HMS Argo (1781)

HMS ''Argo'' was a 44-gun fifth-rate ''Roebuck''-class ship of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1781 from Howdon Dock. The French captured her in 1783, but 36 hours later the British recaptured her. She then distinguished herself in the French Revolutionary Wars by capturing several prizes, though she did not participate in any major actions. She also served in the Napoleonic Wars. She was sold in 1816.

Baltic

''Argo'' was commissioned in March 1781 under Captain John Butchart. On 29 October ''Argo'' sailed for the Baltic with , under the command of Captain Horatio Nelson and , arriving at Elsinor on 4 November. On 8 December the squadron, now under the command of Captain Douglas in , escorted a convoy of 280 vessels to Britain, arriving on 22 December.

Gold Coast

Early in 1782, ''Argo'' joined Captain Thomas Shirley in the 50-gun ship and the sloop-of-war off the Dutch Gold Coast. Britain was at war with The Netherlands and before ''Argo'' arrived Shirley captured the small Dutch forts at Mouri ( Fort Nassau - 20 guns), Kormantin (Courmantyne or Fort Amsterdam - 32 guns), Apam ( Fort Lijdzaamheid or Fort Patience - 22 guns), Senya Beraku (Berku, or Fort Barracco, or Fort Goede Hoop - 18 guns), and Accra (Fort Crêvecoeur or Ussher Fort - 32 guns). ''Argo'' provided a landing party of 50 men who assisted Governor Mills to take Komenda ( Fort Komenda).

Capture and recapture

In 1782 ''Argo'' was on her passage to the West Indies under Captain Butchart when she captured the French ship ''Dauphin'', nominally of 64 guns but armed en flute and so sailing with only 26 guns mounted. ''Dauphin'' had a cargo of military stores and provisions, some brass cannons and mortars, and two hundred soldiers, all bound for Martinique.

Governor Thomas Shirley of the Leeward Islands had ''Argo'' carry him to Tortola where he had official business. ''Argo'' stayed there three weeks until Shirley was ready to return to Antigua. The French found out about this and sent the 36-gun and the 32-gun to intercept him.

On 16 February 1783, ''Argo'' and the two French frigates met. After a five-hour action they captured her. Not only did they out gun ''Argo'', but the sea was so rough that she could not open her lower ports. ''Argo'' had lost thirteen men killed and had suffered a number of wounded, as well as having suffered damage to her masts and rigging. Governor Shirley had stayed on deck throughout the engagement.

About 36 hours later, the 74-gun third rate , under Captain Charles Saxton was coming from Jamaica when she encountered the two French frigates and their prize, ''Argo''. The frigates fled, leaving ''Invincible'' to recapture ''Argo''. Captain J. Douglas briefly took command.

After a court martial acquitted her officers, Admiral Sir Hugh Pigot reappointed them. Then Captain J. Douglas briefly took command. She returned to England after the Peace of Paris (1783) and was paid off in April 1784.

''Argo'' underwent repairs at Sheerness between July 1785 and October 1786. She then was fitted as a troopship at Chatham from about June 1790 to April 1791. She was recommissioned in February 1791 under Commander Sandford Tatham, who sailed her for Halifax on 11 May. ''Argo'' was paid off in June 1792.

French Revolutionary Wars

Captain William Clarke recommissioned ''Argo'' in May 1793. Captain Richard Rundle Burgess (or Burges) replaced him in February 1795.

In September 1795, ''Argo'' was part of the force escorting 63 merchants of the Levant convoy from Gibraltar. The other escorts were the 74-gun ships and , the 32-gun frigates and HMS ''Lutine'', the fireship , and the recently captured ''Censeur''. The convoy called at Gibraltar on 25 September, at which point thirty-two of the merchants left that night in company with ''Argo'' and ''Juno''. The rest of the fleet sailed together, reaching Cape St Vincent by the early morning of 7 October. At this point a sizeable French squadron was sighted bearing up, consisting of six ships of the line and three frigates under Rear-Admiral Joseph de Richery. Eventually ''Censeur'' had to strike, and the remaining British warships and one surviving merchant of the convoy made their escape. On 17 October ''Argo'' and ''Juno'' brought in their convoy of 32 vessels from Gibraltar.

Captain John Stevens Hall took command of ''Argo'' in June 1796.

1798

In March 1798 Captain James Bowen took over command of ''Argo''. On 5 May she encountered Captain Sir Sidney Smith, who was in an open boat in the Channel, having escaped via Havre de Grace from "the Temple" in Paris.

''Argo'' sailed for the Mediterranean in September 1798. ''Argo'', HMS ''Pomone'', and HMS ''Cormorant'' convoyed a large fleet of merchantmen and transports to Lisbon. The convoy included the East Indiamen ''Royal Charlotte'', ''Cuffnells'', , and . On 25 September the convoy encountered a French fleet of nine sail, consisting of one eighty-gun ship and eight frigates. The convoy commander signalled the East Indiamen to form line of battle with the Royal Navy ships, and the convoy to push for Lisbon. This manoeuvre, and the warlike appearance of the Indiamen, deterred the French admiral from attacking them; the whole fleet reached Lisbon in safety.

''Argo'' remained in the Mediterranean, serving with Commodore Duckworth. On 29 September ''Argo'' captured the ''Nostra Seniora de la Aldea''.

In November ''Argo'' participated in the reduction of Menorca. ''Argo'' supported the landing of British troops. When four or five Spanish vessels were spotted, the British squadron sailed to catch them. The Spaniards consisted of four frigates and a sloop. The four Spanish frigates - the ''Flora'', ''Casilda'', ''Proserpine'' and ''Pomona'' - had been on their way from Barcelona to Mahon with the payroll of eight million ''reales'' for the troops there when they encountered sloop-of-war and captured her on 12 November. The Spanish frigates escaped their pursuers and sailed back to Cartagena, Spain.

Duckworth detached ''Argo'' to pursue the sloop and on 13 November she retook ''Peterel'' and her 72-man Spanish prize crew under the command of Don Antonio Franco Gandrada, Second Captain of ''Flora''. Bownen put his own prize crew of 46 officers seamen and marines aboard.

On 22 November ''Argo'' captured the Spanish ship ''Virgin Solidad'' at sea. The ''Virgin Solidad'' was carrying a cargo of rags to Barcelona. At some point ''Argo'' also captured the ''Madona del Rosario''.

1799

On 6 February 1799, ''Argo'' and surprised two Spanish frigates at anchor near the south point of the Bahia de Alcudia on Majorca. The Spanish set sail with the British in pursuit. A violent westerly gale came up that took away ''Leviathan''s main top-sail. After dark the Spanish frigates separated but ''Leviathan'' had fallen behind and saw neither the separation nor ''Argo''s signal that she chase the one to port. ''Leviathan'' had nearly caught up with ''Argo'' when ''Argo'' got alongside the ''Santa Theresa'' about midnight. ''Argo'' fired a broadside that wounded two men and badly damaged ''Santa Theresa''s rigging. At this point the Spaniard surrendered. She was of upwards of 950 tons burthen, carrying 42 guns plus coehorns and swivel guns. In addition to her crew of 280 seamen and marines under the command of Don Pablo Perez, she had 250 soldiers on board. ''Santa Theresa'' had recently been completely refurbished and provisioned for a four-month cruise. Her consort ''Proserpine'', which had escaped, though smaller, was equally well-armed.

Then on 16 February , ''Argo'' and ''Leviathan'' attacked the town of Cambrelles. Once the defenders had abandoned their battery, the boats went in. The British dismounted the guns, burnt five settees and brought out another five settees or tartans laden with wine and wheat. One tartan, the ''Velon Maria'', was a letter of marque, armed with one brass and two iron 12-pounders and two 3-pounders. She had a crew of 14 men.

In May ''Argo'' sailed to Algiers to arrange with the Dey for a supply of fresh provisions for the British forces in Menorca. While there Bowen achieved the release of six British subjects that the Algerians had held as slaves for more than 14 years.

In July 1799, ''Argo'' carried Admiral the Earl StVincent home from Gibraltar at the end of his time in command of the Mediterranean fleet.

On 6 August ''Argo'' captured the Spanish sloop ''Infanta Amelia'' off Portugal. She was a packet ship, which the Royal Navy took in as . After her capture, ''Infanta Amelia'' took Earl St Vincent, who had been aboard ''Argo'' after resigning his command of the Mediterranean station, to Portsmouth, arriving there on 18 August.

1800

In early 1800 ''Argo'' captured three privateers: ''Independente'' (1 March), ''San Antonio'' (2 March) and ''Arlequin'' (1 May). On 18 March, the French privateer ''Vengeance'', of 16 guns and 135 men, captured at Lat. 42° 16' Long. 16°, the packet ''Jane'', which was sailing from Falmouth to Barbados and Jamaica. A week later ''Argo'' recaptured the ''Jane'' and sent her back into Falmouth.

On 19 August 1800 ''Argo'' captured the Spanish lugger ''St Antonio'' in ballast. ''Argo'' sent her in to Plymouth.

On 21 October, after a 15-hour chase, ''Argo'' captured the Spanish letter of marque ''San Fernando'', which was pierced for 22 guns but carried twelve long 6-pounders. She had a crew of 53 men. ''San Fernando'' was five days out of Santander and sailing to Vera Cruz with a cargo of iron bars and bale goods that belonged to the Royal Philippine Company. She was also carrying government dispatches but had thrown them overboard before the British boarded her.

Bowen also reported, but without giving further details, that during the same cruise he had captured four merchant vessels, two of which he sent in to port as prizes and two of which he sank. The two sent in were the French brig ''Maria Louisa'', in ballast, and the Spanish barque ''Vincento'', carrying iron ore. The vessels that he sank were also Spanish barques carrying iron ore.

1801

On 14 January 1801 ''Argo'' was off Ferrol serving as escort for , , and , which were bound for India, and a whaler. They encountered a small Spanish ship that ''Argo'' captured.

Then in March, ''Argo'' brought into Plymouth the Spanish ship ''Bolientorio'', which had been sailing from Havana to Tenerife.

''Argo'' and escorted five transports carrying the 85th Regiment of Foot and forty artillerymen from Cowes on 24 June. They arrived in Portsmouth on 28 June and then sailed again on a "secret mission". They had to put back into Torbay on 11 July.

Later in 1801 the East India Company gave Bowen 400 guineas for the purchase of plate in gratitude for his having escorted from St Helena to England ten vessels either belonging to the company or carrying its cargo. Then in January 1802 the British merchants of Madeira gave Captain Bowen a sword for his services.

Napoleonic Wars

Captain Benjamin Hallowell commissioned ''Argo'' in August 1802, and in November sailed to the African coast, returning the next year. Next, she sailed to the West Indies where she participated in the captures of St Lucia and Tobago.

On 12 September 1803 ''Argo'' captured the French privateer cutter ''Oiseau''. ''Oiseau'' was armed with ten guns and had a crew of 68 men under the command of ''Enseigne de Vaisseau'' Nicholas Brune Daubin. Fire from ''Argo'' killed ''Oiseau''s second lieutenant during the pursuit. ''Oiseau'' was nine days out of Rochfort and taken nothing. That same month, on the 24th, ''Argo'' recaptured the brig ''Rover'', which the privateer ''Adventure'', of Bordeaux, had captured as ''Rover'' was sailing from Bristol to Newfoundland.

On 25 December a tremendous gale hit Portsmouth and several outward-bound West Indiamen drifted from their anchors. One of them, the ''Matthew'', bound to Jamaica, ran into ''Argo''. In doing so, she carried away ''Argo''s top mast and yards. Other West Indiamen came on shore. Captain Thomas Le Marchant Gosselin commanded her briefly in 1804 before taking command of in February 1804. On 31 January, 1804 she arrived at Malta from England on the way to Alexandria transporting one of the Beys of the Momalucks of Egypt. She and HMS Agincourt arrived at Malta from Egypt 15 March, 1804.

Captain Edward Codrington took command in July 1804 and Captain George Aldham replaced him in May 1805.''Naval Chronicle'', Vol. 39, p.345. A Captain Rickets briefly took command in July 1806 only to have Captain Stephen Thomas Digby replace him within the month.

In 1806 Digby again sailed ''Argo'' to the coast of Africa. In 1808 she was at Jamaica. In 1809, ''Argo'' and the brig-sloop were blockading the town of Santo Domingo while a Spanish force invested it from the landward side. The British and Spaniards agreed a joint attack. The two British vessels came in close to the detached fort of St. Jerome and silenced it with their guns while losing only two men wounded. However the Spanish land attack failed.

On 9 March 1809, ''Argo''s boats cut out the French navy felucca ''Joseph''. ''Joseph'' was armed with a brass 9-pounder gun and two 3-pounders. She had a crew of 53 men under the command of ''Enseign de Vaisseau'' Jean Botin. ''Joseph'' was anchored under the guns of several shore batteries at St. Domingo. Her crew put up a strong resistance that, together with the fire from the batteries, wounded seven of ''Argo''s men. However, most of the French crew then fled ashore with the result that ''Argo'' only captured 19 of them. ''Joseph'' arrived at Jamaica on 5 April.

On 8 July 1809 ''Argo'' was off Havanah, escorting the fleet from Jamaica.

In January 1810 Captain Frederick Warren became captain of ''Argo'', after serving as acting captain of . He sailed her for St. Helena and from there he convoyed a large fleet of East Indiamen to England.Marshall (1824), Vol. 2, p.415-6.

On 28 November he faced a court martial on board ''Gladiator'' at Portsmouth. The charge was that he had failed to follow orders to proceed to Quebec to bring home a convoy. He argued that the reason he had not sailed was that it was late in the year and that the weather was bad. The court accepted his reasoning and acquitted him.

Early in 1811 ''Argo'' carried Sir Joseph Sydney Yorke to Portugal, together with reinforcements for the British army there. ''Argo'' then took out an Algerine Ambassador. Lastly, she sailed for Constantinople with Sir Robert Liston and his suite on 6 April 1812.

Between 22 and 29 August 1812, ''Argo'' detained the ''Eliza'', Leslie, master, sailing from Malta, and sent her into Gibraltar.

Captain Cornelius Quinton replaced Warren in October 1812. ''Argo'' then served as the flagship for Vice-Admiral Charles Stirling. ''Argo'' sailed for Jamaica on 22 January 1813.

In April 1813 Captain William Fothergill took command of ''Argo''. She then served as Rear-Admiral W. Brown's flagship on the Jamaica station.

On 1 June ''Argo'' recaptured ''Cantonada''. ''Cantonada'' had been sailing from Cadiz to Havana when a Carthaginian privateer captured her. The recaptured ''Cantonada'' reached Jamaica on 24 June. On 4 June ''Argo'' captured the ''Fly'', which had been sailing from Jacmel to Wilmington. ''Fly'' arrived at Jamaica on 17 April. In September ''Argo'' was to escort a convoy to Bermuda.''Lloyd's List'

- accessed 15 December 2013.

In 1815 Captain Donald M'Cloud took command. ''Argo'' then served on the Downs station as flagship for Rear-Admiral Matthew Scott.

Fate

''Argo'' was sold on 11 January 1816 for £2,600.

Notes

Citations

References

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* Grant, James (1897) ''Recent British battles on land and sea''. (London: Cassell).
* John Sykes, ''Historical Register of Remarkable events'', vol 1, p. 320., Newcastle upon Tyne 1833.
* Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas J Spence Lyne, ''Something About A Sailor'', Jarrolds Publishers, London 1940.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Argo (1781)
Ships built on the River Tyne
1781 ships
Frigates of the Royal Navy