HMS Ambuscade (1773)

HMS Ambuscade was a 32-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy, built in the Grove Street shipyard of Adams & Barnard at Depford in 1773. The French captured her in 1798 but the British recaptured her in 1803. She was broken up in 1810.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Ambuscade and French ship Embuscade.

Ambuscade fighting Bayonnaise, by Jean-François Hue
History
Great Britain
NameHMS Ambuscade
Ordered25 December 1770
BuilderAdams & Barnard, Deptford
Laid downApril 1771
Launched17 September 1773
CommissionedJanuary 1776
Captured14 December 1798
French Navy EnsignFrance
NameEmbuscade
Acquired14 December 1798
Captured28 May 1803
United Kingdom
NameHMS Ambuscade
Acquired28 May 1803
FateBroken up in 1810
General characteristics as built
Class and type32-gun fifth-rate Amazon-class frigate (1773) frigate
Length
  • 126 ft 3 in (38.48 m) (gundeck)
  • 104 ft 1 in (31.72 m) (keel)
Beam35 ft 1.75 in (10.7125 m)
Draught
  • 8 ft 4 in (2.54 m) (forwards)
  • 13 ft 0 in (3.96 m) (aft)
Depth of hold12 ft 2 in (3.71 m)
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Complement220
Armament
  • Upper deck: 26 × 12-pounder guns
  • QD: 4 x 6-pounder guns + 4 x 18-pounder carronades
  • Fc: 2 x 6-pounder guns + 2 × 18-pounder carronades

American Revolution

Sometime in June, 177 she captured the sloops "2 Brothers" and "Succsess" in Massachusetts Bay. on 3 June captured "Swallow" in Casco Bay, Massachusetts.[1] On 18 June, 1777 she captured "Hope" in Boston Bay.[2] Sometime in September, 1777 she recaptured "Restoration" in Boston Bay.[3] On 1 October, 1777 she captured "S. W. Erskine".[4] On 19 May 1778 she recaptured brig Mary.[5] On 31 May 1778 she captured American brig "Charming Sally" near Cape Sambro.[6]

On 22 June 1779, after a short action, Ambuscade captured the French brig Hélene, which was the former Royal Navy 14-gun sloop HMS Helena. The Royal Navy took her back into service under her original name.[7][8] Six days later Ambuscade captured the French privateer Prince de Montbray.[8] The privateer was possibly out of Granville and under the command of Captain Boisnard-Maisonneuve.[9]

HMS Prudente captured the "private man of war" Américaine on 26 January 1781. She was armed with 32 guns and carried a crew of 245. Ambuscade shared in the proceeds of the capture.[lower-alpha 1]

French Revolutionary Wars

Circa June 1797, in the Caribbean, Ambuscade captured the 32-ton, 3-gun privateer cutter Buonaparte, from Saint-Malo. She had a crew of 32 men under Captain F. Roussel.[11]

In August 1798 Ambuscade, commanded by Captain Henry Jenkins,[12] with Stag and the hired armed cutter Nimrod captured the chasse maree Francine .[13] Then Ambuscade shared with Phaeton and Stag, in the capture on 20 November of the Hirondelle.[14]

Ambuscade at the Battle of Tory Island, 12 October 1798
Combat de la Bayonnaise contre l'Ambuscade, 1798, by Louis-Philippe Crépin

On 13 December 1798, Ambuscade captured a French merchantman, Faucon, with a cargo of sugar and coffee bound for Bordeaux.[15]

Disaster struck the following day. Ambuscade was blockading Rochefort, when the smaller French corvette Bayonnaise captured her at the action of 14 December 1798. The court martial exonerated Captain Henry Jenkins of Ambuscade, though a good case could be made that he exhibited poor leadership and ship handling.[16] The French brought her into service as Embuscade.

Napoleonic Wars

On 28 May 1803, HMS Victory recaptured her. She had a crew of 187 men under the command of capitaine de vaisseau Fradin, and was 30 days out of Cap Francais, bound for Rochefort.[17] The Royal Navy took her back into service as Ambuscade.

In March 1805, she was attached to Sir James Craig's military expedition to Italy. Along with Dragon, Craig's flagship, and Lively, Ambuscade escorted a fleet of transports to Malta.[18]

On 4 March 1807, Ambuscade captured the ship Istria. Unité, Melpomene, Bittern and Weazel (or Weazle) were in company and shared in the prize money.[19]

Fate

Ambuscade was broken up in 1810.

Pierre Ozanne's depiction of the captured Ambuscade towing the much-damaged Bayonnaise back to harbour; the difference in size between the ships is exaggerated

Notes
  1. The prize money notice in the London Gazette gives a capture year of 1780, but this is a typographical error.[10]

Citations
  1. "Naval Documents of The American Revolution Volume 11 AMERICAN THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778 EUROPEAN THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778" (PDF). U.S. Government printing office via Imbiblio. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  2. "Naval Documents of The American Revolution Volume 11 AMERICAN THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778 EUROPEAN THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778" (PDF). U.S. Government printing office via Imbiblio. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  3. "Naval Documents of The American Revolution Volume 11 AMERICAN THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778 EUROPEAN THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778" (PDF). U.S. Government printing office via Imbiblio. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  4. "Naval Documents of The American Revolution Volume 11 AMERICAN THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778 EUROPEAN THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778" (PDF). U.S. Government printing office via Imbiblio. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  5. "NAVAL DOCUMENTS OF The American Revolution" (PDF). history.navy.mil. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  6. "NAVAL DOCUMENTS OF The American Revolution" (PDF). history.navy.mil. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  7. Demerliac (1996), p. 71, no.448.
  8. "No. 12044". The London Gazette. 28 December 1779. p. 2.
  9. Demerliac (1996), p. 184, no.1810.
  10. "No. 12203". The London Gazette. 30 June 1781. p. 2.
  11. Demerliac (1999), p. 245, no.2080.
  12. Wareham (2001), p. 137.
  13. "No. 15113". The London Gazette. 5 March 1799. p. 220.
  14. "No. 15149". The London Gazette. 18 June 1799. p. 617.
  15. Correspondence, Lord Bridport to Evan Nepean, 22 December 1798. Cited in Naval Chronicle Vol. 1, 1799, p. 77
  16. Hepper (1994), p. 89.
  17. "No. 15608". The London Gazette. 6 August 1803. p. 986.
  18. von Pivka, Navies.
  19. "No. 16529". The London Gazette. 8 October 1811. p. 1976.

References
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