HMS ''Russell'' was a 74-gun

third rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker). Years of experience proved that the thir ...

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 tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colu ...

of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

, launched on 10 November 1764 at

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home ...

Career

May, 1778 under command of Capt. Frances Samuel Drake. In 1782, she was commanded by Captain

James Saumarez Admiral of the Red James Saumarez, 1st Baron de Saumarez (or Sausmarez), GCB (11 March 1757 – 9 October 1836) was an admiral of the British Royal Navy, known for his victory at the Second Battle of Algeciras. Early life Saumarez was born ...

at the

Battle of the Saintes The Battle of the Saintes (known to the French as the Bataille de la Dominique), also known as the Battle of Dominica, was an important naval battle in the Caribbean between the British and the French that took place 9–12 April 1782. The Brit ...

. In 1794 she was part of Admiral Howe's fleet at the

Glorious First of June The Glorious First of June (1 June 1794), also known as the Fourth Battle of Ushant, (known in France as the or ) was the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the First French Republic ...

, and in the following year ''Russell'' fought in the

Battle of Groix The Battle of Groix was a large naval engagement which took place near the island of Groix off the Biscay coast of Brittany on 23 June 1795 ( 5 messidor an III) during the French Revolutionary Wars. The battle was fought between elements of the ...

. She also fought at the

Battle of Camperdown The Battle of Camperdown (known in Dutch as the ''Zeeslag bij Kamperduin'') was a major naval action fought on 11 October 1797, between the British North Sea Fleet under Admiral Adam Duncan and a Batavian Navy (Dutch) fleet under Vice-Admira ...

in 1797. ''Russell'' was at

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymout ...

on 20 January 1795 and so shared in the proceeds of the detention of the Dutch naval vessels,

East Indiamen East Indiaman was a general name for any sailing ship operating under charter or licence to any of the East India trading companies of the major European trading powers of the 17th through the 19th centuries. The term is used to refer to vesse ...

, and other merchant vessels that were in port on the outbreak of war between Britain and the Netherlands. In 1797 ''Russell'' was commanded by Captain

Henry Trollope Admiral Sir Henry Trollope, GCB (20 April 1756 – 2 November 1839) was an officer of the British Royal Navy. Early life Henry Trollope was born the son of the Reverend John Trollope of Bucklebury on 20 April 1756. His paternal grandfather, a ...

, who led her at the Battle of Camperdown. On 24 February 1801, ''Lloyd's List'' reported that ''Russell'' had towed "''Duckingfield Hall''", Pedder, master, into Torbay. She had been sailing from Antigua to London when of the

Scilly Islands The Isles of Scilly (; kw, Syllan, ', or ) is an archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, is the most southerly point in Britain, being over further south than the most southerly point of the ...

another vessel had run foul of her. had lost her foremast, and her fore, main, and mizzen topmasts; the vessel that ran into her was believed to have foundered. Gezicht van de zeeslag bij Copenhagen, 1801, RP-P-OB-73

Gezicht van de zeeslag bij Copenhagen, 1801, RP-P-OB-73

In March, Russell was under the command of William Cuming, part of the Baltic fleet sent to break up the League of Armed Neutrality. The fleet assembled in the Kattegat in March 1801 but on 22 March a storm came up that dispersed some of the vessels. Both the gun-brigs and were driven under the guns of

Varberg Fortress Varberg () is a locality and the seat of Varberg Municipality, Halland County, Sweden, with 35,782 inhabitants in 2019. Varberg and all of Halland are well known for their "typical west coast" sandy beaches. In Varberg the coast changes from ...

. The Swedes captured ''Blazer'', but ''Russell'' towed ''Tickler'' to safety. ''Russell'' and was at the Battle of Copenhagen on 2 April. Despite going aground early on in the battle,Clowes (Vol.IV) p. 433 Russell was able to engage the Danish ship ''Prøvesteenen'', and when she surrendered, send boats to take possession of her. In 1847 the Navy awarded the

Naval General Service Medal (1847) __NOTOC__ The Naval General Service Medal (NGSM) was a campaign medal approved in 1847, and issued to officers and men of the Royal Navy in 1849. The final date for submitting claims was 1 May 1851.British Battles and Medals, page 34. Admiral Th ...

with clasp "Copenhagen 1801" to all the surviving claimants from the battle. ''

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 is ...

'' (''LL'') reported on 10 June 1803 that ''Russell'' had burnt a 14-gun French navy brig coming from San Domingo. On 16 October 1803 she was three days out of Rio and in company with the

fourth rate In 1603 all English warships with a compliment of fewer than 160 men were known as 'small ships'. In 1625/26 to establish pay rates for officers a six tier naval ship rating system was introduced.Winfield 2009 These small ships were divided i ...

. They were escorting the

, , , ''Princess Mary'', ''Anna'', ''Ann'', , and ''Essex'', all bound to

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

. Also, ''Grampus'' carried £100,000 for the British

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Sout ...

. On 12 February 1808 ''Russell'' arrived off the Danish possession of

Tranquebar Tharangambadi (), formerly Tranquebar ( da, Trankebar, ), is a town in the Mayiladuthurai district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu on the Coromandel Coast. It lies north of Karaikal, near the mouth of a distributary named Uppanar of the ...

where she landed troops of the

14th Regiment of Foot 14 (fourteen) is a natural number following 13 and preceding 15. In relation to the word "four" ( 4), 14 is spelled "fourteen". In mathematics * 14 is a composite number. * 14 is a square pyramidal number. * 14 is a stella octangula number ...

and the

Honourable East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

's artillery. Tranquebar capitulated without resistance.''Naval Chronicle'', Vol. 20, p.145.

Fate

''Russell'' was sold out of the service in 1811.

Notes

Notes Citations

References

* * * *Lavery, Brian (2003) ''The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Russell (1764) Ships of the line of the Royal Navy Ramillies-class ships of the line Ships built in Deptford 1764 ships Naval ships of the Gunboat War