HMS Leander ( 1780 ) HMS " Leander " was a " Portland " - class 50 - gun fourth rate of the Royal Navy , launched at Chatham on 1 July 1780 . She served on the West Coast of Africa , West Indies , and the Halifax station . During the French Revolutionary Wars she participated in the Battle of the Nile before a French ship captured her . The Russians and Turks recaptured her and returned her to the Royal Navy in 1799 . On 23 February 1805 , while on the Halifax station , " Leander " captured the French frigate " Ville de Milan " and recaptured her prize , . On 25 April 1805 cannon fire from " Leander " killed an American seaman while " Leander " was trying to search an American vessel off the US coast for contraband . The resulting " Leander Affair " contributed to the worsening of relations between the United States and Great Britain . In 1813 the Admiralty converted " Leander " to a hospital ship under the name " Hygeia " . " Hygeia " was sold in 1817 . Early service . She was commissioned in June 1780 under Captain Thomas Shirley . " Leander " cruised for some time in the North Sea . At the end of 1781 " Leander " and the sloop - of - war HMS " Alligator " sailed for the Dutch Gold Coast with a convoy , consisting of a few merchant - vessels and transports . Britain was at war with the Dutch Republic and Shirley launched an unsuccessful attack on 17 February on the Dutch outpost at Elmina , being repulsed four days later . " Leander " and Shirley then went on to capture the small Dutch forts at Mouri ( Fort Nassau - 20 guns ) , Kormantine ( Courmantyne or Fort Amsterdam - 32 guns ; 6 March ) , Apam ( Fort Lijdzaamheid or Fort Patience - 22 guns ; 16 March ) , Senya Beraku ( Berricoe , Berku , Fort Barracco or Fort Goede Hoop - 18 guns ; 23 March ) , and Accra ( Fort Crèvecœur or Ussher Fort - 32 guns ; 30 March ) . " Leander " also destroyed the French store - ship " Officeuse " , off Senegal , supposed to be worth £30 , 000 . Shirley garrisoned those facilities with personnel from Cape Coast . Shirley sent two sets of dispatches back to Britain . One set went in the transport sloop " Ulysses " , which was under the command of Captain Frodsham . The French frigate " Fée " captured " Ulysses " and took her into Brest , but not before her captain had weighted the dispatches and thrown them overboard . Shirley ' s first lieutenant , Mr . Van court , took the second set in the cartel transport " Mackerel " , which also carried the Dutch governors of the forts to Europe . Shirley then sailed to the West Indies where towards the end of 1782 as senior captain he became commanding officer prior to the arrival of Admiral Hugh Pigot . Pigot promoted him to captain of the 90 - gun . Pigot appointed Captain John Willet Payne to replace Shirley . On 18 January 1783 , " Leander " was escorting a cartel when the two vessels encountered a large French warship at midnight . After an inconclusive engagement of two hours , " Leander " and her opponent separated . Pigot reported that the French vessel was probably a 74 - gun ship of the line . Furthermore , rumour had it that she was the " Couronne " and that she had gone on to Puerto Rico . On 4 March " Leander " captured the brig " Bella Juditta " . " Leander " was one of the five warships and the armed storeship " Sally " that shared in the proceeds of the capture on 23 March of the ship " Arend op Zee " . Captain J . Reynolds took command briefly in 1784 before " Leander " was paid - off in Portsmouth in April . She was recommissioned in August 1786 , after repairs in 1785 . Captain Sir James Barclay commissioned " Leander " in August 1786 and then sailed her for Nova Scotia on 9 April 1787 . She served as flagship for Sir Herbert Sawyer in 1788 until paid off in September . Captain Joseph Peyton , Jr . immediately recommissioned her as the flagship for his father Rear - Admiral Joseph Peyton , Sr . She sailed for the Mediterranean on 22 December . French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars . " Leander " was recommissioned in May 1795 under Captain Maurice Delgano . On 12 May 1796 she was part of Admiral Duncan ' s squadron , when , of the squadron , captured the Dutch frigate " Argo " and the brig " Mercury " . The Royal Navy took both " Argo " and " Mercury " into service , " Argo " became while " Mercury " became . " Leander " shared by agreement in the proceeds of the capture of the " Vrow Hendrica " , captured on 22 October . In November 1796 " Leander " came under the command of Captain Thomas Boulden Thompson . She then escorted a convoy to Gibraltar on 7 January 1797 . " Leander " joined the Mediterranean Fleet under Earl St Vincent , and was assigned to the squadron under Horatio Nelson . Thompson took part in Nelson ' s attack on Santa Cruz in July 1797 . Thompson was among the leaders of the landing parties , under the overall direction of Nelson and Thomas Troubridge . Wind hampered the initial attempts to force a landing ; the Spanish defenders immediately subjected the successful landing in the evening of 22 July to heavy fire . Still , Thompson ' s party were able to advance and spike several of the enemy ' s cannon . However , the British forces had become dispersed throughout the town , and were forced to negotiate a truce to allow them to withdraw . Thompson himself was wounded in the battle . " Leander " lost seven men killed , 6 wounded ( including Thompson ) , and one missing . Nile . Under Captain Thomas Thompson " Leander " took part in the Battle of the Nile on 1 August 1798 . She was able to exploit a gap in the French line and anchor between " Peuple Souverain " and " Franklin " , from which position she raked both enemy ships while protected from their broadsides . In the battle she suffered only 14 men wounded . Capture . Carrying Nelson ' s dispatches from the Nile and accompanied by Sir Edward Berry , " Leander " encountered the 74 - gun French third rate " Généreux " off Crete . In the subsequent action of 18 August 1798 " Leander " lost 35 men killed and 57 wounded , including Thompson . The French suffered 100 killed and 180 wounded . Still , the French prevailed and took her into service under existing name . The French treated the prisoners badly and plundered almost everything but the clothes the British had on their backs . When Thompson remonstrated with Captain Lejoille of " Généreux " , Lejoille answered nonchalantly , " J ' en suis fâché , mais le fait est , que les Français sont bons au pillage . " ( " It makes me angry , but the fact is , the French are good at pillaging . " ) They refused treatment for Thompson , who had been badly wounded . " Leander " s surgeon , Mr . Mulberry , was only able to remove a musket ball from Thompson ' s arm after the vessels reached Corfu on 1 September and he was smuggled aboard the vessel where the French were holding Thompson . Most of the officers returned to Britain on parole but the French detained a number of seamen , and in particular Thomas Jarrat , the carpenter , after he refused to reveal to them the dimensions of " Leander " s masts and spars . Captain Lejoille tried , albeit unsuccessfully , to get some of the British crew that he had detained to assist him when a Turko - Russian fleet appeared off Corfu . The British refused . The subsequent court - martial aboard at Sheerness most honourably acquitted Thompson , his officers and his crew . The court also thanked Berry for the assistance he gave during the battle . As Thompson was rowed back to shore the crews of all the ships Sheerness saluted him with three cheers . He was subsequently knighted and awarded a pension of £200 per annum . " Leander " was at Corfu when a joint Russian and Ottoman force besieged the island . On 28 February 1799 , the Russians and Ottomans attacked Vido , which is a small island ( less than kilometer in diameter ) at the mouth of the port of Corfu . After a four - hour bombardment by several ships , all five shore batteries on the island had been suppressed . " Leander " and the corvette " Brune " tried to intervene but were damaged and forced to retreat to the protection of the batteries of Corfu . The Russians and the Turks recaptured " Leander " and " Brune " when Corfu capitulated to them on 3 March 1799 . The Russians restored " Leander " to the Royal Navy . They also gave " Brune " to the Ottomans . Return to British service . " Leander " was recommissioned in the Mediterranean under Commander Adam Drummond in June 1799 . In September Captain Michael Halliday took command . From July 1801 to June 1802 she refitted at Deptford . She recommissioned in May under Captain James Oughton as flagship for Vice - Admiral Sir Andrew Mitchell . In July she sailed for Halifax . Captain Francis Fane took command a year later , in August 1803 , with Captain Alexander Skene replacing him in November . On 16 August 1804 " Leander " was in company with when they recaptured the " Hibberts " . She then had three more captains within the year : George Ralph Collier , Oughton again , and from November , John Talbot . On 23 February 1805 , while on the Halifax station , " Leander " discovered the French frigate " Ville de Milan " , under Captain Pierre Guillet , and the British " Cleopatra " , which the " Ville de Milan " had captured the day before . The engagement between " Ville de Milan " and " Cleopatra " had left both ships greatly damaged . Consequently , when they encountered " Leander " they struck to " Leander " without a fight . " Leander " came upon " Cleopatra " first , and as soon as she struck , the British prisoners on board her , i . e . , her original crew , took possession of her . She then followed " Leander " towards " Ville de Paris " , which too struck . The Navy took " Ville de Milan " into service as . On 3 June " Leander " captured the " Nancy " . Three days later she captured the " Elizabeth " . The next day " Leander " captured the " Volunteer " . On 12 October , " Leander " captured the " Vengeance " . Thereafter , in recognition of the capture of " Ville de Milan " and the recapture of " Cleopatra " , the Admiralty promoted Talbot to command of ship of the line . The " Leander " Affair . HMS " Leander " then came under the command of Captains William Lyall and Henry Whitby . " Leander " , under Slingsby Simpson , and , under John Nairne , were repeatedly stationed off Sandy Hook , ostensibly to keep watch on two French frigates that had taken refuge in the harbour . However , in the summer of 1804 , the warships began stopping and boarding all American ships going into New York just outside of the United States ' s three - mile territorial limit , and searching them for any French goods . If anything suspicious was found , the ship was detained and taken to Halifax . On 25 April 1806 , " Leander " fired a warning shot over the bow of a merchantman , signalling it to stop . The cannonball passed into the harbour , decapitating John Pierce , the helmsman of the " Richard " , a small coasting sloop inside the harbour . The sloop ' s captain , who was Pierce ' s brother , made his way to New York City , where he gathered a mob that paraded Pierce ' s body and head through the streets . The next day , an angry mob intercepted a party from the " Leander " returning to their ship with a load of provisions ; the mob seized the provisions and placed them on twenty carts , the lead one bearing a pole flying an American flag and a British one below it . The carts were wheeled around the city as members of the mob beat drums . When the crowd reached Alms House , the provisions were given to the poor , and the British flag was burned . Protest meetings were held over the incident . John Pierce was given a large public funeral . Four of the " Leander " ' s officers caught ashore were imprisoned for their own protection , and were later secretly released . On 14 June President Thomas Jefferson issued a proclamation against Captain Whitby . He ordered " Leander " , " Driver " and " Cambrian " immediately to quit US waters and forbade them ever to return . He extended the same prohibition to all vessels that Captains Whitby , John Nairne and Simpson might command . Whitby was court martialed in England for the murder of John Pierce , and was acquitted . On 26 April " Leander " , " Cambrian " and " Driver " captured the American ship " Aurora " . In May Captain Salusbury Pryce Humphreys took command of " Leander " at Halifax as she became the flagship for Admiral George Berkeley . Captain Richard Raggett then sailed her back to Britain in 1807 . Fate . By 1807 " Leander " was out of commission at Portsmouth . In 1808 she was in Plymouth . In October 1810 , " Leander " was fitted as a medical depot ship at Portsmouth . In 1813 the Admiralty commissioned a new " Leander " so the old " Leander " was given the name " Hygeia " . " Hygeia " was sold on 14 April 1817 to a Mr . Thomas for £2 , 100 .