In February 1807 Commander Thomas Folliott Baugh commissioned her and sailed her to the Leith Station on the North Sea.[1] Here he succeeded in taking several prizes, but not until 1808.
The first appears to have been the Helyra, Hook, master, from Bergen, which Clio sent into Leith in July.[2] Then on 21 September 1808, while she was cruising off Fleckoro, Clio captured a small Danish privateer armed with six guns and carrying a crew of eleven men.[3] The captured vessel arrived at Leith on 12 October.[4]
On 30 March 1808, during the Gunboat War, Clio entered Tórshavn, the capital of the Faroe Islands, and briefly captured the fort at Skansin. The fort surrendered without firing a shot as the landing party approached. The landing party spiked the fort's eight 18-pounder guns and took all the smaller guns and weapons before leaving. Shortly after, on 6 May, a German privateer who had assumed the name "Baron von Hompesch" plundered the defenceless city and seized the property of the Danish Crown Monopoly. The Admiralty Prize Court, however, refused to condemn it as a lawful prize.[6] Later, after the Jørgen Jørgensen affair (see also HMS Talbot), Britain declared the Faroese, the Icelanders, and the settlers in Greenland as "stranger friends" who were to be left in peace.
After this adventure Clio captured some more Danish vessels. On 10 August she captured the Vrou Sophia.[7] On 1 September she captured the Junge Jacob and the Wilhelmina Frederica.[8] On 21 September she captured two more, names unknown, which she sent in to Gothenburg.[9]
More small prizes followed in 1809. On 23 February 1809, Clio took five Danish vessels.[10] Another account has her capturing seven Danish privateers and arriving at Whitby with one of them on 26 February.[11]
She detained an American vessel that was sailing from Hambro to Petersburg and sent her into Leith, where the vessel arrived on 23 May.[12] On 7 September she captured the Danish galliot Providentia and on 14 September the sloop Speculation.[13] On 7 November she, with Childers in company, captured Danish schooner No. 32.[14] Then on 15 and 16 November she captured the Danish vessels Three Children, Perlin, St Ola, and Fine Smaakin.[14] One of these may have been the vessel that arrived at Leith on the 17th.[15] Two more Danish vessels arrived at Leith on 5 December.[16]
Baugh was promoted to Post-captain on 21 October 1810. While temporarily under the command of Lieutenant M.J. Popplewell (acting), she captured the Henrietta on 3 December.[17] That same day she was in company when Pyramus captured the Danish vessel Fanoe.[18]
Baugh's replacement was Commander William Farrington.[1] He too captured small prizes. On 12 March 1811, Clio, with Egeria in company, captured the Danish brig Krabbes Minde. Then on 5 May she captured Danish Crown schooner No. 51.[19] On 11 May two Danish vessels arrived at Leith that the frigate Alexandria and Clio had captured.[20]
Unknown to the British, Danish Captain Hans Peter Holm had returned to Egersund (SW Norway) with Lolland and four other brigs.[21][22] On 1 May 1811,[23] the British sent four boats from Clio, Belette, and Cherokee,[24] into the western end of the sound, expecting to capture some shipping or do other mischief. The circumstances of locality and wind did not permit the Danish brigs to enter the sound from the further end, but Holm sent the Danish ships’ boats under Lieutenant Niels Gerhardt Langemach,[25] up the sound to oppose the British. Some of the Danes landed to set an ambush from the cliff tops, whilst the armed boats were hidden behind a skerry. As the British rowed boldly in, they met unexpected fire from howitzers and muskets; they immediately withdrew, with the Danish boats in pursuit. The Danes captured one of the British boats and her crew of an officer and 17 men, who had come from Belette, and would have captured more but for the confusion that an explosion of a powder keg on one of the Danish boats caused. This enabled the remaining British boats to reach the protection of their squadron.
Sketch of a brig-sloop, probably HMS Clio, by Cmdr. William Farrington, ca. 1812, Peabody Essex Museum
Clio's primary occupation was escorting convoys to and from the Baltic. Still, on 12 April 1812, Clio and Ethalion captured the Opsloe.[26]Clio was also in sight when Ethalion captured the Unitas and Gunilde Maria that same day.[27] On 25 September she was in company, together with the gun-brig Bruizer, when Hamadryad recaptured the galliot Expedition.[28]
On 7 October, Clio captured the Danish sloop Sorenen.[29] About a week later, on 13 or 14 October 1812 in the Baltic, off Hermeren, boats from Clio and Hamdryad captured the French privateer lugger Pilotin, which was carrying four 12-pounder carronades and had a crew of 31 men. Three Danish luggers, each mounting two guns, came out from Rødby to support Pilotin but retreated when the British boats advanced towards them.[30] On the same day they recaptured the Swedish schooner Johannes.[31]
On 23 October Clio, Oberon and Chanticleer detained the Jonge Henrick. The next day, Clio and Oberon captured the Danish privateer Wegvusende. The same vessels were also involved in the capture of the privateer Stafeten on 24 December.[32]
On 17 November Clio captured the Dutch vessel Hoffnung and three days later the Danish galliot Cecilia. She captured another Danish galliot, the Dorothea Elizabeth, on 9 December.[33] She also captured the Gode Hensight on 2 December. On 27 December a third galliot fell prey – the Oprigtig Wenskab.[34]
On 2 February 1813 she captured the Danish sloop Junge Jacob,[34] from and of Bergen. She arrived at Aberdeen on 9 February. Junge Jacob had been sailing from North Bergen to the Mediterranean.[35]
The capture of another privateer punctuated the captures of merchantmen. Clio sent in to Leith a small Danish privateer cutter of three (or four) guns and 22 men that she had taken on 22 October off Hiteroe. The privateer had not yet captured anything.[36][37]
Post-war
From 1816 to 1822 Clio was at Chatham, first in ordinary and then being fitted for sea. In February 1823 she was commissioned under Commander Charles Strangways for the Nore.[1]
From 1826 to early 1827 her captain was Commander Robert Aitchinson, and she performed anti-smuggling patrols in the North Sea. Then in April 1827 Commander Robert Deans took command.[1]Clio was at the Nore and from 1828 to 1829 at Cork. Between December 1829 and July 1830 she was at Plymouth being fitted as a ship sloop.[1]
From 30 April 1830 to 17 June 1833 Clio was under Commander John James Onslow. Around 19 July 1830 she sailed for South America, and on 15 December she was in Rio de Janeiro. Next, on 2 January 1833, Clio participated in the re-establishment of British rule on the Falkland Islands. Onslow arrived at Luis Vernet's settlement at Port Louis to request that the Argentine authorities replace the flag of the United Provinces of the River Plate with the British one and leave the islands. Lieutenant-Colonel José María Pinedo, of the schooner Sarandi considered resisting, but as most of his crew were British, thought better of it and sailed on 5 January.[38]
In July 1833 Clio was in Portsmouth to be fitted as a 16-gun brig again.[1] In 1835 she was at Portsmouth for refitting, but by 2 August she was in Lisbon, on her way with a small squadron for The Gambia to settle some unrest in the area. She was in the Gambia by 2 September and then sailed to join Stag and Tweed. By November Clio was on the south coast of Spain. She sailed to Tarragona in June 1836. By 18 May 1839 she was in Portsmouth.
Hydra towed Lily into Portsmouth on 23 May 1839 to be paid off. Commander Deare and almost all his officers transferred from Clio to recommission Lily. Commander Stephen Grenville Fremantle was appointed to take over Clio.
Clio sailed for South America in May 1839 and was in the Rio Plata on 13 January 1841. She spent most of the year cruising out of Montevideo and Rio de Janeiro. On 27 June she captured the slaver ship Felix Vincedor (or Feliz Vencedor);[39] prize money was paid on 31 August 1844. On 12 May a boat under Lieutenant Cox, with 12 men captured a slaver in the Piumas Islands with 300 slaves aboard. However, some seven boats with a dozen men apiece sortied and re-captured the slaver, burning it after having landed the slaves.[40] A week later, while Cox was taking water at Campos, some of the slavers took him and his men prisoner after wounding four seamen. Shortly thereafter the Brazilians released their British captives.[41] At the end of September she left Simon's Bay for the East Indies. On 6 November Fremantle was promoted to Acting Captain and appointed to Southampton. Clio's new captain was Commander Edward Norwich Troubridge.[42]
Opium War
Late in 1841 Clio sailed to China for the First Opium War. On 12 December 1841 she struck a rock (Clio Rock), just west of Pak-Leak Island, near Macao.
On 13 June 1842, Clio anchored off Woosung. On 16 June, after the defences at the mouth of the river were sounded and buoyed, the British bombarded the works on both sides of the river as part of the commencement of operations against Shanghai. Clio then participated in the expedition up the Yangtze River, to the end of hostilities and signing of the Treaty of Nanking on 29 August. Troubridge's replacement as captain of Clio from 30 December 1842 was Commander James Fitzjames.
HMS Oberon was a 16-gun brig-sloop of the Seagull class built at Kingston upon Hull and launched in 1805. She was constructed at the James Shepheard Shipyard, Sutton.
HMS Racehorse was a Royal Navy 18-gun Cruizer-class brig-sloop built by Hamilton & Breeds and launched in 1806 at Hastings. She served in the English Channel, where she captured a small privateer, and in the East Indies, where she participated in the capture of Isle de France and the operations around it. She was wrecked in 1822.
HMS Wolverine was a Royal Navy 18-gun Cruizer-class brig-sloop, launched in 1805 at Topsham, near Exeter. Early in her career she was involved in two fratricidal incidents, one involving a British frigate and then a newsworthy case in which she helped capture a British slave ship. She later captured a small naval vessel and several privateers, and took part in the invasion of Martinique, and during the War of 1812, in the attack on Baltimore. Wolverine was decommissioned in August or September 1815 and was sold on 15 February 1816.
HMS Spitfire was a Tisiphone-class fireship of the Royal Navy. She served during the years of peace following the end of the American War of Independence, and by the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars, had been reclassified as a 14-gun sloop-of-war. Spitfire went on to serve under a number of notable commanders during a successful career that saw her capture a considerable number of French privateers and small naval vessels. She spent most of her career in Home waters, though during the later part of her life she sailed further afield, to the British stations in North America and West Africa. She survived the Napoleonic Wars and was eventually sold in 1825 after a period spent laid up.
HMS Lynx was a 16-gun ship-rigged sloop of the Cormorant class in the Royal Navy, launched in 1794 at Gravesend. In 1795 she was the cause of an international incident when she fired on USRC Eagle. She was at the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801, and during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars took numerous prizes, mostly merchant vessels but also including some privateers. She was also at the second Battle of Copenhagen in 1807. She was sold in April 1813. She then became the whaler Recovery. She made 12 whaling voyages in the southern whale fishery, the last one ending in 1843, at which time her owner had her broken up.
HMS Calypso was a Royal Navy Cruizer-class brig-sloop. She was built at Deptford Wharf between 1804 and 1805, and launched in 1805. She served in the North Sea and the Baltic, most notably at the Battle of Lyngør, which effectively ended the Gunboat War. Calypso was broken up in March 1821.
HMS Belette was an 18-gun Cruizer-class brig-sloop, built by King at Dover and launched on 21 March 1806. During the Napoleonic Wars she served with some success in the Baltic and the Caribbean. Belette was lost in the Kattegat in 1812 when she hit a rock off Læsø.
HMS Persian was a Cruizer-class brig-sloop built by Daniel List and launched at Cowes in 1809. She captured two privateers before she wrecked in 1813.
HMS Musquito. was a Royal Navy Cruizer-class brig-sloop built by John Preston at Great Yarmouth and launched in 1804. She was commissioned in October 1804 under Commander Samuel Jackson. She served in the North Sea and the Baltic, and Jackson supervised the first successful rocket attack in Europe at Boulogne in 1806. After the war she served off Africa and captured some slavers. She was broken up in 1822, having been laid up since 1818.
HMS Basilisk was a Bloodhound-class gun-brig built by Randall in Rotherhithe and launched in 1801. She served briefly at the end of the French Revolutionary Wars, with most of her service occurring during the Napoleonic Wars protecting convoys from privateers, conducting close-inshore surveillance and taking enemy coastal shipping. She was sold for breaking in 1815.
HMS Childers was a brig-sloop of the British Royal Navy, initially armed with 10 carriage guns which were later increased to 14 guns. The first brig-sloop to be built for the Navy, she was ordered from a commercial builder during the early years of the American War of Independence, and went on to support operations in the English Channel and the Caribbean. Laid up for a time after the end of the American War of Independence, she returned to service shortly before the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars. She had an active career in both the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, capturing numerous French privateers and during the Gunboat War participated in a noteworthy single-ship action. The navy withdrew her from service at the beginning of 1811, at which time she was broken up.
HMS Imogen was a Royal Navy 16-gun brig-sloop of the Seagull class launched in July 1805. She served primarily in the Adriatic campaign before the Navy sold her in 1817.
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 Apelles was a Crocus-class brig-sloop of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1808 and sold in 1816. During her service she grounded on the French coast and was in French hands for about a day before the British recaptured her. During her career she captured two French privateers.
HMS Renard was the French privateer Renard, launched in 1797, that Cerberus captured in the Channel that same year. The Royal Navy took her into service under her existing name and she participated in some notable engagements on the Jamaica station before the Navy sold her in 1809.
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 Cherokee was the lead ship of her class of 10-gun brig-sloops of the British Royal Navy. She saw service during the Napoleonic Wars. In 1810 she participated in an engagement that resulted in her crew qualifying for the Naval General Service Medal. The Navy sold Cherokee in 1828. She then became a merchantman trading between Liverpool and Africa. Cherokee was wrecked in August 1831 returning to England from Africa.
Rifleman was a Cruizer-class brig-sloop launched in 1809 for the Royal Navy. She served in the North Sea, on the Halifax and Jamaica stations, and in the Mediterranean Sea. During her service she recaptured a Royal Navy vessel in Danish service, and two privateers. The Navy sold her in 1836 and she proceed to sail as a merchantman and whaler between 1837 and 1856.
HMS Nimrod was a brig-sloop of the British Royal Navy, launched in 1812. She spent her war years in north American waters where she captured one small privateer, assisted in the capture of another, and captured or destroyed some 50 American vessels. After the war she captured smugglers and assisted the civil authorities in maintaining order in Tyne. She was wrecked in 1827 and so damaged that the Navy decided she was not worth repairing. A private ship-owner purchased Nimrod and repaired her. She then went on to spend some 20 years trading between Britain and Charleston, the Mediterranean, Australia, and India. She was last listed in 1851.
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.
References
Bethell, Leslie (2009). The abolition of the Brazilian slave trade Britain, Brazil and the slave trade question, 1807–1869. Cambridge University Press. ISBN978-0-521-10113-4. OCLC930681070.
O'Byrne, William R. (1849) A Naval Biographical Dictionary: comprising the life and services of every living officer in Her Majesty's navy, from the rank of admiral of the fleet to that of lieutenant, inclusive. (London: J. Murray), vol. 1.
Thomas, Hugh (1999). The slave trade: the story of the Atlantic slave trade, 1440–1870. Simon & Schuster. ISBN978-0-684-83565-5. OCLC461428672.
Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN978-1-86176-246-7.
Topsøe-Jensen, T.A. og Emil Marquard: Officerer i Den dansk-norske søetat 1660–1814 og Den danske søetat 1814–1932. (Two volumes ) (in Danish)
Wandel, C.F. (1915). Søkrigen i de Dansk-Norske Farvande 1807–14: Fra Tabet af Flåden til Freden i Kiel (in Danish). Jacob Lund. OCLC1027218872.
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