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INVINCIBLE
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(74) |
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Built in 1808, Woolwich.
Hulk in 1857. |
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- 1808 Capt. Ross DONNELLY, 04/1808. North Sea.
Towards the close of 1808 INVINCIBLE was off Cadiz under Rear Ad. PURVIS. Here he was ordered, with 200 men to fit out the Spanish fleet at Caraccas in order to save the ships from being captured by the French. In spite of their poor condition and resentment from the Spaniards, he accomplished the task in eight days. Capt. Maclean of the 94th. regiment acknowledged the help he had received from Mr George DOBSON, midshipman of INVINCIBLE, who was in charge of the seamen during the evacuation of Fort Matagorda near Cadiz in April 1810. - INVINCIBLE joined Lord COLINGWOOD off Toulon at the beginning of 1810 but Capt. DONNELLY was soon forced to resign his command due to a cataract.
- 1811 Capt. Charles ADAM, Mediterranean.
- On 17 May Capt. CODRINGTON of BLAKE found INVINCIBLE in Peniscola with four empty transports bound for Carthagena. He detained Capt. ADAM to take reinforcements to Tarragona which was being besieged by French forces numbering between 10 and 11 thousand. Gen. O'Donnel embarked 2300 infantry and 211 artillery men, INVINCIBLE taking 700 of them on board, and they were all safely delivered to Tarragona on the 22nd.
- She met BLAKE again on 6 June and was ordered to return to Peniscola where she was joined by BLAKE on the 9th. and CENTAUR, SPARROWHAWK and the WILLIAM, transport, on the 10th. They embarked 4,000 troops, BLAKE and INVINCIBLE each receiving on board 800, and landed them at Tarragona during the night of the 12th. All through the siege the boats of the squadron, spent every night annoying the enemy's working parties and evacuating the women, children and wounded. The three captains, CODRINGTON, ADAM and WHITE, of CENTAUR, spent most nights in their gigs, usually under fire.
- By the 28 June it was all over. The French under Suchet breached the defences and the place was carried by assault immediately afterwards. Women and children were raped and wholesale slaughter was followed by the burning of the city. The wretched, naked refugees were clothed and fed by the ships of the squadron
- In January 1812 INVINCIBLE was in Salon Bay where he was in communication with the Spanish forces under Baron de Eroles who were planning an attack on Tarragona. BLAKE came into the bay on the 11th. after being held off shore by a gale and Capt. ADAM took Gen. Lacy from Reus on board to meet Capt. CODRINGTON. (See BLAKE for actions ashore.)
When The Baron de Eroles requested co-operation in an attack on the enemy posts at Ampolla and Perello, near the Ebro, two boats from INVINCIBLE, armed with carronades, under Lieut. CORBYN, and a Spanish felucca with a party of troops, left Salon Bay on the afternoon of 1 April 1813. The troops were landed within two miles of Ampolla and shot a sentry before attacking a battery of two 18-pounders. The guns were then turned on a fortified house occupied by enemy troops. Most escaped but some were caught later at Perello, some six miles inland, which was invested by Spanish troops on the morning of the 2nd. They scaled the walls and surrounded the French in a large square tower in the centre of the town.
Light winds prevented INVINCIBLE from reaching Ampolla Bay until the afternoon of the 2nd but two field pieces were immediately landed and sent to Perello with Lieuts. COLBYN and PIDGLEY, midshipmen and gunners. The following day they opened fire on the tower and a Lieutenant and 33 soldiers surrendered after two breaches had been made in it.
Only one man belonging to INVINCIBLE was wounded. - Perello was on the high road between the Col de Balaguer and Tortosa and its capture broke an important French line of communication.
- At Ampolla two small privateers were captured by INVINCIBLE. They had been used to communicate with Tarragona and to prey on the trade passing the Ebro.
- At the beginning of June Capt. ADAM took THAMES, VOLCANO, STROMBOLO, BRUNE and eight gunboats under his orders and co-operated in the siege of the fort of the Col de Balageur. The fort commanded a difficult pass on the only road for cannon from Tortosa to Tarragona without going 40 miles inland to Lerida. It was armed with twelve pieces of ordnance, including two 10' mortars and two howitzers.
The troops under Lieut. Col. Prevost were landed about noon on the 3rd. and in the evening two 6-pounders field pieces and a howitzer were taken ashore and dragged up the ridge of a steep and rugged mountain to the S. E. of the fort. Two 12-pounders joined them by noon the next day. The whole remained under the command of Lieut. CORBYN with midshipmen and seamen from INVINCIBLE and their fire greatly damaged the defences of the fort.
Meanwhile three Spanish 24-pounders were landed together with three more from INVINCIBLE. Notwithstanding their immense size and weight, they were manhandled as far as possible up a steep hill during the night of the 4th. by soldiers, seamen and marines under Capt. CARROLL of VOLCANO. Stores were carried up the next day and two 8' mortars were brought to the bottom of the hill. Although all the sand bags had to be filled at the bottom of the hill and carried up, there was expectation that a breaching battery would be in place after another night's work and ready to fire the next morning. At 10 o'clock the skies opened and rain fell in torrents with the enemy adding shells and grape shot to the lightning and thunder. All the ammunition which had been brought up was ruined and the work had to be abandoned. The weather continued bad until the afternoon of the 6th. when a party landed and moved the mortars forward. During the night all the guns were placed on the battery and the mortars, directed by Lieut. James of STROMBOLO's marine artillery, opened up soon after daylight. With Lieut. CORBYN's battery they made a considerable impression on the fort and blew up an expense magazine. Just before the breaching battery was about to open fire at 7 o'clock a white flag was seen above the fort and Capt. STODDART of STROMBOLO and Capt. Zehupfenning went down to agree a surrender. The enemy troops numbering 92 rank and file with two Lieutenants and four sergeants marched out, grounded their arms and were immediately embarked. INVINCIBLE had William SOMERVILLE, landman, and a royal marine severely wounded. - During the siege the gunboats were stationed in Ampolla Bay to watch for enemy reinforcements on the road from Tortosa.
- 1814 From the spring she was out of commission in the Hamoaze until she was used as a coal hulk in 1857.
- Broken up from January 1861.
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