Jacques Félix Emmanuel Hamelin

Baron Jacques Félix "Emmanuel" Hamelin (October 13 1768 – April 23 1839) was a rear admiral of the French navy and later a Baron. He commanded numerous naval expeditions and battles with the British Navy as well as exploratory voyages in the Indian Ocean and the South Seas.

At age 17, Hamelin embarked on a trade ship belonging to his uncle as a young marine to learn sailing. In April 1786, he was a crew member of the ship "L'Asie" of the merchant marine which was destined for the coast of Angola on a ten-month campaign. He then proceeded to Cherbourg on board the "Triton" as a helmsman. In July 1788, Hamelin returned to Honfleur, where he embarked as a midshipman on the ship "La Jeune Mina" and campaigns on several other vessels.

Navy

Hamelin was in Honfleur, Calvados, France. He was conscripted by the French Revolutionary Government for the French Revolutionary Wars and in 1792, quit commercial sailing and joined the marines. In August 1792 he was a quartermaster aboard the vessel "l'Entreprenant" which was a part of a naval division under rear admiral Louis-René Levassor de Latouche Tréville. Tréville's division joined together with another squadron of admiral Laurent Jean François Truguet and participated in operations against Oneglia, Caligliari, and Nice.

In August 1793 Hamelin was named midshipman of the frigate "la Proserpine", with which he took over the Hollandic frigate "la Vigilante" and part of the convoy she was escorting.

He was promoted to lieutenant in August 1795, and on "la Minerve", participated in combat on March 7, 1795. An English vessel "the Berwich" was subsequently captured.

On November 21, 1796, Hamelin was named commander of "la Révolution" which he became involved in the Irish Rebellion. Later, Hamelin took command of the "la Fraternité" for three months after which he left to take command of "la Précieuse" under the orders of admiral Eustache Bruix. He then embarked as second-in-command on "le Formidable".

outh Seas

From October 1, 1800 to June 23, 1803, Hamelin captained "le Naturaliste" along with Captain Nicolas Baudin on "le Géographe" on a scientific exploration exploring the South Seas. This voyage was intended by the French government to establish a port in the southern seas before the British. Hamelin and Baudin, along with their crews, undertook extensive mapping of the coastlines of Australia and New Guinea.

The voyage included a visit to Dirk Hartog Island in 1801, where a party of Hamelin's men discovered a plate, left by Willem de Vlamingh in 1697, which had in turn replaced an earlier plate left by Dirk Hartog in 1616. Hamelin's men initially removed the plate but it was returned on his orders and left intact until a later visit by Louis de Freycinet in 1818. De Freycinet was on Hamelin's 1801 crew.

On his return to France, Hamelin oversaw the weaponry of the large fleet intended for the ascent on England.

Mauritius

In July 1806, Hamelin took command of the frigate "la Vénus" from Le Havre. He set sail for Mauritius, seizing four ships along the way. In March 1809, "la Vénus" entered the Port of Napoleon (formerly Port Louis, Mauritius). On April 26, after orders from the general captain of Mauritius to leave, he sailed off, having under his command "la Vénus", the frigate "la Manche", the brig "l'Entreprenant" and the schooner "la Créole". He visited Foulpointe on the east coast of Madagascar. Besieged by natives, he moved on the Bay of Bengal, entered Saint-Georges channel, seized several English ships, sunk a great number of boats sent out by the English, and on November 18, 1809, seized "Tappanouti", an English merchantship [William James ("Naval History of Great Britain" [1837] , vol. 5, sub anno 1809) gives Tappanooli [sic] as the name of a settlement of British merchants rather than of a ship.] . On the return voyage to Mauritius, he captured three large East India Trading Company ships. He seized several more English ships, notably the English frigate "Ceylon", as the English attacked the island.

Heroes return

On returning to France in February 1811, Hamelin was presented to Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, and awarded the Commandeur de Légion d'honneur, created a Baron of Empire, raised to the rank of rear-admiral and named commander of a division of the squadron under the orders of Admiral Edouard Jacques Burgues de Missiessy.

In April 1818, he moved to Toulon as general major of the navy, a post that he occupied until May 18, 1822. In early 1823, he was appointed "Senior Officer of Legion-in Honneur"

In 1832, Baron Hamelin was appointed as Inspector General of Marine Crews, and in 1833 he was named Director of Marine Cartography.

He retired shortly after, and died in Paris.

His nephew was Admiral François Alphonse Hamelin.

Notes

References

* Fornasiero, Jean; Monteath, Peter and West-Sooby, John. "Encountering Terra Australis: the Australian voyages of Nicholas Baudin and Matthew Flinders", Kent Town, South Australia,Wakefield Press,2004. ISBN 1862546258
* "Jacques Félix Emmanuel Hamelin", in C. Mullié, "" fr icon
* "This article draws heavily on the Jacques Félix Emmanuel Hamelin article in the French Wikipedia, which was accessed in the version of July 26, 2006.
* Marchant, Leslie R. "French Napoleonic Placenames of the South West Coast", Greenwood, WA. R.I.C. Publications, 2004. ISBN 1741260949

Further reading

* Playford, Phillip E.(1998) "Voyage of discovery to Terra Australis : by Willem De Vlamingh in 1696-97" Perth, W.A. Western Australian Museum. ISBN 0730712214

ee also

* Cape Leeuwin
* Cape Naturaliste
* Geographe Bay
* Hamelin Bay