History | |
---|---|
Dutch Republic | |
Name | Meermin |
Builder | Admiralty Zeeland, Flushing |
Launched | 1784 |
Fate | Seized 4 March 1796 |
Great Britain | |
Name | HMS Miermen |
Builder | Admiralty Zeeland, Flushing |
Launched | 1784 |
Acquired | By seizure on 4 March 1796 |
Fate | Sold 31 August 1801 |
General characteristics [1] [2] | |
Tons burthen | 203 (bm) [2] |
Length | 83 Amsterdam feet [lower-alpha 1] |
Beam | 28 Amsterdam feet |
Depth of hold | 11+6⁄11 Amsterdam feet |
Propulsion | Sails |
Sail plan | Brig |
Complement | 86 |
Armament |
|
The Dutch naval brig Meermin was built at Flushing; the Zeeland Admiralty purchased her in 1784. The British Royal Navy seized her in 1796. The Royal Navy named her HMS Miermen and registered but never commissioned her; it sold her in 1801.
On 9 March 1793 Meerman, of Zeeland, Captain Cornelis Schalk, captured Frende Suskene, John Thomsen, master, off Walcheren. Frende Suskene, of and from Christiansand, was on her way to Ostend or Calais with deals, balks, and users. Lieutenant S. Oudekesk Pool brought her into Dover the next day. [3]
In 1795 at the time of the Batavian Revolution the British Admiralty sent a messenger to Plymouth on 20 January 1795 to the admiral there to detain all Dutch vessels in port. There were six naval vessels, Meerman among them. (Initial British press reports referred to her as Steerman.) There were also six homeward-bound East Indiamen, three outward-bound East Indiamen, and some 60 to 70 other merchant vessels. [4] [5] Vice Admiral Sir Richard Onslow and the British Royal Navy took possession 4 March 1796. The crews were removed from their vessels and taken to prison ships. [6] In September orders arrived at Plymouth that the Dutch naval vessels be equipped for immediate service. [7]
The Navy named and registered Miermen on 25 October 1796, but never commissioned her. The "Principal officers and commissioners of His Majesty's Navy" offered Miermen for sale on 31 August 1801. [8] She sold on that day for £160. [2]
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HMS Fly was a Swan-class ship sloop of the Royal Navy, launched on 14 September 1776. She performed mainly convoy escort duties during the French Revolutionary Wars, though she did capture three privateers. She foundered and was lost with all hands early in 1802.
HMS Castor was a 32-gun Amazon-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. The French briefly captured her during the Atlantic Campaign of May 1794 but she spent just 20 days in French hands as a British ship retook her before her prize crew could reach a French port. Castor eventually saw service in many of the theatres of the wars, spending time in the waters off the British Isles, in the Mediterranean and Atlantic, as well as the Caribbean.
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The Dutch corvette Scipio was launched in 1784. She convoyed Dutch East Indiamen between the Cape of Good Hope and Europe until HMS Psyche captured her at Samarang in 1807. The British Royal Navy initially referred to her as HMS Scipio, but then renamed her to HMS Samarang in 1808. She was not commissioned in the Royal Navy. She was instrumental in the capture of Amboyna and especially Pulo Ay, and participated in the invasion of Java (1811). She was sold at Bombay in 1814. She then entered mercantile service, sailing between Liverpool and India until 1827. She became an opium trader sailing between India and Canton, and was broken up near Hong Kong in August 1833.
The Dutch brig Komeet was launched in 1789 at Amsterdam. HMS Unicorn captured her on the Irish station in 1795. The British Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Comeet; it renamed her HMS Penguin in 1798. It sold her in 1808.
HMS Greyhound was a cutter that the British Admiralty purchased in 1780 and renamed Viper in 1781. Viper captured several French privateers in the waters around Great Britain, and took part in a notable engagement. She was sold in October 1809.
Castor was built at Delfshaven and launched in 1786. The British captured her at the capitulation of Saldanha Bay in August 1796. Because there was already an HMS Castor, they renamed her HMS Saldanha. After she arrived at Plymouth the Royal Navy fitted her as a receiving ship in November 1797; she was sold in 1806.
Royal Charlotte was launched in 1789 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made two trips to China for the EIC and on the second of these, after the outbreak of war with France in 1793, assisted at the British capture of Pondicherry. Then, the Admiralty, desirous of quickly building up the Royal Navy, purchased a number of commercial vessels, including nine East Indiamen, to meet the need for small two-decker fourth rates to serve as convoy escorts. The Admiralty purchased Royal Charlotte in 1795 and renamed her HMS Malabar. She made a trip to the West Indies where she was the lead ship of a small squadron that captured some Dutch colonies. She foundered in 1796 while escorting a convoy in the North Atlantic.
HMS Bravo was a 16-gun Firm-class floating battery of the Royal Navy, launched in 1794. The two-vessel class was intended to operate in shallow waters. Bravo spent her brief, uneventful service life as the flagship for Commodore Philippe d'Auvergne's flotilla at Jersey. After the Peace of Amiens Bravo was paid off in March 1802; she was sold in 1803.
The Dutch ship sloop Havik was launched in 1784 and served in the Batavian Navy. The British captured her in 1796 at the capitulation of Saldanha Bay. She then served briefly in the Royal Navy as HMS Havick before she was wrecked in late 1800.
The Dutch sloop Sireene was launched in 1786. The British captured her in 1796 at the capitulation of Saldanha Bay. She then served in the Royal Navy, first briefly as the sixth rate HMS Daphne, and then from 1798 as the prison ship HMS Laurel. The Admiralty sold her in 1821.
The Dutch frigate Alliantie was launched in 1788 in Amsterdam. HMS Stag captured her in 1795 and the British Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Alliance. The Admiralty converted her to a storeship shortly after her capture and fitting. She participated in the siege of Acre in 1799 with the result that her crew qualified for the Naval General Service Medal issued in 1847. She was sold in 1802.
HMS Janus was the Dutch fifth-rate Argo, built at the dockyard of the Amsterdam Admiralty, and launched in 1790. HMS Phoenix captured her on 12 May 1796. The British Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Janus. She was a receiving ship by 1798 and in Ordinary by 1807. The Navy sold her in 1811.
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HMS Hermes was the Dutch cutter Mercuur, that the Amsterdam Admiralty purchased in 1781 or 1782. HMS Sylph captured her off the Texel on 12 May 1796 after a chase during which Mercuur threw all but two of her guns overboard.
The Dutch brig Pijl was launched on 19 May 1785 at Amsterdam for the navy of the Dutch Republic. Records exist of her escorting East Indiamen of the Dutch East India Company to Batavia, arriving on 12 February 1787.
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