Service
The Pegasus was commissioned in May 1779 under Captain John Bazely and attached to George Rodney's fleet for the relief of the Great Siege of Gibraltar. She therefore was present at both of Rodney's actions in the campaign to relieve the fortress, participating in the seizure of a Spanish armaments convoy off Cape Finisterre on 8 January 1780 and subsequently fighting at the Battle of Cape St Vincent eight days later. Pegasus continued on with Rodney to Gibraltar and then to the West Indies where she participated in the inconclusive Battle of Martinique in April 1780. Bazely carried the dispatches of the battle back to Britain and was soon given command of Apollo.
Pegasus sailed again, now under Captain John Stanhope, for the Leeward Islands in January 1781. She returned home in August, but subsequently returned to the Caribbean. On 23 January 1783 she captured the Allegeance, a former Royal Navy sloop that the French were using as a transport and that was carrying 200 troops. Pegasus paid off into ordinary in April 1783.
In 1786 Henry Harvey became captain of the recommissioned Pegasus for service on the North America station but was disappointed to discover that his first lieutenant was the Prince William Henry. The issue was that the Admiralty expected Harvey to turn over the captaincy to his subordinate as soon as the ship was at sea. Controlling his disappointment, Harvey conducted the affair with "such discretion as secured to him the lasting friendship of His Royal Highness". Within weeks, Harvey had been transferred to HMS Rose and aboard her joined Pegasus in peacetime maneuvers off the North American station until Rose was paid-off in 1789.
From 1786 to 1788, Pegasus, under Prince William Henry, was largely assigned to patrol the east coast of Canada and Newfoundland, as well as the West Indies. In late 1786, Pegasus was stationed in the West Indies under Horatio Nelson, who wrote of Prince William Henry, "In his professional line, he is superior to two-thirds, I am sure, of the list; and in attention to orders, and respect to his superior officer, I hardly know his equal."
Prince William Henry's First Lieutenant was William Hargood, who the prince had brought with him. Other officers or crew aboard Pegasus at this time who would rise in rank were Thomas Byam Martin, John Pasco and Charles Rowley. The prince was given a mentor, Isaac Schomberg, but that did not go well and required Nelson's intervention to resolve. Nelson also arranged for the transfer of William Johnstone Hope, who too had been appointed to Pegasus but had failed to get on with the prince. Pegasus returned to Plymouth and was decommissioned in March 1788.
Herbert Sawyer was promoted to Post-Captain in January 1789, and took command of Pegasus to begin her next commission. He served aboard her on the North American Station, operating off Newfoundland.
Read more about this topic: HMS Pegasus (1779)
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