HMS Imperieuse was a 38-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. Built in Ferrol, Spain, for the Spanish Navy she was launched as Medea in 1797. In 1804 she was part of a squadron carrying gold from South America to Spain that was seized by the British while Spain and Britain were at peace. Medea was subsequently taken into service with the Royal Navy and was briefly named HMS Iphigenia before being renamed Imperieuse in 1805.
Destruction of the French Fleet in Basque Roads. Thomas Whitcombe 1817. HMS Imperieuse (right) engages the grounded French ships.
Medea (fourth ship from the left) in close action with HMS Indefatigable.
Lord Cochrane's exploits in the Mediterranean earned Imperieuse a reputation as a highly effective coastal raider
Imperieuse advancing on the grounded French fleet on the morning of the 12th of April 1809. Robert Dodd (1748–1815)
The Battle of Cape Santa Maria was a naval engagement that took place off the southern Portuguese coast, in which a British squadron under the command of Commodore Graham Moore attacked and defeated a Spanish squadron commanded by Brigadier Don José de Bustamante y Guerra.
The action of 5 October 1804, Francis Sartorius
5 October 1804, the battle of Cabo de Santa María
Sir Graham Moore's Action, 5 October 1804. HMS Medusa, Indefatigable, Amphion, and Liveley. Thomas Whitcombe.
