HMS Avenger (1803)

Last updated

History
Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
NameElizabeth
Builder Bridlington
Launched1801
FateSold 1803
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
NameHMS Avenger
Acquired1803 by purchase
FateWrecked 5 December 1803
General characteristics [1]
Class and typeFlush-decked ship-sloop
Tons burthen206, [2] or 2637194 (bm)
Length96 ft 6 in (29.4 m) {overall); 77 ft 3 in (23.5 m) (keel)
Beam25 ft 4 in (7.7 m)
Complement80
Armament14 × 24-pounder carronades

HMS Avenger was a sloop-of-war, previously the civilian vessel Elizabeth, launched in 1801 at Bridlington. The British Royal Navy purchased her in 1803 and commissioned her in October 1803 under Commander Francis Snell. but she foundered in Heligoland Bight, off the Weser, on 5 December 1803; the crew were saved. [3]

Avenger had been stationed off the German coast to blockade the Elbe River. She took on board a pilot who proceeded, with confidence, to steer her south despite soundings indicating shallowing water. After she grounded, attempts were made to get her off, but they failed. Fishing vessels came up and took off the crew. [4]

The court-martial on 18 January 1804 at Sheerness acquitted Commander Snell, his officers, and his crew of the loss of their vessel, but reprimanded the pilot for his ignorance. [5] As the pilot had disappeared soon after landing, [4] this judgment presumably had no effect on him.

Citations

  1. Winfield (2008), p. 271.
  2. Colledge & Warlow (2006), p.30.
  3. Grocott (1997), p. 162.
  4. 1 2 Hepper (1994), p. 102.
  5. Naval Chronicle, vol. 11, p. 76.

Related Research Articles

HMS Orestes was an 18-gun Dutch-built brig-sloop of the Royal Navy. She was originally built as the privateer Mars, and was captured by the British in 1781. She went on to serve during the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War and the French Revolutionary Wars.

HMS <i>Apollo</i> (1794) 38-gun Artois-class fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Apollo, the third ship of the Royal Navy to be named for the Greek god Apollo, was a 38-gun Artois-class fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She served during the French Revolutionary Wars, but her career ended after just four years in service when she was wrecked on the Haak sands off the Dutch coast.

Eleven ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Hawk after the bird of prey, the hawk:

HMS Rover was a 16-gun sloop-of-war that the Royal Navy purchased in 1796, commissioned in 1798, and that was wrecked in early 1798. In her brief career she captured one French privateer.

Sixteen ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Viper, or HMS Vipere, after the members of the Viperidae family:

HMS <i>Castor</i> (1785) Frigate of the Royal Navy

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.

HMS <i>Seine</i> (1798) Frigate of the Royal Navy

Seine was a 38-gun French Seine-class frigate that the Royal Navy captured in 1798 and commissioned as the fifth-rate HMS Seine. On 20 August 1800, Seine captured the French ship Vengeance in a single ship action that would win for her crew the Naval General Service Medal. Seine's career ended in 1803 when she hit a sandbank near the Texel.

HMS <i>Assistance</i> (1781) Ship of the line of the Royal Navy

HMS Assistance was a 50-gun Portland-class fourth rate of the Royal Navy. She was launched during the American War of Independence and spent most of her career serving in American waters, particularly off Halifax and Newfoundland. Assistance was the flagship of several of the commanders of the station. She was in service at the beginning of the French Revolutionary Wars, and was wrecked off Dunkirk in 1801.

French frigate <i>Corona</i> (1807)

Corona was a 40-gun Pallas-class frigate of the Italian Navy. The French built her in Venice in 1807 for the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. The British captured Corona at the Battle of Lissa and took her into the Royal Navy as HMS Daedalus. She grounded and sank off Ceylon in 1813 while escorting a convoy.

HMS <i>Primrose</i> (1807) Brig-sloop of the Royal Navy

HMS Primrose was a Royal Navy Cruizer-class brig-sloop built by Thomas Nickells, at Fowey and launched in 1807.

Several vessels of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Nimble.

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.

HMS Papillon was the French Navy's 12-gun brig Papillon, which the British captured in September 1803. She foundered in September 1805 with the loss of all her crew.

Two vessels of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Fleche, after the French for "arrow":

HMS Claudia was an Adonis-class schooner of the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic War. She was built at Bermuda using Bermudan cedar and completed in 1806. She was commissioned under Lieutenant Anthony Bliss William Lord in March 1806.

HMS Zenobia was a schooner of the Adonis class of the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic War. She was built and completed at Bermuda using Bermuda cedar in 1806 and commissioned under Lieutenant Archibald Hamilton. She sailed for Norfolk, Virginia, on 22 October 1806.

HMS <i>Delight</i> (1806) Brig-sloop of the Royal Navy

HMS Delight was a British Royal Navy 16-gun brig-sloop of the Seagull class launched in June 1806, six months late. She grounded off Reggio Calabria in January 1808 and was burnt to prevent her being salvaged.

HMS Advice was the second of a class of two schooner-rigged advice-boats of the Royal Navy. Advice was launched in 1800 and commissioned in January 1801 under Lieutenant William Robertson, for Jersey. In August 1802 she came under the command of Lieutenant Joseph Nourse. Advice (tender), of six cannons, was listed at being at Portsmouth on 2 October 1802, under the command of Lieutenant Nourse. Nourse sailed her for Trinidad, leaving Portsmouth on 27 October. There she served as a tender to the colony.

HMS Delphinen was launched in 1805 at Nyholm for the Dano-Norwegian Navy. The British Royal Navy captured her in 1807 at the Danish surrender after the Battle of Copenhagen. The Royal Navy commissioned her in 1808 but she was lost later that year.

HMS Advice was the mercantile cutter Brilliant building at Itchen Ferry that the Royal Navy purchased in 1796 while she was building. The Navy wished to employ her as an armed advice schooner. Mr.S.Wilson commissioned her in November 1796 and she was based at Plymouth. She was converted to a cutter rig in 1797 and had defects repaired between June and August 1799 at Plymouth.

References