GODDARD BLENNERHASSETT, Esq.
[Commander.]
Was made a lieutenant in 1796; and served as first of the Amethyst frigate, at the capture of la Thetis, Nov. 10th, 1808[1]. The following is an extract of his captain’s official letter on that occasion:
“No language can convey an adequate idea of the cool and determined bravery shewn by every officer and man of this ship; and their truly noble behaviour has laid me under the greatest obligation. The assistance I received from my gallant friend the first lieutenant, Mr. Goddard Blennerhassett, an officer of great merit and ability, is beyond ail encomium.
This officer’s commission as commander bears date Nov. 11th, 1808. Towards the end of 1810, he was appointed to the Challenger brig-sloop; and on the 12th March, 1811, he had the misfortune to be captured by a French frigate and an armed store-ship, off the Seven Islands. In May, 1814, having then just returned from captivity, he was tried by a court-martial, honorably acquitted, and highly praised for his seamanlike endeavours to join the British squadron off St. Maloes.
THOMAS WELLS, Esq.
[Commander.]
Was made a lieutenant in 1795, and promoted to the rank of commander in Nov. 1808. On the 1st of that month, being then acting in the Cruiser sloop, he engaged a Danish flotilla, near Gottenburgh, captured one vessel of ten four-pounders, and compelled her consorts, about twenty in number, to take refuge under the island of Loesoe. In the summer of 1811, he was appointed to the Phipps sloop; and on the 11th Mar. 1812, we find him capturing le Cerf, French lugger privateer, of five guns and thirty-one men. On the 4th May following, he assisted at the recapture of H.M. sloop Apelles[2]. This officer died on the continent, in 1825.
