“And now, Sir, a very pleasing part of my duty is the bearing testimony to the able and masterly manner in which the Endymion was conducted, and the gallantry with which she was fought; and when the effect produced by her well-directed fire upon the President is witnessed, it cannot be doubted but that Captain Hope would have succeeded in either capturing or sinking her, had none of the squadron been in sight.”
To the above account of the President’s capture we shall now only add an extract from Sir Henry Hotham’s letter to the commander-in-Chief, enclosing Captain Hayes’ report of the action[1].
“The present season of the year, and the dark nights of which he availed himself, have not enabled him (Commodore Decatur) to elude the vigilance of Captain Hayes, and the commanders of H. M. ships under his orders, who have well discharged the important duty I assigned to them; and I beg leave to offer you my congratulations on the design of the American Government being defeated. * * * * The judicious conduct of Captain Hayes, in the direction of the force entrusted to his charge, and the exertions exhibited by him, and by Captains Parker, Hope, and Lumley, have justified the confidence I had placed in their zeal, and have rendered them worthy of your approbation.”
The Majestic being paid off at the termination of the war with America, Captain Hayes remained without further employment till April, 1819, when he was appointed to superintend the ordinary at Plymouth. He received the insignia of a C.B. as a reward for his meritorious services, at the establishment of that order in 1815.
Captain Hayes is the author of a pamphlet on the subject of Naval Architecture, his proficiency in which important science is the result of many years professional experience and deep consideration. His proposed system, we understand, meets a point hitherto considered impracticable, viz:– that of building a thousand vessels, if required, from a given section, without the variation of a needle’s point, reducible from a first rate ship to a cutter, each possessing excelling powers and advantages of every description, in their respective class. Since the publication of the above pamphlet, in which he carefully abstained from saying, or even hinting, that he had made any progress in the formation of
- ↑ The respective loss and damages sustained by the Endymion and President, with other particulars relative to those ships, will be given in our memoir of Captain Henry Hope, C.B.
