It's the bloody Clorinde!
Yesterday I posted that summary of Lieutenant Jackson's extraordinary account of his time as a French prisoner of war following the capture of this ship Junon in 1809 by the French frigates Renommée and Clorinde. Then last night while reading Hotspur what do I find but Hornblower's sloop narrowly avoiding being blown to pieces by an unnamed frigate accompanying the French troop transports as they try to sneak out of Brest in the snowstorm. Forester has Cornwallis report the action in a letter to the Naval Chronicle in which he notes:
Sir,
I herewith transmit for their Lordships' information, copies of letters I have received from Captains Chambers of HMS Naiad and Hornblower of HM Sloop Hotspur, acquainting me of the capture of the French national frigate Clorinde and of the defeat of an attempt by the French to escape from Brest with a large body of Troops. The conduct of both these officers appears to me to be highly commendable. I enclose also a copy of a letter I have received from Captain Smith of HMS Doris.
I have the honour to be, with deepest respect,
Your ob'd't serv't,
Wm. Cornwallis.
How about that? It's the bloody Clorinde! Small world eh?
Now the historical Clorinde was actually captured by the British frigates Eurotas, Dryad and Achates in 1814 following a particularly bloody and prolonged engagement. If she really had been taken by the Inshore Fleet at the end of 1803, as Forester invented, the unfortunate Lieutenant Jackson would have been saved a whole heap of trouble!
And here is the Clorinde engaging HMS Eurotas as depicted by Thomas Whitcombe (c. 1763 - 1824)
How is it I became such a ship geek??
Sir,
I herewith transmit for their Lordships' information, copies of letters I have received from Captains Chambers of HMS Naiad and Hornblower of HM Sloop Hotspur, acquainting me of the capture of the French national frigate Clorinde and of the defeat of an attempt by the French to escape from Brest with a large body of Troops. The conduct of both these officers appears to me to be highly commendable. I enclose also a copy of a letter I have received from Captain Smith of HMS Doris.
I have the honour to be, with deepest respect,
Your ob'd't serv't,
Wm. Cornwallis.
How about that? It's the bloody Clorinde! Small world eh?
Now the historical Clorinde was actually captured by the British frigates Eurotas, Dryad and Achates in 1814 following a particularly bloody and prolonged engagement. If she really had been taken by the Inshore Fleet at the end of 1803, as Forester invented, the unfortunate Lieutenant Jackson would have been saved a whole heap of trouble!
And here is the Clorinde engaging HMS Eurotas as depicted by Thomas Whitcombe (c. 1763 - 1824)
How is it I became such a ship geek??