1808.]

DEATH OF CONWAY SHIPLEY.

415

sighted the French vessels Palinure, 16, Commander P. F. Jance, and Pilade, 16, Lieutenant J. M. Cocherel, and gave chase to them, after signalling to the Supérieure, 12, Commander Andrew Hodge, at anchor some miles off, that they were enemies. The Gorée succeeded in closing, but was speedily disabled by her two French antagonists, who fired high. She inflicted, however, heavy loss upon them, killing or wounding 10 in the Pilade, and 19 in the Palinure, at the cost of only 1 killed of her own crew. Later in the day the Supérieure came up, with the Circe, 32, and Wolverine, 18, astern of her; but the French vessels reached the shelter of the forts on the Saintes before they could be overpowered.1

On April 23rd, upon the Danish coast, the boats of the Daphne, 20, Captain Francis Mason, and Tartarus, 18, Lieutenant William Russell (2) (actg. Com.), were sent in, in tow of the Forward, 12, Lieutenant David Sheils, to destroy a convoy which was assembling at Fladstrand for the purpose of carrying stores and provisions to Norway. All the laden vessels of the convoy, ten in number, were carried off from under the guns of a Danish fort, with a loss of only 5 wounded."

Another and less successful cutting out affair took place on the same day at Lisbon. Captain Conway Shipley, of the Nymphe, 36, with the boats of the Nymphe and Blossom, 18, Commander George Pigot (2), attempted to carry the Garrota, 20, a Portuguese naval vessel which had been seized by the French, and which was lying just above Belem. The boats, when they closed to board, found that the Garrota had the support not only of the guns of Belem Castle, but also of a formidable floating battery. Moreover, the tide was ebbing at the rate of seven knots, so that the men were much exhausted. Shipley was shot dead whilst attempting to gain the Garrota's deck, and fell into the water. His brother Charles, who was not a naval officer, ordered the boat's crew to shove off and pick up the body; and, in attempting to do this, she fouled a cutter and drove her into one of the launches. Owing to this unwarrantable interference, the whole attack fell into confusion; and the boats, unable to row against the tremendous current, retired with 1 killed, besides Shipley, and 2 wounded.3

On the same day the Grasshopper, 14, Commander Thomas

Searle, and Rapid, 14, Lieutenant Henry Baugh, captured two Spanish gunboats, drove two others ashore, and made prizes of two richly-laden Spanish merchantmen from South America, off Faro in southern Portugal.1

On April 29th and the following days, the Falcon, 16, Lieutenant John Price (3) (actg. Com.), destroyed several small craft on the Danish coast, and on May 7th carried off two Danish coasters laden with artillery material, from under the guns of Lundholm.2

On May 2nd, the Unité, 36, Captain Patrick Campbell (1), captured the Italian corvette Ronco, 16, in the Gulf of Venice, after a few broadsides had been exchanged without loss. Two other Italian vessels were observed to the north and chased, but without result. A month later, on June 1st, the Unité, after a long pursuit, overtook two Italian brigs, the Nettuno, 16, and Teuliè,3 16, inflicted upon them a loss of 14 killed and 29 wounded, without a single man being hurt in the British crew, and captured them.*

On May 7th, the Redwing, 18, Commander Thomas Ussher, attacked seven Spanish armed vessels in charge of a convoy, off Cape Trafalgar. She drove ashore and destroyed four of the armed craft, captured one of them, and took or sunk most of the merchantmen. All this was achieved with the loss of 1 killed and 3 wounded. The Spanish gunboats, however, rarely fought or manoeuvred with any spirit. It was quite different, as we shall see in the next instance, when our Navy had to deal with Danish craft of the same type.

On May 15th, the Tartar, 32, Captain George Edmund Byron Bettesworth, an officer of the most distinguished gallantry, and famous for having brought the first news to Europe of the return of Villeneuve's fleet from the West Indies in 1805, worked her way through the islands to the town of Bergen, and sent in her boats to bring off the shipping in the harbour. This the boats were unable to do, as the entrance was closed by a chain. They had only just returned to the ship, which was lying becalmed in a narrow rocky inlet, when a Danish schooner and five gunboats, each mounting two long 24-prs., appeared and opened fire. Bettesworth fell at almost

1 James, v. 40; Nav. Chron., xix. 432.

2 Nav. Chron., xix. 508.

3 Mr. W. H. Wilson suggests that the name should be Giulia. I can find no evidence in Randaccio, or elsewhere. I therefore leave the name as it appears in the disps.

James, v. 52; Nav. Chron., xx. 77; Marshall, ii. 293 5 James, v. 47; Nav. Chron., xix. 505; O'Byrne, 1223.

1808.]

THE "TARTAR" OFF BERGEN.

417

the first shot, the command then devolving on Lieutenant Herbert Caiger. The Tartar was end-on to her little enemies; and, manned by a raw crew, few of whom had ever served on ship-board before, she appeared to be in a desperate position. The depth was too great for her to anchor with springs, and then bring her broadside to bear. At last, however, she succeeded in warping round, and then, by her

(By permission, from a family portrait in the possession of F. G. O. Brace, Esq.)

fire, she sank one gunboat and damaged the others. At that point a light breeze sprang up, and she was able to make sail in pursuit of her enemies, and to drive them under the guns of Bergen. Her loss was 2 officers (Bettesworth and Midshipman Henry Fitzburgh) killed, and about 10 men wounded. Her hull was pierced between wind and water in several places, and the sails and rigging were much cut up. Bettesworth, though only twenty-three years of age, had been wounded no fewer than twenty-four times in the

VOL. V.

2 E

course of the war; which is, probably, a record in the British Navy.1

The Tartar's real object had been to intercept the Dutch frigate Gelderland, 36, Captain Bartholomeus Jacobus Pool, which was believed to be at Bergen. She had sailed, however, a fortnight before the Tartar put in an appearance, but she did not, for all that, escape the vigilance of the British cruisers. On the evening of May 19th she was sighted to the south-west of Ireland by the Virginie, 38, Captain Edward Brace, and brought to action late in the night. A heavy sea was running, and the night was very dark; but this did not apparently affect the accuracy of the British fire. Three times the Dutchman wore, probably with the object of raking the Virginie. Attempting that manœuvre a fourth time, the Gelderland ran on board the British ship, but soon got free again. At last, after ninety minutes' hard fighting, with their ship on fire, all masts and the bowsprit shot away, and one-fourth of the crew killed or wounded, the Dutch struck. Pool deserted his quarters during the action, having received two slight wounds. For this he was afterwards cashiered. The Dutch shooting appears to have been most indifferent, seeing that the loss and damage to the British ship was insignificant, whereas the gunnery of the British crew must have been surprisingly good.2

On May 10th, the Wizard, 16, Commander Abel Ferris, sighted and chased, to the south of Toulon, the Requin, 16, Commander C. R. Bérar, and, after a long pursuit, engaged her in close action on the morning of the 11th. The Requin fired high and inflicted sufficiently severe injuries to be able to draw away from her adversary. The British crew refitted their ship, and, on the morning of the 12th, were near enough to the Requin to open a long range fire. The firing killed the breeze, and the Requin drew ahead once more;

2 James, v. 36; Nav. Chron., xix. 506; De Jonge, v. 647. For this service Lieut. John Davies (2) was made Com. on June 3rd, 1808.

1808.]

ACTIONS WITH DANISH GUNBOATS.

419

but the Wizard stuck to her enemy all the 12th and 13th, now gaining and now losing ground, and exchanging shots whenever near enough for the guns to carry. On the 14th, however, the Requin entered the neutral harbour of Goletta in Tunis, and the pursuit ceased, having continued through 88 hours over 369 miles of sea. The Requin was ultimately taken on July 28th, to the north of Corsica, on her way back from Tunis to Toulon, by the Volage, 22, Captain Philip Lewis J Rosenhagen, after a long chase. The Wizard's total loss was 1 killed and 5 wounded; the Requin's is unknown.1

On May 11th, the Bacchante, 20, Captain Samuel Hood Inglefield, captured, off Cape San Antonio, in Cuba, the French brig Griffon, 16. The Griffon, though much inferior in force, offered a brave resistance, and did not surrender till she was almost amongst the breakers."

On May 12th, the Amphion, 32, Captain William Hoste, whilst on her way from Toulon to Majorca, found the French storeship Baleine, 26, Captain Gaudran, at anchor in Rosas Bay, on the northeast of Spain. The Baleine had parted from the squadron of Ganteaume, on its voyage from Toulon to the Adriatic, during a storm. Despite a fire of red-hot shot from the Spanish forts, the Amphion worked in and cannonaded the Baleine. It was believed that the French crew were abandoning her, and therefore a British boat was despatched to take possession of her. On its approach, the boat was so warmly received that she had to retire; and the Amphion, after she had picked her up, withdrew, as nothing more could be attempted under the guns of the Spanish batteries.3

On May 24th, the hired cutter Swan, 10, Lieutenant Mark Robinson Lucas, when off Bornholm, attacked a Danish cutter, which blew up in twenty minutes, without a single man being saved. The Swan sustained no loss.*

During June, and the later months of the year, the Danish gunboats caused a great deal of trouble to the British cruisers and convoys in the narrow waters of the Belts and Sound. The Danish battleships and frigates had been carried off by the expedition of 1807, so that there was no lack of good seamen to man such small

1 James, v. 48; Troude, iii. 505.

2 Nav. Chron., xx. 153; James, v. 51; Troude, iii. 506.

3 James, v. 53; Troude, iii. 506.

Nav. Chron., xix. 509; James, v. 33.