HMS Roebuck was a fifth-rate ship of the Royal Navy which served in the American and French Revolutionary Wars. Designed in 1769 by Sir Thomas Slade to operate in the shallower waters of North America, she joined Lord Howe's squadron towards the end of 1775 and took part in operations against New York the following year. She engaged the American gun batteries at Red Hook during the Battle of Long Island in August 1776, and forced a passage up the Hudson River in October. On 25 August 1777, Roebuck escorted troopships to Turkey Point, Maryland, where an army was landed for an assault on Philadelphia. She was again called upon to accompany troopships in December 1779, this time for an attack on Charleston. When the ships-of-the-line, which were too large to enter the harbour, were sent back to New York, Admiral Marriot Arbuthnot made Roebuck his flagship. She was, therefore, at the front of the attack, leading the British squadron across the shoal to engage Fort Moultrie and the American ships beyond.
As built, Roebuck was 140 feet (42.7 m) long at the gundeck, with a beam of 37 feet 9+1⁄2 inches (11.5 m) and a depth in the hold of 16 feet 4 inches (5 m). She measured 879 26⁄94tons burthen. Launched on 24 April 1774 and completed by 4 August 1775, Roebuck cost £18,911.0.6d plus a further £1,749.5.5d for fitting.[1]
Roebuck was built with two rows of windows in the stern, giving the illusion of an extra deck, but behind them was a single-level cabin. The design was eventually phased out for Roebuck-class ships completed after HMS Dolphin. Most of the remaining ships of the class had a traditional frigate-style stern.[1]
On her lower gun deck, Roebuck carried twenty 18-pounder (8.2 kg) guns. Her upper deck originally had twenty-two 9-pounder (4.1 kg) guns but these were later upgraded to 12-pounder (5.4 kg) guns. There were two 6-pounder (2.7 kg) guns on the forecastle but the quarterdeck was devoid of armament. When fully manned, Roebuck had a complement of 280 officers and enlisted men. This was increased to 300 in 1783.[1]
Service
Map marking British and American positions at the Battle of Long Island. Roebuck is shown bombarding an American battery at Red Hook
American Revolutionary War
First commissioned by Captain Andrew Snape Hamond in July 1775, Roebuck left for North America in September, joining Lord Howe's squadron and taking part in operations against New York the following year.[1] On 25 March 1776, she was cruising alone off Cape Henlopen when she ran aground. She suffered no damage, enabling her crew to get her off and into deep water where she was anchored. The following day, a sail was sighted in the bay and Hamond sent two of the ship's boats to investigate. The craft turned out to be a small American schooner, which the crew abandoned on seeing the British boats approaching. The newly acquired prize and Roebuck's tender then pursued and caught two sloops.[2] On 28 March, Roebuck's boats were again in action, taking another sloop. In the afternoon, her tender narrowly avoided capture by the American 10-gun sloop Hornet. On hearing of the encounter, Roebuck set off in pursuit of the American vessel but was unable to locate her.[3]
Roebuck took part in the Battle of Long Island on 27 August 1776, attacking the American gun batteries at Red Hook.[4] On 9 October she was in action on the Hudson River, with HMS Phoenix and HMS Tartar, where she destroyed two armed galleys and forced her way upstream, whilst engaging, on either side, the two forts of Washington and Lee.[1][5] Between 10 March and 21 December 1776, Howe's squadron captured or destroyed 166 vessels, of which Roebuck claimed partial responsibility for at least twenty-three.[6] In April 1777, she took two warships, the 14-gun Carolina State NavyDefence and the 10-gun USS Sachem.[1][7]
In August 1777, the British were planning to land an army at the head of the Elk River with the object of securing Philadelphia. Because of Hamond's familiarity with the local waters, Roebuck, which had hitherto been involved in operations on the Delaware River, was withdrawn to mark out a channel through Chesapeake Bay for Howe's 267-strong flotilla. Roebuck, with the 32-gun Apollo and four smaller vessels, escorted the troopships up the river on 25 August and provided cover while the army disembarked about six miles (9.7 km) from Turkey Point.[8][Note 2]
Assault on Philadelphia
Following the defeat of an American force at the Battle of Brandywine and its subsequent retreat to Philadelphia in September, Howe led Roebuck and a squadron of small vessels up the Delaware where the Americans had erected redoubts overlooking the river and sunk obstructions to prevent its navigation.[9] At Billingsport, a large earthworks and gun battery protected a channel, blocked with a submerged cheval de frise. This impediment was constructed of large wooden frames, filled with stones and fronting iron-tipped spears. Stationed along the river were floating batteries and gunboats, and 3 miles (4.8 km) further upstream, another set of obstacles had been sunk between Fort Mifflin and Fort Mercer.[9]
British chart showing American defences on the Delaware in 1777. Roebuck is shown attacking a battery opposite Hog Island before travelling up the river to engage the American fleetRoebuck (forefront, far right) at the action off Mud Fort on 15 November 1777
The British captured Philadelphia on 26 September but control of the river was crucial to keeping their forces there supplied. Hamond offered to force a channel at Billing's Point, if Howe could muster sufficient men to put the fort there out of action. Two regiments from Chester, Pennsylvania, crossed the river and chased off the American garrison while the men of Roebuck breached a seven-foot (2.1 m) opening for Roebuck, Augusta, two frigates, a sloop and a galley to sail through.[9] After unsuccessful attempts to take the forts Mifflin and Mercer, the six British vessels were subjected to heavy fire when they engaged the American flotilla at the Battle of Red Bank. Augusta ran aground and caught fire, and the sloop, Merlin, blew up; Roebuck and the remaining force broke off the attack and returned to Billingsport.[10]
Still requiring a supply route to Philadelphia but unable to open up the Delaware while Fort Mifflin was occupied, Howe took possession of Province Island in November and began erecting gun batteries. Following a six-day bombardment, the Americans abandoned the fort. Two days later Fort Mercer also fell, leaving the British free to work their way upriver in pursuit of the enemy fleet which was later scuttled at Gloucester.[11] By 18 May 1778, Roebuck was in Philadelphia where she took part in celebrations, held in honour of Howe and his brother William who was Commander-in-Chief of the British land forces.[12]
In July 1778, Roebuck was at Sandy Hook, near New York Bay, and in August she took part in an action against a French fleet. France had entered the war on the American side in February that year. On 29 July, the French fleet from Toulon, commanded by Charles Hector, comte d'Estaing, arrived in Narragansett Bay, and the next day they began raiding British positions on Conanicut and Goat Island.[13] On 8 August, 4,000 French soldiers and sailors were landed to reinforce the 10,000 American troops who had just crossed from the mainland to attack the British garrison on Rhode Island.[14] Howe's fleet arrived off Point Judith on 9 August and, fearing the British might soon be reinforced, d'Estaing sailed out the next morning while he still had superior numbers and guns.[15] Several days of manoeuvring, in which both parties sought the weather gage, were curtailed by a violent gale which scattered the fleets.[16] The storm abated on 13 August, leaving Roebuck, Apollo, Centurion, Ardent, Richmond, Vigilant, and Phoenix within sight of each other. Apollo, then serving as Howe's flagship, had lost two masts during the previous night and Roebuck, also with a mast missing, was ordered to escort her to Sandy Hook. Howe moved his flag to Phoenix and, after searching for the French fleet, followed a few days later.[17]
Roebuck captured an American privateer in February 1779, before setting sail for Woolwich where she underwent a refit and had her hull sheathed in copper. This took until April.[1]
Siege of Charleston
Operations against Charleston
Roebuck returned to American waters by 5 December 1779, when she captured the American privateer, Lady Washington.[1] Then, with five ships-of-the-line, the 50-gun Renown, the 44-gun Romulus, four sixth-rate frigates and two 20-gun sloops, she accompanied transports, carrying 7,550 troops for an attack on Charleston. Under the command of Admiral Marriot Arbuthnot, the ships left New York on 26 December and in January 1780, in need of repairs, called in at Savannah, captured by the British the previous month.[18] From there, the convoy proceeded to the North Edisto River where the army disembarked on 10 February. The troops marched the 30 miles (48 km) overland and occupied James Island, while the ships sailed to the entrance and effected a blockade of Charleston harbour.[19] Some of Roebuck's company were among the 450 seamen and marines later sent to lay siege to the town. The 64-gun and 74-gun ships-of-the-line, being too large to be of any use in the shallow waters around the harbour, left for New York in March 1780, leaving Renown, Romulus, Blonde, Raleigh, Perseus, Camilla, and Roebuck, to which Arbuthnot moved his flag.[19] These ships were lightened while they awaited a high enough tide and favourable conditions to carry them over the sandbank which lay across the entrance to the harbour.[19][20]
On 9 April Roebuck led the squadron across the bar. An exchange of heavy fire while passing Fort Moultrie resulted in considerable damage to the masts and rigging of the British ships and the loss of 27 lives. The expedition continued to James Island and anchored, whereupon it came under attack from the batteries at Charleston. Some of the shot passed right through Roebuck but she did not return fire. Consequently, she was thought to be out of range and the bombardment soon stopped.[19] An American naval force which included the frigates Providence, Boston and Queen of France, Bricole of 44 guns, a large polacca and two armed brigs were to oppose the British fleet at Fort Moultrie but instead retired to the Cooper River where some were scuttled.[21][Note 3] This action later denied the British control of the river; on 7 May, they instead landed seamen and marines near Mount Pleasant, where they captured a battery and went on to force the surrender of Fort Moultrie. Some of Roebuck's crew were used in these land operations.[23] The town capitulated on 11 May and the remaining American ships were subsequently captured.[19][20] The crew of Roebuck were awarded a share of the prize money for the frigates Boston and Providence.[24] Hamond was ordered to England with dispatches on 15 May 1780, and was succeeded in command of Roebuck by his nephew, Andrew Snape Douglas.[25]
Blockade duty
Roebuck was absent from the fleet during a violent storm on 23 January 1781. The British had been blockading the French in Newport and were still repairing their weather-beaten ships on 8 February, when Arbuthnot received information that a French 64-gun ship and two frigates had left Rhode Island for Virginia. He immediately dispatched HMS Charlestown (the captured and renamed USS Boston) to find Roebuck, Chatham and Romulus, which he knew to be somewhere off Carolina with some frigates, and ordered them to intercept. The message was received too late, however, and Romulus was thus alone and unaware, when she was captured by the French squadron returning from its aborted mission.[26]
While Roebuck was cruising with HMS Orpheus off the coast of Delaware on 14 April 1781, they captured the 36-gun frigate, USS Confederacy.[1][27] She had been on her way from the West Indies to Washington with supplies for the Continental Army. Taken into service as HMS Confederate, she became, at that time, the largest 36-gun ship in the Royal Navy.[28] The following month, Roebuck was with HMS Medea when they captured the 28-gun Protector near Sandy Hook.[1][29] Douglas received another commission in July and was replaced by Captain John Orde. In the summer of 1781, Roebuck set sail for Europe with Arbuthnot, who was to be redeployed, and dispatches from Sir Henry Clinton and Lord Rawdon.[30] She briefly returned to American waters where she captured the French privateer Providence on 24 February 1782. Afterwards, she was sent to the North Sea station where she finished her war service, paying off in April 1783.[1]
French Revolutionary Wars
The 1794 invasion of Martinique during which Roebuck served as a hospital ship
After a survey in October 1783, Roebuck underwent repairs at Sheerness which took until February 1785 and cost £11,038.0.10d. In June 1790, Roebuck was recommissioned as a hospital ship and, following renewed hostilities with France in the War of the First Coalition, served in this capacity at the capture of Martinique in March 1794.[31][32] On 2 February a British fleet under Vice-admiral Sir John Jervis and 6,100 troops under Lieutenant-general Sir Charles Grey left Barbados.[33] The troops were landed on Martinique on 5 February and by 16 March had gained control of the whole island, save the town of Fort Royal and the forts Bourbon and Louis.[32] Seaman and marines from the fleet then joined the troops in laying siege to the town and the forts.[34] The whole of Martinique had surrendered by 22 March.[35] Leaving a contingent to hold the island, the British left for St Lucia on 31 March, capturing it on 4 April. Jervis then took his fleet to Guadeloupe, forcing the capitulation of Grande-Terre and Basse-Terre on 12 and 20 April respectively.[36] The British were ousted from St Lucia by the French the following year, but in May 1796, Roebuck returned, part of a force that repossessed it.[37][38]
Anglo-Dutch War
The French intervention in the Dutch Republic and subsequent exile of William V, Prince of Orange in January 1795 led to the formation of the French-allied Batavian Republic, upon which Britain immediately declared war.[39]Roebuck was serving in support of the war in the Leeward Islands, under Rear Admiral Henry Harvey, when on 6 July 1797, she captured Batave, a Dutch 10-gun privateer, just off Barbados.[40][Note 4] More captures followed in February 1798; a brig William and a schooner Betsey were captured on 8 February but both were later condemned by a prize court.[42] While cruising off Martinique on 19 February, Roebuck fell in with and captured a French 10-gun privateer, Parfait.[43] Arriving in Deptford in November 1798, Roebuck was refitted as a troopship, at a cost of £10,044. She was recommissioned in July 1799.[44]
Roebuck was part of the fleet, under the command of Vice-Admiral Sir Andrew Mitchell, that took part in the Anglo-Russian Invasion of Holland and to which the Dutch surrendered in the Vlieter roadstead on 30 August 1799.[45] Two days previous, the fleet had captured four Dutch ships and two hulks in Hollands Diep.[46] Believing Dutch public opinion was against the republic and in favour of restoring the monarchy, the British government began preparing an invasion force as early as June.[47] Comprising 27,000 men and 250 vessels, the force arrived off the Dutch coast under a flag of truce on 21 August. Terms were not agreed however and British troops were landed on 27 August. The fortifications at Den Helder were captured the next day and the ships in the Diep were taken.[48] Mitchell's squadron entered the Vlieter on the morning of 30 August. The Dutch fleet within surrendered without a shot being fired on either side.[49]
On 12 November 1799 Roebuck arrived in the Downs with 500 men of the 20th Regiment of Foot after a 12-day passage from Holland in bad weather.[50]
Between March and September 1801, Roebuck was involved in operations against Egypt.[53] Because Roebuck served in the navy's Egyptian campaign (8 March to 2 September 1801), her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal, which the Admiralty issued in 1847 to all surviving claimants.[54]
Napoleonic Wars
On 21 March 1802 Roebuck, armed en flute, came into Portsmouth from the Mediterranean and immediately went into quarantine. She was carrying the Queen's German Regiment (96th Regiment of Foot).[55][56]
The Treaty of Amiens was ratified in March 1802 and two months later Roebuck was paid off and laid up in ordinary at Woolwich Dockyard. The peace was short-lived; hostilities resumed in May 1803, and in July Roebuck was recommissioned as a guardship at Leith.[57] She served in this capacity as the flagship of Vice-Admiral Richard Rodney Bligh between November and the following February. Between April and October 1805, she flew the flag of Rear-Admiral James Vashon, first at Leith, then from September at Great Yarmouth. In March 1806, she became a receiving ship, flying the flag of Lord Gardner from some point in 1810 until she was broken up at Sheerness Dockyard in July 1811.[57]
Prizes
Vessels captured or destroyed for which Roebuck's crew received full or partial credit
^The design was so successful, the Admiralty requested four more within a year of Roebuck's launch. By September 1781, a total of nineteen Roebuck-class ships had been ordered.[1]
^The four other vessels were Sphynx and Vigilant, both of 20 guns, the 16-gun Senegal, and the 14-gun Swift.[8]
^The ships sunk in the Cooper River were Truite, Notre Dame, Queen of France, Bricole and some smaller vessels. All were stripped of their armament which was used to reinforce the American batteries. Boston, Providence, Ranger and the galleys were taken to Charleston where some of the guns were removed to form additional defences for the town.[22]
Ball, Philip (2017). A Waste of Blood and Treasure: The 1799 Anglo-Russian Invasion of the Netherlands. Barnsley: Pen and Sword. ISBN978-1-47388-518-9.
Clowes, William Laird (1996) [1900]. The Royal Navy, A History from the Earliest Times to 1900, Volume III. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN1-86176-012-4.
Clowes, William Laird (1997) [1900]. The Royal Navy, A History from the Earliest Times to 1900, Volume IV. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN1-86176-013-2.
Howard, Martin R. (2015). Death Before Glory – The British Soldier in the West Indies in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Barnsley: Pen and Sword Publishing. ISBN978-1-78159-341-7.
Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN978-1-84415-700-6.
Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN978-1-86176-246-7.
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