George Heneage Dundas
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| George Heneage Dundas | |
|---|---|
| 8 September 1778 – 7 October 1834 | |
 George Heneage Dundas |
|
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/branch |  Royal Navy |
| Rank | Rear Admiral |
| Awards | Companion of the Order of the Bath |
Rear Admiral George Heneage Lawrence Dundas CB (8 September 1778 – 7 October 1834) was a senior naval officer and First Sea Lord.
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[edit] HMS Queen Charlotte
In February 1800 George Heneage Dundas was aboard Lord Keith's flagship, HMS Queen Charlotte. Dundas was junior to Lieutenant Lord Thomas Cochrane but Cochrane had taken command of Nelson's prize, the Genereaux, in late 1799 to take her into port; Dundas therefore became 5th Lieutenant of the Queen Charlotte. One month later, early in the morning of 17 March, cries of "Fire" rang out throughout the vessel. Some hay lying under the half-deck had been set on fire by a match kept there for the signal guns. Dundas was in the forecastle where he organized fire-fighting efforts. Dundas led a party below decks where they secured the main and fore hatches and then opened the lower-deck ports and the sea cocks to flood the lower decks to prevent the fire spreading down. These efforts delayed the fire from reaching the two magazines. Dundas continued working below decks until some middle-deck guns fell through the deck. At about 9am Dundas climbed out the foremost lower-deck port and climbed up to the forecastle, joining the about 150 men there who were throwing water on the fire. Despite the crew's exertions, the Queen Charlotte eventually blew up with the loss of 673 people out of its complement of 840 officers, men and boys, including the Captain and her first Lieutenant. Dundas survived, and was promoted to Commander the following December.[1].
[edit] HMS Calpe
On 25 October 1800 the frigate Phaeton chased a Spanish polacca to an anchorage under a battery of five heavy guns at Fuengirola, where she joined a French privateer brig. On the night of the 27 October, Francis Beaufort, inventor of the Beaufort Wind-Scale, led Phaeton's boats on a cutting out expedition. The boarding party suffered one man killed and three wounded, including Beaufort who received, but survived, 19 wounds. The boarding party succeeded in securing the polacca. The captured ship was the San José, alias Aglies, of 14 guns and was a packet carrying provisions between Malaga and Velilla. The British immediately commissioned San José as a British sloop-of-war under the name of Calpe, the ancient name of Gibraltar. Although it would have been usual to promote Beaufort, the successful and heroic leader of the expedition, to command Calpe, Lord Keith chose instead to promote Dundas who not only was not present at the battle, but was junior to Beaufort.[2]
In July 1801 as a commander he was captain of Calpe at the Battle of Algeciras Bay. After Hannibal grounded, Dundas, deceived by a signal from her, sent his boats to save Hannibal's crew. The French detained the boats and their crews, including Calpe's lieutenant, Thomas Sykes; after firing several broadsides at the enemy's shipping and batteries, Dundas and Calpe returned to Gibraltar.[3]
On 8 July a squadron of five Spanish ships-of-the-line, a French 74, three frigates and a large number of gunboats reinforced the French ships. The British ships at Gibraltar followed the Franco-Spanish fleet when it sailed on 12 July. In the subsequent second phase of the Battle of Algeciras Bay, the two First Rates Real Carlos and Hermenegildo fired upon each other during the night, caught fire and exploded, with tremendous loss of life. The British captured the Third Rate St Antoine, with Superb and Calpe then assisting in securing the prize and removing the prisoners.[4] Rear Adm. James Saumarez made Dundas Post-captain on 9 August and he took command of St Antoine, which he sailed back to England.
[edit] HMS Quebec
After the peace of 1802, Dundas apparently held no command until February 1805 when he was appointed to the 32-gun Active class frigate Quebec. Eleven months later he removed to Euryalus .
[edit] HMS Euryalus
In January 1806 Dundas took command of 38-gun Apollo class frigate Euryalus and sailed with Ocean and other warships as escorts to a large convoy bound for Oporto, Lisbon and the Mediterranean. Towards the end of 1807 Euryalus returned to England with Niger as escort to a convoy of several thousand troops under Sir John Moore from Gibraltar. She went into dock at Plymouth for a refit and was then stationed in the North Sea. She carried the Duke d'Angouleme from Yarmouth to Gottenburg and escorted the Baltic convoys through the Great Belt.
After seeing one convoy clear on 11 June 1808, she and another vessel discovered several vessels at anchor at the entrance of Nakskov close into the shore. Dundas anchored and sent four boats from the two ships to destroy them. They burnt two large troop transports and captured a gun-vessel armed with two 18-pounders and carrying 64 men. The enemy lost seven men killed and twelve wounded, as well as many drowned; the British had one man slightly wounded.
During the same year Dundas went to Elbing, a small port in West Prussia about 60 kilometers east of Dantzig (now in Poland) to embark Princess Marie Josephine Louise of Savoy (the consort of Louis XVIII), the Duc du Berry and other members of the French royal family. He took them to Carlscrona in southern Sweden and, after re-embarking them at Gottenburg, finally to Harwich.
On July 30, 1809, a British armed force of 39,000 men landed on Walcheren in what became the Walcheren Campaign. Dundas and Euryalus took part in the disastrous expedition where, under the orders of Captain Lord William Stuart in Lavinia, she joined the squadron which forced the passage of the Scheldt between the batteries at Flushing and Cadsand on 11 August. Euryalus had no casualties although two men were killed and nine wounded in the other ships.
Later she was stationed off Cherbourg under the orders of Capt. Sir Richard King, and in November captured the French privateer lugger Etoile of 14 guns and 48 men.
In the spring of 1810 Euryalus escorted a large convoy from Spithead to Portugal and the Mediterranean and was then attached to Captain Blackwood's inshore squadron off Toulon. This consisted of Warspite, Ajax, Conqueror, Euryalus and Shearwater. A strong gale from the north-west on 15 July forced the fleet to take shelter behind the Ile du Levant and drove the commander-in-chief's ship, San Josef, as far to the east as Villefranche.
On 20 July a division of the French fleet consisting of six sail-of-the line and four frigates came out from Toulon. Their aim was to enable a frigate and her convoy to escape from Bandol where they had been forced to take refuge. Because the wind was now light and variable, Capt. Blackwood was unable to prevent the junction with the frigate and, while he was trying to concentrate his squadron, Euryalus and Shearwater were obliged to cross ahead of the French ships. When the wind failed it seemed certain that the enemy, which still had wind, would be able to capture them. Blackwood, in the absence of the admiral, resolved to risk action.
He brought to with Conqueror and Ajax astern of him and exchanged broadsides with the enemy ships as they hauled up in succession. When the French tacked, the British line followed their example. Euryalus and Shearwater made their escape and the squadron stood a little way to the south but the French did not take advantage of their superiority. Instead, they returned to harbour. During the action, Shearwater received three broadsides from one of the French line-of-battle ships and a frigate without actually being struck.
Early in 1811 Dundas temporarily took command of the 74-gun Third Rate Achille until relieved by Capt. Askew Paffard Hollis, who had transferred from Standard. He then returned to Euryalus. On 7 June 1811 the boats of Euryalus and Swallow captured the French privateer Intrepide off Corsica after a long chase. She had a crew of 58 and was armed with two 8-pounders.
[edit] HMS Edinburgh
In October 1812 Dundas transferred to the 74-gun Third Rate Edinburgh. In 1813 Dundas and Edinburgh were in the Mediterranean. On the morning of 5 October, Edinburgh joined Capt. Duncan of Imperieuse off Porto D'Anzo where he and Resistance, Swallow, Eclair and Pylades had been watching a convoy for some days with the intention of attacking it.
The place was defended by two batteries mounting three heavy guns each on the mole, a tower with one gun and a battery with two guns. During the attack in the afternoon, Edinburgh supported Eclair and Pylades as they bore up against the battery to the south. After the ships opened fire, landing parties brought out the 29 vessels of the convoy, 20 of which were laden with wood for the arsenal at Toulon. All the works were blown up.
On 30 November. Edinburgh, Furieuse and Mermaid embarked 1,000 men of the Italian levy at Milazzo. America and Termagant joined them. They sailed the same evening and, accompanied by Armada and Imperieuse, landed them at Viareggio. Some 600 cavalry and infantry from the Leghorn garrison attacked the troops, who routed them, capturing two field pieces and a howitzer. From the prisoners they learned of the weak state of the garrison and asked to be re-embarked to be taken to Leghorn. Boats of the squadron towed them off the shore in country vessels and the ships towed the whole to the Leghorn Roads. The troops and Marines landed on the evening of 13 December and they occupied the suburbs of the town. Some 700 cavalry and infantry attacked the marines, who opened to let the cavalry pass through them, killing all but 14 and 2 officers. Of these, the Italian levy killed all but one officer. The marines charged and routed the remainder, killing, wounding or taking prisoner between 250 and 300 men. Edinburgh had three marines wounded.
At the end of April 1814 Edinburgh and Swallow accompanied the troops as they advanced along the coast in the Gulf of Spezia. Dundas landed marines and seamen who manhandled six 18-pounders to the heights above the fortress of Santa Maria near La Spezzia. Preparations were being made to storm the fortress when the enemy showed a flag of truce and surrendered on 30 March. Edinburgh had the only casualties: one seaman killed and two wounded.
Dundas rose to the most senior offices in the Royal Navy and served as First Sea Lord in 1834.
[edit] Political career
Dundas also served as Member of Parliament for Richmond in 1802, 1806, and 1812. Later, that is from 1818-20 and 1826-30 he served as an MP for Orkney and Shetland.
[edit] Literature
Dundas was featured as a major supporting character in the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian. O'Brian depicts Dundas as shipmates with Jack Aubrey as midshipmen in several commissions.
[edit] References
- ^ HMS Queen Charlotte Fire
- ^ James (1837) Vol. 3, 55.
- ^ James (1837), 118.
- ^ James (1837), 128.
- James, William (1837) Naval History of Great Britain 1793 - 1827. (London), Vol. 3.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Lawrence Dundas and Arthur Shakespeare |
Member of Parliament for Richmond, North Yorkshire 1802–1806 With: Arthur Shakespeare |
Succeeded by Charles Lawrence Dundas and Arthur Shakespeare |
| Preceded by Lawrence Dundas and Robert Chaloner |
Member of Parliament for Richmond, North Yorkshire 1812–1812 With: Robert Chaloner |
Succeeded by Dudley North and Robert Chaloner |
| Preceded by Richard Bempde Johnstone Honyman |
Member of Parliament for Orkney & Shetland 1818–1820 |
Succeeded by John Balfour |
| Preceded by John Balfour |
Member of Parliament for Orkney & Shetland 1826–1830 |
Succeeded by George Traill |
| Military offices | ||
| Preceded by Sir Thomas Hardy |
First Naval Lord 1834 |
Succeeded by Sir Charles Adam |
