HMS Vanguard (1787) - French Revolutionary Wars

French Revolutionary Wars

In 1798 Nelson was detached into the Mediterranean by Earl St. Vincent with HMS Orion, Alexander, Emerald, Terpsichore, and Bonne Citoyenne. They sailed from Gibraltar on 9 May and on 12 May were struck by a violent gale in the Gulf of Lion that carried away Vanguard's topmasts and foremast. The squadron bore up for Sardinia, Alexander taking Vanguard in tow.

On 19 May, while Nelson was off station repairing his storm damage, Napoleon Bonaparte sailed from Toulon with a force of 72 warships and 400 transports to strike at Egypt with the intention of eventually invading India. On 13 June he occupied Malta and, on 19 June, continued the passage to Egypt arriving off Alexandria on 1 July. On 31 May, Nelson returned to Toulon to find that the French had left 13 days earlier. Searching for the enemy he reached Naples on 17 June and Messina on 20 June. Here he learnt of the fall of Malta and the probable destination of the French. He sailed for Alexandria but overtook the French and arrived on 29 June, two days before them. Finding no enemy he returned to Sicily via Asia Minor. Convinced that the French were going to Egypt he set sail once more for Alexandria.

On the evening of 1 August 1798, half an hour before sunset, the Battle of the Nile began when Nelson attacked the French fleet which was moored in a strong line of battle in Aboukir Bay with gunboats, four frigates, and batteries on Aboukir Island to protect their flanks. Goliath (1781) was the leading ship and, followed by four others, she broke through the French line to anchor and fight from the shoreward side. Vanguard remained on the seaward side and soon the French van and centre were being overwhelmed by six ships on either side of their line. The French lost 11 ships of the line and two frigates. Their dead numbered 1700 and the wounded 1500. The British lost 218 killed and 678 wounded.

Vanguard lost three officers killed, Thomas Seymour and John Taylor, midshipmen, and Captain Taddy of the marines. Lieutenants N. Vassal and J. Ayde, J. Campbell, the Admiral's secretary, M. Austin, the boatswain, and J. Weatherspoon and George Antrim, midshipmen, were wounded. Twenty seamen and seven marines were killed and sixty seamen and eight marines were wounded. Nelson was also wounded. On 3 August the captains of the squadron met on board Orion and agreed to present Nelson with a sword.

Vanguard sailed for Naples on 19 August and arrived on 22 September. She was in need of new masts and a bowsprit but Nelson deferred getting them until he knew the situation of Culloden (1783) which was to be careened at Naples after grounding during the battle. The King of Naples came out to meet her.

In September, Captain Thomas Hardy took command, still under Nelson's flag. Two months later a formidable French army had invaded Naples and on 16 December Vanguard was shifted out of gunshot of the ports. On 20 December Nelson, in order to evacuate the royal family and other important people, ordered the small barge of Vanguard, covered by three barges and the small cutter HMS Alcmene, armed with cutlasses only, to be at the Victoria wharf. All the other boats of Vanguard and Alcmene, and the launches and carronades, were ordered to assemble on board Vanguard under the direction of Captain Hardy and row halfway to the Mola Figlio.

By 21 December the Neapolitan Royal Family, the British Ambassador and his family, several Neapolitan nobles and most of the English gentlemen and merchants had been embarked, numbering in all about 600 persons in the ships of the squadron. Vanguard sailed on 23 December and arrived, after a stormy passage, in Palermo on 26 December.

The ship had been the scene of the death of Prince Alberto of Naples and Sicily, one of the royal entourage on board, son of King Ferdinand VI and his wife Maria Carolina of Austria who were on board. Other royals on board were the Duke of Calabria, Prince of Salerno and their sisters the Princesses Maria Cristina, Maria Amalia and Princess Maria Antonia

Nelson shifted his flag from Vanguard to Foudroyant on 6 June 1799, taking with him Captain Hardy and a number of other officers, leaving Captain W. Brown in command. In 1800, Vanguard was taken out of commission at Portsmouth.

In 1801, under the command of Captain Sir Thomas Williams. Vanguard sailed from Portsmouth on 20 April to join the Baltic fleet. The fleet, under Vice Admiral Pole, returned on 10 August. Vanguard, St George, Spencer, Powerful, Dreadnought, Ramillies, and Zealous sailed again on 19 August to cruise off Cádiz. The first four were victualled and provisioned for five months at Gibraltar and sailed for Jamaica in December. Warrior followed them as soon as she had watered at Tetuan.