![]() 1790 diagram of Beaulieu
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History | |
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Name | Beaulieu |
Namesake | Edward Hussey-Montagu, 1st Earl Beaulieu |
Laid down | 1790 |
Launched | 4 May 1791 |
Completed | 31 May 1791 |
Acquired | Purchased 16 June 1790 |
Commissioned | January 1793 |
Out of service | March/April 1806 |
Nickname(s) | Bowly |
Fate | Broken up 1809 |
General characteristics [1] | |
Class and type | Fifth-rate frigate |
Tons burthen | 1,01979⁄94 (bm) |
Length | |
Beam | 39 ft 6 in (12 m) |
Draught |
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Depth of hold | 15 ft 2+5⁄8 in (4.6 m) |
Propulsion | Sails |
Complement | 280 (274 from 1794) |
Armament |
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HMS Beaulieu (/ˈbjuːli/ BEW-lee)[2] was a 40-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The ship was laid down in 1790 as a speculative build by the shipwright Henry Adams and purchased by the Royal Navy in June of the same year. Built to the dimensions of a merchant ship, Beaulieu was broader, with more storage capacity, than a standard frigate; though may not have had good sailing qualities. The frigate was commissioned in January 1793 by Lord Northesk and sent to serve on the Leeward Islands Station. She participated in the capture of Martinique in February 1794, and then was similarly present at the capture of the island of Saint Lucia in April. The frigate also took part in the initial stages of the invasion of Guadeloupe. Later in the year the ship's crew was beset by yellow fever and much depleted. Beaulieu was sent to serve on the North America Station to allow them to recuperate, returning to the Leeward Islands in 1795. In the following two years the ship found success in prizetaking and briefly took part in more operations at Saint Lucia. She returned to Britain at the end of 1796.
In 1797 Beaulieu joined the North Sea Fleet, in which she found herself part of the Nore mutiny. Her crew mutinied twice, once in May and once in June, but both attempts were defeated. Four members of the crew were executed for their participation. Beaulieu then fought at the Battle of Camperdown in October, unsuccessfully chasing the escaping Dutch ship of the line Brutus after the battle. After brief service in the Mediterranean Sea Beaulieu began to serve in the English Channel in 1800. By July of the following year she was a part of a frigate squadron based off Brest, France, and the boats of that squadron completed a cutting out expedition capturing the French corvette Chevrette in Camaret Bay.
Beaulieu was put in ordinary for the duration of the Peace of Amiens, but was brought back into service in 1804. The frigate was sent to serve in the Leeward Islands again, re-capturing one British merchant ship before returning home in 1806. She was paid off in March or April of that year, and sent to Deptford Dockyard where she was broken up in 1809.