HMS Caroline was a 36-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was designed by Sir John Henslow and launched in 1795 at Rotherhithe by John Randall. Caroline was a lengthened copy of with improved speed but more instability. The frigate was commissioned in July 1795 under Captain William Luke to serve in the North Sea Fleet of Admiral Adam Duncan. Caroline spent less than a year in the North Sea before being transferred to the Lisbon Station. Here she was tasked to hunt down or interdict French shipping while protecting British merchant ships, with service taking her from off Lisbon to Cádiz and into the Mediterranean Sea. In 1799 the ship assisted in the tracking of the French fleet of Admiral Étienne Eustache Bruix, and in 1800 she participated in the blockade of Cádiz.
In 1803 Caroline brought the news of the declaration of war with France to the East Indies where she would stay for the rest of her service. The ship's main role in the Indies was attacking the possessions of the French and their allies and as such she participated in a number of important events, including the Java campaign of 1806–1807 in which she fought the action of 18 October 1806. The frigate also played an active role in the Persian Gulf campaign of 1809, the invasion of the Spice Islands where her crew were instrumental in capturing Banda Neira, and the invasion of Java in 1811. After this Caroline returned home to be paid off at Portsmouth where she was hulked. Her last, and most successful, commander was Captain Sir Christopher Cole. Caroline was broken up at Deptford in 1815.
Construction
Caroline was a 36-gun, 18-pounder frigate designed by Sir John Henslow. Her class was designed as a lengthened version of the frigate . This was an attempt by the Admiralty at the beginning of the French Revolutionary War to increase the speed and general performance of their frigates. The new ships were given wider gun port spacings than on Inconstant in an attempt to increase spacing between the guns themselves, which resulted in guns having to be placed on the extreme ends of the ships. This in turn meant that the class was known to pitch heavily.
The ships were thought to be slightly faster than previous designs of Henslow, being capable of reaching , but bought this speed with decreased stability. Similar to other ships designed in the 1790s, Caroline had solid barricades on the quarterdeck and forecastle to increase protection to the crew and provide extra space for guns. The ship had originally been planned to hold 6-pound guns in these new positions, but on 16 March 1795 before the ship had been launched, the 6-pounders were upgraded to 9-pounders and her ten 32-pound carronades were also added to the design.
Caroline was ordered to be built at Rotherhithe by John Randall & Co. on 24 May 1794. She was laid down in June of the same year and launched on 17 June 1795 with the following dimensions: along the gun deck, at the keel, with a beam of and a depth in the hold of . She measured 924 tons burthen. The fitting out process for Caroline was completed at Deptford on 25 September. The design and armament of the ship were not considerably altered after her launch or during service, with the only major change being the addition of two 6-pounders on 4 March 1805. As such she sailed throughout her career with twenty-six 18-pounders on her gundeck, eight 9-pounders and six 32-pound carronades on her quarterdeck, and two 9-pounders and four 32-pound carronades on her forecastle. Other ships of her class such as and received armament overhauls in 1812 and 1813, but by this point Caroline had already been hulked.
Service
Lisbon Station
1795–1797 Caroline was commissioned by Captain William Luke in July 1795 to serve in the French Revolutionary Wars, beginning her career in the North Sea Fleet of Admiral Adam Duncan. The frigate served in close contact with Duncan, being able to react quickly to his orders and split off from the fleet where necessary. On 1 December the frigate took the 14-gun brig Le Pandore off the Texel after a chase of one hour, however Le Pandores companion, the 12-gun brig Le Septnie, escaped while the crew of Le Pandore were being removed. After this Caroline transferred to the Lisbon Station, tasked with patrolling from Cape Finisterre to the southern border of Spain and Portugal, where she took an 18-gun corvette in April 1796, and the 10-gun privateer polacre La Zenodene off Cape Palos on 23 May. Soon after this on 11 August the frigate sailed briefly for the Mediterranean Sea. There the frigate captured the French privateer Rochellaire on 20 August alongside the ships-of-the-line and , the frigate , and the sloop . Sailing with the ship-of-the-line and the frigates Alcmene and , she then captured the Spanish merchant Adriana on 5 November. Activity continued into 1797, with the Spanish brig San Joseph being captured by Caroline and the frigate on 16 February and another Spanish brig, San Luis, taken by Caroline on 5 July. In September she sailed to the Cape of Good Hope with Colonel Arthur Wellesley on board as he went to join his regiment in India.
1798–1799 The frigate continued throughout this period to serve on the Lisbon Station while also spending considerable time around Cádiz and the edges of the Mediterranean while assigned to Admiral Lord St Vincent's fleet. As part of such, in 1798, she shared in the proceeds of the capture of the merchants Umbarca Souda, on 18 February, Constanza, on 26 April, and Strella de Mare, on 9 May, and the Spanish privateer El Carmen on 27 February. Between 19 March and 26 April Caroline also captured the French privateers Le Francois, Le Fortune, and Le Vainqueur. The ship recaptured the East India Company ship on 29 June, after she had been taken by the French privateer Mercure on 17 June. Caroline continued to share in the fleet's merchant captures, with Il Terrice on 21 July and Virgin d'Idra on 18 September. While patrolling off the Savage Islands with the frigate on 4 October, Caroline took the privateer Le President Parker. Earlier in the day the frigate had retaken the merchant ship Bird of Liverpool, on her way to Africa, which had been taken by Le President Parker on 27 September.
This began a small string of successes for Caroline, with her boats destroying the 1-gun privateer L'Esperance at Tenerife on 16 October and four days later taking the 10-gun privateer Le Baret at the same location, again with Flora. The ship also shared in the capture of the merchants Nostra Senora de Misericordia and San Joseph on 20 October. In November command of the ship briefly transferred to Captain Lord Henry Paulet. On 21 November Caroline and Flora took the Spanish merchant El Bolante off Madeira, and then on 23 November the 10-gun French privateer La Garonne. In December Paulet was replaced by Captain William Bowen; Caroline took the 12-gun privateer brig Le Ferailleur on 4 December by tricking her into believing the frigate and two small prizes with her were a merchant convoy. Caroline continued on station off Lisbon throughout 1799 as well. On 27 January the frigate recaptured the British letter of marque Jane which she had been chasing since Janes captor, the privateer L'Intrepide, had been taken and disclosed her location on 25 January. In the same month Drie Vrienden Hoy and the brig Nymph were also recaptured. With continuing success, Caroline and Flora retook Six Sisters, which had been captured by a French privateer, in early February and captured the French privateers L'Aventure on 14 February and La Legere on 19 April. On 24 June the frigate followed and reported the position of Admiral Étienne Eustache Bruix's escaped French fleet to Rear-Admiral Sir Charles Cotton, assisting Cotton in his hunt for Bruix that saw him chase the French from Brest to the Mediterranean. On 31 August Caroline took the privateer La Resolve and then on 26 December El Fleche and La Voiture.
1800–1801 On 15 January 1800 Caroline took the 22-gun privateer Vulture at . Caroline sighted Vulture west of Lisbon chasing the merchant brig Flora; Vulture attempted to escape and threw two of her guns overboard to increase her speed, but in the evening Caroline captured her without a shot being fired. The frigate then took the Danish merchant Young Johannes, laden with wine, on 8 April. In late 1800 Caroline began to serve in Rear-Admiral Sir James Saumarez's Cádiz blockade squadron. Caroline often patrolled with the brig HMS Salamine, together taking on Christmas Day the French brig Good Friends, which was laden with cannon and mortars, and the French 4-gun xebec privateer Le Regulus laden with arms on 21 January 1801. Continuing a busy start to the year, Caroline and the brig detained the Swedish brig Active on 1 February as she travelled to Leghorn. The frigate continued off Cádiz throughout 1801, forming part of the bolstered squadron there in August, retaking the merchantman Prince of Wales on 5 October, and going into Portsmouth from there on 1 December.
Initial East Indies service
1802–1803
At the start of 1802 Caroline shared in the capture of the merchant Tito with much of the squadron. On 10 February the frigate returned from Cádiz to be paid off at Portsmouth. She was refitted at Woolwich between March 1802 and February 1803, being recommissioned on 9 November 1802, shortly before the Peace of Amiens ended, beginning to serve in the Napoleonic Wars under Captain Benjamin William Page. Caroline served on the Irish Station until May 1803. The ship then received immediate orders to sail for the East Indies carrying the declaration of war upon France and instructions to detain all Dutch vessels. Page had so little time to react that the ship was never configured for service anywhere else but Ireland.
On 28 May Caroline was in sight of the ship-of-the-line as she captured the French frigate L'Ambuscade, previously the British HMS Ambuscade, and thus shared in the prize of her. A day later she captured the French merchant brig La Bonne Mere. Caroline took the 6-gun privateer Haasje off the Cape of Good Hope on 2 August while on voyage; Haasje had been bound for India with dispatches from Napoleon. Haasje was sent in to Saint Helena, where the news of war she carried caused Dutch ships to be impounded and English merchant ships to stop sailing out of convoys. No longer having to keep her knowledge of the war secret, the ship detained the Dutch merchant Henrica Johanna on 3 August. The passage to the East Indies took 103 days, with Caroline only stopping briefly at Madeira for water and wine. Here Caroline sent dignitaries to the governor of the island, only for the representatives to mistake the governor's butler for him. The frigate completed the voyage of 13,000 miles without losing any men to sickness, for which the discipline and cleanliness of the ship were praised. The ship arrived in the East Indies on 6 September and took the French merchant Petite Africaine a day later.
1804