HMS Euphrates (1813)

Plan of the Scamander-class frigates
History
United Kingdom
Name	Euphrates
Namesake	Euphrates
Ordered	12 October 1812
Builder	John King, Upnor
Laid down	January 1813
Launched	8 November 1813
Completed	24 September 1814
Commissioned	August 1814
Out of service	1817
Fate	Sold 29 January 1818
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	Fifth-rate Scamander-class frigate
Tons burthen	943 (bm)
Length	143 ft 3+1⁄2 in (43.7 m) (upper deck) 120 ft 2+1⁄4 in (36.6 m) (keel)
Beam	38 ft 5 in (11.7 m)
Draught	8 ft 5 in (2.6 m) (forward) 12 ft 8 in (3.9 m) (aft)
Depth of hold	12 ft 4 in (3.8 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Complement	284
Armament	UD: 26 × 18-pounder guns QD: 12 × 32-pounder carronades Fc: 2 × 9-pounder guns + 2 × 32-pounder carronades

HMS Euphrates was a 36-gun Scamander-class frigate of the Royal Navy. Constructed in response to the start of the War of 1812, Euphrates was commissioned in August 1814 under Captain Robert Foulis Preston. The frigate spent her wartime service in the English Channel and unsuccessfully hunting for American privateers off the Azores. Kept on in the post-Napoleonic Wars peace, the ship was sent to serve in the Mediterranean Fleet.

Euphrates was stationed at Corfu with orders to combat pirates, until Admiral Lord Exmouth arrived in the Mediterranean for operations against Algiers. Taken off her regular duties for this, Euphrates missed the Bombardment of Algiers when Preston chose not to pass on the despatch announcing Exmouth's arrival to his commanding officer, Rear-Admiral Sir Charles Penrose. Early in the following year the frigate was ordered home. Preston, whose mental health had been deteriorating, slit his throat after Euphrates had departed from Gibraltar, and died rabidly insane three days later. The frigate saw no more service after returning to England, and was sold in 1818.