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SIR FRANCIS DRAKE
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Purchased at Bombay in 1805.
Sold in 1825. |
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- She was first commissioned and fitted out by Capt. James Haldane TAIT, 10/1805. He removed into GRAMPUS in March 1806.
- 1807 Capt. PELLEW, East Indies.
- 1808 Capt. Clement SNEYD, East Indies.
- 1810 Capt. George HARRIS, East Indies.
On 1 August 1810 he captured a Batavian ship of 8 guns, a schooner of 6 guns and a coasting vessel.
The boats of BELLIQUEUX and SIR FRANCIS DRAKE destroyed a French privateer and two gunboats in Bantam Bay on the 5th. Between the 9 August and 8 September seven gunboats, five pirate proas and 35 Dutch trading vessels were captured or destroyed. - At the end of 1810 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE was stationed in the Straits of Sunda between Sumatra and Java to protect the outward bound China fleet. He sent a party to examine eight Malay proas to see whether they were armed or peaceful traders and four seamen, who were invited on board one, were slaughtered and their bodies hung in the rigging. Capt. HARRIS appalled by the treacherous behaviour stood close in and and fired until all the proas had been destroyed and their crews killed or wounded.
- Contrary wind and current forced Capt. HARRIS anchor for the night of 22 May 1811 off Rembang on the north coast of Java and in the morning he saw nine feluccas and five proas anchored close in shore. He gave chase when they made for the port and, after a few broadsides, captured five feluccas but the rest made straight for the shore out of range. He sent in four 6-oared cutters and a gig with Lieuts. BRADLEY and ADDIS; Messrs. George GROVES, John HORTON and Matthew PHIBBS, midshipmen. They were accompanied by Lieut. George Roch, RM and Lieut. Knowles and 12 privates of the 14th. regiment. The frigate worked up to windward to cover them. Although they came under continual musket fire with occasional grape shot, they soon made prizes of all the rest of the enemy boats without loss. Many of the men in them drowned as their proas, overloaded with arms and ammunition, overturned but others escaped into the jungle where they kept up a brisk small-arms fire on the seamen launching two of the feluccas from the beach. One felucca, 87 feet long and 17 feet beam and armed with a 7-inch howitzer and a 24-pound carronade, was manned as a tender to SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. The others were burnt except for one proa of 50 tons which was used for the 87 prisoners.
- The frigate was employed along the coast until the final reduction of Java and, on 12 August 1811, he was sent with PHAETON and DASHER from Batavia to take possession of the French fortress of Samanap.
(Sumenep at the eastern end of the island of Madura)
The boats left the frigates in two divisions, one led by Capt. Fleetwood PELLEW the other by Capt. HARRIS.
They both went through the channel between Madura and Pulo 'I Langong at daylight on 30 August while Capt. KELLY in DASHER went round the outside of Pulo 'I Langong to gain an anchorage near Samanap.
At midnight they made a difficult landing over rocks at a pier-head about 3 miles from the fort and marched towards it in two columns each flanked by three field pieces. Although the French had seen DASHER and the boats, they were not aware that the landings had been made.
The attacking force found an open outer gate and their assault was so sudden that only two or three guns were fired at them and the fort was theirs after a 10 minutes struggle with 300-400 Madura pikemen. It was a regular fortification mounting sixteen 6-pounders.
When Capt. HARRIS requested the surrender of the French governor in the town he was surprised to find his own surrender demanded. Mr John OLDMIXON arrived with news from Capt. PELLEW that the French had about 2,000 men with four field pieces in their front. - While Capt. PELLEW led a frontal attack.
Capt. HARRIS led 70 small-arm and and 20 pikemen from SIR FRANCIS DRAKE and DASHER to turn the enemy's left flank. Both columns fired their volleys at the same time and when they charged the enemy broke and ran. The governor admitted to having 300 muskets and 60 artillery men in the field with 2,000 pikemen armed with long pikes and pistols. Their losses were considerable. Meanwhile a party under Lieut. Roch RM of the SIR FRANCIS DRAKE destroyed a battery of twelve 9-pounders that protected the mouth of the river. The lieutenant was speared twice by natives while trying to wrest the colours out of the hands of a French officer.
The losses in the three ships numbered 3 killed and 23 wounded. - Capt. HARRIS succeeded in making an ally of the Sultan of Madura and with the assistance of the Madurians captured ten long 24-pounders on the 13 September. The French had been taking them to Sourabaya (Surabaja) and now they were to be used to form two batteries against the town. He joined Rear Ad. STOPFORD off Sourabaya on the 18th. and took command of the troops, but when, on the 22nd, he had agreed the capitulation of the town, it was learnt that the whole of Java had been surrendered four days earlier.
- 1812 Capt. Samuel LESLIE, East Indies.
In 1813 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE was fitted out as a storeship and she sailed for the Mediterranean, under Thomas HOSKINS, master, where she remained until the end of 1815. She was commissioned at Woolwich by Capt. John BOWKER in February 1817 and sailed for Newfoundland.
Lieut. MUNBEE took command on 18 December 1819 and her armament was reduced to 3 guns for signalling purposes. - She was sold at Deptford in 1825.
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