HMS Sceptre кемесінің тарихы

Ship of the line of the Royal Navy

HMS Sceptre was a 74 gun third rate of the Royal Navy, built by Dudman of Deptford after a design by Sir William Rule, and launched in December 1802 at Deptford. Albion, Sceptre, and Clarisse arrived at Madras on 8 January 1804. On 28 February 1804, Albion and Sceptre met up in the straits of Malacca with the fleet of Indiamen that had just emerged from the Battle of Pulo Aura and conducted them safely to Saint Helena. From there escorted the convoy to England. Later in 1804, Captain Joseph Bingham, formerly of , assumed command of Sceptre. On 11 November 1806, Sceptre and , under Captain Johnsto,n made a dash into St. Paul's Bay, Isle of Bourbon, and attacked the shipping there, which consisted of the frigate French frigate Sémillante, three armed ships and twelve captured British ships. (The eight ships that had been earlier taken by Sémillante were valued at one and a half million pounds.) However, what little breeze there was soon failed, and the two ships found it difficult to manoeuvre and were unable to recapture any prizes. In 1808, Sceptre, in company with Cornwallis, engaged and damaged Sémillante, together with the shore batteries that she sought to protect. Sceptre and Cornwallis, much affected by scurvy, retired to Madagascar for their crews to recuperate. Sceptre then returned home in 1808 accompanied by two homeward bound Danish East Indiamen that Captain Bingham had captured off the Cape of Good Hope. On her return to Britain, she was paid off. Between August 1808 and June 1809 Sceptre underwent repairs at Chatham. In March Bingham recommissioned her and joined Sir Richard Strachan in the expedition to the Scheldt.

Sceptre sailed for the Leeward Islands on 8 November. to all surviving claimants from the action. Towards the end of January 1810 Sceptre escorted a division of the troops destined for the attack on Guadeloupe from St. Lucia to the Saintes. While other troops were landed on the island he created a diversion off Trois Rivières before landing his troops and marines between Anse à la Barque and Basse Terre. Until the surrender of the island, Captain Ballard commanded the detachment of seamen and marines attached to the army. Sceptre visited most of the West Indian islands before sailing from St. Thomas in August with the homebound trade.

She arrived at Spithead on 25 September 1810 and was docked and refitted. Sceptre was employed in the Channel watching the enemy in Brest and the Basque Roads until January 1813.

In 1813, Captain Charles Ross, took command of Sceptre as the flagship of Rear Admiral Sir George Cockburn for operations against the United States. On 11 July 1813, Sceptre, with , , , and and the tenders and , anchored off the Ocracoke bar, in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. They had on board troops under the orders of Lieutenant Colonel Napier. An advanced division of the best pulling boats commanded by Lieutenant Westphall and carrying armed seamen and marines from Sceptre attacked the enemy's shipping. They were supported by Captain Ross with the rocket boats. The flat and heavier boats followed with the bulk of the 102nd Regiment and the artillery. The only opposition came from a brig, Anaconda (18 guns), and a privateer schooner, Atlas (10 guns), which were the only armed vessels in the anchorage. When Lieutenant Westphall attacked, supported by rockets, the Americans abandoned Anaconda, and Atlas struck. The troops took possession of Portsmouth Island and Ocracoke Island without opposition. The British took the two prizes into service as and
On 12 May 1814, Sceptre recaptured the letter of marque Fanny. The capture and recapture of Fanny, together with Sceptres claim for salvage, gave rise to several important legal cases.

Sceptre spent her final years in the Channel in the blockade of the French fleet. In 1815, Sceptre was decommissioned at Chatham. After a period in ordinary, she was finally broken up at Chatham in 1821.