HMS Orpheus (1809) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Orpheus
Ordered	27 February 1808
Builder	Deptford Dockyard
Laid down	August 1808
Launched	12 August 1809
Completed	By 21 September 1809
Fate	Broken up in August 1819
General characteristics
Class and type	Apollo-class frigate
Tons burthen	94728⁄94 (bm)
Length	145 ft (44.2 m) (gundeck); 121 ft 8+3⁄4 in (37.1 m) (keel)
Beam	38 ft 3 in (11.7 m)
Depth of hold	13 ft 4 in (4.1 m)
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	264
Armament	Upper deck: 26 × 18-pounder guns QD: 2 × 9-pounder guns + 10 × 32-pounder carronades Fc: 2 × 9-pounder guns + 4 × 32-pounder carronades

Plan of an Apollo-class frigate dated 1803

HMS Orpheus was a 36-gun Apollo-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy launched in 1809 from Deptford Dockyard. She was broken up in 1819.

Construction

Ordered on 27 February 1807 and laid down in August 1808 at Deptford Dockyard. Launched on 12 August 1809 and completed on 21 September 1809.

Service

Holkar under attack from HMS Orpheus

Orpheus also saw service in the War of 1812. While in Long Island Sound, she chased the American privateer Holkar and ran her aground, before destroying Holkar by cannon fire.

Orpheus was part of the British patrolling squadron in Long Island Sound. When the British fleet encountered an American fleet, commanded by Stephen Decatur it chased them to New London where the American fleet escaped. The British squadron there formed a blockade, confining the American fleet until the end of the war.

On 27 April Orpheus chased the American ship Whampoa on shore near Newport, Rhode Island. Whampoa had been sailing from Lorient. The British took possession of Whampoa but then abandoned her due to fire from the shore.

Fate

She was broken up at Chatham Dockyard in August 1819.