HMS Levant (1758)

Levant was launched on 6 July 1758 and sailed to Portsmouth Dockyard for fitting-out and to take on armament and crew. She was formally commissioned in October, entering Royal Navy service during the early stages of the Seven Years' War against France.[5] Command was assigned to Captain William Tucker, a nephew of London philanthropist Ralph Allen, and previously the commander of the sixth-rate HMS Sphinx.[16][17] There were delays in mustering sufficient crew, and the frigate was not finally ready to put to sea until June 1759. On 14 June Captain Tucker received orders to take position off Guadeloupe and the Leeward Islands,[5] there to join a squadron commanded by Commodore John Moore.[18] Levant set sail for this assignment on 23 July.[5][19]

The British squadron, of which Levant was part, was tasked with disrupting French trade through the Caribbean and hunting privateers. However the frigate saw little action in her first six months in the region; French trade had virtually ceased since the outbreak of war with Britain, while a smallpox outbreak killed some among Levant's crew. In November 1759, Levant and the Antigua-based privateer Bristol captured two French vessels loaded with coffee and sugar heading to trade at the neutral Dutch island of Sint Eustatius.[20] It was not until early 1760 that Levant defeated her first armed opponent, a 14-gun French privateer which was sunk with the loss of 120 of her crew.[21] Thereafter combat was more frequent. Two small privateers were captured in early 1760 – the 8-gun Poissan Volante and the 12-gun St Pierre – and these vessels and their crews were delivered into British custody on the Leeward Islands.[18] In June Pickering, a British merchantman previously captured by the French, was retaken and sailed to Antigua as Levant's prize.[22] A further victory followed on 29 June with the capture of French privateer Le Scipio,[5][23] after which Levant was put into harbour in Antigua for resupply. One contemporary source at this time records her as carrying only 20 of her 28 guns.[24] She returned to sea before the end of the year, capturing the privateer L'Union on 18 December.[5]

British military successes in European waters in 1760 offered freedom for the Navy to support offensive operations in the Caribbean in the following year. In January Major General Robert Monckton set sail from North America to the Caribbean with 2,000 men and four ships of the line, for a planned invasion of French Dominica.[25] Levant saw little action in advance of Monckton's arrival and captured only one vessel, the privateer La Catherine, on 15 February.[26] Monckton arrived in Antigua shortly after this capture; Captain Tucker was then deputised to carry the general aboard Levant for a visit to the various Leeward Island settlements while the invasion force assembled at Guadeloupe.[27] Monckton departed the Leeward Islands in April and Levant resumed her hunt for privateers, capturing La Dulcinée on 13 July and L'Aventurier six days later.[5] Another French privateer, Conquerant, was captured on 19 November while Levant was in company with her fellow Royal Navy frigate, the 26-gun Emerald.[28] At least four other vessels were also taken in this period; Superbe, Polly, Petit-Creolle and Elizabeth.[29]

Dominica having fallen to Monckton's forces in June, the British then set their sights on the French stronghold of Martinique. Britain's Secretary of State for the Southern Department, Sir William Pitt, concluded that Martinique's capture would be the decisive battle for control of the Caribbean, and instructed that all available resources be committed to its invasion. An army of 13,000 troops was assembled, supported by a fleet under Admiral George Rodney.[30] Levant was added to Rodney's sizeable command in late 1761 and sailed as part of the expedition in January 1762.[5][31] She was present when the British landings commenced but is not recorded as having engaged with enemy forces either there or in the subsequent French defeat at Fort Royal between 25 January and 3 February.[5]

Levant then returned to her station off the Leeward Islands, arriving there on 10 February. Captain Tucker had fallen ill with gout, and on 20 February he was replaced by Captain John Laforey, previously of the sixth-rate HMS Echo.[5][32][lower-alpha 5] Levant made one capture under Laforey's command, and her last victory in that war, when she defeated French privateer La Fier on 13 May 1762.[5][35]

Levant returned to Portsmouth in early 1775, but put to sea again on 22 June amid the early stages of the American Revolutionary War.[5] Captain Murray's orders were to join a Mediterranean squadron under the overall command of Captain Robert Mann, which was given the task of intercepting merchant vessels suspected of supplying American rebels. While at sea Murray also took the opportunity to train his crew in seamanship and battle techniques, in preparation for future enemy engagement.[42] In March 1776 she anchored in the Bay of Algiers where the Dey, or local ruler, received her warmly and provided the crew with supplies of bread, vegetables, and three live sheep.[42]

Mediterranean trade was busy, and Levant took part in halting and examining vessels with crews of various nationalities including Dutch, Genoese, Spanish, and the British Caribbean.[42] Neutral shipping was permitted to continue on its way. However Levant detained a South Carolina merchantman named Dolphin in October 1776, on suspicion of being a supply vessel for the rebels, and sent her into Gibraltar along with her cargo of rice.[43] In November 1776 Levant secured a substantial prize with the capture of another South Carolina vessel, Argo,[44] carrying rice and indigo worth £37,200.[45] Argo was to have exchanged her cargo in Bordeaux for clothing and medicine to supply the American rebellion.[46]

Further success followed in early 1777 with the capture of the 18-gun American privateer General Montgomery.[5] News had reached England that this vessel was off the island of Madeira in March, having sailed from the Port of Philadelphia in February with a crew of 100 men. Levant was sent in pursuit, with her crew sighting the General Montgomery at midday on 8 March. Captain Murray ordered Levant to fly false colours, hoisting a Dutch flag to avoid alerting the privateer's crew.[41] General Montgomery had also disguised herself by flying a British flag. For several hours the Americans allowed Levant to draw near, finally turning to flee when Murray fired a warning shot. A seven-hour chase ensued, extending into the night with the two ships often within musket shot but unable to bring their broadside cannon to bear. At around 1:00 am the wind strengthened and Levant was able to overhaul her prey, forcing the out-gunned Americans to surrender. Nine of General Montgomery's crew enlisted aboard Levant; the remainder were conveyed to Portsmouth where they remained imprisoned in poor conditions until the end of the war.[47][48]

Levant continued her Mediterranean patrols in 1778 and was rewarded on 24 March with the recapture of a British merchantman which had been bound for Newfoundland when seized by an American privateer off Gibraltar.[49] On the same day as this capture, Levant fell into company with the 28-gun frigate HMS Enterprise. Her captain, Sir Thomas Rich, advised that he was pursuing USS Revenge, a 22-gun American privateer with three captured merchant ships in tow. On 21 March the privateer had surprised and destroyed Enterprise's tender before escaping into the night. Rich had given chase for the next three days; Murray now added Levant to the hunt and the two British frigates set courses to windward and leeward of the Americans' likely path. Both sailed through the night without sighting their prey. In the morning of 25 March they encountered one of Revenge's prizes, the 16-gun British merchantman Hope, which promptly surrendered and was returned to Gibraltar.[49] Revenge herself eluded capture and was later reported as having escaped to the neutral Spanish port of Cádiz.[50]

France entered the war against Britain after signing a formal Treaty with the United States in March 1778. There was a subsequent reorganization of Royal Navy forces in the Mediterranean, with Levant joining a squadron of four other vessels based in Gibraltar under the overall direction of Admiral Robert Duff. Of this squadron, Levant was the second largest, behind only Duff's 60-gun flagship HMS Panther.[51] In July Levant encountered and captured Robert, an American merchant vessel that had been bound for Boston with a cargo of salt.[52] In August she took her first French prize of the War – a merchantman with a cargo of tobacco – and recaptured the British schooner Lively, which had previously been seized by an American privateer off Scotland's Western Islands.[53] Two more French prizes followed: Victorieux seized en route to Marseilles, and Duchess of Grumont, which surrendered off Toulon. The captured vessels were sent under guard to Gibraltar.[54]

These ongoing victories belied the changing conditions applicable to Levant's hunt for enemy vessels off Gibraltar. American vessels had become scarce, especially since Spain had closed her ports to them in the winter of 1777 in retaliation for privateer attacks on Spanish ships.[55] French trading vessels remained at sea but were occasionally accompanied by naval escorts large enough to prevent their capture by Gibraltar's small Royal Navy squadron.[56] Levant was careened on a beach at Gibraltar over Christmas 1778 and then returned to sea, but her next capture was not until 14 March 1779 when in company with Captain Rich's Enterprise she seized a French vessel, Thésée.[56][57] A further victory followed on 1 April when Levant, still in company with Enterprise, took Eclair, a French xebec carrying wine and brandy from Marseilles.[58][59][lower-alpha 6]

On 12 April 1779 Spain signed the Treaty of Aranjuez with France, setting terms for a joint military alliance against Britain. Despite the Treaty Spain delayed the formal declaration of war until June, to give time for better co-ordination of its battle fleet.[60][61] In the interim Levant engaged and defeated a Spanish privateer whose crew were caught in the act of boarding a British merchant ship. A brief exchange of cannon fire holed the Spanish vessel below the waterline, sinking her; Levant rescued the majority of her crew and transported them to prison in Gibraltar.[62]

Captain Murray then took Levant on a cruise to hunt for French or American vessels off Cadiz. While pursuing this task in June 1779 he ran across the Spanish battle fleet, comprising 32 ships of the line and two frigates, heading south towards an unknown destination.[63] Spain was still nominally a neutral power and after a brief exchange of pleasantries the Spanish fleet left Levant unmolested and continued on its way. Murray immediately set sail for England to report that the Spanish were at sea, pausing off Land's End on 17 July to capture the French privateer La Revanche.[64] Levant finally reached Portsmouth in late July but by this time Murray's news of the Spanish fleet was out of date; Spain had already declared war on Britain and her fleet had reached Gibraltar to commence an extended siege.[60][65]