HMS Boadicea (1797)

HMS Boadicea was a frigate of the Royal Navy. She served in the Channel and in the East Indies during which service she captured many prizes. She participated in one action for which the Admiralty would award the Naval General Service Medal. She was finally broken up in 1858.

Design
Boadicea was one of a batch of large frigates ordered in 1795, all of which were of largest of their type, and the majority of which were to the draught of captured French ships, the Navy then being under the sway of Middleton and the French school of thought, a school supposing that the design of warships in France was of a higher quality. She was built to the design of Imperieuse, a 40-gun ship completed in 1787 and captured in October 1793. Changes were made to the shape of the topsides, and the scantlings and fastenings were strengthened to reflect British practice. She retained her shallow French hull form, and as a result the holds and magazines were considered cramped.

French Revolutionary Wars
Boadicea was commissioned under Captain Richard Keats for service in the Channel Fleet. Under Keats she served on this station for several years during which time she captured many prizes.

On 19 September Boadicea and HMS Anson (1781) captured the French privateer brig Zephyr. She was out of Nantes, was armed with two brass 12-pounder guns and six 6-pounder guns, and had a crew of 70. She had not made any captures. The next day the two British vessels recaptured the ship Eliza, which was sailing under American colours. She had been sailing from London to the Cape of Good Hope with a cargo of merchandise when the French privateer Confiance had captured her. Then on the day after that, they recaptured the ship Jenny, of Greenock, which had been sailing from Liverpool to Virginia with a cargo of salt, earthenware and bale goods. The Jenny had fallen prey on 10 September, after a fight, to the privateer Hazard of Rochelle.

Then on 19 November, Boadicea and Anson captured the privateer Railleur. She had a crew of 160 men and had been armed with 20 guns, but had thrown most of them overboard during the chase. She was one day out of Rochelle and had not taken any prizes. Nymph, Sylph and the hired armed cutter Dolly shared in the prize money. The same vessels shared in the recapture of several other vessels: Henniker, Active, Fanny, Mohawk and Catherine. Around the 19th, Boadicea and Anson also recaptured a brig. Anson was running low on water and Keats sent her back into port.

Boadicea shared with HMS Révolutionnaire (1794), HMS Pique (1795) and the hired armed cutter Nimrod in the capture of the Anna Christiana on 17 May 1798.

Around 18 June 1798 Boadicea captured the American ships Fanny and Lydia. On 9 December Boadicea captured the Invincible Buonaparte, a French privateer of 20 guns (12 and 18-pounders) and 170 men. She was a new vessel, sixteen days out of Bordeaux and had not made any captures. The Admiralty took the Invincible Buonaparte into service as the 18-gun sloop Brazen. On the last day of the year, Boadicea recaptured the brig Adventure.

On 20 or 21 February 1799, Boadicea, HMS Atalante (1797) and HMS Brilliant (1779) shared in the capture of the French privateer cutter Milan. She was armed with 14 guns and had a crew of 44 men. Keats ordered Atalante to take Milan into port, land the prisoners, and then rejoin Boadicea on station.

On 7 March Boadicea recaptured an American vessel sailing from Charlestown to Hamburg. The next day Boadicea interrupted the capture of a neutral vessel, which had been sailing from Charlestown to Embden, by a French privateer, which Boadicea captured. The privateer was the brig Requin, pierced for 18 guns but mounting 14. She had a crew of 70 men. On 9 March a gale caused Requin to overturn even though she had no sails set; the prize crew of ten men from Boadicea and a prisoner all drowned.

Still, on 1 April, Boadicea captured her third privateer of the cruise, the brig Utile. Utile was armed with sixteen 8-pounder guns, of which ten were brass. She had a crew of 120 men and was three weeks out of Bordeaux.

On 2 July Boadicea and some other frigates under Keats's overall command protected bomb vesselss that bombarded some Spanish ships of the line anchored under the protection of batteries on the Île de Ré and a floating mortar battery moored near the Île d'Oléron. The British conducted their bombardment from too far away with the result that it was completely ineffective. They then broke off the attack and sailed away.

Around the turn of the year, Boadicea shared with a number of other vessels in her squadron in the capture of the St. Francoise (25 December), St. Pierre de Carnac (12 January 1800), a brig of unknown name (17 January), and the Anna Louisa (22 January). On 21 and 22 April 1800, Boadicea and Stag captured the Zeegen and Hoop.

On 14 May Keats sent a boat with six men under the command of a midshipman on a reconnaissance mission into the outer roads of Brest. They encountered a French guard boat that they were able to repulse with the loss of one man. The midshipman later boarded a small sloop from whom he found out that the French fleet was in the inner road and that the Spanish vessels there were plagued by illness among the crew.

Then towards the middle of the year, on 24 June, Boadicea recaptured the sloop Gipsey, of Greenock, or Liverpool. Gipsey had been a prize to the French privateer Brave, of 36 guns, under the command of Captain Le Bee, and had been sailing from the West Indies when originally captured.

On 4 July Boadicea was in sight when HMS Sirius (1797) and HMS Indefatigable (1784) captured the French vessel Favori. Four days later, Boadicea was in company with the same two warships when they recaptured the Cultivator. Cultivator (or Cultivateur), was a West Indiaman sailing from Demerara and Essequibo, with a cargo valued at ₤20,000.

A week later, HMS Bourdelaise (1799) captured the Phoenix. Boadicea was one of the vessels that would later share in the prize money by agreement. One month later, on 14 August, Boadicea captured the Spanish vessel Union. She was a large vessel of 650 tons, armed with 22 guns, and carrying a crew of 130 men. She had sailed from Corunna the day before, heading towards Buenos Aires with a cargo of merchandise. HMS Fisgard (1797), HMS Uranie (1797), HMS Unicorn (1794) and the hired armed cutter Earl St Vincent shared in the prize.

Boadicea also shared in several other prizes that other frigates under Keats' command captured between 4 July and 23 October. In addition to the Phoenix, these included the Gironde, Alerte, Joseph, Magicienne, Dicke, Rancune, Vivo, Favorite and Venus. Several of these were privateers.

In 1801 Captain Charles Rowley took command of Boadicea. With her he commanded a light squadron in Quiberon Bay where she "greatly molested the enemy." On 10 January Boadicea captured the Bombarde, which had been sailing from Havre to Brest. Bombarde arrived in Plymouth six days later. She was curiously constructed, in that she was essentially a shallow-draft (3'6") lugger-rigged raft. Her armament consisted of a 24-pounder gun, a 13" mortar and four swivel guns. She had a crew of 30 men but could readily carry 150 soldiers. Furthermore, her gangways were broad, fortified, and built over ammunition cases. She also bore the number 69, and was one of some 200 vessels that the French had massed at Havre for the planned invasion of Britain and which had been sitting there for two years.

On 20 August, the boats of Fisgard, HMS Diamond (1794) and Boadicea carried out a cutting-out expedition at A Coruña. The boats went in at night and brought out the Neptune, a new ship belonging to the Spanish Navy and pierced for 20 guns, a gunboat armed with a long 32-pounder gun, and a merchant vessel. The Spanish vessels were anchored close to the batteries that protected the fort and sentinels challenged the British. The Spaniards commenced fire, but the cutting-out party was able to bring the vessels out without having suffered any casualties. One of the vessels was the packet ship Reyno Duno. She came into Plymouth on September and the Naval Chronicle described her as "Beautiful,... of four suits of sails and other naval stores". She had apparently been on her way to Havana.

Between April 1802 and March 1803 Boadicea was fitted at Plymouth. She was recommissioned in December 1802 under Captain John Maitland. He went on command Boadicea in the Channel.

On 20 May 1803, Boadicea and HMS Kite (1795), captured the Dutch ship Minerva. On 30 May Boadicea detained the Dutch ship Vrow Elizabeth. The London Gazette mentions that this was "previous to the Declaration of Hostilities". (Britain and France renewed hostilities on 18 May 1803, but the issue may have been hostilities with the Dutch.) Still, prize money was awarded. Furthermore, on 31 May Boadicea captured the Joanna Catharina.

Napoleonic Wars
While Maitland and Boadicea were serving with the inshore squadron at Brest, Boadicea hit the Bas de Lis. This caused a large hole in her hull with the result that she started taking on water. Even the contribution of 100 seamen from other vessels, together with additional pumps, barely kept her afloat. A frigate escorted her to Portsmouth. Boadicea returned to her station within eight days, having spent only three days in dock undergoing repairs.

On 9 June 1803 Boadicea sent into Plymouth the small French privateer Eleonore, which had a crew of 27 men. The privateer was 11 days out of St. Maloes but had not made any captures. On the same day Boadicea recaptured the London Packet.

Then on 25 November, Maitland and Boadicea were eight leagues off Cape Finisterre when they captured the French navy lugger Vautour, commanded by Monsieur Bigot, Lieutenant de Vaisseau. She was 43 days from St. Domingo and had on board a Commissarie de Marine with dispatches from General Rochambeau at Cape François. Vautour was pierced for 16 guns but mounted twelve 6-pounder guns, 10 of which she threw overboard during the chase. She had a crew of 92 men.

On 24 and 25 September Boadicea was in sight when HMS Pickle (1800) captured two French chasse-marees loaded with supplies for the French fleet at Brest and brought them into Plymouth. Lapenotiere had driven them into the Bay there and then sent his boats to bring them out. The two French vessels may have been the Marie Française from Bordeaux and the Desirée from Quimper.

In 28 March 1805, Boadicea arrived at Yarmouth with 250 men that she had brought from the Texel. They were part of the crew of HMS Romney (1762), which had wrecked there in late 1804.

On 19 April 1805 Boadicea captured the Zeldenrust. Boadicea shared with HMS Penelope (1798) and HMS Moselle (1804) in the proceeds of the Jonge Obyna, Smidt, master, on 13 June. That same day they also captured the Sophia. The final payment for Jonge Obyna and Sophia did not get paid out until June 1817.

Next, in company with HMS Dryad (1795), Boadicea fell in with four French line-of-battle ships, under Rear-Admiral Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley, off Ferrol. The four French vessels had escaped from the Battle of Trafalgar. Boadicea and Dryad tried to lead the enemy into the path of a Royal Navy squadron by firing rockets but lost them a short time after Sir Richard Strachan saw their signals. Neither Boadicea nor Dryad therefore shared in the Battle of Cape Ortegal, in which all four French ships were captured.

On 12 December, Boadicea, HMS Arethusa (1781) and HMS Wasp (1800) left Cork, escorting a convoy of 23 merchant vessels. Four days later the convoy encountered a French squadron consisting of five ships of the line and four sailing frigates, as well as nine other vessels that were too far away for assessment. The letter writer to the Naval Chronicle surmised that the distant vessels were the Africa squadron that had been escorted by HMS Lark (1794) and that they had captured. On this occasion, The British warships and six merchant vessels went one way and the rest went another way. The French chased the warships and the six for a day, ignored the 17, and eventually gave up their pursuit. Boadicea then shadowed the French while Wasp went back to French and Spanish coasts to alert the British warships there. Arethusa and her six charges encountered the French squadron again the next day, but after a desultory pursuit the French sailed off.

In the autumn of 1806 or early 1807 Boadicea was employed protecting the whale fishery in the Davis Strait, in company with HMS Topaze (1793). Maitland then sailed to Newfoundland, from where he brought back a convoy for Oporto. On the way he found out that the French had entered Portugal so he diverted to London. On 4 September 1807, HMS Loire (1798), with Boadicea, HMS Defender (1804) and HMS Strenuous (1805) in company, captured the American ship Exchange, Peter Ledet, Master.

On 26 January 1808 Boadicea was in company with HMS Resistance (1805) when they captured the French privateer General Conclaux. Then on 27 March, Boadicea, HMS Medusa (1801), the cutter HMS Alphea (1806) and schooner HMS Ant (1797) captured 25 French fishing vessels. On 8 August Boadicea was in company with HMS Solebay (1785) and the gun-brig HMS Linnet (1806) when they captured the Pappenbourg galiot Yonge Harriot or Young Harriot.

In June 1808 Captain John Hatley took command of Boadicea. She sailed from Portsmouth to the Cape of Good Hope on 9 February 1809.

In September 1809 she served in a squadron of frigates and sloops in the expedition against Saint-Paul, on Bonaparte Island (also known as Île de Bourbon and today as Réunion). The naval commander was Captain Josias Rowley, aboard the Third Rate HMS Raisonnable (1768). Rowley assigned Boadicea to blockade the port.

The British troops and Royal Marines landed without alarming the batteries, which they stormed and carried. The rest of the squadron then stood into the bay and exchanged fire with the French frigate Caroline. Soon the batteries, town and shipping were all in British hands for the total loss of 22 killed, 76 wounded and 4 missing. Boadicea, which had not been able to maintain the blockade, contributed Royal Marines to the attack, one of whom was killed and five of whom were wounded. The British had achieved their objectives, the capture of French shipping and the destruction of the defenses of the only safe anchorage on the island. They then withdrew.

Captain Rowley moved to Boadicea and on 7 July 1810, and with three other frigates, he escorted a force of 1,650 European soldiers and 1,600 sepoys from Madras, together with 1,000 from Rodriguez against Réunion again, but this time with the aim of taking the island. Boadicea herself transported troops and her boats were active in landing troops. The island surrendered on 9 July. Rowley appointed Lieutenant Robb, Boadicea's First Lieutenant, to carry the dispatches to Cape Town in the brig Anna.

On 28 August Boadicea, HMS Staunch (1804) and HMS Otter (1805) shared in the capture of the Garronne. On 4 September the same three vessels shared in the capture of the Ranger.

After the Battle of Grand Port, which was a disaster for the British, Commodore Josias Rowley sent urgent messages to Madras and Cape Town requesting reinforcements. The first to arrive were Africaine and Ceylon, both of which were sailing alone. In the Action of 13 September 1810, Iphigénie and Astrée captured Africaine. She had been sailing with Boadicea, Otter and Staunch trailing some distance behind. When she chased the French frigates and the brig Entreprenant early on the morning of 13 September, she outdistanced her companions, with unfortunate results. Africaine had 49 men killed and 114 wounded. The French took about 90 survivors prisoner and conveyed them to Mauritius where they remained until the British took the island in December. The French lost nine killed and 33 wounded in Iphigénie and one killed and two wounded in Astrée.

The next day Boadicea and her two companions recaptured Africaine. Because she was dismasted and damaged the French had not tried to tow her. When Boadicea recaptured her, Africaine still had 70 of her wounded and some 83 uninjured of her crew aboard, as well as a ten-man French prize crew.

The French had also captured Ceylon, but Boadicea quickly retook her too. Then Rowley was able to seize Jacques Hamelin and his flagship Vénus at the Action of 18 September 1810. Nearly four decades later the Admiralty recognized Boadicea by authorizing the clasp "Boadicea 18 Sept. 1810" to the Naval General Service Medal, awarded upon application to all British participants still living in 1847.

On 21 November 1810 Vice Admiral Bertie led a large fleet of warships and transports to attack Isle de France (now Mauritius), the French surrendering on 7 December 1810. Captain Rowley and Boadicea returned to England with Vice Admiral Bertie's dispatches.

Captain Viscount Ralph Neville took command of Boadicea in February 1811. She was then laid up in ordinary in May 1811.

Post war
Boadicea underwent extensive repairs, costing some £35,433, in Plymouth between February 1815 and August 1816. She was then laid up.

In October 1824 Captain Sir James Brisbane recommissioned Boadicea, which underwent fitting for sea, at a cost of £9,387, between October and January 1825. Brisbane then sailed her to the East Indies, where she participated in the First Anglo-Burmese War. Brisbane retired to Pulo Penang early in 1826 due to ill-health. He died on 19 December 1826. Commander John Wilson then sailed Boadicea back to Britain.

Fate
Boadicea underwent a repair at Chatham between December 1829 and 1830 that cost ₤10,027. She was then laid up. She was on harbour service in 1854. Her break up was completed at Chatham on 22 May 1858.

Sailing Qualities
"Average under sail, not recording more than 9kts close hauled and 11.5kts off the wind, good sea boat ... tolerably handy in staying and wearing." She received extensions to her gripe and another 4 inches onto her false keel, suggesting a lack of weatherliness as built.

Fiction
Boadicea is Jack Aubrey's command in the book The Mauritius Command, which follows the events of the historical Mauritius campaign, with Aubrey replacing the historical commander of Boadicea, Josias Rowley.