In May, 1803, Captain Joyce was appointed to the Discovery bomb, which vessel was frequently sent to throw shells into Boulogne, Calais, and other French ports, during the time that he commanded her. His subsequent appointments were to the Dasher and Favorite, sloops of war; but the latter he was obliged to decline accepting, in consequence of some very urgent domestic concerns requiring his personal attendance at home. These being arranged in the course of a few months, he immediately applied for employment, and was accordingly appointed, in April 1805, to the Camel 44, fitted for the conveyance of stores.
After making two or three trips to Gibraltar, Captain Joyce accompanied Rear-Admiral George Murray to the Cape of Good Hope, St. Helena, and Monte Video[1]. The following is an extract of that officer’s official despatches, announcing the failure of the attempt to regain possession of Buenos Ayres, in July, 1807:
“I have seen Captains Rowley and Joyce, who wore landed with the seamen, and am happy to find two only are missing. The persevering conduct of Captains Rowley and Joyce, and the seamen under their command, merits the highest encomiums. They had to drag the cannon for miles through the swamps, and the men were always harnessed to them.”
The Camel being broken up on her return from South America, Captain Joyce was then appointed to the Redpole brig, which vessel he continued to command until Aug. 1809, when he received a post-commission dated back to the 11th April preceding, as a reward for his intrepid and judicious conduct in Aix Roads, which is thus described by Captain E. P. Brenton:
