page_title: HMS Thames (1758)
section_title: British service again
hierarchical_section_title: HMS Thames (1758) / British service again
caption_attribution_description: Beau Fait D´Armes Du Capitaine Troude
context_page_description: HMS Thames was a 32-gun Richmond-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy built by Henry Adams and launched at Bucklers Hard in 1758. She served in several wars, including for some four years in French service after her capture. She was recaptured in 1796 and was broken up in 1803.
context_section_description: Thames was recommissioned in December 1796 under Captain William Lukin and in June sailed for Jamaica. In April – May 1797 she was caught up in the Spithead and Nore mutinies. However, Lukin managed her well during this period and she was one of the first vessels to sail after the suppression of the mutiny. In the second half of 1797, Thames captured a small barge of one gun, name unknown, on the Jamaica station.
  On 12 May 1800, Thames, Clyde and the hired armed cutter Suwarrow captured  a French chasse maree, name unknown.  On 1 June, Thames was a part of a squadron detached from Channel fleet to Quiberon Bay and the Morbihan. On 4 June Thames, Cynthia and some smaller vessels attacked the south-west end of Quiberon where the silenced the forts, which a landing party of troops later destroyed.
  On 26 October Thames encountered a French privateer at about 9:30 in the morning. Thames pursued her quarry for five hours. During the pursuit they came upon Immortalite, which joined in. The two British vessels finally captured the ship Diable à Quatre some 36 leagues from the Cordouan lighthouse. She was armed with sixteen 6 and 12-pounder guns and had a crew of 150 men. She was only one day out of Bordeaux. The Royal Navy took her into service as Imogen.
  On 26 or 29 October, Thames and Immortalite chased a French letter of marque schooner all day. They finally captured her and found that she had been sailing from Guadaloupe to Bordeaux with a cargo of coffee. She was the schooner Unique.
  A little over a month later, on 30 November she captured another French privateer in the Bay of Biscay after a six-hour pursuit. The prize, Actif, was armed with fourteen 6-pounder and two brass 12-pounder guns. She had a crew of 137 men and this was the first day of her first cruise. From her, Captain Lukin learned that in the previous three months only two British prizes had come into French or Spanish ports, one into Rochelle and one into Passage. The Royal Navy trook Actif into service as Morgiana.
  On 18 January 1801, Thames captured the French navy corvette Aurore in the English Channel. Aurore was armed with 16 guns and was under the command of Lieutenant de vaisseau Charles Girault. She had as a passenger the governor of Mauritius's Aide de Camp, who was carrying dispatches to the French government there. The Royal Navy took Aurore into service as HMS Charwell.
  Captain Aiskew Paffard Hollis took command of Thames in June. On 5 July she became becalmed while trying to recall Superb to join the squadron under Rear Admiral Sir James Saumarez. On 8 July she observed a Franco-Spanish squadron of six sail of the line prepare to sail the next day for Algeciras, and sailed to Gibraltar to warn the admiral.
  Three days later Thames was part of Saumarez's squadron, which left Gibraltar to chase a Franco-Spanish squadron observed sailing from Algeciras. Thames took a minor part in the subsequent Battle of Algeciras Bay. The engagement resulted in the destruction of two first rates, and the capture of a third rate.
  In subsequent months, assisted by the sloop-of-war Calpe, which had also participated in the battle, she destroyed a number of the enemy's coasters in the bay of Estepona.
caption: Fine deed of arms by Captain Troude, Antoine Léon Morel-Fatio. Thames is in the right foreground.
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