HMS Ulysses (1779)

HMS Ulysses was a 48-gun Roebuck-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy during the American Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic Wars. Commissioned in 1779, her principal active service was in the Caribbean, interspersed with periods as a troopship and storeship. She was decommissioned and sold at Sheerness Dockyard in 1815.[1]

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Ulysses.

Distressed Situation of Ulysses - when dismasted in the Hurricane of 1 August 1781, and narrowly escaping being wrecked on the south side of Jamaica
History
Royal Navy EnsignGreat Britain
NameHMS Ulysses
Ordered16 April 1777
BuilderJohn Fisher, Liverpool
Laid down28 June 1777
Launched14 July 1779
Completed
CommissionedMay 1779
In service
  • 1780–1783
  • 1790, 1791
  • 1793–1794
  • 1795–1802
  • 1802–1804
  • 1807–1815
FateSold at Sheerness Dockyard, 1815
General characteristics
Class and type44-gun Roebuck-class fifth-rate frigate
Tons burthen887 8⁄94 bm
Length
  • 140 ft 0 in (42.7 m) (gundeck)
  • 115 ft 3 in (35.1 m) (keel)
Beam38 ft 0 in (11.6 m)
Depth of hold16 ft 4.75 in (5.00 m)
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Complement280 (320 from 1783)
Armament
  • 44 guns comprising:
  • Upper deck: 22 × 9-pounder guns
  • Lower deck: 20 × 18-pounder guns
  • Forecastle: 2 x 6-pounder guns

Career
Pomona and Ulysses when dismasted in the Great Hurricane on 6 October 1780 in the Mona Passage

On 2 June 1781, Ulysses encountered the 32-gun Fée, under Captain de Boubée. The ships broke contact after a brief battle.[2]

On 5 June, Ulysses chased the 32-gun Surveillante, under Jean-Marie de Villeneuve Cillart, off Saint-Domingue. Around 2130, Ulysses caught up with Surveillante, and a 2-hour and a half-battle ensued, after which the frigates broke contact.[3]

Notes

    Citations
    1. Winfield 2007, pp. 176–178
    2. Troude (1867), p. 118.
    3. Troude (1867), p. 119.

    References
    • Troude, Onésime-Joachim (1867). Batailles navales de la France (in French). Vol. 2. Challamel ainé.
    • Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships of the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Barnsley, United Kingdom: Seaforth. ISBN 9781844157006.
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