Cruizer-class brig-sloop

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HMS Pelorus (1808) aground at low water.jpg
The Cruizer-class brig-sloop HMS Pelorus aground at low water
Class overview
NameCruizer class
OperatorsNaval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  Royal Navy
In service1797–1826
Completed110
General characteristics [1]
Type Brig-sloop
Tons burthen3824194 (bm)
Length100 ft (30 m) (overall); 77 ft 3+12 in (23.559 m) (keel)
Beam30 ft 6 in (9.30 m)
Depth of hold12 ft 9 in (3.89 m)
Sail plan Brig
Complement121
Armament

The Cruizer class was an 18-gun class of brig-sloops of the Royal Navy. Brig-sloops were the same as ship-sloops except for their rigging. A ship-sloop was rigged with three masts whereas a brig-sloop was rigged as a brig with only a fore mast and a main mast.

Contents

The Cruizer class was the most numerous class of warships built by the British during the Napoleonic Wars, with 110 vessels ordered to this design (including two completed as ship sloops, and another 3 cancelled), and the second most numerous class of sailing warship built to a single design for any navy at any time, after the smaller 10-gun Cherokee-class brig-sloops. [1]

Of the vessels in the class, eight (8%) were lost to the enemy, either destroyed or taken. Another was taken, but retaken. Fourteen (13%) were wrecked while in British service. Lastly, four (4%) foundered while in British service. In all cases of foundering and in many cases of wrecking all the crew was lost. Many of the vessels in the class were sold, some into mercantile service (of these, one at least was wrecked, but the fate of the others is generally unknown).

Design

In December 1796, the Navy Board placed new orders for four flush-decked sloops, to differing designs by the two Surveyors of the Navy — Sir William Rule and Sir John Henslow. In order to compare the qualities of ship-rigged and brig-rigged vessels, one vessel to each design was to be completed as a ship-sloop and the other as a brig-sloop. While the Henslow-designed vessels (the brig-sloop Busy and the ship-sloop Echo) would see no further sister ships built, the Rule-designed vessels (the brig-sloop Cruizer and the ship-sloop Snake) would each have a single sister ship ordered in the following March, and Rule's Cruizer design would subsequently see 106 constructed during the Napoleonic War. [1] The hull design was exceeding fine (narrow as compared to length), with a noted deadrise amidships and a sharp sheer, giving away the design that had origins in the smaller cutter-type designs. [2]

The order placed in March 1797 for the first sister ship to Cruizer was quickly amended to compete the ship (Osprey) as a ship sloop, but new orders for brig-sloops to the Cruizer design were placed from 1802 up to 1813. A final order in 1815 (HMS Samarang) was cancelled in 1820. [1]

The Cruizer-class brig-sloops proved to be fast sailers and seaworthy, and the 32-pounder carronade armament gave them enormous short-range firepower, exceeding the nominal broadside of a standard 36-gun 18-pounder frigate. To a Royal Navy increasingly desperate for manpower, the great attraction of the design was that — thanks to the two-masted rig and the use of carronades with their small gun crews — this firepower could be delivered by a crew only a third the size of a frigate's. The Dutch built three 18 gun-brigs Zwaluw, Mercuur and Kemphaan — to a similar design; in one case apparently a copy, though without the square tuck stern. The Russian brig Olymp was also built to the same lines.

The naval historian (and novelist) C.S. Forester commented in relation to the smaller gun-brigs (brig-rigged vessels of under 200 tons) that

The type was a necessary one but represented the inevitable unsatisfactory compromise when a vessel has to be designed to fight, to be seaworthy and to have a long endurance, all on a minimum displacement and at minimum expense. Few men in the Royal Navy had a good word to say for the gun-brigs, which rolled terribly and were greatly over-crowded, but they had to be employed. [3]

Later in the same book he was more complimentary as regards the larger brigs such as the Cruizer class HMS Penguin.

Perhaps the most salient aspect of his statement is that the Cruizer class and its smaller sister class, the Cherokee class, highlight the huge expansion of the Royal Navy. Whatever else one may say of the class, the Cruizer-class brig-sloops were both fast and provided serious firepower for minimal crewing, characteristics that appealed to a Navy suffering serious and ever increasing staffing shortages. [2] The class proved to be ideal for many of the shallow water commitments in the Baltic and Ionian Seas, as well as around Danish waters.

Manning

Prior to 1808, the complement of officers, men, and boys for a Cruizer-class brig-sloop included 15 Royal Marines. After 1808, the vessels carried 20 marines comprising 1 sergeant, 1 corporal and 18 privates (the marine contingent on unrated vessels did not include a commissioned officer).

Service in the War of 1812

HMS Epervier (right), a Cruizer-class sloop, fighting against the larger USS Peacock (left) during the War of 1812. NavalMonument11 byAbelBowen 1838.png
HMS Epervier (right), a Cruizer-class sloop, fighting against the larger USS Peacock (left) during the War of 1812.

During the Anglo-American War of 1812, several ships of the class fell victim to larger American ship-rigged sloops of war of nominally the same class. The American vessels enjoyed an advantage in weight of broadside and number of crew. [4] The ship-rigged sloops enjoyed the ability to back sail, and their rigging proved more resistant to damage; by contrast, a single hit to the brig-sloop's rig could render it unmanageable. In many cases, however, the American advantage was in the quality of their crews, [4] as the American sloops generally had hand-picked volunteer crews, while the brigs belonging to the overstretched Royal Navy had to make do with crews of limited numbers. During a battle with the equivalently armed and crewed American brig Hornet, HMS Penguin was unable to land a single shot from her cannons, with the only American losses being inflicted by Royal Marines aboard the British ship. [5]

The comparison was made in the London press unfavorably and was not entirely fair. The American ship-rigged sloops were bigger vessels, averaging just over 500 tons (bm); the Cruizer-class vessels were not quite 400 tons (bm). The crew sizes were disproportionate at 175 to 120, and at least some of the Cruizer class in these combats were outfitted with 24-pounder carronades vice the normal 32-pounders. [4] The rigging was often the deciding factor as the combat between USS Peacock and HMS Epervier would highlight. When HMS Epervier lost her main topmast and had her foremast damaged she was disabled. [6] USS Wasp, in another combat, would retain control despite the loss of her gaff, main topmast, and the mizzen topgallant. USS Wasp versus HMS Avon provided another example. Despite being fought gallantly, Avon was crippled by loss of a gaff. She then lost her main mast, which loss rendered her immobile. [7] The Cyrus-class vessels, built in 1813–1814, were intended as an answer to the American ship-rigged sloops. [8]

Vessels

The following table lists the Cruizer-class brig-sloops (and the two Snake-class ship-sloops, which were identical apart from carrying a three-masted ship rig) according to the date on which the Admiralty ordered them.

Sketch of a brig-sloop, probably HMS Clio, by Cmdr. William Farrington, ca. 1812, Peabody Essex Museum HMS Clio c1812.jpg
Sketch of a brig-sloop, probably HMS Clio, by Cmdr. William Farrington, ca. 1812, Peabody Essex Museum
NameOrderedBuilderLaid downLaunchedFate
Snake
(ship rig)
19 December 1796Balthazar & Edward Adams, Bucklers Hard January 179718 December 1797Sold to be broken up on 18 April 1816
Cruizer
(brig rig)
19 December 1796Stephen Teague, Ipswich February 179720 December 1797Broken up February 1819
Victor
(ship rig)
11 March 1797Josiah & Thomas Brindley, King's Lynn April 179719 March 1798Sold to be broken up on 5 September 1808
Osprey
(brig rig)
15 March 1797Thomas Pitcher, Northfleet never commenced
to original design
order subsequently altered to ship rig,
and built to a slightly longer design

All subsequent vessels were brig-rigged on completion, although several were later converted to three-masted ship rig.

St Vincent's Board

HMS Surinam struck by lightning, 11 December 1806, by Nicholas Matthews Condy, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich HMS Surinam struck by lightning.jpg
HMS Surinam struck by lightning, 11 December 1806, by Nicholas Matthews Condy, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich

The Board ordered 19 in 1802 and 1803.

NameOrderedBuilderLaunchedFate
Scorpion 27 November 1802John King, Dover 17 October 1803Sold 1819
Dispatch 27 November 1802Richard Symons, Falmouth 26 May 1804Broken up 1811
Scout 27 November 1802Peter Atkinson, Hull 7 August 1804Sold 1827
Musquito 27 November 1802John Preston, Great Yarmouth 4 September 1804Sold 1822
Swallow 27 November 1802Benjamin Tanner, Dartmouth 24 December 1805Broken up 1815
Ferret 27 November 1802Benjamin Tanner, Dartmouth 4 January 1806Abandoned as a wreck 1813
Leveret 16 July 1803John King, Dover 14 January 1806Wrecked 1807
Belette 16 July 1803John King, Dover 21 March 1806Wrecked 1812
Amaranthe 15 October 1803John Dudman, Deptford Wharf 20 November 1804Sold 1815
Calypso 15 October 1803John Dudman, Deptford Wharf 2 February 1805Broken up 1821
Espoir 7 November 1803John King, Dover 22 September 1804Broken up 1821
Surinam 7 November 1803Obadiah Ayles, Topsham January 1805Sold for breaking up 1825
Wolverine 7 November 1803Thomas Owen, Topsham 1 March 1805Sold 1816
Moselle 7 November 1803John King, Dover October 1804Sold 1815
Weazel (or Weazle)7 November 1803Thomas Owen, Topsham 2 March 1805Sold 1815
Minorca 7 November 1803Josiah & Thomas Brindley, King's Lynn 14 June 1805Broken up 1814
Racehorse 7 November 1803Hamilton & Breeds, Hastings17 February 1806Wrecked 1822
Avon 9 December 1803Richard Symons & Co., Falmouth31 January 1805Foundered 28 August 1814 as a result of damage in fight
against U.S. 22-gun sloop-of-war Wasp on the previous day
Rover 9 December 1803Joseph Todd, Berwick 13 February 1808Sold 1828

Melville's First Board

An earlier USS Wasp boards the Cruizer-class HMS Frolic, 1812 U.S.S. Wasp Boarding H.M Brig Frolic.jpg
An earlier USS Wasp boards the Cruizer-class HMS Frolic, 1812

The Board ordered six vessels to this design during May 1804, all of fir. Building of fir (pine) made for speedier construction at the cost of reduced durability in service.

NameOrderedBuilderLaunchedFate
Beagle 22 May 1804 Perry, Wells & Green, Blackwall Yard 8 August 1804Sold 1814
Elk 22 May 1804Frances Barnard, Sons & Co., Deptford Dockyard 22 August 1804Broken up 1812
Raven 23 May 1804 Perry, Wells & Green, Blackwall Yard 25 July 1804Wrecked 1805
Saracen 23 May 1804 Perry, Wells & Green, Blackwall Yard 25 July 1804Broken up 1812
Reindeer 23 May 1804Samuel & Daniel Brent, Rotherhithe15 August 1804Taken by USS Wasp and burnt 1814
Harrier 23 May 1804Frances Barnard, Sons & Co., Deptford Dockyard 22 August 1804Believed to have foundered near Rodrigues Island in the Indian Ocean in March 1809

Barham's Board

The Cruizer-class HMS Recruit (foreground) harries the French 74-gun D'Hautpoul, 1809 Recruit & D'Haupoult.jpg
The Cruizer-class HMS Recruit (foreground) harries the French 74-gun D'Hautpoul, 1809

The Board ordered 22 vessels to this design, seventeen of which were launched in 1806 and five in 1807.

NameOrderedBuilderLaunchedFate
Forester 16 July 1805John King, Dover3 August 1806Sold 1819
Foxhound 16 July 1805John King, Dover30 November 1806Foundered 1809
Mutine 22 July 1805Henry Tucker, Bideford15 August 1806Sold 1819
Emulous 21 August 1805William Row, NewcastleJune 1806Wrecked 1812; crew saved but Emulous was unsalvageable.
Grasshopper 30 August & 31 October 1805Richards (Brothers) & (John) Davidson, Hythe29 September 1806Stranded at Texel and surrendered to the Batavian Republic on 25 December 1811. She became the Dutch brig Irene; broken up at Flushing in 1822.
Columbine 12 November 1805Balthazar & Edward Adams, Bucklers Hard16 July 1806Wrecked January 1824 in Port Longue Harbour, Sapientza Island, Greece.
Pandora 12 November 1805John Preston, Great Yarmouth11 October 1806Wrecked February 1811 on the Scaw Reef off the coast of Jutland. .
Alacrity 14 January 1806William Row, Newcastle13 November 1806Taken by French brig Abeille 1811; in French Navy as Alacrity until broken up in 1822.
Raleigh 16 January 1806Francis Hurry, Newcastle24 December 1806Sold 1841
Primrose 21 January 1806Thomas Nickells, Fowey5 August 1807Wrecked 1809
Cephalus 22 January 1806Custance & Stone, Great Yarmouth10 January 1807Broken up 1830
Procris 22 January 1806Custance & Stone, Great Yarmouth27 December 1806Sold 1815
Redwing 24 January 1806Matthew Warren, Brightlingsea 30 August 1806Foundered 1827 after leaving Sierra Leone; wreckage washed ashore in November near Mataceney suggested that lightning had started a fire that destroyed her.
Ringdove 27 January 1806Matthew Warren, Brightlingsea16 October 1806Sold 1829
Peacock 27 January 1806 Jabez Bayley, Ipswich9 December 1806 Taken and sunk by U.S. sloop of war Hornet 1813.
Sappho 27 January 1806 Jabez Bayley, Ipswich 15 December 1806Broken up 1830
Recruit 27 January 1806Thomas Hills, Sandwich31 August 1806Sold 1822
Royalist 27 January 1806Thomas Hills, Sandwich10 January 1807Sold 1819
Carnation 28 January 1806William Taylor, Bideford 3 October 1807Taken by French brig Palinure 1808 and burnt 1809
Clio 29 January 1806James Betts, Mistleythorn10 January 1807Broken up 1845
Philomel 4 February 1806(Nicholas) Bools & (William) Good, Bridport 11 September 1806Sold 1817
Frolic 4 February 1806(Nicholas) Bools & (William) Good, Bridport9 December 1806Taken by U.S. 22-gun sloop-of-war Wasp but retaken; broken up 1813

Grenville's Board

The Board ordered ten vessels to this design – all on 1 October 1806, nine of which were launched in 1807 and one in 1808.

NameOrderedBuilderLaunchedFate
Derwent 1 October 1806Isaac Blackburn, Turnchapel, Plymouth 23 May 1807Sold 1817
Eclair 1 October 1806Matthew Warren, Brightlingsea, Essex8 July 1807Broken up 1831
Eclipse 1 October 1806John King, Dover4 August 1807Sold for mercantile use 1815
Barracouta 1 October 1806 Jabez Bayley, Ipswich6 July 1807Sold 1815
Nautilus 1 October 1806James Betts, Mistleythorn5 August 1807Broken up 1823
Pilot 1 October 1806Robert Guillaume, Northam, Southampton 6 August 1807Sold 1828
Sparrowhawk 1 October 1806Matthew Warren, Brightlingsea, Essex20 August 1807Sold 1841
Zenobia 1 October 1806Josiah & Thomas Brindley, King's Lynn 7 October 1807Sold 1835
Magnet 1 October 1806Robert Guillaume, Northam, Southampton 19 October 1807Wrecked 1809
Peruvian 1 October 1806George Parsons, Warsash 26 April 1808Broken up 1830

Mulgrave's Board

This Board ordered 14 vessels to this design during 1807 and 1808.

NameOrderedBuilderLaunchedFate
Pelorus 30 July 1807
(contract 7 October 1807)
Robert Guillaume, Northam25 June 1808Sold for mercantile use at Singapore 1842 and wrecked 1844
Doterel 31 December 1807
(contract 9 January 1808)
Richard Blake & John Scott, Bursledon6 October 1808Broken up c.1855
Arachne 4 August 1808Thomas Hills, Sandwich18 February 1809Sold 1837
Persian 4 August 1808Daniel List, Cowes2 May 1809Wrecked 1813
Castilian 4 August 1808Thomas Hills, Sandwich29 May 1809Broken up 1829
Charybdis 5 September 1808Mark Richards & John Davidson, Hythe28 August 1809Sold 1819
Scylla 5 September 1808Robert Davy, Topsham29 June 1809Broken up 1846
Thracian 30 September 1808Josiah & Thomas Brindley, Frindsbury15 July 1809Broken up 1829
Trinculo 5 November 1808Richard Blake & John Tyson, Bursledon15 July 1809Broken up 1841
Hecate 5 November 1808John King, Upnor30 May 1809Sold 1817 and resold to Chile 9 November 1818; served as Galvarino until broken up 1828.
Crane 5 November 1808Josiah & Thomas Brindley, Frindbury29 July 1809Foundered 1814
Rifleman 5 November 1808John King, Upnor12 August 1809Sold 1836; became a merchantman and whaler; last listed 1856
Echo 21 November 1808John Pelham, Frindsbury1 July 1809Broken up 1817
Sophie 21 November 1808John Pelham, Frindsbury8 September 1809Sold 1825

Charles Yorke's Board

USS Wasp rakes the Cruizer-class HMS Avon, 1814 NavalMonument13 byAbelBowen 1838.png
USS Wasp rakes the Cruizer-class HMS Avon, 1814

This Board ordered 15 of the design between January 1811 and January 1812.

NameOrderedBuilderLaunchedFate
Childers 19 January 1811Portsmouth Dockyard (M/Shipwright Nicholas Diddams)9 July 1812Broken up 1822
Curlew 30 August 1811(William) Good & Co., Bridport27 May 1812Sold at Bombay 1822; from 1823 as Jamesina served as an opium runner for Jardine & Matheson until at least the mid-1830s.
Wasp 30 August 1811Robert Davy, Topsham9 July 1812Broken up 1847
Fairy 30 August 1811William Taylor, Bideport11 June 1812Broken up 1821
Pelican 30 August 1811Robert Davy, TopshamAugust 1812Sold 1865
Bacchus 30 August 1811Chatham Dockyard (M/Shipwright Robert Seppings)17 April 1813Breakwater at Harwich 1829
Pandora 30 August 1811Deptford Dockyard (M/Shipwright Robert Nelson to July 1811; completed by William Stone)12 August 1813Sold 1831
Nimrod 26 September 1811 Jabez Bayley, Ipswich25 May 1812Bilged after being run ashore in a storm. Salved with no loss of life, but sold as unrepairable in 1827
Saracen
(2nd of name)
26 September 1811(Nicholas) Bools & (William) Good, Bridport25 July 1812Sold 1819
Satellite 5 October 1811Daniel List, Fishbourne9 October 1812Sold in East Indies 1824
Arab 24 October 1811John Pellham, Frindsbury22 August 1812Wrecked, with the loss of all her crew, in Broad Haven near Belmullet on the coast of Mayo, Ireland, in 1823. [9]
Espiegle 2 November 1811 Jabez Bayley, Ipswich10 August 1812Sold 1832
Heron
(ex-Rattlesnake)
14 November 1811John King, Upnor22 October 1812Broken up 1831
Dispatch
(2nd of name)
14 November 1811John King, Upnor7 December 1812Sold 1836
Grasshopper
(2nd of name)
6 January 1812Portsmouth Dockyard (M/Shipwright Nicholas Diddams)17 May 1813Sold 1832

Melville's Second Board

HMS Pelorus ca. 1830, after conversion to a three-masted ship-sloop. HMS Pelorus.JPG
HMS Pelorus ca. 1830, after conversion to a three-masted ship-sloop.

The Board ordered 20, of which only eighteen were built; two were cancelled.

NameOrderedBuilderLaunchedFate
Fly 23 April 1812 Jabez Bayley, Ipswich16 February 1813Sold at Bombay 1828
Epervier 6 May 1812Mrs. Mary Ross, Rochester21 December 1812Taken by 22-gun sloop USS Peacock 1814
Jaseur 6 May 1812 Jabez Bayley, Ipswich2 February 1813Sold 1845
Argus 8 June 1812Thomas Hills, Sandwich11 September 1813Sold 1828
Halcyon 7 July 1812Edward Larking & William Spong, King's Lynn16 May 1813Wrecked 1814
Challenger 29 July 1812Hobbs & Hellyer, Redbridge15 May 1813Sold at Trincomalee 1824
Penguin 20 August 1812William Bottomley, King's Lynn29 June 1813Taken by U.S. brig Hornet and scuttled 1815
Lynx (ex-Pandora;
renamed 24 September 1812)
7 September 1812M/Shipwright Edward SisonCancelled
Victor 2 October 1812 East India Company, Bombay (M/Shipwright Jamsetjee Bomajee Wadia)29 October 1814Foundered in 1842 with all hands while en route
from Vera Cruz, Mexico to Halifax, Nova Scotia. [10]
Zebra 2 October 1812 East India Company, Bombay (M/Shipwright Jamsetjee Bomajee Wadia)18 December 1815Wrecked 1840
Carnation
(2nd of name)
8 October 1812William & James Durkin, Norham (Southampton)29 July 1813Sold 1836
Elk (2nd of name)2 November 1812Hobbs & Hellyer, Redbridge (Southampton)28 August 1813Sold 1836
Confiance 2 November 1812Mrs. Mary Ross, Rochester30 August 1813Wrecked, with the loss of all her crew, between Moyin Head
and the Three Castles Head near Crookhaven, Ireland, in 1822. [9]
Alert 2 November 1812Thomas Pitcher, Northfleet13 July 1813Sold 1832
Harlequin 2 November 1812 Jabez Bayley, Ipswich15 July 1813Sold at Jamaica 1829
Harrier (2nd of name)2 November 1812 Jabez Bayley, Ipswich28 July 1813Sold 1829
Ontario (ex-Mohawk;
renamed 9 April 1813)
2 November 1812Richard Chapman, Bideford26 October 1813Sold 1832
Belette (2nd of name)14 August 1813Edward Larking & William Spong, King's Lynn18 June 1814Sold 1828
Gannet 14 August 1813Edward Larking & William Spong, King's Lynn13 November 1814Sold 1838
Samarang6 September 1815Portsmouth Dockyard (M/Shipwright Nicholas Diddams)Cancelled 30 September 1820

See also

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 Winfield (2008), pp. 282 & 291.
  2. 1 2 The Naval War of 1812, p.88
  3. Forester, p.79
  4. 1 2 3 The Naval War of 1812, p.90
  5. Clowes et al. (1897–1903), Vol. 6, pp. 173–5
  6. The Naval War of 1812, p.91.
  7. The Naval War of 1812, p.87.
  8. The Naval War of 1812, p.85.
  9. 1 2 Gosset (1986), p. 100.
  10. Gosset (1986), p. 108.

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HMS <i>Cruizer</i> (1797) Sloop of the Royal Navy

HMS Cruizer was a Royal Navy Cruizer-class brig-sloop built by Stephen Teague of Ipswich and launched in 1797. She was the first ship of the class, but there was a gap of 5 years between her launch and the ordering of the next batch in October 1803; by 1815 a total of 105 other vessels had been ordered to her design. She had an eventful wartime career, mostly in the North Sea, English Channel and the Baltic, and captured some 15 privateers and warships, and many merchant vessels. She also participated in several actions. She was laid up in 1813 and the Commissioners of the Navy sold her for breaking in 1819.

The Snake-class ship-sloops were a class of four Royal Navy sloops-of-war built in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Though ships of the class were designed with the hull of a brig, their defining feature of a ship-rig changed their classification to that of a ship-sloop rather than that of a brig-sloop.

HMS Rinaldo was a Cherokee-class brig-sloop of the Royal Navy that was launched in July 1808. She was 236 6694(bm), armed with eight 18-pounder carronades and two 6-pound bow chasers, and carried a crew of 75.

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