HMS Centaur ( 1797 ) HMS " Centaur " was a 74 - gun third rate of the Royal Navy , launched on 14 March 1797 at Woolwich . She served as Sir Samuel Hood ' s flagship in the Leeward Islands and the Channel . During her 22 - year career " Centaur " saw action in the Mediterranean , the Channel , the West Indies , and the Baltic , fighting the French , the Dutch , the Danes and the Russians . She was broken up in 1819 . Service in the Mediterranean . Captain John Markham commissioned " Centaur " in June 1797 and the next year sailed for the Mediterranean . In November she participated in the occupation of Minorca . On 13 November , " Centaur " , HMS " Leviathan " , and HMS " Argo " , together with some armed transports , relatively unsuccessfully chased a Spanish squadron . " Argo " did re - capture the British 16 - gun " Pylades " - class sloop HMS " Peterel " , which the Spanish had taken the day before . The next year , on 2 February 1798 , " Centaur " pursued two Spanish xebec s and a settee , all privateers in royal Spanish service . She captured the privateer " La Vierga del Rosario " , which carried fourteen brass 12 - pounder guns and had a crew of 90 men . The other two vessels escaped . A year later , on 16 February 1799 " Centaur " , " Argo " and " Leviathan " attacked the town of Cambrils . Once the defenders had abandoned their battery , the boats went in . The British dismounted the guns , burnt five settees and brought out another five settees or tartans laden with wine and wheat . One tartan , the " Velon Maria " , was a letter of marque , armed with one brass and two iron 12 - pounders and two 3 - pounders . She had a crew of 14 men . Then on 16 March 1799 , she and " Cormorant " drove the Spanish frigate " Guadaloupe " aground near Cape Oropesa . " Guadaloupe " , of 40 guns , was wrecked . In June , " Centaur " was involved in a brief action off Toulon before elements of Admiral Keith ' s fleet joined her . " Centaur " and fired at a brig - corvette and several settees off Toulon . They were then able to capture and destroy four of the settees . In the Action of 18 June 1799 , Markham ' s squadron captured a French squadron consisting of the 40 - gun " Junon " , 36 - gun " Alceste " , 32 - gun " Courageuse " , 18 - gun " Salamine " and 14 - gun brig " Alerte " . The British took the captured vessels into service under their existing names , except that " Junon " became " Princess Charlotte " and " Alerte " became " Minorca " . Soon after , " Centaur " returned to England . While working in the Channel in late 1800 and early 1801 , on 25 January 1801 " Centaur " sent the Danish galiots " Bernstorff " and " Rodercken " into Plymouth . The Danish ships were carrying bale goods and nuts . Under Captain Littlehales , while serving with the Channel Fleet , " Centaur " and her sister ship , " Mars " , collided off the Black Rocks during the night of 10 March . " Centaur " lost her main and main - top - mast , which killed two men and injured four as they fell . " Mars " lost her head , bowsprit , foremast and main top - topmast and then almost grounded near the Île de Bas . In the last moment " Canada " was able to get a tow rope on her . " Canada " then towed " Mars " into Cawsand Bay . The subsequent court martial acquitted " Mars " s captain and lieutenant of any negligence , but sentenced a lieutenant from " Centaur " to the loss of six month ' s seniority and dismissal from his ship . Service in the West Indies . Late in 1802 , " Centaur " sailed to the West Indies where she joined Vice Admiral Sir John Thomas Duckworth ' s squadron in Jamaica . When Commodore Sir Samuel Hood arrived to take command in the Leeward Islands , he raised his pennant in " Centaur " . On 26 June 1803 " Centaur " participated in the capture of Saint Lucia and its citadel , Morne Fortunée ; three days later the expedition took Tobago from the French . The fleet went on to capture the Dutch islands . On 21 August 1803 , " Centaur " and captured the American ship " Fame " and her cargo of flour and corn . Then on 31 August " Centaur " detained the Dutch ship " Good Hope " , which was carrying wine and cordage . On 20 September the British seized Demerara . The corvette " Hippomenes " , which was acting as a guard ship at Fort Stabroek , where she looked after the Governor ' s maritime affairs and served as harbour master for visiting ships , was the only vessel belonging to the Batavian Republic there and was included in the terms of capitulation . The British took her into service as . In September Hood also received the assignment to blockade the bays of Fort Royal and Saint Pierre , Martinique . On 22 October " Centaur " captured the French privateer " Vigilante " . She was armed with two guns and had a crew of 37 men . The pursuit took seven hours . " Centaur " was sailing past Cap des Salinés , Martinique , early in the morning of 26 November when a battery fired at her . Hood had Maxwell anchor in Petite Anse d ' Arlette . Then a landing party made up of " Centaur " s marines and about 40 sailors destroyed the battery . They also threw its six 24 - pounders over the cliff . The militia guarding the battery had a brass 2 - pounder gun but fled without putting up any resistance even though the landing party had to climb a steep , narrow path . Unfortunately , the premature explosion of the battery ' s magazine cost " Centaur " one man killed , and three officers and six men wounded , the only casualties from the operation . Then " Centaur " discovered another battery , this one armed with two 42 - pounders and a 32 - pounder , between the Grande and Petite Anse d ' Arlette . The French abandoned the battery when a landing party approached . Once again , " Centaur " s men threw the guns over the cliff and destroyed a barracks and the ammunition stored there . " Centaur " was anchored in Fort Royal Bay , Martinique , when on the morning of 1 December she sighted a schooner towing a sloop . The pair were about six miles away and Hood believed that they were on their way to St . Pierre . He therefore instructed Maxwell to take " Centaur " in pursuit . Their prey did not initially notice them , but when they did , the schooner let go her tow and the vessels separated . After a pursuit that extended over 24 leagues , " Centaur " captured the schooner . She turned out to be the privateer " Ma Sophie " , out of Guadeloupe . She had a crew of 46 men and had had eight guns that she had thrown overboard during the chase in an attempt to increase her speed . When " Ma Sophie " and the sloop separated , " Centaur " sent the " Sarah " , an advice boat , after the sloop , which she captured . . Hood decided to use " Sophie " as a tender to " Centaur " . Lieutenant William Donnett became her captain with the task of monitoring the channel between Martinique and Diamond Rock , a basalt island south of Fort - de - France , the main port of Martinique , for enemy vessels . Subsequently , Donnett and " Sophie " frequently visited the Rock to gather both the thick , broad - leaved grass that the crew could weave into sailors ' hats , and a spinach - like plant called callaloo . Callaloo , when boiled and served daily , kept the crews of " Centaur " and " Sophie " from scurvy and was a nice addition to a menu too long dominated by salt beef . In late 1803 and early 1804 , " Centaur " , under Captain Murray Maxwell , established several batteries on Diamond Rock . To ease its administration vis - à - vis the Admiralty , The British commissioned the rock as HMS " Diamond Rock " . Hood garrisoned it with two lieutenants and 120 men under the command of Lieutenant James Wilkes Maurice , his first lieutenant . Unfortunately , at some point during this period and for an unknown reason , " Sophie " blew up , killing all but one man of her crew . ( " Diamond Rock " fell to an overwhelming French attack on 3 June 1805 . ) On 3 February , " Centaur " sent her boats to cut out the French 18 - gun brig - corvette " Curieux " from the Carénage , under the guns of Fort Edward at Fort - Royal harbour , Martinique . In the fight , the French lost 40 men killed and wounded , and the British had nine men wounded , including all three officers leading the cutting out party . The British took " Curieux " into the navy as HMS " Curieux " . Her original commander was Lieutenant Robert Carthew Reynolds , who had led the cutting - out party , but he died of the wounds he had received in the attack . His replacement as her commander was Lieutenant George Bettesworth of " Centaur " , also a member of the cutting - out party . On 25 April 1804 , " Centaur " arrived off the Surinam River after a three - week voyage from Barbados . Her flotilla consisted of " Pandour " , " Serapis " and " Alligator " , all three " en flute " , " Hippomenes " , " Drake " , the 10 - gun schooner " Unique " , and transports carrying 2000 troops under Brigadier - General Sir Charles Green . The British proposed surrender terms that the Dutch governor rejected . As an initial step in the campaign , " Centaur " sent her boats to capture the battery of Friderici . The landing party captured the battery at the cost of four men killed and three wounded . The Dutch surrendered on 5 May and Hood made Captain Conway Shipley of " Hippomenes " post - captain and appointed him to " Centaur " . ( One day earlier the Admiralty had promoted Shipley into the ex - French 28 - gun frigate " Sagesse " ; he later assumed command of her at Jamaica . ) Hood next appointed Captain William Richardson of the 28 - gun frigate " Alligator " to command " Centaur " and the Admiralty confirmed his appointment on 27 September . The British captured two Dutch men - of - war , the 32 - gun frigate " Proserpine " , which they took into service as , and the 18 - gun corvette " Pylades " , which they took into service as . The British also captured the " George " , a schooner of 10 guns , and three merchant vessels . On 30 July 1804 , " Centaur " sent her boats into Basseterre Roads , Guadeloupe , where they cut out a schooner of unknown name and of two guns , as well as the privateer " Elizabeth " , which was pierced for 12 guns but mounting six . She had a crew of 65 , most of whom were either killed , drowned , or swam ashore . The boats achieved these captures despite a complete lack of wind and under heavy grape and small arms fire from the batteries and troops that lined the beach . The boats had one man killed and five wounded , and brought out two wounded prisoners . Shipley described " Elizabeth " as " the fastest sailing Privateer out of Guadaioupe , and has been uncommonly fortunate this War . " " Centaur " also recaptured another " Elizabeth " , this one of Liverpool , that the " Decidé " had captured while " Elizabeth " was sailing from the coast of Africa with a cargo of slaves . " Centaur " detained , on suspicion , the " Grecian " ship " St . Nicholas " , which was carrying produce from Guadeloupe . " Centaur " also recaptured the schooner " Betsey " , which had been sailing in ballast . Then in December , " Centaur " recaptured the English ship " Admiral Peckenham " , which was carrying produce . " Centaur " sailed to England in the spring of 1805 , before returning to the Leeward Islands . A year later , on 29 July 1805 , " Centaur " , under Captain Henry Whitby , in company with a squadron under Captain De Courcy , was sailing from Jamaica to join Nelson , when the squadron encountered a hurricane . The storm threw " Centaur " s masts overboard , carried away her rudder and smashed and sent all her boats overboard . Leaks that had started when " Centaur " had run ground some weeks before worsened substantially . The crew , especially the marines , labored at her pumps . For sixteen hours they were barely able to offset the water coming in . On the second day of the storm , a huge wave almost brought the first - rate crashing into " Centaur " . As the hurricane lessened and the seas became a little calmer , the crew was able to get a sail under " Centaur " , and use her hawser s to lash it to her , much reducing the leaks and bracing her shattered frame . To help keep " Centaur " afloat , the crew also threw all but a dozen or so guns overboard . The 74 - gun third rate HMS " Eagle " was then able to tow " Centaur " into Halifax . There Commissioner John Inglefield , who had been captain of the previous " Centaur " when she foundered after the Atlantic hurricane of 16 – 17 September 1782 , greeted her . At Halifax , " Centaur " was put on her side for repairs . At that time it was discovered that " 14 feet of false keel was found off from the fore foot aft , which occasioned the leak . " Captain Whitby married Catherine Dorothea Inglefield , the commissioner ' s youngest daughter , around the end of 1805 . Whitby wanted to stay in Halifax so he made an exchange into the 50 - gun fourth rate HMS " Leander " . Captain John Talbot of " Leander " took command of " Centaur " on 5 December and sailed her home . Because of the damage she had suffered , " Centaur " missed joining Nelson and therefore being at the Battle of Trafalgar . The Channel and Eastern Atlantic . In 1806 , " Centaur " was under the command of Captain W . H . Webley and also served as flagship for Captain Sir Samuel Hood , who was acting as Commodore of the squadron off Rochefort . On 16 July , boats from each of the squadron ' s line - of - battle ships and and engaged in a cutting out expedition on two corvettes and a convoy in the Garonne . Lieutenant Edward Reynolds Sibley , " Centaur " s First Lieutenant , was badly wounded in the successful attack on the largest corvette , the five - year old " Caesar " . " Caesar " was armed with eighteen guns and had a complement of 86 men , under the command of Monsieur Louis Francois Hector Fourre , " lieutenant de vaisseau " . One man from " Centaur " was killed and seven , including Sibley , were wounded . The other French vessels escaped up the river and the British boats that followed them , unsuccessfully , suffered heavy casualties . In addition to the losses from " Centaur " , the British had five men killed , 29 wounded , and 21 missing , most of whom were apparently taken prisoner . During the Action of 25 September 1806 , " Centaur " captured " Armide " , and assisted in the capture of " Infatigable " , " Gloire " and " Minerve " . The British took all of them into the Royal Navy under their existing names . " Centaur " lost three men killed and three wounded . In addition , a musket ball shattered Hood ' s arm , which had to be amputated . The wound forced Hood to quit the deck and leave the ship in the charge of Lieutenant William Case . Towards the end of 1806 , Hood received orders to join a secret expedition at the Cape Verde Islands . However , the expedition sailed before " Centaur " arrived . Hood then took a squadron under his command to cruise between Madeira and the Canaries . The Baltic . In the summer of 1807 , Samuel Hood had received a promotion to Rear Admiral . On 26 July 1807 , " Centaur " , with Commodore Sir Samuel Hood and Captain William Henry Webley , sailed as a part of a fleet of 38 vessels under Admiral James Gambier and bound for Copenhagen . Between 15 August and 20 October , she took part in the second Battle of Copenhagen when Gambier , together with General Lord William Cathcart , captured the Danish Navy in a preemptive attack . Taking command of the fleet at Copenhagen , he raised his pennant in " Centaur " on 18 October . " Centaur " s deployed her boats to blockade the harbour at Copenhagen and intercept any supplies arriving from the Baltic . At some point , her cutter attempted to take a Danish dispatch boat that was trying to sail from Copenhagen past the island of Moen to Bornholm . The Danish boat ran on shore just past a cliff where the Danes had stationed troops with two field pieces . The Danes on the cliff fired on the cutter , killing the lieutenant in charge and wounding a midshipman . Nevertheless , Midshipman Price , Master ' s Mate Walcott and the cutter ' s crew succeeded in taking their quarry and towing her off . By 24 December , " Centaur " was again briefly in the Atlantic , this time participating in General William Beresford ' s ( friendly ) occupation of the island of Madeira . Anglo - Russian War . In early 1808 Russia initiated the Finnish War in response to Sweden ' s refusal to bow to Russian pressure to join the anti - British alliance . Russia captured Finland and made it a Grand Duchy under the Russian Empire . The British decided to take counter - measures and in May sent a fleet , including " Centaur " , under Vice - Admiral Sir James Saumarez to the Baltic . On 9 July , the Russian fleet , under Admiral Peter Khanykov , came out from Kronstadt . The Swedes massed a fleet under Swedish Admiral Cederstrom , consisting of 11 line - of - battle ships and five frigates at Örö and Jungfrusund to oppose them . On 16 August , Saumarez then sent " Centaur " and " Implacable " , under Captain Thomas Byam Martin , also a 74 - gun third rate , to join the Swedish fleet . They chased two Russian frigates on 19 July and joined the Swedes the following day . On 22 August , the Russian fleet , which consisted of nine ships of the line , five large frigates and six smaller ones , moved from Hanko and appeared off the Örö roads the next day . The Swedish ships from Jungfur Sound had joined Rear - Admiral Nauckhoff and by the evening of 24 August the combined Anglo - Swedish force had made its preparations . Early the next day they sailed from Örö to meet the Russians . The Anglo - Swedish force discovered the Russians off Hanko Peninsula ; as the Russians retreated the Allied ships followed them . " Centaur " and " Implacable " exhibited superior sailing and slowly outdistanced their Swedish allies . At 5am on 26 August " Implacable " caught up with a Russian straggler , the 74 - gun " Vsevolod " ( also " Sewolod " ) , under Captain Rudnew ( or Roodneff ) . " Implacable " and " Vsevolod " exchanged fire for about 20 minutes before " Vsevolod " ceased firing . " Vsevolod " hauled down her colours , but Hood recalled " Implacable " because the Russian fleet was approaching . During the fight " Implacable " lost six dead and 26 wounded ; " Vsevolod " lost some 48 dead and 80 wounded . The Russian frigate " Poluks " then towed " Vsevolod " towards Rager Vik ( Ragerswik or Rogerswick ) , but when " Centaur " started to chase them the frigate dropped her tow . The Russians sent out boats to bring her in , in which endeavor they almost succeeded . They did succeed in putting 100 men aboard her as reinforcements and to replace her casualties . However , just outside the port , " Centaur " was able to collide with " Vsevolod " . A party of seamen from " Centaur " then lashed her mizzen to the Russian bowsprit before " Centaur " opened fire . " Vsevolod " dropped her anchor and with both ships stuck in place , both sides attempted to board the other vessel . In the meantime , " Implacable " had come up and added her fire to the melee . After a battle of about half an hour , the Russian vessel struck again . " Implacable " hauled " Centaur " off . The British removed their prisoners and then set fire to " Vsevolod " , which blew up some hours later . " Centaur " lost three killed and 27 wounded . " Vsevolod " lost another 124 men killed and wounded in the battle with " Centaur " ; 56 Russians escaped by swimming ashore . In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with the clasps " Implacable 26 Augt . 1808 " and " Centaur 26 Augt . 1808 " to all surviving claimants from the action . Vice - Admiral Saumerez with his entire squadron joined the Anglo - Swedish squadron the next day . They then blockaded Khanykov ' s squadron for some months . After the British and the Swedes abandoned the blockade , the Russian fleet was able to return to Kronstadt . Return to the Mediterranean . In 1809 , Frederick Marryat , who would go on to became a famous author , joined " Centaur " as a midshipman . He continued to serve under Hood in the Mediterranean . Capt . John Chambers White brought " Hibernia " to Port Mahon to be Hood ' s flagship . White then took command of " Centaur " . " Centaur " participated in the defence of Tarragona when French forces under Marshal Suchet besieged the city from May 1811 . Captains Codrington , White , and Adam spent most nights in their gigs carrying out operations under cover of darkness to evacuate women , children and wounded . On 21 June the French broke in . They then reportedly massacred several thousand men , women and children and took many prisoners before setting fire to the city . The boats of the squadron had only been able to rescue some five or six hundred of the inhabitants . On 28 June " Centaur " s launch engaged the French on a beach at Tarragona , losing two men killed and three wounded . " Centaur " returned to Plymouth in October 1813 . Channel Fleet . " Centaur " first sailed to Saint Helen ' s Island , Quebec , and the Western Isles ( the Azores ) , but arrived off Cherbourg by November 1813 . On the evening of 6 April 1814 , " Centaur " arrived at the Gironde . Her objective was to support in her attack on the French ship of the line " Regulus " . Also near her were three brigs and some other vessels . All were under the protection of shore batteries there . The plan was that a landing party in boats , to which " Centaur " had contributed , would storm Fort Talmont while " Egmont " would take advantage of high tide to attack " Regulus " . At midnight , before the attack had even begun , it became clear that the French had set fire to their ships , which were totally destroyed by morning . Before 9 April , a landing party of seamen and marines from the 38 - gun frigate " Belle Poule " , under Captain George Harris , successively entered and destroyed the batteries of Pointe Coubre , Pointe Nègre , Royan , Soulac , and Mèche . Final years . After the end of the Napoleonic Wars , " Centaur " made a few more cruises , including another to Quebec , in 1814 . In the spring of 1815 , under Capt . T . G . Caulfield , she sailed with HMS " Chatham " from Plymouth to the Western Islands again . On 26 August she left the Cape of Good Hope for England , arriving on 13 November . She was paid off in Plymouth three days later . She was broken up in 1819 .