HMS Artois was a fifth-rate Artois-class frigate of the Royal Navy, designed by Sir John Henslow and launched in 1794 at Rotherhithe as the lead ship of her class. She served for the majority of her career in the English Channel under the command of Edmund Nagle in the squadrons of Edward Pellew and John Borlase Warren, notably taking part in the action of 21 October 1794 where she captured the 44-gun frigate La Révolutionnaire almost singlehandedly. She participated in a number of other actions and events including the attempted invasion of France in 1795. Artois continued to serve actively on the coast of France in blockade and patrolling roles, taking a large number of ships as prizes, until she was wrecked with no loss of life off Île de Ré on 31 July 1797 while attempting to reconnoitre the harbour of La Rochelle.

Design of HMS Artois
History
Great Britain
NameHMS Artois
Ordered28 March 1793
Cost£20,757[1]
Laid downMarch 1793
Launched3 January 1794
CommissionedDecember 1793
FateWrecked off Île de Ré, 31 July 1797
General characteristics [1]
Class and typeArtois-class fifth-rate frigate
Tons burthen996594 (bm)
Length
  • 146 ft 3 in (44.6 m) (gundeck)
  • 121 ft 9+34 in (37.1 m) (keel)
Beam39 ft 2+12 in (12 m)
Draught
  • 10 ft (3 m) (forwards)
  • 15 ft 6 in (4.7 m) (aft)
Depth of hold13 ft 9 in (4.2 m)
PropulsionSails
Complement270
Armament
  • Gundeck: 28 × 18-pounder guns
  • QD: 2 × 9-pounder guns + 12 × 32-pounder carronades
  • Fc: 2 × 9-pounder guns + 2 × 32-pounder carronades

Construction

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Artois was a 38-gun, 18-pounder, fifth-rate Artois-class frigate designed by Sir John Henslow.[1] She and her class were ordered soon after the start of the French Revolutionary War to provide an influx of modern warships for the Royal Navy.[2] Artois was the name-ship of her class and the first to be laid down; of the nine ships of the class seven, including Artois, were built of oak while the final two were built of fir.[2] Artois was an improvement on the 18-pounder frigates of the American Revolutionary War which were found to be too small and that their battery placement made them unstable at sea.[1] To counter this, Artois and her contemporaries built in the 1790s were lengthened forwards to make them faster and more stable.[1] The extra space provided by this expansion made the ships faster but did not stop the issue of violent pitching, which would not be fixed until HMS Active was launched as an improvement to the Artois-class in 1799.[3] Despite this, the class would go on to gain a reputation as 'crack frigates'.[4] They were perfect for their assigned role as frigates on blockade duties, being large enough to fight any French frigate sent to attack them while on station but also fast enough and weatherly enough to be able to stay at their posts no matter the weather type.[5]

Artois was ordered on 28 March 1793 to be built at Rotherhithe by John and William Wells of Wells & Co.[1] She was laid down in the same month and launched on 3 January 1794 with the following dimensions: 146 feet 3 inches (44.6 m) along the gun deck, 121 feet 9+34 inches (37.1 m) at the keel, with a beam of 39 feet 2+12 inches (12 m) and a depth in the hold of 13 feet 9 inches (4.2 m). She measured 996594 tons burthen.[1] The fitting out process for Artois was completed at Deptford on 30 March.[1] In January 1794 Captain Lord Charles Fitzgerald of Artois requested to the Admiralty that a bridle port, a square porthole in the bow that a gun could be placed in, be fitted to assist in chasing ships, however it was deemed unfeasible to fit one on a ship designed without it.[6] On 19 November eight 32-pound carronades were added to the Artois-class ships by Admiralty Order, leading some to describe them as 44-gun frigates in the future.[7] On 20 June 1796 another Admiralty Order saw the ship's crew complement increase from 270 to 284.[7]

Service

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1794

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Artois was commissioned under Captain Lord Charles Fitzgerald in December 1793 to serve on the Cork Station.[1] After this Captain Edmund Nagle took command of Artois, but was absent at the beginning of her service, with two temporary captains standing in for him.[4] In April 1794 Artois served at the siege of Bastia under the command of Captain Thomas Byam Martin, where the ships of Admiral Lord Hood's Mediterranean Fleet starved the French garrison out of Bastia.[8] Artois then moved to the English Channel where she was to serve in the Brest blockade squadron of Commodore John Borlase Warren; for a brief period of time she was then commanded by Commander George Byng before Nagle returned to take command of Artois.[Note 1][1][10][11] She would spend the majority of her career stationed with the squadron in and around Audierne Bay.[12]

Le Volontaire

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'If they run, why we'll follow, and run them ashore,
And if they won't fight us, what can we do more?'

Ballad relating to the destruction of Le Volontaire.[13]

On 23 August Artois took part in the destruction of the 36-gun frigate Le Volontaire on the Penmarks.[1][14] The frigate was discovered early in the morning by Warren's squadron comprising Artois and the frigates HMS Arethusa, HMS Diamond, HMS Flora, HMS Diana, and HMS Santa Margarita.[Note 2][16] The British ships had left Falmouth on 7 August with the intent of hunting a squadron of French frigates known to be around the Isles of Scilly, but found Le Volontaire off Brittany instead.[17] Le Volontaire was forced by the squadron to anchor off the coast to avoid wrecking, and the British ships attacked her to such a degree that she was forced to cut her cables in an attempt to change her positioning.[16] In doing so La Volontaire was driven ashore and after her pumps failed to remove the incoming water her crew abandoned her.[16] The frigate was unrecoverable and stayed there in its disabled state.[17] The same British ships then discovered the 12-gun brig L'Alerte and 18-gun corvette Espion in the nearby Audierne Bay.[1][16] The two French ships ran themselves aground under the cover of three batteries of guns.[17] They were then boarded by boats from the squadron and fifty-two prisoners were brought off them; the ships also had a large number of men with injuries that made them unmovable, which meant that the British were not able to destroy the ships, instead leaving them and the wounded where they had grounded.[18] The following night the French succeeded in rescuing Espion, but L'Alerte was lost.[19] On 26 August the ships Queen and Donna Maria were recaptured by the squadron in the same area.[20] The squadron continued its patrols, taking the cutter La Quartidi on 7 September and recapturing the Swedish brig Haesingeland on 16 September.[21]

La Révolutionnaire

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HMS Révolutionnaire, captured by Artois on 21 October 1794

By October Artois was serving in the squadron of Edward Pellew.[9][22] On 21 October the squadron, comprising Artois, Arethusa, Diamond, and the frigate HMS Galatea, encountered the French 44-gun frigate La Révolutionnaire sailing off Ushant.[Note 3][1][9][23] The squadron chased La Révolutionnaire which looked to avoid the force, but the superior sailing qualities of Artois allowed her to sail ahead of the rest of the squadron and come up with La Révolutionnaire before she could escape.[9][24] The squadron then cut La Révolutionnaire off from the coast which she might have sailed towards for assistance, forcing the French frigate to engage Artois.[25] The two frigates fought an engagement of forty minutes in which eight Frenchmen and three Britons were killed, including the lieutenant of marines.[9] Diamond approached the action next and came up behind La Révolutionnaire, threatening to fire into her stern.[19][25] La Révolutionnaire surrendered to Artois upon the approach of the rest of Pellew's squadron, as the frigate had been launched only a few weeks previously; the raw crew refused to continue fighting and forced the captain to surrender.[Note 4][9][19][26][27] Pellew reported that the intervention of the rest of the squadron had been unnecessary, and that Artois would have succeeded even if she had been completely unsupported.[25] The French frigate was bought into the navy as HMS Révolutionnaire; Captain Nagle was knighted for his conduct against her and his first lieutenant, Robert Dudley Oliver, was promoted to commander.[9][28][22][29]

1795

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After this Artois returned to the command of Commodore Warren and his squadron.[9] On 18 February 1795 the squadron of Artois, Galatea, Arethusa, and Warren's frigate HMS Pomone encountered a French convoy of twenty ships protected by the frigate Néréide off Oléron.[30] The squadron pursued the convoy up the Pertuis d'Antioche towards Île-d'Aix; while the tide forced the British to halt the attack before they reached Aix, they captured one ship, three brigs, two luggers, one sloop, and an 8-gun schooner.[30] As well as this ten brigs and a lugger were destroyed; the convoy had been carrying food and clothing for the French military.[30][31] The squadron was very busy in February and March, and including those taken on 18 February the squadron took the ships Le Pierre, Le Petit Jean, Le Deux Freres, La Liberte, Le Adelaide, L'Aimable, La Coureause, L'Aimable Madelaine, La Pacquebot de Cayenne, and La Biche between 13 February and 2 March.[21][32] A strange sail was sighted on 15 April by the squadron, and the signal to give chase given; Artois caught her first, proving it to be the 26-gun corvette Le Jean Bart.[33] On 16 April Artois and Galatea similarly took the 16-gun sloop Expedition, which had previously been a British packet ship, and the ship Maria Francis Fidilla off Rochefort, and Artois on her own captured two sloops with cargoes of fish.[10][33][34]

Between June and October she participated in the failed French émigré invasion of France at Quiberon.[1][9] As such Artois was present in the fleet at the Battle of Groix on 23 June, where she shared in the capture of the three French ships-of-the-line Alexander, Formidable, and Tigre, despite not participating directly in the action that occurred when the British and French fleets came upon one another while on separate missions.[35] The British fleet under Lord Bridport had been convoying the invasion force to France, and Artois was part of a force of three ships-of-the-line and six frigates under Warren guarding the fifty-ship convoy conveying the Comte de Puisaye's émigré force of 2,500 men.[36][37] The troops were successfully landed on 27 June and Warren's squadron went on to occupy Île d'Yeu, but after a series of reversals against French revolutionary soldiers the entire force was evacuated to England, with Artois and the other ships providing covering fire to the escaping Royalists.[38][39]

1796

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After the failure of this enterprise, Artois returned to her usual duties of blockade and patrols; on 6 March 1796 the ship Sultana was captured, and a day later Nancy also.[40] On 20 March she was sailing with the frigates HMS Anson, Pomone, and Galatea off Pointe du Raz when they discovered a French convoy of seventy ships.[41][42] The convoy was guarded by the frigates Prosperine, Unite, Coquille, and Tamise, and the corvette Cigogne.[41] Artois and Pomone quickly took four of the convoy ships; one ship and three brigs.[43] These were Illier, Don de Dieu, Paul Edward, and Felicite.[40] The convoy turned away from the squadron, and as the British ships drew closer the French brought their warships together and passed the British in line as they went in the other direction, exchanging fire and heavily damaging Galatea.[43] The British then began a concerted effort to follow the convoy and break through its ranks in a line of battle as it fled towards Brest but failed to bring it to action again, only taking the 28-gun armed store ship Etoile which had been at the rear of the convoy.[Note 5][41][1][43] The four French frigates and the corvette all escaped under the cover of night, while the majority of the convoy took shelter under the protection of some coastal gun batteries.[44] Commodore Warren in Pomone was criticised for not doing more to press his advantage against the convoy, in all taking only six of the ships.[41] The squadron took the ships La Marie, L'Union, La Bonne, and a brig between 7 and 13 April.[40] Finding continued success, Artois took Pacific on 14 May, Lodoiska on 22 May, and Fantasie on 25 May, and the chasse-marées Charlotte and Veronique on 16 August.[45]

 
Sir Edmund Nagle, who commanded Artois for almost all her service

Andromaque

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On 22 August Artois was in company with the same squadron of ships and the brig-sloop HMS Sylph off the mouth of the river Gironde, when the French frigate Andromaque came into sight attempting to enter the river.[46] Andromaque had been cruising in a squadron with two other frigates and a corvette, but had left their company after springing a leak.[47] Galatea was closest to the enemy and began a chase of it, followed by Pomone and Anson, while Artois and Sylph were sent to investigate the appearance of two other strange sails.[48] The chase continued through the night, and by 4 a.m. on 23 August Galatea and Andromaque were only one mile offshore.[48] At day break Artois and Sylph came into sight, having ascertained that the strange sails were neutral American merchants, and at 5:30 a.m. Andromaque attempted to make her escape from the squadron, but at 6 a.m. she ran herself aground close to Arcachon, losing all her masts.[48] Artois, Galatea, and Sylph sent their boats in to take control of the unresisting frigate; before they reached it many of the ship's crew jumped into the rough seas rather than be captured, while the rest were able to walk from the stranded frigate to the coast once the tide had gone out.[49] In the evening of 23 August boats from Sylph set fire to Andromaque which then exploded.[49]

On 2 November Artois and Warren's squadron were in company with the fleet of Lord Bridport when she took the 12-gun privateer Le Franklin off Ushant after a chase alongside the frigate HMS Thalia.[1][50][51] In December Artois began a string of successes, taking a brig and the chasse-marées Le Providence and La Maria Theresa on 11 December, a Spanish brig on 14 December, and another Spanish brig Divina Pastora on 17 December.[45]

1797

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The activity of Artois's squadron continued into 1797, taking Le Jean Amie on 15 February, Nordzee on 16 March, and recapturing the whaler Mary on 25 April.[45] On 16 July a French convoy of fourteen ships guarded by the frigate La Calliope and two corvettes was discovered and chased by Warren's squadron, comprising the same ships as last noted and the cutter Dolly.[52][53] The corvettes succeeded in escaping into Audierne Bay, but La Calliope was unable to run from the squadron and was made to engage it.[52] In order to escape destruction La Calliope cut away her masts and ran herself aground on the Penmarks early in the morning of 17 July.[53] To stop the French from removing the stores from La Calliope, Anson and Sylph bombarded the stranded ship while Artois and Pomone watched from further out to sea.[52][53] La Calliope broke up on the rocks on 18 July.[52]

Fate

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On 31 July 1797 Artois was wrecked on a sandbank near the Ballieu rocks on the north-west coast of Île de Ré.[54] She had been attempting to reconnoitre the harbour of La Rochelle; the entire crew was saved by Sylph.[Note 6][1][10][9] The pilot and master of Artois were condemned for their negligence in causing the wreck.[56]

Prizes

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Vessels captured or destroyed for which Artois's crew received full or partial credit
Date Ship Nationality Type Fate Ref.
23 August 1794 Le Volontaire   French 36-gun frigate Destroyed [1]
23 August 1794 L'Alerte   French 12-gun brig Destroyed [1]
26 August 1794 Queen   British Merchant vessel Recaptured [20]
26 August 1794 Donna Maria   Spanish Merchant vessel Recaptured [20]
7 September 1794 Le Quartidi   French Cutter Captured [21]
16 September 1794 Haesingeland   Swedish Merchant vessel Recaptured [21]
21 October 1794 La Révolutionnaire   French 44-gun frigate Captured [1]
18 February 1795 Not recorded   French Merchant brig Destroyed [31]
18 February 1795 Not recorded   French Merchant brig Destroyed [31]
18 February 1795 Not recorded   French Merchant brig Destroyed [31]
18 February 1795 Not recorded   French Merchant brig Destroyed [31]
18 February 1795 Not recorded   French Merchant brig Destroyed [31]
18 February 1795 Not recorded   French Merchant brig Destroyed [31]
18 February 1795 Not recorded   French Merchant brig Destroyed [31]
18 February 1795 Not recorded   French Merchant brig Destroyed [31]
18 February 1795 Not recorded   French Merchant brig Destroyed [31]
18 February 1795 Not recorded   French Merchant brig Destroyed [31]
18 February 1795 Not recorded   French Lugger Destroyed [31]
13 February-2 March 1795 Le Pierre   French Merchant vessel Captured [32]
13 February-2 March 1795 Le Petit Jean   French Merchant vessel Captured [32]
13 February-2 March 1795 Le Deux Freres   French Merchant vessel Captured [32]
13 February-2 March 1795 La Liberte   French Merchant vessel Captured [32]
13 February-2 March 1795 Le Adelaide   French Merchant vessel Captured [32]
13 February-2 March 1795 L'Aimable   French Merchant vessel Captured [32]
13 February-2 March 1795 La Coureause   French Merchant vessel Captured [32]
13 February-2 March 1795 L'Aimable Madelaine   French Merchant vessel Captured [32]
13 February-2 March 1795 La Pacquebot de Cayenne   French Merchant vessel Captured [32]
13 February-2 March 1795 La Biche   French Merchant vessel Captured [32]
15 April 1795 Le Jean Bart   French 26-gun corvette Captured [32]
16 April 1795 Expedition   French 16-gun sloop Captured [10]
16 April 1795 Maria Francis Fidilla   Spanish Merchant vessel Captured [33]
16 April 1795 Not recorded   French Merchant sloop Captured [34]
16 April 1795 Not recorded   French Merchant sloop Captured [34]
23 June 1795 Alexander   French 74-gun ship-of-the-line Captured [35]
23 June 1795 Tigre   French 74-gun ship-of-the-line Captured [35]
23 June 1795 Formidable   French 74-gun ship-of-the-line Captured [35]
6 March 1796 Sultana   French Merchant vessel Captured [40]
7 March 1796 Nancy   French Merchant vessel Captured [40]
20 March 1796 L'Etoile   French 28-gun armed store ship Captured [1]
20 March 1796 Illier   French Merchant vessel Captured [43]
20 March 1796 Don de Dieu   French Merchant brig Captured [43]
20 March 1796 Paul Edward   French Merchant brig Captured [43]
20 March 1796 Felicite   French Merchant brig Captured [43]
20 March 1796 Not recorded   French Merchant vessel Captured [41]
7–13 April 1796 La Marie   French Merchant vessel Captured [40]
7–13 April 1796 L'Union   French Merchant vessel Captured [40]
7–13 April 1796 La Bonne   French Merchant vessel Captured [40]
7–13 April 1796 Not recorded   French Merchant brig Captured [40]
14 May 1796 Pacific   French Merchant vessel Captured [45]
22 May 1796 Lodoiska   French Merchant vessel Captured [45]
25 May 1796 Fantasie   French Merchant vessel Captured [45]
16 August 1796 Charlotte   French Chasse-marée Captured [45]
16 August 1796 Veronique   French Chasse-marée Captured [45]
23 August 1796 Andromaque   French 32-gun frigate Destroyed [49]
2 November 1796 Le Franklin   French 12-gun privateer Captured [1]
11 December 1796 Le Providence   French Chasse-marée Captured [45]
11 December 1796 La Maria Theresa   French Chasse-marée Captured [45]
14 December 1796 Not recorded   Spanish Merchant brig Captured [45]
17 December 1796 Divina Pastora   Spanish Merchant brig Captured [45]
15 February 1797 Le Jean Amie   French Merchant vessel Captured [45]
16 March 1797 Nordzee   Dutch Merchant vessel Captured [45]
25 April 1797 Mary   British Whaler Recaptured [45]
17 July 1797 La Calliope   French 28-gun frigate Destroyed [1]

Notes

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  1. ^ Marshall describes Artois as a 44-gun frigate here.[9]
  2. ^ Marshall and the London Gazette report describe the destroyed frigate as la Felicité of 40 guns, but the actual la Félicité was of 32 guns and was not captured until 1809.[15][14]
  3. ^ See Action of 21 October 1794.
  4. ^ The captured crew of La Révolutionnaire were sent to at first Portchester Castle and then Norman Cross Prison before mostly being exchanged in May 1799.[24]
  5. ^ Winfield describes Etoile as a frigate instead of an armed store ship.[1]
  6. ^ Artois may have been chasing a French frigate at the time of her grounding.[55]

Citations

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Winfield, British Warships, p. 345
  2. ^ a b Winfield, British Warships, p. 344
  3. ^ Gardiner, Heavy Frigate, pp. 54-5
  4. ^ a b Wareham, Frigate Captains, p. 178
  5. ^ Gardiner, Heavy Frigate, p. 56
  6. ^ Gardiner, Heavy Frigate, p. 76
  7. ^ a b Gardiner, Heavy Frigate, p. 33
  8. ^ Heathcote, British Admirals of the Fleet, p. 167
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Marshall, Royal Naval Biography, p. 277
  10. ^ a b c d Phillips, Artois (38) (1794). Michael Phillips' Ships of the Old Navy. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  11. ^ Marshall, Royal Naval Biography, pp. 655-6
  12. ^ Clarke and McArthur, Naval Chronicle, p. 342
  13. ^ Henderson, The Frigates, p. 31
  14. ^ a b "No. 13921". The London Gazette. 13 August 1796. p. 771.
  15. ^ Marshall, Royal Naval Biography, p. 213
  16. ^ a b c d Clowes, Royal Navy, p. 486
  17. ^ a b c James, Naval History vol. 1, p. 233
  18. ^ Clowes, Royal Navy, pp. 486-7
  19. ^ a b c Clowes, Royal Navy, p. 487
  20. ^ a b c "No. 13741". The London Gazette. 13 January 1795. p. 48.
  21. ^ a b c d "No. 13815". The London Gazette. 19 September 1795. p. 973.
  22. ^ a b Urban, Gentleman's Magazine, p. 469
  23. ^ Brenton, Naval History vol. 1, p. 223
  24. ^ a b Chamberlain, Napoleonic Prison, p. 24
  25. ^ a b c Duncan, British Trident, p. 283
  26. ^ James, Naval History vol. 1, p. 235
  27. ^ Henderson, The Frigates, p. 32
  28. ^ Brenton, Naval History vol. 1, p. 224
  29. ^ James, Naval History vol. 1, p. 236
  30. ^ a b c Duncan, British Trident, p. 334
  31. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "No. 13757". The London Gazette. 3 March 1795. p. 206.
  32. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "No. 13810". The London Gazette. 1 September 1795. p. 907.
  33. ^ a b c "No. 13773". The London Gazette. 25 April 1795. p. 379.
  34. ^ a b c "No. 13815". The London Gazette. 19 September 1795. p. 974.
  35. ^ a b c d "No. 13888". The London Gazette. 30 April 1796. p. 408.
  36. ^ Clowes, Royal Navy, p. 266
  37. ^ Clarke and McArthur, Naval Chronicle, p. 343
  38. ^ Clowes, Royal Navy, pp. 266-7
  39. ^ Clarke and McArthur, Naval Chronicle, p. 348
  40. ^ a b c d e f g h i "No. 13931". The London Gazette. 17 September 1796. p. 885.
  41. ^ a b c d e Clowes, Royal Navy, p. 465
  42. ^ Clarke and McArthur, Naval Chronicle, p. 350
  43. ^ a b c d e f g James, Naval History vol. 1, p. 356
  44. ^ James, Naval History vol. 1, p. 357
  45. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "No. 14041". The London Gazette. 29 August 1797. p. 839.
  46. ^ James, Naval History vol. 1, p. 381
  47. ^ James, Naval History vol. 1, pp. 381-2
  48. ^ a b c James, Naval History vol. 1, p. 382
  49. ^ a b c James, Naval History vol. 1, p. 383
  50. ^ Schomberg, Naval Chronology, p. 119
  51. ^ "No. 13953". The London Gazette. 19 November 1796. p. 1117.
  52. ^ a b c d Clowes, Royal Navy, p. 507
  53. ^ a b c James, Naval History vol. 2, p. 95
  54. ^ La Barre, French Coasting Pilot, p. 78
  55. ^ Laughton, 'Nagle, Sir Edmund', ODNB
  56. ^ Gosset, Lost ships, p. 146

References

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  • Brenton, Edward Pelham (1837) The Naval History of Great Britain, From the Year MDCCLXXXIII, to MDCCCXXXVI Volume 1. London: Henry Colburn.
  • Chamberlain, Paul (2018) The Napoleonic Prison of Norman Cross: The Lost Town of Huntingdonshire. Stroud: The History Press. ISBN 978 0 7509 9046 2
  • Clarke, James Stanier and John McArthur (1800) The Naval Chronicle: Containing a General and Biographical History of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom with a Variety of Original Papers on Nautical Subjects Volume 3: January–July 1800. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780511731556
  • Clowes, William Laird (1899) The Royal Navy: A History from the Earliest Times to 1900 Volume Four. London: Sampson Low, Marston and Company. ISBN 1861760132
  • Duncan, Archibald (1805) The British Trident; or, Register of Naval Actions; including Authentic Accounts of all the most Remarkable Engagements at Sea, in which The British Flag has been Eminently Distinguished; from the period of the memorable Defeat of the Spanish Armada, to the Present Time. Volume III. London: James Cundee.
  • Gardiner, Robert (1994) The Heavy Frigate: Eighteen-Pounder Frigates: Vol I, 1778-1800. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0 85177 627 2
  • Gossett, William Patrick (1986) The Lost Ships of the Royal Navy, 1793-1900. London: Mansell Publishing. ISBN 9780720118162
  • Heathcote, T.A. (2002) The British Admirals of the Fleet 1734-1995. Barnsley: Pen & Sword. ISBN 1 84468 009 6
  • Henderson, James (1970) The Frigates. London: A & C Black. ISBN 1-85326-693-0
  • James, William (1859) The Naval History of Great Britain, Volume 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-19808-0
  • James, William (1859) The Naval History of Great Britain, Volume 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-02166-1
  • La Barre, A. (1825) The French Coasting Pilot; being a Description of Every Harbour, Roadstead, Channel, Cove, and River on the French Coast in the English Channel, and in the Bay of Biscay, from Treport to St. Jean de Luz, with the Setting of the Tides at Each Place: To which are added Correct Tables of High and Low Water for Every Day in the Year. Plymouth: J. Williams.
  • Laughton, J. K. "Nagle, Sir Edmund.". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  • Marshall, John (1823) Royal Naval Biography: or, Memoirs of the Services of all the Flag-Officers, Superannuated Rear-Admirals, Retired-Captains, Post-Captains, and Commanders Volume 1 - Part 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-511-77733-2
  • Marshall, John (1823) Royal Naval Biography: or, Memoirs of the Services of all the Flag-Officers, Superannuated Rear-Admirals, Retired-Captains, Post-Captains, and Commanders Volume 1 - Part 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-02265-1
  • 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, Volume 5. London: T. Egerton.
  • Urban, Sylvanus (1830) The Gentleman's Magazine, and Historical Chronicle. From January to June 1830. Volume C. Part the First. London: J. B. Nichols and Son.
  • Wareham, Thomas Nigel Ralph (1999) The Frigate Captains of the Royal Navy, 1793-1815. Unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Exeter. ISNI 0000 0001 3563 3797
  • Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. London: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-86176-246-7.
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