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AGAMEMNON
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3rd rate
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Built in 1781, Buckler's Hard.
Wrecked in the River Plate in 1809. |
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- 1782 Capt. Benjamin CALDWELL. West Indies.
She took part in Sir George RODNEY's battle with the French fleet off Martinique on 12 April 1782.
AGAMEMNON lost 14 men killed and 24 wounded, including Lieuts. INCLEDON and BRICE. - 1793 Capt. Horatio NELSON, 26/01/1793, Chatham.
He was to command her for three years and three months.
On 25 February AGAMEMNON, sailed with ROBUST to Blackstakes, and after taking in their powder and guns, they proceeded to join the fleet at Spithead.
NELSON's stepson the 13 year old Josiah NISBET was in AGAMEMNON as a midshipman.
Then to the Mediterranean with Lord HOOD and the blockade of Toulon and Marseilles. - On 27 August Toulon declared for the Bourbons and the British ships sailed in to take possession of the dockyard and thirty French ships of the line.
AGAMEMNON was dispatched to Naples for ten thousand troops to secure the town.
He brought back 6,000 but the troops were insufficient to defend the lines around the town against the strong forces mustered by the republicans which launched a strong attack on the night of 17 December.
The following day the Neapolitan troops were re-embarked together with the Royalists in as many ships as could be found.
Some 14,000 found refuge this way but many thousands more were killed.
Lord HOOD ordered the French fleet, the Arsenal and the powder magazines to be set on fire which took half the town with them. - At the end of the month AGAMEMNON, now with the squadron off Corsica, went to Livorno to provision.
In January 1794 she was employed in the blockade of Calvi then, after going to Livorno for water on 14 February, Capt. NELSON reconnoitred Bastia as possible base for the British fleet.
He concluded that 500 troops could carry the place if supported by fire from the ships to silence the forts. - Lord Dundas, commanding the troops, refused to attempt the assault with less than 2,000 men and, after an angry exchange of letters Lord HOOD decided to go it alone.
General D'Aubant succeeded Lord Dundas but he also refused to take part so 1200 marines and 250 seamen landed to invest Bastia on 4 April.
The ships boats prevented anything getting in or out by sea and batteries of great guns from the ships which were set up around the town kept up a continuous fire.
NELSON was ashore with his men, with AGAMEMNON moored off the camp, and received a cut in the back On 20 May the French sent of a flag of truce to Lord HOOD and surrendered the town and some 4,000 troops. - The next point of attack was Calvi on the north-west point of the island.
The troops under Gen. Stuart landed about 4 miles to the westward of Calvi on 19 June and within four weeks they had captured every French outpost and set up batteries of naval guns to within 650 yards of the centre of the citadel.
On 10 July a shot struck NELSON's battery and splinters and stones struck him in the face and chest depriving him of the sight of his right eye. - An offer to surrender was rejected on 19 July so on the 26th., with 21 cannon, 5 mortars and 4 howitzers 560 yards from the citadel wall, the General sent in to say that he would not fire on hospitals.
This resulted in negotiations by which the French asked for a truce for 25 days to see if succour arrived.
They were given six but rejected the truce on the 30th. after four small vessels got in.
Fire was immediately opened on the enemy and on 1 August they hung out white flags.
The British forces took possession on 10 August and AGAMEMNON sailed on the 15th. for Livorno minus some of her guns which had been destroyed in the siege. - In the mean time the Parliament of Corsica had declared that the inhabitants of the island were Englishmen and that George III was King of Corsica.
Sir Gilbert Elliot was appointed Viceroy of Corsica. - AGAMEMNON then sailed for Genoa to meet Lord HOOD and Vice Ad. HOTHAM (who was succeeding him) who arrived there on 23 September.
They all sailed on the 27th. to look for the French in Gourjean Bay and then to Toulon.
Lord HOOD left for home on 11 October and towards the end of the month AGAMEMNON went to Livorno to get refreshment for her people, seventy of whom were still very ill.
Since leaving Calvi NELSON had lost 50 of his best men. She sailed again on the 26th. but a gale forced her to put back on on the 30th. She finally joined Ad. HOTHAM on the morning of 3 November only to find that the French had given them the slip.
AGAMEMNON was detached to look for them and found Hyeres Bay empty but, on the 5th., found 22 sail in the inner harbour at Toulon.
Two days later she was in St. Fiorenzo where NELSON remarked on the 15th. that she looked miserable without her mizzen-mast and was soon to lose her main-mast. - On 8 March 1795 AGAMEMNON was lying in Livorno roads with the rest of Ad. HOTHAM's squadron when MOSELLE appeared in the offing with news of a French fleet.
On the 10th. 15 sail of the enemy were sighted by the British frigates working their way back to Toulon and, when they showed no signs of turning to give battle, Ad. HOTTON gave the order for a general chase on the morning of the 13th.
The French CA-IRA ran on board the VICTOIRE, her next ahead, and carried away her own fore and main-topmasts allowing Capt. FREEMANTLE in INCONSTANT to come alongside and engage her.
He was joined by AGAMEMNON and CAPTAIN who attacked CA-IRA for over two hours until Ad. HOTHAM signalled their recall when several French ships arrived to support her.
The following day LE CA-IRA was sighted to leeward of the rest of her fleet under tow by LE CENSEUR.
Both ships finally surrendered after a desperate action with CAPTAIN and BEDFORD in which the French lost 400 men. - At the beginning of July AGAMEMNON was sent with a small squadron of frigates to co-operate with the French General de Vins who was attacking the French in Genoa.
On the 6th. and 7th. she was chased by a French fleet of 17 sail of the line and 6 frigates from the Cape del Melle almost to St. FIORENZO but the British fleet could not get out to her assistance.
However Ad. HOTHAM did manage to sail the following day and, with 23 sail of the line, sighted the enemy off the Hyeres Islands at daylight on the 13th.
A signal was made for general chase and by noon VICTORY, CAPTAIN, AGAMEMNON, CUMBERLAND, DEFENCE and CULLODEN got within gun range.
During an action which was fought in an almost perfect calm the French ALCIDE struck, but then caught fire and sank with only 200 being rescued out of her.
Many of the other enemy ships were in almost as bad a state and AGAMEMNON and CUMBERLAND were closing in to attack an 80-gun ship with a flag when Ad. HOTHAM called off the action and the French were able to escape into the Gulf of Frejus. - At the end of July AGAMEMNON and eight frigates returned to Vado Bay assist the Austrians attacking Genoa.
On 20 September, in an action which lasted 10 hours the troops captured the centre post on a ridge of mountains gaining 33 miles of country.
AGAMEMNON returned to Livorno on 24 September and sailed again four days later.
At the end of October she was off Toulon and Marseilles. - Meanwhile things were not going well for the Austrians.
Denied sufficient naval support Ad. HOTHAM kept NELSON's squadron too small to do the job, and his successor Sir Hyde PARKER reduced it to one frigate and a brig the centre and right wing gave way and fled under attack from enemy gunboats.
The right, Gen de Vins and 8 to 10,000 men retired in good order along a road protected by AGAMEMNON which also prevented the French landing in the rear. - AGAMEMNON rejoined the fleet at Fiorenzo Bay on 19 January 1796 where the new Commander-in-Chief was Ad Sir John JERVIS.
In April the Admiral informed him that he could hoist a broad pendant, with a captain under him, and command a Division of the fleet.
Capt. NELSON shifted his broad pendant to CAPTAIN on 11 June 1796 when it was decided that AGAMEMNON, for long in a bad state of repair, had to return to England. - 1797 Capt. Robert Devereux FANCOURT, North Sea.
In May June 1797 the ships at the Nore and Sheerness were affected by mutinies against the appalling conditions.
On the morning of 29 May the signal was made for the fleet in Yarmouth Roads to weigh and sail for the Texel.
The ADAMANT, GLATTON and AGAMEMNON were the only ones to obey the orders but after midday the ship's company of AGAMEMNON refused duty and retreated to the fore part of the lower deck behind a barricade of hammocks.
Later some of the men came up and brought the ship back into the Roads and hoisted the red flag. - At a meeting of the mutineers it was decided to take AGAMEMNON, ARDENT, LEOPARD and ISIS to join those in a state of mutiny at the Nore where they arrived on 6 June and the following morning the ringleader Richard PARKER came on board.
The spirits of the mutineers were dampened by the desertion of CLYDE, ST. FIORENZO, SERAPIS, LEOPARD and REPULSE and soon the ships deserted one after the other.
On 13 June AGAMEMNON went up to Tilbury Fort. - 1799 Ditto, Torbay. In February 1800 she was cruising off the Penmarks with REPULSE, NEREIDE and SUWARROW which had been detached from the Channel fleet to intercept provision vessels going into Brest.
On 17 March AGAMEMNON sent into Plymouth the SOPHIE laden with brandy and wine for the French fleet.
On 18 March AGAMEMNON struck on the Penmarks rocks near where the REPULSE had been lost on 9 March. She was escorted by CLYDE into Falmouth on the 25th. - CHILDERS met her off the land and provided assistance.
The crews of two sloops and the CHATHAM guardship together with troops from the Pendennis garrison pumped throughout the night but it was found in the morning that the water had increased three feet.
However by the afternoon the water was no longer gaining on the men at the pumps so she sailed for Plymouth for repairs but was in such a leaky state that she had to fire her guns for assistance when she was off Penlee Point. She was brought in, scarcely able to be kept above water, and lashed to a sheer hulk. - She was repaired and sailed to rejoin the fleet on 28 June.
- 1801 Capt. FANCOURT Baltic.
- 1803 Out of commission at Chatham.
- 1804 Capt. John HARVEY, 08/1804, Chatham.
On 1 November AGAMEMNON sailed from St. Helen's with a squadron under Rear Ad. Sir John ORDE.
0ff Cadiz on the 18th. Capt. HARVEY detained a Spanish frigate but Sir John ordered him to release her.
(Sir Richard STRACHAN had no such qualms and took her consort AMPHITRITE into Gibraltar) They were joined by NIGER on the 27th. with orders to detain all Spanish shipping so on the 30th. Capt. HARVEY captured the brig POMONE from Havana with sugar and twenty chests of silver. - From 9 December AGAMEMNON cruised off Cape St. Vincent and captured four ships carrying sugar, coffee, cochineal and indigo and nearly one million dollars from Havanna and Santa Cruz.
One of these, the CLEOPATRA, was captured on 29 December and taken into Gibraltar where she was driven ashore in the destructive storm which hit Gibraltar on 31 January.
AGAMEMNON parted one cable and drifted close to rocks. She rode out the storm under two cables at each end. - After the gale there were no more cases of the yellow fever which had been afflicting Gibraltar for some months.
- AGAMEMNON rejoined Sir John and his squadron, GLORY, RENOWN, DEFENCE, RUBY and POLYPHEMUS, on 3 February and she was taking on stores off San Lucar on 9 April when a French squadron of 20 or 40 sail from Toulon appeared and joined the Spanish ships in Cadiz.
- On 22 July 1805 Vice Ad. Robert CALDER was cruising off Cape Finisterre with a fleet of 15 sail-of-the-line which included AGAMEMNON when the combined Franco/Spanish fleet from the West Indies was sighted to windward.
The British ships formed into line with AGAMEMNON the fifth ship and engaged the enemy in a thick fog.
During the action AGAMEMNON, which had three wounded, and WINDSOR CASTLE lost a mast.
By nightfall, with his fleet scattered across the ocean, Sir Robert made the signal to break off the action. - On 21 August the French fleet at Brest came out of the Goulet and anchored under the protection of their shore batteries.
CORNWALLIS, with 17 line-of-battle ships including AGAMEMNON, attacked them the next morning. - Capt. HARVEY removed to CANADA in November.
- Capt. Sir Edward BERRY (Lord NELSON's captain VANGUARD at the battle of Aboukir), 09/1805.
- AGAMEMNON sailed from Spithead on 2 October with Lord Robert Fitzgerald, the ambassador to Portugal, on board.
At about 2 o'clock in the morning on the 10th. they became aware that they were surrounded by a number of large ships.
At daybreak they found that they were the French Rochefort squadron of five line-of-battle ships, the ex-British CALCUTTA, two frigates and a brig, with several merchantmen in tow.
AGAMEMNON was chased by a three-decker and two other ships, Capt. BERRY made signals and firing guns to try and deceive the enemy into thinking they were being led into a trap. She escaped when her pursuers were ordered to bear up after a convoy to Oporto, part of which they captured. - The ambassador was transferred to NAUTILUS off Cape St. Vincent on the 12th. and the following day they joined Lord NELSON 90 miles west of Cadiz.
AGAMEMNON was sent to join Capt. George DUFF's squadron half way to Cadiz.
On the 20 October she was nearly caught off Cadiz when Capt. BERRY was reluctant to slip an American merchantman prize when chased by Ad. Magon, and the same evening, while she was between the opposing fleets, she was hit by a sudden squall and lost her main-top-mast. - The following day she was with NELSON's weather division at the battle of Trafalgar.
After dismasting a French 74 she took up a position under the stern of the SANTISSIMA TRINIDADA where she was attacked by four two-deckers.
The enemy guns were pointed so high that little damage was done to the hull.
If they had fired lower she would surely have been sunk. She had only 2 killed and 7 wounded during the battle. - Later in the year she was with Sir John DUCKWORTH's squadron in the West Indies.
On 3 March 1806 the squadron passed through the Mona Passage (between Hispaniola and Puerto Rico) and on the 5th. MAGICIENNE reported an enemy force of ten sail-of-the-line with frigates and corvettes was in the waters off the town of San Domingo. At daylight the following morning ACASTA made a signal for two enemy frigates then, under an hour later, for nine sail at anchor. At eight o'clock the enemy were discovered in a compact line making for Cape Nisao between San Domingo and Ocoa Bay.
Since they were only five sail of the line and two frigates Sir Thomas considered that they were sailing to join the remaining French force and he ordered close action.
Weather division: SUPERB, NORTHUMBERLAND, SPENCER, AGAMEMNON.
Lee Division: CANOPUS, DONEGAL, ATLAS.
Frigates: ACASTA, MAGICIENNE, KINGFISHER, EPERVIER.
- In less than two hours two enemy ships-of-the-line, IMPERIAL and DIOMEDE, were driven ashore and completely wrecked; ALEXANDRE, JUPITER and BRAVE were taken. AGAMEMNON lost one seaman, James CAVANAGH, killed, five seamen and eight marines wounded.
Afterwards AGAMEMNON escorted Rear Ad. COCHRANE's NORTHUMBERLAND, which had been fitted with a jury mast, back to her station. - On the morning of 24 March, 170 miles north-east of Martinique, AGAMEMNON joined CARYSFORT which had been chasing a brig for thirty hours. At half past seven she surrendered and proved to be the French national brig LUTINE, 33 days out of L'Orient under Capt. Crocquet Dechauteurs. Two of her 18 guns were thrown overboard. She was taken into the Royal Navy as HAWK.
- At noon on 29 March, some 56 miles north-east of Barbados, HEUREUX was sighted in chase of an enemy schooner. Being to leeward, Capt. BERRY prevented the quarry getting before the wind and the two ships got alongside her at half past seven. She was the DAME ERNOUF, 14 days out of Guadeloupe. Her sixteen long 6-pounders were thrown overboard during the chase.
Another capture was the Spanish schooner SEVILLANA bound for Vera Cruz from Corunna. - 1806 Capt. Jonas ROSE, she returned home in September with a convoy of 275 sail of valuable merchantmen.
After re-fitting at Chatham she joined the expedition to Copenhagen in July 1807.
The Danish fleet surrendered on 7 September and on 21 October AGAMEMNON brought home 665 men of the 95th. regiment. Her first lieutenant and a party of seamen took to England the PRINCESS CAROLINE (74) a prize loaded with ship's timbers, cables, anchors and spars. She was taken into the Royal Navy. - In December AGAMEMNON joined the squadron blockading the Tagus
- 1808 re-fitting at Chatham for the Brazils where she was employed with the squadron guarding the Portuguese royal family.
She did undertake one cruise which determined the exact position of Trinidad Island in the South Atlantic. Seven men from an American whaler were found on the island. They had been left there 18 months earlier when their ship had been blown off and, since they had plenty of goat-flesh, fish and eggs, they were happy to wait until she came back for them. - AGAMEMNON was wrecked near the island of Gorita in the Rio de Plata on 20 June 1809. Nobody was lost and the stores were taken off with the assistance of BEDFORD and MISTLETOE. The schooner then moored alongside and cooked the people's dinner.
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