1796 Sylph was commissioned under Commander
John Chambers White, who would command her into 1799, on 28 August 1795. She first served in the
North Sea Fleet of Admiral
Adam Duncan.
Sylph was sent with
HMS Leopard,
HMS Phoenix, and
HMS Pegasus to intercept a small Dutch squadron that had recently sailed from Norway. From around August
Sylph was a part of Commodore
John Borlase Warren's blockading squadron in the Channel. On 22 August this squadron, consisting of four frigates and
Sylph, was cruising off the mouth of the
Gironde when they discovered and chased the French 32-gun frigate
Andromaque.
1797 On 17 July 1797
Sylph participated in the destruction of the French 28-gun frigate
La Calliope off the coast of
Brittany. The two corvettes were able to use their speed to escape the squadron, but
Calliope was not able to follow them and instead chose to cut away her masts and run herself on shore at 2:20 A.M. so as to not be taken by the British. The convoy was protected by the 22-gun corvette
Réolaise and three or four smaller gun vessels; these ran to the mouth of the
Les Sables-d'Olonne river to receive protection from a fort stationed there. Captain White of
Sylph volunteered to sail in and begin firing at the vessels despite this, and did so at 11:30 A.M.
Sylph was part of a small squadron including
HMS Boadicea and
HMS Ethalion which spotted the expedition off
Pointe du Raz at daybreak on 17 September. While the French made attempts to dislodge the following British ships and confuse them as to their destination, by 23 September Captain
George Countess of
Ethalion was sure of their path towards Ireland, and
Sylph was sent to warn the
commander-in-chief of the Irish Station of the approaching ships.
1799 Alongside
HMS Mermaid she took the Spanish 4-gun
packet Golondrina off
Corunna on 24 May 1799. On 2 July she took part in an attempt on some Spanish ships in
Aix Roads. Bridport left a blockading force commanded by Rear-Admiral
Charles Morice Pole of six ships of the line, three
bomb vessels, four frigates, and
Sylph, off the island. On 2 July Pole moved his ships of the line into the Roads, and the smaller vessels closer to Aix itself. The intent was to protect the three bomb vessels as they bombarded the anchored Spanish ships. On 18 December
Sylph, along with
Ethalion and
HMS Fisgard, was blown off station by a severe gale.
Ethalion returned to her position off Brest first, and was wrecked on 24 December. 150 survivors were rescued by the boats of
Sylph,
HMS Nimrod, and
HMS Danae, before they were transferred to
Sylph who brought them to
Plymouth on 26 December. On 31 July
Sylph was chasing an armed schooner off Santander which the enemy frigate arrived to protect. The wind was not favourable for her to escape the much larger enemy, and so
Sylph prepared to engage her; the engagement lasted one hour and twenty minutes in which one man was killed and nine wounded before
Sylph withdrew to make repairs. After the combat she was filling with of water an hour but managed to reach the Channel Fleet from where she was ordered by Admiral
William Cornwallis to go to Plymouth for repairs, which she did on 14 August. Having been repaired,
Sylph resumed her station off the coast of north Spain, and on 28 September discovered a French frigate of the same force as her earlier adversary. Commander Dashwood was promoted to
post-captain for his bravery in these two engagements.
Later service By November
Sylph was under Commander William Goate based in the Channel and
North Sea on blockade duties. She was decommissioned during the
Peace of Amiens but recommissioned to continue the same services in February 1803. On the night of 17 December 1804
Sylph,
HMS Thisbe, and
HMS Niobe were all forced to cut away their masts to save themselves from being destroyed during a gale off
Guernsey.
Sylph was repaired and stayed on station until the end of 1805. The ship was laid up at
Portsmouth in November and
broken up there in April 1811. ==Notes and citations==