HMS Levant (1758)

Levant was an oak-built 28-gun sixth rate, one of 19 vessels forming part of the of frigates. As with others in her class she was loosely modelled on the design and dimensions of , launched in 1756 and responsible for capturing five French privateers in her first twelve months at sea. Orders from Admiralty to build the Coventry-class vessels were made after the outbreak of what was later called the Seven Years' War, at a time when the Royal Dockyards were fully engaged in constructing or fitting-out the Navy's ships of the line. Consequently, and despite some Navy Board misgivings, contracts for most Coventry-class vessels were issued to private shipyards, with an emphasis on rapid completion. The contract for Levants construction were issued on 20 May 1757 to shipwright Henry Adams of Buckler's Hard in Hampshire. It was stipulated that work should be completed within ten months for the 28-gun vessel measuring approximately 586tons burthen. Subject to satisfactory completion, Adams would receive a comparatively modest fee of £9.5s per ton to be paid through periodic imprests drawn against the Navy Board. As private shipyards were not subject to rigorous naval oversight, the Admiralty also granted authority for "such alterations withinboard as shall be judged necessary" in order to cater to the preferences or ability of individual shipwrights. The tiller was relocated, from an exposed position on the quarterdeck to a safer location belowdecks and near the stern. Finally, in recognition of the vessel's likely role in chasing small enemy craft, the leading pair of gunports were moved from the sides of the vessel to the bow in order to form a battery of chase guns. Among these other ranks were four positions reserved for widow's men fictitious crew members whose pay was intended to be reallocated to the families of sailors who died at sea. With few exceptions the remainder of the class were named after figures from classical antiquity, following a more modern trend initiated in 1748 by John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, in his capacity as First Lord of the Admiralty. She was built with broad and heavy masts which balanced the weight of her hull, improved stability in rough weather and made her capable of carrying more sail. The disadvantages of this heavy design were seen in reduced manoeuvrability and slower speed in light winds. ==Seven Years' War==

17581760 Levant was launched on 6 July 1758 and sailed to Portsmouth Dockyard for fitting-out and to take on armament and crew. She was formally commissioned in October, entering Royal Navy service during the early stages of the Seven Years' War against France. There were delays in mustering sufficient crew, and the frigate was not finally ready to put to sea until June 1759. On 14 June Captain Tucker received orders to take position off Guadeloupe and the Leeward Islands, Levant set sail for this assignment on 23 July. The British squadron, of which Levant was part, was tasked with disrupting French trade through the Caribbean and hunting privateers. However the frigate saw little action in her first six months in the region; French trade had virtually ceased since the outbreak of war with Britain, while a smallpox outbreak killed some among Levants crew. In November 1759, Levant and the Antigua-based privateer Bristol captured two French vessels loaded with coffee and sugar heading to trade at the neutral Dutch island of Sint Eustatius. It was not until early 1760 that Levant defeated her first armed opponent, a 14-gun French privateer which was sunk with the loss of 120 of her crew. A further victory followed on 29 June with the capture of French privateer Le Scipio, after which Levant was put into harbour in Antigua for resupply. One contemporary source at this time records her as carrying only 20 of her 28 guns. She returned to sea before the end of the year, capturing the privateer ''L'Union on 18 December. Levant'' saw little action in advance of Monckton's arrival and captured only one vessel, the privateer La Catherine, on 15 February. Monckton arrived in Antigua shortly after this capture; Captain Tucker was then deputised to carry the general aboard Levant for a visit to the various Leeward Island settlements while the invasion force assembled at Guadeloupe. Monckton departed the Leeward Islands in April and Levant resumed her hunt for privateers, capturing La Dulcinée on 13 July and ''L'Aventurier six days later. At least four other vessels were also taken in this period; Superbe, Polly, Petit-Creolle and Elizabeth.'' Dominica having fallen to Monckton's forces in June, the British then set their sights on the French stronghold of Martinique. Britain's Secretary of State for the Southern Department, Sir William Pitt, concluded that Martinique's capture would be the decisive battle for control of the Caribbean, and instructed that all available resources be committed to its invasion. An army of 13,000 troops was assembled, supported by a fleet under Admiral George Rodney. Levant was added to Rodney's sizeable command in late 1761 and sailed as part of the expedition in January 1762. She was present when the British landings commenced but is not recorded as having engaged with enemy forces either there or in the subsequent French defeat at Fort Royal between 25 January and 3 February. Levant made one capture under Laforey's command, and her last victory in that war, when she defeated French privateer La Fier on 13 May 1762. ==Peacetime service==

The 1763 Treaty of Paris brought an end to the war between Britain and France, and Levant was subsequently declared surplus to the Navy's needs. She was in poor condition; Captain Laforey reported to Admiralty that rats had eaten through the hull and substantial work would be required to keep the ship afloat. Repairs were commenced, but by April 1763 Laforey had departed the vessel and command was transferred to Captain Molyneux Shuldham for the voyage back to England. Restored to seaworthiness, Levant reached Portsmouth Dockyard in August, where she was decommissioned and her crew discharged or reassigned. There were rumours that Levant would swiftly return to active service, but these proved unfounded and she remained tied up at Portsmouth. Her hull and fittings were surveyed in late 1763 to determine maintenance requirements, but no repairs were made. Levant returned to Navy service in 1766 under the command of Captain Basil Keith, and was assigned to patrol and convoy duties on the Navy's Jamaica Station. In August she docked at Deptford to take on crew and supplies, setting sail for the Caribbean on 28 November. Levant held her Jamaica post for three years, but this extensive service in tropical waters left her in poor condition. In 1770 she returned to Deptford Dockyard where she was decommissioned and hauled out of the water for rebuilding. The work was granted to shipwright John Dudman and took six months from November 1770 to April 1771. Repair and rebuilding expenses were £5,869 with an additional £3,059 for fitting-out, considerably more than the vessel's original construction cost of £5,423. The rebuilt frigate was recommissioned in August 1771 under Captain Samuel Thompson. After four months in home waters she was assigned to the Navy's Mediterranean squadron and took up position off Gibraltar in January 1772. Levant remained at this station for three years, her uneventful service broken only by a 1773 transfer of command from Captain Thompson to Captain George Murray, the son of former Jacobite commander Lord Murray. ==American Revolutionary War==

17751777 Levant returned to Portsmouth in early 1775, but put to sea again on 22 June amid the early stages of the American Revolutionary War. In March 1776 she anchored in the Bay of Algiers where the Dey, or local ruler, received her warmly and provided the crew with supplies of bread, vegetables, and three live sheep. In November 1776 Levant secured a substantial prize with the capture of another South Carolina vessel, Argo, carrying rice and indigo worth £37,200. Argo was to have exchanged her cargo in Bordeaux for clothing and medicine to supply the American rebellion. Further success followed in early 1777 with the capture of the 18-gun American privateer General Montgomery. 17781780 Levant continued her Mediterranean patrols in 1778 and was rewarded on 24 March with the recapture of a British merchantman which had been bound for Newfoundland when seized by an American privateer off Gibraltar. On the same day as this capture, Levant fell into company with the 28-gun frigate . Her captain, Sir Thomas Rich, advised that he was pursuing , a 22-gun American privateer with three captured merchant ships in tow. On 21 March the privateer had surprised and destroyed Enterprises tender before escaping into the night. Rich had given chase for the next three days; Murray now added Levant to the hunt and the two British frigates set courses to windward and leeward of the Americans' likely path. Both sailed through the night without sighting their prey. In the morning of 25 March they encountered one of Revenges prizes, the 16-gun British merchantman Hope, which promptly surrendered and was returned to Gibraltar. France entered the war against Britain after signing a formal Treaty with the United States in March 1778. There was a subsequent reorganization of Royal Navy forces in the Mediterranean, with Levant joining a squadron of four other vessels based in Gibraltar under the overall direction of Admiral Robert Duff. Of this squadron, Levant was the second largest, behind only Duff's 60-gun flagship . In July Levant encountered and captured Robert, an American merchant vessel that had been bound for Boston with a cargo of salt. In August she took her first French prize of the War a merchantman with a cargo of tobacco and recaptured the British schooner Lively, which had previously been seized by an American privateer off Scotland's Western Islands. Two more French prizes followed: Victorieux seized en route to Marseilles, and Duchess of Grumont, which surrendered off Toulon. The captured vessels were sent under guard to Gibraltar. These ongoing victories belied the changing conditions applicable to Levants hunt for enemy vessels off Gibraltar. American vessels had become scarce, especially since Spain had closed her ports to them in the winter of 1777 in retaliation for privateer attacks on Spanish ships. French trading vessels remained at sea but were occasionally accompanied by naval escorts large enough to prevent their capture by Gibraltar's small Royal Navy squadron. Levant was careened on a beach at Gibraltar over Christmas 1778 and then returned to sea, but her next capture was not until 14 March 1779 when in company with Captain Rich's Enterprise she seized a French vessel, Thésée. A further victory followed on 1 April when Levant, still in company with Enterprise, took Eclair, a French xebec carrying wine and brandy from Marseilles. On 12 April 1779 Spain signed the Treaty of Aranjuez with France, setting terms for a joint military alliance against Britain. Despite the Treaty Spain delayed the formal declaration of war until June, to give time for better co-ordination of its battle fleet. In the interim Levant engaged and defeated a Spanish privateer whose crew were caught in the act of boarding a British merchant ship. A brief exchange of cannon fire holed the Spanish vessel below the waterline, sinking her; Levant rescued the majority of her crew and transported them to prison in Gibraltar. Captain Murray then took Levant on a cruise to hunt for French or American vessels off Cadiz. While pursuing this task in June 1779 he ran across the Spanish battle fleet, comprising 32 ships of the line and two frigates, heading south towards an unknown destination. Spain was still nominally a neutral power and after a brief exchange of pleasantries the Spanish fleet left Levant unmolested and continued on its way. Murray immediately set sail for England to report that the Spanish were at sea, pausing off Land's End on 17 July to capture the French privateer La Revanche. Levant finally reached Portsmouth in late July but by this time Murray's news of the Spanish fleet was out of date; Spain had already declared war on Britain and her fleet had reached Gibraltar to commence an extended siege. ==Final voyages==

Murray was ordered to take Levant back to sea immediately, departing Portsmouth on 27 July as escort to a convoy of merchant vessels bound for the Yorkshire port of Kingston upon Hull. The ageing frigate then briefly joined a small Navy squadron on patrol off Brighton before setting sail for the Spanish coast. On 5 August she took part in the recapture of a British merchant vessel, Nine Colliers. Her captain, George Murray, was reassigned to command the 30-gun fifth rate frigate ; he was promoted to admiral in 1794, and died in 1797. but no repairs were made. On 16 August, Admiralty issued orders that she be sailed to Deptford Dockyard where, on 27 September, she was broken up. ==References==