When the army declined to garrison Diamond Rock, the Royal Navy commissioned the position as HMS Diamond Rock and defended it with a hundred sailors and officers. Two 18-pounders were winched to the summit, with a 24-pounder and carronades covering the beaches and other approaches. Villeneuve's fleet eventually overwhelmed the garrison during its Caribbean movement before Trafalgar, but only after the rock had held out for most of a year. During that resistance, people on the French-held island sold water and other supplies to the British garrison. Their hostility toward French rule and pragmatic choices between imperial rulers help explain the trade. The armament and difficult approaches show how a fortified rock could function as a small warship and sea-control outpost.
Chapter · 30:05-34:48
HMS Diamond Rock, the Royal Navy's stone sloop
The Diamond Rock episode shows the Royal Navy commissioning a fortified island as a sloop and forcing a major French fleet to reduce it before Trafalgar.