HMS Sirius (1797) - French Revolutionary Wars

French Revolutionary Wars

Sirius was commissioned in May 1797 under the command of Captain Richard King. In her first action on 24 October 1798 Sirius took two Dutch ships, the Waakzaamheid and the Furie in the Texel. Waakzaamheid was under the command of Senior Captain Neirrop. She was armed with twenty-four 9-pounder guns on her main deck and two 6-pounders on her forecastle. She had 100 Dutch seamen aboard her, as well as 122 French troops, and was carrying 2000 stands of arms as well as other ordnance stores. Waakzaamheid put up no struggle. The sloop Kite shared in the capture.

Furie was armed with twenty-six 12-pounders on her main deck and ten 6-pounders on her quarter-deck and forecastle. She had a crew of 153 Dutch seamen, augmented with 165 French soldiers. She was carrying 4,000 stands of arms as well as other ordnance stores. Furie did exchange fire with Sirius for about half an hour. Sirius had only one man wounded. Furie had eight men killed and 14 wounded. The hired armed cutter Diligent shared in the proceeds of the capture.

Sirius was among the vessels that shared in the capture on 25 and 28 November of a French brig and sloop. The British vessels included Clyde, Fisguard, and Sylph, as well as the hired armed cutters Joseph, Fowey and Dolly.

Then on 6 January 1800 Sirius shared with Defiance, Unicorn, Indefatigable and Stag in the capture of the French brig Ursule.

On 12 June Sirius and Indefatigable captured the French privateer Vengeur. She was armed with six long 4-pounders and ten 18-pounder carronades, and carried a crew of 102 men. She was two days out of Bordeaux and sailing for the coast of Brazil. Vengeur was sailing in company with three letters of marque - a ship, a brig and a schooner - that were bound for Guadeloupe. On 11 June Vengeur had captured the Jersey-privateer lugger Snake.

On 3 July Sirius recaptured the brig Cultivator. Indefatigable and Boadicea were in company at the time of the capture.

The next day, Sirius and Indefatigable captured the French ship Favori. Eleven days later, Bordelais captured the French vessel Phoenix. Sirius was among the vessels sharing in the prize money by agreement. Sirius shared in the capture of the French privateer schooner Revanche on 28 July. The actual captor was Uranie. Revanche was armed with fourteen 6-pounder guns and had a crew of 80 men. She was 19 days out of Vigo and had already captured and sent in the English brig Marcus, a Portuguese ship, and a Spanish brig that had been a prize to Minerve.

On 11 December Sirius captured the Spanish merchant brig Melchora, some three miles off Sifarga (Illas Sisargas, some 20 miles west of A Coruña). The brig was 24 hours out of A Coruña on her way to Montevideo when Sirius captured her. Captain King reported the capture in order to draw attention to the fact that she was the only vessel to have left A Coruña since August. Diamond shared in the proceeds of the capture.

On 26 January 1801, the British frigate Oiseau encountered the French frigate Dédaigneuse and gave chase. Sirius and Amethyst joined the next day. On the 28th Oiseau and Sirius effected the capture while unfavorable winds kept Amethyst from joining the action. Dédaigneuse was brought into the Royal Navy as HMS Dedaigneuse. The next day Sirius was in company with Amethyst when they captured the Spanish letter of marque Charlotta of Ferol, 16 hours out of Ferol on her way to Curaçao. The capture took place about six or seven leagues from Cape Belem in Galicia. The hired armed cutter Earl of St Vincent shared in the capture.

On 29 January Atalante captured and destroyed the Spanish privateer Intrepido Cid. Sirius and Amethyst shared, by agreement, in the bounty-money.

Sirius shared by agreement in the proceeds of the capture of the Temeraire (30 May) and the Bien Aimé (23 July). In July Sirius was under the temporary command of Captain J.B. Edwards. In July Commander John Edwards took command temporarily.

In August 1802, Captain William Prowse took command of Sirius. She then took part in the blockade of Brest.