Naval General Service clasp Lion 15 July 1798, unique name on medal oll

Naval General Service clasp Lion 15 July 1798,

William Boardy

unique name on medal roll

On 15 July 1798, the Lion 64-guns, Captain Manley Dixon, about 30 leagues off Carthagena, met with four Spanish frigates – one of them, the Santa Dorotea 42-guns, having lost her fore-topmast. The Spanish ships formed in line of battle but the Lion, having the weather gage, bore down and succeeded in cutting off the Santa Dorotea, left astern by her consorts. This ship, though her topmast was gone, sailed nearly as well as the Lion, and the other three frigates tacked and made three attempts to support her, but each time receiving a broadside from Captain Dixon, at length hauled off, and stood away to the north west. The Lion then got alongside the Santa Dorotea and engaged her yard-arm to yard-arm, shooting away her mizzen mast and damaging her main mast and rudder, till seeing herself abandoned by her comrades, and having 20 of her crew killed and 32 wounded, she struck her colours. The Lion who was 50 men short of her complement, had a midshipman and one man wounded. The Santa Dorotea was afterwards, under the same name, added to the British Navy as a 36-gun frigate.

Couple of minor edge nicks