Nelson & His World

LION,64. (1777 Portsmouth. Hulk 1816) 1792 Capt. Sir Erasmus GOWER who was appointed at the express desire of Lord Macartney, then about to proceed to the court of Pekin as ambassador to Tchien Lung, the emperor. LION sailed from Spithead on 26 September 1792 with her tender, the JACKALL, and the East Indiaman HINDUSTAN. The ambassador's suite numbered nearly 10O beside soldiers and servants
JACKALL parted company in a gale of Portland on the 28th. and made the voyage independantly. She rejoined LION on 23 March 1793.
On her passage from Batavia to North Island LION struck on a knoll in 3 fathoms of water. The damage was only slight but the want of a tender was much felt so the captain sent back to Batavia to purchase one which was named the DUKE OF CLARENCE. During the long voyage scurvy made its appearance in LION and HINDUSTAN but the sick lists were gradually reduced by the fresh food otainable in Java and Sumatra.
1796 Capt. Manley DIXON, North Sea station. On 7 December 1796 she rescued the crew of REUNION which had been wrecked on a sandbank in the Swin. Lieut. William TREMLETT of LION was particulary thanked by the president of the subsequent court martial. Later LION proceeded to the Mediterranean.
At the beginning of July 1798 three boats under the command of Lieut. TREMLETT engaged an armed Greek off Malaga. At the moment he pushed alongside two of his boats deserted him and in the following seven minutes 20 of his companions were either killed or wounded as they attempted an unsupported boarding. Although the handle of his dirk was shot off and a number of shot passed through his clothing, the lieutenant was the only one unhurt.
On 15 July LION, after an action with four Spanish frigates off Catagena, captured the SANTA DOROTHEA of 42 guns and 370 men. The prize had lost her fore-topmast and was, lagging behind and to leeward of her companions when Capt. MANLEY attacked. He came under fire as the other three Spanish ships tacked in succession and and passed to windward of LION within musket shot, but the result of their broadsides was one midshipman and one seamen wounded. The SANTA DOROTHEA lost 20 killed and 32 wounded before she struck. She was taken into the Royal Navy under the same name and Lieut. TREMLETT was appointed her first lieutenant. Naval medals were awarded for the action in 1847.
1801 Capt. H. MITFORD. LION arrived in Portsmouth from the Downs on 11 May and on the 19th she and the HINDUSTAN store ship, Capt. MOTTLEY, sailed from Portsmouth with the East Indiamen WOODFORD, DUKE OF BUCCLEUGH, WARLEY, TAUNTON CASTLE, ALBION, EARL OF ABERGAVENNY, ALFRED and BELVIDERE under convoy for China. HINDUSTAN had stores for the Cape. 1803 In ordinary at Chatham.
In 1804-5 she was rebuilt in Dudman's Yard at Deptford. 1806 Capt. Robert ROLLES, East Indies, from whence he convoyed home some of the Hon. Company's ships and was presented with £500 for the purchase of a piece of plate. 1807 Channel. At daylight on 27 December 1807, some nine or ten miles south of Beachy Head, LION gave chase to a suspicious lugger. It took all day before they could capture her and she proved to be the French 14-gun privateer RECIPROCITE which had sailed from Dieppe on the 25th with another lugger. They had been lying in wait close in shore but had made no captures. Two years old she was a fast sailer and her crew consisted of French, Prussians, Danes, Portuguese, Swedes and Americans.
On 15 January 1808 a court martial at Portsmouth found Lieut. James WOODWARD guilty of disobedience and he was dismissed from the LION.
Early in 1811 Capt. ROLLES obtained command of the EDINBURGH,74.
1811 Capt. Henry HEATHCOTE. East Indies. On 22 February he was ordered by Vice Ad. DRURY to take charge of the western coast of India from Cape Cormorin to the bottom of the Persian Gulf, " ... acting according to circumstances, for the preservation of trade, and the general good of H.M. service." These orders were later confirmed by Commodore BROUGHTON following Vice Ad. DRURY's death on 6 March 1811.
While Capt. HEATHCOTE was at Bombay in June 1811 arranging an escort for a China convoy the HUSSAR frigate arrived with dispatches from the Admiralty which, being senior officer present, he opened. They brought the news that 18 French frigates with 3-4OOO troops had escaped from the ports of France and were expected to be on passage to reinforce the island of Java to which an invasion force under Commodore BROUGHTON was then sailing. Capt. HEATHCOTE, considering this information of more importance than escorting a convoy, immediately set sail for Java with the news. Commodore BROUGHTON, angry that the captain had disobeyed his orders, asked Rear Ad. STOPFORD to court martial him for a breach of the 27th Article of War. (No person shall sleep upon his watch, or negligently perform his duty, or FORSAKE HIS STATION, upon pain of death or such punishment as a court martial shall think it fit to inflict)
The court martial took place on board NISSUS in Batavia Road on 30 August 1811 and found that, although the charges were proved, his deviation from the orders he had received was due to his zeal for the good of his Majesty's service and that the importance of the information justified his conduct. He was acquitted.
LION was added to Commodore BROUGHTON's squadron and on 4 September Ad. STOPPFORD detached him with ILLUSTRIOUS, MINDEN, LION and LEDA, with the 14th and part of the 78th regiments of foot embarked, to rendezvous off the entrance of Gressie. MODESTE with Lieut. Gen. Sir Samuel AUCHMUTY sailed on the 5th and Ad. STOPPFORD in SCIPION on the 6th. On the 8th information was received that the French and Dutch forces intended to make a stand at Samarang so BROUGHTON's squadron joined the admiral there on the 10th but instead the enemy quit the town and retreated towards Sourabaya. SCIPION, LION, NISUS, PRESIDENT, PHOEBE, and HARPY sailed for there on the 15th and landed troops and marines under Capt. HARRIS of Sir FRANCIS DRAKE on the 19th. When they learnt that Java had surrendered the day before, Sourabaya was occupied and fell under the general terms of the capitulation.
While LION was in the vicinity of Canton, Lieut. William MARTIN was put in command of the launch and 20 men and ordered to sekk out and detain two American ships from Manilla. He was attacked by five pirate vessels each mounting four or five small guns and carrying at least 30 men. The attackers were finally driven off after an obstinate struggle lasting more than two hours. Lieut. MARTIN and 18 of his companions were wounded.
1812 Capt. G. DOUGLAS. Flagship of Rear Ad. R. STOPFORD, Cape of Good Hope. 1814 Capt. Henderson BAIN. He was posted out of the HARPY sloop in April 1813. Flagship of Rear Ad. Charles TYLER, Cape of Good Hope. 1815 Sheer hulk at Plymouth.