by Richard Hiscocks | Sep 27, 2026 | 1798, The French Revolutionary War 1793-1802
The Battle of Tory Island and Capture of Bompart’s Frigates – October 1798 In October 1798, an attempt by a French squadron to land troops in support of the Irish Rebellion was thwarted by a concentration of Naval forces off Donegal, resulting in...
by Richard Hiscocks | Sep 3, 2026 | 1798, The French Revolutionary War 1793-1802
Midshipman Fane saves five Frenchmen from a Massacre – 2 September 1798 A horrific incident in September 1798, which saw scores of shipwrecked Frenchmen butchered on an Egyptian beach by the Bedouin, also instigated an astonishing act of bravery by a...
by Richard Hiscocks | Aug 13, 2026 | 1798, The French Revolutionary War 1793-1802
Leander vs Genereux – 18 August 1798 Seventeen days after the British victory at the Battle of the Nile, the Leander 50, homeward-bound with Rear-Admiral Lord Nelson’s dispatches, was intercepted off Crete by the superior French Généreux 74 and defeated...
by Richard Hiscocks | Aug 3, 2026 | 1798, The French Revolutionary War 1793-1802
Brilliant vs Regeneree & Vertu – 26 July 1798 In July 1798, an audacious manoeuvre executed by one of the finest officers in the British Navy saved his frigate from inevitable capture at the hands of two powerful French frigates. On the morning of 26...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jul 31, 2026 | 1798, The French Revolutionary War 1793-1802
The Battle of the Nile – 1 August 1798 After three months frantically searching the Mediterranean Sea for General Napoleon Bonaparte’s Egyptian-bound Expedition, Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson finally brought the Toulon fleet to battle off Alexandria and...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jul 27, 2026 | 1798, The French Revolutionary War 1793-1802
The Loss of HMS Resistance – 24 July 1798 In the aftermath of a fire that destroyed the frigate Resistance in the Far East, a dozen survivors encountered both Malay inhumanity and kindness before just four men were returned to their countrymen. Late on...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jul 24, 2026 | 1776, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Glasgow vs Esek Hopkins’ Squadron – 6 April 1776 In early April 1776, the British sixth-rate Glasgow fell in with an American raiding squadron near Rhode Island. Fighting against the odds, she managed to make good her escape, resulting in much...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jun 22, 2026 | 1798, The French Revolutionary War 1793-1802
The Wreck of the Aigle – 18 July 1798 The loss of a frigate on the Barbary coast caused by navigational error required not only skill to save all of the crew, but also tact to mollify the local Bey after the wreck had been burned to prevent it falling...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jun 17, 2026 | 1798, The French Revolutionary War 1793-1802
Lion vs four Spanish Frigates – 15 July 1798 In July 1798, one of the most disaffected ships from the Nore Mutiny a year earlier, the Lion, took on four Spanish frigates off Cartagena in an engagement that did great honour to both sides. Inspired by their...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jun 6, 2026 | 1798, The French Revolutionary War 1793-1802
Pique & Jason vs Seine – 29 June 1798 After a lengthy chase and prolonged battle, the British frigate Pique (Captain David Milne) assisted by the Jason captured the large French frigate, the Seine, off the Breton Coast. All three ships grounded...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jun 4, 2026 | 1798, The French Revolutionary War 1793-1802
The Diamond’s escape from the River Seine – 16 May 1798 In May 1798, the ever-impetuous Sir Richard Strachan’s immoderate reaction to a perceived snub from the French commandant at Le Havre saw his frigate carried into the River Seine and placed at...
by Richard Hiscocks | May 31, 2026 | 1798, The French Revolutionary War 1793-1802
Seahorse vs Sensible – 27 June 1798 In June 1798, the British frigate Seahorse easily captured the weaker French frigate Sensible in the Mediterranean, on board of which were a number of senior French Army officers whose overheard conversations revealed...
by Richard Hiscocks | May 17, 2026 | 1798, The French Revolutionary War 1793-1802
Lord St. Vincent vs the Centaur’s officers – June1798 When a new arrival to his fleet came riddled with fever due to poor hygiene, Admiral the Earl of St. Vincent devised a novel punishment to remind the officers of their responsibilities towards...
by Richard Hiscocks | Apr 17, 2026 | 1798, The French Revolutionary War 1793-1802
Destruction of the French Frigate Confiante – 31 May 1798 In May 1798 a mis-matched engagement between the British frigate Hydra 38 and the French frigate Confiante 36 saw the latter driven ashore – she was later burned under fire by the Hydra’s...
by Richard Hiscocks | Apr 12, 2026 | 1798, The French Revolutionary War 1793-1802
Captain Popham and the Ostend Expedition – 19-20 May 1798 In May 1798 the maverick Captain Home Riggs Popham instigated a high-risk and controversial attack on a Flanders canal which briefly achieved its objectives but resulted in the capture of the...
by Richard Hiscocks | Mar 29, 2026 | 1798, The French Revolutionary War 1793-1802
Lord St. Vincent and the Mutiny on the Marlborough – May 1798 Upon receiving a mutinous addition to his Mediterranean Fleet in May 1798, Admiral the Earl of St. Vincent immediately enforced his iron discipline on the disaffected crew of the Marlborough...
by Richard Hiscocks | Mar 20, 2026 | 1798, The French Revolutionary War 1793-1802
Mars vs. Hercule – 21 April 1798 In April 1798, a ferocious night engagement between the battle-hardened British sail of the line Mars 74 and the newly commissioned French ship Hercule 74 resulted in the capture of the latter vessel, but the death of...
by Richard Hiscocks | Feb 18, 2026 | 1798, The French Revolutionary War 1793-1802
The Defence of St. Marcou – 7 May 1798 In May 1798, two naval lieutenants led an astonishingly successful defence of two captured French islands that saw the death of 900 of the enemy in return for the loss of just one British marine. Seeking a base from...
by Richard Hiscocks | Feb 13, 2026 | 1798, The French Revolutionary War 1793-1802
The Loss of HMS Pallas – 4 April 1798 In early April 1798 the frigate Pallas was wrecked in Plymouth Sound in circumstances that could have seen many of her men drowned. Fortunately, thanks to luck and the bravery of some of her crew, only one seaman was...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 27, 2026 | 1798, The French Revolutionary War 1793-1802
Mutiny on the Glory – 12 March 1798 In March 1798, the growing discontent in Ireland was reflected in a bloodthirsty plan by Irish sailors to massacre all the officers of HMS Glory and carry the ship into Brest. The mutiny failed because a marine could...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 18, 2026 | 1798
Sir William Sidney Smith Escapes Gaol in France – 24 February 1798 Confined for two years on suspicion of espionage, in February 1798 Captain Sir William Sidney Smith was sprung from the notorious Temple Prison by French royalists and made good his daring...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 5, 2026 | 1798, The French Revolutionary War 1793-1802
Speedy vs. Papillon – 3-4 February 1798 In early February 1798, a protracted combat took place off the Spanish Atlantic coast between the sloop Speedy and a larger French privateer. Although it eventually proved inconclusive, the officers and crew of the...
by Richard Hiscocks | Dec 23, 2025 | 1798, The French Revolutionary War 1793-1802
The Sybille and Fox at Manila – 14 January 1798 In January 1798, two British frigates posing as French vessels entered the Bay of Manila to explore the Spanish defences. Three gunboats were captured, and more than 200 men were taken prisoner, although...
by Richard Hiscocks | Dec 9, 2025 | 1798, The French Revolutionary War 1793-1802
Lieutenant Lord Camelford shoots Lieutenant Peterson – 13 January 1798 A dispute between two hot-headed officers at English Harbour, Antigua in January 1798 proved fatal when the ‘half-mad’ Lord Camelford shot dead his adversary, Lieutenant Charles...
by Richard Hiscocks | Nov 29, 2025 | 1798, The French Revolutionary War 1793-1802
Three Tragedies Strike the Drew Family – January / May 1798 The dangers which Georgian sea officers faced beyond battle were amply illustrated in the first few months of 1798, when three members of the Drew family were lost to drowning on either side of...
by Richard Hiscocks | Nov 20, 2025 | 1797, The French Revolutionary War 1793-1802
Mutiny at Plymouth – April 1797 When the Channel Fleet mutinied at Spithead in the second week of April 1797, it did not take long for news to reach Plymouth, where several major ships from that force were in dock. At first the men at Plymouth waited...
by Richard Hiscocks | Nov 10, 2025 | 1797, The French Revolutionary War 1793-1802
1797 Overview Following the French defeat of Britain’s strongest ally Austria in 1796, fear of invasion gripped the British Islands, especially when in early 1797 a Franco/Spanish alliance sought to co-operate with the Dutch and take command of the Channel,...
by Richard Hiscocks | Nov 10, 2025 | 1797, The French Revolutionary War 1793-1802
The Service of Thanksgiving for the Naval Victories – 19 December 1797 In December 1797, a grand parade followed by service of thanksgiving at St. Paul’s Cathedral was held to celebrate the British naval victories in the French Revolutionary War, and to...
by Richard Hiscocks | Nov 8, 2025 | 1797, The French Revolutionary War 1793-1802
Phoebe v Nereide – 21 December 1797 Following a day-long chase in heavy, wintry conditions, the crack 18-pounder British frigate Phoebe brought the lighter and skilfully handled 12-pounder French frigate Néréide to action to the south of the Scilly Isles...
by Richard Hiscocks | Oct 29, 2025 | 1797, The French Revolutionary War 1793-1802
The Loss of HMS Tribune – 23 November 1797 In the late autumn of 1797, a sailing master’s misplaced confidence, compounded by a captain’s obdurate determination not to lose his ship, resulted in the disastrous sinking of HMS Tribune and the loss of some...
