HMS Medusa was a 32-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy that served in the Napoleonic Wars. Launched on 14 April 1801, she took part in the action of 5 October 1804 against a Spanish squadron, in the River Plate Expedition in 1807, and made several captures of enemy ships, before being converted to a hospital ship in 1813. She was broken up in 1816. Construction Medusa was ordered on 28 January 1800 from the Pitcher yard at Northfleet, and was designed by Sir William Rule. Her keel was laid down in April 1800, and she was launched a year later on 14 April 1801. Medusa was commissioned on 25 April 1801 under the command of John Gore. One source suggests that Gore welcomed Nelson aboard on 30 July 1801. Service history On 2 August 1801 Lord Nelson hoisted his flag aboard Medusa at Deal and crossed the channel in order to observe the French invasion fleet at Boulogne. He ordered an attack by bomb vessels on the 4th, followed by an attempt to board and cut out the enemy flotilla on the night of the 15th. The British were organised into four boat divisions under the command of Captains Philip Somerville, Isaac Cotgrave, Robert Jones and Nelson's aide-de-camp Edward T. Parker, supported by howitzer boats commanded by Captain John Conn. The darkness of the night and a powerful tide meant that the boats arrived separately rather than together, and Jones' division missed the action completely. The French were well-prepared, and the attackers were met by heavy fire from the ships and from shore. Medusas boats attempted to board a large brig, but they were frustrated by nets stretched around the bulwarks. Medusa suffered 55 casualties, the most of any ship. Midshipmen William Gore and William Bristow, 14 seamen and 4 marines were killed, and Captain Parker, Lieutenants Charles Pelley and Frederick Langford, the Master William Kirby, Midshipman the Hon. Anthony Maitland, 24 seamen and 6 marines were wounded. During the Peace of Amiens, between October 1801 and February 1802, Medusa was employed in suppressing smuggling in the English Channel, patrolling the south coast between Start Point and the Isle of Wight. She was then ordered to the Mediterranean Sea, where she visited Spanish and French ports and escorted King Ferdinand IV from Palermo to Naples. Early in 1803 Medusa was at Constantinople, having carried the British ambassador, William Drummond,