HMS Bellerophon (1786)

The Channel Fleet played an important role in the closing stages of the Atlantic campaign of May 1794, when Howe moved out into the Atlantic in the hope of intercepting an approaching French convoy under Admiral Pierre Jean Van Stabel. The main French battlefleet was also known to be at sea, under Admiral Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse. Howe sent Pasley, recently promoted to rear-admiral, and his flying squadron, consisting of Bellerophon and the 74-gun ships HMS Russell, HMS Thunderer and HMS Marlborough, ahead to scout for French forces.[21] At 6 am on 28 May the attached frigate HMS Phaeton signalled Bellerophon to report a sighting of a strange fleet. Pasley took the squadron south-east to investigate, coming in sight of a large fleet at 9 am, and counting thirty-three ships, of which at least twenty-three appeared to be ships of the line.[22] They were confirmed as French by noon, and Pasley signalled this news back to Howe.[23] Howe ordered a pursuit, and by evening the leading British ships, with Pasley's flying squadron forming the van, came in contact with the rear-most French. Bellerophon was the first ship to come into action, when the 110-gun Révolutionnaire dropped back to block her approach. Pasley tacked to close the French ship and began exchanging broadsides.[2][24] The heavy fire of the larger French ship caused considerable damage, particularly to Bellerophon's main topmast, and she fought alone until the remainder of the flying squadron and two ships from the main fleet, HMS Audacious and HMS Leviathan, arrived to assist her.[25][26] The damaged Bellerophon then drifted clear of the action, and as night fell Howe signalled for the fleet to reform in line ahead and wait for morning before resuming the engagement.[25]

Lord Howe engaging the French Fleet under Adm Villaret on the 29th May, a 1799 aquatint after Nicholas Pocock, showing Howe's flagship, Queen Charlotte cutting the French line. Emerging through the smoke behind her and following the commander in chief through the line is Bellerophon.

The action resumed the following morning, with Howe closing on the French and then cutting through their line. Bellerophon followed Howe's flagship, the 100-gun HMS Queen Charlotte, and sustained some damage from French fire.[27] Howe isolated several French ships in the rear and pounded them with broadsides, but Villaret de Joyeuse was able to bring his van about to rescue them, and the two fleets parted again at night to reform their battle lines and repair damage.[28] Poor weather on 30 May and 31 May prevented the fleets from making contact, but the following day, 1 June, Howe was able to bring about a decisive action, later known as the Glorious First of June. The British approached in line abreast, with Bellerophon at the end of the line. As they approached, the ships were heavily cannonaded by the French. Pasley was hit in the leg by a cannonball as he stood on the quarterdeck, with Midshipman Matthew Flinders reporting that "our brave admiral lost his leg by an 18-pounder shot which came in through the barricadoes of the quarter-deck – it was in the heat of the action."[29] When two seamen expressed their sorrow, Pasley replied "Thank you, but never mind my leg: take care of my flag."[30] He was taken below where the shattered leg was amputated.[30] Captain Hope kept the ship in the engagement, pounding the 74-gun Éole until the French ship was forced out of the line.[31] Bellerophon had by then lost all three topmasts, and her mainsail and lower shrouds had been cut to pieces.[26] Hope then signalled the frigate HMS Latona to tow Bellerophon clear of the action.[31][32] Despite being under heavy fire during the battle, Bellerophon's casualties were comparatively light, amounting to four men killed and between twenty-seven and thirty wounded.[26]^[d]

Bellerophon returned with the fleet to England after the battle, where the wounded Pasley left the ship. Bellerophon was taken into Portsmouth Dockyard for repairs, and then resumed her patrols in the Western Approaches with the Channel Fleet.[33] Captain Hope was superseded in late November, and on 1 December 1794 Bellerophon received a new commander, Captain James Cranstoun, 8th Lord Cranstoun.[1][2]

Admiral Cornwallis's Retreat from the French Fleet, an 1802 engraving of a work by William Anderson, depicting Cornwallis's Retreat

Bellerophon returned to sea in May 1795 after three months anchored in the Solent. She had been at Spithead on 1 May, when the 98-gun HMS Boyne caught fire and blew up, with Bellerophon rescuing twelve men.[32] Still with the Channel Fleet, she joined a squadron commanded by Vice-Admiral Sir William Cornwallis which was patrolling off Ushant. The squadron had arrived on station on 7 June, and the following day captured a convoy of eight French merchants off Belle Île.[34] The squadron remained in the area until 16 June, when a lookout on Bellerophon spotted a large fleet to the east-south-east. This was the Brest fleet, consisting of thirteen ships of the line, two frigates, two brigs and a cutter, under Admiral Villaret de Joyeuse.[26] Heavily outnumbered, Cornwallis ordered a retreat, but Bellerophon and HMS Brunswick sailed unusually slowly and he found himself being steadily overhauled by the French.[35] Keeping his ships together, Cornwallis ordered Bellerophon to take up position at the head of his line, later explaining that "The Bellerophon I was glad to keep in some measure as a reserve, having reason at first to suppose there would be full occasion for the utmost exertions of us all ... I considered that ship a treasure in store, having heard of her former accomplishments, and observing the spirit manifested by all on board when she passed me, joined to the zeal and activity shewed by Lord Cranstoun during the whole cruize."[36]

After a full day of pursuit, the leading French ships made an attempt to cut off HMS Mars, trailing in the British rear. Cornwallis dropped back to support Mars, while Captain Robert Stopford of HMS Phaeton began making signals implying a British fleet was in sight. When French lookouts spotted distant topsails, Villaret de Joyeuse decided that Cornwallis's actions meant that a British fleet was approaching to support him, and called off the pursuit. There was no British fleet in the vicinity; the topsails were those of a convoy of British merchantmen.[37]

Bellerophon returned to England in June, before departing to patrol the Western Approaches until September. She entered Portsmouth Dockyard again in October and underwent a refit costing £8,103.[1][38] She resumed patrol and blockade duty in the Western Approaches in January 1796, at first under Cranstoun, but from April effectively under the acting-captaincy of Lieutenant John Loring.[1][39] Cranstoun's replacement, Captain Henry D'Esterre Darby, arrived to take command in September. Blockade duty continued until early January 1797, when news reached the fleet that a French expedition had appeared off Ireland. Caught off guard, the Admiralty ordered Bellerophon and a number of other ships to patrol off Bantry Bay. By then the French expedition had been dispersed by bad weather, and after three weeks on patrol, Bellerophon put into Cork where she rendezvoused with the Irish squadron under Admiral Robert Kingsmill.[26][40] Shortly after her return to Spithead in early March, Bellerophon was given new orders by the Admiralty. She sailed on 17 March, bound for Cadiz to join Sir John Jervis's Mediterranean Fleet blockading the port.[26]

Cadiz June 1797. The inshore blockading squadron coming to an anchor, by Thomas Buttersworth, 1797. From left to right, Bellerophon, Orion (in port view), Theseus, Colossus and Irresistible.

Bellerophon rendezvoused with Jervis's fleet in the Bay of Cadiz on 30 May 1797.[26] Three days later she was visited for the only time by Horatio Nelson, then a rear-admiral and in command of the inshore squadron of the blockading fleet.[41] Bellerophon was with the fleet in the Bay of Cadiz until October, when Jervis took it to sea to patrol between Cape Trafalgar and Cape St. Vincent. These duties lasted until late May 1798, when Bellerophon was assigned to a detached squadron under Captain Thomas Troubridge and ordered to rendezvous with and reinforce Nelson's squadron. Nelson was in the Mediterranean hunting for a large French fleet which had sailed from Toulon carrying troops.[42]

The French had embarked on a complex land and naval campaign in the Mediterranean, with the ultimate aim of launching an invasion and occupation of Egypt. The British were aware that the French had amassed a large army, led by General Napoleon Bonaparte, but their destination was unknown. Rendezvousing with Troubridge's squadron on 7 June, Nelson now had a sufficient force to engage the French, and began to comb the Mediterranean.[43] The search lasted nearly two months, with the British force tracking westwards, and then back east, sometimes missing the French force by days. The French force, after invading and capturing Malta, arrived off Alexandria on 1 July and began landing troops. It was not until 25 July that news reached Nelson, by then at anchor off Sicily, that the French fleet had appeared off Egypt. He took his fleet to sea, and arrived off Alexandria on 1 August, but found the harbour empty. Heading east, he discovered the French fleet, consisting of thirteen ships of the line, four frigates and a number of gunboats, at anchor in Abu Qir Bay.[44]

It was late on 1 August when the British fleet appeared in the bay, and the French were at anchor in a strong defensive position.[45] The French commander, Vice-Admiral François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers, did not expect a night attack, but Nelson ordered his ships to form up and attack the head of the French van, taking advantage of a favourable wind which allowed his ships to drift down the line, while preventing the French rear from reinforcing the van and centre.[46] Bellerophon was the eighth ship in the British line, and as the battle began, Darby turned her towards the French centre, eventually coming to anchor at 7 pm. Possibly due to some error on the part of the crew or because the anchor had dragged, Bellerophon came to rest alongside the French flagship, the 120-gun Orient.[47]^[e]

A 1799 depiction of the Battle of the Nile by Thomas Whitcombe. Orient is on fire, and visible under her stern, and drifting clear of the burning ship, is the dismasted Bellerophon.

Bellerophon now found herself in a desperate position. The much more powerful three-decked Orient fired several broadsides into Bellerophon, smashing her boats, dismounting guns and cutting rigging.[26][48] French marines on the higher decks poured volleys of musket fire onto Bellerophon's exposed upper decks. Between 60 and 70 of her crew were killed or wounded in the first stages of the engagement, including Darby, who was rendered unconscious by a head wound.[49] Command then devolved to the first lieutenant, Lieutenant Daniel. Daniel and the second lieutenant, Lieutenant Lander, were both wounded, but were able to direct the fighting until a shot took away Daniel's left leg. As he was carried below he was hit by grapeshot and killed outright.[50] The fourth lieutenant, John Hadaway, was wounded and was taken below to the surgeon, while the fifth lieutenant, George Joliffe, was killed on the deck.[48] After an hour fighting Orient alone, Bellerophon's mizzenmast collapsed, followed shortly afterwards by the mainmast. Lieutenant Lander was among those killed in the fall of the mainmast, and command devolved to the third lieutenant, the uninjured Lieutenant Robert Cathcart.[51] Several fires had broken out on both Bellerophon and Orient. According to Bellerophon's logbook, at 9pm, when a further fire broke out on Orient, Cathcart was down below on duty, and the 13 year old Midshipman John Hindmarsh was briefly the senior officer on deck.[52] He ordered the anchor cable cut and the spritsail was hoisted, but put too great a strain on the foremast, which collapsed.[53] Now totally dismasted, Bellerophon began to drift away from the action, her crew fighting fires.[54] As she moved out of the line she received some long range shots from the French Tonnant.[55][56]

As Bellerophon slowly drifted away, she was sighted by the 74-gun HMS Swiftsure, approaching the centre. It was by now about 9 pm; in the darkness Swiftsure's captain, Benjamin Hallowell, was unable to identify the dismasted ship and presumed that she was a damaged French ship attempting to escape. He debated firing into her, but decided to hold fire and press on to the French centre, where he eventually came to anchor astern of Orient, close to Bellerophon's original position.[57] Darby had by this time recovered sufficiently to resume command, and at his order the battered Bellerophon came to anchor at the east end of the bay, and her crew began making repairs.[58] The battle raged throughout the night, and eventually ended in a decisive victory for the British.[59] The next five days were spent repairing the ship and burying the dead. 49 men were killed and 148 wounded on Bellerophon.[51] Eight more died of their wounds in the following week.[60]^[f]

After carrying out temporary repairs in Abu Qir Bay, Bellerophon hoisted jury masts and, towing the captured Spartiate with HMS Majestic, sailed to Gibraltar for a refit.[63] When this was completed she returned to Britain, arriving at Spithead on 2 April 1800, where she paid off and entered the dockyard for a more substantial refit in September.[51] These works amounted to £32,608 and lasted until August 1801. She recommissioned on 25 June 1801 under the command of Captain Lord Garlies and sailed in August to rejoin the Channel Fleet, which was blockading Brest.[1] Lord Garlies was superseded by Captain John Loring on 25 November, and Bellerophon continued on the blockade.[51]

In 1802, Bellerophon was among five ships ordered to join Admiral John Duckworth's squadron in the West Indies. After taking on supplies, she sailed from Torbay on 2 March 1802.[51][64] By the time of her arrival on 27 March, the Treaty of Amiens had been signed, so Britain and France were at peace. For the next eighteen months Bellerophon cruised in the Jamaica Passage and escorted merchant convoys between Jamaica and Halifax, Nova Scotia.[65]

Bellerophon was in the West Indies when the Napoleonic Wars broke out in May 1803. Her captain, John Loring, was appointed commodore of the British squadron, which quickly went on the offensive against French shipping in the Blockade of Saint-Domingue. In mid-1803, the squadron under Captain Henry William Bayntun, consisting of HMS Bellerophon, Cumberland, Hercule, Elephant, and Vanguard captured the French privateers Poisson Volant and Superieure.[66] The Royal Navy took both into service. The corvette Mignonne and a brig were captured in late June, after which the British patrolled off Cap-François.[51] On 24 July the squadron, made up of Bellerophon and the 74-gun ships HMS Elephant, HMS Theseus and HMS Vanguard, came across two French 74-gun ships, Duquesne and Duguay-Trouin, and the frigate Guerrière, attempting to escape from Cap-François.[67] The squadron gave chase, and on 25 July overhauled and captured Duquesne after a few shots were fired, while Duguay-Trouin and Guerrière managed to evade their pursuers and escape to France.[51] One man was killed aboard Bellerophon during the pursuit.[67] She remained blockading Cap-François until November, when the French commander of the garrison there, General Rochambeau, approached Loring and requested to be allowed to evacuate his men, which were being besieged by a native Haitian force led by Jean-Jacques Dessalines. To prevent Rochambeau escaping, Loring sent launches from Bellerophon and Elephant into the Caracol Passage where they cut out the French schooner Découverte on 22–23 November. The French formally surrendered on 30 November and were allowed to evacuate on three frigates, Surveillante, Clorinde, and Vertu, and a number of smaller ships, and were escorted to Jamaica by the squadron.[1][51]

Captain John Cooke, Bellerophon's captain at the Battle of Trafalgar, painted c. 1797–1803 by Lemuel Francis Abbott.

A particularly severe outbreak of malaria struck the ship in early February 1804; 212 members of Bellerophon's crew fell ill. 17 died aboard the ship, while 100 had to be transferred to a shore-based hospital, where a further 40 died.[51][68] She was ordered back to Britain in June, escorting a large convoy, and arrived in the Downs on 11 August. She briefly paid off and was taken into Portsmouth Dockyard for a refit. On 27 September four shipwrights working in magazine by candle light set off some loose powder. The explosion killed all four.[69]

Bellerophon rejoined the Channel Fleet, still off Brest, and under the command of Admiral Sir William Cornwallis.[70] These duties lasted until early 1805, with Loring being superseded by Captain John Cooke on 24 April.[51][71]

In May 1805 a large French fleet under the command of Vice-Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve escaped from Toulon. Bellerophon was dispatched with a squadron under Vice-Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood to patrol the Straits of Gibraltar. Before they could arrive, Villeneuve had collected Spanish reinforcements under Admiral Federico Gravina, and had sailed into the Atlantic, pursued by Nelson's Mediterranean Fleet.[72] While Nelson chased Villeneuve around the West Indies without making contact, Collingwood mounted a blockade of Cadiz. His squadron was still there in mid-August when Villeneuve appeared off the port with his fleet. Possessing too few ships to intercept the combined fleet, Collingwood allowed them to enter Cadiz, and then remounted the blockade. He was reinforced with a number of ships over the next few months, with Nelson taking over command on 28 September.[73]

Nelson mounted a loose blockade of the combined fleet, keeping most of his fleet out of sight, but with a line of frigates and larger ships stationed at intervals between himself and Cadiz.[74] On 19 October the combined fleet was observed to be putting to sea, and the signal was passed down the line of ships. William Pryce Cumby, Bellerophon's first lieutenant, was first in the main fleet to spot the signal, flying from the last ship in the communication link, HMS Mars.[75][76] The British began to pursue the combined fleet as it made its way towards the Straits of Gibraltar, and came in sight of it on the morning of 21 October. The officers and sailors of Bellerophon prepared for battle, some of the gun crews chalking the words "Victory or Death" on their gun barrels.[77][78] At 11 am Bellerophon's signal midshipman, John Franklin, noted that Nelson had hoisted the signal "England expects that every man will do his duty", and an hour and a half later Bellerophon entered the battle as the fifth ship in Collingwood's lee column. She was astern of the 80-gun HMS Tonnant and ahead of the 74-gun HMS Achille, with the 74-gun HMS Colossus close by her port side.[79][80]

Situation of the Bellerophon at the moment of the death of her gallant commander Captn. Cooke, early-nineteenth century aquatint by Thomas Whitcombe, showing Bellerophon surrounded by enemy ships at the moment of Cooke's death

At 12:30 pm, Bellerophon cut through the enemy line, slipping under the stern of the Spanish 74-gun Monarca and firing two broadsides into her. Moving past the Spanish ship, Bellerophon collided with the French 74-gun Aigle, hitting Aigle's port quarter with her starboard bow, and entangling the two ships' yards.[80] Locked together, they exchanged broadsides at close range, with soldiers aboard Aigle sweeping Bellerophon's decks with musket fire and grenades. Cumby noticed that the officers were being targeted, and that Cooke's distinctive epaulettes marked him out. Cumby urged him to take them off, only for Cooke to reply "It is too late now to take them off. I see my situation but I will die like a man."[81] Bellerophon was now sustaining fire from Aigle and three other ships, the Spanish San Juan Nepomuceno and Bahama, and the French Swiftsure. Bellerophon's main and mizzenmasts were shot away at 1 pm, and at 1:11 pm, Captain Cooke was hit and killed.[82] An eyewitness recorded that

He had discharged his pistols very frequently at the enemy, who as often attempted to board, and he had killed a French officer on his own quarterdeck. He was in the act of reloading his pistols ... when he received two musket-balls in the breast. He immediately fell, and upon the quartermaster going up and asking him if he should take him down below, his answer was "No, let me lie quietly one minute. Tell Lieutenant Cumby never to strike."[83]

With Cooke dead, Cumby assumed command. Bellerophon's decks had largely been cleared by French fire, and boarding parties began to make their way onto the ship. Several French sailors climbed out onto Bellerophon's spritsail yard, but a Bellerophon crewman released the brace holding the yard, causing them to fall into the sea. French sailors holding onto Bellerophon's rails had their hands beaten until they were forced to let go. Bellerophon's ensign had been shot away three times, so infuriating her yeoman of signals, Christopher Beaty, that he took the largest Union Jack he could find and climbed up into the mizzen rigging and hoisted it across the shrouds. The French riflemen on Aigle reportedly held their fire as he did this, in admiration of his bravery.[84][85] The two ships were so close together that gun crews on their lower decks were fighting hand to hand at the gunports, while grenades lobbed through the ports caused heavy casualties. One grenade thrown into Bellerophon exploded in the gunner's storeroom, blowing open the door but fortunately blowing closed the door of the magazine. The resulting fire was quickly extinguished, preventing a catastrophic explosion.[86][87]

By 1:40 pm, having been under heavy fire for over an hour, Aigle's crew lowered her gunports and slowly moved away.[88] When the smoke cleared, Cumby noticed that the Spanish Monarca, which Bellerophon had first engaged, had struck her colours. Cumby sent an officer in a boat to take possession of her.[89] Bellerophon's crew now worked to make repairs and clear away wreckage. She briefly fired her guns again when the van of the combined fleet, led by Rear-Admiral Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley, made a belated attempt to come to the assistance of the centre and rear.[90] The attack was beaten off, and at 5 pm, Bellerophon's guns ceased firing.[91] At 5:30 pm Cumby sent a boat to take possession of Bahama, which had also struck her colours. By the end of the battle Bellerophon had sustained casualties of 27 men killed and 123 wounded. Among the dead were her captain, the master, John Overton, and midshipman John Simmons.[79][92]

For the next seven days, Bellerophon's crew were occupied in repairing damage, rigging jury masts, and trying to ride out the storm that struck the area immediately after the battle. She put into Gibraltar on 28 October 1805, and underwent emergency repairs to allow her to return to England as an escort for HMS Victory, together with HMS Belleisle.[77] Both Belleisle and Bellerophon required urgent attention, but it was deemed appropriate that they should have the honour of accompanying Nelson's body back to Britain aboard Victory.[93] Cumby was superseded on 3 November, the day before beginning the voyage home, by Captain Richard Thomas.^[g] Thomas was himself superseded the next day by Captain Edward Rotheram, who had commanded Collingwood's flagship, HMS Royal Sovereign, during the battle.[79]

The three ships sailed together as far as Start Point, where on 2 December Victory separated to head to Portsmouth, while Bellerophon and Belleisle put into Cawsand Bay. Bellerophon was then taken into Plymouth Dockyard to be repaired, returning to active duty on 26 February, still under Rotheram's command.[79][94] Joining the Channel Fleet once more, Bellerophon resumed her usual duties, blockading and patrolling off Ushant and Brest.[94][95]

Rotheram's command lasted for two and half years, until he was superseded on 8 June 1808 by Captain Samuel Warren. Warren was ordered to take Bellerophon and join the fleet in the North Sea, blockading the Dutch ports. She formed part of Rear-Admiral Alan Gardner's squadron.[95] By 1809 the strategic situation in the Baltic had deteriorated after Russia signed the Treaties of Tilsit and began to support France. Bellerophon was ordered to join the fleet stationed in the Baltic under Admiral Sir James Saumarez.[95] Saumarez dispatched Bellerophon and HMS Minotaur north to the Gulf of Finland in June, and on 19 June the two ships came across three suspicious looking luggers, anchored off Hango.[96] The water was too shallow to allow them to approach the luggers, so a boat party was dispatched under Bellerophon's Lieutenant Robert Pilch. The British boarded the luggers, but found themselves in a trap, when numerous Russian shore batteries and several gunboats opened fire on them.[97] Pilch promptly ordered the luggers to be burnt, reboarded his men and landed them next to the nearest Russian shore battery. The battery, defended by 100 sailors, was stormed and carried; the British spiked the guns and destroyed the magazine before returning to the ships with only five men wounded.[95][96][97]

By July Bellerophon was part of a squadron commanded by Captain Thomas Byam Martin of HMS Implacable.[96] They were off Percola Point on 7 July when a flotilla of eight Russian gunboats was sighted. A boat party led by Lieutenant Hawkey of Implacable made an attempt to cut-out the vessels that evening.[95] Hawkey was killed in the attempt, but Bellerophon's Lieutenant Charles Allen took over command, and six of the gunboats were captured, and a seventh destroyed, with 12 craft containing stores for the Russian Army also being taken.[98] Bellerophon made several cruises during the rest of the year, visiting Åland and Karlskrona, before returning to Britain with a convoy in November 1809.[99]

Frederick Lewis Maitland, Bellerophon's last captain, and the man who received Napoleon's surrender. An 1826 engraving of a portrait by Samuel Woodforde.

Bellerophon was briefly refitted in January 1810, after which she was anchored at the Nore. She then resumed her blockade duties in the North Sea, serving under a succession of commanders. Warren was succeeded by Captain John Halsted on 23 August, and he by Captain Augustus Brine on 5 November.[1] Brine's command lasted until February 1813, during which time Bellerophon remained with the North Sea blockading squadron. Captain Edward Hawker took over command on 11 February 1813. On 7 April the flag was flown for the convoy to North America to assemble. Shortly thereafter, Bellerophon was joined by Vice-Admiral Sir Richard Goodwin Keats, the newly appointed Governor of Newfoundland and the convoy departed. After picking up a smaller convoy at Torbay the fleet comprised eighty-four vessels, all arriving safely at St Johns, Newfoundland on 31 May.[100][95]

With the War of 1812 underway in North America, Bellerophon then sailed south to Bermuda as a convoy escort. Returning to St John's in the summer, she captured several American ships, including the 16-gun privateer Genie.[1][101] She spent the rest of the year patrolling off Cape Race. In need of further work in the docks she accompanied Sir Richard Goodwin Keats on his return to Britain with a convoy in November 1813.[95][100]The year 1814 was spent on similar duties: Bellerophon carried Governor Keats back to Newfoundland while escorting a convoy to St John's between April and June, and then patrolled off Cape Race until December. She then moved to the Nore, and on 9 April 1815 Hawker was replaced by Captain Frederick Lewis Maitland.[101]

In May Bellerophon sailed to Plymouth, where she joined a squadron under Rear-Admiral Sir Henry Hotham with orders to blockade French Atlantic ports. Hotham, flying his flag in HMS Superb, sent Maitland in Bellerophon to watch Rochefort, where two French frigates, a brig and a corvette were lying in the harbour.[102] Bellerophon spent over a month on this station, patrolling the approaches to the port and intercepting coastal vessels. Meanwhile, Napoleon had been defeated at the Battle of Waterloo on 18 June; on 2 July he arrived in Rochefort.[103] Following the defeat of his armies, and expecting the imminent restoration of the Bourbon monarchy, Napoleon hoped to sail to exile in the United States.[104] The British had no intention of allowing this. News reached Maitland in early July that Napoleon was in Rochefort. Two 20-gun ships, HMS Myrmidon and HMS Slaney, were sent to reinforce Bellerophon and patrol the other entrances to the port.[105][106]

Napoleon on Board the Bellerophon, exhibited in 1880 by Sir William Quiller Orchardson. Orchardson depicts the morning of 23 July, as Napoleon watches the French shoreline recede. His retinue, from left to right Planat, Montholon, Maingault, Las Cases, Savary, Lallemand and Bertrand, look on. In the background, Las Cases's son leans over the rail.

Maitland showed Napoleon the great cabin, which he had placed at his disposal, and gave him a tour of his ship.[117] At 10:30 a.m., Superb anchored in the roadstead and Maitland went to make his report. Hotham approved of his arrangements, and agreed that Napoleon should be transported to England aboard Bellerophon. He came aboard himself to meet the former Emperor, and a grand dinner was held in the great cabin, attended by Napoleon's retinue and British officers.[118] The following day Napoleon visited Hotham on Superb, and after his return, Maitland began the voyage to England in company with HMS Myrmidon.[119] A routine was soon developed, with Napoleon usually taking a walk on deck around 5 p.m., followed by a formal dinner at 6 p.m. The sailors and officers removed their hats and kept their distance when Napoleon came on deck, only talking with him if he invited them to.[120] The routine was broken slightly early in the morning of 23 July, when Napoleon appeared at dawn, as Bellerophon came in sight of Ushant, the last piece of French land visible for the remainder of the journey. He climbed up to the poop deck, attended by a midshipman, and spent the morning watching the coastline slowly recede from view. He was joined by members of his retinue, though he did not speak to any of them.[121]

Scene in Plymouth Sound in August 1815, an 1817 painting by John James Chalon. Bellerophon is at the centre of the picture, surrounded by crowds of people in small boats who have come to see Napoleon.

Bellerophon anchored off Brixham on the morning of 24 July, and there Maitland received orders from Admiral Lord Keith to "prevent every person whatever from coming on board the ship you command, except the officers and men who compose her crew."[122] Despite turning away the shore boats which approached the anchored warship bringing fresh bread and fruit to sell, word eventually leaked out that Napoleon was aboard the ship.[123] The news created a sensation, and large numbers of boats filled with sightseers soon surrounded the ship. Occasionally Napoleon would come out to look at them, but despite entreaties from some people to be allowed on board, Maitland refused to allow any contact between ship and shore.[124] On 26 July Bellerophon received orders to proceed to Plymouth harbour where Lord Keith was anchored aboard his flagship HMS Ville de Paris. Napoleon remained on board Bellerophon and the ship was kept isolated from the throngs of curious sightseers by two guardships, HMS Liffey and HMS Eurotas, anchored close at hand.[125]

Bellerophon spent two weeks in Plymouth harbour while the authorities came to a decision about what to do with Napoleon. On 31 July they communicated their decision to the former emperor. Napoleon was to be exiled to the remote island of Saint Helena. He would be allowed to take three officers, his surgeon, and twelve servants.[126] Napoleon, who had hoped to be allowed to settle quietly in Britain, was bitterly disappointed by the news.[126][127] Bellerophon was not to take him into exile. The Admiralty was concerned that the ageing ship was unsuitable for the long voyage to the South Atlantic, and the 74-gun HMS Northumberland was selected for the task.[128] On 4 August, Lord Keith ordered Bellerophon to go to sea and await the arrival of HMS Northumberland. On 7 August Napoleon thanked Maitland and his crew for their kindness and hospitality, and left Bellerophon where he had spent over three weeks without ever landing in England.[129] He boarded Northumberland, which then sailed for Saint Helena.[130][131]

Captain Maitland's account of the time Napoleon spent on board his ship was published in 1826.[132]

Napoleon on Bellerophon at Plymouth, by Sir Charles Lock Eastlake, 1815. Eastlake was rowed out to Bellerophon to make sketches, from which he later painted this portrait.

The ship and her crew feature, or are mentioned, in several historical novels set during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, including several of the Aubrey–Maturin series of novels by Patrick O'Brian,[149] and the novel Sharpe's Trafalgar by Bernard Cornwell.

Bellerophon appears in a number of artworks, including several depicting the ship's role in Napoleon's surrender. Sir William Quiller Orchardson painted Napoleon on the Bellerophon, depicting the former emperor standing on the poop deck, watching the French coastline recede as his retinue look on.[150] Sir Charles Lock Eastlake painted a portrait of Napoleon in uniform, standing on Bellerophon's deck, while John James Chalon produced Scene in Plymouth Sound in August 1815, a seascape, with Bellerophon surrounded by crowds of people in small boats.[151][152] Thomas Luny painted a similar scene, showing Bellerophon putting into Torbay to rendezvous with HMS Northumberland.[153] Numerous popular prints and engravings were also produced, depicting moments from Napoleon's arrival on Bellerophon to surrender, to his final transfer to Northumberland for his voyage into exile. The ship also appears in prints and paintings of the battles she had fought in. She is depicted on the Cadiz blockade with the rest of the inshore squadron in a work by Thomas Buttersworth, and is visible at the Glorious First of June in works by Nicholas Pocock, Cornwallis's Retreat by William Anderson, and the Battles of the Nile and Trafalgar by Thomas Whitcombe.[153]

Bellerophon is mentioned in several verses in a song commemorating Cornwallis's Retreat in 1795, which celebrate both Cornwallis (referred to by sailors' popular nickname for him, "Billy Blue"), and Bellerophon's fighting record at the Glorious First of June.[34]^[i] The folk song "Boney was a Warrior", about the life of Napoleon, includes a verse celebrating the ship's links with his ultimate surrender.

Boney went a-cruisin'
Way-aye-yah!
Aboard the Billy Ruffian
Johnny Franswor![154]