#john bentham dinsale

[illustratus]

The Chase and Capture of the Pallas by John Bentham-Dinsale

[ltwilliammowett]

The chase and capture of the Pallas by John Bentham-Dinsale (1927-2008)

[ltwilliammowett]

The Chase and Capture of the french Pallas by John Bentham-Dinsale (1927-2008)

In the early morning of 5th February 1800, HMS fairy, a 14- gun brig, was laying at anchor in St Aubyn's Bay, Jersey in company with the  18 gun brig-sloop HMS Harpy. The previous day, the 16-gun cutter HMS Seaflower had been chased by a French frigate, identified as the 38 gun frigate Pallas. After breaking off the chase, the Pallas was seen to put into St Malo. At about 6am, the two British sloops weighed anchor and headed to St Malo, their intentions being to see if the Pallas was still there. At about 11:30, the two British sloops sighted a large ship running along the shore towards Brest, which was quickly identified as being their target. Commander Horton as the senior officer decided to bring the Pallas to action, calculating that between them and especially with HMS Harpy's 32pdr carronades, they should be able to get the better of the large and powerful French frigate. At about 12:20, seeing that there was no chance of bringing the Pallas to action all the time she was so close to the shore, Commander Horton decided to back off and open the range, hoping to entice the Pallas to give chase.

The Frenchman took the bait and began to give chase immediately. At 13:00, the fight started, with both British sloops engaging the big French frigate at pistol-shot range, or about 30 yards. HMS Harpy took up a position astern of the Pallas and raked her through the stern a number of times. At about 15:00, the Frenchman broke off the action headed off under all sail to the north-east. After quickly making running repairs to their damaged rigging, HMS Fairy and HMS Harpy gave chase. At about 15:15, the Pallas sighted two ships dead ahead of her. The ships were soon afterwards sighted by the two British vessels. On sighting the strangers, Commander Horton signalled HMS Harpy to try to take up a position upwind of the French frigate. Having guessed that the strangers were friendly, Commander Horton ordered the signal 'Enemy in Sight' to be hoisted, repeated by HMS Harpy and both sloops began firing signal guns to draw attention to it.

The approaching vessels were soon identified as being the ex-French 18pdr armed 38 gun frigate HMS Loire, the ex-French 32pdr carronade armed 20 gun post-ship HMS Danae and the small ex-French 12pdr carronade-armed 14 gun ship-sloop HMS Railleur. These vessels had been sent from Plymouth on 27th and 28th January with the express purpose of bringing the Pallas to action and capturing her. Realizing he was horribly outgunned, Captain Jacques Epron of the Pallas decided to try to run for Brest, pursued by no less than five enemy vessels. By 22:30, HMS Loire had caught up with the Pallas, which had managed to close with the shore and the cover of a shore battery. Undeterred, HMS Loire began a gunnery duel with the Pallas, despite coming under fire from the shore as well. By 23:00, the sloops had caught up. At about 01:30, HMS Harpy assumed a position under the Pallas' stern and fired in a full broadside. The French had had enough and surrendered. In the Capture of the Pallas, HMS Fairy suffered casualties of four seamen killed, Commander Horton and Mr Hughes, the purser, plus six seamen wounded. The Pallas turned out to be a fine and powerful frigate and was purchased into the Royal Navy as HMS Pique