HMS ''Apollo'', the fourth ship 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 ...

to be named for the Greek god

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

, was a

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 a nominal 36 guns. She was the name ship of the s. ''Apollo'' was launched in 1799, and wrecked with heavy loss of life in 1804.

French Revolutionary Wars

''Apollo'' was built at

Deptford Wharf Deptford Wharf in London, United Kingdom, is on the Thames Path southeast of South Dock, Rotherhithe, South Dock Marina, across the culverted mouth of the Earl's Sluice and north of Aragon Tower. In the late 18th and early 19th century this are ...

in 1799, taking her name from the fifth-rate , which had been wrecked off

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

in January. She was commissioned in October under Captain

Peter Halkett Admiral Sir Peter Halkett, 6th Baronet (''c.'' 1765 – 7 October 1839) was a senior Royal Navy officer of the early nineteenth century who is best known for his service in the French Revolutionary Wars. The younger son a Scottish baronet, Halke ...

– who had commanded the previous ''Apollo'' when she was lost – and was posted to 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 ...

, cruising there and escorting convoys to Britain. While she was escorting a convoy on 11 January 1800 ''Apollo'' saw a suspicious vessel some distance away. After a four-hour chase she captured the Spanish warship ''Aquilla''. ''Aquilla'' was pierced for 22 guns on the main deck but had only four mounted. She was under the command of Don Mariano Merino and was on a cargo voyage from

Buenos Ayres Buenos Ayres is a village in Trinidad and Tobago. It is located in southwestern Trinidad, north of Erin and southeast of Point Fortin. Buenos Ayres is the hometown of the calypsonian Cro Cro. The Erin Savannas, one of the last remaining natu ...

A Coruña A Coruña (; ; also informally called just Coruña; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality in Galicia, Spain. It is Galicia's second largest city, behind Vigo. The city is the provincial capital of the province ...

. At the time, the sloop was in company with ''Apollo''. At daybreak on 15 January, ''Apollo'' sighted a vessel that proceeded to attempt to evade closer scrutiny. After a short chase ''Apollo'' recaptured , which had been part of the convoy that ''Apollo'' was escorting, but which had gotten separated on 1 January at the onset of gale. On 13 January the French

privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...

ship , of 20 guns, had captured her. ''Apollo'' captured ''Cantabria'' (or ''Cántabro''), of 18 guns, off

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.USS Ganges. *Spanish warship of 18 guns and 110 men, with "a valuable cargo"; and a *Spanish

xebec A xebec ( or ), also spelled zebec, was a Mediterranean sailing ship that originated in the barbary states (Algeria), it was used mostly for trading. Xebecs had a long overhanging bowsprit and aft-set mizzen mast. The term can also refer to a ...

sailing from

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to Vera Cruz. On 10 November, ''Apollo'' chased a xebec and then, coming up on a

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the l ...

, chased and captured her. The brig was ''Resolution'', a sloop of war, of 18 guns and 149 men, under the command of Don Francisco Oarrichena. She was the former British navy

cutter Cutter may refer to: Tools * Bolt cutter * Box cutter * Cigar cutter * Cookie cutter * Cutter (hydraulic rescue tool) * Glass cutter * Meat cutter * Milling cutter * Paper cutter * Pizza cutter * Side cutter People * Cutter (surname) * Cutt ...

''Resolution'' and had sailed from Vera Cruz three days earlier. After securing the prize, ''Apollo'' set out after the xebec, sighting her an hour after daybreak. ''Apollo'' finally captured the xebec ''Marte'', of 75 tons, at three in the afternoon. She had been sailing from Vera Cruz for Havana. ''Apollo'' towed ''Resolution'' until 27 November, when she lost her mast. ''Resolution'' was in such an irreparable state Halkett destroyed her. Then on 7 December ''Apollo'' captured the

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

''St Joseph'', of 70 tons. In addition to these three vessels, between 3 August 1800 and 3 January 1801, ''Apollo'' captured two other Spanish merchant vessels: *brig ''Santa Trinidad'', of 140 tons, carrying dry goods; *

polacre A polacca (or ''polacre'') is a type of seventeenth- to nineteenth-century sailing vessel, similar to the xebec. The name is the feminine of "Polish" in the Italian language. The polacca was frequently seen in the Mediterranean. It had two or th ...

''V. Del Carmen'', of 100 tons, carrying dry goods. On 18 February 1801, ''Apollo'' captured the French 14-gun privateer ''Vigilante''. Head money for ''Aquilla'', ''Cantabria'' and ''Vigilante'' was paid in August 1828. In mid-July 1801, ''Apollo'' picked up the crew of from Vera Cruz. ''Meleager'' had wrecked on the Triangles Shoals in the Bay of

Campeche Campeche, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Campeche, is one of the 31 states which, with Mexico City, make up the Administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. Located in southeast Mexico, it is bordered by the sta ...

on 9 June but the crew had been able to take to the boats in time and sail to Vera Cruz. ''Apollo'' returned to Portsmouth in March 1802, to be paid off after 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 ...

. However, she was rushed into commission again in October of that year, for service on the Irish station under Captain John William Taylor Dixon.

Napoleonic Wars

On 21 June 1803, ''Apollo'' captured the French ship ''Bon Accord''. Then on 29 June, ''Apollo'' captured the French navy brig ''Dart'', which sailing from Martinique to

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

. She was armed with four guns and had a 45-man crew. She and several other vessels had been carrying cargo to Martinique. The Royal Navy took her into service as . In July 1803 ''

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 the frigate had captured ''Demerara Packet'', but that the French privateer had re-captured her. Then re-captured ''Demerara Packet''.

Fate

On 26 March 1804, ''Apollo'' sailed from

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

with a convoy of sixty-seven merchantmen, accompanied by , immediately encountering a strong gale. At 3:30 in the morning of 2 April, ''Apollo'' unexpectedly ran aground when their calculations showed them well offshore. In the morning ''Apollo'' discovered that she had run aground about nine miles south of Cape Mondego on the coast of Portugal. Twenty-five or six of the vessels in the convoy, traveling closely behind due to the low visibility and bad weather, were also wrecked. Next day some more vessels wrecked. In all, 29 vessels ran aground. All the boats of the frigate were destroyed, and it took two days to transfer ''Apollo''s crew to land. Sixty-two officers and men died; around twenty of the crew died in the first few hours, but most perished of exposure waiting to be rescued. Some men died on shore from drinking spirits. The number of dead in the merchant vessels is not known, but the ''Naval Chronicle'' reported that "dead bodies were every day floating ashore, and pieces of wreck covered the beach upwards of ten miles". Some vessels had lost their entire crews; others had lost from two to 12 men each. ''Carysfort'' had shifted course on the evening of 1 April, and so escaped grounding. She gathered the 38 surviving vessels and proceeded with the convoy.''The New annual register, or General repository of history, politics, and literature'' (1805), pp.54-5. Some of the survivors from ''Apollo'' had to walk 18 miles to Figuera. From there a schooner carried them to Lisbon. brought them back to Portsmouth. At the time, accounts blamed strong currents. Other accounts blamed the carelessness of the Commodore. Later it was discovered that ''Apollo'' had taken on board an iron tank, but that no one had adjusted her

compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with No ...

for the influence of this large magnetic mass. Consequently, a small error in direction accumulated over the course of the five days; at the time ''Apollo'' struck Dixon thought she was forty or so miles out to sea.''The companion to the British almanac, for the year 1874'', p. 53. London, 1875. Because the convoy had endured bad weather since leaving Cork, no one had taken sightings that would have enabled them to correct their estimates of their position. Instead, they had relied on an approximately known speed and a biased heading for their estimate.

Notes

Citations

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Apollo (1799) Apollo-class frigates Frigates of the Royal Navy Maritime incidents in 1804 Shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean 1799 ships Ships built in Deptford