HMS Beaulieu

Recruiting broadsheet for Beaulieu while commanded by Lord Northesk

Beaulieu was commissioned in January 1793 by Captain Lord Northesk, under whom she sailed to serve on the Leeward Islands Station on 22 April.[7] At a time when the Royal Navy was bolstering its forces against France and was looking to keep its most powerful frigates close to home, Gardiner posits that the Royal Navy chose not to keep Beaulieu there, despite her being one of the larger frigates, because she was "never highly regarded".[6][13] By November Northesk had been replaced in command by Captain John Salisbury, and Beaulieu formed part of Vice-Admiral Sir John Jervis's Leeward Islands fleet; she then captured the French merchant ship America on 31 December.[7][14] Beaulieu sailed from Bridgetown on 2 February 1794 as part of an expedition containing 6,100 troops for the capture of Martinique. They arrived on 5 February and by 16 March all but two fortifications on the island had been successfully captured by the landing forces; seamen were used to move and operate gun batteries and mortars in the fighting.[15][16]

Beaulieu continued on with the expedition, arriving off Saint Lucia on 1 April to similarly capture that place.[lower-alpha 2][7][18][19] Saint Lucia surrendered on 4 April, and Jervis moved on to invade Guadeloupe, a campaign that would end in December.[7][20] In November Salisbury handed command of the ship over to Captain Edward Riou, who brought with him several new officers because Beaulieu had taken severe losses from yellow fever in the previous three months.[7][21] Beaulieu was then sent to serve on the North America Station temporarily, so that her crew could recover from their illnesses and to bolster the station amid fears that a heavy squadron of French frigates was sailing for Newfoundland.[21][13]

On 2 December the frigate captured a fast sailing French 10-gun privateer sloop, which was taken into Barbados.[22] Beaulieu spent her time in North America patrolling off the coast of Virginia, before returning to the Leeward Islands.[21] The ship then captured the French privateer schooner Le Spartiate on 14 April 1795.[7] Also under Riou, at an unknown date, Beaulieu encountered a French 18-gun store ship grounded under the cover of a battery near Saint-François. The frigate sailed up to the French vessel, and Lieutenant Bendall Robert Littlehales boarded her via Beaulieu's hawser. He attempted to dislodge the ship from her position, but she would not move, and so he took the crew as prisoners of war and set her on fire. For this Littlehales was promoted to serve in the 74-gun ship of the line HMS Majestic.[23]

Riou was invalided home and replaced by Captain Henry William Bayntun in September, and in turn Captain Francis Laforey took over from him in December of the same year.[7][24] This quick turnover of captains for Beaulieu continued into 1796, with Captain Lancelot Skynner assuming command in March when Laforey was translated into the 64-gun ship of the line HMS Scipio.[7][25] Under Skynner the frigate captured the French 26-gun flûte Le Marsouin on 11 March off Guadeloupe while in consort with the 74-gun ship of the line HMS Ganges; she was bought in by the Royal Navy but never commissioned.[7][26][14] With resistance and fighting on Saint Lucia having continued since the initial invasion, Beaulieu participated in further operations there. Towards the end of April the frigate was sent to support landings at Anse La Raye, but these were called off because of bad sea conditions. On 3 May the ship supported an attack by three columns of soldiers against two French batteries, but the endeavour was unsuccessful, with Beaulieu having three men wounded and her foremast damaged.[27]

Beaulieu was then present at the capture of the Russian hoy Leyden and Fourcoing by the 18-gun brig-sloop HMS Harpy on 8 May, sharing in the capture with the 14-gun sloop HMS Savage.[28][29] On 8 August she arrived at the aftermath of an inconclusive duel between the 32-gun frigate HMS Mermaid and the French 40-gun frigate Vengeance off Basseterre, with her presence forcing the French vessel to disengage and retreat to safety under the guns of a battery in Basseterre Roads.[7][30] Towards the end of the year Beaulieu returned to Britain, carrying as passengers Rear-Admiral Sir Hugh Christian, who had been replaced as commander-in-chief of the Leeward Islands, and Rear-Admiral Charles Pole.[31][32]

Beaulieu received a refit at Plymouth Dockyard between December of the same year and February 1797, at the cost of £7,315. In July Captain Francis Fayerman assumed command of the rejuvenated frigate, and Beaulieu joined Admiral Adam Duncan's North Sea Fleet.[7] The fleet, based at the Nore, mutinied in April in the Nore mutiny. Beaulieu was not present with the fleet at the time, being instead in the Downs. Despite this her crew went into a state of mutiny on 20 May, with this being quelled on 16 June. Fayerman kept a number of men imprisoned after the mutiny, and in order to have these released, the crew mutinied again on 25 June under the control of their boatswain, Mr Redhead.[33] Redhead announced that his aim was "to turn every bastard of an officer on shore, and if any of the seamen were not true to the cause to hang them immediately".[34] The officer of the watch called the alarm to Beaulieu's officers and marines, and they engaged the mutineers. In the ensuing fight thirteen men were wounded, of which one later died, and the mutineers were defeated.[33]

The loyal members of Beaulieu's crew were assisted in the fight by the 40-gun frigate HMS Virginie, which saw the plight of Beaulieu and sailed up to her, providing thirty marines to assist and having her band play God Save the King.[35] In the aftermath thirteen seamen were identified as mutineers, and ten of these were brought to court martial. Four were executed, with another four imprisoned. Of the final two, one was flogged and the other given a lesser punishment.[36][37] The rest of the crew were pardoned.[38] Lieutenant John Burn of Beaulieu was awarded a silver-gilt presentation sword by the Committee of London Merchants for his heroic conduct during the mutiny.[39]

Depiction of the Battle of Camperdown with Beaulieu's bow on the far right

On 9 October news reached Duncan that the Dutch fleet was at sea, and his fleet sailed from Yarmouth Roads to meet them.[40] Beaulieu was already at sea, having been sent in advance with the 74-gun ship of the line HMS Russell and 50-gun fourth rate HMS Adamant to patrol off the Texel.[41] Duncan had them follow the Dutch, expecting that the fleet would attempt to sail towards the British coast.[42] At 7 a.m. on 11 October the three ships signalled a sighting of the enemy fleet to Duncan.[40][43] The Battle of Camperdown began at around 11:30 a.m., with Beaulieu one of only two British frigates present, alongside the 28-gun HMS Circe.[7][44][45] Tasked as a repeating frigate, she was assigned to Duncan's larboard division of the fleet during the battle, with the Dutch commander surrendering his ship at 3 p.m.[46][47][48] Beaulieu received no casualties while performing her duties.[43]

One of the Dutch ships taken in the battle was the 44-gun frigate Monnikkendam. Beaulieu was sent to secure her, putting a prize crew on board for the journey back to Britain under the command of Lieutenant James Robert Philips. While making this journey the frigate was wrecked on sands off West Capel.[49][50] Philips and his crew survived, but were all taken as prisoners of war.[50] After the battle bad sea conditions meant that many damaged warships were struggling to stay away from the shore, and Beaulieu was sent off by Duncan to search out and assist any distressed ships that she could find.[47]

The 40-gun frigate HMS Endymion had joined the fleet after the battle, and on 12 October discovered the Dutch 74-gun ship of the line Brutus, which had escaped the battle, close to shore. Endymion was unable to attack her because of the Dutch ship's well-chosen position, and she looked for assistance. Endymion sailed back towards Duncan's fleet firing rockets to attract attention, and at 10:30 p.m. on 13 October these found Beaulieu.[51][49] Together the frigates returned to Brutus, arriving at 5 a.m. on the following day.[52] The two frigates chased the ship of the line, but she succeeded in reaching the safety of the port of Goree before they were able to engage her; Brutus was one of seven ships to escape Camperdown.[51] Beaulieu was sent out again by Duncan to assist damaged ships on 15 October, in company with the 64-gun ship of the line HMS Lancaster.[53] Having completed these duties, she was subsequently sent to join a squadron commanded by Captain Sir Richard Strachan in 1798.[7] Strachan's squadron was employed in patrolling the coasts of Normandy and Brittany.[54]

On 1 June 1799 Fayerman sailed Beaulieu to the Mediterranean Sea; she recaptured the merchant brig Harriet on 3 December, and soon afterwards began serving with the 36-gun frigate HMS Amethyst. Together they recaptured the merchant ships Cato, on 6 December, Dauphin, on 14 December, and Cabrus and Nymphe, on 15 December.[7][55][56] Continuing their spree of recaptures, the two frigates took the merchant brig Jenny on 18 December.[56] Some time before 24 December Beaulieu also recaptured the American merchant ship Nonpareil.[57] In the following year she moved to serve in the Channel Fleet, and on the morning of 27 August she was sailing in company with the 18-gun sloop HMS Sylph when they captured the French letter of marque sloop Dragon, which had been attempting to reach Bordeaux with a cargo of sugar, coffee, and cotton.[lower-alpha 3][7][59] Beaulieu was then present at, but did not participate in, the capture of the French 16-gun privateer Le Diable á Quatre by the 32-gun frigate HMS Thames and 40-gun frigate HMS Immortalite off Cordouan Lighthouse on 26 October.[60][61] Still serving in the English Channel in 1801, on 1 January Fayerman was replaced by Captain Stephen Poyntz.[7][62]

Chevrette is cut out

By July Beaulieu was serving on the blockade of Brest in a frigate squadron that also included the 36-gun HMS Doris and 40-gun HMS Uranie.[63] Sailing off Pointe Saint-Mathieu, the squadron discovered that the French 20-gun corvette La Chevrette was at anchor in the nearby Camaret Bay, under the cover of a shore battery. The British decided to make an attempt to capture the corvette, and Admiral William Cornwallis sent out Lieutenant Woodley Losack from his flagship to undertake the cutting out expedition. With volunteer boat crews from Beaulieu and Doris under his command (Uranie having left the station), Losack set out on 20 July for Chevrette. While rowing for the bay the group of boats was split up, and some returned to the frigates instead of continuing on. Not being aware of this, the remaining boats waited until the morning of 21 July for the others, at which point the daylight revealed them to Chevrette, which began to prepare to defend herself.[64][65]

Chevrette sailed a mile closer to Brest, taking advantage of the protection of more gun batteries on shore, and brought on board a group of soldiers that increased her complement to 339 men.[66][65] The French also set up temporary fortifications along the coast, and set a small guard boat between the boats and Chevrette to warn the French of any advance by the British. Some time later in the day Uranie returned to the squadron and she added her manpower to the expedition, alongside that of two boats from the 74-gun ship of the line HMS Robust. This gave Losack a total force of 280 men in fifteen boats, with which he set out from Beaulieu for a second attempt at the bay at 9:30 p.m. Soon after this Losack took six of the boats in chase of a French lookout boat that was sailing close to the shore. With the element of surprise provided by the night dwindling as time went on, the senior officer of the remaining boats, Lieutenant Keith Maxwell of Beaulieu, continued the journey without Losack. This meant that the cutting out force now consisted of only 180 men. They arrived at Chevrette at 1 a.m. on 22 July, and the French ship began to fire at the boats with grape shot and muskets.[66][67][68] The boats containing Beaulieu's crew rowed up to the starboard side of the French vessel, with the remainders of the British force going to her port side.[69]

The French resisted the boarding in hand-to-hand fighting, by both attacking the British as they came aboard and by attempting in turn to board their boats.[70] Despite this, members of the British force succeeded in both cutting Chevrette's anchor cable and in setting her sails. Maxwell's force having been on board Chevrette for only three minutes, the ship began to drift out of the bay. A quartermaster from Beaulieu took control of the helm, and the remaining French defenders chose to either jump overboard or run below into the ship.[71] Those defenders hiding below deck began to fire up at the British with muskets, but they were forced to surrender upon the threat of them all being killed.[70][72] Chevrette resisted the fire of the French batteries on the coast and successfully left the bay. Here Losack joined the ship and took command. In the battle the British had lost eleven men killed, with a further fifty-seven wounded and one drowned when one of Beaulieu's boats was sunk by Chevrette.[71][7][67] Ninety-two Frenchmen were killed with sixty-two wounded.[73][74] Chevrette was taken to Plymouth, arriving on 26 July.[75]

The historian Noel Mostert describes the event, with its high casualties and zeal demonstrated by the British in pushing forwards with an attack that the French were fully prepared for, as "an episode without parallel".[72] Losack was promoted to commander for his part in the affair, but a controversy ensued when Maxwell was not also rewarded for his service despite having been the officer actually in command at the capture.[76] The letter published in the London Gazette outlining the action named Losack as the commander, and Maxwell wrote to Cornwallis explaining the unfairness of the situation. The admiral held a court of enquiry on board the 74-gun ship of the line HMS Mars to investigate Losack's conduct on 9 August. Both lieutenants were found to have behaved correctly, and Maxwell too was promoted.[76][77][78]

Beaulieu continued to serve in the Channel until the end of the French Revolutionary War.[79] With the Peace of Amiens coming into effect, she was put back in ordinary at Portsmouth in April 1802, with Poyntz leaving her in May.[7][62] The Peace having expired, she was fitted for service again between January and May 1804, being recommissioned by Captain Charles Ekins on 16 April.[lower-alpha 4][7][81] Beaulieu sailed to again serve in the Leeward Islands in June, and in January 1805 she recaptured the merchant brig Peggy. Captain Kenneth Mackenzie replaced Ekins a month later when the latter was appointed to the 74-gun ship of the line HMS Defence.[7][82][81] Still serving in the Leeward Islands by October, the frigate returned to Britain some time after this and was paid off in March or April 1806. She was sent to Deptford Dockyard to be broken up on 3 June; this was completed some time during 1809.[7][8][83][84]