William Henry was born at Leicester House ...

took command of her and sailed for the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

. Prince William Henry paid her off in 1789 and she was not commissioned again until 1790 in response to the

Spanish Armament The Nootka Crisis, also known as the Spanish Armament, was an international incident and political dispute between Spain and Great Britain triggered by a series of events revolving around sovereignty claims and rights of navigation and trade. It ...

. In 1792 ''Andromeda'' joined the Royal Navy's Evolution Squadron in the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

before sailing for the

Leeward Islands The Leeward Islands () are a group of islands situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean. Starting with the Virgin Islands east of Puerto Rico, they extend southeast to Guadeloupe and its dependencies. In Engl ...

where she stayed until the end of 1793 when Captain Lord Northesk brought her home. She was

refit Refitting or refit of boats and marine vessels includes repairing, fixing, restoring, renewing, mending, and renovating an old vessel. Refitting has become one of the most important activities inside a shipyard. It offers a variety of services for ...

ted for much of 1794 before in September joining the

Downs Station The Downs Station also known as the Commander-in-Chief, the Downs or Admiral Commanding at the Downs was a formation of the Kingdom of Great Britain and then the United Kingdom's Royal Navy based at Deal. It was a major command of the Royal Na ...

. Captain William Taylor assumed command in 1795, briefly sailing her to

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

before returning to the

North Sea Fleet The North Sea Fleet (NSF; ), concurrently the Northern Theater Command Navy (), is one of the three fleets of China's People's Liberation Army Navy. Headquartered in Qingdao, Shandong, the fleet provides naval forces to the Northern Theater Comma ...

in 1796. She stayed here for 3 years, seizing the 36-gun Batavian frigate ''Zefir'' in the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is a firth in Scotland, an inlet of the North Sea that separates Fife to its north and Lothian to its south. Further inland, it becomes the estuary of the River Forth and several other rivers. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate ...

in March 1798 and participating in the Raid on Dunkirk in July 1800. After another period of service in the Leeward Islands ''Andromeda'' returned home at the

Peace of Amiens The Treaty of Amiens (, ) temporarily ended hostilities between France, the Spanish Empire, and the United Kingdom at the end of the War of the Second Coalition. It marked the end of the French Revolutionary Wars; after a short peace it set t ...

and was

laid up A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed; they are partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed". ...

Portsmouth Dockyard His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth (HMNB Portsmouth) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport). Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth; it is loc ...

where she was

broken up Ship breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship scrapping, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships either as a source of Interchangeable parts, parts, which can be sol ...

in September 1811.

Construction

''Andromeda'' was a 32-gun, 12-pounder ''Hermione''-class

designed by Edward Hunt. Her class was designed as a lengthened version of the frigate. There were six ships in the ''Hermione'' class but after the construction of the first two the design was changed to raise the

waist The waist is the part of the Human abdomen, abdomen between the rib cage and Hip (anatomy), hips. Normally, it is the narrowest part of the torso. ''Waistline'' refers to the horizontal line where the waist is narrowest, or to the general appe ...

of the ships and as ''Andromeda'' was the first ship built to these new specifications the rest of the class was named after her. ''Andromeda'' was ordered to be built at

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

by John Sutton & Co. on 20 January 1781. She was

in May of the same year and launched on 21 April 1784 with the following dimensions: along the

gun deck The term gun deck used to refer to a deck aboard a ship that was primarily used for the mounting of cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical prope ...

, at the

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

, with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...

of and a depth in the

hold Hold may refer to: Physical spaces * Hold (compartment), interior cargo space * Baggage hold, cargo space on an airplane * Stronghold, a castle or other fortified place Arts, entertainment, and media * Hold (musical term), a pause, also called ...

of . She measured 714

tons burthen Builder's Old Measurement (BOM, bm, OM, and o.m.) is the method used in England from approximately 1650 to 1849 for calculating the cargo capacity of a ship. It is a volumetric measurement of cubic capacity. It estimated the tonnage of a ship b ...

. The

fitting out Fitting out, or outfitting, is the process in shipbuilding that follows the float-out/launching of a vessel and precedes sea trials. It is the period when all the remaining construction of the ship is completed and readied for delivery to her o ...

process for ''Andromeda'' was completed at

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

on 16 May 1788 after an almost four-year wait.

Service

She was first commissioned in March 1788, under the command of Captain

, the future King William IV. ''Andromeda'' joined the

North America Station The North America and West Indies Station was a formation (military), formation or Command (military formation), command of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom's Royal Navy stationed in North American waters from 174 ...

in June of the same year before sailing south for

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 ...

on 15 November where the prince was presented with a number of expensive gifts by the House of Assembly on 2 December.Phillips
''Andromeda'' (32) (1784)
Michael Phillips' Ships of the Old Navy. Retrieved 11 August 2021. She was

paid off Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to placing a warship i ...

in July 1789, with the captain created

Duke of Clarence Duke of Clarence was a substantive title created three times in the Peerage of England. The title Duke of Clarence and St Andrews has also been created in the Peerage of Great Britain, and Duke of Clarence and Avondale and Prince Leopold, Duke ...

and transferred to command the

ship of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactics in the Age of Sail, naval tactic known as the line of battl ...

HMS ''Valiant''. ''Andromeda'' then received a

between July and August 1790 and was recommissioned by Captain John Salisbury at the same time as part of the reaction to the

. When this crisis began to cool in September she was again paid off, receiving another refit between December 1791 and March 1792, this time at

Plymouth Dockyard His Majesty's Naval Base, Devonport (HMNB Devonport) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Portsmouth) and is the sole nuclear repair and refuelling facility for the Roya ...

. She was then sent, under the command of Salisbury again, to join the Evolution, or Experimental, Squadron in the west of the

. Some time after this ''Andromeda'' sailed for the

Leeward Islands Station The Leeward Islands Station originally known as the Commander-in-Chief at Barbadoes and the Leeward Islands was a formation or command of the Kingdom of Great Britain and then the United Kingdom's Royal Navy stationed at English Harbour, Antigua, ...

where, in July 1793, ''

Lloyd's List ''Lloyd's List'' is one of the world's oldest continuously running journals, having provided weekly shipping news in London as early as 1734. It was published daily until 2013 (when the final print issue, number 60,850, was published), and i ...

'' reported that she had recaptured the

slave ship Slave ships were large cargo ships specially built or converted from the 17th to the 19th century for transporting Slavery, slaves. Such ships were also known as "Guineamen" because the trade involved human trafficking to and from the Guinea ( ...

, Captain Kelsall, which the French privateer ''Liberty'' had captured. ''Andromeda'' brought ''Prosperity'' into

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

. At the end of the year ''Andromeda'' sailed from the

to England under the command of Captain Lord Northesk, where she was paid off. She was then refitted at Plymouth between June and September 1794 and recommissioned under the command of Captain Thomas Sotheby to serve on the

. In June 1795 Captain William Taylor assumed command of ''Andromeda'' when Sotheby left to command the ship of the line HMS ''Bombay Castle''; under him she sailed to

on 24 May 1796 before returning to serve in the

primarily off the coast of Scotland. Here she seized the 36-gun Batavian frigate ''Zefir'' alongside the sloops HMS ''Kite'' and HMS ''Ranger'' in the

in March 1798. Captain Henry Inman assumed command of ''Andromeda'' in March 1799, again on the Downs Station and based at

Sheerness Sheerness () is a port town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 13,249, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby ...

. On 4 May 1800 ''Andromeda'' was firing a salute in

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is located on the north coast of Kent and covers an area of long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and W ...

Roads when some powder was accidentally set alight and subsequently blew up, blinding fourteen members of the crew. Still on the Downs Station, she participated in the Raid on Dunkirk on 7 July where the British attacked four French frigates with a fleet of fire ships and small boats, capturing one of them, ''Désirée''. Inman was sent to command the captured French frigate and he was replaced in December by Captain James Bradby who sailed ''Andromeda'' again to the Leeward Islands, leaving on 1 December with the Governor of the Leeward Islands Lord Lavington on board. In June 1801 Captain Edward Durnford King took command of the frigate, transferring from the ship of the line HMS ''Leviathan''. King commanded ''Andromeda'' on station until November when he was forced to return to England due to an illness, being replaced on 15 January 1802 by Captain Charles Feilding. The

now being in effect, Feilding sailed ''Andromeda'' home from

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

on 21 August, reaching Portsmouth on 24 September. Here she was

Fate

''Andromeda'' spent the rest of her service out of commission at Portsmouth. She was finally

in September 1811.

Citations

References

* * * *

External links

Ships of the Old Navy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andromeda, Hms Frigates of the Royal Navy 1784 ships Ships built on the River Mersey