Capture of the Apelles, 3rd May 1812 - 4th May 1812

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Capture of the Apelles

3rd May 1812 - 4th May 1812
Part of : The Napoleonic Wars (1803 - 1815)
Previous action : Attack on Malaga 29.4.1812
Next action : Attack at Laigueglia 9.5.1812 - 10.5.1812
 

Empire Français

 
Ship NameCommanderNotes
Castilian (16) 1809-1829
British 16 Gun
Unrated Sloop
Edmund DenmanBritish
Naval Sailor
Service 1796-1815
Skylark (16) 1806-1812
British 16 Gun
Unrated Sloop
James BoxerBritish
Naval Sailor
Service 1794-1846
 Burnt
Apelles (14) 1808-1816
British 14 Gun
Unrated Sloop
Frederick HoffmanBritish
Naval Sailor
Service 1799-9999
 Captured
Phipps (14) 1808-1812
British 14 Gun
Unrated Sloop
Thomas WellsBritish
Naval Sailor
Service 1795-1812
Bermuda (10) 1808-1816
British 10 Gun
Unrated Sloop
Alexander CunninghamBritish
Naval Sailor
Service 1794-1812
Rinaldo (10) 1808-1835
British 10 Gun
Unrated Sloop
Edmund LyonsBritish
Naval Sailor
Service 1809-1814
 

Notes on Action


DescriptionTRN5
On May 3rd, the Apelles, 14, Commander Frederick Hoffman, and Skylark, 16, Commander James Boxer, went ashore to the westward of Boulogne. The former was captured and floated by the French. The latter was burnt by her people, who subsequently escaped. News of the double misfortune was signalled from the Castilian, 18, Commander David Braimer, off Dungeness, to the Bermuda, 10, Commander Alexander Cunningham, and the Rinaldo, 10, Commander Sir William George Parker, Bart.; and those two sloops at once got under way and made for the French coast, in order, if possible, to render assistance. On the morning of the 4th, they chased the Apelles, closed her, and drove her ashore under a battery near Etaples. A little later, the Castilian and the Phipps, 14, Commander Thomas Wells, joined, and the four brig-sloops stood in, and, with successive broadsides, drove the French out of their prize. The British boats, under Lieutenant Thomas Saunders, then went in, and, in spite of a hot fire from the battery and from field pieces on the beach, floated the Apelles and restored her to the service. Strange to say, not a man on the British side was hit.
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Date postedByPage
Monday 15th of June 2026 04:19Jon Miller
Robert BaylisBritish
Naval Sailor
Service 1790-1795
Monday 15th of June 2026 04:17Jon Miller
French Privateer brig 'La Cantabré' (1798) (14) 1798-1798
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Monday 15th of June 2026 04:16Jon Miller
British Fifth Rate frigate 'Cambrian' (1797) (40) 1797-1828
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Monday 15th of June 2026 04:12Jon Miller
British sloop 'Kingfisher' (1782) (18) 1782-1798
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Unrated Sloop
Sunday 14th of June 2026 18:29Jon Miller
French Privateer 'La Résolue' (1798) (18) 1798-1798
French 18 Gun
Privateer Unknown
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