HMS Ethalion (1797)
"HMS Ethalion in action with the Spanish frigate Thetis off Cape Finisterre, 16th October 1799", Thomas Whitcombe, 1800
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| History | |
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 United Kingdom
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| Name: | HMS Ethalion |
| Ordered: | 30 April 1795 |
| Builder: | Graham, Harwich |
| Laid down: | October 1795 (named 14 November 1795) |
| Launched: | 14 March 1797 |
| Honours and awards: |
Naval General Service Medal with clasp "12th October 1798" |
| Fate: | Wrecked on 25 December 1799 |
| General characteristics as built | |
| Class and type: | 38-gun Artois-class fifth-rate frigate |
| Tons burthen: | 992 8⁄94 (bm) |
| Length: | 146 ft 1 in (44.5 m) (gundeck) 121 ft 7 in (37.1 m) |
| Beam: | 39 ft (11.89 m) (Unladen) 15 ft 0 in (4.57 m) (Laden) |
| Draught: | 10 ft 3 in (3.12 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 13 ft 9 in (4.19 m) |
| Sail plan: | Full-rigged ship |
| Complement: | 270 |
| Armament: |
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HMS Ethalion was a 38-gun Artois-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was built by Joseph Graham of Harwich and launched on 14 March 1797. In her brief career before she was wrecked in 1799 on the French coast, she participated in a major battle and in the capture of two privateers and a rich prize.
Ethalion entered service in 1797, operating in the English Channel as part of the Channel Fleet. Soon after commissioning in April under Captain George Countess, Ethalion was engaged in chasing a French squadron under Jean-Baptiste-François Bompart intent on invading Ireland during the Rebellion of 1798. Countess kept the French fleet in sight for several days and was able to signal for assistance. This brought a significant force under John Borlase Warren to the region and the French were defeated at the Battle of Tory Island. Ethalion, with Melampus, took the 40-gun Bellone, which the Royal Navy took into service. Ethalion had one man killed and three wounded; the French lost 20 men killed. In 1847 the Battle of Tory Island earned for any still surviving crew members the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "12th October 1798".
On 2 February 1799, Ethalion was operating with Anson when together they captured a 14-gun privateer Bayonnaise cutter. She was the Boulonnoise, out of Dunkirk, and had been "greatly annoyed the trade in the North Sea". She had a crew of 70 men and had been the revenue cutter Swan. Swan had been captured some two years earlier off the Isle of Wight in an action that cost the life of Captain Sarmon, her commander.
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Wikipedia