HMS Apollo (1799)
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom
|
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| Name: | HMS Apollo |
| Ordered: | 15 September 1798 |
| Builder: | Dudman, Deptford Wharf |
| Laid down: | November 1798 |
| Launched: | 16 August 1799 |
| Fate: | Wrecked, 2 April 1804 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Apollo-class frigate |
| Tons burthen: | 95617/94 (bm) |
| Length: | 145 ft (44 m) (gundeck); 122 ft 4 in (37.29 m) (keel) |
| Beam: | 38 ft 4 in (11.68 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 13 ft 3 in (4.04 m) |
| Sail plan: | Full rigged ship |
| Complement: | 264 |
| Armament: |
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HMS Apollo, the fourth ship of the Royal Navy to be named for the Greek god Apollo, was a fifth-rate frigate of a nominal 36 guns. She was the name ship of the Apollo-class frigates. Apollo was launched in 1799 and wrecked with heavy loss of life in 1804.
Apollo was built at Deptford Wharf in 1799, taking her name from the fifth-rate Apollo, which had been wrecked off Holland in January. She was commissioned in October under Captain Peter Halkett — who had commanded the previous Apollo when she was lost — and was posted to the West Indies, cruising there and escorting convoys to Britain.
While she was escorting a convoy on 11 January 1800 Apollo saw a suspicious vessel some distance away. After a four-hour chase she captured the Spanish warship Aquilla. Aquilla was pierced for 22 guns on the main deck but had only four mounted. She was under the command of Don Mariano Merino and was on a cargo voyage from Buenos Ayres to A Coruña. At the time, the sloop Hornet was in company with Apollo.
At daybreak on 15 January, Apollo sighted a vessel that proceeded to attempt to evade closer scrutiny. After a short chase Apollo recaptured Lady Harwood, which had been part of the convoy that Apollo was escorting, but which had gotten separated on 1 January at the onset of gale. On 13 January the French privateer ship Vautour, of 20 guns, had captured her.
Apollo captured Cantabria (or Cántabro), of 18 guns, off Havana on 27 January. In at least one account the vessel is described as the "Cantabrian Spanish ship of 18 guns".
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Wikipedia