The HMS Surprise was made famous by Patrick O’Brian, in his books on the adventures of Captain Aubrey and the surgeon Maturin, and in the movie Master and Commander.
This frigate was built as L’Unite in 1794. It was a 24-gun corvette, armed with 8lb long guns. The British captured her in April 1796 in the Mediterranean, and changed her name to HMS Surprise. She was re-armed and classed as a 28-gun ship (actually had 24 32lb carronades on her main deck, 8 32 lb carronades on her quarter deck, and 4 6 lb long guns on her foredeck).
The French frigates were much sought after by the British, because of their manoeuvrability and speed. The streamlined design of the hull below the waterline meant that these frigates could outrun most other ships.
Her big moment came in October 1799, under the command of Captain Edward Hamilton for the daring rescue of the frigate Hermoine. The latter’s crew had mutinied, killing their commander and officers. The ship surrendered to the Spanish, and was taken to the harbor at Puerto Cabello in modern day Venezuela.
In trying to rescue the ship, the boats of the Surprise were spotted and fired on by patrolling gun boats. They sailed forward, boarded the Hermoine, cleared the deck and sailed her out. Their losses were 12 wounded, whilst the Spanish suffered a loss of 216 wounded (including many dead). Captain Hamilton who led the rescue was knighted for his conduct, and the Hermoine restored to the British Navy.
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