Dutch cutter Kemphaan (1781)

Last updated

History
Prinsenvlag.svg Flag of the Batavian Republic.svg Dutch Republic
Namede Kemphaan
Builder
  • Cutter: P. v. Zwinjndregt, Rotterdam
  • Brig-sloop conversion: P. v. Zwinjndregt, Rotterdam
Launched1781
Captured22 August 1799
Naval Ensign of Great Britain (1707-1800).svgGreat Britain
NameHMS Camphaan
Acquired22 August 1799 by capture
FateBroken up April 1802 [lower-alpha 1]
General characteristics
Type brig-sloop
Tons burthen262 (bm) [2]
Length
Beam
  • Cutter: 28'
  • Brig-sloop: 28' 411
Depth of hold
Propulsion Sails
Complement70 (1792)
Armament
  • Cutter: 12 guns
  • Brig-sloop:18 guns
  • British service: 16 × 6-pounder guns

The Dutch cutter Kemphaan, meaning "game cock", was launched in 1781 as a 12-gun advice boat, with a mission of carrying dispatches between the Netherlands and its colonies. The Dutch increased her length by almost a quarter in 1787, gave her six more guns, and made a brig-sloop out of her. The British captured her in 1799 when they captured Suriname. She then served briefly in the Royal Navy as HMS Camphaan before she was broken up in early 1802.

Contents

Dutch service and capture

There are accounts of Kemphaan's service in the 1780s (in Dutch). In August 1781 she was at the battle of Dogger Bank. [4]

In 1782 she was under the command of Lieutenant Johannes Janse Eye (Jean Jantzen Eye). In 1787 the Dutch extended Kemphaan and converted her to a brig-sloop. [3] Between October 1793 and 31 August 1794, Captain Frans Smeer escorted a convoy of merchantmen to the West Indies.

On 20 August 1799, a British force under the command of Lieutenant-General Thomas Trigge and Vice Admiral the Right Honourable Lord Hugh Seymour captured the Dutch colony of Suriname. Among the various items of booty was the Dutch brig-sloop Kemphaan and the French corvette Hussard. [5] Kemphaan was under the command of Kaptain P. Smeer, and was described as having an armament of sixteen 6-pounder guns. Seymour appointed Lieutenant Richard Thwaite, of Prince of Wales to command Camphaan. [6]

Fate

Camphaan was sold in April 1802 for breaking up. [2]

Notes

  1. Van Maanen states that Kemphaan was broken up in 1797, but this appears completely incorrect. [1]
  2. All linear measurements are in Amsterdam feet (voet) of 11 Amsterdam inches (duim) (see Dutch units of measurement). The Amsterdam foot is about 8% shorter than an English foot. The data is from the Rotterdams jaarboekje. [3]
  3. Van Maanen gives the hold depth as 12'911. [1]

Citations

  1. 1 2 van Maanen (2008), p. 22.
  2. 1 2 Winfield (2008), p. 290.
  3. 1 2 Historisch Genootschap Roterodamum (1900), p. 106.
  4. Gerrits (1831), p. 403.
  5. "No. 15194". The London Gazette . 12 October 1799. pp. 1049–1053.
  6. "No. 15194". The London Gazette . 12 October 1799. p. 1053.

Related Research Articles

HMS <i>Martin</i> (1790) Sloop of the Royal Navy

HMS Martin was a 16-gun sloop of the Royal Navy. She served at the Battle of Camperdown in 1797 and captured two privateers before she disappeared in 1800.

HMS Braak was an 18-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy. She was launched at Rotterdam in 1781 and initially served with the Dutch Republic. The British seized her, in Britain, after the Dutch entry into the French Revolutionary Wars, and took her into the Royal Navy. She served briefly with the British before capsizing off the North American coast. She was subsequently the focus of a number of salvage efforts.

Eight ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Seagull or HMS Sea Gull, after the gull:

HMS Proselyte was a 32-gun Royal Navy fifth-rate frigate. She was the former Dutch 36-gun frigate Jason, built in 1770 at Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Her crew mutinied and turned her over to the British in 1796. She then served the Royal Navy until she was wrecked in 1801.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jérôme Louis Heldring</span> Dutch journalist (1917–2013)

Jérôme Louis Heldring was a Dutch journalist. He was columnist (1953–2012) and editor-in-chief (1968–1972) of the newspapers Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant and NRC Handelsblad.

HMS Celebes was the Dutch or Batavian Republic frigate Pallas, under the command of Captain N.S. Aalbers, that the frigate HMS Greyhound and brig-sloop HMS Harrier captured on 26 July 1806 in the East Indies.

The 20-gun French corvette Hussard was launched in 1799 and the British captured her that same year when they captured Suriname. The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Surinam, as there was already an HMS Hussar. The Dutch captured her in 1803, naming her Suriname, but the British recaptured her in 1807 and sent her to Britain. Thereafter she never again served on active duty. She disappeared from the Navy lists in 1809, but her fate is unknown.

HMS <i>Halstarr</i> (1807) Frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Halstarr was the Dutch frigate Kenau Hasselar, launched in 1800 that the British captured at Curaçao in 1807. The Royal Navy took her into service but the Admiralty sold her for breaking up in 1809.

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.

HMS <i>Sprightly</i> (1778) Cutter of the Royal Navy

HMS Sprightly was a 10-gun cutter of the Royal Navy, built to a design by John Williams, and the name ship of her two-vessel class of cutters. She was launched in 1778. The French captured and scuttled her off the Andulasian coast in 1801.

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.

Dutch sloop <i>Havik</i> (1784)

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.

John May built Mars at the naval dockyard at Amsterdam in 1769 as a fifth rate for the Dutch Navy. The British Royal Navy captured her on 3 February 1781 at Saint Eustatia. The Navy took her into service as HMS Mars, but sold her on 25 March 1784. Richard Bush purchased Mars, retained her name, and had her fitted as an East Indiaman. Adams repaired her and took her measurements in 1786. She sailed to China in April 1786 for the British East India Company (EIC) and was wrecked in December 1787 shortly after her return to Britain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerrit Zegelaar</span> Dutch painter

Gerrit Zegelaar was a Dutch painter.

HMS Dolphin was the Dutch 7th Charter Dolfijn, launched in 1780 at Amsterdam. In 1781 she was under the command of Captain Mulder when she participated in the battle of Dogger Bank.

Tromp was a Dutch fourth-rate ship of the line launched at Rotterdam in 1777. The Royal Navy captured her at the Capitulation of Saldanha Bay on 17 August 1796. The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Tromp, sometimes referred to as HMS Van Tromp. In British service she served as a prison, troop, store, guard, hospital, or receiving ship until the Navy sold her in 1815.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pieter 't Hoen</span> Dutch journalist, poet and politician

Pieter 't Hoen was a Dutch journalist, poet, and politician who played an important role during the Patriottentijd as the editor of De Post van den Neder-Rhijn.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jurriaan de Friderici</span> Dutch military officer and plantation owner

Jurriaan François de Friderici was a Dutch military officer and plantation owner. He served as Governor of Suriname from 1790 until 1802. In the 1770s, he was involved in the Boni Wars. In 1799, Suriname was conquered by Great-Britain, however de Friderici changed allegiance and remained governor. He was dismissed in 1802 when the colony was returned to the Batavian Republic.

References

For a map of Kemphaan's voyages in 1781-86, 1793–94, and 1799 see: