All at Sea, Battle of Camperdown - Project Build, Part Ten, The British Battle Line Completed.

Battle of Camperdown 1797 - Ronny Moortgat
https://www.artnet.com/artists/ronny-moortgat/

Another key stage in the Camperdown Collection Build has been reached this week by the finishing off of the last four ships that composed Admiral Duncan's Windward Division and thus completing all the ships of the line in the British fleet that fought the battle, now just leaving the remaining small ships of both sides to be built.

The Project Planner at this, the completion of both fleets battle lines, with these last four ships in the Windward Division of the British battle line.

In celebration of this stage in the build I decided to head up the post with the excellent picture by Belgian artist Ronny Moortgat depicting Duncan's Venerable and the rest of the Windward Division fighting hard as the first ships of the Leeward Division come to their aid in the form of the red-ensign of HMS Director seen in the background.

Introducing the last four ships of the line to be added to the Camperdown Collection.
Left to Right - HMS Belliqueux, HMS Lancaster and HMS Ardent each 64-guns and the veteran old lady of the quartet, HMS Isis 50-guns.
All the models are from the Warlord Games, Black Seas range.

So as before I will complete this stage by taking a look at the history of each ship featured together with a look at their particular role in the battle using the ship's logs to hopefully fill in the blanks with a bit more detail than is recorded in the general histories.

Ardent

HMS Ardent was a 64–gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on the 9th of April 1796 at the mouth of the River Thames at Northfleet in Kent. She had been designed and laid down for the British East India Company who was going to name her Princess Royal, but the Navy purchased her before launching for service as a warship in the French Revolutionary War.

HMS Ardent (left) as imagined by Derek Gardner illustrating the British 64-gun third-rate, broadside to broadside, with the Batavian-Dutch flagship Vrijheid and with Admiral Duncan's flagship, Venerable, joining in to batter the Dutchman on the starboard side.

Her general characteristics were:

Tons burthen 1416 tons (bm)

Length of gundeck 173 feet, 3 inches

Beam 43 feet

Depth of hold 19 feet, 10 inches

Sheer Plan and Lines of the former East Indiaman Princess Royal, later HMS Ardent. This clearly shows the ship's origins as a merchant vessel, with her square bilge and almost complete lack of tumblehome on her sides, as per the cross section of her hull on the left. - RMG Collection

Her armament consisted of:

Gundeck: 26 x 24-pounder long guns

Upper Gundeck: 26 x 18-pounder long guns

Quarterdeck & Forecastle: 10 (QD) & 2 (Fc) x 9-pounders long guns.

Ardent was built as a ship of the East India Company named Princess Royal, by Thomas Pitcher at Northfleet. She was one of five ships purchased from the East India Company by the Royal Navy while they were either being built or being serviced in 1795.

As a 64-gun ship of the line, Ardent differed from ships built by the Royal Navy in being around 13 feet longer and having a detached quarterdeck and forecastle. The extra length of the ships meant that an extra gun port was available, but this was not used on Ardent.

Ardent was commissioned in May 1796 under the command of Captain Richard Rundle Burges as a part of the fleet of Admiral Adam Duncan, and in May 1797 while lying at the Nore she played a minor part in the Great Mutiny, when she was fired upon by the mutineers on HMS Monmouth. She went to sea on the 10th of June 1797 to join Duncan's fleet.

Portrait of Captain Richard Rundle Burges (1754–1797)

On the 11th of  October 1797 she took part in the Battle of Camperdown and was in the Weather column of the fleet, and lost forty-one men killed, including Captain Burges, and 107 wounded. Burges was killed only ten minutes after bringing Ardent into the line of battle, with her duel with the larger Dutch ship Vrijheid resulting in higher casualties than any other ship. 

By the end of the battle, Ardent had ninety-eight cannonballs in her hull, and her masts were so damaged that she could not set sail and had to be towed home by HMS Bedford.

Ardent's log has a detailed record of each and every signal from the flagship to the fleet on the run up to action and so I have abbreviated those parts with more specific reference to actions that occurred and when they happened.

The account in Rear-Admiral Sturges Jackson's 'Great Sea Fights' starts with the following comment:

'The Ardent seems to have found a very hot berth at the beginning of the action, and until relieved by other ships to have been in considerable danger. She was the first ship to engage the Vrijheid.'

Log. Lieutenant PHILLIPS. Admirals' Journals, Vol. IV.

October 11th A.M.

'. . . At 53 minutes (12.53), signal No. 34 general. Captain killed in action. Master do.

At 50 minutes, same signal with our pennant, and at 51 minutes, began engaging the Dutch Admiral's ship. At 5 minutes past one, Captain Burges was killed, and Lieutenant Phillips took the command of the deck. At 20 minutes past one, Mr. Dunn, the Master, was killed. About this time a second of the enemy's ships began firing upon us.

About 2 o'clock, engaged with five of the enemy's ships, one with her jib boom over the taffrail, the Dutch Admiral's ship on the quarter.

About 5 minutes before 3, the Venerable passed between us and the ships we were engaged with, the mizen mast being shot away, the fore topsail yard, jib boom, spritsail yard, and the standing and running rigging being totally cut away, the ship became unmanageable. 

Continued engaging the enemy with such guns as we could get to bear upon them. At 1\2 past 3 o'clock ceased firing, some of the enemy's ships having struck and others of them making sail from us. Wore ship.

At 11 minutes after 5, we made the signal for a surgeon. At 10 minutes after 5, Monarch made the signal for the Lancaster to take us in tow, which was not complied with. At 30 minutes after 5, we repeated the signal for a surgeon. At 35 minutes after 5, Monarch made signal 47 with Russell's pennant. At 30 minutes after 7, we made the signal for assistance, which was answered by the Beaulieu about 20 minutes after, who hailed us and sent on board a surgeon's mate. 

Employed clearing the wreck, burying the killed, securing the guns, &c., knotting and splicing the rigging, clearing the wreck of the mizen mast. Cut away the spritsail yard to save the bowsprit, and cut away the wreck of the fore yard and fore topsail yard to save the fore mast.

October 12th.

At noon, hazy weather, Admiral and fleet in company.

P.M. Mustered the ship's company; found 40 killed and 96 wounded.

HMS Ardent had received no less than 98 shots in her hull, and her dead were her Captain, Richard Rundle Burgess, her Sailing Master, Mr Michael Dunn, 33 seamen and six Royal Marines. 

HMS Ardent's wounded came to Lieutenants James Rose and John Sobriel, Captain Richard Cuthbert of the Royal Marines, Masters Mates Mr John Tracey and Mr John Airey, Mr Midshipman Thomas Leonard and Mr Midshipman John M. Killier, her Captain's Clerk, 85 seamen, 11 Royal Marines and three Boys. 

Matters were not helped by the fact that her Surgeon, Mr Robert Young was having to work alone. Both his Surgeon's Mates had resigned during the Nore Mutiny and had not been replaced before the ship left the Nore and joined the fleet at Yarmouth. Young had been overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of wounded men (and women!) being brought below. From his journal:

"I had no Mate, having been without one for three months before. I was employed in operating and dressing till near four in the morning, the action beginning about one in the afternoon. So great was my fatigue that I began several amputations, under a dread of sinking before I should have secured the blood vessels. 

Ninety wounded were brought down during the action, when the whole cockpit deck, cabins, wing berths and part of the cable tier, together with my platform and my preparations for dressing were covered with them, so that for a time, they were laid on each other at the foot of the ladder where they were brought down and I was obliged to go to the Commanding Officer to state the situation and apply for men to go down the main hatchway, and move the foremost of the wounded further forward into the tiers and wings and make room in the cockpit.".

Sixteen men were to die before Young could treat them and another was so badly injured that he could do nothing for him. Again, from Young's journal:

"Joseph Bonheur (actually Joseph Bonier, landsman from London) had his right thigh taken off by a cannon shot close to the pelvis, so that it was impossible to apply a tourniquet, his right arm was also shot to pieces. The stump of the thigh presented a dreadful and large surface of mangled flesh.

In this state, he lived near two hours, perfectly sensible and incessantly calling out in a strong voice to assist him. The bleeding from the femoral artery, although so high up, must have been very inconsiderable, and I observed it did not bleed as he lay. All the service I could render the unfortunate man was to put dressings over the parts and give him drink".

Ardent off Lowestoft on the 16th October 1797, five days after the Battle of Camperdown

In addition to the damage to her hull, HMS Ardent had been badly damaged aloft and in the immediate aftermath of the battle, her surviving crew put up a jury rig and nursed their battered ship back to Lowestoft.

In fiction HMS Ardent gets a mention from Captain "Lucky" Jack Aubrey, written by Patrick O'Brian, and was said to have been present at the battle of Camperdown. 

Russell Crowe as Captain Jack Aubrey in Master and Commander, The Far Side of the World 2003

In the novel Desolation Island (1978), he recalls that he had been;

 "a midshipman stationed on the lower deck of the Ardent, 64, when the Vrijheid killed or wounded one hundred and forty-nine of my shipmates out of four hundred and twenty-one and reduced the Ardent to something very nearly a wreck: this, and all that I have heard of the Dutch, fills me with respect for their seamanship and their fighting qualities."

Belliqueux

HMS Belliqueux (French for belligerent or warlike) was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, one of a class of seven 64-gun third rates, designed by Sir Thomas Slade and launched on the 5th of June 1780 at Blackwall Yard, London being named after the French ship Belliqueux captured in 1758.

Not exactly HMS Belliqueux, but her sister ship Agamemnon, leading the Mediterranean squadron in 1796. Picture by Geoff Hunt.

Her general characteristics were:

Tons burthen 1379 tons (bm)

Length of gundeck 160 feet

Beam 44 feet

Depth of hold 19 feet

1:48. Plan from January 1762 showing the body plan, sheer lines (with modified main mast position), and longitudinal half-breadth for 'Ardent' (1764), 'Raisonable' (1768), 'Belliqueux' (1780), 'Agamemnon' (1782), 'Indefatigable' (1784), 'Stately' (1784), and 'Nassau' (1785), all 64-gun Third Rate, two-deckers. Note the comparison, with this, a purpose-built warship and the tumblehome on the cross-section to that of Ardent's plans above as a former East Indiaman. - RMG Collection

Her armament consisted of:

Gundeck: 26 x 24-pounder long guns

Upper Gundeck: 26 x 18-pounder long guns

Quarterdeck & Forecastle: 10 (QD) & 2 (Fc) x 9-pounders long guns.

Commissioned in the May of 1780, on the 29th of April, 1781 she took part in the Battle of Fort Royal, between fleets of the Royal Navy and the French. After an engagement lasting four hours, the British squadron under Sir Samuel Hood broke off the action and retreated, with De Grasse offering a desultory chase after seeing his French convoy safely to port.

In the following year she was at the Battle of the Saints between the 9th and 12th of April 1782.
The French suffered heavy casualties at the Saintes and many were taken prisoner, including the admiral, Comte de Grasse. Four French ships of the line were captured, including the flagship, and one was destroyed. Rodney was credited with pioneering the tactic of "Breaking the line" in the battle, though this is disputed. During the action Belliqueux suffered 4 killed and 10 wounded.

Belliqueux was paid off in the August of 1783 after the completion of her wartime service.

Following a small repair at Plymouth for £13,952.11.8d she was recommissioned in the April of 1793 under Captain William Otway, but soon passed to the command of Captain George Bowen and sailed for Jamaica on the 20th of March 1794. In the May of that year she joined Ford’s Squadron at Port-au- Prince, and in the following month was placed under the command of Captain James Brine. She was paid off in the September of 1795.

John Inglis shown here as an admiral in 1805.
Born in Philadelphia, North America in 1743, he moved back to his parents
native Scotland in 1775 where he married, having joined the Royal Navy in 1757
during the Seven Years War

In the May of 1796 she was recommissioned and came under the command of Captain John Inglis bound for Duncan’s fleet at the Battle of Camperdown in the October of 1797. Following the battle Inglis who had commanded her bravely was commended for his action.

The following is taken from the Belliqueux's Log;

'Log. JOSEPH BEHENNA, Master. Official No. 2405.

October 11th.

A.M. The Admiral W by S 1 mile. Moderate and cloudy weather. Set the mainsail. Tacked ship per signal. Set topgallant sails. Half-past 6, answered the signal No. 78. Made and shortened sail occasionally. The Dutch fleet in sight. Got all ready for battle. At noon, formed the line. At noon, some part of the fleet came to action. Camperdown ESE 4 leagues.

P.M. At a 1\4 past 12, came to close action between two ships for an hour and a half, the one on the starboard side, a black ship, was then silenced and dropped out of the line, and was succeeded in pretty near the same position by the Dutch Rear-Admiral, who engaged us the remainder of the action with the yellow-sided ship to windward, which struck and dropped astern. 

The Dutch Rear-Admiral in the latter part of the action ceased in his fire, hoisted his jib and fore topmast staysail and shot ahead of us. The first British ship we saw during the action was the Venerable in the act of wearing. The signal was made from her to close, which was about 12 or 15 minutes before the captain ordered the ship to be wore. 

After wearing, the captain ordered the yellow-sided ship above mentioned, which had struck to us, to be taken possession of, but observing the Dutch Commander-in-Chief s colours still flying, we ran alongside of him, and asked him if he had struck. He answered, ' Yes, send your boat on board.'

Captain Inglis then ordered the boat to be hoisted out. The boat was over the side when the signal was made from the Venerable to prepare for battle. The boat was then placed on the booms again. The remainder part of these twenty-four hours, the people was employed in knotting, splicing, unbending and bending the sails, fishing the fore mast, and shifting the cross-jack yard, and sundry other necessary jobs. At noon, Camperdown bore E 1\2 S 6 leagues.'

The damage to Belliqueux is described as 'hull and rigging badly damaged' and her casualties at the close of battle amounted to 103, with 25 killed and 78 wounded.

Lancaster

HMS Lancaster was a 64 gun third rate ship of the line built by Randall & Co. at Rotherhithe. Launched on 29th of January, 1797, she was completed between the 13th of February and the 17th of April in that year at Deptford Dockyard. The total cost of building including coppering being £29,659. plus £9,132. for fitting.

While not a specific picture of Lancaster or indeed the East Indiaman Pigot, this picture of the EIC ship Taunton Castle, built just seven years earlier on the Thames and of a similar size, illustrates this type of ship, with her 'Company' layout of one strake of upper deck gun-ports whilst her lower deck is given over to hold storage, but which would have been converted into a lower gun deck on a man of war.

She was designed and built as the East Indiaman Pigot for the Honourable East India Company, but the Navy purchased her on the stocks because of a shortage of naval vessels to prosecute the French Revolutionary Wars.

Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines with inboard detail, and longitudinal half-breadth for fitting the Lancaster (1796) and Monmouth (1796), East India Company ships, as 64-gun Third Rate, two-deckers - RMG Collection.

Her general characteristics were:

Tons burthen 1429 tons (bm)

Length of gundeck 173 feet 6 inches

Beam 43 feet 2 inches

Depth of hold 19 feet 9 inches

Her armament consisted of:

Gundeck: 26 x 24-pounder long guns

Upper Gundeck: 26 x 18-pounder long guns

Quarterdeck & Forecastle: 10 (QD) & 2 (Fc) x 9-pounders long guns.

Captain John Wells

HMS Lancaster was commissioned by Captain John Wells in the February of 1797. She was involved in the Nore Mutiny at Gravesend, but had been restored to duty by the 6th of June in the same year. On the 11th of October of that year she took her place in the Weather column at the Battle of Camperdown. During the action she suffered 3 killed and 18 wounded.

With regard to the log of HMS Lancaster the account in Rear-Admiral Sturges Jackson's 'Great Sea Fights' starts with the following comment:

'The Lancaster's log is a curiosity of phonetic spelling. Mr. George Prowse was evidently a Devonshire man, and has written his log in West Country dialect, as the expression * hailed she,' with reference to the Isis, shows.'

This comment, as you might imagine, given the part of the country I hail from, and given that I have spent forty plus years accustoming my ear to Devonshire dialect, certainly made me smile - however on with the log.

Log. GEORGE PROWSE, Master. Official No. 9118.

A.M. The Admiral SW by S distant 1 mile. At 2, tacked ship as per signal. Down jib. At 4, the Admiral east 2 miles. At 7, tacked ship as per signal. 

At 8, signal for the enemy's fleet in sight. At 1\4 past 8, bore up to S by W. At 9, out 1 reef of topsails. Answered signal No. 10. At 10, saw the fleet south standing with the larboard tack, 27 sail in number. At 47 minutes past 8, signal for to prepare for battle. 

At 15 minutes past 9, signal to form the order of battle. At 20 minutes past 9, to alter the course to port. At 1\2, signal to engage as you come up. At 40 minutes, to form the order sailing to (?) * to haul the wind with starboard tack. Signal to take in 2 reefs topsail. 

At 5 minutes past 11, general signal to bring to. Signal for the preparative for Director, Powerful, Veteran to come in the rear. At 20 minutes past 11, signal for each ship to engage her opponent. Signal to tack and make more sail. At 1\4 past 11, thick rain followed wind. At 40 minutes past 11, each ship to engage her opponent. At 45 minutes past 11, signal to the stern ship to make more sail and to engage close. Hauled on board the fore tack.

(?) This part of the log is almost illegible

P.M. Fresh breezes and dark showery weather.

At 44 minutes past, the action commenced by a smart fire by the Monarch, Vice-Admiral Onslow. Agincourt's signal for closer action. Ardent's do., ditto for general. At 49 minutes past 12, near the Isis, hailed she and said we was going to engage the ship ahead. Engaged. Received the fire from the ship to our starboard quarter and on the larboard bow, shot away cross-jack yard, spanker boom, backed the main topsail for fair [for fear of] firing into the Isis. Ordered the people to cease firing, for that was one of our own ships, but could not stop them from firing. The opponent on the larboard quarter had struck and one on the starboard quarter. 

At 5 minutes past 2, wore ship and stood to the assistance [of the] Admiral. Engaged on both sides, passed to the leeward of the enemy's line and engaged. The Rear-Admiral passing our ship struck. At 20, she was on fire on the fore chains. 

At 50 minutes past 3, the Circe's signal to take possession of the distressed ships. 

John Holly, James Valentine, James Wilkinson killed in action. Received 3 shot in the fore mast, one in the main mast, main spring stay and 4 shrouds, 3 fore shrouds, spanker boom, cross-jack yard, fore topsail sheet, mizen topsail sheet, main braces and bowlines. Main topgallant halyards. Three men killed and 6 wounded.

The people employed knotting and splicing the rigging.'

The total losses for HMS Lancaster are recorded as 21 casualties, amounting to 3 killed and 18 wounded with the ship recorded as 'lightly damaged'.

Isis

HMS Isis was a 50-gun Portland-class fourth-rate ship of the Royal Navy that saw service during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and was built in 1774 on the River Medway, later commissioned under Captain Charles Douglas in 1776, at which time he sailed with a squadron for the relief of Quebec.

This painting by Derek Gardner shows HMS Isis in the North Sea on 31st December 1780. She has sighted the Dutch 50-gun ship Rotterdam in the background.

The Portland Class was a group of ten ships designed by Sir John Williams, Co-Surveyor of the Navy, 

of which five were built in Kent shipyards, whilst of the other four Kent-built ships, HMS Bristol and HMS Leopard were built at the Sheerness Royal Dockyard, HMS Leander was built at the Chatham Royal Dockyard, and HMS Europa built at the Woolwich Royal Dockyard, their design being based on that of HMS Romney, designed by Williams' Co-Surveyor, Sir Thomas Slade which was itself built at the Woolwich Royal Dockyard.

The Navy Board model of HMS Portland. Starboard bow view. HMS Isis was identical

Up until the mid-1750s, the 50 gun Fourth Rate vessel was the smallest ship of the line in the Royal Navy. After that time, they were regarded as being too small and frail to stand in the line of battle. They continued to be useful in the role of a small ship of the line in the shallower waters off northern Europe and North America, where larger ships of the line had difficulty operating safely. 

They were amongst the smallest ships which carried their guns on two gundecks and despite being obsolete in the line of battle, the Royal Navy continued to build and operate small numbers of these ships after the 1750s. By the end of the 18th century however, the advent of the Heavy Frigate mounting upwards of 40 guns, 18 or 24-pounders had rendered them obsolete and although the Royal Navy continued to use them for a while, by the end of the Napoleonic Wars, they had largely disappeared from the fleet.

HMS Isis' general characteristics were:

Tons burthen 1050 tons (bm)

Length of gundeck 146 feet 

Beam 40 feet 7.5 inches

Depth of hold 17 feet 6 inches

A 1:48 Scale Plan dated 28th January 1771, showing the body plan, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth proposed (and approved) for Renown (1774), and later used for Isis (1774), both 50-gun Fourth Rate two-deckers built in private yards. The plan includes a table of mast and yard dimensions - RMG Collection.

Her armament consisted of:

Gundeck: 22 x 24-pounder long guns

Upper Gundeck: 22 x 12-pounder long guns

Quarterdeck & Forecastle: 4 (QD) & 2 (Fc) x 6-pounders long guns.

HMS Isis 1774

On 7th March 1776, HMS Isis sailed for North America. At about the time the ship sailed, the Americans had invaded Canada and had laid siege to Quebec. Although the fortress there held out, the siege wasn't relieved until May 1776 when a British fleet including HMS Isis landed troops which succeeded in not only lifting the siege, but also drove the Americans out of Canada altogether.

For the rest of 1776, throughout 1777 and for most of 1778, HMS Isis was based at Sandy Hook and was engaged in patrols of the eastern coast of America. During this time, Captain Douglas was replaced in command by Captain the Honourable William Cornwallis. Cornwallis was the younger brother of General the Lord Cornwallis and later went on to achieve flag rank and was a friend of Nelson. He was replaced in turn by Captain John Raynor. In 1778, France became openly involved in the American War of Independence and used their involvement as an excuse to try to regain possessions lost in the previous Seven Years War. 

Barrington's Action at St Lucia, 15 December 1778 - Dominic Serres

On 4th November 1778, HMS Isis was sent to the Caribbean and the following month was involved in the operation to capture St Lucia from the French. In the Battle of St Lucia, fought on 15th December 1778, HMS Isis was part of a squadron under Admiral Samuel Barrington which repeatedly drove off attempts by a much larger French force under the Compte D'Estaing to prevent the British from landing an army on the island. Having failed to prevent the landings, D'Estaing and his force left the area, leaving the French garrison to their fate. The French surrendered on 28th December 1778.

In June 1779, HMS Isis escorted a home-bound convoy and in February 1780, entered the Royal Dockyard at Woolwich to undergo a refit. The refit involved adding carronades to the ships armament. In addition to the long guns mentioned above, the ship was fitted with 2 x 24pdr carronades on her quarterdeck, 2 x 12pdr carronades on her forecastle and 6 x 12pdr carronades on her poop deck.

The ship recommissioned in November 1780 under Captain Evelyn Sutton and on 31st December 1780, was involved in an inconclusive action against the similarly sized and armed Dutch ship Rotterdam. 5 days later, the Rotterdam was taken by HMS Warwick (50).

By this time, the war had spread, Britain had gone to war against their former allies, the Dutch over their refusal to stop trading with both the Americans and the French and the French were trying to expand their influence and territory in India, at the expense of the British. HMS Isis was ordered to join a squadron under Commodore George Johnstone, who had been tasked with leading an expedition to take the Cape Colony in modern day South Africa from the Dutch. What Johnstone didn't know was that a powerful French squadron under the Baillie de Suffren had been ordered to reinforce the Dutch before going on to India to assist French forces there.

Johnstone led his ships into Porto Praya, in the Portuguese controlled Cape Verde Islands in order to take on water and provisions and the squadron anchored in the bay, with HMS Isis in the outermost position. The majority of the sailors in the squadron went ashore to gather provisions and water and the decks of the ships were covered with lumber and casks. 

The French ship Artisien (64) was the first to spot the British squadron at anchor and signalled Suffren, aboard his flagship L'Heros (74) to that effect. Suffren correctly guessed what the British were up to and assumed that the British force would be in complete disarray as a result. Leading the attack in L'Heros, Suffren entered the bay. HMS Isis, being the outermost ship, was raked, first by L'Heros, then by Artisien and Vengeur and was seriously damaged. The British were taken completely by surprise and took some three hours to prepare for sea. By the time they were ready, the French had captured HMS Infernal (fireship), the East Indiamen Hinchinbrook and Fortitude together with the victualling ship Edward.

Commodore Johnstone decided not to pursue the French owing to the damage his ships had received and instead decided to stay where he was and make repairs. The crew of HMS Infernal overwhelmed the French prize crew and rejoined the squadron. The Battle of Porto Praya on 16th April 1781 delayed the British sufficiently to allow the French to reinforce the Dutch garrison on Cape Town.

Meanwhile, once repairs had been completed, HMS Isis, together with the rest of Johnstone's squadron proceeded to the Cape. The plan to capture the Cape Colony was abandoned when it became clear that the Dutch had been reinforced, so the force instead attacked and captured five Dutch East Indiamen. HMS Isis was ordered to join a squadron under Admiral Sir Edward Hughes while the rest of the squadron was recalled to the UK.

HMS Isis joined the British squadron of Sir Edward Hughes in 1782, participating in five battles off the Coromandel coast of south India and Ceylon, against the French squadron under the Baillie de Suffren, until June 1783 after peace had been declared.

HMS Isis joined the squadron at Madras and then became involved in a series of running battles against Suffren's squadron over the course of the next two years, that included the Battles of Sadras 17th February 1782, Provedien, 12th April 1782, Negapatam 6th July 1782, Trincomali 3rd September 1782 and Cuddalore, 20th June 1783.

With the war now over, HMS Isis was recalled to the UK and paid off into the Ordinary at Woolwich in July 1784.

There HMS Isis was to remain, secured to a mooring buoy in the River Thames, with her sails, yards, running rigging, stores and guns removed and her hatches and gunports sealed shut for almost six years, manned by a skeleton crew as before. In March 1792, HMS Isis was taken into the dockyard at Woolwich to undergo a major repair. This repair would have made good the damage sustained in her earlier career as well as replacing any of her frames and timbers found to be in poor condition. Her lower hull would also have been re-coppered and she would have emerged from this work in an almost "as new" condition.

HMS Isis recommissioned at Woolwich in December 1794 under Captain Benjamin Archer and her repairs were completed in May 1795. She was commissioned into the North Sea Fleet, then under the command of Admiral Sir Adam Duncan.

In July 1795, Captain Archer was replaced in command by Captain Robert Watson and on 22nd August 1795, HMS Isis was in the North Sea, in company with the frigates HMS Reunion 36-guns, HMS Stag 32-guns and HMS Vestal 28-guns, when they fought an action against two Dutch frigates and a third, unrated ship. These were Alliantie 36-guns, Argo 36guns and Vliegheid 16-guns. In the action that occurred, HMS Isis took the Alliantie and the other Dutch ships were driven off.

In May 1797, the Great Mutiny at the Nore broke out and the crew of HMS Isis participated in it.

By June ships and men were deserting the Mutiny, and fighting between loyalists and mutineers broke out on the morning of 13th June on the decks of five ships, including HMS Isis. Eventually, the loyalists gained the upper hand and HMS Isis returned to the Inner Nore later on the 13th June and rejoined the fleet, with the mutineers taking advantage of the Royal Pardon initially offered to the mutineers at Spithead and later extended to those at the Nore.

Captain William Mitchell.
Painting by unknown artist on Ivory c.1780. 

In September 1797, Captain Watson was replaced in command by Captain William Mitchell and in October 1797, news reached the Admiralty that the Dutch had called off their plans to break out and the fleet was recalled to Yarmouth to refit and resupply. 

On 8th October however, the Dutch fleet under Admiral de Winter did indeed break out. They were followed by ships Admiral Duncan had left behind to watch them. On receiving the news, Duncan immediately ordered his ships to sea and by mid-day on 9th October, he was at sea with 11 ships of the line, heading to intercept the Dutch as they headed south down the North Sea. More ships put to sea at they became ready, so that by 11th October, he had 18 ships of the line available to him.

The ships log of HMS Isis picks up the account of its actions in the Battle of Camperdown.

'Log. Admirals' Journals, Vol. IV.

October 11th.

P.M. At 50 minutes past 12, the action began to leeward. At m. past 12, the Admiral made the signal No. 5. Saw Admiral Onslow engage the Dutch Vice-Admiral, and at 15 minutes past 1, the two fleets were engaging. 

At 1\2 past 1, perceived a Dutch line-of-battle ship with her poop on fire, (Most likely the Hercules) and she kept engaging some time in that condition, and fired a number of shot at us. She then fell off before the wind. 

At 2, a Dutch line-of-battle ship (The Admiral de Vries) struck to us, after engaging us nearly one hour. I sent a boat on board (with Lieutenant Wm. Lamb and a few men) to take possession of her.

We kept engaging the enemy's ships as coming up with them. 1\2 past 2, saw the Dutch Admiral's ship dismasted, still keeping firing in that situation for some time, and perceived several of the Dutch ships striking their colours and endeavouring to get away. They were followed by a few of the English ships, and some of them taken possession of. 

At 3, the fleets left off engaging, and at 15 minutes past 3, the Admiral made the signal No. 101. At 48 m. past 3, No. 100, and at 5 minutes past 4, the Admiral made the signal No. 83, and saw our prize's main mast go over the side. 

During the action we had 2 men killed, the 2nd lieutenant [of] marines, two midshipmen and 18 men wounded, our mizen topmast shot away, fore and main braces, mizen stay and several shrouds and back stays. Boats and sails much damaged, small bower anchor broke by a shot, coppers rendered useless, a number of shot in our hull, and lost our jolly-boat by the squally weather.

October 12th.

A.M. - 10. I went on board the Admiral. At 11, returned and made sail to take the prize in tow.

In company with the fleet.

The next time I picture these four models together will be for a fleet review with all of the Camperdown Collection out on the table to give an idea of the effect of these models en-mass.

So the next stage of the project is now underway, specifically to complete the collection with the addition of the remaining small ships of both sides, starting next with HMS Beaulieu 40-guns, Circe 28-guns and the two Batavian corvettes, Minerva and Waakzaamheid each of 24-guns for which I will be using the Turner Miniatures 3D printed hulls.

Next part of the project on the stocks, channels and figureheads added, where required, together with bowsprits.

The two British frigates (front) and two Dutch corvettes at the back

The 32-gun Xebec Frigate, El Gamo (front), and the diminutive HMS Speedy (back), both models complete with swivel guns along their bulwarks.

Alongside these small ships I also intend to build a few extra models to fill some gaps in the collection for my small ship actions that I have been working on, taken from William James' History and have two more prints from Mr Turner, namely the famous HMS Speedy and the Spanish xebec frigate, El Gamo.

More anon

JJ