HMS Horatio (1807)

HMS ''Horatio'' was a Royal Navy 38-gun fifth-rate , built out of fir timbers at the yard of George Parsons in Bursledon.

Construction

It was launched on 23 April 1807 and fitting out was completed at Portsmouth Dockyard by 4 August 1807. Captain George Scott was given charge of the ship in June 1807.

Napoleonic Wars

''Horatio'' was soon deployed to take part in the West Indies Campaign as part of the ongoing Napoleonic Wars.

Capture of ''Junon''

On the morning of 10 February 1809, ''Horatio'' along with the sloop came upon the French frigate pursuing a British brig-of-war () about north of Anguilla. Under the command of George Scott, ''Horatio'' engaged in battle the 44-gun ''Junon'', commanded by Augustin Rousseau. The French frigate aimed above ''Horatio''s decks, destroying its masts and rigging and causing many injuries, including to Captain Scott, who was incapacitated by a grape-shot blast to the shoulder, and to his first lieutenant, Manley Hall Dixon. Lieutenant George Douglas took over command for the rest of the 95-minute battle, at which point the badly damaged ''Junon'' attempted to flee.

At this point the brig ''Superieure'' and frigate arrived in the area and joined the battle. After a short exchange of fire with ''Latona'', ''Junon'' surrendered. In the engagement seven sailors on ''Horatio'' were killed and 26 wounded (17 of them seriously). On ''Latona'' there were six minor injuries. Thomas Colville, a seaman on ''Driver'', was also badly injured. Scott described the British loss as "by no means Considerable" in relation to the "dreadful loss of the Enemy" suffered by the 323-man crew of ''Junon''. He counted 130 French sailors killed and wounded, including Rousseau, who died shortly afterwards.

The hull of ''Horatio'' suffered only minor damage, but the masts and rigging were essentially destroyed. In contrast, the hull of ''Junon'' was "most wonderfully cut up" and took on a great deal of water until the shot holes were patched.

The heroism of the crew of ''Horatio'' was recognized in 1847 when the Navy issued as clasp to the Naval General Service Medal inscribed "''Horatio'' 10 Feby. 1809". Thirteen surviving crew members from ''Horatio'' received this clasp.

Later action during the Napoleonic Wars

A year later, on 21 February 1810, still apparently under Scott's command, ''Horatio'' gave chase to ''Necessité'', followed by an hour's "running action" resulting in the capture of the French ship without injuries on either side. ''Necessité'', which was built as a 40-gun ship but only carried 28 guns at the time, had a crew of 186 men and was carrying a cargo of naval stores and provisions from Brest to Mauritius.

Scott later went on to become captain of , but was forced to resign in 1814 due to pain from the injuries he received during the battle with ''Junon''.

By 1812, ''Horatio'' was under the command of Captain Lord George Stuart. On 2 August, boats from the frigate captured two Danish vessels, under the command of Lieutenant Hans Buderhof, and their prize, an American vessel of about 400 tons burthen ( bm). The two Danish vessels were schooner ''No. 114'' (with six 6-pounders and 30 men), and cutter ''No. 97'' (with four 6-pounders and 22 men). Nine men from ''Horatio'' were killed and 16 wounded, of whom two died later; the Danes lost ten men killed and 13 wounded.

On 8 December 1813 ''Horatio'', under the command of Captain Lord George Stuart, and captured the island of Showen during the Dutch uprising. The two British ships landed a small joint force of marines and seamen, who met no opposition as the French surrendered first. In addition to prisoners, guns, and arms, the British re-captured a French gunboat and a brig of 14 guns that turned out to be . ''Bustler'' had been serving as station ship at Ziericksee. was in company with ''Horatio'' and ''Amphion''.

On 19 May 1814, ''Horatio'' arrived in Barbados from Bermuda along with a squadron of seven other British warships. On 2 June, it was in Halifax, Nova Scotia, having reportedly arrived from Cork and Newfoundland.

The ship's voyages in the period from 12 August 1814 to 10 January 1816 are known in some detail due to the discovery of the illustrated logbook of midshipman John Smith Gould. During this period ''Horatio'' travelled to and painted Funchal, Madeira, the Ascension Islands, St. Helena, the Cape of Good Hope, Madras, Malacca, Singapore, Manilla, Macao, Ansons Bay and Rio de Janeiro. The log contains watercolours of icebergs that Gould called "ice islands" and pre- and post-eruption views of a volcano.

Later service

The ship spent 1816 in the East Indies, with calls at ports in India and China. At the end of 1816, ''Horatio'' was ordered home, and paid off at the beginning of 1817. The following year, the ship remained out of commission at Deptford.

''Horatio'' underwent major repairs at Deptford Dockyard between 1817 and 1819, under the direction of the yard's master shipwright, William Stone. Many frames were replaced with new timber or reused timbers taken from other ships.

In late 1845 and early 1846, plans were drawn up to convert ''Horatio'' and to become steam-powered screw-driven guard ships. Some sources suggest that the actual conversion work was performed at Chatham Dockyard in 1850, with ''Horatio'' being the first screw-driven frigate launched from that yard. After its conversion ''Horatio'' was posted to Sheerness.

Following the outbreak of the Crimean War in 1854, the navy revived the concept of the bomb vessel. As well as powered and unpowered newly built craft, in 1855 the navy earmarked four old sailing frigates that had recently been converted to screw propulsion to also be fitted with mortars: ''Horatio'' and ''Eurotas'', plus the later frigates and . However, only the work on ''Horatio'' was completed; the other conversions were cancelled.

Fate

After 54 years of service, ''Horatio'' was apparently sold for breaking up at Charlton, Kent, in 1861. Other reports give a sale date of 1865.

Notes

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References

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Horatio (1807)
Fifth-rate frigates of the Royal Navy
Ships built on the River Hamble
1807 ships
War of 1812 ships of the United Kingdom
Maritime incidents in 1809