HMS Endymion was a 40-gun fifth rate that served in the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars, the War of 1812 and during the First Opium War. She was built to the lines of the French prize captured in 1794. Due to her exceptional handling and sailing properties, the Severn-class frigates were built to her lines, although the gunports were rearranged to mount an extra pair of guns per side, the ships were made of softwood and were not built until nearly the end of the Napoleonic Wars.
She was famous for her battle with on 15 January 1815, in which she caught the American frigate and crippled her, which led to Presidents final capture some hours later. Apart from this, Endymion was known as the fastest sailing-ship in the Royal Navy during the Age of Sail, logging sailing large, and nearly close-hauled.
Endymions last active duty came during the First Opium War and included operations on the Yangtze river. She became a receiving ship in 1859 and was broken up in June 1868. Throughout her career, Endymion was praised for her remarkable sailing qualities. She was therefore a highly desirable command for frigate captains. Even in the 1830s, long after her war service, she was regarded as the benchmark for Royal Navy frigates. When in company with much newer ships, she was still capable of outsailing them.
French Revolutionary Wars In April 1797, Captain Thomas Williams commissioned Endymion for the Channel and Irish station. In October Endymion joined the North Sea fleet with orders to pursue the scattered Dutch ships in the aftermath of the Battle of Camperdown. Within hours, Endymion encountered the ship of the line close inshore, but the protected anchorage prevented Williams from successfully attacking the Dutch ship and she was able to escape.
For the next three years, Williams was employed off Ireland and on convoy to the island of St Helena. In early 1798 Endymion captured four privateers while cruising off the Irish coast.
French schooner Revanche, of 12 brass six-pounders and 88 men. She was coppered, and provisioned for a three-month cruise. She had been out 21 days but had taken nothing. French privateer lugger Brutus, of six 6-pounders and 50 men. She was provisioned for a two-months cruise, had been out 15 days, and had captured two neutral ships. Spanish schooner St. Antonia, pierced for 16 guns but with only six 6-pounders mounted. She was from Havana, and was carrying dispatches from there and elsewhere in South America. Her crew had thrown the dispatches overboard, tied to one of her anchors, but Endymions boat retrieved them. French ship privateer Huit Amis, of twenty 6-pounder guns and 160 men. She was purpose-built for privateering, quite new, and on her first cruise. She was provisioned for a four-month cruise, had been out 20 days, but had taken nothing. The Royal Navy took her into service as .
On 5 September 1798, Williams reported capturing or recapturing three vessels: , an "extra ship" sailing from Bengal to London on behalf of the British East India Company. The French privateer Huron had captured Britannia. Endymion was in company with Amaranthe at the time. , a French privateer of 20 guns and 130 men. She had been out 82 days but had captured nothing. Williams described her as "a very fine Ship, quite new, and well adapted for His Majesty's Service, being an extraordinary fast Sailer; she having been chased Eight different Times during her last Cruize by our Ships of War, and each time escaped by superior Sailing." The Royal Navy took Sophie into service as HMS Sophie. May Flower, of New York, that had been sailing from Lisbon to London when the French privateer cutter Telemaque had captured her.
In late 1799 to May 1800 Endymion captured a number of French and Spanish privateers. Spanish privateer lugger Saint Joseph armed with four long brass six-pounder guns, swivels, and small arms, and carrying 38 men. Spanish lugger privateer Intripido, armed with two 6-pounders, swivels, and small arms, and carrying 21 men. French letter of marque Paix, armed with ten 6-pounders, and carrying 44 men. She was carrying a cargo from Nantes for Île de France. She had been built as a man-of-war and so was pierced for twenty 9-pounder guns. Williams described her as "quite new, and falls fast." Privateer ship Scipio, armed with eighteen brass 9-pounders and carrying a crew of 149 men. She was from Bordeaux, three days out of St. Andero, but had taken nothing. Williams described her as "quite new, very complete, and sails extremely fast." Scipio led Endymion on an "arduous Chace". Finally, then Lieutenant Charles Austen set off in a small boat in a gale with only four other men, and succeeded in boarding and taking possession her; he kept control of Scipio until the following day when Endymion could complete the capture.
In November 1799 Endymion was escorting a convoy of vessels that had come from India via St Helena. A gale came up and dispersed the convoy in the Channel. Endymion reached Plymouth, but the merchantman wrecked on the French coast near Boulogne on 12 November. Twenty-four of her crew died, but the rest reached shore. The French took them prisoner, but released them on 10 January 1800.Asiatic Annual Register Or a View of the History of Hindustan and of the Politics, Commerce and Literature of Asia, (1802), Vol. 3, pp.37-9.
On 14 February 1800 Endymion and recaptured , which had been sailing from Liverpool to Leghorn when the French privateer Bougainville had captured her. Amazon also captured Bougainville, of eighteen 6-pounder guns and 82 men. Bougainville, of Saint-Malo, had been under the command of Pierre Dupont. Bougainville ran foul of Amazon and foundered, but all but one man of her crew were saved. Amazon, including Bougainvilles crew, Endymion, and Trelawney arrived at Portsmouth on 21 February.
Endymion was sailing in company with and a convoy for the Mediterranean when they came upon a heavily laden Portuguese ship from Brazil, totally dismasted and abandoned. The British, after considerable exertion, were able to put her into a navigable state. Champion then towed her into Gibraltar.
In 1801, Williams assumed command of the 74-gun third-rate ship of the line . Captain Philip Charles Durham replaced Williams.
Napoleonic Wars & War of 1812 When war broke out again in 1803, she was part of the blockading squadron off Brest until 1805. During these first years of service, Endymion took a number of French and Spanish prizes, mainly merchants and privateers, but also some warships of up to 20 guns.
On 18 June Endymion and captured the French "National Corvette" . She was 40 days out of Martinque, bound for Brest, and had a crew of 65 men under the command of lieutenant de vaisseaux Caro. The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Colombe.
Seven days later, Endymion captured the French corvette , of eighteen 12-pounder guns and 200 men, in the Atlantic after a chase of eight hours. Bacchante, under the command of lieutenant de vaisseau Kerimel was returning to Brest after a three-month voyage to Santo Domingo. Kerimel's attempts to escape resulted in Bacchante losing eight men killed and nine wounded; her return fire caused no casualties on Endymion. Captain Charles Paget described Bacchante as a "remarkably fine Ship, of large Dimensions, quite New, and sails very fast." The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Bacchante.
In July 1803 Endymion encountered the East Indiaman , which was returning to Britain after having sailed to Bengal and Benkulen. The officer Paget sent aboard the Indiaman proceeded to press 12 seamen. Culland's Groves captain and second officer protested vehemently that this would leave them short-handed, but Paget was acting within the law. The Royal Navy was short of men and was in the habit of stopping homecoming merchant vessels and taking some of their best sailors. Paget's position was that the men he took were "surplus company, and that he was authorized to press men out of homeward-bound ships."MacMillan's Magazine, Vol. 80, p.373.
In Autumn 1805, Endymion joined the squadron of Rear Admiral Louis off Cádiz, part of Vice Admiral Nelson's fleet, blockading the allied Franco-Spanish force under Admiral Villeneuve. On 2 October, Nelson ordered Louis's five ships of the line with Endymion to Gibraltar for water and provisions; in consequence, Endymion missed the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October.
In 1807 she took part in the Dardanelles Operation, where she was detached to Constantinople with the British ambassador for negotiations with the Ottoman Empire. The mission was a failure and when the squadron sailed back through the Dardanelles, Turkish shore batteries attacked the British, with Endymion suffering three killed and nine wounded. From 1808 on, Endymion served again in home waters, where she took a number of French privateers.
Rockall
In August 1810, Endymion, in company with , sailed to the then little-known remote islet of Rockall. T. Harvey, her master under Captain Thomas Bladen Capel, plotted its position to , around north-east its true position.
John Purdy's Memoir was long accepted for dating the first landing on Rockall as being on this voyage, on 8 July 1810. However, examining Endymions own logs at the Public Record Office, James Fisher (of the 1955 Rockall landing) discovered that the first landing date was actually Sunday 8 September 1811. Captain Sir William Bolton took command sometime in 1810 through to 9 March 1812. One of her lieutenants during the 1810 voyage was one Basil Hall, who was still with the ship when the 1811 landing was made.
In July 1811 Endymion was again within sight of Rockall and made soundings of the Rockall Bank. By 8 September she had returned and hove to east north east. Dating the landing was again Fisher's detective work, based on Hall's own log. Lieutenant Basil Hall was part of this first landing party upon it, probably under the command of Lieutenant Richard Israel Alleyn, Endymion'''s First Lieutenant.
The landing appears to have begun most casually. To quote Hall's own book, "As we had nothing better on our hands, it was resolved to make an exploring expedition to visit this little islet. Two boats were accordingly manned for the purpose; ... the artists prepared their sketch books and the geologists their hammers, for a grand scientific field day." Whilst indicating the impromptu nature of the landing, this also signifies that science was a deliberate aim from the first. The sea on this "fine autumnal morning" was unusually smooth, but a swell of many feet made landing difficult and required a great deal of confidence when leaping ashore. Observations and measurements were made until a fog was observed. Concern over the Endymions continuing visibility caused them to begin their return. The increasing swell made embarking difficult and it took half an hour to gain the boats. By this time Endymion was lost in the fog. One of the party was landed back on the rock, in an attempt to scale it in search of a fog-free look-out. His first view was of an approaching fog bank, which in this area could last for some days. The ship was sighted though, and after another delay to retrieve their "shivering scout" they rowed off in chase. Unfortunately the ship did not see them before the fog returned and they were forced to return yet again to Rockall. At this point planning began for a long stay on the island, despite their lack of provisions or fresh water. It was resolved to abandon the heavier of the two boats and to drag the other ashore to improvise an overnight shelter. Fortunately they were saved by the fog suddenly rising, revealing the ship once more. On finally returning to the ship, some five or six hours after the fog, it was almost dark.