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| HMS Africa |
 
Dates: 1781 - 1814 Africa was present at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 under the command of Captain Henry Digby. Having been separated from the main British fleet before the battle, the Africa arrived from a different direction without knowing the battle plan that Horatio Nelson had devised. As the rest of the fleet engaged the combined Franco-Spanish fleet in a pell-mell battle, Digby sailed the Africa down the line of enemy ships in a parallel fashion, exchanging broadsides. During the Gunboat War, Africa was under the command of Captain John Barrett. On 15 October 1808, Africa was escorting a convoy of 137 merchant ships in the Baltic, with the assistance of the bomb vessel Thunder and two gun-brigs. The left Karlskrona that day and on 20 October they anchored in the Øresund off Malmö. At noon a flotilla of Danish gunboats was seen moving towards the convoy and Africa sailed to intercept them. The flotilla consisted of 25 gunboats and seven armed launches, mounting some 70 heavy cannons and with an overall total of some 1600 men. It was under the command of Commodore J.C. Krieger. At 1:30 the wind died and Africa was immobilized. By 2:50pm the gunboats had stationed themselves off Africa’s quarters, where few of her guns could fire, and opened fire. The battle continued until 6:45pm when with night closing in all firing ceased. Had daylight lasted another hour the Danes would probably have captured Africa. As it was, she had lost 9 men killed and 51 wounded, including Barrett. She was so badly battered that she had to return to Karlskrona for refitting. The convoy, however, managed to reach Britain. War of 1812 Under the command of Captain John Bastard, Africa was part of Sir Philip Broke’s squadron that pursued, but ultimately failed to catch, the USS Constitution early in the War of 1812.
Forces Reunited Forum Posts involving HMS Africa
" Yes Alan,the origins of the Fleet Air Arm are fascinating. The R.N.’s involvement with aviation stated in 1908 with No.1 Rigid Naval Airship(Mayfly),but she broke her back coming out of her shed in a strong wind and never flew !In 1911 a member of the Royal Aero Club offered two aircraft and ..."
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" Quoting: John (Rev.) Holland Yes Alan,the origins of the Fleet Air Arm are fascinating. The R.N.’s involvement with aviation stated in 1908 with No.1 Rigid Naval Airship(Mayfly),but she broke her back coming out of her shed in a strong wind and never flew !In 1911 a member of the Royal Aero ..."
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" Quoting: Brita Sensicall James drowned in 1807 after being at the Battle of Trafalgar. There must have been a record somewhere that said who his parents were. Are such records & other service records likely to have survived? If so, can anyone tell me where to look? Thanks for your help. ..."
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" I must admit that I thought James must have been 20 when he joined HMS AFrica 19 Sep 1805. In which case, if born Kirton Largo 1784, he would have been 21 for a month & could have actually signed up when he was 20 or thought he was still 20. If the age given was his age at death I have it wrong. ..."
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" Forget the age ! The age is the approximate age on 21 October 1805 Only one Fifer! BORN. Kirton Largo. Only one James Lindsay on HMS Africa. This is the list of all the Lindsays who were in the Battle of Trafalgar. Alexander Lindsay 22 Edinburgh, Scotland Ordinary Seaman ..."
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479 people in our Napoleonic Wars records 
12 people in our Pre Napoleonic records
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