On 24 December 1811, a storm resulted in the wrecking of six vessels on the Haak Sand north of Texel and the loss of over 600 lives.
Grasshopper, The 74-gun HMS Hero, the ship-sloop Egeria, the brig-sloop Grasshopper and the hired armed ship Prince William left Göteborg on 18 December 1811 as escorts to a convoy of 15 transports and a fleet of merchantmen, some 120 sail or more. [1] Four or five days later Egeria and Prince William separated, together with the vessels going to the Humber and Scotland, including most of the merchant vessels. The transports and a handful of the merchantmen proceeded with Hero and Grasshopper. [1]
On 24–25 December Hero and Grasshopper and the vessels they were escorting encountered a storm that result in the loss of most of them. [2]
Vessel | Death toll | Notes |
---|---|---|
Hero | Loss of all but 12 of her 600 crew | She grounded and within 15 minutes the distress signals ceased; by next morning she was completely wrecked |
Grasshopper | Only the pilot drowned | She crossed the sandbank but then was trapped and had to surrender to the Dutch the next day |
Vessel | Death toll | Notes |
---|---|---|
Archimedes [3] | 20 of the crew saved | |
Beckman | Master and 13 crew lost [4] | Of Baltimore; in ballast [4] |
Centurion | Crew lost [3] | Eight carronades [4] |
Flora | Part of the crew saved [3] | Of 359 tons, sunk; 1500 barrels of powder & 250 chests of arms; a great number of chests are expected to be recovered [4] |
Rosina | Master and 17 crew lost [3] | Of 350 tons; in ballast [4] |
The Gunboat War was a naval conflict between Denmark–Norway and Great Britain during the Napoleonic Wars. The war's name is derived from the Danish tactic of employing small gunboats against the materially superior Royal Navy. In Scandinavia it is seen as the later stage of the English Wars, whose commencement is accounted as the First Battle of Copenhagen in 1801.
The capture of HMS Frolic was a naval action fought in the Atlantic on 18 October 1812, between the sloop-of-war USS Wasp, commanded by Master Commandant Jacob Jones, and the Cruizer-class brig-sloopHM Brig Frolic, under Commander Thomas Whinyates. The Americans captured the British vessel, but both vessels shortly thereafter were captured by a British ship of the line which happened upon the scene of the battle.
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HMS Egeria was a Royal Navy 26-gun Cormorant-class ship-sloop launched at Bridport in 1807. During the Gunboat War she captured three privateers and several merchant vessels. After the Napoleonic Wars she continued on active service until 1825, after which she served as a receiving or accommodation ship. She was eventually broken up in 1865.
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The Battle of Delaware Bay, or the Battle of Cape May, was a naval engagement fought between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United States during the American Revolutionary War. A British squadron of three vessels attacked three American privateers that were escorting a fleet of merchantmen. The ensuing combat in Delaware Bay near Cape May ended with an American victory over a superior British force.
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Rear Admiral John Toup Nicolas RN CB KH (1788–1851) was a Royal Navy commander.
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