HMS Endymion (1797)

HMS Endymion on 23 January 1809 by Admiral Sir Charles Henry Paget
History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Endymion
Operator:	Royal Navy
Ordered:	30 April 1795
Builder:	John Randall & Co, Rotherhithe
Laid down:	November 1795
Launched:	29 March 1797
Commissioned:	12 June 1797
Reclassified:	Re-rated as 50-gun fourth rate in 1817
Struck:	1859, Receiving ship
Honours and awards:	Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Endymion wh. President"
Fate:	Broken up in Plymouth, 18 June 1868
General characteristics
Class and type:	Endymion-class frigate
Tons burthen:	1,277 bm
Length:	159 ft 3 in (48.5 m)
Beam:	42 ft 7 in (13.0 m)
Draught:	15 ft 8 in (4.8 m)
Propulsion:	Sail
Speed:	Over 14 knots (16 mph; 26 km/h) running; 11 knots (13 mph; 20 km/h) close-hauled
Complement:	300, increased to 340 during the War of 1812
Armament:	Upper deck: 26 × 24-pounder guns (11 kg); From Nov 1803 to 17 May 1813: 26 × 18-pounders (8 kg); From 17 May 1813: 26 × 24-pounder guns QD: 14 (from 17 May 1813: 16) × 32-pounder (15 kg) carronades Fc: 2 × 9-pounders (4 kg) + 4 × 32-pounder carronades

HMS Endymion was a 40-gun fifth rate that served in the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars, the War of 1812 and during the First Opium War. She was built to the lines of the French prize Pomone captured in 1794. She was the lead ship of her class of six 24-pounder frigates, although the other five ships built to this design were not built until nearly the end of the Napoleonic War.

She was famous for her battle with USS President on 15 January 1815, in which she caught the American frigate and crippled her, which led to the President's final capture some hours later. Apart from this, Endymion was known as the fastest sailing-ship in the Royal Navy during the Age of Sail, logging 14.4 knots (26.7 km/h) sailing large, and nearly 11.0 knots (20.4 km/h) close-hauled.

Endymion's last active duty came during the First Opium War and included operations on the Yangtze river. She became a receiving ship in 1859 and was broken up in June 1868.

Throughout her career, Endymion was praised for her remarkable sailing qualities. She therefore was a highly desirable command for frigate captains. Even in the 1830s, long after her war service, she was regarded as the benchmark for Royal Navy frigates. She was still capable of outsailing much newer ships with which she sailed in company.