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Auction: 22075 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 1

Naval General Service 1793-1840, 1 clasp, Basque Roads 1809. (Joseph Harthorn.), good very fine

Joseph Harthorn, confirmed on the Roll with entitlement to this Medal and Clasp, served as an Able Seaman abord the 74-gun H.M.S. Theseus during the Battle of Basque Roads, a somewhat controversial engagement which lasted from 11 - 24 April 1809. After significant service across the globe (she was Nelson's Flagship at Santa Cruz, participated in the Battle of the Nile, the Siege of Acre and the Blockade of Saint-Domingue - where she was nearly sunk by a hurricane), Theseus was one of 11 battleships under the command of Admiral James "Dismal Jimmy" Gambier ordered to attack the French Atlantic fleet anchored in the Basque Roads, just off the naval base at Rochefort.
After a blockade lasting several months, the impetuous but charismatic Captain Lord Cochrane led an attack on the anchored French vessels which utilised fireships, bomb vessels and rocket ships - one of these even carrying the inventor of the British rocket artillery system, William Congreve. The assault initially met with great success and Cochrane had a chance to destroy a number of French vessels - however, Gambier failed to send reinforcements and the opportunity to win a decisive victory was lost. Theseus was much involved in escorting rocket-equipped launches and gunboats in supporting the attack and thankfully avoided the fate of her companion H.M.S. Caesar, which grouded on a shoal and remained in a precarious position for several hours until she was able to float off.

Whilst Theseus was broken-up at Chatham in 1814, her name has lived on into more recent times: in his famous novel 'Master and Commander, Patrick O'Brian places Jack Aubrey aboard her early in his naval career.

Sold with a card index note, stating: "Bought Spink May 3 - 1947, £2.10"

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Sold for
£2,100