HMS Carron (1813)

Last updated

Levant (1813); Cyrus (1813); Medina (1813); Carron (1813); Cyrene (1814); Falmouth (1814); Hind (1814); Slaney (1813); Lee (1814); Spey (1814); Esk (1813); Leven (1813); Erne (1813); Larne (1814); Tay (1813); Bann (1814) J4372.jpg
Carron
History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
NameHMS Carron
Ordered18 November 1812
BuilderEdward Adams, Bucklers Hard
Laid downMarch 1813
Launched9 November 1813
Commissioned11 November 1813
FateWrecked 6 July 1820
General characteristics [1]
Class and type20-gun Cyrus-class sixth-rate post ship
Tons burthen459 2⁄94 (bm)
Length
  • 115 ft 8+1⁄2 in (35.3 m) (gundeck)
  • 97 ft 2+3⁄4 in (29.6 m) (keel)
Beam29 ft 9+1⁄2 in (9.1 m)
Depth of hold8 ft 6+1⁄8 in (2.59 m)
Sail plan Full-rigged ship
Complement135
Armament

HMS Carron was a 20-gun Cyrus-class sixth-rate post ship of the Royal Navy built in 1813 by Edward Adams, at Bucklers Hard in Hampshire. She was wrecked in 1820.

Contents

Career

Carron was first commissioned in January 1814 under Captain Robert Cavendish Spencer (a son of George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer). [1] At Bermuda, on 4 July 1814, Carron and Hermes embarked a company-strength force of Royal Marines, commanded by Edward Nicolls, for deployment on the Gulf Coast. They arrived at the mouth of the Apalachicola River on 14 August 1814. The vessels then took part in the unsuccessful British attack on Fort Bowyer on 15 September 1814 in which Hermes was lost. For much of the autumn, the Carron was at Pensacola, until General Andrew Jackson's numerically superior forces expelled the British at the start of November 1814.

Shortly thereafter, Carron made two lucrative captures when on 29 November she captured the schooners Hirondelle and Dos Amigos. For Spencer, the prize money was worth several years' pay. For an ordinary seaman, the money was worth a half to three-quarters of a year's pay. [lower-alpha 1]

Under the rules of prize-money, she shared in the proceeds of the capture of the American vessels in the Battle of Lake Borgne on 14 December 1814, in the run up to the Battle of New Orleans. In 1821 the survivors of the British flotilla shared in the distribution of head-money arising from the capture of five American gun-boats and sundry bales of cotton. [3] [lower-alpha 2] Captain Spencer was mentioned in dispatches for his part in reconnoitering the Bayou Catalan, so as to determine a suitable location for British forces to disembark. [lower-alpha 3] [lower-alpha 4] At the time of the besieging of Fort Bowyer in February 1815, Captain Spencer was among the sailors landed near Mobile, and was second in command of the Naval party. [7]

Carron was moored off St Vincent Island, near Apalachicola Bay, on 27 March 1815, and stayed in this area for the next month or so. On 18 April, her commander was reappointed to command HMS Cydnus. When the British evacuated, a number of refugees were embarked on 20 April, and Lieutenant Armbrister was embarked on 22 April. When Carron arrived at New Providence in the Bahamas on 6 May, he disembarked. The refugees disembarked when Carron arrived at Bermuda on 22 May 1815. [8]

Lieutenant James B. Tathnell became Carron's acting temporary commander in 1814, during Captain Spencer's absence. [9] Sir Alexander Cochrane rewarded Spencer his efforts in Louisiana and Florida by appointing him to command Cydnus in April 1815 after her captain had died. Captain Nicholas Pateshall commanded Carron from April 1815 until she was paid off in August 1816 at Portsmouth. [1] Carron was recommissioned in May 1818 under Commander John Furneaux, for service in the East Indies. [1]

Fate

She was wrecked on 6 July 1820 six miles north of the Black Pagoda, which was 30 miles north of Puri. [10] [lower-alpha 5] Carron had been sailing south from the Sandheads, for Madras when she grounded at 3 am while her crew thought she was 60 miles off the coast. Despite all efforts to free her, she quickly took on water, lost her boats and broke apart. In the morning, the survivors found that she was only a quarter of a mile offshore. Those who could made it ashore; in all, she lost a lieutenant of artillery, the master, and 19 crewmen to drowning. [11] The court martial board blamed a strong, unexpected current for the loss. [10]

On 13 March 1821 Borodino arrived at Gravesend with Commander John Furneaux, his officers, and 15 of the crew of Carron. [12] Borodino had come from Trincomalee via the Cape of Good Hope and Saint Helena. [13]

Notes

  1. ↑ A first-class share of the prize money was worth £778 5s 4d; a sixth-class share, that of an ordinary seaman, was worth £14 0s 1+1⁄2d. [2]
  2. ↑ A first-class share of the prize money was worth £34 12s 9+1⁄4d; a sixth-class share was worth 7s 10+3⁄4d. [4]
  3. ↑ Letter from Cochrane to the Admiralty, dated 18 January 1815. [5]
  4. ↑ Letter from Keane to Pakenham, dated 26 December 1814. [6]
  5. ↑ Some contemporary accounts refer to Carron being lost off the "Juggernaut", another name for the White Pagoda or Jagannath Temple, Puri. [11]
  1. 1 2 3 4 Winfield (2008), p. 238.
  2. ↑ "No. 17231". The London Gazette . 15 March 1817. p. 665.
  3. ↑ "No. 17719". The London Gazette . 26 June 1821. pp. 1353–1354.
  4. ↑ "No. 17730". The London Gazette . 28 July 1821. p. 1561.
  5. ↑ The Naval Chronicle. Vol. 33. London: Joyce Gold. 1815.
  6. ↑ James (1818), Volume 2.
  7. ↑ Marshall (1829), p. 260.
  8. ↑ "Royal Marines on the Gulf Coast" . Retrieved 19 January 2014. Extracted information from the muster of HMS Carron
  9. ↑ "NMM, vessel ID 381920" (PDF). Warship Histories, Vol. V. National Maritime Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
  10. 1 2 Hepper (1994), p. 157.
  11. 1 2 Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British and Foreign India, China and Australasia. Vol. 11. Black, Parbury, & Allen. 1821. p. 177.
  12. ↑ Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British and Foreign India, China and Australasia. Vol. 11. Black, Parbury, & Allen. 1821. p. 411.
  13. ↑ "Ship News". Times. 13 March 1821. p. 4. Retrieved 26 February 2019– via The Times Digital Archive.

Related Research Articles

HMS Heron was originally the merchant vessel Jason, launched at Newcastle in 1803, that the Admiralty purchased in 1804 for the Royal Navy for use as 16-gun ship-sloop under the name HMS Heron. During the Napoleonic Wars she served as a convoy escort on the Leeward Islands station. Then in 1810 the Admiralty had her converted into a bomb vessel and renamed her HMS Volcano. As Volcano she served during the War of 1812, and in particular participated in the Battle of Baltimore. The Admiralty sold her in 1816. New owners returned her to mercantile service under her original name of Jason. She was wrecked in 1821.

HMS <i>Starr</i> (1805) Sloop of the Royal Navy

HMS Starr was a 16-gun Merlin-class ship sloop of the Royal Navy. She was built by Tanner, of Dartmouth, to plans by Sir William Rule, and launched in July 1805. As a sloop she served on convoy duty, though she also participated in the invasion of Martinique in early 1809. She was rebuilt as a bomb vessel in May 1812 and renamed Meteor. As Meteor she served in the Baltic and then off the United States, participating in attacks on up the Potomac and on Baltimore and New Orleans. She was sold in October 1816.

HMS <i>Royal Oak</i> (1809) Ship of the line of the Royal Navy

HMS Royal Oak was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 4 March 1809 at Dudman's yard at Deptford Wharf. Her first commanding officer was Captain Pulteney Malcolm.

HMS Ramillies was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 12 July 1785 at Rotherhithe.

HMS <i>Herald</i> (1806) Sloop of the Royal Navy

HMS Herald was an 18-gun ship-sloop of the Cormorant class in the Royal Navy, launched in 1806 at Littlehampton. In 1810 she was reclassed as a 20-gun sixth rate ship, and again re-rated as 24 guns in 1817, just before she was broken up.

HMS <i>Manly</i> (1812) Brig of the Royal Navy

HMS Manly was a 12-gun Bold-class gun-brig of the Royal Navy, launched in 1812. She served in the War of 1812, her boats participating in the Battle of Lake Borgne. She was sold in 1833.

HMS Cydnus was one of eight Royal Navy 38-gun Cydnus-class fifth-rates. This frigate was built in 1813 at Blackwall Yard, London, and broken up in 1816.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Lake Borgne</span> Naval battle fought between Britain and the United States in the War of 1812

The Battle of Lake Borgne was a coastal engagement between the Royal Navy and the U.S. Navy in the American South theatre of the War of 1812. It occurred on December 14, 1814 on Lake Borgne. The British victory allowed them to disembark their troops unhindered nine days later and to launch an offensive upon New Orleans on land.

HMS Childers was a Royal Navy 18-gun Cruizer-class brig-sloop that Nicholas Diddams built at Portsmouth Dockyard and launched in 1812. She was broken up in 1822.

HMS <i>Borer</i> (1812) Brig of the Royal Navy

HMS Borer was a 14-gun Bold-class gun-brig built by Tyson & Blake at Bursledon. She was launched in 1812 and sold off in 1815.

French frigate <i>Trave</i> (1812)

The French frigate Trave was a Pallas-class frigate of the French Navy, launched at Amsterdam in 1812. After the Royal Navy captured her in 1813 in the North Sea, it took her into service as the troopship HMS Trave. She served in the Potomac and her boats participated in the Battle of Lake Borgne during the War of 1812. She was sold on 7 June 1821.

HMS Calliope was a Cherokee-class brig-sloop of the Royal Navy, launched in 1808. She operated primarily in the North Sea where she captured numerous small merchant vessels and one French privateer. She also was present at the battle of Lake Borgne, near New Orleans. She was broken up in 1829.

HMS <i>Thistle</i> (1812) Brig of the Royal Navy

HMS Thistle was a 12-gun Bold-class gun-brig built by Mary Ross at Rochester, Kent. She was launched in 1812 and broken up at Portsmouth in July 1823.

Carron was launched at Bombay Dockyard in July 1792. She was a country ship that made several voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) before the Royal Navy purchased her in 1804 to use as a fifth-rate frigate, and renamed Duncan. In 1807 the Navy renamed her Dover. She was wrecked off Madras on 2 May 1811.

HMS <i>Wanderer</i> (1806) Sloop of the Royal Navy

HMS Wanderer was a Cormorant-class ship-sloop launched in 1806 for the Royal Navy. The Royal Navy sold her in 1817. She made one voyage between 1817 and 1820 as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She then sailed between Plymouth and North America until October 1827 when her crew had to abandon her at sea because she was waterlogged.

HMS Nymphe was a 38-gun fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy, launched on 13 April 1812 at Woolwich Dockyard, and commissioned later that month. She was a Lively class of 18-pounder frigates, designed by the Surveyor of the Navy, Sir William Rule. It was probably the most successful British frigate design of the Napoleonic Wars, to which fifteen more sister ships would be ordered between 1803 and 1812.

HMS <i>Norge</i> (1807)

HDMS Norge was a Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy ship-of-the-line, built to a design by F. C. H. Hohlenberg. The British Royal Navy seized her in 1807, together with the rest of the Danish fleet after the second battle of Copenhagen. She served off Spain, in the editerranean, and in the North Sea. Then in 181

HMS <i>Dover</i> (1811)

HMS Dover was a 38-gun troopship, previously the French corvette Bellona, launched at Venice in 1808. She was captured at Lissa in 1811. She served as a troopship and transport until circa 1819. She then became the flagship for the Admiral commanding the Leith station. She was used for harbour service from 1825, and was sold in 1836.

HMS Thames was a 32-gun fifth-rate Thames-class frigate of the Royal Navy, launched in 1805 at Chatham.

HMS Diomede was a 50-gun fourth-rate ship of the line of the Diomede class of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1798.

References

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.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.