HMS Challenger (1813)

Last updated

History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
NameHMS Challenger
Ordered29 July 1812
BuilderHobbs & Hellyer, Redbridge
Laid downAugust 1812
Launched15 May 1813
Honours and
awards		 Naval General Service Medal with clasp "St. Sebastian" [1]
FateSold May 1824
General characteristics [2]
Class and type Cruizer-class brig-sloop
Tons burthen386 89⁄94 (bm)
Length
  • 100 ft 1+3⁄4 in (30.5 m) (gundeck)
  • 77 ft 4+1⁄4 in (23.6 m) (keel)
Beam30 ft 8 in (9.3 m)
Depth of hold12 ft 8+1⁄2 in (3.9 m)
Sail plan Brig rigged
Complement121
Armament16 × 32-pounder carronades + 2 × 6-pounder chase guns

HMS Challenger was a Cruizer-class brig-sloop launched at Redbridge, Southampton, in 1813. She participated in the capture of a French privateer and then sailed to the East Indies. She was laid up in 1819 and sold in 1824.

Contents

War service

On 25 May 1813, Captain Frederick Edward Venables Vernon was appointed to Challenger and commissioned her. [3]

In July–August, Challenger was part of a squadron of some 17 vessels that participated in the siege of San Sebastián. [4] Because of the shallowness of the water, only the smaller vessels could approach closely enough to bring their guns to bear on the town's defenses. Challenger suffered one casualty in this service: a seaman wounded on the island of Santa Clara. [5] In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the clasp "St. Sebastian" to the Naval General Service Medal to all surviving naval participants at the siege.

Destruction of the Flibustier Octr 13th 1813. From a sketch by Captn Scriven, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich HMS Telegraph (1813) and Flibustier.jpg
Destruction of the Flibustier Octr 13th 1813. From a sketch by Captn Scriven, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich

On 13 October 1813 HMS Telegraph caused the destruction of the French 16-gun brig Flibustier (1810) in the mouth of the Adour. Flibustier had been in St Jean de Luz sheltering where shore batteries could protect her when she sought to escape because of the approach of Marquis of Wellington's army. [6] She started out during a "dark and stormy night", but Telegraph immediately pursued her. [7] After an action lasting three-quarters of an hour, the French saw Challenger and Constant coming up to join the engagement. [6] Flibustier's crew set her on fire and escaped ashore; she blew up before the British could capture her. She had been under the command of lieutenant de vaisseau Jean-Jacques-Léonore Daniel and armed with sixteen French 24-pounder carronades, two 9-pounder guns, a brass howitzer and four brass 3-pounder guns. [6] There had been 160 men on board and Scriven reported that from what he saw, the French losses must have been considerable; Telegraph had no casualties. [6] Scriven believed that Flibustier was bound for Santona to relieve the garrison there as her cargo consisted of treasure, arms, ammunition, and salt provisions. He also thought that some of the men who had been aboard her were officers and soldiers for the garrison. [6] Both armies witnessed the British victory, with the allied army giving three cheers. [8]

The Marquis of Wellington requested a naval demonstration on 10 November at Socoa in the rear of the French lines of communication. Admiral Keith dispatched four vessels to Saint-Jean-de-Luz: HMS Vesuvius, Challenger, Sparrow, and Racer. However, the swell was so heavy that the naval vessels could do little beyond exchanging fire with the shore batteries there. [9]

On 18 December Challenger brought Blenden Hall into Plymouth. Eliza Packet, from Malta, had found Blenden Hall at sea with no one aboard. At Plymouth Blenden Hall was reunited with her crew, which had arrived that same day on Lusitania. The French frigate Clorinde had put the crews of the five vessels she had captured (including Blenden Hall, which she abandoned), into Lusitania and released them. [10]

On 21 March 1814, Rear-admiral Penrose, in the 74-gun Egmont, anchored in the Gironde with a squadron that included Challenger. On 2 April the boats of Porcupine captured one gun-brig, six gun-boats, one armed schooner, three chasse-marées, and an imperial barge. They burned one gun-brig, two gun-boats, and one chasse-marée. [11] The squadron shared the subsequent prize money. [lower-alpha 1] Two days later, the 74-gun Centaur joined Egmont to prepare to attack the French 74-gun Régulus, three brig-corvettes, other vessels lying near her, and the batteries that protected them. Before the British could launch their attack, the French burnt Régulus and the other vessels. [11] [lower-alpha 2]

On 1 December 1814 Commander Henry Forbes replaced Vernon. [13] Challenger was paid off in September 1815, and then underwent fitting for Channel service in September–October. [2]

Post-war

Forbes sailed Challenger to the East Indies in 1816. Between 8 and 11 April, he served on the court martial of Captain Robert O'Brien of Cornwallis for several acts of indiscipline vis-à-vis Captain George Sayer, his senior officer. The court martial board found O'Brien guilty and ordered him dismissed the service. [14] However, O'Brien protested, with one of the grounds being that all the officers on the court martial board were junior to O'Brien. O'Brien was reinstated in March 1817.

However, Forbes and Challenger had brought with them 600,000 dollars consigned to the government of Bengal, as well as other sums for Calcutta merchants. Because Challenger was at Madras for the court martial, Lieutenant John M'Arthur Low, commander (acting) of Cameleon volunteered to carry the whole to Calcutta, without charging the normal freight service. [15]

On 1 May 1816 Forbes was appointed to Zebra. However, Philip Henry Bridges was acting commander of Zebra from December 1815 – November 1816, when he was promoted into Challenger, replacing Forbes.

Shortly after 18 November 1816 Challenger and the British East India Company's cruisers HCS Ariel, Mercury, and Vestal sailed from Bushire on a punitive expedition against Ras-al-Khaimah. The squadron attacked on 1 December but could not approach the town closely enough for its fire to effect much damage. The squadron did burn some dhows before it withdrew. [16]

On 7 July 1818 the East Indiaman Cabalva wrecked on the rocky uninhabited island of Cargados, Cargados Carajos shoals. A party of 10 survivors sailed her cutter to Mauritius, where HMS Magicienne and Challenger happened to be at Port Louis. They set out immediately, arriving at the wreck site on 20 July. Magicienne remained on site to salvage what she could from the wreck site while Challenger removed the survivors and landed them at Mauritius.

Later that year, Bridges transferred to HMS Trincomalee, together with his crew from Challenger, to help man her. Then, as captain (acting), he sailed her to Portsmouth. [17]

Fate

The Admiralty on 26 February 1818 ordered Challenger sold because of her "very defective state". [2] She was hulked at Trincomallee and in May 1819 fitted to store rice. The next year she became a mooring tender. She was finally sold at Trincomallee for 3,000 rupees in March 1824. [2]

Post script

In January 1819, the London Gazette reported that Parliament had voted a grant to all those who had served under the command of Lord Viscount Keith in 1812, between 1812 and 1814, and in the Gironde. Challenger was listed among the vessels that had served under Keith in 1813 and 1814. [lower-alpha 3] She had also served under Kieth in the Gironde. [lower-alpha 4]

Notes

  1. ↑ A first-class share was worth £54 18s 10d; a sixth-class share, that of an ordinary seaman, was worth 13s 7d. [12]
  2. ↑ A first-class share of the proceeds and head money was worth £69 6s 4+3⁄4d; a sixth-class share was worth 14s 5+3⁄4d. [12]
  3. ↑ The money was paid in three tranches. For someone participating in the first through third tranches, a first-class share was worth £256 5s 9d; a sixth-class share was worth £4 6s 10d. For someone participating only in the second and third tranches a first-class share was worth £202 6s 8d; a sixth-class share was worth £5 0s 5d. [18]
  4. ↑ The sum of the two tranches of payment for that service was £272 8s 5d for a first-class share; the amount for a sixth-class share was £3 3s 5d. [18]

Citations

  1. ↑ "No. 20939". The London Gazette . 26 January 1849. p. 244.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Winfield (2008), p. 304.
  3. ↑ Marshall (1829), pp. 370–371.
  4. ↑ O'Byrne (1849a), p. 460.
  5. ↑ "No. 16775". The London Gazette . 20 September 1813. p. 1856.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "No. 16803". The London Gazette . 9 November 1813. p. 2032.
  7. ↑ Naval Chronicle, Vol. 30, p.428.
  8. ↑ Naval Chronicle, Vol. 30, pp.410–1.
  9. ↑ "No. 16819". The London Gazette . 30 November 1813. p. 2406.
  10. ↑ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4831. 21 December 1813. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  11. 1 2 James (1837), Vol. 6, pp.258–9.
  12. 1 2 "No. 17125". The London Gazette . 6 April 1816. p. 647.
  13. ↑ O'Byrne (1849b), p. 369.
  14. ↑ Marshall (1825), pp. 881–884.
  15. ↑ Marshall (1835), p. 10.
  16. ↑ Low (1870), pp. 287–288 & 342–346.
  17. ↑ Marshall (1832), p. 17.
  18. 1 2 "No. 17864". The London Gazette . 26 October 1822. p. 1752.

Related Research Articles

HMS <i>Little Belt</i> (1807) Sloop of the Royal Navy

Lillebælt was a Danish 22-gun warship launched in 1801. The Danes surrendered her to the Royal Navy in 1807 and she became the 20-gun post ship HMS Little Belt. In a single-ship action in 1811 while the United States of America was at peace with Great Britain, USS President fired on Little Belt, ostensibly believing her to be HMS Guerriere, which had recently impressed a sailor from USS Spitfire. History is not sure who fired first, both sides claiming the other had fired initially. This action was the eponymous "Little Belt affair". British captain Arthur Batt Bingham maintained that the Americans fired first and that although his vessel had suffered heavy casualties he had not at any time surrendered. Little Belt was broken up in 1819.

HMS <i>Sabrina</i> (1806) British ship

HMS Sabrina was an 18-gun Royal Navy ship-sloop of the Cormorant-class, launched in 1806 at Southampton. She seems to have had a surprisingly uneventful career before the Admiralty sold her in 1816.

HMS Telegraph was built in 1812 in New York as the American letter of marque Vengeance. The Royal Navy captured her in 1813 and took her into service as the 14-gun schooner or gunbrig Telegraph. Over a period of only about two years she took numerous small prizes and caused the destruction of a French 16-gun brig. A gale caused the wrecking of Telegraph in 1817.

Iris was a 20-gun corvette of the French Navy. The Royal Navy captured her in 1809 and took her into service as HMS Rainbow. She was sold in 1815.

HMS <i>Rosario</i> (1808) Brig-sloop of the Royal Navy

HMS Rosario was a Cherokee-class 10-gun brig of the Royal Navy, launched in 1808. She served during the Napoleonic Wars and participated in one engagement that earned her crew the Naval General Service Medal (NGSM). She was sold in 1832.

HMS <i>Scylla</i> (1809) Brig-sloop of the Royal Navy

HMS Scylla was an 18-gun Cruizer-class brig-sloop of the Royal Navy. The first to bear the name Scylla, she was launched in 1809 and broken up in 1846.

HMS Patriot was a Dutch schuyt that the Royal Navy captured in 1808 and took into service. She captured several enemy vessels before she was converted to a water vessel in 1813. The Admiralty sold her in 1815.

HMS <i>Swallow</i> (1805) Brig-sloop of the Royal Navy

HMS Swallow was a Cruizer-class brig-sloop launched in December 1805, nine months late. She served the Royal Navy through the Napoleonic Wars, capturing numerous privateers. After the end of the wars she was broken up in 1815.

French frigate <i>Junon</i> (1786)

Junon was a 40-gun Minerve-class frigate of the French Navy.

HMS <i>Moselle</i> (1804) Brig-sloop of the Royal Navy

HMS Moselle was a Cruizer-class brig-sloop of the Royal Navy, launched in 1804. She served during the Napoleonic Wars in the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and the North American station. She was sold in 1815.

HMS <i>Rover</i> (1808) Brig-sloop of the Royal Navy

HMS Rover was a Royal Navy Cruizer-class brig-sloop laid down in 1804 but not launched until 1808. She served in the North Sea, off the north coast of Spain, in the Channel, and on the North American station. She captured two letters-of-marque and numerous merchant vessels before being laid-up in 1815. She then sat unused until she was sold in 1828. She became a whaler that made four voyages to the British southern whale fishery between 1830 and 1848. She was last listed in 1848.

HMS <i>Podargus</i> (1808) Brig-sloop of the Royal Navy

HMS Podargus was a Crocus-class brig-sloop of the Royal Navy. She participated in one major battle during the Gunboat War between Britain and Denmark. After the war she served at Saint Helena for five or six years. On her return to Britain in 1820 she was laid up; she was finally sold in 1833.

HMS Pultusk was the American-built French privateer sloop Austerlitz, which had been launched in 1805 and which the Royal Navy captured in 1807 and took into service as HMS Pultusk. Pultusk served in three campaigns, two of which resulted, some four decades later, in the award of medals, and one boat action that too received a medal. She was broken up in 1810.

HMS Gleaner was the mercantile ketch Gleaner, launched in 1802. She served the Royal Navy as the "hired ketch Gleaner" from 12 July 1808 until the Navy purchased her in 1809. Initially she served as a light vessel and survey vessel. From early 1811 to August 1811 she served in the Mediterranean, where she captured an Ottoman vessel. She then became a yard lighter and a light vessel again. Then in 1812 she was on the North American station where she participated in the capture of several merchant vessels. Next she returned to the Mediterranean where she captured a privateer. Finally, she served off the north coast of Spain where she was wrecked on 2 March 1814.

HMS Constant was an Archer–class gun-brig of the Royal Navy, launched in 1801 for service against the French during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. She was variously stationed in English home waters, the Baltic, the Caribbean, and off the coast of Spain, and was responsible for the capture of at least seven enemy vessels during her fifteen years at sea. The Royal Navy sold Constant at Chatham Dockyard in 1816.

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

HMS Thais was built for the British Royal Navy in 1806 and was the name-vessel of her class of fire ships. Between 1811 and 1813 she served in the West Africa Squadron, which was attempting to suppress the slave trade. During this service she captured several slave traders and an American privateer. She made one voyage to the East Indies. Thais was sold in 1818. She then became a merchantman. She was last listed in 1826.

HMS <i>Snake</i> (1797) British naval brig (1797–1816)

HMS Snake was a British Royal Navy ship launched in 1797 as the only member of her class of brig-sloops. She captured or destroyed two French privateers and one Danish privateer. She also captured numerous small merchantmen, but spent time escorting convoys to and from the West Indies. She was sold in 1816.

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

HMS Shamrock was a Bold-class gun-brig launched in 1812. In 1813-14 she played an important role in the captures of Cuxhaven and Glückstadt. After the war she became a survey vessel, and then a quarantine ship. She was delivered to the Coast Guard in 1833 as a watch vessel and was re-designated WV18 in 1863. She was sold in 1867.

HMS Cracker was a later Archer-class gun brig, launched in 1804. She participated in several actions and captured two small French privateers. She was sold for breaking up in 1816.

HMS Lyra was a Cherokee-class brig-sloop launched at Deptford in 1808 for the Royal Navy. In 1809 she was one of the vessels that participated in the Battle of Basque Roads. Thereafter, she captured numerous small prizes. Between 1812 and 1814 she served off the Spanish coast. In 1816 Lyra sailed to China as escort to a diplomatic mission. The Navy sold her in 1818. She then became a whaler. Between 1819 and 1833 she made five voyages in the southern whale fishery. She was last listed in 1833.

References

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.