HMS Amelia (1796)

Proserpine was a 38-gun Hébé-class frigate of the French Navy launched in 1785 that HMS Dryad captured on 13 June 1796. The Admiralty commissioned Proserpine into the Royal Navy as the fifth rate, HMS Amelia. She spent 20 years in the Royal Navy, participating in numerous actions in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, capturing a number of prizes, and serving on anti-smuggling and anti-slavery patrols. Her most notable action was her intense and bloody, but inconclusive, fight in 1813 with the French frigate Aréthuse. Amelia was broken up in December 1816.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Amelia.

HMS Amelia Chasing the French frigate Aréthuse.
Painted in 1852 by John Christian Schetky
History
France
NameProserpine
BuilderBrest, France
Laid downDecember 1784
Launched25 June 1785
CommissionedAugust 1785
FateCaptured by the Royal Navy on 13 June 1796
Great Britain
Acquired13 June 1796 by capture
CommissionedAugust 1797
RenamedRenamed HMS Amelia on capture
Honors and
awards
  • Naval General Service Medal with clasps:
  • "12th October 1798"
  • "29 Aug. Boat Service 1800"
FateBroken up in December 1816
General characteristics
Class and typeHébé-class frigate
Tons burthen1,05935⁄94 (bm)
Length151 ft 4 in (46.1 m) (overall); 126 ft 1+3⁄8 in (38.4 m)
Beam39 ft 8+7⁄8 in (12.1 m)
Depth of hold12 ft 6+1⁄2 in (3.8 m)
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Complement
  • French service: 325
  • British service:284 (later 315)
Armament
  • In French Navy service:
  • 1785–93: 26 × 18-pounder guns + 8 × 8-pounder guns
  • 1793–96: 26 × 18-pounder guns + 12 × 9-pounder guns + 4 × 36-pounder howitzers or 32-pounder carronades (when captured)
  • In Royal Navy service:
  • Upper Deck: 28 × 18-pounder guns
  • QD: 8 × 9-pounder guns + 4 × 24-pounder carronades
  • Fc: 9-pounder guns + 2 × 24-pounder carronades (By 1810 the guns had been removed from the quarterdeck and only two 9-pounders remained on the forecastle.)
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