HMS Lavinia

HMS Lavinia was a 44-gun frigate of the Royal Navy. Launched in 1806 at Milford Haven, she served during the Napoleonic Wars and took part in the Walcheren Campaign in 1809. She was serving as a hulk in Plymouth harbour in 1868 where she was later sunk in a collision with a German steamship.

Plan of HMS Lavinia
History
United Kingdom
Name: HMS Lavinia
Ordered: 15 February 1797
Builder: Jacobs and sons yard at Milford Haven
Laid down: May 1798
Launched: 6 March 1806
General characteristics
Tons burthen: 1,171 ​67⁄94 (bm)
Length: 158 ft (48 m)
Beam: 40 ft 8 in (12.40 m)
Depth of hold: 14 ft (4.3 m)
Propulsion: Sail
Complement: 294 later increased to 340
Armament:

Design, construction and armament

Lavinia was a Royal Navy frigate designed by Jean-Louis Barrallier and ordered on 15 February 1797. Her keel, of 132 feet 9 1⁄2 inches (40.5 m) was laid down at Milford Haven in May 1798. When finished, she was 158 feet 1 inch (48.2 m) along the gun deck, had a beam of 40 feet 8 3⁄4 inches (12.4 m) and a depth in the hold of 14 feet (4.3 m). She was 1,171​67⁄94 tons burthen and drew between 11 ft 6 in (3.51 m) and 13 ft 6 in (4.11 m).[1]

Lavinia carried a main battery of thirty 18-pounder (8.2 kg) guns on the upper deck with a secondary armament of six 9-pounder (4.1 kg) guns and eight 32-pounder (15 kg) carronades on the quarterdeck and two 9-pounder (4.1 kg) guns and four 32-pounder (15 kg) carronades on the forecastle. When launched on 6 March 1806, she was rated as a 44-gun, fifth-rate frigate.[1]

Service

Lavinia was first commissioned in February 1806 under Lord William Stuart and once finished, began her service in the Channel.[1] On 15 August 1807, she arrived in Plymouth from Rochefort with despatches for Admiral Alan Gardner from Rear-Admiral Richard Strachan.[2] She sailed for the Mediterranean on 30 January 1808, where she joined a fleet under Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood.[1]

On 23 February, Lavinia was part of a squadron under Vice Admiral Edward Thornbrough, stationed off Palermo, when word was received that a French Fleet had been seen near Corfu. The ten ships-of-the-line, three frigates, two corvettes, and seven armed transports under Admiral Ganteaume had come from Toulon to relieve the island, which was under a British blockade. Thornbrough immediately dispatched Lavinia and HMS Spartan to gain intelligence while he and the remaining ships went in search of Collingwood.[3] Lavinia captured three enemy vessels during the following month[4] but was unable to locate her original quarry. Spartan discovered the French on 1 April, between Cape Bon and Sardinia but by the time the two British frigates had rendezvoused with their fleet, Ganteaume was back in Toulon where, on 3 May, Thornbrough began a blockade.[5] In December, Lavinia recaptured a British merchant vessel, Lady Anne, before returning to England.[6]

Lavinia 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 dockyards and arsenals at Antwerp, Terneuse and Flushing, and capturing the French fleet stationed in the river Scheldt.[7] On 11 August, Lavinia led a squadron of frigates up the river and forced a passage between the batteries of Flushing and Cadzand.[8] Despite enduring fire for more than two hours, none of Lavinia's crew were either killed or wounded.[9]

The two-day long bombardment of Flushing by Lavinia and her companions, forced its capitulation on 15 August and 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 two days later.[10] The French fleet had already withdrawn to Antwerp however, leaving more than 35,000 French soldiers, garrisoned in heavily armed forts at Lillo, Liefkenshoech, and Antwerp, between them and the British.[11] 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.[12]

Lavinia sailed for Portugal in July 1810 and served again in the Mediterranean where on 5 October 1811, she captured a French pink.[1][13] The United States declared war in June 1812 and on 8 August, Lavinia was part of a small squadron off Gibraltar that captured four American vessels.[14]

Later service and fate

Lavinia was recalled to Plymouth and laid up in ordinary in February 1813. A substantial repair was required in February 1815, which took until September 1816 and cost £44,684, after which Lavinia was laid up once more. She was brought back into service as a lazarette and was fitted out for this purpose between April and July 1836 before being taken to Liverpool where she was employed as a quarantine vessel.[1]

Lavinia returned to Plymouth to be refitted as a coal depot between January and April 1852 and was eventually hulked there in 1868. She was saved from being broken up when the order was cancelled in October 1868,[1] but was sunk in a collision with the German steamer Cimbria on 20 February 1870.[15] Lavinia was sold for salvage in March 1870.[1]

Citations
  1. Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Barnsley: Seaforth. p. 152. ISBN 1-86176-246-1.
  2. "No. 16056". The London Gazette. 15 August 1807. p. 1071.
  3. James 1827, p. 4–5.
  4. "No. 16331". The London Gazette. 6 January 1810. p. 46.
  5. Clowes, Sir William Laird; Markham, Sir Clements Robert (1997) [1900]. The Royal Navy, A History from the Earliest Times to 1900. V. London: Chatham Publishing. p. 243-245. ISBN 1-86176-014-0.
  6. "No. 16231". The London Gazette. 21 January 1809. p. 245.
  7. James 1827, p. 131-132.
  8. James 1827, p. 136.
  9. "No. 16287". The London Gazette. 15 August 1809. p. 1298.
  10. James 1827, p. 138.
  11. James 1827, p. 134,138.
  12. James 1827, p. 138-139.
  13. "No. 16813". The London Gazette. 23 November 1813. p. 2346.
  14. "No. 17137". The London Gazette. 18 May 1816. p. 942.
  15. "Plymouth". The Times (26679). London. 21 February 1870. col E, p. 5.

References
  • James, William (1827). The Naval History of Great Britain, 1808–1811. 5. Richard Bentley.
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