HMS Aigle (1801)

HMS Aigle was a 36-gun, fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. Ordered on 15 September 1799 and built at Bucklers Hard shipyard, she was launched 23 September 1801. More than fifty of her crew were involved in the Easton Massacre when she visited Portland in April 1803 to press recruits. Much of her career as a frigate was spent in home waters where she fought the Battle of Basque Roads in 1809; initially providing support to the crews of the fireships, then forcing the surrender of the stranded French ships, Varsovie and Aquilon. Later that year she left The Downs to take part in the Walcheren Campaign where she carried out a two-day long bombardment of Flushing, leading to its capitulation on 15 August.

In October 1811, Aigle was sent to the Mediterranean where she and her crew raided the island of Elba before being asked to provide naval support during the invasion and occupation of Genoa. Refitted in January 1820, her square stern was replaced with a circular one, giving her a wider angle of fire and improved protection at the rear. Converted to a corvette in 1831, she returned to the Mediterranean under Lord Paget. From 1852, she became a coal hulk, then a receiving ship before being used as a target for torpedoes and broken up in 1870.

Construction and armament
Aigle was the first of two, Aigle-class frigates designed by naval surveyor, Sir John Henslow. Built under contract by Balthazar Adams, she was ordered on 15 September 1798 and her keel was laid down in November at Bucklers Hard shipyard in Hampshire. Launched on 23 September 1801, her dimensions were: 146 ft along the gun deck, 122 ft at the keel, with a beam of 38 ft and a depth in the hold of 13 ft. This made her 970 $84⁄94$ tons burthen (bm).

Although classed as a 36-gun fifth-rate, Aigle was armed with a main battery of twenty-six 18 pdr on her upper gun deck, four 9 pdr on the quarter deck and two on the forecastle. She additionally carried ten 32 pdr carronades, eight on the quarter deck and two on the forecastle.

Service
Aigle was first commissioned for the English Channel, under Captain George Wolfe in December 1802. A large press gang from Aigle, of more than 50 marines and sailors, led by Wolfe, put ashore in Portland on 2 April 1803. In what became known as the Easton Massacre, a scuffle broke out between the inhabitants and Wolfe's forces. Several civilians were shot and four were killed, while sixteen members of the press gang received injuries. Nine were wounded so seriously they had to be discharged. Wolfe and three officers stood trial for murder but were acquitted and left Portland, aboard Aigle, on 10 April to continue their patrol in home waters. Taking a French frigate, Franchise on 28 May, Aigle went on to capture six merchant vessels over the course of a week. A French privateer, Alerte, of 14 guns was taken on 27 September, off Vigo.

Not far from the Cordouan Lighthouse, on 12 July 1804, Aigle encountered two French naval vessels, the 20-gun Charente and the 8-gun Joie out of Rochefort. At 17:00 Aigle caught up with them. The French ships shortened sail and looked as if they were about to do battle but after discharging their guns, both ran aground. Many of the French sailors were drowned when the boats they were attempting to escape in were engulfed by the large waves. Unable to re-float the stranded ships due to the heavy swell; Wolfe ordered them destroyed.

Boats from Aigle were sent after some small craft, seen in the early hours of 27 November 1804 in the Bay of Gibraltar. On hearing some small-arms fire, Captain Thomas Dundas in HMS Naiad (1797) set off in the direction of the noise and discovered a flotilla of Spanish gun-boats of which he managed to capture two. The boats and crew of Aigle were recovered without loss of life.

Temporary command was given to Henry Sturt in February 1805 but Wolfe was back in charge by 21 August 1805, when Aigle discovered a small British squadron under Captain John Tremayne Rodd comprising the frigates HMS Indefatigable (1784) and Niobe and three smaller vessels. Rodd had been shadowing the French fleet at Brest under Vice-Admiral Ganteaume, which had since left and was now at anchor between Camaret and Bertheaume. Shortly after her arrival, Aigle was dispatched to update the Commander-in-Chief of the Channel Fleet, Admiral William Cornwallis of this development.

Nine Spanish gun boats attacked Aigle in Vigo Bay on 28 September 1805. For an hour she had to endure their fire before the wind got up and the previously becalmed Aigle was able to launch a counter-offensive; capturing one gun boat and driving the others away. Two Chasse-marées were taken by the crew of Aigle, in a cutting-out expedition on 15 October 1807 and while cruising with the 32-gun HMS Pallas (1804) and 74-gun Gibraltar in December, she assisted with the capture of a Spanish schooner, Bueno Vista. A few days later the same three ships took a French Lugger and had more success in the first quarter of the following year, when four more Chasse-marées were seized and a former British brig, Margaret was recaptured.

Action off Groix
Aigle was in action again on 22 March 1808 against two large, French frigates; Italienne of 40 guns and the 38-gun Sirene. A squadron comprising Aigle, the 32-gun frigate HMS Narcissus (1801), the two seventy-fours Impétueux and HMS Saturn (1786), and two or three smaller vessels were anchored between the Glénan islands, whilst being resupplied by a transport convoy. At 15:45, two French frigates to the south-east were simultaneously seen from Aigle's masthead and by the British schooner HMS Cuckoo (1806), which was stationed midway between the squadron and the island of Groix. Aigle immediately gave chase, and coming within hailing distance at 19:30, Wolfe directed Cuckoo to relay to Impétueux and Narcissus, now following two miles behind, his intention to cut off the French ships by sailing between Groix and the mainland.

An hour later, having endured the fire of the guns on both shores, Aigle was in a position to attack the rear-most frigate of the pair as they emerged from the western side of the island. This frigate sought the shelter of Groix' batteries, so Aigle set off in pursuit of the other which was now making for Lorient. As it was now dark, Aigle displayed a blue light to indicate her position to the closing Impétueux, and at 21:00, coming within 50 yards, exchanged fire with the Frenchman. To prevent a boarding, which Wolfe was determined upon, the frigate came about and, shortly after the British had broken off their attack for lack of sea room, ran aground on the Pointe de Chats on the eastern edge of Groix.

Saturn, Narcissus and Cuckoo joined Aigle and Impétueux during the night and the following morning at dawn, the five British returned to the island but no further attempt was made on either of the French frigates. Six days later the stranded ship was re-floated and both vessels arrived safely in Lorient.

Early in 1809, Aigle was back chasing merchantmen, securing five in January and February.

Battle of Basque Roads
Aigle was part of the fleet under Admiral James Gambier that fought the Battle of the Basque Roads in April 1809. The French ships were anchored under the protection of the powerful batteries on the Isle d'Aix when on 11 April Lord Cochrane led an attacking force of fireships and explosive vessels. Just prior to the attack, Aigle took up a position just north-east of the Boyart Shoal; anchored behind HMS Imperieuse, and ahead of HMS Unicorn (1794) and Pallas. It was the job of these four frigates to take on board the returning fireship crews and give assistance to the escorting boats, if required. The fireships had a partial success; the French, having anticipated such an attack, had rigged a boom across the channel. One of the explosive vessels however breached the boom, leading the French to cut their cables and drift on to the shoals.

The following day, after much delay, Gambier took the rest of his fleet into the Basque Roads. The British ships anchored, with springs, in a crescent around the stranded French, and exchanged fire. Aigle took up a position, second in line behind Unicorn, and just ahead of HMS Emerald (1795) and Indefatigable. These ships directed their fire mainly towards the French ships of the line, Varsovie and Aquilon, both of which struck at around 17:30.

Walcheren Campaign
Aigle was part of a large expeditionary force in the summer 1809. Comprising more than 600 vessels and nearly 40,000 troops, it left The Downs on 28 July, intent on destroying the dock-yards and arsenals at Antwerp, Terneuse and Flushing, and capturing the French fleet stationed in the river Scheldt.

Troops were landed on the Island of Walcheren at 16:30 on 30 July, while bomb-vessels and gun-boats began a bombardment of Veere. The town surrendered immediately but it took several days of fighting, before the fort was captured on 1 August. The British then mounted an attack on Flushing, and the island of Zuid-Beveland which was taken unopposed; the forts there having already been deserted. However, the British neglected Cadzand on the south-west side of the Scheldt, where more than 5,700 French troops crossed the river to reinforce Flushing. The capitulation of Fort Rammekens allowed the British to besiege the town on 3 August and to prevent further aid being sent, a flotilla of gunboats was dispatched to the western arm of the Scheldt, to cut it off on the seaward side. The British then began locating and marking a channel for larger ships on 6 August.

A large squadron of ten frigates, including Aigle, was eventually able to make its way up the western passage on 9 August, enduring fire from batteries on both sides of the river for more than two hours. Aigle, in the centre, had her stern frame shattered when a shell fell through the deck and exploded, killing a marine and wounding four other members of the crew. She was the only ship to suffer any damage and her casualties amounted to almost half the total of two killed and nine wounded.

A two-day long bombardment of Flushing forced its capitulation on 15 August. Ratified the following day, it left the British in control of Walcheren which they garrisoned with 10,000 troops. Schouwen and Duiveland on the Eastern branch of the Scheldt, were occupied peacefully on 17 August. The French fleet had already withdrawn to Antwerp however, having been informed on 29 July when the British were still at sea. Between the British and their objective were now more than 35,000 French soldiers, garrisoned in heavily armed forts at Lillo, Liefkenshoech, and Antwerp. The deliberate destruction of dykes by the French had led to widespread flooding, and with disease spreading through the British army, it was decided to abandon the expedition in early September.

After a 13 hour chase across the Atlantic on 12 September 1810, Aigle captured a French privateer from Bordeaux: Phoenix, armed with eighteen 18-pounder carronades and carrying a well trained crew of 129, had been successfully preying on British and American shipping.

Mediterranean service
Sir John Louis was appointed captain in October 1811 and took Aigle to the Mediterranean. Aigle and HMS Curacoa (1809) used boats to land marines and seamen near the harbour of Campo del Porto, Elba, on 20 June 1813. When the batteries protecting the town were over-run and the troops there routed, the French scuttled three of their own ships to prevent them from becoming prizes. The following morning, having returned to the boats, the marines captured a small convoy of three settees and drove the brig protecting them into Portoferraio. Two large feluccas were taken from the town of Mesca in the Gulf of Spezia, on the 28 June. Prevented by the wind from using the ships, the British once more took to boats but only succeeded in driving their quarry inshore. Later that evening the wind changed direction and Aigle and Curacoa were able to bombard the town while marines took the feluccas from the beach.

Four merchant vessels surrendered to HMS Pembroke (1812), Alcmene and Aigle on 11 April 1814, then when a Sicilian army under Lord William Bentinck invaded and occupied Genoa eight days later, Aigle provided naval support as part of a fleet under Vice-Admiral Edward Pellew.

Re-rated as a 42-gun frigate in February 1817, Aigle underwent repairs and alterations at Woolwich from March 1817. In accordance with Surveyor of the Navy, Robert Seppings' designs, in January 1820, Aigle had her square transom removed and a circular stern fitted. This gave her improved protection in the rear and allowed a better field of fire. She was subsequently laid up then repaired and cut down to a 24-gun corvette between March and July 1831. Recommissioned in August 1841 under Lord Clarence Paget, she was sent to the Mediterranean.

Fate
Aigle returned to Woolwich in October 1852 where she was converted to a coal hulk and receiving ship. She moved to Sheerness in September 1869 and in the following August, she became a target for torpedoes before being sold and broken up in November 1870.