Amethyst, 1799
Type: 5th rate ; Armament 36 (18-pounder)
Launched at Deptford: 1799 ; Disposal date or year : 16 Feb 1811
Disposal Details : In a gale, was driven from Plymouth Sound on to a shoal near Mount Batten. Those whose bodies were washed up in the area are said to have been buried in Plympstock Churchyard. Captain Jacob Walton.
Complement : 261
BM : 1046 tons
Dimensions : depth in hold 13� 8�, length on the lower deck 150� ; of the keel 141� ; breadth extreme 39� 6�.
Notes:

1 Jan 1799 building in the King's Dock Yard at Deptford.

22 Apr 1799 at a quarter before four o'clock, was launched from the Deptford Yard, of 36 guns.

Aug-Oct 1799 employed on expedition to Holland.

30 Nov 1799 Plymouth, departed, on a cruise.

29 Dec 1799 in Lat. 46� 44', Long. 4� W., captured the French privateer brig L'Avanture, 14 guns, and 75 men, belonging to L'Orient.

7 Jan 1800 Plymouth, arrived L'Huzelle French armed vessel from Cayenne, with passengers, ladies and children, prize to the Beaulieu, 44. She was captured by the Amethyst, 32 guns. Capt. Cook ; recaptured by La Providence privateer, of 24 guns and 150 men ; sent for Bourdeaux, and again taken and sent here by the Beaulieu and Unicorn. There came passengers Colonel Malonson of Invalids, and Mons. Burnelle, naturalist, with a cabinet of natural curiosities for the French National Museum at Paris. They were in want of necessaries; and one child of 5 years old died in the Sound. M. P. Symonds broker for the prize, very humanely, on L'Huzelle's coming-to in Catwater, sent on board plenty of fresh provision.

8 Jan 1800 Plymouth, arrived L'Aventure French privateer, of 14 guns and 75 men, prize to the Amethyst frigate. She had captured in her late cruise four vessels.

26 Jan 1800 Plymouth, arrived an American, recaptured by the Amethyst.

15 Feb 1800 after a long chase, in company with the Nymphe, captured the French privateer cutter Valliant, 15 guns, 131 men, of Bourdeaux, in the Channel.

20 Feb 1800 Plymouth, arrived a most beautiful cutter, of 16 guns, 120 tons, and 100 men, called Le Valiant, prize to the Amethyst, and Nymphe.

24 Feb 1800 in company with the Nymphe, captured the French letter of marque La Modeste, pierced for 16 guns, with 70 men, about 600 tons burthen, and laden with cotton, coffee, tea, sugar, indigo, &c. bound from the Isle of France to Bourdeaux, off which port she was taken.

9 Mar 1800 Plymouth, letters from the Amethyst, dated at sea, state that she had recaptured a very valuable American ship, and sent her for Falmouth.

15 Mar 1800 Plymouth, arrived the Amethyst, from a cruise.

31 Mar-1 Apr 1800 captured last night the French privateer ship Mars, 20 guns, and 180 men in the Channel.

6 Apr 1800 Plymouth, arrived the privateer Mars, taken after a long chase by the Amethyst frigate.

13 Apr 1800 Plymouth, arrived with the Railleur, from a cruise.

2 Jun 1800 Plymouth, departed with the Neptune, 98, Amelia 44, Shannon 32, and Bourdelais, on a cruise.

3 Jun 1800 joined the Impetueux, at Quiberon bay and the Morbihan to aid the royalists.

26 Jul 1800 ship's boats capture of the French frigate Cerb�re from Port-Louis harbour.

29-30 Aug 1800 ship's boats of the London, Renown, Imp�tueux, Courageux, Amethyst, Stag, Amelia, Brilliant, and Cynthia capture the French ship-privateer Gu�pe. See also p. 238, of Vol 4 of Naval Chronicle.

9 Oct 1800 Plymouth, arrived from the secret expedition the Amethyst, 38, she and La Nymphe will receive their prize-money for a French East Indiaman.

13 Oct 1800 Plymouth, went into Barnpool.

17 Oct 1800 Plymouth, this day prize-money to a large amount was paid to the crews of the Amethyst, and Nymphe.

14 Dec 1800 Plymouth, came in from a cruize with the Thames, 32.

26-28 Jan 1801 chase and capture of the French 36-gun frigate Dedaigneuse, afterwards added to the British navy under the same name.

Circa 28 Jan 1801 when in company with the Sirius, captured the Spanish Letter of Marque Charlotta, from Ferrol, bound to Curacao, out only 16 hours, Cape Belem bearing S. by W. 6 or 7 leagues.

7 Feb 1801 arrived Plymouth the Danish ship Christianshaven, bound from Barcelona to Altona, with wine, sent in by the Amethyst. Also arrived the Spanish packet Charlotta, en route from Corunna to Havannah, detained on the 27 Jan by the Amethyst, when in company with the Sirius. [Surprising how the story varies in detail, depending on the source ;-)]

16 Mar 1801 in the evening, on the coast of France, fell in with and captured the Spanish schooner privateer Nostra Signora del Carmen, mounting 6 guns and having 65 men, departed from R[V]igo? the preceding evening, bound on a cruise. As she did not appear to be to be fit for HM service, destroyed her.

9 Apr 1801 in lat 44� 35' N. long 10� W. captured the French national ship corvette Le General Brune, formerly a merchant ship, from Guadaloiipe, bound to Bourdeaux, commanded by Citizen Martin, Lieutenant De Vaisseaux, mounting 14 x 6 pdrs., and 108 men, including General Pelardy, late Governor of Guadaloupe, and suite.

29 Apr 1801 arrived Plymouth Sound after a cruise of sixteen weeks ; she captured the General Brune, of twelve guns, and seventy men, Citoyen Martin, from Guadaloupe for L'Orient, having on board General Repardy (Chef de Division), his family, and his Etat Major, Captain Fois le Quay, Captain Criotte, and Captain Fleury Cordieu ; General Repardy was relieved at Guadaloupe by General Defourneaux, the brother of those Officers of the same name wounded in the Africaine, of 44 guns, captured by the Phoebe, of 36 guns, Captain R. Barlow.

8 May 1801 arrived Plymouth Sound the General-Brune, armed transport, from Guadaloupe, prize to the Amethyst.

19 May 1801 departed Plymouth Sound on a cruise. She joins the Black Rock squadron.

17 Sep 1801 arrived Plymouth this morning, L'Alerte, French lugger, 4 guns, from Senegal, bound for Bourdeaux, laden with gum, ivory &c., taken in the Bay, by the Amethyst, Capt J Cooke.

17 Sep 1801 arrived Plymouth from a cruise.

18 Sep 1801 came into Plymouth Sound La Legere, a French lugger of 10 guns, and 50 men, deeply laden with ivory and gums, from Senegal to Bourdeaux ; prize to the Amethyst.

25 Sep 1801 departed Plymouth Sound the Blanche, and the Amethyst, on a cruise.

30 Dec 1801 arrived Plymouth Sound the Amethyst, 36, Captain Cooke, from Torbay, with orders passed up from Bantry Bay fleet, 15 sail of the line and three frigates, for Spithead, they have on board the Mutineers of the ships which were ordered to the West Indies.

26 Jan 1802 at Plymouth leave for the Immortalite, Fisgard, Amelia, Amethyst, Cambrian, Imogene has been stopped and their women sent ashore, while the ships are victualled, watered and stored for 3 months in preparation for a major effort, it is said, for the frigates to reduce the amount of smuggling on the coast, which, since the peace has increased considerably, and the vessels are to cruise off the Start Point, the Praule, Ram Head, the Deadman's Point, the Lizard, and off Mount's Bay. Lighters are now alongside discharging their provisions, beer and water.

27 Jan 1802 departed Plymouth, the Amethyst, Capt Glyn, to cruise against the smugglers. It is reported that the smugglers have taken to using larger vessels, lately used as privateers until the peace, which are larger and better armed than the revenue cruisers, a large lugger having recently fired into 2 revenue cruisers, and hence the use of frigates and sloops, waiting to be paid off, to deal with the problem that has now arisen.

6 Feb 1802 arrived Plymouth Sound the Fisgard, 44, and Amethyst, 36, last from Torbay, where they were driven by the late S.W. gales.

10 Feb 1802 departed Plymouth Sound with the Amethyst, on a cruise against the smugglers, between the English and French Coasts, relative to the Lizard and Ramshead.

24 Feb 1802 departed Falmouth the Amethyst, Capt Glynn ; Diamond, Capt Griffiths ; Immortalite, Capt Hotham ; and the Hunter brig, Jones, to cruise against the smugglers, wind westerly.

8 Mar 1802 arrived Falmouth from a cruise.

14 Mar 1802 departed Falmouth on a cruise against smugglers.

21 Mar 1802 arrived at Falmouth from a cruise.

24 Mar 1802 remains in Carrick Roads with the Fisgard awaiting a favourable wind.

5 Apr 1802 arrived Plymouth Sound the Amethyst, 36, from a long cruise against the smugglers, and is to re-provision and beer and water, in preparation for making a similar cruise next week. Three large smugglers, deeply laden with spirits have been taken by different cruisers and revenue vessels recently.

9 Apr 1802 departed Plymouth Sound for Torbay the Amethyst, 38, for orders.

13 Apr 1802 arrived Plymouth Sound, but the wind was too far to the NW to allow her to go up into the harbour.

23 Apr 1802 arrived Spithead from a cruise.

25 Apr 1802 departed Spithead the Amethyst, 38, Captain Glynn, for Plymouth.

22 May 1802 remains in Plymouth Sound.

10 Jun 1802 the Amethyst, 36, at Plymouth, is ordered to embark victuals and to cruise off the Coast of Scotland to intercept smugglers from the continent running in their cargoes in from Ostend, Dunkirk and Calais.

14 Jun 1802 departed Plymouth Sound for the coast of Scotland, on a cruise against the smugglers.

16 Jun 1802 passed through the Downs for the Northward.

30 Jul 1802 departed Plymouth Sound the Amethyst, 38, Glenmore, 44, Galatea, 36, for Guernsey, to take in Dutch troops for Holland, from the Isle of Wight.

8 Apr 1803 departed Sheerness to the River to be paid off. She will then be re-commissioned by Capt Campbell.

20 Apr 1803 has arrived Sheerness, from the River, the Amethyst, Capt Campbell.

24 Apr 1803 arrived at the Great Nore from the Thames.

12 Jun 1803 reports received at N Yarmouth advise that the Amethyst was operating in the Hamburg / Cuxhaven area, but that French land forces had arrived on the scene and British shipping was leaving the area ; one report suggesting that the Prince was on board the Amethyst ; see next item for details regarding which Prince!

13 Jun 1803 arrived N Yarmouth the Amethyst from Cuxhaven with the Duke of Cambridge, and Prince William of Gloucester.

30 Jun 1803 departed N Yarmouth with Lord Borgherst, and Mr Liston for Copenhagen.

11 Oct 1803 arrived N Yarmouth from a cruise.

15 Oct 1803 departed N Yarmouth the Penelope, and Amethyst, frigates, on a cruise.

Circa 26 May 1804 Mr G W Full, Esq., apptd Purser of the Amethyst.

8 Jun 1804 at a Court Martial held at Sheerness on the officers and crew of the Amethyst the judge adjudged Capt A Campbell to be dismissed from his ship and to be put at the bottom of the list of Post Captains, per Hampshire Telegraph, for misconduct in an action with a French brig, 2 schooners and a corvette, on 3 Mar., off the coast of Norway, per Marshall, 1823, vol 2, Pt 2.

Circa 8 Jun 1804 Capt J Spranger apptd in command of the Amethyst, vice Campbell.

Circa 16 Jun 1804 Mr Harvey promoted Lieut and apptd to the Amethyst.

Circa 16 Jun 1804 the Amethyst is ordered to be fitted to take a convoy from Cork to the West Indies.

May 1805 Cruising off the Texel.

Circa 23 Dec 1805 the squadron under V.-adm Duckworth lifted the blockade of Cadiz and departed for between Madeira / Canary isles, where it was reported a French Squadron had molested one and chased another convoy. The French squadron was sighted on 25 Dec and chased, but after 30 hours was discontinued : the Amethyst was despatched to England to inform the authorities of the breakout.

15 May 1807 captured the French privateer Josephine on the Home station.

12 Feb 1808 Is reported to have sighted the two French frigates, from St. Maloes, and full of troops, which she followed for two days.

10-11 Nov 1808 captured the French 40-gun frigate Th�tis, which was subsequently purchased into the Service as the Brune.

19 Dec 1808 Reports of the capture of the Thetis are arriving from France, where it is reported that she was taken by a line of battle ship, with two frigates in sight.

Plymouth 16 Jan 1809 Has anchored in the Sound, having completed repairs undertaken in Hamoaze.

23 Feb 1809 Amethyst observes M. Willaumez's French squadron abreast of the Tour de Baleine and signalled Rear-admiral Stopford's squadron, consisting of the C�sar, Defiance, and Donegal, who went in chase of the French, and watched them entering Basque road on the 24th and despatched the frigate Na�ad to inform Lord Gambia.

24 Feb 1809 Na�ad observed 3 suspicious sail coming down from the northward and signalled Rear-admiral Stopford's squadron accordingly : leaving the Amethyst and Emerald to watch Basque road, the squadron departed in search of the approaching vessels.

28 Jul 1809 a part of a large fleet which departed from the Downs, with troops, with the aim of demolishing the dock-yards, and arsenals at Antwerp, Terneuse, and Flushing, often known as the ill-fated Walcheren Expedition. 11 Aug a part of a squadron of frigates to sound and buoy the Baerlandt channel.

5-6 Apr 1809 Amethyst chased and captured the French 40-gun frigate Niemen, with the assistance of the Emerald. The Niemen became a great acquisition to the British navy under her French name.

Plymouth Jan 12 1811 arrived the French brig Le Theodore, of Bourdeaux, captured by the Amethyst,

Plymouth Feb 3 1811 Came in from Basque Roads.

21 Feb 1811 It is reported that a boat from the transport "James," going to the aid of the crew of the Amethyst sank with all hands, including Captain Bruce.