patches, and he accordingly returned to England in the Fanny armed brig, about the 10th May following.
From this period we lose sight of Captain Ekins until the spring of 1801, when he was appointed to the Beaulieu, of 40 guns, in which fine frigate he was actively employed till the latter end of 1806. He then joined the Defence, a third-rate; and in the following year sailed with Admiral Gambier on the expedition against Copenhagen; but he was prevented from being present at the surrender of that capital and the Danish navy, in consequence of his having been detached with the Comus, of 32 guns, under his orders, in pursuit of the Frederickswarn frigate, which had escaped from Elsineur soon after the arrival of the British armament in that neighbourhood, and was taken after an arduous chase in light winds, and a short action with the Comus[1].
We next find Captain Ekins employed off Lisbon, under the orders of Sir Charles Cotton, by whom he was sent to St. Ubes, for the purpose of circulating manifestos among the Portuguese, and endeavouring to open a communication with the Russian Admiral Siniavin, who was at that time blockaded in the Tagus. While on that service, he received information of the Rochefort squadron being at sea; and supposing its destination to be the West Indies, he lost no time in proceeding thither. On his arrival off Martinique, he formed a junction with Sir Alexander Cochrane; as did Sir John T. Duckworth with his squadron, on the following morning. It being afterwards ascertained that the enemy had altered their course, and gone to the Mediterranean, Captain Ekins was sent home with two hundred sail of merchant vessels under his protection, the whole of which he conducted in safety to England.
The Defence afterwards formed part of the fleet employed in the Baltic, under the orders of Sir James Saumarez; and in 1809, was detached, in company with the Bellerophon, to the Gulf of Finland, where Captain Ekins took possession of several islands, and completely cut off all supplies sent by the Russians for the use of their army in Sweden.
Our officer’s next appointment appears to have been, Sept. 7, 1815, to the Superb, of 74 guns, in which ship he greatly
- ↑ See Captain George Edward Watts, in our next volume.
