HMS Janus (1796)
{{short description|Frigate of the Royal Navy}}
{{other ships|HMS Janus}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image | Ship image = | Ship caption = }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=Dutch Republic & Batavian Republic |Ship flag=File:Prinsenvlag.svg File:Flag of the Batavian Republic.svg |Ship name=Argo |Ship namesake=Argo |Ship ordered= |Ship builder=Amsterdam Admiralty (Naval District)van Maanen, Ron (20 June 2008) "Preliminary list of Dutch naval vessel built or required in the period 1700-1799". Unpublished paper. |Ship laid down=1789 |Ship launched=28 January 1790 |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship captured= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship fate= |Ship honours= |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header=title | Ship country=Great Britain | Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Kingdom of Great Britain|naval}} | Ship name = HMS Janus | Ship namesake = Janus | Ship owner = | Ship operator = | Ship ordered = | Ship builder = | Ship original cost = | Ship laid down = | Ship launched = | Ship acquired = 1796 by capture | Ship commissioned = | Ship decommissioned = | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = | Ship renamed = | Ship struck = | Ship reinstated = | Ship honours = | Ship honors = | Ship captured = | Ship fate = Sold February 1811 | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption ={{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=210}} | Ship class = | Ship tons burthen = 703{{small|{{frac|68|94}}}} (bm) | Ship length =*Overall: {{convert|131|ft|0|in|m|1|abbr=on}}
| Ship beam = {{convert|35|ft|0|in|m|1|abbr=on}} | Ship draught = | Ship draft = | Ship hold depth = {{convert|11|ft|10+3/4|in|m|1|abbr=on}} | Ship propulsion = | Ship sail plan = | Ship complement = *Argo: 237 (at capture)
| Ship armament =*Argo: 26 × 12-pounder guns + 6 × 6-pounder guns + 4 × brass 24-pounder carronades (at capture) | Ship notes = }} |
HMS Janus was the Dutch fifth-rate Argo, built at the dockyard of the Amsterdam Admiralty (Naval District), and launched in 1790. {{HMS|Phoenix|1783|6}} captured her on 12 May 1796. The British Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Janus. She was a receiving ship by 1798 and in Ordinary by 1807. The Navy sold her in 1811.
Capture
HMS Phoenix was attached to the fleet under Admiral Adam Duncan, operating in the North Sea.United Service Magazine (1841), 380. On 12 May 1796 at daybreak the 28-gun {{HMS|Pegasus|1779|2}} and the brig-sloop {{HMS|Sylph|1795|2}} brought Duncan the news that a Dutch squadron consisting of the 36-gun frigate Argo and three brigs had departed Flickeroe, Norway, bound for the Texel.{{cite book |last=James|title=The naval history of Great Britain|volume =1|page=363}}
Duncan took his fleet to intercept them, sending a squadron the included Phoenix, the 50-gun {{HMS|Leopard|1790|2}}, Pegasus, and Sylph northward of the Texel.{{London Gazette|pages=491–492| |issue=13894|date=21 May 1796}} The British intercepted the Dutch at 5am on 12 May. Phoenix and Leopard chased Argo, while Pegasus and Sylph made after the brigs.{{sfnp|Allen|1852 |p=428}} Leopard eventually fell some way behind, and consequently it was Phoenix alone that brought Argo to battle at 8 a.m. on 12 May.
After twenty minutes of fighting Argo struck. Phoenix had one man killed and three wounded; Argo lost six men killed and 28 wounded.
HMS ''Janus''
File:Dodgson's Double Headed Pump as fitted to Janus (1796) RMG J0715.png
The Royal Navy took Argo into service as HMS Janus, and commissioned her in July under Captain James Bissett.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=210}} He sailed her to Jamaica in December.{{cite web|url=http://www.nmm.ac.uk/upload/pdf/Warship_Histories_Vessels_ii.pdf|archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110802041610/http://www.nmm.ac.uk/upload/pdf/Warship_Histories_Vessels_ii.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 August 2011|title=NMM, vessel ID 369188|work=Warship Histories, vol ii|publisher=National Maritime Museum|access-date=30 July 2011}}
On 14 April 1797 Janus encountered the French frigate {{ship|French frigate|Harmonie|1796|2}}.{{efn|British dispatches refer to Harmonie as Harmonie but some later writers have suggested that her name was Hermione. It was not.}} Harmonie, though larger than Janus, did not offer battle but instead turned for the port of Marégot. Bissett meanwhile sailed westwards until he encountered Rear-Admiral Sir Hyde Parker's squadron off Môle-Saint-Nicolas early on the morning of 15 April. Parker had three ships of the line at his disposal, his own flagship {{HMS|Queen|1769|6}}, {{HMS|Thunderer|1783|6}}, and {{HMS|Valiant|1759|6}}, and he sent Thunderer and Valiant to Marégot in search of Hermione, while Queen returned to port for fresh provisions.
In the ensuing Battle of Jean-Rabel, Thunder and Valiant fired on Harmonie on the evening of 16 April, but with little effect. They returned the next day when the weather was calmer. Knowing that Harmonie could not escape, her officers drove her aground and set her on fire; eventually her powder magazine exploded, destroying her completely.{{London Gazette|issue=14015|page=516|date=3 Jun 1797}}
Later in 1797 Janus returned to Britain as escort to the homeward bound convoy.{{sfnp|Marshall|1823|p=608}} On 6 October 1797 Janus brought her convoy safe into The Downs.{{London Gazette|date=7 October 1797|issue=14052|page=967}}
Between November and January 1798 Janus was at Deptford being fitted as a receiving ship. By 1807 she was in Ordinary.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=210}}
Fate
The Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy offered "Janus, of 32 guns and 700 tons", lying at Deptford, for sale on 21 February 1811.{{London Gazette|date=9 February 1811|issue=16452|page=265}} Purchasers of Janus or of several of the larger vessels offered for sale had to post a bond of £1000, with two guarantors, that the purchaser would break up their purchase within one year from the date of purchase.{{London Gazette|date=1 February 1811|issue=16455|page=299}} Janus sold on 21 February.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=210}}
Notes
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Citations
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References
- {{cite book |last1=Allen |first1=Joseph |year= 1852 |title=The New Navy List and General Record of the Services of Officers of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines |publisher=Parker, Furnivall, and Parker}}
- {{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}}
- {{cite RNB1823 |wstitle=Bissett, Jamesx |volume=1 |part=2 |page=}}
- {{cite web |last=van Maanen |first=Ron |date=20 June 2008 |title=Preliminary list of Dutch naval vessel built or required in the period 1700-1799 |url=http://3decks.pbworks.com/f/Dutch+Navy+1700-1799.pdf}}
- {{cite book |first=Rif|last=Winfield|title=British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates|publisher=Seaforth|year=2008|isbn=978-1-86176-246-7}}
{{WarshipHist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Janus (1806)}}
Category:Ships built in Amsterdam
Category:Frigates of the Royal Navy