Napoleonic wars Captain
Thomas James Maling was appointed to command her on 27 October 1807. The ship served in the
West Indies and the
English Channel, and was for a time in early 1810 engaged in the
defence of Cádiz. During this time she made two notable captures; on 29 February 1808 the Spanish ship
Nostra Senora del Carmen, alias
La Baladora, and on 12 February 1809, the French
privateer San Josephe in the Channel.
Undaunted discovered
San Josephe at dawn, taking her after a chase lasting four hours, and brought her into
Spithead the next day. The privateer, which was only four days out from
St. Malo, was provisioned for two months and pierced for 18 guns, but mounted only 14, with a crew of 96. The Royal Navy took
San Josephe into service as . In June 1810 command of the ship passed from Captain Maling to Captain George Charles Mackenzie. On 30 August 1810 she sailed with a convoy for
Malta. Under Captain Mackenzie her career appears to have been less eventful, but on 17 February 1811
Undaunted did recapture the transport ship
Dorothy just before command passed to Captain
Richard Thomas. Under Captain Thomas,
Undaunted was sent to the Mediterranean, where she was first employed in co-operating with
Spanish guerillas on the coast of
Catalonia, and later at the blockade of
Marseille, and was for a time the flagship of the small squadron blockading
Toulon. On 29 April 1812 the boats of
Undaunted, the frigate , and the
sloop attacked a convoy of 26 French vessels near the mouth of the river
Rhone. Led by Lieutenant Eagar of
Undaunted, they captured seven vessels, burned twelve, and left two grounded on the beach. A French Navy schooner armed with four 18-pounders and a crew of 74 was among the vessels burnt. The attack was carried out without loss, being protected by Captain Stewart in
Blossom. Captain Thomas was eventually invalided home, and command of
Undaunted passed to Captain
Thomas Ussher on 2 February 1813. Under Captain Ussher's command
Undaunted was continually employed on the southern coast of France for the next two years, making numerous attacks on ships and fortifications. • On 18 February 1813
Undaunted captured the
San Nicolo, with
Volontaire present, and thus taking a share of the prize money. • On 18 March 1813 boats from
Undaunted under the command of
Lieutenant Aaron Tozer, landed near
Carri, west of Marseille, and attacked a
shore battery.
Undaunteds marines drove out the occupants at the point of the bayonet, and then destroyed four
24-pounder long guns, a 6-pounder
field gun, and a 13-inch
mortar, before capturing a
tartan that was anchored nearby. Two men from
Undaunted were killed and one wounded. • On 29 March 1813
Volontaire,
Undaunted, and the
brig-sloop , observed 14 merchant vessels sheltering under the protection of two shore batteries at
Morgiou. That night a large party of seamen and Marines, under the command of Lieutenant Shaw were landed at
Sormiou, and attacked the batteries from the rear at dawn. The 40 enemy troops there made only a partial resistance, and were soon overcome. They suffered 4 killed and 5 wounded, and 17 prisoners, a lieutenant and 16 men of the 62nd Regiment were taken prisoner, while the rest escaped. The five 36-pounder guns in one battery, and two 24-pounders in the other, were thrown into the sea, a mortar was spiked, and all the ammunition destroyed. Meanwhile, boats under the command of Lieutenant Syer, protected by the
Redwing under Sir John Sinclair, succeeded in capturing 11 merchant vessels, all tartans or
settees ranging between 25 and 45 tons, mainly laden with oil, and destroyed one other loaded, and two empty, which were driven aground. Only the approach of French troops from Marseille prevented any further operations.
Volontaire only had two seamen wounded, while
Undaunted had one marine killed, and two marines severely wounded. • On 2 May 1813, after observing that the French were rebuilding the batteries at Morgiou the
74-gun ship , under the command of Captain Richard Hussey Mowbray, along with
Undaunted,
Volontaire, and
Redwing, mounted another attack. One hundred Marines, along with seamen from the ships, covered by the fire of
Redwing, landed in boats armed with carronades and drove the enemy—a detachment of the 4th Battalion of the 1st Regiment—away into the hills, and kept them there while the batteries, containing nine gun carriages and a 13-inch mortar, were destroyed with explosives. Meanwhile, the ships launches captured a number of vessels in the bay below. The French suffered at least twelve killed, and several prisoners were taken, at a cost of only two men killed, and four wounded from
Undaunted and
Volontaire. In 1847 a clasp to the
Naval General Service Medal marked "2 May Boat Service 1813" was awarded to the surviving members of the crews of
Repulse,
Undaunted,
Volontaire, and
Redwing who took part. • On 18 August 1813
Undaunted,
Redwing, and the 16-gun brig-sloop , launched an attack on the strongly-defended port of
Cassis, east of Marseille. They were reinforced by boats and men from the ships , , , and , from
Sir Edward Pellew's fleet. Light winds meant that
Undaunted was unable to take her assigned position, but the smaller
Redwing and
Kite entered the bay using their
sweeps. The entrance of the bay was covered by four batteries and two gun-boats were moored across the entrance of the port. While a party of Marines and seamen captured the main battery in the Citadel by
escalade, 24 settees and tartans were captured, as were two gunboats both armed with two howitzers and 12 swivels, and a gunboat and a tartan were destroyed. Sixty prisoners were taken, while the British had four men killed, and 15 wounded. • On 9 November 1813
Undaunted and the sloop
Guadeloupe attacked
Port-la-Nouvelle, with the Marines storming the batteries while men from the ships captured two vessels and destroyed five. Captain Ussher noted in his report that this brought the total number of vessels taken or destroyed in the 10 months he had been in command of
Undaunted up to seventy. • On 22 December 1813
Undaunted and sank the
Baloena. Head money for the 147 men assumed to have been aboard was paid in November 1816. • On 8 April 1814:
Undaunted captured the brig
Bienfaisant.
Napoleon's journey to Elba in France waiting to convey Napoleon to Elba, by Anton Schranz Late on the evening of 24 April 1814,
Undaunted still under command of
Thomas Ussher, and
Euryalus, commanded by Captain
Charles Napier, were off Marseille, when they observed illuminations in the town, which obviously indicated some important event. The next morning the two ships anchored off the town, noting that the
semaphore station seemed to be abandoned, and were later approached by a boat flying a flag of truce carrying the mayor and municipal officials, who informed them of the abdication of Napoleon. Captains Ussher and Napier landed to meet the military governor of the town, and during the meeting Ussher received a letter informing him that Colonel Sir Neil Campbell was also there, with orders from
Lord Castlereagh in Paris to convey the former Emperor and his retinue into exile on the island of
Elba. On 26 April
Undaunted sailed for
Saint-Tropez, and then to nearby
Fréjus where Napoleon was lodged in a small hotel. On the evening of 28 April Napoleon, his various followers, and the representatives of the
victorious Allies finally boarded
Undaunted and set sail for Elba. She arrived there on 30 April, and Napoleon disembarked on 3 May to formally take possession of the island.
Undaunted remained at Elba until the end of the month before sailing to
Genoa. Captain Ussher relinquished command of
Undaunted on 29 June 1814. Captain Charles Thurlow Smith then took command of
Undaunted. Following Napoleon's escape from Elba in February 1815
Undaunted and , under the command of Captain
Charles Austen in , were sent into the
Adriatic in pursuit of a
Neapolitan squadron, supposed to be there. While
Garland and
Phoenix blockaded
Brindisi,
Undaunted patrolled the coast. On 2 May 1815
Undaunted destroyed "sundry vessels" at
Tremiti, and two privateers were captured on 28 May and 4 June 1815.
Post-war service Undaunted finally returned to Britain, and was paid off at
Chatham in October 1815, and remained there kept "
in ordinary" She was subsequently put out of commission later that year. She was laid up at
Portsmouth. the vessel was used as a
target ship during testing of
molten-iron filled shells, that were intended to set their target on fire. These eventually started a fire on
Undaunted that could not be put out and she was sunk with conventional shot. She was finally broken up in 1860. ==Notes==