THE NAMES OF MEN-OF-WAR.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 178, 25 July 1878, Page 4

THE NAMES OF MEN-OF-WAR.

'[Contiiwdfrom the Saturday Review.'] Th« present Fisoard cannot certainly fee spoken of r Vessel fit for service; but as her name still appears on the Navy List, a passing mention may be fflmf", of her s.red-opgaor'fi act iou with the Imortalife in 1708, when the latter, nfter a hard fi»hf, was c-n'urai, having lost 115 men killed auu wounded, nud having so damaged the English ahip tbat she had six feet of w e *er ih her hold at the time the othar Btruck. The namta of tbe frigates wbich were successful iv the most remarkable actions /or a sood many years after 1798, do not at present hnlong to effective meuofwwar. In 1805 misfortune befel the successor of the Blanche, as a ship of this name, not the came os that which bad fought the Pique, was taken by the French, sinkinj? some hours after the engagement ; but thia capture was avenged four yeara later, wben a tbird Blanche took the Criierrieie, after un action which lasted even less time than that of the first Blanche, the French ■vessel beinp "dished up " in forty*five noiDates. Many of her crew were, however, disabled by illness at the time vf the fight. Of muoh longer duration was the night action fought off the island of Groix on November 10, 1808, between the Amethyst, a 36-gun frigate, commanded by Captain Micbael Seymour, and the Tbeiis, a French forty. The battle commenced at 9 p.m., and after a furious broadside fight, and some very skilful manoeuvres by the Amethyst, the French frigate closed with her, meaning to board. Captain Seymour, with the prompt observation of a sailor, saw that the other Bbip would strike his obliquely, and that her bows would bound off again so as to V.ring the quarters of the two vtfgels together. He accordingly reserved his fire uati! this happened, and then a terrible broadside was poured into the Thesis. Her defence was however continued fcr some time • but at twenty-five minutes past midnight her fire was completely silenced, and she was carried by boarding, having at the time of her capture sustained the feurful loss of 134 killed and 102 woondod, out of H Csew 0 f 536> A Becond action was fought by the Ametliyst only six months atter this one, and was like it, a nijit.t enj: rl- em ent. At 11 30 pm, on April 5, 1809, the 1 nt-lisb frigate, commanded by rhe same Captain, came up after a chase with the Niemar, a French forty, and immediately engaged h.r. By 3.45 a.m., the Niemao's guns were tilenc.-.i ; but before the Amethyst coulj *take advantage of her adversary's condition, her mainmast went, bringing down the mizenmast with it, so that shtt b came for the time unmanageable. Most unfortunately for Captain Seymour, another English frigate, the Arethußi, came up, and on receiving a few shots from her, the Nieman surrenders I, so tbat the Amethyst, after a .hard battle and the defeat of her antagonist, aid not succeed in actua'ly capturing ber. Thn present Amethyst is a corvette of 1934 tone, carrying 13 gu D s, wh<cfi not long ago she was able to use in the engagement with the Peruvian Huascar; On "March 12, 1809, the Topaz, a 36-guo fi igate, encountered two French frig.tes, the D.nae and Flore, each of which exceeded her in size, and though, as was to be expected, she could not capture either of ihem, she so mauled them that they were glad to get away, leaving her victorious in the fight. Tha Topaz is now represented! by a large vessel used for coastguard service. The Spartan, a screw corvette, of 1755 tons, carrying 9 guns, now represents a frijjate whioh the famous Jahleel Brenton commanded, in what was perhaps-— putting aside the Glatton's fight — the most remarkable frigate action fought during the whole war. The day before this extraordinary engagement, which took place on May 3, 18J0, the Spartan, a 38-gun frigate, and her consort, the Success, chased almost to the Mole of Naples two ships, a brig and a cutter. Feeling convinced after this that there was no chance of the enemy's giving battle so Jong as he had the Success with him, Captain Brenton cent her away, and on the morning of the 3rd the Spartan appeared alone in the bay. Murat, the King of Naples had however determined before the departure of the Success was known, tbat ull the naval force at his command ehould be employed against ibf Kntliwh *Mpß, and early in the forenoon he F-ench squadron, consisting of a 42 gun fiiaate, a corvette, a brisr, a cutter, and seven gnnboats, bore do*n on tlie solitary thirty-eio-ht. It irdifficult to understand how uny vessel cau have struggled against suoh overwhelming odde, but Btruggle the Spartan did most successfully, for 3'ie waa altogether victorious. After a fight of about tbree hours her antagonists all took refuge in Naples, except the brig, which was captured. The corvette hud been disabled by the English frigate's fire, and would also have been captured, had she not been towed away by the gunboats. The battle over, the Spartan stood across the bay with her prize passing within some four miles of the Mole, on which Murat had stationed himself in expectation of a very different sight. Despite the bitterness of the moment, however, so daring a leader cau hardly have failed to feel Bometbing of a brave man's admiration for extraordinary intrepidly on the part of any enemy. There is another name still preserved in the navy which tells of a frigate action more famous tban that of the Spartan, though not more worthy of remembrance, for indeed no combat

cofild be. The Shannon, an armorbelted cruiser of 5103 tons, carrying nine guns, now represents the vessel which captured the Chesapeake; but it would be superfluous to repeat the wellknow story of the celebrated engagement in Massachusetts Bay. In concluding this brief account of the achievements of some ofthe predecessors ot ships now in tbe nayy 5 it should be s m H ihat. there lo a vessel at present afloat which figured in the war even before the time of the Victory. The Canopus, now lying in Plymouth harbor, was tmilt at Toulon in 1796, and was one of the French flt-et captured at the battle of the Nile, being then called the Franklin. Under her present name she siiled long ns an Enelish man-of-war; and now, after the lapse of eighty two years, the timbers of the old line-of-battle ship still hold together.