| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Badger |
| Namesake | Badger |
| Owner | Atwood (1815) [1] |
| Builder | Cowes |
| Launched | 1803 |
| Fate | Last listed 1822 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Cutter [2] [3] [1] |
| Tons burthen | 107, [2] [1] or 10735⁄94 [3] (bm) |
| Propulsion | Sail |
| Complement |
|
| Armament | |
Badger was launched in 1803. She served as an Excise Cutter, a hired armed cutter serving the British Royal Navy, and then as a merchant vessel. She was last listed in 1822.
Captain Matthew Gunthorpe acquired a letter of marque on 9 June 1803. He was captain of "His Majesty's Excise Cutter Badger" when on 12 December he captured the French privateer Vigilant after a three-hour chase. Vigilant was a cutter of about 50 tons (bm), belonging to Dunkirk, and under the command of Citizen Jean Winnor Vanderwalle. She was armed with only one swivel gun, though her crew of 35 men had small arms. She had sailed from Ostend the day before and had made no captures. [4] Gunthorpe and Badger brought Vigilant into Yarmouth. [5]
Lloyd's List reported on 3 September 1805 that the "Badger cutter" had detained and sent into Yarmouth Commerce, Tirrell, master, which had been sailing from America to Amsterdam. [6]
On 16 April 1806, HMS Orpheus, Captain Thomas Briggs, was in company with Badger. They shared in the proceeds of the capture on that day of two merchant vessels, Vrou Fingina and Vyf Gesusters. [lower-alpha 1] Then on 18 April, Lloyd's List reported that the "Badger Excise Cutter" had sent Concordia, Leck, master, into Harwich. [8]
Captain James White received a letter of marque on 29 August 1807, and then Captain William Ogle Carr received one on 16 January 1809.
Between 16 November 1811 and 13 May 1814, Badger served the British Royal Navy under contract as His Majesty's hired vessel Badger. [3] In 1813 her master was J. Marshall. [9] From 13 December 1813 to 16 May 1814 her commander was Lieutenant Josias Bray, [10] and she served on the North Sea station.
Badger entered Lloyd's Register in the 1815 volume with Munro, master, Atwood, owner, and trade London—Curaçao. [1] This entry continued unchanged through 1822, which was the last time Badger was listed. The Register of Shipping last listed Badger in 1816. She last appeared in Lloyd's List's ship arrival and departure data in 1815 when she put into Cowes on 4 October needing a new bowsprit. She had been on a voyage from London to St Thomas. [11]
Eight ships and one shore establishment of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Badger, after the Eurasian badger:
During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars the British Royal Navy made use of hired armed vessels, one of which was His Majesty's hired armed cutter Nimrod. Three such vessels are recorded, but the descriptions of these vessels and the dates of their service are such that they may well represent one vessel under successive contracts. The vessel or vessels cruised, blockaded, carried despatches, and performed reconnaissance.
During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars the Admiralty also made use of hired armed vessels, one of which was His Majesty's Hired armed cutter Swan. Actually there were two such cutters, but the descriptions of these vessels and the dates of their service are such that they may well represent one vessel under successive contracts. The vessel or vessels cruised, blockaded, carried despatches and performed reconnaissance.
During the period of the Napoleonic Wars, two vessels have served the British Royal Navy as His Majesty's Hired armed cutter Idas, named for Idas, a figure from Greek mythology.
During the period of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, there were two or three vessels known as His Majesty's hired armed cutter Active that served the British Royal Navy. The reason for the uncertainty in the number is that the size of the vessels raises the possibility that the first and second may have been the same vessel.
During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, British vessels captured at least 12 French warships and privateers named Espoir, which means “Hope” in French. In only one case was there mention of an exchange of fire or casualties. In general, the privateers tried to escape, and failing that surrendered.
The British Royal Navy purchased HMS Shark on the stocks in 1775. She was launched in 1776, and in 1778 converted to a fireship and renamed HMS Salamander. The Navy sold her in 1783. She then became the mercantile Salamander. In the 1780s she was in the northern whale fishery. In 1791 she transported convicts to Australia. She then became a whaling ship in the southern whale fishery for a number of years, before becoming a general transport and then a slave ship. In 1804 the French captured her, but the Royal Navy recaptured her. Although she is last listed in 1811, she does not appear in Lloyd's List (LL) ship arrival and departure (SAD) data after 1804.
HMS Orpheus was a 32–gun fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1780, and served for more than a quarter of a century, before she was wrecked in 1807.
London Packet was a merchant vessel launched on the Thames in 1791. She served the Royal Navy as a Hired armed ship from 31 March 1793 to at least 30 September 1800, and despite some records, apparently for a year or more beyond that. She then returned to sailing as a merchant man until an American privateer captured her in May 1814.
Pretty Lass was a ship launched in 1796 in France that a Briton purchased c.1803. From late 1803 she sailed as a privateer under a letter of marque until the Royal Navy put her under contract from 9 June 1804 to 25 May 1805 as a hired armed ship. She had a brief, unremarkable career while under contract to the Navy. She then carried troops for the unsuccessful second British invasion of the River Plate. Pretty Lass was sunk in 1807 at the River Plate.
His Majesty's hired armed schooner Lady Charlotte served the British Royal Navy on contract between 28 October 1799 and 28 October 1801. She had a burthen of 120 85⁄94 tons (bm), and was armed with twelve 12-pounder carronades. As a hired armed vessel she captured several privateers and recaptured a number of British merchant vessels. After her service with the Royal Navy, she apparently sailed as a letter of marque until the French captured her in 1806.
HMS Crocodile was a 22-gun sixth-rate post-ship launched in South Shields in 1806. She was broken up at Portsmouth in October 1816.
Éole was an 18-gun corvette of the French Navy, launched, captured, and later commissioned in the Royal Navy in 1799 as HMS Nimrod after her capture by HMS Solebay. She was then "the finest and most handsome ship-sloop in the British navy". She was sold in 1811. Nimrod made three whaling voyages between 1811 and 1819. On her first she captured several American whalers. Nimrod was last listed in 1820.
Rolla was a French brig launched in 1801 or 1803, that came into British hands in 1804. She became a privateer and then a slaver, but before she was able to embark any slaves the French Navy captured her. The British Royal Navy recaptured her and took her into service as HMS Rolla. She served in Sir Home Riggs Popham's attack on Buenos Aires. She returned to Britain in December 1807 and was laid up. The Admiralty sold her in 1810 and she became a merchant vessel. She was last listed in 1826, and may have been lost on the coast of Brazil in 1825.
Three hired armed cutters named Earl Spencer served the British Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary or Napoleonic Wars. Two, both cutters, served at the same time between 1799 and 1801. A third, variously referred to as a tender or cutter, served from 1803 to 1814.
HMS Plumper was launched in 1807. She captured three small American privateers early in the War of 1812 but was wrecked in December 1812.
HMS Bonetta was launched in 1798 as the merchantman Adamant. The Royal Navy purchased her in 1803. She had a relatively unremarkable career escorting convoys in the North Sea and Channel before she was laid up in 1807 and sold in 1810. Her new owners in 1810 returned her name to Adamant. In 1816 she carried the first free settlers to Hobart in Van Diemen's Land. From there she sailed to engage in whaling. She was last reported at Timor in 1818.
Between 1793 and 1805, five cutters served the British Royal Navy as hired armed vessels under the designation HM hired cutter Rose:
Fowey was launched in 1798. She spent a little more than a year-and-a-half as a hired armed cutter for the British Royal Navy. She was sold in 1800 and became a privateer. Her fate after 1804 is currently obscure.
HMS Inspector was launched at Wivenhoe in 1782 as the only vessel built to her design. She participated in one campaign and also captured a handful of small merchant vessels before the Navy sold her in 1802. Most notably, her crew participated in the mutiny at the Nore. After her sale, she became the whaler Inspector. She made six complete voyages to the British southern whale fishery. A Chilean privateer captured her in May 1819. Eventually she was condemned as unseaworthy at Santander in 1821.
This article includes data released under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported UK: England & Wales Licence, by the National Maritime Museum, as part of the Warship Histories project.