HMS Phaeton was a 38-gun Minerva-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She is best known for her intrusion into Nagasaki harbour in 1808. John Smallshaw (Smallshaw & Company) built Phaeton in Liverpool between 1780 and 1782. She participated in numerous engagements during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars during which service she captured many prizes. Francis Beaufort, inventor of the Beaufort scale, was a lieutenant on Phaeton when he distinguished himself during a successful cutting out expedition. Phaeton sailed to the Pacific in 1805, and returned in 1812. She was finally sold on 26 March 1828.
Early years
Phaeton was commissioned in March 1782. Within a year she had been paid off.
Service in the Channel
In December 1792 Phaeton was commissioned under Sir Andrew Snape Douglas. In March 1793 Phaeton captured the 4-gun privateer lugger Aimable Liberté.
Then on 14 April Phaeton sighted the French privateer Général Dumourier (or Général Du Mourier), of twenty-two 6-pounder guns and 196 men, and her Spanish prize, the St Jago, 140 leagues to the west of Cape Finisterre. Phaeton was part of Admiral John Gell's squadron and the entire squadron set off in pursuit, but it was Phaeton that made the actual capture.
St Jago had been sailing from Lima to Spain when General Dumourier captured her on 11 April. In trying to fend off General Dumourier, St Jago fought for five hours, losing 10 men killed and 37 wounded, before she struck. She also suffered extensive damage to her upper works. St Jago's cargo, which had taken two years to collect, was the richest ever trusted on board a single ship. Early estimates put the value of the cargo as some £1.2 and £1.3 million. The most valuable portion of the cargo was a large number of gold bars that had a thin covering of pewter and that were listed on the manifest as "fine pewter". General Dumourier had taken on board 680 cases, each containing 3000 dollars, plus several packages worth two to three thousand pounds.
The ships that conveyed St Jago to Portsmouth were St George, Egmont, Edgar, Ganges and Phaeton. The money came over London Bridge in 21 wagons, escorted by a party of light dragoons, and lodged in the Tower of London.
On 11 December the High Court of Admiralty decided that the ship should be restored to Spain, less one eighth of the value after expenses for salvage, provided the Spanish released British ships held at Corunna. The agents for the captors appealed and on 4 February 1795 the Lords of the council (the Privy council) put the value of the cargo at £935,000 and awarded it to the captors. At the time, all the crew, captains, officers and admirals could expect to share in the prize. Admiral Hood's share was £50,000.
On 28 May Phaeton took the 20-gun Prompte off the Spanish Coast. The Royal Navy took Prompte into service under her existing name.
Together with Weazle, Phaeton took two privateers in the Channel in June - Poisson Volante, of ten guns, and Général Washington. On 27 November Phaeton and Latona were among the six vessels of a squadron that captured the 28-gun French corvette Blonde off Ushant.
In February 1794 Phaeton was paid off, but the next month Captain William Bentinck recommissioned her.
During the battle of the Glorious First of June, Phaeton came to the aid of the dismasted Defence. While doing so, Phaeton exchanged broadsides with the French ship-of-the-line Impétueux. Phaeton suffered three men killed and five wounded. She was the only one of the support vessels there to suffer casualties. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the survivors to that date of all the vessels at the battle, including Phaeton, the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "1 June 1794".
Captain Robert Stopford
In September, Phaeton came under the command of Captain Stopford. In May 1795 Phaeton escorted Princess Caroline of Brunswick to England. Then began what would become a spectacular string of prize-taking. During Stopford's service in the Channel, Phaeton captured some 13 privateers and three vessels of war, and also recovered numerous vessels that the French had taken.
On 10 March 1796, Phaeton engaged and captured the French corvette Bonne Citoyenne off Cape Finisterre. She was armed with twenty 9-pounder guns and had a crew of 145 men. She had left Rochefort on 4 March in company with the French frigates Forte, Seine, and Régénérée, and the brig Mutine, all sailing for the Île de France with troops and military supplies. Stopford took her back to England as his prize. The Royal Navy then bought her in as Bonne Citoyenne, a sixth-rate sloop-of-war.
While cruising in the Channel, on 6 March 1797, Phaeton took the French privateer Actif. She was armed with 18 guns and had a crew of 120 men. She had sailed from Nantes on 17 February and ten days later had captured the packet ship Princess Elizabeth, which was her only prize.
On 28 May, Phaeton, Melpomene, and the hired armed lugger Speedwell detained Frederickstadt.
On 16 September Phaeton took the 6-gun Chasseur. Then two days later she took the privateer Brunette. Then with Unite she took 16-gun Indien on 24 September off the Roches Bonnes. On 9 October Unite captured Découverte, with the 32-gun frigate Stag and Phaeton in company.
Phaeton also recaptured three British vessels. These were Adamant (24 September), Arcade (3 October), and Recovery (20 October).
Then on 28 December Phaeton took the 12-gun Hazard in the Bay of Biscay. The next day, the 44-gun Anson, Captain Philip Charles Durham, with Phaeton, retook the 20-gun Sphinx-class post ship Daphne, which the French had captured almost exactly three years earlier. Out of a crew of 276, including 30 passengers of various descriptions, Daphne, lost five men killed and several wounded before she surrendered. Anson had no casualties.
On New Year's Day, 1798, Phaeton took Aventure. On 19 February she took the 18-gun Légère in the Channel. On 21 February 1798 she, Nymphe, and Mermaid recaptured American armed mechantman "Eliza" (49°10′N 10°30′W / 49.167°N 10.500°W) that had been captured by French privateer "Don Guicote" on 13 February (seems to be some conflicting info on which ship actually made the capture). On 22 March she participated in damaging the 36-gun frigate Charente near the Cordouan lighthouse. Phaeton fired on Charente, chasing her first into range of the guns of the 74-gun third rate Canada, under the command of Captain Sir John Borlase Warren, with whom she exchanged broadsides. Charente grounded, but then so did Canada. Phaeton and Anson had to abandon the chase to pull Canada free. In the meantime, Charente threw her guns overboard, floated free, and reached the river of Bordeaux, much the worse for wear.
With Anson, Phaeton took the 18-gun privateer Mercure on 31 August. Mercure was pierced for 20 guns and had a crew of 132 men. She was one day out of Bordeaux and had captured nothing.
A week later, Anson and Phaeton captured the 32-gun privateer Flore after a 24-hour-long chase. Stopford, in his letter, described Flore as a frigate of 36 guns and 255 men. She was eight days out of Boulogne on a cruise. Flore had also served the Royal Navy in the American Revolutionary War.
Then on 8 October Phaeton took the 16-gun privateer Lévrier. Together with Ambuscade and Stag, on 20 November she took Hirondelle.
On 24 November 1798, Phaeton captured the French privateer brig Resolue (or Resolu). Resolue was armed with 18 guns and carried a crew of 70 men. She had previously captured the English merchant ship General Wolfe, sailing from Poole to Newfoundland and an American sloop sailing from Boston to Hamburg. Stag later recaptured the American.
On 6 December, Phaeton and Stag captured the French privateer brig Resource. She was armed with 10 guns and carried a crew of 66 men. She had sailed from La Rochelle two days previously and was sailing for the African coast. Ambuscade shared in the prize money for both Resolu and Resource.
On 11 April 1799 she recaptured American brig "Nymph" captured by a privateer on 13 March. She was sent in to Plymouth.
Mediterranean
In July 1799 Captain Sir James Nicoll Morris took command of Phaeton and sailed with Lord Elgin, of the eponymous Elgin Marbles, for Constantinople. She arrived at the Dardanelles on 2 November. Elgin would be Britain's ambassador to the Ottoman Empire until 1803. In May 1800 she participated in the blockade of Genoa as part of Lord Keith's squadron. The Austrian general besieging the city, Baron d'Ott, particularly appreciated her fire in support of the Austrian army.
On 14 April 1800 Phaeton and Peterel captured the St. Rosalia. Phaeton had to share her share of the proceeds with five vessels due to a prior agreement.
On 3 May, Mutine, Phaeton and Cameleon captured eight vessels in Anguilla Bay:
- Stella de Nort;
- Santa Maria;
- Nostra Senora del Carmine;
- Fiat Volantes Deus;
- Nostra Signora del Assunta;
- Nostra Signora de Sonsove;
- San Nicolas; and
- San Joseph (San Giuseppe).
Five days later they captured eleven Genoese vessels. They captured the first eight at St Remo:
- Polacre ship St. Giovanni, which was sailing in ballast from St Remo;
- Polacre brig Achille, which was sailing from Marseilles to Genoa with a cargo of corn and wine;
- Polacre barque St. Antonio, which was sailing from Cette to Genoa with a cargo of wine;
- Polacre brig Santa (Assunta), which was sailing from Ard to Port Maurice with a cargo of wine;
- Polacre ship Conception, sailing in ballast to Port Maurice;
- Polacre ship Madona del Carmine, sailing from Cette to Genoa with a cargo of wine;
- Settee Signora del Carmine, which was sailing from Marseilles to Genoa with a cargo of corn;
- Settee St. Giuseppe, which was sailing from Marseilles to Port Maurice with a cargo of corn;
- Settee Immaculate Conception, which was sailing from Cette to Genoa with a cargo of wine;
- Settee Amina Purgatorio, which sailing from Cette to Genoa with a cargo of wine; and
- Settee Virgine Rosaria, which was sailing from Cette to Genoa with a cargo of wine.
On 25 October Phaeton chased a Spanish polacca to an anchorage under a battery of five heavy guns at Fuengirola, where she joined a French privateer brig. The following night the brig escaped while the polacca tried twice, unsuccessfully, to escape to Málaga. On the night of 27 October, Francis Beaufort led Phaeton's boats on a cutting out expedition. Unfortunately the launch, with a carronade, was unable to keep up and was still out of range when a French privateer schooner, which had come into the anchorage unseen, fired on the other boats. The barge and two cutters immediately made straight for the polacca and succeeded in securing her by 5 am. The captured ship was San Josef, alias Aglies, of two 24-pounder iron guns, two brass 18-pounder guns as stern chasers, four brass 12-pounder guns and six 6-pounder guns. She was a packet, carrying provisions between Málaga and Velilla. She had a crew of 49 seamen, though 15 were away, and there were also 22 soldiers on board to act as marines.
The boarding party suffered one man killed and three wounded, including Beaufort who received, but survived, 19 wounds. The Spanish sustained at least 13 wounded.
Once Morris was sure that his men had secured the prize he sailed Phaeton in pursuit of a second polacca that had passed earlier, sailing from Ceuta to Málaga. Phaeton was able to catch her under a battery at Cape Molleno. While Phaeton was returning to pick up Beaufort, his men and their prize, the French privateer schooner sailed past, too far away for Phaeton to intercept.
The British immediately commissioned San Josef as a British sloop-of-war under the name Calpe, the ancient name for Gibraltar. Although it would have been usual to promote Beaufort, the successful and heroic leader of the expedition, to command Calpe, Lord Keith chose instead George Dundas who not only was not present at the battle, but was junior to Beaufort. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the survivors to that date of the boarding party the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "27 Oct. Boat Service 1800".