Battalion was launched at Whitby in 1795. She traded with the Baltic and then in 1796 became a Liverpool-based West Indiaman. A French privateer captured her in 1797 in a single ship action as Battalion was outbound on her first voyage to Jamaica. The Royal Navy quickly recaptured her. She was last listed in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1797.
| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain | |
| Name | Battalion |
| Builder | John Barry[1] |
| Launched | 1795, Whitby |
| Captured | 1797 |
| Fate | Last listed 1797 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 200,[2] or 211,[1] or 212[3] (bm) |
| Complement | 18[3] |
| Armament | 10 × 9-pounder guns[3] |
Battalion first appeared in Lloyd's Register in 1795.[2]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1797 | T.Banks | J.Atty | London–Gothenburg | LR |
| 1797 | T.Banks Thomas Oxton |
J.Atty Litt & Co. |
London–Gothenburg Liverpool–Jamaica |
LR |
Battalion was sold to Liverpool in 1796.[1] Her new owners sailed her as a West Indiaman.
Captain Thomas Oxton acquired a letter of marque on 4 January 1797.[3] On 29 January Battalion, Oxton, master, was sailing from Liverpool to Jamaica when the French privateer Jeune Emilie captured her at 45°53′N 10°30′W / 45.883°N 10.500°W, after an engagement between the two vessels of three-quarters of an hour. Jeune Emilie was armed with 10 guns and eight swivel guns, and had a crew of 80 men.[4][a]
On 11 February HMS Triton took the 10-gun privateer brig Jeune Emilie, which was forty days out of Saint-Malo and had taken the sloop Friendship as well as the 10-gun letter of marque Battalion.[9][10] Triton captured Jeune Émilie at 49°10′N 12°24′W / 49.167°N 12.400°W.[8]
Notes
edit- ^ Jeune Émilie was a 60-ton (bm) brigantine built in the USA and commissioned as a privateer in Saint Malo in February 1793. She was under Jacqus Dupuy-Fromy with 69 men and 12 carriage guns (five 4-pounders and seven 3-pounders), plus 12 swivel guns. She was decommissioned in April 1793.[5] The French government requisitioned her prior to July 1794 and commissioned her.The French Navy renamed her Isolé in May 1795, but reverted to Jeune Émilie in 1796.[6][7] In 1796 the Navy returned her to her owners. They commissioned her as a privateer in 1796 under A. Le Bedel, with 60 to 62 men and 16 guns.[5] Le Bedel was an experienced captain. He had been second captain of Jeune Émilie in 1793 and had taken command of her when Dupuy-Fromy fell ill.[8]
Citations
edit- ^ a b c Weatherill (1908), p. 95.
- ^ a b LR (1795), Seq.No.B466.
- ^ a b c d "Letter of Marque, p.52 – Retrieved 25 July 2017" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
- ^ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 2899. 17 February 1797. hdl:2027/uc1.c3049069.
- ^ a b Demerliac (1999), p. 242, no.2046.
- ^ Winfield & Roberts (2015), p. 297.
- ^ Demerliac (1999), p. 189, 1408.
- ^ a b c Crowhurst (1989), p. 92.
- ^ "No. 13980". The London Gazette. 14 February 1797. p. 157.
- ^ Schomberg (1802), p. 122.
References
edit- Crowhurst, P. (1989). The French War on Trade: Privateering, 1793–1815. Studies in naval history. Ashgate Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-85967-804-9.
- Demerliac, Alain (1999). La Marine de la Révolution: Nomenclature des Navires Français de 1792 à 1799 (in French). Éditions Ancre. ISBN 9782906381247. OCLC 492783890.
- Schomberg, Isaac (1802). Naval Chronology, Or an Historical Summary of Naval and Maritime Events from the Time of the Romans, to the Treaty of Peace 1802: With an Appendix. London: T. Egerton.
- Weatherill, Richard (1908). The ancient port of Whitby and its shipping. Whitby: Horne and Son.
- Winfield, Rif; Roberts, Stephen S. (2015). French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786–1861: Design Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-204-2.