HMS Janissary

Genl Menou Mounted on a Drom[...];
Lord [K]ieth (sic) on board the Foudroyant;
The Janissary gun boat protecting the landing of the troops;
The head of the Sphinx near Aboukir supposed to be near 2000 years old,
cartoons by Sir Robert Ker Porter; c.1801, Victoria and Albert Museum

HMS Janissary or Janizary was a gun-boat that served in the Royal Navy's Egyptian campaign (8 March – 2 September 1801). She appears in the records only in connection with the campaign and her origins before 1800 or service after 1801 are lost. Her name honours the Janissaries, a body of Ottoman troops.

On 2 March, while under the command of Lieutenant John Whilley, Janissary, together with the cutter Cruelle and the gun-vessel Dangereuse, protected the left flank during the landing of troops in Aboukir Bay.[1] The cutter Entreprenante, schooner Malta, and the gun-vessel Negresse covered the right flank.[1] Janissary's officers and crew therefore qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal that the Admiralty authorised in 1850 to all surviving claimants.[2]

  1. ^ a b "No. 15362". The London Gazette. 5 May 1801. pp. 496–498.
  2. ^ "No. 21077". The London Gazette. 15 March 1850. pp. 791–792.