Fc: 2 x 6-pounder chase guns + 2 x 24-pounder carronades
Later rearmed:
UD: 22 x 32-pounder carronades
QD: 6 x 18-pounder carronades
Fc: 2 x 6-pounder chase guns + 2 x 18-pounder carronades
HMS Comus was a 22-gun Laurel-classsixth-ratepost ship of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1806.[3] In 1807 she took part in one notable single-ship action and was at the capture of Copenhagen. In 1815 she spent six months with the West Africa Squadron suppressing the slave trade during which time she captured ten slavers and freed 500-1,000 slaves. She was wrecked in 1816 with no loss of life.
She was commissioned in October 1806 under her first captain, Conway Shipley.[2] The following year her boats executed cutting-out operations in the Canaries. On 15 March 1807 her boats, under the command of Lieutenant George Edward Watts, entered "Puerto de Haz" [sic], Grand Canaria, which was defended by the crossfire of three shore batteries. The British succeeded in bringing out six Spanish brigs (one armed with five guns), three with cargoes of salt pork, salt fish, or wine and fruit, and three in ballast. The only British casualty was a lieutenant, who was wounded.[4] That month Comus also captured two brigs, St Philip, with salt fish, and Nostra Senora de los Remedies, with a mixed cargo of merchandise.[4]
On 8 May Comus sent her boats into the harbour of Gran Canaria, which was defended by a strong fort and two shore batteries. There they cut out a large armed felucca, which was flying His Catholic Majesty's colours. The boarding party, under the command of Lieutenant Watts, cleared the felucca's deck of her crew and the boats started to pull her out (the Spaniards had taken the precaution of removing her rudder and sails and taking them on shore), when a tug-of-war developed as men on the quay pulled on a hawser. Eventually the boarding party cut the hawser and the boats succeeded in pulling the felucca out, an operation they conducted under fire. The felucca was the packet shipSan Pedro de Apostol,[5] which had been carrying bale goods from Cadiz to Buenos Ayres. On her way, San Pedro de Apostol had captured the Lord Keith, which had been sailing from London to Mogador.[4]
The British lost one man killed and five men wounded, one of whom was Watts, who had been severely wounded. The Spanish casualties included her captain and some crew killed, and 21 men taken prisoner, of whom 19 were wounded.[4] The Lloyd's Patriotic Fund awarded Watts a sword worth £50.[6] The prize money was substantial too.[lower-alpha 1]
In May, Comus captured the Spanish luggerSt Francisco, with her cargo of wheat and salt. The other capture was the schooner Louisa, a completely new vessel sailing in ballast.[4]
Comus vs. HDMS Fridericksværn
Comus was under Captain Edward Heywood from July 1807, and in August she was with the expedition to Copenhagen. During this service she took part in a one-sided single-ship action with a Danish frigate, and accumulated substantial prize money during this period of her career.
On 12 August the 32-gun Danish frigate HDMSFridericksværn (listed as Fredrickscoarn in British reports), sailed for Norway from Elsinor and Admiral Lord Gambier sent the 74-gun third rateDefence and Comus after her, even though war had not yet been declared.[8]Comus was faster than Defence in the light winds and so outdistanced her.
On 14 August 1807 Comus sighted Frederiksværn and chased her, catching up off Marstrand a little before midnight on the 15th. Heywood ordered the Frederiksværn to halt and allow herself to be detained.[9] War not having been declared, and Frederiksværn being a naval vessel, she ignored Heywood's instructions. Heywood ordered a musket fired, to which Frederiksværn replied with a shot from her stern guns. Comus followed with a broadside.[8]
After an action of 45 minutes, Frederiksværn's rigging was disabled. Comus and Frederiksværn then came together, which enabled a boarding party from Comus to climb over Frederiksværn's bow and capture her.[9]
The two vessels had been relatively evenly matched in firepower. Comus's broadside weighed 204 pounds, while Frederiksværn's broadside weighed 200 pounds.[9] However, Frederiksværn had a crew of 226 men to Comus's 145 men.[8] Still, the British had suffered only one man wounded. The Danes lost 12 men killed and 20 wounded, some mortally.[9] The Royal Navy took her into service as Frederickscoarn.[10] In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Comus 15 Augt. 1807", to all surviving claimants from the action.
Defence and Comus then sailed in search of a Danish 74-gun reported to be returning to Copenhagen, but did not find her.[11][lower-alpha 2] On 18 August Comus captured the Danish merchant vessel Haabet.[12]
Comus went on to participate in the capitulation of Copenhagen on 7 September and to share in the prize money for that.[lower-alpha 3]Comus also shared with Christian VII in the recapture on the same day of the Britannia.[14] Three days later Comus shared with Spencer and Pelican in the capture of the Danish merchant vessel Fredeus Forsward.[15] Later that month, on 9 September, Comus and Pelican captured the Danish merchant vessel Elizabeth vonder Pahlen, but had to share with Defence, which was in sight.[16] Three days after that, on 2 October, Comus and Pelican captured the Danish merchant vessel Anna Catherina.[17][lower-alpha 4]
Subsequent service
Captain Josceline Percy took command in November 1807, and sailed to Portugal later that month.[2] There Comus participated in the occupation of Madeira by Sir Samuel Hood.[18] Here her primary task was to reconnoiter the island. She returned to Hood's fleet on 23 December and the British took unopposed possession the next day.[19]
Captain Matthew Smith took command in 1808, and Comus continued off the Portuguese coast and in the Mediterranean.[2] On 5 February she captured sundry Danish vessels at St. Ubes (Setubal, Portugal).[20] The vessels Comus captured were the Ovenum, Martha Beata, Aufgehende Sonne, Finegheden, Johannes, Soe Blomstedt, Speculation, Haabet, Fortuna, Bragernes and Magdalena.[20] The initial distribution of prize money amounted to £12,000.[21] Given the small size of her crew, this resulted in a notable amount even for an ordinary seaman.[lower-alpha 5]
On 27 February 1808 Comus captured the American brig Fame.[24][lower-alpha 6]
On 20 February 1811 Comus was part of a flotilla of British warships and Spanish transports under the command of Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Godwin Keats. The flotilla was waiting to land some British troops and 7,000 Spanish troops at Tariffa. The weather did not permit the landing so instead the British troops landed at Algeciras and marched to Tariffa, later being joined by the Spanish troops when the transports could sail.[25]
On 10 May 1812, Smith, on behalf of the British government, signed a treaty of commerce with His Highness Sidi Jusef Caramanli, Bashaw, Bey, Governor and Captain General of the City and Kingdom of Tripoli in the West.[26]
On 14 May 1813 Comus captured the American brig Jane Barnes.[27]
In late March Comus was at Hellevoetsluis to transport French coins that Nathan Rothschild had collected. Rothschild had a contract to deliver £600,000 to the south of France by 14 March. By the time Comus and Thais were able to deliver to Bordeaux the £450,000 that Rothschild had gathered, Napoleon had abdicated.[28]
Comus was under Captain John Tailour from November 1814, during which time she served in the West Africa Squadron.[2] During her service with the Squadron, Comus captured eleven vessels, all of which the Vice admiralty court at Freetown condemned, though the London Commission later reversed four condemnations.[29]
Next, on 25 March, Comus was at Duke Town where she captured the Spanish schooners Nuestra Senora del Carmen (120 slaves) and Intrepida (or Intrepide; 245 slaves), and the brig Catalina (no slaves).[29] Among the slaves Comus did free there were 54 boys and 47 girls.[31]Catalina arrived at Portsmouth, in ballast, on 20 October.[32]
Comus also captured two Portuguese vessels, Bon Sorte (61 slaves), and the schooner Estrella (41 slaves). The London Commission reversed the condemnation of Bon Sorte.[29]
Next, Comus captured two Portuguese vessels. On 3 April she captured the brig Santa Anna (three slaves) at Old Calabar River. On 23 April Comus captured the schooner Maria Madelena (no slaves), off "Princes Island". The London Commission reversed the condemnation of Santa Anna.[29]
Comus appears to have been the first warship to have sailed up the Calabar River as far as Duke Town. By one account her boats captured seven Portuguese and Spanish slavers carrying some 550 slaves. First though, they had to overcome the slavers' determined resistance, which resulted in some bloodshed.[33][lower-alpha 8]
In June Comus captured the Portuguese schooner Novo Fragantina (no slaves) at Anamabo. Then on 15 July at Cape Palmas Comus captured both the Portuguese brigantine Abismo and the Spanish schooner Palafox, neither of which was carrying slaves. The London Commission reversed the condemnation of both Portuguese vessels.[lower-alpha 9]
Captain Thomas Tucker had succeeded Tailour by 1816, and Captain James Gordon Bremer succeeded Tucker.[2]
Fate
Comus was wrecked at St Mary's Bay, off Cape Pine, Newfoundland on 24 October 1816. At around midnight she grounded and developed leaks. The crew abandoned her around 3am when she threatened to roll over on her side as the tide receded. Subsequent efforts to refloat her were unsuccessful.[35] The wreck was abandoned on 4 November 1816.[2] The subsequent court martial blamed the wrecking on a strong current that had driven her closer to shore than Bremer had realized. However, the court also warned Bremer and the master, Bateman Ainsworth, to be more careful in the future, finding that they had been overconfident in their navigation and had failed to take frequent depth soundings.[35] The court added that Bremer, his officers and his crew were due the greatest praise "for their arduous exertions in their endeavours to save her, and also for their good and steady conduct throughout the business, both in the boats and on shore".[36]
Notes
↑ The share of a petty officer was £28 7s 6d. That of a seaman was £7 6s 5d.[7]
↑ The share of a petty officer was £22 11s. That of a seaman was £3 8s.[13]
↑ A commissioned officer received £2 2s 11d in prize money, while a petty officer received 7s 11d and an able seaman 1s 6d.[17]
↑ The first-class share was worth £2450 13s 0d.[22] This compares favourably with the good service pension of £150 (presumably per annum) that Smith was awarded in 1839.[23] A sixth-class share, that of an ordinary seaman, was worth £40 9s 4+1⁄2d.[22] or about two-years wages. Unfortunately, there does not seem to be any published account of how the Danish vessels happened to be in a Portuguese port and how Comus came to capture them.
↑ The share of a petty officer was £4 18s 7+1⁄2d. That of an able seaman was £1 5s 6d.[24]
↑ The first-class share for this vessel was £31 16s 4+3⁄4d; a sixth-class share was worth 6s 3d.[30]
↑ An obituary for Tailour states that in six months he captured ten slavers.[34]
↑ The first-class share for this vessel was £256 12s 10+1⁄4d; a sixth-class share was worth £2 10s 11+1⁄2d.[30]
1 2 3 4 5 Grindal (2016), Appendix A: "Suspected Slave Vessels Detained 1807-39 by Royal Navy Cruisers, Colonial Vessels and Letters of Marque Vessels".
HMS Galatea was a fifth-rate 32-gun sailing frigate of the British Royal Navy that George Parsons built at Bursledon and launched in 1794. Before she was broken up in 1809 she captured numerous prizes and participated in a number of actions, first in the Channel and off Ireland (1794–1803), and then in the Caribbean (1802–1809), including one that earned her crew the Naval General Service Medal.
HMS Clio was a Cruizer-class brig-sloop of the Royal Navy, launched at James Betts' shipyard in Mistleythorn in Essex on 10 January 1807. Her establishment was 71 officers and men, 24 boys and 20 marines. She served in the Baltic during the Napoleonic Wars, accomplished the re-establishment of British rule on the Falkland Islands in 1833, and participated in the First Opium War. She was broken up in 1845.
Franchise was launched in 1798 as a 40-gun Coquille-class frigate of the French Navy. The British captured her in 1803 and took her into the Royal Navy under her existing name. In the war on commerce during the Napoleonic Wars she was more protector than prize-taker, capturing many small privateers but few commercial prizes. She was also at the battle of Copenhagen. She was broken up in 1815.
HMS Cornwallis was a Royal Navy 54-gun fourth rate. Jemsatjee Bomanjee built the Marquis Cornwallis of teak for the Honourable East India Company (EIC) between 1800 and 1801. In March 1805 Admiral Sir Edward Pellew purchased her from the Company shortly after she returned from a voyage to Britain. She served in the Far East, sailing to Australia and the Pacific Coast of South America before returning to India. In February 1811 the Admiralty renamed her HMS Akbar. She captured forts and vessels in the Celebes and Amboyna, and participated in the invasion of Isle de France, and the 1811 invasion of Java. She also served in the West Indies before being laid up at Portsmouth in December 1816. She then stayed in Britain in a number of stationary medical and training capacities until the Admiralty sold her in the 1860s.
HMS Staunch was a Royal Navy 12-gun Archer-class gun-brig, built by Benjamin Tanner and launched in 1804 at Dartmouth, Devon. She served in the Indian Ocean and participated in the action of 18 September 1810 before she foundered with the loss of all hands in 1811.
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 Tartar was a 32-gun fifth-rate Narcissus-class frigate of the Royal Navy, built at Frindsbury and launched in 1801. She captured privateers on the Jamaica station and fought in the Gunboat War and elsewhere in the Baltic Sea before being lost to grounding off Estonia in 1811.
HMS Circe was a Royal Navy 32-gun fifth-rate frigate, built by Master Shipwright Joseph Tucker at Plymouth Dockyard, and launched in 1804. She served in the Caribbean during the Napoleonic Wars, and participated in an action and a campaign for which in 1847 in the Admiralty authorised the issuance of the Naval General Service Medal with clasps. The action, off the Pearl Rock, near Saint-Pierre, Martinique, was a debacle that cost Circe dearly. However, she also had some success in capturing privateers and a French brig. She was sold in 1814.
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 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.
His Majesty's Hired armed cutter Princess Augusta served the Royal Navy from 12 July 1803 to 2 May 1814. She was armed with eight 4-pounder guns, had a complement of 26 men, and was of 7056⁄94 tons (bm). She participated in several single ship actions and took several prizes before the Navy returned her to her owners near the end of the Napoleonic Wars.
HMS Brazen was a 28-gun Royal Navy Bittern-class ship sloop, launched in 1808.
HMS Nemesis was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The French captured her in 1795 at Smyrna, but in 1796 a squadron led by Barfleur brought her out of the neutral port of Tunis. Throughout her career she served under a number of commanders who would go on to have distinguished careers. She was converted to a troopship in 1812 and was sold in 1814.
HMS Severn was an Endymion-class frigate of the British Royal Navy, launched in 1813 as one of five heavy frigates built to match the powerful American frigates. The shortage of oak meant that she was built of "fir", which meant a considerably shortened lifespan. Nonetheless, the ship saw useful service, especially at the bombardment of Algiers in 1816, before being broken up in 1825.
HMS Colibri was the French naval Curieux-class brig Colibri, launched in 1808, that the British captured in 1809 and took into the Royal Navy under her existing name. She spent her time in British service on the North American station based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. During the War of 1812, Colibri served mostly in blockading the American coast and capturing privateers and merchant ships. She foundered in 1813 in Port Royal Sound, South Carolina, but without loss of life.
HMS Redwing was a Cruizer-class brig-sloop of the British Royal Navy. Commissioned in 1806, she saw active service in the Napoleonic Wars, mostly in the Mediterranean, and afterwards served off the West Coast of Africa, acting to suppress the slave trade. She was lost at sea in 1827.
HMS Pert was the French privateer Bonaparte, a ship built in the United States that HMS Cyane captured in November 1804. The Royal Navy took Bonaparte into service as HMS Pert. Pert was wrecked off the coast of what is now Venezuela in October 1807.
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 Daphne was launched at Topsham, England in 1806. During her naval career Daphne operated primarily in the Baltic where she took part in one notable cutting-out expedition, and captured one small privateer and numerous small Danish merchant vessels. In 1816 the Admiralty sold her after the end of the Napoleonic Wars and she became a merchant ship, while retaining the name Daphne. She made one voyage to Australia in 1819 transporting convicts. Thereafter she traded with India and was last listed in 1824.
HMS Union was the mercantile City of Kingston that the Royal Navy purchased in 1823 for service as a 3-gun schooner. She served in the suppression of the slave trade in the West Indies. She was wrecked in 1828.
References
Grindal, Peter (2016). Opposing the Slavers: The Royal Navy's Campaign against the Atlantic Slave Trade. I.B.Tauris. ASINB01MYTNUEH.
Hepper, David J. (1994). British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650–1859. Rotherfield: Jean Boudriot. ISBN0-948864-30-3.
Kaplan, Herbert H. (2005). Nathan Mayer Rothschild and the creation of a dynasty: the critical years. Stanford University Press. ISBN978-0-8047-5165-0.
Ralfe, James (1828). The naval biography of Great Britain: consisting of historical memoirs of those officers of the British Navy who distinguished themselves during the reign of His Majesty George III. Whitmore & Fenn.
Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN978-1-86176-246-7.
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