24 July 1776 ordered.
August 1776 laid down on the Portsmouth Drydock, Portsmouth for the Royal Navy.
26 March 1781 launched under the name EURYDICE one of the Porcupine class.
Tonnage 513 ton, dim. 114.3 x 32 x 10.3ft.
Armament, upper deck 22 – 9pdr., quarter deck 2 – 6pdr., in 1815 she had an armament of, upper deck 14 – 9pdr., 8 – 18pdr. carronades, quarter deck 2 – 6pdr.
Crew 160, in 1815 140.
03 July 1781 commissioned. Building cost £12.391.
1787 She visited the British Virgin Islands
1793 Under command of Capt. Francis Cole.
On 08 June 1794 the EURYDICE and two other British ships fell in with the French cut-down 74’s LE SCÉVOLA (50 guns) and LE BRUTUS (50 guns), two 36 guns frigates and a brig. But after a brief chase the enemy ships managed to escape.
1795 Under command of Capt. T. Twisden.
1796 Under command of Hon. Capt. A. Bennet.
18 December 1796 the EURYDICE sent a large French privateer into Dover. The Frenchman had mistaken her for a merchant ship and only discovered his mistake when he was almost alongside.
1797 Under command of Capt. John Talbot in the English Channel.
In 1795, the British occupied two small islands off St Marcou off the west coast of France near Le Hougue for the purpose of harassing French shipping.
On 06 May 1798 the French attacked this two islands from 52 flat-bottomed boats containing 5.000 troops.
At that time the EURYDICE was on patrol off the islands when the attacked force was spotted. The French opened fire, and the EURYDICE returned fire, inflicting 1.200 casualties.
10 November 1799, in the morning the EURYDICE in a position about 9 miles southeast of Beachy Head in the English Channel. She sighted a schooner and a brig. The schooner made off as soon as she saw the EURYDICE, and the brig hove to and hoisted her ensign upside down. She was the British brig DIANA (10guns), a collier from Sunderland bound for Portsmouth the crew told Capt. Talbot that she had been attacked by the schooner and that one of her men was badly wounded, Capt. Talbot sent his surgeon Mr. Price to help the wounded man. He was later brought on board the EURYDICE where the surgeon had to remove an arm.
The EURYDICE made sail again to chase the privateer.
The sloop HMS SNAKE joined in the chase later in the morning. Half way through the afternoon EURIDICE came nearly within gunshot of the privateer, which bore up and tried to cross the SNAKE but finding this impossible, lowered her sails and surrendered.
She was the HIRONDELLE of Calais, commanded by Pierre Merie Dugerdin with a crew of 50 men, which had sailed out the day before. She was armed with fourteen 3 and 4 pounders. One of the crew was found to be an Englishman.
12 November due to bad weather she terminated her patrol.
24 January 1800 she arrived at Portsmouth and set sail again on 25 March.
10 September 1800 the EURYDICE arrived Plymouth and moored in the Hamoaze.
08 October she sailed for Jersey, through a hurricane with a heavy sea. It blew with incredible fury until 07.00 a.m. when the wind shifted, causing some shipping in the Cattewater broke adrift.
1801 Under command of Capt. W. Bathurst.
25 April 1801, about 100 miles south of Cape Clear, the EURYDICE captured the French privateer brig BOUGAINVILLE of St Malo, commanded by Jaques le Bon with a crew of 67 men, she was armed with 14 guns of different caliber.
22 May 1802 she arrived in Madras Roads together with Vice Admiral Rainier in HMS VICTORIOUS and the rest of his squadron.
Early 1809 was she a unit of Rear Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane West Indies squadron, which sailed from Carlisle Bay, Barbados for the landing on the French Island Martinique, which was captured on 24 February 1809.
17 November 1817 she arrived at Tristan da Cunha under command of Capt. Wanchope, to take away the remnants of the British garrison on the island.
19 December 1817 she set sail and left the island.
December 1819 laid up at Deptford.
1824 A receiving ship at Woolwich.
March 1834 broken up at Deptford.
Tristan da Cunha 1997 10p sg 612, scott 594.
Source: The Sail and Steam Navy List by Lyon & Winfield. http://www.islandsun.com/stamps-teresa.html but mostly copied from Watercraft Philately Vol 48 page 69 and,
http://www.cronab.demon.co.uk/E.HTM and some other websites.
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