HMS Polyphemus, a 64-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 27 April 1782 at Sheerness. She participated in the 1801 Battle of Copenhagen, the Battle of Trafalgar, and the Siege of Santo Domingo. In 1813 she became a powder hulk and was broken up in 1827.
Early career Polyphemus was laid down at Sheerness in 1776. On 26 April 1778, His Majesty King George III visited Sheerness to inspect the dockyards. There he saw Polyphemus, which was standing in her frame to season. She was launched in 1782 and commissioned under Captain William C. Finch, who then sailed her to Gibraltar.
She was part of a British fleet under Admiral Richard Howe successfully resupplied Gibraltar, then under siege by Bourbon forces. Shortly after, the British fleet met the Franco-Spanish fleet under Admiral Luis de Córdova y Córdova on 20 October 1782. The consequent battle of Cape Spartel was indecisive. Polyphemus was part of the second division of the van, and suffered four men wounded.
In late 1782, Admiral Sir Richard Hughes took a squadron that included Polyphemus, under Captain Thomas Sotheby, out to the West Indies. On their way the British encountered a French convoy off Martinique. The action of 6 December 1782 lasted 40 minutes, during which time , under Captain John Collins, captured the French 64-gun ship Solitaire, under Jean-Charles de Borda. Solitaire had 35 men killed and 55 wounded whilst Ruby had only two men wounded. Two days later the squadron arrived at Barbados. The Royal Navy took Solitaire into service as HMS Solitaire. Polyphemus shared with Ruby in the head money for the capture of Solitaire, while the other vessels of the British squadron did not, suggesting that Polyphemus assisted Ruby.
At the end of the war in 1783, her crew was paid off in June. Then she received some repairs between December 1783 and December 1784.
French Revolutionary Wars In December 1793, after the outbreak of war with France her fitting out at Chatham took until June 1794. Captain George Lumsdaine commissioned her in April.
Irish station Polyphemus and shared in the recapture on 21 September 1795 of the vessel Hibberts. Polyphemus was operating off Queenstown, Ireland, on 22 October when she took possession at Cork of the Dutch 64-gun ship Overijsel (or Overyssel), which the Royal Navy took into service as HMS Overyessel. Polyphemus then became the flagship for Vice-Admiral Robert Kingsmill, at Queenstown, before undergoing repairs in May and June 1796 at Plymouth. In August Polyphemus left the East India fleet west of the Canaries and returned to Plymouth two weeks or so later.Lloyd's List, - accessed 10 December 2013.
In December 1796, Polyphemus and were off the Irish coast when they captured the 14-gun French privateer schooner , of 100 tons bm and 80 men. The Royal Navy took her into service under her existing name. On the 31st Polyphemus captured the Tartar.
There was only a handful of ships based at Cork under Rear-Admiral Kingsmill, principally Polyphemus and a frigate squadron, in late December 1796 when the French launched the Expédition d'Irlande, an attempt to create a republican uprising in Ireland. Polyphemus seized the transport on 30 December and captured the transport shortly afterwards, although the French frigate recaptured Suffren. On 5 January 1797 Polyphemus captured Tartu, of 44 guns and 625 men (including troops). The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Uranie. Polyphemus also captured another transport, but the weather being bad and night falling, she did not take possession. Lumsdaine reported that the transport was leaky and making distress signals, but that he was unable to assist. He thought it highly likely that she had sunk. This may have been the Fille-Unique, which sank in the Bay of Biscay on 6 January.
Between November 1799 and March 1800 she underwent repairs at Chatham. She was recommissioned in 1799, again under Lumsdaine.
Baltic service Captain John Lawford was appointed to command of Polyphemus on 1 August and took up his position on three days later.Markham (1891), pp.10-4. She sailed from Yarmouth on 9 August 1800, with a squadron under Vice-Admiral Archibald Dickson in bound for Denmark. Because of lack of wind the faster sailing vessels had to tow the slower ones and it was 15 August before they reached The Skaw. The next day the whole squadron advanced as far as the mouth of the Sound where the Danes had anchored three 74-gun ships, later increased to four, between Kronberg Castle and the Swedish shore. Because of gales the Admiral sheltered his squadron in Elsinore Roads and then went in as far as Sophienberg Castle to talk with Lord Whitworth, who was negotiating with the Danish government. After matters were resolved the squadron returned to Yarmouth in September.
In March 1801, Rear-Admiral Thomas Graves raised his flag on Polyphemus, replacing Kingsmill. Polyphemus was with the fleet under the command of Admiral Sir Hyde Parker that bombarded Copenhagen on 2 April. The British objective was to break up the second League of Armed Neutrality, which also included Sweden and Prussia, that Tzar Paul I of Russia had established.
During the battle, Polyphemus and came to the assistance of the 50-gun fourth rate , which was being hard-pressed by the Danes' 56-gun ship Provesteenen, and succeeded in silencing her. Polyphemus lost six men killed, and 25 men wounded. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Copenhagen 1801" to all surviving claimants from the battle.
The division of the North Sea fleet commanded by Admiral Thomas in Polyphemus returned to Yarmouth from the Baltic Sea on 13 July and then sailed to join Admiral Dickson's squadron blockading the Dutch fleet in the Texel. At some point Graves transferred his flag to .
In April 1802 Polyphemus went into ordinary, following the Treaty of Amiens that ended the war.
Napoleonic Wars After war with France resumed in 1803, Polyphemus underwent fitting out at Chatham between March and September 1804. Captain Robert Redmill recommissioned her in July for the Channel, but apparently was only temporarily in command.
Polyphemus joined the Cadiz squadron under Admiral John Orde. She shared with and in the proceeds from the capture on 26 November of the Spanish ship Virgen del Rosario.
In late November or early December (different records disagree), Polyphemus, under Lawford's command, captured several Spanish ships. One was the San Joseph (alias Favourite). The snow Saint Josef had been sailing from La Guayra to Cadiz with a cargo of indigo, cocoa, cochineal, and cotton. Another was the Santo Christo, which had been sailing from Montevideo to Cadiz with a cargo of hides and copper.Lloyd's List, - accessed 10 December 2013 She also captured the St Edward. The St Edward (or Edward), was sailing from Vera Cruz to Cadiz with a cargo of cocoa, cochineal, and cotton, and $98,539. Lastly, Polyphemus captured the Bon Air, which was sailing from Vera Cruz to Cadiz with a cargo of cocoa, indigo, and cochineal, and $20,000.
Three days later Polyphemus and captured the Spanish frigate Santa Gertruyda off Cape St Mary. A frigate of 40-guns, she was armed only with 14, and was sailing from Peru and Mexico to Coruna when Polyphemus captured her. Polyphemus and Santa Gertruyda separated in a gale that damaged the Spanish ship, which nonetheless reached Plymouth on 10 January 1805, in tow by the armed defence ship Harriet, which had encountered Santa Gertruyda some days after the gale. Santa Gertruyda was carrying $1,215,000, and merchandize.Lloyd's List, - accessed 10 December 2013. Once she arrived in Plymouth, the Royal Navy took her into service as , but did not commission the 40-year-old ship. Instead she served as a receiving ship.
Lawford was still in command on 8 February 1805 when Polyphemus captured Marianna. She arrived in Plymouth a few days later.Lloyd's List, - accessed 11 December 2013.
Trafalgar
Under Redmill, Polyphemus took part in the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805. She fought in the Lee column, and lost two men killed and four wounded. She engaged the French ships and and after the battle captured the . Lastly, Polyphemus towed , carrying Nelson's body, back to Gibraltar."The Trafalgar Roll", by Colonel Robert Holden MacKenzie, 1913, pp. 246-7, ed 2004, Chatham Publishing,
Parliament voted a grant of £300,000 to the participants in the battle, payable in September 1806. Then in March 1807 there was a distribution of prize money for the hull, stores, and head money for four French and two Spanish ships captured at Trafalgar. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Trafalgar" to all surviving claimants from the battle.
In January 1806, Polyphemus and the frigate were escorting a convoy from Gibraltar when they encountered a French squadron under Admiral Willaumez. The French succeeded in capturing two of the merchant vessels and four of the French fleet unsuccessfully chased Sirius for two hours, but forcing her to separate from the convoy.James (1837), Vol. 4, p.186.
On 3 April 1806 Polyphemus, , and were off Madeira, having escorted the East India Fleet southward.Lloyd's List, - accessed 11 December 2013. Seventeen days later, Polyphemus shared in the capture of the Spanish ship Estrella. One week later Polyphemus, Fame, and Africa shared in the capture of the Spanish ship San Pablo and her cargo. St Pablo (or St Pablus), was sailing from Vera Cruz with a valuable cargo.Lloyd's List, - accessed 11 December 2013.
French coast In July 1806, she was with Lord St. Vincent's squadron off Ushant. On 14 July her boats, together with others of the squadron, were taken by the Iris to Captain John Tremayne Rodd in Indefatigable off Rochefort to attack two French corvettes and a convoy at the entrance to the Garonne. The weather on 15 July appeared suitable for the attempt but after the boats left a strong wind blew up and although they managed to capture the corvette or brig Caesar, they could not prevent the convoy escaping up river. The French were expecting the attack and put up a strong resistance. The British lost six men killed, 36 wounded and 21 missing. Indefatigable alone lost two killed and 11 wounded. Polyphemus had two men lightly wounded. The 21 missing men were in a boat from ; a later report suggested that most, if not all, had been taken prisoner. The majority of the boats were either shot through or so badly stove in that they were swamped, and had to be cut adrift from the brig as she was brought out under fire from the batteries and the ex-British brig . The vessels claiming prize money included and the hired armed lugger Nile, in addition to the various ships of the line and frigates. This cutting out expedition resulted in the participants qualifying for the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "16 July Boat Service 1806".
Caesar, of 18 guns, had a crew of 86 men according to her roster, and was under the command of lieutenant de vaisseau Louis François Hector Fourré. She was five years old, coppered, 88' by 23', and "appears fit for His Majesty's Service", according to Rodd. The Royal Navy took her into service as the brig HMS Cesar. Head money for the capture was paid in June 1829.
In July 1806 Polyphemus was recommissioned. Captain Joseph O. Masefield replaced Redmill in September.