HMS Ajax (1809)

On 11 September 1810, in a ship action off Elba in the Mediterranean, Charles Benyon, Lieutenant in Ajax, aged 22, was killed attempting to board a French vessel. He was the third son of Richard Benyon of Englefield House, Berks, where the Benyon family still live.Monument, S aisle, East wall St Mark's church, Englefield, W of Reading, Berks. see family tree by ALE,

On 13 December 350 sailors and 250 marines from the 74-gun third rates Ajax, {{HMS|Cambrian|1797|2}} and {{HMS|Kent|1798|2}} attacked Palamós. (The sloops {{HMS|Sparrowhawk|1807|2}} and {{HMS|Minstrel|1807|2}} covered the landing.) The landing party destroyed six of eight merchant vessels with supplies for the French army at Barcelona, as well as their escorts, a national ketch of 14 guns and 60 men and two xebecs of three guns and thirty men each. The vessels were lying inside the mole under the protection of 250 French troops, a battery of two 24-pounders, and a 13" mortar in a battery on a commanding height. Although the attack was successful, the withdrawal was not. The British lost 33 men killed, 89 wounded, and 86 taken prisoner, plus one seaman who took the opportunity to desert.James (1837), Vol. 5, pp.259-60.

On 31 March 1811, Ajax and HMS Unite encountered a French squadron comprising the frigates Adrienne and Amélie, and the armed transport French corvette Dromadaire. Ajax captured Dromadaire, while the frigates managed to escape to Portoferraio. Captain Otway of Ajax reported that Dromadaire was frigate-built and sailed remarkably well. Her cargo consisted of 15,000 shot and shells of various sizes and 90 tons of gunpowder.{{London Gazette|page=872|issue=16484|date=11 May 1811}} Apparently Napoleon Bonaparte intended them as a present for Hammuda ibn Ali, the Bey of Tunis.Marshall (1823), Vol. 1, Part 2, p.700. Admiral Sir Charles Cotton, commander in chief of the British Mediterranean Fleet, decided to buy her and her stores for the Royal Navy.

On 17 March 1814, Ajax captured the French 16-gun brig Alcyon near the Lizard. Alcyon was armed with sixteen 24-pounder carronades, and had a crew of 120 men. She was provisioned for a four-month cruise, but was only 24 hours out of Saint-Malo when Ajax captured her.{{London Gazette|date=22 March 1814|issue=16873|page=628}}

File:Dun Laoghaire Harbour (1000932302) (7).jpg

Ajax was converted to a blockship with screw propulsion for coastal defence (also called 'steam-guard-ships') in 1846. The conversion process involved removing her copper, ballast and some of the bulkheads, and cutting her down in the shape of a blockship.'Workmen are engaged in removing the housing over her, and preparing her for cutting down to a blockship for that port.' (Times Newspaper, 30 October 1845). '29 October 1845: The Ajax, 72, intended for a block ship, was docked yesterday to have her copper stripped off and to be cut down.' (Times Newspaper, 30 October 1845). '2 November 1845: The Ajax, 72, was undocked yesterday at Portsmouth, having had her copper stripped off, ballast removed, and some of her bulkheads taken out. She will be towed to Cowes in a day or two for conversion to a blockship, by Mr. White.' (Times Newspaper, 3 November 1845)

From 1846 until 1853 she was stationed as a guardship in Queenstown, now Cobh.File:The British Fleet at Spithead in July 1853 ILN-1853-0806-0033.jpg Fleet Review on 15 July 1853]] She took part in the Crimean War 1853–1856. In 1854 she was involved in the Bombardment of Bomarsund, Finland. In 1858 she resumed guardship duties, this time in Kingstown, now Dún Laoghaire, where she remained until 1864 when she was decommissioned and broken up.{{cite web|last=Lowth|first=Cormac F|title=The Boyd Disaster|url=http://lugnad.ie/boyd|publisher=On-line Journal of Research on Irish Maritime History|access-date=15 February 2014}}

Captain John McNeil Boyd R.N. was master of the Ajax while she was in Dún Laoghaire. On 8 February 1861 there was the worst storm in memory. 29 ships were lost between Wicklow Head and Howth Head, all close to Dún Laoghaire. Boyd organised rescues, but he and five of his crew were lost. Fifteen surviving members of the Ajax crew were decorated for bravery and most were promoted. There are many memorials to Boyd and his men.{{cite news|title=Melabcholy Catastrophe at Kingstown|url=http://www.pdavis.nl/Boyd.php|access-date=15 February 2014|newspaper=The Times|date=12 February 1861|archive-date=27 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141027051809/http://www.pdavis.nl/Boyd.php|url-status=dead}} On 3 December 1863. Ajax was driven ashore at Kingstown. She was refloated.{{Cite news |title=The Storm Yesterday |newspaper=Freeman's Journal |location=Dublin |date=4 December 1863 }}

It was announced in February 1864 that the {{HMS|Royal George|1827|2}} would replace her as the Coast-guard ship at Kingstown.{{cite news |title=Devonport |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51865141/royal-george-78/ |access-date=22 May 2020 |publisher=Hampshire Telegraph and Naval Chronicle |date=13 February 1864 |location=Portsmouth, Hampshire |page=4}} Ajax arrived at Devonport on 22 March, with her crew to be transferred to Royal George, and was decommissioned on 31 March.{{cite news |title=Naval Intelligence |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001681/18640326/025/0002 |access-date=2 March 2025 |work=Naval & Military Gazette |issue=1629 |date=26 March 1864 |location=London |page=2|via=British Newspaper Archive}}{{cite news |title=Naval Intelligence |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001681/18640402/029/0004 |access-date=2 March 2025 |work=Naval & Military Gazette |issue=1630 |date=2 April 1864 |location=London |page=4|via=British Newspaper Archive}}

Ajax was towed to Keyham basin on 28 February 1865 to be "cleared out", and then to Plymouth on 28 March for breaking up at Mr Marshall's yard.{{cite news |title=Naval Intelligence |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001681/18650304/045/0003 |access-date=2 March 2025 |work=Naval & Military Gazette |issue=1678 |date=4 March 1865 |location=London |page=3|via=British Newspaper Archive}}{{cite news |title=Naval and Military Intelligence |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000174/18650330/012/0003 |access-date=2 March 2025 |work=Morning Post |issue=28483 |date=30 March 1865 |location=London |page=3|via=British Newspaper Archive}}

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{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book| last = James| first = William| author-link = William James (naval historian)| year = 1837| title = The Naval History of Great Britain, from the Declaration of War by France in 1793, to the Accession of George IV.| url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_PSwOAAAAQAAJ| publisher = R. Bentley}}
• Lavery, Brian (1983) The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850. Conway Maritime Press. {{ISBN|0-85177-252-8}}.
• {{cite RNB1823 |wstitle=Index |volume= |part= |page=}}

{{refend}}

• {{Commons category-inline|HMS Ajax (ship, 1809)}}
• [http://www.pdavis.nl/ShowShip.php?id=59 HMS Ajax]

{{Vengeur class ship of the line}}

{{1863 shipwrecks}}

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Category:Ships of the line of the Royal Navy

Category:Vengeur-class ships of the line

Category:1809 ships

Category:Ships built by the Blackwall Yard

Category:Crimean War naval ships of the United Kingdom

Category:Maritime incidents in December 1863