Anacreon was launched in 1800 at Sunderland. She initially sailed between London and Minorca and then between 1804 and 1805 she served as an armed defense ship for the Royal Navy. She next became a London-based transport, and eventually traded from Liverpool to the Baltic and Canada. She was wrecked in 1823.
Anacreon entered Lloyd's Register in 1800 with Massingale, master, Davidson, owner, and trade London–Minorca.[2] This information continued unchanged until 1805 in the Register of Shipping and 1806 in Lloyd's Register. However, the information in the registers was only as accurate as owners chose to keep it and both registers often carried stale data for some years. For Anacreon, the data was incorrect from late 1803 to late 1805.
Following the resumption of war with France in early 1803, concern developed in Britain about Napoleon's planned invasion of the United Kingdom. The British government's response took many forms including the reactivation of Fencible regiments and the Sea Fencibles, a program of the construction of Martello Towers along the coasts of Britain and Ireland, and the commissioning of a number of armed defense ships.
The British East India Company in November voted to underwrite 10,000 tons (bm) of armed transports to protect Great Britain's coasts. The vessels were existing, but not EIC, merchantmen that would receive an upgrade in armament and in some cases a naval officer as captain. The vessels were: Albion, Anacreon, Atlas, Aurora, Chapman, Diadem, Duckenfield, Helder, Indefatigable, Lord Forbes, Lord Nelson, Norfolk, Paragon, Perseus, Robert, Sir Alexander Mitchell, Suffolk, and Triton.[1]
On 21 November 1803 Anacreon, of 443 tons (bm) and 16 guns, was ready but yet to be allocated to her station.[1] On 28 December at Deal a boat from Anacreon capsized will coming to shore; two men drowned and a third died later.[4]
In August 1804 she was at Sheerness undergoing fitting.[5] Commander James John Charles Agassiz was appointed to her circa 6 September 1804.[6] He commissioned her and by later that month she was on the Leith Station.[5]
On 31 December 1805 the armed ships Helder, Anacreon, Triton, and Paragon were at Portsmouth, having come down from The Downs.[7]
The Royal Navy returned the armed defense ships to their owners in the second half of 1805. Anacreon was deleted from the lists in July 1805.[5] Commander Agassiz moved to take command on 22 January 1806 of HMSRattler.[6]
The 1806 volume of the Register of Shipping showed Anacreon's master as W. Young, her owner as Davison, and her trade as London transport.[3]
Next, Anacreon was one of the transport vessels that were part of the expedition under General Sir David Baird and Admiral Sir Home Riggs Popham that would in 1806 capture the Dutch Cape Colony.
On 21 March 1806 she sailed with 16 other transports in a convoy to Great Britain with invalids and Dutch prisoners. The newly-captured and commissioned HMS Volontaire provided their escort.
The information in the table below comes from either Lloyd's Register (LR) or the Register of Shipping (RS).
Active was the French ship Alsace that the Royal Navy captured in 1803. William Bennett purchased her and named her Active, in place of a previous Active that had been lost in January 1803. She then made one whaling voyage for him. Bennett sold her to Robins & Co., and she sailed between London and Buenos Aires. She then sailed on a second sealing voyage. She was lost in 1810.
Bellona was a three-decker merchantman launched in 1782 at Limehouse by Woolcombe for Boyd & Co. She then traded for a decade before, in 1792, commencing a series of four voyages for the British East India Company as an "extra ship", that is, on a charter contract. During the first of these voyages she transported convicts from Britain to New South Wales. French privateers captured her and the British Royal Navy recaptured her, the Royal Navy seized her once, and then finally a French privateer captured her in February 1810 and scuttled her.
Atlas was built in Souths Shields by Temple and launched in 1801 for Temple. She made two voyages transporting convicts from Ireland or England to Port Jackson. On the first voyage she carried cargo for the British East India Company (EIC). On the second she sailed to Bengal after delivering her convicts to New South Wales and was wrecked off India in 1820 while on her way back to Britain.
Perseus was a sailing ship built in 1799 at Stockton-on-Tees, England. She made one voyage transporting convicts to New South Wales, returning to England via Canton. In 1803-1804 she served as an "armed defense ship". Thereafter she served as a transport. She is last listed in 1844.
Minorca was a merchant ship launched in 1799 at Newcastle upon Tyne, England. She made one voyage in 1801 transporting convicts to New South Wales. For her return voyage to Britain she was under contract to the British East India Company (EIC).
Indefatigable was a square-rigged, three-decked, three-masted merchant ship launched in 1799 at Whitby for James Atty & Co. for the West Indies trade. In 1804 she served as an armed defense ship and recaptured a merchantman that a privateer had captured. She was a transport in the 1805–1806 British invasion of the Dutch Cape colony. She twice transported convicts to Australia; on the first trip she was chartered to the British East India Company (EIC). She burned to the waterline in 1815.
The British East India Company (EIC) had Whim built for use as a fast dispatch vessel. She was sold in 1802 and became a whaler that a French privateer captured and released, and then a merchant vessel. She is no longer listed after 1822.
Backhouse was launched at Hull in 1799 as a West Indiaman. Mather & Co. purchased her in 1800 and then employed her on two whaling voyages to the Southern Whale Fishery. They sold her in 1805 and her new owner sailed her to the West Indies. In September 1806, as she was homeward-bound, her crew burned her as she was too leaky to continue.
Esther was launched in 1783 and entered British hands as a French prize of 1793. She took part in a notable single-ship action in 1794 in which she repelled a French privateer. Between 1801 and 1805 she made four slave trading voyages. A French privateer captured her in a sanguinary single-ship action in 1805.
Lord Eldon was launched at Sunderland in 1801. She was initially a London-based transport, but new owners contracted with the Admiralty. From certainly 1804 through approximately 1811 she served the British Royal Navy as a hired armed ship. During this period Spanish vessels captured her, but the Royal Navy recaptured her. Between 1812 and 1813 she underwent lengthening. In 1814 she returned to serving as a transport. She was driven ashore and damaged in 1817; she was no longer listed in 1819.
Diadem was a barque launched in 1800 at Whitby. She served as an armed defence ship between 1803 and 1805. Her owners sold her to the British government in 1818. The year 1818 may be a transcription error for 1808 as that is the last year for which Diadem is listed in either Lloyd's Register or the Register of Shipping.
Cornwallis was a French vessel launched in 1802 that came into British hands in 1803. Under a sequence of owners she traded with the West Indies, Spain, the Cape of Good Hope, and Singapore. She is last listed in 1834.
HMS Prospero was the mercantile Albion, launched at South Shields in 1800. The British Royal Navy purchased her in 1803 and converted her to a bomb vessel. She foundered in 1807 with the loss of almost her entire crew.
Suffolk was launched in 1795 at Newcastle. In 1800 she made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). She traded widely as different owners deployed her on one route or another.
Duckenfield was launched in 1792 on the Thames. She was primarily a West Indiaman but between 1803 and 1805 she served the Royal Navy as an armed defense ship. She was last listed in 1819.
Lord Forbes was launched at Chester in 1803 as a West Indiaman. She soon became an "armed defense ship", but by 1805 had returned to being a West Indiaman. She made two voyages as an "extra" ship for the British East India Company (EIC). She continued trading with India until 1817 when she sustained damage on her way to Bengal. There she was surveyed, condemned and sold.
Robert was launched at Newcastle upon Tyne in 1800 as a West Indiaman. In 1804 she may have served as an armed defense ship before reverting to the West Indies trade. She was last listed in 1825.
Norfolk was built in France in 1784 under a different name. The British captured her c. 1800 and she made some voyages as a West Indiaman. She also made a cruise as a privateer. Between 1803 and 1808 she served the Royal Navy as an armed defense and hired armed ship on the Leith Station. She spent her time escorting convoys in the North Sea and captured one French privateer. After her naval service, between 1808 and 1814 Norfolk was a London-based transport. From 1814 to 1820 she made four voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She was last listed in 1823.
Paragon was launched at Whitby in 1800. Between 1803 and 1805 she served as an armed defense ship protecting Britain's coasts and convoys. She then served as a transport on the 1805 naval expedition to capture the Cape of Good Hope. Next, she returned to mercantile service and in 1814 a French privateer captured her, but the British Royal Navy recaptured her the next day. She sailed to India in 1818 under a license from the British East India Company (EIC}, and was wrecked in March 1819 while inbound to Calcutta.
Paragon was launched at Lancaster in 1801, or 1800. She traded across the Atlantic with the West Indies, South America, and North America. She captured one French vessel, and was herself captured, but swiftly recaptured by the Royal Navy. She was last listed in 1830, but with stale data from 1825.
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