Speedy v Gamo, a case of David v Goliath

This episode in Speedy's career is well known to readers of the Aubrey Maturin series. In the first book HMS Sophie takes on the Spanish frigate Cacafuego (shitfire?!!!). This was of course based on Speedy's encounter with El Gamo.

As stated HMS Speedy carried fourteen four pound cannons giving it a "massive" broadside weight of just 28lb. El Game was a 32 gun frigate carrying 22 12 pounder cannons, 10 8 pounders plus two 24 pounder carronades (shorter range guns also known as smashers for their destructive capability). El Gamo, with a broadside weight of 190lb should have been able to turn the sloop into matchwood but things don't always run to form.

Speedy was cruising off Barcelona at dawn on 6 May 1801 when El Gamo was sighted. El Gamo carried 319 men, compared to Speedy's complement of 90 of which 48 were away on prizes. Cochrane was many times outnumbered both in terms of broadside and in

Instead of evading the frigate Cochrane closed on her, under false American colours. after hoisting British colours, Cochrane was able to evade Gamo's fire until he ran alongside her and locked her yards in Gamo's rigging. Gamo's fire was now ineffective as her guns were mounted too high to hit the Speedy. Cochrane then opened fire with his 4-pounders double- and treble-shotted, their shots passing up through the sides and decks, the first broadside killing the Spanish captain.

Seeing their disadvantage the Spanish second-in-command assembled a boarding party, at which Cochrane drew off, pounded their massed ranks with shot and musket fire, before drawing in close again. After having their attempts to board frustrated three times, the Spanish returned to their guns. Cochrane then decided to board the Gamo, and assembled his entire crew into two parties, leaving only the ship's doctor to command and crew Speedy. The British then rushed the Gamo, boarding from bow and waist. There was a hard-fought battle between the two crews, until Cochrane called down to the doctor, at the time the only person on Speedy, ordering him to send the rest of the men over. At the same time he ordered the Spanish colours to be torn down. Thinking that their officers had surrendered the ship, the remaining Spanish seamen stopped fighting.

Cochrane had lost three men killed and nine wounded, while the Spanish had lost 14 killed and 41 wounded with the rest captured. . Finding that he had been beaten by such an inferior foe, the Spanish second-in-command asked Cochrane for a certificate assuring him that he had done all he could to defend his ship. Cochrane obliged, with the equivocal wording that he had 'conducted himself like a true Spaniard'. El Gamo was subsequently sold to the ruler of Algiers as a merchantman.

This was not the end of the Speedy's adventures by any means. Cochrane returned to the coast off Barcelona in June 1801, and joined the 16-gun HMS Kangaroo in attacking a Spanish convoy of 12 merchant ships and 5 armed vessels, capturing thee brigs after a sharp action. Three weeks later he was cruising off Alicante when he encountered several merchant vessels, which ran ashore. Rather than wasting time trying to get them off, he burnt them, but in doing so attracted the attention of a foe vastly more powerful than the Gamo.

A formidable French squadron under the command of Rear-Admiral Linois which was bound for Cadiz to collect reinforcements for Napoleon's army in Egypt, sighted Speedy and gave chase. Cochrane ordered the guns, boats and provisions thrown overboard to lighten the ship but the French caught up. After narrowly avoiding the broadside of the 74-gun Dessaix, Cochrane struck his colours. He was taken aboard the Dessaix, where her captain, Christy-Pallière, recognised Cochrane's accomplishments by refusing to accept his sword. Cochrane was taken along with the fleet and watched the Battle of Algeciras Bay from the Dessaix. He and the crew of the Speedy were later exchanged in the aftermath of the battle. On returning to Gibraltar Cochrane was court-martialled for the loss of his ship, and honourably acquitted.

Speedy was taken to Toulon and renamed Saint Pierre and inscribed with the words "Donné par le premier consul Bonaparte au Pape Pie VII" ("Given by the First Consul Bonaparte to Pope Pius VII") in gilt letters on her poop cabin. She sailed from Toulon on 12 December 1802 bound for Rome as a present to the Pope. She was taken into the Papal Navy in 1804 under the name San Pietro, and remained there until being broken up in 1807.

Cochrane 's career saw astonishing highs and lows, during which he failed to defeat his greatest enemy - Lord Cochrane himself. But that is for a set of posts in their own right.

The plucky HMS Speedy Part 2

Speedy spent only a brief time flying colours. On 25 March 1795 her captain mistook Captain Thomas Fremantle's Inconstant for a French ship and she was recaptured. Taken back into British service, she was under the command of Thomas Elphinstone from October 1796.

In March 1797, Speedy joined a squadron cruising off Oneglia, Italy, under Commodore Horatio Nelson. On 31 March the French ketch Genie, a gunboat and four merchant ships were chased by the squadron and took refuge near the guns of a shore battery. Agamemnon, Blanche, Peterel and Speedy approached them disabled the shore battery, then sent in several boats which successfully boarded and captured both ships and the merchantmen,

Elphinstone was succeeded in August 1797 by Commander Hugh Downman, who made several cruises with Speedy. On 3 February 1798 she encountered the large privateer Papillon, After a two day fight (by which Downman had exhausted his supply of shot, and resorted to firing nails and pieces of iron hoop at his opponent. He also had a reduced crew with several being off in a prize). The Papillon was driven off; Speedy suffered losses of five killed and four wounded. During his time in command of Speedy, Downman captured five privateers. For his efforts in protecting British trade out of Oporto, the merchants presented him with a letter of thanks, and a piece of plate valued at £50.[12] As a reward for his good service, Downman was advanced to post-captain on 26 December 1798 and appointed commander of the 32-gun HMS Santa Dorothea. Downman eventually reached the rank of Admiral.

Jahleel Brenton

Downman was succeeded in January 1799 by Commander Jahleel Brenton, who was based at Gibraltar. While sailing off Gibraltar in company with the British privateer Defender on 9 August 1799, Brenton came across three small Spanish warships which ran into a small sandy bay and anchored in a line so as to bring their guns to bear simultaneously on the British ships. Speedy and Defender sailed up and down for two hours firing broadsides, but without much effect before Defender decided to sail further out to sea. Brenton  anchored Speedy within 30 yards (27 m) of the middle ship and the two exchanged a fierce cannonade for three quarters of an hour, after which the Spanish abandoned their ships and made for the shore.Two of the ships ran ashore and the third was immediately captured. Speedy managed to get the other two vessels off and took them into Gibraltar.

 On 3 October Speedy, spotted ten small gunboats coming out of Algerica apparently attempting to attack a British convoy that was then passing. On Speedy's approach, they scattered, four sheltering under a fort. Speedy approached and fired on them, causing their crews to abandon their ships.They were driven ashore by the wind, and reduced to wrecks. Three days later, Speedy was standing off Europa Point when twelve gunboats were sighted coming out of Algeciras to attack two merchant ships making their way past Gibraltar. Their combined firepower far outweighed that of Speedy, but Brenton turned his ship towards them, covering the escape of one of the merchantmen with his fire.  Brenton took his ship through the flotilla, close enough to break many of their oars, maintaining a constant fire from his guns and with every spare member of the crew firing muskets. The Spanish flotilla broke and fled. Speedy suffered two men killed and one wounded, and sustained considerable damage to her rigging and below her waterline. Brenton was promoted to post captain  and subsequently attained flag rank.

Brenton was promoted to post-captain, and in March 1800 command passed to Lord Cochrane.

In May while Cochrane was escorting a convoy from Cagliari to Leghorn he captured the privateer  He was then given a free hand to raid enemy shipping in the area, and captured seven or eight vessels that June and July, including the privateere Asuncion and Constitution. On 22 September he captured a large Neapolitan vessel.

Realising that the Spanish wanted to capture ir destroy the Speedy Cochrane painted the ship to resemble the Clomer, a Danish brig then in the Mediterranean, the Clomer. He also appointed a Dane as quartermaster and found him a Danish naval officer's uniform. While cruising off Alicante on 21 December, Speedy encountered an enemy frigate, but tricked her into thinking she was a neutral vessel. Cochrane again used this false flag technique to his advantage; on 22 January he was sailing with a convoy of Danish merchantmen under a Danish flag, pretending to escort them. When a 10-gun French ship and 8-gun Spanish brig approached, Cochrane hoisted British colours and attacked, capturing both of them

It was after these adventures that came the incident that was the Speedy's finest moment.

The plucky HMS Speedy Part 1

Some readers will probably realise that I am a huge fan of Patrick O' Brian's magnificent Aubrey-Maturin series. While some people who prefer the "cutlass and carronade" of the likes of Alexander Kent's Bolitho series (not that they aren't enjoyable if somwhat lightweight), consider Aubreys and Maturin's adventures to be rather pedestrian or downright boring, I consider O'Brien's books to be at the pinnacle of the naval fiction genre. Anyone embarking on the series should be advised to find a good naval dictionary first as O'Brian does not give quarter when using naval terms!

HMS Sophie

His first book Master and Commander, covers Aubrey's first command -  a 14 gun brig sloop called HMS Sophie - and his adventures in the Mediterrranean, his capture bay a squadron under the command of Admiral Linois (see my post of a few days ago concerning the battle of Pulo Auro where Linois was beaten by a squadron of "John Company" merchantmen) just prior to the two battles of Algeciras  and his honourable acquittal at court martial.

These were of course based on HMS Speedy and its last RN commander, Lord Cochrane one of my personal military heroes.The vessel had a long and distinguished career before Cochrane took command.


HMS Speedy was not a powerful  man of war; it certainly was never intended to stand in line of battle or take on a frigate. Armed with just fourteen four pound cannons and a dozen swivel guns it was hugely outclassed by any post ship (A ship of the size to warrant command by a post captain, what we know today simply as the rank of Captain in the navy). That does  not mean to say that ships of its kind did not play a vital role in the Navy.

Speedy was one of two brig-sloops built to the same design by Thomas King of Dover. She and her sister ship HMS Flirt were constructed to provide a small, fast escort vessel with a hull shaped like a cutter. Ordered on 23 March 1781, she was laid down in June that year and launched on 29 June 1782. She then moved to Deptford to be fitted-out and have her hull coppered.

Speedy was commissioned under Commander Josias Rogers in May 1783 and was assigned to serve in the North Sea, operating out of the Humber estuary. After four years on this station she was paid off in January 1787 and refitted. she was recommissioned in May 1787 under Commander John Maude, remaining on North Sea duties/ She passed to Commander Richard Lane in November 1790 commanded her until she was paid off in October 1791. Speedy then underwent another refit and was recommissioned in November 1792 under Commander Charles Cunningham

Charles Cunningham later in his career He rose to Rear Admiral rank

Cunningham was sent to join Lord Hood's fleet in the Mediterranean, arriving there in April 1793 and largely employed in carrying despatches and maintaining communications with other ships scattered throughout the Mediterranean ports. On 5 October 1793 Speedy accompanied HMS Bedford and HMS Captain into Genoa, where they captured a French frigate, Modeste, and two armed tartanes. In this action, Speedy sent two boats to board the tartanes while Bedford bombarded Modeste. Captain and Speedy then sailed to the Gulf of Spezia where they took another French frigate, Imperieuse, at anchor. Imperieuse was scuttled by her crew, but was subsequently salvaged and recommissioned as HMS Imperieuse. Cunningham was promoted to post captain and given command of the prize.

George Cokburn, later Admiral of the Fleet

Cunningham was replaced by Commander George Cockburn. His first duties were limited to carrying despatches and passengers between Toulon and Genoa, after which he was ordered to join Captain Sutherland of HMS Diadem, who was commanding a squadron blockading Genoa. While other ships in the fleet were dispersed Speedy was the only vessel to remain on station. Indeed, while single-handedly maintaining the blockade, she had managed to capture several vessels. Cockburn was rewarded with an acting commission as post-captain of the frigate HMS Inconstant, followed a month later by a permanent command of the frigate HMS Meleager. He finaly reached the pinnacle of Royal Navy command as Admiral of the Fleet in 1851, two years before his death.

Commander George Eyre took over command of Speedy in February 1794 and supported the siege and capture of Bastia, after which Eyre was ordered to join Diadem off Nice. While making his way there on 9 June, he ran into a French fleet under Rear-Admiral Pierre Martin. Eyre attempted to escape, but the wind and sea favoured the larger vessels, and Speedy was chased down and captured.

Eyre and the crew were imprisoned first in Antibes and later in Aix-en-Provence suffering considerable ill treatment. A month later with the end of the Reign of Terror the crew were paroled. Eyre was finally exchanged in May 1795. He was subsequetly acquitted at court martial for the the loss of Speedy and eventually reached the rank of Vice Adniral of the Red (The highest of the sub sections of the rank --bBlue, White and Red).