HMS Emerald was a 36-gun Amazon-class fifth rate frigate that Sir William Rule designed in 1794 for the Royal Navy. The Admiralty ordered her construction towards the end of May 1794 and work began the following month at Northfleet dockyard. She was completed on 12 October 1795 and joined Admiral John Jervis's fleet in the Mediterranean.

In 1797, Emerald was one of several vessels sent to hunt down and capture the crippled Santisima Trinidad, which had escaped from the British at the Battle of Cape St Vincent. Emerald was supposed to have been present at the Battle of the Nile but in May 1798 a storm separated her from Horatio Nelson's squadron and she arrived in Aboukir Bay nine days too late. She was part of Rear-Admiral John Thomas Duckworth's squadron during the action of 7 April 1800 off Cádiz.

Emerald served in the Caribbean throughout 1803 in Samuel Hood's fleet, then took part in the invasion of St Lucia in July, and of Surinam the following spring. Returning to home waters for repairs in 1806, she served in the Western Approaches before joining a fleet under Admiral James Gambier in 1809, and taking part in the Battle of the Basque Roads. In November 1811 she sailed to Portsmouth where she was laid up in ordinary. Fitted out as a receiving ship in 1822, she was eventually broken up in January 1836.

Construction and armament

Emerald was a 36-gun, 18-pounder, Amazon-class frigate built to Sir William Rule's design. She and her sister ship, , were ordered on 24 May 1794 and were built to the same dimensions: along the gun deck, at the keel, with a beam of and a depth in the hold of . They measured 933 tons burthen.

Completed at Thomas Pitcher's dockyard in Northfleet at a cost of £14,419, Emerald was launched on 31 July 1795, twenty-seven days after Amazon. Her coppering at Woolwich was finished on 12 October 1795, and she was fitted-out at a further cost of £9,390.

Emerald was built to carry a main battery of twenty-six long guns on her gun deck, eight on the quarterdeck and two on the forecastle. She additionally carried eight carronades, six on the quarterdeck and two on the forecastle. When fully manned, Amazon-class frigates had a complement of 264.

The Admiralty ordered a second pair of Amazon-class ships on 24 January 1795. They were marginally smaller at 925 tons (bm) and were built from pitch pine.

Service Mediterranean

Emerald was first commissioned in August 1795, under Captain Velters Cornewall Berkeley and following her fitting out, joined the Western Squadron at Portsmouth.Slope p. 44: While on a cruise in February 1796, she lost her mainmast in a storm off Ushant but was able to limp home for repairs. In April, she took a convoy to the River Tagus and continued to perform escort duties for some months after, before sailing to the Mediterranean in January 1797 and joining Admiral John Jervis's fleet at Gibraltar.

Battle of Cape St Vincent

Spain had become allied to France and declared war on Britain in October 1796. Early in 1797, a Spanish fleet of 27 ships of the line was at Cartagena with orders to join the French fleet at Brest. A storm blew the Spanish fleet off course, enabling Jervis's fleet of 15 ships of the line to intercept it off Cape St Vincent on 14 February.Willis pp. 89–90 Although attached to the British fleet at the time, Emerald was not present at the battle; kept away by contrary wind. After making several attempts to join the action, she retired to nearby Lagos Bay with other vessels. Consequently, the crew was denied a share of the prize money.

On 16 February, the victorious British fleet and its prizes entered the bay. Jervis ordered the three frigates—Emerald, and , of 40 and 32 guns, respectively—to search for the disabled flagship, Santisima Trinidad, which had been towed from the battle. Two smaller craft—Bonne-Citoyenne, a corvette of 20 guns, and the 14-gun sloop —joined the frigates. The British squadron on 20 February sighted Santisima Trinidad under tow by a large frigate and in the company of a brig. Berkeley, considering the small squadron under his command insufficient, declined to engage and eventually the Spanish ships sailed from sight.

Action of 26 April 1797

Following the Battle of Cape St Vincent, the British pursued the remainder of the Spanish fleet to Cádiz, where Jervis began a long-running blockade of the port.Dull pp. 147–148 On 26 April, while cruising in the company of the 74-gun , Emerald helped to capture a 34-gun Spanish ship and to destroy another. The Spanish vessels were close to the coast when Jervis's fleet sighted them. Sent to investigate, Emerald and Irresistible, under Captain George Martin, discovered the ships were the frigates and Clowes (Vol. IV) p. 507—the Spanish ships had been carrying silver from Havana to Cádiz, but had transferred their cargo the previous night to a fishing boat that had warned them of the proximity of the British fleet.Woodman p. 99

The Spanish ships sought shelter from the British north of Trafalgar in Conil Bay, the entrance to which was protected by a large rocky ledge. Irresistible and Emerald negotiated this obstacle at around 14:30 and engaged the Spanish ships, which were anchored in the Bay.James (Vol. II) p. 82 The Spanish ships surrendered at approximately 16:00. Eighteen Spaniards were killed and 30 wounded during the fighting; one Briton was killed and one wounded. The remaining crew of Santa Elena avoided capture by cutting her cables and drifting her on shore so they could flee on foot. The British managed to drag Santa Elena off the beach but, badly damaged, she sank at sea.

The British took Ninfa into service as HMS Hamadryad, a 36-gun frigate with a main battery of 12-pounders,James (Vol. II) p. 83 but were unable to retrieve the cargo of silver, which later arrived safely in Cádiz.

Second bombardment of Cádiz

Captain Thomas Waller took command of Emerald in mid-1797, and was stationed with Admiral Jervis's fleet off Cádiz. On 3July, Jervis attempted to end the protracted blockade by ordering a bombardment of the town. A first attempt resulted in the capture of two Spanish mortar boats but achieved little else.James (Vol. II) pp. 53–54 During a second bombardment on the night of 5July, Emerald, in the company of Terpsichore and the 74-gun , provided a protective escort for three bomb vessels, , and . This attack caused considerable damage; the next morning, the Spanish hurriedly moved ten of their line-of-battle ships out of range.James (Vol. II) p. 54 The British cancelled a third bombardment, planned for 8July, when the weather became unfavourable.

Attack on Santa Cruz

Later in July 1797, Emerald took part in an unsuccessful attack on Santa Cruz. A planned attack in April, proposed by Admiral Nelson, had been aborted as the troops required to execute it were unavailable. When Jervis was subsequently advised that the Spanish treasure fleet was anchored there, he revived Nelson's idea.Heathcote p. 181

For the new attack, Nelson was to take three ships of the line, three frigates, including Emerald, and 200 marines, for an amphibious landing outside the Spanish stronghold. The frigates would then engage the batteries to the north-east of Santa Cruz while the marines stormed the town. However, a combination of strong currents and heavy Spanish fire forced the British to abandon the attack. Several further attempts were made between 22 and 25 July; although the British were able to land troops, Spanish resistance was too strong and the British had to ask for an honourable withdrawal.Heathcote p. 182 About 90 of Emerald's crew, including Waller, fought their way into the town alongside Thomas Troubridge; 17 died in the assault. Another 10 died before the landing; drowned when the hired-armed vessel, Fox, was sunk by a cannonball.Slope p. 40

After the attack, Nelson sent Emerald with his report to Jervis, who in turn sent her on to England with dispatches. Waller arrived at the Admiralty on 1September, with the news of the failed attacks.

Alexandria

While serving with Jervis on the Lisbon station in December 1797, Emerald, under the temporary command of Lord William Proby, captured the 8-gun privateer, Chasseur Basque. Waller returned as captain in April 1798. In May, Jervis dispatched a squadron of five ships, including Emerald and commanded by Nelson in the 74-gun , to locate a large invasion fleet that had left Toulon.James (Vol. II) p. 148 After receiving intelligence on 22 May, Nelson correctly predicted the French fleet's destination and set course for AlexandriaJames (Vol. II) p. 154 where the British captured or destroyed all but two of the French ships at the Battle of the Nile, which occurred between 1–3 August 1798.Willis p. 168 Emerald missed the battle; having previously become separated from the rest of the squadron in a storm on 21 May, she arrived at Aboukir Bay on 12 August.James (Vol. II) p. 183

When Nelson left for Naples on 19 August 1798, he left behind a squadron—comprising three 74s , , , three frigates Emerald, and , and the corvette Bonne Citoyenne—under Samuel Hood to patrol the waters around the port and along the coast.Clowes (Vol. IV) p. 373 On 2 September, it encountered and destroyed the French aviso Anémone.

Emerald and Seahorse chased Anemone inshore, where she anchored in shallow water out of their reach. When they launched their boats to cut-out Anėmone, her crew cut the anchor cable and their ship drifted on to the shore; as the Frenchmen were attempting to escape along the coast, hostile Arabs captured them and stripped them of their clothes, shooting those who resisted. A heavy surf prevented the British boats from landing, so a midshipman from Emerald, the young Francis Fane, swam ashore with a line and empty cask to rescue the commander and seven others who had escaped naked to the beach.James (Vol. II) pp. 192–193 Anėmone had a crew of 60 men under the command of Enseigne de Vaisseau (Ensign) Garibou,Fonds Marine, p. 210. and was also carrying General Camin and Citoyen Valette, aide-de-camp to General Napoleon Bonaparte, with dispatches from Toulon. Camin and Valette were among those the Arabs killed. Emerald remained stationed off Alexandria for the rest of the year.

Action on 18 June 1799

Emerald and Minerve, while cruising together on 2June, took Caroline, a 16-gun French privateer, off the south-east coast of Sardinia. Later, Emerald assisted in the capture of , , , Salamine and in the action of 18 June 1799. The British fleet under George Elphinstone was some 69 miles off Cape Sicié when three French frigates and two brigs were spotted. Elphinstone engaged them with three seventy-fours, , and , and two frigates, Emerald and .James (Vol. II) p. 262 The next evening, after a 28-hour chase, the French ships were forced into an action. The French squadron had scattered, enabling the British to attack it piecemeal. Bellona fired the first shots at 19:00 as she, Captain, and the two frigates closed with Junon and Alceste, both of which struck their colours immediately. Bellona then joined Centaur in chasing Courageuse. Faced with overwhelming odds, Courageuse also surrendered. Emerald then overhauled Salamine, and Captain took Alerte at around 23:30.Troude (1867), Vol. III, p. 164.

Action on 7 April 1800