midshipmen, managed to keep constantly afloat until his promotion to the rank of Lieutenant, May 13, 1793, at which period he was appointed to the Fox frigate, on the Newfoundland station, where he had previously been serving as a master’s-mate of the Stately 64.
In Oct. following. Lieutenant Joyce rejoined the Stately; and we soon afterwards find him removing with his patron, Vice-Admiral Sir Richard King, into the Excellent 74, from which ship he was appointed to the Galatea 32, Captain (now Sir Richard G.) Keats, under whom he continued to serve for nearly three years; during which period he assisted at the capture and destruction of the following French men of war:
La Révolutionnaire frigate, of 44 guns and 351 men, taken by Sir Edward Pellew’s squadron, Oct. 21, 1794. Le Jean Bart, corvette, of 26 guns and 187 men; and l’Expedition, of 16 guns and 120 men (formerly a British packet), taken by the Artois and Galatea, in April, 1795. L’Etoile, of 30 guns and 160 men, taken by the squadron under Sir John B. Warren, after an action with three large frigates, &c. the brunt of which was borne by the Galatea, Mar. 20, 1796. And l’Andromaque frigate, pierced for 48 guns, mounting 44, with a complement of 300 men, drove on shore by the Galatea, near Arcasson, and there completely destroyed by the Sylph brig, Aug. 23, 1796. The particulars of this latter service will be given in the supplement to our memoir of Sir R. G. Keats, G.C.B.[1]
In Mar. 1797, Lieutenant Joyce left the Galatea in order to join the Prince 98, flag-ship of Sir Roger Curtis, Bart, under whom he had served in the Queen Charlotte and Brunswick, during the Spanish and Russian armaments. From Oct. 1799 until the peace of Amiens, we find him in the Ville de Paris, a first rate, successively bearing the flags of Earl St. Vincent and the Hon. William Cornwallis, on the Mediterranean and Channel stations. His promotion to the rank of Commander took place April 29, 1802; and about the same time, in compliance with the wishes of his late shipmates, he had the gratification of presenting to the then first Lord of the Admiralty a silk flag, with his lordship’s arms beautifully embroidered, and a suitable motto, as already described at p. 30 of our first volume.
- ↑ During the same period, Lieutenant Joyce was also frequently employed in boats, cutting out vessel from under the enemy’s batteries.
